Units 1&2 (1200-1450)
The dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants (serfs) were obliged to live on their lord's land and give him homage, labour, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection.
What is feudalism?
This was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the New World (the Americas) in the Western Hemisphere, and the Old World (Afro-Eurasia) in the Eastern Hemisphere, from the late 15th century on. Some of the exchanges were deliberate while others were unintended. Communicable diseases of Old World origin resulted in an 80 to 95 percent reduction in the Indigenous population of the Americas from the 15th century onwards, and their near extinction in the Caribbean.
What is the Columbian Exchange?
The Communist Manifesto is a political pamphlet written by these two figures. It was commissioned by the Communist League and published in London in 1848. The text represents the first and most systematic attempt by the two founders of scientific socialism to codify for wide consumption the historical materialist idea, namely, that "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles", in which social classes are defined by the relationship of people to the means of production.
Who are Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels?
This man's administration was characterised by systematic brutality and atrocities in the Congo Free State, including forced labour, torture, murder, kidnapping, and the amputation of the hands of men, women, and children when the quota of rubber was not met. In one of the first uses of the term, George Washington Williams described the practices of the administration of the Congo Free State as "crimes against humanity" in 1890.
Who is King Leopold II of Belgium?
This man was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republic of China (ROC) and its first political party, the Kuomintang (KMT). As the paramount leader of the 1911 Revolution, he is credited with overthrowing the Qing dynasty and served as the first president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1912) and as the inaugural premier of the Kuomintang.
Who is Sun Yat-sen?
This empire emerged from the unification of several nomadic tribes under the leadership of Temüjin, known by the title of Genghis Khan
What is the Mongol Empire?
This man was a Portuguese prince and a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15th-century European maritime exploration. Through his administrative direction, he is regarded as the main initiator of what would be known as the Age of Discovery.
Who is Prince Henry the Navigator?
This man was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, he first fought and allied with Spanish forces against Saint-Domingue Royalists, then joined with Republican France, becoming Governor-General-for-life of Saint-Domingue, and lastly fought against Bonaparte's republican troops. As a revolutionary leader, he displayed military and political acumen that helped transform the fledgling slave rebellion into a revolutionary movement. Along with Jean-Jacques Dessalines, he is now known as one of the "Fathers of Haiti".
Who is Toussaint L'Ouverture?
This man was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule. He inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā (from Sanskrit, meaning great-souled, or venerable), first applied to him in South Africa in 1914, is used worldwide.
Who is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi?
This was a secret diplomatic communication issued from the German Foreign Office on January 17, 1917, that proposed a military contract between the German Empire and Mexico if the United States entered World War I against Germany. With Germany's aid, Mexico would recover Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. It was intercepted by British intelligence.
What is the Zimmermann Telegram?
This man was a Chinese explorer, admiral, diplomat, and eunuch from the early Ming dynasty, who is often regarded as the greatest admiral in Chinese history. Born into a Muslim family as Ma He, he later adopted a new surname conferred on him by the Yongle Emperor.
Who is Zheng He?
This man, also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. He reigned officially from 1735 until his abdication and retired in 1796, but retained ultimate power subsequently until his death in 1799, making him one of history's longest-reigning and longest-lived monarchs.
Who is Qianlong Emperor?
This man was a United States Navy officer who commanded ships in several wars, including the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War. He led an expedition that ended Japan's isolationism and signed the Convention of Kanagawa between Japan and the United States in 1854.
Who is Commodore Matthew C. Perry?
This was the peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839–1842) between Great Britain and the Qing dynasty of China on 29 August 1842. It was the first of what the Chinese later termed the "unequal treaties."
This was established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, entered into force on 28 June 1919. Two governing principles formed the core, being non-annexation of the territory and its administration as a "sacred trust of civilisation" to develop the territory for the benefit of its native people.
What is the Mandate System?
This was the largest and most influential urban settlement of the Mississippian culture, which developed advanced societies across much of what is now the Central and the Southeastern United States, beginning around 1000 CE.
This man was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
Who is Francisco Pizarro?
This man was the Ottoman Albanian viceroy and governor who became the de facto ruler of Egypt from 1805 to 1848, widely considered the founder of modern Egypt. At the height of his rule in 1840, he controlled Egypt, Sudan, Hejaz, the Levant, Crete and parts of Greece and transformed Cairo from a mere Ottoman provincial capital to the center of an expansive empire.
This was a form of labour recruitment and organisation in parts of Southeast Asia under British colonial rule, generally in operation from the early 19th century until the early 20th century, specifically the areas now known as Myanmar, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. It was similar to indentured servitude and both were in operation during the same period, with the kangani system becoming more popular from late 19th century onward.
What is the Kangani System?
In October 1942 Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery, commander of Eighth Army, opened his offensive against the Axis forces. In a 13-day battle the Axis Panzerarmee Afrika was crushed and forced to retreat from Egypt and Libya to the borders of Tunisia. The Allied victory was the beginning of the end of the Western Desert Campaign.
What is the Battle of El Alamein?
This woman was an English Catholic mystic. Her book chronicles her domestic tribulations, her extensive pilgrimages to holy sites in Europe and the Holy Land, as well as her mystical conversations with God. She is honoured in the Anglican Communion, but has not been canonised as a Catholic saint.
Who is Margery Kempe?
This was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled by the dynasty of its name from 1501 to 1736, albeit others place the end on the year 1722, when Isfahan fell to the Afghans. It is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The emperor Ismail I established Twelver Shi'ism as the official religion of the empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam.
What is the Safavid Empire?
This man was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", he instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms. His disbandment of the conservative Janissary Corps removed a major obstacle to his and his successors' reforms in the Empire, creating the foundations of the subsequent Tanzimat era. His reign was also marked by further Ottoman military defeats and loss of territory as a result of nationalist uprisings and European intervention.
Opened in 1852, this prison was notorious both for the staff's harsh treatment of prisoners and the tropical climate and diseases that contributed to high mortality, with a death rate of 75 percent at its worst. It was also notorious for being used for the exile of French political prisoners, with the most famous being Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who had been wrongly accused of spying for Imperial Germany during the late 19th- and early 20th-century.
What is Devil's Island?
This man was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 until his overthrow in 2000. He played a major role in the Yugoslav Wars and became the first sitting head of state charged with war crimes.
Who is Slobodan Milošević?