AP WORLD HISTORYMAJOR CONFLICTS REVIEW

TIME PERIOD / PARTICIPANTS / CAUSES / CONSEQUENCES
Persian-Greek Wars / Classical Period (500s-400s BCE) / Persia and Greek city-states / Control of Mediterranean; Power struggle / Persia will eventually be weakened to Alexander the Great
Period of Warring States / Classical Period (end of Zhou Dynasty) / Chinese Warlords vs. Zhou Dynasty / Weakened Chinese leadership / Rise of new philosophies
Rise of the Qin Dynasty
Peloponnesian Wars / Classical Period (431-404 BCE) / Athens and Sparta / Control of Greek Peninsula / Devastation of both Athens and Sparta; leads to decline of strong Greek city-states; gives rise to Alexander the Great
Punic Wars / Classical Period (264-246 BCE) / Roman Republic and Carthage (North Africa) / Control of the Mediterranean Sea / Carthage loses; Carthaginian peoples enslaved by RR; Rise of Roman Republic as military power; expansion of Rome
Battle of Tours / Post-Classical Period (732 CE) / Charles Martel (Carolingian) vs. invading Arab Muslim forces / Expansion of Islam / Advances of Muslims into Europe stopped outside of Paris; prevents the rise of Islam in Western and Central Europe
The Crusades / Post-Classical Period
(1095-1272 CE) / Western European forces, knights and kings vs. Turkish and Arab forces in Middle East; Byzantine Empire / Control of Jerusalem
Aid Byzantine Empire in protection against Arab forces / 1st Crusade – Christians gain Jerusalem, but will lose it later
Increase of trade between ME and WE; Revival of trade in WE
Thirty Years’ War / Early Modern Period (1618-1648) / German princes; Sweden; England; France; Spain; Italy; Austria-Hungary
(Catholics vs. Protestants) / Protestant Reformation; Ability to choose religious orientation; influence of the Catholic Church / Treaty of Westphalia (1648) – gives regional Germanic princes ability to choose religion of their region (Catholic or Protestant); last of the major wars of religion in Europe
Various 19th Century Revolutions / Long 19th Century
American (1775-1783)
French (1789-1799)
Haitian (1791-1804)
Latin American (19th Century) / American colonies, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and the Caribbean / Desire for Independence; Enlightenment Ideals; High Taxation; Treatment of Colonies / Independence in all regions
US more successful in outcome than Latin America
First successful slave revolt (Haiti)
Rise of Napoleon (France)
Napoleonic Wars / Long 19th Century (1799-1815) / France, Spain, Europe, Russia / Desire to create French empire among the continent of Europe / Napoleon faces great defeats in Russia, and later at the hands of an alliance of European powers (Led by GB); Fall of Napoleon
Congress of Vienna (1815) – balance of power
Opium Wars / Long 19th Century (1839-1850s) / China, England / Sale of Opium; Economic control of Chinese port cities / Treaty of Nanking (1842) – Hong Kong a colony of England; England gains control of some port cities
Extraterritoriality
Increasing resentment of outsiders in China
Taiping Rebellion / Long 19th Century (1850-1864) / Various Chinese groups / Desire of Hong Xiuquan to create a utopian society; fear of outsiders / High death toll; required assistance from British to help end rebellion
Crimean War / Long 19th Century (1853-1856) / England, France, Ottoman Empire, Russia / Russia attacks Ottoman Empire to gain control of ports on Black Sea; England and France want to weaken Russia / Russia loses war; demonstrates Russian weaknesses; leads to mid-19th century reforms including industrialization and eventually emancipation of the serfs (1861)
Sepoy Rebellion / Long 19th Century (1857) / British, Indian forces / Rejection of British military and political presence in India; animal fat on artillery shells / Indian forces lose; Britain gains full control of India
Boxer Rebellion / Long 19th Century (1900) / Boxers vs. Qing Dynasty / Rejection of Manchu leadership and presence of foreign powers; Goal: “Regain China for the Chinese” / Unsuccessful; required assistance from outside groups (WE, Russia, US); further weakened Qing Dynasty
Spanish-American War / Long 19th Century (1898) / Spain, United States / Conflict over Cuban independence / US Defeats Spain; US gains control of Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam
Boer War / Long 19th Century ((1899-1902) / Dutch settlers (Boers), English forces, African tribes / Control of South Africa / Boers gain dominance over native South Africans BUT Union of South Africa created and controlled by Great Britain
Sino-Japanese War / Contemporary World (1895) / China, Japan, Korea / Control over Korea / Japan annexes Korea in 1910
Russo-Japanese War / Contemporary World (1904-1905) / Russia, Japan / Control of parts of Eastern Asia / Japan defeats Russia; rise of Japanese aggression and imperialism; brief reforms in Russia that are relative failures; Russian Revolution of 1905; increasing dissent in Russia
Chinese Revolution of 1911-1912 / Contemporary World (1911-1912) / Nationalists, Qing Dynasty, Chinese Warlords / Rising inefficiency of Qing Dynasty; fear of outside leadership / End of last Chinese Dynasty; creation of a 30+ year civil war between warlords, Nationalists, and Communists; eventual creation of the People’s Republic of China (1949)
World War I / Contemporary World (1914-1918) / Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Russia, North and East Africa, Middle East, India, East Asia, United States / Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism, Imperialism, Assassination / Treaty of Versailles (1919)
Rise of totalitarian dictators
Russian Revolution of 1917
Decolonization
Dismantling of German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires
Creation of Modern Turkey
Middle East as Mandate States
World War II
Russian Revolution / Contemporary World (1917) / Imperial Family (Romanovs) vs. Communists (Red Army – Lenin) vs. Nationalists (White Army – Alexander Kerensky) / Poor leadership
Increasing poverty
Rise of Communism
Economic inequalities
World War I / End of royal family in Russia
Rise of Communism
Establishment of Soviet Union
Mexican Revolution / Contemporary World (1911-1920) / Various groups in Mexico; creole elites, lower classes, middle-class, military, Pancho Villa; Zapata / Opposition to autocracy under Porfirio Diaz; economic inequalities / Mexican Constitution of 1917
Creation and long-term dominance of Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
World War II / Contemporary World (1939-1945) / Europe, Russia, North Africa, Middle East, Japan, Pacific Islands, Australia, India, United States / MAIN; Treaty of Versailles; Japanese Aggression; New ideologies; Appeasement / High Death Toll
Holocaust
Creation of East and West Germany
Cold War
Creation of United Nations
Development of Nuclear Weapons
Korean War / Contemporary World (1950-1953) / North Korea, South Korea, China, Soviet Union, United States, United Nations forces / Decolonization; removal of Japanese influence; Cold War Politics; Communism; Containment (US) / Very high death toll
No formal end to war
Creation of North (Communist) and South (Democratic) Korea
Vietnam War / Contemporary World (1945-1975) / Vietnam (North – Communist; South – Democratic); France; United States; Soviet Union; Laos; Cambodia / Decolonization
Independence from France
Cold War Politics (Containment; Domino Theory) / High Death Toll
Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia all communist countries
Cuban Revolution / Contemporary World (1959) / Military dictator in Cuba
Fidel Castro
Che Guevara
United States / Resistance to strong, dictatorial rule
Communism (to some extent) / Rise of Fidel Castro
Cuba as communist country
Integration into Cold War Politics
Cuban Missile Crisis; Bay of Pigs
US Embargo on Cuba
Iranian Revolution / Contemporary World (1979) / Government of Shah Reza Pahlavi; Islamic Fundamentalists (led by Ayatollah Khomeini) / Rejection of authoritarian leadership; rise of Islamic fundamentalist groups / Creation of Islamic Republic in Iran; rejection of Western cultures; institution of Shari’a law