Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo

Table of contents
  1. Preface
  2. Connections Across Continents, 1500–1800
    1. 1 Understanding the Past
      1. Introduction
      2. 1.1 Developing a Global Perspective
      3. 1.2 Primary Sources
      4. 1.3 Causation and Interpretation in History
      5. Key Terms
      6. Section Summary
      7. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
    2. 2 Exchange in East Asia and the Indian Ocean
      1. Introduction
      2. 2.1 India and International Connections
      3. 2.2 The Malacca Sultanate
      4. 2.3 Exchange in East Asia
      5. Key Terms
      6. Section Summary
      7. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
    3. 3 Early Modern Africa and the Wider World
      1. Introduction
      2. 3.1 The Roots of African Trade
      3. 3.2 The Songhai Empire
      4. 3.3 The Swahili Coast
      5. 3.4 The Trans-Saharan Slave Trade
      6. Key Terms
      7. Section Summary
      8. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
    4. 4 The Islamic World
      1. Introduction
      2. 4.1 A Connected Islamic World
      3. 4.2 The Ottoman Empire
      4. 4.3 The Safavid Empire
      5. Key Terms
      6. Section Summary
      7. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
    5. 5 Foundations of the Atlantic World
      1. Introduction
      2. 5.1 The Protestant Reformation
      3. 5.2 Crossing the Atlantic
      4. 5.3 The Mercantilist Economy
      5. 5.4 The Atlantic Slave Trade
      6. Key Terms
      7. Section Summary
      8. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
  3. An Age of Revolution, 1750–1914
    1. 6 Colonization and Economic Expansion
      1. Introduction
      2. 6.1 European Colonization in the Americas
      3. 6.2 The Rise of a Global Economy
      4. 6.3 Capitalism and the First Industrial Revolution
      5. Key Terms
      6. Section Summary
      7. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
    2. 7 Revolutions in Europe and North America
      1. Introduction
      2. 7.1 The Enlightenment
      3. 7.2 The Exchange of Ideas in the Public Sphere
      4. 7.3 Revolutions: America, France, and Haiti
      5. 7.4 Nationalism, Liberalism, Conservatism, and the Political Order
      6. Key Terms
      7. Section Summary
      8. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
    3. 8 Revolutions in Latin America
      1. Introduction
      2. 8.1 Revolution for Whom?
      3. 8.2 Spanish North America
      4. 8.3 Spanish South America
      5. 8.4 Portuguese South America
      6. Key Terms
      7. Section Summary
      8. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
    4. 9 Expansion in the Industrial Age
      1. Introduction
      2. 9.1 The Second Industrial Revolution
      3. 9.2 Motives and Means of Imperialism
      4. 9.3 Colonial Empires
      5. 9.4 Exploitation and Resistance
      6. Key Terms
      7. Section Summary
      8. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
    5. 10 Life and Labor in the Industrial World
      1. Introduction
      2. 10.1 Inventions, Innovations, and Mechanization
      3. 10.2 Life in the Industrial City
      4. 10.3 Coerced and Semicoerced Labor
      5. 10.4 Communities in Diaspora
      6. 10.5 Regulation, Reform, and Revolutionary Ideologies
      7. Key Terms
      8. Section Summary
      9. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
  4. The Modern World, 1914–Present
    1. 11 The War to End All Wars
      1. Introduction
      2. 11.1 Alliances, Expansion, and Conflict
      3. 11.2 The Collapse of the Ottomans and the Coming of War
      4. 11.3 Total War
      5. 11.4 War on the Homefront
      6. 11.5 The War Ends
      7. Key Terms
      8. Section Summary
      9. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
    2. 12 The Interwar Period
      1. Introduction
      2. 12.1 Recovering from World War I
      3. 12.2 The Formation of the Soviet Union
      4. 12.3 The Great Depression
      5. 12.4 Old Empires and New Colonies
      6. 12.5 Resistance, Civil Rights, and Democracy
      7. Key Terms
      8. Section Summary
      9. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
    3. 13 The Causes and Consequences of World War II
      1. Introduction
      2. 13.1 An Unstable Peace
      3. 13.2 Theaters of War
      4. 13.3 Keeping the Home Fires Burning
      5. 13.4 Out of the Ashes
      6. Key Terms
      7. Section Summary
      8. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
    4. 14 Cold War Conflicts
      1. Introduction
      2. 14.1 The Cold War Begins
      3. 14.2 The Spread of Communism
      4. 14.3 The Non-Aligned Movement
      5. 14.4 Global Tensions and Decolonization
      6. 14.5 A New World Order
      7. Key Terms
      8. Section Summary
      9. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
    5. 15 The Contemporary World and Ongoing Challenges
      1. Introduction
      2. 15.1 A Global Economy
      3. 15.2 Debates about the Environment
      4. 15.3 Science and Technology for Today’s World
      5. 15.4 Ongoing Problems and Solutions
      6. Key Terms
      7. Section Summary
      8. Assessments
        1. Review Questions
        2. Check Your Understanding Questions
        3. Application and Reflection Questions
  5. A | Glossary
  6. B | World History, Volume 2, from 1400: Maps and Timelines
  7. C | World Maps
  8. D | Recommended Resources for the Study of World History
  9. Index
al-Qaeda
an Islamic terrorist organization financed and led by militant Saudi Arabian national Osama bin Laden and responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001
Arab Spring
a popular movement calling for government reform and democracy that spread across the Arab world in 2011
bulletin board system (BBS)
pre-internet computer networks that consisted of personal computers connected with each other via modems and phone lines
climate change
broad changes in temperature, weather, storm activity, wind patterns, sea levels, and other influences on the planet
European Union (EU)
a single-market zone created in 1993 to allow the free movement of goods, services, money, and people among European member states
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
a 1947 trade agreement among twenty-three countries to reinforce postwar economic recovery, later replaced by the World Trade Organization (WTO)
global warming
the general rise in Earth’s temperature that scientists have observed over approximately the past two hundred years
globalization
the interconnectedness of societies and economies throughout the world as a result of trade, technology, and adoption and sharing of various aspects of culture
green parties
political parties organized around environmental concerns
Islamic State
a fundamentalist and militant Islamic group that grew in power and waged a war in Iraq and Syria following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003
multinational corporation
a corporate business entity that controls the production of goods and services in multiple countries
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
a 1992 trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico to reduce trade barriers and allow goods to flow freely
offshoring
the process of moving some of a company’s operations overseas to access cheaper labor markets
outsourcing
the process of hiring outside contractors, sometimes abroad, to perform tasks a company once performed internally
Paris Agreement
a 2015 treaty among members of the United Nations to limit global warming to less than 2°C (3.6°F) above levels from the time of industrialization
resource curse
the problem that makes resource-rich developing countries prone to authoritarianism, high rates of conflict, and low rates of economic growth
ultranationalist movements
organizations that support an extreme form of nationalism and often seek ethnically homogeneous homelands
Order a print copy

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Citation/Attribution

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Jun 8, 2023 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.