the european world, 1500-1720 week 2: europe and the wider world
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The European World, 1500-1720 Week 2: Europe and the Wider World. Giorgio Riello [email protected]. Lecture Outline 1. Introduction 2. The “bigger picture” in 1500 3. The “bigger picture” in 1750 4a. Explanations: The old school 4b. Explanations: Some new interpretations. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Lecture Outline
1. Introduction2. The “bigger picture” in 15003. The “bigger picture” in 17504a. Explanations: The old school4b. Explanations: Some new interpretations
1. Introduction: Europe, the World (and Those of say “No”)
What is positive about this lecture is that:A. It is pain-freeB. it should help you at understanding the wider context of this course
1. Introduction: Europe, the World (and Those of say “No”)
Why should we care about the ‘Extra European’?
1. A need for a scale/unit of measure
2. Avoid Eurocentrism
3. Avoid the narrative of European Modernity
Europe
- A Christian society- An Agrarian society- A society under threat: the possible invasion by
Turkish Muslims- Lack of tolerance: the expulsion of Jews from
Spain and Portugal- Voyages of discovery (Columbus in 1492, Vasco
da Gama in 1498)
2. The ‘Bigger Picture’ in 1500
China
- An agrarian society- A bureaucratic empire (Ming 1366-1644): role
of examination (meritocracy)- Voyages of discovery (Zheng He between 1405-
1435)- Technical know-how: navigation, shipbuilding,
cartography superior to Muslim and Christian worlds
2. The ‘Bigger Picture’ in 1500
Islamic Empires
- they comprised people of many races and cultures, and covered three continents
- A civilization ‘in expansion’ since the 7th century
- A civilization with three strong empires- 1500s Safavids established control over Persia- Mughals conquered most of India.- Ottomans: controlled most of western Islamic world
- Late-medieval Islamic world vastly superior to Christian world
2. The ‘Bigger Picture’ in 1500
The Islamic World in c. 1500
Islamic Empires
- they comprised people of many races and cultures, and covered three continents
- A civilization ‘in expansion’ since the 7th century
- A civilization with three strong empires- 1500s Safavids established control over Persia- Mughals conquered most of India.- Ottomans: controlled most of western Islamic world
- Late-medieval Islamic world vastly superior to Christian world
2. The ‘Bigger Picture’ in 1500
The oldest map of America Piri Reis
Conclusions
- polycentric and large parts of Eurasia comparable
- China and India had technological advantage
- Extensive interaction and linkages formed by trade
- Potential for development throughout the world
2. The ‘Bigger Picture’ in 1500
Islamic Empires
- Problems of the nature of the state- Military factors- Social factors- Cultural factors
3. The ‘Bigger Picture’ in 1750
China
- 1644 Manchu invasion: Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
- Territorial expansion, especially under Qianlong emperor (c. 1740-70)
- Influx of silver; export of commodities (porcelain, luxury objects, etc.)
- But no more overseas expansion
3. The ‘Bigger Picture’ in 1750
China
- 1644 Manchu invasion: Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
- Territorial expansion, especially under Qianlong emperor (c. 1740-70)
- Influx of silver; export of commodities (porcelain, luxury objects, etc.)
- But no more overseas expansion
3. The ‘Bigger Picture’ in 1750
India
- Weakness of the Mughal empire: the challenge of rival internal powers
- European (British) penetration: the East India Company
3. The ‘Bigger Picture’ in 1750
Europe
- The nation states: the fiscal-military State- The role of trade: to Asia and in the Atlantic- Still agrarian society
3. The ‘Bigger Picture’ in 1750
Conclusions
- A world that more connected but still polycentric
- Ongoing contact between places that hadn’t been linked before
- Europe and Asia largely comparable- Differences don’t really occur until after
1750 or 1800
3. The ‘Bigger Picture’ in 1750
Key explanations
- 1500-1700 as the era in which Western Europe brought the world under its influence
- See the discoveries as the beginning of bringing the world into the orbit of European civilisation
- Discoveries is what subjected the world to the rule and influence of European power
4A. Explanations: The Old School
Factors supporting this explanation
- fifteenth century developments as a phase in a continuum of medieval developments (J.R.S. Phillips The Medieval Expansion of Europe, 2nd ed., 1998)
- Religious factors
- Commercial factors
4A. Explanations: The Old School
1. World as a whole as the unit of analysis: “global history”
2. Underline global developments that were part of the lead-up to the Industrial Revolution
3. See “the early-modern world as a contested sphere, stressing action, reaction, and interaction” (Robert Marks, The Origins of the Modern World (2002)
4B. Explanations: Some New Interpretations
4. Alfred Crosby- Germs, Seeds, and Animals: Studies in Ecological History (1994)- The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 (1972)- Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe (1986)
4B. Explanations: Some New Interpretations
Pineapples, potatoes and other plants unknown in Europe before 1500
Smallpox victims in the Aztec Empire
5. Stress the accidents, conjunctures and contingencies in the story:
– Andre Gunder Frank, ReOrient: Global Economy in the Asian Age (1998)
• Dominance of Asia• Temporary shift to Europe
- Kenneth Pomeranz, The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy (2000)
• Accident: Coal• Conjuncture: Silver• Conjuncture: Colonies
4B. Explanations: Some New Interpretations