Early Modern Empires (1500-1800)
Introduction
: Before we learn about the unlikely and apparently rapid rise of The West during the 19th and 20th centuries, it’s important to understand the powerful empires of the early modern world between 1500 and 1800. Some readers may be surprised to learn about the wealth, thriving global trade, and dominant manufacturing production in Asia that held sway until at least the end of the 18th century. Throughout much of this era, Europe was, in contrast to Asia, an unimpressive backwater of small countries and kingdoms. But Europe’s “discovery” of the Americas and an ocean route to Asia, just before the year 1500, changed all that. The West gradually worked its way into the global economy and planted the seeds for its imperial rise and eventual dominance over most of the modern world.After 1500, world regions—such as West Africa, East Asia, and South America—fused together into one global trade system. For the first time in history, each region of the world now interacted with the others. For example, enslaved African labor was used in South American plantations to sell cheap sugar to Europe. Silver from Mexico bought loans for Spain, and that same silver ended up in China to buy silk or porcelain for Europeans. And so on. A new global system emerged, forged of uneven relationships, in which a small part of the world, Europe, successfully exploited the world’s human and natural resources to its advantage. This was Globalization 1.0. Historians disagree on exactly when European empires began to “rise” and Asian empires began to “fall.” But most see it happening gradually over centuries of the early modern era.
Just Before the Turning Point: 15th Century World Empires
In the shadow of the 21st century wealth and influence of The West, we often forget that in the 15th century, powerful non-European empires thrived. In the Americas, for example, the Aztecs ruled over a vast and diverse population of over 25 million people and controlled an area of 200,000 square miles (Getz 63). The Inca in South America controlled an empire that stretched 2500 miles. The empire of Mali controlled much of West Africa. Across the deserts of North Africa, caravans of up to 25,000 camels traded enslaved Africans and gold for Indian textiles (Marks 55). No European nation at the time surpassed these empires’ wealth and territory.
In the 15th century, empires outside Europe—in China, Mexico, and the Middle East—were also far more urbanized than Europe. Ninety-nine percent of humans throughout the world lived in rural areas, so urban living was unusual. But dense cities were a clear indication of an empire’s power, wealth, technology, industry and potential for trade. And Europe lagged behind. Both Istanbul and Beijing, for example, had populations of around 700,000 in 1500, whereas only 125,000 lived in Paris (Frank 12). Tenochtitlan, the capital city of the Aztec Empire in central Mexico, had a population of over 250,000 people, while fewer than 100,000 lived in London (Marks 74). China had the most impressive cities of all—nine out of the ten largest cities in the world were found there (26). In 1492, few would have looked at the cities of the world and believed that Europe would come to dominate global trade centuries later.
Although 15th century Asian empires had the clear lead in trade, manufacturing, productivity, market size, and overall wealth, Europeans at the time planted the seeds for their ascendency with incremental but highly significant innovations in military and sailing technology. In Europe, new military technologies eventually tipped the balance of power in favor of larger and expanding states that could afford to develop the latest war inventions and maintain standing armies. Europeans improved on Mongol cannons by making them with strong cast iron. The small kingdoms and nations of Europe were in almost constant war with each other. This pugilism became a long-term advantage of sorts because the bloody competition between many states pressured Europeans to improve on their military technology.
China, on the other hand, was one large empire with one government that did not feel the constant pressure to improve military technology. Thus, trade in the Indian Ocean was peaceful; merchant ships sailed unarmed across thousands of miles. Conversely, Europeans were so accustomed to combat: that when they first sailed into the Indian Ocean, the broadsides of their ships were armed with cannons. Europeans came ready for battle.