The West and the Changing World Balance

Chapter 15 (1 of 1)

The World Powers During the Postclassical Error Decline

1258 Abbasids are defeated by Mongols 1453 Turks conquer the Byzantine Empire What city was destroyed to end Abbasid rule?

What city was defeated to end the Byzantine Empire?

Baghdad Constantinople

The Fall of the Byzantine Empire’s capital of Constantinople marks the end of the postclassical period in world history

Over Time, Arab Dominance Ends

By the 1100s, the Abbasid caliphate (which ruled Arab/Muslim empire) was beginning to decline Can you name a group that controlled the Abbasid empire and made the Abbasid caliphs puppet leaders?

945 = Persians (called Buyids) capture Baghdad, and they run the Abbasid caliphate 1055 = Seljuk Turks defeat the Buyids and run the empire 1258 = Mongols destroy Baghdad and kill the last Abbasid caliph, ending the Abbasid empire

Serfdom in the Middle East

As Abbasid empire fell, landlords seized control over peasants, who were reduced to serfdom Agriculture suffered as peasants no longer free to farm, had to provide what landlord wanted Arabs, who had once dominated trade, started to fall behind, as western Europeans gained on them

As the postclassical era came to a close in the 1400s, the Middle East began being more strict to their Islamic religion Secular (non religious) ideas, such as science and philosophy, were losing out to a focus on religion

Ottomans Take Control of Muslim Lands (1453) Though powerful, Ottomans never became main world superpower like Arabs previously had One reason was because they did not promote trade

Would the Mongols Fill Power Vacuum and Become the Dominant World Power?

But Mongol rule was relatively short-lived and they began to decline Decline of Mongols, meant overland trade routes no longer safe Instead, there was a new focus on finding trade routes by sea

So China, and the New Ming Dynasty, Must Have Emerged As New World Leaders?

China did play the role of world leaders, but only for about 50 years

Ming Dynasty defeated the Mongols in 1368 and sponsored trade expeditions From 1405 – 1433, these Chinese expeditions were led by a Chinese Muslim named Zheng He

Zheng He (or Chang Ho)

Despite Zheng He’s Success, China Abruptly Stopped Exploration and Trade in 1433 Confucians believed the expeditions went against their values (remember – looked down on artisans and merchant) Chinese were still in process of driving out Mongols and building huge capital at Beijing, and expeditions were too costly

Instead, Ming Dynasty Focused Internally and Within the Region

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Focused on getting tribute from neighbors in East Asia

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Focused on finishing off the nomadic invaders (such as Mongols) to the north

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Focused on building Chinese agriculture

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Focused on internal economic development

The Power Vacuum Was Left Open

Who would emerge as the predominant power in the world?

Arabs decline after fall of Abbasids as Ottomans weren’t focused on trade and exploration Byzantine Empire gone in eastern Europe, controlled by Ottomans China took the lead and looked like next world power, but quickly decided to stop

The Door Was Open For Western Europe

Western Europe Unlikely Winners to be Next World Power in 1400s

Bubonic Plague (Black Death) wiped out 1/3 of its population in the 1300s The Roman Catholic church was under political and theological attack Famines led to more death and peasant uprisings Western Europe still somewhat behind technologically

Trade Plays Big Role

When Mongols had big empire, trade flourished, an western Europe benefitted more than most area

Avoid the Muslims

and trade to Asia had to go through the Muslim Middle East Western Europeans wanted trade with Asia, but avoid the Middle East, which led to a search for sea routes to Asia (and the Italian city-states of Venice and Genoa were key leaders in the search)

The Renaissance Begins in 1400

Italian city-states became wealthy and could support the arts and literature, which began to flourish The Renaissance was a cultural and intellectual movement which revived the Greco-Roman style, and at first only affected high society

The Iberian Peninsula joins the Italian city states in a push for change and innovation

The Iberian Peninsula is where Spain and Portugal are today During most of postclassical era, the Muslims had ruled the Iberian Peninsula

A Marriage for the Ages!

In 1469, Ferdinand and Isabella wed, uniting the Castile and Aragon, the 2 major monarchies on the peninsula Ferdinand and Isabella promoted Catholicism and began the Spanish Inquisition to drive out Muslims, Protestants, and Jews

Vivaldis Brothers = Italian brothers seeking western sea-route to Asia, but disappeared in 1291 Their efforts sparked others to try to find a route (such as Columbus 200 years later)

Italians and Portuguese Intensify Efforts to Find Western Sea-Route to Asia

Technological Barriers Overcome

Until the 1430s, a lack of technology prevented sea travelers from western Europe from exploring past the west coast of Africa But then the compass and astrolabe (learned from the Arabs, who had learned them from the Chinese) made its way to western Europe

I was a Portuguese explorer who found a sea route to India, which allowed Portugal to dominate trade in the Indian Ocean. Who am I?

Vasco de Gama

Portuguese prince who was responsible for Portuguese explorations Portugal was 1 st European nation to establish an overseas colony (the Azores in 1439)

Henry the Navigator

Spain Follows Portugal to Establish Overseas Colonies

These colonies were set up to produce cash crops Slaves were imported from northwest Africa to do much of the work

Meanwhile, In the Rest Of the World…

By that we mean the areas that did not have contact with the rest of the world during the postclassical era The two areas are the Americas and the Polynesians living on the Society Islands (Fiji, Tahiti, and Samoa) in the Pacific

Because they were isolated from the rest of the world, America and Polynesia were not affected by outside forces during postclassical era However, changes were going on within each society that would weaken each, and make them susceptible to foreign invasion Americas Polynesia Aztec and Inca were suffering from rebellions and other Native American groups were beginning to emerge and vie for power Because they developed in isolation, they lacked modern technology and were very vulnerable when the Europeans showed up

More on Polynesia

During the Postclassical Era (especially 600 C.E. – 1300 C.E.) Polynesians were expanding to new territories (2 of which were Hawaii and New Zealand)

Aloha!

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Polynesians settled Hawaiian islands up until 1400, when migration to stopped (from 1400 to 1778, Hawaii cut off from all societies, including Polynesia)

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Politically, Hawaii divided into warlike regional kingdoms

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Caste system established (priests and nobles at top, and commoners very low and barred from doing many activities)

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Despite outdated technology and no written language the Hawaiians still created a complex culture

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Polynesians from Society Island migrated to New Zealand starting in early 700s, and they are called Maoris

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Maoris produced the most elaborate Polynesian art and population kept expanding

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Like in Hawaii, tribal military leaders and priests held great power (and each tribe had slaves gotten from prisoners of war)

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Maoris produced a rich oral tradition and were good at woodworking (no metal, but had vigorous economy by combining imported crops and animals with vegetation native to their new settlements)

The Maoris