Global History

Why study global history in IR

• For many centuries empires were the main actors

  • Actors outside of the state- merchant companies

• idea of peace of Westphalia was that sovereign state would keep wars away

• Hegel- you can only really know what happens/ understand history once it is complete and you have all the facts in front of you

• Good theory comes from good history

State sovereignty

• the state is the form of human community that (successfully) lays claim to the monopoly of legitimate physical violence within a particular territory - Max Weber

  • Examples of illegitimate use of physical violence: torture, crime

  • Monopoly: it can not be split- there is only one legitimate authority (state)

History as ‘scripture’ Lawson

Using what has happened to explain what and why something could be happening now

Types of historical thinking

• history

• Meta history

• Anti history

History

• Nonfictional account of the past

• Concerned with change over time

• A craft

• Study of the past

• Truth is not something that historians can every capture

  • Empirical knowledge

• History aspires to:

  • Discover order and structure in the chaos and messiness of the past

  • Construct order and structure by creating a narrative of an argument, based on verifiable evidence (narrative construction)

Meta history

• Emphasizes patterns and regularities, great divers of development, larger meanings in of history

• Often about one idea, ex. Freedom

  • Ex. Communist manifesto- main idea class struggle 

• Was popular in C19, had a bad reputation in C20, and is now making a comeback

• Key terms:

  • Longue durée: take long view of history to identity long term trends/patterns and distinguish the continent from the permanent - French historian Fernand Braudel 

Anti-history

• The idea that when we speak of history, fiction and non-fiction are identical

• A relevant concept in todays age of “fake news” and “post truth”

• Examples

  • The holocaust never happened

  • Barack Obama was not born in the US

  • Moon landing was a hoax

• Can take form of conspiracy theories

• No concept of objectivity

• Closely related concept: relativism

• Bottom line: is fiction and speculation, NOT proper history

Just stories?

• A historian develops a specific argument, which they believe is accurate on the basis of the existing evidence

  • Why and how did events happen?

  • What caused an event?

  • Which individuals played important roles?

  • What is the meaning of the events studies, in terms of the past and of the present? Why do they matter?

What is global history?

• Big history

  • Also called universal history

  • Concerned with the history of the world since the Big Bang

• Global history

  • World history

  • The story of connections within the global human community

  • The interconnected whole has a history

• The flag that made it across the Atlantic to settle New Amsterdam -> manhattan

  • Later changed to New York

• 1625 - “bought” manhattan from the indigenous people

• British was given New Amsterdam (New York) to gain land in the West Andes

Dutch colony

• South Africa was part of the Dutch empire in the C18 -> called cape colony

  • Lots of segregation -> taken away citizenship from indigenous people

• The slave trade occurred under Dutch rule

Jakarta Indonesia

• Former capital of the Dutch India company

  • Center of spice trade

• The architecture was supposed to bring West influence and help the “uncivilized” people that lived there

• Dutch forbade the indigenous people from living within the city limits

Imperial expansion

1. Process of destruction

2. Process of creation

3. Major consequences to this day

Consequences of imperial expansion

• Economic growth from colonies led to industrialization of Europe

  • Economic rift

• Hybrid cultures, languages

  • Official language are the colonizers language

• Island nations that are part of EU

  • Ex. Canary islands

British empire

• The empire where the sun never set’

  • Had so much territory that the sun was always up on some of its territory

• Best maritime empire the world has known

• At the height of the British empire, it ruled almost 1/4 of the world

Chronological scope of European empires

1. European colonization begins, 1492

   1. Columbus “discovered” the Americas

   2. Vikings had been there before

2. era of Spanish and Portuguese hegemony, C15-C16

3. Era of British and French hegemony, C17-C19

4. High imperialism, ca. 1870-1914

5. Decolonization, ca 1950-1980 (but earlier waves in North and South America, late C18-early C19)

Imperialism- competitive system

• Created fight for territory, resources

• All of Europe was not benefiting from this, they were also fighting each other

Empire

A Large, composite, multi-ethnic or multinational political unit, usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate, sometimes far distant, peripheries

Direct rule

Central government based in a city/ metropole

Indirect rule

Central government rules over colonies areas through client control over local gov (elites)

6 main characteristics of an empire

1. Direct (centralized) and indirect (decentralized) rule

2. Established and maintained by violence

   1. Random → legitimacy not important

   2. Extreme → genocide, mass murder

3. Dominated core economically exploits the periphery

4. Core population believes in its own cultural superiority and “civilizing” mission

5. European empires in particular associated with pseudo-scientific racial hierarchies

   1. Especially prominent C19 C20

6. mass movement of people: both voluntary migration (eg settler colonialism) and forced migration (eg slave trade)

White Mans Burden Kipling

Encouraged Europeans to send their sons to the colonies to serve and civilize and shaming ones that would not do this → core to periphery

Imperialism

The actions and attitudes which create or uphold such big political units; an explicit policy of imperial expansion; a system of OR less obvious kinds of control/ domination

Colonialism

System of legal rule by one group over another, where the first claims the right to exercise exclusive sovereignty over the second and to shape its destiny

Settler colonialism

Large-scale population movements, where the migrants maintain strong links with their or their ancestors former country and when by doing so they gain significant privileges over other inhabitants of the new territory

The post-colonial world

The parts of the globe that used to be under colonial rule

Neo-imperialism

Post-colonial situations where an outside power - usually, but not always, the former colonial ruler - still exercises a substantial, though semi-hidden influence in ways that resemble older patterns of more open domination

Example: the CFA Franc

CFA= financial community of Africa (previously French colonies in Africa)

Until 2020, 50% of the bills were kept at the French central bank and the value of the CFA Francwas entirely dependent on the value of the Euro

Empirical eurocentrism

Only looking at Europe/ the West

Methodological eurocentrism

Painting Europe as self-made driver of modernity, even if looking beyond Europe

• printing press, gun power and magnetic compass all seen as European inventions, actually invented in china

Methodological eurocentrism 4 interrelated assumptions

1. Methodological internalism: origins and sources of modernity = internal to Europe (non-Europe = passive, explored periphery)

2. Historical priority: Europe conceived as the permanent ‘core’ and prime mover of history

3. Universal stagism: European modernity = universal stage of development through which all societies must pass; modernity a public good to be spread outward to other societies

4. Linear developmentalism: endogenous processes of social change = universal stages of linear development

European backwardness: links to Leiden

• Raphelengius- created first printed Arabic-Latin dictionary

• Scaliger- helped move from eurocentrism

• Late C16- beginning of the Dutch golden age

  • Tulips- came from the Ottoman Empire (introduced in 1593)

    • Was very important to Dutch economy-still is

    • Was part of the first stock exchange

  • Japanese knotweed introduced 1830s

Eurocentrism definition

A point of view that places Europe at the center of everything, particularly modernity and progress, and that sees the rest of the world as historically backwards

5 assertions about pre-1500s world

1. It was stuck in stagnant ‘tradition’ that undermined economic development

2. It was divided into insular regions

3. It was ruled by irrational despots or petty chieftains

4. A globally interdependent world was not yet possible

5. That interdependent world was finally created during Europes ‘age of discovery’ starting in 1492

Associated with the methodological eurocentrism view

Are the assertions about pre-1500 correct

No

• during the Afro-Asian ‘age of discovery’ (ca. 500-1500), local or regional economies were linked together n a interconnected whole; proto-globalization

• Europeans entered the imperial game in the late C15 under circumstances dictated to them by middle eastern Arabs, Persians, Africans and others; nihilo nihil fit (nothing comes out of nothing)

• Before the C16, there was considerable eastern economic progress and political sophistication

Oriental globalization(ca 500-1500)

• middle eastern Muslims & north Africas were the first to begin creating a ‘global’ economy after 500

• The east-oriented global economy was maintained until ca 1800 by diverse groups of people

• It linked together all major world civilizations (except Americas) through trade, hence the term ‘oriental globalization’ (or eastern globalization)

Global history timeline: oriental globalization

500 - 1800

Key factors about Oriental Globalization

• begins ca. 500 with revival of land routes through Central Asia traversed by camels (greater endurance than horses)

  • Right when western Roman Empire falls (476)

• Between ca 500-1100, 2 main centers of civilization (Middle East and china) are connected through trade, creating a world system

• Mostly peaceful relations between empires; trade is mutually beneficial; few areas of territorial dispute

4 main empires of medieval world

• Byzantine empire (ca 330-1453)

• Tang empire followed by Song empire in China (618-1279)

• Umayyad empire followed by Abbasid empire (661-1258)

• Fatimid empire in North Africa (909-1171)

Byzantine empire

• ca. 330-1453

• Aka eastern Roman Empire, capital in Constantinople (Istanbul)

• Eastern Orthodox Christianity after break with Roman Catholicism, C11

Tang and Song empire

• 618-1279

• China

• Capital in Chang’an (Xi’an)

• Interregnum in C10: ‘five dynasties and ten kingdoms period’

Umayyad and Abbasid empire

• 661-1258

• Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia

• Sunni Islamic caliphates, capital in Damascus and Baghdad

• Abbasid golden age, late C8-C9

• Fell during Mongol invasion, C13

Fatimid empire

• 909-1171

• North Africa

• Shia Islamic caliphate

• Fell to Abbasid empire and Christian first crusade, C11-C12

The Silk Roads

Variety of land routs across east Asia, Central Asia, and Middle East that delivered things like silk and spices that delivered things between the west and east

Islam: central to globalization for 2 main reasons

1. Brought cultural and political unity to a previously fragmented region

2. Was a religion that encouraged trade

   1. Islamic world was the bridge linking together a massive Afro-Asian economy, ca. 650-1800

   2. Some scholar argued Islam was part of the emergence of capitalism

Trade with Africa

• Muslims were particularly dependent on African trade

• Egypt was a crucial junction between Middle East and North Africa

• African markets were the most profitable branch of trade

• East Africans were trading with India even before Muslims arrived

Marco Polo

First European to reach china → over land

Christopher Columbus

Wanted to reach China and the Indies by going over the Atlantic → ran into the Americas

Ibn Battuta

Most notable Muslim explorer

traveled most extensively over both land and sea

General features of Chinese empires

• become even more internally powerful than Islamic counterparts from ca 1100 onward

• By 1400s, start influencing global economy more strongly than Islamic empires

• Enormous- territory and population

What made china so internally powerful from the 1100s onward

China was enormously wealthy

Why was china so wealthy during pre-modern period

• during Song dynasty (960-1279) china undergoes its ‘first industrial miracle’

• Develops characteristics usually associated with the British Industrial Revolution of C18-C19

Chinese Industrial Revolution

• huge increase in iron and steel production

  • Wrought iron→ cast iron; cheaper, durable goods

• Expansion of transportation system (roads, canals with locks) cheap and fast distribution

• A tax system based on cash money (rather than goods, eg, crops): more urbanization

• Advanced agricultural techniques: higher yield ratios

• ‘First military revolution’ 850-1290 (gunpowder, cannons, better shipbuilding)

• Revolutions in navigational techniques (compass)

Case study: Zheng He and the Treasure Fleet

• Zheng He (1371-1433)

• Muslims (long history of religious/ethnic mixing; eg China was ruled by religiously tolerant Mongols in C13)

• Under Ming dynasty, he went on 7 voyages with ‘treasure fleets’ 1405-1433

  • Goals: to show off treasures and military strength all around the Indian Ocean; to project Chinese power; to bring back ambassadors from foreign lands willing to become part of the Chinese tribute system

• Zheng He dies in 1433; Xuande emperor dies shortly after, Treasure Fleet was voluntarily destroyed, and further large voyages were abandoned

• C15- China renounced maritime imperialism (had potential to rule world)

• Remained open to international trade and counties to develop

Indian Ocean trading Network

Ca 800-1500

‘Maritime Silk Roads’

Global history timeline: Islamic/ African forerunners

500 - 1100

Global history timeline: Chinese dominance

1100 - 1500

Global history timeline: Indian Ocean trading network

800 - 1500

Why surge of Eurasian empires in C15?

Rise and fall of the Mongol empire (C13-C14)

Mongol Empire

• C13-C14

• Genghis Khan (emperor)

• Largest contiguous land empire in world history

• Conquered more land in 25 years than the Roman’s did in 400

• 1294- fragmentation in 4 smaller sections

Mongol empire: success factors

• Brutal military tactics

• Finest horsemanship - speed and mobility

  • Use of stirrup let them be able to become very good at shooting their bows in any direction

Mongol empire: after conquest

• religious tolerance

• Pro trade

• Diplomacy

• Travel

  • Cities across Asia opened to international commerce

Tamerlane and the Timurid Empire

• Mongol empire declines ca 1350

  • Took advantage of this to take territory for Timurid Emprie

• Tamerlane (Timur), 1370-1405 steps into vacuum

• Last great nomadic conqueror who tries to rule entries ‘world island’

  • All of Eurasia under rule of one empire

Impact of the Mongol and Timurid empires

Decline led to 4 major Eurasian developments:

1. Muslim empires established from Mediterranean Sea to Ganges river basin in Indian subcontinent

2. Russian empire conquers Siberia to the Pacific Ocean

3. Ming and Qing dynasties expand westward

4. European voyages of exploration

Early modern period (C15-C18): 2 types of imperial expansion

• land empires (Islamic, Chinese, Russian)

• Sea empires (European)

Hobbes Leviathan bible metaphor

Job 40-41

• Behemoth- ruler of land (land empires)

  • Rhino, Hippo, elephant

• Leviathan- ruler of sea (sea empires)

  • Serpent, dragon, sea monster

• ‘Modern state is most powerful artificial unit on earth’- Hobbes

• Asymmetry between land and sea empires

  • Behemoth ≠ Leviathan

3 major Islamic empires

1. Ottoman Empire (1299 - 1922)

2. Safavid Empire (1501 - 1736)

3. Mughal Empire (1526 - 1857)

When did Islamic empires peak?

C15-C16

Where were the major Islamic empires?

• ottoman- southeast Europe, parts of North Africa and Middle East

• Safavid- heart in Persia (Iran), mostly in Middle East

• Mughal- India

Key features of Islamic empires

• Mughal & Safavid empires: sudden military conquests necessitate development of strong state

  • Major victories: Safavids 1500 - 1502 — Mughals 1526

• Mughal & Safavid empires: fast decline from early C18

• Multiethnic empires

• Ottoman Empire lasts longer and exerts most influence in early modern period

Chinese Empire major dynasty

• Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)

• Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911)

• Transition from Ming to Qing, the Manchu conquest (mid C17) involved wars and ethnic cleanings that resulted in the deaths of ca 25 million people

  • C17 = deadliest century

• Chinese empire expanded across Central Asia into Mongolian, Turkestan and Tibet

Key features of Chinese empire

• highly developed bureaucratic structures; centralized and efficient government administration

  • Used merit system to decide gov officials - did not matter what family you came from only what your result was on the exam

• Until 1433, might have expanded into maritime empire (Sheng He and Treasure Fleet)

• Need to defend land empire against threats by Mongol and Turkic nomads, especially NW

• Established elaborate overland tributary system

Main infrastructural feat of Ming dynasty

Main part of Great Wall of china

Chinese empire: Tributary system

• If you wanted to trade with china you needed to declare your loyalty (bring gifts/offerings to emperor)

  • Opportunistic→ pledged loyalty without it actually meaning anything more than trade opportunity

• Mode of international relations

Russian empire

• Ivan III achieves Russian independence from Muslim rule under the Golden Horde khanate 1480

• Ivan IV (the Terrible) crowns himself Tsar 1547

• Romanov dynasty conjures Siberia and wins access to vast natural resources C17- onward (fell in 1917)

  • Civil war followed Ivan IV death → lead to Romanov dynasty

Key features of Russian empire

• Gradual construction of centralized state; from C18

  • Russia bridge between Western Europe and Asia

• Peak power under the Romanov dynasty, especially its modernizing tsars

  • Peter the Great and Catherine the Great - expansion to the West

• Massive expansion eastward to the Pacific Ocean 1463 - 1699

• Unique tributary system masked on fur pelts (eg. Sable)

How long did the Romanov dynasty last?

1613 - 1917

Peter the Great

• 1672 - 1725

• Traveled to Europe in disguise to learn about different modern techniques

  • Brought back modern military techniques

Catherine the Great

• 1729 - 1796

• Focus/ interest in western culture

  • Wanted to bring western art and science to Russia to modernize it

Europeans sail across Atlantic Ocean

• from 1492

• First being Christopher Columbus

Europeans sail across Indian Ocean

• from 1497

• First being Vasco de Gama

  • Sailed from west coast of India to Africa and around the southern tip of Africa

First wave of European imperialism

early modern period; 1492 - early C19

Second wave of European imperialism

Ca 1870-1914

• ‘New imperialism’ or ‘high imperialism’

3 crests of first wave of European imperialism

1. 1492- 1648: expansion under Spanish and Portuguese hegemony

2. 1648 - 1770: expansion under Dutch, French and British hegemony

3. 1770 - 1815: contraction; fist wave of decolonization (Americas); British remain hegemonic

Treaty of Tordesillas

Signed in 1494 by Spain and Portugal to split the new land outside of Europe

(Down middle of South America→ Portugal got Brazil, Spain rest)

Genocide of Indigenous Americans?

• Indigenous population dropped 90% between 1492-1600

• Genocide? Debated

  • Many died from new European diseases-> unintentional deaths

  • Deaths through forced labour -> death over need to labour not extermination of indigenous

• Result of deaths through forced labour - African slave trade

  • Placed in a completely new place - less likely to resist

  • Indigenous - was there home, had a culture, etc - could lead to more resistance

Main European mercantile companies

• Dutch East India Company est 1602

• British East India company est 1600

What were European mercantile companies after in the East?

COMMERCE

• trade luxury goods (ex. Spices, textiles, tea): buy cheaply in Asia and sell for a profit in Europe

• Infiltrate and control existing networks

• Very little international reorganization of subject nations: indirect rule, client states, etc

What were European mercantile companies after in the Americas?

COMMERCE

• more invasive means than in East

• Extract natural resources with forced indigenous labor, then imported African slaves

• Totally reorganized or destroy subject nations; direct rule

• Settler colonialism

Asymmetry between sea and land empires

• in east, Europeans were latecomers to well-established trade networks (oriental globalization)

• At first, Europeans minor trade partners to rich and powerful Eurasian land empires

• Rich land empires (trade surpluses) were not worried about European control of seas

  • Sea empires started to claim not only ports as their own territory but also certain sea ‘lanes/routes’ as sovereign territory

• Asymmetry allows for centuries of coexistence (conflicts mainly sea/sea or land/land)

Atlantic slave trade

• Aka triangular trade

• From West Europe to west Africa → bring finished goods to trade for slaves

• West Africa to US → slaves get exploited for labor to make goods

• US to West Europe → bring back finished goods/ new resources from the US

Main Atlantic slave trading nations

1. Portugal

2. Britain

3. Spain

4. France

5. Netherlands

Global history timeline: Mongols

1300 - 1400

Global history timeline: Timurids

1400 - 1500

Global history timeline: surge in Eurasian land empires

1500 - 1800

When was the Medieval (Europe (middle ages)) period

500 CE - ~1400

When was the early modern period

~1400 - 1800

When was the late modern period

1800 - 2000

Malthusian trap

a theory that population growth will outpace agricultural production, clause in a resource bottleneck 

• Population grows exponentially, food production grows linear

The Great Divergence

is the socioeconomic shift in which the Western world overcame pre-modern growth constraints