Unit 9: Globalization, c. 1900–Present
Unit 9 covers how new technology, freer markets, and faster communication tied the world together after 1900, and how people responded to that integration. CED topics 9.1 through 9.8.
How to use this guide
Read it in order the first time because the topics follow a chain. Technology shrinks distance first, then economies reorganize around that smaller world, then people argue about what the new arrangement costs and who it leaves out. Exam questions usually hand you one link in that chain and ask you to name the next one.
After the first read, use the trap boxes and the tables to review the distinctions that exam questions test most often. Finish with the practice questions, then complete the recall check on the last page out loud and note any items you cannot explain yet.
What this unit is worth. Unit 9 carries about 8 to 10 percent of the AP exam. It is also the unit where the whole course comes together. Causation and comparison questions favor this period because nearly every development connects across regions, so keep asking what caused what as you read.
9.1 Advances in Technology and Exchange After 1900
The story of this unit starts with distance getting smaller. Communication technologies like radio, cellular communication, and the internet let people exchange ideas across the globe without traveling. Transportation technologies like air travel and shipping containers moved people and goods faster and more cheaply than before. Together they reduced the problem of geographic distance, which is the phrase the exam uses for what all of this accomplished.
Energy technologies such as petroleum and nuclear power raised productivity and increased the production of material goods. More energy meant more factories running longer and more goods reaching more markets.
Birth control in more effective forms gave women greater control over fertility. That changed reproductive practices and contributed to declining fertility rates in much of the world. This is a technology story with social effects, and questions like to test both halves.
The Green Revolution spread high-yield crop varieties developed through conventional selective breeding, along with chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and expanded irrigation. It increased productivity enough to sustain the earth's growing population. Commercial agriculture is large-scale farming organized for market sale rather than subsistence, and its productivity rose sharply with these new methods.
Medical innovations including vaccines and antibiotics increased the ability of humans to survive and live longer lives. Health breakthroughs are the bridge from this topic into the next one, because longer lives created new problems of their own.
Trap. The Green Revolution used conventional selective breeding, not genetic modification. If a question describes high-yield crops developed by breeding plants over generations, that is the Green Revolution. Genetic modification is a different, later technology, and the exam treats the distinction as the whole point.
| Technology | What it changed |
|---|---|
| Radio, cellular, internet | Ideas cross the globe without travel |
| Air travel, shipping containers | People and goods move faster and cheaper |
| Petroleum, nuclear power | Higher productivity, more material goods |
| Birth control | Greater fertility control, declining fertility rates |
| High-yield crops, fertilizers, irrigation | More food for a growing population |
| Vaccines, antibiotics | People survive and live longer |
9.2 Technological Advances and Limitations After 1900: Disease
Medical science advanced, but it did not end disease. It changed which diseases mattered and why. The exam sorts them into three groups, and questions test whether you can place a disease in the right one.
Diseases associated with poverty are tied to poor living conditions. They persisted around the world even as medical science advanced, because the conditions that produce them did not disappear.
Emergent epidemic diseases are new diseases that emerged as epidemics and threats to human populations. They could cause social disruption on a large scale, and they also spurred new technological and medical advances in response. The 1918 influenza pandemic is the classic example. It spread rapidly in the conditions of World War I and showed how a new epidemic could threaten populations worldwide.
Diseases associated with increased longevity occurred at higher rates simply because medical advances let people live longer. The diseases themselves were not new. More people reaching old age means more age-related illness, and that is a consequence of success, not failure.
Trap. A disease that becomes more common because people live longer is not an emergent disease. Emergent means newly appearing as an epidemic threat. If a question describes rising rates of an old illness alongside rising life expectancy, the answer is the longevity category, not the emergent one.
9.3 Technological Advances: Debates About the Environment After 1900
The same technologies that raised productivity damaged the environment, and people disagreed about what to do about it. Environmental degradation in the twentieth century took several forms: deforestation, desertification, a decline in air quality, and intense consumption of the world's supply of fresh water.
As human activity strained the environment, competition over resources intensified. People competed over land, water, and other resources more intensely than ever before. Scarcity turned neighbors into rivals.
Greenhouse gases and pollutants released into the atmosphere by human activity drove debates about climate change. Notice what is debated: the nature and causes of climate change. The exam frames this as an ongoing debate, so questions ask what the debate is about rather than which side is correct.
Trap. Do not confuse the gases with the debate. Greenhouse gases and pollutants are the physical cause being argued about. The debate itself is over the nature and causes of climate change. A question asking what people debated wants the second answer, not the first.
9.4 Economics in the Global Age
After the Cold War ended, many governments moved toward markets. Free-market economic policies favor market-based economies with reduced state control, and the trend toward them accelerated in the late twentieth century. Economic liberalization is the name for governments opening their economies to market forces and reducing state direction of economic life.
That shift rearranged where work happened. Knowledge economies based on information, technology, and services grew in some regions, thanks to late-twentieth-century revolutions in information and communications technology. At the same time, industrial production and manufacturing shifted to Asia and Latin America.
New institutions reflected the spread of free-market principles. Multinational corporations operate across national borders. Regional trade agreements are deals between states in a region to promote trade and economic cooperation. Both show the global spread of free-market economics changing economic institutions worldwide.
Trap. Economic liberalization means less state control of the economy, not more democracy. If a question describes a government selling off state industries or cutting trade barriers, that is economic liberalization. Political liberalization is a different concept, and the exam uses the confusion between them as a distractor.
| Economic change | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Free-market policies | Reduced state control, accelerated after the Cold War |
| Knowledge economies | Information, technology, and services grow in some regions |
| Manufacturing shift | Industrial production moves to Asia and Latin America |
| Multinational corporations | Companies operate across national borders |
| Regional trade agreements | States in a region promote trade together |
9.5 Calls for Reform and Responses After 1900
Global integration did not go unchallenged. Rights-based discourses are arguments grounded in human rights that challenged old assumptions about race, class, gender, and religion. They gave reformers a language that crossed borders, because a claim about human rights does not stop at a national boundary.
Those arguments opened doors. Expanded inclusion in education and public roles meant that in much of the world, access to schooling and participation in new political and professional roles became more inclusive in terms of race, class, gender, and religion. This is the response side: institutions changing because the arguments demanded it.
But integration also produced losers, and they organized too. Protests against global integration's inequalities were movements throughout the world that protested the unequal environmental and economic consequences of global integration. When a question mentions demonstrations against the costs of trade or development, this is usually the term it wants.
The U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, established universal human rights, including protections for the rights of children, women, and refugees. It is the landmark rights-based document of the postwar era.
Trap. Rights-based discourses are arguments, and the Universal Declaration is a declaration. Neither one is an enforceable law by itself. If a question asks what challenged old assumptions, the answer is the discourse. If it asks for the landmark 1948 document, the answer is the Declaration. Keep the argument and the document separate.
9.6 Globalized Culture After 1900
Culture crossed borders as fast as goods did. In the second half of the twentieth century, political and social changes transformed the arts, and popular culture became more global, increasingly reflecting the influence of a globalized society. Music, film, and art reached audiences far from where they were made.
Global consumer culture transcended national borders as global brands and commerce spread worldwide. Shopping habits, advertising, and brand recognition started to look similar in cities on different continents.
Trap. A globalized culture is not the same as a uniform one. Local cultures adopted, adapted, and mixed global influences rather than simply disappearing. If a question describes a local tradition blending with imported media, that is globalization of culture at work, not its erasure.
9.7 Resistance to Globalization After 1900
Not everyone welcomed integration. Resistance to globalization took a variety of forms around the world, as diverse responses rose against increasing cultural and economic globalization. Some resistance was cultural, defending local traditions against imported ones. Some was economic, protesting the inequalities described in 9.5. The exam's required content here is deliberately broad: it wants you to know that resistance was diverse and widespread, not to memorize a single canonical example.
Trap. Resistance to globalization and protests against integration's inequalities overlap, but they sit in different topics for a reason. Protests in 9.5 target the unequal consequences of integration, usually economic or environmental. Resistance in 9.7 is the broader category of pushback against globalization itself, cultural as well as economic. Read the question's emphasis to pick between them.
9.8 Institutions Developing in a Globalized World
A globalized world built global organizations. The United Nations formed after World War II with the stated goals of maintaining world peace and facilitating international cooperation among states. International organizations more broadly are cross-border bodies that formed in the globalized world with the stated goal of maintaining peace and facilitating cooperation between nations.
The key phrase is stated goals. Questions about these institutions usually ask what they were created to do, not whether they succeeded. The UN's answer is peace and cooperation, stated at its founding after the war.
Trap. Do not confuse international organizations with regional trade agreements from 9.4. Trade agreements exist to promote commerce between states in a region. International organizations exist to maintain peace and facilitate cooperation. Different purpose, different topic, and the exam mixes them on purpose.
Confusions That Cost Points
Most missed questions in this unit come from a short list of pairs that look alike under time pressure. Review each pair carefully so you can tell them apart when you see them in a question.
| Pair | How to separate them |
|---|---|
| Green Revolution vs genetic modification | The Green Revolution used conventional selective breeding plus fertilizer, pesticides, and irrigation. Genetic modification is a different, later technology. |
| Emergent epidemic diseases vs diseases of poverty | Emergent diseases are new epidemic threats. Poverty diseases are persistent conditions tied to poor living standards. |
| Diseases of longevity vs new diseases | Longevity diseases are old illnesses that grow more common because people live longer. Nothing new appeared. |
| Economic liberalization vs political liberalization | Economic liberalization reduces state control of markets. Political liberalization is about political rights, a different concept. |
| Knowledge economies vs manufacturing shift | Knowledge economies grow on information and services in some regions. Manufacturing moved to Asia and Latin America. Different places, different work. |
| Rights-based discourses vs the UDHR | Discourses are human-rights arguments that challenged old assumptions. The UDHR is the specific 1948 declaration. |
| Global consumer culture vs resistance to globalization | Consumer culture is brands and commerce crossing borders. Resistance is the diverse pushback against that integration. |
| Greenhouse gases vs climate change debates | The gases are the physical emissions. The debate is over the nature and causes of climate change. |
| International organizations vs regional trade agreements | International organizations aim at peace and cooperation. Trade agreements aim at commerce between regional states. |
Practice Questions
Original questions written for this guide in the style of the AP exam. Answers and explanations are on the next page, so complete the questions before checking them.
1. In the mid-twentieth century, agronomists developed high-yield wheat varieties by selectively breeding plants over many generations, then paired the new seeds with chemical fertilizers and expanded irrigation. Yields rose sharply in several developing countries. This development best illustrates
- the genetic modification of crops
- commercial agriculture
- the Green Revolution
- the spread of subsistence farming
2. In 1918, an influenza outbreak spread rapidly around the world in the conditions created by World War I, disrupting societies on multiple continents. This outbreak is best understood as an example of
- a disease associated with poverty
- an emergent epidemic disease
- a disease associated with increased longevity
- a successful medical innovation
3. In the late twentieth century, a government sells off state-owned industries, removes price controls, and opens its markets to foreign investment. These policies best illustrate
- political liberalization
- the growth of a knowledge economy
- resistance to globalization
- economic liberalization
4. By the late twentieth century, country X had moved most of its factory production to Southeast Asia while its own fastest-growing sectors were software, finance, and telecommunications. This pattern best illustrates
- the shift of manufacturing to Asia combined with the growth of a knowledge economy
- economic liberalization
- commercial agriculture
- deindustrialization caused by the Green Revolution
5. In the second half of the twentieth century, activists in several countries argued that excluding women from universities violated universal human rights, challenging long-standing assumptions about gender roles. This argument best illustrates
- the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- expanded inclusion in education
- a rights-based discourse
- a regional trade agreement
6. As vaccines and antibiotics helped people live longer in the twentieth century, rates of heart disease and arthritis rose in many countries. The best explanation for this rise is that
- these are emergent epidemic diseases
- these are diseases associated with increased longevity
- medical innovations failed to work as intended
- these are diseases associated with poverty
7. Founded after World War II, the United Nations was created with the stated goals of
- promoting free trade among member states in a single region
- coordinating global military alliances against a common enemy
- managing the distribution of petroleum and nuclear energy
- maintaining world peace and facilitating international cooperation
8. In the late twentieth century, demonstrators in several countries protested that new trade policies enriched corporations while polluting local rivers and displacing farmers. These protests best illustrate
- protests against global integration's inequalities
- resistance to globalization through cultural revival
- calls for expanded inclusion in education
- debates about climate change
Answer Key
1. C. Selective breeding plus fertilizer and irrigation is the Green Revolution by definition. A is the trap: the wheat was bred over generations, not genetically modified. B describes how farms are organized for market sale, not the method in the question. D is the opposite of what happened.
2. B. The 1918 influenza was a new epidemic threat that disrupted societies, which is the emergent category. A is the trap: wartime conditions are not the same as poverty. C is wrong because the outbreak had nothing to do with people living longer. D reverses the story; the outbreak spurred medical advances rather than resulting from one.
3. D. Selling state industries and opening markets is economic liberalization, reduced state direction of economic life. A is the trap: economic versus political liberalization. B names a possible later result, not the policies described. C is the opposite direction.
4. A. Factories moving to Asia while software and finance grow at home is exactly the manufacturing shift plus the knowledge economy. B is the trap: liberalization is the policy trend behind the pattern, not the pattern itself. C is the wrong sector entirely. D invents a cause; the Green Revolution has nothing to do with factory location.
5. C. An argument grounded in human rights that challenges assumptions about gender is a rights-based discourse. A is the trap: the Declaration is the landmark 1948 document, not the argument being made here. B is the outcome the argument demands, not the argument itself. D belongs to a different topic.
6. B. Old illnesses growing more common because people live longer is the longevity category. A is the trap: nothing new emerged. C misreads the mechanism; the innovations worked, and longer lives are the proof. D is the wrong category; poverty has nothing to do with this pattern.
7. D. The UN's stated goals at its founding were maintaining world peace and facilitating international cooperation. A is the trap: that describes regional trade agreements. B confuses the UN with a military alliance. C borrows energy technologies from 9.1 to build a plausible-sounding distractor.
8. A. Demonstrations against the unequal economic and environmental consequences of integration are the 9.5 protests. B is the trap: these protests target consequences, not culture. C belongs to a different reform. D is the trap of the mentioned pollution; the debate framing belongs to 9.3, while organized protest against consequences belongs to 9.5.
When you check your answers, note which distinction each miss came from. Make a flashcard for that distinction and drill it spaced out over the next few days instead of rereading the whole section. If you missed one of these questions, the same distinction is worth practicing again in Rycal, where the Globalization deck has flashcards for it and more practice questions use the same kinds of traps.
One-Page Recall Check
Say each answer out loud before you look back, and mark the ones you cannot finish. Anything you cannot say out loud yet belongs in your flashcard deck. In Rycal, add those items to the Globalization deck and let spaced review bring them back over the next few days.
- Name the three communication technologies and the two transportation technologies that shrank geographic distance, and say what each one moved.
- Explain how petroleum and nuclear power raised productivity.
- Describe how more effective birth control changed fertility rates.
- Explain the Green Revolution without using the words genetically modified, and say why that distinction matters.
- Distinguish commercial agriculture from subsistence farming.
- Sort a disease into the right category: poverty, emergent epidemic, or increased longevity. Give one example of each.
- Explain the 1918 influenza pandemic as an emergent epidemic disease.
- Describe the cycle from disease outbreak to social disruption to medical advance.
- List the four forms of environmental degradation named in this unit.
- Explain what is actually debated in debates about climate change.
- Define economic liberalization and connect it to the end of the Cold War.
- Contrast a knowledge economy with the manufacturing shift to Asia and Latin America.
- Distinguish multinational corporations from regional trade agreements by purpose.
- Explain what made a discourse rights-based, and name the assumptions it challenged.
- Distinguish the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights from the arguments that preceded it.
- Explain the difference between global consumer culture and resistance to globalization.
- State the United Nations' stated goals at its founding after World War II.
Where to go next. Turn every missed item above into flashcards and drill them spaced out over several days rather than in one sitting. In Rycal, open the Globalization deck under AP World History. The deck covers the terms in this guide, and its practice questions target the same traps named here. If you have a test date, add it in the Test Planner. You can also start your next review with a Brain Dump, then check what you missed against this guide.
Key terms for this unit
Communication technologies (radio, cellular, internet), Transportation technologies (air travel, shipping containers), Energy technologies (petroleum and nuclear power), Birth control (contraception), Green Revolution, Commercial agriculture, Medical innovations (vaccines and antibiotics), Diseases associated with poverty, Emergent epidemic diseases, Diseases associated with increased longevity, Disease, social disruption, and medical advance, 1918 influenza pandemic, Environmental degradation (deforestation, desertification, air, water), Intensified competition over resources, Greenhouse gases and pollutants, Debates about climate change, Free-market economic policies, Economic liberalization, Knowledge economies, Shift of manufacturing to Asia and Latin America, Multinational corporations, Regional trade agreements, Global spread of free-market economics, Rights-based discourses, Expanded inclusion in education and public roles, Protests against global integration's inequalities, U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Globalized popular culture and the arts, Global consumer culture, Resistance to globalization, United Nations, International organizations.
About this guide. Written for Rycal and aligned to the College Board AP World History course framework, Unit 9, topics 9.1-9.8. All questions and explanations are original Rycal writing. Rycal is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board.
Prepared for AP World History students working from the College Board course framework. This guide is a study aid, not an official College Board publication.