Chapter 15

• The West and the Changing World Balance– I) The Decline of the Old Order– II) The Rise of the West– III) Western Expansion: The Experimental Phase– IV) Outside the World Network

Chapter 15 Introduction

• There was a shift in balance between world civilizations by 1400

• International role of Islam was in decline with Mongol disruptions and the fall of the Abbasids

• The Ming dynasty of China attempted to extend into the vacuum, but the most dynamic contender was in western Europe

• Italy, Spain and Portugal took over leadership roles

I) The Decline of the Old Order

The once powerful civilizations of the Abbasids and Byzantium, in the Middle East and North Africa, had crumbled

The Byzantine Empire was pressed by the Ottoman Turks and Constantinople fell in 1453

The Abbasids were destroyed by the Mongols in 1258

a) The Social and Cultural Change in the Middle East

- Religious leaders in the Middle East had gained power over poets, philosophers, and scientists by 1300

- Islamic scholarship focused on religion and legal traditions, although Sufis continued to emphasize mystical contacts with god

- Landlords seized power over peasantry, tax revenues declined, and Middle Eastern merchants lost ground to European competitors

- The Islamic decline was gradual and incomplete, as the Ottoman Turks were beginning to build one of the world’s most powerful empires

b) A power Vacuum in International Leadership

- The Turkish rulers of the Ottoman Empire focused on conquest and administration and less on market commerce.

- The result was the Ottomans did not restore Islam’s international vigor, and the result was a power vacuum beyond Ottoman borders

- The Mongols dominions in Asia provided a temporary alternative, but their decline opened opportunities for China and western Europe

c) Chinese Thrust and Withdrawal- The Ming dynasty replaced the Yuan and pushed to regain

Chinas previous borders, having influence in Mongolia, Korea, Vietnam, and Tibet

- The Ming mounted state sponsored trading expeditions to India, Middle East, and eastern Africa. The fleets, led by Chinese Muslim Admiral Zhenghe were technological leaders

- Ming Rulers halted the expeditions in (1433) because of their high cost and opposition of Chinese bureaucrats

- Chinese merchants remained active in Southeast Asian waters, but China lost a chance to become a dominant world trading power

- From China’s viewpoint since internal economic development flourished, there was no need for foreign products, and their withdrawal opened opportunities for European expansion

II) The Rise of the West

• The small states of the West were still backward during the 14th and 15th centuries

• Warrior aristocrats lost their militaristic focus and the economic activities of ordinary Europeans were in disarray

• The Catholic Church was under attack and philosophy had passed its creative phase

• Famines were a recurrent threat as growing population outstripped food supply

• The outbreak of the Bubonic plague (Black Death) in 1348 cost Europe 1/3 of its population.

a) Sources of Dynamism: Medieval Vitality

• Despite its reverses the West remained a dynamic society

• The Hundred Years’ War stimulated military innovation and strengthened feudal monarchs provided effective government

• Regional rulers drove back Muslim occupiers in Spain and Portugal

• The church accepted key capitalistic principles as urban economic growth continued to spur commerce

• Technology continued to progress especially in ironworking and timekeeping

b) Imitation and International Problems

• The large and stable Mongol empire provided access for the west to Asian knowledge and technology

• Western cities sought Asian luxury products, paying for them with raw materials, especially gold. A gold shortage (1400) threatened the economy with collapse

• The rise of the Ottoman empire further damaged Europe’s balance of trade with Asia and led to the rise in the Adriatic of the city-state of Venice in an attempt to by pass Muslim dominated routes to Asia

c) Secular Directions in the Italian Renaissance

• Internal change was the final ingredient of the West’s surge towards the Renaissance, a cultural and political movement grounded in urban vitality and expanding commerce in Italy during the 14th century

• The early phases involved literary and artistic themes more friendly to the secular world than the previous religiously oriented outlook had been

• Artists and writers became more concerned with personal reputation and glory

• In commerce, merchants sought new markets and city-state governments were eager for increased revenue and supported their expansion

d) Human Values and Renaissance Culture

• The Renaissance , above all, was a cultural movement. It began in Florence and focused on the literature and arts

• There was innovation in music and the visual arts, and it stressed stylistic grace and a concern for the code of behavior for urban gentleman.

• One leading 14th century writer, Francesco Petrarch, not only took pride in his city and his age but explored the glories of personal achievement with new confidence.

• Painters introduced perspective by realistically portrayed nature and individuals in religious and secular themes

• The early Renaissance had little effect outside of Italy and did not represent a full break from medieval tendencies. In Italy it focused on high culture and was little concerned with science

• Still the Renaissance marked the beginning of important changes in Western development and set the stage for future expansion

e) The Iberian Spirit of Religious Mission

• The Iberian Peninsula was also a key center of Western change, Spanish and Portuguese Christian military leaders had for centuries been pushing back the borders of Islam

• Major regional monarchies were established when Castile and Aragon were united through royal marriage in 1469.

• Rulers developed a religious and military agenda, they believed they had a mission to convert or expel Muslims and Jews to maintain doctrinal purity

• Close links were formed between church and state and the changes stimulated the West’s surge into wider world contacts

III) Western Expansion: The Experimental Stage

• Besides earlier Viking voyages in the North Atlantic, specific European attempts to explore the Atlantic began in the later 13th century

• Early discoveries increased Europeans’ interest in setting up a colonial system

a) Early Explorations• As early as 1291 Genoese explorers the Vivaldis brothers had

vanished after passing the strait of Gibraltar in search of a Western route to the “Indies”

• Other Genoese explorers reached the Canary Islands, the Madeiras, and Portugal established control of the Azores in 1439

• Vessels from Spain sailed southward along the west African coast as far as Sierra Leone

• Technological barriers hindered exploration until 1430, when Europeans solved their problems by building better ships and learning from the Arabs how to use the Chinese compass and astrolabe.

• European mapmaking also improved, and Europeans were ready to undertake voyages impossible just a century before.

• In 1498 the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama became the first European to reach India by sea, preparing Portugal for entry into the Indian Ocean.

b) Colonial Patterns

• The Portuguese and Spanish began to exploit their discovered island territories

• Prince Henry of Portugal stimulated expansion motivated by a combination of intellectual curiosity, religious fervor, and financial interest

• Land grants were given to colonists who brought Western plants, animals and disease, beginning a laboratory for later European imperialism

• Slaves were introduced on the large estates that produced cash crops- sugar, cotton, tobacco- for Western markets

IV) Outside the World Network

• The international framework developing during the post classical period left out many regions and people

• The Americas and Polynesia were not part of the new international exchange

• Some of these societies experienced new problems that placed them at a disadvantage when experiencing outsider intervention

a) Political Issues in the Americas

• Both the Aztec and Inca empires experienced difficulties after 1400

• Aztec exploitation of their subject peoples created resentment and opened opportunities for outside intervention

• Inca imperial overextension created tensions between central and local leadership

• The European invasion created further complications that changed all of the developing dynamics of the peoples of the Americas

b) Expansion, Migration, and Conquest in Polynesia

• Polynesia culture was initially based in the Society Islands, but spurts of conquest and migration spread people far beyond, such as to the Hawaiian Islands

• Hawaii was cut off from Polynesia after 1400, and a complex society emerged in which priests and nobles enjoyed special privileges over commoners.

• Newcomers lived from agriculture or fishing or pigs brought from the Society Islands, and spread widely across the islands

• Warlike regional kingdoms were formed and rich oral traditions preserved their cultural values

c) In Depth: The Problem of Ethnocentrism

• The presence of ethnocentric outlooks in most culture creates problems of interpretation in world history

• Many civilizations look down on others, the practices of foreign peoples often are regarded as inferior

• The present power of Western standards makes ethnocentrism a real issue, it is necessary to remain open minded when thinking about other cultures and to consider how their patterns are the result of their particular historical development

d) Isolated achievements by the Maoris

• A 2nd channel of Polynesian migration brought settlers to New Zealand (Maoris) perhaps as early as the 8th century

• They produced an expanding population that adapted to the environment and developed the most elaborate art

• Tribal leaders and priests dominated society that possessed many slaves gained in warfare

• The Maoris created a vigorous economy based on agriculture and domestic animals, but did not work metals

• As in Hawaii they produced a rich oral tradition and their accomplishments were achieved in isolation from the rest of the world

e) Adding up the Changes

• The era around 1400 was clearly a time of transition in world history, marking the most significant change since the fall of the classical empires

• The rising of the West was part of a series of complex events all over the world

• There were shifts in international trade leadership, power relationships and civilization dynamism

• These changes even affected societies where existing patterns continued, such as sub-Saharan Africa which was drawn into a new relationship with Europe

f) Global Connections: 1450 and the World

• Changes and continuities affected many societies in Asia, Africa, and Europe

• Muslim traders and missionaries continued to be active, but the Mongols introduced a new set of contacts

• The Mongol decline led to a return of attention to the Indian Ocean trade

• The question of global leadership in contacts was in flux, African merchants relied on interactions with the Middle East, Western Europe’s position was strengthening and Southeast Asia was increasingly drawn into trade and missionary activity