Monday, December 10, 2007

Lecture 20 - 20th Century

Terms

Appeasement - policy developed in the 1930s to try to diffuse crises using only peaceful means
The Manhattan Project - U.S. project to build atomic bomb during WWII 1942 (Oakridge, TN & Hanford)
Bretton Woods - agreement made at the end of WWII to reorder money supply, effectively made U.S. dollar the world reserve currency
United Nations - created during WWII 1945 and ratified shortly afterwards
Isolationism - movement to keep the U.S. out of world affairs, led to rise of Fascism and Nazism in Europe
Decolonization - 1947 England left India, 48 Burma, Sri Lanka, 1950-1980 all of African gained independence
Mao Tse-tung - Communist revolutionary leader of mainland China
Mikhail Gorbachev - Russian leader who transformed Soviet society in the 1980s
Cultural Revolution - Mao's experiment to reinvigorate and re-revolutionize Chinese society
N.A.T.O. - formed in 1949 by U.S. and European nations to protect them against Communist aggression
Senator Joseph MacCarthy - post-war paranoid of Communism

1937 - Japanese fighting in Shanghai, Manchuria (U.S. protested by eventually cutting off oil supply to Japan)
1938 - England and France tried to placate Hitler (misguided diplomacy)
1938 - Hitler dismembered Czechoslovakia, signed a treaty with Stalin and then attacked Poland
1940 - German broke through French defenses (German tanks had radios)
1940 - Battle of Britain, fought in the air
Winston Churchill led England
1941 - Hitler attacked Russia in the spring, by winter they had enormous supply difficulties, as they were far from home
Dec 7 - Japanese aircraft sank nearly entire Pacific fleet in Pearl Harbor
Jan 3, 1942 - U.S. surprised Japanese fleet on its way to Midway
1942 - German surrender in Stalingrad
Jul 16, 1945 - First test of bomb
Aug 6, 1945 - Hiroshima
Nagasaki 120,000 people killed outright in both attacks
Aug 14, 1945 - Surrender on USS Missouri

1944 - Bretton Woods created the IMF - purpose to avert currency crisis
1945 - Leagues of Nations dissolved, transferred to United Nations
Soviets refused to participate
Berlin blockade, Russians tried to keep resupply trucks out - U.S. organized airlift
May 1949 - Soviets lifted blockade
Apr 1949 - NATO treaty signed
1951 - Germany and France formed Iron and Coal community, evolve into common market

1961 - Julius Nyerere of Tanzania

Cold War - containment of Communism, nuclear arsenal

1952 - U.S. exploded first hydrogen bomb, Russia 1 year later, Britain in 1955

Communists and nationalists fought Chinese civil war, 1949 Mao became chairman

1945 - Korea divided in two
1950 - Communists invaded the south, American troops came to its aid, Japan was primary supply base

Post war was period of fairly rapid economic growth

1948 - Israel created by U.N.

1950s - 60s - Newly Industrials Countries, import substitution (Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong)

Latin American countries such as Mexico and Brazil were not as successful

1960s - American students protests Vietnam war
British - ban the bomb
French students - trying to overthrow government
Concerned about nuclear weapons, technology, environmental problems
Photos of Earth from space
Martin Luther King, Jr., NAACP to protest for freedom
Extrapolitical

African countries had exports that didn't bring in much in the way of earnings, therefore they couldn't get going economically or industrially

China - large population, 1949-1970s under Communist regime, since then has moved toward market economy, has a skilled merchant class which is networked internationally, set up special economic zones, invited foreign investment, allowed businesses to go back into private ownership, large amounts of environment devastation, have not yet privatized inefficient state enterprises

India - followed state led pattern after independence, but remained democracy, tremendous poverty, unbridled population growth, invited foreign investment, invested in education, ethnic tension

1961 - American advisers in Vietnam
1970 - U.S. strategic oil interests in Middle East
1973 - Withdrawal from Vietnam

1965-1976 - Mao tried to create egalitarian society "cultural revolution"

Economic regions -

20th century - greatest rate of inflation ever

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Maps of War

Maps of War has an awesome animated map of empires over the ages. As the title says, it's "5000 years of history in 90 seconds." Very cool. If you haven't looked at Maps of War, I highly recommend it.

This map of religious expansion is amazing as well.

Lecture 19 - First World War

Terms

Somme - one of the major offenses undertaken by the Allies against the Germans
Tannenberg - great battle won by Germany on the Eastern front, helped bring down Russian regime
Vladimir Lenin - leader of the Communist Russian revolution
Peter the Great - 18th century czar who sought to modernize Russia
Soviets - "committee" who rule much of Russia during the beginning of the revolution
League of Nations - suggested and created by President Woodrow Wilson to help resolve world conflicts, U.S. didn't join. World Health Organization also created
Fascists - group who believed in strong state control to restore order to society and the economy
Meiji - name taken by Japanese emporer in 1867/68 began creation of a modern industrialized Japan
Sunrise Industries - industries which will grow and create jobs in the future
Joseph Stalin - successor to Lenin in 20s/30s who transformed Soviet state at considerable expense
Zaibatsu - group of large Japanese firms, the managers who ran them, and the values that they shared
Adolph Hitler - leader of Nazi Germany in the 1930s & 40s
All Quiet on the Western Front - Novel by Erich Maria Remarque about the horrors of World War I

Artillery killed more soldiers than machine guns
Italy joined allies in 1915
Hemingway wrote A Farewell to Arms based on his experiences
600,000 French and British killed
400-500,000 Germans killed
2,000,000 Russian deaths

Canned food
Tank 1916
Airships
Airplanes
Poison gas
U-boot

U.S. brought into war 1917 - bankers had loaned millions to France and Britain, created boom economy in U.S., launched aircraft industry

Czar Nicholas II
Peter the Great 1689-1725 introduced Western technology
1861 - serfs liberated in Russia by Czar Alexander II
1866 - centralized bank created in Russia
1890s - expanded railways
French were active lenders to the Russians, concluded in defensive alliance
Coal mines, iron, oil - Russian industrial growth matched growth of other nations including the U.S.
1914 - Russia had passed through the first phase of industrialization
1917 - strikes and riots were frequent due to stress on food system
Lenin called for confiscation of all land by the peasants, called for withdrawal from war
1917 - Red Guard stormed the Czars palace
followed by civil war and great famine 1921-22

Germans pushed allies to withing 30 miles of Paris
German navy mutinied in 1918, Armistice followed
German economy devastated
New currency was issued 1 mark : 1 trillion old marks

Rockefeller - organized oil industry

U.S. immigration 1870-1900 population almost doubled
1920 - 2nd industrial revolution (automobiles on a mass scale)
Late 1920s - profits went to only about 5% of population
Farmers experienced depressed prices
1929 - stock market crash - global collapse
1933 - 1/3 American workers jobless, 6 million Germans out of work

Stalin d. 1953, replaced Lenin 1927 - launched collective of agriculture, began purging resistance, including those in his own party, killed more people than the Germans did

Benito Mussolini - fascists, used bullying tactics, fear of Communism
Adolf Hitler - appointed chancellor in 1933, removed all opposition, then purged his own party, restored economy, rearmed country, began expansion of Germany

Japanese industrialization - Takagawa was a feudal state (1600), centralized, dominated by powerful Shogun. Produced 250 years of peace and stability. Numerous trading towns and cities, internal commerce, cash crops, undermining traditional feudal structure. Created degree of disaffection in warrior class.

Admiral Perry - arrived in Japan in 1853, initial reaction was hostile
Japanese learned a lesson from the Chinese (overrun by the West)
1867 - Overthrow of Takagawa, restoration of emperor (Meiji restoration)
Many of the Meiji supporters were young (30) samurai and made clandestine trips to the west beforehand
Meiji were rational shoppers, taking what they thought were the best from each place they visited (U.S. education, British postal system)
Capital came from heavy taxes on peasants, this was a key to success
Zaibatsu - built roads, ships, banking, insurance, mining operations (reflected and extended traditional samurai values, sense of loyalty, patriotism) Mitsubishi was one.
Working conditions were harsh, similar to other industrialized countries

Emperor Meiji 1867-1912
Shintoism emphasized the unique nature of the Japanese people, fueled growing imperialism

Friday, November 30, 2007

The Transatlantic Slave Trade

This passed on from Jennifer B:

"I found another [site] that may be of some interest on the topic of Europeans and slavery. At: http://www.nps.gov/ethnography/aah/aaheritage/histContextsC.htm

This website talks about the particulars as to what people the West Africans chose to give to the Europeans as slaves (debtors, criminals, etc.) It's a fairly interesting read!"


Thanks, Jennifer!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Lecture 18 - The 19th century

Terms

Czar - Crown head of Russia
Nationalism - most important ideological force in the 19th century, networks of spies, censorship
Count Camillo Benso Cavour - creator of modern Italy, industrialist, advocated union of Northern Italy, allied with French against Austrians
Otto von Bismark - architect of modern Germany, chief minister of Prussia and Junker
Romanticism - reaction to rationalism and the industrialized world, centered in German universities, spread to France, England and U.S.
Communism - ideology created in 19th century
Louis Pasteur - French scientist d. 1895 helped silkworm growers and winemakers, immunization for rabies, milk pasteurization prevented spread of TB
Charles Darwin - architect of evolution, Origin of Species
Social Darwinism - suggested that society could be modeled after evolutionism
Sigmund Freud - founder of psychoanalysis, interpretation of dreams 1900
Albert Einstein - creator of relativity 1905 (1879-1955)
Sarajevo - place where WWI began 1914 - Archduke Ferdinand assassinated by Serbian terrorist

Conference of Vienna - 1815 sought to re-establish polities of Europe after the defeat of Napoleonic France in 1814 and the dissolution of the Holy Roman empire in 1806
Alexander I of Russia - abolished torture, allowed foreign books, liberation of one's own serfs
Metternich d. 1859 - worked to ensure confederation of German states did not allow Prussia to increase in power
Louis XVIII of France - granted limited constitution in 1814, moderate reformer

Guisippe Garibaldi - 1807-1887, leader of Red Shirts
1861 - Kingdom of Italy proclaimed
1862 - Creation of German empire
1863 - Bismarck supported Russians against Polish revolt
1866 - Prussian and Austria went to war. Prussia coordinated troop movements using telegraph and railroad
1870 - French declaration of war against Prussia
1871 - Napoleon III outmaneuvered by Bismarck
Wilhelm proclaimed emperor of Germany in Versailles

1840s - screw propellor
1850s - compound steam engine
1860s - steel hull
1880 - first refrigerated ship from Argentina to Europe

Britain was workshop of world, but challenged by German and U.S.

Frankenstein - attempt to create perfect human, which turned out to be abomination
1850s - more English lived in cities than countryside
Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and London grew substantially
Millions of people went the Americas, Australia, NZ, South Africa

Socialism - Marx and Engels formulated Communism
Victorian era - prudish age, benefits of technological order, railways extended, merchant marine grew greatly
Queen Victoria 1837-1901
Russian opened coal and iron fields in the south, borrowed from French to finance industrialization
U.S. growth after 1870 founded by Britain and Germany

Dr. Robert Cock - studied anthrax, later isolated cholera and tuberculosis, infectious diseases
Joseph Lister - clean hands and operating environment, preventive medicine

Nurses -
1839 - Swan developed cellular theory
Mendel - gene theory
Herbert Spenser - 1820-1903 social Darwinist
Thermodynamics, helium discovered, electricity, x-rays, Marconi's wireless telegraphy
Golden age of written word, new means of making paper brought price down
Tolstoy 1828-1910
Dostoyevesky
Dickens 1812-1870 wrote about ordinary people
Zola (France)
Science fiction was born - Jules Verne
Prussia established training schools for teachers, also had Universities
France had advanced schools as well, had Polytechnique

Mass culture developed - cafes, dancing, beer gardens, bathing at seashore, sporting events

1869 - Suez Canal opens - financed by French, English later took over
Khedive Ismail of Egypt deposed 1879
Decline of Ottoman Empire caused Russia and Germany to become rivals
France loaned money, entered into defensive alliance with Russia 1894, eventually included Britain

Bismarck resigned (pushed out) in 1894?

Francis Joseph of Austria - 1848-1916 wanted to punished Serbia, asked Germany for help
July 23, 1914 -
July 28 - Austria declared war on Serbia
Germany attempted to secure British neutrality
Lord Grey 1851-1917 - proposed European congress to deal with matter
Helmuth von Moltke 1848-1916 - privately encouraged Austria to wage war on Serbia
Wilhelm II 1859-1941 -

Lecture 17 - Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution

Terms

Patent Laws - Protects intellectual property
Turnip Townsend - Nickname of Lord Townsend, improver of agriculture
Coke of Holkham - Improver of agriculture in 18th century
Thomas Savery - Invented steam engine, used for pumping water out of mines
James Watt - Scotsman who perfected modern steam engine, 1769
The Terror - French Revolution - period when guillotine ruled (50,000 people executed)
Jacques Danton - Dynamic, moderate leader of French Revolution
Maximilien Robespierre - Took French Revolution to extremes, headed "committee of public safety"
Napoleon Bonaparte - Consolidated gains of French Revolution and used it for conquest
Nationalism - force of 19th century, resisted internationalism of revolution
John Wilkinson - Great iron master, propelled Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution - started in England in 1760 and spread to other parts of Europe
Expanded the economy while maintaining a hierarchical society (from status/nobility before to wealth/merit based afterwards - occupation prestige)
Cities and literacy were two of the important results.
England - was geographically secure island, in physical position to exploit Atlantic trade routes, had patent laws
Requirements - adequate transportation for goods, commercial climate to market/sell goods, agriculture must support those working in factories instead of fields, creative climate to allow entrepreneurs to flourish
Jethro Tull - invented the seed drill
Rotherham plow - used only two horses and one man
Estuaries were dredged to allow larger ships through
Turnpike act - allowed improvement of roads (tolls)
Postal systems
Canals - 1758 Duke of Bridgewater - canals covered Britain
Railways came along after 1829
Samuel Crompton's mule - combination of water frame and spinning jenny (1779)
First factories created at end of 18th century
Lafayette - Revolutionary leader of France who wanted moderate reforms
1792 - War declared with Austria and Prussia

Lecture 16 - Development of science in the west

Terms

Ptolemy - Ancient philosopher and geographer, Earth centered universe
Great Chain of Being - man, God, and Earth linked
Nicholas Copernicus - 16th Polish thinker - theorized sun at center of solar system
Johannes Kepler - mathematician, noted that planets in elliptical orbits, assistant to Brahe
Tycho Brahe - astronomer, well-known for his recorded observational data
Sir Francis Bacon - English lawyer and aristocrat - enunciated scientific method
Inductive Reasoning - the scientific method
Rene Descartes - French mathematician 17th century
Leibnitz - Originated calculus
Isaac Newton - Law of gravity
Deism - God was the first cause, then universe went on
Dialogue on the Two Chief world Systems - Work by Galileo, compared rival cosmological theories
The Enlightenment - Created climate of reason
John Locke - Philosopher, rejected political dogma, sought rational explanation for government, humans born with tabula rasa, denied divine right of kings
Toleration Patent - Issued by Emperor of Austria - Allowed toleration of minority religions
Galileo Galilei - Italian mathematician/astronomer, challenged authority of church, did not invent telescope, sketched mountains of the moon and sunspots

Lecture 15 - Early Modern Society

Terms

Tulip Mania - Early 17th century
Putting out System - economic system
Abraham Darby - Englishman who perfected iron smelting with coal
Thirty Years War - early 17th century (Protestants against Catholics)
Water Meadows - improvement allowing greater crop yield
Pogroms - violence against certain minorities (Jews and gypsies)
Protoindustrialization - change in society that directed people toward industrialization

Philip II of Spain - tried to restore old order, maintain Christendom
Poor, Protestant North; Rich, Catholic South
Elizabeth I - ruled England for latter half of 16th century
Big changes in agriculture, mining, and production
Population in Europe doubled from 1500 - 1600
People flocked to the cities, grew from 10% to 25% of total population
New crops in Europe (imported or grown) - sugar, rice, white potato, tobacco, coffee
Leisure was commercialized, books declined in price
Gutenberg's movable type
Peasants ate 3-5 lbs of bread per day
Price of food fell due to more efficient agriculture
Tin, lead, and copper were used extensively
Coal was extenstively mined - shortage of wood in some areas - gunpowder used to move rocks, tracked carts in mines developed
Significant inflation (300-400%)
11 million black Africans brought to America, easily identified, displaced native population
Unfamiliar with land, language and culture
Turned into field hands, recreated ancient agriculture not dependent on machines

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Lecture 14 - European expansion

Terms
  • The Bubonic Plague - arrived 1341 in Italy, in Spain, Paris, and England by 1348. Killed up to 35% of population. Killed people in 24 hours.
  • Christopher Columbus
  • Renaissance
  • Portolan Chart - careful maps of coastlines
  • Henry the Navigator - King of Portugal
  • Empire of Mali
  • Mansa Musa - greatest king of Empire of Mali
  • Great Zimbabwe - East African kingdom
  • Ferdinand Magellan - Spanish explorer
  • Potosi - Peruvian silver
  • Cog - type of sailing vessel
  • Carrack - sailing vessel (Santa Maria example)
  • These were different than any previous empires, because they were seaborne. Driven by religion, greed for gold, and glory.

Roman art showing at Seattle museum

There is a cool exhibit coming to the Seattle Art Museum. It's Roman art from the Louvre, and it should be a neat way to get a hands-on feel for what we've been learning in class.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Lecture 13 - China: The Mings and Beyond

Terms

Ming Dynasty - the first dynasty to return China to the Chinese
Ch'eng Tsu - powerful Chinese emperor who carried arms to new parts of the world
Chu Hsi - unorthodox thinker who tried to overthrow the Confucian orthodoxy, experience should be the test of truth
Dalai Lama - spiritual leader of Tibet who resisted Chinese incursion
Academy of Letters - Ming intellectual establishment who codified learning, led reaction against all things foreign
Manchu - dynasty which replaced the Ming and carried on into 20th century
Kowtow - part of the elaborate court ceremony under the Ming

Ming Dynasty - 1368-1644, looked back on Tan dynasty as ideal
Hung-wu - first emperor was a renegade monk
1403 - Zhu Di began his reign by killing his nephew, for whom he was regent, in a fire
1405-1433 Chinese armadas sailed all the way to Hormuz
1371-1433 Cheng Ho, court eunuch who led expedition
19 different states agreed to pay annual tribute to China (Mecca included)

5 expeditions into Gobi Desert to pursue the Mongols
Treaties with border tribes encouraging them to fight Mongols

Kowtow - involved kneeling 3 times, touching head to ground 9 times, presenting gifts to emperor

1449 - Expedition against Mongols - Emperor was captured and later released
1470-1550 - Renewed conflict with Mongols, overran Great Wall in 1550
1571 - signed peace treaty with Chinese

Chinese and Japanese pirates - locals burned everything prior to raids to make them less profitable
3rd commercial revolution - opened land that had been abandoned during Mongol rule
Rice crop twice a year
Population grew rapidly
Progress in porcelain, silk weaving
Money supply increased with silver from Spanish, increased price of land
Adopted the putting out system - people worked in homes to turn raw materials into finished goods
Private banks began to appear

Late Imperial China - emporer and empire were direct extensions of the family
Confucius, Buddha, and Laozi
Matteo Ricci - 1552-1610 Jesuit priest dispatched to China, brought Christianity back to China, rejected Buddhism but accepted Confucianism

jinshi - doctoral degree, issued honor roll

1715, 1742 Papacy issue bulls that forbade Chinese-Christian participation in ancestor worship
Ming and late Manchu policy segregated foreigners
Manchus entered to help restore order, then seized power, remained in power until 1912
Kangxi - first Qing emperor
P'u-i - last emperor in 1909
Dalai Lama - lama of all withing the seas
1700s - continued invasion and rebellion in Tibet
Great Wall - repaired by the Ming 1403-1435

Lecture 12 - Africa

Terms

Kingdom of Kush - African kingdom post empire period of ancient Egypt
Axum - one of the earliest Christian kingdoms
Camel - dromedary, helped open up Mediterranean to African trade
Kingdom of Ghana - early medieval kingdom in west Africa
Empire of Mali - succeeded Ghana and dominated west Africa in the gold trade
King Ezana - king of Axum who converted to Christianity
Mansa Musa - Muslim African emperor
Great Zimbabwe - SE African kingdom, involved in gold trade and agriculture

Sahara desert dominates the north - barrier to trade
2nd largest continent, nearly 3 times as large as U.S.

Lecture 11 - Medieval Growth and the Renaissance

Terms

Cluny - a new monastery created in the 10th century which revitalized the Church, founded by William the Pious in 909 in Burgundy (built a church from 1080-1225)
Cistercian - another new order of monks which helped revitalize the Church and also created new wealth in Europe, founded 1098, white habits, strict interpretation of Benedict, located in wilderness
Gothic Arch - a new way of building which created huge and dramatic structures, will bear more weight
Dominicans - a new order of monks who lived outside the monastery, St. Dominic 1170-1221, use preaching and reason, lived according to rule of Benedict but in the world, became a teaching order
Friars - Dominican monks
Franciscans - a new order of monks which influenced young people across Europe, St. Francis, recovered from illness and gave up all worldly wealth, 1223 founded new order, lived among people, accepted life of poverty, founded universities
Crusade - an attempt to channel Europeans violence to a Christian ideal
Flanders - the area of modern Holland and Belgium which developed an urban culture
Venice - the greatest city of medieval Europe
Doge - the leader of Venice
Florence - a great Italian city state and rival of Venice
Countess Matilda - founder and inspiration for Florence
Guild - structure of business, commerce and manufacturing governing body, ensured materials and prices were approved and work was up to standard
Bruges and Ghent - 2 major cities in Flanders
Hanseatic League - North German league of cities devoted to commerce (1344)
The Hundred Years War - war between England and France (1340-1453) Edward III traded insults with king of France, mercenaries fought for England, the longbow was used by English, 1346 & 1356 & 1415 (Agincourt) English destroyed French heavy cavalry
Parliament - representative body in England which grew during the period, enhanced because kings needed to pay for mercenaries
Estates-General - representative body in France (1302) provided revenues to the crown, insisted on collecting taxes itself
John Hus - religious reformer in Central Europe (Bohemia), burned as a heretic
Joan of Arc - savior of France, led army toward relief of Orleans, captured and ransomed to the English - burned as a heretic (1430)
John Wycliffe - religious reformer in England d. 1384, his bones were burned for heresy
Bubonic Plague - European disease in the 14th century
Renaissance - rebirth of classical culture in Europe

Pope Gregory VII (ruled 1073-1085) spent time a Cluny before he became pope, introduced sweeping reforms in the Church
Papal bulls - letters send from the pope to all churhmen
Chancel - location of high altar
Transept - important local families
Nave - body where strangers and lay brotherhood (illiterate) gathered to worship
St. Bernard of Clairvaux d. 1153 - Cistercian monk who found monastery at Clarivaux
Mont St. Michel - monastery in Normandy 12th and 13th c.
Flying buttress - allowed buildings to be even taller

Astrolabe and abacus obtained from Muslims
Astronomy, physics, geography
Henry IV - Holy Roman Emperor excommunicated by Gregory the VII in 1076. 1077 Henry IV absolved by Pope.
Innocent III - most powerful of all medieval popes 1198-1216
Council of Clairmont 1095 - Pope Urban II proclaimed the 1st Crusade
Godfrey of Bouillon - leader of 1st crusade
Krak des Chevaliers - crusader castle in Palestine
Northern Italy, Flanders, Northern Germany - spawned an urban culture
Arrival of Mongols amongst Muslims distracted them and allowed Italian merchants to gain an upper hand, able to intrude into the Eastern Mediterranean
San Marco - Venetian cathedral created in 1043, marks time of greatness
1210 - Venetian fortress established on Crete
1244 - Venice traded up into Black Sea
Venice issued gold coin (ducat)
1252 - Florence issued gold coin (florin)
Bruges - founded in 9th century - imported raw wool and wove it into cloth, harvested herring
Ghent - founded in 10th century as a fortress, weavers and dyers
Growing commercial system challenged feudalism and its agricultural base
13th c. onward - monarchs forged alliances with towns
1346 - English using the cannon
1302 - Papal bull urging a single faith
1303 - French troops killed the pope
Clement the 5th moved the papacy to Avignon
In 1409, council deposed both popes (schism)
1417 - Martin V elected pope to heal rift

Lecture 10 - The Rise of Islam

Key Terms:

Muhammad - the prophet and founder, born outside of Mecca
Islam - religion founded by Muhammad, means "submission to God"
Ummah - people of the religion, "people of the scriptures"
Hajj - pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims are encouraged to make at least once
Ka'ba - sacred site
Shahada - fundamental creedal statement, no god but God and Muhammad is his messenger
Zakat - tax imposed on faithful "purification" to help the poor
Fasting during Ramadan - lunar month, no food or drink during daylight hours
The Jihad - pillar of Islam (struggle or exertion in God's service)
Ulema - judges
Diwan - order of precedence of the converted
Shi'a - Believe Ali was the true successor of Muhammad
Sunni - Followers of the tradition, strict Koran principles, egalitarian and moralistic
Caliph - theological and secular ruler of the faith, ruled until 1920s
Turks - converted to Islam and dominated Near East
Sultan - title taken by Turkish leaders
Saladin - leader who resisted crusaders, established hegemony over Syria and Egypt
Ottoman Empire - empire founded by Turks
Suleyman the Magnificent - greatest of the Ottoman sultans, 1520-1556
Lepanto - naval action led by Spanish in Eastern Mediterranean and lost by Ottoman Empire, marked beginning of its decline in late 16th century
Mughal Empire - Indian empire of the Ottomans, founded by descendants of Tamerlane
Aurangzeb - greatest of Mughal emperors 1658 - 1707, extended empire to its greatest limits, tried to stop drug trade, gambling, and prostitution. Fought against Hindu zealot rebels

Qur'an - recitings of angel Gabriel, social and religious maxims, strict monotheism
Muhammad - 570-632 born in Higaz outside Mecca
Slavery and polygamy allowed
Care of poor was fundamental
Salat - formal prayer 5 times a day, in the direction of Mecca
Immam - religious leaders
Dome of the Rock - built in 7th century - Muhammad departed from heaven from here
716-18 - siege of Constantinople
732 - Muslims defeated at Tours
1095 - Pope Urban preached the first crusade
1099 - Crusaders took Jerusalem

Mongols used terror to frighten their Islamic enemies
Caliph surrendered Baghdad to Mongols in 1258
Astrolabe - used to determine latitude
Tamerlane - 1336 - 1405, Turkic ruler
Mehmet II - cut off European reinforcements from Byzantium, overran city which became Istanbul
Ottomans used the talents of all their subjects, balanced one faction against another, accepted Western military technology
Savavids - Empire
Nader Shah - modernized the Persian army, introduced Sunni advisers, drove Ottomans back
Babur - ruled Mughal Empire in India
Akbar - Mughal Empire reached its peak 1556 - 1605, developed an efficient bureaucracy, coinage, taxes and governors. His son had a Jesuit tutor. Married a Hindu princess, revoked pilgrimage tax
Fatehpur - Akbar's city, abandoned due to lack of water.
Jahangir - annexed Bengal (Bangladesh), built Taj Mahal as tomb for his favorite wife

Lecture 9 - Medieval Technology

Thorp, Washington water-powered mill tour

Terms

Watermill - improved in the Middle Ages
Windmill - invented in the Middle Ages (popular in England and Low Countries)
Manorialism - economic system adopted in Middle Ages
Feudalism - dominant social system during Middle Ages, hierarchy of knights and lords
Latifundia - Ancient estates tranformed into manors
Serfs - peasants tied to the soil, lived on manors
Regular Clergy - in monastery
Secular Clergy - looked after ordinary people in the parishes, peasants appointed to position by nobility
Advowson - the right to present a priest to a living
Subinfeudation - the tendency for more and more individuals to take land (like sub-leasing, but with feudalism)
Vassal - servant
Fireplace - medieval invention
Charlemagne - greatest of early medieval Frankish kings
Alcuin - Anglo Saxon scholar, worked to correct texts, ran school for clergy
Holy Roman Empire - created by Charlemagne
Mouldboard Plow - more efficient plow that became important from 8th century onwards
Magyars - 9th and 10th century invaders into eastern Europe from steppes
Mulsims - Islam challenged Christianity in Europe, attacked Italy and Spain
Vikings - invaders from the north, wrote sagas, settled in Normandy, Dublin, Iceland, and Sicily, gradually Christianized after 1000 CE

Three groups in society - monk, knight and peasant
Iconoclasts - destroyed eastern icons/images
Grindstone - 9th century invention
Motte and bailey - typical construction technique for medieval castles
Treaty of Verdun - split Frankish Empire into what became modern Germany and France
Thomas Aquinas - Spanish monk, worked in Paris, brought back Aristotle
Roger Bacon - English Franciscan monk & mathematician
Spectacles - invented in 13th century Italy

Lecture 8 - The Han and Ch'in Dynasties

Terms

The Ch'in - dynasty which unified China
Han Dynasty - expanded China to its greatest extent
Conspicuous Consumption - practiced in west but not in east
Grand Canal - great public works of Chinese emperors
The Sui - 6th century dynasty which reunified China
Tang Tai Tsung - 1st of Tang emperors leading to greatness
Li Po - Tang poet who loved wine and women
Sung Dynasty - height of Chinese power before Mongol conquest
Chu Hsi - Confucian thinker who reconciled with Buddhist tradition
Genghis Khan - Mongol who conquered China in 13th century
Chagatai - Central Asian Mongol state (remained nomadic)
The Golden Horde - Southern Russian Mongol state (from lower Volga)
Persia - Mongol state
China - Mongol state
Yuan - Dynastic name taken by Mongols (Khubilai Khan)

Lecture 7 - From Ancient to Medieval - 200-500 C.E.

Terms

Cult of Mithras - eastern mystery religion that arrived in Rome about the same time as Christianity
Essenes - religious group in Palestine
Dead Sea Scrolls - ancient manuscripts
Diaspora - scattering of Jewish people by Romans
Paul of Tarsus - apostle who brought Christianity to gentiles
Peter - disciple chosen by Jesus to head the church
Clovis - king of Franks who converted
Gregory I - 1st great medieval pope
Rule of St. Benedict - govern behaviour of monks
Council of Nicea - called by Constantine to define Christianity
Arius of Alexander - views differed from others who taught Christianity
Vulgate - 1st Latin bible
St. Augustine of Hippo - early philosopher and bishop
Monasticism - havens for practitioners of Christianity
Papacy - center of Christianity in west

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Lecture 6 - Octavian Settlement and the Empire

Terms

Caesar Augustus - title taken by Octavian to indicate a new rank in Roman society
Pontifex Maximus - chief priest of Rome
Imperator - another title taken by Octavian
Donatives - money gifts given by emperors to army and Roman people to secure loyalty
Pliny - Roman scientist and writer
Galen - Hellenized Roman who wrote standard medical texts
Parthian Empire - resuscitated empire in the east which challenged Roman power
Publius Septimius Severus - emperor who understood that power came exclusively from the army
Constantine - emperor who reunited the empire and officially recognized Christianity
Constantinople (Byzantium) - new capital city which Constantine created in the east
Adrianople - place of battle where Romans lost to barbarians
Latifundia - great estates of the rich Romans

Lecture 5 - Growth of the Roman Empire

Terms

Imperium - the power exercised by elected officials of Rome
Senate - the advisory body to which aristocrats were appointed
Patricians - the Roman name for aristocrats
Plebians - the ordinary people of Rome
Dictator - an individual who was nominated to have absolute power to deal with crises
Legions - an organization of the Roman army
Manipules - the legion, broken down into groups of 60 and 120
Punic War - the long struggle between Rome and Carthage
Hannibal - the general who led the Carthaginian army
Proletariat - the group of Romans who had no land
Gaius Marius - consul of Rome who led the soldiers to victory
Pompey - Roman general who vied for power in Rome
Gaius Julius Caesar - invaded Gaul and seized Rome
Octavian - Nephew of Gaius Julius who established Roman empire

Lecture 4 - Origin of Great Religions

Terms

Judaism - one of the most influential religions which originated in the ancient world
Isaiah - Jewish prophet who revolutionized the outlook of the religion
Hinduism - dominant religion on the Indian subcontinent
Upanishads - sacred texts which further defined Hinduism
Samsara - cycle of rebirth
Jains - sect of Hinduism
Karma - good deeds which helped one attain a better position in the cycle of reincarnation
Gautama - the Buddha, born in India
K'ung Fu'tzu - Confucius, originated dominant philosophy for China
Taoism - Rival Chinese philosophy
Lao-tzu - wrote Tao Te Ching
Legalism - 3rd school of Chinese philosophy
Greek rationalism - philosophical outlook developed in Greece

Great religions have originated in an area bounded by the Mediterranean in the west and the Ganges in the east.
Philosophies in the extreme edges, major religions in the middle.
Many of these philosophies originated around 500 BCE. Commerce was on the rise.

Buddhism migrated to China, then Korea and Japan. Started as a philosophy and changed to a religion.

4 Noble Truths of Buddhism:
  • All life is suffering.
  • Suffering comes from desiring
  • Cessation of desire ends suffering
  • The path to this involves 8 elements: right understanding, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration
Thales - Greek who developed a rational philosophy, used logic
Democrates - argued that everything was made of invisible particles called atoms
Socrates - interested in ethical and moral issues
Plato - Socrates' pupil
Aristotle - born in 384 BCE, elements were air, fire, water, earth.
Euclid - published elements of geometry
Hippocrates - believed in natural causes for diseases

Process of conversion - 1) through voluntary association 2) political, economic or social pressure 3) assimilation

By 500 BCE, people were trapped inside civilization - religion provided comfort and explanation to those who could no longer escape it

Lecture 3 - Preindustrial culture

Terms

Nucleated Family - parents and children as a discreet social and economic unit
Bronze Age - the first major metal used by civilization until iron was introduced around 1600 BCE
Ctesibus - ancient inventor who produced a clock
Hero - inventor who produced a steam engine
Water Clock - invented by Ctesibus
Alter Steam Engine - use of an engine to do work

Lecture 2 - Greek Culture

Terms

Mycenaean - period in Greek history which covers the Bronze Age
Phalanx - military formation used by the Greeks
Hoplite - a Greek warrior
Sparta - a superpower amongst Greek cities
Athens - a Greek superpower and commercial entrepot
Polis - Greek for 'city'
Delian League - commercial league and then empire formed by Athens
Pericles - ruler of Athens in the Golden Age
Peloponnesian Wars - destructive wars between Sparta and Athens
Philip of Macedonia - king who sought to extend his rule to all of Greece
Alexander the Great - son of Philip who attempted to conquer the Persian Empire
Hellenistic World - extended Greek world resulting from Alexander's conquest
Museum - largest library in the ancient world, located in Alexandria

Lecture 1 - Early Civilization

Terms

Neolithic - transition period to civilization "new stone age"
Tigris / Euphrates - river valley near east where civilization first appeared
Sumer - first civilization in the world
Epic of Gilgamesh - poem which informs us of Sumerian life and values
Hammurabi's code - first written laws
Diffusion - transmission of technology and culture from one people to another
Egypt - Nile-base civilization
Harappa and Mohenjo-daro - NW Indian civilization in the Punjab
Shang - Earliest historical period in China
Zhou - Overthrew and followed the Shang period
Olmec - Early civilization of new world
Maya - Eastern Mexico civilization

Cuneiform - first form of writing, started in Sumer
Civilization - high density strategy by humankind to allow more people to live in a area, wrest control from natural world and allow domination of humanity
Hunter-gatherers cannot store food, they cannot concentrate in large numbers

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Water and Civilization: Current Events

If you are from Oregon or Washington, you need to watch "Source to Sea: The Columbia River Swim." Interestingly, this movie parallels some of the points we touched on in last week's discussion on water and civilization.

It's a documentary about Chris Swain, who swam from Canal Flats, BC all the way to the mouth of the Columbia. If you live in one of the communities near the river (Kettle Falls, Wenatchee, Pendleton, The Dalles, Portland), you may see someone you know, and you will certainly see familiar scenery.

I learned a bunch of history I didn't know about the river, in addition to big concerns about water quality. For example, did you know that Richland gets its drinking water from the river? Hanford has one of the most pristine stretches of the river, but it is also the most contaminated.

If you live in the Seattle area, the King County Library has it, and it is also showing at film festivals in places such as Ellensberg. See if your locally library has it, and please share what you learn.

The Columbia is important to all of us in the Northwest.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Graham Haslam - DVD lecturer

In my DVD lectures for this course, I noticed that Dr. Haslam has a noticeable accent (to my Oregon ears anyway) when pronouncing the letter a in words like afterlife. So I got to digging and found that he moved from Britain to the U.S. with his parents when he was five.

He later met Prince Charles and then spent 17 years as the Duchy of Cornwall's archivist. Interesting stuff.

To read more, go here: http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Haslam_Graham_116688560.aspx.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Great Courses Lectures on CD

I've been looking at the Great Courses lecture series from The Teaching Company for quite some time and finally found some great titles at the King County Library.

I'm currently listening to Great Battles of the Ancient World with Professor Garrett Fagan of Penn State. Really interesting stuff with great perspectives. If you have a KCLS library card, check out their selection.

The library also has over 100 video lectures in the series on DVD. I prefer the audio version though; I can listen to them on my bus commute.