Part Five: Chapter 17

 The European Moment in world History

How can we avoid an inappropriate Eurocentris when dealing with a phase of world history in which Europeans were in fact central?

First, is simply to remind ourselves how recent and perhaps how brief the European moment in world history has been. Second, we need to remember that the rise of Europe occurred within an international context. It was the withdrawal of the Chinese naval fleet that allowed Europeans to dominate the Indian Ocean in the sixteenth century, while Native Americans’ lack of immunity to European diseases and their own division and conflicts greatly assisted the European takeover. Third, the rise of Europe to a position of global dominance was not an easy or automatic process. Frequently it occurred in the face of ferocious resistance and rebellion, which often required Europeans to modify their policies and practices. Fourth, Peoples the world over made active use of Europeans and European ideas for their own purposes, seeking to gain advantage over local rivals or to benefit themselves in light of new conditions. Fifth and final, antidote to Eurocentrism in an age of European centrality lies in the recognition that although Europeans gained an unprecedented prominence on the world stage, they were not the only game in town, nor were they the sole preoccupation of Asian, African, and Middle Eastern people.

Atlantic Revolutions and Their Echoes

The various revolutions in North America, France, Haiti, and Latin America were clearly influenced by each other and triggered similar revolutions in other parts of the world in centuries to come. These revolutions shared a set of common ideas that were derived from the European Enlightenment and were communicated across the ocean through newspapers, books and pamphlet. At the heart of these ideas was the notion that human political and social status can be engineered and improved through human actions. The conventional and established way of living­ – the divine right of the kings, state control of trade, the authority of a single church – was losing grounds and the new ideas of liberty, equality, free trade, religious tolerance and others were taking over. Politically, the core notion was “popular sovereignty”, which means that the authority of the state is derived from the people rather than from God. 

The American Revolution was launched with the declaration of independence in 1776, resulted in an unlikely military victory in 1781, and generated a federal constitution in 1787, joining thirteen states in one nation. The revolution was a movement to preserve the existing liberties that the colonies had enjoyed rather than creating new ones. For much of the 17^th and 18^th centuries, the British colonies in North America enjoyed a great degree of local autonomy. The colonies were governed by assemblies of elected individuals, mostly of wealthy families. The availability of land, the scarcity of people, and the absence of an established church meant that social life was very open. Because of such freedom, almost no one in the colonies thought of breaking from England since much economic and social values came from England. Thus, the American Revolution did not grow out of social tensions within the colonies, but from a quick and unexpected effort by the British government to tighten its control over the colonies and extract more revenue from them in the form of taxes and tariffs that the American Revolution started. They Americans went to war armed with the ideas of popular sovereignty, natural rights, and consent of the governed. Many historians argue that the society that emerged after the revolution was a society that had existed for a long time and not a direct product of the revolution.

The French revolution began in 1989 after thousands of French soldiers, who had provided assistance to the American Revolution, returned home full of republican enthusiasm. At that time, the French government was in the brink of bankruptcy. The French revolution was quite different from its North American predecessor. Whereas the American Revolution expressed the tension with a colonial relationship with a distant imperial power, the French Revolution was driven by conflicts within French society. All classes had their own resentment to the monarchical power: the nobles resented and resisted the new taxes, the growing middle class groups were offended from being excluded from the privileged class, the ordinary urban residents saw their wealth decline by increasing prices, the peasants were increasingly subject to dues and landlords. These social conflicts gave the French Revolution a much more violent, far-reaching and radical character than its American counterpart. In early 1793, King Louis XVI and his queen were executed, an act of regicide that shocked Europe and marked a new stage in revolutionary violence.

The impact of the revolution was felt in many ways: streets got new names, people referred to each other as “citizen so-and-so”, many people joined political clubs and politics became a public affair, common citizens began to think of them as belonging to a nation and the state replaced the church in conducting civil administration.

The French Revolution differs from the American Revolution in the way its influence spread. Until the end of the 19^th century, the influence of the American Revolution came from people’s admiration to its constitution, the French Revolution, on the other hand, spread through conquest, largely under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte. 

The French Revolution made a quick and great influence on the French Caribbean colony of Saint Domingue, later named Haiti, which was regarded as the richest colony in the world. It produces 40% of the world sugar and half of its coffee. The social structure in Haiti was extremely unequal and therefore was primed for explosion. The slaves numbered around 500,000, while the white masters were about 40,000. In such a volatile setting, the ideas and example of the French Revolution lit several fuses and set in motion a spiral of violence that engulfed the colony for more than a decade.

The revolution had remarkable and unprecedented impacts. Socially, this was the only successful slave revolt in the world. Politically, by thrown off French colonial rule, it became the second independent republic in America and the first non-European state to emerge from Western colonialism. This revolution inspired other slave uprisings. Unfortunately, the destructiveness of the Haitian Revolution: its bitter division of race, color and class; and continuing external opposition contributed much to Haiti abiding poverty and instability.

The final act in a half century of Atlantic revolutionary upheaval took place in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies of mainland Latin America. These revolutions differed from the North American and Haitian revolutions in many aspects. The settlers in the Spanish colonies had little tradition of local self-government that had developed in North America. The revolutionary process lasted more than twice as long as it did in North America, partly because Latin American societies were so conflicted and divided by race, class and region. So, the entire independence movement in Latin America took place under the shadow of fear of social rebellion from below. The great violence of the French and Haitian revolutions taught the Latin American elites that political change can easily result in uncontrolled fights. The significant social and regional differences explain the failure of Latin Americans to unit a single country like what happened in North America.

In a little more than a century from 1780 to 1890, slavery lost its legitimacy and was largely ended. In this amazing process, the ideas and practices of the Atlantic revolutions played an important role. The Enlightenment thinkers in the 18^th century had become very critical of slavery and wrote frequently against its legitimacy. Also, the revolt of slaves in Haiti and the other similar revolts showed that slaves were willing to take actions to elevate the oppression.

The Atlantic revolutions also gave rise to new prominence to a relatively new kind of human community – the nation. By the end of the 20^th century, the idea that humankind was divided into separate nations, each with a distinct culture and territory and deserving independent political life, was very widespread. This idea was very new as human usually formed their identity around local identities such as clan, village or region. This typical loyalty framework began to change during the era of Atlantic revolutions.

Nationalism proved to be a very flexible and powerful idea in the 19^th century. It inspired the political unification of both Germany and Italy. It encouraged Greeks and Serbs to gain their independence from the Ottoman Empire, and many others followed. Moreover, governments throughout the Western world claimed to act on behalf of their nations and deliberately tried to instill national loyalties in their citizens. 

Thinkers and European Enlightenment had challenged many ancient traditions like women’s intrinsic inferiority. The French revolution raised the possibility of re-creating human societies on new foundations. Many women participated in its events and some insisted that the revolution ideas of liberty and equality must include women. Like nationalism, a concern with women’s rights spread beyond Western Europe and the United States.

Chapter 16: Religion and Science

            In 1500, Christianity was mostly limited to Europe. Then, it spread to small communities in Egypt, Ethiopia, southern India, and Central Asia. With time, serious divisions occurred within Christianity (Roman Catholic vs. Eastern Orthodox).  Christianity was on the defensive against Islam since the inception of the latter.

            In Western Christendom, Protestant Reformation began in 1517 by Martin Luther King. Luther’s ideas provoked a massive schism in Catholic Christendom, many women were attracted to Protestantism, but the Reformation didn’t give them a greater role in church or society. The recently invented printing press helped Reformation thought spread rapidly. As the Reformation spread, it splintered into an array of competing Protestant churches. Religious difference made Europe’s fractured political system even more volatile. Protestant Reformation provoked a Catholic Counter-Reformation, and the Reformation encouraged skepticism toward authority and tradition.

            Christianity motivated and benefited from European expansion. Imperialism made the globalization of Christianity possible. Process of population collapse, conquest, and resettlement made Native Americans receptive to the conquering religion.  Europeans claimed exclusive religious truth, tried to destroy traditional religions instead of accommodating them.

            Expansion and Renewal in the Islamic World and the continuing spread of Islam depended not on conquest but on wandering holy men, scholars, and traders. The syncretism of Islamization was increasingly offensive to orthodox Muslims,  the most well-known Islamic renewal movement of the period was Wahhabism.

            Scientific Revolution’s initial breakthrough was by Nicolaus Copernicus,. Other scientists built on Copernicus’s insight, sir Isaac Newton was the apogee of the Scientific Revolution. By Newton’s death, educated Europeans had a fundamentally different view of the physical universe. The human body also became less mysterious. Catholic Church strenuously opposed much of this thinking.

Chapter 15: Global Commerce

The European sail to India in late fifteenth century was not an accident. It was a deliberate and systematic process by the Portuguese to explore a sea route to the East. They knew about the rich trade network between East Africa coat and China and wanted to find a way to exploit it. During the fifteenth century, Europe was going through a general recovery following the disaster of the Black Death in the early fourteenth century. The population was growing; the cities were expanding and a more capitalist economy was being developed. Moreover, for centuries, Eastern goods used to come through the Middle East. The Italian commercial city of Venice monopolized the European trade of Eastern goods. Finally, few products of Europe were attractive in Eastern markets, so they were required to pay with cash-silver or gold- which resulted in persistent trade deficit.

The arena of the Indian Ocean commerce was vast, in geographic context and in the diversity of those who participated in it. East Africans, Arabs, Persians, Indians, Malays, Chinese and others traded freely in that area. Portuguese could have chosen to participate freely and compete in that market, but because the European goods were not competitive, they chose to dominate the area using forces to benefit from the region. The Portuguese used their forces to establish fortified bases at several key locations within the Indian Ocean with the objective of controlling the commerce. The Portuguese king grandly titled himself “ Lord of the Conquest, Navigation, and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India”.

However, Portuguese failed in their mission to control the commerce in the Indian Ocean. They were outnumbered by Asian traders, many Portuguese traders escaped the control of their government and settled and learned local languages and sometimes converted to Islam. By 1600, their post trade empire was in steep decline.

Further, Spain was the first to challenge Portugal’s position. In an effort to catch up, they establish themselves on what became the Philippine Islands. Some conditions encouraged the Spanish colonial rule on the Philippine Islands: the proximity to China and the Spice Islands, small and military weak societies, the absence of competing claims. Accompanying Spanish rule was a major missionary effort, which turned the Filipino society into the major outpost of Christianity in Asia. The Spanish rule made a major transformation to the original Filipino society. 

English and Dutch entered the Indian Ocean commerce in the early seventeenth century and they became a far more important power than the Portuguese and Spanish. They organized their Indian Ocean ventures through private trading companies which were able to raise money and share risks among a substantial number of investors. These British and Dutch companies were granted trading monopolies and the right to launch wars from their respective governments.

The Dutch acted to control not only the shipping but also the production of spice like cloves, cinnamon and others. They sized islands and sometimes killed and enslaved its population to control the production in these islands. Their methods were bloody which enabled them to gain so much profit. The British acted differently, they secured their trading with base with the permission of the local authorities with substantial payments of bribes to gain admission to the Indian markets.   

Chapter 14: Empires and Encounters

            The empires of the early modern era made a new stage in globalization.

Western European empires were marked by maritime expansion. For example, Spaniards in Caribbean, then on to Aztec and Inca empires, Portuguese in Brazil, British, French, and Dutch colonies in North America. Europeans controlled most of the Americas by the mid-nineteenth century.

            Europeans brought European and African diseases, which led mortality rate of up to 90 percent among Native American populations. As a result, native population nearly vanished. In the Caribbean, Central Mexico: population dropped from 10 million–20 million to around million by 1650. Further, the European conquest of the Americas created a network of communication, migration, trade, transfer of plants and animals. As a result, American food crops (e.g., corn, potatoes, and cassava) spread widely in the Eastern Hemisphere. More significantly, trade in slaves reshaped African societies and made an important mark in human history.

            Furthermore, Europeans did not just conquer and govern established societies: they created wholly new societies. Colonies of Sugar lowland Brazil and the Caribbean had known almost no civilizations but developed major societies in this era. Large-scale sugar production was introduced earlier by Arabs to the Mediterranean; and then was transferred to Brazil by the Portuguese.  British, French, and Dutch in the Caribbean broke the  Portuguese monopoly of sugar production.

Ch 13: The Worlds of the fifteenth century

In 1500 c.e, the world had all types of societies, from bands of gatherers and hunters to empires, but the balance between them was different than it had been in 500 c.e. The main types of human societies were Paleolithic, agricultural, and herding societies. Paleolithic peoples were gathering and hunting societies, they existed throughout all of Australia, much of Siberia, the arctic coastlands, and parts of Africa and the Americas. Agricultural village societies were predominately in much of North America, in Africa south of the equator, in parts of the Amazon River basin and Southeast Asia. Herding people included the Turks and many African tribes.

By the fifteenth century c.e, a majority of the world’s population lived within a major civilization. Ming Dynasty China gained strength and created strong state. Western Europe experienced a process of demographic recovery, consolidation, cultural flowering. The Renaissance began in the commercial cities of Italy ca. 1350–1500. Further, The long-fragmented Islamic world crystallized into four major states or empires: The Ottoman, Safavid, Songhay and Mughal Empires. Moreover, the Aztec and the Inca empires were established in the Americas and the Spaniards and their diseases later destroyed both empires. The Large-scale political systems brought together culturally different people. Religion both united and divided far-flung peoples. Islam was particularly good at bringing together its people, through rituals like the annual hajj. 

Chapter 12: Pastoral peoples on the global stage

Economies focused on livestock production emerged around 4000 b.c.e. Livestock include on horses, camels, goats, sheep, cattle, yaks, reindeer. Pastoral societies developed in: grasslands of Eurasia and sub-Saharan Africa, Arabian and Saharan deserts, subarctic regions, and Tibetan plateau. But, pastoral societies did not develop in Americas because Americas did not have large animals for domesticating. Pastoral societies shared common features: they were generally less productive than agricultural societies, they lived in scattered areas because they needed large grazing areas, they lived in encampments of related kinfolk, and their women had higher status than women in sedentary societies. Further, the formation of nomadic states was difficult, but charismatic leaders like Chinggis Khan could make a series of tribal alliances that became powerful states and when formed, almost the whole male population (and some women) became warriors.

  Nomads made their greatest impact on world history between 500 and 1500 c.e. Arabs, Berbers, Turks, and Mongols created the largest empires of that millennium. Formerly nomadic people controlled all Byzantium, Persia, India, and China at least for a time.

Nomads have often received “bad press” in history books. They only mentioned in regard to their destruction of established civilizations, educated sedentary peoples have feared and usually despised nomads, nomads were usually illiterate, so we don’t have their perspective, and agricultural societies eventually won out. 

Chapter 11: The world of Islam

Arabian Peninsula is the homeland of Islam. Nomadic Arabs (Bedouins) lived in Arabian Peninsula; they were organized as independent clans and tribes and worshipped variety of gods. Arabia also had some sedentary, and agricultural areas; some of them were located on important East–West trade routes; and Mecca was the most important trade center. In Mecca, Kaaba was the most prominent religious shrine. Quraysh tribe controlled local trade and pilgrimage and enjoyed very high social status. The prophet of Islam, Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (570–632 c.e.), was born to the top house of Quraysh. The revelations to Muhammad from Allah started in 610 c.e.

Prophet Muhammad came with radical new teachings: monotheistic, Muhammad as “the seal of the prophets”, return to old, pure religion of Abraham, central tenet: submission to Allah (Muslim is “one who submits”) need to create a new society of social justice, equality, and care for others (the umma). The core message of Islam is summarized in the Five Pillars of Islam: first pillar is simple profession: “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” Prayer five times a day at prescribed times, generous giving to help the community and the needy, fasting during the month of Ramadan, pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).

            The Islamic state grew to include all or part of Egyptian, Roman/Byzantine, Persian, Mesopotamian, and Indian civilizations. Many people in and out of Arab Empire converted to Islam; and Arabic culture and language spread widely.

                        Quran improved the situation of women in various ways: it banned female infanticide, gave women control over their own property, granted limited rights of inheritance, required woman’s consent to a marriage, recognized a woman’s right to sexual satisfaction.

Chapter 10: Worlds of European Christendom: Connected and Divided, 500-1300

Crusade movement began in 1095 and had a significant impact on Europe. It weakened Byzantine Empire and Eastern Orthodox Church, strengthened the pops and their position for a time, stimulated demand for Asian goods, led to the transfer of the Muslim/Greek scholarship to Europe, and finally motivated Spanish and Portuguese explorers.

Many features of medieval Christendom have extended into the modern era. First, intellectual tension between faith and reason has developed since that time. Universities were created and some scholars began to emphasize the ability of human reason to understand divine mysteries. Also, the study of medicine, law and philosophy was developed building on the Arab and Greek traditions. Second, the Eastern Orthodox/Roman Catholic division of Christianity remains. Eastern Orthodoxy increasingly defined itself in opposition to Latin Christianity and a sense of religious difference reflected East/West political difference. With rise of Islam, Constantinople and Rome remained as sole hubs of Christendom. Crusades (from 1095 on) worsened the situation and Westerners sacked Constantinople during Fourth Crusade in 1204 and ruled Byzantium for next 50 years.

Chapter 9: China and the world

The golden age of the Chinese achievement took place between 589-1279 under Sui, Tang and Song dynasties. The politic of the golden era was characterized by central governance with distributed responsibilities emphasis, six main ministries, on the education of the government officials and the significant influence of the elites and the landowners. The Chinese economy thrived notably during this period of time. The economic growth was supported by great improvement in agricultural production, great network of internal waterways (canals, rivers, lakes), which provided a cheap transport system that bound China together, great improvements in industrial production. On the other hand, this era was not golden for women. Patriarchal restrictions on women were tightened, the subjection of women was highlighted by literature and women were displaced from the traditional role in the industry by large-scale production. However, the position of women saw some improvement, property rights were expanded and more women were educated in order to raise sons better.

The emerging states and civilizations of Korea, Vietnam, and Japan had close relationships with China. All were built by agricultural and sedentary societies, were shaped by proximity to China but did not become Chinese and were influenced by Western culture but maintained political/cultural independence. Moreover, China imported Buddhism from India and was the base for Buddhism’s spread to Korea and Japan.

Chapter 8: Commerce and Culture

Trade was a significant factor in shaping human history. First, trade altered consumption and diminished economic self-sufficiency of local societies. It made it possible for people living in cold climate to consume food that grow only in warm places; sugar and coffee are important examples. Second, it encouraged specialization of production, which led to mass production and greater efficiency. The mass trade network of England was the main driver of the Industrial revolution. Third, it created a distinct social group of traders that grew from being marginal in societies to the frontier these days. Fourth, it helped to spread religious ideas. For instance, Islam entered South East Asia and Indonesia through traders; now majority of Muslims live in these regions. It also helped spread technological innovations, plants and animals, and diseases.

Trade has thrived in certain circumstances. Trading networks did best when large states provided security for trade. Historical evidence showed that trade grew during Roman, Chinese, Byzantine Empire, Abbasid and Mughal empires. Also, trade flourished where the cost of transportation is low. For instance, cities near rivers of ports have been the major trading hubs. Further, global trade substantially grew after major technological innovation in the mean of transportation. 

Finally, Slavery was a universal human practice with origins that go back to the earliest civilizations; slavery was widely accepted as a perfectly normal human enterprise and was closely linked to warfare and capture. Slavery came in many forms and preferences. Some societies treated slaves as outsiders, and some assimilated them into their communities. Some societies preferred female slaves and others preferred males. Some slaves occupied prominent positions in the social and government systems.