Name: Crash Course World History
Uploaded: 2012
Description: In 42 episodes, John Green will begin teaching you the history of the world!

In 42 episodes, John Green will begin teaching you the history of the world!

In which John Green investigates the dawn of human civilization. John looks into how people gave up hunting and gathering to become agriculturalists, and how that change has influenced the world we live in today. Also, there are some jokes about cheeseburgers.

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John looks into how people gave up hunting and gathering to become agriculturalists, and how that change has influenced the world we live in today.

The Agricultural Revolution: Crash Course World History #1

In which John Green teaches you about the Indus Valley Civilization, one of the largest of the ancient civilizations. John teaches you the who, how, when, where, and why of the Indus Valley Civilization, and dispenses advice on how to be more successful in your romantic relationships.

In which John Green teaches you about the Indus Valley Civilization, one of the largest of the ancient civilizations.

Indus Valley Civilization: Crash Course World History #2

In which John presents Mesopotamia and the early civilizations that arose around the Fertile Crescent. Topics covered include the birth of territorial kingdoms, empires, Neo-Assyrian torture tactics, sacred marriages, ancient labor practices, the world's first law code.

In which John presents Mesopotamia and the early civilizations that arose around the Fertile Crescent.

Mesopotamia: Crash Course World History #3

In which John covers the long, long history of ancient Egypt, including the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, and even a couple of intermediate periods. Learn about mummies, pharaohs, pyramids and the Nile with John Green.

Ancient Egypt: Crash Course World History #4

In which John compares and contrasts Greek civilization and the Persian Empire. Of course, we're glad that Greek civilization spawned modern western civilization, right? Maybe not. From Socrates and Plato to Darius and Xerxes, John explains two of the great powers of the ancient world.

The Persians & Greeks: Crash Course World History #5

In which John relates a condensed history of India, post-Indus Valley Civilization. John explores Hinduism and the origins of Buddhism. He also gets into the reign of Ashoka, the Buddhist emperor who, in spite of Buddhism's structural disapproval of violence, managed to win a bunch of battles.

Buddha and Ashoka: Crash Course World History #6

In which John introduces you to quite a lot of Chinese history by discussing the complicated relationship between the Confucian scholars who wrote Chinese history and the emperors (and empress) who made it.

2,000 Years of Chinese History! The Mandate of Heaven and Confucius: World History #7

In which you are introduced to the life and accomplishments of Alexander the Great, his empire, his horse Bucephalus, the empires that came after him, and the idea of Greatness. Is greatness a question of accomplishment, of impact, or are people great because the rest of us decide they're great?

Alexander the Great and the Situation ... the Great? Crash Course World History #8

The Silk Road and Ancient Trade: In which John Green teaches you about the so-called Silk Road, a network of trade routes where goods such as ivory, silver, iron, wine, and yes, silk were exchanged across the ancient world, from China to the West.

The Silk Road and Ancient Trade: Crash Course World History #9

In which John Green explores exactly when Rome went from being the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire. Here's a hint: it had something to do with Julius Caesar, but maybe less than you think. Find out how Caesar came to rule the empire.

The Roman Empire. Or Republic. Or...Which Was It?: Crash Course World History #10

In which John Green teaches you the history of Christianity, from the beginnings of Judaism and the development of monotheism, right up to Paul and how Christianity stormed the Roman Empire in just a few hundred years.

Christianity from Judaism to Constantine: Crash Course World History #11

In which John Green teaches you about the fall of the Roman Empire, which happened considerably later than you may have been told. While the Western Roman Empire fell to barbarians in 476 CE, the Byzantines in Constantinople continued the Eastern Empire nicely.

Fall of The Roman Empire...in the 15th Century: Crash Course World History #12

In which John Green teaches you the history of Islam, including the revelation of the Qu'ran to Muhammad, the five pillars of Islam, how the Islamic empire got its start, the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and more.

Islam, the Quran, and the Five Pillars All Without a Flamewar: Crash Course World History #13

John Green teaches you about the so-called Dark Ages, which it turns out weren't as uniformly dark as you may have been led to believe. While Europe was indeed having some issues, many other parts of the world were thriving and relatively enlightened.

The Dark Ages...How Dark Were They, Really?: Crash Course World History #14

In which John Green teaches you about the Crusades embarked upon by European Christians in the 12th and 13th centuries. Our traditional perception of the Crusades as European Colonization thinly veiled in religion isn't quite right.

The Crusades - Pilgrimage or Holy War?: Crash Course World History #15

In which John Green teaches you about Sub-Saharan Africa! So, what exactly was going on there? It turns out, it was a lot of trade, converting to Islam, visits from Ibn Battuta, trade, beautiful women, trade, some impressive architecture, and several empires.

Mansa Musa and Islam in Africa: Crash Course World History #16

In which John Green teaches you, at long last, about the most exceptional bunch of empire-building nomads in the history of the world, the Mongols!

Wait For It...The Mongols!: Crash Course World History #17

In which John Green teaches you the history of the Indian Ocean Trade. John weaves a tale of swashbuckling adventure, replete with trade in books, ivory, and timber.

Int'l Commerce, Snorkeling Camels, and The Indian Ocean Trade: Crash Course World History #18

In which John Green discusses the strange and mutually beneficial relationship between a republic, the citystate of Venice, and an Empire, the Ottomans--and how studying history can help you to be a better boyfriend and/or girlfriend.

Venice and the Ottoman Empire: Crash Course World History #19

In which John Green teaches you how Russia evolved from a loose amalgamation of medieval principalities known as the Kievan Rus into the thriving democracy we know today. As you can imagine, there were a few bumps along the road.

Russia, the Kievan Rus, and the Mongols: Crash Course World History #20

In which John Green teaches you about the beginning of the so-called Age of Discovery. You've probably heard of Christopher Columbus, who "discovered" America in 1492, but what about Vasco da Gama? How about Zheng He?

Columbus, de Gama, and Zheng He! 15th Century Mariners. Crash Course: World History #21

In which John Green teaches you about the European Renaissance. European learning changed the world in the 15th and 16th centuries, but was it a cultural revolution, or an evolution?

The Renaissance: Was it a Thing? - Crash Course World History #22

In which John Green teaches you about the changes wrought by contact between the Old World and the New. John does this by exploring the totally awesome history book "The Columbian Exchange" by Alfred Cosby, Jr.

The Columbian Exchange: Crash Course World History #23

In which John Green teaches you about one of the least funny subjects in history: slavery. John investigates when and where slavery originated, how it changed over the centuries, and how Europeans and colonists in the Americas arrived at the idea that people could own other people

The Atlantic Slave Trade: Crash Course World History #24

In which John Green explores how Spain went from being a middling European power to one of the most powerful empires on Earth, thanks to their plunder of the New World in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Spanish Empire, Silver, & Runaway Inflation: Crash Course World History #25

In which John teaches you about the Seven Years War, which may have lasted nine years. Or as many as 23. John focuses on the war as it happened in the Americas, Asia, and Africa.

The Seven Years War: Crash Course World History #26

In which John Green teaches you about the life and death of one of history's great explorers, Captain James Cook of the British Navy.

The Amazing Life and Strange Death of Captain Cook: Crash Course World History #27

In which John Green teaches you about the American Revolution and the American Revolutionary War, which it turns out were two different things. John goes over the issues and events that precipitated rebellion in Britain's American colonies.

Tea, Taxes, and The American Revolution: Crash Course World History #28

In which John Green examines the French Revolution, and gets into how and why it differed from the American Revolution. Was it the serial authoritarian regimes? The guillotine? The Reign of Terror?

The French Revolution: Crash Course World History #29

Ideas like liberty, freedom, and self-determination were hot stuff in the late 18th century, as evidenced by our recent revolutionary videos. Although freedom was breaking out all over, many of the societies that were touting these ideas relied on slave labor.

Haitian Revolutions: Crash Course World History #30

In which John Green talks about the many revolutions of Latin America in the 19th century. At the beginning of the 1800s, Latin America was firmly under the control of Spain and Portugal.

Latin American Revolutions: Crash Course World History #31

In which John Green wraps up revolutions month with what is arguably the most revolutionary of modern revolutions, the Industrial Revolution.

Coal, Steam, and The Industrial Revolution: Crash Course World History #32

In which John Green teaches you about capitalism and socialism in a way that is sure to please commenters from both sides of the debate. Learn how capitalism arose from the industrial revolution, and then gave rise to socialism.

Capitalism and Socialism: Crash Course World History #33

In which John Green teaches you about Nationalism. Nationalism was everywhere in the 19th century, as people all over the world carved new nation-states out of old empires.

Samurai, Daimyo, Matthew Perry, and Nationalism: Crash Course World History #34

In which John Green teaches you about European Imperialism in the 19th century. European powers started to create colonial empires way back in the 16th century, but businesses really took off in the 19th century, especially in Asia and Africa.

Imperialism: Crash Course World History #35

In which John Green teaches you about the war that was supposed to end all wars. Instead, it solved nothing and set the stage for the world to be back at war just a couple of decades later. As an added bonus, World War I changed the way people look at the world, and normalized cynicism and irony.

Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I: Crash Course World History #36

In which John Green teaches you about China's Revolutions. While the rest of the world was off having a couple of World Wars, China was busily uprooting the dynastic system that had ruled there for millennia.

Communists, Nationalists, and China's Revolutions: Crash Course World History #37

In which John Green teaches you about World War II, aka The Great Patriotic War, aka The Big One. So how did this war happen? And what does it mean?

World War II: Crash Course World History #38

In which John Green teaches you about the Cold War, which was occasionally hot, but on average, it was just cool. In the sense of its temperature. It was by no means cool, man. After World War II, there were basically two big geopolitical powers left to divide up the world.

USA vs USSR Fight! The Cold War: Crash Course World History #39

Europeans spent several centuries sailing around the world creating empires, despite the fact that most of the places they conquered were perfectly happy to carry on alone. After World War II, most of these empires collapsed. This is the story of those collapses.

Decolonization and Nationalism Triumphant: Crash Course World History #40

In which John Green teaches you about globalization, a subject so epic, so, um, global, it requires two videos. In this video, John follows the surprisingly complex path of a t-shirt as it crisscrosses the world before coming to rest on your doorstep, and eventually in your dresser.

Globalization I - The Upside: Crash Course World History #41

In which John asks whether globalization is a net positive for humanity. While the new global economy has created a lot of wealth and lifted a lot of people out of poverty, it also has some effects that aren't so hot.