2. Clash of Civilisations
The world in the Dark Ages featured a number of civilisations with
different core values and ways of doing things.
Five major ones you should be aware of are:
• Christian Kingdoms of Europe
• Byzantine Empire
• Islamic Civilisation
• Chinese Civilisation
• Mesoamerican Civilisation
In this course we focus on 3 civilisations at the borders of these major
players so it is important to know something about them.
3. Activity: Clash of Civilisations Grid & Map
• Research using devices, textbooks and books provided the 5 major
civilisations of the Medieval Period.
• Complete the table of vital facts for each of the 5 civilisations.
• Mark on map of the world where the rough borders of each
civilisation were (although they did move considerably).
• Hypothesise (guess) where the civilisations would have come into
conflict with each other. Mark these points with crossed swords on
your map.
• Identify the pluses (good things about living there), minuses (bad
things about living there), and interesting things for each civilisation.
5. Civilisation Major
Religion(s)
Principal
Language(s)
Principle city
(cities)
Title of Leader Plus Minus Interesting
Commonwealth
of Australia
Christianity
English
Canberra
(capital)
Sydney
Melbourne
Perth
Brisbane
Adelaide
Prime
Minister
+ Go diving on
the barrier
reef.
+ Medicare
helps pay for
hospital when
citizens get
sick.
- Long way
away from
most places.
- Some
problems with
racism.
• Unique
animals
like the
emu &
kangaroo.
• Flag of
Australia
includes
the UK’s
flag.
Example of Grid for Australia…
6. Extenstion
You may have heard of the ’Clash of Civilisations’ before. It is the name of a
famous geo-political theory by Samuel P. Huntington. Investigate the
following questions, writing your answers in your workbook.
• What can you find out about this idea?
• Why has it been so controversial?
• What do you think, are people's cultural and religious identities the
primary explanation of wars and conflict? Or are there other more
important factors?
• If Huntington is right, does that help explain events like the war in Ukraine
or 9/11? Where would Huntington expect the next war to break out?
