8

OFFICIAL STUDY GUIDE

2017-18

PART 2 - World
(PART 1 - U.S.)

CANADA & CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA

Ancient immigrants crossed the Bering land bridge and populated what is
now Canada and the United States, then trickled down through the North
American continent and to Central and South America. These peoples
flourished until the arrival of European settlers. Europeans brought
guns, germs and steel, decimating these original settlers, and colonized
the continents. European influence significantly impacted the continent,
permanently altering its ethnic makeup, customs and language, and it
would be centuries before these regions began to shake off the reins of
colonialism.

CANADA
Canada*
Norsemen under Leif Eriksson established Inuit
the first European settlement on the North Iroquois Confederacy
American continent, L'Anse aux Meadows. War of Spanish Succession
Quebec City, the first European settlement French & Indian War
since Eriksson, was established by French Pontiac's Rebellion
explorer Samuel de Champlain in 1608. The War of 1812

French were entrenched in fur trading across Dominion of Canada

this region, and this caused a rivalry with the Royal Canadian Mounties

British. The British controlled the Maritime Canadian Pacific Railway

Klondike Gold Rush
provinces, and the French colonists, known
North Pole exploration
as Acadians, were expelled in the mid-18th
Roald Amundsen
century. Many of these people migrated south to what is now Louisiana. Today,
World War I
Canada remains a self-governed dominion of Britain, although the province of
Robert Service
Quebec maintains much of its French character.
World War II
* Terms shown are for research purposes and not guaranteed to be on any official test.
 9
WESTERN HEMISPHERE
MEXICO, CENTRAL &
SOUTH AMERICA
Organized and advanced ancient
civilizations populated Pre-Columbian
Mesoamerica, including the Olmec,
Zapotec, Maya, Inca and Aztec. The Aztec,
Inca and other peoples were annihilated
by the arrival of Spanish conquistadors.
Over time, the Spanish and Portuguese
intermixed with the natives, altering the
region's language and culture. During the
late 18th and early 19th centuries, Central
and South America revolted against
European rule, and each of these countries
eventually gained independence. Many of
the countries in these regions have been
ruled by a succession of dictators, and
Above: The corner of Mayan temple, Chichen Itza; Below: Juan & Evita Perón difficult conditions are worsened by the
burgeoning drug trade.

Mexico, Central & South America*

Norte-Chico civilization Monroe Doctrine
San Lorenzo & La Venta caudillos
Nazca Mexican-American War
El Niño Santa Anna
Tikal & Chichen Itza Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Toltec Dom Pedro II
Tenochtitlan Spanish-American War
Nahuatl Panama Canal
quipu Guantanamo Bay
Machu Picchu Mexican Revolution
Treaty of Tordesillas Pancho Villa
Taíno Hiram Bingham
Hispaniola Christ the Redeemer statue
slave trade Juan & Evita Perón
Bartolomé de las Casas Cuban Revolution
mestizo Fulgencio Batista
Moctezuma II Fidel Castro
Hernán Cortés Che Guevara
Francisco Pizarro Falkland War
Atahualpa Dirty War
Quechua Augusto Pinochet
Túpac Amaru II drug cartels
Haitian Revolution
* Terms shown are for
Simón Bolívar research purposes and not
Mexican Independence War guaranteed to be on any
official test.
 10
Eastern Hemisphere
EUROPE Early Civilizations*
Caves of Lascaux Romulus & Remus
The following is an abbreviated Aegean Philip II of Macedonia
chronology of the history of Minoan Alexander the Great
Europe. Each section is fol- Mycenaean Ptolemaic dynasty
lowed by a list of important Stonehenge Euclid
people, places and events. These Athens Archimedes
lists are to be used as guide- Trojan War Gaius Julius Caesar
lines, and, as the contest is not Phoenician alphabet Julian calendar
restricted to information found Homer & The Iliad Virgil & The Aeneid
here, be sure to research impor- Olympics Roman Empire
tant leaders and monarchies. Solon Octavian
Research eras to discover other Aesop's Fables Mark Antony & Cleopatra
Above: Stonehenge important people, including Pythagoras Pax Romana
philosophers, artists, scientists Battle of Marathon Caligula

and more. The history of this area is complex and is best studied Socrates Nero

piecemeal by investigating topics, such as wars, art movements Hippocrates Boudicca of Iceni

and religious evolution and expansion. Plato & the Academy Plutarch
Aristotle & the Lyceum Pompeii & Herculaneum

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS Hadrian

Diocletian
The original inhabitants of this region are believed to have Edict of Milan

migrated from Asia or Africa during ancient times. During the Nicene Creed

Bronze and Iron Ages, advances in tools and weaponry altered Huns

the way people lived. Agricultural communities developed. Visigoths

Constantine
Great empires were begun, such as those of Greece and Rome
Herodotus
in southern Europe. In northern Europe, the Germanic, Slavic,
Saint Patrick
Gothic and Celtic peoples migrated south and west. These
Byzantine Empire
cultures clashed, then intermixed with the Romans. Christianity Above: Socrates
was born in the Middle East and spread through Europe by the
Roman Empire. Early European civilizations are remembered
for their academics, laws and arts, which served as the basis of Middle Ages*
Western civilization. Reconquista William the Conqueror
Moors Knights Templar
El Cid Teutonic Knights
MIDDLE AGES Charlemagne Eleanor of Aquitaine
Holy Roman Empire House of Plantagenet
The Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476 CE and Europe
Alfred the Great Oxford University
fell into the Dark Ages, a period of intellectual and economic Vikings Magna Carta
decline. Around 1000, Europe entered the Middle Ages. Erik the Red Alhambra
During this period, the feudalistic manor system emerged and Leif Eriksson Marco Polo
the Catholic Church dominated European society, providing Beowulf Thomas Aquinas
a small measure of stability. Agriculture became important, Edward the Confessor Feudalism
trade increased and the Crusades began. Medieval civilization Battle of Hastings
apexed during the 13th century. Intellectual movements like
* Terms shown are for research purposes and not
Scholasticism and the breakup of feudal structures paved the guaranteed to be on any official test. Illustration left:
way for an era of cultural rebirth, the Renaissance. Stonehenge; right: Socrates
 11
EASTERN HEMISPHERE / Europe, continued
RENAISSANCE & REFORMATION
RENAISSANCE &
The Renaissance marked the emergence of Europe from the Middle Ages and its
REFORMATION*
deteriorated culture and economy. Italian trade developed and people acquired the
wealth and time to pursue and sponsor Renaissance man
interests outside of subsistence, such Dante Alighieri

as the arts and philosophy. Classical Black Death

antiquity experienced a revival that Decameron

was accentuated by Constantinople's Hundred Years' War

Battle of Agincourt
fall in 1453. Numerous scholars fled
Joan of Arc
to Italy, bringing books, manuscripts
Great Schism
and traditional Greek scholarship.
Geoffrey Chaucer
The Renaissance spread from its
Donatello
Italian epicenter to the rest of Europe,
Medici family
initiating the Northern and English
Borgia family
Renaissances. This period paved the way
War of the Roses
for the Reformation, a reaction against House of Lancaster
Catholicism and shift to Protestantism House of York
which, in turn, prompted the Catholic House of Tudor
Above: St. Peter's Cathedral
Counter-Reformation. Johannes Gutenberg
Richard III
AGE OF DISCOVERY Sandro Botticelli
Leonardo da Vinci
This era overlapped the Renaissance and was
Albrecht Dürer
characterized by change. Countries with fixed borders
Michelangelo
emerged and vied for power. Navigation techniques
Sistine Chapel
improved, and global exploration began in earnest.
New St. Peter's Basilica
Explorers were funded by monarchs and governments
Raphael
that sought foreign riches and new territory. Colonies
Titian
were established, many of which were populated by House of Habsburg
Europeans facing religious persecution or hard times at Niccolò Machiavelli
home. Monarchs ruled absolutely, and discontent with Martin Luther
the ruling class manifested. During the Baroque period, drama, architecture, art and John Calvin
music flourished. Philosophy and science entered a new age. John Knox
Henry VIII
Henry the Navigator Mary I Dutch East India Company War of Spanish Succession Act of Supremacy
Ferdinand & Isabella Elizabeth I Gunpowder Plot House of Hanover Church of England
Spanish Inquisition Spanish Armada Oliver Cromwell War of Austrian Succession Catherine of Aragon
Tomás de Torquemada William Shakespeare Galileo Galilei G. F. Handel Nicolaus Copernicus
Treaty of Tordesillas Gregorian calendar Johannes Kepler Johann Sebastian Bach
Bartolomeu Dias Huguenots Rembrandt Montesquieu
Cape of Good Hope Thirty Years' War Isaac Newton Voltaire
Vasco da Gama Cardinal Richelieu Thomas Hobbes Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Pedro Álvares Cabral English Civil Wars Glorious Revolution Maria Theresa
Christopher Columbus House of Stuart John Locke
Amerigo Vespucci British East India Company Louis XIV
Above: (section of )
Michaelangelo's Sistine
Chapel
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EASTERN HEMISPHERE / Europe, continued
REVOLUTIONS: SCIENTIFIC, INDUSTRIAL AND CIVIL*
This was an era of scientific and industrial innovation. New inventions
and systems enabled factories to hasten production. New technology
and improved tools revolutionized agriculture. Civil discontent and
other factors toppled and weakened some European monarchies.
Contemporary philosophers and scientists revolutionized thought, and
numerous art and music movements began.
Top left: guillotine; right: Winston Churchill; below: (close-up section) Van Gogh's Starry Night

Scientific Revolution Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Horatio Nelson Napoleon III WORLD WAR I*
Seven Years' War French Revolution Bourbon Restoration Franco-Prussian War HMS Dreadnought
Treaty of Paris (1763) Bastille Hundred Days Otto von Bismarck Wilhelm II
George III Louis XVI Battle of Waterloo Sigmund Freud Nicholas II
American Revolution Marie Antoinette Treaty of Fontainebleau Charles Darwin Albert I
Frederick the Great guillotine Karl Marx Leo Tolstoy Winston Churchill
Catherine the Great Robespierre Communist Manifesto Kulturkampf David Lloyd George
steam engine Jacobins Austro-Hungarian Empire Neoclassicism Easter Rebellion
factory system Directory Victoria Impressionism Grigory Rasputin
spinning jenny Napoleon Bonaparte Charles Dickens Alexander Kerensky
Joseph Haydn Battle of Trafalgar Irish Potato Famine Russian Revolution (1917)
October Revolution
WORLD WAR I (WWI)* Vladimir Lenin
Leon Trotsky
Tension in Europe was high and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, heir to the
T. E. Lawrence
Austrian throne, proved to be the catalyst that spun the globe into war. All of the world's
Rudyard Kipling
great powers were drawn into the conflict. The Allied Powers, including Britain, France, Spanish flu
Russia, the United States and many more, opposed the Central Powers, Germany, Weimar Republic
Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. New technology made this one of the Heinrich Himmler
deadliest conflicts in history; this increased capacity for destruction was compounded Schutzstaffel (SS)
by trench warfare, which created a stalemate and extended the war. At the war's end, Luftwaffe
the Treaty of Versailles redrew the borders of many European countries and established Lebensraum
the League of Nations. The punishment dealt to the belligerent nations who had "lost" Panzer
fostered a sense of futility and discontent that set the stage for World War II. Erwin Rommel

* Terms shown are for research purposes and not guaranteed to be on any official test.
 13
EASTERN HEMISPHERE / Europe, continued
WORLD WAR II* Irish Free State
IRA
This war followed on the USSR
heels of WWI, coming Joseph Stalin
only 20 years later. War Benito Mussolini
was initiated in 1939, Adolf Hitler
when Adolf Hitler, führer Nazi party
of Germany, made the Third Reich

decision to invade Poland. Night of the Long Knives

Hitler planned to advance Kristallnacht

through Europe, taking Holocaust

Auschwitz
territory for Germany and
Dachau
creating an Aryan race.
Anne Frank
The primary Allies in
Elie Wiesel
this conflict were Britain,
Spanish Civil War
France, Russia and, later,
Francisco Franco
the U.S. The Axis Powers
Pearl Harbor
were Germany, Italy and Above: Pearl Harbor
Battle of Stalingrad
Japan. The Allies were victorious, and belligerent nations were divided and occupied. The D-Day
League of Nations had proven powerless to prevent or mediate global conflict and was Battle of the Bulge
replaced by the United Nations after this war. Yalta Conference

* Terms shown are for research purposes and not guaranteed to be on any official test. Potsdam Conference
East & West Germany

Nikita Khrushchev
MODERN PERIOD*
Warsaw Pact
Sputnik Following WWII, communism flourished in the USSR and satellite nations under its
Berlin Wall influence, while democracy thrived in Western Europe and the U.S. This led to the Cold
British Invasion War. Conflicts that stemmed from the Cold War included the Korean War, Vietnam War
Prague Spring and Cuban Missile Crisis. This tension was also evident in the Space Race, as the U.S.
Margaret Thatcher and USSR contended in an attempt to dominate the cosmos. After WWII, European
Lech Walesa nations struggled to rebuild and lost economic dominance. The European Union (EU) was
Solidarity established to challenge the United States' economic dominance.
Mikhail Gorbachev
Perestroika
Glasnost
Chernobyl
Lockerbie bombing
Velvet Revolution
USSR (dissolution)

Commonwealth of
Independent States
Persian Gulf War
Yugoslavia divided
Above: Biohazard sign at Chernobyl; right: Popular British group, The Beatles
 14
EASTERN HEMISPHERE / Asia
ASIA & OCEANIA Ancient Middle East*
Mesopotamia Hagia Sophia
Domestication of horses Jesus of Nazareth
This continent is believed to
Indus civilization Pontius Pilate
have broken away from Africa
Harappa Bible
during ancient tectonic plate
Sargon Constantine
shifts. Much later, people
Minoan Code of Justinian
migrated from Africa to Asia
Abraham of Ur Rubaiyat
and from Asia to Australia
Solomon Islam
and other areas of the South Kingdom of Israel and Judah Muhammad
Pacific. Many communities Torah Sharia laws
developed simultaneously Medes Hajj
throughout this area, and its Nebuchadnezzar II Mecca
two primary regions are the Hanging Gardens of Babylon Quran
Middle East and the Orient. mosaic art Umayyad Caliphate
Cyrus the Great Sunni & Shi'ite

ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST Achaemenid dynasty Abbasid dynasty

Darius I Tamerlane
The settlement of Jericho on the West Bank of the Jordan River Zoroastrianism Seleucid dynasty
has been dated to around 9,000 BCE, making it one of the first
cities established on Earth. The land between the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers is called the Cradle of Civilization, because
it was home to some of the first large civilizations, including Middle East Colonization
Sumer and Babylon. Sumerian stands as the world's oldest & Modern Era*
written language, and the Epic of Gilgamesh was originally
written in this language. The three Abrahamic religions, Dome of the Rock Palestinian Liberation
Organization
Byzantine Empire decline
Judaism, Christianity and Islam, began in this area. The first Islamic Revolution
Suleiman I
coded laws were ascribed to Hammurabi of Babylon, and Iran-Iraq War
Istanbul
algebra and astronomy also originated in the Middle East. Saddam Hussein
Suez Canal
Great empires grew in this area, including the Assyrian, Persian, Taliban
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. The Ottomans rose to power Al-Qaeda
T. E. Lawrence
when the Byzantine Empire declined, and were only broken up Osama bin Laden
OPEC
at the end of WWI.
* Terms shown are for research purposes and not guaranteed to
MIDDLE EAST COLONIZATION be on any official test.

& MODERN ERA

Colonialism changed the complexion of this region. The British
and Portuguese established outposts and marked territories with
no regard for traditional, nomadic migrations or economic and
political climates. The development of the oil industry initiated
conflict in this area. Tribal tensions and religious differences
have inflamed these conflicts. World powers have attempted to
contain the infighting to guarantee that trade for oil with these
countries can be continued, resulting in the Iraq-Iran War and
Gulf Wars.
 15
EASTERN HEMISPHERE / Asia, continued
FAR EAST IN ANCIENT Far East in
TIMES* Ancient Times*
Pacific islands
One of the earliest examples of Homo
Sanskrit
erectus was the Chinese fossil known Zhou Dynasty
as Peking Man. It dates to around Mandate of Heaven
750,000 years ago. Through the Easter Island moai
ages, Chinese communities based on Taoism
agriculture were built along coastal Shinto
areas and the Yangtze and Yellow Jainism
River Valleys. Other communities Great Wall of China
spread along the Malay Peninsula. Dharmaśāstra
Eastern Asia is home to some of Chandragupta Maurya
the oldest civilizations in the world, Ashoka the Great
including the Indus Valley and Qin dynasty
ancient China. The Indus Valley Terracotta Army
civilization was followed by the Vedic Above: Great Wall of China; below: Easter Island moai Han dynasty
period, during which Hinduism was established along with its tenets of religion and caste Attila the Hun
system. The philosophical teachings of Gautama Buddha, a wise man of northern India, Sikhism

paved the way for Buddhism. Various parts of the country were ruled by empires, such Khmer Empire

as the Gupta and Mughal Empires. Other religions developed in Eastern Asia. Ancient Angkor Wat

philosophers of this era, such as Confucius and Laozi, had a profound and long lasting shogunate
samurai
influence on Asian society. Rulers of Eastern Asian countries were dynastic. The Silk
Bushido
Road, a trade route between the Far East and Europe, officially opened in 130 BCE and
Golden Horde
spread goods alongside religion and bubonic plague.
Mongols

* Terms shown are for research purposes and not guaranteed to be on any official test. Genghis Khan
Kublai Khan
Yuan dynasty

FAR EAST COLONIZATION & MODERN ERA* Zheng He

Forbidden City
When Europeans developed sea routes to the Far East, they began to trade, explore Babur
and colonize. Western influence was not welcomed throughout the Far East, and Qing dynasty
conflicts arose. In recent years, China and India have become industrial powerhouses Manchu
and world superpowers. Colonization did not have the same negative impact on the Akbar the Great

economy of Asia as it did in South and Central America and Africa. Shah Jahān
Edo period
Battle of Plassey Russo-Japanese War Hiroshima & Nagasaki Deng Xiaoping Taj Mahal
bombing
First Fleet Chinese Revolution (1911) One-child policy Chrysanthemum Throne
Mao Zedong
Opium Wars Sun Yat-sen Khmer Rouge
Mohandas Gandhi
Treaty of Nanjing Open-door policy Pol Pot
Ho Chi Minh
Taiping Rebellion Tamil Tigers
Chiang Kai-shek Geneva Accords
Matthew Perry Akihito
Hirohito Vietnam War
Meiji Restoration Tiananmen Square
kamikaze Great Leap Forward massacre
Philippine Revolution
Yamamoto Isoroku Cultural Revolution
Boxer Rebellion
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EASTERN HEMISPHERE

AFRICA

Fossils and other archaeological finds indicate that Africa is the origin of the
first humans. The northern half of this continent was comprised partly of
agricultural peoples and partly of coastal peoples who traded with Europe and
the Middle East. The southern half remained a tribal society based on hunting
and gathering. Africa became the subject of rampant European imperialism
during the 19th and 20th centuries. After WWII, Europe was weakened and
began to lose its hold on colonies in Africa.

ANCIENT AFRICA*
Early civilizations encircled the Sahara Desert. The strongest of these were the Carthaginian Empire, the Egyptian
Kingdom, the Mali Empire and the Ashanti Empire. Peoples of the northern part of Africa produced histories
recorded in hieroglyphics and the first verified alphabet, the Phoenician alphabet, which was derived from
hieroglyphics. The remainder of Africa has little written history. The Nile River was critical to the development
of early civilizations. Conflicts with the Romans ultimately brought on the fall of Carthage and Egypt. In the 7th
century, Islam spread over much of Northern Africa.

Ancient Africa*
papyrus Ghana Kingdom
Menes Great Zimbabwe
Three Kingdoms of Egypt Timbuktu
Great Pyramid of Giza Morocco
Great Sphinx Mansa Musa
Amenhotep Ibn Battuta & Rihla
Nefertiti Songhai Empire
Tutankhamun
Ramses II
* Terms shown are for
Kingdom of Kush
research purposes and
Black Pharaohs not guaranteed to be
Bantu on any official test.
Zulu
Ptolemaic dynasty
Library of Alexandria
Punic Wars & Hannibal
Cleopatra
Battle of Actium
Menelik I
Diocletian Persecution
Byzantium Empire decline
Rosetta Stone
Shop: www.hexco.com
Top right: Great Sphinx and pyramid; Bottom: hieroglyphics, African elephant
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EASTERN HEMISPHERE / Africa, continued

IMPERIALISM
& MODERN AFRICA*
Europeans began exploring and encroaching
on Africa in the 15th century. Though
slavery had been a longstanding tenet of
African culture, the Europeans initiated
a massive trade of captured Africans. The
transatlantic slave trade boomed until
importation of slaves was outlawed. Africa
became the subject of rampant European
imperialism with the Scramble for Africa
during the 19th and 20th centuries. Europeans
had a longstanding impact on the political
structure. Though countries later gained
independence, much of the continent
had been stripped of its bountiful natural
resources and was set on the path to
remaining part of the Third World.

Cape of Good Hope Dian Fossey

Anglo-Zulu War Rivonia Trial
Shaka Zulu Soweto Uprising
Sierra Leone & Liberia F.W. de Klerk
Voortrekker & Boers Muammar Gaddafi
Boer Wars Mau Mau Uprising
Victoria Falls ivory & bushmeat
Henry Morgan Stanley blood diamonds
Suez Canal Kimberley Process
Rudyard Kipling Haile Selassie
White Man's Burden Rwandan massacre
Leopold II & the Congo Hutu & Tutsi
South African War African Union
Afrikaans
Louis Leakey * Terms shown are for
apartheid research purposes and not
Nelson Mandela guaranteed to be on any
official test.
Olduvai Gorge
Jane Goodall

Top left to bottom: Victoria Falls, Nelson Mandela, Suez Canal