AP history, government and social science · 34 cards · sources listed below

AP World History: Modern Flashcards by Unit

This starter set follows the nine units of AP World History: Modern (c. 1200 to the present) with key states, networks, revolutions and conflicts for each. Unit names and date ranges were checked against the College Board course description. It is an independent study aid and a starting point: the exam rewards comparison and change over time, so add your own cards from class.

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Free AP World History flashcards: 34-card starter set

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Units 1 and 2: Global tapestry and networks of exchange (c. 1200-1450) (7)

Name two Song dynasty innovations that spread widely.

Examples: Champa rice (faster-ripening, spurred population growth), movable-type printing, gunpowder weapons, the compass and paper money; the Grand Canal was also expanded for trade and tax shipments.

What was the Pax Mongolica?

A period of relative peace and security across Mongol-ruled Eurasia that encouraged Silk Road trade, travel and exchange of goods, technology and ideas.

What was Mansa Musa's pilgrimage and why does it matter?

The Mali emperor's hajj to Mecca (c. 1324-25) displayed Mali's gold wealth, publicized the empire across the Islamic world, and boosted Timbuktu as a center of learning.

What was the Black Death's link to trade routes?

The bubonic plague spread along Silk Road and sea routes in the 14th century, killing a large share of the populations of Eurasia and North Africa.

Why were Swahili Coast city-states important?

Cities like Kilwa traded gold, ivory and enslaved people across the Indian Ocean, blending African and Islamic culture and language (Swahili).

How did the Inca organize their empire?

Through the mit'a labor tax, a road network, and quipu (knotted cords) for record keeping, without a written script.

What did the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526) represent?

Muslim rule in northern India that spread Islam and Persian culture while governing a majority non-Muslim population.

Units 3 and 4: Land-based empires and transoceanic interconnections (c. 1450-1750) (9)

Which empire captured Constantinople in 1453, and who led it?

The Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II. It ended the Byzantine Empire, and the city became Istanbul.

What was the devshirme system?

Ottoman recruitment of Christian boys from conquered lands, converted to Islam and trained as soldiers (Janissaries) or administrators, giving the sultan loyal servants.

Safavid vs Mughal religion

The Safavids made Shi'a Islam the state religion (from 1501), while the Mughals (founded 1526) ruled a Hindu-majority population, with Akbar promoting religious tolerance.

What did the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) do?

Spain and Portugal divided newly encountered lands outside Europe along a line in the Atlantic, with Spain claiming most of the Americas and Portugal gaining Brazil.

What were joint-stock companies?

Firms that raised money from many investors to fund risky overseas trade, such as the Dutch East India Company (VOC, 1602).

How did silver reshape the world economy?

Silver from the Americas (Potosi) and Japan flowed to China, which demanded it for taxes and trade, tying the world's regions together economically.

What was the Atlantic slave trade's Middle Passage?

The forced voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic, part of the triangular trade linking Europe, Africa and the Americas.

Tokugawa Japan (from 1603) and restricted contact

The Tokugawa shogunate unified and stabilized Japan and limited foreign trade, allowing only limited contact (mainly with the Dutch and Chinese at Nagasaki).

What was the Columbian Exchange's global impact?

It spread crops (potatoes, maize, sugar), animals and diseases between hemispheres, causing population collapse in the Americas and growth elsewhere.

Units 5 and 6: Revolutions and industrialization (c. 1750-1900) (8)

What ideas drove the Enlightenment's effect on revolutions?

Natural rights, popular sovereignty and challenges to absolute monarchy inspired the American, French, Haitian and Latin American revolutions.

What was the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804)?

The only successful large-scale slave uprising that created an independent nation. Toussaint Louverture was a leader, and Haiti declared independence in 1804.

Why did industrialization begin in Britain?

Factors included coal and iron resources, capital, colonial markets, agricultural change and technological innovation like the steam engine and textile machinery.

What were the Opium Wars?

British-Chinese conflicts (1839-42 and 1856-60) over opium imports. The Treaty of Nanjing (1842) opened ports and ceded Hong Kong, weakening Qing sovereignty.

What was the Meiji Restoration (1868)?

Japan's rapid modernization after the Tokugawa fell: industrialization, a conscript army and a constitution, making Japan a regional power.

What was the Berlin Conference (1884-85)?

European powers set rules for dividing Africa among themselves, without African representation, speeding the "Scramble for Africa."

What was the Sepoy Rebellion (1857)?

An uprising of Indian soldiers against British East India Company rule. After it, Britain took direct control of India under the Crown (the British Raj).

How did abolition change labor systems?

Britain banned the slave trade in 1807 and slavery in its empire in 1833. Planters then relied more on indentured laborers from South Asia and China.

Units 7 to 9: Global conflict, Cold War, decolonization and globalization (c. 1900-present) (10)

What made World War I a "total war"?

Governments mobilized whole economies and societies, including propaganda, rationing and women in industry. New technologies like machine guns and poison gas caused mass casualties.

What was the 1917 Russian Revolution's outcome?

The Bolsheviks under Lenin took power in October 1917 and later founded the Soviet Union, a communist state.

Gandhi's satyagraha and the Salt March (1930)

Nonviolent resistance to British rule; the Salt March protested the colonial salt tax and mobilized mass participation in India's independence movement.

What was India's independence in 1947?

Britain ended rule over India in 1947, with the subcontinent partitioned into India and Pakistan amid mass migration and violence.

What was the Cold War's core conflict?

A rivalry (1945-1991) between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, fought mostly through proxy wars, arms races and alliances like NATO and the Warsaw Pact rather than direct war.

What was the Non-Aligned Movement?

Newly independent states that refused to formally ally with either superpower. It was formally established in 1961.

What was the Great Leap Forward (1958-62)?

Mao Zedong's campaign to rapidly industrialize and collectivize China, which caused a catastrophic famine.

What marked the end of apartheid in South Africa?

The release of Nelson Mandela in 1990 and the first multiracial elections in 1994, which made him president.

What is the Green Revolution?

Mid-20th-century agricultural advances (high-yield seeds, fertilizers, irrigation) that raised food output in places like India and Mexico, though with environmental costs.

What characterizes globalization since 1990?

Faster flows of goods, capital, information and people through trade agreements, the World Trade Organization (1995), containerization and the internet, with debates over inequality and culture.

What this set covers

Units covered

All nine units, c. 1200 to the present, grouped into four blocks.

Card types

Empires and states, trade networks, revolutions, industrial change, global conflicts and decolonization.

Best used for

Anchoring facts you can use as evidence in short-answer questions, the DBQ and the long essay.

Not covered

Source analysis practice and the full detail of each region. Add your own cards from class.

How to study this set

AP World rewards comparing regions and tracing change over time, so use flashcards to lock in evidence and then practice using it.

1
Day 1
Read through a unit block and, for each card, name the region and the century out loud.
2
Days 2-7
Review daily and add a second line to each card: one thing it is similar to or different from in another region.
3
Week 2
Make your own cards for unit themes (state-building, belief systems, technology) with two examples each from different regions.
4
Final weeks
Shuffle all units and sort cards into "continuity" or "change" piles for a given period, then explain your reasoning aloud.

Spaced repetition schedules each card to come back just before you would forget it, so reviews get shorter as your recall gets stronger. Cards you miss come back sooner.

Common mistakes to avoid

Learning regions in isolation

The course stresses connections and comparisons. A card on the Mongols should also prompt links to trade, disease and technology transfer.

Confusing empire names and ruler titles

Sultan, shah, khan, emperor and shogun are not interchangeable. Pair each title with its state.

Treating unit dates as hard borders

The course notes that events are not constrained by the given dates and can start before or continue after a unit's range.

Listing facts without explaining significance

Free-response answers need evidence plus reasoning. For each card, practice a one-sentence "this shows that..." statement.

Make your own from your notes

A starter set is a head start, not your whole course. Your class notes, slides and textbook are what your teacher actually tests, so turn them into cards too.

Put the empire, event or term on the front and the region, date range and significance on the back.
Make comparison cards (Ottoman vs Safavid, Atlantic vs Indian Ocean trade).
Avoid copying class slides wholesale; split each slide into single-fact cards.
Tag each card with its unit number so you can study one unit at a time.

Generate cards from a topic or notes Turn a PDF into flashcards

AP World History flashcards: questions

What time period does AP World History: Modern cover?

The course runs from about 1200 to the present and is divided into nine units. Earlier history is not tested as its own unit.

How should I study across regions?

Group facts by theme (trade, empire-building, religion, technology) instead of only by country. Cards that ask you to compare two regions are especially helpful.

Do I need to know exact dates?

Know the approximate century for most events and exact years for the very important ones such as 1453, 1492 and 1914. Being in the right unit matters more than the month.

Are these flashcards the whole course?

No. They are a starter set of anchors. Pair them with your textbook or class notes and practice writing short answers with evidence.

Sources and review

These cards are an independent study aid, not official exam content, and are not affiliated with or endorsed by any exam body or publisher. They were written by hand and checked against the sources below on 2026-10-17. Always confirm details with your course materials and the current official documents.

College Board: AP World History: Modern course description (PDF) — Read to confirm the nine units and their date ranges (c. 1200 to the present).
OpenStax: World History Volume 2 — General reference (open textbook). Individual cards were written from standard course content, not checked line by line against it.

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