The History Book

136

T

he course of world events

always looks different in

retrospect from the way

that it appears at the time, but the

contrast in perspective is rarely as

extreme as in the Early Modern Era,

which spanned the 15th, 16th, and

17th centuries. Today, this period

is often viewed as the age during

which Europe climbed toward world

domination, but to Europeans living

at the time it often seemed to be full

of unprecedented disasters. The

unity of Christendom was split by

the Reformation, and sectarian

conflict between Catholics and

Protestants, combined with power

struggles between competing royal

dynasties, made Europe a place of

frequent warfare—a continent

tearing itself apart. Meanwhile,

the Muslim armies of the Ottoman

Empire threatened the heartland

of Europe, seizing the Byzantine

city of Constantinople and twice

penetrating as far as Vienna.

Yet historical retrospect certainly

recognizes changes underway that

were to make European nations the

founders of the modern world. The

flowering of arts and ideas in the

Renaissance meant that Europe

ceased to be a cultural backwater.

Printing and paper, both originally

invented in China, were used by

Europeans to create mass-produced

books that went on to revolutionize

the dissemination of information.

Gunpowder weapons, also invented

by the Chinese, were deployed most

effectively by European armies and

navies. Above all, explorers and

sailors from Europe’s western sea-

board established oceanic trade

routes that laid the foundations for

the first global economy.

The start of colonialism

The importance of Christopher

Columbus’s transatlantic voyage

in 1492 cannot be exaggerated.

It established a permanent link

between two entire ecosystems

that had evolved in isolation from

each another for almost 10,000

years. The initial impact on the

inhabitants of the Americas was

catastrophic. Eurasian diseases

and the infamous brutality of the

Spanish conquistadors decimated

the population. A remarkably small

number of European invaders

conquered the most sophisticated

American states with startling

ease, laying potentially the entire

New World open to European

exploitation and colonization.

However, the arrival of European

sailors in Asia did not have the

same dramatic impact. Powerful

INTRODUCTION

1420

1453

1517

1556

1492

1494

Martin Luther writes

95 theses against the

Catholic Church, leading

to the Reformation

and the rise of

Protestantism.

Religious tensions

between Protestants

and Catholics come to a

head at the Defenestration

of Prague, leading to the

Thirty Years’ War.

The Ottoman Turks

conquer Constantinople,

marking the end of the

Eastern Roman Empire

and creating a new

Muslim capital.

Christopher Columbus

reaches America, starting

an era of European

trade and colonization,

and transforming the

ecology of the Americas.

The Battle of

Sekigahara ushers

in the Edo Period

in Japan—a time of

unity, stability, and

artistic achievements.

Spain and Portugal

sign the Treaty of

Tordesillas, dividing

the newly conquered

lands in the Americas

between them.

Brunelleschi designs

the groundbreaking

dome of Florence

cathedral, signaling

the beginning of

the Renaissance.

Abu Akbar becomes

ruler of the Mughal

Empire in India;

Persian and Indian

art forms merge to

create a unique style.

1618

1603

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137

countries, including India, Imperial

China, the Mughal Empire, and the

Japanese shogunate at first merely

tolerated the Europeans as traders,

allowing them to control only a few

islands or enclaves along the coast,

as long as they did not interfere or

become too troublesome.

Economic growth

From the second half of the 17th

century, signs of economic growth

accelerated in Europe. Productivity

of labor in trades and agriculture

increased notably in areas like the

Dutch Netherlands. New financial

institutions, such as central banks

and joint stock companies, laid the

foundations of modern capitalism.

Complex patterns of maritime trade

linked European colonies in the

Americas to Europe, Africa, and

Asia. Slaves, mostly bought by

European traders in West Africa,

were transported in vast numbers

to work on colonial plantations, so

that in some parts of the New World

people of African descent greatly

outnumbered both Europeans and

the native population. At home,

Europeans consumed luxury goods

from China and India, and products

such as sugar and coffee from

plantations in the Caribbean and

Brazil. North America, the West

Indies, and India were all regions of

colonial contention—the precipitous

decline of the Mughal Empire

having opened up parts of India

to European territorial conquest.

Intellectual movements

Even at this stage, the degree of

European ascendancy should not

be exaggerated. China had gone

through difficult times in the mid-

17th century transition from the

Ming to the Qing dynasty, but in

the 18th century, imperial China

was enjoying a golden age of power

and prosperity. The population of

Europe had begun a steep increase

to unprecedented levels—a result

of improved food production and

declining epidemic diseases—

but China also experienced rapid

population growth.

What really marked out Europe

as unique at this time was the

development of knowledge and

thought. The 17th-century scientific

revolution began a transformation

of our understanding of the universe.

The rationalist movement known as

the Enlightenment challenged all

preconceptions, traditions, and

conventions. The modern world

was under construction in the

European mind. ■

THE EARLY MODERN ERA

1620

1649

1660 1759

1687

English religious

separatists (pilgrims)

set sail in the Mayflower

to seek a new life; they

found a colony in

North America.

The English Civil

War culminates in the

execution of King

Charles I; England

becomes a republic for

the next 11 years.

The Royal African

Company is established

in England; slaves are

taken from the West

African coast for sale

in the Americas.

The Battle of Quebec

ends French rule in

Canada; it was part of

the Seven Years’ War,

which involved most

major European nations.

Isaac Newton publishes

his theories about

gravity based on

mathematics and logic,

paving the way for

the Enlightenment.

1768

Captain Cook sets

sail on his first voyage;

he maps the New

Zealand coast and

claims southeastern

Australia for Britain.

1703

Tsar Peter the Great

founds St Petersburg

on the Baltic coast to

encourage trade and

modernize Russia

along European lines.

1751

The first volume of

Diderot’s three-part

Encyclopédie is

published, distilling

the rational ideas of

the Enlightenment.

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