Japan 高校2年 World History: Inquiry

1. Looking at world history

Human history seen from the global environment · World history seen from daily life

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2. Formation of regional characteristics

Questions about regional characteristics · Ancient civilisations · Characteristics of regions (East Asia, South Asia, West Asia and Mediterranean)

• Writing and City Life: Mesopotamia in the 3rd Millennium BCE – Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, had some of the first cities (from about 3500 BCE). Canals made the south rich in grain. Temples grew into big institutions, war leaders became kings, and towns like Uruk and Ur grew. City life meant division of labour, trade and ranks in society. Writing began about 3200 BCE as cuneiform on clay tablets, first for accounts, then for laws, letters, stories and science. Historians debate who writing served: record keeping, or power for the few who could read.

3. Interaction and reorganisation of regions

Questions · Connected Eurasia · Reorganisation of Asia and Europe

• Nomadic Empires: the Mongols under Genghis Khan – The Mongols were pastoral nomads of the Central Asian steppe. They herded animals and moved with the seasons. In 1206 Temujin united the Mongol and Turkic tribes and was named Genghis Khan. He organised a strong army on a decimal system, a fast horse-relay post (yam) and a code of rules (yasa). His sons and grandsons built the largest land empire the world had seen, from China to eastern Europe, and then split it into four khanates. People remember Genghis Khan very differently: as a destroyer, as a national hero who united his people, and as the maker of safe roads that linked Asia and Europe.

4. Integration and transformation of regions

Questions · World market and linked regions · Imperialism and nationalism · World War II and change in regions

• The Age of Industrialisation – Before factories, merchants gave raw material to peasant families who spun and wove at home (proto-industrialisation). From the 1760s Britain built cotton mills, machines like the spinning jenny and James Watt's improved steam engine. Change was slow: hand labour stayed cheap and common. In India, weavers once supplied world markets; the East India Company controlled them through gomasthas, and Manchester cloth later flooded India. From 1854 Indian mills grew in Bombay and elsewhere, and small workshops also grew. Makers sold goods through labels, calendars and adverts, and swadeshi adverts appealed to national pride.
• The Rise of Nationalism in Europe – Before 1789, Europe was split into many kingdoms and people were loyal to a king. The French Revolution said power belongs to the people, who form one nation. Napoleon spread equal laws. After 1815 kings came back, but liberals, romantic writers and hungry common people pushed for nation-states in 1830 and 1848. Germany (1871) and Italy (1861) were built by joining many small states. Nations were shown as women figures like Marianne and Germania. By 1914, nationalism mixed with imperial rivalry, and the Balkans tension led to the First World War.

5. Issues of the global world

International organisations and search for peace · Economic globalisation and inequality · Advanced technology and knowledge society · Inquiry into global issues

Coming soon