Specialization and Content Area: Social Studies

WORLD HISTORY

A. History – study of past events based on evidences; story of man through the ages.
B. Periodization In History
1. Pre-historic – period when there were no written records of man’s progress.
a. Paleolithic or Old Stone Age
b. Neolithic or New Stone Age
c. Metal Age
2. Historic Period – men’s progress were recorded
a. Ancient
b. Medieval
c. Modern

C. Ancient World
Cradles of Civilization: Asia and Africa
1. First Civilization were in the river alleys
a. Mesopotamia – region between the Tigris and Euphrates River (fertile crescent region)
b. Egyptian – a long banks of Nile river in Africa
c. India – in the valley of Indus river
d. Chinese – along the Yellow river
2. Early Religions
a. Hinduism – India
b. Zoroasterianism – Persia (Iran)
c. Christianity – Israel (formerly Palestine)
d. Islamism – Saudi Arabia
3. Important Contributions
a. Mesopotamia
1. art of irrigation
2. invention of wheels
3. cuneiform (form of writing)
4. Code of Hammurabi
5. Hanging Garden of Babylon
6. Monotheism (worship of one god) of the Hebrews
7. Mosaic Law (law given by God to Moses)
8. Phonetic Alphabet
b. Egyptian
1. Great Pyramid
2. Hieroglyphics
3. Calendar of 365 days
c. India
1. Dravidians were the first inhabitants; invaded by Aryans
2. Caste System – a rigid social structure
3. religion – Hinduism main feature reincarnation
d. China
1. Invented gun powder
2. printing press
3. produced textile called silk
4. civil service examination
5. Great Walls of China
6. Great philosophers – Confucius, Lao Tzu and Mencius

Western World

1. Greece
a. Isolated city government (“polis”)
b. Reform started by Solon
c. Cleisthenes and Pericles gave all classes of Athen citizens chance to participate in government
d. Athens began the democratic system
e. Sparta had the militaristic system
f. Great Philosophers – Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
g. Hellenic culture
h. Famous conqueror and statesman of Greece was Alexander the Great of Macedon, He was responsible
for the spread of Hellenistic culture thru his conquest, after his death the empire broke up into Egypt,
Syria, and Macedonia and during 150 BCE invaded by the Romans
2. Rome
a. Romulus as founder in 753 B.C.
b. Under Etruscans they were ruled by a king
 c. Etruscan driven out by Romans and Republic was established
d. Society: patrician (upper class) Plebeians (lower class)
e. War between Roman and Carthagenians (Punic war); Rome acquired Spain
f. The expansion of Rome started during the First Triumvirate (Julius Caesar, Pompey & Cassius)
g. Julius Ceasar expanded Rome’s territory
h. Julius Ceasar was assassinated by his friends Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus of
March 15 which is called the “Ides of March”
i. Second Triumvirate ( Octavian, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Mark Antony
j. Pax Romana or the lasting peace during the reign of Augustus Caesar and succeeding emperors
k. The Roman Empire split into Western and Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire
l. Downfall of the Roman empire was due to the attacks of the Teutonic Germanic tribes
m. The famous structure during this time were the colosseum, amphitheater, aqueduct
n. Jurisprudence, Rome’s contribution
o. The Byzantine Empire collapsed when Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1453

D. Medieval Period
1. Dark Age – The Roman Empire was overrun by Teutonic Tribes and fell in 476 A.D. Small tribal Germanic kingdoms were established
such as Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, Saxons and Vandals
2. Supremacy of Christian Church - education revived through church; church had great influence on people and government
3. Feudalism – socio political economic system that prevailed in Europe, a manorial system was established; period of chivalry or
knighthood
4. Crusades – series of military expeditions by Christians against Muslims to take back Holy Land.

The Americas
 This was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492
 It was named after Amerigo Vespucci who explored the coast of South America
 It was known as Mesoamerica for it includes Central America and Mexico
 There were groups of people which settled in this continent first such as the:
1. Olmecs, they existed about 500 BCE and lay the foundation of the Meso -American
civilization
2. Mayan culture existed until 1000 CE; built great temples and pyramids; their city states was connected by trade
3. Aztecs culture known for the great city of Tenochtitlan which was built on 1325; conquered the Indian Tribes that surrounds them and sacrificed
human beings; education play a vital role in the Aztec society
4. Incas empire was developed in South America in 1200; their engineers conquer the mountains; they had a strong political organization

Flowering of African Civilizations

1. Nubians established a kingdom in southern part of the Nile river or the present day, SUDAN
2. Kingdom of Kush: the Kushites inherits the power of ancient Egypt and set up a new capital of Meroe
3. Axum becomes a trading power and known at present as Ethiopia
4. Kingdoms of West Africa
a. GHANA – salt as an important trade item and gold
b. MALI – “where the king resides”; Mansa Musa open trade routes and protect the trade
Caravans; the empire reached its peak during his reign and it stretched from the
Atlantic coast
c. SONGHAI – devoted to Islam; Islamic teachings
5. African Trading Cities and States
 Bantu speaking peoples migrate east and south; new food crops such as banana and “taro” were introduced by the Southeast Asian sailors
or traders
 Congo empire grew and prospered wherein people were known for their skills in pottery making, weaving, iron working, and sculpture
 Great Zimbabwe became the religious and political center of the Bantu kingdom, trade links between Africa and Asia was developed

Australia and Ocenia

• The first people that migrated to Australia was between 70,000 – 50,000 years ago
• The GREATER AUSTRALIA that comprised of Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania were linked by land bridges
• Oceania was comprised of the following areas that were settled by people from Indonesia from the following approximate dates as:
Micronesia – 1800 BCE
Polynesia – 300 A.D.
Melanesia – 1300 BCE
• New Zealand was settled in 800 A.D.

E. ModernPeriod

Renaissance period – revival of Greek classics. Man’s confidence in himself was revived. Humanism was revived

Age of Exploration
Explorers seek new routes to Asia
Europeans conquer and colonize the Americas
Trade and commerce change

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Age of Revolution
1. Intellectual Revolution – Ideas of Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, Voltaire and Montesquiu and Rousseau influenced
thinking.
2. Scientific revolution – changes in scientific views and age of inventions
3. Industrial Revolution
The name given by Arnold Toynbee to describe the changes in economic life of England caused by remarkable series of
inventions during the period of 1777 – 1815. Main feature of this period is the replacement of hand labor with machine labor.
Machines were first powered by water then by coal and electricity. Industrialization spread to other countries in the late 19th
century especially in Germany and United States.

The growth of an industrialized society brought with it many social problem such as employment of child labor in factories
and the growth of new towns without regards for health and proper planning.

4. Commercial Revolution – brought about by colonial expansions

Imperialism - rule of powerful countries over weaker countries

5. Reformation – period of change in Western Christendom. Reform

certain beliefs in the Roman Catholic. The Catholic church reacted to the Protestant movement by asserting itself and
pushing back the tide of Protestianism. The Council of Trent instituted many reforms dealing with conduct of church officials
but did not accept Protestant changes Ignatius de Loyola, founded the society of Jesus and won back territories which were
dominated by Protestants. Through then Catholicism was spread America and Asia.

6. Political Revolution
The spread of liberal ideas led to revolution aimed at changing
Government

American Revolution – (1775 – 1783) – was a struggle for independence from British rule by the thirteen colonies. It
actually started over the issue of taxation (no taxation without representation) and ended up as a war independence. The war
was fought for eight years, although by July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress of the 13th colonies drew up the
famous Declaration Independence. At the treaty of Paris in 1783, the independence of the colonies was recognized and a
republican government was formed George Washington elected as the first president.

French Revolution – (1789 – 1799) was inspired by the success of American Revolution. Breakdown in government
precipitated the revolution. It started with the Storming of the Bastille (royal fortress). A new constitution was drawn up by the
National Assembly limiting the power of Louis XVI. By 1872 the French Republic was declared. The king was deposed and
beheaded. An orgy of bloodshed followed which was called Reign of Terror (1793 – 1794) where Queen Marie Antoinette
was guillotined. Fresh from military campaigns Napoleon Bonaparte returned to France to eventually rule as dictator for he
was made Consul for life by popular vote. Later the French Legislature made him Emperor and through brilliant military
campaigns became Master of Europe.

B. Global Wars

1. World War I (1914-1918)

Caused by the assassination of the archduke Ferdinand of Austria on June 28, 1914 at Seravejo by a Serbian nationalist. Due to
alliance formed among European powers (Triple Intente: England, France and Russia and Triple Alliance; Germany, Austria and
Turkey) the war in Balkans spread to other parts of Europe and their respective colonies.

USA entered the war in 1917 on the side of the Alied power after the British commercial ship Lusitanica was sunk by German Torpedos
were several American lives were lost. By 1918 Germany sued for peace and settlement followed (Treaty of Versailles). About 11
million died and the horror of the war was clear to many.

2. World War II (1935-1945)

This was a war of ideology; between totalitarism (Hitler’s Nazism; Mussolini’s Facism; and Japan’s totalitarism) and
democracy.

European war began in Sept. 1, 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland. The war in the Pacific started with the bombing of the Pearl harbor
on December 8, 1941 by Japan, which drew USA into war on the side of the Allied Powers, prisoners of war in the Pacific were ill-
treated while those in Europe millions of Jewish and civilians died in concentration camps such as in Auschwitz.

US entry into the war in Europe turned the tide of the war in favor of the Allied Powers. Germany and Italy surrendered in 1945.
Meanwhile in the Pacific, Japan surrendered only after the atomic bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

C. Post War Period

Characterized by the struggle for supremacy between communism (USSR) and democracy (USA). USSR showed intentions of
imposing communistic rule in areas freed from Axis control, such as in Germany and Korea. This resulted in the so-called cold war, a

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state of a diplomatic tension or a war of nerves without resort to an actual fighting. There occurs a constant maneuvering between the
two powers for economic advantage and for the friendship of other countries. To avert or to prevent one state from becoming powerful
to endanger others, a balance has to be maintained.
1. Cold War is the state of diplomatic tension between two superpowers: USA and USSR
2. United Nations was formed in October 24, 1945 to replace the League of Nation
3. In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev of USSR introduced a new economic, political and socio-cultural change known as Glasnost
(openness) and Perestroika (economic reform) in Soviet Union. It resulted in the disintegration of USSR while USA remained
as the sole superpower.