Recording-2025-05-01T23:27:01.030Z
Essential Question
How did land-based empires grow from 1450 to 1750?
Gunpowder Empires
Gunpowder Empires were large, multi-ethnic states in Southwest, Central, and South Asia. They used firearms to conquer and control territories. This group included Russia, the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires, which were militaristic and left behind artistic and architectural legacies to legitimize their leaders.
Expansion & Trade
The empires expanded through wider exchange networks and connected with the Americas. Although empires traded, they kept troops ready to defend trade rights, unlike future free trade markets.
Europe after 1450
The end of the medieval period and the beginning of the early modern period coincided with the mid-1400s, resulting in the end of plagues, the Hundred Years' War, and an increase in literacy due to the printing press. Several European nations grew powerful and wealthy and began exploring overseas and establishing colonies.
New Monarchies
New monarchies focused on centralizing power through control of taxes, the army, and religion. Examples of such monarchies include the Tudors in England and the Valois in France. Bureaucracies grew, increasing the power of the middle class at the expense of the nobility, while private armies of the nobility were diminished.
Russia
Russia's identity was debated as either more European or Asian, serving as a key trade hub between East and West. Major influences included the Mongol invasions from Central Asia and Viking trade.
Ivan IV (1547-1584)
Ivan IV, known as Ivan the Terrible, was crowned Tsar in 1547. He expanded Russia eastward using gunpowder by taking control of the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia. He made the Stroganovs hire Kozaks to fight local tribes and control the fur trade, leading to control of the Volga River, providing a trade route to Persia and the Ottoman Empire, bypassing the Crimean Tatars.
Expansion to the Pacific
Post-Ivan IV, Russia expanded further east into Siberia, defeating indigenous tribes. By 1639, they reached the Pacific Ocean, continuing fur trading expeditions across the Pacific to Alaska and down to California.
East Asia
China
The Yuan Dynasty was overthrown by the Ming Dynasty in 1368, which lasted nearly 300 years. European countries arrived seeking to join the Asian trading network. The Manchus from Manchuria took power in 1644, establishing the Qing Dynasty, ruling until 1911.
Ming Dynasty
The Ming expanded China's territory but lost some to Mongol armies in the 1440s. They rebuilt the Great Wall to keep out northern invaders.
Qing Dynasty
Kangxi (1661-1722) presided over stability and expansion. He conquered Taiwan, Mongolia, and parts of Central Asia. His grandson, Qianlong, was known for military campaigns, annexing Xinjiang.
Conflicts with the West
The Qing limited European trade to Guangzhou (Canton) and rejected British requests for more trade rights in 1793. Corruption in later years, high taxes, and the White Lotus Rebellion troubled the Qing Dynasty.
How did land-based empires grow from 1450 to 1750?
Gunpowder Empires
Gunpowder Empires were large, multi-ethnic states in Southwest, Central, and South Asia. They used firearms to conquer and control territories. This group included Russia, the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires, which were militaristic and left behind artistic and architectural legacies to legitimize their leaders.
Expansion & Trade
The empires expanded through wider exchange networks and connected with the Americas. Although empires traded, they kept troops ready to defend trade rights, unlike future free trade markets.
Europe after 1450
The end of the medieval period and the beginning of the early modern period coincided with the mid-1400s, resulting in the end of plagues, the Hundred Years' War, and an increase in literacy due to the printing press. Several European nations grew powerful and wealthy and began exploring overseas and establishing colonies.
New Monarchies
New monarchies focused on centralizing power through control of taxes, the army, and religion. Examples of such monarchies include the Tudors in England and the Valois in France. Bureaucracies grew, increasing the power of the middle class at the expense of the nobility, while private armies of the nobility were diminished.
Russia
Russia's identity was debated as either more European or Asian, serving as a key trade hub between East and West. Major influences included the Mongol invasions from Central Asia and Viking trade.
Ivan IV (1547-1584)
Ivan IV, known as Ivan the Terrible, was crowned Tsar in 1547. He expanded Russia eastward using gunpowder by taking control of the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia. He made the Stroganovs hire Kozaks to fight local tribes and control the fur trade, leading to control of the Volga River, providing a trade route to Persia and the Ottoman Empire, bypassing the Crimean Tatars.
Expansion to the Pacific
Post-Ivan IV, Russia expanded further east into Siberia, defeating indigenous tribes. By 1639, they reached the Pacific Ocean, continuing fur trading expeditions across the Pacific to Alaska and down to California.
East Asia
China
The Yuan Dynasty was overthrown by the Ming Dynasty in 1368, which lasted nearly 300 years. European countries arrived seeking to join the Asian trading network. The Manchus from Manchuria took power in 1644, establishing the Qing Dynasty, ruling until 1911.
Ming Dynasty
The Ming expanded China's territory but lost some to Mongol armies in the 1440s. They rebuilt the Great Wall to keep out northern invaders.
Qing Dynasty
Kangxi (1661-1722) presided over stability and expansion. He conquered Taiwan, Mongolia, and parts of Central Asia. His grandson, Qianlong, was known for military campaigns, annexing Xinjiang.
Conflicts with the West
The Qing limited European trade to Guangzhou (Canton) and rejected British requests for more trade rights in 1793. Corruption in later years, high taxes, and the White Lotus Rebellion troubled the Qing Dynasty.