Major Themes In World History
World History Since 1450
Describe the conditions prevailing circa 1550 that enabled European kingdoms/empires to extend their interests beyond western Europe. What other world powers existed at the time, and how strong/weak were they? How did cultural, intellectual, religious and social developments within various civilizational groups during the 17th-19th centuries contribute to the emergence of a new set of political, economic, and military relationships across the Eastern and Western hemispheres?
As in previous centuries, expansion did not stop at the borders of the European continent. From the late 15th century to the 16th century, European countries crossed the oceans in search of fertile land and in order to take part in international trade. These explorations were intensified and colonies were founded in America by the absolutist and mercantilist European state. Knowledge about these areas grew, as did the means of transportation to get there. The conquest of the new world and the ability of the states to form a world-wide navigation network connecting all oceans, combined with their aggressive hunt for commercial hegemony resulted in the first instance of a united human space since the time when mankind first spread across the earth. As a result, groups of people belonging to very different cultures that had previously been separated by distance were able to meet.
During the late 15th and 16th centuries, European powers developed a magnetic affection to trade. The price of foreign luxuries increased significantly due to the bubonic plague along the silk roads to the east. Wealthy Europeans needed a new way to sustain their lifestyles they had grown accustom to. Feudal societies gradually disintigrated and in its ashes arose kingdoms based on mercantilism. This is the theory and system of a “political” economy. Essentially, it was based upon national policies of accumulating bullion, establishing colonies and trade routes, and developing...
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