AP Euro - 5.2 - Global Markets

Dutch VOC

(Dutch East India Company)

• joint stock company

• The first transnational corporation

• Arguably the most profitable corporation in history

Why was the Dutch VOC so profitable?

They successfully challenged the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean Trade

What did the Dutch do when they took over?

• They subjugated the people to make them subservient

• Took full control of much of the East Indies

British East India Company

• Challenged the Dutch in the Indian Ocean Trade

• Set their sights on India

• Took over when the Indian Mughal Empire was in decline

• Power transferred from the BEIC to the British government

French East India Company

• Formed by Louis XIV under Jean-Baptiste Colbert

• Wanted power and influence against the British in India

• During the War of Austrian Succession, the French seized Madras, but it was sent back to England

• France turned its focus on trade in the West Indies instead

Madras

The British stronghold in India

How was the Atlantic Ocean Trade?

• After the end of the 80YW, the Dutch Republic became the dominant maritime trade power in the Atlantic

• Britain responded with the Navigation Acts

Navigation Acts

• Required any goods being shipped to Britain or its colonies to be shipped on British vessels

• Guaranteed a monopoly for British merchants

• They became very wealthy

• Dutch dominance in the Atlantic trade waned

• France became England’s main economic rival in the West after the Dutch

Treaty of Utrecht (in this context)

• France relinquished Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the Hudson Bay territory to Britain

• Spain relinquished control of its West African slave trade (Asiento) to Britain

Resulted in massive economic shift of power into Britain’s favor