Revolutions break out in France, Latin America, Haiti, etc. - inspired by the Enlightenment

Apartheid is practiced (and eventually outlawed) in South Africa; provided for the legal separation of races in SA; caused socioeconomic inequalities

Aztec and Inca Empires are dominant in the Western Hemisphere

Berlin Conference leads to the "Scramble for Africa" by European nations - "Age of Imperialism"

Qing Dynasty (last one in China) falls --> Chinese Revolution --> Chinese Civil War --> Communist gov't established in China led by Mao

Collapse of the Aztec and Inca Empires due (at least in part) to internal struggles but especially arrival of Spanish conquistadors

Congress of Vienna meets to discuss a post-Napoleon Europe

Constitutional monarchies become more dominant in places like Europe as the Enlightenment hurts the argument for absolute monarchies being legitimate (i.e. undermines divine right concept)

Western Europe forms into regional city-states after the fall of the (Western) Roman Empire; starts this period in weaker place but "catches up" to rest of Eastern Hemisphere by the end of this period

Decolonization is successful in Africa and Asia; happens through violent and nonviolent means

Women's suffrage movement is successful in many Western countries; 19th Amendment is signed in the U.S.

Joint-stock companies develop and become dominant powers in the Indian Ocean region in terms of controlling trade; examples of these include the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company

The Enlightenment develops, challenging existing political, social, and economic norms

European nations established colonial empires in the Americas

Feudalism ended in Western Europe due to the impacts of the Black Plague

Mali was a dominant kingdom in West Africa that benefited from the Trans-Saharan trade routes

The world feels "closer" now due to globalization; also see the "Americanization" of culture

The Mongols build a large land-based empire in Eurasia

The Abbasid Caliphate is ruled "behind the scenes" by the Seljuk Turks and is conquered by the Mongols

The Ming Dynasty in China and the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan choose isolationism as their foreign policy

The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires expand due to their use of gunpowder technology/weapons

Kievan Rus and the Song Dynasty are conquered by the Mongols

European governments choose between liberalism (pro-Enlightenment/democracy) and conservatism at the Congress of Vienna (pro-monarchy/status quo)

There is a loss in faith in democracies in nations like Italy and Germany due to the impacts of the global economic depression, WWI, etc.

Capitalism becomes the dominant economic system but communism emerges as a response to it

Mercantilism is the dominant economic system; benefits "mother countries" and hurts colonies

Meiji Restoration happens in Japan to rapidly industrialize and modernize the nation

The Mughal Empire declines due to the increased presence/advantages of the British East India Company and then Great Britain; India becomes British colony

Nationalist movements lead to the unification of Germany and Italy

Industrial Revolution

Ottoman Empire joins the losing side of World War I; officially ends in the 1920s and its former M.E. land is divided into mandate system controlled by GB and France

India is partitioned into different nations; migrations afterwards lead to violence between Hindus and Muslims

Palestine is partitioned by the U.N. to create the state of Israel; wars between Israelis and Palestinians follow

Opium Wars between China and Great Britain force China to end policy of isolationism and open up for trade w/ Western nations ("Open Door Policy")

Russian Revolution leads to overthrow of absolute monarchy in Russia and beginning of the communist government there

Self-Strengthening Movement in China, Tanzimat Reforms in the Ottoman Empire, and state-sponsored early attempts at modernization in Russia happen in response to European nations industrializing/modernizing their miitaries

The Cold War

The Soviet Union emerges as a communist nation led initially by Vladimir Lenin

European colonies in the Americas become independent politically but are still reliant on European nations (and the U.S.) for economic involvement

World Wars I and II

Atlantic slave trade develops (Triangle Trade routes)

First truly global economy develops as a result of the Columbian Exchange developing

Indian Ocean trade network develops and becomes more profitable than Silk Road trade on land (especially before the Mongol Empire unifies and stabilizes Eurasia)

The Ottoman Empire's military and government benefited from the use of janissaries who were "collected" via the devshirme system

The encomienda system was used to produce agriculture and the mit'a system was manipulated by the Spanish to get labor for silver mines in the Americas; both are forced labor systems

The castas system developed in Spanish Latin America to try and "sort" the diverse population present in those territories

A new class - the middle class - emerged in-time with the Industrial Revolution beginning

The slave trade was outlawed in many regions/nations and eventually slavery was outlawed as well

The start of industrialization leads to an increasingly large urban population (urbanization)

Enlightenment philosophies (i.e. Mary Wollstonecraft in Vindication for the Rights of Woman) are used to support increased rights for minorities and women, leading to early movements for suffrage

Genocides happen in Ukraine, Rwanda, Armenia, Cambodia, and Bosnia + the Holocaust

Rapid population growth begins due to the developments of industrialization (i.e. new vaccines for illnesses like smallpox)

Despite independence having been achieved by former colonies, there is still a north-south split globally regarding national wealth, access to resources, etc.

The diffusion of gunpowder technology led to the development of the "Gunpowder Empires"

The diffusion of gunpowder technology led to the development of the "Gunpowder Empires"

The Treaty of Tordesillas creates a east-west division - Spain can control/colonize the West and Portugal the East

Portugal develops trading post empires in the Eastern Hemisphere and Spain develops more permanent settler colonies in the Western Hemisphere (exceptions: Spain = Philippines and Portugal = Brazil)

Portuguese, Ottoman, Dutch, and British merchants compete for control of trade in the Indian Ocean region (choose two!):

The Ottoman Empire is beginning to weaken, which we can see when provinces like Egypt successfully break away

Reactions to European imperialism in Africa include Xhosa Cattle Killing Movement

Global balance of trade begins to benefit Europe/the "West" rather than China/Asia which it had previously

The Taiping and Boxer Rebellions happen in China

The Russo-Japanese War and the (First) Sino-Japanese War prove that Japan has become the dominant and industrialized power in East Asia at this point historically

The Sepoy Rebellion happens in India against British presence/British military

Colonies are established in Asia by the U.S. (in the Philippines), France (in French Indochina, etc.) and Britain (in India)

The Haitian Revolution is successful and is the first example of a successful uprising led by enslaved people and creates the first Black republic

Simon Bolivar tries (and fails) to create a Pan-South American republic with Gran Colombia

The Monroe Doctrine is issued by the U.S.

The Treaty of Versailles is signed after World War I ends

NATO vs. Warsaw Pact alliances are established

Proxy wars break out, with the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. each supporting different sides in these conflicts

The Suez Canal is built and disputes happen regarding its ownership before Britain ends up with majority control of the canal

Europe is "divided" by the Iron Curtain - communism in the East and non-communism in the West

The U.S. and the U.S.S.R. emerge as the two global superpowers after WWII

The first "total war" happens

The atomic bomb is developed by the U.S. and used against Japan in war for the first time; this technology is later developed by the U.S.S.R. as well and begins a nuclear age of war

Mikhail Gorbachev and Deng Xiaoping institute some economic/political reforms in their nations (Soviet Union and China, respectively) to varying degrees of success

The Cuban Missile Crisis

Nuclear proliferation and the "arms" race

Printing press technology (woodblock printing) spread from China to Europe, leading to Gutenberg making the moveable type printing press

The Protestant Reformation led to more division within Christianity and created different sects within the faith

The Taj Mahal is built by Shah Jahan of the Mughal Empire; it is a good example of monumental architecture

Christianity arrives in the Americas

Islam arrives in South Asia and East Africa

Social Darwinism develops as a "rationale" for European imperialism in Africa and Asia

Globalization of culture

Advances in transportation and communication have caused the world and its people/societies to be better connected

Diseases spread more easily but also better medical technology and treatments to better address diseases/illness

European desires for Asian luxury goods (+ desire to avoid Ottoman middlemen) leads to Europeans looking for maritime routes to Asia

Zheng He's voyages to project Chinese power in the Indian Ocean region are stopped by the Ming government

The Grand Canal is built and used in China to move goods, people, and ideas; most important thing moved is Champa rice from SE Asia to China

Silk Road trade is stabilized and made profitable/safer again under Mongol control

Trans-Saharan trade routes benefited from (then) new developments of saddles and use of camels for trade (environmental adaptation)

Asian technologies like the compass, astrolabe, dhows, and junks make their way to Europe and are used to help European nations on maritime voyages

Ottoman and Safavid Empires compete with each other over land

Cash crops like tobacco, sugar, and cotton begin to be cultivated in the Western Hemisphere on European controlled lands but use forced (coerced) labor of Africans and indigenous Americans to produce these goods

New transportation technologies like the steamship and railroads allow Europeans to made inroads into the African interior for the first time rather than being stuck on the coasts

Gun-slave cycle develops and involves European traders and African leaders

Rise of the middle and industrial working classes leads to beginning of reform movements regarding labor conditions (i.e. long hours, unsafe working conditions) leading to strikes, creation of labor unions, etc.

Industrialization happens either through free-market means (i.e. in England where it is led by businesses, not by the gov't) or state-sponsored means (i.e. in Japan, Russia, Ottoman Empire)

The Mughal Empire's economy is hurt by the declined European interest in its cotton

The U.S. becomes increasingly involved in Latin American affairs after issuing the Monroe Doctrine

Great Depression in the U.S. leads to global economic depression

Stalin institutes the Five Year Plans in the Soviet Union to rapidly industrialize the nation

International organizations like the United Nations, World Trade Organization, and NATO develop

The U.S. provides economic support to European nations recovering from the World Wars

The Asian Tigers emerge as economically strong nations in Asia

Mao's Great Leap Forward is designed to grow China's communist economy

Government involvement in economics increases as a response to global economic depression even in more democratic/capitalist countries