Study Guide for Pac Rim Final

Key Players:
 India
 Ghandi
 Was the spiritual and political leader of India and the Indian Independence
Movement
 Pioneer of satyagraha, which is resistance to tyranny through mass civil
disobedience
 Nehru
 Was the Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964
 Founded the Non-Alignment movement
 Ashoka
 He was the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya and part of the Mauryan
Empire. He became Buddhist, and built edicts that urged people to act
morally.
 Jinnah
 Founded Pakistan after the partition of India and became the first leader
of Pakistan
 China
 Qin Shi Huang Di
 Ruler of the Qin dynasty, the first great wall was built under him, the
terracotta soldiers were also built for him. He was also a legalist.
 Mao Zedong
 Became the communist leader of China after the Long March. He enacted
the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution
 Confucius
 Had a deep desire to restore order and moral living of earlier times, the
founder of the ethical system of Confucianism
 Sun Yat Sen
 Head of the nationalist party (or Kuomintang) and he forced the emperor
to abdicate in 1911. He then proclaimed himself president of the newly
formed republic. He had to fight the warlords but could not win against
them.
 Chang Kai Shek
 CKS was a warlord and fought against other warlords until he defeated
them in 1927. He then established himself as president.
 Wanted a democratic government, emphasized businesses, international
alliances, individual initiative.
 Lost to Mao in the Long March.
 Deng Xiao Ping
 Enacted the one child policy and became president of China in 1980.
 He embraced the four modernizations: agriculture, industry, defense,
science and technology.

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  Permitted private businesses and eliminated Mao’s communes, China
became more “open” as a result
 Laozi
 The founder of Daoism
 Han Fei
 Created legalism
 Dalai Lama
 Head of the Tibetan theocracy
 After the Chinese invaded Tibet, the Dalai Lama was forced to flee to India
in 1959
 Genghis Khan
 Unified the Mongol clan under himself and conquered much of Asia
• By 1225 Central Asia was under Mongol control, he died in 1227 from
illness
 Zheng He
 Was a eunuch and an admiral, made 7 voyages
• Expeditions were between 1403 and 1453
♦ Went to SE Asia, India, Ceylon, Persian Gulf, Arabia, Kenya
♦ There are even claims that he explored the New World, Australia,
Antarctica, Iceland, Greenland
♦ He demonstrated that China can exercise power in the Indian
Ocean Basin
 Japan
 Leyasu Tokugawa
 Became the Shogun in 1603 after defeating his rivals at the battle of
Sekigahara in 1600, united all the daimyos of Japan and moved the
Bakufu to what is present day Tokyo
 He enacted a closed country policy
• Nobody was allowed in or out
• This brought peace to Japan
 He also enacted sankinkotai, a strict social order
• Daimyos had to spend every other year in Edo but their families were
there year round
♦ This prevented daimyos from beginning a rebellion
 Hirohito
 Emperor of Japan during WWII
• Many felt that he should have been tried for war crimes but McArthur
said no
 Daimyo
 High ranking samurai lords who provided the shogun with warriors in
exchange for land

 Shogun

 Political, military leader of Japan

 Jimmu

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  The first emperor of Japan, descended from the Sun Goddess

 All emperors trace their lineage back to Jimmu so they are all believed to
be divine

 He had two functions:

• Establishment of the native religion (Shinto)

• Creation of the monarchy

 General MacArthur

 Was the US general that took over the occupation of Japan

• He gave women the right to vote and also acted the Land Reform Law

• Did not try Hirohito for war crimes

 Southeast Asia

 Pol Pot

 Real name is Saloth Sar; head of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia

 Behind the Killing Fields, but died before he could be extradited for war
crimes

 Ho Chi Minh

 Encouraged the Vietnamese to get rid of the French

 Became the “Father of Vietnam”

 Won the battle at Dien Bien Phu against the French and he becomes
leader of N. Vietnam

• Enacted a harsh communist regime

 Died of heart failure in 1969

 President Johnson

 Responded to the false alarm from the Gulf of Tonkin that a Vietnamese
ship had attacked

• Got America into the Vietnam War

 President Kennedy

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  Helped the French get out of Vietnam and then assisted South Vietnam in
their war against North Vietnam

 Aung San Suu Kyi

 Won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize

 Is the leader of the National League for Democracy In Burma

 She is currently in under detention, with the Burmese junta repeatedly

expanding it

 Latin America

 Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui

 Ninth Sapa Inca (god emperor) and great ruler and conquestor of South
America. He defeated the invading Chankas.

 Moctezuma II

 Ninth Aztec emperor and expanded the territory but it was at this time
that Spanish conquest began.

 Moctezuma I

 Made the Aztecs the most powerful people in Mexico, conquered the tribes
throughout the Valley of Mexico and the regions south of it

 Jose de San Martin

 Fought French in Spain, freed Chile and many other L.A. countries, known
as the “Protector of Peru”

 Fidel Castro

 Political activist who worked with Che Guevera to lead a guerilla war
against Batista. He became the PM of Cuba and the US disliked him and
his communist beliefs

 Pablo Neruda

 Wrote poems and articles for the communist revolution in Chile, but was
exiled and went to Argentina and then back to Chile. When he won the
Nobel Peace Prize he was known as a hero and his poems are very
famous.

 Frida Kahlo

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  Had polio and went through a lot of suffering, but she represents this in
her paintings, mainly self-portraits and things that show her heritage.
Married to Diego Rivera.

 Pancho Villa

 Mexican revolutionary general and the Robin Hood of Mexico

 Simon Bolivar

 George Washington of S. America who rebelled against Spanish rule

 Diego Rivera

 Artist illustrating the plight of indigenous Mexicans and personal political

beliefs

 Anastasio “Tacho” Somoza Garcia

 Directed the National Guard in Nicaragua. Pulled a lot of political strings

and got elected president. Was a dictator and got assassinated.

 Benito Juarez

 Started a liberal reform movement called La Reforma and served as

governor of Oaxaca beginning in 1847

 Became President in 1861 and reelected in 1867 (fought off the French
during this time)

 Died of a heart attack in 1872

 Bartolome de las Casas

 Priest and writer exposing oppression of Indians by Europeans and an

important source for history at the time

 Emiliano Zapata

 Was the hero of the peasant revolution and spent much of his life
supporting land reform, the redistribution of land to the peasants. He was
also an inspiring peasant leader in the overthrow of Mexican dictator
Porfirio Diaz, but he continued to oppose later leaders and for this reason
was assassinated.

 Porfirio Diaz

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  Key figure in Mexican government from the mid 19th century to the
beginning of the 20th century. He was an authoritarian president of
Mexico who defined his presidency by political maneuvering, underhanded
dealing and absolute control of the media and people.

 Juan Peron

 Three times President of Argentina and very popular. Married to Eva

Peron the actress.

 Dona Marina

 Known as “La Malinche”

 Was from a noble Aztec family but they sold her to traders. She spoke
Aztec and Mayan so she translated for the Spanish, and that was crucial to
the Spanish settlement of Mexico.

 Mirabal Sisters

 They were four sisters, three of whom were killed by Trujillo or being
against him. Lived in the Dominican Republic under dictator Rafael
Trujillo and they tried to overthrow the facist government. Known as the
butterflies.

 Trujillo

 Unelected military dictator of Hispaniola Dominican Republic

 Santa Anna

 Political leader in Mexico dealing with independence from Spain. Went

from general of the military to President and wanted to centralize power.
Thought to be corrupt and led Mexico to disaster.

 Augusto Jose Ramon Pinochet Ugarte

 Military attaché in D.C. and wrote geography textbooks. Led a coup

against Chile’s leader and the Americans paid him to suppress
communism as he ruled over Chile.

 Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla

 Was a priest who called for a rebellion against the Spanish in front of his
church

• Today that cry is known as the “grito de Dolores” or the cry of Dolores

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 • He amassed an army and they marched towards Mexico City but the
Creoles defeated him

 Manuela Saenz

 Simon Bolivar’s lover, into politics and saved his life. Led a very sad life
following Bolivar who dumped her and she fell down stairs and got sick. 

 Roberto Clemente

 Puerto Rican baseball player who went back to help P.R.

 Bernardo O’Higgins

 Fought for Chilean independence and the first leader of independent Chile

 Atahualpa

 Last emperor of the Incas, he was captured by Pizarro and used to control
the Incas until the Spanish executed him. Defeated his brother to become
emperor.

 Che Guevera

 Overthrew Cuba’s Batista and captured by the CIA

 Salvador Allende

 Chilean dictator and communist who was overthrown in a US backed coup.

 Augistin de Iturbide

 Fought with Spanish and defeated a revolt but he had a change of heart
and later fought for Mexican independence.

 Social Pyramids

 The Aztec’s social pyramid

 Royalty

 Nobility

 Warriors

 Peasants

 Commoners/slaves/farmers

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  The Spanish Social Pyramids post-conquered Aztecs

 Peninsulares (Spanish-born but live in New Spain) (They had all the power)

 Creoles (Spaniards who were born in New Spain (the sons and daughters
of the peninsulares))

 Mestizos (Mixture of European and indigenous blood – worked for the

peninsulares on the haciendas)

 Indians (indigenous people including the Aztecs who worked as slaves)

 The Social Pyramid Post-Revolution

 Creoles (Because the peninsulares have returned to Spain)

 Mestizos (they continue to grow but do not have a lot of political power)

 Indians remain at the bottom

 Today In Mexico

 Upper Class (mostly white)

• Mexicans who own their own businesses or land and have lots of
influence in the government

 Middle Class (mostly mestizos)

• Mexicans who are merchants, government workers, waiters

 Lower Class

• Mostly mestizos and Indians who work as maids, street vendors, poor
farmers, construction jobs… they have little political power

 Prominent Gods

 Olmec

 Worshipped a Jaguar Spirit

 Aztecs

 Huitzilopochtli

• Sun god

 Quetzalcoatl

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  Incas

 Inti

• Sun god

 Toltecs

 Worshipped a prominent war god

 Also believed in Quetzalcoatl

 Trade

 Maya

 The Maya traded between cities

• Traded things like salt, flint, feathers, shells, honey, and also
sometimes traded for craft goods

• There was no official currency, but cacao beans sometimes served as

currency

 Teotihuacán

 At Teotihuacán there was a thriving trade network with the most valuable
trade being obsidian

 Olmecs

 This ancient civilization had a trade network extending from Mexico City
to Honduras

 Aztecs

 Tenochtitlán was also home to a massive trade market

 Incas

 Had an extensive trade network over hundreds of miles linking over 32

million people

• This was all changed with the coming of the Columbian Exchange

♦ The Columbian Exchange was a global diffusion of plants, food

crops, animals, population, and diseases

 Infectious diseases killed thousands of Indians

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 ♦ Overall the Columbian exchange increased the population because
of the global spread of food and animals

Religions
 Religions/Philosiphies

 Shiva

 Hindu

• Represents destruction and re-creation

 Brahma

 Hindu

• The creator of the Universe

 Vishnu

 Hindu

• The Preserver of the Universe

 Amaterasu

 Shinto

• The Sun Goddess

 Yin Yang

 Daoism

• Two powers that represent the natural rhythm of life; they complement
each other

 4 Noble Truths

 Buddhism

• The four key truths to life

 8 Fold Path

 Buddhism

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 • By following these things, one can end the cycle of rebirth and attain
nirvana (moksha)

 Nirvana

 Buddhism

• The end of the soul

 Moksha

 Buddhism

• The same thing as nirvana

 Reincarnation

 Hindu

 Wuwei

 Daoism

• Action through nonaction

 Li

 Legalism

• Correct behavior that extends all the way to the ruler

 Dharma

 Hindu

• The moral and ethical aims of human life

 Karma

 Hindu

• The sum of your moral actions, mental and physical, in this life and
your past lives

 Hinduism

 Doesn’t have a specific founder, and is the oldest religion still practiced

 The Vedas are the holy books

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  Buddhism

 Founded by Prince Siddhartha Gautama around 500 BCE

• Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha

 Islam

 Root word is “salam” which means “peace”

 “muslim” means “true believer”

 Founded approx. 600 CE by an Arab named Muhammed

 Holy book = bible

 Legalism

 Founded by Han Feizi

 Very brutal political philosophy

 Daoism

 Founded by Laozi

 All about nature and the dao

 Confucianism

 Founded by Confucius during the Zhou dynasty ;

 Basic belief was that people could be elevated by education and virtuous
examples of superiors

 Shinto

 The native religion of Japan and worships gods of nature

 Rituals often honor ancestors

 Kami

 Divine or scared spirits that form the basis of Shinto

 Mayan religion

 The Maya believed in many gods – polytheistic

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  Gods were also associated with the four directions and colors: white for north,
black for west, yellow for south, red for east, and green for the center

 The Mayans believed that each day was a living god whose behavior could be
predicted with the help of calendars

 They often made offerings of food, flowers, incense, blood

 Sometimes carried out human sacrifices

 The Maya believed that human sacrifice pleased the gods and kept the
world in balance

 Aztec Religion

 The Aztecs also believed in many gods – polytheistic

 Their religious practices centered around public ceremonies to communicate

with the gods and with their favor

 Had many religious festivals with dancing, dramas, songs

 The Aztecs believed that Huitzilopochtli, their sun god, brought day and
night, so he needed human blood to remain strong

 The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice on a massive scale

 They used an obsidian knife to cut out the victim’s heart

• The victim was usually a POW

 Inca Religion

 They mostly worshipped the sun god, Inti, with several lower gods –
polytheistic

 Used human sacrifice only on the most sacred occasions or when natural
disasters occurred

Ancient Civilizations
 Olmecs

 Founded a society around 1200 BCE in the Jungles of Southern Mexico

 They are often called Mesoamerica’s “Mother Culture”

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  The Olmec thrived from approx. 800-400 BCE

 San Lorenzo is the oldest Olmec site, dating back to around 1150 BCE

• Here they found mounds, courtyards, pyramids, columns, altars,

statues

 La Venta is another important site

• Was founded around 900 BCE

• A Great Pyramid was discovered, 100 ft high

♦ This may have been the center of the Olmec religion

 They worshipped the Jaguar Spirit

 Had a great trade network, reaching from Mexico City to Honduras

 Fell in 400 BCE for reasons not fully understood

 Khmer

 Powerful civilization that reached its peak in the 12th century

 Remarkably advanced

 Sophisticated administrative structures

 Networks of roads

 Invented silk-weaving

 Were brilliant sculptors

 Had an amazing water system

• Incl. moats, bridges, reservoirs

♦ With this system they were able to control the amount of water
allowing them to cultivate large quantities of rice to feed the
population

 Considered some of the most impressive ruins today

 Incans

 Was a very young civilization, only founded in the 13th century

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  Pachacuti transformed Incan empire from a small city-state into a great
empire

 By 1493, the Incan empire was as large as the Roman empire had been

 The capital city was Cuzco with a pop of 11,000

 At the top was the emperor (called Sapa Inca) who was descended from
the Sun God, Inti

• Hierarchy:

♦ King, wives, high priest, Army Chief, four regional army

commanders,

♦ Priests, generals, administrators

♦ Artisans, musicians, army captains

♦ Peasant farmers, herders, army conscripts

 The Incas were master stone builders

 The blocks were cut to fit together so tightly that not even a knife could fit
in the cracks

 The Incas did not have a written language

 Instead, they used the quipus system to deliver messages, keep track of
the pop, etc.

• Knots tied at different places on a string with different colors for

numbers

♦ Served as a memory aid and an effective substitute for a written

language

 Had a very impressive road system that allowed them to relay a message in
the 380,000 sq. mi range in just days

 (See trade section for trade details)

 Fall of the Incans

 Fransisco Pizarro conquered the Incans during a time of civil war when
they were weak

 Aztecs

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  Arrived in the Valley of Mexico around 1200 CE

 Called Mexica, they were a poor nomadic people who found work as soldiers-
for hire to local rulers that had survived the collapse of the Toltecs

 Founded their city in 1325 and named it Tenochtitlán

 Became stronger over the years, joined with two other city states(Texcoco
and Tlacopan) to create the Triple Alliance

 Became the leading power and gained control over neighbors

 By the early 1500s they controlled a vast empire that covered approx. 80,000
sq. miles

 They had loose control over this empire but demanded tribute

• Tribute was usually gold, maize, cacao beans, cotton, jade, etc.

 By the 1500s, Tenochtitlán had become a huge urban center

 Causeways were built over the marshland into the city

 Most of the goods sold at the huge market were local goods grown on
chinampas

• Chinampas were farm plots built on the marshy fringes of the lake

♦ These were extremely productive and sometimes called “floating

gardens”

 Main structure of the city was the Great Temple

• Giant pyramid with two temples at the top, one devoted to the sun god
and one to the rain god

♦ (see Religion section for Aztec religion)

♦ (see Trade section for Aztec trade)

 In 1502, Montezuma II was crowned emperor

• Called for more human sacrifice than ever before, and provinces rose
up against it

 Then the Spanish arrived!

 Mayans

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 In 250 CE, the Maya burst forth into a great civilization

 250 CE – 900 CE is known as the Classic Period of the Mayan Civilization

 Each city was its own city-state ruled by a god-king

 Each city featured a ball court, where contestants had to get balls through
very high hoops only using their feet

• The losers were beheaded

♦ Mayans believed that by playing this game it would maintain the

cycles of the sun and moon and bring rain

 Maize, beans, and squash provided basis for Mayan life

 Had more refined methods than slash-and burn, planted on raised beds

 Hierarchy

 King (position was hereditary)

 Nobles (priests and leading warriors)

 Merchants and skilled artisans

 Peasant majority

 (See Religion section for Mayan religious beliefs)

 Religious beliefs also led to the development of the calendar,

mathematics, astronomy

• Developed a 260 day religious calendar

• Developed a 365 day solar calendar

♦ These two calendars were meshed so that any day could be

identified on both cycles

 Helped identify the best times to plant crops, attack enemies,

crown new rulers

• Used a math system that included the concept of 0

♦ Shell for 0, dots for 1-4, a bar for 5

 Developed most advanced writing system of the Ancient Americas

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  Consisted of 800 glyphs

• Recorded important events in a book known as a codex

♦ Only 3 codexes have survived

 Many people wrote down their history after the arrival of the
Spanish

 The most famous of these was the Popol Vuh

 Disappeared without a trace around 900 CE, still a mystery

 The Han Dynasty of Ancient China

 Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu) founded the Han dynasty

 Han Wudi was one of the reasons for the Han Dynasty’s success

 Pursued two areas

• Administrative centralization

• Imperial expansion in government, demanded educated people

 Established Imperial University

 Han dynasty reached as far south as North Vietnam and as far west as Korea

 Extensive trade was experienced along the silk road

 It was a period of great achievement where government officials were

selected on merit

 Manufacture of silk

 Invention of paper

 Harappans

 Agriculture

 Had agriculture

• Wheat, barley, cotton

 Also had domesticated animals such as cows and chickens

 The governments were municipal

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  Had an amazing weights system

 Traded with Persia, Mesopotamia, Afghanistan

 Trade mainly included gold, silver, copper, gems, semi-precious stones

 In 1500 BCE there was a major decline in the civilization due to

environmental degradation

 They lacked firewood from clear-cutting, which caused erosion

 Mughals

 Were a mixture of Mongols and Turks from central Asia

 Greatest ruler was Akbar

 He unified a land of at least 100,000,000 people

 He allowed religious freedom

 Abolished jizya, the tax on non-Muslims

 The greatest Mughal monument was the Taj Mahal

 Created for Shah Jahan’s wife, Mumtaz Mahal

 Shah Jahan was thrown in prison before it was completed and could only
see it from his cell with the help of a mirror

 Gupta

 Chandra Gupta I began the Guptan Empire

 He married off daughters to solidify the empire

 Rulers during this period supported the development of arts, architecture,

science, and literature

 Was considered to be a golden period in India’s history

 Tokugawa Period

 During the Tokugawa period, Japan had a closed-country policy

 Nobody allowed in or out with the exception of two Dutch ships per year
and the Chinese had 30 ships per year

 The aim of this was to stabilize Japan and prevent civil war

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  Sankinkotai (see Tokugawa: the person)

 There was great peace and castles began to turn from fortresses into
commercial hubs

 Large urban centers developed

 Kabuki theater thrived and haiku became very popular

 Shang

 Based around the Huang He River

 There was organization of large work projects for the construction of

irrigation channels and dikes for flood control

 Kings presided over rituals (warfare provided human and animal sacrifices
central for rituals)

 Built walled cities

Political Structures
 Absolute Monarchy

 Where the King or Queen has complete power over his/her subject’s lives

 Military Dictatorship

 A form of government where all the power lies with the military

 Now practiced in Burma

 Communism

 A socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of a classless

society based on common ownership and the control of the means of
production and property in general

 Now practiced in China, North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam

 Socialism

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  Some private ownership, some public ownership (right between Communist
and Capitalist)

 A socioeconomic structure

 Democracy

 A political system in which state-power is held by the majority of citizens

within a country or a state

 Coup d’état

 the sudden, unconstitutional deposition of a legitimate government, by a

small group of the State Establishment — usually the military — to replace
the deposed government with another, either civil or military

 Happened in Vietnam when Diem was overthrown

 Totalitarianism

 A political system that strives to regulate nearly every aspect of public and
private life

 NORTH KOREA

 Authoritarianism

 Political system controlled by nonelected rulers who usually permit some

degree of individual freedom

Geography
 Japan

 4 main islands

 Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu

 Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, Korea Strait, etc.

 Latin America

 Rio Grande

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  Begins in the San Juan mountains of Colorado and flows across the US into
Mexico

 Most of the river is not navigable because it is too shallow

• Called Rio del Norte by Mexico

 Andes Mountains

 Forms the world’s longest continuous mountain range

 Reaches heights of 22,000’ second to the Himalayas but makes it the

tallest mountain range in the Western Hemisphere

 Spread over 7 countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador,

Peru, Venezuela)

 Aconcagua is the name of the highest peak in the Andes

 Sierra Madre Occidental

 The main mountain range of Mexico

 Parallels the Pacific coast for about 1000 miles

 Plateau of Mexico

 Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental mountains enclose

the plateau of Mexico

 It’s about 700 miles and 4-8000’ high

 The southern part of the Plateau of Mexico has shallow lakes

 It’s also the historical site of Teotihuacan, where modern Mexico City is
located

 Guiana Highlands

 Encompassing the highlands are the Orinoco River and the Amazon River
Basin

 Results are spectacular waterfalls

 Home to brilliantly colored birds and minerals such as gold and diamonds

 Lake Maracaibo

 Located in NW Venezuela and serves as a transportation route

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  Largest lake in South America at 5,100 sq. miles

 Orinoco River

 Begins in the highlands of South Venezuela

 Passes along 1500-1700 miles through rainforest and then out to the
Atlantic Ocean making it the 3rd largest river in South America

 Most of it is navigable

 Yucatan Peninsula

 Separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea

 Area of many of the Mayan temples

 Lots of hardwood forest and tropical wildlife

 One of the main industries is henequen, a fiber used to make mats and
ropes

 Amazon River

 At 3,900 miles it is second to the Nile (but not by much)

 Starts in the Andes

 Carries more water than any other river in the world

 As it flows east, passes through the largest rainforest in the world

covering 35% of South America’s total land area

 Sierra Madre Oriental

 Encloses along with the Sierra Madre Occidental range the plateau of
Mexico

 This range includes Mexico’s highest peak at 18,700’

 Lake Titicaca

 Located high in the Andes

 Is in fact one of the highest lakes in the world but is ONLY the 3rd largest
lake in Latin America

 Its constant temperature at 57° allows locals to grow wheat and maize

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 Gran Chaco

 Lowland plain located in central South America

 Oil is exploited here

 Patagonia

 Outerwear name brand comes from this area in South America, namely
Southern Argentina

 Sheep raising is the principal industry

 Pampas

 Wide grassy plains of Argentina spreading into Uruguay

 Covers 300,000 square miles and has been used for cattle grazing since
the 1500s by the Portuguese and the Spanish

 Agriculture is the main industry

 Atacama Desert

 Located in Northern Chile, 600 miles long

 Has virtually no vegetation and some parts have never received rainfall

 Amazon Basin

 Takes up approx. 35% of South America

 Rainforest covering the basin is rich in plant life, animal life, and natural
resources

 Some scientists hold out hope that the vegetation there may provide a
cure for AIDS but everyday sq. miles are destroyed due to wood
harvesting

 Vegetation in the rainforest produces half of the world’s oxygen!!

 Lake Nicaragua

 Largest lake in Central America

 Used to be part of the sea

 Fish found there only used to live in salt water but have adapted to live in
this freshwater lake

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  Rio de la Plata

 An estuary along the SE coast of South America

 This estuary is 170 miles long - capitals Buenos Aires (Argentina) and
Montevideo (Uruguay) are located here

 Tierra del Fuego

 An archipelago located on the southern tip of South America separating

South America from the Strait of Magellan

 Very treacherous to navigate

 Used mainly for sheep-raising and oil drilling

 Isthmus of Panama

 Narrow strip of land connecting Central America to South America

 Hosts the Panama Canal, built by the US, connecting the Caribbean sea
and the Pacific ocean

 China

 Taklimakan Desert

 Desert in the eastern part of China, the “desert of death” because it was
almost impossible to cross

 Himalayas

 The Himalayas to the south prevented invasion from that direction

Key Historical Events

 Partition

 In 1947, West Pakistan and East Pakistan were created

 The Muslims moved west to Pakistan whereas the Hindus and Sikhs
moved East into India

 Forced religious conversions

 Between 500-1.5 milion died

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  The women received the brunt of hatred and they were raped and killed

 The violence nearly destroyed both countries and only stopped after
Gandhi was assassinated

 Cultural Revolution

 The Cultural Revolution was the Chinese government’s attempt to rid China
of all cultural background

 Great Leap Forward

 Mao attempted to industrialize to the same level as Britain in 15 years;

placed people in communes, lots of scrap metal drives

 GLF failed miserably because of Communist policies (jobs all earn the
same amount), and Mao forced workers to double plant so the harvests
often failed

 Boxer Rebellion

 Where a group of people (the “Fists of Harmony”) who believed they were
immune to bullets and other such weapons tried to overthrow the Qing
Dynasty. They were partially successful, but then the rebellion was broken
up by foreign forces

 Tiananmen Square Massacre

 The Chinese Government massacred thousands during a student protest for

human rights

 Korean War

 In June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea

 The UN sent 1 million troops in response (most of these were from the US)

 MacArthur was fired because he wanted to invade NK

 On October 1953, an armistice was signed (South Korea never signed,

however, so the two countries are still at war)

 Vietnam War

 Began in 1964 (US involvement), ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon.

 The US was providing aid to France and then became fully involved in the
war after the false alarm at the Gulf of Tonkin.

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 • Tet offensive from NV showed the US and SV that they (the US and SV)
were not in control

♦ This was a turning point in the war

 US orchestrates a coup d’état against Diem, the leader of South Vietnam,

and he was assassinated

 Secret bombings of Cambodia when Nixon becomes president to try to

end the Ho Chi Minh trail

 US abandons SV and NV takes Saigon, renames it Ho Chi Minh City

 Dien Bien Phu

 Vietminh fought the French for control of Vietnam

 When it looked like the French might win, Minh studied the guerilla tactics
of Mao and mounted a resistance campaign in the countryside

 The French began to falter and asked for US assistance

 Vietminh defeat French on bridge at Dien Bien Phu

• Result: Vietnam became two separate countries at the 17th parallel

 Killing Fields

 Khmer Rouge attempted to completely transform Cambodian culture

overnight

 They attempted to reorganize society by going backwards

 The name of “organization” is Angka. People were expected to erase all

memories of life before Angka- there was no history

 You were taken to the Killing Fields if you:

 Spoke a foreign language

 All that were educated were murdered

 Children were separated from parents

 Today many do not know their birthday or age

 Taught to hate people including family and then witness their murder

 Meiji Restoration

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  The Shogunate was obliterated along with the Shogun and the emperor was
restored (1868)

 A new constitution was created along with a strong central government

 Better tax system

 Daimyo land was returned to the emperor

 The government pursued “western” ideas

• They adapted the German army and the British navy

 Zaibatusu were family owned businesses that grew into huge

conglomerates because the government wanted Japan to grow as fast as
possible

 Education becomes better

Good luck!!!

(Sorry it was so long)

Created by Keira O’Hearn

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