Big History Unit 8 - Expansion

Why did many leaders in agrarian societies choose conquest to pay their expenses rather than try to raise money in lands they already controlled?

• There are limits on how many resources could be extracted from the land through agriculture or from the people through taxation.

• Most agrarian societies funneled the vast majority of their resources to a well-trained army, with which they conquered neighboring states.

• Conquering neighboring states was easier and required less time and effort.

• Conquest was much less costly to agrarian societies than attempts to raise money through lands already controlled.

Answer explanation

Agrarian societies quickly exhausted the resources available to them from the land they controlled. Also, taxing your people too much could lead to rebellions so leaders often had to look elsewhere for resources.

Why did some very large empires begin to decline and fall after they had taken over large expanses of land?

• They had grown so large that it was difficult to maintain control over such a large area of land and people.

• Rival powers became threatened by their power and raged extensive wars against large empires.

• There were a number of meteor showers that destroyed these areas and they were never able to recover.

• They ran out of land to farm so they could no longer feed their many subjects.

Answer explanation

Large empires needed a lot of money, military, and defensive fortifications to protect their borders, which made them vulnerable to unrest among the citizens and easy targets for outside invaders.

What advantages did the Afro-Eurasian world zone have over the other world zones?

• It was the most tropical in its climate and thus had the longest growing season available to agrarian societies.

• The Afro-Eurasian world zone was the least populated of the world zones and therefore had the most land available for expansion of agrarian societies.

• It was the most secluded from the other world zones and thus less vulnerable to disease.

• It covered a larger area and had more grains for food, better animals for transportation, and had been occupied longer than any other zone.

Answer explanation

The extra time humans living in Afro-Eurasia had to form networks and accelerate collective learning was a big bonus when it came to empire building and innovative thinking.

Which of the following illustrated the direct role the rest of the world played in Britain’s industrialization and the power of collective learning in driving the Industrial Revolution?

• The new foods that were brought over from the Americas

• The use of Hindu and Islamic mathematics in steam engine design

• The application of Enlightenment ideas in colonial states

• The use of British coal in powering railroads across the world

Answer explanation

Scientific advancements came from all over the world, and the Industrial Revolution wouldn't have happened without a globalized knowledge system.

Which of the following was NOT a reason the Afro-Eurasian world zone had an edge over the other world zones?

• Technological advancements created in the Afro-Eurasian world gave them an edge over others.

• Larger populations in Afro-Eurasia meant that collective learning increased more rapidly.

• The lack of work animals such as horses and camels meant that the Afro-Eurasians had to innovate in order to advance.

• Immunity to diseases gave Afro-Eurasians an advantage over people in other world zones once interaction between these areas increased

Answer explanation

Afro-Eurasians actually did have horses and camels and indeed brought them to the other world zones.

What did the Roman, Persian, and Mongol empires collectively illustrate despite reaching their heights during different periods of human history?

• The need for a common religion across an empire

• The tendency of empires to expand

• The role of natural disaster in the fall of empires

• The importance of a common language among subjects

Answer explanation

This expansion was usually followed by an eventual decline and collapse of the empire not long after reaching its peak size.

Why do states throughout history tend to expand over time?

• People want to join states.

• It justifies the place of the military.

• Leaders always desire more territory to rule.

• Maintaining a state is expensive.

Answer explanation

Growing populations required investments in infrastructure, government and military, and states could only improve the productivity of their land so much.

What role did the outposts and border regions of empires serve?

• They were centers of commercial and technological innovation.

• They housed the empire’s military.

• They were cultural and religious centers.

• They helped easily define the edges of empires.

Answer explanation

They connected diverse groups across empires and formed non-military networks that accelerated collective learning.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe and North Africa split into a collection of small competitive states. What did the creation of these smaller states lead to?

• A decline in trade and exchange

• An increase in collective learning

• A decline in religious believers

• A rise in conflict and warfare

Answer explanation

An increase in commerce and the exchange of ideas between these states led to the flourishing of trade cities and eventual strengthening of networks.

After the four world zones connected, the increased exchange of ideas and rate of collective learning resulted in a critical breakthrough. What was this breakthrough?

• The emergence of megacities

• The Columbian Exchange

• The rise of renewable energy

• The Industrial Revolution

Answer explanation

Many different ideas from many different parts of the world came together to spark the Industrial Revolution in Europe.