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Benedetto Croce (1866-1952) and R.G Notes PREFACE 1. The historian-philosophers Ernst Troeltsch (1865-1923), Benedetto Croce (1866-1952) and R.G. Collingwood (1889-1943) considered the compre­ hension of the present as the final goal of all historical study. Under­ standing the present is not the only legitimate goal of history, but it is a very important one. 1. INTRODUCTION 1. Published in Leipzig in nine volumes, 1883-8. 2. See M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography, Boston, Mass., 1957; also J.M. Brown, Gandhi: Prisoner of Hope, New Haven, Conn., 1989. 3. A point emphasized by the philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883-1969): 'All the crucial problems are world problems: See his The Origin and Goal of History, London, 1953, the first part of which deals with 'World History'. See also J. Huizinga (1872-1945), 'Fundamentals of Culture', In the Shadow of Tomorrow, 1936. 4. See C. Sterling, Thieves World: The Threat of the New Global Network of Organized Crime, New York, 1994. 5. The line that had been drawn along arbitrarily chosen meridians of longitude was moved 270 leagues to the west in 1494. The new line brought Brazil within the Portuguese half of the world. 6. Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, the term 'Christian nations' was used regularly in western diplomatic exchanges. Mter Muslim Turkey was invited to join the Concert of Europe in the mid-nineteenth century, the term' civilized nations' was substituted for 'Christian nations'. 2. AN ASIAN-DOMINATED WORLD 1. Christian Europe had responded to the Islamic threat by closing its ranks under the papacy and the renewed Roman (later the Holy Roman) Empire. Charlemagne was crowned as emperor in AD 800. Christendom's counterattack against Islam took the form of eight major crusades launched between 1096 and 1270. 2. The Islamic religion began with Mohammed's flight from Mecca to Medina on 16 July AD 622 (the hajira). The basic statement of Muslim belief is contained in the shahada, which holds that 'There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet: The whole of Mohammed's revelation is written down in the Koran. Islam claims to be the most 333 334 Notes perfect revelation of God's will. In their monotheism Islam and Christianity are the two branches of the Judaic tree. Islam has a definite set of laws - the sMri'a, or straight path - which provides guidance to every aspect of a Muslim's life. The god of Islam, unlike the Christian god of love, is a god of power, who tempers his justice with mercy. 3. The feud between the Sunni sect and that of the Shi'a (the party of Ali, son-in-law of Mohammed), the chief minority sect, dates from Mohammed's death in AD 632. The Shi'a differs from the orthodox Sunni sect in its belief that succession to the prophet should have remained in Mohammed's family. The Sunnis believe that they have a direct relationship with God (the principal role of the Sunni Imams is to lead the prayers of the congregation); the Shi'ites accord great importance to their religious leaders, who are responsible for inter­ preting Islam. Following the example set by the martyred Hussein, they also stress martyrdom, which is a reward, not a penalty. When the Prophet Mohammed died in AD 632, Ali, his son-in-law, was denied his right to become Islam's leader. But Ali persisted in his claim and in AD 656 was installed as the rightful successor (caliph) to Mohammed. Five years later he was assassinated by religious rivals. His son Hussein, who now fought to establish his own claim as Islam's leader, was subsequently tortured and killed at Karbala in Iraq. Karbala, the place of Hussein's martyrdom, was used by the Shi'ite Iranians as a rallying cry in their recent war against Iraq. 4. Persian for Mongol. Babar was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan. 5. Its population in the fifteenth century, 100-30 million, is thought to have been twice that of the whole of Europe. 6. However primitive the Mongols may have appeared, adopting mili­ tary and administrative techniques from the Chinese, they founded the largest contiguous empire there has ever been. The Venetian Marco Polo, carrying a Mongol 'passport' in the form of a seal, made an unhindered journey from the Mediterranean to the Yellow Sea in the late thirteenth century. Only the Egyptians in the west (in 1260 at Ain Jalut, Syria), and the Japanese in the east (1274 and 1281), were able to withstand the Mongol tide. 7. Confucius, known originally as K'ung Ch'iu (551-479 Be) was a public administrator and teacher who profoundly influenced Chinese philos­ ophy and ethos. 8. See Philip F. Riley et al. (eds.), 'Cheng Ho: Ming Maritime Expedi­ tions', in The Global Experience, Readings in World History since 1500, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1987, Vol. II, pp. 3-5. 9. Members of the Society of Jesus, founded by the Spaniard Ignatius de Loyola in 1534, and given papal authorization in 1540, played a leading role in all early East-West relations. The Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689), the first treaty concluded between China and the West, was their doing. In providing a bridge between East and West, they also introduced Confucius to Europe, and the Bible, Copernicus and Euclid to China. Notes 335 10. See Riley et al. (1987), pp. 26-7. 'If the Chinese were warlike they could conquer the world,' wrote Marco Polo in the thirteenth century, 'thank goodness they're not: 11. Certain Jesuits remained behind in Peking to care for the dynastic calendar. Almost two centuries later in 1939 the pope decreed that ancestor worship and Confucian rites were not incompatible with the dogma of the Church. 12. Japan had a population of about 25 million at the beginning of the seventeenth century (as against approximately 16 million for France, 7 million for Spain and 4.5 million for England. 13. See Riley et al. (1987), pp. 31-2. See also C.R. Boxer, The Christian Century in Japan, 1549-1650, Berkeley, Cal., 1951. 3. EUROPE: 1500-1914 1. In 1498 the Venetian mariner John Cabot (1450-98), in the service of England, had 'explored for lands unknown to Christians'; in 1764, the English mariner John Byron (1723-86) sought lands 'unvisited by any European power'. 2. See R. Bainton, Erasmus of Christendom, New York, 1969. 3. See R. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, New York, 1950. 4. The sale of indulgences had been increased greatly by Pope Leo X (1513-22) to raise funds to complete St Peter's basilica in Rome on a scale worthy of a universal faith. 5. See W.J. Bouwsma, John Calvin, New York, 1988. 6. In 1567 Mary was forced to yield the throne to her Protestant son James. Her last and greatest blunder was to seek refuge with her Protestant cousin Queen Elizabeth I. The rightful heir to the English throne, Mary was executed by Elizabeth 20 years later. 7. See A.G. Dickens, The Counter Reformation, New York, 1969. 8. See R.S. Dunn, The Age of Religious Wars 1559-1715, 2nd edn., New York, 1979. The vital port of Antwerp was sacked in 1576. 9. See J.1. Israel, Dutch PrirrulCY in World Trade, 1585-1740, Oxford, 1989. 10. See R. Bullen and F.R. Bridge, The Great Powers and the European State System, 1815-1914, London, 1980. 11. See J.M. Sherwig, Guineas and Gunpowder: British Foreign Aid in the Wars with France, 1793-1815, Cambridge, Mass., 1969. 12. See C. Barnett, Napoleon, London, 1978. 13. The number of French soldiers who returned to France is unknown. Estimates range from 10,000 to 100,000. The Russian Army, the intense cold, famine and sickness, especially typhus, destroyed most of Napoleon's army. 14. France's boundaries were settled along those existing in 1792, which included areas that the French did not possess in 1789. England gave back all that it had taken from the French except the islands of Tobago, St Lucia, Mauritius and Malta. England also undertook to return any Dutch territory seized during the war, but not Ceylon or the Cape of Good Hope. No indemnity was demanded. 336 Notes 15. France had to give up its frontier fortresses and was to be garri­ soned by an allied force for 3-5 years; pay an indemnity of 700 million franks, and have its boundaries reduced from those of 1792 to those of 1790. None of these things, however, amounted to humiliation. 16. See R. Gildea, Barricades and Borders, Europe 1800-1914, Oxford, 1987. 17. The Quadruple Alliance or Holy Alliance was formed in 1816 as a counter-revolutionary measure against the French. Its aim was to uphold the status quo in Europe - especially the conservative monarchies - for 20 years. France became a member in 1818. 18. See D.M. Smith, Victor Emmanuel, Cavour and the Risorgimento, London, 1971. 19. See E. Cranks haw, Bismarck, New York, 1981. 4. AFRICA: 1500-1914 1. Such as Ghana (eighth to eleventh centuries), Mali (twelfth to four­ teenth centuries) and Songhai (fourteenth to sixteenth centuries). 2. Propelled by the reconquest of Spain in 1492, the Iberians attacked the North African Muslim cities of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, Jerba and Tripoli. In 1578 the Portuguese suffered a shattering defeat at Al Kasr al-Kabir in Morocco. The inability to defeat Islam in North Africa provided Portugal with the necessary incentive to outflank it by sea. 3. Mungo Park (1771-1806) the Niger, David LiVingstone (1813-73) the Zambezi, Richard Burton (1821-90) and John Speke (1827-M) the Nile, and Henry Stanley (1841-1904) the Congo.
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