AP World Final Study Guide
Unit 1- Ancient Stuff
1.Know the impact of Greece’s geography on political development (poleis) Greek poleis or city-states developed because
of
2.Know the importance of Chinese silk production.
3.How did the status of women in ancient Egypt differ from other parts of the ancient world?
4.Know the early systems of writing- cuneiform (Sumeria), hieroglyphics (Egypt), and Sanskrit (Indus Valley). Also, be
familiar with the Semitic languages.
5.What do many historians credit the pharaoh Akhenaten with?
6.Know the characteristics of the Vedic Age and Epic Age in India (and about Dravidians vs Aryans)
7. Which perspective of viewing the world did Greek philosophers emphasize?
8.What motivated Mesopotamian conquests of far-reaching territories?
9.What was the earliest political and economic influence on Nubia? What was Nubia’s primary form of transportation for
trade?
10.What crops grew well in the dry environment of Greece?
11. How did Greek and Roman expansion differ?
12.How is the career of Paul an example of the "cosmopolitan" nature of the Roman Empire?
13. Know the enduring impact of Olmec ritual ball games on Mesoamerican life.
14.Understand the import of Indian cultural influence on Southeast Asian kingdoms.
15.What are some examples of the engineering expertise of the Romans?
16.Know the tenets of Zoroastrianism?
17.Know about ziggurats
Unit 2- Classical stuff
18.What caused the collapse of the Gupta Empire in 550 C.E. ?
19. Understand the significance of Mecca.
20.Know the importance of human sacrifice in early Mesoamerican civ.
21. Know about the Quaran. What is the umma? What are the 5 Pillars of Islam?
22.What led to the decline of the Umayyad dynasty?
23.Why did the Fujiwara family of Heian Japan choose to entrust responsibility for local government to their warriors?
24.Know the broad common elements underlying early sub-Saharan African life and culture.
25.What is the investiture controversy?
26.What is the epitome of gender subordination during Song China?
27.Who were the major players in the early Indian Ocean Maritime System?
28. Know the cultural achievements of the Byzantine Empire.What was the most significant architectural contribution of
the Byzantine Empire?
29. Know the location of the Sasanid Empire (what is it called today?)
30.Which sect of Buddhism was connected with the Tang dynasty?
31.The Song system of credit was based on guarantees that paper money could be redeemed for coinage. What was it
called?
32.What natural resource provided the incentive to trade for southern Saharan dwellers?
33.What were the major Mesoamerican civilizations? What was the earliest Mesoamerican civilization?
34.Know about serfdom in medieval Europe.
35. What was Murasaki Shikibu is famous for?
Unit 3- Medieval Mayhem, Mongols, Mali, and Maritime Madness
36.What was the three-field system?
37.What means did Genghis Khan use to expand the Mongol Empire?
38. Who overthrew the Yuan Empire in 1368?
39.What did Europeans learn about from the Mongols?
40.Because Mongols controlled access to the Silk Road after the overthrow of the Yuan, the emperor Yongle put an
emphasis on trade by ships. What was the name of the imperial complex he built?
41.One effect of the rise of cities in Yuan China was the increasing influence of Mandarin.
42. Know the significance of the English Parliament.
43. In 1453, the Ottomans conquered which important Christian city?
44.Who was the first Portuguese explorer to reach the southern tip of Africa and view the Indian Ocean?
45.What does Conquistador mean?
46.What’s a guild?
47.According to Malinke legends, who was the founder of Mali?
48.What was the Portuguese base in China?
49.Know the differences between dhows, caravels, and junks.
50.Who translated the significant scientific discoveries of Islamic scholars?
51.How did the threat of Mongol invasion affect Japan?
52.In what language were courses in the universities of the Latin West taught?
53.What was the early motivation for Portuguese maritime exploration?
54.What was the most significant factor contributing to agriculture in the Delhi Sultanate?
Unit 4: Absolutism, Enlightenment, and Arabs
55. How did the Dutch East and West Indies Company gain financial supremacy in all of Europe?
56.What was the Enlightenment?
57.What are samurai?
58.What did most slaves die of?
59.Know the difference between slavery in the Islamic world, and slavery in the Atlantic world.
60.Who were the highest-ranking Spanish officials in the colonies?
61.What distinguished the Mughal Empire from the Ottomans and Safavid Empires?
62.By the end of the sixteenth century, what country occupied most of the Brazilian coast?
63.Why did Peter the Great attempt to Westernize Russia?
64.The Scientific Revolution demonstrated that the workings of the universe could be explained by…..
65.What was the outcome of the 1555 Peace of Augsburg?
66.How was the Versailles palace a sort of "theme park" of royal absolutism?
67.Who were the first merchants to arrive in East Asia?
68.Unlike in other parts of the world, marriage patterns in early modern Europe reflected a freer choice of one's marriage
partner instead of an arranged marriage.
69. Iranian scholars and writers read Arabic as well as Persian.
70. What is mercantilism? What were the English Navigation Acts in the 1660s intended to do?
Unit 5: Relatively modern stuff.
71.What was the encomienda system?
72.Be familiar with John Locke’s ideas, and how they influenced the American Revolution.
73.Know the 3 Estates of France prior to the French Revolution.
74.Aside from the brutal conditions on Saint Domingue, what else led to the Haitian Revolution?
75. Understand that Europe and North America were empowered at the expense of the rest of the world as a result of
industrialization.
76. What was Thomas Malthus's explanation for workers' misfortunes?
77.Morales, Hidalgo, and Iturbide were all radicals in the independence movements. What else did they have in common?
78.When confronted with the choice of economic growth or environmental protection, what did all industrialized nation
choose?
79.What was the root cause of the Crimean War?
80.When Britain was unable to obtain enough tea to meet its demand and China did not import enough British goods, how
did the British respond?
81.Ironically, the British were the world's greatest slave traders and later became the most aggressive suppressers of the
slave trade.
82.How did the British EIC transform the Indian economy?
83.Who were the first British settlers in Australia?
84.Who demanded that Japan open its ports for refueling and trade?
85.How did leaders of Meiji Japan manage to remain free from Western imperialism?
86. Why did the British want to expand to southern Africa?
87.The side effect of the two benefits of colonial rule to Southeast Asia (peace and food) was a massive population
increase.
88. The early-twentieth-century system of alliances pitted the British, French, and Russians against whom?
89.How did the Communist Party of the Soviet Union plan to pay for industrialization?
90. During the 1920s, the British in India slowly gave Indians control over "national areas" such as education and the
economy.
91. South African governments used policies of racial segregation called….