The World of 1714 the World of 1714 Around Barcelona
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
MUHBA LLIBRETS DE SALA, 15 The WORLD of 1714 The WORLD of 1714 Around Barcelona Map of the world showing the main trade routes, 1686, P. Duval. BNF The world in 1700 was a patchwork of cultures and powers that was much more diverse than the world today. The epicentre of the world’s population, as well as the largest, most auton- omous empires, could be found in Asia, while in fragmented Europe the competition between the different states and trade initiatives boost- ed overseas expansion. The earliest systems of globalisation, controlled by Portugal and Castile since the 15th century, were being increasingly challenged by the big trading companies and by other European na- tions. When King Charles II died, the uncertain succession to the crown of the Spanish empire affected both the European balance of power and relations with other continents. As a result, war broke out. After military strategies had pushed the conflict towards Catalonia – where the constitutions were solidly defended in the face of absolut- ism, and the trading elites mirrored those of Barcelonne capital de Catalogne, S. de Beaulieu, 1659. ICC Holland and England – the Catalans viewed participation in the war as representing both a risk and an opportunity. Map of the world from 1663. The map shows the contrast between Europe’s knowledge of much of the planet at that time and the fact that Oceania – which was far away from the routes linking the West In- dies (America) and the East Indies (Asia) – was still largely unexplored. The Companyia Nova de Gibraltar, 1709. The Companyia was founded in Barcelona at the height of the War of Succession. Salvador Feliu de la Penya, Joan Verivol, Josep Grasses, Josep Boïgues and Josep Valls aimed to THE WORLD break the Castilian monopoly of the port of Cadiz by turning SYSTEM Gibraltar into a spearhead for Atlantic trade. in 1700 Manual of the Companyia Nova de Gibraltar (cover and inside page), 1709-1723. AHCB Map of the world, N. Visscher, By 1700, 250 years had passed since the Ottoman Empire 1663. PJ WORLD POPULatION IN 1700 emerged between Asia and Europe, prompting the search Millions of inhabitants TOTAL: 603 Russia and 27 Korea for new routes to reach the spices and other highly prized Northern Asia goods of the Orient. At first, Portugal’s ships led the way, 12 rounding Africa, in addition to Castile, by means of a 138 route that – unexpectedly – incorporated the West Indies 27 1 (America) into Europe’s economy. These two powers still Europe 100 Northern China held the legal monopoly on all the overseas riches, while America 21 Japan the emerging powers, which had needed to boost their Western 165 own economies, began to challenge this exclusive control Asia North 9 of trade. The East Indian Companies of Holland, England Africa 38 and France vied with the Portuguese for control of Asia, 12 India while in America the Spanish monarchy’s monopoly also 52 South-East Central and Asia came under attack. At the height of the War of Succes- 1 Southern America Oceania sion, the Catalans also attempted to gain a foothold in Sub-saharian the Atlantic trade by founding the Companyia Nova de Africa Gibraltar. Source of data: Angus Maddison, The World Economy: Historical Statistics, OCDE, 2004 7 AFRICA, ON THE WAY FROM EUROPE TO ASIA. At The tree of life. Angouleme, INDIA, at THE DECLINE OF THE MOGUL EMPIRE. the dawn of the 18th century, the Mediterranean was printed hemp fabric from India, By the mid-17th-century, the Mogul Empire, in characterised by close ties, although often difficult, that first half of the 18th century. MHS the Indian subcontinent, had become one of spanned both sides of the sea. The Ottoman Empire Asia’s great powers, as a result of effective ad- stretched from Eastern Europe down to North Africa. ministration and a burgeoning economy based on Below the Sahara there were still the Islamised states, textile workshops which produced a fabric that while the Europeans had built a long string of coast- was very popular among Europeans – calico. al settlements, most importantly the French towns in However, the Empire became bogged down in a Senegal, the Portuguese ones in Angola and Mozambique long, debilitating conflict with the independent and the Dutch in Cape Town. The most lucrative business kingdoms in central India, which lasted from was the slave trade, especially on the west coast, though 1681 to 1707, the year when the Mogul emperor Anthropomorphic slaves were also trafficked to Asia. Meanwhile, at the heads from the Gulf of Aurangzeb died. From this point on, the con- heart of the continent lay the Ethiopian Empire, Benin area, 17th-19th sequences of the political fragmentation of the Africa’s oldest power. centuries. CF Indian subcontinent became plain to see, and the European companies established on the coast (and especially that of England) did not hesitate to take advantage of this situation. SLAVE TRAFFIckING TO AMERIca Dutch Trading DURING THE 17TH CENTURY Post in Hooghly- Chinsurah, H. van Millions of slaves Schuylenburgh, 1,500,000 1,000,000 English expansion into India. The coastal 1665. RM 500,000 factories set up by the British East India Company for the purpose of trading in silk, Source of data: Curtin, 1969 cotton, dyes and tea expanded rapidly during the 18th century and began to exert a true state power. Hugli Chandennagar Chunchura Serampore Calcutta Surat Daman Diu Vasai Bombay I S H A M A N E R I Vishakhapatnam S P C A E P EUROPEAN O R SEttLEMENTS U Yanam E Goa IN INDIA (1498-1739) Machilipatnam B R I T I S H C Settlement (date of A R The Slave Coast. The gold- I B B establishment) E A N rich Gulf of Guinea had been F R E Pulicat N C home to the Ashanti, Dahomey Madras H Portuguese C Cannanore Sadras A R I B and Yoruba empires, and the Mahe Pondicherry B E A N English Karikal Calicut city-state of Benin. Europe’s Tranquebar D U T Nagappattinam C H demand for slaves consolidated French Cochin C Jaffna A R Source of data: I B B the slavery kingdoms and weak- E A N Dutch Trincomalee K. J. Schmidt i M.E. ened the political structures Sharpe, An Atlas of that were not based on slavery. Danish Colombo South Asian History, 1995 B Galle R A Z I L Matara THE GREat POWER OF THE EAST. By the early 18th Chinese porcelain, Pedralbes century, China was the number one power in the East. Monastery, 17th century. MMP In the main urban centres Europeans could find a wide array of products, such as silk, tea and porcelain. The Chinese, meanwhile, were interested in the scientific knowledge possessed by the Jesuits who, after some in- itial difficulties, had regained their influence in the court of the Emperor Kangxi. The Chinese were particularly interested in American silver, which arrived in Asia via the East Indian companies after passing through Europe or by a direct route – shipped in by the Spanish galleons that sailed between Acapulco (Mexico) and Manila (the Philippines). Asia in the early 18th century, CHINESE EXPANSIONISM AND TIBET. c. 1720. ICC The influence of the 5th Dalai Lama on cen- tral Asia – demonstrated by the splendid Potala Palace (1694) – and his good rela- tionship with the western Mongols kept Chinese ambitions in check for some time. But when this good relationship deteriorated, The Forbidden City of Beijing, 1668-1670. RM during the second decade of the 18th cen- tury, Kangxi’s armies entered Lhasa for the first time. This was the starting point for a period of ongoing conflict between Tibet The Kangxi Emperor. During the and China. reign of Kangxi (1661-1722), the great Manchurian emperor of The Potala Palace. The imposing Potala Palace the Qing dynasty, China un- was rebuilt on one of Lhasa’s hills in the second derwent a period of aggressive half of the 17th century, and bore witness to the territorial expansion and great great influence that Tibet had over much of Asia. prosperity. Thanks to its military It was the seat of the government of the Dalai La- might, China conquered the mas until 1959, and the tallest building in the world Emperor Kangxi with the Jesuit priest, island of Formosa (now Taiwan), until the Eiffel Tower was built in Paris in 1889. Father Schall von Bell, head of the Imperial Mongolia, western Turkistan Astronomy Bureau.Manufacture of Beauvais, (now Xinjiang), and started to Potala Palace surrounded by Buddhist temples c. 1697-1705. GM gain control over Tibet. and monasteries in Lhasa, 19th century. MG 10 Dejima Island, THE PacIFIC ROUTES AND OCEANIA. While the ships A. Montanus, 1669. KB that connected America with Asia sailed regularly across the central Pacific, the lands of Oceania remained out- side the sphere of the globalisation being promoted and spread by the Europeans. The lives of the peoples of Aus- tralia, the Maori in New Zealand and the island commu- nities and kingdoms such as Tonga and Samoa continued mostly unaffected. The Manila Galleon. The Manila-Cadiz shipping line had a dual function: it exported precious metals and other American goods to the Far East, and then imported Asian products to Europe via Amer- ica, by means of a land link Cádiz between the Pacific and the JAPAn’S ISOLatIONISM. Since 1633, the Tokugawa Atlantic, from Acapulco Veracruz shogunate’s voluntary isolation had closed the country to Veracruz. Manila AcapulcoVeracruz off to all foreign influences, though it still maintained its Manila Acapulco most strategic trading contacts.