General Awareness World History

Mesopotamian Civilisation

- It is the oldest civilizations of the World.
- Mesopotamia is the land between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates.
- The civilization in Mesopotamia arose due to the fertility of the soil. The land of Ancient Mesopotamia experienced many floods, but today the area is mostly desert.
- Mesopotamians were the first to use potter's wheel, to make glassware, to evolve a proper system of writing called Cuneiform. Cuneiform script was deciphered by Henry Rawlinson.
- The invention of the wheel is also credited to the Mesopotamians.
- Mesopotamian discovered Sexagenarian system of counting (based on sixties), Pythagoras theorem, and the length of day and night.
- The major gods were:
Anu was the father of the gods and the god of the sky
Enlil was the god of the air
Utu was the sun god and the lord of truth and justice
Nanna was the moon god
Inanna was the goddess of love and war
Ninhursag was the goddess of earth
Enki was the god of fresh water as well as the lord of wisdom and magic.
- Most girls were trained from childhood for the traditional roles of wife, mother, and housekeeper. They learned how to grind grain, how to cook and make beverages, and how to spin and weave cloth.

Shang Civilisation

- The Shang Dynasty (c.1600-1046 BCE) was the second dynasty of China which succeeded the Xia Dynasty (c. 2700-1600 BCE) after the overthrow of the Xia tyrant Jie by the Shang leader, Tang.
- In 3rd century BC, the ruler of China dynasty built the Great Wall.
- Chinese script was pictographic, and their calendar was a combination of Solar-Lunar calendar. Silk became the chief item of export during the Hangs.
- It was during the Shang dynasty that bronze working became common. Thousands of artifacts from the ruins of Yin, the last capital of the Shang, were unearthed in the late 1920's and 1930's.
- The two major religions were Taoism and Confucianism. They invented water clock, abacus, and umbrella.
- The Shang were skilled workers in bone, jade, ceramics, stone, wood, shells, and bronze, as proven by the discovery of shops found on the outskirts of excavated palaces.
- Folk religion during the Shang dynasty was polytheistic, meaning the people worshiped many gods.

Iranian Civilisation

- This civilisation developed in around 6th century BC by the Achaemenid Empire under its first ruler, Cyrus.
- His capital was at Pasaragadae.
- His successors were Darius I and Darius III.
- There were around 10 or 15 tribes in Persia, of which one was the Pasargadae. The leader of the Pasargadae always came from the Achaemenid clan, and, in 559 BCE, a new leader was chosen: Cyrus II (‘the Great’).
- The Achaemenids introduced the use of gold and silver coins.
- Their main religion was Zoroastrianism founded by Zarathustra or Zoroaster.
- Their official language was Aramaic.

Greek Civilisation

- The Greek civilization was the first European civilization.
- At this point in time religion is not prevalent or influential.
- The civilisation developed around 800 BC, when the small villages clustered to form city-states.
- They worshipped Zeus (Sky God), Poseidon (Sea God), Apollo (Sun God), and Athena (Goddess of Victory) etc.
- There are two main contributions from the Greek civilisation. They were politics and secular.
- In the Battle of Marathon (490 BC), Greeks defeated King Darius I.
- Alexander was the greatest Greek ruler.
- The Olympic Games originated in Greece.
- Iliad and Odyssey are among the best epics of the world written by Homer.

Roman Civilisation

- The city of Rome was founded by Romulus in 1000 BC on the bank of river. Italy was the centre of the civilisation.
- The war between Carthage and Home is known as Punic War (264 BC to 146 BC).
- Julius Caesar, one of the generals murdered, Pompey, another general, and occupied the throne. He was attached to the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Caesar was succeeded by Octavian and Diocletian.
- Homans worshipped the planets.
- They developed the Latin language.
- Lucretius, Seneca, Clever and Marus were the famous Homan philosophers and Horace and Virgil were the poets. Tacitus and Pliny were the famous historians.
- They invented the Concrete, useful for constructing buildings.
- Rome knew four classes of people. This division was very important to the Romans.
The lowest class were the slaves. They were owned by other people. They had no rights at all.
The next class were the plebeians. They were free people but had little say.
The second highest class were the equestrians or knights. Their name means the 'riders', as they were given a horse to ride if they were called to fight for Rome. To be an equestrian you had to be rich.
The highest class were the nobles of Rome. They were called 'patricians'. All the real power in Rome lay with them.

Renaissance

- The Renaissance or "Revival of Learning" started in the AD 14th century in Italy.
- The Renaissance was a "rebirth" of learning and a return to the literature and humanistic studies of the ancient world.
- The term "Renaissance" itself was coined by French nineteenth-century historians who, when reviewing the marvellous literary, artistic and philosophic achievements of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, especially in Italy, viewed the era literally as a rebirth of civilisation.
- The fall of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453 led to the dispersal of scholars throughout Italy. Renaissance led to the revival of classical learning, art, and architecture humanism.
- Famous Renaissance writers include Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Machiavelli.
- Renaissance painters: Leonardo da Vince (The last Supper and Monalisa), Michelangelo (The last Judgement and the fall of man), and Raphael (Madonna).
- The movement also helped in the development of printing press.

Reformation (16th Century)

- The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era.
- This movement was started in Germany by Martin Luther by publicly protesting against the sale of Letters of Indulgence.
- It was a revolt against Roman Catholic Church. As a result, Western Europe was split between Roman Catholic and Protestant countries.
- Along with the religious consequences of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation came deep and lasting political changes. Northern Europe’s new religious and political freedoms came at a great cost, with decades of rebellions, wars, and bloody persecutions. The Thirty Years’ War alone may have cost Germany 40 percent of its population.

Glorious Revolution of England (1688)

- Glorious Revolution, in English history, the events of 1688–89 that resulted in the deposition of James II and the accession of William III and Mary II to the English throne. It is also called as the Glorious or Bloodless Revolution.
- James II threw the great seal into the river Thames and fled to France.
- It ended the despotic rule of the Stuarts, established, the modern budgetary system and the Bill of Rights (1689) was passed that settled down the problem of succession.
- The Declaration of Rights and the Bill of Rights (1689) redefined the relationship between monarch and subjects and barred any future Catholic succession to the throne.
- The royal power to suspend and dispense with law was abolished, and the crown was forbidden to levy taxation or maintain a standing army in peacetime without parliamentary consent.
- The provisions of the Bill of Rights were, in effect, the conditions upon which the throne was offered to and accepted by William and Mary.
- These events were a milestone in the gradual process by which practical power shifted from the monarch to Parliament. The theoretical ascendancy of Parliament was never thereafter successfully challenged.

Industrial Revolution

- The Industrial Revolution, which took place from the 18th to 19th centuries, was a period during which predominantly agrarian, rural societies in Europe and America became industrial and urban.
- It began in Britain in AD 1750 with the invention of Spinning Jenny by Hargreaves, Water frame by Richard Arkwright (1769), Spinning Mule by Samuel Compton (1779), Power loom by Emmurid Cartwright (1785), and Steam engine by James Watt (1769).
- Prior to the Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain in the late 1700's, manufacturing was often done in people’s homes, using hand tools or basic machines.
- Industrialisation marked a shift to powered, special-purpose machinery, factories and mass production.
- Before the advent of the Industrial Revolution, life for the average person was difficult, as incomes were meager, and malnourishment and disease were common.
- The transportation industry also underwent significant transformation during the Industrial Revolution.
- Communication became easier during the Industrial Revolution with such inventions as the telegraph. In 1837, two Brits, William Cooke (1806-1879) and Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875), patented the first commercial electrical telegraph.
- Industrialisation spread from Britain to other European countries, including Belgium, France and Germany, and to the United States.

American Revolution

- The American Revolution was the first-ever organised movement in the world where people asserted the right to rule themselves. The revolution involved the English government and the thirteen colonies of North America.
- George Washington, the first President of America, was the pioneer of the revolution.
- A fundamental difference of opinion had developed between British authorities and the Americans on the related issues of taxing. If taxes were necessary, then Americans wanted their own assemblies to impose them, No taxation without representation (1763).
- Boston Tea Party (1773) A group of citizens of Boston dumped the crates of tea, loaded on a ship of East India Company into the sea. This was because of the problem of tea tax.
- On 4th July, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was issued by Thomas Jefferson. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris in AD 1783.
- Benjamin Franklin established the American Philosophical Society. Americans were the first to have a Written Constitution.
- On 4 July 1776, the representatives of all the thirteen colonies met at Philadelphia and adopted the Declaration of Independence. It was a document written by Thomas Jefferson and stated that all men are created equal and have the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
- This assertion of independence by the colonies started the American Revolution or the War of American Independence. In the end, the colonies emerged victorious. They became independent and called themselves the United States of America (USA).

French Revolution

- A watershed event in modern European history, the French Revolution began in 1789 and ended in the late 1790s with the ascent of Napoleon Bonaparte.
- The Revolution initiated on 5th May, 1989 during the kingship of Louis XVI.
- Like the American Revolution before it, the French Revolution was influenced by Enlightenment ideals, particularly the concepts of popular sovereignty and inalienable rights.
- The immediate cause of the revolution was the extravagant expenditure and inefficiency by Louis XV and Louis XVI. Other causes were social inequality, heavy taxation etc.
- Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau were the French writers and thinkers of the period.
- The ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity became the guiding principles of the republic of France.
- The French Revolution put an end to the arbitrary rule and developed the idea of People’s Republic in Europe and subsequently in other parts of the world.
- The French Revolution gave the term ‘Nation’ its modern meaning and promoted the concept of ‘nationalist’ which inspired the people in Poland, Germany, Netherlands, and Italy to establish Nation-States in their countries.
- The French king, Louis XVII and his wife, Marie Antoinette were arrested and later executed. Monarchy ended in France and a republican form of government was established. The National Assembly adopted a famous document- Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, which promised the basic rights of life, liberty and equality to all citizens of France.

Unification of Germany

- During the summer of 1849, and into the summer of 1850, the Prussian Government invited other north German States to enter into a fresh "Erfurt" union on the basis of a new Constitution - to be that accepted by the Frankfurt Parliament of 1848, but altered so far as might be found necessary.
- This was the result of the Blood and Iron Policy of Bismarck, the Prime Minister of King William I.
- After the Napoleonic war (1792-1855), the 38 independent states were unified under the long of Prussian. From 1815 to 1850, Austria gentled over the German confederation.
- Bismarck defeated Austria and dissolved the German confederation.
- He founded a new confederation of 22 states in 1866. The unification was completed with the Prussia-France War (1870), in which the French Emperor Louis Bonaparte was defeated.
- William I, the long of Prussia was declared as the Emperor of Germany at Versailles in France.

UNITED NATIONS

• After the World War I (1914-1918), it was realised that an organisation should be created to present future wars and hence, the League of Nations was formed. But, it failed to achieve its objectives.
• After World War II (1939-1945), from 25th April to 26th June, 1945 representatives of 50 nations met in San Francisco (USA) to draw a charter or a set of rules for a new world organisation, called the United Nations (UN).
• The charter was signed on 26th June, 1945 by 50 nations including India. The United Nations formally came into existence on 24th
October, 1945.
• Presently, there are 193 member countries of United Nations.

Principal Organs of the UN

There are six principal organs of UN and all have their headquarters in New York

i. General Assembly
ii. Security Council
iii. Economic and Social Council
iv. Trusteeship Council
v. International Court of Justice
vi The Secretariat

General Assembly

• The main functions of General Assembly are as follow
• To discuss the powers and functions of other organs.
• To elect 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council. To elect the judges of the International Court of Justice. To admit new members.
• To appoint the Secretary-General, who controls the secretariat. General Assembly is famous as World Parliament as it presents almost all the nations of the world.

Security Council

• Security Council is mainly responsible for ensuring peace in the world. It is composed of 15 members, of which 5 are permanent and 10 are elected by General Assembly.

• Five permanent members are as follow
USA
UK
Russia
France
China

• The 10 non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for 2 years and are not eligible for immediate re-election.
• The approval of all the permanent members is necessary on important matters. if any permanent member casts a 'Veto' to show its
disagreement, then no decision can be taken.

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

• ECOSOC is the UN's Welfare Council which coordinates the economic and social activities of the UN and its specialised agencies
as well as other organisations.
•The ECOSOC is composed of 54 members. Each year, the General Assembly elects its one-third
members for a period of 3 years.

Trusteeship Council

• The Trusteeship Council of the UN may be called the 'Protector of
Dependent People', who are not yet able to govern themselves.
• Such territories are to be administered under the Trusteeship Council System by the member states.

International Court of Justice

• The International Court of Justice popularly known as the Worlld Court'. The court is open to all member states who agree to abide
by its decisions.
• The court comprises 15 judges who are elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council. The judges serve a 9 years
term and may be re-elected. Its headquarters is located at Hague in Netherland.

Secretariat

•The Secretariat performs all the day-to-day functions of the UN. Its Chairman is the Secretary General. He is appointed by the General Assernbly on the recommendation of one Security Council for a 5 years term, which is renewable. Six official languages of UN are Arabic, Chinese English, French, Russian and Spanish.

 
SiteLock