1. The European World, 1500-1720 Week 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. 1.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. 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

5. 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

7. 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

10. 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

11. The Islamic World in c. 1500

12. 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

14. The oldest map of America Piri Reis

15. 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

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

17. 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

19. 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

20. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

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

29. Smallpox victims in the Aztec Empire

30. 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