Global Politics: 1450 - 1750

1. Global Politics: 1450 - 1750 Jenny Leggett, Jenny Park, Cara Demore

2. European Political Changes • By the 17th century, the feudal monarchy came undone. • After the religious wars, monarchs gained new powers. • Military organization required careful administration • Two major systems arose: the absolute and parliamentary monarchies • The model for the absolute was France; for parliamentary, Britain and Netherlands. • Rise of proletariat – rebellions demanded a popular political voice and new ideas of equality

3. Absolute monarchy “I am the state.” - Louis XIV • French kings stopped convening parliament and passed laws themselves • Louis XIV exemplifies this political system • Encouraged merchants and founding of colonies for raw materials • Military = key political goal • Spread to central European states (Prussia, Austria-Hungary)

4. Parliament and The Rise of Nation-States Parliamentary Monarchy Nation-States • King shared power with representatives elected by nobility and upper urban classes • Established this with English Glorious Revolution • Parliament convenes on regular sessions • Power came from the people (John Locke) • Characteristic of both types of monarchies • Nation ruled peoples who shared common culture and language • People believed government should act in their interests • Kept West politically divided and at war

5. Russia • Main political goals: expansion, tsarist supremacy, contacts with west Europe • Autocratic system of government/ limit aristocratic power • Peter the Great westernized Russia and opened up port on Baltic Sea. • Catherine the Great: consolidation of power and Enlightenment interests • She made nobles into service aristocracy • Power of nobility over serfs increased steadily

6. Spain regulated empire through bureaucracy Power based on Treaty of Tordesillas Judicial core of letrados (lawyers) Recopilacion codified laws King ruled through Council of Indies Two viceroyalties subdivided into judicial divisions controlled by audiencias (courts) Magistrates applied law & collected taxes at localities Clergy held significant power/ made institutional churches Latin America: New Spain

7. Brazil 1549, Portuguese king sent governor general and officials to create Brazilian capital Bureaucracy made up of officials Trade imbalance with England Marquis of Pombal Portugal’s PM Vigorous administrators Revitalize colonies to strengthen country Bourbon Reforms “enlightened despotism” Charles III French bureaucratic systems West Indies: new viceroyalties Royal investigators Corregidores replaced by intedants (provincial governors) Tighter tax collection Brazil & Latin American Reforms

8. European commerce penetrated Africa and changed existing empires Central and western states were small and unstable Significant increase in military dependency Slaving states experienced centralization and hierarchy Inland states became intermediaries in trade = expanding power Africa

9. Songhay breaks up in 16th century = new states made Benin: at height of power when Europeans arrived Dahomey Kingdom Autocratic regime based on slave trade Under Agaja, it expanded to the coast Asante Empire Osei Tutu = asantanene (military and civil leader) Cape Colony Established by Dutch East India Company Originally inhabited by Dutch Boers Taken by the British in 1795 Nguni people/ Zulu Shaka gains power Remained powerful until British defeat Yoruba state of Oyo City council King shared authority African Kingdoms

10. 1501, Isma’il is shah Efforts made to bring Turkic chiefs under control = made into warrior nobility Recruited Persians for positions at court Abbas the Great put military trained captured youths into high offices State monitored Shi’a Islam Fell from weak emperors, factional disputes Muslim Empires: Safavid

11. Largest of the Muslim empires After Mongol invasion in eastern Anatolia, the Ottomans came to dominate under Osman Firearms and military were dominant in the empire Warrior aristocracy Imperial armies dominated by Janissaries = gained political power The ruler was nominally absolute monarchy As empire grew, sultans lost contact with subjects Vague successor principles Grand Vizier – headed bureaucracy, great power Late 17th C = empire too large, bureaucratic corruption The Muslim Empires: Ottomans

12. Babur invades India in 1526 and begins empire Weak administrative rule until Akbar Akbar wanted to unite Hindus and Muslims under an Indian empire Bureaucracy supported by revenues from tribute Became corrupt after Akbar Aurangzeb wanted to control India and purify Islam Growing autonomy of local leaders Women held some influence Muslims Empires: Mughal

13. Growing power of rural landlord families After Zhenghe expeditions, adopted policy of isolation Restoration of ethnic Chinese rule Scholar-gentry revival in imperial govt Civil service examination Fiercely competitive Tried to end power plays by picking poorer emperor wives Hongwu wanted limits on scholar-gentry Abolished chief minister Public beatings Exiling potential rivals China: Ming Empire

14. Japan • Nobunaga deposed Ashikaga shogun but died in 1582 • Hideyoshi attempts to invade Korea/dies 1598 • Tokugawa Ieyasu won in succession/ 1603, appointed shogun • Tokugawa: 2 and ½ centuries • Daimyos brought under Tokugawa rule • Late 1580s: restriction of foreign influence began

15. Changes over Time • Europe went from backwater civilization to leading global power • Intellectual renaissance and new technology made Europe a major power • Russia became more westernized because of rulers like Peter the Great and Enlightenment ideals • New Muslim empires were built by settled nomads after the destruction of the Mongols • Americas roped in world network. Spain and Portugal dominated Latin America. • Bourbon reforms for New Spain changed some of the inefficient politics in their colonies • African societies shaped around the slave trade with Europeans. • The Ming Empire recoiled from a brief period of exploration and China became increasingly isolationist

16. Continuities over Time • European states would continue to have warfare among each other, considering each other their greatest competition • Russia, despite westernization, perpetuated serfdom to keep autocracy • The Muslim Empires continued the tradition of former caliphate dynasties • Latin America’s political system centered around the most efficient way to pass bullion on • Many inland African peoples remained unaffected by the slave trade • The scholar-gentry and huge bureaucracy remained important elements of Chinese politics.

17. Compare • A large bureaucracy was a characteristic of nearly all global powers • Part of Muslim Empires, Europe, China, LA • Political power was gained through naval and military technology • Muslim Empires, Russia’s landed empire, West’s overseas expansion

18. Contrast • Core-dependant nation system created global imbalance • Europe was the “core” others relied on • Dependant areas: LA, slave-supplying African areas • Latin America very dependant on Europe while only pockets of Africa and Asia were • Europe stretched further outward/China withdrew • Low level of major exchanges between Europe and China contrasted with Euro-American interaction • Muslim Empires interacted far less with the West than Russia