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World History

Free World History study guide: 9 units with summaries, key ideas, flashcards and 45 practice questions with step-by-step solutions.

Lines up with: AP World History: Modern; CLEP Western Civilization II (partial); state end-of-course exams.

Units

1. UNIT 01

   The global tapestry (c. 1200–1450)

   Between 1200 and 1450, states across Afro-Eurasia and the Americas built on older traditions to create powerful, connected societies.
2. UNIT 02

   Networks of exchange (c. 1200–1450)

   Trade networks and the Mongol Empire linked Afro-Eurasia, spreading goods, ideas, technologies and disease.
3. UNIT 03

   Land-based empires (c. 1450–1750)

   Large land empires used gunpowder weapons, bureaucracies and religion to expand and hold power.
4. UNIT 04

   Transoceanic interconnections (c. 1450–1750)

   European maritime exploration created global trade networks, the Columbian Exchange and the Atlantic slave trade.
5. UNIT 05

   Revolutions (c. 1750–1900)

   Enlightenment ideas sparked political revolutions, while industrialization transformed economies and societies.
6. UNIT 06

   Consequences of industrialization (c. 1750–1900)

   Industrial states built empires to gain raw materials and markets, provoking resistance and mass migration.
7. UNIT 07

   Global conflict (c. 1900–present)

   Two world wars and a global depression reshaped politics, ended empires and produced mass atrocities.
8. UNIT 08

   Cold War and decolonization (c. 1900–present)

   After WWII, the US and USSR competed globally while colonies across Asia and Africa won independence.
9. UNIT 09

   Globalization (c. 1900–present)

   Technology, trade and international institutions have tied the world together, bringing growth along with inequality and resistance.