Transcript Expanding Empires

Expanding Empires
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Five empires expanded dramatically after
1500 so that, by 1775, all of Eurasia, except
for the European far west, was under
control of one or the other of these empires:
China
Russia
Mughal India
Safavid Iran
Ottoman
China
Had the world’s longest tradition of empire,
with a 2,000 years stretch from 200 B.C. to the
early 20th century. China more than doubled
in size from 1500 to 1800.
The Ming dynasty had ruled China since 1368,
but they were conquered in the mid-17th
century by Manchus who started the Qing
dynasty.
The Qianlong emperor set out on a series of
military campaigns from 1736-1795,
conquering the Tibetans and Muslim Uigurs.
Tribute Trade System
People in neighboring areas to China paid
tribute to China’s emperor by sending
periodic missions to Beijing. This included
Vietnam, Korea, Java, and even Japan.
This provided lucrative official and private
trade opportunities linking China to the
tributary states.
China thus exercised direct and indirect
influence over a territory much greater than it
directly governed.
Russia
Moscow in 1300 was little more than a
stockade, or “kremlin”, surrounded by a 3,000
miles of forest interspersed with farms.
Rulers such as Ivan “the Terrible” expanded
their territory over the next 150 years. In the
mid-16th century, he pushed N, S, & E.
The Romanov dynasty later continued the
eastward push into Siberia all the way to the
Pacific.
Peter the Great and Catherine the Great
pushed west into Eastern Europe.
Mughal, Safavid, & Ottoman Empires
Were similar in a number of ways:
1) All had Turkish ruling dynasties
Turks had originally been nomads
2) All embraced Islam
1st was tolerant of various branches, 2nd
was Shiite, 3rd was Sunni.
3) Had similar political & economic structures
All were dynasties in which power passed
from father to son. All were ruled by a
bureaucracy of officials posted throughout
the realm. All rested on agricultural economy
Dynamics of Empire
These empires soon extinguished one of the
major threats to the governments of that day:
nomadic invasions causing collapse or strain.
Ironically, four of the five were established by
conquers from the steppe.
In India, various Indian princes challenged
Mughal rule after the death of Aurangzeb in
1707, fragmenting the political power and
leaving an opening for Europeans to take over.
Two powerful empires had arisen in the
Americas: the Aztecs (Mexico) and the Incas
(Peru & Chile).
Aztecs
1500 B.C. The Olmecs ruled Mexico.
600-900 A.D. Mayans on Yucatan peninsula.
1100- Toltecs had a capital in the valley of
Mexico at Tula.
1350- Mexica (Aztecs), as relatively latecomers to the valley of Mexico, were shunted
off into the worst land- swamps & a lake.
They dredged up muck from the lake into
small floating plots called chinampa.
They created an island upon which they built
the city of Tenochtitlán.
Rise of an Empire
By 1400, the valley of Mexico was studded
with many warring city-states.
The Aztec were minor players until they
established a triple alliance with 2 other
groups in 1428.
The Aztecs soon came to control the entire
valley of Mexico and beyond- including 489
subject territories totaling 25 million people.
The Aztec ruled their empire not through
bureaucracy, but through terror, not the best
foundation for an empire.
Incas
In the mid-1200s, the Incas settled in the
highlands of Peru around Lake Titicaca.
In the 1400s, they launched military campaigns
that created a huge empire which stretched for
2,500 miles.
Unlike the Aztecs, the Incas incorporated
conquered peoples into their culture and
governed them using professional
administrators.
The Incas soon ruled over 16 million people.
Vertically Challenged?
In addition to being spread out horizontally,
the Incan empire was separated by vertical
space as well.
Some cities sat as high as 9,000 feet, while
villages often lay in the valley.
Because of changes in ecosystems, different
crops had to be grown at different locals.
The Incas paved mountain roads with cut
stone for use by imperial runners and armies.
Communication
Although they had a common language,
Quechua, the Incas did not develop a writing
system.
They kept tract of vital information
(population, taxes, & labor) using a system of
colored, knotted cords.
Most of what we know about this empire
comes from accounts compiled in the early
1500s by European conquerors.
Imperial Expansion
The Inca believed their ruler was descended
from the sun god. After he died, he was
mummified and his descendents were given his
lands and possessions.
Therefore. new rulers came to power poor and
had to conquer new lands to start their reign.
As available lands disappeared, this became a
more difficult task.
When the emperor died in 1525, a succession
crisis ensued as two half brothers fought for the
crown. Things would soon change there
forever.
Tenochtitlán
In 1500, the Aztec capital was a city of
250,000, one of the largest cities in the world.
It had pyramids, botanical gardens, canals,
zoos, a sewage system, and streets which
were cleaned daily.
Yet this large, complex, and powerful empire
was brought down by 600 Spanish
conquistadors under the command of Hernan
Cortéz.
Coming of Cortéz
Cortéz landed in Mexico in
1519 and heard stories of vast
amounts of gold inland.
The Aztec emperor,
Moctezuma II, believing him to
be a god, sent Cortéz gifts of gold to
appease him. This approach backfired.
The Spaniards enlisting the conquered
peoples to help them find Tenochtitlán as
well as to defeat the Aztecs.
Spaniards
Aztec
Steel swords
Steel armor
Cannons
Wheels
Horses
Dogs
Fought to kill
Resistant to smallpox
Bronze weapons
Cloth armor
No cannons
No wheels
No horses
No dogs
Did not kill enemies
Susceptible to smallpox
Over half of the residents of Tenochtitlán died of
smallpox, leaving the remaining warriors demoralized.
Pizarro and the Incas
By the time Francisco Pizarro
came to Peru, smallpox had
already decimated many of
the Incas.
Pizarro exploited differences
between claimants to the
throne to lure them into a trap, killing all but
one Incan ruler.
He then forced this ruler to deliver a large
amount of gold to the conquistador before
strangling and decapitating him.
Fair exchange?
Conquest of the Americas lead to a global
exchange on New World products: maize,
potatoes, tomatoes, chiles, and other foods
spread rapidly throughout Eurasia.
Something spread throughout the Americas
as well: disease. In addition to small poxchicken pox, influenza, measles, plague,
cholera, whooping cough, diphtheria, and
malaria spread to the New World, killing 90%
of the population within 80 years.
Labor Supply Problem
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The Spaniards soon had a problem on their
hands. They were not inclined to do manual
labor, but the native Americans that had
survived the “Great Dying” were not eager to
work for them.
Enslaving them outright was ruled out when
the Catholic church ruled that they had souls
Two systems were developed to get labor:
encomienda- provided food, shelter, and
Christianity in exchange for work.
repartimento- forced Indians into small towns
Silver Mines
For several decades the Spanish approach to a
New World economy did not require much labor
they simply looted the riches of the vanquished
civilizations.
Soon, however, huge deposits of silver were
found in Mexico and what is now Bolivia.
The biggest strike was found in Potosí in 1545
Even though the town was at 11,000 feet, the
population grew to 150,000 by 1570.
The mine continued to operate for 300 years.
A European Empire?
Spain’s newfound wealth made it possible for
them to attempt to establish an empire which
united Europe.
Charles V, son of Ferdinand and Isabella
inherited Spain, Austria, the Netherlands,
Sicily, Sardinia, Mexico, and Peru from his
parents.
France, England, and Protestants living in the
Netherlands were the main forces stopping
Spain from establishing their empire.
The Cost of War
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A number of costly defeats sapped both
Spanish strength and resources:
War between Spain and France
Dutch war of independence
English defeat of the Spanish Armada
Further European defeats (30 Years’ War)
These defeats served to bankrupt Spain
and put an end to the last real possibility
for Europe to be ruled as an empire.
Silver Production
From 1503 to 1660: 32,000,000 pounds of
silver (half of it from Potosí) and 360,000
pounds of gold were exported from the New
World.
To increase production, the Spaniards
introduced a mercury-based refining process,
mining was already dangerous but mercury is
poisonous.
During its operation, it is estimated that 8
million workers lost their lives at Potosí, about
7 out of 10 workers who worked there.
Where Did The Silver Go?
About 3/4 of the New World silver produced
over 3 centuries ended up in China.
Spain, however, did not trade much of it with
China since they did not have access there.
Instead, silver was traded to Dutch arms
traders as well as French and English
financiers in order to fund their war efforts.
These groups then financed trade missions
to China through the Indian Ocean.
It was not until Spain seized Manila that they
could send silver directly from Mexico.
China’s Appetite for Silver
Silver served as both the basis of the monetary
system for China as well as facilitating its
economic growth. China at this time was the
largest and most productive economy in the
world.
Silver was expensive in China but very cheap
in America. If China’s demand for silver was
not so high- there wouldn’t have been such
incentive to mine it.
Silver “went around the world and made the
world go round”.
China’s Economy
China’s population continued
to climb:
1500- 60% of world’s population
1750- 66%
China poblana
1800- 67%
Around this time, China produced 80% of the
world’s goods. The quantity was impressive
but the quality was superior as well.
For instance, Chinese silk and other textiles
were soon worn across Central and South
America.
Indian Textiles
China was not the only country with sought
after goods.
The English found the cheap cotton textiles
from India superior to anything they could buy
locally. The British textile manufacturers were
concerned that their industry was doomed.
In 1707, they pressured the government to
embargo the importation of Indian cotton.
In 1717, laws were passed against wearing
Indian cotton or Chinese silk.
Slavery and the New World Economy
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Imported African slave labor was used in the
New World for the production of:
sugar (16th century)
tobacco (17th century)
cotton (18th century
Three steps to slave labor:
cut down forests and turn into plantations
exterminate native peoples
import African slaves to work the plantations
Portuguese and Slavery
The Portuguese were the first to use slave
labor in the New World. They had already
worked out a system for slave-based sugar
production on islands off the coast of Africa
that they had conquered looking for a sea
route to Asia.
The Portuguese imported their system of
slavery to their colony in Brazil. The native
Taino people had no interest in working for
them, those that did not succumb to disease
fled into the rain forest for the most part.
Slavery in the Caribbean
The French and English soon started their
own sugar plantations in the Caribbean
using the Portuguese system.
The British took Barbados in 1640 and then
took Jamaica from the Spanish. The French
colonized Martinique. Both deforested their
respective possessions, wrecking the fertility
of the soil and changing the local climate.
Soon, Caribbean sugar competed with
Brazilian sugar, driving it from Northern
Europe.
Extent of Slavery
By 1650, Africans were the majority of new
settlers in the New World.
For nearly 300 years, Europeans (first the
Portuguese & Dutch, but eventually mostly
the British) took thousands of African slaves
every year to the Americas.
By the time slave trade ended in the 1800s,
over 9 million slaves were taken to the New
World, leaving a lasting impact on American
society.
Triangles of Trade
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One direction:
Sugar, timber and fish were sent from the
Americas to England.
Cotton textiles were sent from England to
Africa.
Slaves were taken from Africa to America.
The other direction:
Rum went from America to Africa.
Slaves went from Africa to the Caribbean.
Molasses went from the Caribbean to
England.
European State System
As Spain’s power waned, first France and
then England rose to power following a series
of wars.
These wars involved not only these “major”
players but included virtually all European
states.
Warfare led to a consolidation of these states
into increasingly fewer political units.
In 1500, Europe was divided into about 500
different states, now that number has
reduced to 30.
Financing Wars
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War greatly affected the internal evolution of
European states. War is expensive and
there were two main ways to finance it:
taxation
loans
The former met resistance from landowners
so rulers had to negotiate with the rich.
The latter involves borrowing $ from bankers
that may live outside of your country, or will
lead to “national debt” if borrowed from
within.
Characteristics of European States:
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standing armies and navies
populations large enough to support them
cities with accumulation of capital
taxation and bureaucracies to collect them
representative assemblies (so subjects
could influence the level of taxation)
public indebtedness
a national debt
Mercantilism
Since wars were expensive and required the
purchasing of arms, often from other
countries, stockpiles of precious metals
could give a country the edge it needed.
European states began competing to attract
and retain as much silver and gold bullion as
possible.
States, therefore, imposed duties on
imported goods, required that all goods be
transported in their ships, and forced
colonists to trade only with their motherland.
The Seven Years’ War
Britain and France soon became the dominant
forces in Europe and fought between
themselves for supremacy.
Between 1689 and 1815, the two countries
fought five wars, only one of which was
started by the French.
The most significant of these was the Seven
Years’ War of 1756-1763 (called French &
Indian War in America). This was the first real
world war, and involved America, Africa, India,
and Europe. France lost colonial claims to
Canada as well as India when Britain won.