"IN PARIS ON THE MORNING of July 14, 1789, a mob of eight thousand men and women in search of weapons streamed toward the Bastille (bass-STEEL), a royal armory filled with arms and ammunition. The Bastille was also a state prison, and although it held only seven prisoners at the time, in the eyes of these angry Parisians, it was a glaring symbol of the government’s despotic policies. It was defended by the marquis de Launay (mar-KEE duh loh-NAY) and a small garrison of 114 men. The attack on the Bastille began in earnest in the early afternoon, and after three hours of fighting, de Launay and the garrison surrendered. Angered by the loss of ninety-eight protesters, the victors beat de Launay to death, cut off his head, and carried it aloft in triumph through the streets of Paris. When King Louis XVI was told the news of the fall of the Bastille by the duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt (dook duh lah-USH-foo-koh-lee-ahn-KOOR), he exclaimed, ‘‘Why, this is a revolt.’’ ‘‘No, Sire,’’ replied the duc. ‘‘It is a revolution.’’ The French Revolution was a key factor in the emergence of a new world order. Historians have often portrayed the eighteenth century as the final phase of an old Europe that would be forever changed by the violent upheaval and reordering of society associated with the French Revolution. Before the Revolution, the old order—still largely agrarian, dominated by kings and landed aristocrats, and grounded in privileges for nobles, clergy, towns, and provinces—seemed to continue a basic pattern that had prevailed in Europe since medieval times. As the century drew to a close, however, a new intellectual order based on rationalism and secularism emerged, and demographic, economic, social, and political patterns were beginning to change in ways that proclaimed the arrival of a new and more modern order. The French Revolution demolished the institutions of the old regime and established a new order based on individual rights, representative institutions, and a concept of loyalty to the nation rather than to the monarch. The revolutionary upheavals of the era, especially in France, created new liberal and national political ideals, summarized in the French revolutionary slogan, ‘‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,’’ that transformed France and then spread to other European countries and the rest of the world. "

The Essential World History

Author: William J Duiker; Jackson J Spielvogel

Publisher: Boston, MA : Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, [2013] ©2014

Edition/Format:  Print book : English : Seventh editionView all editions and formats

Background:

Marco Polo ha reported on the magnificence of China after visiting Beijing during the reign of Kublai Khan, the great Mongol ruler.

By the time the Portuguese fleet arrived off the coast of China, of course, the Mongol Empire had long since disappeared. 

It had gradually weakened after the death of Kublai Khan and was finally overthrown in 1368 by a massive peasant rebellion under the leadership of Zhu Yuanzhang, who had declared himself the founding emperor of a new Ming dynasty and assumed the reign title of Ming Hongwu.

As we have seen, the Ming inaugurated a period of territorial expansion westward into Central Asia and southward into Vietnam while consolidating control over China’s vast heartland.

At the same time, between 1405 and 1433 the dynasty sponsored a series of voyages under Admiral Zhenghe that spread Chinese influence far into the Indian Ocean.

Then suddenly the voyages were discontinued, and the dynasty turned its attention to domestic concerns.

Topics covered in this episode: 

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When the Portuguese fleet landed in the port of Calicut a Muslim merchant cursed the landing party by saying, “May the Devil take thee! What brought thee hither”. The Portuguese replied, “spices”

As we begin our discussion of this age of Exploration and Expansion lets first ask ourselves, “How did Muslim merchants expand the world trade network at the end of the fifteenth century?

The man that greeted them was a Muslim that had probably crossed the Sahara Desert from North Africa.

After having read the chapter and listening to this episode, students should be able to

}Appreciate the contributions that the Romans, Christian church, and Germanic peoples made to the new civilization that emerged in Europe after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

}Understand the significance of Charlemagne’s coronation as emperor.

}Appreciate the roles that aristocrats, peasants, and townspeople played in medieval European civilization, and how their lifestyles differed.

}Grasp how cities in Europe compared with those in China and the Middle East.

}Comprehend the main aspects of the political, economic, spiritual, and cultural revivals that took place in Europe during the High Middle Ages.

}Understand the ways in which Europeans began to relate to peoples in other parts of the world after 1000 C.E.

}Understand the main reasons for the Crusades, and who or what benefitted the most from the experience of the Crusades

After having read the chapter and listened to this episode, students should be able to

•Understand how Japan’s geographic location affected the course of early Japanese history, as well as the political and social institutions that arose there.

•Appreciate the main characteristics of economic and social life in early Korea.

•Discuss the main developments in Vietnamese history before 1500.

•Understand why the Japanese were able to restore their national independence after a millennium of Chinese rule.

—Understand why China went through several centuries of internal division after the decline of the Han dynasty, and the impact this had on Chinese society.

—Grasp the major changes in political structures and social and economic life that occurred during the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties.

—Appreciate how the Mongols were able to amass an empire.

—Recognize the main characteristics of Mongol rule in China.

—Understand the chief initiatives taken by the early rulers of the Ming dynasty to enhance the role of China in the world, including why the imperial court ordered the famous voyages of Zhenhe and why they were discontinued.

—Understand the roles that Buddhism, Daoism, and Neo-Confucianism played in Chinese intellectual life between the Sui and Ming dynasties.

—Appreciate the main achievements in Chinese literature and art between the Tang and Ming dynasties, and the technological innovations and intellectual developments that contributed to these achievements.

After having read the chapter and listening to this episode, students should be able to

•Identify the chief destinations along the Silk Road, and the kinds of products and ideas that traveled along the route.

•Understand the changes in Buddhism in the centuries after Siddhartha Gautama’s death and why the religion ultimately declined in popularity in India.

•Explain how Islam arrived in the Indian subcontinent and why Muslim peoples were able to establish states there.

•Grasp the impact Muslim rule had on Indian society.

•Identify the most important cultural achievements of Indian civilization in the era between the Mauryas and the Mughals.

•Understand the main characteristics of Southeast Asian social and economic life, culture, and religion before 1500 C.E.

After having read the chapter and listened to this episode, students should be able to

¨Understand how the advent of farming and pastoralism affected the various people of Africa.

¨Grasp how the consequences of the agricultural revolution in Africa compare with its consequences in Eurasia and America.

¨Appreciate the effects that the coming of Islam had on African religion, society, political structures, trade, and culture.

¨Comprehend the role migrations played in the evolution of early African societies.

¨Appreciate the impact these migrations had compared to similar population movements elsewhere.

¨Understand the role lineage groups, women, and slavery played in African societies.

¨Appreciate how societies in various parts of Africa differed and understand what accounted for these differences.