Recovery 1400-1500 AD Expanding Worlds

Empires in Africa Ethiopia Zimbabwe Expanded into the Great Rift Valley Trade in gold, slaves, ivory, and civet 1481 AD Ethiopian Christian Church re-establishs contact with Rome Zimbabwe S.E. Africa S. of regular monsoon wind routes Grew as Arab traders moved south Built trading centers called “zimbabwes”

Empires in Africa cont. Mali falls to internal wars Portuguese sail up Niger expecting to find great civ. of Mansa Musa Instead find ruins and shambles Beginning of European discrimination against Africa Songhay succeeds Mali, but never rises to become a great power Kongo Civilization grew around Congo River Grew to power by selling slaves to Portuguese

Empires in the Americas Incas c. 1400-1600 AD Largest city at Cuzco (Peru) Descendents of the Chavin Environmentally diverse because of the Andes Microclimates Ranging from the edges of the Amazon (2000 ft) to high grass plains (13,000 ft) Allowed for diverse range of crops At its height, approx. 1000 miles long Ecuador to Peru Built on conquest and oppression of people Unsustainable system Great architecture and road building Machu Picchu

Empires in the Americas cont. Aztecs MesoAmerican civ. centered at Tenochtitlan Approx. 5000 ft. elevation Middle of a lake Poor ground for ag. led to society based on warfare Hundreds of tributary communities Empire ran from middle of Mexico to Guatemala Allowed exchange of goods Collection of sacrificial victims Tribute peoples resented Aztec rule

Common Themes in American Empires Extremely rapid expansion Too fast for manpower to secure borders Too fast/large for communication systems No long-range trade with other powers Lack of technological development because of lack of competition

New Eurasian Empires Russia Previously an ever-changing series of principalities threatened by steppepeoples Mongol invasion brought stability, allowing for the growth of power in some regions Muscovy (Moscow) on the Volga River Princes were tax collectors for the Mongols Ivan I “Moneybags” After fall of Constantinople (1453 AD) saw selves as the new, new Rome Looked to throw off Mongol rule 1470s Ivan II “The Great” came to power Absorbed other principalities Married a Byzantine princess! Traced lineage back to the Roman Caesars Declared independent Russian Empire Built on money from the fur trade (“black gold” of the North)

The Timurids Islamic World recovered from plague slower than Europe or China Worked to convert more and more steppepeoples Timur the Lame (Tamerlane) Islamic Mongol descended from Genghis Khan Overthrew Il-Khans Built an empire in Iran and halted Ottoman expansion Empire falls after his death Lasting impacts include breaking power of Delhi Sultanate, distracting Ottomans from moving into Europe, and expanding conversion of steppepeoples to Islam

Ottoman Expansion Ottoman strength in geographical location Silk Road Indian Ocean trade winds Volga, Danube, and Mediterranean seas converge Straits of the Bosporus and Dardanelles (1453) Tradition of empire and military expansion dating back to steppeland roots Unlike many other steppeland peoples, Ottomans quickly adapted to modern military technologies

Ottoman Expansion cont. Ottomans built navy in 1390 AD to challenge Venetian supremacy on Med. Sea Become supreme naval power in E. Med. by 1500 First non-Europeans since Carthage (Punic Wars) Built elite land force based on Janissaries Male slaves raised from childhood to be soldiers Taken as tribute from Christian communities

Mehmet II Mehmet II becomes Ottoman Sultan at 19 (1451 AD) Wants to impose centralized gov. rather than the indirect rule of previous eras Needed to control Constantinople Used artillery and human wave attacks to take the city after two years of siege German artillerist turned down by Byz. Hired by Ottomans Last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI died in combat on the steps of his palace Ottomans take Constantinople in 1453 and begin looking deeper into Europe End of the Byzantine Empire End of the last bastion of the old Roman Empire

Limits of Chinese Imperialism Buddhist Millenarianism Loss of half the population by plague Rest of pop. overworked to keep infrastructure intact (communication) Rebellious peasants Blame Mongol overlords Peasant revolt led by solder Zhu Yuanzhang Est. Ming dynasty Challenged power of Confucian elite and instituted expansionist policies

Zheng He Ming Admiral Zheng He sails massive fleet around Indian and Pacific Oceans (1405) Largest fleet the world had ever seen Most advanced ships in the world Need to solidify empire at home led to abandonment of naval expansion Confucian scholars come back into power Probably good decision—all sea-based Empires in last 500 years have crumbled China is still a power May have landed in S. America or Antarctica, but there is no verifiable evidence to prove it

European Oceanic Imperialism European merchants seeking access to Indian Ocean to bypass Ottoman middlemen Spices from Sri Lanka and Indonesia most valuable commodities in the world Going through Ottomans siphoned off most of the profits in the spice trade European ocean navigation very limited Atlantic fixed wind system vs. Indian seasonal monsoon winds

Portuguese Navigation Interested in accessing W. African gold markets Also discovered slave markets African slaves became most important product out of W. Africa Explored to discover if Indian Ocean was actually landlocked Vasco da Gama sailed around Cape of Good Hope 1500 to reach India Led to Portuguese domination of spice trade

Cristophero Columbo Genoese merchant looking to reach India by sailing west Financed by Italian bankers Supplied by Spanish monarchs Isabella of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon Spain recently unified after completion of Reconquista in 1492 and looking to challenge Portuguese power Discovered fast reliable routes across Atlantic Charted Atlantic currents and winds Died believing that the islands he landed on in the Caribbean were part of Indonesia

European Outlook c. 1500 Problems Positives Famine because of labor shortages Ottomans slowly pushing into Europe from the Balkans, threatening Christian Europe Thule raiders obliterated Norse Greenland Positives Plague deaths opened made skill more important than class or blood for social advancement “Virtue is the sole and unique nobility” –Venetian Coat of Arms (only true in W. Europe—class divisions actually solidified in E. Europe)

European Renaissance Art and culture focus on classical learning of Greek and Rome Rise of Humanism Celebration of humanity rather than the divine “Man is the measure of all things” Study of /interest in texts and places outside the Christian world

Nation-state System in Europe 15th Century saw rise of nationalism in Europe People identified selves as “French” or “English” first, rather than as “Christians” Vernacular languages Universities Patron Saints National sovereignty Rejection of supranational authorities like the Holy Roman Emperor or the Pope Paper allowed for faster/more efficient communication from central authority Rise of power of central state (kings) and decrease in power of local authorities (nobles)

Beginnings of a World System By end of the 15th Century, sea power linked the world Frontier Africa and America linked to pop. centers in Asia and Europe Atlantic trade linked with Indian Ocean trade Technology, culture, ideas, and ecology exchanged faster than ever before Massive changes in the world as a whole