Neolithic Revolution & Early Civilizations

Neolithic Revolution

• Marked by the transition from nomadic life to permanent settlements due to the discovery of farming.
• Involved slash and burn farming: forests were burned and the ashes used as fertilizer.
• Included animal domestication and the emergence of traditional economies based on barter.

Early Civilizations

• Emerged near water sources for farming and trade.
• The Sumerians in the Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia) developed cuneiform writing and built ziggurats.
• Babylonian King Hammurabi established a code of law based on "an eye for an eye," but punishments were not equal across social classes.
• Egyptian civilization thrived along the Nile River, with predictable flooding aiding agriculture.
• Egyptian rulers were pharaohs, ruling in a theocracy.
• Early Chinese civilizations developed near the Yangtze and Huang He rivers.
• The Indus River Valley civilization included advanced cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-daro with sophisticated plumbing.
• Chinese dynasties rose and fell in a dynastic cycle, with emperors needing to maintain the Mandate of Heaven to rule.

Asian Empires and Philosophies

• The Tang and Song dynasties in China invented porcelain, paper currency, and movable type printing.
• The Mongols under Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan established the largest empire in the world but failed to conquer Japan.
• Japan, an archipelago, was defended by samurai warriors who followed the Bushido code.
• Shoguns rose to power in Japan.
• Hinduism, prevalent in India, includes reincarnation, the caste system, karma, and dharma.
• Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, who sought enlightenment and taught the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path to achieve Nirvana.
• Confucianism emphasizes harmony and good conduct in relationships.
• Daoism promotes living in accordance with nature.
• Early Japanese Shintoism involved animism, the belief that everything in nature has a spirit.

Religion in the Middle East

• Islam requires adherence to the Five Pillars: prayer five times a day, observing Ramadan, giving charity, having faith in Allah, and making a pilgrimage to Mecca (the Hajj).
• The holy book of Islam is the Quran.
• Islam spread through empires like the Umayyads and Abbasids.
• Spain had an Inquisition to remove non-Catholic influences after freeing itself from Islamic control.

Greece and Rome

• Greek city-states were isolated due to mountains.
• Sparta was a military-focused polis, while Athens embraced culture and democracy.
• Greek contributions include classical architecture, comedies, tragedies, and the Olympics to honor Zeus.
• Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were influential Greek philosophers. -Socrates questioned everything and was killed for corrupting the youth. -Plato wrote "The Republic". -Aristotle applied logic to science and philosophy.
• Alexander the Great created a large empire, spreading Hellenistic culture.
• The Silk Roads were an example of cultural diffusion.
• Rome contributed a senate, the Twelve Tables of Law, roads, structures, and aqueducts.
• Roman architecture influenced Islamic mosques.
• The eastern part of the Roman Empire became the Byzantine Empire, with the Justinian Code. The Byzantine Empire later split from the Roman Catholic Church, establishing Eastern Orthodox religion in Constantinople.

Middle Ages and Renaissance

• Feudalism was a political and economic system exchanging land for military service.
• Knights followed the code of chivalry.
• The Crusades were fought between Christians and Muslims for control of the Holy Land, resulting in cultural diffusion.
• The Black Plague killed one-third of Europe's population.
• The Renaissance featured new art from Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.
• Machiavelli wrote "The Prince," arguing that rulers must govern harshly to maintain control.

Africa

• Africa has diverse climates, including the Sahara, Sahel, and grasslands.
• Bantu-speaking people spread languages across Africa.
• The West African coast had a thriving gold-salt trade.
• Mansa Musa converted to Islam and went on the Hajj.
• Later empires, such as the Mughal and Ottoman Empires, embraced religious tolerance under Akbar the Great and Suleiman the Magnificent.

Native America

• The Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas made significant cultural and scientific advances.
• The Incas used terrace farming to adapt agriculture to the Andes Mountains.
• Maps showing mountains are called physical maps.
• Native Americans were conquered by Europeans during the Age of Exploration.
• Conquistadors used advanced weapons and the encomienda system for forced labor.
• The Columbian Exchange was the exchange of crops and diseases between the Americas and Europe.
• Mercantilism was established to benefit the wealth of the mother country.
• Mother countries traded for slaves in the triangle trade, including the Middle Passage.

Exploration and Reformation

• Zheng He traveled extensively, exchanging gifts for the Chinese Ming Dynasty.
• Martin Luther's 95 Theses started the Protestant Reformation, dividing Christianity.
• Feudalism declined as absolute monarchs gained power in Europe.
• Louis XIV of France expanded Versailles and claimed "I am the state."
• Russian Zars, like Peter the Great, modernized and imitated the West.
• English monarchy was limited by the Magna Carta, Habeas Corpus Act, and English Bill of Rights, leading to a constitutional monarchy.

Enlightenment and Revolution

• Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke and Rousseau advocated for natural rights and separation of powers.
• Monarchs who favored Enlightenment ideas were called enlightened despots.
• The Scientific Revolution included Nicolaus Copernicus's heliocentric model and Galileo's confirmation, which led to his house arrest.
• The French Revolution was caused by a weak monarchy, Enlightenment ideas, the success of the American Revolution, and unfair taxation.
• The storming of the Bastille and the Declaration of the Rights of Man occurred.
• Napoleon seized power in a coup d'état but lost his army in Russia's harsh climate.
• The Congress of Vienna tried to restore peace by forming alliances and reinstating monarchs.

Independence Movements and Nationalism

• Revolution and independence movements spread to Latin America, with leaders like Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín.
• Toussaint Louverture led a slave rebellion in Haiti.
• Mexico gained independence but experienced a revolution resulting in a constitution in the early 20th century.
• Italy unified through nationalism, and Otto von Bismarck united Germany with "blood and iron."

Industrial Revolution and Imperialism

• The Industrial Revolution began in England due to natural harbors and resources and spread globally.
• Factories and urbanization increased.
• Capitalism emerged, with Adam Smith advocating for laissez-faire economics.
• Socialism became popular, with Karl Marx writing about the gap between rich and poor in "The Communist Manifesto."
• Nations turned to imperialism, with strong nations taking over weaker countries.
• Britain controlled a vast empire but granted self-rule to Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
• Ireland eventually gained home rule after the Potato Famine.
• The Berlin Conference divided Africa among European powers.
• Spheres of influence were established in China.
• The Boxer Rebellion protested foreign control and the spread of Christianity in China.
• Japan modernized during the Meiji Era and became a world power.
• The Sepoy Mutiny in India was suppressed by British rule.
• The Amritsar Massacre led to protests, and Gandhi led passive resistance and civil disobedience, leading to India's independence in 1947, partitioned into India and Pakistan due to religious conflict.

World Wars and Cold War

• World War I began due to nationalism, imperialism, and alliances after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
• Russia withdrew from World War I due to Lenin's Bolshevik Revolution, establishing communism.
• The Ottoman Empire dissolved into Turkey, modernized by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
• Germany was blamed for World War I in the Treaty of Versailles.
• Adolf Hitler rose to power under fascism, militarized Germany, and was appeased by European powers.
• World War II involved the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, Japan) against the Allies. Germany was divided after the war.
• The Holocaust occurred due to Hitler's policy of genocide, leading to the death of 6 million Jews.
• Other human rights violations occurred, including the Armenian genocide, ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, the Rwandan genocide, and the Cambodian genocide under the Khmer Rouge.
• The United States and the USSR emerged as superpowers, leading to the Cold War. Joseph Stalin's 5-year plan modernized the Soviet Union, and he purged opponents.
• Communism spread globally, including in China under Mao Zedong.
• The US practiced containment to stop the spread of communism, leading to involvement in conflicts in Korea and Vietnam.
• Fidel Castro took over Cuba after the Cuban Revolution and established communism.
• Détente eased tensions, and communism fell in Europe by 1990.
• Germany reunified after the fall of the Berlin Wall following Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of Glasnost and Perestroika. The Communist bloc broke apart.

Post-Cold War Era

• Poland became free under Lech Wałęsa, and Kosovo sought independence from Serbia.
• Apartheid divided South Africa, and Nelson Mandela was freed after global outrage led to its elimination.
• Zionism created Israel, leading to conflicts with Arab states. The Camp David Accords brought some peace between Israel and Egypt.
• The fundamentalist Taliban sponsored al-Qaeda's 9/11 attacks, leading to the War on Terror.
• The Iraq War occurred from 2003 to 2011.
• The Arab Spring in 2011 led to democracy protests in Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria, which resulted in a civil war.
• ISIS gained territory, leading to global terror attacks and air strikes by a US-led coalition.
• Developing nations need oil for industrialization and depend on OPEC.
• The Green Revolution increased food production globally.
• The European Union was created to increase Europe's strength.
• Today, nations are interconnected through the internet, which fosters cultural diffusion.