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Chapter 21 the World Economy Chapter 22 the Transformation of the West, 1450–1750 Chapter 23 the Rise of Russia Chapter 24 Early Latin America 7135M21_C21.qxp 11/7/09 10:04 AM Page 458 PART IV Explorer Vasco de Gama kneels before the king under a Portuguese flag while his ship waits in the distance. European ventures in trade and exploration helped define a new world history period. Chapter 21 The World Economy Chapter 22 The Transformation of the West, 1450–1750 Chapter 23 The Rise of Russia Chapter 24 Early Latin America 458 7135M21_C21.qxp 11/7/09 10:04 AM Page 459 The Early Modern Period, 1450–1750: The World Shrinks Chapter 25 Africa and the Africans in the Age of the Atlantic Slave Trade Chapter 26 The Muslim Empires Chapter 27 Asian Transitions in an Age of Global Change 459 7135M21_C21.qxp 11/7/09 10:04 AM Page 460 THE OVERVIEW: THE WORLD MAP CHANGES These maps depict two of the big changes in world history that occurred between 1450 and 1750. Over these centuries, a number of new empires came into being, replacing smaller po- litical units characteristic of the preceding postclassical period. Several European countries acquired overseas empires the first time this option had ever been so dramatically developed, while new land-based empires arose in Asia and eastern Europe. The Russian and Ottoman empires extended over both European and Asian territory, while the new Mughal Empire ruled much of the Indian subcontinent. The second big change involved trade routes. In 1450 international trade focused on ex- changes among Asia, Africa, and Europe across some overland routes but also via seaways in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. By 1750, oceangoing routes across the Pacific and particularly the Atlantic had become increasingly important, although the Indian Ocean sea routes remained significant. For the first time, the Americas and, soon, Pacific Oceania were caught up in global exchanges, with results not only in these regions but for the rest of the world as well. Change, of course, is never complete. Even as world geography shifted fundamentally, some po- litical features persisted during the three early modern centuries. Trade routes also maintained some holdovers from the past. Big Concepts The contemporary period in world history organizes around global themes. A key concept involves the dissolution of global empires through decoloniza- tion. This was a major change, extending particu- larly from the 1920s through the 1970s that in some ways pushed back global forces in favor of new levels of nationalism and regional assertion. The contemporary era also, from 1914 onward, saw new global wars and conflict—including the recent global tensions associated with terrorism, another Big Concept for the period as a whole. New global institutions also emerged, at various points, in business, politics, finance, and even culture, a third organizing concept. Finally, particularly from the late 1940s onward and increasingly fueled by new technologies and explicit policies alike, new itera- tions of globalization form the final Big Concept for world history’s newest period. TRIGGERS FOR CHANGE Several developments sparked the beginning of the early modern period, distinguishing it from the postclassical period that preceded it. The first was the revival of empire building. A striking example of Model of the slave ship Brookes, showing plan view this development involved the Ottoman Turks, who of slave positions. The Atlantic slave trade had major conquered Constantinople, the capital of the Byzan- effects in four continents. tine Empire. Soon the Ottomans extended their rule 460 7135M21_C21.qxp 11/7/09 10:04 AM Page 461 NovNoNovgoNNovgNovgorodovgogooovvvgovg gogororodod ASIAAASSIASISIAA MoscowMMooosscowcooww New Sarai Karakorum Almalyk Tashkent Anxi Samarkand Balasaghun Lanzhou Bukhara LibsonLLibbbsonn Kashgar Beijing Aleppo Merv Khotan Dunhuang Kabul MelillaMMelillla Algiers Ravy Balkh Xi’an Luoyang FezFeFeezz Leh Wuchang Nagasaki Basra Herat Hangzhou MarrakeshMMarrarrrrarakakkeshsh Delhi Chengdu TripoliTriTripoipopololi Changsha Hormuz Yunnan Zaitun Bombay Chittagong PACIFICACCIFIFIF Pagan Mecca Muscat Puri Guangzhou OCEANCECEAANA Aden Thon Buri Angkor Calicut Quilon Brunei Malacca Palemburg INDIANINNDDIAN OCEANOCCEAN Major Political Units, c.1450 The Silk Road routes opened during AUSTAAUSTRALIATRRALRAALA the “Mongol Peace” Other Route c. 1250–1350 Arab Trade Routes Chinese Trade Routes Genoese Trade Routes Main Hanseatic Trade Routes Venetian Trade Routes Other Trade Routes Major Political Units of the World, c. 1450 ASIA Amsterdam NORTHNNONOROORORTRTTH AAMAMEAMERAMERICAMMERMEERERICAICCACA Libson Charleston TLANTICTLTLALANNTNTIC Nagasaki TripoliTTripoTripTririporipippopolololi New Orleans OCEANOCOCEAANN Basra Ningbo Canton PACIFICPACIFIC Cuba Arabia Macao Jamaica Haiti OCEANOCEAN Veracruz Cape Goa Acapulco Verde Aden Manila Gold Coast Sumatra INDIANININDIAN PACIFICC Lima Bahia OCOOCEANCEEAN OCEANN Madagascar Rio de Janeiro Major Political Units, c.1750150 Portuguese Trade Routes Spanish Trade Routes Dutch Trade Routes Other Trade Routes Major Political Units of the World, c. 1750 461 7135M21_C21.qxp 11/7/09 10:04 AM Page 462 462 Part IV • The Early Modern Period, 1450–1750: The World Shrinks over most Byzantine territories and beyond, putting a these routes, and they employed the new military tech- Muslim power in charge of one of the great Christian nologies in establishing their new overseas empires. cities and territories of the past. Worried Christian leaders elsewhere in the world turned to new activities THE BIG CHANGES to compensate for the loss of influence and territory. The changes in world empires and trade routes de- The second development visible by 1450—the steady picted on the maps on page 447 and the effects of progression of explorations by Europeans along the new naval and military technologies highlight the Atlantic coast of Africa—was motivated in part by the distinctive features of the early modern period. Every desire to find ways to trade with east Asia that would major society reacted differently, depending on world circumvent the centers of Islamic power. New Euro- position and existing tradition. In general, however, pean outreach would soon have wider effects. these developments led to three broad changes: New military technologies constituted the third (a) the forging of a new global economy and through development that played a vital role in defining the this the unfolding of an initial phase of globalization; new framework for this period. European mariners (b) new biological exchanges of food, animals, and began to use compasses and other navigational de- people; and (c) the new importance of large political vices, first introduced by the Chinese and Arabs. Euro- units and their diplomatic and military interactions. peans also learned how to design better sailing ships. The most important new military technology was the A New Global Economy growing use of guns and gunpowder, another Chinese and Proto-Globalization invention now adapted by Europeans and others. New guns played a vital role in the creation of new empires International trade increased, for the first time includ- both on land and overseas. Guns also affected political ing the Americas in the exchange. This was a major patterns within Africa, Japan, and Europe, though step in bringing the various regions of the world with less sweeping results. closer together and exposing them more widely to in- Larger, sturdier ships, armed with cannon and fea- ternational influences. The result was a process called turing greater shipping capacity, sailed the new trade proto-globalization—a foretaste of the fuller range of routes across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Euro- contacts now called globalization but (hence the term peans exercised disproportionate dominance over “proto”) in a more preliminary sense. 1300 C.E. 1400 C.E. 1500 C.E. 1550 C.E. 1281 Founding of Ottoman dynasty 1405–1433 Chinese expedition 1500–1600 Europe’s commercial 1552 Russia begins expansion in 1350s Ottoman invasion of period revolution central Asia and western Siberia southeastern Europe 1434–1498 Portuguese expeditions 1501–1510 Safavid conquest of Iran 1570 Portuguese colony of Angola 1368 Ming dynasty in China down west African coast 1509 Spanish colonies on American (Africa) 1390 Ming restrictions in overseas 1441 Beginning of European slave mainland 1571 Ottoman naval defeat of trade trade in Africa 1510–1511 Portugal conquers Goa Lepanto 1453 Ottoman conquest of (India), Malacca (Malaysia) 1590 Hideyoshi unifies Japan Constantinople 1517–1541 Protestant Reformation 1591 Fall of Songhay (Africa) 1480 Moscow region free of (Europe) Mongol control 1519–1521 Magellan 1492 Columbus expeditions circumnavigates globe 1498–1499 Vasco da Gama 1519–1524 Cortes conquers expedition opens seas to Asia Mexico 1520–1566 Suleiman the Magnificent (Ottoman) 1526 Babur conquest in northern India (Mughal) 1533 Pizarro wins Peru 1548 Portuguese government in Brazil 7135M21_C21.qxp 11/7/09 10:04 AM Page 463 Part IV • The Early Modern Period, 1450–1750: The World Shrinks 463 Globalization involves intense and varied interac- cultural and political globalization that would emerge tions among regions that help shape human lives; later on. Like contemporary globalization, proto-global- proto-globalization in this period helped set this ization brought both advantages and disadvantages, de- process in motion. Several changes separated proto- pending on the groups and regions involved. Those who globalization from the transcontinental network that profited form the new system would ultimately help had emerged
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