History of the Modern World Test II

Why was the Portuguese Empire able to exert control over the Indian ocean?

Withdrawal of Zheng He’s fleet (1433).

Consequences of Zheng He’s Withdrawal

China never becomes a naval power. Power vacuum in the Indian Ocean, mostly poor armed trade ships.

Why did the Portuguese Empire look to conquer, rather than trade, in the Indian Ocean?

Had a shortage of desirable goods to trade in Eastern markets. Possessed significant military advantages over Asian counterparts.

Name two military advantages Portugal had over its Asian counterparts in the Indian Ocean.

Onboard cannons. Quicker + more nimble ships.

Name 3 Portuguese Bases in the Indian Ocean

Mombasa, Macau, Malacca.

What did Portugal impose on their trading port colonies?

Required merchant vessels to pay taxes. Blocked red sea routes to the Mediterranean.

Why did Portuguese naval control decline in the 1600s?

Rising Asian empires (Mughal India, Japan, Persia) + envious European states (France, UK, Spain)

Trading Post Empire

Empire that aims to control commerce, not territories or populations. Established through force of arms, not economic competition

Zheng He

Admiral of the Chinese Navy during the Ming Dynasty. Commanded a flotilla of 300 ships. Established trading relations across the Indian Ocean. Forced to withdraw in 1433.

How did Spain conquer the Philippine Islands?

Highly diverse, fragmented peoples and kingdoms therefore no unified resistance. Created local alliances and conducted small-scale miltary operations. Suppressed periodic Chinese revolts.

Why did Islam gain strength in the Philippines?

It was seen as the religion of “resistance” as opposed to Catholicism.

East India Companies

Received charters from their respective governments granting them trading monopolies.

How did the Dutch East India Company practice trade?

Warfare. Enslaved Indigenous inhabitants of Banda Islands. Imported Dutch planters + slave labor.

What spices did the East India Companies seek to control?

Controlled shipping + production of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg + mace.

How did the British East India Company practice trade?

Less well financed. Unable to fight the Mughal Empire. Later transitioned to the cotton market.

How did unified Japan react to European presence?

Expelled Christian missionaries + believers. Enforced a blockade on Japan for two centuries.

Describe the first sustained Asian-America link.

Bolivian silver deposits shipped to Acapulco, Mexico then to Manila, Philippines.

Why did the demand for silver skyrocket in the 1500s?

In 1570, China demanded its citizens pay their taxes in silver.

What was an unexpected consequence of Spain’s silver rush wealth?

Runaway inflation. When value of silver dropped, the Spanish economy crashed.

How did the shoguns of Japan use silver to consolidate their power?

Invested in agriculture, protected dwindling forests, developed market-based economy.

What was the consequence of China’s silver tax on their population?

Economy becomes increasingly specialized. Massive deforestation.

What natural event increased the demand for furs across 1500s Europe?

Little Ice Age

Where did Europeans look to meet the demand for furs?

New World.

Where did French fur traders operate?

Saint Laurence Valley, the Great Lakers + the Mississippi River.

Where did British fur traders operate?

Hudson’s Bay.

Where did Dutch fur traders operate?

Hudson River, NY.

How did European traders secure furs?

Paid Native Americans with guns, blankets, tools, rums, to secure furs.

How did the fur trade harm Indigenous societies?

Increase in warfare + captive-taking to replace population losses. Firearms increased death tolls. Increased reliance on hunting and gathering shifted powers towards men.

How did Russia secure furs?

Imposed taxes on every Serbian male aged 18-50. If quota in furs was not met, it was punishable by death.

How was Atlantic chattel slavery different from prior forms of slavery?

Dependent on race, inherited across generations, anti-Black racism.

Why were African peoples targeted in the Atlantic Slave Trade?

Trade in Slavic peoples by Ottoman traders cut off in 1453. Native peoples quickly perished or escaped. European indentured servants were Christian and therefore exempt from slavery.

How did the Atlantic Slave Trade impact African societies?

Loss of men exacerbated gender imbalance, growth of female slave trade, a few women (signares) married European traders + built their own networks.

Why did the German middle-class find Lutheranism appealing?

They thought the Catholic Church was too feudal and aristocratic.

Thirty Years War

Triggered by the Protestant Reformation. Killed 15-30% of the Holy Roman Empire.

Council of Trent (1545-1563)

Catholic Counter-Reformation. Cracked down on corruption while affirming key tenets of the faith.

How did China react to evangelization efforts?

Emperor forbid Christians from proselytizing. Fiercely rejected it.

How did Islam spread across West Africa?

Merchants and Sufis. Offered literacy and connection to the wider Islamic market.

How did Islam spread in South Asia?

Muslim women served in royal courts. Blended with Indigenous spirit worship.

Wahhabi Islam

Advocates for a “purification” of Islam, largely identified with restrictions on women’s rights.

International crises (1730s).

Collapse of the Safavid Empire (Persia), Fragmentation of the Mughal Empire (India), Spread of Wahhabi Movement (Ottoman Empire)

International crises (1770s).

Peasant rebellions under Catherine the Great.

International crises (1800s).

Rebellions in China, Islamic revolutions in West Africa, Mfecane “the crushing” in South Africa.

How did Thomas Jefferson encourage revolution in France?

American ambassador to France during eve of revolution. Provided advice + encouragement to reformers + revolutionaries.

How did the Republic of Haiti contribute to Latin American independence?

Hosted Simon Bolivar twice. Provided him military aid.

Common ideas shared across the Atlantic revolution.

popular sovereignty, liberty, equality, free trade.

Popular Sovereignty.

Notion that states the authority to govern is derived from the people.

How did France spread revolutionary ideals globally?

Invaded Egypt, Germany, Poland + Russia.

American Revolution

A struggle for independence from oppressive British rule.

How did prior Aztec and Incan colonization acclimate Indigenous peoples towards Christianity?

Tradition of imposing foreign belief systems on conquered peoples.

How did Native Americans react to Catholicism?

Religious syncretism. Massive decline in female spirituality. Led religious revival movements.

Native religious revival movements.

Taki Onqoy, the dancing sickness (Peru).

Hundred Years’ War

Intermittent struggle between England and France from 1337 to 1453.

Cause of the Hundred Years’ War

Succession crisis sparked by Charles Valois and Edward III.

Why was France expected to prevail the Hundred Years’ War?

Wealthiest kingdom in Europe. Population three times larger than England.

Why did England initially prevail in the Hundred Years’ War?

Superior military tactics, theatre of war, internal unity, popularity.

Why did the English have superior military tactics in the Hundred Years’ War?

English longbow > French crossbow.

Why did the theatre of war benefit the English during the Hundred Years’ War?

The war was mostly fought on French territory, destroying its agriculture + accelerating it descent into poverty.

How did France + England compare in terms of unity during the Hundred Years’ War?

Some Frenchmen (the Burgundians) allied with the English, while the English were all united.

Why did Edward III initially surpass Charles Valois in popularity?

Edward III was the descendant of the Capetians through his mother, Isabella. Charles Valois was a non-blood noble.

Who changed the course of the Hundred Years’ War?

Joan of Arc.

Who emerged victorious in the Hundred Years’ War?

France.

Consequences of winning the Hundred Years’ War for France.

Empowerment of the crown, destruction of Burgundy, expansion of French territory, re-opening of trade.

Consequences of losing the Hundred Years’ War for England.

High taxation, incompetent monarchs, succession crises.

French Succession Crisis

Triggered by the death of Charles IV, last Capetian, leading to a dispute over the French crown and the passing of the crown to Charles Valois, a non-blood noble.

Joan of Arc

Peasant girl who rallied French forces during the Hundred Years’ War, believed to be divinely ordained and led forces to victory at Orléans, later declared a Saint.

War of the Roses

Series of civil wars fought over the English throne between the Houses of Lancaster and York.

Who ended the War of the Roses?

Henry Tudor, with his marriage to Elizabeth of York.

Legacy of the War of the Roses.

Era of national unity, English identity > Christian identity, centralized monarchy.

The Black Death

Bubonic plague pandemic in Europe from 1347 to 1353.

Origins of the Black Death

China.

How did the Black Death spread?

Silk Road, Siege of Caffa, unsanitary living conditions.

Silk Road

Ancient trading network connecting the Far East and the West, facilitating the exchange of goods and ideas, including the spread of the Black Death.

Siege of Caffa

Mongol siege where plague-ridden corpses were catapulted into the Italian city of Caffa, contributing to the spread of the Black Death.

Death Toll of the Bubonic Plague.

1/3 of Europe.

Legacy of the Black Death

Labour shortages, religious hysteria, crisis of faith.

What consequences did ensuing labour shortages lead to during the Black Death?

Higher wages, greater social mobility, less fertile land abandoned.

What consequences did ensuing religious hysteria lead to during the Black Death?

Praying mobs, scapegoating of minorities, flagellants.

What consequences did the ensuing crisis of faith lead to during the Black Death?

The growing doubt in the Church laid the groundwork for the Protestant Reformation.

The Protestant Reformation

Religious reform movement in the 1500s led by Martin Luther, challenging the Catholic Church's practices and resulting in the creation of Protestantism.

Christian Humanism

Philosophical union of the Christian faith and Humanist principles.

Causes of the Protestant Reformation

Spiritual dereliction, corruption, commercialization of salvation.

Erasmus

Influential thinker of Christian Humanism. Monk.

Martin Luther

German theologian and religious reformer who initiated the Protestant Reformation.

95 Theses

Published by Martin Luther in 1517. Detailed his criticisms of the Church and Catholic doctrine.

Which edict declares Luther an enemy of the state?

Edict of Worms.

Who initially supported Lutheranism?

Middle-class urbanites + local princes.

Lutheranism v. Catholicism

Churches are state supervised. Ministers can get marriage. Offers new religious services.

Indulgences

A way to reduce (or absolve) the amount of punishment derived from sin.

Humanism

Renaissance worldview inspired by Greco-Roman thought. Centered on the nature and importance of humanity rather than the divine.

English Reformation

A process whereby England left the Catholic Church and became officially Protestant. Triggered by Henry VIII via an act of state.

Why did Henry VIII split from the Catholic Church?

Had no sons with his wife, Catherine of Aragon. Requested (and was denied) an annulment of marriage from the Pope.

Why did the Pope deny Henry VIII’s request for annulment?

Needed the support of the Holy Roman Empire. Leader of the HRE was Charles V, the nephew of Catherine of Aragon.

Anglicanism v. Catholicism

Marriage of clergy, common book of prayers.

How did Queen Mary try to restore Catholicism in England?

Marriage with Philip II of Spain, execution of 300 Protestants.

How did Elizabeth I compromise between Catholicism and Protestantism?

Policy of moderation and compromise. Passed the Act of Supremacy (again) and the Act of Uniformity.

Name two aspects of Elizabethan foreign policy.

Encouragement of piracy. Defense against the Spanish armada.

Act of Supremacy (1534)

Declared the English monarch as the head of the Church of England. Passed in 1534 to formalize England's break from the Catholic Church.

Act of Uniformity (1559)

Declared Anglicanism as the official religion of England. Passed in 1559 to establish religious uniformity and consolidate the English Reformation.