A.P.

WORLD
HISTORY:
PERIODIZATION,
THEMES, AND
ANALYSIS
A.P. WORLD
HISTORY:
PERIODIZATION
WHAT IS PERIODIZATION?
Each period is defined by three conditions
A geographical component
When civilization contracts, shrinks
When civilization spreads from smaller to wider area
Increase, decrease in contacts across regions
Emergence of parallel developments across globe
Dates are the not best way to define a period
Period may occur
At different time
In different regions

PERIOD 1
ANCIENT PERIOD
To 600 BCE
Growth of agriculture
Generally small city-states, states
Neolithic Period
Ancient River Valley Civilizations
Rise of trade
Ends with rise of large, regional empires
PERIOD 2
CLASSICAL PERIOD
600 BCE to 600 CE
Large, regional empires
Military aristocracies
Integrate regions
Permanent traditions and religions
Regional civilizations
China, India, SW Asia, Mediterranean
Mesoamerica and Andean America
Strong contacts between regional centers
Many areas outside classical civilizations
Ends with massive nomadic invasions
PERIOD 3
POST-CLASSICAL PERIOD
600 CE to 1450 CE
Began with rise of Islam
First trans-regional civilization
Spans Eurasia and Africa
Era of two great powers: Islam, China
Spread of universalizing religions, philosophies
Saw rise of new civilization centers
Emergence of network of global contacts
Ended due to Mongols, Black Death
PERIOD 4
EARLY MODERN PERIOD
1450-1750
Rise of gunpowder empires
Rise of Western Europe
World Shrinks
All continents included in world network
Global trade develops for first time
Great exchanges
Goods, products, flora, fauna, people, germs
Ideas especially European, Christianity
PERIOD 5
MODERN PERIOD
1750 to 1900: The West and the Rest
Era of massive technological change
Era of many revolutions
Technological
Political
Social, Intellectual
Vast trade networks
Western Global Hegemony
Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia
USA, Japan are newest powers
Dominance of Western Culture
PERIOD 6
CONTEMPORARY PERIOD
1900 to Present Change, Change, Change
The American Century, Retreat of Europe
Rise of Pacific Rim, India
Collapse of European empires
Modernization vs. westernization
Modernization vs. traditionalism
Rise of new political forms
Mass culture
Technology, telecommunications dominate age
A.P. WORLD
HISTORY:
THEMES
Interaction between
humans and the environment
Demography and disease
Migration
Patterns of settlement
Technology
Interaction between
humans and the environment
Development and
interaction of cultures
Religions
Belief systems, philosophies and
ideologies
Science and technology
The arts and architecture
Development and interaction
of cultures
State-building,
expansion, and
conflict
Political structures and forms of
governance
Empires
Nations and nationalism
Revolts and revolution
Regional, transregional, and global
structures and organizations
State-building, expansion,
and conflict
Creation, expansion, and
interaction of economic systems
Agricultural and pastoral
production
Trade and commerce
Labor systems
Industrialization
Capitalism and socialism
Creation, expansion, and
interaction of economic systems
Development and
transformation of social
structures
Gender roles and relations
Family and kinship
Racial and ethnic constructions
Social and economic classes

Development and
transformation of social
structures
A.P. WORLD
HISTORY:
ANALYSIS
COMPARISON
CHANGE &
CONTINUITY
A.P. WORLD
HISTORY:
PERIODIZATION,
THEMES, AND
ANALYSIS