The European World, 1500-1720 Week 2: Europe and the Wider World

1. The European World, 1500-1720Week 2: Europe and the Wider World Giorgio Riello g.riello@warwick.ac.uk

2. 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

3. Introduction: Europe, the World • (and Those of say “No”) What is positive about this lecture is that: A. It is pain-free B. it should help you at understanding the wider context of this course

4. 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

5. 2. The ‘Bigger Picture’ in 1500 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)

7. 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

10. 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

11. The Islamic World in c. 1500

12. 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

14. The oldest map of America Piri Reis

15. 2. The ‘Bigger Picture’ in 1500 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

16. 3. The ‘Bigger Picture’ in 1750 Islamic Empires - Problems of the nature of the state - Military factors - Social factors - Cultural factors

17. 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

19. 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

20. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 4A. Explanations: The Old School 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

25. 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

26. 4B. Explanations: Some New Interpretations • 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)

27. 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)

28. Pineapples, potatoes and other plants unknown in Europe before 1500

29. Smallpox victims in the Aztec Empire

30. 4B. Explanations: Some New Interpretations 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