The West and the Changing World BalanceChapter 15 (1 of 1)

The World Powers During the Postclassical Error Decline

1453Turks conquer the Byzantine Empire

What city was defeated to end the Byzantine Empire?

1258Abbasids are defeated by

Mongols

What city was destroyed to end Abbasid rule?

Baghdad Constantinople

The Fall of the Byzantine

Empire’s capital of Constantinople marks the end of the postclassical period in world

history

Over Time, Arab Dominance Ends

Can you name a group that controlled the

Abbasid empire and made the Abbasid caliphs

puppet leaders?

By the 1100s, the Abbasid caliphate (which ruled

Arab/Muslim empire) was beginning to decline

945 = Persians (called Buyids) capture Baghdad, and they run the Abbasid

caliphate

1258 = Mongols destroy Baghdad and kill the last

Abbasid caliph, ending the Abbasid empire

1055 = Seljuk Turks defeat the Buyids and run the

empire

Serfdom in the Middle East

Agriculture suffered as peasants no longer free to farm, had to provide what

landlord wanted

As Abbasid empire fell, landlords seized control

over peasants, who were reduced to serfdom

Arabs, who had once dominated trade, started to fall behind, as western

Europeans gained on them

Secular (non-religious) ideas, such as science and philosophy, were losing out

to a focus on religion

As the postclassical era

came to a close in the 1400s, the

Middle East began being more strict to their Islamic

religion

Ottomans Take Control of Muslim Lands (1453)

One reason was because they did not promote trade

Though powerful, Ottomans never

became main world superpower

like Arabs previously had

Would the Mongols Fill Power Vacuum and Become the Dominant World Power?

Decline of Mongols, meant overland trade routes no

longer safe

But Mongol rule was relatively short-

lived and they began to decline

Instead, there was a new focus on

finding trade routes by sea

So China, and the New Ming Dynasty, Must Have Emerged As New World Leaders?

China did play the role of world leaders, but only for

about 50 years

Zheng He (or Chang Ho)

From 1405 – 1433, these

Chinese expeditions

were led by a Chinese

Muslim named Zheng He

Ming Dynasty defeated the Mongols in 1368 and

sponsored trade

expeditions

Despite Zheng He’s Success, China Abruptly Stopped Exploration and Trade in 1433

Chinese were still in process of driving out Mongols and building huge capital at Beijing,

and expeditions were too costly

Confucians believed the expeditions went against their values (remember – looked down on artisans

and merchant)

Instead, Ming Dynasty Focused Internally and Within the Region

• Focused on getting tribute from neighbors in East Asia

• Focused on finishing off the nomadic invaders (such as Mongols) to the north

• Focused on building Chinese agriculture

• Focused on internal economic development

The Power Vacuum Was Left Open

Arabs decline after fall of Abbasids as Ottomans

weren’t focused on trade and exploration

Who would emerge as the predominant power in the world?

China took the lead and looked like next world

power, but quickly decided

to stop

Byzantine Empire gone in eastern Europe,

controlled by Ottomans

The Door Was Open

For Western Europe

Western Europe Unlikely Winners to be Next World Power in 1400s

The Roman Catholic

church was under political

and theological

attack

Western Europe still somewhat

behind technologically

Bubonic Plague (Black Death) wiped out 1/3

of its population in

the 1300s

Famines led to more death and peasant

uprisings

Trade Plays Big Role

When Mongols had big empire, trade flourished, an western Europe benefitted more than most area

Avoid the Muslims

Western Europeans wanted trade with Asia, but avoid the Middle East, which led to a search for sea routes to Asia (and the Italian city-states

of Venice and Genoa were key leaders in the search)

In 1291, the Muslims drove out the last Christian Crusaders at Acre, and trade to Asia had to go through the Muslim Middle East

The Renaissance Begins in 1400

The Renaissance was a cultural and intellectual movement

which revived the Greco-Roman style, and at first only affected

high society

Italian city-states became wealthy and could support the

arts and literature, which began to flourish

The Iberian Peninsula joins the Italian city-states in a push for change and innovation

During most of postclassical era, the

Muslims had ruled the Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula is where Spain and Portugal

are today

A Marriage for the Ages!

Ferdinand and Isabella promoted Catholicism and

began the Spanish Inquisition to drive out Muslims, Protestants, and Jews

In 1469, Ferdinand and Isabella wed, uniting the Castile and Aragon, the 2 major monarchies on the

peninsula

Italians and Portuguese Intensify Efforts to Find Western Sea-Route to Asia

Their efforts sparked others to try to find a route (such as Columbus 200

years later)

Vivaldis Brothers = Italian brothers seeking western

sea-route to Asia, but disappeared in 1291

Technological Barriers Overcome

But then the compass and astrolabe (learned from

the Arabs, who had learned them from the

Chinese) made its way to western Europe

Until the 1430s, a lack of technology prevented sea

travelers from western Europe from exploring past the west coast of

Africa

Vasco de Gama

I was a Portuguese explorer who found a

sea route to India, which allowed

Portugal to dominate trade in the Indian Ocean. Who am I?

Henry the Navigator

Portugal was 1st European nation to establish an overseas colony (the

Azores in 1439)

Portuguese prince who was responsible for

Portuguese explorations

Spain Follows Portugal to Establish Overseas Colonies

Slaves were imported from northwest Africa to

do much of the work

These colonies were set up to produce cash crops

Meanwhile, In the Rest Of the World…

The two areas are the Americas and the

Polynesians living on the Society Islands (Fiji, Tahiti, and Samoa) in the Pacific

By that we mean the areas that did not have contact with the rest of the world

during the postclassical era

However, changes were going on within each society that would weaken each, and make them susceptible to foreign

invasion

Because they were isolated from the rest of the world, America and Polynesia were not affected by outside forces

during postclassical era

Americas

Aztec and Inca were suffering from rebellions

and other Native American groups were

beginning to emerge and vie for power

Polynesia

Because they developed in isolation, they lacked modern technology and

were very vulnerable when the Europeans

showed up

More on Polynesia

During the Postclassical Era (especially 600 C.E. – 1300 C.E.) Polynesians were expanding to new territories (2 of which were

Hawaii and New Zealand)

Aloha!

• Polynesians settled Hawaiian islands up until 1400, when migration to stopped (from 1400 to 1778, Hawaii cut off from all societies, including Polynesia)

• Politically, Hawaii divided into warlike regional kingdoms

• Caste system established (priests and nobles at top, and commoners very low and barred from doing many activities)

• Despite outdated technology and no written language the Hawaiians still created a complex culture

The Maoris• Polynesians from Society Island migrated to New Zealand starting in early 700s, and they are called Maoris

• Maoris produced the most elaborate Polynesian art and population kept expanding

• Like in Hawaii, tribal military leaders and priests held great power (and each tribe had slaves gotten from prisoners of war)

• Maoris produced a rich oral tradition and were good at woodworking (no metal, but had vigorous economy by combining imported crops and animals with vegetation native to their new settlements)