Chapter 15 The World in 1450: Changing Balance of World Power.

Chapter 15

The World in 1450: Changing Balance of World Power

OutlineI. Key Changes in the Middle East

II. The Rise of the West

III. Western Expansion: The Experimental Phase

IV. Outside the World Network

Timeline

Main Ideas and Chapter Focus1. 1400 forward was a time of profound transformation

1. Shifting balance of power in civilizations in Asia, Africa, and Europe2. Changed nature of international contact

2. Began with decrease of Arab strength (fall in1258)1. Opened up new opportunities in Afro-Eurasian network established during

postclassical age

3. Various candidates1. Briefly the Ming2. Opened up to Europe…why?

4. Western Europe- 1. conditions propelled western civilizations into new positions around 14002. Accompanied by changes in Western Europe itself (Portugal, Spain)

5. Changes in societies outside international network-response to Europeans

1. Americas2. Polynesia

Focus continued…

6. Framework1. Why these societies reacted differently to key forces2. Wider impact than the classical period

7. Continuity1. Importance of level of contacts that developed through formation of

transcontinental network2. Dependence on far-flung trade- if one collapsed (decline of Mongol

security on SRS-another system moved into place)3. Trade continued-exchanges of technology and ideas continued to

mark Afro-Eurasia relationships

The Compass• Chinese invention- Tang Dynasty, by 1100, pursue

spices and teas• Arab merchants in IO soon followed and then the

Europeans by 1187• Fundamentally changed the nature of ocean

voyages i.e. Columbus• Changes to international relations and shift in

power– Europeans took to the seas– Mongol movements in Asia and Europe– Decline of Arab dominance

Eurasia in 1200

Trade and Disease in 14th Century

Indian Ocean Trade

• Indian Ocean...

Key Changes in Middle East

• Decline of Old Order:In 1200 –dominated by Byzantine and Islamic

CaliphateBy 1400- in disarray

– Constantinople falls in 1453 to Ottoman Turks– Abbasid falls in 1258– Division in ME and Arab peoples

Social and Cultural Change in ME1. New religious influence due to Islam and Sufism

– Religious leaders win prominence over poets, philosophers, and scientists

– Arab rationalist philosopher more influential in Iberia among Muslims

– Focus on religious and legal traditions– Sufis continue to emphasize mystical connection with God

• RESULT– agricultural productivity fell– Tax revenues decreases – ME merchants lost ground to European competitors (gradual decline)– Arabs REMAIN active in Indian Ocean – Beginning of rise of Ottoman Turks

Power Vacuum in International Leadership

1. Rise of Ottoman DID NOT restore Islam’s international vigor

2. Mongols TEMPORARLIY created alternative global framework uniting Eurasia, BUT decline lessened international contacts and commerce

RESULT seaborne trade became increasingly active as land routes became dangerous, insecure for travel and trade

Chinese Push and then Withdrawal

1. Ming dynasty (1368-1644) replace Yuan and pushed to regain former Chinese borders (post Mongol rule)

2. Established Influence in Mongolia, Korea, Vietnam, and Tibet3. State-sponsored trading expeditions to India, ME, and eastern

Africa– Chinese Muslim admiral Zheng he – Halted in 1433 due to high costs and opposition by Confucian bureaucrats– Return to accustomed inward-looking policies, ending unusual experiment– Internal economics boomed=no need for foreign products and expansion

• RESULTS– Chinese merchants remain active in SE Asian waters– Establish settlements in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia– LOST CHANCE to become dominant world trading power-opened up way for

Europeans

Ming Dynasty

Ming Vase

Zheng He vs. Columbus

The Rise of the West• During 14th and 15th centuries- small states of West

still backward• Catholic church still under attack• Philosophy passed a highly creative phase• Warrior aristocrats lost useful role court life• Economic activities of ordinary Europeans were in

disarray• Growing population outstripped food supplies

famines common after 1300• Black Death= loss of 1/3 population=scarce labor,

more land and food

Europe, c. 950-1300

By 1500…

Medieval VitalityRemained a dynamic society

– Stronger monarchs provided effective gov’ts centralized states

– Hundred Years’ War stimulated military innovation– Spain and Portugal drove back Muslims– Urban economic growth=commerce– Church accepted capitalistic principles– Technology continues to progress- timekeeping and

ironworking

Imitation and Commerce Problems

• World market entrance not without problems– Rise of Mongol empire access to Asian knowledge and

technology– Western elites demand for Asian luxury goods=unfavorable

trade balance (gold supplements raw materials traded)– Gold shortage=threatening economic collapse– Rise of Ottoman Empire and other Muslim successes=

threat to Europe’s balance of trade with Asia• RESULT expansion into Adriatic Sea by Venice and

beginnings of explorations to bypass Muslim dominated routes to Asia

Secular Directions in the Italian Renaissance

• Internal change– Cultural and political movement grounded in urban

vitality and expanding commerce– Began in Italy during the 14th century– Literary and artistic themes friendly to secular world

than previous religiously oriented outlook– More concerned with personal reputation than

glory=HUMANISM– Commerce merchants seek new markets– Promote learning, find man

Human Values and Renaissance Culture

• Started in Italy during the 13th century– Why Italy?

• Urban Growth & Wealth• Merchant Class Values• Classical Heritage

• Main Idea: humanism– Study of human beings and human

potential• Celebration of human life

– Many different approaches to humanism

Raphael’s School of Athens

Impact of Renaissance

• Little impact outside Italy• Did not fully break Medieval tendencies and

superstitions• Developing scope of Italian:

– commerce and shipping– Revenue seeking city-states– Passion for innovation – Confidence– Set stage for future expansion

Iberian Spirit of Religious Mission

• Iberian peninsula key center for change• Centuries of pushing back Muslims• Merging of Castile and Aragon kingdoms after

1400• Religious and military agenda- reconquest• MissionExpel Muslim and Jews• Link between church and state

Western Expansion: Experimental Phase

• European efforts to expand into Atlantic began in 1300s

• Early exploration of Genoese and Spanish explorers sailed south to West Africa

• Technological barriers hindered further exploration until 1430 borrowed from Arabs and Chinese (compass, better ships,, astrolabe)

• Mapmaking increased

World Trade

Exploration

Colonial Patterns

• Portugal and Spanish began to exploit islands in Atlantic

• Prince Henry the Navigator (Port.) motivate by intellectual curiosity, religious fervor, financial gain facilitates innovation in exploration

• Exchange of animals, plants, foodstuffs, and diseases

• Sets stage for later pattern of European imperialism

• Slaves, cash crops (sugar, cotton, tobacco)

1400-1600

By 1900…

Question…

• Respond to the statement that the relative rise of the West after the 14th century was not so much the result of Western innovation as was the decline of civilizations in the Middle East and Asia.

Answer• ME the end of the Abbasids, the rise of the Seljuk

Turks, and disruption of the Mongol empires did not cause total decline

• Ottomans rise and build empire-Muslim trade empire disintegrated, Ottomans less interested in commerce opened door for the West

• China-no political disruption of traditional centralization under Ming; brief effort to expand into Asia-halted in 1433=opened to West

• Western advances-perceived weakness: unfavorable balance of trade, fear of Ottomans expansion exploration and trade routes

Outside the Network

• Polynesia and Americas not part of new international exchange

• Problems:– Aztecs faced rebellion and revolt due to political

policies weakening and vulnerable to outside contacts

– Inca political tension between central and local leadership; imperial overextension

– European invasion-disease