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| Civilization | River | Era | Innovations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesopotamia (Sumer) | Tigris-Euphrates | 3500-1900 BCE | cuneiform, wheel, ziggurats, Code of Hammurabi |
| Egypt | Nile | 3100-30 BCE | hieroglyphics, pyramids, papyrus, mummification |
| Indus Valley (Harappa) | Indus | 2600-1900 BCE | urban planning, drainage, undeciphered script |
| Shang China | Yellow (Huang He) | 1600-1046 BCE | oracle bones, bronze, ancestor worship |
Bronze → Iron Age (~1200 BCE): iron is harder + more abundant. Spread of iron undermined palace economies (Hittites, Bronze Age Collapse). New iron-using kingdoms rose: Assyria, Persia, Zhou China.
Axial Age (~600-400 BCE): simultaneous philosophical revolutions worldwide — Confucius, Buddha, Greek philosophers, Hebrew prophets. Why simultaneous? Iron Age trade + urbanization stress old religions, demand new answers.
'Civilization' historically means complex society with cities, writing, specialization — not 'morally superior.' Many 'civilized' empires were brutal; many 'tribal' societies were ethically advanced. Use the technical definition, not the value judgment.
Nationalism: shared language/culture/history → demand for own state. Italian unification (1861), German unification (1871), Balkan independence movements.
Imperialism: industrial powers (Britain, France, Germany) carve up Africa, Asia. Berlin Conference (1884-85) divides Africa among Europeans without African input. By 1914, Europe controls 84% of world's land.
| Cause (MAIN) | Detail |
|---|---|
| Militarism | arms race, large standing armies |
| Alliances | Triple Entente vs Central Powers |
| Imperialism | colonial competition |
| Nationalism | Slavic, Pan-German tensions |
Russian Revolution (1917): Bolsheviks under Lenin overthrow Tsar → USSR. First successful Marxist revolution. Spread communist ideology globally; defines Cold War alignments.
The Treaty of Versailles' harsh reparations + war-guilt clause humiliated Germany → economic crisis → Hitler's rise. Each war's terms set up the next conflict. Always trace cause-effect across decades, not in isolation.
| Empire | Era | Key contributions |
|---|---|---|
| Persia (Achaemenid) | 550-330 BCE | roads, postal system, satraps, Zoroastrianism |
| Greek poleis + Hellenistic | 500-30 BCE | democracy, philosophy, drama, Alexander's Empire |
| Roman | 509 BCE - 476 CE | law, engineering, Latin, Christianity adoption |
| Han China | 206 BCE - 220 CE | Confucian bureaucracy, paper, Silk Road |
Major religions emerge / spread: Buddhism (~500 BCE) spreads via merchants along Silk Road. Christianity (~30 CE) spreads in Roman Empire, becomes state religion (313 Edict of Milan). Hinduism crystallizes during Gupta India.
Silk Road: trade route China → Mediterranean (~130 BCE - 1450s CE). Carried silk, spices, religion, technology, AND plague (Justinian Plague, Black Death).
The Western Roman Empire fell 476 CE. The Eastern (Byzantine) Empire continued until 1453 CE — almost 1000 more years. 'Fall of Rome' usually means the West only. Byzantines preserved Roman law + Greek learning, key for European Renaissance.
| Factor | How it helped |
|---|---|
| Coal + iron | both abundant in Britain |
| Colonial markets | guaranteed buyers + raw materials |
| Capital + banking | investment available |
| Stable government | property rights, no major war on home soil |
| Agricultural revolution | fewer farmers needed → urban labor |
| Scientific tradition | Royal Society, technical innovation |
Social transformation: rural → urban (50%+ urbanization in Britain by 1850). Factory work replaces craftsmanship. Child labor, 14-hour shifts, dangerous conditions → labor movements, unions, socialism. Marx's Capital (1867) responds to factory conditions.
Imperialism's industrial driver: factories need raw materials (cotton, rubber, oil) + markets. European powers compete for colonies — fuels late-19th century scramble for Africa + Asia.
Did industrialization help or hurt workers? Both. Real wages eventually rose, but first generations of factory workers (1800-1850) often had worse conditions than their farming parents. Long-run benefit doesn't excuse short-run misery — historians disagree on the balance.
Bipolar world: USA + allies (capitalism) vs USSR + allies (communism). Direct war avoided due to nuclear weapons (MAD). Proxy wars: Korea (1950-53), Vietnam (1955-75), Afghanistan (1979-89).
| Era | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 1945-50 | Marshall Plan, NATO | US contains communism in Europe |
| 1949 | USSR atomic bomb + China communist | communism spreads |
| 1955 | Warsaw Pact | USSR formal alliance bloc |
| 1961-62 | Berlin Wall + Cuba crisis | tensions peak |
| 1989-91 | Eastern Europe + USSR collapse | Cold War ends |
Globalization wave (1991-2008): end of Cold War + WTO (1995) + China's rise + internet. Trade booms, manufacturing moves East. Financial crisis 2008 challenges the model.
Multipolar present: US + China + EU + India + others. Climate change + pandemics + AI as transnational challenges no single state can solve.
The 'Cold War' had millions of hot casualties via proxy wars: Korea, Vietnam, Angola, Afghanistan, Central America. The two superpowers didn't fight directly, but their conflicts via clients killed many. 'Cold' refers to direct US-USSR confrontation, not global tranquility.
| Region | Era | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Byzantine | 330-1453 | preserved Greek learning, Justinian's Code, Orthodox Christianity |
| Islamic Caliphates | 632-1258 | algebra, medicine, philosophy, Baghdad Golden Age |
| Tang/Song China | 618-1279 | compass, gunpowder, paper money, civil service |
| Medieval Europe | 500-1500 | feudalism, Catholic Church, universities, Magna Carta (1215) |
| Mongol Empire | 1206-1368 | largest contiguous empire, Pax Mongolica trade |
| West African empires | 700-1600 | Mali, Songhai, gold-salt trade, Timbuktu |
Crusades (1095-1291): Catholic Europe attempts to retake Holy Land. Cultural exchange: Europeans bring back numerals, food, technology. Long-term cultural impact > military success.
Black Death (1347-1351): killed 1/3 of Europe. Reshaped labor markets (peasant wages rose), weakened serfdom, sparked anti-Semitic violence + religious crisis. Came along Mongol-Silk Road trade routes.
'Dark Ages' (500-1000 CE) is a Eurocentric label. While Western Europe declined, Islamic civilization, Byzantium, Tang/Song China flourished with major science + literature. Calling 500-1000 'dark' globally misses 80% of the world's intellectual life.
| Movement | Era | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Renaissance | 14-16th c. Italy → Europe | humanism, art, secular learning |
| Age of Exploration | 1450s-1700s | Columbus 1492, Magellan circumnavigates |
| Reformation | 1517 onward | Luther, Calvin → split Christianity |
| Scientific Revolution | 16-17th c. | Copernicus, Galileo, Newton — modern science born |
| Enlightenment | 18th c. | Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau — reason, rights, government by consent |
| Atlantic Revolutions | 1776, 1789, 1791 | American, French, Haitian — overthrow colonial / monarchical rule |
Atlantic slave trade (1500-1888): ~12.5M Africans forcibly transported to Americas. Plantation economies (sugar, cotton, tobacco) built on slave labor. Foundation of modern global racial hierarchy + ongoing inequities.
Absolute monarchy → constitutional rule: Louis XIV (France) 'L'état, c'est moi' vs English Glorious Revolution (1688) limits monarchy. Enlightenment thinkers question divine right. Setup for revolutionary era.
Columbus 'discovered' the Americas — but ~50M people already lived there. European discovery means new contact, not blank-slate finding. Vikings reached Newfoundland 500 years earlier. Always specify: 'first European contact' rather than implying empty land.
| Topic | Use § from | Approach |
|---|---|---|
| 'why did civilization start' | § ① | river-valley + agricultural surplus + state formation |
| 'cuneiform / hieroglyphs' | § ① | writing for record-keeping → bureaucracy |
| Axial Age / philosophy origin | § ① | ~600-400 BCE worldwide intellectual revolution |
| Greek democracy + Roman republic | § ② | classical political innovations, citizen participation |
| 'fall of Rome' | § ② | multi-causal: economic + military + plague + invasion |
| Silk Road, Pax Romana | § ② | imperial peace enables long-distance trade |
| Crusades / Black Death | § ③ | cross-cultural exchange + demographic disasters |
| Islamic Golden Age | § ③ | preserved + advanced Greek/Indian learning |
| Mongol Empire impact | § ③ | Pax Mongolica trade + technology + plague spread |
| Renaissance / printing press | § ④ | humanism + tech accelerate ideas |
| Reformation | § ④ | Luther 1517 → European wars of religion |
| Columbian Exchange / slave trade | § ④ | biological + human transfer reshapes 3 continents |
| Scientific Rev / Enlightenment | § ④ | Copernicus → Newton; Locke + Voltaire → political theory |
| 'why Britain industrialized first' | § ⑤ | multi-causal: coal + capital + colony + labor + institutions |
| industrial revolution social impact | § ⑤ | urbanization, factory work, class formation, unions |
| nationalism + unification | § ⑥ | Italian (1861), German (1871) — language/culture → state |
| imperialism / Berlin Conference | § ⑥ | industrial competition for raw materials + markets |
| causes of WWI / MAIN | § ⑥ | militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism + assassination trigger |
| Versailles → WWII chain | § ⑥ | harsh terms → German collapse → Hitler → war |
| Russian Revolution + USSR | § ⑥, ⑦ | 1917 Bolshevik → 70-year experiment |
| Cold War proxy wars | § ⑦ | Korea / Vietnam / Afghanistan — superpower competition |
| decolonization | § ⑦ | 1947-1980s, often violent, Cold War alignments |
| 'fall of USSR' | § ⑦ | multi-causal: economic + Afghan + Gorbachev + 1989 Eastern Europe |
Don't judge past actors by present standards or assume history was 'going somewhere.' Slavery existed in nearly every premodern society; abolition is a recent achievement. Understand actors in their own context — they didn't know what we know now.
Major events have multiple causes, not one. WWI: not just assassination. USSR fall: not just Reagan. Industrial Revolution: not just steam engine. Always list 3-5 contributing factors and weight their importance — earns top marks.