Quiz 5

The different learning methods that were used in class were very helpful in reaching the learning outcomes. Over the ten weeks, while reading through the textbook, we explored many different ways of learning about history.  Out of all the activities and projects that were tasked with in class, I specifically enjoyed the following:

1)      My first favorite assignment was the option to write a formal essay, a letter, a poem, a painting, or drawing, dance, song to communicate ideas to President Putin. I chose to write him a letter. I thought this assignment was a very creative way of learning about the history of Circassia.

2)      My second favorite assignment was the debates between the two groups in class about the different topics that were presented by the instructor. This activity really helped us with engaging in very critical thinking.

Overall, the instructor for this course was very effective in transferring the knowledge and information to the students by assigning these different activities/projects. However, the amount of work/reading was a challenge to keep up with, especially while working a full time job.

Chapters 8,9,10

Eurasia was the combination of Europe and Asia today and anyone can imagine that this is a huge amount of land. This land needed an exchange system so that the cultures could trade and travel. This gave birth to the creation of Silk Roads. Even though these roads were first used to trade silk, they created a way of trade for Eurasia which created commerce for cultures. Key consequences of silk roads were spread of religion. For example Buddhism spread across the silk roads from India to Central Asia. Same could be said for the Sea roads as they connected cultures through sea but in some places it became the simple way of travel and trade. This was in Southeast Asia as there are many tiny islands that would need sea roads for commerce.  It was Camel that changed the commerce forever for West Africa. This gave the Africans the ability to be able to travel at night through the Sahara desert

 The book implies that when it all began as a golden age for china, Under Sui dynasty china regained its unity and even when it collapsed the two dynasties the Tang and Song both built on its foundation. It was very interesting to me that china changed so much through a short period of time and it just kept evolving. However Buddhism reached china through the silk roads and became a part of Chinese culture after the collapse of the Hun dynasty.

When I went to Spain I came across many mosques and witnessed some of the creation of the Muslims centuries ago. This was part of the changes that took place in Europe as Muslims took over parts of Spain. However the most interesting part of this time was that unlike the Chinese and Muslims the European civilization never gained its unity and instead became system of competing states. This competition militarized these states more than any other civilization which I think really sets the stage for the things that happened in the future in Europe and even today.

Chapters 21-24

This was one of my favorite set of chapters because it was so recent in our history. I think the amount of the changes that happened in recent history has been dramatic as technology grew more advanced. Our wars have certainly reflected that. The development of the First World War and the Second World War gave birth to a new understanding in using weapons and set the limits for the generations in the future.

As the great powers of Europe competed intensely for influence in colonies, it set the stage for World war 1 and World War 2. However, World War 2 was directly a result of the consequences of World War 1 as Germany was hard headed by the sanctions due to the results of World War 1.  One of the most interesting things that I realized was that the new political system like Fascism or Communism were also started around the same time between 1919 and 1945.  I once watched a movie about the revolution of Russia in 1917. It was very dramatic as the Communism took over. The Soviet Union eventually grew into an empire and everyone was eyeing a third World War between the United States and Soviet Union as they both possessed a large amount of nuclear arsenal. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union gave birth to many new countries in Europe and made United States the number one super power in the world.

globalization to environmentalism are the two of the most important things that is facing humanity today. These two are also directly related to technology. As technology got more advanced the global trade became more efficient and easier which set the stage for globalization.

Chapter 17,18,20

These chapters were fun to read but it was also lot of history covered in such a short amount of writing. It was fascinating to find out that so many revolutions happened in such short periods of time from one another in different parts of the world. Mostly revolutions around the world like the Egyptian revolution that started last year, start from social tension within the society. It was an important reminder for me that North American Revolution didn’t start like others and it was because of the British government tightening the control over the colonies that started the revolution. Spanish, Haitian and French revolutions were both driven by sharp conflicts within their society. It was interesting to learn that the French revolution was during its first five years was very violent as was the Haitian revolution. Governments around the world started establishing societies where they wanted the trust of their citizens. These gave birth to a feminist movement which grew bigger and bigger and it had some effects as women were able to gain more rights.

The industrial revolution began in Western Europe and The Great Britain was the first country to experience the industrial revolution as machines started making large amounts of products. This was huge because the amounts of goods being produced were much more than what it had been before. In the 12^th century some in Asia developed oil and gas which caused the emergence of new technologies. These technologies were significant because they gave birth to manufacturing of cars, electronics and airplanes. As in the 19^th century globalization started the European influence was shared amongst the nations of China and Japan and the Ottoman empire.