Transcript File - Lang`s AP World history

Contingency

 “Contingency “is an Historical Thinking Skill you’ll need to
perfect if you want to be successful in this class and on the AP
test.
 In History, it’s the idea that though we tend to think things
were destined to happen…they are not ALL destined to happen.
 In fact, at any important point in history there are so many
possible paths that the timeline could have gone down, but it
went down the path that made your world possible.
 In short, contingency is understanding that many things had to
go the way they did. In practicing contingency we have to
understand the other possibilities of a particular event, how
much that would have changed the course of history.
Contingency

 So, it’s understanding how important a particular event
or series of events are to making the world it is.
 To practice, think of all the little things that had to
happen to make you, YOU.
 On the AP test (and mine) you’ll have to practice this
on your long essays. It is an essential skill and one that
will make you a better citizen of the world and increase
your empathy and understanding.
 Let’s practice by looking at some important events in
Greek history.
Assignment

 Using your “Contingency in Greece” handout,
follow along as we examine the contingent events in
Greek (and all of Western history).
The Ionian Revolt (499493 B.C.E.)

 Ionian Greeks in Asia
Minor/Anatolia decide
they don’t like being
ruled by Persians (a very
Greek thing) and so they
revolt and ask Athens and
Sparta for help.
 Sparta laughs at them, but
Athens lends aid.
 The Persian King of
Kings, Darius I, crushes
the revolt and swears to
make Athens pay.
The Battle of Marathon
(490 B.C.E.)

 Darius I invades Greece at
Marathon.
 Greek hoplites are
waiting for him. They
don’t wait to be cut down
by his arrows or cavalry,
they just charge.
 They break the Persian
line with their superior
phalanx and cut down the
Persians in retreat.
 Yay for Athens, but now
Persia is extra mad.
Oh…and that’s where the
Marathon comes from.

 After the battle, the Athenian
general, Miltiades, sent a
runner from the battle field to
Athens to inform them of the
victory, A distance of 26.2
miles.
 Upon arriving, Pheidippides,
the runner, shouted
“VICTORY”
 Then collapsed dead
exhaustion.
 (he’d also run to Sparta from
Marathon and back a few days
earlier to find out if Sparta
would join the fight…they were
too busy with a religious
festival)
The Battle of
Thermopylae-480 B.C.E.

 Darius I son, Xerxes invades
Greece to get revenge for
papa.
 Waiting for him at the “Hot
Gates” are 300 Spartans (the
rest of their army was doing
another religious
festival…sensing a theme
here) and several thousand
other Greeks.
 300
 Well, the Spartans lose, but
they buy time.
 Time for Athens to be
evacuated before Xerxes
burns it to the ground.
The Battle of Salamis 480
B.C.E.

 Possibly the most important
naval battle in history.
 Athens was burned to the
ground, but their ships weren't.
 The Greek general,
Themistocles, sets a trap for
the much more numerous
Persian navy (actually
Phoenicians forced to fight)
and destroys much of their
navy.
 Without the aid and supply
from their navy, much of the
Persian military is forced to
go home.
Salamis visualized

The Battle of Plataea

 The remaining Persian
forces after the battle of
Salamis (still
outnumbering the
Greeks) fight one final
battle in Greece.
 The combined Greek
forces crush them.
 Persia’s invasions of
Greece are over.
The Delian League

 Following the Persian
invasions, Athens, Sparta, and
other city-states band together
to harass the Persians through
battle and aiding revolts.
 This works well until the
Persians use their greatest
weapon-money-to bribe the
Spartans.
 Sparta and Athens never really
liked each other anyway, so
they split the Delian league
and start fighting each-other.
 Remember, Persia was a vast,
wealthy empire and Greece
was just a tiny, little peninsula
with little money (but soon a
lot of influence).
The Peloponnesian War

 The massive throw-down
between the greatest
Greek powers, Athens
and Sparta.
 Effectively, Persia gets its
worst enemy to fight
itself.
 Contingency: What
would the world be like if
Athens and Sparta had
not fought each other?
The Peloponnesian War

 “What ifs” in History are
fun to think about, but
Athens and Sparta and other
city states did fight each
other because they had
different beliefs.
 They will not be united until
Phillip II of Macedon forces
them to…Except the
Spartans.
 Phillip II’s heir will be one
of perhaps the top 5 most
important individuals in
World History-Alexander
the Great.
Masters of the mikedrop

 Laconic-adj-of a person,
speech, or style of
writing using very few
words.
 Origin:
Lacadaemonian…the
Spartans.
Alexander The Great

 Taught by the most famous
teacher of all time, Aristotle
 Father was an incredible leader.
 Mother was one of the few
women in antiquity so incredible
that we actually know something
about her (sadly, women didn’t
get a lot of press)
 So naturally, Alexander was
pretty great.
 And he knew it.
 He was probably very arrogant,
but very self-aware of his
importance.
Alexander the Great

 When he was your age, he
was already leading charges
in battles.
 At 20 he was King of
Macedon, which now
included most of Greece.
 He died at age 32.
 In those 12 years, Alexander
conquered almost all of the
civilized world.
 He left Greeks behind in
cities to marry locals and
spread Hellenism…
 ….and named 70 cities after
himself
Historical Arson

 …but the city naming thing isn’t just
because he was a narcissist (which he
probably, definitely was).
 It also was to spread Hellenistic culture.
 With Alexander, Greek culture spread
from its little tiny peninsula to the
entirety of the known world.
 Moreover, he culturally blended Greek
culture with the culture of the people he
conquered through cultural borrowing.
 Alexander’s conquests opened the door
to a new world order, which EuropeanMediterranean culture would dominate
for a thousand years.
 So, what would your world be like
without him? Or the battle of Salamis?
Would there be an America at all?
