Ruled the Roman empire during the middle 6th century; was the last emperor to attempt to reunify the empire; he built Constantinople's cathedral, the Taj Mahal, into the largest church the world has seen; supressed the "Nike" Revolt; fought a war on three fronts: plague, Persians, Ostrogoths; he also set up the Justinian Code of justice

During his rule we begin to see the beginnings of a division of Europe that will eventually lead to the armsrace that will give Europe an advantage over other civilizations in the world. He was successful in keeping alive the eastern roman empire.

Capital of Ethiopia elevated at 7200 feet during the 4th to 6th centuries; viewed by outsiders as a big trading state where exotic African goods could be traded like rhino horn and ivory; converted to Christianity; used terrace farming; made the world's first recorded coffee;

Signifies the spread of Christianity through the conversion of kings and the rise of Africa through trade.

Lived late 6th century to early 7th; born in Mecca to merchant family under Quraysh tribe; both parent died before he was six; founder of islam; he was traditionally illiterate; around 610 he recieved a vision of the archangel Gabriel telling him to recite what is now the first suras of the Quran; known as the "seal of the prophets"; polically ruled Mecca and Medina; when he died, his followers where split between who was to succeed him, the groups became the sunnis and the shiites;

He founded and played a major part in the spread of Islam which is one of the major religions in the world today. He had to promote Islam in a primarily Christian world.

one of the oldest and largest city-states of the Mayan civilization that stayed strong throughout the pre-classical and classical Mayan eras; contained limestone temples and painted rooftop reliefs; traded  with Teotihuacan a great deal;

It symbolizes the growing contacts in Mesoamerica, and that, though isolated, American civilizations built structures that resembled ancient Eurasian or African civilizations'. 

At height, had a popultion of 10,000 in about 1200; its location, east of modern St. Louis, made it a commercial gateway for trading goods; built mounds and pyramidal structures; trading center where influence radiated;

It signifies the growing contacts of the Americas and that, though isolate, the American civilizations built structures that resembled that of ancient Eurasian or African civilizations'.

The greatest Yucatan city during the 10th century; ruled by a dynasty, the Cocom, with imperial ambitions; cities reflected interest in the movements of the stars and planets in their layouts;

Signifies the growing contacts of Mesoamerica and that, though isolated, civilizations in the Americas were able to consrtruct structures that resembled those of ancient Eurasian or African civilizations'.

one of the divisions of Islam; believed that 'Ali was appointed by God as successor to Muhammad and that the position was usurped by Abu Bakr; endorsed pilgrimages and observed holy days to honor leaders; 'Ali was murdered by zealots in 661;

Signified the division of Islam and the problems that faced the religion both in those times and today where the division is still prevelant.

lasted from the late 11th century to the early 13th; the first was a response to the call by Pope Urban II and they conquered Edessa, Antioch and Jerusalem; successful in establishing Christian Kingdoms, though they were short lived; the fourth crusade sacked Constantinople; Jerusalem eventually fell to the forces of Salah ad-Din;

The crusades helped spread Christianity which is one of the major religions of the world today. Because of the sacking of Constantinople, the Byzantine empire declined and lead to the rise of the Ottoman Empire which then led Columbus to sail west to find a new trading route to China which led him to discover the New World.

the Kurdish soldier who seized Zangi's empire in the late 12th century; he overthrew the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem and reduced the crusader states to tiny enclaves on the coast of the Mediterranean; killed the Fatimid caliphate to extinction, and conquested Egypt for Sunni Islam; established the Ayyubid dynasty as well as the Mumluk dynasty; ruled from the 12th century to the 13th century;

Played an important role in the shaping of the Islamic world through his conquests. Also helped unite northern Africa and southwest Asia which led to less division and less competition of Asia and Africa, so there was less of an armsrace giving Europe an advantage.

known as mandarins; they ran the administration of the emperor in China; they qualified for their job by passing competitive examinations in knowledge of classical Confucian texts; also appointed based on family connections; began with the Song dynasty from the 10th to the 13th centuries and seen later in the Ming dynasty from the 14th to the 17th century; created networks of villages;

These mandarins limited the power of the emperor of China and opposed external conflict. This allowed for less conflict of China when Europe was in an armsrace, which allowed for more separation in weapons development giving Europe an advantage.

ruled the Mali empire during the 14th century; expanded the empire during his rule; captured major salt and gold producing regions; upon visiting Cairo he introduces so much gold that he causes the price of it to plummet; conquers Timbuktu and Gao;

Signifies the wealth of African nations during his time and shows that Africans were not always viewed as the way they are today, only recently in history did this trend appear.

ruler of the Mongols from the 12th to the 13th centuries uniting five different tribes; leader of the Mongol Expansion which halted with the spreading of the Black Plague; his forces were skilled in the arts of mounted archery;

With the Mongol Expansion came increased travel speed and increased travel safety across Eurasia. They brought cultures together, and laid the foundations for new great empires, while reshaping Eurasia.

a plague of many different diseases originating in the 14th century around China; halted the Mongol seige of Genoese conclave of Kaffa in the Black Sea; was spread along trade routes to reach Western Eurasia;

Halted the Mongol Expansion which allowed other empires opportunity for conquest. It was another disease that strengthened European immune systems, which gave them an advantage when they traveled to the Americas.

sailed for the Ming government during the 14th and 15th centuries because they were suspicious of oversea trade; commanded the largest flotilla in the world that sailed the Indian Ocean searching for trade; the fleet consisted of 62 ships each over 400 feet long; he found little that China would be interested in trading;

Since they found little that China was interested in trading for, it was significant because China then disbanded their fleet and now have a weak navy allowing the Europeans to later dominate the region.

founded on Christmas day in 1492 when the Santa Maria runs aground; Columbus founds the colony "La Navidad" and leaves to go back to Spain; thinking that he will find the colony thriving and doing well, he returns to find his men were all killed because of how they treated the local women;

This symbolizes the assertion of European dominance and the beginnings of conflict between the Native Americans and the Europeans.

was devestated by the fourth crusade during the late 12th to early 13th centuries; because of this, the Byzantine empire was weakened; the Ottoman empire conquers Constantinople in 1453, thus restricting one of the key trading routes used by Europe to reach China;

Because the Ottomans captured Constantinople, Europe needed a new trading route to China. And it is for this reason that Columbus sailed west to reach China and found the New World.

grains of wheat and rice as well as beef were brought from Eurasia to the Americas along with fruits like bananas, oranges, lemons, apples, pears, peaches, plums, and dates as well as sugar and coffee beans; Eurasia received tomatoes, potatoes, corn, and beans as well as chocolate beans and tobacco; one negative thing in the exchange was diseases brought by the Europeans to the Americas

This brought the world closer together, sharing crops that could be found in other parts of the world. This allowed the world to become more united in sharing what the world had to offer. The spreading of diseases helped the Europeans in their conquest of the Americas.

may have originated in New Guinea and spread throughout Asia; first refined in India before 500 BC; a labor intensive crop, and it is for this crop that many African slaves were brought to the Americas where sugar refining began in the 16th century; sugar became in high demand in Europe where the upper class used it a lot with sweetening their tea;

Because of the high demand in Europe, there was much need for slaves to be brought to the Americas where labor was needed for the sugar plantations there. The demand for sugar lead to the creation of "Triangular" trade.

origiated in the Highlands of Yemen and Ethiopia; supplied markets in Persia and Ottoman Empires; was the center of coffee trade from the 15th to the 17th centuries;

Many people drink coffee today, this crop grew hugely popular in the world today.

Europeans had guns, more resistance to germs, and better steel than the rest of the world; they had these things while the rest of the world didn't; Europeans had the best swords because they improved over time because they fought so much amongst themselves, and they built up a resistance to germs from livestock and diseases like the Black Death

These three characteristics allowed Europe to be superior in the world and allowed them to conquer and colonize the New World.

a Spanish conquistador who lived from the 15th to 16th century; conquered the Incan Empire by capturing their god-king Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca after firing on an unarmed Incan army; they held Atahualpa capative at Cajamarca until he was executed; also founded the city Lima the capital of present day Peru

Signifies the European conquest of the Americas and its native civilizations, through the use of guns, germs and steel, along with the superior strategy that was developed as an effect of the armsrace in Europe.

the adventurer that conquered Aztecs during the 15th and 16th centuries; his strategy included spreading a claim that the Aztec emporor Moctezuma II had surrendered power into his hands in the belief that Spanish supremacy was the fulfillment of a prophesy; he recruited surrounding native tribes that were enemies of the Aztecs to join his cause;

The conquerors of the civilizations of the Americas showed a broader trend of conquest. After the major cilizations were conquered, the Spanish needed to change their approach on their conquest of the natives. This lead to the creation of the missions across California.

was a Portugese island off the coast of Western Africa which housed many sugar plantations; it was a lab for plantation testing theories where the Portugese enslaved many locals to test to see if they would produce goods for them, including sugar; the first slaves were used in the middle of the 16th century;

The island of Sao Tome and other islands like it lead to the creation of the "Triangular" trade that Europe created to produce slaves for the colonies and the farms and plantations in the New World, thus strengthening Europe's economy, giving them another advantage over the world.

one of the most effective communicators of the Chrisitian message to a wider public; a German theologian who lived during the late 15th century and the 16th centuries; he didn't like indulgences, and fought the Catholic church for having an elite priest; he thinks that each human can be their own priest; used the printing press to spread his message;

Luther was successful in creating religious division across Europe. This helped to create competition across Europe which allowed the Europeans to compete with each other in an armsrace which helped give them an advantage over the rest of the world.

a major player in the Protestant Reformation during the 16th century; founded the Christian denomination of Calvinism;

Played a major part in the religious division of Europe which in turn led to the armsrace, giving Europe a reason to develop more sophistocated weapons which gave them an advantage over the rest of the world.

a Chinese port that was the central port for trading with Europeans during the 18th and early 19th centuries; Europeans traded silver and opium; Chinese traded tea, silk, textiles, porcelain, and rhubarb;

 Signified the ability of China to be self-sufficient. Because they were self sufficient, China did not need a strong navy to go out and trade with other nations. Without a stong navy China was not able to colonize other parts of the world, something that gave Europe an advantage.

Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Spain during the 16th century; he is a Hopsberg; has a favorable outlook on uniting Europe; there is speculation that he will be "Last World Emperor" ushering in the Second coming of Christ; he is unable to unite Europe because of the religious division;

Because he cannot unite Europe, there is a division of Europe leading to the arms race which causes Europe to develop more sophistocated weapons, military and strategy giving them an advantage over the rest of the world. 

consisted of Turkish-speaking refugees from Central Asia; began as a small state on the border of the Byzantine Empire; the government facilitates caravan trade, and they profit from taxes; in the middle of the 15th century under Sultan Mehmed II they conquer Constantinople; after, the navy controls the Mediterranean Sea; they beseiged Vienna until the Polish were able to come in and drive them away with their cavalry; they were one of the gunpowder kingdoms and masters of the cannon;

Because the Ottomans gains control of Constantinople, they cut off Europe's trading route to China. It is because Europeans had no trading route that Columbus sailed west to try to reach China and, in doing so, he discovers the New World.

started in Europe where they sailed with manufactured goods and cloths, usually weapons, to Africa; once there they traded these goods for slaves; they then took the slaves to the Americas to work on plantations and farms there; after they brought back crops to Europe to distribute; the slave trade was started from old gold forts that Europeans converted into slave forts along the gold coast of Africa;

"Trangular" trade strengthened the port cities of Europe and its colonies. It also helped with wealth and banking in that ships could be insured helping with Europe's economy.

from the late 18th to the early 19th centuries they set up trading outposts along the North American Pacific coast with the purpose of trading with the native Americans; after otter pelts become popular in Russia, it becomes their main purpose; they hunt ottors nearly to extinction with the help of the native Americans, though sometimes they were forced;

Signifies European conflict with the native Americans in that the Russians forced the native Americans to help hunt otters nearly to extinction. 

one of the 21 missions that were founded along the coast of California used specifically as a food supply of bears; built during the 18th century; they were used by the Spanish as a different tactic for conquering the native Americans since the larger civilizations had already been conquered; the misisons were more centered around converting the native Americans to Christianity, and to have them settle down; they were also used to keep the British and Russians out of the Pacific coast;

Showed more European dominance over the native Americans, since the missions were just a different tactic of conquest. Also signified conflict among Europe and its colonies.

fought between the French and the British over the Ohio River Valley in the middle of the 18th century; both Britain and France claim rights to the territory; begins with a minor incident when a British scout accidentally fires on a French fort, the French send troops and eventually force a British surrender; after incident, war spreads to India, Africa, Caribbean, and Europe; the British ultimately win the war;

As a result of the war, France pulls out of the region, as well as agree not to build any military establishment in India, paving the way for British colonization of the region.