Andrew Yang Period 7 PERSIAN Chart AP World History

POLITICAL Leaders, Elites State Structure War Diplomacy, Treaties Courts, Laws

Chapter 15: The West and Changing World Balance Decline of the Old Order In 1200, the Abbasid caliphates and the Byzantine Empire were still the primary political units in Eurasia, but they were fast in decline; by 1400, the Byzantine empire had been continuously attacked by invading bands of Ottoman Turks, and the Abbasid caliphate had been destroyed by Mongol invasions in the 1250s with the sack of Baghdad. The Ottoman Turks dealt the final blow to the Byzantines by conquering Constantinople in 1453. Arabs have never since the sack of Baghdad been able to successfully unite all of the Middle East and North Africa continuously under one ruler. Emergence of new political powers was underway. Reasons for decline of the Islamic World: 1. By 1300, religious leaders became a more potent force than poets, philosophers, and scientists. This marked a blow to the school of rational thought once championed by the caliphates. 2. Emphasis on secular themes gave way to strictly religious ideas. 3. Changes in agricultural and economic output gradually reduce the freedom of peasants from 1100 onwards, and this causes a drop in tax revenue 4. The reduced revenue gives European merchants a chance to gain ground and snatch control of trade routes from Muslim merchants (no Islamic coins have been found in Europe dating past 1100) 5. The Ottoman Turks re-conquered much of the old Abbasid territory, although they could not recover the greatness of the Abbasids and were only focused on conquest and state administration. 6. A power vacuum to see who vies for control of the sea trade begins: Chinese Thrust and Withdrawal: Zheng Hes Expeditions The new Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was more focused on developing and expanding into former Chinese spheres of control and controlling internal rather than external affairs. The Mongols were pushed north back into their homeland of Mongolia, and tribute was exacted once again from Korea, Vietnam, and even Tibet. Finally, at the turn of the 15th century, the Ming rulers decided to start an experiment: Zheng Hes Expeditions, 1405-1433: 1. With the worlds most impressive fleet of ships at the time, (2700 coastal vessels and 400 armed naval ships that the Europeans would have no match fighting against), in 1405 there were expeditions to India. 2. Later voyages allowed He to reach the Horn of Africa and the tip of the Middle East, bringing Chinese goods directly and not indirectly to African ports of trade. Nine great treasure chips explored the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea, establishing new trading contacts with each expedition. 3. Improved compasses and large cargo holds impressed and even frightened so many rulers situated in each port that He was able to exact tribute and so establish, for however briefly a period of time, one of the worlds first naval and trade based empires. With resentment from Confucian scholars, the expeditions were halted in 1433, ending a great opportunity for China. RISE OF THE WEST Awed by the splendor and power of the bureaucratic system of such empires as the Byzantines and its treasure city of Constantinople, Western Europe still sputtered along by the 14 th and 15th centuries. Once omnipotent, the Church began to face heavy criticism, especially through the schism between Protestants and Catholics. Recurrent famines, coupled with the devastation of the Black Plague, leveled Europes population by a third, killing at least 30 million people Strong monarchies started to be formed (except in England, where the concept of feudal monarchy had already been established a good 300 years before) in areas such as Spain and Portugal with Ferdinand and Isabella, and the Muslims and Jews were exterminated in the name of the Reconquista and est. of the Inquisition courts. Europeans would soon find ways to bypass the stranglehold of the Muslims on the lucrative spice trade. Beginnings of Western Expansion 1291 = attempted voyage by the Vivaldi brothers of Genoa to find a western route to the Indies, or

ECONOMIC Type of System Technology, Industry Trade, Commerce Capital/Money Types of Businesses

spice islands. By the middle of the 14th century, explorers reached the Canary Islands and Genoese explorers reached as far west as the Azores islands by 1351. Soon, Spanish ships were hugging the coast of western Africa With newly designed ships no longer dependent upon the oar but upon the sails and the wind, Europeans set out on their Age of Exploration in the 1400s, equipped also with better, although not perfect, maps. Colonialism Takes Shape 1. The Spanish and Portuguese take the initiative, and, under the direction of Prince Henry of Portugal and Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, sponsor expeditions to colonize and control the New World. 1439 = Portugal acquires the Azores Islands and Spain acquires the Canary Islands, bringing in, as usual, foreign fauna and flora that disrupt natural ecosystems and also bring disease to vulnerable native populations. 2. The slave trade begins to take shape between West Africa and Europe, as huge estates called plantations are set up. 3. An age of colonialism is set up, especially by the time explorers accidently reach North America. Meanwhile, developments in the periphery civilizations of Polynesia are taking shape through the developments of the Hawaiians and the Maori in New Zealand. The Aztecs and Incans begin a long and slow process of decline before the Spaniards cut their empires to pieces and indirectly slaughter all indigenous tribes through the deadly spreading of un-encountered diseases. Muslim and Indian Traders, along with Chinese exported goods that were often times more valuable than European exports of raw products, contributed to an unfavorable balance of trade in which the Wests gold reserves were at an all time low in 1400, threatening to topple the economic system in Europe. The discovery of sugar, cotton, and other cash crops allows for the development of huge plantations on colonized islands in the Atlantic (including the West Indies). This generates huge profits and causes the decline of the Silk Road spice trading route.

RELIGIOUS Holy Books Beliefs, Teaching Conversion Sin/Salvation Deities

Two opposite trends appeared in Europe and the Islamic world. While Europe threw off religious values and started to champion for the expansion of trade and the refinement of cultural learning with the European Renaissance, the Islamic world rendered scientific thought no longer valid and embraced religious ideas more readily, effectively diminishing their status in terms of scientific and cultural learning.

SOCIAL Family Gender Relations Social Classes Inequalities Life Styles

There is not much social change between the start and the end of the postclassical era, except that peasants are offered an opportunity to overthrow serfdom and proclaim themselves free under the leadership of feudal, and then absolute, monarchies in Europe.

INTELLECTUAL, ARTS Art, Music Writing, Literature Philosophy Math & Science Education

Beginning in 1400 and having a focal point in the city states of Italy (particularly Florence, Genoa, and Venice), the Renaissance, or rebirth, was started, becoming a major cultural and political movement that would help get Europe out of the dark and finally on the world stage. Art was focused more on the realistic portraying of the human figure, not on the heroic painting or sculpture of a religious icon. The school of Humanistic thought arrives, giving the idea that man is responsible for his own actions and that divine forces do not lay out a distinct path in life for him to follow. Italy leads the pack in terms of cultural innovation and artistic expression from the artists of Florence. Subject matter of art revolves less around religious depictions and more around nature and ordinary people, including cityscapes (led by Giottos realistic depiction of a fly that looked as real as if one could swat it). The concept of realistic

NEAR: GEOGRAPHY Location Physical Movement Human/Enviro nment Region

perspective art to give a more realistic 3 dimensional look to the scene depicted is utilized and pioneered by artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci. In terms of architectural design, favor shifts from Gothic styles to more classical looking Roman and Greek classical architectural styling. The drawback is that there is not real ambition in terms of scientific achievements. New navigation technologies such as the astrolabe and compass, as well as new innovations in ship building after 1430 allow Europeans to start their quest for exploration and conquest. The world increasingly begins to shrink by the end of the postclassical period, with the rise of European expansion and exploration into previously unknown New World lands filled with strange inhabitants.

NOTES: The end of the Postclassical period, with the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the previous sack of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258, was marked by the slow rise of the Western world (Western Europe) and the beginnings of tighter global connections as European explorers started in their quest to find an indirect route to India in order to bypass the Muslim stranglehold on the spice trade.