Recovery 1400-1500 AD

Ethiopia Expanded into the Great Rift Valley

Trade in gold, slaves, ivory, and civet 1481 AD Ethiopian Christian Church re-

establishs contact with Rome Zimbabwe

S.E. Africa S. of regular monsoon wind routes Grew as Arab traders moved south Built trading centers called “zimbabwes”

Mali falls to internal wars Portuguese sail up Niger expecting to find

great civ. of Mansa Musa Instead find ruins and shambles Beginning of European discrimination against Africa

Songhay succeeds Mali, but never rises to become a great power

Kongo Civilization grew around Congo River Grew to power by selling slaves to Portuguese

Incas c. 1400-1600 AD Largest city at Cuzco (Peru) Descendents of the Chavin Environmentally diverse because of the Andes

Microclimates Ranging from the edges of the Amazon (2000 ft) to high

grass plains (13,000 ft) Allowed for diverse range of crops

At its height, approx. 1000 miles long Ecuador to Peru Built on conquest and oppression of people Unsustainable system Great architecture and road building

Machu Picchu

Aztecs MesoAmerican civ. centered at Tenochtitlan

Approx. 5000 ft. elevation Middle of a lake Poor ground for ag. led to society based on

warfare Hundreds of tributary communities

Empire ran from middle of Mexico to Guatemala Allowed exchange of goods Collection of sacrificial victims

Tribute peoples resented Aztec rule

Extremely rapid expansion Too fast for manpower to secure borders Too fast/large for communication systems

No long-range trade with other powers Lack of technological development

because of lack of competition

Russia Previously an ever-changing series of

principalities threatened by steppepeoples Mongol invasion brought stability, allowing for

the growth of power in some regions Muscovy (Moscow) on the Volga River

Princes were tax collectors for the Mongols Ivan I “Moneybags”

After fall of Constantinople (1453 AD) saw selves as the new, new Rome

Looked to throw off Mongol rule 1470s Ivan II “The Great” came to power

Absorbed other principalities Married a Byzantine princess!

Traced lineage back to the Roman Caesars Declared independent Russian Empire

Built on money from the fur trade (“black gold” of the North)

The Timurids

Islamic World recovered from plague slower than Europe or China Worked to convert more and more

steppepeoples Timur the Lame (Tamerlane) Islamic Mongol

descended from Genghis Khan Overthrew Il-Khans Built an empire in Iran and halted Ottoman

expansion Empire falls after his death Lasting impacts include breaking power of Delhi Sultanate,

distracting Ottomans from moving into Europe, and expanding conversion of steppepeoples to Islam

Ottoman Expansion

Ottoman strength in geographical location Silk Road Indian Ocean trade winds Volga, Danube, and Mediterranean seas converge Straits of the Bosporus and Dardanelles (1453)

Tradition of empire and military expansion dating back to steppeland roots

Unlike many other steppeland peoples, Ottomans quickly adapted to modern military technologies

Ottoman Expansion cont.

Ottomans built navy in 1390 AD to challenge Venetian supremacy on Med. Sea Become supreme naval power in E. Med. by 1500

First non-Europeans since Carthage (Punic Wars)

Built elite land force based on Janissaries Male slaves raised from childhood to be soldiers

Taken as tribute from Christian communities

Mehmet II

Mehmet II becomes Ottoman Sultan at 19 (1451 AD) Wants to impose centralized gov. rather than the

indirect rule of previous eras Needed to control Constantinople

Used artillery and human wave attacks to take the city after two years of siege

German artillerist turned down by Byz. Hired by Ottomans Last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI died in combat on

the steps of his palace Ottomans take Constantinople in 1453 and

begin looking deeper into Europe End of the Byzantine Empire End of the last bastion of the old Roman Empire

Limits of Chinese Imperialism

Buddhist Millenarianism Loss of half the population by plague Rest of pop. overworked to keep

infrastructure intact (communication) Rebellious peasants Blame Mongol overlords

Peasant revolt led by solder Zhu Yuanzhang Est. Ming dynasty Challenged power of Confucian elite and

instituted expansionist policies

Zheng He

Ming Admiral Zheng He sails massive fleet around Indian and Pacific Oceans (1405) Largest fleet the world had ever seen Most advanced ships in the world Need to solidify empire at home led to

abandonment of naval expansion Confucian scholars come back into power Probably good decision—all sea-based Empires in

last 500 years have crumbled China is still a power

May have landed in S. America or Antarctica, but there is no verifiable evidence to prove it

European Oceanic Imperialism

European merchants seeking access to Indian Ocean to bypass Ottoman middlemen Spices from Sri Lanka and Indonesia most

valuable commodities in the world Going through Ottomans siphoned off most

of the profits in the spice trade European ocean navigation very limited

Atlantic fixed wind system vs. Indian seasonal monsoon winds

Portuguese Navigation

Interested in accessing W. African gold markets Also discovered slave markets African slaves became most important

product out of W. Africa Explored to discover if Indian Ocean was

actually landlocked Vasco da Gama sailed around Cape of Good

Hope 1500 to reach India Led to Portuguese domination of spice trade

Cristophero Columbo

Genoese merchant looking to reach India by sailing west Financed by Italian bankers Supplied by Spanish monarchs Isabella of

Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon Spain recently unified after completion of

Reconquista in 1492 and looking to challenge Portuguese power

Discovered fast reliable routes across Atlantic Charted Atlantic currents and winds Died believing that the islands he landed on in the

Caribbean were part of Indonesia

European Outlook c. 1500

Problems Famine because of labor shortages Ottomans slowly pushing into Europe from the

Balkans, threatening Christian Europe Thule raiders obliterated Norse Greenland

Positives Plague deaths opened made skill more important

than class or blood for social advancement “Virtue is the sole and unique nobility” –Venetian

Coat of Arms (only true in W. Europe—class divisions actually solidified in E. Europe)

European Renaissance

Art and culture focus on classical learning of Greek and Rome

Rise of Humanism Celebration of humanity rather than the

divine “Man is the measure of all things” Study of /interest in texts and places

outside the Christian world

Nation-state System in Europe

15th Century saw rise of nationalism in Europe People identified selves as “French” or “English”

first, rather than as “Christians” Vernacular languages Universities Patron Saints

National sovereignty Rejection of supranational authorities like the Holy

Roman Emperor or the Pope Paper allowed for faster/more efficient

communication from central authority Rise of power of central state (kings) and decrease

in power of local authorities (nobles)

Beginnings of a World System

By end of the 15th Century, sea power linked the world Frontier Africa and America linked to pop.

centers in Asia and Europe Atlantic trade linked with Indian Ocean

trade Technology, culture, ideas, and ecology

exchanged faster than ever before Massive changes in the world as a whole