A.P. WORLD
HISTORY:
PERIODIZATION,
THEMES, AND
ANALYSIS
A.P. WORLD
HISTORY:
PERIODIZATION
WHAT IS PERIODIZATION?
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Each period is defined by three conditions
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A geographical component
When civilization contracts, shrinks
 When civilization spreads from smaller to wider area
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Increase, decrease in contacts across regions
Emergence of parallel developments across globe
Dates not best way to define a period
Period may occur
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At different time
In different regions
PERIOD 1
ANCIENT PERIOD
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To 600 BCE
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Growth of agriculture
Generally small city-states, states
Neolithic Period
Ancient River Valley Civilizations
Rise of trade
Ends with rise of large, regional empires
PERIOD 2
CLASSICAL PERIOD
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600 BCE to 600 CE
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Large, regional empires
Military aristocracies
Integrate regions
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Permanent traditions and religions
Regional civilizations
China, India, SW Asia, Mediterranean
 Mesoamerica and Andean America
 Strong contacts between regional centers
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Many areas outside classical civilizations
Ends with massive nomadic invasions
PERIOD 3
POST-CLASSICAL PERIOD
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600 CE to 1450 CE
Began with rise of Islam
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First trans-regional civilization
Spans Eurasia and Africa
Era of two great powers: Islam, China
Spread of universalizing religions, philosophies
Saw rise of new civilization centers
Emergence of network of global contacts
Ended due to Mongols, Black Death
PERIOD 4
EARLY MODERN PERIOD
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1450-1750
Rise of gunpowder empires
Rise of Western Europe
World shrinks
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All continents included in world network
Global trade develops for first time
Great exchanges
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Goods, products, flora, fauna, people, germs
Ideas especially European, Christianity
PERIOD 5
MODERN PERIOD
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1750 to 1900: “The West and the Rest”
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Era of massive technological change
Era of many revolutions
Technological
 Political
 Social, Intellectual
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Western global hegemony
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Vast trade networks
Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia
USA, Japan are newest powers
Dominance of Western culture
PERIOD 6
CONTEMPORARY PERIOD
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1900 to Present “Change, Change, Change”
The American century and retreat of Europe
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Rise of Pacific Rim, India
Collapse of European empires
Modernization vs. westernization
Modernization vs. traditionalism
Rise of new political forms
Mass culture
Technology, telecommunications dominate age
A.P. WORLD
HISTORY:
THEMES
Interaction between
humans and the environment
Interaction between
humans and the environment
 Demography
and disease
 Migration
 Patterns
of settlement
 Technology
Development and
interaction of cultures
Development and interaction
of cultures
 Religions
 Belief
systems, philosophies and
ideologies
 Science and technology
 The arts and architecture
State-building,
expansion, and
conflict
State-building, expansion,
and conflict
Political structures and forms of
governance
 Empires
 Nations and nationalism
 Revolts and revolution
 Regional, transregional, and global
structures and organizations
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Creation, expansion, and
interaction of economic systems
Creation, expansion, and
interaction of economic systems
 Agricultural
and pastoral
production
 Trade and commerce
 Labor systems
 Industrialization
 Capitalism and socialism
Development and
transformation of social
structures
Development and
transformation of social
structures
 Gender
roles and relations
 Family and kinship
 Racial and ethnic constructions
 Social and economic classes
A.P. WORLD
HISTORY:
ANALYSIS
COMPARISON
CHANGE &
CONTINUITY
A.P. WORLD
HISTORY:
PERIODIZATION,
THEMES, AND
ANALYSIS