The Encyclopedia of World History
Ancient, Medieval, and Modern
Simply put, this is a
volume that has always
intended to convey the
key features of world
history.
—Preface to the Sixth
Edition.
Sixth Edition
Renowned historian Peter N. Stearns and thirty prominent historians have
combined their expertise over the past ten years to perfect this
comprehensive chronology of more than 20,000 entries that span the
millennia from prehistoric times to the year 2000.
CONTENTS
Preface Contributing Editors
Bibliographic Record
Maps
Genealogical Tables
BOSTON: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY, 2001
NEW YORK: BARTLEBY.COM, 2002
Table of Contents
I. Prehistoric Times
II. Ancient and Classical Periods, 3500 B.C.E.–500 C.E.
III. The Postclassical Period, 500–1500
IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800
V. The Modern Period, 1789–1914
VI. The World Wars and the Interwar Period, 1914–1945
VII. The Contemporary Period, 1945–2000
Appendixes
I. Roman Emperors
II. Byzantine Emperors
III. Caliphs, to 1256
IV. Roman Popes
V. Presidents of the United States
VI. Members of the United Nations in Order of Admission
Subject Index
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
Table of Contents
Page 1
I. Prehistoric Times
A. Introduction
1. History and Prehistory
2. The Study of Prehistory
a. Archaeology as Anthropology and History
b. Culture and Context
c. Time and Space
d. Finding and Digging up the Past
e. Analysis and Interpretation
f. Subdividing Prehistoric Times
g. Theoretical Approaches to Prehistory
B. Prehistory and the Great Ice Age
C. Human Origins (4 Million to 1.8 Million Years Ago)
D. Homo Erectus and the First Peopling of the World (1.8 Million to 250,000 Years Ago)
1. Homo Erectus
2. Fire
3. Out of Africa
E. Early Homo Sapiens (c. 250,000 to c. 35,000 Years Ago)
1. The Neanderthals
F. The Origins of Modern Humans (c. 150,000 to 100,000 Years Ago)
G. The Spread of Modern Humans in the Old World (100,000 to 12,000 Years Ago)
1. Europe
2. Eurasia and Siberia
3. South and Southeast Asia
H. The First Settlement of the Americas (c. 15,000 Years Ago)
I. After the Ice Age: Holocene Hunter-Gatherers (12,000 Years Ago to Modern Times)
1. African Hunter-Gatherers
2. Asian Hunter-Gatherers
3. Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherers in Europe
4. Near Eastern Hunters and Foragers
5. Paleo-Indian and Archaic North Americans
6. Central and South Americans
J. The Origins of Food Production
K. Early Food Production in the Old World (c. 10,000 B.C.E. and Later)
1. First Farmers in the Near East
2. Early European Farmers
3. Egypt and Sub-Saharan Africa
4. Asian Farmers
L. The Origins of Food Production in the Americas (c. 5000 B.C.E. and Later)
M. Later Old World Prehistory (3000 B.C.E. and Afterward)
1. State-Organized Societies
2. Webs of Relations
3. Later African Prehistory
a. Egypt and Nubia
b. West African States
c. East and Southern Africa
4. Europe after 3500 B.C.E.
5. Eurasian Nomads
6. Asia
a. South Asia
b. China
c. Japan
d. Southeast Asia
7. Offshore Settlement in the Pacific
N. Chiefdoms and States in the Americas (c. 1500 B.C.E.–1532 C.E.)
1. North American Chiefdoms
2. Mesoamerican Civilizations
a. Olmec
b. Teotihuacán
3. Andean Civilizations
a. Beginnings
b. Chavin
c. Moche
d. Tiwanaku
e. Chimu
O. The End of Prehistory (1500 C.E. to Modern Times)
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
I. Prehistoric Times
A. Introduction
1. History and Prehistory
Human beings have flourished on Earth for at least 2.5 million years. The study of history
in its broadest sense is a record of humanity and its accomplishments from its earliest
origins to modern times. This record of human achievement has reached us in many
forms, as written documents, as oral traditions passed down from generation to
generation, and in the archaeological record—sites, artifacts, food remains, and other
surviving evidence of ancient human behavior. The earliest written records go back about
5,000 years in the Near East, in Mesopotamia, and the Nile Valley. Elsewhere, written
history begins much later: in Greece, about 3,500 years ago; in China, about 2,000 years
ago; and in many other parts of the world, after the 15th century C.E. with the arrival of
Western explorers and missionaries. Oral histories have an even shorter compass,
extending back only a few generations or centuries at the most.
1
History, which remains primarily though not exclusively the study of written documents,
covers only a tiny fraction of the human past. Prehistory, the span of human existence
before the advent of written records, encompasses the remainder of the past 2.5 million
years. Prehistorians, students of the prehistoric past, rely mainly on archaeological
evidence to study the origins of humanity, the peopling of the world by humans, and the
beginnings of agriculture and urban civilization.
2
Archaeology is the study of the human past based on the material remains of human
behavior. These remains come down to us in many forms. They survive as archaeological
sites, ranging from the mighty pyramids of Giza built by ancient Egyptian pharaohs to
insignificant scatters of stone tools and animal bones abandoned by very early humans in
East Africa. Then there are caves and rock shelters adorned with ancient paintings and
engravings, and human burials that can provide vital information, not only on biological
makeup but also on ancient diet and disease and social rankings.
3
Modern scientific archaeology has three primary objectives: to study the basic culture
history of prehistoric times, to reconstruct ancient lifeways, and to study the processes by
which human cultures and societies changed over long periods of time. Archaeology is
4
unique among all scientific disciplines in its ability to chronicle human biological and
cultural change over long periods of time. The development of this sophisticated
approach to the human past ranks as one of the major scientific achievements of this
century.
Archaeology, by its very nature, is concerned more with the material and the
environmental. It is basically an anonymous science, dealing with generalities about
human cultures derived from artifacts, buildings, and food remains rather than with the
individuals who appear in many of the historians' archives. But by using complex
theoretical models and carefully controlled analogies from living societies, it is
sometimes possible for the archaeologist to gain insights into prehistoric spiritual and
religious life, and into the great complexities of ancient human societies living in worlds
remote from our own.
5
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
2. The Study of Prehistory
a. Archaeology as Anthropology and History
In contrast to classicists and historians, prehistoric archaeologists deal with an enormous
time scale of human biological and cultural evolution that extends back at least 2.5
million years. Prehistoric archaeology is the primary source of information on 99 percent
of human history. Prehistoric archaeologists investigate how early human societies all
over the world came into being, how they differed from one another, and, in particular,
how they changed through time.
1
No one could possibly become an expert in all periods of human prehistory. Some
specialists deal with the earliest human beings, working closely with geologists and
anthropologists concerned with human biological evolution. Others are experts on stone
toolmaking, the early peopling of the New and Old Worlds, or on many other topics, such
as the origins of agriculture in the Near East. All of this specialist expertise means that
archaeologists, whatever time period they are working on, draw on scientists from many
other disciplines—botanists, geologists, physicists, zoologists.
2
Prehistoric archaeologists consider themselves a special type of anthropologist.
Anthropologists study humanity in the widest possible sense, and archaeological
anthropologists study human societies of the past that are no longer in existence. Their
ultimate research objectives are the same as those of anthropologists studying living
societies. Instead of using informants, however, they use the material remains of longvanished societies to reach the same general goals. Prehistorians also share many
objectives with historians, but work with artifacts and food remains rather than
documents. In some parts of the world, such as tropical Africa, for example, prehistoric
archaeology is the primary way of writing history, since oral traditions extend back only a
few centuries, and in many places written records appear no earlier than the 19th century
3
C.E.
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
b. Culture and Context
Anthropology, and archaeology as part of it, is unified by one common thread, the
concept of culture. Everyone lives within a cultural context—middle-class Americans,
Romans, and Kwakiutl Indians of northwestern North America. Each culture has its own
recognizable cultural style, which shapes the behavior of its members, their political and
judicial institutions, and their morals.
1
Human culture is unique because much of its content is transmitted from generation to
generation by sophisticated communication systems. Formal education, religious beliefs,
and daily social intercourse all transmit culture and allow societies to develop complex
and continuing adaptations to aid their survival. Culture is a potential guide to human
behavior created through generations of human experience. Human beings are the only
animals that use culture as their primary means of adapting to the environment. While
biological evolution has protected animals like the arctic fox from bitterly cold winters,
only human beings make thick clothes in cold latitudes and construct light thatched
shelters in the Tropics.
2
Culture is an adaptive system, an interface between ourselves, the environment, and other
human societies. Throughout the long millennia of prehistory, human culture became
more elaborate, for it is our only means of adaptation and we are always adjusting to
environmental, technological, and societal change.
3
The great Victorian anthropologist Sir Edward Tylor described culture as “that complex
whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” Prehistoric
archaeologists prefer to define culture as the primary nonbiological means by which
people adapt to their environment. They consider it as representing the cumulative
intellectual resources of human societies, passed down by the spoken word and by
example.
4
Human cultures are made up of many different parts, such as language, technology,
religious beliefs, ways of obtaining food, and so on. These elements interact with one
another to form complex and ever-changing cultural systems, systems that adjust to longand short-term environmental change.
5
Archaeologists work with the tangible remains of ancient cultural systems, typically such
durable artifacts as stone tools or clay pot fragments. Such finds are a patterned reflection
of the culture that created them. Archaeologists spend much time studying the linkages
between past cultures and their archaeological remains. They do so within precise
contexts of time and space.
6
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
c. Time and Space
Archaeologists date the past and study the ever-changing distributions of ancient cultures
across the world by studying the context of archaeological finds, whether sites, food
remains, or artifacts, in time and space. This is the study of culture history, the
description of human cultures as they extend back thousands of years.
1
1. Time
Human prehistory has a time scale of more than 2.5 million years and a vast landscape of
archaeological sites that were occupied for long and short periods of time. Some, like the
Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán, in the Valley of Mexico, were occupied for a few centuries.
Others, like Olduvai Gorge in East Africa, were visited repeatedly over hundreds of
thousands of years. The chronology of prehistory is made up from thousands of careful
excavations and many types of dating tests. These have created hundreds of local
sequences of prehistoric cultures and archaeological sites throughout the world.
2
Historical records provide a chronology for about 5,000 years of human history in Egypt
and Mesopotamia, less time in other regions. For earlier times, archaeologists rely on
both relative and absolute dating methods to develop chronological sequences.
3
Relative dating is based on a fundamental principle of stratigraphic geology, the Law of
Superposition, which states that underlying levels are earlier than those that cover them.
Thus any object found in a lower level is from an earlier time than any from upper layers.
Manufactured artifacts are the fundamental data that archaeologists use to study human
behavior. These artifacts have changed in radical ways with passing time. One has only to
look at the simple stone choppers and flakes made by the first humans and compare them
with the latest luxury automobile to get the point. By combining the study of changes in
artifact forms with observations of their contexts in stratified layers in archaeological
sites, the prehistorian can develop relative chronologies for artifacts, sites, and cultures in
any part of the world.
4
The story of prehistory has unfolded against a backdrop of massive world climatic change
5
during the Great Ice Age (See Prehistory and the Great Ice Age). Sometimes, when
human artifacts come to light in geological strata dating to the Ice Age, one can place
them in a much broader geological context. But in such cases, as with relative
chronologies from other archaeological sites, determining the actual date of these sites
and artifacts in years is a matter of guesswork, or of applying absolute dating methods.
Absolute chronology is the process of dating in calendar years. A whole battery of
chronological methods have been developed to date human prehistory, some of them
frankly experimental, others well established and widely used. The following are the best
known ones.
6
a. Historical Records and Objects of Known Age
Historical documents can sometimes be used to date events, such as the death of an
ancient Egyptian pharaoh or the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1519–21 C.E. Clay tablet
records in Mesopotamia and ancient Egyptian papyri provide dates going back to about
3000 B.C.E. The early Near Eastern civilizations traded many of their wares, such as
pottery or coins with precise dates, over long distances. These objects can be used to date
sites in, say, temperate Europe, far from literate civilization at the time.
7
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
d. Finding and Digging up the Past
The finding and excavating of archaeological sites is a meticulous process of uncovering
and recording the finite archives that make up the archaeological record. The sites, large
and small, that make up this record are finite resources. Once destroyed and the context
of their artifact contents disturbed, they are gone forever.
1
Although the destruction wrought by early archaeologists and treasure hunters was
devastating, that of modern industrial development, deep plowing, professional looters,
and amateur pothunters has been far worse. In some parts of North America, experts
estimate that less than 5 percent of the archaeological record of prehistoric times remains
intact. In recent years, massive efforts have been made to stem the tide of destruction and
to preserve important sites using federal and state laws and regulations. While some
progress has been made in such cultural resource management, the recent
archaeological record of human prehistory is a shadow of its former self and in many
parts of the world is doomed to near-total destruction.
2
1. Finding Archaeological Sites
Many archaeological sites come to light by accident: during highway or dam
construction, through industrial activity and mining, or as a result of natural phenomena
such as wind erosion. For example, the famous early human sites at Olduvai Gorge in
Tanzania, East Africa, were exposed in the walls of the gorge as a result of an ancient
earthquake that cut a giant fissure through the surrounding plains. Well-designed
archaeological field surveys provide vital information on ancient settlement patterns and
site distributions.
3
Increasingly, archaeologists are relying on remote sensing techniques, such as aerial
photography, satellite imagery (digital images of the earth recorded by satellites), or sidescan radar (airplane-based radar used to penetrate ground cover). These allow them to
identify likely areas, even to spot sites without ever going into the field. The latest
approach involves the use of Geographic Information Systems (mapping systems based
on satellite imagery that inventory environmental data). The combination of satellite
4
imagery with myriad environmental, climatic, and other data provides a backdrop for
interpreting distributions of archaeological sites. For instance, in Arkansas, archaeologists
have been able to study the locations of river valley farming villages and establish that
they were founded close to easy routes to the uplands, where deer could be hunted in
winter.
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
e. Analysis and Interpretation
For every month of excavation there is at least six months' laboratory analysis—a long
process of classifying, analyzing, and interpreting the finds from the dig. Such finds come
in many forms. Stone tools, clay potsherds, and other artifacts tell us much about the
technology of our forebears. Broken animal bones, seeds, shells, and other food remains,
even desiccated human feces, are a mine of information on ancient subsistence, and
sometimes diet. All of these finds are combined to produce a reconstruction of human
behavior at the site.
1
1. Analysis of Artifacts
Human artifacts come in many forms. The most durable are stone tools and clay vessels,
while those in wood and bone often perish in the soil. Archaeologists have developed
elaborate methods for classifying artifacts of all kinds, classifications based on distinctive
features like the shapes of clay vessels, painted decoration on the pot, methods of stone
flaking, and so on. Once they have worked out a classification of artifact types, the
experts use various arbitrary units to help order groups of artifacts in space and time.
2
These units include the assemblage, which is a diverse group of artifacts found in one
site that reflect the shared activities of a community. Next is the component, a physically
bounded portion of a site that contains a distinct assemblage. The social equivalent of an
archaeologist's component is a community. Obviously a site can contain several
components, stratified one above another. The final unit is the culture, a cultural unit
represented by like components on different sites or at different levels of the same site,
although always within a well-defined chronological bracket.
3
Archaeological “cultures” are concepts designed to assist in the ordering of artifacts in
time and space. They are normally named after a key site where characteristic artifacts of
the culture are found. For instance, the Acheulian culture of early prehistory is named
after the northern French town of St. Acheul, where the stone hand axes so characteristic
of this culture are found.
4
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
f. Subdividing Prehistoric Times
The 2.5 million years of human prehistory have seen a brilliant diversity of human
societies, both simple and complex, flourish at different times throughout the world. Ever
since the early 19th century, archaeologists have tried with varying degrees of success to
subdivide prehistory into meaningful general subdivisions.
1
The most durable subdivisions of the prehistoric past were devised by Danish
archaeologist Christian Jurgensen Thomson in 1806. His Three Age System, based on
finds from prehistoric graves, subdivided prehistory into three ages based on
technological achievement: the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. This
scheme has been proven to have some general validity in the Old World and is still used
as a broad label to this day. However, the term Stone Age has little more than
technological significance, for it means that a society does not have the use of metals of
any kind. Stone Age has no chronological significance, for although societies without
metal vanished in the Near East after 4000 B.C., some still flourish in New Guinea to this
day. We only use the Three Age System in the most general way here.
2
Sometimes, the three ages are subdivided further. The Stone Age, for example, is
conventionally divided into three periods: the Palaeolithic, or Old Stone Age (Greek:
from palaios, old; and from lithos, stone), which applies to societies who used chippedstone technology; the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age), which is a transitional period; and
the Neolithic (New Stone Age), when people used polished stone artifacts and were
farmers. However, only the term Palaeolithic remains in common use, as Mesolithic and
Neolithic have proved increasingly meaningless, even if they occasionally appear in
specialist and popular literature.
3
New World archaeologists have never used the Three Age System, largely because in the
Americas, metallurgy of any kind had limited distribution. They tend to use more local
terms, defined at intervals in these pages.
4
In recent years, archaeologists have tried to classify prehistoric societies on the basis of
political and social development. They subdivide all human societies into two broad
categories: prestate and state-organized societies.
5
Prestate societies are invariably small-scale, based on the community, band, or village.
6
Many prestate societies are bands, associations of families that may not exceed 25 to 60
people, the dominant form of social organization for most hunter-gatherers from the
earliest times up to the origins of farming. Clusters of bands linked by clans, groups of
people linked by common ancestral ties, are labeled tribes. Chiefdoms are societies
headed by individuals with unusual ritual, political, or entrepreneurial skills, and are
often hard to distinguish from tribes. Such societies are still kin-based, but power is
concentrated in the hands of powerful kin leaders responsible for redistributing food and
other commodities through society.
Chiefdoms tend to have higher population densities and vary greatly in their elaboration.
For example, Tahitian chiefs in the Society Islands of the South Pacific presided over
elaborate, constantly bickering chiefdoms, frequently waging war against their neighbors.
7
State-organized societies operate on a large scale, with a centralized political and social
organization, distinct social and economic classes, and large food surpluses created by
intensive farming, often employing irrigation agriculture. Such complex societies were
ruled by a tiny elite class, who held monopolies over strategic resources and used force
and religious power to enforce their authority. Such social organization was typical of the
world's preindustrial civilizations, civilizations that functioned with technologies that
did not rely on fossil fuels like coal.
8
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
g. Theoretical Approaches to Prehistory
Archaeologists study human prehistory within broad theoretical frameworks. Such
theoretical approaches are a means for looking beyond the facts and material objects from
archaeological sites for explanations of cultural developments and changes that took
place during the remote past.
1
Two broad theoretical approaches dominate interpretative thinking:
2
1. Culture History
Culture-historical approaches are based on systematic descriptions of sites, artifacts, and
entire cultural sequences. Culture history is based on studies of archaeological context in
time and space. Such studies are the backbone of all archaeological research and provide
us with the chronology of human prehistory. They also give us data on the broad
distributions of human cultures through the Old and the New World over more than 2.5
million years. No more sophisticated theoretical approaches can exist without this
culture-historical background.
3
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
B. Prehistory and the Great Ice Age
The biological and cultural evolution of humankind unfolded against a complex backdrop
of constant climatic change. For most of geological time, the world's climate was warmer
and more homogeneous than it is today. The first signs of glacial cooling occurred in
Antarctica about 35 million years ago. There was a major drop in world temperatures
between 14 and 11 million years ago, and another about 3.2 million years ago, when
glaciers first formed in northern latitudes. Then, just as humans first appeared, about 2.5
million years ago, the glaciation intensified and the earth entered its present period of
constantly fluctuating climate.
1
Humans evolved during the period of relatively minor climatic oscillations. Between 4
and 2 million years ago, the world climate was somewhat warmer and more stable than it
became in later times. The African savanna, where humans originated, supported many
mammal species, large and small, including a great variety of the order Primates, to
which we belong.
2
About 1.6 million years ago, at the beginning of the Pleistocene (commonly called the
Great Ice Age), the world's climatic changes intensified. Global climates constantly
fluctuated between warm and intensely cold. For long stretches of time, the northern parts
of both Europe and North America were mantled with great ice sheets, the last retreating
only some 15,000 years ago. While glaciers covered northern areas, world sea levels fell
as much as 300 feet below modern shorelines, joining Alaska to Siberia, Britain to the
Continent, and exposing vast continental shelves off ocean coasts. The glacial periods
brought drier conditions to tropical regions. The Sahara and northern Africa became very
arid, and rain forests shrunk.
3
Fluctuations of warm and cold temperatures were relatively minor until about 800,000
years ago. Since then, periods of intense cold have recurred about every 90,000 years,
perhaps triggered by long-term changes in Earth's orbit around the Sun. Core samples
taken from the sea floor tell us that there have been at least nine cold periods in the last
800,000 years, each of them characterized by a gradual cooling that took tens of
thousands of years and a subsequent rapid warming up that saw glaciers retreat and world
sea levels rise with remarkable speed.
4
Few of these oscillations are well documented, except for the last interglacial and glacial
cycle, which began about 128,000 years ago. During the last interglacial, Europe,
Eurasia, and North America were warmer than today. But a gradual cooling set in about
118,000 years ago, as the last glaciation, Würm, set in. (The term Würm comes from a
river in the Alps where the glaciation was first identified.) Glacial conditions were
especially intense about 75,000 years ago, when the archaic Neanderthal people were
flourishing in Europe and when the Americas were still uninhabited. After a brief milder
interval about 40,000 years ago, the cold intensified again, peaking about 18,000 years
ago. A rapid amelioration began about 15,000 years ago, and the world's climate reached
near-modern conditions by 6000 B.C.E.
5
By using pollen analysis, microscopic and statistical analyses of fossilized plant pollens
found in geological deposits, scientists have chronicled dramatic changes in the world's
environment during the Würm glaciation, changes that also took hold much earlier in the
Ice Age. During the height of the Würm, most of western and central Europe and Eurasia
was open steppe-tundra, while Scandinavia and much of Britain were under ice. The
Balkans were joined to Turkey, the Sahara was extremely arid, and snow levels on the
world's mountains were hundreds of feet lower. Rain forests shrank, and the Southeast
Asian mainland was joined to the offshore islands. Only narrow straits separated the
mainland from New Guinea and Australia, which formed a single landmass. Alaska and
Siberia were joined by a low-lying land bridge. Most of Canada and the United States
were covered with vast ice sheets, as far south as Seattle, the Great Lakes, and Nova
Scotia. The 90,000 years of the Würm glaciation witnessed dramatic changes in human
life, which unfolded in a world very different from our own.
6
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
C. Human Origins (4 Million to 1.8 Million Years Ago)
All humans are members of the order Primates. There are two suborders: Anthropoids
(apes, humans, and monkeys) and Prosimians (lemurs, tarsiers, and other
“premonkeys”). We also belong in the family Hominidae, which includes modern
humans, earlier human subspecies, and their direct ancestors. Our closest primate
relatives are the Pongidae, the so-called anthropoid apes, including the chimpanzee and
the gorilla. The research of more than a century has shown that the many similarities in
behavior and physical characteristics between Hominidae (hominids) and Pongidae can
be explained by identical characteristics that each group inherited millions of years ago
from a common ancestor. Nearly all scientists agree that tropical Africa was the cradle
of humankind, simply because this is where our closest living primate relatives still live.
1
According to biochemists Vincent Sarich and Alan Wilson, apes and Old World
monkeys diverged about 23 million years ago, and the chimpanzee, the gorilla, and
humans last shared a common ancestor about 7 to 6 million years ago. Unfortunately,
this divergence occurred at a moment in geological time for which fossil-bearing beds in
Africa are very rare. There is what has been called a “black hole” in primate evolution
between about 15 and 4 million years ago. But this was a critical time when the Africa
forest and savanna were densely populated by many primate species. Some of these
primates were flourishing in small groups, probably walking upright, and adopting daily
behaviors different from their tree-dwelling relatives nearby.
2
To understand early human evolution means identifying the ecological problems faced
by our earliest ancestors at a time of constant climatic change. The first humans were
descended from a yet unidentified nonhuman primate, who lived both in forests and,
increasingly, on the open African savanna. Early hominids adapted to open country not
only by adopting a more mobile, wide-ranging lifeway, but also by walking upright.
3
An upright posture and bipedal gait are characteristic of hominids. Walking upright
frees the hands for other tasks like toolmaking, while bipedalism favors endurance and
the covering of long distances, vital for hominids living in open country. Our remote
ancestors may have first “come down from the trees” about 10 million years ago.
Relying as they now did on food supplies scattered over large areas, they not only
became more mobile, but began scavenging meat from predator kills, even hunting down
4
small animals when the opportunity arose. Among mammal species, these characteristics
are associated with a trend toward larger brain size.
The earliest fossil evidence for these anatomical and behavioral changes comes from the
Middle Awash and Hadar areas of Ethiopia. Here physical anthropologists—Don
Johanson, Tim White, and others—have uncovered primates dating back to close to the
time, between 4 and 5 million years ago, when the ancestors of living apes and humans
split off from one another. Australopithecus ramidus, from Hadar, was a small,
upright-walking primate who displayed many apelike features and might have been the
ancestor of later hominids. Another small primate, which Johanson and White
nicknamed “Lucy,” lived during a somewhat later time than ramidus. She was between
three and a half and four feet tall and was 19 to 21 years old when she died. A gracile,
lightly built hominid, she was fully bipedal, with arms slightly longer than the arms of
modern humans. Johanson and White also recovered the remains of other contemporary
hominids. All had ape-shaped heads, brains the size of chimpanzees, and forwardthrusting jaws. Potassium-argon dates for the Hadar fossil beds are between 3.75 and 3
million years ago. Johanson and White believe that all the Hadar specimens are members
of the species Australopithecus afarensis (“southern ape-man of the Afar”) and that they
are the common ancestor of all later hominids, including the first humans.
5
Australopithecus (“southern ape-man”) was first identified by anatomist Raymond Dart
in 1924, when he described the fossil skull of an immature primate from the Taung
limestone quarry in South Africa. Dart realized that the Taung skill was not that of an
ape; it had more humanlike teeth and other features that set it apart from chimpanzees.
He named it Australopithecus africanus, a small, graceful creature that stood upright,
and announced it was an ancestor of modern humans. Dart's claim was greeted with
derision by the fossil experts of the day. Only one scholar, Robert Broom, realized Dart
was right. He found more Australopithecus fossils in caverns in northern South Africa.
These included not only Australopithecus africanus, but also a much more robust form,
massively built with a crested skull. Broom named this australopithecine
Australopithecus robustus. The South African Australopithecus finds date to between 3
million and 800,000 years ago.
6
The South African finds showed there was great variability among early hominids, but
no stone tools or other artifacts were found with these fossils. Most of them have come
from the sites of ancient hyena kills. Who, then, was the ancestor of humanity? In 1959,
Louis and Mary Leakey announced the discovery of an Australopithecus robustus fossil
(named Zinjanthropus boisei) in the lowermost bed of Olduvai Gorge in northern
Tanzania.
7
Olduvai is a great natural gash in the Serengeti Plain, where hundreds of feet of ancient
lakebeds have been exposed by earthquake action. Olduvai transects the shores of a
long-dried-up, shallow lake where game and hominids came to drink. The Leakeys
found small scatters of stone tools and debris, also animal bones, in the lakebeds. The
8
robust australopithecine came from one such scatter and was potassium-argon dated to
about 1.75 million years ago. A year later, the Leakeys found the skull bones of a much
lighter, more human-looking hominid at a slightly lower level in the gorge, again
associated with animal bones and flaked-stone artifacts. Louis Leakey did not believe
this was an australopithecine, so he named it Homo habilis (“handy person”) and
claimed that this was the earliest toolmaking human being.
Even earlier than Olduvai are the rich fossil beds at East Turkana in northern Kenya.
They have yielded fragments not only of gracile and robust australopithecines, but also
of Homo habilis as well. These discoveries showed that there was great variability
among the hominid populations of eastern Africa between 4 and 2 million years ago.
This complicates the study of early human evolution greatly, but makes it certain that
there was no direct, linear progression from Australopithecus afarensis at Hadar to
Homo habilis at East Turkana and Olduvai Gorge. Instead, it is best to think in terms of
a branching bush, with numerous parallel and highly varied evolutionary lines that
reflect a great diversity of hominid populations on the savanna between 4 and 1.5
million years ago.
9
Most likely, however, Homo habilis was the earliest toolmaking hominid, and, in
general terms, the ancestor of all humankind. Homo habilis was a graceful, fairly
human-looking primate that stood about 4 feet 3 inches tall and weighed about 80
pounds. Homo habilis looked less apelike around the face and skull, with a taller
forehead and a large brain size. These hominids walked upright, but their upper and
lower arm bones were of almost equal length and their powerful hands were more
curved than ours. These features enabled them to grip branches and swing in the tress, a
sign that our earliest ancestors spent considerable periods of time off the ground.
10
The earliest archaeological evidence for toolmaking, the appearance of rudimentary
human culture, comes from the Koobi Fora area of East Turkana and is potassiumargon dated to about 2.5 million years ago. Excavations at both Koobi Fora and Olduvai
Gorge give us a tantalizing portrait of very early human behavior, tantalizing because it
is incomplete.
11
Originally, the Leakeys and others assumed that Homo habilis was a hunter and a plant
food forager, who behaved just like today's hunter-gatherers. But microscopic
examination of the stone artifacts and food remains from the scatters at Koobi Fora and
Olduvai paint a picture of a much more apelike lifeway.
12
Archaeologist Nicholas Toth has replicated the simple Oldowan (named after Olduvai
Gorge) stone technology used by Homo habilis so thoroughly that he has even been able
to show that some of the toolmakers were left-handed. He discovered this was an
opportunistic technology. The hominids could carry around convenient lumps of lava
with them, then strike off simple stone flakes with a hammerstone when they needed
them to split tough hide, to cut up an animal carcass, or to break open a bone for its
marrow.
13
Homo habilis lived a highly mobile life, ranging over large territories in search of meat
and plant foods. Undoubtedly, fruit, seeds, and tubers played a vital role in the diet, for
they come into season on the savanna throughout the year. Our earliest ancestors also
scavenged meat from the kills of lions and other predators, chasing away the animals,
seizing limbs and other body parts, and running away. They may also have run down and
killed some smaller antelope themselves.
14
Once the precious meat was in hand, they would find a convenient spot in the shade to
butcher and eat the flesh and marrow. These places comprised the bone and stone
scatters uncovered at Olduvai and Koobi Fora. One Koobi Fora band camped in a dry
watercourse about 1.8 million years ago, where they found the carcass of a
hippopotamus. Carrying in some of their tools from nearly 9 miles away, they gathered
around and then removed bones and meat from the carcass with small stone flakes.
15
Much of this life is not that different from that of chimpanzees, who hunt small game
and break open bones and nuts. Two important differences separated the first humans
from their other primate relatives in Africa. First, they were fully bipedal, a posture far
more efficient for carrying objects of all kinds. Second, they were adapted to savanna
living, where they had to organize and cover far larger territories in open country than
their relatives in the forest. At the same time, our ancestors became more and more
dependent on technology and on one another, a development that led to better
communication skills and, eventually and much later, to fully articulate speech.
16
By a million years ago, the hominid line had been pruned to the extent that one lineage,
Homo, remained. Judging from the abundance of hominid fossils at Koobi Fora, these
highly varied populations were about as common as baboons on the East African
savanna. The adoption of a wider-based diet with a food-sharing social group would
have placed many more acute demands on the hominids' ability to cope with the
complex and unpredictable. They had to become more and more socially adept, living as
they did in a world far more complex and demanding than that of Australopithecus. The
increased complexity of human social interactions was a powerful force in the evolution
of the hominid brain and led to the appearance of more advanced human forms after 1.8
million years ago.
17
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
D. Homo Erectus and the First Peopling of the World (1.8 Million to
250,000 Years Ago)
By 1.8 million years ago, new, anatomically more advanced humans had evolved from
earlier hominids in tropical Africa. These were the first of two waves of humans to move
out of Africa and settle in other parts of the Old World. The second wave, modern
humans, followed.
1
1. Homo Erectus
In the 1890s, Dutch physician Eugene Dubois discovered the remains of a primitivelooking human in the gravels of the Solo River in Java. He claimed that the bones were
those of the so-called missing link between apes and humans. His claims were greeted
with skepticism. It was not until the discovery of closely similar fossils in northern China
in the 1920s that Dubois was vindicated. The Chinese and Javanese fossils are grouped
under a general human form named Homo erectus.
2
Today, Homo erectus is known to have lived over a wide area of the Old World. The
fossils from Zhoukoudian Cave in northern China provide a portrait of a very variable
human form. These hominids had a brain capacity between 775 and 1,300 cc, showing
much variation. Their vision was excellent, and they were probably capable of extensive
thought. Their skulls were more rounded than those of earlier hominids, with conspicuous
brow ridges and a sloping forehead. The jaw was massive. Limbs and hips were fully
adapted to an upright posture but more robust than those of modern humans.
3
Homo erectus stood about 5 feet 6 inches tall and had hands fully capable of precision
gripping and many kinds of toolmaking. Although we cannot be sure, it seems possible
that Homo erectus had lost the dense hair covering characteristic of nonhuman primates.
Homo erectus also had abundant sweat glands, and presumably, in common with most
tropical primates and humans, relatively dark skin. These humans were certainly capable
of a far more complex and varied life than their predecessors.
4
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
2. Fire
The earliest Homo erectus fossils come from East Africa and date to around 1.8 million
years ago. By this time, the savanna was drier and human settlement intensified as Homo
erectus developed efficient technologies and lifeways. Homo erectus now tamed fire,
presumably by using brands from a natural conflagration. This discovery was a revolution
in human history, for it enabled people to protect themselves against predators—they
could move into more open country, where trees were much rarer, and camp in the open
or in caves or rock shelters where hostile animals lurked. They could also increase their
home range and cook food, as well as cope with harsh winters. It may be no coincidence
that the first human settlement of Europe and Asia occurred after Homo erectus mastered
fire.
1
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
3. Out of Africa
There was a widespread interchange of mammals between Africa and Europe between a
million and 700,000 years ago. Hippopotamuses, forest elephants, and other herbivores
and carnivores migrated north, crossing the Sahara when rainfall was higher and the
region could support animal life. Human predators shared many ecological characteristics
with these mammals and radiated out of Africa with this familiar mammalian community.
1
The earliest recorded human settlement of Europe and the Near East dates to about
700,000 years ago. By the same time, tiny Homo erectus populations were flourishing in
south and Southeast Asia and were widespread by half a million years ago. Apparently,
however, Homo erectus lacked the technology to settle in anything more than tropical and
temperate latitudes, for it was not until the very end of the Ice Age that humans mastered
arctic and periglacial environments in Europe and northern Asia, or ventured on boats to
New Guinea and Australia.
2
Half a million years ago, the world's population was no more than a few thousand people,
scattered in temperate and tropical environments. In Africa, Europe, the Near East, and
south Asia, Homo erectus exploited more open country, subsisting on plant foods and
game of all sizes. The bands used simple tool kits that revolved around multipurpose
stone axes and cleavers with sharp edges and points. They used such hand axes for
butchering, digging up roots, and many other purposes, such as woodworking and
fashioning fire-hardened spears. Their hunting methods were simple and involved not
only scavenging predator kills, but also careful stalking of their prey to get close enough
to kill or wound with a spear. Like their predecessors, Homo erectus hunted and foraged
for plant foods, but in more effective ways than earlier hominids. At Ambrona and
Torralba in central Spain, bands of hunters drove elephants into swamps, killed the
mired animals, and butchered them where they lay. Similar kill sites have come from
eastern and southern Africa, but we can be sure that wild plant foods were still of great
importance in the diet.
3
The dense tropical forests of Southeast and eastern Asia provided a quite different
challenge, for game was rare. Homo erectus lived off small animals like monkeys and a
multitude of plant foods. Instead of hand axes and cleavers, the bands relied on wooden
4
tools and bamboo artifacts. They had no need of any stone tools other than crude flakes
and choppers for woodworking.
For hundreds of thousands of years, archaic humans, loosely classified as Homo erectus,
lived in the tropical and temperate regions of the Old World. Except for an overall
increase in brain size, Homo erectus remained remarkably stable in evolutionary terms
for more than a million years, until less than 500,000 years ago. During these long
millennia, they developed improved language and communication skills. With enhanced
language skills and more advanced technology, it became possible for people to achieve
better cooperation in foraging, storing food, and hunting. These people depended on
cooperative activity by every individual in the band. The secret of individual success was
group success.
5
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
E. Early Homo Sapiens (c. 250,000 to c. 35,000 Years Ago)
Eventually, Homo erectus evolved into a more advanced form, known to anthropologists
as early Homo sapiens, but we do not know when or where the transition began or how it
took place. Some researchers believe it took place more than 400,000 years ago; others
believe it was much later, some time around or after 200,000 years ago. Throughout the
Old World, there was a general evolutionary trend toward larger brain size and more
enhanced intellectual capacities. Human populations displayed increased variability,
partly in response to their adaptations to increasingly varied natural environments.
Unfortunately, we still know little of early Homo sapiens, but there was great human
variability throughout the Old World.
1
1. The Neanderthals
The best-known early Homo sapiens populations are the so-called Neanderthals, named
after the Neanderthal Cave in Germany, where the first Neanderthal fossil came to light
in 1856. Once dismissed as brutal, primitive savages—the cave people of popular cartoon
fame—the Neanderthals are now recognized as being tough, adaptable people capable of
flourishing in very harsh climates indeed.
2
Neanderthals (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) probably evolved from earlier Homo
sapiens populations in Europe and Eurasia at least 150,000 years ago, perhaps earlier.
They were nimble, squat people, standing about 5 feet high, with forearms that were
somewhat shorter than those of modern people. Heavily built, beetle-browed huntergatherers, the Neanderthals of western Europe were robust men and women, well adapted
to the arctic cold of the early Würm glaciation of 100,000 years ago. Their relatives in the
Near East were more lightly built and displayed much more anatomical variation.
3
The Neanderthals of Europe and Eurasia lived in caves and rock shelters during the
winter months and ranged more widely during summer. They used a more specialized
technology for hunting and foraging, one that made use of composite tools, with stone
spearheads bound to wooden shafts. They made thousands of scrapers and woodworking
tools using more or less standardized flakes struck off from carefully prepared stone
4
blanks. This Mousterian technology, named after the Le Moustier cave in southwestern
France, was highly versatile and used in various forms over a wide area of Europe,
Eurasia, North Africa, and the Near East. The Neanderthals were expert foragers who
were not afraid to hunt the largest animals, including bison. Success in the hunt meant
expert stalking, enabling the hunter to thrust a spear into the prey's heart, a high-risk way
of obtaining food. Somewhat similar technologies were used by early Homo sapiens
populations throughout the western portions of the Old World after 150,000 years ago.
The Neanderthals were the first humans to bury their dead, and, presumably, to believe in
an afterlife. Single burials are most common, usually accompanied by a few stone tools or
some game meat. Group sepulchers are also known. Some western European groups
engaged in elaborate rituals involving cave bears, the most formidable of all Ice Age
prey. We find in the Neanderthals and their culture the first roots of our own complicated
beliefs, societies, and religious sense. But they were an evolutionary dead end, supplanted
in their homeland by more modern humans between 40,000 and 25,000 years ago.
5
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
F. The Origins of Modern Humans (c. 150,000 to 100,000 Years Ago)
Homo sapiens sapiens means “wise person.” We are the clever people, animals capable of
intelligent thought, of manipulation, of subtlety. A great biological and cultural chasm
separates us from archaic humans. This chasm comes from our ability to speak fluently,
to pass on knowledge and ideas through the medium of language. Consciousness, selfawareness, foresight, and the ability to express one's emotions—all are the consequence
of articulate speech. These qualities can be linked to our capacity for symbolic and
spiritual thought. We modern humans are concerned not only with subsistence and
technology, but with defining the boundaries of existence and the relationship between
the individual, the group, and the universe. Fluent speech, the full flowering of human
creativity expressed in art and religion, expert toolmaking—these are some of the
hallmarks of anatomically modern humans. With these abilities, humankind eventually
colonized not only temperate and tropical environments, but the entire globe. We are now
concerned with people biologically identical to ourselves, with the same intellectual
abilities and potential as ourselves.
1
One of the great controversies of archaeology surrounds the origins of Homo sapiens
sapiens. One group of scholars believes that Homo erectus populations throughout the
world evolved independently, first into early Homo sapiens, then into fully modern
humans. Thus, the modern geographic populations (races) of the world would have been
separated for a long time, perhaps a million years. Most experts take a diametrically
opposite view. They hypothesize that Homo sapiens sapiens evolved in Africa sometime
between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago, then spread to other parts of the Old World.
Under this model, modern geographic populations are less than 100,000 years old.
2
These two models represent extremes, which pit advocates of anatomical continuity
against those who believe there was population replacement. Each model is based on the
minute study of human fossil remains, but the replacement theory also relies on studies of
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).
3
Molecular biologists like Alan Wilson and Rebecca Cann have studied the human family
tree using this form of DNA, which is inherited through the female line without being
diluted with paternal DNA. Thus, they argue, it provides a unique tool for studying
ancestral populations. They compared mtDNA from Africans, Asians, Europeans, and
4
Southeast Asians and found that the differences between them were small. They formed
two groups: one was the Africans, the other the remainder. Wilson and Cann concluded
that all modern humans derive from a primordial African population, from which
populations migrated to the rest of the Old World with little or no interbreeding with
existing archaic human groups.
By calculating the rate of mtDNA mutations, they argue that archaic Homo sapiens
evolved from Homo erectus in Africa by about 200,000 years ago. Then Homo sapiens
sapiens, anatomically modern humans, appeared some 140,000 years ago.
5
Mitochondrial DNA is still controversial, but there is some archaeological evidence from
Africa that supports the biologists' scenario. Highly varied, early Homo sapiens
populations flourished in sub-Saharan Africa between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago,
some of them displaying some anatomically modern features. At the Klasies River Caves
on the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa, anatomically modern human remains date to
between 125,000 and 95,000 years ago. They are associated with sophisticated, versatile
tool kits that were, if anything, superior to those used by the Neanderthals in Europe at
the time.
6
Many scientists believe that Homo sapiens sapiens, modern humans, did indeed evolve in
tropical Africa sometime after 150,000 years ago, as the geneticists argue. Ecologist
Robert Foley has theorized that modern humans evolved in a mosaic of constantly
changing tropical environments, which tended to isolate evolving human populations for
considerable periods of time. Some groups living in exceptionally rich areas may have
developed unusual hunting and foraging skills, using a new technology so effective that
they could prey on animals from a distance with finely made projectiles. With efficient
technology, more planning, and better organization of both hunting and foraging, our
ancestors could have reduced the risks of living in unpredictable environments in
dramatic ways. And, when climatic conditions changed, and hitherto isolated populations
mingled with others, the process of biological and cultural evolution accelerated.
7
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
G. The Spread of Modern Humans in the Old World (100,000 to
12,000 Years Ago)
About 100,000 years ago, the Sahara was cooler and wetter than today and capable of
supporting sparse hunter-gatherer populations. It may have been then that modern
humans spread to North Africa and the Near East. We know they were living at Qafzeh
Cave in Israel by 90,000 years ago. For the next 45,000 years, they flourished in the Near
East alongside highly varied Neanderthal populations. Then, some 45,000 years ago,
Homo sapiens sapiens hunted and foraged out of the Near East into south Asia and also
much harsher northern environments.
1
1. Europe
As the Near East became increasingly dry and less productive during the Würm
glaciation, some of the newcomers responded to population pressure and food shortages
by moving across the wide land bridge that joined Turkey to southeastern Europe 45,000
years ago, spreading into the game-rich steppe-tundras of central and western Europe and
Eurasia.
2
The first anatomically modern Europeans were the robust Cro-Magnons, who showed no
signs of having evolved from local Neanderthal populations. They lived alongside their
predecessors for about 10,000 years, using a distinctive and highly specialized stone
technology based on fine blades. Expert stoneworkers used carefully shaped cylindrical
lumps of flint and antler, bone, or wood punches to produce dozens of standard stone
blades. These long, parallel-sided, thin blades could be made into scrapers, woodworking
tools, and, above all, fine graving tools. A good analogy is the Swiss Army Knife with its
strong hinges, which allows one to carry around a variety of different blades for specific
uses.
3
The graving tool, or burin, was of critical importance, for it enabled people to cut strips of
fresh reindeer antler to manufacture specialized tools. These included needles for
tailoring fitted, layered clothing, essential for survival in the nine-month winters of the
4
late Ice Age. Technological innovations like the needle enabled modern humans to master
arctic environments for the first time, to expand and adapt into new landscapes.
By 30,000 years ago, the last Neanderthals had vanished from Europe and Eurasia. Over
15,000 years, up to the end of the Ice Age, the Cro-Magnons enjoyed an increasingly
elaborate hunting and foraging culture, wintering in deep river valleys in western and
central Europe, following reindeer migrations in spring and fall. All manner of arctic
game, many plant foods, and salmon were among the foods taken by these people.
5
By 30,000 years ago, the Cro-Magnons had developed elaborate art traditions, rock
engravings and paintings. They also carved and engraved fine bone and antler artifacts.
The artists painted naturalistic depictions of mammoth, bison, wild ox, and other now
long-extinct animals, sometimes using natural protrusions on the rock to give relief to a
figure. Experts believe that the art had a deeply symbolic meaning, connected with the
intricate relationships between humans and the animal and spiritual worlds. But we
cannot, at a distance of 18,000 years, hope to understand this symbolism. The CroMagnon paintings are among the earliest-known human art, but Australians and South
Africans may have been painting at the same period.
6
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2. Eurasia and Siberia
To the east, other late Ice Age people adapted to life on the open steppe-tundra, relying
on mammoth bones, skins, and sod to build dome-shaped, semisubterranean houses. The
late Ice Age population of Eurasia, between central Europe and Lake Baikal in Siberia,
was never large. Most bands lived on the edges of river valleys like the Dnepr and Don in
the Ukraine, subsisting on mammoth and other gregarious big game, as well as fish and
plant foods in the spring, summer, and fall. Eighteen thousand years ago, some bands
along the Dnepr were trading raw materials and ornaments like seashells over distances
of more than 100 miles.
1
Perhaps as early as 30,000 years ago, and certainly by 20,000, late Ice Age bands were
hunting and foraging to the east of Lake Baikal. But it was not until after 18,000 years
ago that people ventured farther east, into extreme northeast Asia.
2
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3. South and Southeast Asia
While the Cro-Magnons and other northern groups were mastering arctic climates, other
modern humans moved into tropical south and Southeast Asia, probably by at least
45,000 years ago, if not earlier. For thousands of years, forest bands exploited small game
and plant foods, using increasingly smaller and more specialized tool kits. At the time,
the exposed continental shelf joined offshore islands like Borneo to the Asian mainland.
This Ice Age land, known to geologists as Sunda, was separated from New Guinea and
Australia (Sahul) by only a narrow strait of open water.
1
Homo sapiens sapiens built rafts or canoes to cross deep water by at least 40,000 years
ago, for artifacts of this age have been found in southern New Guinea. By 32,000 years
ago, people were living on the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago in the southwestern
Pacific, and by 28,000 years ago people had reached the Solomon Islands. Line-of-sight,
island-to-island voyaging was all that was needed to colonize these landmasses. It was to
be many thousands of years before the peoples of the southwestern Pacific developed the
agriculture, outrigger canoes, and the navigation skills needed to reach islands much
farther offshore.
2
The first human settlement of Australia came at least 35,000 years ago, perhaps
somewhat earlier: the dating is controversial. Hunter-gatherer groups, the ancestors of the
modern aboriginal population, were dwelling as far south as Tasmania before 31,000
years ago. At the time, Tasmania was joined to the Australian mainland by a land bridge.
Late Ice Age Tasmanians were hunting wallabies in an open landscape that became dense
forest at least 20,000 years ago.
3
These late Ice Age Australian populations continued to evolve without interruption into
recent times, developing increasingly more elaborate cultures that are remarkable for
their sophisticated art traditions, social organization, and ritual life. The highly diverse
and sophisticated Australian aboriginal cultures encountered by Dutch and English
explorers in the 17th and 18th centuries C.E. are the direct result of more than 30,000
years of continuous cultural evolution in an isolated, remote landmass.
4
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H. The First Settlement of the Americas (c. 15,000 Years Ago)
Dental morphology, genetics, and archaeology show that the biological and cultural
roots of the Native Americans lie in northern China and extreme northeast Asia.
1
We do not know when modern humans first settled in China. Although Chinese
archaeologists claim that Homo sapiens sapiens evolved independently in the Far East,
they have yet to put forward convincing evidence for such a hypothesis. Anatomically
modern people were hunting and foraging in the Ordos area of Mongolia by 35,000
years ago. Ten thousand years later, a vast area between Mongolia in the west and the
Pacific coast in the east supported a highly varied population of hunter-gatherers
exploiting game and plant foods as well as coastal resources. As time went on, their tool
kits became progressively smaller and more refined. They produced tiny stone blades
used as lethal spear barbs and small scrapers; they also relied on artifacts made of wood
and bone. This so-called microblade technology spread widely in northeast Asia,
offshore to Japan, and north into Siberia.
2
The earliest human settlement of extreme northeast Siberia, from Lake Baikal eastward,
took place late in the Ice Age. This was after the last glacial climax 18,000 years ago,
when warmer conditions opened up hitherto uninhabited steppe-tundra. The first settlers
were few in number, living off big game, plant foods, and perhaps fish and sea
mammals. The middle Aldan River Valley began to support bands of late Ice Age people
using microblade technology 15,000 years ago, perhaps earlier. These same people
settled as far northeast as the Bering Strait.
3
A low-lying land bridge joined Siberia to Alaska during the entire Würm glaciation,
from about 100,000 to 15,000 years ago. During glacial maxima, the land bridge was a
wide, poorly drained plain, swept by arctic winds. The climate was dry and intensely
cold, with only a two-month summer. Low scrub covered the landscape, except in
shallow river valleys where some trees and lush grasses grew in spring and summer.
During warmer intervals, sea levels rose, flooding much of the plain, leaving but an
isthmus between Old World and New. This was the route by which humans settled the
Americas.
4
Great controversy surrounds the first settlement of the New World. While everyone
agrees that the first settlers crossed the Bering land bridge, some archaeologists believe
the crossing dates to at least 40,000 years ago. Others favor a much later date, at the very
end of the Ice Age, or soon afterward.
5
Claims of very early settlement are based on a series of cave and rock shelter finds in
South America. There are affirmations of humans occupying Boqueirao de Pedra
Furada in northeastern Brazil at least 40,000 years ago. Only a few scholars accept this
claim or other much heralded occupations said to have occurred between 40,000 and
25,000 years ago.
6
The most widely accepted scenario has small numbers of hunter-gatherers from
northeast Asia crossing into Alaska as the land bridge began to flood at the end of the
Ice Age some 15,000 years ago. This was not a journey of exploration but rather part of
an age-old hunter-gatherer lifeway that had people following migrating game and
searching for new clumps of scarce plant foods.
7
The earliest archaeological evidence for human settlement in Alaska—nothing more
than small scatters of stones and bones—dates to about 11,500 years ago. From that date
onward, there has been continuous human occupation in the Arctic into modern times.
8
During the height of the Würm glaciation (called the Wisconsin in the New World),
northern North America was mantled by two vast ice sheets that extended from
Greenland to British Columbia. There may have been a narrow, ice-free corridor
between them, but it would not have supported animal or plant life. Most likely, people
from Alaska hunted and foraged their way south onto the Great Plains as the ice sheets
receded rapidly after 13,000 years ago.
9
Despite occasional occurrences of 12,000-year-old artifacts in North America, the first
widespread settlement of the Americas as a whole dates with great consistency to about
11,000 years ago (9000 B.C.E.). Within a few centuries, perhaps no more than 500 years,
hunter-gatherer groups had colonized the entire Americas, from ice-free Nova Scotia in
the north to Patagonia in the south.
10
The Clovis people (named after a site near Clovis, New Mexico) are best known for
their characteristic stone projectile points, fluted at the base for mounting in a wooden
shaft. These people preyed on game of every size and also foraged plant foods. They
hunted large Ice Age animals like the mammoth, mastodon, and large steppe bison,
sometimes camping close to a kill while they butchered the carcass. Clovis artifacts have
been found throughout North America and deep into Central America, with variants on
this culture farther south.
11
It appears that humans literally exploded into the New World, living off a fauna that was
unused to such formidable predators. As a result, the human population rose rapidly,
then stabilized, as people adapted to a great variety of natural environments, everything
from rocky coasts to desert and dense rainforest.
12
By 8800 B.C.E., most large late Ice Age animals except for the bison were extinct,
probably as a result of rapid climate change and drought. Some experts believe that
human predators helped in the process of extinction by exploiting slow-breeding
mammals like the mammoth and mastodon. Whatever the cause of extinction, the
disappearance of big game fostered greater cultural diversity among Paleo-Indian
groups. They adapted to a rapidly changing world that was not to stabilize to nearmodern conditions until about 4000 B.C.E.
13
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I. After the Ice Age: Holocene Hunter-Gatherers (12,000 Years Ago to
Modern Times)
Global warming began in earnest after about 15,000 years ago. The great ice sheets
retreated irregularly from northern latitudes, ushering in Holocene times. Dramatic
climatic and geographic changes ensued, as glaciers melted and sea levels rose irregularly
toward modern levels. The Bering land bridge was severed by rising water, and the Baltic
Sea and Scandinavia emerged from beneath vast ice sheets. The Southeast Asian islands
were isolated from the nearby mainland. Thick temperate forests covered much of
Europe, while familiar Ice Age animals like the mammoth became extinct by 9000 B.C.E.
The Sahara enjoyed slightly higher rainfall and supported semiarid grasslands and
shallow lakes, ending millennia of isolation for tropical Africans.
1
By this time, the world's human population numbered perhaps 5 million, scattered over
the Old World and New. All hunter-gatherers were faced with the problem of adapting to
constant climatic change and often acute environmental uncertainty. In response, they
developed ever more specialized tool kits and intensified their food quest. They often
specialized in a few resources, like fish and sea mammals on newly exposed
Scandinavian coasts or annual nut harvests in the North American Midwest.
2
The intensification of hunting and foraging was marked by two long-term trends. The
first was a gradual shrinking of tool kits; the second, the development of highly
sophisticated artifacts and weapons designed for exploitation of specific food resources
like acorns or sea mammals. Among these was the bow and arrow, first developed in
Europe, Africa, and the Near East perhaps by 15,000 years ago. It enabled the hunter to
shoot at his quarry from a distance.
3
As people adapted to the challenges of local environments, human culture became greatly
diversified. Human populations were rising gradually, so the world's hunting and foraging
grounds were filling up, given that only the most favored environments could support
more than one human being per square mile. Reduced mobility, rising local populations,
and new strategies for dealing with unpredictable climatic change—these problems were
common to postglacial hunter-gatherers in every part of the world. A few of these
societies, especially those living in areas with rich and diverse food resources that
4
included fish and sea mammals, achieved a high degree of social complexity, with, for the
first time, some signs of social ranking.
1. African Hunter-Gatherers
For thousands of years during the Würm glaciation, sub-Saharan Africans lived in
isolation from the rest of the late Ice Age world. The arid Sahara was uninhabitable for
much of the Würm. African savannas and grasslands supported a rich mammalian fauna
and many species of plant foods. The hunter-gatherers who subsisted on these diverse
resources developed ever more efficient ways of hunting and foraging.
5
After the Ice Age, these cultures became more specialized, with the densest populations
concentrated in large river valleys like the Zambezi, or near lakes, where fishing became
of great importance. The Sahara now supported a sparse population of hunter-gatherers
adapted to arid, open country. The people of the Nile Valley lived much of the year in
permanent base camps, subsisting off a bounty of game, plant foods, and river fish. The
ancestry of the San of the Kalahari Desert and other living African hunter-gatherer
peoples can be traced back to extinct groups that flourished on the savanna thousands of
years earlier in prehistory.
6
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2. Asian Hunter-Gatherers
Intensely conservative hunter-gatherer cultures continued to flourish in Asia after the Ice
Age. In the more open country of the north, the microblade traditions of millennia earlier
continued to diversify into ever more specialized hunting and foraging economies, as well
as into emerging seacoast economies. The peoples of the tropical forests of Southeast
Asia continued to rely heavily on bamboo and wood technology, and their simple culture
was little changed from much earlier times, except for a gradual trend toward more
diminutive, specialized tool kits. These tool kits reflect much more varied adaptations by
these peoples to local environments, adaptations subsumed under the archaeological label
Hoabhinian Tradition.
1
Offshore, in New Guinea and Australia, more specialized local cultures now appeared,
many of them oriented toward the exploitation of specific foods like fish, sea mammals,
and small game. In the New Guinea highlands, there are signs that people began to
deliberately clear forests and plant wild yams after the Ice Age to enhance their food
supplies as best they could. Human settlement was still confined to the islands of the
extreme southwestern Pacific, for Asians still lacked the necessary boats and foods to
navigate far offshore.
2
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3. Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherers in Europe
European environments changed dramatically as Alpine and Scandinavian ice sheets
retreated for the last time. Sea levels rose, flooding the North Sea, while the Baltic Sea
formed at the foot of northern glaciers. Dense forests spread over formerly open country.
Europeans now adapted to hunting and foraging in forest environments, camping in
clearings and in more open woodland environments. Much human settlement was
confined to riverbanks, lakeshores, and seacoasts. Here people found a bounty of fish, sea
mammals, and bird life, supplementing this diet with plant foods and forest game. These
Mesolithic cultures (Mesolithic, meaning “Middle Stone Age,” describes post–Ice Age
European hunter-gatherers) achieved some degree of social complexity in Scandinavia,
where richly decorated individuals were buried in cemeteries by 5500 B.C.E. These same
cultures were the indigenous societies of Europe, farmers who first spread north and west
across central Europe from the Balkans after 4500 B.C.E.
1
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4. Near Eastern Hunters and Foragers
In the Near East, the end of the Ice Age brought drier conditions, although the climate
was somewhat wetter than today. The densest human settlement was confined to major
river valleys, especially places where open steppe, woodland, and floodplain
environments intersected.
1
One such location was Abu Hureyra, by the Euphrates River in Syria, where a sedentary
community of hunter-gatherers flourished between 10,500 and 9000 B.C.E. About 300 to
400 people lived in a small village settlement of pit dwellings with thatched roofs. Each
spring, they killed thousands of migrating gazelle, a small desert antelope from the south.
Eventually deteriorating climatic conditions and deforestation due to heavy firewood
consumption caused abandonment of the settlement. Sedentary villages like these, located
at the margins of several environmental zones, were the places where agriculture and
animal domestication first took hold in the Near East, and, indeed, in the world.
2
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5. Paleo-Indian and Archaic North Americans
Holocene times ushered in major climatic change in the Americas. As the ice sheets of
the north retreated, more temperate vegetational zones spread north. Ice Age big game
had vanished, except for the bison, which flourished on the short grass of the Great
Plains. Here Paleo-Indian, and later, more sophisticated Archaic big-game hunting
cultures diversified over a period of more than 10,000 years, right into modern times.
First the bow and arrow, which arrived in the first millennium B.C.E., and then the horse,
introduced by Spanish conquistadors in 1543 C.E., enriched Plains hunting cultures. They
had already achieved a high degree of elaboration as a result of chronic warfare and
competition when European settlers reached the Plains.
1
The West Coast and interior of North America became progressively drier, resulting in
great environmental diversity. In the desert interior, Paleo-Indian and Archaic cultures
developed a remarkable expertise with wild plant foods. These were highly mobile
cultures, except in favored areas near lakes and marshes, where people preyed on
waterfowl, freshwater fish, and plant foods for much of the year.
2
As Ice Age sea levels rose and flooded estuaries and bays, the Pacific coast of North
America supported a great, and predictable, bounty of fish and sea mammals. These
predictable food supplies supported sedentary hunter-gatherer cultures in southeast
Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, in the San Francisco Bay area and interior, and along
the southern California coast.
3
After about 4000 B.C.E., when sea levels stabilized, many of these societies enjoyed
periods of remarkable social and political sophistication. In the Santa Barbara Channel
region, for example, some Chumash people lived in settlements of more than 1,000
people headed by a hereditary chief. The famous Ozette whale-hunting settlement on
Washington's Olympic Peninsula chronicles the history of an ancestral Makah Indian
community from at least 1000 C.E. to the 18th century.
4
The first human settlement of the shores of the Arctic Ocean and of the Canadian Arctic
Archipelago dates to about 2000 B.C.E. The Pre-Dorset and Dorset people were
fisherfolk and caribou hunters, with the simplest of material culture. In the western
Arctic, elaborate hunter-gatherer societies that can be attributed to ancestral Eskimo
5
developed after 1000 B.C.E. in the Bering Strait area. They became specialized sea
mammal hunters, trading walrus ivory, iron, and other commodities between Asia and
Alaska and farther south. The Thule people from the west colonized the Canadian Arctic
Archipelago as far east as Greenland in about 1000 C.E., just as Norse voyagers were
pressing west to Labrador.
The eastern woodlands of North America supported a great diversity of hunter-gatherer
groups after 8000 B.C.E., many of them concentrated in large river valleys where plant
foods and fish were abundant. Some of these societies, especially in the Midwest and
Southeast, developed highly specialized cultures that exploited bountiful nut harvests and
river fish. By 4000 B.C.E., many of them lived in permanent base camps and competed for
floodplain land. This competition was one of the factors that led to food production in
North America.
6
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6. Central and South Americans
We still know little of the postglacial hunter-gatherer societies of Central and South
America, except for those of coastal Peru, where, in later millennia, important
civilizations were to flourish. The Paloma site and other fishing settlements at the
mouths of coastal rivers flourished from the remarkable bounty of the nearby Pacific after
8000 B.C.E. Offshore currents brought deep-water species inshore, while shoals of
anchovies and other small fish provided sustenance year-round. The same communities
also exploited plant foods nourished by coastal fogs. Such Archaic hunter-gatherer
societies developed increasing complexity over many centuries. Fish and sea mammals
remained a vital resource for coastal Peruvians long after agriculture developed along the
coast after 2000 B.C.E. and civilizations prospered.
1
Elsewhere in Central and South America, late Paleo-Indian and Archaic hunter-gatherers
adapted to every kind of Holocene environment imaginable, from cold, oceanic coastlines
in the far south to the dense rain forest in the Amazon basin and high-altitude plateaux in
the Andes Mountains. It was here, in the high Andes, that the inhabitants of Guitarrero
Cave in Peru began the deliberate cultivation of beans as early as 8000 B.C.E. In doing so,
they laid the foundation for the brilliant expertise of Native Americans with cultivated
native plants of every kind in later millennia.
2
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J. The Origins of Food Production
For more than 99 percent of human existence, our forebears lived by hunting and
foraging, tied to the season of plant foods and the movements of game, fish, and sea
mammals. Food production, the deliberate cultivation of cereal grasses and edible root
plants, is a phenomenon of the last 10,000 years of human existence. It is in large part
responsible for the rapidly accelerating rates of population growth and culture change
throughout the world during the past ten millennia.
1
The great Old World archaeologist Vere Gordon Childe (1892–1957) wrote of two great
developments in prehistoric times, a Neolithic Revolution and an Urban Revolution.
The Neolithic Revolution saw the development of agriculture and animal domestication
in the Near East during a period of prolonged drought in the Near East. The Urban
Revolution coincided with the appearance of the first cities, writing, and literate
civilization in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Childe developed his revolution theory during the
1930s, when much less was known about world prehistory.
2
Child's theory is too simplistic, for it has long been surpassed by more sophisticated
formulations, based on a much more detailed knowledge of ancient societies. In one
respect, however, Childe was correct. The deliberate cultivation of the soil and the
domestication of animals were not, in themselves, revolutionary developments, for every
hunter-gatherer was familiar with the germination of seeds and the taming of animals. But
the consequences of the new economies were indeed revolutionary, for they were the
catalyst for lasting, and dramatic, culture changes.
3
Thanks to radiocarbon dating, we know that agriculture appeared in widely separated
areas of the world over several thousand years: in the Near East, China, south and
Southeast Asia, and the Americas. Modern theories are based on the realization that many
postglacial hunter-gatherer societies were preadapted to food production before anyone
started planting wild cereal grasses or penning animals. They were already exploiting
such resources intensively, local populations were rising, and there were occasional food
shortages in areas like the Near East, where the most favored areas were already at the
limits of their carrying capacity.
4
Hunter-gatherers spend much of their time “managing” risk, the risk of starvation, of
5
drought, of sudden changes in animal migration habits. They do so by acting very
conservatively, responding to different risks by either moving away or developing new
storage technologies for fish, plants, and other foods, and by drying foods like pounded
bison or salmon. A straightforward solution to rising populations, occasional food
shortages, and unpredictable environments may have been to go one step further, to
cultivate familiar plants and domesticate common prey so that people could draw on
familiar “stored” resources in scarce months.
This process has been documented by archaeologist Kent Flannery at Guila Naquitz cave
in Mexico. A small group of hunters and foragers visited this small cave six times over a
period of 2,000 years after 8750 B.C.E. Using a sophisticated computer model, Flannery
and his colleagues have shown that the local people learned how to schedule foraging for
different plant species over the seasons. They lived in an area with unpredictable rainfall,
so collective memory based on experience was vital to them. The seeds found in the cave
showed that the band used one set of seeds in wet years, another in dry. They tried to
manage risk by experimenting with the planting of wild beans in wet years, when the
chance of starvation was lower. When this strategy worked, they began planting every
year. In time, they relied even more heavily on beans, maize, and squash for their
subsistence, to the point where cultivation became more important than foraging.
6
The new food-producing economies proved dramatically successful. People cultivated an
extraordinary range of cereal and root crops, many of them for food, others for medicinal,
even hallucinogenic purposes. They domesticated animals ranging in size from the ox and
the camel to guinea pigs. Ten thousand years ago, virtually everybody in the world lived
by hunting and gathering. By 2,000 years ago, most people were farmers or herders and
only a minority were still hunter-gatherers.
7
The spread of food-producing economies throughout the world only took about 8,000
years. It spread everywhere except where an environment with extreme aridity or heat or
cold rendered agriculture or herding impossible, or where people chose to remain hunters
and foragers. In some places, food production was the economic base for urbanization
and literate civilization.
8
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K. Early Food Production in the Old World (c. 10,000 B.C.E. and Later)
1. First Farmers in the Near East
In 10,000 B.C.E., most human settlement in the Near East was confined to the Levant (the
easternmost Mediterranean shoreline) and to the Zagros Mountains of Iran and Iraq and
their western foothills. Some locations, like the Jordan Valley and the Middle Euphrates
Valley, were more densely populated, often by large hunter-gatherer communities located
at the margins of several ecological zones. They foraged on wooded hill slopes for cereal
grasses and nuts, hunting game on open grasslands and floodplains.
1
One such settlement was at Abu Hureyra in the Middle Euphrates Valley, where a
permanent hunter-gatherer base camp exploited gazelle migrations between 10,500 and
9000 B.C.E. About 8500 B.C.E., a new settlement appeared on the same site, this time a
permanent village of rectangular mud-brick houses connected by narrow alleyways. At
first the inhabitants hunted gazelle intensively. About 8000 B.C.E., they switched abruptly
to domestic sheep and goats and to growing einkorn, pulses, and other cereal crops.
2
Abu Hureyra was not, of course, unique. Contemporary farming settlements have come to
light in Syria and the Levant, most of them on low ground close to fertile soils. By 6500
B.C.E., farming communities were trading with each other, passing such exotic materials
as obsidian (fine-grained volcanic glass for toolmaking) from village to village over long
distances. Obsidian contains distinctive trace elements, which have enabled
archaeologists to track even tiny fragments of this much-prized volcanic glass back to
sources in central Turkey and elsewhere.
3
Some settlements, notably Jericho in the Jordan Valley, reached an impressive size. By
6500 B.C.E., Jericho covered nine acres, its small beehive-shaped houses clustered behind
massive stone walls. It was a small town, perhaps in constant fear of marauders after its
large grain stocks and stored trade goods, bartered from the coast and interior deserts.
4
By 6000 B.C.E., farmers were living throughout the Zagros Mountains of Iran and Iraq in
small permanent villages of mud-brick houses. Below, other cultivators dwelt by the
edges of the low-lying plains of central and southern Mesopotamia. By at least 8000
B.C.E. some farmers settled at Ali Kosh, north of the confluence of the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers. As time went on, Ali Kosh grew until it became a substantial village,
5
with wide lanes and rectangular houses. The people herded sheep and goats, perhaps
driving them to the nearby highlands in the hot summer months. They relied on hunting
and fishing in nearby marshes and were using irrigation to grow cereal crops by at least
6000 B.C.E. Such irrigation techniques were to prove of vital importance for early
civilization in Mesopotamia (See Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture).
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2. Early European Farmers
Near Eastern cereal grains like emmer and bread wheat and domesticated animals were
introduced into southeastern Europe and Greece by at least 6000 B.C.E. The local people
were already heavily dependent on wild cereal grasses and may have been planting some
of them. The first farmers lived in compact villages on river floodplains, occupying the
same sites for many generations.
1
After 4500 B.C.E. farming based on cattle herding combined with spring-sown crops like
wheat and barley spread over enormous areas of continental Europe. The expansion of
farming was a stop-and-go process, coinciding with favorable rainfall cycles and
dependent on the distribution of lighter soils easily turned with stone and wood artifacts.
These cultivators, known to archaeologists as the Bandkeramik Complex, lived in
hamlets of rectangular houses, made of timber and thatch. As each settlement grew,
companion villages were founded nearby, gradually filling in vacant land.
2
By 4000 B.C.E., cereal crops and domesticated animals were widely used throughout
much of Europe, including Britain. Eventually, farmers settled on heavier soils, and
indigenous hunter-gatherer groups gradually adopted the new economies. This was a time
when more elaborate burial customs developed throughout Europe, as ancestor cults came
into fashion, with their close ties to ancestral farming land.
3
In western Europe, groups of villages built communal stone tombs, often called
megaliths, where important kin leaders and people with genealogical ties to kin group
ancestors were buried. Those who supervised the building of shrines and communal
tombs, and led the rituals conducted there, assumed increasing political and social power
in new, nonegalitarian European societies.
4
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3. Egypt and Sub-Saharan Africa
The Nile Valley was a rich environment for hunter-gatherers throughout the late Ice Age
and for many millennia afterward. Such was the bounty of game, fish, and plant foods
that hunter-gatherer groups could live in permanent base camps for much of the year. It
was not until as late as 6000 B.C.E. that wheat and barley were farmed along the Nile.
1
By this time, people living on the semiarid grasslands of the Sahara were herding both
cattle and goats or sheep. Some experts believe that cattle were domesticated from wild
oxen independently in North Africa or the Sahara as early as they were in the Near East.
As the Sahara dried up after 6000 B.C., some of these nomadic herders moved into the
Nile Valley and became absorbed into the indigenous population.
2
Two thousand years later, small farming villages flourished from the Nile Delta upstream
as far as Aswan at the First Cataract and deep into Nubia (modern Sudan). The farmers
took advantage of the annual Nile floods to grow winter crops, grazing their animals at
water's edge. This indigenous farming tradition was the foundation of later Ancient
Egyptian civilization (See Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture).
3
By 3500 B.C.E., cattle herders were grazing their herds far upstream, in what is now the
Sudan. Fifteen hundred years later, some of these herders had moved as far southward as
the East African highlands and are ultimately the ancestors of cattle-herding peoples like
the Masai who live there today. This movement, and others to the west, were responses to
the increasing aridity of the Sahara. Many of these groups cultivated summer rainfall
crops domesticated from indigenous cereals like finger millet and sorghum, as did
fisherfolk living by lakes and rivers. These crops were to become the staples of tropical
African agriculture.
4
Cereal agriculture was practiced on the southern fringes of the Sahara by at least 2000
B.C.E. For thousands of years, peoples living at the fringes of the West and central African
rain forests cut off the tops of wild yams and replanted them. This form of vegeculture
gave way to more formal root agriculture in the West African forest by 2000 B.C.E., where
people lived alongside riverbanks and in clearings.
5
Cereal agriculture did not spread to the savanna regions of east, central, and southern
Africa until about 2,000 years ago. This event coincided with the spread of iron-using
6
farmers from West Africa across much of the continent. Iron technology enabled Africans
to clear woodland on a large scale. Within a few centuries, iron-using farmers had crossed
the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers into southern Africa. Their distant descendants were
still expanding southward when European farmers expanded into South Africa's eastern
Cape Province in the 18th century C.E.
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Farmers
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4. Asian Farmers
We do not know if cereal agriculture developed independently in India and Pakistan.
Farmers were living at Mehrgarh west of the Indus River by 6000 B.C.E. Cereal crops,
humped cattle, pig, and water buffalo were domesticated by local south Asian populations
in this region. The new economies spread rapidly in northwest Pakistan and into other
areas. By 5000 B.C.E., the Mehrgarh people were cultivating locally domesticated cotton,
which became a vital trade commodity in later centuries, one of the foundations of later
urban civilization in the Indus River Valley.
1
There are signs of intensive exploitation of wild plant foods in the Southeast Asian
highlands, and perhaps even domestication of wild yams and other root plants as early as
8000 B.C.E., but the evidence is very controversial. The rices and Asian millets ancestral
to modern rice were first domesticated somewhere between northeast India, Southeast
Asia, and southern China. The initial process of domestication probably took place in an
alluvial swamp area where there was plenty of seasonal flooding to stimulate crop
growth. The earliest records of cultivated rice come from China's Middle Yangzi River
Valley, dating from as early as 7000 B.C.E., but it is likely that similar early dates will
come from the Ganges Plain and other regions in the future.
2
By 6500 B.C.E., Southeast Asians were moving from the hills onto river plains and into
lowland areas, where intensive cultivation and irrigation permitted rice agriculture. Rice
soon became the vital staple of farmers throughout southern and Southeast Asia, but its
spread is not well documented. At Homutu in coastal southern China, a community of
rice farmers lived in a marshy area between 5000 and 4000 B.C.E. Their village of
beautifully made wooden houses was surrounded by forests and was close to a great
diversity of food resources. The women of Homutu made a distinctive type of corddecorated pottery, which was also widespread in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Japan.
3
North Chinese farmers relied not on rice, but on local cereals and seeded plants such as
millets, sorghum, and the mulberry planted on river valley soils. Again, agriculture was a
local development. The earliest farming villages date to about 5000 B.C.E., perhaps
earlier. For the next 2,000 years, the Yangshao farming culture flourished in the Yellow
River Basin, an area as large as the early centers of agriculture in Egypt or Mesopotamia.
4
Each Yangshao community was self-contained, overlooking a fertile river valley. By
3000 B.C.E., Yangshao people were enjoying a characteristic and thoroughly Chinese
culture with its own naturalistic art style. The roots of Chinese cuisine and language may
date from Yangshao times.
During these 2,000 years, many distinctive farming cultures developed throughout China.
They became the Longshanoid cultures, which were the founder societies of early
Chinese civilization.
5
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L. The Origins of Food Production in the Americas (c. 5000 B.C.E. and
Later)
The Native Americans were remarkable for their expertise with native plants. They
domesticated not only staples like maize and beans, but also hundreds of varieties of
potato, amaranth, and other crops that are now international staples. In contrast to the Old
World, only a few animals were available for domestication, among them the guinea pig,
llama, and turkey. Potential beasts of burden had become extinct at the end of the Ice
Age.
1
As in the Old World, experimentation with native plants began early, especially in the
Andean area of South America, where people strove constantly to expand the range of
wild plants into marginal environments. In North America, hunter-gatherer societies in
major Midwestern river valleys were planting such native plants as goosefoot and marsh
elder to supplement wild stands as early as 2500 B.C.E. And the Guila Naquitz
excavations in central Mexico show that hunter-gatherers in Central America also
experimented with bean and squash cultivation as a means of surviving dry years in an
unpredictable environment as early as 7000 B.C.E.
2
Maize (Zea mays) was the staple cereal crop for many Native American societies when
Christopher Columbus landed in the New World in 1492. It was cultivated from
Argentina and Chile northward to Canada, from sea level to high in the Andes, in lowlying swamp environments, and in arid lands. Hundreds of races of domesticated maize
evolved over the millennia, each with a special adaptation to local conditions. The wild
ancestor of maize is thought to be teosinte, a wild grass that grows over much of Central
America. Teosinte was transformed into a primitive maize through human selection that
was much easier to harvest. The earliest known maize cobs date to about 2750 B.C.E. in
the Tehuacán Valley in southern Mexico and from the Valley of Mexico in the
highlands.
3
By 1700 B.C.E., the inhabitants of the Tehuacán Valley were growing amaranth, gourds,
and maize to the point that agriculture was the dominant part of the subsistence economy.
Tehuacán is by no means unique, for many groups throughout Central America were
turning to agriculture by this time. In time, a primitive form of domesticated maize with
4
kernels in eight rows was the ancestral crop, which spread thousands of miles from its
original homeland after 2700 B.C.E.
In South America, people living in the Andean highlands of Peru were cultivating
potatoes, maize, beans, and squash by 2500 B.C.E., some of these crops, especially
potatoes, beans, and quinoa, much earlier. Llamas were domesticated by at least 2500
B.C.E. Maize agriculture probably spread south from Central America to the highlands,
then to the arid Peruvian coast by 800 B.C.E., where maize was grown in large-scale
irrigation schemes in river valleys. This intensive agriculture was the staple of the coastal
civilizations that developed by the Pacific after 800 B.C.E.
5
Maize agriculture spread into the North American Southwest by about 1500 B.C.E., where
cold winters and arid conditions made cereal agriculture difficult. Nevertheless, maize
and bean agriculture became the basis of the sedentary Pueblo Indian cultures that
developed in the Southwest after 2,000 years ago. The well-known Anasazi, Hohokam,
and Mogollon cultural traditions of the Southwest were the ancestral foundations of
modern Southwest Indian society. Between the 10th and 13th centuries C.E., some
Anasazi pueblos, notably in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, and Mesa Verde, Colorado,
housed hundreds of people, especially during important seasonal ceremonials.
Southwestern Pueblo societies were successful, highly flexible adaptations to
unpredictable, semiarid environments. As such, they never achieved the degree of social
complexity found further east in North America.
6
By 2500 B.C.E., hunter-gatherer societies in the eastern woodlands of North America were
planting native plants on a regular basis. Maize crossed the southern Plains into eastern
North America during the first millennium C.E., but did not become well established until
after 800 C.E. By this time, many eastern societies were living in sizable, sedentary
communities, presided over by powerful kin leaders.
7
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M. Later Old World Prehistory (3000 B.C.E. and Afterward)
1. State-Organized Societies
Within 5,000 years of the appearance of farming villages in the Near East, stateorganized societies developed in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Subsequently, other
preindustrial civilizations of great complexity emerged—not only in the Near East, but
also in south Asia, Southeast Asia, and China. They also flourished in Central America
and the Andean region of South America (See Mesoamerican Civilizations) (See Andean
Civilizations). Such state-organized societies operated on a large scale with centralized
political and social organization. They were marked by class stratification, intensive
agriculture, and were based on assumptions of social inequality. All had complex
government bureaucracies and were often ruled by despotic leaders who governed as
divine monarchs.
1
State formation was not a universal phenomenon. Many archaeologists theorize that
states emerged because they were beneficial as a way of organizing both food supplies
increased through intensified agriculture and trade, and external relations with neighbors.
They believe states emerged in environmental settings with severe population problems
or shortages of agricultural land. Effective, centralized management of trade monopolies,
and of food production, through state-organized irrigation systems and other means,
could bring ecological imbalance under control. For example, both Ancient Egyptian
pharaohs and Aztec rulers in Mexico employed hundreds of officials to ensure that all
available land was cultivated efficiently.
2
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2. Webs of Relations
For all their complexity and sophistication, the early civilizations ruled over relatively
small geographical areas by modern standards. But their insatiable demands for exotic
raw materials—for gold, copper, iron ore, even such prosaic items as timber or
textiles—brought them into contact with dozens of prehistoric, nonliterate societies that
lived on the margins of, or outside, their boundaries. The last 5,000 years of prehistory
are remarkable for the ever-expanding tentacles of interconnectedness that linked
hundreds of prehistoric societies with one another, and with more complex literate
civilizations many miles away.
1
This web of relations began to expand as early as 7000 B.C.E. in the Near East, when the
obsidian trade linked small farming settlements seeking fine toolmaking stone. In time,
these small regional trading networks became well-traveled caravan routes that linked
Mesopotamia with the Mediterranean and the Nile Valley to the Levant.
2
During the fourth millennium B.C.E., long-distance trade exploded throughout the Near
East, linking societies all the way from the Indus Valley in Pakistan and Iran with
Mesopotamia, the Levant, Anatolia, and the Nile Valley. This rapidly evolving “world
system” transformed human life. A millennium later, it embraced not only the Near East,
but Cyprus, the Aegean, and mainland Greece as well. It developed because of an
insatiable demand for nonlocal raw materials in different ecological regions where
societies were developing along very similar lines. The Sumerians of Mesopotamia, for
example, lived in a largely treeless environment with no metals. Yet they produced large
grain surpluses, which they traded for timber and metals with the highlands by boat and
across the desert by donkey camels. Nowhere did this emerging world economic system
have a greater impact than in Africa.
3
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3. Later African Prehistory
a. Egypt and Nubia
Ancient Egyptian civilization began with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt by
the pharaoh Narmer in about 3100 B.C.E. This long-lived civilization was an entirely
indigenous development, its homeland a favored river oasis surrounded by desert. But
Ancient Egypt was far from isolated, for from early times the Nile Valley was part of
interregional trade networks that linked Mesopotamia and the Levant with the Nile. These
relationships involved not only commerce, but occasionally frontier wars in distant lands
like Syria. Egypt's relationship with lands upstream was just as important. The pharaohs
traded for vital raw materials outside the narrow confines of their kingdom. They
prospected for gold in the Sinai and in Nubia, the Land of Kush upstream of the First
Nile Cataract. Despite many centuries of trading and occasional military expeditions,
Ancient Egypt's cultural contribution to later African history was probably negligible, if
nothing else because of the realities of Nile geography.
1
Nubia provided Egypt with gold, copper, and ivory, with semiprecious stones and slaves,
and with mercenaries for the royal armies. It was so vital to Egyptian interests that the
Middle Kingdom pharaohs garrisoned Lower Nubia in about 1800 B.C.E., specifically so
they could control the gold trade.
2
Nubia itself was ruled by black African chiefs, who became wealthy on the Egyptian
trade. Although the pharaohs colonized Nubia for a while during the New Kingdom, they
never fully controlled the long river reaches upstream. As Egypt weakened after 1000
B.C.E., the Nubians became more powerful. A dynasty of Nubian rulers from Napata far
upstream actually ruled Egypt for a short time in the 8th century B.C.E.
3
The Nubian state controlled caravan routes along the Nile and across the Eastern Desert.
About 6000 B.C.E., the Nubian rulers moved their capital from Napata far upstream to
Meroë, on a fertile floodplain between the Nile and Atbara Rivers in what is now the
Sudan. The Meroitic state flourished for nine centuries, ruled by African kings who
imitated many of the customs of Egyptian pharaohs. Their capital lay at a strategic point
on the Nile, where desert trading routes from the Red Sea to the east intersected with
trails leading west along the southern margins of the Sahara and upstream along the Nile.
4
Meroë maintained at least sporadic contacts with the classical world but was never
conquered by Rome, for the strategic obstacles were too great.
Meroë owed its prosperity to the gold, copper, iron, ivory, and slave trade, and even
supplied war elephants for Roman armies. But, above all, its importance can be attributed
to the introduction of the camel from Arabia in the closing centuries of the first
millennium B.C.E. The Arabs called the camel “the ship of the desert,” an appropriate
metaphor, for this tough beast of burden opened up the Sahara and tropical Africa to the
outside world.
5
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b. West African States
The Roman colonies in North Africa were in constant conflict with the Berber nomads of
the desert. But they never opened regular trading routes across the Sahara with the black
people who lived on its southern margins. By the time the Arabs conquered North Africa
in the 7th century C.E., camel caravans were crossing the desert regularly, bringing West
African gold to the north in exchange for cake salt, mined in the heart of the Sahara. Salt
was so prized by the salt-starved West Africans that they sometimes paid for it in its
equivalent weight of gold.
1
In the 7th century C.E., small towns devoted to the gold and salt trade ruled by
entrepreneurial African chiefs dotted the southern margins of the western Sahara. The
most important was the Kingdom of Ghana, which flourished well before the 8th
century C.E. Ghana started as a network of smaller chiefdoms and rose to prominence
because it controlled gold sources near the Senegal River. This state, and its successors,
came into being as a result of both indigenous cultural developments and because of links
with the growing web of relations that was drawing the western Sudan into a much wider
commercial and political world.
2
West Africa came into contact with Islamic merchants and religious reformists in the 11th
century C.E. Islamic forces captured Ghana in 1076, and the kingdom soon dissolved into
its constituent parts. From this time onward, the savanna regions south of the Sahara were
part of the vast caravan routes that linked the Islamic world. Later, West African states
such as Mali and Songhay were ruled by Islamic kings and were familiar to Arab
geographers.
3
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c. East and Southern Africa
Meroë was part of a vast trade network that linked Nubia with Arabia and the
Mediterranean world. So was the kingdom of Axum on the Ethiopian highlands to the
southeast. This state competed with Meroë, then overthrew it. Axum's Christian kings
exchanged gold, ivory, and slaves for luxuries from the Mediterranean world, and from
distant India throughout the late first millennium C.E. They were an outlying part of
another great web of interconnected, and diverse, trading societies that extended not only
to Arabia, but far across the Indian Ocean and beyond.
1
The catalyst for this trade was the monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean. They allowed
downwind sailing vessels to travel from India to Africa and back in the course of a year.
India had an insatiable demand for soft, easily carved African elephant ivory, and for
gold. This ocean trade developed nearly 2,000 years ago, bringing foreign merchants not
only to Arabia and the Red Sea, but to the East African coast. The same winds brought
Islam to the Africans of the coast, their partners in the trade. By 1000 C.E., a string of
small trading communities dotted the Kenya and Tanzanian coasts. They formed an
indigenous trading culture linked both with the outside world and with suppliers of gold,
ivory, and slaves in the far interior, especially up the Zambezi River.
2
The Karanga people living in the inland plateau south of the Zambezi were cattle herders
and farmers, who controlled rich gold and copper outcrops. Their leaders ruled over
small, volatile kingdoms and used their religious powers to monopolize the gold and
ivory trade with the coast. In return, they received cotton cloth, glass beads, Chinese
porcelain, glass vessels, and other cheap trinkets, which had high prestige value in the
interior. The greatest Karanga chief lived at Great Zimbabwe, a complex of stone
enclosures built between 1100 and 1550 C.E.
3
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4. Europe after 3500 B.C.E.
By 3500 B.C.E., Europe was peopled by small, egalitarian Stone Age farming
communities. They had cleared vast acreages of land and lived in highly organized
landscapes of small hamlets, homesteads, and farmlands. By this time, copper and gold
metallurgy were well established in the Balkans; indeed, metallurgy may have developed
independently in this region.
1
Initially, copper and gold were used as decorative metals, fashioned into luxury
ornaments that were traded throughout Europe. The same trade networks carried
distinctive bell-shaped beakers throughout much of western Europe. By 2000 B.C.E.,
European smiths had learned how to alloy copper and tin to make bronze. The result was
tough-edged artifacts that could be used to fell trees and work with wood. The trade in
these weapons, as well as control of ore outcrops, lay in the hands of local chiefs. For the
first time, European society showed signs of social ranking. Surplus food supplies were
channeled into erecting majestic religious monuments, of which Stonehenge in southern
Britain is best known. Important religious ceremonies took place at such shrines, perhaps
at the winter and summer solstices.
2
The Bronze Age, the period when bronze technology came into use throughout Europe,
was a period of political instability and intense competition for land. Now warrior chiefs
presided over warlike tribes, as plows and more consolidated forms of agriculture
produced higher crop yields. Some of these European groups raided the eastern
Mediterranean world in about 1200 B.C.E., destroying Mycenae in Greece and
overthrowing the Hittite empire. These were formidable fighters, who used horse-drawn
vehicles and devastating slashing swords, far more effective than the cutting weapons of
earlier centuries.
3
After 1000 B.C.E., iron technology spread rapidly across Europe. Ironworking originated
in the Mitanni area of Anatolia in the mid-second millennium B.C.E. Hittite monarchs
guarded the secret for some time, for they were well aware of the strategic advantages of
iron. But mercenaries in their armies took the metallurgy home with them, and the secret
was out. Europeans embraced the new technology with enthusiasm. By this time, the
most coherent political unit was a loose confederacy of tribes formed in time of war, or
4
temporarily under a charismatic chieftain. This native form of government was to survive
for centuries beyond Roman frontiers.
The Hallstatt people were expert bronze and iron workers who colonized former
Urnfield areas of central and western Europe in the early first millennium B.C.E. Celtic
speakers with a distinctive and highly sophisticated La Tene technology spread north
from the Rhine and Danube Valleys into the Low Countries and Britain in the 4th century
B.C.E. The Celts were formidable warriors, who built large hill forts and introduced the
Romans to the short sword, sacking Rome itself in about 390 B.C.E.
5
The last three centuries C.E. saw the appearance of coinage and the founding of small
states and fortified towns. These were the people defeated by Julius Caesar in Gaul in 56
B.C.E. And these were the warrior groups who eventually sacked Rome and sacked its
provinces in later centuries.
6
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5. Eurasian Nomads
To the east, the rolling grasslands from the Ukraine to China were unable to support high
population densities. Nomadic herders settled there at an unknown date, domesticating
the horse as early as 4000 B.C.E. They lived in felt tents and subsisted mostly on horse
milk and cheese, also off game and plant foods. The Pazyryk burial mounds in Siberia
contain the bodies of elaborately tattooed chiefs, who wore leather and woolen clothing
and traveled in beautifully decorated horse-drawn chariots.
1
Scythian nomads, descended from these earlier groups, menaced the northern frontiers of
the Mediterranean world for many centuries, as sedentary colonists impinged on their
lands and threatened a lifeway that required enormous areas of land for survival. Eurasian
nomads continued to flourish during the closing centuries of prehistory.
2
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6. Asia
The later prehistory of Asia is still little known, especially that of humbler village
societies rather than spectacular civilizations.
1
a. South Asia
By about 3500 B.C.E., hundreds of small farming villages dotted the Indus floodplain in
northwest Pakistan. Many of these settlements boasted of fortifications and planned
streets. Many villages and small towns practiced intensive agriculture and were built just
above river flood level. The stone and mud-brick houses of Kot Diji were clustered
behind massive stone flood dikes and defense walls, for neighboring communities
quarreled constantly about the control of prime agricultural land. As the valley population
rose, so did pressure on the land. Forests were denuded for firewood used in brick
making, sheep and goats stripped the natural vegetation. The need for communal
irrigation and flood control works led to the emergence of the Harappan Civilization in
the Indus Valley by 3000 B.C.E. The Harappans traded with Sumerian city-states and
highland Iran over many centuries.
2
The Harappan Civilization declined after 2000 B.C.E., a development that led to a massive
expansion of village settlement in Gujerat to the south. In about 1500 B.C.E., Aryan
nomads swept south over India. A few centuries later, iron technology arrived in the
subcontinent, enabling farmers to break up the hard soils of the Ganges plain in the east.
This region was to become the heartland of later Indian empires. India was invaded by
King Darius in 516 B.C.E. and by Alexander the Great two centuries later.
3
The period between 200 B.C.E. and 300 C.E. saw India linked by regular trading routes, not
only to Arabia and the Red Sea, but also to Southeast Asia, as Buddhism and Hinduism
spread over enormous areas of the eastern world.
4
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b. China
By 3000 B.C.E., agriculture had taken such a hold in China that population densities rose
rapidly, as most available land was taken under cultivation. At the same time, rice
agriculture expanded in lowland areas where irrigation was easy. Those villages fortunate
enough to possess irrigable lands soon turned into larger, much more permanent
settlements, often protected with earthen walls to guard against floods and marauding
neighbors. Even these larger communities were part of a self-regulating folk society in
which kinship loyalties and the extended family were all important and age was deeply
revered. The family ancestors were the conduit to the gods who controlled the harmony
of the world.
1
By this time, too, a new social order was coming into being. Important kin leaders
became warrior rulers, often men of great spiritual authority who interceded with the
ancestors. Soon they became the aristocratic nobility of early Chinese civilization,
represented by the Shang Civilization of northern China and other states. But these
political and social developments would never have been possible without the
unswerving conservatism of the village farmer, who accepted the new and emerging
social order that imposed an almost alien, wealthy, and very privileged society on their
shoulders. They did so because of putative kin ties that obligated the farmer to provide
food and labor for their rulers.
2
Early Chinese states rose and fell with rapidity for centuries, until the Emperor Shi
Huangdi unified China in 221 B.C.E. In later centuries, Chinese trading activities in
Southeast Asia played a pivotal role in the development of indigenous states there. The
Chinese were also linked to the Indian Ocean trade, indeed sailed as far as the East
African coast in the sixth century C.E.
3
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c. Japan
The later prehistory of Japan is dominated by the Jomon culture, a common cultural
tradition that linked many ethnic groups in the archipelago and flourished from 10,500
B.C.E. to 300 C.E. Jomon people were hunters and fisherfolk, remarkable for their fine clay
vessels, the earliest in the world. They developed an elaborate technology for processing
and storing huge stocks of nuts, an activity that may have combined with the cultivation
of milletlike plants.
1
The basis for what was to become traditional Japanese society was formed during the
Yayoi Period, which began after 300 C.E., when large-scale rice agriculture and new
technologies spread through the archipelago. Japan was unified into a single state in
about 600 C.E., by which time stratified, complex societies were commonplace.
2
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Southeast Asia
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d. Southeast Asia
Rice cultivators flourished throughout Southeast Asia by 3000 B.C.E. Bronze technology
came into widespread use in about 1500 B.C.E. The Dong Son culture of Vietnam
represents the culmination of bronze working and ironworking in prehistoric times. Co
Loa near Hanoi was a fortified and moated settlement, ruled by local chieftains called
Lac Lords, Keepers of the Drums. Intensive rice cultivation, use of the plow, and careful
water control produced enormous food surpluses. The region became part of a Chinese
protectorate in 43 C.E.
1
For centuries, Southeast Asia was dominated, at least tangentially, by two foreign
presences—China to the north and India to the south. By the time of Christ, southerly
towns were being incorporated into the oceanic trade routes that stretched from China in
the east to the shores of the Red Sea and the east coast of Africa in the west. No one
people controlled this vast trade, another nascent “world system,” like that of the
Mediterranean and Classical worlds.
2
Beyond India, Indian merchants traded as far as the South China Sea and with tribal
societies of the mainland and islands. Metal and spices were the big attractions. Within a
few centuries, kingdoms appeared with governments run according to Hindu or Buddhist
ideas of social order. Eventually, these tribal chieftains became divine kings. Expanding
mercantile empires like Funan in Vietnam's Mekong Delta dominated long-distance trade
between the 3rd and 6th centuries C.E. Funan was the first of the great Southeast Asian
civilizations.
3
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7. Offshore Settlement in the Pacific
By 2000 B.C.E., a myriad of stone-using farming cultures flourished by Southeast Asian
rivers and coasts. Canoes played a major role in intervalley trade. Commodities like clay
vessels, stone axes, and toolmaking stone were exchanged through trade networks that
linked small communities from Taiwan in the north to New Guinea and the southwestern
Pacific islands in the south.
1
Yams and taro, both root crops, were cultivated in the New Guinea highlands by at least
7000 B.C.E. Agriculture became a staple throughout the southwestern Pacific by 2500
B.C.E. The new economies enabled offshore navigators to carry storable foods as well as
cultigens, even edible dogs, chickens, and pigs, on long open-water voyages.
2
By 1500 B.C.E., the Lapita people of the Bismarck Archipelago in the southwestern
Pacific had developed oceangoing, double-hulled canoes and mastered simple
navigational techniques using the stars that enabled them to sail to islands far over the
horizon. The Lapita people were expert traders. They voyaged as far east as Fiji, Tonga,
and Samoa during the first millennium B.C.E.
3
From there, much longer distances entailed voyages of nearly 600 open-water miles.
From Melanesia, canoes voyaged to Micronesia about 2,000 years ago. Polynesian
culture originated in the west; then small groups settled the Marquesas by 400 C.E. and
the Society Islands and Tahiti by 800 C.E.
4
By the time French and British explorers visited Tahiti in the mid-18th century, the
Tahitians were ruled by a powerful hierarchy of chiefs and nobles. Canoes arrived on
Hawaii before 700 C.E. and on Easter Island 200 years earlier. Finally, Polynesians
voyaged southward to colonize New Zealand around 750 C.E. After 1400 C.E., Classic
Maori culture developed, based on sweet potato agriculture and ruled by a flamboyant,
warlike elite.
5
With the colonization of the Pacific Islands, the prehistoric human settlement of the Old
World was complete.
6
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N. Chiefdoms and States in the Americas (c. 1500 B.C.E.–1532 C.E.)
When Europeans landed in the New World, they encountered an astounding diversity of
Native American societies. Some, like the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic or the Shoshone of
the Great Basin, were simple hunter-gatherers living in small bands. Some lived in small
farming villages, others in elaborate pueblos or small towns that housed several hundred
people. Then there was the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán, a city of some 200,000 people
with a market that rivaled that of Constantinople or Seville. Archaeologists believe that
these great variations in cultural and social complexity were the result, in part, of local
environmental conditions as well as technological innovation. It was only in a few areas
of exceptional resource diversity like Mesoamerica and Peru that fully fledged
preindustrial civilizations developed.
1
1. North American Chiefdoms
Some of the most complex hunter-gatherer societies on Earth developed in North
America. However, the climate was too harsh for the kinds of intensive maize and bean
agriculture that would support urban civilizations.
2
By the time maize and beans reached eastern North America, local societies had been
evolving toward more complexity for many centuries. After 2000 B.C.E., such societies
developed a preoccupation with elaborate mortuary cults that celebrated the ancestors.
Village kin groups erected large burial mounds and earthworks in which they interred kin
leaders and other clan members, often adorned with badges of rank and fine heirlooms
like soapstone pipes, acquired from afar. First the Adena culture developed in about 500
B.C.E. to be followed by the Hopewell complex two-and-a-half centuries later. These
cults' rituals were reflected in prolonged burials. The Hopewell cult in particular
developed great elaboration in the Ohio Valley and other parts of the Midwest. It
involved, among other activities, complex gift exchanges that validated extensive longdistance trade. This brought commodities like obsidian from Yellowstone Park in the
west to the Hopewell heartland.
3
The arrival of maize and bean agriculture transformed societies that relied heavily on
4
hunting and foraging, as well as on the cultivation of native plants. River valley
populations rose rapidly, trading and religious activity intensified, and an ever-changing
mosaic of complex Mississippian chiefdoms developed throughout the southern Midwest
and the Southeast. The greatest Mississippian chiefdoms were based on Cahokia, near
East St. Louis, and Moundville, Alabama. Both were large towns, with imposing sacred
precincts of pyramids and plazas. The Mississippian was an indigenous North American
culture that went into decline in the 15th century, just before the Spanish landed in
Florida. Within two centuries of European contact, the southeastern Indians were
decimated by disease, their chiefdoms in tatters.
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Mesoamerican Civilizations
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2. Mesoamerican Civilizations
By 2000 B.C.E. sedentary village farmers were common in most of Mesoamerica. These
societies became more complex as time passed, as groups of villages formed alliances
and long-distance trade routes linked the lowlands and the Gulf of Mexico with the
highlands inland. Small shrines appeared in larger villages, as social ranking became
commonplace in Mesoamerican society.
1
a. Olmec
This trend toward social complexity took hold throughout the region, but the most famous
of these newly more complex societies is that of the Olmec on the Mexican south Gulf
Coast. Olmec culture flourished from about 1500 to 500 B.C.E., a society of tropical
farmers who traded extensively with one another and peoples on the highlands. Major
ceremonial centers at La Venta and San Lorenzo boasted of earthen mounds, temples,
and plazas, and a distinctive art style of snarling jaguars and animal humans.
2
Olmec society was a manifestation of a much more complex social and political order. It
comprised a series of chiefdoms who maintained contacts with other lowland and
highland societies. Art motifs, religious symbols, and ritual beliefs were shared with
many other Mesoamerican peoples. This complex process of interaction over many
centuries produced the complex and sophisticated traditions of Mesoamerican civilization
in later centuries.
3
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Mesoamerican Civilizations > b. Teotihuacán
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b. Teotihuacán
In the highlands, village populations rose sharply after 1000 B.C.E., leading to more
intensive agriculture and increasingly sophisticated trade networks. By 200 B.C.E., the
effects of this intensified economic activity led to the founding of the city of Teotihuacán
in the Valley of Mexico. A century later, Teotihuacán expanded rapidly. Its streets,
pyramids, and plazas covered eight square miles by 500 C.E. The city grew according to a
master plan that was followed for six centuries. Bisected by the Avenue of the Dead,
Teotihuacán was dominated by the 210-foot-high Pyramid of the Sun. At least 120,000
people lived in the city during its heyday, ruled by a tiny elite of powerful, militaristic
nobles. It was the dominant economic and religious state over much of highland Mexico
until 750 C.E., when it collapsed suddenly. The collapse may have resulted from a
combination of many factors, among them overexploitation of the commoners by the elite
and a series of drought cycles that may have forced the population to disperse into
smaller communities.
1
Maya Civilization developed in the Mesoamerican lowlands by 600 B.C.E. At Nakbe and
El Mirador, the Maya erected elaborate ceremonial centers of stone and stucco buildings
standing on pyramids and platforms. Even as El Mirador prospered, other important
centers like Tikal and Uaxactún grew in importance, ushering in the Classic Period of
Maya Civilization from 300 C.E. to 900. Maya life was governed by an intricate calendar
system and a recently deciphered hieroglyphic script. Their writings tell us of a lowland
civilization ruled by powerful lords, who presided over small city-states. Each state
competed constantly with its neighbors, as different centers like Tikal, Palenque, and
Copán vied for control of key trade routes and for political and religious prestige.
2
Maya lords considered themselves intermediaries between the living and spiritual worlds.
A small nobility controlled Maya society. Their power base gave way suddenly in about
900 C.E., probably as a result of partial ecological collapse as farmlands became
exhausted. Nevertheless, Maya Civilization continued to flourish in the northern Yucatán
until the Spanish Conquest in the 16th century C.E.
3
In the highlands, the Toltecs held brief sway over the Valley of Mexico from about 900
C.E. to 1200, ruling their state from Tula, north of the valley. They may also have had
4
some influence over lowland politics, for there is strong Toltec influence at Chichén Itzá,
a great ceremonial center in the northern Yucatán. Political chaos followed the collapse
of Toltec civilization in the 13th century. Eventually, the Aztecs, once nomadic farmers,
rose to power in the Valley of Mexico.
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3. Andean Civilizations
Andean states developed in every kind of environment imaginable, everything from
mountain valleys high in the Andes to arid coastal plains. In this region, different
ecological zones were “stacked” one above the other from sea level high into the
mountains, and the inhabitants of each zone depended on others for vital resources. Thus,
Andean civilization pursued many evolutionary paths, which came together in a
remarkable mosaic of states that depended on one another for survival.
1
a. Beginnings
The introduction of maize and cotton to the coast in about 2000 B.C.E. was a catalyst for
civilization. So was the existence of dense populations and sedentary settlements. The
formation of states both on the coast and in the highlands was also fostered by continuous
interchange between coast and interior. Highland farmers needed dried fish, salt, and
seaweed, the latter to combat endemic goiter. Carbohydrate foods like oca, ullucu, and
white potatoes could not be grown in the lowlands. The two regions became closely
interdependent.
2
Andean Civilization began in about 1900 B.C.E., a time when large ceremonial centers
first appeared on the coast. The oldest is El Paraíso, a U-shaped complex of square
buildings surrounded by tiers of platforms. These centers reflected new religious beliefs
that used smoke and water to bridge the layers of the cosmos, to establish communication
with the spiritual world.
3
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b. Chavin
A thousand years later, an intricate religious iconography born at Chavín de Huantar in
the Andes foothills of central Peru spread widely over the coast and highlands. Chavin
itself was a revered shrine and trading center. The terraced temple was a honeycomb of
narrow passages and rooms that led to a central chamber with a carving of a jaguarlike
human. Chavin art is dominated by animal and human forms. Jaguar motifs predominate;
humans, gods, and animals have jaguarlike fangs or limbs. Snakes flow from the bodies
of many figures. The art reflects new religious beliefs and shamanistic practices that were
to underpin centuries of Andean civilization.
1
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c. Moche
In later centuries, the Andean region witnessed an extraordinary array of state-organized
societies with great diversity of culture, art, organization, and religious beliefs. By 200
B.C.E., the Moche state had emerged in northern coastal Peru, flourishing for 800 years.
The Moche were maize farmers and fisherfolk, skilled artisans and priests, who traded
cotton textiles and other goods with the highlands. They were ruled by militaristic
warrior-priests, part of a small, wealthy elite. The undisturbed Moche royal tombs at
Sipan have revealed the burials of two warrior-priests, wearing golden masks,
surrounded by sacrificial victims and clay pots, and wearing magnificent, finely crafted
copper and gold ornaments.
1
The Moche were expert metalworkers, who hammered and annealed gold and copper, the
first Native Americans to master metallurgy. Their rulers taxed their subjects for labor, to
build and maintain vast irrigation systems and vast monumental platforms and temples.
2
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d. Tiwanaku
The Moche state was a multivalley kingdom, which collapsed in about 600 C.E. In the
southern highlands, at the other end of the Andean world, Tiwanaku rose to power after
200 C.E. Tiwanaku itself was an important copper-working and trade center near Lake
Titicaca. Its enclosures and platforms housed an important shrine to the creator god and
nurtured a religious ideology that spread widely before Tiwanaku collapsed in about 1200
1
C.E.
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e. Chimu
On the north coast, the Chimu kingdom based on the Moche Valley filled the vacuum left
by collapsing Moche after 850 C.E. The Chimu capital, Chan Chan, at the mouth of the
Chicama River, housed the adobe compounds of aristocratic rulers. Each enclosure
became the burial place of its royal builder, for new rulers inherited the title, but not the
material possessions, of their predecessors. Thus, it was incumbent on a new leader to
acquire more land, extra subjects, and fresh wealth, by expanding the empire. The same
institutions of split inheritance, of reverence for royal ancestors, were to fuel later Andean
civilization. The Chimu state extended far south with each river valley linked by carefully
maintained roads. But the empire was vulnerable to attack and fell to Inca invaders in the
1460s.
1
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O. The End of Prehistory (1500 C.E. to Modern Times)
The end of prehistory varied widely from one area to the next. It ended about 5,000 years
ago in the Near East, with the Olmecs of 3,000 years ago, and then with the Mayans of
2,000 years ago in Central America, and with the Chimu of 650 years ago in the Andean
region. Parts of central Africa and many remote Pacific islands did not come in contact
with literate societies and emerge from what is technically prehistory until the late 19th
century.
1
Between the 15th and 19th centuries, the European age of discovery linked societies in all
parts of the world in ever more intricate webs of relations, which resulted in major
adjustments in human societies everywhere. Extensive contacts with Europeans brought
catastrophic culture changes. Infectious diseases such as smallpox and influenza killed
off millions of native Americans who had no resistance to Old World viruses. European
colonists with their firearms and sophisticated technology took over tribal lands and
pushed back indigenous peoples into marginal areas on all continents. The process of
contact and colonization continues in remote areas of the Amazon basin and highland
New Guinea, where rain forests are felled and age-old lifeways evaporate in the face of
exploitative industrial civilization. Despite these centuries of sustained contact and
disruption, much survives of indigenous culture, religious beliefs, and values, often
blended with new elements introduced from outside. Humankind is as biologically and
culturally diverse as it has always been.
2
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Table of Contents
Page 2
II. Ancient and Classical Periods, 3500 B.C.E.–500 C.E.
A. Global and Comparative Dimensions
1. Origins of Civilizations, 4000–2000 B.C.E.
a. Emergence of First Civilizations
b. Later Primary Civilizations
c. Early, Complex Nonurban Societies
d. Comparisons
2. The Growth of Civilizations, 2000–300 B.C.E.
a. The Creation of Regionally Unified Societies
b. Civilizations and Nonurban Societies
c. The Axial Period
3. Classical Civilizations, 300 B.C.E.–500 C.E.
a. The Middle East
b. The Mediterranean Basin
c. Chinese Imperial Unity
d. Indian Empires
e. Expansion of the Ecumene
4. The Spread of Religions, 300 B.C.E.–500 C.E.
a. The Spread of Hellenism
b. Buddhism
c. Hinduism
d. The Expansion of Christianity
B. Kingdoms of Western Asia and Africa, to 323 B.C.E.
1. Periodization
2. Mesopotamia, c. 3500–539 B.C.E.
a. Geography
b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
c. The Sumerians and the Akkadians
d. The Amorite Kingdoms
e. The Kassites, the Hurrians, and the Arameans
f. The Neo-Assyrians and the Neo-Babylonians
3. Egypt, c. 3500–332 B.C.E.
a. Geography
b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
c. The Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period (1st–11th Dynasties)
d. The Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period (11th–17th Dynasties)
e. The New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period (18th–24th Dynasties)
f. The Late Dynastic Period (25th–31st Dynasties)
4. East Africa, c. 2000–332 B.C.E.
a. Geography
b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
c. Kush and Punt
d. The Kingdoms of Napata and Meroë
5. Syria-Palestine, c. 3500–323 B.C.E.
a. Geography
b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
c. Ebla and Mari
d. The Land of Canaan
e. Israel and Judah
f. The Land of Aram (Syria)
6. Phoenicia, Carthage, and the Phoenician Colonies, c. 1200–322 B.C.E.
a. Geography
b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
c. Phoenicia
d. Carthage and the Western Phoenician Colonies
7. Asia Minor, c. 3000–333 B.C.E.
a. Geography
b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
c. The Hattians and the Hittites
d. The Phrygians and the Lydians
e. Persian Asia Minor
8. Armenia, c. 1300–331 B.C.E.
a. Geography
b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
c. Urartu (Van)
d. Armenia
9. Iran, c. 2700–330 B.C.E.
a. Geography
b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
c. The Elamites
d. The Medes and the Persians
e. The Persian Empire
10. Arabia, c. 850–332 B.C.E.
a. Geography
b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
c. Northern Arabia
d. Southern Arabia
C. Early Civilizations and Classical Empires of South and East Asia
1. South Asia, to 72 B.C.E.
2. South Asia, 72 B.C.E.–500 C.E.
a. North India: Punjab and the Gangetic Plain
b. The Deccan
c. South India
d. Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
3. Southeast Asia, c. 500 B.C.E.–500 C.E.
a. Funan
b. Champa
c. Burma (Pagan)
4. China, to 221 B.C.E.
a. Schools of Classical Chinese Thought
5. China, 221 B.C.E.–589 C.E.
6. Korea, to 540 C.E.
7. Japan, to 527 C.E.
a. Geography
b. Ethnology
c. Religion
d. Early Civilization
e. Japanese Historical Mythology
D. Classical Greece and the Hellenistic World
1. The Bronze Age, 3000–1200 B.C.E.
a. Geography
b. The Minoan Civilization
c. Mainland Greece: The Early and Middle Helladic Periods
d. The Late Helladic Period: The Mycenaean Age
e. The Greeks in Asia Minor
2. The Dark Ages, 1200–800 B.C.E.
a. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
b. The Dorian Invasion
c. The Aeolian and Ionian Migrations and the Greek Renaissance
3. The Archaic Period, 800–510 B.C.E.
a. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
b. Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands
c. Sparta and the Peloponnese
d. Athens
e. Central and Northern Greece
f. Sicily and Magna Graecia
4. The Classical Age, 510–323 B.C.E.
a. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
b. The Rise of Athenian Democracy and the Persian Wars
c. The Rise of the Athenian Empire
d. The First Peloponnesian War
e. The Second (Great) Peloponnesian War
f. The Spartan Hegemony
g. The Theban Hegemony
h. The Macedonian Empire
5. The Hellenistic World, to 30 B.C.E.
a. Economy, Society, and Culture
b. The Wars of the Diadochi
c. Macedon and Greece, to 146 B.C.E.
d. The Seleucids and Pergamum
e. Parthia
f. Bactria
g. Ptolemaic Egypt to the Roman Conquest
h. Sicily
E. Rome
1. The Monarchy and the Early Republic, 334 (338)–264 B.C.E.
a. Geography and Climate
b. The Peoples of Italy
c. Economy, Society, and Culture
d. The Regal Period
e. The Early Republic
f. The Conquest of Italy
2. The Republic, 264–70 B.C.E.
a. Geography and Climate
b. Economy, Society, and Culture
c. The Punic Wars
d. Conquest of the Mediterranean
e. Domestic Strife
f. War and Politics, to 70 B.C.E.
3. Civil War and Renewal, 70 B.C.E.–14 C.E.
a. Economy, Society, and Culture
b. Military Dynasts and Civil Wars
c. Augustus and the Principate
4. The Roman Empire, 14–284 C.E.
a. Geography and Climate
b. Economy, Society, and Culture
c. The Julio-Claudians
d. Early Christianity
e. The High Empire
f. The Third Century
g. The Rise of Christianity
5. The Later Empire, 284–527 C.E.
a. Economy, Society, and Culture
b. Diocletian and the House of Constantine
c. From the Death of Julian to the Death of Valentinian III
d. Christians and Pagans
e. The Later Fifth Century
F. The Neo-Persian Empire of the Sassanians, 223–651 C.E.
a. Economy, Society, and Culture
b. Ardashir I to Shapur II
c. Shapur II to the Reforms of Khusrau I
d. Hormizd IV to the Muslim Conquest
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II. Ancient and Classical Periods, 3500 B.C.E.–500 C.E.
A. Global and Comparative Dimensions
1. Origins of Civilizations, 4000–2000 B.C.E.
In a few areas, Neolithic settlements grew in size and complexity, acquiring social
organization commonly called civilization. This life is characterized by (1) large
concentrations of people, usually cities, in central areas (even though the majority of
settlements remained rural); (2) hierarchical social and political structures, usually with
states and priesthoods; (3) economic specialization and organized societal division of
labor; and (4) formal methods of permanent record keeping using some form of writing.
1
a. Emergence of First Civilizations
The first known civilizations developed in three river valley systems in Eurasia: (1) the
Tigris-Euphrates Valley (Mesopotamia); (2) the Nile Valley (Egypt); and (3) the Indus
Valley. Changing environmental conditions, population pressures, and the evolution of
available technologies are possible reasons for the emergence of civilized societies. Each
society experienced a long transition during which techniques of maintaining large-scale
societies were developed. Remains of temples and palaces reflect the emergence of
priestly and political managerial classes. These societies utilized technologies of
irrigation to manage water resources and skills in metallurgy made new materials like
bronze available.
2
The earliest civilization was in the region of SUMER in southern Mesopotamia. By 3000
B.C.E., the first cities controlled relatively large areas and built great temple structures
called ziggurats. In EGYPT, the protodynastic unification of the northern and southern
regions occurred by about 3000 B.C.E. INDUS VALLEY civilization began somewhat
later, but by 2500 B.C.E., the two great cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were well
established.
3
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Origins of Civilizations, 4000–2000 B.C.E. > b. Later Primary Civilizations
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b. Later Primary Civilizations
In other regions, civilized societies developed independently but later than the early river
valley civilizations. The origins of CHINESE CIVILIZATION are in the agricultural
societies in the northern Chinese YELLOW RIVER VALLEY. The loess soil of the
region provided a fertile basis for agriculture using labor-intensive methods of garden
cultivation. Irrigation was not a major element, but flood control was a significant
activity. Civilized life developed out of expanding Neolithic villages around 2500–2000
B.C.E. Chinese tradition describes this time as an era of rule by five Heavenly Emperors
who were succeeded by the human rulers of the Xia dynasty (See 2357–2256 B.C.E).
Scholars assume that some formal state existed by 2000 B.C.E., but little direct evidence of
the Xia exists. The Shang dynasty, which controlled northern China by the 1500s B.C.E.,
is the first for which clear archeological evidence exists. Its capital, Anyang, was a major
city by 1300 B.C.E.
1
MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS in the areas of modern Mexico and Guatemala
and ANDEAN CIVILIZATIONS started in complex agricultural communities that
developed possibly as early as 2500 B.C.E. Distinctive crops, especially corn, and, in the
Andes, potatoes, along with the absence of major domesticated draft animals made the
emerging civilizations quite different in character from those in the Eastern Hemisphere.
The OLMECS created the first major Mesoamerican urban society by c. 1200 B.C.E., with
large stone structures and statues and ceremonial centers with some urban functions (See
Olmec). Olmec civilization disappears from the historical record by 400 B.C.E. but its
heritage may have influenced the MAYA CIVILIZATION which flourished from c.
200–800 C.E., followed by a long decline (See Teotihuacán).
2
In the Andes region in Peru, the Chavin developed a powerful urban-based state by c.
1000 B.C.E. which flourished until c. 200 C.E. This was followed by division of the region
into smaller states that were not brought together again until the Inca Empire in the 15th
century C.E.
3
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Origins of Civilizations, 4000–2000 B.C.E. > c. Early, Complex Nonurban Societies
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c. Early, Complex Nonurban Societies
The development of agricultural productivity and complexity did not inevitably lead to
the emergence of civilizations. In many areas, complex, hierarchically organized societies
developed that did not create cities or develop formal writing systems. They are not
formally identifiable as civilizations but are more developed than the simple Neolithic
agricultural settlements. In Southeast Asia, in the Khorat Plateau region of modern
Thailand, archeological evidence from Ban Chiang and Non Nok Tha shows that by c.
2000 B.C.E. villagers were producing sophisticated ceramics and cast bronze tools, as well
as developing techniques of rice paddy cultivation, which may have influenced the later
evolution of agriculture in Chinese civilization.
1
In continental North America, large mound builder societies began by c. 1500 B.C.E. in
the lower Mississippi Valley (See North American Chiefdoms). The great ceremonial
center and cluster of villages at Poverty Point, in Louisiana, may have contained more
than 5000 inhabitants by 1000 B.C.E.
2
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d. Comparisons
Civilized societies show many similarities and differences.
1
Civilizations and river valleys. Origins of civilization were frequently identified with
river valleys in early modern historical scholarship. Some scholars felt that irrigation was
the necessary catalyst for creating a hierarchical society of dominant managers. While
this may have been true for the cases of the three earliest civilizations, further study of
early Chinese civilization shows that irrigation-based agriculture did not play a major
role in developing hierarchical institutions, and the absence of major river valleys in
Mesoamerica and the region of the Andes civilization brought an end to the old “river
valley theory” of the origins of civilization.
2
Cities took different forms in ancient societies but were distinguished from the
agricultural village. Cities were generally significantly larger and contained a
cosmopolitan population consisting of more than a cluster of kinship-defined clans. The
city had a clearly defined nucleus of settlement, often marked with a wall, that separated
it from its related agricultural hinterland. It had institutions that are identified with the
city as a unit, and these municipal institutions in ancient cities included temples and
grand monuments, palaces, markets, and the defense structures like walls. Cities in
Sumer and the Indus Valley most completely fit this definition, while the large
population centers in ancient Egypt were more palace-temple complexes and had
structures that were less clearly municipal. In China, there is no evidence of true cities
until the Shang dynasty (See 2357–2256 B.C.E), but the Shang capital, Anyang, was a
major city of the ancient world. In early Mesoamerican and Andean civilizations, the
major population centers were similar to those in Egypt, being more ceremonial centers
of power than true urban areas. At the extreme, clusters of villages around ceremonial
monuments distinguished the early mound builder societies and showed their character
as complex, nonurban societies.
3
Agriculture provided another area of diversity among the early civilizations, with each
being associated with a distinctive cluster of products and methods. Sumer, Egypt, and
the Indus Valley society were similar in terms of the basic crops grown, which were
standard grains like wheat and barley, and the field method of cultivation using plows.
4
Irrigation in Sumer and the Indus Valley required utilization of canals and levees to
control and distribute river waters that could otherwise cause significant damage. In
Egypt, basin irrigation simply channeled water into fields because Nile floods were less
violent and in cycle with the growing season. In China, the primary early crop was
millet, with rice being introduced later. The basic method for garden cultivation did not
include the use of a plow or draft animals and gave a distinctive tone to Chinese society.
In the Western Hemisphere, the lack of available draft animals and cattle for
domestication gave increased importance to distinctive crops like corn and potatoes. In
Mesoamerica, water control involved creating fields from swamps by building raised
plots or chiampas, and in the larger areas, older methods of slash-and-burn agriculture
were continued.
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2. The Growth of Civilizations, 2000–300 B.C.E.
Periodization of world history, after the formative period of agricultural civilizations,
focuses mainly on the integration of larger regional units, based in turn on
commercial, cultural, and political interactions. The stages of integration in the
Eastern Hemisphere mark the main periods of ancient history from 2000 B.C.E. onward,
culminating in the great classical empires. Subsidiary themes in periodization involve the
main civilizations spreading influence and the major centers making commercial and
cultural contacts from China to the Mediterranean.
1
a. The Creation of Regionally Unified Societies
The civilizations in the Eastern Hemisphere interacted with their surrounding societies
through trade, conquest, and migrations of peoples. Civilizations grew from smaller
temple- or city-states into regional empires. Egypt (See c. 3100–2686) was unified by
3100 B.C.E. by the conquests of Narmer, and the state remained concentrated in the Nile
Valley during the Old Kingdom (to 2200 B.C.E.) and Middle Kingdom (c. 2100–1800
B.C.E.). In the New Kingdom (c. 1570–1050 B.C.E.), however, Egyptian rulers expanded
into Southwest Asia, as well as farther south into East Africa. In Mesopotamia around
2350 B.C.E., Sargon I of Akkad conquered the city-states of the Tigris-Euphrates Valley,
creating a unified regional empire (See 2371–2190). His empire was short-lived but
others followed, maintaining broader regional unity under increasingly large and better
organized empires. In the Indus Valley (See South Asia, to 72 B.C.E.), the political
structure is not clear from the surviving evidence, but the similarities of the great cities of
Harappa and Mohenjo-daro indicate significant cultural uniformity if not political
unity. However, this regional society declined and collapsed as a result of natural changes
and disasters and nomadic invasions in 1600–1200 B.C.E. The regional civilization was
replaced by a society dominated by ARYAN herding peoples. They established a society
with regional cultural unity under temples and a priestly Brahman class by c. 800 B.C.E.
but did not achieve political unity. SHANG rulers established a regional empire in
northern China (c. 1800–1122 B.C.E.), and expansion into southern China continued under
2
the early (western) Zhou dynasty (1122–c. 770 B.C.E.). Trade and movements of peoples
also expanded the civilized lifestyle into new areas. The MINOAN CIVILIZATION
(See c. 3000–2200) emerged on the island of Crete by c. 3000 B.C.E. as a result of contacts
with Egypt and Mesopotamia. Its capital, Knossos, became the capital of a sea-based
trade empire which brought civilization to the mainland of Greece and elsewhere in the
Mediterranean.
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b. Civilizations and Nonurban Societies
Commercial and military contacts with surrounding peoples resulted in the formation of
distinctive societies. “Barbarians” often successfully invaded civilized states, and this
interaction was part of the expansion of civilization into new regions.
1
1700–1300 B.C.E
War Chariot invasions. The development of the two-wheeled war chariot among
“barbarians” around 1700 B.C.E. resulted in conquests of major civilized societies.
HYKSOS charioteers conquered Egypt (See 1786–1552) and ruled it from 1730–1570
B.C.E. Kassite (See c. 1700–1600) charioteer invaders successfully invaded Mesopotamia
around 1700 B.C.E. and formed the first of a series of charioteer empires there. In China,
the Shang dynasty used war chariots as they established control. The Aryan invaders of
India were also charioteers. The end of the Minoan civilization around 1400 B.C.E. opened
the way for the chariot warriors of Mycenae, on the Greek mainland, to emerge as the
dominant force in that region.
2
c. 1000 B.C.E
New migrations and conquests. Charioteer dominance was broken by new peoples with
new technologies in many areas. In the Middle East, often in association with the
development of iron tools and weapons, new peoples conquered much of the region.
Hittites in Anatolia and groups like the Philistines in the eastern Mediterranean coastal
areas established powerful states, while old centers of civilization in Egypt and
Mesopotamia experienced repeated invasions. The climax came with the establishment
by 665 B.C.E. of the new ASSYRIAN EMPIRE (See 668–627). Many of these groups
were INDO-EUROPEAN, coming from central Eurasia and migrating into Europe and
South Asia as well as the Middle East. These included the Aryans in India and the
3
Dorians in Greece. The Zhou conquerors of China in the 11th century B.C.E. came from
Central Asia, and may have been forced out by Indo-European migrations.
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c. The Axial Period
Increasing interregional trade, development of political institutions capable of ruling large
areas, and emergence of new world-views transformed the ancient civilized societies of
the Eastern Hemisphere. The result was the existence by 300 B.C.E. of distinctive regional
civilizations in China, South Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean basin.
1
The transformation of ancient societies was accompanied by important redefinitions of
world-views in the civilized regions. Thinkers created the “axes” around which
philosophical and religious thought revolved for the next two thousand years.
2
Ethical monotheism in the Middle East was developed especially by ZARATHUSTRA
or Zoroaster in eastern Persia, probably about 600 B.C.E. but possibly earlier;
Zoroastrianism (See Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture) spread in the Persian
Empire starting in the 6th century B.C.E. Ethical monotheism also arose among the
HEBREW PROPHETS in Palestine (See c. 1020–1000), starting in the 8th century
B.C.E. and spreading as Jewish people migrated in later classical empires.
3
HINDU traditions of belief and social organization developed in the emerging Aryan
society of India, with the early sacred hymns or Vedas and the Brahman priesthood
providing the foundations by 700–500 B.C.E. The composition in the 8th to the 4th
centuries B.C.E. of the Upanishads (See 800–c. 550) provided systematic interpretation of
the Vedas and are the foundation for much of later Indian philosophical thought.
4
BUDDHISM (See 550–321) developed in India in these same centuries, beginning with
the teaching career of GAUTAMA SIDDHARTHA, the BUDDHA (c. 542–483 B.C.E.),
as a rejection of Brahman dominance and the caste system. The development of
Hinduism and Buddhism created the distinctive world-views of Indian civilization by the
end of the Axial era.
5
CONFUCIUS (See Confucianism) lived during the 6th century B.C.E. in China, in a time
of great political instability as the Zhou dynasty's control disintegrated. His teachings
provided a philosophical base for social loyalty and obedience. At this same time, other
world-view alternatives were defined. Among them were DAOISM (See Daoism), which
is usually traced to the legendary teacher Laozi who lived around 600 B.C.E., the
egalitarian teachings of Mo-Zi (c. 471–391 B.C.E.), and the authoritarian LEGALISM,
6
most fully articulated by the later Han Fei (d. 233 B.C.E.).
GREEK PHILOSOPHY represents the intellectual culmination of the transformations
in the eastern Mediterranean societies of the Mycenaeans and Dorians. Socrates
(469–399 B.C.E.), Plato (427–327 B.C.E.), and Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) provided the
basis for the main traditions of Greek philosophy emerging from the Axial age (See
Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture).
7
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3. Classical Civilizations, 300 B.C.E.–500 C.E.
300 B.C.E.–200 C.E
THE ECUMENE, a continuous belt of urban societies and networks of trade and ideas,
emerged in the Eastern Hemisphere. Important features of this ecumene were the great
empires, which provided large, secure areas for trade and the wealth and power necessary
for basic economic development and political stability.
1
300 B.C.E.–500 C.E
GREAT CLASSICAL EMPIRES. Regional civilizations in the Eastern Hemisphere
were politically unified by major imperial systems in the classical era. Commercial and
technological developments had made such large political systems feasible, while shared
cultures both facilitated and benefited from the empires. These empires provided a
foundation in most regions for a sense of civilizational identity.
2
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Classical Civilizations, 300 B.C.E.–500 C.E. > a. The Middle East
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a. The Middle East
The Middle East was the first region to be brought under the control of a single empire,
and a long imperial tradition of regional control was established.
1
935–612 B.C.E
ASSYRIAN EMPIRE gained control of both Mesopotamia and Egypt by 665 B.C.E.
2
550–330 B.C.E
PERSIAN EMPIRE, established by Cyrus the Great (556–530 B.C.E.), reestablished
full regional control after the end of the Assyrian Empire. The empire was defeated by
Alexander the Great (356–323 B.C.E.), whose conquests laid the foundations for a
number of imperial states in Greece, the Middle East, and central Asia.
3
330–30 B.C.E
ALEXANDER'S SUCCESSOR STATES. The Seleucid successors to Alexander's
generals controlled most of the Middle East, except for Egypt from 305–64 B.C.E. Egypt
was ruled by the descendants of Alexander's general, PTOLEMY (367–283 B.C.E.), until
the Roman victory in 30 B.C.E.
4
312 B.C.E.–651 C.E
PERSIAN EMPIRES.
5
312 B.C.E.–226 C.E
Parthian Empire (See 247, 238?–211) was established in the eastern regions of the
Middle East after the death of Alexander the Great; it expanded until it controlled most of
the region except for Egypt and the Mediterranean coastal societies, which by the end of
the 1st century B.C.E. had come under Roman control.
6
226–651 C.E
Sassanid Empire (See Economy, Society, and Culture) replaced the declining Parthian
state and reestablished effective regional control until falling to the Muslim conquests in
the 7th century.
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Classical Civilizations, 300 B.C.E.–500 C.E. > b. The Mediterranean Basin
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b. The Mediterranean Basin
Imperial unification of the Mediterranean basin came gradually and was associated with a
single imperial system.
1
The ROMAN EMPIRE (See Geography and Climate) began as a republican city-state in
Italy around 500 B.C.E. By the end of the 2nd century B.C.E. it had gained control of all of
Italy, Greece, and the Iberian Peninsula. By the 1st century C.E. it controlled all of the
Mediterranean basin and much of western Europe. This unity lasted until the fall of Rome
to nomadic invaders in the fifth century, although this invasion had been preceded by a
long period of loss of control in many areas and a formal division of the Empire into
eastern and western sections. The tradition of Roman unity provided a strong sense of
identity to western civilization but also contributed to ideas of empire in eastern Europe.
2
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Classical Civilizations, 300 B.C.E.–500 C.E. > c. Chinese Imperial Unity
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c. Chinese Imperial Unity
In 221 B.C.E., Shi Huangdi of the QIN dynasty conquered all of the rival states that had
emerged in the later Zhou Empire. Qin control did not survive Shi Huangdi's death, but
imperial unification was reestablished in 202 B.C.E. by the HAN dynasty. By the time the
Han Empire disintegrated in the 3rd century C.E., a clear sense of Chinese unity had been
established, and it survived nearly four centuries of division until the reunification of
China under the SUI dynasty in 589 C.E.
1
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Classical Civilizations, 300 B.C.E.–500 C.E. > d. Indian Empires
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d. Indian Empires
Hinduism (See Hinduism) provided a strong basis for the social order in India that was
less identified with imperial political structures than in the other regional civilizations.
Temple organizations and the caste system were effective alternatives to the control of
kings. However, India did experience major imperial unifications (See 327–325).
1
322–184 B.C.E
MAURYAN EMPIRE. The defeat of local states by Alexander in 327–324 B.C.E. opened
the way for unification of northern India by imperial conquest.
2
322–298 B.C.E
CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA conquered much of northern India, creating the basis
for the Mauryan Empire.
3
268–232 B.C.E
REIGN OF ASHOKA, Chandragupta's grandson, represented the high point of Mauryan
power and a time of official support for Buddhism. After Ashoka's death, dynastic
rivalries, civil unrest, and a revival of Hinduism led to five centuries of political disunity.
78–180 C.E
4
KUSHAN EMPIRE was the strongest state in the era of instability. Based in central
Asia and modern Afghanistan, it controlled northern India under Kanishka (r. 78–96
C.E.), who aided the expansion of Buddhism in central Asia.
5
320–535 C.E
GUPTA EMPIRE (See South Asia, 72 B.C.E.–500 C.E.) revived Indian imperial unity.
Gupta rulers gave support to Brahmans and Hinduism. The empire disintegrated in the
face of invasions from central Asia, especially in 500–535 C.E.
6
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Classical Civilizations, 300 B.C.E.–500 C.E. > e. Expansion of the Ecumene
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e. Expansion of the Ecumene
The zone of urban societies, trade networks, and large states expanded beyond the core
regions of the major civilizations in the classical era. Some of this was the result of
imperial conquests, but more was the result of expanding trade networks and the growing
communities based on the great religions of the Axial era.
1
1. Africa
1000–591 B.C.E
KUSH. New Kingdom Egyptian expansion south in the Nile Valley created the Nubian
state of Kush. Kush became independent around 950 B.C.E. and then conquered Egypt
where Kushites ruled as the 25th Dynasty (751–656 B.C.E.). After the Assyrian conquest
of Egypt, the Kushite Empire continued in Nubia, developing a distinctive culture and
urban society with its capital in Napata.
2
591 B.C.E.–350 C.E
MEROË (See 591 B.C.E.–350 C.E), the successor to Napata, was the center of a state
which engaged actively in trade with the Mediterranean world and was a major producer
of iron implements in a developing trade in Africa.
1st to 6th Centuries C.E
3
KINGDOM OF AXUM (See 591 B.C.E.–350 C.E) developed in the Ethiopian highlands.
Trade with India and Mediterranean areas and Greek and Arabian cultural influences
created a prosperous state which conquered Meroë. The conversion of the king to
Christianity around 350 C.E. laid the basis for the long-lasting Ethiopian Christian culture.
4
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4. The Spread of Religions, 300 B.C.E.–500 C.E.
Many of the world-views that emerged during the Axial period spread across the
boundaries of civilizations, creating new communities with shared ideals. These newstyle communities combined urban and herding societies and spread throughout the
Eastern Hemisphere, providing new bases for interregional relations.
1
a. The Spread of Hellenism
Hellenism's spread outward from the Greek city-states received a major impetus from the
conquests of Alexander the Great (See 336) late in the 4th century B.C.E. From the
Mediterranean basin to northern India, Alexander's forces aided the spread of Hellenistic
ideas, urban structures, and political concepts. For three centuries, the successor states to
Alexander's empire developed Hellenistic institutions and ideas in the Middle East,
making them an important part of the general cultural framework in that region. In
northern India and central Asia, Greek themes blended with local traditions creating
distinctive cultural syntheses. This blend, which was reflected in art and sculpture,
reached a high point in the Buddhist sculpture of Gandhara in the 1st century C.E.
Hellenistic artistic influence has been traced as far east as China.
2
509–44 B.C.E
The ROMAN REPUBLIC emerged as the dominant force in the Mediterranean basin.
Roman culture was strongly influenced by Hellenism, especially after the Roman
conquest of Greece in the 2nd century B.C.E. In general terms, the Roman Empire was a
distinctive but clearly Hellenistic society by the 1st century B.C.E. Hellenism provided at
least some important artistic and cultural themes for societies all across the Eastern
Hemisphere.
3
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b. Buddhism
Buddhism (See South India) spread both north and south from India. Official support
from the Mauryan ruler Ashoka in the 3rd century B.C.E. and the active sending of
missionaries encouraged the spread of Buddhism.
1
200 B.C.E.–500 C.E
THERAVADA BUDDHISM was the early Buddhist form, and it spread to southern
India, Sri Lanka, and ultimately to the mainland territories and islands of Southeast Asia.
2
1st Century C.E
MAHAYANA BUDDHISM developed as a distinctive form of the faith in central
Eurasia and later China (See 200). Buddhist merchants and teachers interacted with
Greeks and Persians in central Asia and the Middle East, and Buddhism spread through
diaspora communities of merchants in many regions along the Silk Roads. It was brought
to China by the 1st century C.E., gradually winning converts and becoming very powerful
following the collapse of the Han dynasty. By 500 C.E., Buddhism was an important force
throughout more than half of the Eastern Hemisphere.
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c. Hinduism
Hinduism successfully transformed itself in the face of social change in India and
competition from other world-views, especially Buddhism. By 500 C.E. Hinduism was the
dominant world-view in India (See c. 274–c. 236). Although it was not formally a
missionary religion, its concepts and rituals spread with Indian merchants into Southeast
Asia where by 500 C.E. it became an important part of the world-views of royal courts in
Cambodia, Java, and elsewhere in the region (See Southeast Asia, c. 500 B.C.E.–500 C.E.).
1
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d. The Expansion of Christianity
Christianity began in the eastern Mediterranean at the heart of the Hellenistic world
among Jewish communities and in the context of the Roman Empire. It spread
throughout the Mediterranean basin and in Roman western Europe, competing with a
variety of other popular religions. As Christianity spread, it took a number of distinctive
forms.
1
312–395 C.E
ROMAN WESTERN CHRISTIANITY received official toleration and support from
emperors, leading to the Roman Empire becoming formally Christian. The Western
Church was centered in Rome where the Bishop of Rome as Pope claimed authority over
all Christians. The Roman-led Church expanded into western Europe and became the
dominant world-view in the whole region by the 7th to 8th centuries.
2
330–451 C.E
EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY developed in the older cities in the eastern
Mediterranean and had its center in Constantinople, proclaimed the capital of the Eastern
Roman Empire in 330 C.E. The Eastern Church did not accept the primacy of the Bishop
of Rome and developed doctrinally distinctive positions. It was the official church of the
Byzantine Empire and spread through missionary activity into the Middle East and the
Balkans. By the 6th century C.E. the Eastern Church was the dominant church in those
regions.
451 C.E
3
NESTORIAN CHURCH emerged as the independent tradition after the Council of
Chalcedon. This was part of the development of distinctive Christian church traditions in
Egypt and Ethiopia in Africa, in the territories of the Sassanid Empire, and eventually in
central Eurasia.
4
200 C.E.–500 C.E
THE CLASSICAL ECUMENE developed as an interacting set of empires, religious
communities, trade networks, and migrating peoples. Although imperial systems
collapsed in many areas by 500 C.E., the broader ecumene continued to expand.
5
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B. Kingdoms of Western Asia and Africa, to 323 B.C.E.
1. Periodization
The early civilizations of western Asia and northeast Africa took shape in the 4th
millennium B.C.E. Two major centers arose in Mesopotamia and Egypt, each with quite
different characteristics but recurrent contacts in war, trade, and culture. Mesopotamian
history was marked by recurrent invasions plus the formation of new empires and smaller
kingdoms; societies in contact with this civilization center fanned out in North Africa
(Carthage) and Asia Minor. The long period in the histories of both western Asia and
Egypt extends from the formation of civilizations to the conquests first of the Persians,
then of Alexander the Great.
1
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2. Mesopotamia, c. 3500–539 B.C.E.
a. Geography
Mesopotamia lay between and around the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. The region
reaches from the Taurus Mountains to the Persian Gulf and from the Syrian Desert to
the Zagros Mountains and splits into Upper and Lower Mesopotamia at the point where
the rivers come closest together, near ancient Babylon and modern Baghdad. Upper
Mesopotamia is a large piedmont zone flanked by semiarid highlands. In the west, the
Balikh and the Khabur flow south to the Euphrates, and in the east, the Great Zab and
the Little Zab flow west from the Zagros into the Tigris. Lower Mesopotamia is an
alluvial plain, and the Tigris and Euphrates form frequent lakes and marshes. The ancient
shoreline of the Persian Gulf probably lay farther north than at present.
1
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b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
The staple crops in Mesopotamia were wheat and barley, along with the date palm.
Drainage canals and irrigation works made the interior plain of Lower Mesopotamia
highly productive, but irrigation led to salinization of the soil and decreased arable land.
In Upper Mesopotamia the rivers flow through deep valleys, and irrigation of the interior
was not possible. Agriculture was confined to the river valleys, and the interior was used
primarily for pastoralism (See First Farmers in the Near East). The region had few
natural resources, except bitumen, but finished goods, such as textiles and metalwork,
were exported. Originally, economic activity centered around temples, but eventually,
kings and private individuals engaged in large-scale agriculture and trade.
1
Technological advances in Mesopotamia during the early civilization period (by
3000–2500 B.C.E.) included the use of bronze for tools and weapons. Copper had been
introduced earlier, but mixing it with tin for bronze created much stronger equipment;
bronze use also prompted wider trade relations to gain access to metal ores. The
introduction of plows increased crop yields. The wheel was probably imported by
migrants from central Asia like the early Hurrians (See c. 1700–1500). The potter's
wheel, invented by 6000 B.C.E., was further improved, an early sign of craft
specialization.
2
Architecture was sophisticated, but since most building was done in mud-brick,
examples have not survived as well as stone counterparts in Egypt and Greece. Immense
ziggurats (stepped temple platforms) and large palaces were built, and even private
houses had drainage systems. Writing first developed in Mesopotamia. Its origins lay in
clay tokens, used to count cattle as early as the 8th millennium. True writing (as opposed
to pictographs) appeared around 3500 B.C.E. Writing was done on clay with sharp reeds,
producing the wedgelike cuneiform script. Originally used to write Sumerian, cuneiform
was later adapted to Akkadian, Elamite, Hittite, Hurrian, Eblaite, Ugaritic (Canaanite),
and Old Persian. Many Sumerian and Akkadian myths survive, the best known being the
Gilgamesh Epic, describing the legendary exploits of a king of Uruk, fragments of which
go back to the early second millennium. The King Lists provide important historical
material, running, with some gaps, from around 2700 down to the 1st century B.C.E.
Economic and legal texts, letters, and scholarly works such as dictionaries, grammar
3
books, and mathematical texts also survive. Mathematical texts contain tables of cube
roots, exponential functions, and Pythagorean numbers. The Sumerians and Akkadians
normally used a sexagesimal numbering system, the basis of our division of the hour and
minute into 60 units.
Mesopotamian society was organized around city-states. In early Sumerian times, a
priest-king (en) ruled as a representative of the city's god, assisted by an assembly of
citizens or elders. Later, as multicity states formed, a king (Sumerian lugal, Akkadian
sharrum) reigned, and each individual city was administered by a governor (ensi or
ishiakkum). Sumerian and Akkadian religion eventually formed a common pantheon,
and most gods had both a Sumerian and an Akkadian name. An (Akkadian Anu) was the
first king of the gods, later replaced by the Lord of the Air, Enlil, and ultimately by
Marduk, the city god of Babylon. Other major gods were Enki (Ea), god of wisdom;
Ninmah, mother of all life; Nanna (Sin) the moon; Utu (Shamash) the sun; Inanna
(Ishtar) the star Venus; her husband, the shepherd god Dumuzi (Tammuz); and Ninurta
(Adad), the god of war. During the five-day New Year's festival (Sumerian zagmuk,
Akkadian akitu), a sacred marriage was performed between Enlil (later Marduk), in the
person of the king, and a priestess representing Inanna/Ishtar, ensuring fertility and the
return of spring.
4
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c. The Sumerians and the Akkadians
c. 3500–2900
THE PROTOLITERATE PERIOD.
1
c. 3500–3100
THE URUK CULTURE. It is uncertain whether the Sumerians were native to
Mesopotamia or if they migrated into the region from the east or south sometime after
4000 B.C.E. In any case, Semitic (Akkadian) elements in the earliest texts suggest an
early mixing of ethnic groups. In the Uruk period, the population of Sumer was
probably several hundred thousand, with some settlements large enough to be called
cities (over 10,000 in population). The stepped temple platform (ziggurat) and cylinder
seals so characteristic of Mesopotamian culture developed. The first known writing, a
small limestone tablet, comes from Kish and is dated to c. 3500. At Uruk several
hundred clay tablets have been found, most dating to c. 3200–3100. These, like the tablet
from Kish, are too primitive to be read, but appear to be economic documents.
2
c. 3100–2900
THE JEMDET NASR CULTURE (Early Bronze Age). Tablets from Jemdet Nasr
sites are clearly written in Sumerian, and almost all are economic texts. Bronze was
first utilized in Mesopotamia and there is evidence of extensive overseas trade.
Mesopotamian influence appeared in predynastic Upper Egypt, the so-called
Mesopotamian Stimulation (See c. 3500–3100).
c. 2900–2370
3
THE EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD.
4
2900–2700
EARLY DYNASTIC I. The Sumerian King List names eight antediluvian kings who
reigned for tens of thousands of years, but it is not known if these names have any
historical basis. The royal tombs of Ur contain the graves of Meskalamdug and
Akalamdug, among others, which probably date to this period.
5
2700–2600
EARLY DYNASTIC II. According to the King Lists, the first dynasty after the Great
Flood (recorded in the Gilgamesh Epic) was the 1st Dynasty of Kish. The last two
kings, Enmebaragesi and his son Agga, are the first rulers attested in contemporary
inscriptions. According to the King List, “kingship” (namlugal) then passed to the 1st
Dynasty of Uruk, which included Enmerkar, Lugalbanda, and Gilgamesh, heroes of
epic tradition, and finally to the 1st Dynasty of Ur. Epigraphic evidence, however,
shows that these dynasties (and a dynasty at Mari) were all contemporary and date to c.
2700–2600 B.C.E. Many rulers known from contemporary inscriptions are not found in
the King Lists.
6
2600–2370
EARLY DYNASTIC III. The King Lists record eleven more dynasties before Sargon
of Akkad, but, except for the 3rd dynasty of Uruk, little is known of them, and many
were probably contemporaneous. The 1st Dynasty of Lagash (Telloh) is well known
from inscriptions, though not mentioned in the King List. It started with Mesilim (c.
2600), but it was Eannatum (c. 2500) who conquered much of Sumer, extending
Lagash's power into Elam and Mari. Uru-inim-gina of Lagash (2378–2371) was the
earliest known social reformer: he established “freedom” (amargi) in the land, the first
recorded use of the term in a political sense. The 3rd Dynasty of Uruk had only one
king: Lugal-zagesi (2371–2347). Beginning his career as Governor (ensi) of Umma, he
defeated Lagash and took the title King of Uruk. Lugal-zagesi claimed to rule from the
Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean, though this is doubtful. Under his rule, Akkadians
began to rise to high positions in government. The population of Mesopotamia
probably reached half a million in this period.
7
2371–2190
THE DYNASTY OF AKKAD. Sargon the Great (Sharru-kin, 2371–2316) rose from
obscure origins to become cupbearer to Ur-zababa, king of Kish. Rebelling, he built the
city of Agade or Akkad (whose site has not been located) and proclaimed himself king.
After defeating Lugal-zagesi of Uruk (c. 2347), he conquered the rest of Sumer. Sargon
installed his daughter Enheduanna as high priestess at Ur. Enheduanna's hymns to
Inanna have survived, making her history's first known author. Sargon went on to
conquer Upper Mesopotamia, the Amorites (Amurru or “Westerners”) in Syria, Elam,
and Subartu (Assyria). Later legends fancifully describe conquests of Anatolia and
Crete, but Sargon's empire certainly ranged from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean.
Sargon's sons Rimush (2315–2307) and Manishtushu (2306–2292) faced constant
revolts: both died in palace coups. Naram-Sin (2291–2255) brought the kingdom of
Akkad to its zenith. He was the first Mesopotamian king to claim divinity, as well as the
first to be called “King of the Four Quarters” (that is, the World). Defeating the
powerful state of Ebla in Syria, he extended his empire to Anatolia. Under Shar-kalisharri (2254–2230), Gutian tribes from the Zagros began raiding into Mesopotamia.
Shar-kali-sharri was assassinated, and after him came a period of anarchy. An
independent 4th Dynasty of Uruk broke away and ruled parts of Lower Mesopotamia.
Around 2190, Akkad fell to the Gutians.
8
c. 2230–2114
THE GUTIANS. The King List records 21 Gutian kings, though most of them were
probably local chiefs with only limited authority. Some cities, such as Lagash and
Uruk, became independent, though their rulers retained the title of governor (ensi).
Gudea of Lagash left inscriptions which contain the most important texts in classical
Sumerian. Around 2114, Utu-Hegal of Uruk (2120–2114), drove the Gutians out of
Sumer but died soon after.
9
2113–2004
3rd DYNASTY OF UR: The Sumerian Renaissance. Ur-nammu (2113–2096) of Ur
proclaimed himself king and soon conquered all of Sumer and Akkad. He built and
renovated many public buildings, including the enormous temple of Nanna at Ur, best
preserved of Mesopotamian ziggurats. Ur-nammu, whose stated purpose was to establish
“justice in the land,” is best known for his law code. The reestablishment of central
control led to a rise in population: Mesopotamia probably had about one million
10
inhabitants at the beginning of the second millennium. Shulgi (2095–2048) brought the
empire of Ur III to its height. He conquered Elam and Upper Mesopotamia and, like the
Akkadian kings, he proclaimed himself the divine “King of the Four Quarters.” ShuSin (2038–2030) built a 150-mile-long wall between the rivers to defend against the
encroaching Amorites. Nevertheless, in the reign of Ibbi-Sin (2029–2006) the Amorites
invaded and established independent states in Lower Mesopotamia. In 2025, Larsa
became autonomous under Naplanum, and in 2017 Ishbi-Erra established a dynasty at
Isin. Eshnunna and Elam also broke away. In 2004, the Elamites attacked and destroyed
Ur (See 2230–c. 1925).
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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d. The Amorite Kingdoms
2004–1763
THE ISIN-LARSA PERIOD.
1
2017–1794
THE DYNASTY OF ISIN. Late in his reign, Ishbi-Erra (2017–1985), king of Isin,
drove the Elamites from Ur. Ishme-Dagan (1953–1935) was a social reformer, and
Lipit-Ishtar (1934–1924) left behind an important early law code. After nine more
kings, Damiq-ilishu (1816–1794) ruled as the last king of Isin.
2
2025–1763
THE DYNASTY OF LARSA. Naplanum was king of Larsa from 2025–2005, but it
was Samium (1976–1942) who established Larsa as a rival power to Isin. After a dynasty
of ten more kings, Rimsin (1822–1763) brought Larsa to its largest extent, defeating
Damiq-ilishu of Isin and unifying Lower Mesopotamia.
3
c. 2000–1763
Amorite and Elamite Dynasties. While not mentioned in the King List, inscriptions
show an independent dynasty at Eshnunna, some with Elamite names. Indeed, under
Naram-Sin (c. 1830), Eshnunna and Assyria may have been united. Other independent
Amorite dynasties ruled in Kazallu, Sippar, Uruk, Kish, Marad, and, most importantly, at
Babylon.
4
c. 1900–1741
OLD ASSYRIAN PERIOD.
5
c. 1900–1813
THE DYNASTY OF PUZUR-ASHUR. The Assyrians probably originated as a
nomadic tribe. The city of Ashur (Qalat Sharquat) is first mentioned in the reign of
Sargon of Akkad (c. 2350). Around 1950 Puzur-Ashur I built the city's wall, and c.
1900, an Assyrian trading colony (karum) was established at Kanesh in Anatolia, where
tens of thousands of cuneiform tablets have been discovered. The Assyrian king NaramSin (c. 1830) may be the same as a contemporaneous king Naram-Sin of Eshnunna, and
the two kingdoms may have united under him. In any case, Naram-Sin expanded
Assyria's rule to the west. In 1813, an Amorite prince, Shamshi-Adad, overthrew
Erishum II (c. 1814) to become king of Assyria.
6
1813–1741
THE DYNASTY OF SHAMSHI-ADAD. Shamshi-Adad I (1813–1781) conquered
Mari and expanded Assyrian power to the west. His son, Ishme-Dagan (1780–1741),
invaded Babylonia, in alliance with Elam, Eshnunna, and the Gutians but was defeated by
Hammurapi the Great. After Ishme-Dagan's death came a series of usurpations, and
Assyria declined into 400 years of obscurity.
7
1830–1531
1ST DYNASTY OF BABYLON (Old Babylonian Empire). The 1st Dynasty of
Babylon was established under Sumu-abum (1894–1881). By the reign of Sin-muballit
(1812–1793) the city controlled a region running for 60 miles along the Euphrates.
Hammurapi the Great (1792–1750) took Uruk and Isin soon after his accession to the
throne. For over 20 years, he concentrated on building and irrigation projects, organized a
centralized administration, and issued the famous Law Code of Hammurapi. In 1764,
Babylon was attacked by a coalition of Elam, Assyria, the Gutians, and Eshnunna, but
Hammurapi defeated the coalition, annexed Eshnunna and Elam, and expanded the
empire to the borders of Assyria and the Zagros. The Babylonian king then took Larsa,
made it his southern capital, and in 1759 defeated Mari and tore down its walls. In
8
1757–1755, Hammurapi defeated another Assyrian invasion, and when Eshnunna
revolted it was destroyed. Hammurapi now controlled all of Mesopotamia, with the
exception of Assyria. In this period the Amorites completely assimilated into Akkadian
culture, adopting their language, religion, and culture. Two dialects of Akkadian were
spoken, Babylonian in the south, and Assyrian in the north—Sumerian survived only in
scholarly writing. Marduk, god of Babylon, replaced Enlil as king of the gods. The
Marduk temple complex in Babylon was expanded, including the great ziggurat Etemen-an-ki (“House of the Foundation of Heaven and Earth”): the biblical Tower of
Babel (Gen. 11:1–9).
1749–1595
Decline of the Babylonian Empire. In the reign of Samsuiluna (1749–1712), the
Kassites (Kassu) made their first inroads into Babylonia, and the Sealands (the coastal
region on the Persian Gulf) broke away from the empire. Under Abieshu` (1711–1684)
and Ammiditana (1683–1647), the Kassites again attacked Babylon, but were driven off.
Ammisaduqa (1646–1626) made internal reforms, forgiving debt and freeing debtslaves. Samsuditana (1625–1595) ruled for 30 years in relative peace, but in 1595 the
Hittite King Mursilis marched into Mesopotamia and captured and plundered Babylon
(See c. 1680–1500). The Hittites did not remain, but Babylonian authority was broken,
allowing the Kassite seizure of power.
9
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e. The Kassites, the Hurrians, and the Arameans
c. 1700–1600
KASSITE INVASIONS. In the 17th century, the Kassites (Kassu) gradually moved into
Babylonia from the northeast. After the Hittite raid on Babylon in 1595, the Kassites took
the city.
1
1595–1150
THE KASSITE DYNASTY. Burnaburiash I (c. 1500) signed a treaty with PuzurAshur III (1521–1498) of Assyria, fixing their common boundaries. From this time,
Upper Mesopotamia was known as Assyria and Lower Mesopotamia as Babylonia.
Ulamburiash (c. 1450) took over the Sealands and Kurigalzu I (c. 1400), the strongest of
the Kassites, conquered Elam and entered into an alliance with Amenophis III of Egypt
(See 1402–1364). During the reign of Kashtiliash IV (1242–1235), Babylonia was
conquered by the Assyrians, but after seven years, its independence was recovered. In
1160, the Assyrians conquered the Lower Zab region, and the Elamites took Babylon
itself, carrying off spoils, including the Code of Hammurapi to Susa. Enlil-nadin-ahhi
(1159–1139) was the last Kassite king of Babylon.
2
1156–1025
2nd DYNASTY OF ISIN. After the Kassite defeat, a new dynasty arose in Isin under
Marduk-kabit-ahheshu (1156–1139) which eventually retook Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar I (Nabu-kudduri-usur, 1124–1103) even conquered Elam. TiglathPileser I of Assyria defeated Marduk-nadin-ahhe (1098–1081) and conquered Babylonia
(See 1365–1078). By the end of the second millennium, the population of Mesopotamia
was probably around 1.25 million.
3
c. 1700–1500
THE HURRIAN INVASION. The Hurrians had lived in Mesopotamia in small
numbers from the late 3rd millennium, but the major Hurrian invasion of the region began
around 1700. By 1500, they had penetrated into all of Mesopotamia, as well as SyriaPalestine and eastern Anatolia. There are indications that they had been influenced by
Aryans somewhere outside the Near East. The Hurrians worshipped gods later associated
with the Iranians and Indians (such as Mithra and Varuna) (See Economy, Technology,
Society, and Culture)—the names of some Hurrian rulers and certain technical
expressions in Hurrian texts (particularly in connection with the chariot) are IndoEuropean. The Hurrians adopted Mesopotamian religion and culture, utilizing
Babylonian as an administrative language and cuneiform script to write the Hurrian
language. Despite the large number of surviving texts, the Hurrian language remains
undeciphered.
4
c. 1550–1250
THE KINGDOM OF MITANNI. Sudarna I (c. 1550) created the Hurrian Kingdom of
Mitanni with its capital at Washukanni on the Khabur River. Saustatar (c. 1500)
expanded the kingdom, and eventually, the kings of Mitanni ruled all of Upper
Mesopotamia and much of Syria, from the Orontes to the Little Zab. In 1475, Tuthmosis
III conquered Syria and pillaged Mitanni, but Egyptian control did not extend east of the
Euphrates (See 1490–1426). Both Artadama I (c. 1450) and Sudarna II (c. 1400) made
marriage alliances with the Egyptians. After Sudarna's death, a civil war broke out
between his two sons, Tushratta (c. 1390–1370) and Artadama II, and was continued
by their sons Matiwaza and Sudarna III. This infighting, and the plundering of
Washukanni by the Hittites (See c. 1680–1500), led to the kingdom's decline. Finally,
Ashur-uballit I of Assyria attacked Mitanni and pillaged it. Shalmeneser I defeated the
last Hurrian king, Shattuara II, and the Hurrians were absorbed into the Assyrian
Empire around 1270.
5
1365–1078
THE MIDDLE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE. Ashur-uballit I (1365–1330) expanded the
Assyrian domain to the north and west and corresponded with Amenophis IV
(Akhenaten) of Egypt as an equal (See 1402–1364). Adad-Nirari I (1307–1275) defeated
the Babylonians and conquered the Hurrian city-states. Shalmaneser I (1275–1245)
continued his predecessors' energetic campaigns of conquest, fighting in the far north
6
against Urartu and again crushing the Hurrians, annexing their lands. He conquered the
lands up to Carchemish, but an Egyptian-Hittite treaty signed in 1283, which divided
Syria between them, frustrated the Assyrians' westward movement. Tukulti-Ninurta I
(1244–1208), the biblical Nimrod (Gen. 10:8–12), conquered Babylon, but only held it
for seven years. Tukulti-Ninurta also promulgated the Middle Assyrian law-code, a
continuation of the Sumerian and Babylonian legal tradition and built a new capital, KarTukulti-Ninurta (Tulul el-Aqir), across the Tigris from Ashur. Tukulti-Ninurta was
murdered by his son in a palace coup, and Assyria entered into an 85-year period of
weakness. When the invasion of the Sea Peoples around 1200 destroyed the Hittite
Empire and pushed the Egyptians out of Asia, and created a power vacuum in the region,
Tiglath-Pileser I (Tukulti-apal-eser, 1115–1077) quickly took advantage of the situation.
In a series of campaigns, he conquered a large empire from the Zagros to the
Mediterranean, and from Babylon north to Urartu. Tiglath-Pileser initiated the policy of
ruthless warfare, mass executions, and the deportation of civilian populations, which
became characteristic of Assyrian conquest.
1078–977
THE ARAMEAN INVASIONS. In the 11th century, Aramean tribes from the Syrian
desert, including the Chaldeans (Kaldu), invaded Mesopotamia. The Assyrians were
driven back into Assyria proper, and Babylonia was overrun and broken up into small
tribal states. The coastal region retained its independence from 1024–1004 under the
2nd Sealand Dynasty, but subsequently this area was conquered by the Chaldeans, who
ruled southernmost Babylonia.
7
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f. The Neo-Assyrians and the Neo-Babylonians
934–824
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NEO-ASSYRIAN EMPIRE. Ashurdan II
(934–912) built up a new Assyrian Empire. Further conquests were carried out by Adadnirari II (911–890), Tukulti-Ninurta II (890–884), and Ashur-nasir-apli II
(883–859), by which time the Assyrians again ruled from the Tigris to the
Mediterranean, and from Lake Van to the borders of Babylonia. Ashur-nasir-apli was
the chief architect of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, developing its centralized bureaucracy
and building Kalah (Nimrud) as a capital. Its palaces and temples combined traditional
Mesopotamian mud-brick architecture with monumental stone sculptures and wallreliefs.
1
858–824
THE REIGN OF SHALMENESER III. Shalmeneser III began integrating conquered
areas into the empire as provinces. Vassals, who could not yet be wholly subjugated,
paid tribute. Shalmeneser moved west to conquer the Aramean kingdoms of Syria.
Though initially stopped at the Battle of Qarqar (853) by a coalition of Hamath,
Damascus, and Israel, in 842 Shalmeneser captured Damascus and received tribute from
Tyre and from Israel (See 885–841). He defeated Kizzuwatna (Cilicia) and Urartu,
“washing his weapons” in Lake Van. After Shalmeneser's death, there was a civil war
between two of his sons, which led to a period of Urartian domination.
2
824–745
URARTIAN DOMINATION OF ASSYRIA. Shamshi-Adad V (823–811) took the
throne after defeating his brother, though parts of the empire were lost. He was
succeeded by his minor son, Adad-nirari III (810–783). For the first four years of the
3
child's reign, his mother Sammuramat (Greek Semiramis) ruled as regent. Adad-nirari
briefly reimposed tribute on the western states, including Israel, but increasingly Assyria
retreated before Urartu. Commagene and Melitene in southern Anatolia and Carchemish
in Syria came under Urartian control, and Assyria became practically a vassal of
Urartu.
745–626
THE HEIGHT OF THE NEO-ASSYRIAN EMPIRE.
4
744–727
THE REIGN OF TIGLATH-PILESER III. The youngest son of Adad-nirari III,
Tiglath-Pileser III introduced the last and greatest period of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
In the years 743–738, the Urartians and their Neo-Hittite allies were defeated at the
Battle of Arpad, as was a coalition of Aramean kings under the leadership of Judah. In
735, Tiglath-Pileser III defeated the Urartians again and annexed the region around Lake
Urmia. He then subdued Damascus and Israel, annexing all of Damascus's territory and
the Israelite provinces of Gilead and Galilee, all of which were made into Assyrian
provinces (See 752–722). In 731, a revolt broke out in Babylonia, and after crushing it,
Tiglath-Pileser named himself king of Babylon.
5
726–705
SHALMENESER V AND SARGON II. Upon taking the throne, Shalmeneser V
(726–722) was immediately faced with a new rebellion in the west. Both Tyre and
Samaria, the capital of Israel, were besieged. Samaria fell late in 722 after a three-year
siege (shortly before the death of Shalmeneser), but Tyre held out. When Sargon II
(721–705) mounted the throne, another revolt broke out in Babylon under MerodachBaladan II, which Sargon failed to quell initially. In 720, Sargon moved west,
reconquering Hamath, Samaria, Ekron, and Gaza. King Ahaz of Judah paid tribute and
Tyre finally capitulated after a five-year siege (See 768–715). In 717–716, Sargon took
and annexed Carchemish and defeated the Egyptians at Raphia, the farthest west the
Assyrians had yet penetrated. Urartu was again crushed in 714, and in 712 the Assyrians
took Ashdod and annexed Philistia. Finally, in 709, the revolt in Babylon was
suppressed, and Merodach-Baladan went into exile in Elam. Sargon built a new capital,
which he named Dur-Sharrukin (Khorsabad).
6
704–681
The REIGN OF SENNACHERIB (Sin-ahhi-eriba). In 703 Merodach-Baladan II
again seized power in Babylon, and though Sennacherib quickly put down the revolt,
resistance continued for the next 13 years. Sennacherib campaigned to the north, taking
tribute from the Medes, then west, defeating the Egyptians at the Battle of Elteqeh in
701. Next it was Judah's turn and Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem. But when King
Hezekiah paid tribute, the Assyrians broke off the siege (See 715–640). In 689, Babylon
revolted again, with Elamite assistance, but was sacked and burnt to the ground.
Sennacherib transformed Nineveh, on the east bank of the Tigris, into a city of
unparalleled splendor, and it remained the Assyrian capital until the end of the empire.
In the 7th century, the population of Mesopotamia reached a height (until modern
times) of around 2 million inhabitants. Sennacherib's eldest son had died before him, so
he designated his youngest son Esarhaddon as heir. This led to a revolt by his older
sons, and the king's assassination.
7
680–669
THE REIGN OF ESARHADDON. With the active assistance of his mother, Naqia
(Greek Nitocris), Esarhaddon put down the revolt by his brothers. He then rebuilt
Babylon and made one of his sons Shamash-shum-ukin its king; he gave another son,
Ashurbanipal, the title king of Assyria. While Scythian and Cimmerian tribes appeared
on Assyria's northern border, Esarhaddon was preoccupied with plans to conquer
Egypt. The first Assyrian invasion of Egypt (674–673) was unsuccessful, but
Esarhaddon struck with full force in 671, routed the Pharaoh Taharka, and took
Memphis (See 747–656). In 669, Esarhaddon went to Egypt to prepare for an invasion of
Ethiopia, but he fell sick and died.
8
668–627
THE REIGN OF ASHURBANIPAL. Ashurbanipal was both a great military
commander and a patron of arts and letters. His palace reliefs are among the finest
examples of Assyrian art, and he gathered a great library of tablets, which remains one
of our main sources for knowledge of Sumero-Akkadian literature. The king boasted he
could read and write the cuneiform script. Ashurbanipal attacked Egypt and, in two
campaigns (667–666 and 664–663), defeated Pharaoh Taharka and his son
9
Tenuatamun and extended Assyrian power as far south as Thebes (See 747–656). In
652, Shamash-shuma-ukin tried to overthrow his brother with Elamite help, and civil
war raged until 648, when Shamash-shuma-ukin finally surrendered in Babylon. Susa
was taken and sacked in 639, but the civil wars had revealed Assyria's weakness to its
enemies.
626–609
THE LAST DAYS OF ASSYRIA. The Assyrian Empire collapsed quickly. There was
apparently a revolt on Ashurbanipal's death, and his son Ashur-etil-ilani (626) ruled
only a few months. The usurper, Sin-shum-lishar (626), also kept the throne only a
short period. At this point, the Chaldean Nabopolassar declared himself king of
Babylon. Sin-shar-ishkun (626–612), another son of Ashurbanipal, took back the
throne of Assyria and stabilized the internal situation. Soon, however, Cyaxares, king
of the Medes, and the Babylonian king, Nabopolassar, joined forces to attack Assyria.
After a protracted struggle, Nineveh fell in 612 and was completely destroyed. An
Assyrian noble, Ashur-uballit II (611–609) proclaimed himself king at Harran in Syria.
The Babylonians took Harran in 610, however, and an attempt by the Assyrians, now
allied to the Egyptians, to retake the city failed. Ashur-uballit died in obscurity.
10
977–626
8TH AND 9TH DYNASTIES OF BABYLON. After a period of political confusion,
Nabu-mukin-apli (977–942) reestablished an 8th Dynasty of Babylon, though his rule
did not extend far beyond the city itself. While unimportant politically, Babylon
continued to be a cultural and intellectual center. Under Nabonassar (Nabu-nasir,
747–734) an important calendar reform was instituted in which the monthly lunar cycle
was reconciled with the solar year, a standard system still used in the Jewish calendar. In
731 an Aramean dynasty came to power under Nabu-mukin-zeri (731–729), and the
first use of Aramaic is attested in Babylonian documents. The Assyrians conquered
Babylon in 728, but the Chaldean King Merodach-Baladan II (Marduk-apal-iddina)
drove them out. From 710 to 626, Chaldean kings, often supported by Elam, alternated
with Assyrian rulers (See c. 820–640).
11
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3. Egypt, c. 3500–332 B.C.E.
a. Geography
EGYPT consisted of two parts: Upper (southern) and Lower (northern) Egypt. Upper
Egypt was made up of a long and narrow strip of land, no more than 13 miles wide, on
both banks of the Nile River. It stretched for 750 miles from Lake Moeris and the Fayum
Depression upriver to the First Cataract (waterfall), the border with Nubia. The major
cities of Upper Egypt were Nennusu (Heracleopolis), Khmun (Hermopolis), Abydos,
and Thebes. A dry riverbed, the Wadi Hammamat, extended overland from Upper
Egypt to the Red Sea. Lower Egypt was the Nile Delta formed by the seven branches of
the river which flowed into the Mediterranean. The Delta contained two-thirds of Egypt's
arable land and was where most of the principal cities of Lower Egypt lay: Avaris, Tanis
(later Pi-Ramses), Sais, and Bubastis. Lower Egypt did contain a small portion of the
Nile itself, including the cities of On (Heliopolis) and Memphis.
1
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b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
Egypt receives virtually no rainfall, and agriculture depended on the annual flood of the
Nile, which deposited fertile mud on the fields and provided water for irrigation. This
ensured a large and fairly constant surplus of crops, though famines were not unknown.
The main staple was barley, which provided both bread and beer. A wide variety of fruits
and vegetables were raised, and flax was grown to produce linen, while cattle and sheep
furnished meat. Mines in the Sinai provided copper, those in Nubia gold, and marble
was quarried in the Eastern Desert. The Nile provided easy communication, both with
the Mediterranean and along the length of the country; the Wadi Hammamat connected
the country with the Red Sea. As a result, Egypt was an entrepôt for trade to and from
East Africa, Arabia, the eastern Mediterranean, and western Asia.
1
Public architecture was in stone from an early period, but most houses were built of
mud-brick. The earliest examples of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, recently discovered,
date to 3300–3200 B.C.E. Starting in the Middle Kingdom, a cursive form of writing was
developed called hieratic. In the late period an even more cursive writing came into use,
called demotic, or “popular” writing. Much of Egyptian writing survives carved or
painted on the walls of tombs, but the dry climate has also preserved texts on papyrus. In
addition to administrative documents and letters, considerable Egyptian literature has
survived: quasi historical tales (such as the Tale of Sinuhe), mythological and religious
works, books of prophecy and wisdom literature, mathematical and scientific texts, even
pornography. Historical texts include both monumental inscriptions and king lists, such
as the Palermo Stone and the Turin Canon. In addition, a continuous, though not
always accurate, king list is provided by Manetho, who wrote a history of Egypt in
Greek around 250 B.C.E. It was Manetho who divided the kings into “dynasties.”
2
Egyptian government was highly centralized and society strictly hierarchical: proper
order in the kingdom, expressed by the term ma`at, was thought to ensure national wellbeing. The Egyptian king was considered the link between the gods and his people. The
king was identified with the god Horus (and had a Horus name in addition to his
personal name), but when he died became the god Osiris, lord of the underworld. By the
5th Dynasty, the king was also considered the son of Ra, the sun god. The title
“pharaoh” only came to refer to the Egyptian king in the New Kingdom. Although the
3
institution of the monarchy was divine, popular literature often portrayed the king in an
irreverent way. The king technically owned all the land in Egypt, and the palace
administered the economy as well as political affairs. The vizier, a sort of prime minister,
headed a vast bureaucracy which administered the country down to the village level.
Upper and Lower Egypt each had their own governors, and the land was further
subdivided into nomes or districts: 20 in Lower Egypt and 22 in Upper Egypt. Wealth
and power were generally hereditary, though commoners could rise in the scribal
bureaucracy and the army. Egyptian women had a very high degree of independence
compared to other ancient societies: they could own property, make contracts, and
divorce their husbands by a simple act of repudiation.
Religion was also centrally organized and headed by an “Overseer of all the Prophets
of the Gods,” a post sometimes held by the vizier and sometimes by the High Priest of
Amun. The temples controlled large tracts of land and were important economic centers.
Each region had its own patron deity, but eventually the Egyptians placed local gods in a
hierarchy and developed a common religion. Religion was closely tied to politics: when
Memphis was the capital, its god Ptah was paramount; the rising importance of
Heliopolis gave Ra his importance; and finally, the ascendancy of Thebes is reflected in
the New Kingdom emphasis on Amun. Egyptian gods commonly had mixed human and
animal form: the ibis-headed god Thoth, falcon-headed god Horus, and jackal-headed
god Anubis are examples. Under Amenophis IV, who renamed himself Akhenaten, the
sun disk Aten was worshipped as the only god, but this solar monotheism was
abandoned soon after Akhenaten's death. The worship of Isis, originally the deified
throne, but later a mother-goddess, became popular only in the Late Dynastic Period.
4
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(1st–11th Dynasties)
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c. The Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period (1st–11th
Dynasties)
c. 3500–3100
THE GERZEAN CULTURE. Gerzean sites are found in both Lower and Upper Egypt
(See Egypt and Sub-Saharan Africa). Both copper and pottery were in common use, and
tomb wall paintings appear for the first time. Irrigation-based agriculture was
introduced, and this is reflected in a dramatic growth in population: from
approximately 200,000 at the beginning of the period to over a million at its end.
Egyptian art, architecture, and hieroglyphic writing developed in their earliest forms.
These advances were influenced, to some extent, by contacts with the Sumerian
culture—the Mesopotamian Stimulation (See c. 3100–2900). At the beginning of the
period, the various nomes were probably independent states, but by the end there were
two kingdoms: Lower Egypt with a capital at Pe in the northwest Delta and Upper
Egypt ruled either from Nekhen (Hierakonpolis) or This (near Abydos). At some point,
King Scorpion of Upper Egypt conquered part of the Delta region.
1
c. 3100–2686
THE PROTODYNASTIC PERIOD.
2
c. 3100–2890
1st Dynasty. Menes, whose Horus name was Narmer, was the king of Upper Egypt
who conquered Lower Egypt, united the two lands and built the city of Memphis, near
the border, as his capital. A palace bureaucracy developed, and artists and craftsmen
were employed by the royal court. Other 1st Dynasty kings were Djer, Djet, Den, Aha
(who invaded Nubia), and a queen, Merneith.
3
c. 2890–2686
2nd Dynasty. Virtually nothing is known of this dynasty except the names of its kings,
and it is unclear what divided it from the previous dynasty. Hetep was the first king of
the 2nd Dynasty, and Khasekhemwy was the last. The latter was the first king to have a
stone burial chamber in his tomb.
4
c. 2686–2181
THE OLD KINGDOM.
5
c. 2686–2613
3rd Dynasty. What divided the 2nd and 3rd Dynasties is also unclear—the 3rd
Dynasty's first king Nebka may have been related to the previous rulers. Inscriptions of
Nebka have been found at Byblos in Phoenicia, indicating overseas trade (See
Geography). The most famous king of this dynasty was Djoser, who built the famous
Step Pyramid at Saqqara. The architect of this edifice was Imhotep, who was later
worshipped as a god. The kings of the 3rd Dynasty campaigned in the Sinai, defeating
the nomadic chieftains who ruled there.
6
c. 2613–2494
4th Dynasty. Snefru fought successful wars against the Nubians and Libyans, further
developed the sea trade in cedar with Byblos, and began the serious exploitation of
turquoise from the Sinai. His successor, Khufru (Cheops) is best known for building the
Great Pyramid at Giza. Originally 481.4 ft. high, it covered an area of about 13 acres
and contained 2,300,000 blocks of stone, each weighing an average of 2.5 tons. Khafre
(Chephren) built the second pyramid at Giza (473.5 ft. high), as well as the enormous
human-headed lion, the Sphinx, called Herakhte (“Horus of the Horizon”) by the
Egyptians. Menkaure (Mycerinus) built the third pyramid of Giza (219.5 ft. high). In the
3rd and 4th Dynasties the idea of divine kingship developed, as did the classical
Egyptian canons of art and architecture. There were remarkable advances in
mathematics and medicine, the latter including diagnostic techniques and systematic
treatment. In the Old Kingdom the population of Egypt was between 1.5 and 2 million.
7
c. 2494–2345
5th Dynasty. The 5th Dynasty witnessed the rise of the Heliopolitan priesthood of Ra:
its nine kings regularly assumed the title “son of Ra” and built obelisk temples dedicated
to the sun god. Sahurre defeated the Libyans and organized trading expeditions to
Punt (Somalia) and the “Turquoise Land” in the Sinai. Under Unas, the last king of the
dynasty, the first Pyramid Texts appear, although they contain much earlier material,
some dating from predynastic times.
8
c. 2345–2181
6th Dynasty. Uni, a general of Pepy I, campaigned in Palestine, perhaps as far north as
Mount Carmel (See c. 3100–2000), and Merenre I took the homage of Nubian chiefs
south of the First Cataract. Especially after the reign of Pepy II, the rulers of the
nomes assumed more independence and often ruled as feudal lords. The eighth and last
ruler of the dynasty was Queen Nitokerti (Nitocris), the sister and widow of Merenre
II.
9
c. 2181–2133
THE FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD. According to Manetho, the 7th Dynasty (c.
2181–2173) had 70 kings in 70 days, obviously a fiction but representative of the
unstable conditions of the First Intermediate Period. For much of this period there was
strife between nobles of Heracleopolis (Nennesu) in Lower Egypt and Thebes (Waset)
in Upper Egypt. The 8th Dynasty (c. 2173–2160), comprised of six kings, still ruled
from Memphis. In the 9th Dynasty (c. 2160–2130), the capital moved to Heracleopolis,
althoughthe kings were still buried at Memphis. Toward the end of the 9th Dynasty, the
country was divided in two, the 10th Dynasty (c. 2130–2040) ruling in Heracleopolis
and the 11th Dynasty (c. 2133–1191) in Thebes. Central authority was weak, banditry
became common, and commerce with overseas interrupted. Despite the civil unrest,
literature flourished: notable are the Admonitions of Ipuwer, and the Instructions for
King Merikare. The idea of a life after death began to include persons other than the
royal family.
10
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323 B.C.E. > 3. Egypt, c. 3500–332 B.C.E. > d. The Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate
Period (11th–17th Dynasties)
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d. The Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period
(11th–17th Dynasties)
2040–1786
THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.
1
c. 2133–1991
11th Dynasty. The fifth ruler of the 11th Dynasty, Mentuhotep II (2060–2010), defeated
Heracleopolis around 2040 and reunited Upper and Lower Egypt. A powerful ruler,
Mentuhotep suppressed the power of the nobles; reinstituted a strong central government;
campaigned in Libya, Nubia, and western Asia; and extended Egypt's boundaries. Under
Mentuhotep III (2009–1998), trade with the Red Sea via the Wadi Hammamat was
resumed. Mentuhotep IV (1997–1991) was a weak ruler, and on his death his vizier,
Amenemhet, took the throne.
2
1991–1786
12th Dynasty. Amenemhet I (1991–1962) was a commoner who attributed his rise to the
god Amun. This deity rose in national prominence. Amenemhet built a new royal capital,
Itj-towy (site unidentified), near the border of Upper and Lower Egypt. He also
conquered Lower Nubia and undertook a punitive campaign against the Asiatic nomads.
Amenemhet made his eldest son, Sesostris (Senusret) his coregent, a practice which
persisted through the dynasty. Sesostris I (1971–1928) extended Egyptian rule to the
Second Cataract, and it is during his reign that the quasi-historical Story of Sinuhue is
set. Sesostris II (1897–1878) began irrigation and land reclamation operations in the
Fayum Depression west of the Nile. Sesostris III (1878–1843) marched into central
Palestine, but made no attempt to establish permanent control (See c. 2100–1800).
3
Amenemhet III (1842–1797) completed the Fayum irrigation project and expanded
turquoise mining in the Sinai. Amenemhet built the enormous palace and mortuary
temple later called the Labyrinth. In addition to the Story of Sinuhe, Middle Kingdom
literature includes the Instructions of King Amenemhet, the Tale of the Shipwrecked
Sailor, and the Coffin Texts, giving instructions for obtaining eternal life.
1786–1552
SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD. The 13th Dynasty (1786–1633) was a period
of declining power for Egypt, and increasing pressure by invaders from western Asia.
The sixty kings of this dynasty ruled a disintegrating kingdom from Memphis and Itjtowy. Already in the beginning of the period, the kings of the 14th Dynasty (1786–c.
1603) ruled an independent state from Xois (Sakha) in the western Delta. Some of these
Xoian rulers had Semitic names and may have been Amorites or Canaanites. Under
Dudimose I (Tutimaios, c. 1674) of the 13th Dynasty, most of Egypt fell to the Hyksos
(from Egyptian Heqa-Khoswe, “chiefs of the foreign lands”) who invaded from SyriaPalestine. The Hyksos were probably Amorites or Canaanites from Syria-Palestine (See
c. 1900–1759). They introduced the horse, chariot, and compound bow into Egypt and are
said to have worshipped Seth, who apparently represented the god Baal. The 15th
Dynasty (1674–1552) was made up of Hyksos who established control over Lower
Egypt, with their capital at Avaris in the eastern Delta. The remaining kings of the 13th
Dynasty were their vassals. Hyksos rule reached its height under Apophis I, who ruled
more than 40 years. The 16th Dynasty (c. 1684–1552), contemporary to the 14th and
15th, was made up of independent Hyksos chieftains who had established themselves
somewhere in the Delta. The 17th Dynasty (c. 1650–1552) was originally the Egyptian
vassal kings in Thebes, who gradually won their independence from the Hyksos. One of
these Theban kings, Seqenenre Tao II, is the hero of a folk tale, “The Contending of
Apophis and Seqenenre.” His successor, Kamose, left a stele (an upright slab with an
inscribed surface) describing wars with the Hyksos king Apophis II.
4
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323 B.C.E. > 3. Egypt, c. 3500–332 B.C.E. > e. The New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period
(18th–24th Dynasties)
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e. The New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period (18th–24th
Dynasties)
Note: For the 18th to 20th Dynasties, there is a high and a low chronology, differing by
some 10 to 20 years. The low chronology is used here.
1
1567–1320
18th Dynasty. Amosis (Ahmose, 1552–1527) drove the Hyksos out of the country and
reestablished the power of the central government. Rather than remaining in a single
capital, the 18th-Dynasty kings divided their time between Thebes and Memphis. The
worship of the Theban god Amun became increasingly important, and the priesthood of
Amun became a political force. Amenophis I (Amenhotep, 1527–1506) secured the
Nubian and Libyan borders. Nubia was administered by a viceroy called the “King's
Son of Kush.” Tuthmosis I (Tuthmose, 1506–1494) and Tuthmosis II (1494–1490)
both fought successful campaigns in Nubia and Syria-Palestine (See Geography).
2
1490–1426
THE REIGNS OF HATSHEPSUT AND TUTHMOSIS III. Tuthmosis II associated
his wife (and half-sister), Hatshepsut, (1490–1468) with him in his reign, and when he
died at an early age, Hatshepsut seized power. At first she acted as regent of Tuthmosis
III (1490–1436), but in 1489 Hatshepsut proclaimed herself “king” and thereafter
depicted herself as a man. Meanwhile, Tuthmosis grew up in the army. In 1468 he took
power: the fate of Hatshepsut is unknown. Tuthmosis immediately invaded SyriaPalestine, and at the first Battle of Megiddo (1468) defeated a coalition of Canaanite
states under the leadership of the king of Qadesh (See 640–609). In a further series of
campaigns, Tuthmosis III established an empire stretching to the Euphrates. He even
3
crossed the river and pillaged Washukanni, the capital of the Hurrian kingdom of
Mitanni (See c. 1550–1250). In Nubia, he moved the border to the Fourth Cataract and
founded a fortified town at Napata (See 747–656). The title pharaoh (per`o, “Great
House”), previously used to refer to the royal palace, was now used to refer to the king
himself.
1402–1364
THE REIGN OF AMENOPHIS III. Under Amenophis III Egypt enjoyed
unparalleled wealth and peace. Amenophis built an enormous mortuary temple at
Thebes, including two enormous statues of himself, the Colossi of Memnon (65.6 ft.
high). He also built the gigantic temple to Amun at Luxor and founded a new city in
Nubia called Gematen (“finding Aten”), which reflected the rising importance of this
god. Although Amenophis made diplomatic marriages with two daughters of Mitannian
kings, his chief wife was Queen Tiy, the daughter of a Nubian general.
4
1364–1347
THE REIGN OF AMENOPHIS IV (AKHENATEN). Amenophis IV and his wife,
Nefertiti, introduced an anomalous Egyptian monotheism. The god of the solar disk,
Aten, was now worshipped as the only deity. The king changed his name to Akhenaten
(“Pleasing to Aten”) and built a new capital at Akhetaten (“Horizon of Aten,” modern
Tell al-‘Amarna), halfway between Memphis and Thebes. Here were found the
Amarna letters, correspondence with the kings of Babylonia, Mitanni, the Hittites, and
others written on clay tablets in Akkadian, the lingua franca of the period. Egypt's
empire began to disintegrate. Some areas of Syria-Palestine broke away, and others
were taken over by the Hittites (See c. 1375–1345).
5
1347–1305
THE END OF THE 18TH DYNASTY. After Akhenaten's death, his son-in-law
Tutankhaten (1347–1337) abandoned the Aten cult, changed his name to
Tutankhamen, and moved the government back to Memphis and Thebes. He is chiefly
known for this tomb, which yielded fantastic treasures when discovered in 1922 C.E. The
last king of the 18th Dynasty was a usurper, Horemheb (1333–1305), who had worked
his way up from a scribe to become chief commander of the army. A capable ruler,
Horemheb took steps to suppress graft and corruption, particularly in tax collection,
6
restored the temples of Amun, and undertook a campaign in Asia, which reached
Carchemish in Syria (See Geography).
1305–1186
19th Dynasty. Horemheb was succeeded by another military man, Ramses I
(1305–1303), whose family came from Tanis. His son, Seti I (1303–1289) set out to
reconquer western Asia. He was successful in Palestine and southern Syria, extending
control as far as Qadesh on the Orontes (See c. 1344–1250). Seti built a great temple at
Abydos and continued work on the great Hypostyle Hall in Karnak.
7
1289–1224
THE REIGN OF RAMSES THE GREAT. Ramses II spent much of his reign on
military campaigns. In Libya he defeated the Tehenu and built a series of fortifications
guarding the western frontier. He also subdued the Nubian tribes and built a temple at
Abu Simbel between the First and Second Cataracts, which included colossal statues 70
ft. high. The main military activity of Ramses II was a long struggle with the Hittite
Empire. In 1286 he fought the Battle of Qadesh against King Muwatallis—the
Egyptians claimed victory, but the Hittites actually won (See c. 1344–1250). Further
fighting ensued, until in 1270 Ramses signed a peace treaty with the new Hittite king,
Hattusilis. Tanis was rebuilt as a new capital and called Pi-Ramses, the biblical “storecity of Ramses” (Exodus 1:11). Ramses II completed the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak.
8
1224–1186
THE END OF THE 19TH DYNASTY. Merneptah (1224–1204) defeated an
incursion of Libu (Libyans) and Sea Peoples at the Battle of Piyer (1220). Some of
these Sea Peoples, who had destroyed the Hittite Empire and ravaged the Near East,
might be identified with later Mediterranean peoples: the Akiyawash (Achaeans),
Turush (Etruscans), Luku (Lycians), and Sharden (Sardinians). The Merneptah Stele
records a successful campaign in Palestine which defeated, among others, the people of
Israel, their first datable mention in history. The 19th Dynasty ended in a series of short,
confused reigns. The final ruler was a woman, Queen Tawosre (1194–1186), who took
the throne with the name Sitre (“Daughter of Ra”).
9
1186–1069
20th Dynasty. After a short interregnum, order was restored by a military figure,
Sethnakhte (1186–1184), whose son took the name Ramses III (1184–1153). Ramses
III defeated the Libyans and in his 8th year overcame another coalition of Sea Peoples:
Peleset (Philistines), Tjeker (Sicels?), Danuna (Danaoi?), Sharden (Sardinians),
Weshwesh, and Shakrusha. The scenes of Ramses III's victory are shown on the walls of
the mortuary temple at Medinet Habu. In general, Egypt was stable and prosperous
under Ramses III, but in the closing years of his reign there were signs of unrest,
including the first known strike in history, by funerary artisans in Thebes. After the
death of Ramses III, there was a series of weak kings, Ramses IV–XI (1153–1069), and
the central government declined into impotence. In the time of Ramses XI (1099–1069),
Herihor, the high priest of Amun-Ra at Karnak, ruled Upper Egypt from Thebes. Much
of the Delta was controlled by a local official, Smendes (Nesbenebdeb). The Tale of
Wenamun, another quasi-historical story, reflects the unsettled conditions of Egypt, and
its lack of international stature. During the New Kingdom, the cult of the dead and the
availability of the afterlife extended even to relatively minor officials and private
persons. Tomb paintings show naturalistic scenes of everyday life. While drawing on
earlier material, the Book of the Dead was compiled during this period. By the end of
the New Kingdom, the population of Egypt had risen to some 4.5 million.
10
1069–715
THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD.
11
1069–945
21st (Tanite) Dynasty. After the death of Ramses XI, Smendes (Nesbenebdeb,
1069–1043) claimed the kingship and ruled from Pi-Ramses (Tanis). The hereditary
high priests of Amun-Ra, descendants of Herihor, governed Upper Egypt as a
theocracy, and the viceroy of Nubia (King's Son of Kush) (See 1506–1069) ruled
independently in the south, although both recognized the 21st Dynasty pharaohs as
titular rulers. The rise of the Kingdom of Israel created a powerful state in Palestine. It
was probably Siamun (978–959) who married his daughter to King Solomon (1 Kings
11:1). The Instruction of Amunemope, one of the most famous of Egyptian books of
wisdom, was written around this time. The Book of Proverbs quotes a number of its
precepts (Prov. 15:16, 17:1, 22:17–24:22).
12
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f. The Late Dynastic Period (25th–31st Dynasties)
747–656
25th (Kushite) Dynasty. The 25th Dynasty began as a line of Kushite kings, operating
from their capital at Napata (See 1490–1426). Piankhy (751–716) sacked Memphis, but
did not establish permanent control of Egypt. His brother Shabako (716–702) defeated
the last king of the 22nd Dynasty, Osorkon IV; of the 23rd, Sheshonq IV (720–715); of
the 24th, Bakenref (Bochchoris, 720–715); and reunited the country. Shabako
established his capital at Thebes. The next king, Taharka (690–664) defeated an
invading Assyrian army led by Esarhaddon (674), but in 672, the Assyrians returned and
captured Memphis. Esarhaddon set up Necho I (672–664), the governor of Sais, as a
client king, establishing the 26th Dynasty. When Taharka died, his son Tenuatamun
(664–656) continued the resistance to the Assyrians, but in 663 Ashurbanipal finally
defeated Tenuatamun and drove him back to Napata (See 1490–1426).
1
664–525
26th (Saite) Dynasty. After the final defeat of Tenuatamun, the Assyrians placed
Psammetichus I (Psamtek, 664–610) on the throne. The family of Psammetichus
stemmed from Sais, but he made Memphis the capital. Toward the end of his long reign,
the collapse of the Assyrian Empire allowed Psammetichus to establish his independence
and reassert central authority. He used Greek and Carian mercenaries sent by Gyges of
Lydia to suppress local dynasts (See 685–547). Political independence produced the Saite
revival in painting, architecture, literature, and religion, a nostalgic attempt to recreate
the forms and styles of the Old Kingdom. Necho II (610–595) marched north to aid the
last remnant of the Assyrians, fighting in Syria against the Babylonians. On his way, he
defeated King Josiah at the second Battle of Megiddo (609), and Judah became an
Egyptian vassal (See 640–609). Later, Necho II suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of
Carchemish (605) at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. The Egyptians were driven from
Syria-Palestine, but in 601 they stopped the Babylonians at the border of Egypt (See
2
604–562). Herodotus describes the successful circumnavigation of Africa by
Phoenician sailors sent by Necho. Apries (589–570, biblical Hophra) attempted
unsuccessfully to drive the Babylonians from Judah and was defeated by the Greeks in
Cyrene when he attempted to aid his Libyan allies. Apries was deposed by Amasis
(`Ahmose-si-neit, 570–526), a commoner from the Delta who had risen in the military.
Amasis allied himself with Babylonia and Lydia against the rising power of the
Persians, but saw his allies defeated in turn by Cyrus the Great. Psammetichus III
(526–525) ruled only for six months, before the Persians invaded (See c. 530–521).
525–404
27th (Persian) Dynasty. The Persians defeated the Egyptians at the Battle of Pelusium
(525). The Persian King Cambyses (525–521) ruled Egypt as pharaoh. Although
Herodotus says he suppressed Egyptian religion, according to hieroglyphic inscriptions
Cambyses carried out the pharaoh's ritual functions. Darius I (521–485) certainly treated
the Egyptians with respect and had Egyptian law codified, both in demotic and Aramaic.
He assigned a priest, Udjahorresenet, to reestablish the Houses of Life, which copied
sacred writings. Darius placed Egypt, along with Libya and Cyrenaica, in the sixth
satrapy (province) with the satrap (governor) at Memphis. The Egyptians revolted in the
last years of Darius, and the uprising was not suppressed until the reign of Xerxes
(485–464). Persian rule became harsher after the revolt. Greek and Jewish minorities
grew considerably in the Persian period. Around 450, Herodotus visited the country.
When Darius II (423–404) died, there was another revolt, this time successful (See c.
522–486).
3
404–399
28th Dynasty. Amyrtaeus (404–399), probably a Libyan, ruled the entire country but
was the 28th Dynasty's only king.
4
399–380
29th (Mendesian) Dynasty. Nepherites (Nef`aurud, 399–393) from Mendes (Djed) in
Lower Egypt formed an alliance with the Spartans, the most powerful state in the eastern
Mediterranean (See 386). In 386, Persia and Sparta signed a peace accord, and
Artaxerxes II invaded Egypt (385–383). Achoris (Hakor, 393–380) allied himself with
Evagoras, king of Salamis in Cyprus, and defeated the Persians (See c. 586–330). His
5
son, Nepherites II (380) ruled only four months before being overthrown by Nectanebo.
380–343
30th (Sebennytic) Dynasty. Nectanebo I (Nakhtnebef, 380–362) from Tjeb-neter
(Sebennytus) drove off a Persian invasion (371) and built and restored many monuments
throughout Egypt. His son, Teos (Djeho, 362–360) attempted an invasion of Phoenicia
and Syria but was defeated. The army rebelled and replaced Teos with his son Nectanebo
II (Nakhthorhebe, 369–342), the last native pharaoh. In 343–342, Artaxerxes III led a
successful invasion, Nectanebo fled to Ethiopia, and Egypt was again made a Persian
satrapy.
6
343–332
31st (Persian) Dynasty. The second period of Persian rule lasted only ten years. In 332,
Alexander the Great entered the country, and the satrap Mazaces surrendered the
country to him without resistance (See Persian Asia Minor). (See Ptolemaic Egypt to the
Roman Conquest)
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4. East Africa, c. 2000–332 B.C.E.
a. Geography
Nubia, or Kush, began at the Nile's First Cataract (waterfall), where the island of
Elephantine (Yeb) was located, although the political boundary was often farther upriver.
As one moved upriver, the Nile flowed over six more cataracts, before the river split into
the White and Blue Niles. Between these two points lay the massive Egyptian temples at
Abu Simbel, now inundated by the Aswan Dam, as well as the three capitals of the
region: Kerma, Napata, and Meroë. Around 500,000 people lived in the area of modern
Sudan around 2000 B.C.E., and nearly 1 million by 1500, though Kush comprised only a
portion of this region. The region between the Nile and the Red Sea was not heavily
populated before the 5th century B.C.E. The Somalian and Eritrean coast, however, was an
important center for trade, known to the Egyptians as Punt.
1
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b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
From c. 7000–3500, a common material culture existed from Nubia to Middle Egypt, but
after 3500, Nubian and Egyptian cultures diverge. Nubia remained primarily pastoral,
but traded with Egypt, exporting gold, ivory, ebony, and exotic animals. Kerma period
architecture is autochthonous, but Kush came under increasing Egyptian influence. After
the Egyptians gained control of the region, they began exploiting its mineral resources.
Under Napata and Meroë, a syncretistic architectural style developed. From the 8th
century the Nubians utilized Egyptian hieroglyphics. It is not until 170 B.C.E. that the
native language, Meroitic, was written. Meroitic has not yet been deciphered, and its
relation to other African languages is unknown.
1
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c. Kush and Punt
c. 2000–1069
KUSH.
1
c. 2000–1506
THE KINGDOM OF KUSH arose around 2000 and was centered around Kerma, near
the Third Cataract. It flourished during Egypt's Second Intermediate Period (1786–1552)
(See 1786–1552). Kerma contains the remains of a brick palace and large tumuli or
burial mounds. Hieroglyphic inscriptions are found only on Egyptian imports, and none
of the Kushite kings of this period is known.
2
1506–1069
EGYPTIAN KUSH. Tuthmosis I conquered Nubia past the Fourth Cataract (See
1490–1426). The Egyptians built large temple complexes in Nubia, for example at Buhen
(Hatshepsut) and at Abu Simbel (Ramses II). Amenophis III built the city of Gematen,
opposite modern Dongola, and Thutmose III founded Napata, on the Fourth Cataract.
Nubia was administered by an elaborate bureaucracy headed by the viceroy (“King's Son
of Kush”). Local chiefs were also used in the administration, and an ongoing
Egyptianization occurred. The population of Egyptian Kush was probably around
100,000. After the reign of Ramses XI (See 1186–1069) nothing is known of Kush until
the 8th century.
3
c. 2500–1150
THE LAND OF PUNT. From the 5th Dynasty (c. 2494–2345) the Egyptians sent ships
4
to Punt to obtain the myrrh grown there and the frankincense from south Arabia. The
expedition of Queen Hatshepsut is the best known. No reference to Punt survives after
the reign of Ramses III. The introduction of camel caravans in Arabia around 1000
probably ended the Puntine trade (See Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture).
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d. The Kingdoms of Napata and Meroë
c. 780–591
THE KINGDOM OF NAPATA. Alara (c. 780–760) founded an independent Kushite
dynasty with its capital at Napata. Under Piankhy (or Peye, 747–716) the Kushites
sacked Memphis, and Shabako (716–702) conquered Egypt, founding the 25th (Kushite)
Dynasty (747–656), which ruled from the Sixth Cataract to the Mediterranean (See
747–656). Taharka (690–664) did extensive building at Napata and campaigned as far
east as Palestine. Tenuatamum (664–656) was driven from Egypt by the Assyrians, but
the dynasty continued to rule in Napata. Anlamani (623–593) campaigned against the
nomadic Blemmyes and was succeeded by Aspelta (593–568). In 591, Psamtek II
(595–589) invaded Kush and captured Napata (See 747–656), and Aspelta moved the
capital south to Meroë, near the Sixth Cataract.
1
591 B.C.E.–350 C.E
THE KINGDOM OF MEROË. Between 591 and 270 B.C.E. Meroë became the political
capital, but Meroitic rulers continued to be buried at Napata (which was recaptured) to
the end of the fourth century. The Kushites worshipped Amun in the form of the lion god
Apedemak. Stone temples, pyramids, and obelisks were built, and a native Meroitic
building style developed. The kingdom's population was probably around 500,000.
Around 525 B.C.E., Cambyses unsuccessfully attempted to conquer the kingdom (See
525–404). In the fourth century three kings left inscriptions: Ammannoteyeriké,
Harsiotef, and Nastasen. The kingdom finally collapsed in the third century C.E. under
the assault of the nomadic Blemmyes and by the fourth century had been absorbed by the
newer kingdom of Axum. (See Africa, 500–1500)
2
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5. Syria-Palestine, c. 3500–323 B.C.E.
a. Geography
Syria-Palestine has three geographic zones: a coastal area along the Mediterranean, a
desert fringe along the Syrian Desert, and a double mountain chain from the central
steppe, which divides the other two zones. In the third millennium the major cities were
Mari (Tell Hariri), located where the Euphrates met the road to the Mediterranean, and
Ebla (Tell Mardikh) near the Orontes River. The second millennium saw the
development of Canaanite cities: Ugarit, Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre along the coast;
Damascus, Aleppo (Halab), Carchemish, Yamhad, Qatna, and Qadesh in the central
steppe; and Hazor, Gezer, and Shechem (among others) in Palestine. After 1200, the
region is divided into Palestine (Philistia, Israel, and Judah), Aram (Syria), and
Phoenicia (discussed separately). The population of Syria-Palestine rose from
approximately 250,000 in 3000 B.C.E. to about 800,000 by 1000 B.C.E.
1
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b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
Syria-Palestine was originally heavily forested, and home to panthers, lions, and even
elephants. Deforestation and overgrazing, however, destroyed much of the woodland
even in antiquity, though the cedars of Lebanon were a valuable item of trade. The
desert fringe was the home to pastoralists, who used donkeys for transport until the
domestication of the camel around 1000 B.C.E. In the steppe region wheat, barley, olives,
and grapes were grown. The coastal area relied on trade: routes from Anatolia,
Mesopotamia, and Arabia led to the Mediterranean coast and were linked by ship to
Cyprus, Greece, and Egypt. The coastal cities also produced a famous purple dye made
from the murex sea-mollusk.
1
Cuneiform texts from Ebla are the earliest writing in Syria and included historical texts,
lexicons (including a massive Eblaite-Sumerian dictionary), mathematical texts,
administrative documents, and letters, as well as literary and mythological texts. By 1400
B.C.E. scribes at Ugarit (Ras Shamra) developed a cuneiform alphabet in which is
preserved Canaanite literature, including legal, historical, religious, and mythological
texts. It is unclear whether the alphabet known as “Phoenician” developed before or after
Ugaritic, but it was sometime in the mid-second millennium. Around 750 the Greeks
borrowed this alphabet from the Phoenicians (See Geography).
2
At Ebla and Mari the main deity was Dagan—other gods were Ishtar, Baal, Rasap, and
Adad. The chief gods of the Canaanite pantheon were El (God), creator of heaven and
earth; Asherah, El's consort and the mother-goddess; their son Baal Haddu (or Lord
Storm); `Anat, goddess of love and war; and Dagan, a grain god. The course of the
development of the monotheistic worship of Yahweh by the Israelites is problematic.
Some scholars see monotheism as an early element of Hebrew religion; others think it a
much later development from an earlier polytheism. A Hebrew inscription of the 9th
century suggests Yahweh had a consort named Asherah.
3
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c. Ebla and Mari
c. 3500–1600
EBLA.
1
c. 3500–2400
EARLY EBLA. Urban culture began around the same time as the Mesopotamian Uruk
Culture (3500–3100), but the first large palace dates to c. 2700–2400. Eblaite was a west
Semitic language, possibly an early version of Canaanite.
2
c. 2400–2000
THE KINGDOM OF EBLA. At its height Ebla controlled the region, from the Orontes
to Mari as far north as Carchemish, and held hegemony over a much larger area, from
Kanesh in Anatolia to the northern border of Palestine. Ebla's king (malikum), was
originally the elected head of an oligarchy made up of the provincial governors, who
were the real power in the land. Ibrium (c. 2300) instituted a hereditary, and apparently
absolute, monarchy. The kingdom had a sophisticated economy controlled by an
elaborate palace bureaucracy. Women enjoyed a high position and a freedom unusual in
ancient societies. Sargon of Akkad campaigned against Ebla, and his grandson, NaramSin destroyed the city (See 2371–2190). Ebla recovered, although little is known of its
history except that it suffered another destruction around 2000.
3
2000–1600
AMORITE EBLA. After a period of subservience to the kings of Ur III (2112–2004),
Ibbit-Lim founded the 2nd (Amorite) Dynasty. Amorite Ebla was much reduced from
4
its third millennium height, but it was still the most important city in northern Syria. The
Eblaites traded with the Assyrian colony at Kanesh (See c. 1900–1813). The city was
finally destroyed between 1700 and 1600, probably by the Hittites.
c. 2900–1759
MARI.
5
c. 2900–2370
EARLY DYNASTIC MARI. Mari flourished in the Early Dynastic Period (2900–2370),
and the 1st Dynasty of Mari is cataloged in the Sumerian King Lists. At some point
Mari became tributary to Ebla, but when that city fell it recovered its independence.
6
c. 1900–1759
AMORITE MARI. In the early 19th century, Mari was ruled by an Amorite, YaggidLim, who was succeeded by his son, Yahdun-Lim. The Assyrian Shamshi-Adad I
(1813–1781) conquered Mari and made his son Yasmah Addu its ruler (See 1813–1741).
Zimri-Lim, (c. 1791–1759), a descendant of Yahdun-Lim, drove out the Assyrians. The
palace at Mari covered eight acres and contained a library of some 20,000 cuneiform
tablets, almost all in Akkadian. Mari was destroyed by Hammurapi in 1759 (See
1813–1741), but continued to be a city-state. It was abandoned in the 8th century.
7
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d. The Land of Canaan
c. 3100–2000
EARLY BRONZE AGE CANAAN. City-states developed in Syria-Palestine around
3100, serving as mediators between the protoliterate culture of Mesopotamia and the
Gerzean culture of Egypt. In the mid-third millennium the region was dominated by
Ebla. Egyptian inscriptions begin at Byblos with Nebka c. 2686, and there are close trade
relations throughout the period. Around 2300, Uni, a general of Pepy I, led an expedition
which may have reached Mt. Carmel (See c. 2345–2181). Mesopotamian culture also
exerted influence, and Sargon the Great (2370–2316) conquered parts of northern Syria,
reaching the Mediterranean (See 2371–2190).
1
c. 2100–1800
FIRST PERIOD OF EGYPTIAN DOMINATION. The Amorite invasion into SyriaPalestine, c. 2000, caused much dislocation, a decline in urbanism, and a return to
nomadism in the Transjordan and parts of the central steppe. The Execration Texts from
the Middle Kingdom Period (2040–1786) establish that Egypt exercised political
control over southern Syria-Palestine, ruling through local vassal kings at Ashkelon,
Beth-Shean, Shechem, Akko, Hazor, and Jerusalem. An inscription of Sesostris III
(1878–1843) records a campaign which reached Shechem (See 1991–1786).
2
c. 1800–1450
THE GOLDEN AGE OF CANAAN. By the 18th century, urban culture was
reestablished and the Canaanite cities, many with Amorite rulers, prospered through
trade. Yantin`ammu ruled in an affluent Byblos; Ugarit rose in prominence; and Hazor,
Qatna, and Aleppo were great centers of power. The rise of the Hyksos, apparently
Amorites or Canaanites, is obscure, but in the 17th century they began building an
3
empire in the west. Hyksos sites are characterized by enormous fortifications of earthenwork (terre pisée). The Hyksos 15th Dynasty (1650–1552) in Egypt exercised feudal
authority in both Palestine and Egypt (See 1786–1552). In the 16th century Hurrians
(biblical Horites) migrated into Palestine. By the end of the period, the Amorites had
completely assimilated.
c. 1450–1365
SECOND PERIOD OF EGYPTIAN DOMINATION. Tuthmosis III (See 1490–1426)
reestablished Egyptian political control over Syria, placing a garrison in Ugarit. Egyptian
power loosened under Akehnaten (1364–1347), and the Hittite Empire exerted
increasing control on the region. The Amarna Letters, written by vassal kings in
Palestine to the Egyptian pharaohs, give some information on political and social history.
The society was feudal, with a nobility of chariot warriors and serfs beneath. One
segment of the population became outlaws and mercenaries, the so-called Hapiru, who
often attacked and even took over Canaanite cities. A connection with the later Hebrews
is possible, but problematic. In the late 14th century, the Akhlamu, possible forerunners
of the Arameans, began to enter Syria (See 1364–1347). In 1270, Egypt and the Hittites
divided Syria by treaty, with the boundary at the Eleutheris River (Nahr el-Kebir) (See
1289–1224)).
4
c. 1200
THE INVASION OF THE SEA PEOPLES. Around 1200, after having demolished the
Hittite Empire, the Sea Peoples entered the region, and destroyed Ugarit and Tyre (See
1224–1186). Around 1180, one of the Sea Peoples, the Philistines (Peleset), settled on
the coastal plain of Palestine. They formed a league of five city states (Gaza, Gath,
Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron), each governed by a 'tyrant' (seren). After the fall of the
Hittite Empire, Hittites and Luwians moved into northern Syria and formed the NeoHittite Kingdoms. There was a northern group under the hegemony of Carchemish and
a southern group consisting of Ya'diya, Hattina, Arpad, Til Barsip, and Hamath. NeoHittite art and architecture is a mix of their traditional style with Hurrian, Assyrian,
and Aramean traditions. A number of Canaanite enclaves (such as the Jebusites at
Jerusalem) remained in the interior, but most of the Canaanites retreated to the narrow
strip of coastal land from Tyre northward to Arvad. This region is subsequently called
Phoenicia (See Geography).
5
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e. Israel and Judah
c. 1300–1020
ISRAELITE TRIBAL PERIOD.
1
c. 1300–1200
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. The biblical tradition traces the tribes of Israel back
to the time of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), who came from Mesopotamia
to Canaan, living there as seminomads. Some scholars place the patriarchs in the context
of the Amorite invasions in the 19th and 18th centuries, others in the Aramean
migrations of the 14th to 11th centuries. Another biblical tradition details the migration
of the Israelites from serfdom in the eastern Delta of Egypt under Moses and Aaron.
The relationship of these two traditions to each other, and to the archaeological record, is
problematic, and the history of Israel obscure, until the Conquest of Canaan sometime
in the 13th century. It is unclear if the Israelite conquest was a sudden invasion or a
gradual infiltration. In any case, the Israelites adopted the local Canaanite language,
and to some extent, religion and customs. The first dated attestation of the People of
Israel in Canaan is the Merneptah Stele (c. 1220) (See 1224–1186).
2
c. 1200–1020
THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES. The Book of Judges records a story of conflicts
between the Israelites and the surrounding Canaanites, Midianites, and Ammonites, in
which the Israelite tribes joined together under a judge (shophet), primarily a military
position. In the course of the 11th century, the Philistines united under the king of Gath
and began an aggressive campaign of conquest against Israel. These attacks culminated
around 1050, when the central shrine of the Israelites at Shiloh was destroyed and the
Ark of the Covenant taken as booty. Around 1020, the last of the judges, Samuel, was
3
anointed Saul as king of Israel in order to better resist the Philistines.
c. 1020–930
THE UNITED KINGDOM OF ISRAEL.
4
c. 1020–1000
THE REIGN OF KING SAUL. Saul's kingship was limited, and his main title was not
melech “king” but nagid “military commander.” Saul's authority was more charismatic
than institutional, and the tribal elders and the prophets (nabi'im) sometimes opposed
him. Saul was successful for a time in his wars against the Philistines but was defeated
and killed by them at the Battle of Gilboa (c. 1000). Saul's son Ishbaal ruled for a short
period but was then assassinated, perhaps at the instigation of the next king, David.
5
c. 1000–965
THE REIGN OF KING DAVID. A minor noble from the tribe of Judah, David fought
in Saul's army but quarreled with the king and withdrew with his clan into the Judean
desert. There he operated as a bandit-chief and eventually became a vassal of the
Philistine king of Gath. After the death of Saul, he ruled Judah from Hebron for seven
years, and when Ishbaal was assassinated, David was elected king of Israel by a tribal
assembly. Conquering Jerusalem from the Jebusites, David made it both a religious
center, transferring the Ark of the Covenant there, and the royal residence. A royal
bureaucracy was developed. The cult of Yahweh was centralized and used to support
the validity of his dynasty. David conquered the northern and Transjordanian tribes,
incorporating them into Israel. The Philistines and the Aramean state of Zobah to the
north were defeated and made vassals. He entered into a treaty with Hiram, king of
Sidon and Tyre (969–936). The earliest Hebrew writings, including some Psalms and
historical annals, possibly date to the reign of David.
6
c. 965–931
THE REIGN OF KING SOLOMON. After David's death, Solomon killed his rival
half-brother Adonijah and took power. With Phoenician help, Solomon built a Temple
to Yahweh, as well as a magnificent palace and a citadel, in Jerusalem. Solomon
7
reorganized the administration and expanded the royal bureaucracy and the standing
army. Diplomatic marriages were made with surrounding powers, including one to the
daughter of Pharaoh Siamun of Egypt. In partnership with Hiram of Tyre, Solomon
organized shipping for trade in the Mediterranean and on the Red Sea; with Cilicia and
Egypt, he developed a cartel in horses and chariots; and he arranged with the Queen of
Sheba (Saba) for trade in frankincense and myrrh from south Arabia (See c.
1000–420). The population of Solomon's kingdom was probably between 300,000 and
500,000. On Solomon's death, his son Rehoboam took the throne, but a revolt broke out
under Jeroboam I who became king of the bulk of the country. Rehoboam retained
only Jerusalem and Judah.
931–722
THE (NORTHERN) KINGDOM OF ISRAEL.
8
931–909
THE DYNASTY OF JEROBOAM. Jeroboam I (931–910) established Israel's political
capital at Shechem and fought a five-year war with Judah, which ended only with the
invasion of Pharaoh Sheshonq I (Shishak) in 926 (See 945–715). The Egyptians
devastated much of Israel. Jeroboam's son Nadab (910–909) was assassinated by a
general, Baasha.
9
909–885
THE DYNASTY OF BAASHA. Baasha (909–886) fought both with Judah and
Damascus. Ben Hadad I of Damascus defeated Israel and annexed Bashan, north of the
Yarmuk River (See 900–806). Apparently in response to this, Baasha moved the capital
to Tirzah, whose site is not known. Baasha's son Elah (886–885) ruled only two years
before he was assassinated by one of his generals. A three-year civil war broke out in
which another general, Omri, was finally successful.
10
885–841
THE DYNASTY OF OMRI. Omri (885–874) established a new capital at Samaria,
which he fortified, and married his son Ahab to Jezebel, daughter of King Ittobaal of
11
Tyre. Omri attacked and subdued Moab in the Transjordan and also fought against the
Judeans, but without much success. Ahab (874–853) made peace with Judah, marrying
his daughter Athaliah to Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat. In the Battle of Qarqar in 853,
Ahab, along with the kings of Damascus and Hamath, temporarily stopped the Assyrians
(See 858–824). The coalition did not last, and Ahab lost his life fighting against
Damascus. Jezebel attempted to suppress the worship of Yahweh, in favor of Baal, but
was boldly resisted by the prophet Elijah the Tishbite. On Ahab's death he was
succeeded by his two sons Ahaziah (853–852) and Jehoram (Joram, 852–841).
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f. The Land of Aram (Syria)
1300–1200
EARLY ARAMEAN MOVEMENTS. The Akhlamu, mentioned in late 14th-century
cuneiform records, may be the forerunners of the Arameans. It is certain that two major
movements of Aramaic speakers, one west into Syria and another into Upper
Mesopotamia and Babylonia (the Chaldeans), occurred in the course of the 12th century.
1
1000–900
EARLY ARAM. By 1000, the Arameans had become dominant in the region of
Damascus and Zobah (the valleys of the Anti-Lebanon, south of modern Homs). These
southern Aramean states were already in conflict with Saul. Hadadezer, king of Zobah,
led a coalition of Aramean kings into the Transjordan, but was defeated by David.
David later counterattacked, and Zobah came under Israelite domination (See c.
1000–965). One of Hadadezer's general's, Rezon, set up a kingdom north of Zobah and
continued resistance to Israel. In the course of the 10th century, the Arameans took over
and replaced some of the Neo-Hittite states in Syria. Til Barsip became known as Bit
Adini around 1000, Sam'al became Ya'diya around 920, and Arpad turned into Bit Argusi
around 900. These, with Qarqar, Hamath, and others, became the northern Aramean
states. The population of Aram was probably around 600,000 in 1000 B.C.E.
2
859–855
THE ASSYRIAN CONQUEST OF NORTHERN ARAM. Shalmeneser III engaged a
coalition of northern Aramean kings, Khayan of Ya'diya (Sam'al) and Akhuni of Bit
Adini, and the Hittite states of Carchemish and Khattina. At the Battle of Lutibu (858)
the Aramean-Hittite forces were defeated but not broken. In a second series of campaigns
(857–855) Shalmeneser III conquered Bit Adini, the strongest of the northern Aramean
3
states and turned it into an Assyrian province (See 858–824).
900–806
THE RISE OF DAMASCUS. Damascus became the major Aramean state under the
long reign of Ben Hadad I (also called Hadadezer, 880–842). In 878, Ben Hadad
defeated Israel and annexed the territory of Bashan north of the Yarmuk. Ben Hadad
again invaded Israel around 855 but was defeated by Ahab at the Battle of Aphek. When
Shalmeneser, having broken the northern coalition, turned south, Ben Hadad allied
himself with Ahab and King Ikhuleni of Hamath. At the Battle of Qarqar (853), the
Aramean-Israelite coalition defeated Shalmeneser, who retired to Assyria. Ben Hadad
subsequently absorbed all the small southern Aramean states. The Assyrians returned,
however, and in a series of four campaigns Shalmeneser defeated Ben Hadad and took
Damascus (842) (See 858–824). Ben Hadad was murdered and a commoner, Hazael
(842–806), seized the throne. The Assyrians did not remain in the region, and Hazael was
left free to pursue his imperial ambitions. He subjugated Israel and much of Philistia
and laid tribute on Judah.
4
806–732
THE DECLINE OF ARAM. Hazael's son, Ben Hadad II (806–750) was unable to hold
together the Aramean Empire. Early in his reign he attacked Zakir, king of Hamath, but
failed to subdue him. Joash of Israel fought free of Damascene control; indeed under
Jeroboam II, Damascus as well as Hamath may have been annexed by Israel. With the
decline of Damascus, the northern Aramean state of Arpad (Bit Argusi) came to the
fore. In 755, King Matiel of Arpad allied himself with Urartu (See 744–727) against the
Assyrians, but they were defeated by Tiglath-Pileser III in 743. After a three-year siege,
Arpad itself fell. Rezin, the son of Ben Hadad II, allied himself with Israel in an antiAssyrian coalition. In 732 Tiglath-Pileser defeated the Aramean-Israelite coalition, and
Aram, including Damascus, was divided into Assyrian provinces, collectively known as
Aram Naharain (See 744–727). This was the effective end of Aram as a political entity,
although the Aramaic language subsequently became the lingua franca of western Asia
and replaced Hebrew as the spoken language in Palestine.
5
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323 B.C.E. > 6. Phoenicia, Carthage, and the Phoenician Colonies, c. 1200–322 B.C.E.
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6. Phoenicia, Carthage, and the Phoenician Colonies, c. 1200–322 B.C.E.
a. Geography
Phoenicia is the long narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean from the mouth of the
Orontes in the north to Mount Carmel in the south. Its eastern boundary, the Lebanon
chain, is rarely more than 12 miles from the coast. The most important cities were Arvad,
Gubal or Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre; other cities were Marathus, Berytus (Beirut), and
Ecdippa. By an arbitrary change of terminology, the Canaanites are called Phoenicians
after 1200.
1
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b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
The arable land around the Phoenician cities was fertile, but limited, and wheat, grapes,
figs, and date palms were staple crops. The Carthaginians developed a highly
systematized agriculture in North Africa and wrote technical manuals on the subject.
The main industry of Phoenicia was the manufacture of purple dye from the murex seamollusk, but weaving, glassmaking, metalworking, and ivory-working were also
important. The famous cedars of Lebanon were exported to Egypt and elsewhere. The
Phoenicians were famous traders and traveled widely from an early period all over the
Mediterranean, and eventually as far as West Africa and Britain.
1
The Phoenician script reached its completed form around 1200 B.C.E. Though some
inscriptions exist, little Phoenician literature survives, mainly a few translated fragments
of the historian Dius and the philosopher Sanchuniathon. The Phoenicians created a
synthesis of Egyptian and Mesopotamian culture and were the agents for passing much of
Near Eastern civilization on to the Greeks.
2
The Phoenician city-states generally controlled only a small territory around them and
rarely attempted to enlarge their land holdings. Generally, the city-states were ruled by
hereditary kings assisted by advisory councils of nobles. Carthage also originally had a
monarchy, but by the fourth century, the government was republican, with two annually
elected magistrates (sufetes), a senate of 300 (which served for life), and a Council of
104, which had some sort of executive function. It is unclear when the republic replaced
the monarchy: Carthaginian leaders are often called “kings,” which might be meant
literally or as a translation of sufet, literally “judge.” In their late period other Phoenician
cities were ruled by elected sufetes and senates.
3
The chief god of Tyre and its colonies was Melqart, and Sidon's main deity was
Eshmun. Both worshipped Resheph (Apollo), Dagon, Astarte, and Tanit. The
Phoenicians also worshipped Egyptian deities, especially Isis and Bes. The Carthaginians
worshipped Baal Hammon, an assimilation of Baal with the Egyptian Amun, perhaps in
a Libyan form. Archaeological evidence has confirmed that the Phoenicians and
Carthaginians practiced child sacrifice.
4
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c. Phoenicia
1200–627
THE SIDONIAN STATE.
1
1200–1000
The Rise of Sidon. Sidon and Byblos were the chief city-states at the beginning of the
12th century. Tyre had been destroyed by the Sea Peoples but was refounded by
Sidonians in the 12th century. It was well protected, located on an island off the coast,
and became the capital of the Sidonian state, which by 1000 dominated Phoenicia. By this
time the population of Phoenicia had reached approximately 200,000.
2
1000–888
The Dynasty of Abibaal. Under Abibaal (c. 1000), Tyre was transformed into a superb
harbor and Abibaal's son Hiram I (969–935) entered into an alliance with David of
Israel, which continued in the time of Solomon (See c. 1000–965). Phoenician artisans
designed and built the temple of Solomon, and joint Phoenician-Israelite fleets sailed in
the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Hiram I unified all of Phoenicia from Mount
Carmel to Arvad, though vassal dynasties continued to rule at Byblos and Arvad under
Sidonian suzerainty. Little is known of Hiram's successors other than their names and
dates: Baalmazzar I (935–919), Abd`ashtart (918–910), Ashtart (909–898), and
`Astartrom (897–889). The last king of Abibaal's dynasty, Pilles (888) was assassinated
by the high priest of Astarte, Ittobaal, who founded a new dynasty.
887–627
3
The Dynasty of Ittobaal. Ittobaal (887–856) married his daughter Jezebel to Ahab, the
son of Omri of Israel, and may also have linked his house by marriage to Ben Hadad I of
Damascus. Baalmazzar II (849–830) paid tribute to Shalmeneser in 842 and was
succeeded by Mittin (829–821) and then by Pu`mayton (Pygmalion, 821–774).
Pygmalion's sister Elissa or Dido is credited with founding the city of Carthage in 814.
Hiram II (774–c. 730) paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III in 738, but his successor Luli (c.
730–701) joined with the Egyptians and Judah in an unsuccessful rebellion against the
Assyrians and fled to Cyprus. Sennacherib appointed Ittobaal II as king. The next
Assyrian vassal king, ‘Abdmilkot, rebelled against Esarhaddon, who defeated the
Phoenicians, razed Sidon to the ground, and built a new city opposite it called KarEsarhaddon. ‘Abdmilkot was executed and what was left of Sidon became an Assyrian
province.
4
627–573
THE ASCENDANCE OF TYRE. The destruction of Sidon left Tyre as the leading city
of Phoenicia. Baalu (c. 680) rebelled in the reign of Esarhaddon but soon capitulated: his
mainland territories were taken from him, and he paid tribute. After the decline of the
Assyrian Empire, the Phoenicians enjoyed a brief period of independence, though they
never regained their former position, as Greek colonization had ended their near
monopoly of trade in the Mediterranean (See c. 800).
5
573–332
BABYLONIAN AND PERSIAN PHOENICIA.
6
573–539
Babylonian domination. Nebuchadnezzar (See 626–604) invested Tyre in 587, during
the reign of Ittobaal III. The siege lasted 13 years; the city probably surrendered in 573.
At first, Tyre was ruled by judges (sufetes) under Babylonian domination, but after a
short time the monarchy was restored.
7
539–332
Phoenicia under Persian Rule. When Cyrus came to power in Babylon (539) Phoenicia
8
was bloodlessly absorbed into the Persian Empire (See 556–530). It was designated as the
fifth satrapy, but vassal kings continued to rule in Sidon, Tyre, Arvad, and Byblos.
Phoenician fleets played an important part in Persia's wars against Greece. In c. 350,
Tennes led a revolt against the Persians in Sidon, which was crushed by Artaxerxes III
with great loss of life. When Alexander invaded Phoenicia, Tyre was the only city to
resist under its last king, Azemilkos. The siege lasted from January to August 332.
Alexander built an enormous mole across to the island city, which permanently connected
it to the mainland. (See The Persian Empire)
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and the Western Phoenician Colonies
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d. Carthage and the Western Phoenician Colonies
1100–600
The Foundation of the Western Colonies. The Phoenicians founded merchant colonies
as early as the 11th century (at Hazor and Gaza in Palestine, Memphis in Egypt, and
Kition (Latarkia) in Cyprus), but these were all quarters within established cities rather
than separate settlements. Literary sources place the foundation of Phoenician colonies at
Lixus (on the Atlantic coast of Africa), Gades (on the Atlantic coast of Spain), and Utica
(in North Africa) at around 1100, but these dates have not been confirmed
archaeologically. These three early colonies were probably settled by late 10th or early
9th centuries. Around 850, the settlement at Kition moved out of the native town and
established itself as an independent town called Qart Hadasht—New City. The next
Phoenician colony to be founded became the most famous—Carthage. The city's
Phoenician name was the same as Kition's: Qart-Hadasht (Greek Carchedon and Latin
Carthago). Several versions of its founding exist: one has Elissa (Dido) fleeing from
Tyre and founding the city of Carthage in the 7th year of Pu`mayton (814), but another
source gives the foundation date as 751. No archaeological remains have been uncovered
at Carthage before the 8th century, but both dates remain possible. The colony of Sexi in
Spain was also founded in the 8th century, probably in response to a growing Greek
colonization movement. In the 7th century, the Tyrians established settlements at Lepcis
Magna and Hadrumetum in North Africa; Motya in Sicily; and Sulcis, Caralis, Nora, and
Tharros in Sardinia. Around the same time, Mogador was founded on an island on the
West African coast, 450 miles south of the Strait of Gibralter. Carthage established Ibiza,
off the east coast of Spain, 160 years after its own founding, in 654 or 591.
1
600–322
The Rise of Carthage. Around 600, Carthage tried unsuccessfully to prevent the
Phocaean Greeks from founding Massilia (Marseilles) (See 600), and in the 6th century,
open war broke out between the Greeks and an alliance of the Etruscans and
2
Carthaginians. The Carthaginians under Malchus defeated the Greeks in Sicily around
550. In 535, the Carthaginian-Etruscan alliance crushed the Phocaeans in the sea Battle
of Alalia in Corsica. From the mid-sixth to fourth centuries, Mago and his descendants
dominated Carthage, either as monarchs or as political strongmen. By this time, the
population of Carthage was probably around half a million—about 20 percent Phoenician
and the rest native Berbers. In 508, the Carthaginians signed a treaty with the new Roman
state. While Xerxes was invading Greece, in 480 (See c. 586–330), the Carthaginians
invaded Sicily but were defeated at the Battle of Himera by the forces of Syracuse and
Agrigentum. Around this time the Carthaginians turned inland, taking over the city's
fertile Libyan hinterland. In the fifth century the voyage of Hanno occurred down the
African coast, as far as Sierra Leone and perhaps Nigeria, as well as the voyage of
Himilco, which may have reached Britain or Ireland. Around 409, war broke out again
between Syracuse and Carthage: in a seesaw struggle Dionysius sacked Motya in 398 and
the Carthaginians besieged Syracuse unsuccessfully in 396. The Syracusans ultimately
won this war, but fighting between the Carthaginians and Syracusans continued through
much of the fourth century. In 348, a second treaty was signed with Rome, and the
subsequent history of Carthage is part of Roman history (See 344 (348)).
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323 B.C.E. > 7. Asia Minor, c. 3000–333 B.C.E.
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7. Asia Minor, c. 3000–333 B.C.E.
a. Geography
Asia Minor, or Anatolia, is a peninsula stretching westward from the Armenian
mountains to the Aegean Sea, with the Black Sea to the north and the Mediterranean to
the south. Western Anatolia contained four fertile river valleys, was called Arzawa and
Assuwa in Hittite times, and later contained Troas, Mysia, and Lydia. In the southern part
of the peninsula lay the Lukka Lands (Lycia) and to the east Kizzuwatna, later Cilicia.
The northern Pontic coast was home of the warlike Kaska peoples. Most of Asia Minor is
dominated by the central plateau. In its western part was Phrygia; in the center, south of
the great Salt Lake (Tuz Göl), was the fertile Konya plain; and to the east of the Halys
river was Hatti, the center of the Hittite Empire. In the southeast of the peninsula,
Cappadocia was located in the Anti-Taurus range. In easternmost Anatolia, the
mountains rise to the high peaks of Armenia. It was the most populous region of ancient
western Asia, with a population of some 3 million through the Bronze Age.
1
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b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
In the fertile valleys of the west, as well as the Konya valley and Cilicia, grain, olives,
and grapes were grown. Raising stock was important in the more mountainous regions.
Both the Taurus and southwest Anatolia had mines, which provided copper, silver, iron,
and gold. Since the peninsula lay on the land bridge to Europe and was the sea route from
the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, trade was always a large part of the economy. The
earliest writings in Asia Minor are 19th-century B.C.E. records of the Assyrian merchant
colony at Kanesh in Cappadocia (See c. 1900–1813). In a later period, both Hattic and
Hittite were written in cuneiform. After the fall of the Hittite Empire, so-called
hieroglyphic Hittite was used to write inscriptions in the Luwian language. The
Phrygians used an alphabet borrowed from the Phoenicians, but their language remains
untranslatable.
1
The Hittite Empire adopted the palace bureaucracy of the Mesopotamian kingdoms along
with the cuneiform script. Although the Hittite king was called the Sun and served as
military leader, high priest, and judge, the Hittite state was not centralized, but feudal.
Chariot-riding nobility were allotted serfs for their support in exchange for military
service. The city-states of the west and south generally were ruled by kings, and some
regions, like the Pontic coast, remained tribal in organization.
2
The Hattians worshipped the sun goddess Wurusemu and the storm god Taru; the
Hurrians, Teshup and Hepat; and the Luwians, Tarkhunt. The Hittite religion was
peculiarly syncretistic and mixed Hattic, Hurrian, Luwian, Akkadian, and Sumerian gods
with native Hittite deities such as the sun goddess Arinna. The chief deities of the
Phrygians were Cybele (or Ma, the Great Mother) and Attis, a god who died and was
resurrected. Little is known about the religion of the Lydians: the gods Santas and Baki
(Bacchus) were named in their inscriptions.
3
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c. The Hattians and the Hittites
c. 3000–2000
THE HATTIANS AND THE LUWIANS. The Hattians inhabited central Asia Minor
in the third millennium. Their language, known from Hittite religious texts, is without
known affinities. They appear to have been absorbed by the Hittites. Sometime after
2300, the Luwians, an Indo-European-speaking people, settled in southern Anatolia.
1
c. 2000–1200
THE HITTITES.
2
2000–1700
THE HITTITE INVASION OF ASIA MINOR. The Indo-European-speaking Hittites
migrated into central Anatolia from Europe sometime around 2000. Around 1800, the
Hittite King Pitkhana of Kussara and his successor Anitta defeated the Hattic rulers of
Hattusas and Kanesh. They sacked Hattusas, but used Kanesh as the capital of a Hittite
state.
3
c. 1680–1500
THE OLD KINGDOM. Labarnas I (c. 1680–1610) founded what is known as the Old
Hittite Kingdom or Hatti. Hattusilis I (c. 1660–1620) moved the capital to Hattusas
(modern Boghazköy), located in the bend of the Halys River. He conquered the area of
the Konya plain, which became the center of the Hittite empire, then overcame Alalakh in
northern Syria and campaigned against Arzawa in the far west. His successor Mursilis I
(c. 1620–1595) defeated a Hurrian army, destroyed Aleppo, and then boldly marched
4
south into Mesopotamia. The Hittites took Babylon, pillagedit, and brought down the 1st
Dynasty of Babylon (1595) (See 1749–1595). Political disturbances brought Mursilis
back to Hattusas where he was assassinated in a coup d'état. After his death a series of
petty kings ruled, and the Old Kingdom declined in power. The Hurrians (See
1749–1595) took the North Syrian region, which they named Hanigalbat and Cilicia,
now called Kizzuwatna. When Telepinus (c. 1520) came to the throne he halted the
kingdom's decline of Hatti, pushing back the Hurrians. Telepinus issued an edict on the
law of succession that stabilized the crown. The Hittite law code also dates from this
general period.
c. 1420–1200
THE HITTITE EMPIRE.
5
c. 1420–1375
THE EARLY KINGS. Tudhaliyas II (c. 1420) established a new dynasty, but in the
reigns of Arnuwandas I (c. 1425), Hattusilis II (c. 1400), and Tudhaliyas III (c.
1420–1375), the Hittite state was almost destroyed. The Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni
attacked on the east, and Arzawa, now important enough to correspond with the Egyptian
pharaoh, pressed from the west. The Kaska tribes from the north succeeded in taking and
sacking Hattusas. The Hittites faced a desperate situation, when Tudhaliyas's son, who
had served as commander of the army, took the throne.
6
c. 1375–1345
THE REIGN OF SUPPILULIUMAS. Suppiluliumas rebuilt Hattusas, expanding the
city and fortifying it with a four-mile-long wall of stone and brick. He also reorganized
the home territories and then marched against the Hurrians. His first encounter with
Tushrata of Mitanni resulted in a severe defeat for the Hittites, but, with the help of
Artadama II, the rival to Tushrata for the throne of Mitanni, Suppiluliumas was able to
conquer the capital Washukkani and Mitanni was turned into a vassal (See c. 1550–1250).
The Hittites then attacked the Amorite kingdoms of northern Syria, and the two largest,
Aleppo and Carchemish, were taken and given Hittite princes as kings (See 1365–1078).
The wealthy coastal city-state of Ugarit paid tribute. Suppiluliumas also campaigned
against the Kaska peoples, keeping them under control. Suppiluliumas fell victim to a
plague, and his son, Arnuwandas II (1345–1344), died after only a year.
7
c. 1344–1250
THE HEIGHT OF THE HITTITE EMPIRE. In the early part of the reign of Mursilis
II (1344–c. 1310), Ashur-Uballit I took Mitanni and annexed it to Assyria. Mursilis had
more success against Arzawa in the west, defeating and killing its king. A revolt in
Carchemish was pacified, and for many years he fought almost annual campaigns against
the Kaska. Muwatallis (c. 1310–1280) inherited a powerful, well-organized empire from
his father, but Ramses II was ambitious to regain Egypt's Syrian possessions and the
inevitable battle was fought at Qadesh on the Orontes in 1286 (See 1305–1186).
Ramses claimed a victory but probably falsely, as Muwatallis continued his advance as
far as Damascus, and the Hittites retained firm control of northern Syria. During the
king's absence in Syria, the Kaska again sacked Hattusas, and, perhaps as a result,
Muwatillis moved his official residence to Tarhuntassa, somewhere in the Taurus
Mountains. Urhiteshup (c. 1280), Muwatallis's oldest son by a royal concubine, was
shortly deposed by his uncle Hattusilis III (c. 1280–1250). In 1270, Hattusilis signed an
important treaty with Ramses II, setting a boundary between the Hittite and Egyptian
Empires. The treaty was probably made to counter the growing threat of Assyria under
Shalmeneser I (See 1365–1078). Hattusilis married Puduhepa, the daughter of a Hurrian
priest from Kizzuwatna, and the couple issued edicts jointly. Hurrian influence appears in
sculpture, particularly on the reliefs of Yazilikaya, with their enormous processions of
gods.
8
c. 1250–1200
THE FALL OF THE HITTITE EMPIRE. Tudhaliyas IV (c. 1250–1225) was almost
continuously at war in western Anatolia: fighting the kings of Arzawa, as well as the
Ahhiyawa (probably Achaeans from the Greek mainland). He conquered the island of
Cyprus (Alashiya) to obtain control of its copper deposits. In the reign of Arnuwandas III
(c. 1225–1220), the situation in the western provinces abruptly worsened, and in the reign
of Suppiluliumas II (c. 1220–1200) the final waves of the Sea Peoples (See 1224–1186)
and Phrygians destroyed the empire.
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d. The Phrygians and the Lydians
c. 1200–1000
THE PHRYGIAN INVASION. The Indo-European-speaking Phrygians came from
Thrace about 1200 and occupied the whole of Asia Minor from the Sea of Marmara to the
border of Assyria. They were divided into two groups of tribes, Mushki (biblical
Meshech, perhaps the Mysians) and Tabal (biblical Tubal).
1
c. 1000–700
THE KINGDOM OF PHRYGIA arose in the western part of the central plateau, with
its capital at Gordium, not far from modern Ankara. Since the Phrygian inscriptions
cannot be read, almost nothing is known of their history. Greek legend speaks of a King
Midas of the Phrygians, whose touch turned objects to gold, but, ironically, a royal burial
that was discovered unplundered in 1955, while quite elaborate, contained no gold
whatsoever. Midas might be the individual called Mita of Mushku mentioned in the
inscriptions of Sargon II (c. 715). The Cimmerians invaded Phrygia and devastated the
kingdom, but the Phrygian nation remained independent until its conquest by Cyrus in
547 (See 556–530).
2
c. 800–685
THE LYDIAN KINGDOM. Little is known about the early history of the Lydian
kingdom. Its capital Sardis was located on the Magnesia River between the Ionian cities
of the coast and Phrygia. Lydia survived the devastation of the Cimmerians c. 695, which
destroyed Phrygia. Herodotus relates the story of King Candaules' overthrow by his
closest friend and advisor, Gyges.
3
685–547
THE DYNASTY OF THE MERMNADAE. Gyges (680–652) was the founder of the
Mermnadae dynasty and defeated the nomadic Cimmerian tribes, extending the borders
of his kingdom. A tablet recording an embassy of Gyges to Ashurbanipal of Assyria
survives, but Gyges sent Carian and Ionian mercenaries to aid Psammetichus I in driving
the Assyrians out of Egypt (See 664–525). In 652, the Cimmerians renewed their attack
on Lydia, and Gyges fell in battle. Gyges' successor Ardys (652–625) overcame the
Cimmerian menace and then turned to fight the Greek cities along the coast of Asia
Minor. The Lydians invented coinage in the 7th century using electrum, a natural alloy
of gold and silver.
4
609–560
THE REIGN OF ALYATTES. Under Alyattes, the Greek cities of the coast (except
Miletus) were conquered. In 590, Alyattes began a war with Cyaxares of Media which
lasted for five years. After a battle, which can be dated by a solar eclipse to May 28, 585,
a treaty was signed. Alyattes' daughter married Astyages, son of the Median king. The
enormous tumulus tomb of Alyattes was described by Herodotus and is still to be seen
near the ruins of Sardis.
5
560–546
THE REIGN OF CROESUS. Croesus brought the Lydian kingdom to its height. He
controlled all of Asia Minor west of the Halys except Cilicia and Lycia. Under Croesus,
pure gold coins were minted for the first time. In 547, Croesus went to war with Cyrus of
Persia (See 556–530) but was completely outmaneuvered. The Persians routed the
Lydians in a pitched battle at Sardus, and Croesus was taken prisoner. A Lydian noble
named Pactyas took the throne and continued resistance but was defeated.
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e. Persian Asia Minor
Asia Minor was divided into four satrapies. Lydia and Mysia, plus all of the cities along
the western coast, were ruled from Sardis. A second province, Phrygia, with its capital at
Daskylion, extended to the Halys River. The satrapy of Cilicia was ruled from Adana,
and that of Cappadocia from Mazaca. The Royal Road connected Sardis to Susa, 1677
miles away. By this time the population of Asia Minor was probably around 4 million,
including some 250,000 Greeks. The Greek cities revolted against the Persians from
499–494, and in 498, Sardis was burnt by the Ionians and Athenians. The army that
Xerxes sent to Greece gathered somewhere in Cappadocia and wintered in Sardis from
481–480. In 407, Cyrus, the brother of Artaxerxes III, was appointed satrap of all Asia
Minor. From there he planned and organized the revolt which culminated in his death at
the Battle of Cunaxa (401). Asia Minor was the first part of the Persian Empire invaded
by Alexander the Great (See 336). He defeated the Persians in decisive battles in the
region, first at Granicus (334), near the Sea of Marmara, then at Issus in Cilicia. From
here he went on to conquer all the Persian Empire.
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8. Armenia, c. 1300–331 B.C.E.
a. Geography
Armenia is a mountainous region lying between the Black and Caspian Seas. The
mountains of Kurdistan separate it from Mesopotamia, and its northern border is the Kura
River. The region contains three great lakes: Van, Urmia, and Sevan. In the Urartian
period, the main cities were Tushpa, Erebuni, and Rusahinili. The only major city in
the Armenian period under discussion was Armavir.
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b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
Farming was excellent in the fertile river valleys, and fine wine was produced. Husbandry
was also highly developed: Urartian cattle and sheep were famous for their high quality,
and superb horses were raised. At its height, the Kingdom of Urartu had a technology
and culture equivalent to any in western Asia. Urartian architecture is noteworthy for the
quality of its masonry, and its mountain-fortresses are impressive feats of construction.
The Urartians also built formidable hydraulic works: an aqueduct brought fresh water 47
miles to Tushpa. After the invasion of the Armenians in the 6th century, the material
culture regressed considerably and little survived of the Urartian civilization. In the
Urartian period, a native hieroglyphic script was used alongside cuneiform. In Persian
Armenia, Iranian written with Aramaic characters was utilized. The chief Urartian deity
was Haldi, a warrior god; the storm god was Teisheba (Hurrian Teshup) and his wife
was Huba (Hebat). After the Armenians arrived in the region, they adopted the
Zoroastrian religion of the Persians (See Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture).
(See Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture)
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c. Urartu (Van)
c. 1300–c. 850
THE EARLY HISTORY OF URARTU. The Urartians were related to the Hurrians and
moved into the region sometime in the second millennium. In the time of Shalmeneser I
(1275–1246), the region was divided into a number of small kingdoms and subsequently
became tributary to the Assyrians. The Aramean invasions of the 11th century drove the
Assyrians back to their homeland (See 1078–977), and at some point afterward the
kingdom of Urartu was established around Lake Van, with its capital at Tushpa.
1
c. 850–584
THE KINGDOM OF URARTU (VAN). Shalmeneser III defeated the first known king
of Urartu, Aramu in 856. Sarduri I (c. 834) and Ishpuini (c. 822) also fought the
Assyrians. Menua (c. 800) increased Urartian power, occupying the entire Armenian
highland area, and built the walls and aqueduct of Tushpa. Argishti I (786–764) built the
city of Erebuni as a royal capital. Sarduri II (764–735) reorganized the army along
Assyrian lines and extended Urartian power as far as northern Syria. In 743, however,
Tiglath-Pileser III defeated the Urartians and reestablished Assyrian control over north
Syria. The Assyrians attacked Urartu itself in 735, annexed Urmia, and besieged Tushpa
(unsuccessfully). In 714 Sargon II launched a carefully planned attack against Rusa I
(735–714) and defeated the Urartian army. Although defeated by marauding Cimmerians
in 707, Argishti II (714–685) kept the Assyrians at bay and built a number of new
fortresses and irrigation works. Such projects were continued by his son Rusa II
(685–645), who completed a new capital Rusahinili (Toprakkale). After the death of
Rusa II, the Urartian kingdom declined. Sometime after 584, the Medes defeated King
Rusa IV and destroyed Rusahinili.
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d. Armenia
612–559
ARMENIA UNDER MEDIAN RULE. Around the time that the Medians took over
Urartu, the Armenians arrived in the region. The Armenians spoke an Indo-European
language, but their origins are obscure. They may have originated in Phrygia, or even
farther west, or may have arrived with Iranian tribes north of the Black Sea.
1
559–331
ARMENIA UNDER PERSIAN RULE. When Cyrus took over Astyages' kingdom in
559, the region was absorbed into the Persian Empire. Darius I (522–486) (See c.
522–486) made Armenia the 13th satrapy of his reorganized empire. It is in an inscription
of Darius that the Armenians are first explicitly mentioned (519). In 401, Xenophon and
the Ten Thousand arrived in the region, fleeing from the Persians (See c. 586–330). The
satrap of Armenia at the time was Orontes I (c. 401–366). His son and successor, Orontes
II (366–331) was killed fighting Alexander the Great at Arbela (See 331). Alexander
appointed Orontes II's son, Mithanes, to be the satrap. The dynasty, the Orontids,
eventually became kings and ruled Armenia until 200 B.C.E.
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9. Iran, c. 2700–330 B.C.E.
a. Geography
Iran, or Persia, extends from the Zagros Mountains to the Indus Valley, and from the
Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea. The southwestern region was the site of the Elamite
cities Anshan (Malyan), Simashki and Susa, and later the homeland of the Persians. The
highland area was urbanized very late; the Median cities of Ecbatana (Hamadan) and
Rhagae and the Persian Persepolis and Parsargadae were built only in the first
millennium. In 1000 B.C.E. the population was around 2 million.
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b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
In the southwest urban life based around the temple and the royal palace flourished from
an early period, but groups in the highlands usually remained tribal in organization. A
hieroglyphic script (Proto-Elamite) was used as early as 2900 B.C.E., but around 2230
the Elamites adopted the cuneiform script, which was used as late as the Persian period.
Though a large number of tablets have been found, Elamite still cannot be translated. The
Persians also used cuneiform to write their language in monumental inscriptions.
1
The religion of Elam, like Mesopotamia, had an organized priesthood and ziggurat
temples. The main gods of the Elamites were Humban, the sun god Nahhunte, and
Inshushinak, the god of Susa, but Sumerian deities such as Inanna and Nanna were also
worshipped. The original religion of the Medes and Persians was similar to that of the
Vedic Indians, with many gods, including Mithra and Varuna, in common. The Median
religious reformer Zoroaster (Zarathustra, c. 630–550) introduced monotheism.
Zoroastrianism banned the sacrifice of animals and the use of intoxicants and introduced
the idea of individual salvation through the free choice of God (Ahura Mazda) over the
Spirit of Evil (Angro-mainyu or Ahriman). The priests of the religion were known as
Magi, originally a Median tribe.
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c. The Elamites
c. 2700–2230
EARLY DYNASTIC ELAM.
1
c. 2700–2550
THE FIRST DYNASTY OF AWAN was contemporary to the Mesopotamian Early
Dynastic Period, though none of the kings are known. The first mention of Elam is in the
Sumerian King List: Enmebaragesi (c. 2700) “carried off the arms of the land of Elam as
booty.” Eannatum of Lagash also raided Elam, and temple records from Lagash (c.
2300) speak of an Elamite raid on Sumer. A state of more or less constant warfare
existed between Sumer and Elam throughout the 3rd millennium (See 2113–2004).
2
c. 2550–2230
THE SECOND DYNASTY OF AWAN was founded by Peli and ruled from Susa. The
king ruled through a viceroy, often the king's brother, and the monarchy appears to have
been elective. The provincial governors had considerable independence. Sargon of
Akkad (2371–2316) defeated Hishap-Resher and sacked Susa. Under Naram-Sin
(2291–2255) a treaty (the earliest known) was made with the king of Elam who was
made a vassal. The last king of the dynasty Kutik-inshushinak (c. 2240–2230) threw
off the yoke of Akkad and took the title “King of the Four Quarters.” He did a great deal
of building in the sacred acropolis at Susa. The Dynasty of Awan, like that of Akkad,
fell victim to Gutian incursions (See 2371–2190).
2230–c. 1400
3
THE OLD ELAMITE KINGDOM.
4
2230–c. 1925
THE DYNASTY OF SIMASHKI. Shulgi of Ur (2095–2048) conquered Susa, where
he did considerable building, including a temple to Inshushinak. The Sumerians set up a
frontier force made up of mercenary Elamites, commanded by a sukkal-mah, or Great
Regent. Independent kings ruled in Simashki to the north of Susa. In 2021, the fifth king
of Simashki, Enpi-luhhan attacked Elam and took Susa. Ibbi-Sin of Ur counterattacked
and captured the Elamite king, but despite another invasion in 2017, the Sumerians were
unable to maintain control of Elam. Soon afterwards, in alliance with tribes from the
Zagros, the new king of Elam, probably Hutran-tempti, attacked and destroyed Ur
itself. Royal succession in the Simashki dynasty was through the king's sister (and wife),
who was called the “reverend mother” (amma hashtuk). In 1993, Ishbi-Erra (2017–1985)
drove the Elamites from Ur, but the kings of Simashki continued to rule Elam. The end
of the dynasty is obscure; its last certain king was Indattu II (c. 1925).
5
c. 1925–1400
THE DYNASTY OF EPARTI began around the same time the Awan dynasty ended.
Its kings styled themselves “Great Regent,” after the military title of the Ur III period, as
well as “King of Anshan and Susa.” The dynasty reached its height under KuturNahhunte I (c. 1752) who conquered southern Babylonia. Texts from Elam indicate
large Akkadian and Amorite minorities in the country. Kurigalzu I, the Kassite king of
Babylonia, conquered Elam around 1400 (See 1595–1150).
6
c. 1350–1110
THE MIDDLE ELAMITE KINGDOM.
7
c. 1350–c. 1200
THE DYNASTY OF IGI-HALKI. Elam regained its independence in the 14th century
under Igi-Halki, who took the title “King of Elam.” Untash-napir-risha (c. 1250)
founded a new capital Dur-Untash (Tchogha-Zambil), with a large ziggurat temple. The
last king of this dynasty was Kiten-Hutran.
8
c. 1200–1110
THE DYNASTY OF HULLUTUSH-INSHUSHINAK. Around 1200, HullutushInshushinak I founded a new dynasty. Around 1160, Shutruk-nahhunte invaded
Mesopotamia and took Babylon. He brought back spoils, including the Code of
Hammurapi, to Susa and placed his son, Kutir-Nahhunte III, on the throne of Babylon.
On his father's death, Kutir-Nahhunte III (1155–1150) became king of Elam but lost
Babylon. Shilak-Inshushinak I (c. 1150–1120), one of the greatest kings of Elam,
conquered large areas in the highlands and parts of Mesopotamia, but HutelushInshushinak (c. 1120–1110) lost Anshan to Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylon (See
1156–1025). After his reign, records cease and the end of the kingdom is obscure.
9
c. 820–640
THE NEO-ELAMITE KINGDOM. Early in the 9th century, Humban-Tahrah founded
a new dynasty, with its capital at Susa. Humban-nikash (743–717) joined forces with
Merodoch-Baladan II and defeated Sargon II at the Battle of Der (721). The next king,
Shutruk-Nahhunte II (717–699), conquered a considerable area to the northwest.
Hallushu-Inshushinak (699–693) deposed his brother, raided Mesopotamia, and carried
off Sennacherib's son, who was reigning as king of Babylon. Humban-numena
(692–687), allied with the Arameans and Persians, defeated Sennacherib at the Battle of
Halule (691). There was further fighting between Elam and Assyria over the next 40
years. Ashurbanipal defeated and killed Tempt-Humban-Inshushinak (Tuemman,
663–653) and made Elam an Assyrian vassal. The Assyrians invaded again in 647 and
sacked Susa (See 668–627). Humban-haltash II (648–644) fled but was turned over to
Ashurbanipal and executed. Elam regained its independence but was absorbed into the
Persian Empire in 538.
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d. The Medes and the Persians
c. 1500–559
THE MEDES.
1
c. 1500–850
THE ARYAN INVASION OF IRAN. The Medes were an Aryan (Indo-Iranian) people
who entered the Iranian plateau around 1500 along with the Persians, Parthians,
Bactrians, and Arachosians, while other Aryan tribes went on to conquer northern India.
The Medes themselves were divided into six tribes (one of which was called the Magi).
Nothing certain is known of Median history until their first mention in the Assyrian
records of Shalmeneser III (859–825) (See 858–824).
2
701–625
MEDIA UNDER ASSYRIAN RULE. Sometime during the 8th century B.C.E., the
Medes established a capital at Ecbatana (Hamadan) on the mountainous eastern fringes
of Babylonia. The Dahyauka mentioned in Assyrian sources as a Median chieftain around
715 might be Deioces, who Herodotus says founded the Median dynasty. Sennacherib
(705–682) made the Medes tributary in 701, but a revolt broke out in 674 under
Khshathrita (possibly Herodotus's Phraortes), who ruled an independent Media for some
time. Zoroaster (c. 630–550) introduced his religious reforms in Media. After a period of
Scythian domination, Cyaxares (Huvakhshtara, 624–585) became king of Media and
reorganized the army along Assyrian lines. The Medians took and sacked Ashur in 614.
Cyaxares then allied himself to Nabopolassar of Babylon and, in 612 the Medians and
Babylonians destroyed the Assyrian capital Nineveh (See 626–609). Cyaxares and
Nabopolassar divided the Assyrian Empire between them. In 609, the Medes conquered
Urartu. Between 590 and 585, Cyaxares fought a war with the Lydians, which ended with
3
a marriage alliance. Little is known of the subsequent history of the empire until its fall
under Astyages (Arshit-vega, 584–549).
c. 850–549
THE RISE OF THE PERSIANS. Sometime in the 9th century, another Aryan tribe, the
Persians, settled in Anshan to the south of Susa. In the early 7th century, one of their
chiefs, Achaemenes (Hakhamanish) founded a dynasty, the Achaemenids, and won
independence from the Neo-Elamite kings. His son, Teispes (Chishpish), took the title
“King of Anshan” and allied himself with the Elamites in their war against Sennacherib.
When Ashurbanipal sacked Susa in 646, Cyrus I (Kurush) became an Assyrian vassal.
After the rise of Cyaxares, Persia became a Median dependency. Around 560, the Median
King Astyages arranged for his daughter to marry the Persian King Cambyses I. Their
son Cyrus II served as a commander in the Median army.
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e. The Persian Empire
556–530
THE REIGN OF CYRUS THE GREAT. On the death of his father, Cyrus II became
the king of the Persians. In 553, Cyrus led a revolt against his grandfather Astyages.
Although he suffered some early defeats, the Median army eventually went over to
Cyrus, and he took Ecbatana in 549. Cyrus now ruled the entire Median Empire. In 546
Cyrus conquered Lydia, adding much of Asia Minor to his realm. Cyrus then defeated
King Nabonidus, entered Babylon in 539, and took over all the Babylonian Empire:
Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, and Syria-Palestine.
1
c. 530–521
THE REIGN OF CAMBYSES. Cyrus was succeeded by Cambyses (Kambujiya) who,
to ensure the throne, had his brother Smerdis (Bardiya) killed. Cambyses defeated
Psammetichus III and by the summer of 525 had taken control of all of Egypt, but he was
unsuccessful in an attempt to conquer the Kushite kingdom of Meroë (See 591 B.C.E.–350
C.E). In 522, a pretender named Gaumata seized the throne, claiming to be the dead
Smerdis. Cambyses died on his way to deal with the revolt.
2
c. 522–486
THE REIGN OF DARIUS I. A member of another branch of the Achaemenid family,
Darius I (Darayavaush) defeated Gaumata's revolt as well as other revolts in Babylonia
and the eastern provinces. Darius's commemoration of his achievements, the Behistun
inscription, written in Old Persian, Elamite, and Akkadian, became the key to the
modern decipherment of cuneiform. Darius later added the Indus Valley and Libya to his
empire, now the largest the world had ever known. He reorganized the administration and
divided the empire into 20 satrapies, as well as introducing a standard gold coinage, the
3
daric. At its height, the Persian Empire probably contained around 15 to 16 million
inhabitants, with some 4 million in Persia proper. There were royal residences at Susa,
Persepolis, Ecbatana, and Babylon, and good roads, with stations for royal messengers,
which made possible regular communications within the vast realm. After 513, Darius
started expanding into Europe and led an expedition which crossed the Danube. In 499,
the Ionian Greeks in Asia Minor revolted but were suppressed after a six-year war. The
Athenians had aided the rebels, and to punish them Darius sent the expedition which was
defeated at the Battle of Marathon (490) (See 490).
c. 586–330
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. The next king, Xerxes I
(Khshayarsa, 486–465), undertook a major invasion of Greece but was defeated at sea in
the Battle of Salamis (480) and on land at Plataea and Mycale (479). After Xerxes'
murder in a palace coup, Artaxerxes I Longimanus (Rtaxshaca, 465–424) took the
throne. Athens took the offensive against Persia by sending troops to aid a revolt in Egypt
(456–454) and by attacking Cyprus (450), but finally readied a peace agreement with
Persia in 448 (See 448). The empire suffered a series of coups d'état: Xerxes II
(424–404) was assassinated by his brother Sogdianus (424), who in turn fell at the hands
of Darius II Nothus (424–404). Artaxerxes II Mnemon (404–358) faced the rebellion
of his brother Cyrus, who raised an army in Anatolia which included ten thousand Greek
mercenaries. The rebel army won the Battle of Cunaxa (401) near Babylon, but Cyrus
was killed. The Greeks marched back to the Black Sea under the leadership of Xenophon,
who wrote the Anabasis (“March Upcountry”) about the experience. Another
insurrection broke out in Asia Minor under Datames, the satrap of Cappadocia, and
spread to the western satrapies (366–360). Egypt won its independence in 404.
Artaxerxes III Ochus (358–338) succeeded through energetic measures in reconstituting
the empire but faced the growing power of Philip of Macedon, who had unified the
Greeks under his rule (See 338). Both Artaxerxes III and his weak son, Arses (338–336),
were assassinated, and it was Darius III Codomannus (336–330) who met the invasion
of Philip's son, Alexander the Great. Alexander defeated the Persians at the battles of
Granicus (334), Issus (333), and Gaugamela, near Arbela (331). The next year, Darius,
fleeing from the Macedonians, was killed by some of his nobles (See 330). (See The NeoPersian Empire of the Sassanians, 223–651 C.E.)
4
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10. Arabia, c. 850–332 B.C.E.
a. Geography
Arabia is divided into northern and southern regions. The north is mainly flat desert
dotted by oases, while in the southwest the Sarat Mountains rise up to 10,000 feet and
receive generous rainfall. The main trade route ran through Yathrib (Medina), with a
western branch running through Dedan to Ma`in to Gaza and an eastern branch through
Teima to Qedar (Duma) to Mesopotamia. The population was around 100,000 in 2000
B.C.E., rising to around 500,000 by the end of the second millennium.
1
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b. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
The domestication of the camel, around 1000 B.C.E., made possible a Northern Arabian
nomadic culture based on goat-herding and sheepherding. Some oases supported
permanent settlements, which combined stock raising with date cultivation. The use of
the camel also led to overland trade with South Arabia. In South Arabia, the mountainous
terrain was cultivated on a network of terraces. Arabia controlled the long-distance trade
in spices and raw silk from the Far East and, in addition, produced frankincense and
myrrh, resins used in religious rituals throughout the Mediterranean world. The
frankincense tree grew only in Dhofar (in modern Oman) and myrrh was harvested
around the peninsula (especially in Ma`in).
1
In this period Aramaic was the written language of North Arabia, but native Sabean and
Minean scripts developed in the south. The polytheistic religion of Northern Arabia
lacked a structure or priesthood, but Southern Arabian religion was temple-based. Each
Southern Arabian tribal state was under the patronage of a god, but there was a common
pantheon. Major deities were Athtar, Ilmaqa, and Wadd.
2
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c. Northern Arabia
c. 850–700
NORTHERN ARAB TRIBES. Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727) received 30,000 camels as
tribute from Samsi, an Arabian queen, and Sennacherib (704–681) defeated a Queen Iati'e
of the Arabs (See 704–681). These “Queens” were probably tribal leaders, and the
Assyrians did not establish political control in the region. Tribes such as the Abdeel and
Nebaioth roamed near Palestine.
1
c. 700–400
THE KINGDOM OF QEDAR. The Qedarites were the most organized of the Northern
Arabian tribes, and at its height in the 6th century, the organization controlled a large
region from the Persian Gulf to the Sinai. Ashurbanipal allied himself with the King
Yauta` (676–652), though he later helped depose him in favor of Abiyate (652–644).
After this, nothing is known of Qedar until the 5th century, when an Aramaic inscription
names Geshem and Qainu as kings. The “Geshem the Arab” mentioned in the Book of
Nehemiah is possibly this person (Neh. 2:19, 6:1).
2
c. 550–332
BABYLONIAN AND PERSIAN DOMINATION. It was Nabonidus (555–539) who
first conquered Northern Arabia (See 561–539). The purpose behind his mysterious tenyear sojourn in the oasis of Teima is unknown, but he subdued most of Northern Arabia
during his stay. The region was peacefully absorbed into the Persian Empire in 539, and
units of Arabs on camels took part in Xerxes' campaign in 480. After Alexander defeated
the Persians, Northern Arabia regained its independence.
3
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d. Southern Arabia
c. 1000–420
THE SOUTHERN ARABIAN KINGDOMS. From about 1000, the Hadrami tribe
ruled the Wadi Hadramaut from Shabwa and controlled the production of frankincense.
The Mineans lived along the eastern foothills of the Sarat Mountains, with a capital at
Ma`in. Minean edicts were issued in the name of both their king (malik) and a council of
nobles and priests. Saba was the wealthiest and most advanced of the South Arabian
kingdoms. At its capital Marib, as well as at Sirwah, Yithil, and Sana, there were palaces
and temples to the tribal god Ilmaqa. The king had more power than at Ma`in, although
there was a tribal council. Some scholars connect the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:1–13)
with a Saba in the north, but the consensus is that she came from Southern Arabia. Sargon
II (721–706) received tribute from King Ita'amra and Sennacherib from Karib'il (685).
1
c. 420–332
THE SABEAN EMPIRE. The greatest Sabean king was Karib'il Watar (c. 420), who
conquered Ma`in, Hadramaut, Awsan, and Qataban and took the title mukarrib,
something like “emperor.” The succeeding mukarribs engaged in massive building
projects, like the stone dam at Mar'ib, which distributed the waters of the Wadi Dhana for
agriculture. The Sabean kingdom declined in the 3rd century and control over the desert
trade shifted north to the Kingdom of Nabatea. (See The Middle East and North Africa,
500–1500)
2
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C. Early Civilizations and Classical Empires of South and East Asia
1. South Asia, to 72 B.C.E.
An early urban civilization in the Indus Valley produced the polished stone, metals,
incised seals, and pictographs excavated since 1920 at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.
Harappan civilization began in the middle of the third millennium B.C.E. It generated a
writing system that has yet to be deciphered. It was anchored in two great cities along
the Indus River, Harappa itself and Mohenjo-Daro, each carefully laid out in a gridlike
pattern. Extensive building suggests a strong governing elite capable of organizing forts,
city walls, and extensive urban sewage systems. Trade was conducted with the Middle
East, China and Southeast Asia, but military technology lagged, with scant use of
bronze. Priests figured prominently in a polytheistic religion, with abundant artistic
expression of goddesses and sacred animals. The civilization declined by the second
millennium B.C.E. and was thereafter open to nomadic invasions.
1
A good deal more is known about the civilization that emerged much later with invasion
from the Iranian plateau by Aryans of uncertain antecedents, who gradually conquered,
pushed back, or absorbed the earlier Dravidian and Austro-Asiatic Munda populations.
The conquest is variously placed at 2000–1200 B.C.E.
2
1200–c. 800
The Indian Aryans worshiped nature-gods. The chief gods were Indra, god of the air
and of the storm; Agni, the sacrificial fire; and Soma, the intoxicant used for libations.
Varuna was worshiped as guardian of cosmic regularity, including individual human
acts. The oldest sacrificial hymns, composed in north India west of the Ganges (perhaps
1200), are contained in the Rigveda, which dates from c. 1000 B.C.E., possibly two
centuries prior to the related Gathas in the Avesta of Iran; the Samaveda, which contains
antiphonal selections from the Rig; the Yajurveda, hymns and sacrificial prose; and the
Atharvaveda, a repertory of magical formulae. The Rigveda reveals an Indo-European
hieratic literary language remarkable for clarity of structure and wealth of inflection,
3
which was originally transmitted orally. This normative text depicts a patriarchal
society, engaged in cattle raising and agriculture, characterized by usual monogamy,
adult marriage, and normal widowhood. The Aryan tribes were frequently at war among
themselves and with indigenous tribes. Their attitude toward life was vigorous and
objective; the doctrine of reincarnation and the correlated aspiration to release are
absent.
800–c. 550
A transition period during which the Aryans expanded eastward through Magadha
(modern Bihar) is known chiefly from the Brahmanas, prose commentaries upon the
Vedas (c. 800–600), and the earlier Upanishads or confidential teachings (c. 600–300).
These texts include the first religious justifications for a hierarchical structuring of
society, asserting the Vedic division of Aryan society into three honorable classes:
priests (brahman), noble warriors (kshatriya), and commonalty (vaisya), including both
farmers and artisans. These “twice-born” castes were augmented by a fourth group, the
slaves (sudra), consisting of non-Aryans with whom the twice-born classes had no ritual
community. Progressive evolution of the concept of caste in these normative texts may
be traced to desire of priest and noble to perpetuate supremacy, to diversification of
specialized occupation, to indigenous rules of endogamy, and to absorption of the
sudras, many of whom improved their servile status. The relationship between normative
prescriptions and actual social practice is, however, debatable. It is clear that successful
military campaigns brought to power men with varied social antecedents who then
claimed kshatriya status. Significant social mobility made the textual definition of the
caste hierarchy more theoretical than real. Continual elaboration by the priesthood of an
already laborious ritual had become devoid of religious significance. The doctrine of
continuous rebirth (samsara), conditioned by the inescapable results of former acts
(karma), was first expressed in the early Upanishads (c. 600–550). The Upanishads, too,
teach that the soul may escape from the suffering inherent in individual existence only
by the realization of its identity with an impersonal cosmic soul. Union with the latter is
possible through knowledge, but not through Brahman ritual.
4
550–321
The north Indian area was divided among many petty states. These divisions suggest a
much larger pattern characteristic of the subcontinent throughout much of its history: an
ongoing tension between localized rule (increasingly clustered around distinct regional
cultures) and larger kingdoms or empires. Sixteen small states are enumerated in an
early list. Kosala (King Prasenajit, contemporary of the Buddha) was the largest,
5
extending from Nepal to the Ganges, including modern Oudh. Magadha was its small
neighbor on the east, south of the Ganges. The King of Avanti ruled at Ujjain. The
capital of the Vamsas (King Sedayama) was at Kosambi (on the Jumna below Agra).
Ten tribal republics are named in the oldest Pali records.
A general estimate of population at the end of the 4th century B.C.E. puts it around 100
million, a figure calculated partly from the size of the Indian army as described in Greek
sources discussing Alexander of Macedon's campaign in north India. (Another estimate
for the early 17th century C.E. uses the same figure, suggesting relatively little absolute
population growth before the modern period, although there would have been important
ebbs and flows in the intervening centuries, brought on by famine, drought, and disease
and countered during periods of good trade and agrarian production, as well as
immigration patterns.)
6
Dissent from Brahmanism, to abolish authority of its scriptures and rites, was found in
many schools, among them the Jains, followers of the Jina (“Victorious”); Vardhamana
Mahavira (?540–468?), who elaborated the doctrines of an earlier prophet Parsya; and
in Magadha under Kings Bimbisara (?543–491?) and his parricide son Ajatasatru (?
491–459?). Parsya had enjoined four vows: to injure no life, to be truthful, not to steal,
and to possess no property. Mahavira added chastity and rigid asceticism as a means to
a free man's immortal soul from bondage to the material world.
7
BUDDHISM was founded in the same period and region by Siddhartha (?563–483?) of
the clan of Gautama and the hill tribe of Sakya, who attained “illumination” (bodhi) at
Bodh-Gaya after he had convinced himself that Brahman doctrine and asceticism were
alike ineffective. He taught the means of escape from the world of suffering and rebirth
to Nirvana, a state of peaceful release from rebirth, through a twofold way of life,
withdrawal for meditation and personal religiousexperience, combined with strict
morality and self-sacrificial altruism. Shortly after the Buddha's death, 500 disciples met
at Rajagriha to rehearse together his doctrine (dharma) and his code of discipline
(sangha) which he founded. That community served as the instrument for propagation of
his religion, which, like Christianity, offers salvation to all who accept the simple
doctrine and ethics and seek for personal religious experience. A second council at
Vaisali a century after the Buddha's death was concerned with the vinaya. About this
time were formed the four Nikayas, earliest extant anthologies from more primitive
collections (Pratimoksa, and so on).
8
517–509
Darius I of Achaemenid Persia seized Gandhara from the disunited Aryans and sent his
Greek admiral Skylax to explore the Indus. Kharoshthi script, used in northwestern India
(5th century), is based on Aramaic of the Persian scribes. It remained confined to the
northwest.
9
The Sutras (c. 6th–2nd century B.C.E.), “Threads” through the Brahmanas, compendious
manuals designed to be learned by heart, prescribe rules of conduct of various Vedic
schools, regions, and periods, for sacrifice and incidentally, for daily life and describe a
society in which plural marriage is permitted and child marriage recommended, while
numerous taboos mark the beginning of an elaborate theory of caste defilement. Panini
(c. 400) gives in his Sutra the earliest extant Sanskrit grammar, with a wealth of
illustration which is augmented by the Varttikas or supplementary rules of Katyayana (c.
180) and the rich Mahabhashya (Great Commentary) of Patanjali (c. 150).
10
327–325
Alexander the Great (See 325) invaded the Punjab, crossed the Indus (Feb. 326), was
welcomed to the rich and cultured city of Takshasila (Taxila), won a battle on the banks
of the Jhelum, and withdrew on demand of his troops, sending Nearchus with a fleet by
sea. Important cultural contacts took place between Hellenistic and Indian civilizations.
11
c. 321–c. 184
The MAURYA DYNASTY was founded by Chandragupta (c. 321–c. 297), who first
united north India from Herat to the Ganges Delta with his capital at Pataliputra (Patna)
and who defended it against Seleucus Nicator (c. 305). The emperor ruled with aid of a
privy council and an elaborate official hierarchy, paid army, and secret service.
Administration of public works embraced highways and irrigation, important
underpinnings for the expanded trade characteristic of this period.
12
A Jain high priest Bhadrabahu led a portion of his community south into the Carnatic
to escape a 12-year famine in Bengal. On their return (c. 300) the still resident monks in
church council at Pataliputra undertook to collect the Jain scriptures but were unable to
record some of the older purvas. The canon of the Svetambara sect, the Siddhanta,
written in its present form at the council of Valabhi (5th or early 6th century C.E.), is
consequently incomplete. The returning monks maintained a stricter rule, avoided the
council, and, as the Digambara sect, have steadily maintained that the true canon is lost.
The Jain community had then already begun a westward migration to Ujjain and
Mathura.
13
Despite the vagaries of political rule, a continuity of strong trading relationships
14
provided coherence and consistency for society. In particular, merchants became
increasingly wealthy, powerful, and influential. Indeed, it was merchant patronage that
ensured the expansion of both Jainism and Buddhism in this period. Merchant guilds
shaped much of urban life, influencing public opinion and organizing production.
Artisans, too, participated in guilds that set standards for quality and rules for work. The
guilds had to be registered in the locality; some of the leading guilds including potters,
metalworkers, and carpenters. (Given the fact that sons usually followed the trade of
their fathers, guilds also became associated with caste. If an occupation underwent a
transition, however, this triangulated relationship between work, social status, and
economic organization was disrupted.)
15
c. 274–c. 236
ASHOKA'S EMPIRE, extended by conquest of Kalinga (Orissa with the Circars, c.
262), embraced two-thirds of the peninsula. As a devout convert he ruled at home and
abroad in accordance with Buddhist law. This ideological connection between kingship
and religion also served Ashoka well in positioning his kingdom to support trade and
merchants, and the strong political support he received from traders was an important
aspect of his rule.
16
Besides many pious foundations, he engraved on rocks and pillars throughout his empire
in true Achaemenid-style edicts in vernacular Prakrit exhorting respect for animal life,
reverence, and truth, and appointed censors to enforce these injunctions. He sent
Buddhist missions to Syria, Egypt, Cyrene, Macedonia, and Epirus, and with much
greater success to Burma and Ceylon (c. 251–246; Aryan conquest of Ceylon, traditional
date 485 B.C.E.). The Punjab and Gandhara became a stronghold of the liberal
Mahasanghikas, who developed a canonical tradition enriched by legends to bring the
life of the Buddha into that region. The canon was then or in the 2nd century expanded
in Kausambhi, Sanchi, and Malwa and fixed in Pali to form the Tripitaka (“Three
Baskets”): stura (doctrine), vinaya (monastic code), and abhidharma (philosophical
discussion). The Pali tradition, which was carried to Ceylon and there preserved intact,
says a third church council was held at Pataliputra under Ashoka.
17
The west remained the chief stronghold of Brahman doctrine which now reasserted
itself. The gradual absorption of substratum cults within the formal brahmanistic
framework under the tutelage of the Brahmans gave rise to the complex system of
beliefs and practices, characterized as the two main sects of Saivism (worship of Siva)
and Vaishnavism (worship of Visnu and his avatars or incarnations). Major gods arose:
Siva, personification of cosmic forces of destruction and reproduction implicit in all
change; Vishnu, god of the sacrifice who was recognized as incarnate in Krishna, a
hero presented by popular legend at Mathura as romantic lover of cowherd-girls, and on
18
the west coast as a somber warrior. A second avatar or reincarnation of Vishnu was
Rama, symbol of conjugal devotion. To Vishnu as Preserver and Siva as Destroyer was
added Brahma the Creator, a personification of the Brahman principle of the
Upanishads.
The Mahabharata, an epic poem composed by several generations of bards, seems to
have taken form about the 4th century B.C.E., although probably revised early in our era.
The original 9,000 verses were swelled to 100,000 by later accretions, including myths,
legends, popular philosophy, and moralizing narratives. It recounts a feud between the
wily Kurus and the fierce Pandus. Krishna takes prominent part in the struggle as
counselor of Arjuna, the Pandu chief. Noteworthy within the epic is the Bhagavadgita
(“Song of the Lord”), which first urges personal love and devotion (bhakti) to Krishna.
The Ramayana, although traditionally ascribed to Valmiki (?6th century B.C.E.), is, in its
present form, later than the Mahabharata. It recounts the trials of Rama in rescuing, with
an army of apes, his wife, Sita, from a fiend. Both epics are composed in a popular form
of Sanskrit.
19
The increasing prosperity and resulting influence of merchants suggests a society
that departed from the normative theories put forward in these texts. Indeed, Ashoka's
pleas for social harmony suggest that those labeled vaisyas and placed third in the
hierarchy persistently challenged Brahmans and kshatriya through their patronage of the
heterodox sects of Buddhism and Jainism and through their support of the ruler. Social
and economic tension undoubtedly was mirrored in religious life.
20
One way to ease this tension lay in giving the king increasing power by seeing him as
the connecting point for various communities in the realm. Ashoka elaborated this
connection through a new interpretation of dhamma (or dharma), which assigned to the
king the duty of enabling each caste to fulfill its own dharma. The polity thus was seen
as a congeries of distinct groups, each with its own duties or social responsibilities to
fulfill, integrated by the figure of the king. To effect such a political theory, Mauryan
government created a centralized bureaucracy, dependent especially on the treasurer
and chief (tax revenue) collector; Mauryan fiscal accounts were carefully kept. Ashoka
also traveled extensively to stay in touch with, and to influence, public opinion. He
elaborated, as well, the use of spies into an espionage system that brought him regular
news of his far-flung empire.
21
206
Antiochus III of Syria occupied Gandhara but shortly lost it to the Greek (Yavana) King
Demetrius of Bactria, who (c. 185) seized the Punjab also. Eastward expansion of the
Yavanas was halted (after c. 162) by civil war between the houses of Euthydemus,
represented especially by the warrior-philosopher Menander, and Eucratides.
22
c. 184–c. 72
The SUNGA DYNASTY was founded in the Ganges Valley and in Malwa by
Pushyamitra, who overthrew the Maurya and repulsed the Yavanas under Menander,
and by a Brahman reaction that may have stimulated Buddhist emigration to Bharhut,
Sanchi, and Mathura. The dynasty in its later years was overshadowed if not actually
displaced by its line of Brahman advisers, the Kanvas.
23
At the same time (c. 100 B.C.E.–50 C.E.) flourished in Gandhara a school of sculpture
which created a Buddha image based on the Greek Apollo. Only a few decadent
monuments (mostly 1st century C.E.) bear dates (318, 356, 384 with coin of Kadphises,
399) by reference to a Mauryan era (?322 B.C.E.) or more probably the Seleucid era of
312 B.C.E. Stylistic influence of the art of Gandhara was exerted chiefly in Afghanistan
(frescoes of Bamiyan and Dukhtar-i-Nushirwan), where it was fused with Sassanian
influences, eastern Turkestan, China of the North Wei dynasty, and Japan. But its
iconographic formulae were accepted by the entire Buddhist world. Meanwhile, in
western India (near Bombay) were cut in rocky cliffs Buddhist chaityas or temple halls,
of which the earliest (c. 125–100 B.C.E.) are at Bhaja, Kondane, Pitalkhora, and Ajanta
(cave 10); the largest, finest, and latest (1st century C.E.) at Karli. Jain caves in the
Udayagiri hills of Orissa are of similar date.
24
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2. South Asia, 72 B.C.E.–500 C.E.
By the end of this period, the rule of the Guptas (c. 300–700 C.E.) over much of north
India provided an integrative pattern taken by later historians as representative of a
“classical civilization.” The characteristics of Gupta rule, in which some centralization
and some rise in the standard of living (especially for elite groups) took place, were
taken as establishing certain norms for a broad-based empire ruling over much of the
subcontinent. At the same time, and in tension with this characterization of a political
“norm,” a series of regional politico-cultural clusters began to solidify that provided
alternative bases for state formations. In particular, based on the very different
geographical and agrarian patterns in the north and south, these halves of the
subcontinent tended to foster different sizes and forms of polities. (See South Asia,
500–1199)
1
a. North India: Punjab and the Gangetic Plain
1st Century B.C.E
Dating of the known Saka rulers, the “Great King Moga” or Maues, Azes, and Azilises,
raises a complex chronological problem affecting the whole epoch from 100 B.C.E. to
200 C.E. It springs from multiplicity of eras, which are hardly ever explicitly identified.
2
The Pahlavas (Parthians closely related to the Scythians) under Vonones and his brother
Spalirises became independent in eastern Iran with the title of “King of Kings”
sometime (c. 30? B.C.E.) after the death of Mithridates II (88 B.C.E., supposed by L. de la
Vallée Poussin to begin a Pahlava era). Azes II, son of Spalirises, succeeded the Sakas
in the Punjab. Pacores was the last to rule as suzerain, although others probably
continued as satraps.
3
The Kushana Kujula Kadphises forcibly united the five tribes of Yüeh-chih in Bactria
(end 1st century B.C.E.) and seized from the Pahlavas the Kabul Valley and adjacent
regions. His son Vima Kadphises conquered northwestern India and ruled it by deputy
till his death at 80. An inscription near Panjtar speaks of a “Gushana Great King” under
4
date “122” which is 64 or 34 C.E. by the Azes or Pahlava systems. The inscriptions of
“136” similarly belong to 78 or 48 C.E.
c. 78–176+ C.E
A second Kushana dynasty was founded by
5
c. 78–96+ C.E
KANISHKA, who extended his rule from Benares and Kabul to the Vindhyas, and
established his capital at Peshawar. Whether or not the era he founded is the “Saka” era
of 78 C.E., he probably came to the throne near that date.
6
Kanishka appears to have been tolerant in religion and built a great stupa at Peshawar
over relics of the Buddha. A fourth church council, unknown to the Pali sources, was
apparently convoked at Jalandhara in the Punjab by the powerful Sarvastivadin, a realist
sect of the conservative Theravada (Hinayana, (See 2nd Century C.E)). It probably
supervised translation into Sanskrit of the canon which had been fixed in Prakrit in
Mathura, the Punjab, and Kashmir in the last centuries B.C.E. The earliest and most
vigorous classical Sanskrit is found in Asvaghosha's Saundarananda (“Conversion of
Nanda”) and the Buddhacharita, an artistic versified life of the Buddha, together with a
work long supposed to be his Sutralamkara, which is now identified as the
Kalpanamanditika of Kumaralata, a junior contemporary.
7
2nd Century C.E
Kanishka's successors with their inscriptions (dated in terms of his reign) are: his son
Vasishka (24, 28, 29); the latter's son Kanishka II (41); his younger brother Huvishka
(29 or 33–60); Vasushka, son of Kanishka II (68, 74); and Vasudeva (76–98).
8
Ujjayini (Ujjain) became a center of Sanskrit learning and was taken as meridian by
Indian astronomers. At Mathura, where sculpture early resembled that of Bharhut and
San¯ chi, and later imitated the forms of Gandhara, the heavy drapery of the Hellenistic
school was rendered transparent and schematized in decorative ridges, creating the socalled Udayana Buddha carried to China and Japan.
9
The Buddhist community was now divided between two means to salvation: the
Hinayana, or Lesser Vehicle, which retained much of the primitive simplicity of the
Dharma, “Law” by which Buddhism was then named; and the Mahayana, or Great
10
Vehicle, which emphasized personal devotion to Sakyamuni and exalted Bodhisattva
(future Buddhas) as saviors. Although practically deified in the Lalitavistara (2nd
century ?, Chinese trans. 308) and Saddharma-pundarika-sutra, “Lotus of the Good
Law” (Chinese trans., 265–316), Buddha is regarded as but the human representative
(manushi-buddha), for the current epoch, of an infinite series of buddhas. Popular
bodhisattvas are Avalokitesvara (Lotus Sutra, ch. 24), Manjusri (Avatamsaka-sutra,
2nd–3rd centuries, Chinese trans. 317–420), Samantabhadra, and Kshitigarbha, all of
whom have deferred their own illumination to succor struggling mankind. The goal of
effort is no longer sainthood or final absorption in nirvana, but direct attainment of
buddhahood or rebirth to indefinite residence in a celestial paradise. Nagarjuna (2nd
century), founder of the Madhyamika Sutra, teaches that all sensory and mental
experience is illusion and comments on the Prajn¯ aparamita, “Perfect Wisdom”
(Chinese trans. 160), which consists in recognition of the Buddhist law as sole reality.
Already before this era Indian writers recognized and wrote treatises about three phases
of human existence: dharma, religious and moral duty; artha, politics and practical life;
and kama, love. The Artha-sastra (compounded from earlier materials c. 300–330) aims
to teach a prince the whole science of successful rule according to accepted principles. It
assumes autocratic monarchy, justification of all means by the end (personal
aggrandizement), and chronic war. It advocates use of spies in all quarters; deception,
intimidation, false witness, and confiscation to obtain money; cunning; and
assassination. Virtuous rule is described because it is desirable to win affection of a
conquered people. The Kamasutra (“Laws of Love”) by Vatsyayana Mallanaga (c. 4th
century or later) imitates the Artha-sastra in both form and morals.
11
320–c. 535
The GUPTA DYNASTY united north India after five centuries' division.
12
320–c. 330
Chandragupta I ruled from Pataliputra (Patna), having strengthened his position by
marriage into the ancient Lichchavi tribe.
13
c. 330–c. 375
Samudragupta, his son, completed the conquest of the north (Aryavarta) and won glory
by traversing Telugu lands to force homage of the Pallava. He claimed to receive tribute
14
from southeastern Bengal; Assam; and Nepal; with presents from the Kushan “son of
Heaven and king of kings” (now actually vassal of the Sassanids) in Kabul-KapisaGandhara; the satrap of Ujjain; and the King Meghavanna (352–379) of Ceylon (who
founded a monastery at Gaya for his subjects). He revived the Vedic horse-sacrifice
which sanctified claim to the title of “universal monarch.” He was a patron of poetry and
music.
c. 375–c. 415
Chandragupta II Vikramaditya (on throne in 379) ended the satrapy of Ujjain by
conquest of Malwa, Gujerat, and Surashtra (between 388 and 401). He moved his capital
to Ayodhya (in Awadh) and then to Kausambi on the Jumna.
15
c. 415–455
Kumaragupta I probably founded the monastic community at Nalanda which was the
principal Buddhist seminary till it burned c. 988.
16
455–c. 467
Skandagupta repulsed the White Huns, as heir apparent and as emperor (455).
17
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b. The Deccan
The DECCAN was dominated (from c. 100 B.C.E. to c. 225 C.E.) by a dynasty called
Andhra by the late Puranas but Satavahana or Satakani in their own Prakrit
inscriptions. Founded by Simuka on the ruins of the Sunga-Kanva power, with its capital
at Pratishthana (Paithan) on the upper Godavari, its early conquests to the north and
northwest were appropriated by the Saka satraps. A Saka satrap Bhumaka established
Scythian power on the northwest coast (c. 70 C.E.). Nahapana, junior to him, ruled many
years over Surashtra (Kathiawar) and the adjacent coast with a capital probably at Junnar,
east of Bombay. Named Mambanos in the Periplus (c. 89), his inscriptions are dated
“41–46” (?119–124 C.E.), probably with reference to the Saka era of 78.
1
c. 109–132+
Gotamiputa Siri Satakani conquered Surashtra from Nahapana and in an inscription at
Nasik (18th year of his reign, c. 126) claimed not only the Deccan from the Vindhyas to
Banavasi, but less probably Malwa as well. Very likely by this epoch the Satakani had
extended control over the properly Andhra Teluga (Dravidian) lands of the Godavari and
Kistna deltas. The Prakrit poems of the Sattasai in part date from this time. Liberal
toward all religions, the Satakani especially exalted the Brahmans.
2
Sculptures about the great Buddhist stupa of Amaravati on the lower Kistna reveal union
of Hindu traditional style with its crowding and naturalism, already more refined than at
Bharhut and Sanchi, with Greco-Buddhist motifs which were borrowed from Gandhara
and in turn transmitted to Malaya, Sumatra-Java, Cambodia, and Champa.
3
c. 120–c. 395
A DYNASTY OF WESTERN SATRAPS of Ujjain in Malwa was founded by
Bhumaka's son Chashtana (Tiastanes of Ptolemy, c. 150).
4
c. 170
Rudradaman, Chashtana's grandson, in a Sanskrit inscription at Girnar in Kathiawar,
records repair of a dam which broke in 150 C.E., defeat of northern tribesmen, and
repeated rout of the southern Satakani. (See Deccan and Western India)
5
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c. South India
The whole Indian peninsula south of the Vindhyas, save for a part of Maharashtra (Nasik
and Pratishthana) easily accessible from Malwa and already Aryanized, was occupied by
Dravidians: Canarese-speakers on the northwest, Telugu-speakers on the east, and
Tamil-speakers in the Carnatic. Jainism, brought to Sravana Belgola in Mysore under
Chandragupta (end 4th century B.C.E.), flourished in the Digambara, “naked clergy,”
form which the north rejected. Buddhism with its stupas and sculpture was brought to
Amaravati and Mysore under Ashoka. Sanskrit culture and Hindu culture were carried
from the south to Cambodia about the opening of our era. Sanskrit influence is clear in
the early Tamil grammar Tolkappiyam and in the Kural of Tiruvalluvar, lofty songs of a
priest of pariahs (2nd–3rd centuries C.E.). Brahman colonies with Saivite and Vaishnava
sectarianism and the caste system were at various periods imported from the Ganges
Valley and endowed by local rulers, as was done also in Bengal.
1
The south, however, placed its own impress on what it received and developed lingaworship, bhakti devotion to Vishnu and Siva, organization of Saiva monasteries and
laymen, occasional violent religious intolerance, especially between adherents of Vishnu
and Siva, and municipal and corporate life with a sacrificial spirit of personal loyalty.
2
In search of the great profits on spices sold to the Romans, merchants on west and south
coasts began to sail eastward to Java, Sumatra, and Bali. Their sharply increased wealth
helped to fund expanding urbanism and the spread of Buddhism and Jainism.
3
2nd century C.E. Ashoka's inscriptions name three Tamil states in the Carnatic: Pandya
(extreme south), Chola (southeast), and Chera or Kerala (southwest coast, chief port
Muziris). These competed with Maesolia at the mouth of the Kistna and especially with
the rich western port of Barygaza (Broach) in thriving trade with the Roman Empire. An
embassy to Augustus (c. 22 B.C.E.) was sent by a king “Pandion” who may have been a
Pandya. Strabo (d. 21 C.E.) speaks of fleets of 120 ships from Egypt to India, and Pliny
(23–79) values annual imports from India at 50 million sesterces.
4
100–200
King Karikalan of early Tamil poems is credited with construction of a great irrigation
dam on the Kaveri River, east of Trichinopoly.
5
c. 225
Breakup of the Satakani Empire led to establishment, in Maharashtra near Nasik, of a
6
c. 250–c. 500
Traikutaka dynasty, probably founded by chiefs of the pastoral Abhira tribe.
7
c. 300–888
The Pallava warrior dynasty of foreign (Pahlava?) origin, using Prakrit and later
Sanskrit, held from Kanchi (near Madras) hegemony of the Deccan, which it disputed
with the Chalukyas of Vatapi (550–753), the Rashtrakutas of Malkhed (753–973), and
the Chalukyas of Vengi (611–1078).
8
c. 300–c. 500
The Vakatakas, extended their power from the fortress of Gawilgarh in northern Berar
to Nagpur, Bundelkhand, and Kuntala, probably limiting Gupta expansion to the south.
9
Farther south the Chutu branch of the Satakani, called Andhrabhrityas in the Puranas,
ruled at Banavasi (c. 200–c. 250) where they were succeeded by
10
c. 350–c. 500
The Kadamba dynasty, founded by a Brahman rebel from the Pallava. His greatgrandson Kakutsthavarman (c. 435–475) married his daughters to a Gupta, a Vakataka
(445), and a Ganga of Mysore.
11
In the Telugu lands, the Andhras were succeeded by the Ikshvaku dynasty (3rd
century), notable for donations to a Buddhist stupa on the Nagarjunikonda (hill), on the
Kistna above Amaravati; by the
12
c. 300–450
Salankayana of Vengi; and by the
13
c. 400–611
Vishnukundins, a dynasty of at least ten kings at the same place. (See South India)
14
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d. Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
Ceylon traditionally received Buddhism from Ashoka under
1
?247–?207 B.C.E
Devanampiya Tissa, who founded the Mahavihara or Great Monastery at his capital
Anuradhapura. The Pali Tripitaka, which reflects Theravadin tradition, was written under
2
89 B.C.E.–40 C.E. or 29 B.C.E.–?17 C.E
Vattagamani, who founded the rival Abhayagiri Monastery. His epoch is supported by
the geography (c. 90–200 C.E.) of the Mahaniddesa, a commentary admitted late to the
Canon.
3
412–434
Mahanaman, Buddhaghosha of Magadha, author of the Visuddhimagga or “Way of
Purity,” recorded in Pali Singhalese traditions. (See Ceylon)
4
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3. Southeast Asia, c. 500 B.C.E.–500 C.E.
For both the Malay Archipelago and the mainland areas of Southeast Asia, the main
characteristic during this period was of scattered centers of civilization with widely
divergent linguistic patterns (See Japan). What has been called the mandala pattern
organized space and the polities within it (often this meant an unstable political situation
in a vaguely definable geographical area without fixed boundaries; these boundaries
expanded and contracted regularly); within these mandalas would reside several tributary
rulers. Typical of the entire Southeast Asia area, between the 3rd and the 13th centuries
C.E., was the appearance of hundreds of Indic kingdoms (negara), in which rulers adopted
the Indic models of kingship and social order.
1
Demography. Characteristic of this period, in areas where there was surplus food
production—resulting primarily from the development of wet rice production—there
would be a tendency to have more dense population growth, but this increase in
population was offset by patterns of warfare and plunder during this period. The scarcity
of labor in relation to available land meant a pattern of competition for resources in which
additional labor was more valued than additional land. As different centers of power vied
for control, an area would be stripped of its inhabitants and they would be forced to
relocate to the territory of the victorious ruler. This pattern of warfare, though not
particularly high in casualties, severely disrupted agricultural patterns so that sustained
population growth patterns did not occur until after the 1500s.
2
Around 500 B.C.E. beginning with the establishment of wet rice cultivation, socially
stratified villages relatively autonomous from one another developed. Common to most
lowland areas was cognatic kinship (descent reckoned equally through males and
females) and, thus, the downgrading of the importance of lineage. The development of
town life and, especially, the emergence of entrepôts (established to facilitate the growing
trade between India and China) were among the greatest changes. The entrepôts became
centers for the spread of Indian civilization in Southeast Asia, a process of cultural
synthesis often referred to as the “Indianization” of the states of mainland Southeast Asia,
or the “Hinduizing” of belief systems, beginning about 200 B.C.E.
3
These early civilizations centered around the major river valleys and the Great Lake of
4
Cambodia. At the same time, the emergence of peasant societies underscored the
increasing differentiation between hill (tribal cultures) and lowland peoples. Hill peoples
became incorporated into social systems dominated by lowland peoples, a relationship
symbolized by various ceremonials in which the hill peoples paid tribute, often situated in
gift exchanges.
This period witnessed the expansion of trade between China and India via Southeast
Asia. Accompanying this expansion was the movement of Brahman priestly specialists,
Buddhist monks, and other scholars. The Southeast Asian rulers played a leading role in
the Indianization of their societies. (See Southeast Asia, 500–900)
5
a. Funan
The polity termed by the Chinese “Funan” is the first known polity to emerge in
Southeast Asia, usually dated in the 1st century C.E., with its capital near present-day Ba
Phnom in Cambodia's province of Prei Veng. Because of its location on the then-existent
trade route, which included an overland segment, and its access to sufficient agricultural
production to support the needs of traders, it greatly benefited from the growth of
maritime trade, which resulted during the century when Roman demand for Asian goods
increased dramatically.
6
By the 2nd or 3rd Century
Funan was a center with Indians, Chinese, Persian Gulf, and Malay traders. Its fortunes of
wealth and power appear to have peaked in the 4th century.
7
By the 5th Century
, competition from the Malay traders and the competition of an all-sea route from India to
China that went through the Straits of Melaka undermined its position.
8
By the 6th Century
, its position had been so undermined that it was taken over by the Khmer people who
lived in the middle sections of the Mekong River.
9
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b. Champa
The peoples of Champa, located in the region between the Mekong Delta and the Hue,
are ethnolinguistically Malay. The Cham monarchs during this era evidently did not have
access to a broad plain providing enough wet rice production to support an elaborate
political structure or power base and could not maintain dominance over other Cham
monarchs for any extended period of time. As a result, the center or capital of Cham
authority would shift over time to various locations as one Cham ruler would lose his
dominance to other rulers. As a result of the failure to have a secure economic base either
through agricultural production or trade activities, the Cham ruler relied on plunder from
raids on neighboring areas, including Khmer territories to the west and Vietnamese
territories to the north. In addition, the Cham rulers used local and Indian cultural
symbols and their spiritual relationship with the ancestors as defined by religious cults.
Also part of the ideological mix were Indian traditions of the king's divinity as the basis
for their authority. (See The Malay Archipelago and Peninsula)
1
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c. Burma (Pagan)
From early times Burma came under Indian influence. By the 3rd century C.E.,
expanding Hindu peoples had established commercial settlements on the Tenasserim
coast and at the principal river mouths, which developed small kingdoms in contact with
the Tibeto-Burman tribes of the Irrawaddy Valley. Commercial relations with China were
less influential, although an embassy from a Burmese state reached Ch'ang An in 802.
(See Burma (Pagan))
1
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4. China, to 221 B.C.E.
The Chinese people are now considered part of the larger Mongoloid race. The Chinese
language is related to Thai and Vietnamese, all of which are part of the larger SinoTibetan group. The importance of family to Chinese society and culture dates far back
into Chinese prehistory. Family organization and family names are extremely old in
China, and families were unified by worship of common ancestors. The “Chinese,” or
Han people, began in the north China plain and then spread south. Early people of the
south include the Man and the Tai. Southerners were linguistically and racially kin,
though in the north people were racially kin but linguistically diverse.
1
Periodization. Early Chinese history is derived from archaeological evidence and (with
due caution) later legend. More systematic history begins with the Shang and
particularly the Zhou dynasties. This early political period, vital in Chinese cultural
development, ends in 221 B.C.E. with the establishment of a more powerful state.
2
Legendary rulers. Chinese texts speak of three great rulers and three sage kings, all
mythical, of high antiquity. The former include:
3
2852–2737 B.C.E
Reign of Fuxi who domesticated animals and instituted the family.
4
2737–2697 B.C.E
Reign of Shennong who invented farm tools and sedentary agriculture.
2697 B.C.E.–?
5
Reign of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, who created Chinese writing, silk cloth, and
the bow and arrow—he was a heroic figure as well.
6
The latter three include:
7
2357–2256 B.C.E
Reign of YAO, who is credited with the calendar for managing agriculture, for
beginning centralized government, and for using ritual to foster morality. He sagaciously
ignored his own incompetent son to pass the reigns of state to SHUN (r. 2255–2205
B.C.E.), a poor peasant but a filial son. Shun similarly passed the throne to YU (r.
2205–2198 B.C.E.), because the latter had controlled China's flood waters by dredging to
the sea, thus creating north China's major river systems. Yu picked an able successor,
but the people allegedly opted instead for his son and so was instituted the XIA dynasty
(trad. 2205–1966). The last ruler of the Xia was the evil Jie, who was deposed by Tang,
who founded the SHANG dynasty (1766–1122). Details of the Xia from historical and
literary texts are difficult to corroborate. It was probably in present-day Shanxi Province.
8
The oldest Chinese archaeological evidence comes from Zhoukoudian (near Beijing);
between 200,000 and 500,000 years old, Beijing Man (Peking Man) (See Homo
Erectus) of the Old Stone Age was found here with certain Mongoloid characteristics.
Mongoloid homo sapiens appear c. 20,000 years ago, using Stone Age techniques.
Agriculture and ceramics emerge in China c. 12,000 years ago (in the transition from
paleolithic to neolithic eras) in the Yellow River region. There is also archaeological
evidence for rice agriculture in the Yangzi Valley from prehistoric times. Neolithic or
Yangshao culture is associated with painted clay pottery; people lived in small villages,
mainly harvested millet, hunted with bows and arrows, domesticated pigs and dogs, used
numerous tools made of stone and bone, engaged in fertility rites, and showed respect
for their dead through burial. This culture reached its apex c. 3000 B.C.E. and was
gradually replaced by Longshan culture, characterized by black, unpainted pottery
crafted on wheels. Longshan society was less mobile, more sedentary than before, with
walled communities. People harvested rice and millet, domesticated cows and sheep (as
well as dogs and pigs), had more buildings and agricultural implements, used a more
stratified system of professions and for burial rites, practiced ancestor worship, and
divined by means of “oracle bones.” It reached its apex c. 2000 B.C.E.
9
Shang rulers, about thirty in all, came from one branch of Longshan culture centered in
present-day Henan province. They covered from the Yellow River plain in the west to as
far as Shandong in the east. There were numerous capitals, the last of which was at Yin
(or Anyang) where the last twelve kings ruled from c. 1395 B.C.E. The Shang is thus
often called the Yin. Capital cities were unprecedentedly large in scale. There were
developments in bronze technology and the emergence of horse-drawn chariots. Also
10
new was the earliest form of written ideographic Chinese: oracle bones (made of
turtle shells and the clavicles of oxen) were inscribed, placed in a fire, and the cracks
were read by diviners. Shang also used elaborate, inscribed bronzes for ceremonies.
Shang state and society witnessed the origins of the patrilineal family and ancestor
worship, as well as increasing differentiation in social and status roles from earlier times.
There were three principal classes in Shang times: hereditary nobles and their families,
commoners, and slaves (often sacrificially buried) who were largely war captives. The
Shang state was a centralized monarchy. While Shang times saw the further
development of settled agriculture, hunting remained important.
11
c. 1133 B.C.E
King Wu, song of King Wen who hatched a plot to break with their erstwhile ally, the
Shang, came to power. He erected a new capital at Hao (near present-day Xi'an) and
invaded Shang unsuccessfully in 1124 B.C.E.
12
1122?–771 B.C.E
The WESTERN ZHOU was, like the Shang, descended from Longshan civilization and
settled in the Wei River valley of Shaanxi.
13
1122 B.C.E
The second attack defeated the Shang under the rule of the last “evil” Shang king, Shou.
According to tradition, Wen was a wise, kind ruler, while Wu was a strong and tough
one.
14
1116 B.C.E
Wu died at Hao. Tradition has it that he had wanted to sack Yin but was prevailed upon
by his brother, the Duke of Zhou, who is credited (as regent to the boy ruler Cheng)
with giving the Zhou longevity and a firm institutional basis, especially after crushing a
rebellion of the last Shang heir and bringing the Yellow River plain under Zhou
hegemony. The Duke of Zhou was later revered. Zhou built a city at Luoyang on the
opposite side of the Yellow River plain to balance Hao. Yin was destroyed. Cheng died
in 1079 B.C.E. by which point Zhou institutions were soundly in place.
15
771 B.C.E
King You (r. 781–771) was killed and Hao pillaged by northern border peoples. Hao was
thereafter abandoned by Zhou descendants for the new capital at Luoyang. End of
western Zhou.
16
The state system of the western Zhou was less centralized with small city-states and
graded (feudal) rankings. Zhou lords and vassals were unified via bonds of kinship or
marriage. The Zhou king was simultaneously the political leader and the paterfamilias of
a large extended family. Over time the ties of the regional states to the Zhou loosened,
and they acquired characteristics of their own. By the 8th century B.C.E., there were
about 200 such states. There were also non-Zhou peoples on the borders and in the large
state of Chu south of the Zhou in the Yangzi Delta. From the 9th century, there were
interstate troubles and clashes with border peoples increasingly.
17
Western Zhou culture, religion, and society showed marked developments. Two
major works describe this era, though both were written much later: Zhouli (Rites of
Zhou), traditionally believed to depict state organization, and Yili (Propriety and Rites),
depicting proper behavior for the cultivated gentleman. The Zhouli pictures a centralized
feudal system with fiefs (or states) probably centered on walled towns where the lords
lived, the surrounding terrain falling to their control. The “central states” (later the term
for “China”) were considered the most culturally advanced. Lords paid personal homage
to the Zhou king, offered military support, had their heir confirmed by the king, paid
taxes, and kept local order. The king was responsible for peace in the entire realm,
maintained through garrison forces throughout the land. There were countless
bureaucratic titles which are now difficult to understand. Originally tied to Zhou
religious beliefs, the idea of a “mandate of heaven” emerges; omnipotent heaven rules
through the men upon whom it confers its mandate, and it can withdraw same. Victory
over a dynasty in battle was used ex post facto to prove a change in heaven's will. Rulers
were rigorously obliged to listen to able ministers, for governments ruled to keep peace
and social order and for the welfare of the common people. To ignore the latter's feelings
was conceived of as tantamount to betraying heaven. While Zhou elite society was
organized around common ancestors, commoners lived in nuclear families. From early
on, government service was considered the highest calling; scholarship was revered
and early became an avenue into public service. Farmers were esteemed in theory as
the basic producers. Social mobility in the western Zhou is still a moot point, but there
was less “slavery” than in the Shang. The economy was based on settled agriculture of a
manorial sort. Barter exchange remained, and hunting declined. There was also
population growth through expansion and greater stress on agriculture.
18
770–256 B.C.E
The EASTERN ZHOU marked the end of centralized control by the Zhou king and the
commencement of increasingly strong regional powers. The state of Qin, initially a
semi-Sinic state like Chu, was given control over northern Shaanxi, homeland of the
Zhou, and gradually became extremely strong in the west. The states of Jin in the north
and Qi in the east (Shandong) were also quite powerful.
19
c. 700 B.C.E
Qin, Jin, Qi, and the semi-Sinic state of Chu in the south were the most important
regimes. Honors continued to be paid by all to the Zhou in Luoyang, but the latter had
little real power.
20
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
a. Schools of Classical Chinese Thought
In response to the chaotic, changing world of the late Spring and Autumn period and
Warring States period, many schools (frequently dubbed the “Hundred Schools”)
emerged usually surrounding an individual, an itinerant thinker seeking to offer advice to
the feudal lords. The following schools are among the most famous:
1
1. Confucianism
Confucians shared a belief in a heaven that guided all matters in the cosmos and that men
were most happy when they were ruled in accordance with the Way (dao). To live a
moral, virtuous life was to live in harmony with the dao. Rites (li) were manifestations of
proper conduct. Proper behavior required wisdom gained through rigorous study, which
all were capable of acquiring, by learning from the sage kings and through the lessons of
history. All humankind and human society itself was perfectible. Each of the five human
relationships—father-son, ruler-subject, brother-brother, husband-wife, and friendfriend—was nurtured by a distinct virtue, and all bonds were reciprocal.
2
a. Confucius (551–479 B.C.E.)
Born Kong Qiu in the state of Lu (in Shandong), Confucius taught students about proper
behavior in government and life, traveling widely to get a hearing at regional states but
without success. His Lunyu (Analects), compiled by his disciples, is a collection of his
thoughts and didactic stories usually in question-answer form with the disciples. Human
beings were central to his thinking. He argued that people should seek to be the best they
could, for goodness itself was its own reward. He stressed the role of the gentleman
(junzi) or moral exemplar who should rule. He also placed emphasis on ritual as the
embodiment of proper behavior. The Way was the correct sociomoral manner in which
human life and politics need be conducted, and the junzi lived in full accord with it. “Do
3
not do to others what you would not want others to do to you.” His government would be
one ruled by moral men, not abstract laws; he was a self-proclaimed transmitter of the
institutions and practices of the Duke of Zhou, not their creator.
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5. China, 221 B.C.E.–589 C.E.
The year 221 B.C.E. marked the emergence of East Asia's first unified empire, that of the
Qin in China, followed soon thereafter by the Han. Han expansionism in all directions,
but especially to the northeast, south, and southeast, brought Chinese civilization to what
is now Korea and Vietnam. There was still, at this time, minimal contact with Japan. The
notion of an East Asian or Sinitic sphere began to take shape. Despite the breakup of the
Han Empire in 220 C.E., this East Asian region continued to retain its overall form, and,
in the subsequent Three Kingdoms period in China, Japan established contact with the
state of Wei. The Period of Division from 220 C.E. through reunification of China in 589
marked the major second subdivision of the larger period. By the late 6th century, East
Asia as a unit was firmly in place.
1
221–206 B.C.E
QIN DYNASTY (or Qin Empire). Originally a feudal state to the west of the ruling
Zhou house, the Qin had weathered a long history of military conflicts with non-Sinic
tribes along its borders. In the process, it developed an ironhanded political tradition. It
was the first truly unified Chinese dynasty to control a region all of which was
considered to be “China.” Although the size and shape of “China” would change over
the subsequent centuries, Qin laid the foundations of a government structure and
bureaucratic administration for all later dynasties.
2
247–210 B.C.E
The reign of SHI HUANGDI, “China's first unifier,” was an era in which the very idea
of a Chinese dynasty as such came into being. The “feudal” decentralized form of the
Zhou was transformed into a centralized governmental structure with a bureaucracy;
former feudal states were abolished and incorporated into the new regime. The political
3
map of China was redrawn into a system of districts and prefectures for levels of local
administration with a strict chain of command. Precedents for this system can be found
in the work of Guan Zhong (7th cent. B.C.E., state of Qi), Shen Buhai (d. 337 B.C.E.,
Han), and Long Shang (d. 338 B.C.E., Qin). Qin standardized weights, measures, coins,
wheel-axle widths, even variant Chinese writing in an effort to overcome the plethora of
regional systems in use till then. Qin also sought to standardize thought by ending the
philosophical debates popular in the late Zhou, so as to forestall criticism of the Qin
state and its tough policies.
221, 219, 213 B.C.E
Former great families and their dependents (numbering in the tens of thousands) were
removed to the capital where they could be watched.
4
213 B.C.E
The great book burning proscribed all writings other than official state documents,
texts on agriculture and medicine, and some writings on divination.
5
212 B.C.E
The execution of 460 scholars was ordered by the emperor in a draconian effort to
standardize thought as he was doing with weights and measures. A new palace was
constructed in the rebuilt capital at Xi'an, and Shi Huangdi made grand tours throughout
his realm. He also began construction on his own huge tomb. He undertook massive
public works projects: a network of uniform-width roads, better waterways, a canal
linking the Yangzi River to south China so as to facilitate the movement of goods to
armies in the south, and a linking of the walls built by some of the northern states along
the northern border into the first Great Wall of China. All of these projects cost many
lives. Harsh Qin laws, inspired by Legalism, supported these labor drives and the forced
labor of criminals. There was also continued fighting with states south of the core Zhou
homeland.
6
210 B.C.E
By the time of Shi Huangdi's death, Qin conquests in the south reached as far as the
7
Hanoi area of Vietnam. In the process, all former city walls were destroyed; all weapons
were seized and melted down for the Qin imperial palace. Late in life, Shi Huangdi
sought a Daoist elixir to attain immortality, and Li Si took over affairs of state. Shi
Huangdi had earlier banished his eldest son and heir, leaving a will that he succeed him,
but Li Si hid the will after the emperor's death, forged an edict demanding this son
commit suicide, and placed the second son on the Qin throne.
208 B.C.E
Li Si was imprisoned by a fellow schemer and executed.
8
207 B.C.E
The weak second Qin emperor was poisoned.
9
206 B.C.E
Qin surrendered to rebel forces.
10
Qin state and society were built on a strict brand of Legalism. While this enabled the
regime to rise rapidly, it ultimately undid it as well. In an effort to abolish the Zhou
social order and nobility, Qin eliminated heredity as grounds for bureaucratic
recruitment; only service to the state mattered, and only rewards and punishments were
meted out. Qin also began using eunuchs more extensively than earlier as the emperor's
personal attendants to watch over the harem. Conflicts between regional bureaucrats and
eunuchs became endemic. Merchants were particularly despised, and many were
banished to the far south. Legalism was respected at the expense of almost all other
schools of Zhou thought.
11
207–206 B.C.E
The many rebellious groups that arose in late Qin boiled down to Xiang Yu (232–202
B.C.E.) of Chu noble stock and Liu Bang (c. 256–195 B.C.E.) of poor peasant stock. They
had worked together to bring down the Qin. After the Qin capital surrendered, Xiang
destroyed it, angering Liu who had accrued a popular following among the rebels for his
evenhandedness. Xiang, a brilliant strategian, lost out in the struggle and committed
suicide.
12
202 B.C.E.–9 C.E
The FORMER OR WESTERN HAN DYNASTY was founded by Liu Bang
(posthumous temple name (Han) Gaozu, r. 202–195 B.C.E.), who had been Prince of Han
since 206 B.C.E., the first time a peasant rose all the way to become emperor. He relied
on advisers for civil and military matters and rewarded them accordingly; he relaxed Qin
authoritarian controls of state, so that government could serve the populace. He realized
that one “can conquer the realm on horseback, but one must dismount to rule.” Taxes
were lowered on farmers. While the basic Qin bureaucratic structure was retained,
Gaozu gave to his major supporters hereditary fiefs in the eastern half of the Han
Empire, realizing that he could not maintain the Qin centralization and keep order.
13
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6. Korea, to 540 C.E.
Korea is a mountainous peninsula 100–150 miles wide and about 400 miles long,
extending southward from Manchuria toward the western tip of Japan. High mountains
and the frigid Sea of Japan have inhibited the development of the east coast, but the
milder climate and more suitable terrain of the west coast facing China and the south
coast opposite Japan have made these regions the natural centers of Korean history. The
Yalu River in the north forms a natural border with China.
1
Since prehistoric times, the people seem to have been closely related racially,
linguistically, and culturally to the ancient peoples of Manchuria and Siberia as well as
to Japan, but post-Neolithic civilization came in large measure from China. The oldest
Paleolithic (c. 50,000–40,000 B.C.E.) remains from dig sites reveal that the people were
cave dwellers and built homes, using fire for food and warmth. They were hunters and
gatherers and fishermen and used stone tools. The earliest Neolithic remains (c. 4000
B.C.E.) indicate that the people had pottery and polished stone implements. The Korean
Peninsula (c. 3000 B.C.E.) had numerous settlements. Its pottery was gray in color with
“comb pattern” markings on the outside, similar to pottery in the Russian Maritime
Province, in the Amur and Sungari River basins of Manchuria, and in Mongolia.
Another pottery culture emerged with painted designs, from Manchuria (c. 1800 B.C.E.).
2
People lived near waterways and later lived inland in pit dwellings. They hunted and ate
fish they caught. Later there was some agriculture, too. There may have been a settled,
community life in small villages. Society was organized by clans, each with a clan totem
(an animal), headed by a chief; and each clan community was autonomous in its own
terrain. Extra-clan bonds were formed through marriage and contiguous territory. They
had animistic religious beliefs; nature's objects were revered, some even deified. Most
important was the Sun, which figured prominently in Korean myths of human births
from eggs following exposure to it.
3
Bronze was first used with subsequent regional variations (c. 9th–8th cent.–4th cent.
B.C.E.). Dolmen burial, bronze daggers, and mirrors have been excavated from the
Korean bronze age. People lived on higher ground than in the Neolithic age. Rice
agriculture was practiced alongside fishing and hunting. Bronze was employed as
4
weaponry and helped in the conquest of Neolithic communities. Walled-town states
emerged as Bronze Age culture developed, and some community chiefs became more
powerful than others, the embryos of Korean statelets.
In the 4th century B.C.E., six small states by river basins became sufficiently prominent
that they were known even in China. The most prominent among them was Old Chos
5
n in the basins of the Liao and Taedong Rivers (a major Bronze Age site) in
northwest Korea. Rulers of Old Chos
n combined political and religious affairs,
claiming descent from a sun deity. Old Chos n later merged with other walled states
into a “kingdom,” designating its leader a “king,” a clear Chinese borrowing. The use of
iron came to northern Korea from Manchuria and was employed for plows and other
farming tools, leading to the domestication of animals and increased agricultural
production. Iron was also used for weaponry and horse-drawn vehicles, largely for the
elite. People lived in pit dwellings. The influence of Chinese metal culture is evident
from numerous Chinese coins unearthed at dig sites.
c. 300 B.C.E
The Chinese state of Yan invaded and conquered Old Chos
taken over by the Qin.
n. It was subsequently
6
206 B.C.E
Old Chos
7
n conquered by Liu Bang, rebellion followed.
194–180 B.C.E
Power was taken back by Wiman, a Chinese refugee forced to flee to Korea during the
tumult of the time. Wiman established the state of Chos
which was highly Sinified but not a Chinese colony.
109 B.C.E
n (or Wiman Chos
n)
8
As Chos
n continued to conquer other Korean statelets, the Han dynasty under Wudi,
beginning to fear a Chos
9
n-Xiongnu alliance, launched an attack.
108 B.C.E
The Chos
n capital at present-day P'y
commanderies on former Chos
n), and Lintun (Imdun).
ngyang fell, and the Han established three
10
n terrain: Luolang (Nangnang), Zhenpan (Chinb
107 B.C.E
A fourth commandery at Xuantu (Hy
ndo) was established. Zhenpan and Lintun were
dissolved in 82 B.C.E. and linked, respectively, with Luolang and Xuantu. Luolang, near
11
P'y
ngyang, became effectively an outpost of Han civilization with Chinese civil and
military officials and Chinese colonists. Other Korean states also acquired Chinese
culture artifacts through Luolang.
Some of the other more important states along the Korean Peninsula follow. Puy
(Chinese: Fuyu), in the Sungari River basin of Manchuria, was first mentioned in the 4th
century B.C.E. and then often from the 1st century C.E. It was seen as a threat to Wang
Man's Xin dynasty. By 49 C.E. the Puy
control over a confederated kingdom. Puy
ruler was calling himself “king,” implying
sent emissaries to China with whom it was
on good terms. It was later conquered by Kogury
. Kogury
is traditionally said to
have been founded by Chumong in 37 B.C.E., south of Puy
. It was in the region of the
Xuantu Commandery, but in 75 B.C.E. the latter was moved farther to the west into
Manchuria due to local resistance and Kogury 's emergence as a confederated
kingdom. It was led by a warrior aristocracy frequently at odds with the Chinese, and it
thus acquired more through warfare than productive work, unlike Puy . It began
expanding in the early 1st century C.E. and fought against Wang Mang (12 C.E.); under
King T'aejo (53–146?) it continued to spread south. Later in the 1st century it attacked
also to the north. The Chin state was in the southern part of the peninsula, and it first
appeared in records in the 2nd century B.C.E. It attempted contacts with Han China but
was cut off from doing so by Wiman Chos
n. Many Chinese refugees with knowledge
of metalwork escaped to Chin. The use of iron in the south was important to social and
12
cultural development, for example, in the greater use of rice agriculture. Chin was
eventually subdivided into three statelets: Mahan, Chinhan, and Py
collectively as Samhan or the “three Hans”).
nhan (known
In society at the time, agriculture was most important, supplemented by the raising of
13
livestock and the domestication of animals. Kogury
retained much hunting. The
village communities lived off farming and paid heavy taxes but were forbidden from
participation in the military. The elite lived in walled towns apart from these peasant
communities. The confederated kingdoms developed from the merging of these walledtown states. Kingship was hereditary from at least the late 2nd to early 3rd century C.E.
in Puy
and Kogury
. Aristocratic relatives controlled the political and economic
affairs of the states; the richer ones had large retinues of household slaves. Through this
process, the confederated kingdoms became centralized aristocratic states.
There was a separation over time between religion and politics. The chief of ritual
practice emerged with powers in his own quarters; shamanism continued to be practiced;
there were various seasonal rituals; and festivals were open to all classes of populace.
Royal burials were extravagant, and the numerous burial objects imply that ancestor
worship was strong.
14
c. 210 C.E
The Gongson family of southern Manchuria gained control over Luolang.
15
c. 238
The Wei dynasty (one of the Three Kingdoms in China) captured Luolang.
16
244
Wei attacked Kogury
Kogury
and took its capital; when it attacked again the next year, the
king fled.
313–668
17
THE THREE KINGDOMS PERIOD began after Kogury
under King Mich' n
destroyed the Luolang Commandery (313), ending four centuries of Chinese control, and
took the Taedong River area to its south, before confronting the rising state of Paekche
in the southwest. The third state, Silla, was in the southeast.
18
342
The Xianbei state of Yan attacked Kogury
from the north, invaded the capital, took
thousands of hostages, and burned down the imperial palace.
19
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7. Japan, to 527 C.E.
a. Geography
Japan proper consists of a group of islands running eastward from south of the Korean
Peninsula for about 700 miles and then turning abruptly to the north for about the same
distance, approaching the Asian mainland once more off the coast of the Russian
Maritime Province. It is the most geographically isolated of the principal four East Asian
countries. Although, like England, Japan is an island country off the coast of a continent,
Japan's closest point to the mainland at the Straits of Tsushima is 115 miles, while the
English Channel is only 21 miles. The cold Sea of Japan enclosed by this island chain
gives the inner side of the archipelago a cold, damp climate, but because of the current
from the Pacific Ocean off the southwest coast, that part of Japan enjoys a warm,
temperate climate.
The four main islands of Japan are: Honsh
largest and northernmost; Ky
sh
, the largest; Hokkaid
, the second
1
2
, at the southwestern extremity; and Shikoku, east
of Ky
sh . Among the many lesser islands, Tsushima and Iki are the most
significant, for they lie in the straits between Japan and Korea. The three main plains are:
Kinai (500 sq. mi.) at
saka Bay, with Kyoto and Nara forming part of this area; the
plain (600 sq. mi.) at Ise Bay; and the Kant
plain (5,000 sq. mi.) by Tokyo Bay. The
Inland Sea, as an artery of communications, and northern and western Ky
which face the Asian mainland, are also important regions.
sh
,
The rivers are short and shallow. Mountains cover almost the entire area and are
especially high in central Honsh . Many are volcanic, and eruptions and earthquakes
are frequent. The climate is generally temperate throughout the country, and rain is
plentiful. Rice has been the principal crop since antiquity.
3
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b. Ethnology
The origin of the Japanese people is still debated. Archaeology and physical anthropology
indicate a close connection with the Koreans and Tungusic peoples of northeastern Asia.
Linguistic evidence, also hotly debated, tends to support this. There may have been a land
bridge connecting Japan with Korea in high antiquity, which would help explain the
connections. The Japanese are a mixed Mongoloid race, similar to Chinese and Koreans,
perhaps with some Southeast Asian contributions as well; the Ainu (a Caucasoidlike
people) originally inhabited the northeastern half of Japan and possibly contributed to the
racial mix of Japanese today.
1
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c. Religion
The early religion of Japan was a simple worship of the manifold manifestations of the
powers of nature combined with a system of ritualistic observances, notable among which
was an insistence on physical and ritual purity. The deities tended to become
anthropomorphic and often merge with memories of past heroes. The Japanese were also
affected by attempts to explain the origins of mankind and society in mythical terms. This
eventually led to an organized mythology centering around the Sun Goddess
1
(Amaterasu
mikami) and her descendants, the imperial family. After the
introduction of Buddhism, this combination of nature worship, ritualistic observances,
and ancestor-honoring mythology was given the name of Shint
.
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d. Early Civilization
Archaeological evidence indicates that in the Palaeolithic era the Japanese were hunters
1
and gatherers and used some stone implements. The J
mon (“cord script”) era (c.
10,500–300 B.C.E.), with various subdivisions, acquired its name from the designs on
unearthed pottery datable to 10,000 B.C.E. The J
mon people hunted, fished, and ate
vegetables. They lived in sunken pit dwellings and perhaps in villages. Rice only began
to be planted in Ky
sh
late in the J
mon era. Archaeologists have uncovered J
mon sites from Hokkaid
all the way south to the Ry
ky
chain. J
mon pot
designs indicate magical religious beliefs and a variety of cults. Unearthed earrings and
ornaments are similar to those discovered in Korea.
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II. Ancient and Classical Periods, 3500 B.C.E.–500 C.E. > C. Early Civilizations and Classical Empires
of South and East Asia > 7. Japan, to 527 C.E. > e. Japanese Historical Mythology
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
e. Japanese Historical Mythology
The first verifiable historical accounts of Japan occur in the Chinese dynastic histories of
the 3rd century C.E. and picture western Japan, if not all Japan, as divided among a large
number of small political units, among which feminine rule may not have been
uncommon. Some of these statelets had direct relations with the Chinese colonies in
Korea, and embassies from Japanese states to the Chinese capital are recorded from 57
to 266. However, Japanese mythology commences with a creation myth in which the
brother-sister pair of deities, Izanagi and Izanami, descend to Earth, create the islands of
Japan, and give birth to subsequent gods with various powers. These include Amatera-su
and Susano-
1
(the storm god). The latter two in turn copulate to produce more gods.
Ninigi (grandson of the Sun Goddess) comes to Earth and settles in Ky sh ,
whence he also brings the three sacred imperial regalia: a bronze mirror (symbol of
the sun), an iron sword, and a jeweled necklace. His grandson subsequently conquers as
far north as the Kinki plain; there he creates the Yamato state in 660 B.C.E., taking the
throne as Emperor Jimmu. The mythology hints at a successful battle for supremacy of
the imperial clan with another clan in Izumo on the Sea of Japan. The Izumo clan
apparently had a distinctive culture and rather close ties with Korea.
c. 3rd Cent. B.C.E.–250 C.E
Yayoi era. Yayoi replaced J
mon, beginning in Ky
sh
and moving toward the
Kant
plain where it arrived by the end of the 1st century B.C.E. Yayoi had more
refined pottery, settled agriculture (with rice cultivation using sophisticated irrigation
techniques), and use of bronze and iron implements. Bronze was employed mainly for
symbolic items, such as mirrors, bells, and elegantly thin (ornamental) weapons. The
technology to make these items probably came from China and Korea. The discovery of
Former Han coins in Yayoi dig sites indicates contact with the mainland. Yayoi pottery
was similar in certain ways to Korean pottery, but it also continued J
mon styles. By
2
the late Yayoi period, a new society altogether had come into existence. Rice paddy
cultivation spread from Ky
sh
east, and there it needed more sophisticated
irrigation methods because of the higher terrain. This emphasis on rice production
probably affected social organization, bringing about more intensive farming, increasing
wealth, population growth, and geographic expansion.
c. 239 C.E
With the accession of the tenth ruler of Yamato, Sujin, Japanese records began to
contain material of probable historical accuracy.
3
c. 250–552
Kofun (tumulus) era. This was an extension of Yayoi culture, as Yayoi people began
building huge tombs, traditionally considered to be for “emperors.” The largest and most
4
elaborate tomb (120 ft. high) was for Nintoku (trad. r. 395–427) near present-day
saka. The tombs were often in a keyhole shape, some with moats. Buddhism later
gradually eroded the tomb culture, which was eventually abandoned. Close ties between
the state of Kaya (in Japanese, Mimana) in southeastern Korea and Kofun peoples of
southwestern Japan continued until Silla conquered Kaya in 562.
Clay tomb figurines, known as haniwa, of human beings, houses, and animals were
placed outside the tombs. Some figures of warriors on horseback with bronze or iron
weapons indicate that this kind of warfare was engaged in. These are similar to Korean
figurines of the time. The figurines depict daily life, including some female shamans.
According to Chinese sources, the first queen, Pimiko (or Himiko, mid-3rd century),
ruled the state of Yamatai with magic and was buried in a large tomb. There is still no
conclusive evidence, however, for the location of Yamatai.
5
c. 360
Queen Jing
, ruling in the name of her deceased husband and later in the name of her
son, is traditionally believed to have led and won military victories over Korea. There
probably were Japanese campaigns on the peninsula at this time, which is corroborated
by Korean records. A Korean inscription of 391 indicates the presence of Japanese
armies. From this time considerable Japanese influence in the Korean state of Kaya can
be dated, but recent archaeological research indicates that Japan was probably not
6
receiving tribute from Kaya. Japanese influence in the state of Paekche also was
growing. With the emerging strength of Silla, Japanese clout on the Korean Peninsula
was on the wane. Via these Korean contacts, Japan opened her doors to continental
culture and Chinese civilization. This also enabled direct contacts with China, initiated
in 413.
Society in the Kofun era was organized around a social elite in uji lineages (tribal in
structure), each of whom claimed common ancestry and worshipped a deity (kami)
which fostered uji solidarity. Uji were led by a hereditary chief (uji no kami) who
claimed direct descent from the kami and ruled as both priest and secular head. The chief
and his immediate family often bore one of seven hereditary titles (kabone), which in
time came to be grouped hierarchically. Beneath the uji were commoners or be,
agricultural tillers who lived in villages and were organized by occupations (e.g.,
weavers, fishers, cloth weavers). The uji used the be, the economic fundament of the uji
system. At the bottom of the social order were domestic servants and slaves. These uji
communities may correspond to the large number of political groupings mentioned in
the early Chinese sources about 3rd-century Japan. The Yamato state emerged from this
structure through conquest and the like (c. 5th cent., although perhaps later), either in Ky
sh
7
or in the Kinki area.
Over the course of time, a ranking order developed among uji, with the most powerful
one claiming its kami to be descendant directly from the Sun Goddess. This is thought to
be the origin of the imperial clan, at first little more than hegemon among the various
uji. Its chief was the “emperor,” and its rule over the country very loose. The clans with
the two most important hereditary titles, omi and muraji, were controlled through the
omi (great omi) and
8
muraji (great muraji).
The importation of continental culture came hand in hand with a large influx of
Korean refugees to Japan and seriously shook the uji system. About the end of the 4th
century, scribes able to read and write Chinese came to Japan from the Korean state of
Paekche. This development indicates the official adoption of Chinese writing, though
not the first knowledge of it in Japan. Although writing spread slowly, it was used early
on for historical records. In imitation of China, there developed a greater centralization
of power in the hands of the imperial uji and its ministers. Imperial lands were gradually
extended, and imperial authority grew apace, eventually leading to a thorough political
and economic reorganization of Japan on the China model.
527?
9
A serious revolt in Ky sh
prevented the crossing of an army to Korea to aid Kaya.
Dissension among the Japanese and treachery among some officers on the peninsula
reduced Japanese prestige there and opened the way for Silla's subsequent conquest of
Kaya. (See Japan, 552–1185)
10
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D. Classical Greece and the Hellenistic World
1. The Bronze Age, 3000–1200 B.C.E.
a. Geography
Greece (ancient Hellas) is the extension of the mountain ranges of the Balkan Peninsula,
with the Ionian Sea to the west and the Aegean Sea to the east. In antiquity, northern
Greece comprised Epirus, Amphilochia, and Acarnania in the west, and Macedonia,
the Chalcidice (whose three peninsulas jutted into the Aegean Sea), and Thessaly in the
east. Central Greece began at the Thermopylae Pass and contained Aetolia, Locris, and
Phocis in the west; Boeotia in the center; and Attica to the east, with the large island of
Euboea lying off its eastern coast. After the narrow Isthmus of Corinth lay the
Peloponnese or “Island of Pelops.” It had six main regions: the Argolis, just south of the
Isthmus, Achaea along the Gulf of Corinth in the north, Elis in the west, Messene in the
southwest, Laconia (or Lacedaimon) along the eastern coast, and Arcadia in its
mountainous center. Off the west coast of Greece lay the Ionian Islands: Corcyra
(Corfu), Cephalonia, and Zacynthos. The Aegean Sea was dotted with islands: in the
north Scyros, Lemnos, and Imbros (between the Hellespont and Euboea), and Thasos
and Samothrace off the Thracian coast; a string of islands along the coast of Asia Minor,
of which the most important were Lesbos, Chios, Samos, and Rhodes; and the
Cyclades, stretching southeast from Attica and Euboea and including Melos, Delos,
Paros, Naxos, and Thera. Some fifty miles southeast of the Peloponnese lay Crete, the
largest of the Aegean islands and its southern boundary.
1
The climate of Greece is temperate. Rainfall sometimes exceeds forty inches per year in
the west but is only about sixteen inches in the east, making drought a constant menace. It
rarely freezes, and in the summer the midday heat can exceed 100° F. Only 18 percent of
the land surface is arable, and over large areas of the country, the soil is thin and rocky,
making the cultivation of grain difficult, though olives and grapes ripen well in the
rainless summers. Ancient Greece was more heavily wooded and more fertile than today,
as the country has suffered from severe deforestation and erosion of the topsoil. The
mountainous terrain in Greece promoted the development of numerous small city-states.
There were some large cities, but most Greeks lived in towns and big villages, walking
2
out to their fields, rather than staying in small isolated hamlets. Since many areas had to
import grain, seaborne commerce developed at an early stage. But the civilization of
ancient Greece at no time depended primarily on manufacture or trade and was always
basically agrarian.
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> 1. The Bronze Age, 3000–1200 B.C.E. > b. The Minoan Civilization
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b. The Minoan Civilization
c. 3000–2200
EARLY MINOAN. Around 2700 the Bronze Age began in Greece, apparently
connected with an immigration from Asia Minor. Pottery was still hand-shaped, and
settlement size was small. In the mid-third millennium a rapid rise in culture occurred;
towns and cities emerged, as well as the first palaces. There was contact with Egypt,
and the votive double axes, characteristic of later Minoan religion, appeared. An
indigenous Hieroglyphic Script survives on seals and pottery, but it has not yet been
deciphered. This earliest civilization in Crete is called Minoan after the legendary King
Minos of Knossos.
1
c. 2200–1700
MIDDLE MINOAN I and II: The Rise of Crete. The great palaces at Knossos,
Phaistos, and Mallia were constructed during this period. These stone palaces, built
asymmetrically around a large open court, contained large living quarters, storerooms for
goods and products, and toilets superior to any in Europe before modern times. A road
system connected Knossos with the plain of Phaestus. Wheel-thrown pottery was
perfected, and fine examples were made as thin as an eggshell. A new script called
Linear A replaced the Hieroglyphic Script, but except for the numeral system and a few
pictographic signs, it cannot be read. Conclusions about Minoan culture, particularly
government and religion, are necessarily conjectures based on archaeology and later
Greek legends. The king was evidently the chief figure in religious worship, and the
palace, a seat of religious cults. What appears to be a Mother Goddess, associated with
snakes, is widely represented. To judge from wall paintings, the Minoans were devoted to
sports, including hazardous bull jumping. Scenes of war are rare, and the towns were at
all times unwalled. The Minoan palaces were almost all destroyed toward the end of the
period, but whether the destruction occurred through war or natural causes (such as an
earthquake) is unknown.
2
c. 1700–1450
MIDDLE MINOAN III–LATE MINOAN I: The “Thalassocracy” of Minos. The art of
Minoan Crete reached a high point in this period, and the earliest wall frescoes appear at
this time. In the 18th and 17th centuries, Crete had extensive trade relations with Ugarit
in Syria and Byblos in Phoenicia. After 1600, this trade declined, but Minoan influence
strengthened over the Cyclades, and there was close contact with Egypt. To what extent
these changing trade patterns reflect political events is unknown, but legend has Crete's
King Minos founding a sea empire (thalassocracy). Both public and private building
reflects great wealth. At the end of this period there was another widespread destruction
throughout Crete.
3
c. 1450–1125
Late Minoan III: Mycenaean Crete. Knossos was the only Cretan palace to be rebuilt,
and it was now ruled by Greek-speaking Mycenaeans. Remains in graves and pottery
indicate considerable numbers of Greeks moved to Crete. Clay tablets were inscribed
with a new type of script, obviously derived from Linear A and known as Linear B. In
1952, Michael Ventris proved that the Linear B texts were written in Greek. They
revealed a highly bureaucratic state centered in the palace of Knossos. A rapid decline in
Mycenaean Crete came at the same time as that on the mainland.
4
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> 1. The Bronze Age, 3000–1200 B.C.E. > c. Mainland Greece: The Early and Middle Helladic Periods
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c. Mainland Greece: The Early and Middle Helladic Periods
c. 2800–2500
Early Helladic I. Around 2800, Greece, like Crete, seems to have been invaded from
northwest Asia Minor. The beginning of the Bronze Age corresponds roughly with this
invasion. Probably the immigrants were the Pre-Hellenic population of Greece who left
the non-Indo-European place names in Greece and elsewhere ending in -ssos (e.g.,
Knossos and Parnassos), and in -inth (Corinth). New villages sprang up throughout
Greece, and there is evidence of trade with the Aegean Islands and especially Crete.
Northern Greece and Thessaly were not as advanced in material culture as the southern
mainland.
1
c. 2500–2200
Early Helladic II. Houses in this period were larger and some contained large storage
facilities for grain. At Lerna there are remains of what may have been a palace (House of
Tiles), indicating some sort of central authority. Large settlements at Zygouries and
Tiryns, with gold and silver jewelry buried in tombs, suggest a rising prosperity.
2
c. 2200–1900
Early Helladic III. Signs of massive destruction are present at almost all Early Helladic
period III sites. A new material culture was introduced, characterized by Minyan Ware
(also called Orchomenos ware), a fine, wheel-made pottery. Whether the break in
material culture represents the invasion of Greek-speakers into the region is debated.
Scholars date the intrusion of the Greeks from as early as 2200 to as late as 1500 B.C.E.,
though most agree that the Greeks seem to have settled for some time in Thessaly before
moving into the rest of the peninsula. In classical times, Greek was divided into three
dialect groups: Aeolian, Ionian, and Dorian. Originally thought to predate the Greek
3
invasion, some scholars believe the dialect division occurred after the Greeks took over
the peninsula.
c. 1900–1600
Middle Helladic. A rapid rise in wealth and sophistication is associated with a palacebased civilization, which developed under Minoan influence. Kings and other royal
persons were buried in shaft graves within a sacred precinct. One such grave at Mycenae,
called Circle B, contained gold and silver objects on a small scale. In this period,
Mycenaean culture was centered in the eastern Peloponnese and central Greece.
4
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> 1. The Bronze Age, 3000–1200 B.C.E. > d. The Late Helladic Period: The Mycenaean Age
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d. The Late Helladic Period: The Mycenaean Age
c. 1600–1500
Late Helladic I: The Rise of Mycenaean culture. The shaft-grave culture continued but
became wealthier. The shaft graves in Circle A (found earlier but dating later than Circle
B) contained a remarkable 80 pounds of gold objects. Mycenaean architecture, called
Cyclopean, is characterized by use of enormous stones. The rectangular megaron was
now the typical private building, consisting of a portico (aithousa), vestibule
(prodomos),and main room (domos). The largest and most important settlements were
Mycenae and Tiryns. Major centers existed at Orchomenos and Thebes in Boeotia.
Lake Copais, which covered a large area of western Boeotia, was drained during the
Mycenaean period, providing fertile land. The fortress at Gla was built to protect the
region. Athens was an important city and Cyclopean fortifications were built on the
Acropolis. Pylos was one of the few early Mycenaean sites in western Greece.
1
c. 1500–1400
Late Helladic II: The “Tholos-Tomb” Dynasty. Around 1500 the Mycenaean burial
style changed from the shaft grave to circular rock-lined chambers cut out of hillsides: socalled tholoi or “beehive” tombs. After c. 1450, the Mycenaeans conquered Crete and
established themselves at Knossos. Evidence of Mycenaean presence is found in the
Cyclades, Rhodes, Sicily, and Italy, although where political control ended and trade
began is unknown. The prosperity of Mycenaean Greece was due largely to an expansion
of trade: Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, and the Hittite Empire were all ruled by wealthy
palace-based governments, which fostered international exchange.
2
c. 1400–1200
Late Helladic III: The Height of the Mycenaean Age. After 1400, the Mycenaean
3
culture spread throughout Greece, eventually penetrating virtually the entire mainland.
The fine pottery found even in nonroyal tombs suggests a general prosperity, and the
most impressive Mycenaean architecture dates to the 14th century. Around 1350, the
citadel at Mycenae was enlarged, and an immense 23-foot-thick wall was constructed of
Cyclopean blocks, which included the famous Lion Gate. The royal palace at the summit
of the acropolis contained a throne room, living apartments, and a shrine. Its walls were
covered with painted frescoes showing military scenes. Similar large palaces from this
period were found at Tiryns and Pylos. The largest beehive tombs date to after 1300: the
so-called “Treasuries” of Atreus at Mycenae and Minyas at Orchomenos. (The buildings
have no connection to these mythical characters.) Linear B tablets have been found at
Pylos, Mycenae, and Thebes on the mainland, as well as at Knossos in Crete. While
limited to accounts and inventories, they give important information on Mycenaean
language, government, economy, and religion. The king, or wanax, exercised supreme
authority, followed by the lawagetas, or Leader of the People (or Army). There were a
series of lower officials, including the basileus, later the Greek word for king. A special
class of priests existed (unlike in the Classical period), as well as a palace economy with
a complex division of labor, with numerous slaves. The names of later Greek gods, such
as Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hermes, and Athena, were already present. After 1300
Mycenaean trade with Egypt and Syria declined, although the reasons for this are unclear.
c. 1200–1100
Late Helladic C: The Decline of Mycenae. Around 1230 most of the large Mycenaean
cities, with the exception of Athens and Mycenae itself, were destroyed. Texts from
Pylos, written just before the city's destruction, discuss military dispositions against an
apparent invasion. Around the same time, the export of Mycenaean pottery to Syria and
Egypt ceased completely. A number of factors probably brought Mycenaean culture to an
end, but a major one was probably the movement of the Sea Peoples, which affected the
Middle East at the same time (See c. 1200).
4
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> 1. The Bronze Age, 3000–1200 B.C.E. > e. The Greeks in Asia Minor
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e. The Greeks in Asia Minor
c. 1500–1200
The Ahhiyawa. Hittite records mention the Ahhiyawa, who lived in, or raided, western
Asia Minor. Some scholars have connected the Ahhiyawa with the Achaeans, Homer's
name for the Greeks. Attacks on Cyprus by Attarissyas the Ahhiyawan, reported by the
Hittites, may refer to the activities of Atreus, the father of Agamemnon, referred to in
Greek mythology.
1
c. 1200
The Trojan War. Troy, located where the Aegean meets the Hellespont, was inhabited
after 2000 by people who shared cultural characteristics with the population on the Greek
mainland. There are nine levels of habitation, from the Early Bronze Age to Roman
times, numbered I to IX. Around 1300 Troy VI was destroyed by an earthquake and
replaced by Troy VIIa, generally identified with the city of the Trojan War celebrated in
Greek mythology. Troy VIIa was destroyed by fire c. 1200.
2
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> 2. The Dark Ages, 1200–800 B.C.E.
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2. The Dark Ages, 1200–800 B.C.E.
a. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
The Greek Dark Ages were characterized by a gradual, though severe, decline in material
culture. Mycenaean pottery styles were gradually replaced by proto-Geometric ware,
cremation supplanted burial, and the appearance of long pins and spectacle-fibula
suggest a new style of dress. International trade, monumental building, and the size of the
Greek population declined considerably from Mycenaean times. There is no evidence for
writing, and cities dramatically shrank in size. The new technology introduced in the
Dark Ages was mainly military: iron weapons and tools appeared, and the slashing sword
and throwing spear were introduced. In the 11th or 10th century, cavalry replaced the
chariots of the Bronze Age. The later Greeks saw this period as a Heroic Age, and much
of our information about Greek society and culture in the Dark Ages comes from legends
preserved in later literature. The exploits of these heroes formed three “cycles”: The
Theban Cycle, supposedly occurring two generations before the Trojan War and
concerning Oedipus and his family; the Cycle of Heracles and his sons, the Heraclidae;
and, the Trojan Cycle, the war of the Achaeans against Troy, led by Agamemnon,
Achilles, and Odysseus. These legends are preserved in Attic drama of the fifth century
B.C.E. and in the epic poems called the Iliad and the Odyssey. The epics were ascribed to
the blind poet, Homer, who probably lived sometime between 850 and 650 B.C.E. Both
works may have been composed by the same individual, but it is more likely that the Iliad
predates the Odyssey by about a century. The poems contain some reliable traditions
dating back to the Mycenaean Age: the use of chariots and bronze weapons, large royal
palaces, and the Catalog of Ships (Iliad 2.484 ff), which reflects the importance of
Mycenaean, not Dark Age, states. Other elements clearly belong to the 10th and 9th
centuries: the use of the dipylon or “figure 8” shield, the ritual gift of tripods, and the
cremation of the dead. In both epics, the Mycenaean world and the Dark Ages are
blended together, and it is difficult to distinguish the date of various elements of the
poems.
1
In the Dark Ages, Greek states were considerably smaller and less wealthy than in
Mycenaean times, though the basic unit is already the walled polis or city-state. Social
2
organization was tribal: Ionians, for example, were grouped into four tribes. Within the
tribes there were “brotherhoods” (phratriai) composed of members sufficiently related to
each other to certify legitimate birth and citizenship. The landless day-laborers (thetes)
were at the bottom of the social ladder, below even slaves. Most of the people (demos)
were free peasants, who might be convened in the assembly place (agora) to listen to
their superiors but expressed their wishes only by silence or applause. There was no
voting and it was not normal for a commoner to speak in theassembly. An aristocratic
warrior class, based on birth, wealth, and military prowess, formed clans (gene), which
maintained relations with each other through arranged marriages and guest-friendship
(xenia), involving the ritual exchange of gifts. The leaders of the aristocratic clans met in
a council (boule) and advised the king, now called a basileus instead of wanax. Royal
powers were not absolute but depended on the consent of the nobles and clan leaders.
Religion was family-based and centered around the hestia, or hearth. Zeus was the king
of the gods, but the other gods sat in council, gave advice, and even sometimes opposed
Zeus. The gods had local associations: Hera with Argos, Sparta, and Mycenae; Athena
with Athens and Troy; Aphrodite with Paphos in Cyprus; and Ares with Thrace.
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> 2. The Dark Ages, 1200–800 B.C.E. > b. The Dorian Invasion
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b. The Dorian Invasion
In the 12th century, the power vacuum created by the decline of Mycenaean civilization
was filled by Greeks speaking the Dorian dialect, who invaded the peninsula from the
north. Greek tradition characterized this movement as the “return” of the sons of Heracles
(Heraclidae): Hyllus, Dymas, and Pamphylas, who were the eponymous founders of the
three Dorian tribes. The Dorians originally came from southern Macedonia, though the
Greeks derived their name from the city of Doris in central Greece. It may be that the
Dorians settled there for some time before moving into the Peloponnese. The Argolis,
Lacedaemon, and Messenia were conquered, and the Achaeans and Arcadians pushed
into corners of the peninsula. Other Dorian groups attacked the Aegean Islands, and
conquered Thera, Melos, and the central portion of Crete. A few cities in Asia Minor
(principally, Halicarnassus and Cnidos) were founded or cofounded by Dorians. The
Dorian invasion corresponded with the start of the Iron Age in Greece, but despite the
introduction of this superior metal, culture as a whole declined in Greece as a result of the
Dorian invasion.
1
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> 2. The Dark Ages, 1200–800 B.C.E. > c. The Aeolian and Ionian Migrations and the Greek
Renaissance
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c. The Aeolian and Ionian Migrations and the Greek Renaissance
GREEK CITY STATES (MAP)
The speakers of the Aeolian and Ionian dialects were pushed out of their original
territories by the Dorian invaders. The Aeolians settled on the northwest coast of Asia
Minor and on the islands of Tenedos and Lesbos. This Aeolian migration seems to have
started around 1130 and to have lasted until 1000 or even later. Athens resisted the
Dorians, though in the 11th and 10th centuries there were changes in Athenian burial
customs, dress, and pottery style, which suggests the arrival of new peoples. These were
probably Ionian and perhaps Mycenaean refugees fleeing the Dorians. Athens also
formed a base for an Ionian migration to the east. The Ionians invaded the western coast
of Asia Minor, which was subsequently called Ionia, taking over the existing cities of
Colophon, Miletus, Smyrna, Myus, Priene, Ephesus, Phocaea, and others. The Cyclades
were also settled by Ionians in this period. The spread of proto-Geometric pottery from
Athens to all over the Aegean world in the 10th century is probably connected to this
Ionian migration. The Ionians shared common religious festivals, particularly the
Panionium and Delian festival of Apollo.
1
900–800 B.C.E. the Greek Renaissance
After 900, eastern (“orientalizing”) influence resulted in the development of the protoCorinthian and proto-Attic pottery styles. The stiffness of geometric design gave way to
lively representations of humans and animals: color reappeared; ornament, often
symmetrical, was vigorous. A whole new set of vase shapes was invented. Spread by the
growing trade with distant places, then by colonies, proto-Corinthian became the luxury
pottery of the Mediterranean world. Grave sites at Athens indicate a remarkably high rate
2
of population increase in the 9th century.
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> 3. The Archaic Period, 800–510 B.C.E.
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3. The Archaic Period, 800–510 B.C.E.
a. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
The Greek diet was simple: bread, cheese, vegetables, olive oil, wine, and occasionally
fish or pork. Beef was seldom eaten, and sheep and goats were kept mainly for hides,
wool, and milk. Most farms were small, and slave labor was apparently rarely used in
agriculture in the Archaic period. By 800 the classical polis was beginning to emerge, the
city-state with its own central palace, territory, government, and loyal citizens (along with
many noncitizen inhabitants). Many cities, including Athens, were dependent on the
importation of grain, particularly from the Black Sea region. The main centers for
manufacture were Athens, famous for its painted vases; Corinth; Sicyon; Argos and
Chalcis, noted for metal-work; and Miletus and Samos, which made furniture and
textiles. Mining was extensive: marble came from Mt. Pentelicus and Paros; silver, from
Mt. Laurium and Mt. Pangaeus; gold, from Mt. Pangaeus and Thasos; iron, from Laconia;
and copper, from Cyprus. Rough terrain and poor roads made overland travel difficult, so
most commerce was by sea. The introduction of coined money from Lydia in the 7th
century facilitated trade and capital investment but also increased debt. The two
prominent standards of currency were the Euboean and the Aeginetan. By c. 750 B.C.E.
the Greeks had borrowed the Phoenician alphabet, adapted certain letters to represent
vowels, and added others for sounds found only in Greek. Marble temples appeared, and
the three architectural orders—Doric, Ionic, and Aeolic—developed. Sculpture began
representing the human body in the nude. Marble statues were generally painted in
lifelike colors. Early Greek painting is known mainly from decorated pottery: red-figured
vases replaced black-figured c. 500 B.C.E.
1
In the early Archaic period, aristocratic oligarchies generally replaced Dark Age
monarchies, except in Sparta and Macedonia. Later, ambitious individuals overthrew the
constituted governments of many cities and established themselves as tyrants. Beginning
c. 760 B.C.E., Greek cities started founding colonies, which eventually occupied much of
the coastline of both the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Colonists, led by a founder, or
oikistes, generally adopted the religious cults and constitution of the “mother city”
(metropolis) but were politically independent. In the 7th century, hoplite warfare
2
developed. Hoplites were citizen soldiers who provided their own equipment: a round
bronze shield (hoplon), a bronze helmet with cheek and nose guards, and a nine-foot
spear. They fought in a phalanx, shoulder-to-shoulder in line, facing the enemy with a
wall of shields and spears and marching in step to the music of flutes. Athletics was an
important element of Greek culture. There were major international festivals which
involved athletic contest, such as the Pythian Games at Delphi and the Olympian
Games, starting (traditionally) in 776 and held every four years.
The Boeotian poet Hesiod (c. 700) wrote the Theogony, on the genealogy of the gods,
and the Works and Days, giving advice on proper living. Other early poets included the
Ionian Archilochus (c. 700), the Aeolians Alcaeus and Sappho (c. 600), and the Dorians
Stesichorus (630–555) and Arion (c. 600). Lyric poetry was exemplified by Alcman (c.
654–611), Anacreon (born c. 570), Simonides (c. 556–468), Pindar (518–442), and
Bacchylides (c. 480). Tragic drama grew out of cultic songs, originally performed by a
chorus at religious festivals. The poet Thespis first introduced a speaking actor into a
tragedy in 534 B.C.E. Greek philosophy began with Thales (c. 600), who was said,
probably falsely, to have predicted a solar eclipse in 585 B.C.E. Anaximenes (c. 600) and
Anaximander (c. 610–540) and other early philosophers started to seek knowledge for
its own sake and to develop rational explanations for natural phenomena. The so-called
logographoi wrote local histories, the best example being Hecataeus of Miletus (c. 500).
3
The normal age for marriage in Greece was 30 for men and 15–16 for women. Most
marriages were arranged. Women took little part in public life and, in some cases, had
no more legal rights than slaves. Most citizen women spent their lives secluded in
women's quarters. Spartan women were the exception and received the same physical
training as men. At least one woman poet wrote in the Archaic period: Sappho of
Lesbos.
4
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b. Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands
c. 800–680
Rise of the Ionian cities. The Ionian cities of Asia Minor were the wealthiest and most
advanced Greek city-states in Archaic times and served as conduits for Near Eastern
technology and culture entering Greece. The Ionian cities, particularly Miletus and
Phocaea, were also leaders in the colonization movement.
1
757
Miletus colonized Cyzicus on the southern shore of the Propontus.
2
680–652
Beginnings of Lydian Conflict. King Gyges turned Lydia into the leading power in
Asia Minor. He frequently attacked the Ionian cities but was unable to conquer them.
3
675
The Milesians send a colony to Abydos on the Hellespont.
4
630
The southern Aegean island of Thera colonized Cyrene in North Africa.
5
610
With permission of the Pharaoh Psammetichus I, Miletus founded a trading post in the
Nile Delta, which developed into the Greek city of Naucratis (See Economy, Society,
and Culture).
6
609–560
Alyattes of Lydia conquered Smyrna, but Miletus and Clazomenae continued to resist.
Ionian culture reached its height, particularly in philosophy: Thales, Anaximenes, and
Anaximander were all active at Miletus.
7
600
Phocaea settled Massalia (Marseilles) on the southern coast of Gaul.
8
560–546
The Lydian king Croesus conquered Ionia, though Miletus maintained its privileged
position. Tyrants ruled most of the cities and paid tribute to Lydia.
9
546–499
Persian rule. Cyrus defeated Croesus in 546. The Persian general Harpagus subdued
Ionia and installed pro-Persian tyrants. Miletus continued to enjoy a favored status. The
Ionian cities were placed together with Lydia and Mysia in a single satrapy and ruled
from Sardis.
10
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c. Sparta and the Peloponnese
c. 900–700
The Rise of Sparta. In the 9th century, four or five Laconian villages joined to form the
city of Sparta, with two royal dynasties, the Agiads and the Eurypontids, reigning
jointly. Between 800 and 730, Sparta conquered the rest of Laconia. Around the same
time, the Spartans reorganized their constitution, introducing lifelong military training, a
rigid oligarchic government, and a code of absolute obedience and austerity. At the age
of seven, boys were taken from their parents for military training. Men of military age
lived away from their wives in barracks and ate at common messes (syssitia). Five tribes
replaced the three Dorian ones, each providing a regiment (lochos) for the army. A
council (Gerousia) composed of 28 elders and the two kings proposed legislation, which
was then approved by the assembly (Apella), made up of adult male citizens
(spartiates). The chief magistrates (ephors), eventually five in number, had wide
powers. The non-Spartan Laconians, called Perioikoi, tithed to the Spartans and were
drafted into the army but had no vote in the assembly. The introduction of this
constitution was later ascribed to Lycurgus, though some scholars doubt his existence.
1
c. 735–715
The First Messenian War. Sparta, led by King Theopompus (c. 720–675), defeated
Messenia and divided it into allotments (klaroi), rent which supported the individual
Spartiates, leaving them free to train for war. The Spartans turned the Messenians into
serfs (helots) who worked the land for them.
733
2
Corinth, ruled by an oligarchy under the Bacchiadae clan, founded two colonies: one at
Syracuse in Sicily and another on the island of Corcyra (modern Corfu) in northwestern
Greece.
3
728
The Megarians colonized Megara Hyblaea in Sicily.
4
720
Achaea and Troezen jointly founded a colony at Sybaris in southern Italy, which
became proverbial for its wealth and opulence.
5
c. 710
Achaea settled the colony of Croton on the “toe” of Italy.
6
706
Sparta founded its only colony, Taras (Tarentum), in southern Italy (See 706).
7
c. 680
King Pheidon of Argos defeated Sparta and Tegea in the Battle of Hysiae (669). He
later overcame Epidaurus and Athens, and Argos became the leading Greek power.
Pheidon may have introduced coinage into mainland Greece, perhaps with a mint at
Aegina.
8
676
Megara colonized Chalcedon on the Asiatic side of the Hellespont. It was called “the
city of the blind,” because the settlers missed a better site at Byzantium on the European
shore.
9
660
Megara founded a colony at Byzantium.
10
657
The Cypselid Tyranny in Corinth. Cypselus (657–625) overthrew the Bacchiad
oligarchy and made himself tyrant of Corinth.
11
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d. Athens
c. 800–680
Athens gradually unified Attica by conquest and by synoecism, the process of merging
with smaller towns. The Athenians were divided into four tribes (phylai) made up of
phratries. Each phratry was divided into two groups: the clansmen (gennetai), made up
of the aristocratic eupatridae, and the guildsmen (orgeones), who practiced trade and
manufacture. Where poor farmers and serfs (hektemoroi) were enrolled is unclear. For
administrative purposes, each tribe was divided into 12 naucrariai, each providing one
ship for the navy. The army was provided by two of three classes: the knights (hippeis),
wealthy aristocrats who made up the cavalry, and the hoplite class (zeugitai) who
provided their own arms and made up the infantry. The thetes, who had no property, did
no military service. The Medonidae ruled as kings, but during the 8th and 7th centuries,
the aristocrats gradually usurped royal power. The king's military functions were
absorbed by the war archon (polemarch) and his civil duties were absorbed by a civil
archon (archon eponymos) after whom the year was named. The kingship retained only
religious significance.
1
683
Athens abolished the monarchy completely. The king's religious duties were now
performed by a king archon (archon basileus). Six thesmothetai were created to be
judges and interpreters of law, and these officials along with the civil archon, the king
archon and the polemarch were known as the Nine Archons. They were chosen each
year from among the aristocracy by the Areopagus, the council of ruling aristocrats,
which ran the state. The important priesthoods were hereditary in aristocratic families.
The Ecclesia, or assembly of citizens, had little power.
623
2
Cylon attempted to establish a tyranny in Athens, but the people did not support him.
Cylon himself escaped, but many of his followers were massacred by Megacles and the
aristocratic Alcmaeonid clan while in a religious sanctuary. This impious slaughter gave
rise to the so-called “Curse of the Alcmaeonidae.”
3
628–620
According to tradition, Draco, one of the thesmothetai, issued Athens' first written laws.
The “Draconian” penalties were most severe—death in most cases.
4
c. 600
Athens seized Sigeum from Mytilene. The resulting war was arbitrated around 590 by
the tyrant Periander of Corinth in Athens' ofavor.
5
594–591
THE REFORMS OF SOLON. The introduction of coined money, and high rates of
interest, led to increased indebtedness. Debt slavery in turn brought civil unrest. To
solve the crisis, Solon was made sole archon in 595, with special legislative powers. In
592, he was appointed “reformer of the constitution.” His Seisachtheia (“shaking-off-ofburdens”) canceled all debts on land, banned debt slavery, and freed all debt slaves.
Those who had been sold abroad were redeemed at state expense. Solon replaced
Draco's laws, except those on homicide, with a milder code. A popular court, the
heliaea, was created, to which the citizens could appeal the decisions of the magistrates.
Solon created a Council (boule) of 400 (100 from each tribe), which proposed laws to
the assembly (ecclesia). The assembly could still only accept or reject the council's
proposals but now elected all the magistrates. The Areopagus council continued, but in a
reduced capacity. Four classes of citizens, based on wealth, were established: (1) the
pentacosiomedimnoi had annual revenues of 500 bushels (medimnoi) of grain or
measures (metretai) of wine or olive oil, (2) the hippeis, with revenues of 300 bushels or
measures, (3) the zeugitai, with 200, and (4) the thetes who made up the rest of the
citizen body. At some later date, these classes were redefined in terms of money and
based on property rather than income. Every member of the first two classes was eligible
for the archonships. Since ex-archons automatically joined the Areopagus council, it
ceased to be exclusively aristocratic. The first three property classes could run for the
6
lower magistracies, but the fourth class, the lowest and largest, could participate only in
the heliaea court and the assembly. Solon's reforms were important but did not solve the
underlying class tensions, perhaps because no provision was made to supply freed slaves
with land or to relieve the burdens of the serfs (hektemoroi, “sixth-parters”). Unlike
other contemporary political leaders, Solon did not try to become a tyrant. After making
his reforms, he left Athens for ten years, traveling around the Mediterranean. Factional
fighting broke out immediately after Solon's departure between two parties: the rich
aristocrats of the plain (pediakoi) led by Lycurgus, and the merchants and craftsmen
(paralioi) headed by Megacles the Alcmaeonid.
c. 565
Peisistratus, a relative of Solon, acquired fame by conquering the island of Salamis
from Megara. He organized a new party, the diakrioi, based in the hill country of north
Attica, made up of small farmers, shepherds, artisans, and the poor.
7
561–510
THE TYRANNY OF THE PEISISTRATIDS.
8
561–527
The Rule of Peisistratus. In 561, Peisistratus made himself tyrant of Athens but shortly
thereafter was driven out of the city by Megacles and Lycurgus. In 560/559, allying
himself with Megacles, he was restored to power, only to be expelled again in 556.
Peisistratus spent some years in Thrace, gaining wealth from mines he owned there. In
546, he was again made tyrant with help from Thessaly and from Lygdamis, the tyrant
of Naxos. Peisistratus exiled his opponents, confiscated their lands, and distributed them
to the poor, so that the hektemoroi now became landowners. Peisistratus encouraged
industry and trade and introduced the popular cult of Dionysus, which reduced the
power of the aristocrats' hereditary priesthoods. He sent Miltiades to establish a tyranny
over the Thracian Chersonese, which controlled the passage between Europe and Asia.
Peisistratus also “purified” the island of Delos, the center of an Ionian religious league,
which extended his political control into the Cyclades. At home, Peisistratus kept the
form of the Solonian constitution, while holding all real power.
9
527
Upon Peisistratus's death, his sons Hippias and Hipparchus succeeded to the tyranny.
10
519
Athens defeated Thebes and prevented it from forcing Plataea into the Boeotian League.
11
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> 3. The Archaic Period, 800–510 B.C.E. > e. Central and Northern Greece
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e. Central and Northern Greece
c. 800
Chalcis and Eretria, the two largest cities on Euboea, were major powers in the
Archaic period, and Euboean coinage, weights, and measures were used throughout the
Greek world.
1
c. 775
Chalcis, Eretria, and the Aeolian city of Cyme jointly settled a colony on the island of
Pithecusae (Ischia) in the Bay of Naples.
2
757
These same cities, along with the Pithecusans, established a colony at Cumae on the
Italian mainland.
3
c. 730
Eretria settled colonies at Mende in the Chalcidice and at Methone and Dicaea in
Macedonia.
4
c. 720
Chalcidian colonists established Rhegium in southern Italy.
5
c. 710
Chalcis colonized Torone in the Chalcidice and subsequently founded some 30 small
colonies on the peninsula.
6
c. 700–500
THE TAGEIA OF THESSALY. Before 700, Thessaly was organized into four
tetrads, each ruled by a tetrarch. In the 7th century, Aleuas of Larissa organized the
Thessalian League and led it as tagos, or general. The tagos was an elected office but
generally held by a member of the Aleuadae clan. A federal assembly levied taxes and
troops, and until the 6th century the Thessalian League possessed the strongest army in
Greece. The League's loose organization, however, prevented Thessaly from playing a
leading political role, though it dominated the Amphictyony of Anthela, a religious
league which, by 600, included all the city-states of central Greece.
7
c. 700
Chalcis, supported by Corinth, Samos, and Thessaly, fought the Lelantine War against
Eretria, Aegina, Miletus, and Megara, over the rich Lelantine plain. Chalcis and its allies
were victorious.
8
c. 640
Perdiccas I of the Argead dynasty conquered the Macedonian plain and established a
capital at Aegae (Vergina). Macedon was inhabited by a variety of ethnic groups,
including Greeks, Illyrians, and Thracians. Whether the Macedonians themselves spoke
a dialect of Greek or a separate language is a hotly debated subject. The royal family and
the aristocracy, in any case, became increasingly Hellenized.
9
c. 590
THE FIRST SACRED WAR. Crisa, in whose territory Delphi lay, started levying tolls
on visitors to the shrine of Apollo. The Amphictyony of Anthela, under Thessaly's
leadership, and with help from Sicyon and Athens, declared war. Crisa was defeated and
10
demolished. The Amphictyony took over the administration of Delphi and moved its
headquarters there. Athens and the Peloponnesian Dorians were admitted as members.
c. 550
THE BOEOTIAN LEAGUE. Thebes formed the Boeotian League and began
subordinating the smaller states in the region. After a long struggle, the city of
Orchomenos was defeated and forced to join the league.
11
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f. Sicily and Magna Graecia
c. 800
Before the Greeks arrived, Sicans, Sicels, and Elymi, along with Phoenician colonists,
inhabited Sicily. Sicels also lived in south Italy, along with other native peoples such as
the Messapii and Apuli.
1
c. 775
Pithecusae (Ischia) was settled from Chalcis, Eretria, and Cyme on an island in the Bay
of Naples. A very early Greek inscription (c. 730) was found there.
2
757
Cumae was established by Pithecusan colonists, Chalcidians and Eretrians. Southern
Italy came to be known as Greater Greece (Magna Graecia).
3
735
Thucles, the oikistes for a group of Chalcidians, established Naxos, the first Greek
colony in Sicily. Subsequent Greek colonization drove the Phoenicians from most of
Sicily. Only three Phoenician cities remained: Motya, Panormus, and Solus, all on the
west coast.
c. 734
4
Corinth founded Syracuse, which grew to be the preeminent city in Sicily.
5
c. 729
Thucles, leading a party of Naxian colonists, founded Leontini in Sicily. Around the
same time another group of Naxians, under Evarchus, settled Catana.
6
728
The Megarians, failing at colonizing Trotilon and Thapsos, succeeded at Megara
Hyblaea, 14 miles north of Syracuse.
7
c. 720
Chalcis settled Rhegium, in Italy, just across the strait of Messene from Sicily.
8
c. 710
The Achaeans established Croton on the toe of Italy, which became a leading city in
Magna Graecia.
9
706
Sparta established its sole colony, Taras (Tarentum), in southern Italy. The colonists,
lead by Phalanthus, were Partheniae, children of Spartan men and helot women.
10
688
Gela on the southern coast of Sicily was founded by Cretans and Rhodians.
11
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4. The Classical Age, 510–323 B.C.E.
a. Economy, Technology, Society, and Culture
In this period, crop rotation was introduced, dramatically increasing agricultural
production. Large estates that were worked by slave labor emerged, though small farms
owned by free citizens remained the rule. Slavery became more important in Greek
economy. Slaves were employed mainly in domestic service and mining, but also in
manufacture and agriculture. The ruling class in all Greek cities, including democracies,
depended on unfree labor both for income and personal services. War and piracy were the
main sources of slaves, and slavery was never confined to any particular ethnic group.
Slaves were often freed, or manumitted, and eventually their descendants merged with
the free population. By the 5th century, Athenian coinage became the predominant
medium of exchange in the Greek world, though after the Peloponnesian War, the
Rhodian standard replaced it in Ionia. Temples continued to serve as depositories of
money, but c. 500 B.C.E., private bankers (trapezitai) took over most of the business of
exchanging and lending money. Bottomry loans (nautika) developed, repayable only if a
cargo safely reached its destination; often given by groups of investors, such loans spread
out risk and encouraged trade. Around the same time, the Athenians developed a new
kind of colony, the cleruchy. Each settler received an allotment (kleros) but retained
Athenian citizenship. The financial system of most Greek cities was highly developed.
Cities generally covered the costs of some sort of police force or night watch, the military
(except equipment provided by the hoplites themselves), fortifications, sacrifices and
religious festivals, public buildings, salaries for officials and jurors, and pensions for
orphans and crippled soldiers. Food and money were also distributed to the population
under certain circumstances. Direct taxes were unusual, and paid mainly by resident
aliens (metics), freed slaves, and those employed in certain low-class crafts and trades.
Most state income was provided by indirect taxes, excise duties, and assessments, such
as court fees and fines, gate tolls, auction taxes, sales taxes, harbor dues, fees for fishing
rights and pasturage, and duties for using public scales and temple precincts. Many cities
had income from state property, such as mines, quarries, and state-owned land.
Hegemonic states received tribute from allies and subject states. Compulsory
contributions by wealthy citizens, called liturgies, helped with certain large expenditures
1
such as equipping warships. In peacetime, cities were able to amass cash reserves, usually
deposited in temples. But during famine or war, regular revenues were not always
sufficient to meet expenditures. In such cases, direct property taxes (eisphora) were
sometimes introduced, state property and political rights were sold, and public loans were
raised, often on a compulsory basis. Some cities debased their coinage to raise cash.
Public finance in Sparta remained simple: it had no regular taxes at all except a small
contribution in kind to the kings. Administration and the army were provided by the
Spartiates, financially supported by their helots.
The best examples of 5th-century architecture were erected on the Acropolis at Athens:
the Parthenon (447–432), the Propylaea (437–432), and the Erechtheum (420–408). In
the mid-4th century, the center of architecture shifted to Ionia, with masterpieces such as
the tomb of Mausolus (Mausoleum) in Caria, and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. By
the 5th century the Greek sculpture was representing the body very accurately, reaching
its height in the works of Myron (c. 480–445) and Polyclitus (c. 430) of the Argive
School and Phidias (c. 490–431). Phidias is best known for his colossal
chryselephantine (gold and ivory) statue of Athena in the Parthenon and of Zeus at
Olympia, but he also designed the architectural sculptures of the Parthenon (Elgin
Marbles). From 500 to 415, Attic painters of red-figured vases developed line drawing in
a series of exquisite styles. Polygnotus (c. 490–447) mastered the technique of largescale painting, and Agatharchus of Samos (c. 430) was the first to use perspective on a
large scale.
2
The level of literacy in the classical period is controversial. Probably only a minority of
even the citizen body could read and write, but the proportion had clearly increased
dramatically from archaic times. The number of teachers and schools grew, though there
was no public education in the classical period. The culture remained essentially oral, but
written works now became more common. Aeschylus (525–456) introduced a second
actor into tragic drama, and by the time of Sophocles (c. 496–405) there could be up to
four. Euripides (480–406) developed tragedy to its height. Plots were usually
mythological, but sometimes reflected current events, for example, Aeschylus's Persians.
Aristophanes (c. 448–385) was the acknowledged master of the Old Comedy. Comic
plots were fantastic, often took off on contemporary events, and held important people up
to ridicule. The little-known Middle Comedy was replaced by New Comedy, in which
plays became less vulgar and plots more sentimental. Its most outstanding playwright was
Menander (342–c. 280).
3
The first true historian in the Western world, Herodotus of Halicarnassus (484–425),
wrote a lengthy account of the Persian War. Thucydides (471–c. 400) perfected the
writing of history in his Peloponnesian War. Xenophon (431–354) continued
Thucydides' history from 410 to 362, in addition to writing other prose works. Instruction
in rhetoric was given by professional teachers, called Sophists, such as Gorgias (c.
485–380), who came from Sicily to Athens in 427; Protagoras (c. 485–415); Prodicus
4
(c. 430); and Hippias (c. 400). The best-known Attic orators were Lysias (c. 459–380),
Demosthenes (384–322), and the advocate of Pan-Hellenism, Isocrates (436–338).
The philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 550–480) envisioned a universe in constant
flux governed by universal law (Logos). Parmenides of Elea (c. 515–445) and the
Eleatic School argued that what is real is motionless and made the distinction between
belief and knowledge. Empedocles in Sicily (c. 500–430) developed the idea of the four
elements (fire, air, water, and earth). Leucippus (c. 450) and his student Democritus of
Abdera (c. 460–370) advanced the atomic theory: the universe was made up of
indivisible units (atoms) whose motion created the sensible world. Anaxagoras of
Miletus (c. 500–425), the first philosopher to live in Athens, argued that the world was
made up of “elements” (homoeomeries) organized by the cosmic mind (nous).
Anaxagoras strongly influenced Socrates (469–399), the key figure in Greek philosophy.
Socrates emphasized ethics over physics and was known for his morality, personal
courage, and relentless pursuit of the truth by means of dialectic inquiry (the Socratic
Method). His greatest pupil, Plato (427–347) founded the Academy, the most important
philosophical school in Greece. Plato reconciled reason and observation, arguing that
while perception is flawed, everything is a reflection of a perfect form (idea). True
knowledge is obtained by recollecting the ideas our souls knew before they were
imprisoned in our bodies. Plato's antidemocratic political ideas are set out in the Republic
and the Laws. Another of Socrates' students, Antisthenes (c. 445–360) inspired Diogenes
(c. 400–325), the founder of Cynicism, a philosophy which rejected all unnatural
conventions. Aristotle (384–322) studied under Plato, became the teacher of Alexander
the Great, and upon returning to Athens in 335 B.C.E. founded the Lyceum or Peripatetic
School. Aristotle ultimately rejected the idea of forms and felt that flaws in perception
could be overcome by careful categorization of reality. In medicine Hippocrates of Cos
(born c. 460) founded a school combining common sense, natural medicine, and personal
hygiene. In the classical period women continued to lead very limited lives. Most women
remained under the guardianship of a man, generally their father or husband, their entire
life. Women could not inherit, witness in court, or own property. While divorce was
theoretically easy to obtain, the woman's case had to be brought by a male third party.
Most citizen women remained at home, but poor women worked in the fields and in the
cities as washerwomen, woolworkers, vendors (mostly of food or flowers), nurses, and
midwives. Women did not participate in the government in any direct way, though
Aspasia, the mistress of Pericles, wielded considerable political power. Women did play
an important role in religion as priests and seers. Many prostitutes were slaves, but the
free ones, while they had to register with the state and pay taxes, had control over their
own money.
5
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b. The Rise of Athenian Democracy and the Persian Wars
510
Enlisting Spartan aid, the Alcmaeonidae returned to Athens. They overthrew Hippias,
who fled to Persia and was made the tyrant of Sigeum. A struggle ensued between the
aristocrats, led by Isagoras, and the common people, headed by the Alcmaeonid
Cleisthenes. The latter won and a democratic reform of the constitution was instituted.
1
508
THE REFORMS OF CLEISTHENES. To end regional divisions, Cleisthenes created
over 140 townships (demes), which replaced the phratries as the basis of citizenship. Ten
tribes (phylai) were created, and Attica divided into three regions: the city of Athens, the
coast, and the interior. Several demes comprised a “third” (trittys) and ten trittys formed
a region. Each tribe was made up of one trittys from each region, so had members in all
parts of Attica. A Council of 500, with 50 men chosen by lot from each of the tribes,
replaced the Solonian Council of 400. The army was organized into ten tribal regiments.
Some scholars believe that an early form of ostracism, a milder form of banishment,
was introduced under Cleisthenes.
2
507
Isagoras invited the Spartans to invade Attica. King Cleomenes expelled Cleisthenes and
restored the aristocracy. The Athenian people rose up, however, drove out the Spartans,
and restored Cleisthenes.
506
3
A second Spartan expedition failed. The Athenians crushed the Boeotians and Euboeans
and annexed part of the territory of Chalcis. When the Persian king Darius I demanded
the restoration of Hippias as tyrant, the Athenians disregarded his ultimatum.
4
501
The general (strategos) of each of the ten tribal regiments was now elected annually.
5
499–494
The Ionian cities of Asia Minor revolted against the Persians (See c. 522–486), led by
Aristagoras of Miletus. In 498, Aristagoras traveled to mainland Greece, soliciting aid.
Athens responded with 20 ships and Eretria with five. The rebels captured and burned
Sardis, the satrapy's capital, but were defeated in the naval Battle of Lade in 494.
Persian control of the sea enabled them to take and sack Miletus, which ended the revolt.
One of the rebel leaders, Miltiades (c. 550–489), the tyrant of Chersonese, fled to
Athens and, despite the opposition of the Alcmaeonidae, rose to political prominence.
6
c. 494
The Spartans under King Cleomenes defeated Argos in the Battle of Sepeia and forced
it into the Peloponnesian League. Cleomenes tried to punish Aegina for supporting
Persia but was blocked by the other king, Demaratus.
7
493
In Athens, Themistocles, leader of the anti-Persian party, was selected as archon. He
began fortifying the Piraeus.
492
8
First Persian Expedition. Darius I sent Mardonius to punish Athens and Eretria for
aiding the Ionian cities in their revolt. The Persian fleet was destroyed in a storm while
rounding the Chalcidice. Mardonius did not advance further, but Thrace and Macedonia
remained under Persian domination.
9
491
Cleomenes deposed Demaratus as Eurypontid king on a charge of illegitimacy, despite
the opposition of the ephors, and replaced him with the more compliant Leotychides II
(491–469).
10
c. 490
Traditionally, Cleomenes went mad, was imprisoned, and committed suicide. He may in
fact have been arrested and executed by the ephors. Cleomenes' half-brother Leonidas
(c. 490–480) succeeded him as Agiad king.
11
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c. The Rise of the Athenian Empire
487
REFORM OF THE ATHENIAN CONSTITUTION. A series of reforms made the
constitution more democratic. The nine archons were now chosen by lot from some 500
candidates elected by the demes. Subsequently ten preliminary candidates were elected
from each tribe. Later these preliminary candidates were also chosen by lot. The military
functions of the polemarch were taken over by the ten elected generals (strategoi), who
were now assigned to command expeditionary armies. A general-in-chief (strategos
autocrator) was sometimes promoted over the others. The anti-Persian party regained
power with a noble faction led by Aristides and a common wing by Themistocles.
1
487
The first known ostracism was conducted, that of Hipparchus, a relative of the tyrant,
who was suspected of being pro-Persian. At a special assembly, citizens cast potsherds
or ostraca with an individual's name written on it as ballots. If 6,000 ballots were
submitted against a particular man, he was obliged to leave Athens for a period of ten
years, although he retained his property and remained a citizen.
2
486
Xerxes succeeded to the Persian throne and demanded earth and water (i.e., submission)
from the Greek states, most of which refused. The Alcmaeonid leader Megacles was
ostracized.
483
3
A rich new vein of silver was discovered at the state mines at Mt. Laurium.
Themistocles convinced the assembly to use the money to build a fleet of 200 triremes,
a type of warship. Aristides was ostracized for his opposition to this measure.
4
481
The Greek states, led by Sparta and Athens, set up the Hellenic League to resist the
coming Persian invasion. Themistocles was elected strategos autocrator at Athens and
became its most powerful political figure.
5
480
Third Persian Expedition. The Persian king Xerxes personally led an expedition which
marched into Greece through Thrace and Macedonia. Herodotus says the Persian army
had 5 million men (including camp followers): modern estimates range from
100,000–500,000. The Persian fleet included from 600–1200 ships. A Greek army of
7,000 hoplites occupied the pass at Thermopylae, and a fleet of 270 ships stationed itself
at the nearby Gulf of Artemisium. Unable to take the pass by direct assault, the Persians
took a side path and turned the Greek position. Most of the Greeks withdrew, but King
Leonidas with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians refused to retreat, and at the BATTLE
OF THERMOPYLAE they were surrounded and annihilated. The Persian navy
suffered heavy damage from storms, losing half their ships, but they still outnumbered
the Greeks. The Battle of Artemisium was indecisive, but the Greeks withdrew after
Thermopylae was taken. The Boeotians, Phocians, and Locrians went over to the
Persians (medized). The Greek army retreated to the Peloponnese and built a wall across
the Isthmus of Corinth. The fleet moved to the Saronic Gulf between Athens and
Salamis. Unable to defend their city, the Athenians fled and the Persians occupied Attica
and destroyed Athens. In THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS, the Persians attacked the
Greek fleet in the narrow strait, losing their advantage of numbers, and were decisively
defeated. Xerxes, probably fearful for his supply lines, returned to Asia Minor with a
third of his army, leaving another third with Artabazus in Thrace, and the rest in Boeotia
under Mardonius.
480
6
In Sicily, Terillus, the tyrant of Himera, appealed to Carthage for help against Theron of
Acragas and Gelon of Syracuse. Hamilcar led a Carthaginian army onto the island, but it
was decisively defeated by Theron and Gelon at the Battle of Himera.
7
479
The Persians under Mardonius again invaded Attica. The Greek forces, led by the
Spartan king Pausanias, defeated the Persians at the BATTLE OF PLATAEA.
Mardonius was killed and his camp plundered. The Greeks took Thebes by siege,
abolished the oligarchy, and instituted a democracy.
8
479
The Battle of Mycale. King Leotychides II of Sparta led a small Greek fleet to guard
the Cyclades against Persia. The Samians and Chians convinced him to attack the
Persians, who had drawn their ships up on the beach at Mycale near Samos. In the
ensuing battle the Persian fleet was destroyed.
9
479–478
The Siege of Sestos. The Ionian cities in Asia Minor and several of the island cities
(Samos, Lesbos, and Chios) revolted from the Persians. The allied Greek fleet laid siege
to Sestos, a Persian stronghold in the Thracian Chersonese. The Spartans returned home
in the fall, but the Athenians and Ionians succeeded in reducing Sestos during the winter.
10
478
Pausanias, leading the allied Greek fleet, reduced Cyprus and Byzantium. Suspected of
treasonous negotiations with the Persians, the Spartan ephors recalled him. He was tried
for treason, but acquitted, and sent back to Byzantium.
11
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d. The First Peloponnesian War
460
The First Peloponnesian War broke out between the Athenians and Peloponnesians,
caused in part by Athen's alliance with Megara and Argos. In the same year, the
Athenians sent a fleet of some 200 ships to Egypt to aid its revolt against the Persians.
The Athenians defeated a Persian fleet on the Nile and besieged a Persian army in the
citadel of Memphis.
1
c. 459/8
The Athenians were defeated at Halieis by the Corinthians and Epidaurians, but their
fleet won a victory at Cecryphaleia.
2
458
The Aeginetans joined the Peloponnesian alliance, but their combined fleet was defeated
by the Athenians in the Battle of Aegina. The Athenians, under the command of
Leosthenes, landed on the island of Aegina and besieged the city. The Corinthians
invaded Attica, trying to force the Athenians to raise the siege, but were defeated by a
reserve force of old men and boys under Myronides. A second force of Corinthians was
surrounded and annihilated in the Megarid.
3
457
The Aeginetans surrendered, turned their fleet over to the Athenians, and joined the
Delian League. Sparta then entered the war, sent an army across the Corinthian Gulf,
and restored the Boeotian League under the hegemony of Thebes. The Athenians were
4
defeated at the Battle of Tanagra, but the Spartans then returned home, and the
Athenians then defeated the Boeotians at the Battle of Oenophyta. Athens then enrolled
all the Boeotian cities except Thebes in the Delian League; Phocis and Opuntian Locris
also joined.
457
Pericles made the zeugitai class eligible for the archonship. The thetes, though never
legally eligible, were soon permitted to hold the office.
5
456
A Persian force under Megabyzus defeated the Athenians at the citadel of Memphis.
The Athenians were in turn besieged on the island of Prosopitis in the Nile Valley.
6
455
The Athenian general Tolmides sailed around the Peloponnese, raiding the coast,
burning the Spartan naval base at Gytheum, and recruiting Achaea into the Delian
League.
7
454
An Athenian force led by Pericles landed in Sicyon and defeated the Sicyonians. Joined
by Achaeans, Pericles unsuccessfully tried to take Oeniadea on the Corinthian Gulf,
before returning to Athens. After an eighteen-month siege, the Athenians beseiged on
Prosipitis in Egypt were defeated, and all but a few killed or captured. A relief
expedition of 50 ships was also destroyed by the Persians. Due to this defeat, the
treasury of the Delian League was moved to Athens.
8
453
In Sicily, the towns of Segesta and Halicyae started a war with Selinus and approached
Athens for an alliance, which was granted.
9
451
After three years of inactivity, Cimon returned from exile and negotiated a five years'
truce with Sparta. Argos, losing Athenian protection, was forced to make a thirty years'
peace with Sparta.
10
451
At Athens, pay was instituted for the dicasts or jurors of the popular courts, which made
it possible for the poorest citizens to serve. In the same year, Pericles passed a law
restricting Athenian citizenship to those having two Athenian parents (repealed in 429,
reenacted in 403).
11
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e. The Second (Great) Peloponnesian War
435
Corcyra, in northwestern Greece, objected to Corinth's interference with their joint
colony, Epidamnus. Corcyra defeated the much more powerful Corinth but, fearing
reprisal, called on Athens for help, and the Corinthians backed down. The Athenians then
sought to break Corinthian influence over Potidaea, a colony of Corinth but a subject of
Athens.
1
432
Potidaea revolted against Athens, with the tacit support of the Peloponnesian League.
Athens then retaliated with the Megarian decree, barring the Megarians from Athenian
harbors and markets. Outraged and fearful of further Athenian action, Megara, Corinth,
and Aegina pressured a reluctant Sparta to take action. Over King Archidamus's
opposition, the ephor Sthenelaïdas convinced the Spartan assembly to declare the Thirty
Years' Peace broken.
2
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f. The Spartan Hegemony
404
The Tyranny of the Thirty at Athens. The Athenian oligarchic party, supported by
Lysander and the Spartans and led by Theramenes, set up a Commission of Thirty
which was to make a few immediate reforms and then devise a new constitution. Instead,
the commission, with Critias at their head, seized power and ruled as the Thirty
Tyrants. They executed their colleague Theramenes when he advocated a more
moderate course. Finally, 3,000 of the richest citizens were nominally enfranchised but
never given any real power. Many citizens were exiled or fled to Argos and Thebes.
These cities now feared the excessive power of Sparta. In the autumn Thrasybulus led
back some exiles, who occupied Phyle and then the Piraeus.
1
403
In the beginning of the year, the Athenians deposed the Thirty, who fled to Eleusis, and
elected a Government of Ten. These, instead of bringing in the democrats from the
Piraeus, asked for help from Sparta, which sent Lysander. The anti-Lysander party in
Sparta replaced him with King Pausanias, who brought about a settlement. The
democracy was restored in Athens, and a general amnesty decreed, with only a few
exceptions. The Spartan decarchies in the former Athenian allies were soon abolished.
2
403–400
Dionysius I of Syracuse conquered Catana (403), Naxos, and Leontini (400) and
extended his control over the Sicels.
400
3
The Persian satrap Tissaphernes besieged Cyme, and the Spartans sent Thibron to hire a
mercenary army and liberate the Ionians from Persia.
4
399–397
Dercyllidas took over the command of Spartan forces in Asia Minor. He played one
satrap, Tissaphernes, against another, Pharnabazus, and conquered nine cities in eight
days in the Aeolus. He then, against the orders of the ephors, made a truce with the
Persians. The truce held, but Artaxerxes built up his fleet, putting the renegade Athenian
Conon in command.
5
399
THE DEATH OF SOCRATES. Socrates was convicted in the assembly of introducing
strange gods and corrupting the youth. He was sentenced to death, but although given an
opportunity, refused to flee into exile. Socrates was given poisonous hemlock to drink
and died.
6
398–392
Dionysius I of Syracuse fought a war with Carthage but failed to drive the Carthaginians
out of Sicily.
7
396/5
King Agesilaus II (399–360) succeeded Dercyllidas as commander in Asia Minor. He
campaigned in Phrygia, beating Tissaphernes' army, but was unable to defeat the Persian
fleet. Persia sent Timocrates of Rhodes to bribe the leaders of Athens, Thebes, Corinth,
and Argos to attack Sparta.
395
8
Athens made defensive alliances with Boeotia, Corinth, Argos, Megara, and Euboea.
The Corinthian War (395–387) against Sparta broke out.
9
394
Agesilaus returned to Greece from Asia Minor with most of his force. The Spartans beat
the Greek allies at the Battles of the Nemea and Coronea, but the Spartan fleet was
annihilated by the Persians, under Conon, at the Battle of Cnidus. Persia granted
autonomy to the Greek cities of Asia Minor and withdrew its garrisons. The Ionians then
revolted from Sparta and established democracies.
10
393
Conon returned to Athens and began rebuilding the Long Walls. Athens recovered
Lemnos, Imbros, Scyros, and Delos, and made alliances with Chios, Mitylene, Rhodes,
Cos, and Cnidus.
11
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g. The Theban Hegemony
371
A general peace settlement was reached between the allies and Sparta in the summer,
but the Theban leader Epaminondas withdrew when he was not permitted to sign on
behalf of all Boeotia. Sparta immediately sent King Cleombrotus to chastise Thebes, but
the Spartan army was crushed by Epaminondas at the Battle of Leuctra. This defeat
shattered Spartan military prestige and ended its hegemony over Greece. Thebes
withdrew from the Athenian League, along with the cities in Acarnania, Euboea, and the
Chalcidice.
1
370
An Arcadian League was formed under Theban protection as a counterweight to
Sparta, and Mantinea was restored as a city. The government of the Arcadian League
consisted of a general assembly (the Ten Thousand), made up of all freeborn citizens,
with sovereignty in matters of war and peace. A council of damiurgoi gave proportional
representation to the member cities, and a college of generals (strategoi) served as a civil
and military executive. There was a standing mercenary army (eparitoi). The Theban
army, under Epaminondas, liberated Messenia from Sparta, and the city of Messene was
built.
2
369
Athens and Sparta made an alliance on equal terms. The Arcadians founded
Megalopolis as a federal capital. In the following years, Thebes secured the union of all
Thessaly except Pherae under a single ruler (archon).
3
367/6
Dionysius I died in the course of another war with Carthage. He was succeeded by his
weak son Dionysius II, under the regency of his uncle Dion who immediately made
peace.
4
366/5
Dion brought Plato to Syracuse in order to educate Dionysius as a “philosopher king.”
The attempt failed, and both Dion and Plato were driven out of Syracuse.
5
365
The pro-Spartan party of Callistratus in Athens was replaced in power by the party of
Timotheus. Peace was made with Thebes on the basis of the status quo. Breaking its
promise, Athens sent a cleruchy to garrison its ally Samos.
6
364
The Thebans defeated Alexander, the tyrant of Pherae, in the Battle of Cynoscephalae
but their commander, Pelopidas, was killed in action.
7
363
Epaminondas led a Theban army into Thessaly and again defeated Alexander of Pherae.
Athens subjected its allies Ceos and Naxos to Athenian jurisdiction.
8
362
The Arcadian League broke up, and oligarchs took control of many of its cities.
362
9
In the Second Battle of Mantinea the Thebans beat the Spartans, but Epaminondas was
killed in the battle. A general peace was made but not accepted by Sparta, which refused
to recognize the independence of Messenia.
10
361
Athens sent a cleruchy to occupy Potidaea.
11
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> 4. The Classical Age, 510–323 B.C.E. > h. The Macedonian Empire
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h. The Macedonian Empire
336
ALEXANDER THE GREAT. Alexander III (336–323) succeeded to the Macedonian
throne and immediately invaded Illyria and Thrace.
1
335
Inspired by a rumor that Alexander had died while on campaign, Thebes, Athens,
Arcadia, Elis, and Aetolia revolted against Macedonian hegemony. Alexander swiftly
moved south, took Thebes, destroyed it, and enslaved its inhabitants. The other revolting
states submitted.
2
334
In the spring, Alexander left Antipater as governor in Greece and crossed the Hellespont
with an army of 32,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. The army was supported by a navy
of 160 ships, mostly made up of Greek allies. Memnon of Rhodes, the commander of
Greek forces in the Persian service, advised a tactical retreat, but the satraps insisted on
fighting. The Persians were completely defeated by Alexander at the Battle of
Granicus.
334–330
3
Alexander I of Epirus (342–330) was called in to assist the Italiote League which was
fighting the Lucanians in southern Italy. He won a series of victories and concluded a
treaty with Rome. But the Italiote League broke up, and when Alexander was killed in
battle (330) the Epirotes left Italy.
4
334–333
Most of the Greek cities of Ionia revolted against the Persians. Memnon died and Darius
withdrew the Greek mercenaries into Syria, where he gathered a large army.
5
333
Alexander subdued Caria and Cilicia, then advanced into Syria. He again defeated the
Persian army, under the personal command of Darius III, at the Battle of Issus. After
this defeat, Darius offered to give up all of Asia west of the Euphrates and to pay 10,000
talents, but Alexander demanded unconditional surrender. After Issus, all of Phoenicia
except Tyre submitted to Alexander.
6
332
After a difficult siege of seven months, Tyre was captured. The provinces of Galilee,
Samaria, and Judah surrendered to Alexander. When he approached Egypt, its satrap
turned the richest province of the Persian Empire over to Alexander without a fight.
7
332–331
During a year-long stay, Alexander founded Alexandria on the coast of Egypt and
visited the oracle of Ammon at the oasis of Siwa in the Western Desert, where he was
proclaimed the son of a god.
331
8
Leaving Egypt during the spring, Alexander marched into Mesopotamia. In October he
met and defeated another Persian army under Darius in the Battle of Gaugamela.
Babylonia and Susa soon surrendered. One of the Persian capitals, Persepolis, was
looted and burned, ostensibly in revenge for the destruction of Athens in 480.
9
331
Sparta under King Agis III (338–331), aided by Persian money and in alliance with
Elis, Achaea, and part of Arcadia, defeated a Macedonian force and besieged
Megalopolis. Antipater marched into the Peloponnese with a greatly superior force and
crushed the Spartans and their allies.
10
330
In the spring, Alexander pursued Darius through Media. Finally, the Persian king was
murdered by the satrap Bessus. Alexander subdued the Caspian region and then marched
southward. Once Parmenio's son Philotas had been executed for complicity in a plot,
Alexander sent messengers who murdered Parmenio in Media: Alexander feared a revolt
and Parmenio was too powerful to be discharged.
11
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> 5. The Hellenistic World, to 30 B.C.E.
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5. The Hellenistic World, to 30 B.C.E.
a. Economy, Society, and Culture
The Hellenistic Age began with a century of large-scale Greco-Macedonian
emigration into the territories conquered by Alexander. The consequent spread of
Hellenic civilization brought about changes both in the expanded Greek world and among
the native populations of Asia and Egypt. The economy of the Hellenistic world,
however, continued to be overwhelmingly agricultural. Colonial settlement was urban
in character in Seleucid Asia, but predominantly rural in Ptolemaic Egypt.
Traditional patterns of land tenure predominated in Asia, where large tracts of royal land
were worked by peasants tied to it. Much of this land was assigned to prominent
individuals, to temple estates, or to cities. The economy of the numerous Seleucid cities,
however, followed the Greek model, with land owned by citizens who worked it with
the help of slave labor. In Egypt, urban settlements were rare. Outside of the three cities
of Naucratis, Ptolemais, and Alexandria, all land was theoretically owned by the king,
divided into districts (nomes), and administered by both traditional civic
officials—nomarch, royal scribe, komarch—and by newly created financial officers—the
dioiketes in the capital, and the oikonomos and his underlings in the nome. In addition,
military officials—strategos, hipparchos, and hegemon—oversaw the nomes. Royal land
was also assigned to individuals, to temple estates, and especially to small-holder soldiers
(klerouchoi, later called katoikoi) who initially held the land in return for military service,
but whose tenure eventually became permanent and hereditary. All land seems to have
been worked by native peasants attached to it, chattel slavery being relatively rare in
Ptolemaic Egypt. Ptolemaic policy was to increase agricultural production, and
innovations in farming were largely the result of royal patronage. We are particularly
well informed by the mid-third-century archive of Zenon about large-scale reclamation in
the Fayyûm, where new crops and techniques were introduced. But most innovations, in
both Egypt and Asia, were directed toward luxury items and, with the exception of
new strains of wheat, had little effect on traditional agriculture. In Seleucid Asia the
major challenge for agriculture was to feed the numerous new cities, in Egypt to feed the
metropolis of Alexandria and to supply the grain used in Ptolemaic diplomacy. In the
Greek homeland, established forms of agriculture continued. In most areas, free citizens
1
farmed with the help of a slave or two, while other traditional forms of dependent labor
also persisted—helots in Sparta, serfs in Crete. Changes did occur in the pattern of land
tenure, with land being accumulated by the wealthy at the expense of marginal farmers.
Although most trade in the Hellenistic Age was local—between villages and nearby
urban centers—Alexander's opening of Achaemenid stores of precious metals, together
with the establishment of new cities, caused an increase in trade and an initial boom. The
amount of coined money in circulation increased greatly, and a monetary economy spread
to many cities of Asia. There was a marked increase in maritime trade, especially in grain
and slaves, but chronic piracy was a hindrance. Cities favored by trade or royal
munificence became rich and competed in the splendor of their festivals and public
buildings. Industry flourished in some cities, but its organization continued on a small
scale: a proprietor and a few slaves, with rare exceptions. The new prosperity did not,
however, affect most cities of old Greece, where c. 250 a serious economic decline
occurred, marked by inflation and debt. Extreme concentration of wealth at Sparta caused
military decline, which led to the attempts of Kings Agis (242–241) and Cleomenes
(227–222) to redistribute land and cancel debt.
2
Alexander's conquests had opened up vast areas to GREEK IMMIGRATION, which
continued on a large scale until about 250. Kings encouraged potential administrators and
especially soldiers to settle in new Seleucid cities and in the Egyptian countryside, where
land was granted in exchange for service. The policy had mixed success for the Seleucids,
who relied heavily on native forces. Ptolemaic military requirements were met primarily
by soldier settlers until the late third century, after which native troops were recruited
together with Jews, Galatians, and Mysians. Hellenistic royal armies were large,
sometimes comprising 60,000 or even 100,000 men. In the colonial areas some
intermarriage occurred between early settlers and native women, but the GrecoMacedonian colonists rigorously excluded natives from military and civic
institutions and all positions of power and wealth. Although small numbers of native
aristocrats became Hellenized, the social pattern for most was set by village life, where
native languages, religions, and attitudes prevailed. In Asia the economic and political
focus was provided by the estates of native aristocrats or temple priests, in Egypt by royal
officials. The exclusionary policy changed in Egypt after the Battle of Raphia (217),
where Ptolemy IV employed 20,000 Egyptians in his victory over Antiochus III.
Economic and social pressures caused more power to be granted to Egyptian priesthoods,
land to be assigned to native soldiers, and Egyptians to be admitted into the
administration. In the second century Greeks married Egyptian women and took up native
religious practices. The influence of non-Greeks on Greeks was carried out by the
movements of peoples and ideas. There was a major diaspora of Jews, and Egyptian
cults of Sarapis and Isis, as well as Babylonian astrology, gained great popularity
among Greeks. Both non-Greek and Greek populations continued traditional religious
practices. Among the latter, new developments included the elevation of Fortune (Tyche)
to a major deity and practices associated with Hellenistic monarchs: patron deities,
3
dynastic cults, and ruler cults in which sacrifice was made both for and to living rulers.
Colonization provided an outlet for overpopulation in the Greek homeland for about a
century. The depopulation noted by literary sources reflects elite behavior and concerns.
The average family was small—one or two children— and infanticide (especially of
females) by exposure was common. Outside of the royal courts, the position of women
remained largely unchanged, the ambiguous evidence of comedy, mimes, and sculpture
notwithstanding. Women remained tied to the domestic sphere and lived under the
control of father, husband, or male agnate. Unmarried free women were rare. In Egypt
some women had greater freedom of movement, others the right to divorce without the
permission of a male relative. A new form of marriage contract to which the wife was
party (the traditional contract was between father and husband) also appeared.
4
Cities came to be dominated by the upper classes—small groups of families or
enormously wealthy individuals on whom the cities became increasingly dependent.
Monarchy became a dominant form of political organization, while the importance of the
city-state declined. The military resources of the individual polis were dwarfed by those
of the monarchies and of federal leagues, whose protection was sought. Citizenship was
no longer as exclusive as it had been. Honorary privileges and even citizenship itself were
frequently granted to individual benefactors as well as to entire communities. Municipal
administration reached a high level. Public institutions, such as gymnasia, were endowed
by wealthy benefactors, often royal, and supervised by public officials. By the late third
century foundations were being established to subsidize elementary education for boys
and sometimes for girls.
5
Cultural and intellectual life flourished in various cities. Writers of Middle
Comedy—Eubulis (c. 405–335), Alexis (c. 375–275)—and New Comedy—Diphilus (c.
360–300), Philemon (c. 360–263), and Menander (c. 342–289)—kept the dramatic arts
alive in Athens, while wide enthusiasm for Athenian-style plays helped make the theater
a characteristically Hellenistic building type. Athens remained the center for philosophy.
The Academy continued the Platonic tradition with increased emphasis on skepticism,
and the Peripatetics concentrated on scientific and historical studies. The shift away from
metaphysics to practical ethics was fostered by two new schools. Epicurus of Samos
(342–270) founded Epicureanism around a closed community that included slaves and
women. Members sought pleasure by attaining a state of imperturbability (ataraxia).
Adopting Democritus's atomic theory, and subscribing to the indifference of the gods and
the universe, Epicureans denied the afterlife and eschewed emotion and politics.
Migrating from Cyprus, Zeno of Citium (336–264) founded STOICISM, teaching in the
Painted Porch (stoa poikile). Stoics believed that the universe was governed by reason
(logos—God, nature, providence) and that virtue consisted of understanding and being in
harmony with it, everything else being at best indifferent. The capital cities became great
centers of intellectual life, with royal patrons competing for the talents of scholars, poets,
and scientists. The establishment of the Museum (a research institute) and the Library
6
made Alexandria preeminent. Here scholars such as Zenodotus of Ephesus (c. 325–c.
260), Aristophanes of Byzantium (257–180), and Aristarchus of Samothrace (217–145)
collected and edited the “classics” of earlier Greek literature. Here contemporary
literature also thrived. “Alexandrianism”—short, highly refined, esoteric poetry—was
fashioned by Callimachus (c. 360–240) and Theocritus (c. 300–260? from Syracuse),
while Apollonius of Rhodes (c. 295–214) revived the epic.
Alexandria was also the home for scientific research. Herophilus of Chalcedon and
Erasistratos of Ceos (at Antioch?) made great advances in anatomy, physiology, and
pathology. Astronomical measurements were made by Aristarchus of Samos;
Eratosthenes of Cyrene (275–194) computed Earth's circumference; and Euclid (c. 300)
systematized mathematics, while in Syracuse the wide-ranging Archimedes (287–212)
made startling advances in mathematics and physics. With the exception of lifting
devices, such as Archimedes' screw, technological discoveries in the Hellenistic Age
were primarily curiosities. General lack of interest and support for the application of
technology was overcome only in military science, where advances in siege-craft and
fortification were made by Ctesipius of Alexandria (fl. c. 270) and Archimedes.
Competitive and cosmopolitan patronage, both royal and private, also stimulated
innovations in art and architecture. Hellenistic architecture is marked by the relaxing of
classical canons and the introduction of new building types and construction techniques.
Public building saw the proliferation of secular structures (stoas, theatres, council-halls,
arsenals), as well as of religious sanctuaries. Wealthier citizens resided in more elaborate
private houses built around a colonnaded court (peristyle). Innovations in construction
included the vault and the use of architectural drawings. Hellenistic sculpture is
distinguished from classical by a wider range and greater complexity of style and
subjects. Genre types, royal portraiture, and a baroque style in historical and mythological
group scenes were some of the innovations of the period.
7
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b. The Wars of the Diadochi
322–315
After Perdiccas became regent for Philip III Arrhidaeus, the other generals—Antigonus,
Antipater, Craterus, and Ptolemy—formed a coalition against him. Perdiccas's general
Eumenes defeated and killed Craterus in Asia Minor, but Perdiccas was himself
assassinated while campaigning against Ptolemy in Egypt (320). At Triparadeisus in
northern Syria, Antigonus, Ptolemy, and Antipater agreed that the latter should be
regent. Antigonus then defeated and besieged Eumenes in Cappadocia. Antipater died
(319) leaving Polyperchon as regent. This was unacceptable to Antigonus, to Ptolemy,
and to Antipater's son Cassander. After negotiating his release, Eumenes promptly
accepted Polyperchon's offer to oppose Antigonus in Asia. Meanwhile Cassander seized
Piraeus and left Demetrius of Phaleron in command of Athens (317). He then drove
Polyperchon from Macedon, executed Olympias, who had earlier killed Philip
Arrhidaeus, and imprisoned Roxana and her son Alexander IV, both of whom he put to
death in 310. Antigonus pursued Eumenes into central Iran and, after the indecisive
Battle at Paraetacene, surprised him as he was wintering in Gabiene and executed him
(316). Antigonus then drove Seleucus from Babylon to Egypt, where he sought refuge
with Ptolemy and where the two, together with Cassander and Lysimachus, who ruled
Thrace, formed a coalition against Antigonus.
1
315–307
Antigonus, after besieging and capturing Tyre (314–313), took Syria from Ptolemy.
Fighting went on in the Aegean, the Peloponnese, and Asia Minor (313–312).
Demetrius, Antigonus' son, was defeated at Gaza (312), and Seleucus recaptured
Babylon (311). Cassander consolidated his position in Macedon. Antigonus sent
Demetrius to Athens, whence he expelled Demetrius of Phaleron (307).
2
306
Demetrius won a great naval victory over Ptolemy at Salamis in Cyprus after which both
ANTIGONUS I MONOPHTHALMOS (“one-eyed”) and Demetrius I Poliorcetes
(“besieger”) took the title of king. Ptolemy assumed the royal title in 304, followed
immediately by Seleucus, Lysimachus, and Cassander. Alexander's empire was thus
officially dissolved. Demetrius failed to reduce Rhodes by a year's siege (305–304) but
relieved Athens from the Four Years' War waged by Cassander (307–304). He then
revived the Hellenic League of Philip II (302). In 302 Lysimachus, Seleucus, Ptolemy,
and Cassander formed an alliance against Antigonus and Demetrius.
3
301
BATTLE OF IPSUS (in Phrygia). The armies of Lysimachus and Seleucus, but not
Ptolemy, defeated and killed the eighty-one-year-old Antigonus. Demetrius escaped and
continued hostilities, dominating the Aegean with his fleet. Of Antigonus's possessions,
Seleucus received Syria and Lysimachus central Asia Minor. Cassander kept Macedon,
and his brother Pleistarchus was allotted Cilicia. Ptolemy seized Coele-Syria from
Seleucus.
4
299
Aided by Seleucus, Demetrius expelled Pleistarchus from Cilicia. Cassander died in 298
and his two young sons, Antipater and Alexander V, ruled jointly in Macedon but soon
quarreled.
5
295–294
Demetrius besieged and recovered Athens. He then killed Alexander V, expelled his
brother, and ruled Macedon (294). He conquered northeastern and central Greece except
for Aetolia.
288
6
A coalition was formed against Demetrius, and Lysimachus and King Pyrrhus of Epirus
drove him from Macedon. Demetrius then attempted to campaign in Asia Minor but was
eventually captured by Seleucus in Cilicia (286).
7
283
Demetrius died in captivity, leaving a son, Antigonus, in Greece.
8
281
Lysimachus, who ruled Macedon, Thrace, and Asia Minor, was defeated and killed at
the Battle of Corupedium in Lydia by Seleucus, who became master of Asia Minor.
When he tried to seize Macedon, however, he was treacherously assassinated by the
disinherited son of Ptolemy, Ptolemy Ceraunus, who then ruled Macedon until he was
killed opposing the Celtic invasion in 279.
9
279
The Celts ravaged Macedon, defeated the Greeks at Thermopylae, and were turned back
at Delphi. Celtic rule was then established in Thrace, lasting until 210. In central Asia
Minor the Celtic kingdom of Galatia was established.
10
277–276
Meanwhile Demetrius's son, Antigonus Gonatas, recovered Macedon from the Celts and
established the Antigonid dynasty which lasted until 168.
11
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c. Macedon and Greece, to 146 B.C.E.
290
Emergence of the Aetolian League, a military federation in western Greece. It had a
council with proportional representation and a semiannual assembly. Affairs were
handled by a committee of 100 apokletoi and a single general (strategos) in wartime.
The league expanded into Phocis (254) and Boeotia (245) and dominated Greece from
sea to sea. It also included Elis and part of Arcadia (245) and made an alliance with
Messene, thus separating Sparta from the Achaean League.
1
280
Formation of the Achaean League, consisting of twelve towns in the northern
Peloponnese. It had a general (two until 255), a board of ten demiourgoi, and a federal
council with proportional representation of members. There was also an annual assembly
of all free citizens. After 251, Aratus of Sicyon dominated its policy, and after 245 he
was strategos in alternate years. With Ptolemaic backing he opposed Macedonian and
Aetolian power, extending Achaean influence in the Peloponnese and taking Corinth
from Macedon in 243.
2
276–239
ANTIGONUS II GONATAS (“knock-kneed”?) was driven from Macedon by Pyrrhus
of Epirus (274). Pyrrhus was then called into Greece by Cleonymus, pretender to the
Spartan kingship. After Pyrrhus was killed in Corinth (272), Antigonus returned to rule
Macedon. He established control over Greece by garrisoning the cities of Demetrius in
Thrace, Chalcis in Euboea, and Corinth; by supporting pro-Macedonian tyrants in
several cities of the Peloponnese; and by making peace with the Aetolian League.
3
268–262?
Ptolemy II of Egypt stirred up Athens and Sparta to wage the Chremonidean War
(from Chremonides, an Athenian leader) against Antigonus. When Ptolemy failed to
give energetic aid, Athens was obliged to surrender after a two-year siege (262).
Antigonus garrisoned several strong points of Attica and imposed a moderate oligarchy
on Athens.
4
261 (256?)
Antigonus defeated Ptolemy in a naval battle off Cos and took the Cyclades, though he
had to reconquer them later in the Battle of Andros (245).
5
c. 249
Antigonus's governor of the Peloponnese, Alexander, revolted and held the peninsula
until his death (c. 245).
6
251
Aratus of Sicyon recovered that city from Antigonus's tyrant and then joined the
Achaean League, which he soon dominated.
7
245–235
Sparta had fallen into a serious economic crisis because of the excessive concentration
of land and wealth in the hands of a few. Coined money had been introduced by King
Areus. The number of full citizens who could contribute to their mess-tables (syssitia)
had fallen to 700. When King Agis IV (244–240) tried to redistribute the land into 4,500
equal lots, the great landowners executed him. Cleomenes III, who married Agis's
widow, became king (235).
239–229
8
Demetrius II succeeded his father, Antigonus. He protected Epirus against Aetolia, so
that the latter broke with Macedon and made an alliance with Achaea. Demetrius
attacked it in the War of Demetrius (238–229) but was recalled by invasions from the
north (233). Argos expelled the pro-Macedonian tyrant Aristomachus and joined the
Achaean League (229), while Athens asserted its independence.
9
229–221
Antigonus III Doson (“going to give,” i.e., always promising) succeeded his cousin
Demetrius as guardian of the latter's eight-year-old son, Philip, whom he deposed in 227
to become king himself. He made peace with Aetolia and drove the northern tribes out of
Macedon.
10
228–227
Cleomenes defeated the Achaeans under Aratus. He then seized the power in Sparta,
redivided the land, enfranchised 4000 perioikoi, and abolished the ephorate. With an
increased citizen army, he reduced Aratus to appeal to Antigonus (225).
11
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d. The Seleucids and Pergamum
304–281
SELEUCUS I NICATOR (“conqueror”), after securing Babylon (311–308) and
assuming the royal title (304), ceded northwestern India to Chandragupta (Sandrocottus)
(303). He failed to reduce Mithridates I of Pontus but gained control of Asia Minor on
the defeat of Lysimachus (281).
1
281–261
ANTIOCHUS I SOTER (“savior”) succeeded upon the murder of his father Seleucus.
He fought and defeated the Galatians (275, 270?). In the First War of Succession
(280–279) and First Syrian War (274–271), he lost Miletus, Phoenicia, Cilicia,
Pamphylia, and Lycia to Ptolemy II.
2
263–241
Eumenes I made himself virtually independent of Antiochus as ruler of Pergamum,
where his uncle, Philetaerus, had ruled as governor, first for Lysimachus and then semiindependently for the Seleucids.
3
261–246
Antiochus II Theos (“god”), son of Antiochus I, secured the support of Antigonus II
and Rhodes against Egypt in the Second Syrian War (260–253?). The succeeding peace
restored to Antiochus Ionia (including Miletus), Coele-Syria, Cilicia, and Pamphylia
(253).
4
250–230
Diodotus I declared himself independent king of Bactria. In 248–247, Arsaces I founded
the Parthian Kingdom.
5
246–226
SELEUCUS II CALLINICUS (“gloriously victorious”), son of Antiochus II by his
divorced wife, Laodice I, succeeded. As a result Berenice II, daughter of Ptolemy II,
whom Antiochus had married in 253, provoked the Syrian War in favor of her infant
son.
6
246–241
Berenice II provoked the Third Syrian War (“Laodicean War” or “War of Berenice”).
Though she and her son were murdered in Antioch, her brother, Ptolemy III, invaded
Asia and Mesopotamia, and ultimately forced Seleucus to surrender the coasts of Syria
and southern Asia Minor (241).
7
241–197
Attalus I Soter (“savior”), who succeeded his father's cousin Eumenes I as ruler of
Pergamum, took advantage of Seleucus's difficulties to secure for himself western Asia
Minor by crushing the Galatians near Pergamum (230), after which he took the title
“king.”
8
240–236
Seleucus attacked Antiochus Hierax (“falcon”), whom he in 241 had recognized as
ruler of Asia Minor. Hierax secured the aid of Mithridates II of Pontus and the Galatians.
The Galatians crushed Seleucus at Ancyra (240–239?).
229–226
9
Attalus I of Pergamum drove Hierax out of Asia Minor (229–228), after which Seleucus
drove him out of Syria (227) to Thrace, where he was killed. Seleucus died and was
succeeded by his son (226).
10
226–223
Seleucus III Soter or Ceraunus (“thunderbolt”), son of Seleucus II, was murdered
during a war with Attalus I (224–221).
11
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> 5. The Hellenistic World, to 30 B.C.E. > e. Parthia
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e. Parthia
247, 238?–211
Arsaces I founded the kingdom of Parthia, including at first only Parthia and Hyrcania,
between the Seleucid kingdom in the west and the Bactrian kingdom in the east. Parthian
society was hierarchical and dominated by elite orders of priests and nobles. The king's
power rested on the support of the leading nobles who supplied soldiers and tribute from
their estates. Zoroastrianism was the religion of the Parthians. In 238 Arsaces was
expelled by Seleucus II but returned when the latter withdrew to deal with a revolt in
Syria.
1
211–c. 190
Arsaces II withstood the attacks of Antiochus III, the Great, in 209; he was followed by
Arsaces III (Priapatius, 190–176) and Arsaces IV (Phraates I, 176–c. 171).
2
c. 171–138
Mithridates I conquered Babylonia and Media from the Seleucids (c. 147); later he
added to his kingdom Elam, Persia, and parts of Bactria, thus founding the Parthian
Empire. Ctesiphon-Seleucia became the capital. He captured Demetrius II in 139.
3
138–128
Phraates II (138–127) defeated Antiochus VII in Media (129), and as a result the
Seleucids were permanently excluded from the lands east of the Euphrates; but he died in
battle fighting the Tochari (the Scythians or Sacae of the Greeks), a tribe driven out of
central Asia by the Yuezhi. The kingdom was devastated and Artabanus I (128–124) fell
4
likewise fighting against the Tochari.
124–87
Mithridates II, the Great, defeated the Scythians and also Artavasdes, king of Armenia
Major. He stabilized the eastern boundaries of the kingdom.
5
87–70
Parthia suffered a collapse and was greatly reduced in territory by Tigranes I of Armenia
(c. 100–56).
6
70–57
Phraates III restored order but was not strong enough to resist the Roman advance, led
by Lucullus and Pompey.
7
57–37
Orodes II defeated Crassus at Carrhae (53) and regained Mesopotamia. His son,
Pacorus, unsuccessfully invaded the Roman province of Syria in 51 and again in 40.
8
37–20
Phraates IV defeated Antony in 36 but could not prevent him from conquering Armenia
in 34. In 20 he returned the standards of Crassus and Antony to Augustus, while a line of
kings (the Arcasids) persisted in Armenia. Parthia itself was badly divided for almost
two centuries after 77 C.E. Rome conquered further Parthian territory, including Armenia,
by 117 C.E.. (See 113–117)
9
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> 5. The Hellenistic World, to 30 B.C.E. > f. Bactria
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f. Bactria
323–302
After Alexander's death, Greek auxiliaries mutinied and were crushed by Perdiccas.
Control over Bactria, frequently nominal, passed from Perdiccas (d. 319), to Eumenes (d.
316), to Antigonus, and to Seleucus, who campaigned in the eastern provinces (311–302).
1
c. 250–210?
Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria, made himself independent and conquered Sogdiana. He
founded a dynasty that withstood the attacks of the Seleucids.
2
210?
Euthydemus overthrew Diodotus II (c. 210?) and withstood a two-year siege at Bactra
by Antiochus III before making an alliance (208–206?). After the defeat of Antiochus at
Magnesia (190), Euthydemus and his son Demetrius began to expand into the Indus
Valley. But while Demetrius was campaigning in the Punjab, Eucratides made himself
king of Bactria (c. 170). Menander (c. 155–130) then became king of Bactria and
extended his power into India. About 100 the Yuezhi crossed the Oxus River, breaking
Bactrian Greek power and confining their territory to the Hindu Kush and the upper Indus
and Swat Valleys. They were then overcome by the Sakas and Scytho-Parthians.
3
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> 5. The Hellenistic World, to 30 B.C.E. > g. Ptolemaic Egypt to the Roman Conquest
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(See 343–332)
g. Ptolemaic Egypt to the Roman Conquest
304–283
PTOLEMY I SOTER (“savior”), the son of Lagus (hence the “Lagid” house), had been
governor of Egypt since 323 and king since 304. He had seized Coele-Syria in 301 and
acquired from Demetrius, Pamphylia and Lycia (296–295) and Caria and the island of
Cos (286).
1
285–246
PTOLEMY II PHILADELPHUS (“loving his sister”) was co-regent for two years and
revived an old Pharaonic practice by marrying his sister Arsinoe II (276?). He explored
the upper Nile and extended his power along the Red Sea and into northern Arabia (278)
for commercial purposes.
2
280–272
In the First War of Succession (280–279) and First Syrian War (274–271), Ptolemy II
secured Miletus, Phoenicia, western Cilicia, Pamphylia, and Lycia. He subsidized
Pyrrhus against Antigonus (274) and aided Athens and Sparta in the Chremonidean War
(268–262?). He incited Eumenes of Pergamum to revolt from Antiochus (263) and
supported the seizure of Ephesus (262–259) by his own son, Ptolemy. These activities
brought Antiochus II, Antigonus II, and Rhodes together to wage the Second Syrian
War.
3
260–250
During the Second Syrian War (260–253?), Antigonus defeated Ptolemy in the Battle
of Cos (261 or 256). Though by the resulting peace he lost Cilicia and western
Pamphylia (255), he later recovered the Cyclades (250) and also Cyrene (c. 248), which
had become independent in 274.
4
246–221
Ptolemy III Euergetes (“benefactor”) supported his sister Berenice II in the Third
Syrian War (246–241) and acquired the coasts of Syria and southern Asia Minor, as
well as some Aegean ports. But he lost the Cyclades to Antigonus through the Battle of
Andros (246?). This was the height of the Ptolemaic power.
5
221–203
Ptolemy IV Philopator (“loving his father”) was a weak monarch, dominated by his
minister, Sosibius. In the Fourth Syrian War (221–217) he at first lost much of the
Syrian coast to Antiochus III, but the victory of Raphia (217) brought the recovery of
all, save the port of Seleucia.
6
203–181
Ptolemy V Epiphanes (“god manifest”), a young boy, succeeded his father. While the
Egyptian natives revolted in the Delta (201–200), Antiochus III attacked him in the Fifth
Syrian War.
7
202–195
The Fifth Syrian War (202–200?) saw the defeat of Ptolemy at Panium (200). He
retained only Cyprus of his Asiatic possessions. When he came of age (195), he
succeeded in suppressing the native revolts.
181–145
8
Ptolemy VI Philometor (“loving his mother”) followed Ptolemy V under the regency of
his mother Cleopatra I. In consequence of Ptolemy's cowardice during the Sixth Syrian
War with Antiochus IV (170–168), the people of Alexandria forced him to associate his
brother, Ptolemy VII, in his rule. Rome prevented Antiochus from completing his
victory over Egypt (168). When Ptolemy VI was expelled by his brother (164), the
Roman Senate restored him and gave Cyrene and Cyprus to Ptolemy VII, who, however,
secured only Cyrene (163). Ptolemy supported Alexander Balas against Demetrius I
(153–150) but then switched his support from Alexander to Demetrius II. Ptolemy and
Alexander Balas were killed in this war (147–45).
9
145–116
Ptolemy VII Euergetes II (“benefactor”) or Physcon (“fat-bellied”) reunited the empire
after his brother's death and restored order. At his death, he left Cyrene separately to his
son Apion, who willed it to Rome in 96, though it was not actually annexed until 75.
Another son, Ptolemy IX, received Cyprus, which was ultimately bequeathed to Rome
and annexed in 58.
10
116–47
Ptolemy VIII Soter II or Lathyrus (“chick-pea”), son of Ptolemy VII, was eventually
expelled by his brother Ptolemy IX Alexander I (108–88). The people of Alexandria,
however, slew Ptolemy IX and restored Ptolemy VIII (88–80). Ptolemy X Alexander
II, son of Ptolemy IX, succeeded but was at once slain by the people of Alexandria (80),
who set up an illegitimate son of Ptolemy VIII, Ptolemy XI Auletes (“flute-player”) or
Neos (“new”) Dionysos. Though expelled in 58, he bribed the “first triumvirate” to send
Gabinius to restore him (55). On his death in 51, he left his throne jointly to his children,
Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XII (51–47). When Ptolemy expelled his sister, Caesar
forced her restoration (48) and, since Ptolemy died during the fighting about Alexandria
(48–47), Caesar joined with Cleopatra a younger brother, Ptolemy XIII (47–44), whom
Cleopatra murdered on Caesar's death (44).
11
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> 5. The Hellenistic World, to 30 B.C.E. > h. Sicily
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(See 354–347)
h. Sicily
316–289
AGATHOCLES made himself tyrant of Syracuse in consequence of a civil war (c.
323–316) in which, as a democratic leader, he had executed and expelled the Syracusan
oligarchs, dividing their property among the poor. He established Syracusan suzerainty
over eastern Sicily.
1
311
The exiled oligarchs appealed to Carthage whose general, Hamilcar, defeated Agathocles
at the Himera River and besieged Syracuse. In 310 Agathocles slipped across to Africa
and attacked Carthage. The siege of Syracuse was lifted, and Agathocles maintained
himself in Africa until 307, when his army, under his sons, was annihilated during his
absence.
2
304
Agathocles came to terms with Carthage and the oligarchs and took the title of king. In
the meantime, the Tarentines had made peace with the Samnites (c. 320) but were
attacked by the Lucanians and eventually called in Agathocles for help.
302
3
Agathocles arrived in Italy (c. 300), established his power in Bruttium, but was called
back to Syracuse, where he died in 289. He bequeathed freedom to the Syracusans, who
restored the democracy. A certain group of the Campanian mercenaries of Agathocles,
calling themselves Mamertines (“sons of Mars”), seized Messana.
4
282–275
The Tarentines, angered by Roman occupation of towns in southern Italy, sunk four
Roman ships that had violated a treaty by sailing into Tarentine waters. They then drove a
Roman garrison from Thurii. When Rome declared war, they called in Pyrrhus (280).
After victories over the Romans, Pyrrhus campaigned against the Carthaginians in Sicily
(279–276). He returned to Italy, was defeated by the Romans, and departed (275), leaving
southern Italy under the Romans and much of Sicily under the Carthaginians.
5
275–215
Hiero II made himself tyrant of Syracuse, defeated the Mamertines, and took the title of
king (270). He joined the Carthaginians in attacking the Roman force which occupied
Messana in 264. When he was defeated and besieged in Syracuse, he made peace with
Rome (263). At the end of the First Punic War (241) (See 264–241), Hiero's kingdom
encompassed about a quarter of Sicily; most of the rest became Rome's possession.
Denied the possibility of expansion by Rome, Hiero pursued a peaceful policy and Sicily
prospered for a quarter century. He died in 215 and was succeeded by his grandson
Hieronymus. (See The Punic Wars)
6
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E. Rome
1. The Monarchy and the Early Republic, 334 (338)–264 B.C.E.
a. Geography and Climate
(Note on dates: Virtually all precise dates for early Rome are antiquarian reconstructions.
The conventional (Varronian) dates for Roman events before the late 4th century are high
by four years due to the insertion of the fabricated “dictator-years”—333, 324, 309, and
301. In what follows, the conventional dates will appear in square brackets.)
1
Rome's site on the Tiber River lies where the foothills of the Apennines, the mountain
chain that dominates central and southern Italy, come down to the central plain. The
Tiber, like the other navigable rivers of antiquity, was a vital channel of trade. Latium,
the region to the east and south of Rome, was bounded to the north by
Etruria—distinguished by mineral deposits which were heavily exploited from the 8th
century B.C.E.—and to the south by Campania, with good farmland and harbors. Italy
itself was a geographical unit long before it was a political one; it came to include
northern Italy only in the 2nd to 1st centuries B.C.E. and never included Sicily or Sardinia.
The climate of peninsular Italy in antiquity was not very different from that of today,
except that extensive deforestation in some regions has caused a decrease in rainfall.
2
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Republic, 334 (338)–264 B.C.E. > b. The Peoples of Italy
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b. The Peoples of Italy
The wide diffusion of Indo-European tongues—Latin, Osco-Umbrian, Venetic, and
Messapian—spoken in Italy at the beginning of the historical period, together with the
general continuity of prehistoric cultures attested by archaeology, show that the
introduction of Indo-European languages into Italy was a long and complicated
process stretching back to the late Neolithic age. The great cultural units of historical
Italy—Etruscan, Latin, Sabellian, and Iapygian in Apulia; Venetic in Venetia—were
formed in the 9th and 8th centuries.
1
During the 7th century B.C.E., the non-Indo-European ETRUSCANS became the
dominant people of central Italy. Their homeland corresponds roughly to modern
Tuscany. The rise of the Etruscans coincided with intensified trade with Greeks in search
of metals in the 8th century. Greek imports, increased use of metals, greater division of
labor, the adoption of writing (from the Chalcidian alphabet of Cumae), and urbanization
were all part of the rapid social and economic transformation in southern and coastal
Etruria. Etruscan power, though never unified, was extended through migration,
colonization, and conquest. Etruscans founded cities in the Po Valley and in Campania
and subjugated various Latin communities, Rome among them. The Etruscan cities were
loosely united in a religious league of 12 but were politically independent with
independent artistic traditions. The economy was based on agriculture, maritime trade
and piracy, and exploitation of minerals. Tomb paintings portray a luxurious upper- class
existence, while literary sources tell of a class of peasants tied to the land, comparable to
Spartan helots. Etruscan hegemony ended in the 5th century with their expulsion from
Latium and the loss of the sea to Greeks, of Campania to the Sabelli, and of the Po Valley
to the Gauls. From the 4th through the 1st centuries, Roman conquest, colonization, and
co-optation caused Etruscan civilization to decline and finally end. The Etruscans
influenced Roman institutions in various ways, and in spite of the fact that many of their
gods were different from those of Rome, they had a reputation at Rome for religious
expertise. They were also renowned for luxury, because women were relatively free by
the standards of classical Greece.
2
The LATINS lived on the western (Tyrrhenian) coastal plain—Latium—that stretches
from the Tiber in the north to Monte Circeo 65 miles to the south. Northern Latium is
3
enclosed on the east by the foothills of the Apennines; further south, the Lepini
Mountains mark the eastern boundary. Traditionally there were 50 small Latin
communities which were united by common Latin cults and by the common Latin rights
of intermarriage, contractual dealing, and intermigration. By the 7th century, contacts
with Etruscans and Greeks had influenced the Latins to organize themselves into about a
dozen communities resembling Greek poleis. Although still tied to each other by
intercommunal rights and common cults, these Latin “city-states” became increasingly
independent and competitive. By the late 6th century several of them had formed a
political league centered around Aricia, at the time when Etruscan Rome was pursuing
an aggressive policy. Roman preeminence in Latium ended abruptly with the expulsion of
Etruscan kings in the late 6th century. Soon after this the Latin League was formed, and
a military alliance was made with Rome to defend the homeland against invading Aequi
and Volsci. A century of war left Latium free of invaders, but Rome was again poised to
dominate the other Latins. This was achieved by a Roman victory in the Latin War,
337–334 (343–338).
In the historical period the Apennines were inhabited by Sabellian peoples who spoke a
variety of Osco-Umbrian languages and who periodically raided and sometimes
conquered the fertile plains around them. In historical times the Sabines had moved into
Latium where they are said to have exerted a formative influence on early Rome. The
territories of the Umbrians extended from the highlands east of the Arno and Tiber to the
Adriatic coast between Rimini and Ancona. Another Osco-Umbrian-speaking people
from the central Apennines were the Aequi, who invaded Latium c. 500 B.C.E. The
central Apennines were also home to the Umbrian-speaking Marsi. Further east, Oscan
speakers—the Paeligni, Vestini, and Marrucini—held sway; to the southeast, along the
Adriatic coast, the Oscan-speaking Frentani dominated. Inhabiting the south-central
Apennines were the SAMNITES, who spoke an Oscan language and by the 4th century
were united in a loose but formidable confederation. During the late 5th and early 4th
centuries, Oscan-speaking peoples moved into Campania, Lucania, and Bruttium, where
they came to be known as Campani, Lucani, and Bruttii, respectively.
4
GREEK COLONIZATION (See c. 800) had a major influence on all the peoples of
Italy and Sicily. The first Greek colony was established at Cumae in 750, and Greeks
continued founding colonies in Campania, Apulia, and eastern Sicily (Magna Graecia)
for the following two centuries.
5
The advent of CELTIC peoples into the Alpine regions of Italy occurred during the
historical period. Since their movements were nomadic and they mixed with previous
inhabitants of regions, it is difficult to date the earlier Celtic presence, but by the 5th
century they had begun to displace the Etruscans in the Po Valley.
6
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c. Economy, Society, and Culture
The economy of early Rome was agrarian, and most citizens were farmers working
privately owned land. Their diet centered on hulled wheat or emmer (far) consumed as
porridge (puls) rather than bread, together with garden vegetables. Cultivation of grapes
seems to have begun in central Italy in the 8th century B.C.E., and the olive was
introduced in the 6th; both became staples. Meat played a greater role in the diet of
ancient Romans than in that of Greeks, and while sheep and larger stock animals were
raised by wealthier Romans, the major source of meat in Rome was the ubiquitous pig.
That a significant number of Roman farmers were relatively affluent in the mid-sixth
century is shown by their organization into a force of hoplite soldiers who provided their
own armor. The majority, however, worked plots too small to allow farming above nearsubsistence levels, which had to be supplemented with labor on land that was either
public or belonged to the wealthy.
1
The importance of trade and small-scale industry for the economy of archaic Rome is
suggested by its site on the Tiber River at the point of a natural ford (Tiber Island).
Commercial activity is confirmed by archaeological evidence. By the mid-sixth century
local Roman industry was producing fine pottery and bronze work, as well as public and
domestic buildings decorated with high-quality terra-cotta ornaments. From the earliest
times, however, economic well-being at Rome was dependent on military success.
Increases in population during the 7th and 6th centuries, and the overall Roman
prosperity during the 6th century was a function of expansion under Etruscan rule.
Conversely, 5th-century military setbacks coincide with economic decline, which
continued until the end of the century when conquered land was distributed to poor
Romans. The pattern recurs in the 4th century, with decades of economic dislocation and
social unrest following the Gallic sack of Rome in 386 (390), ending with Roman
victories midcentury. Great victories over the Samnites, Etruscans, and Greeks in the late
4th and early 3rd centuries placed the economy of Rome on a higher level. Large
numbers of Romans were granted land both in the greatly enlarged Roman territory (ager
Romanus) and in the Latin colonies established in more distant parts of Italy. War
captives increased the numbers of rural and urban slaves, and, to meet the needs of the
city's swelling population, aqueducts, the Aqua Appia in 310 (312) and the Aqua Anio
2
Vetus in 272, were constructed. The technology for Rome's first aqueducts was probably
modeled on earlier drainage tunnels. Public buildings paid for by war booty, especially
temples, were erected at an unprecedented rate. Pottery made in Rome began to be
exported in quantity, and Roman artisans produced sculpture in terra cotta, stone, and
bronze. In the early 3rd century state-issued coinage was introduced. The Etruscans had
introduced technological advances to archaic Rome in the form of drainage projects,
both urban and rural, and impressive public buildings. The conquest of Veii in 392 (396)
gave Rome access to a superior building material, Grotta Oscura tufa. Rome's
monumental stone wall, begun in 374 (378), was constructed principally of this stone,
which remained the city's chief building material for almost two centuries. By the end of
the 4th century the first of Rome's major roads had been built, the Via Appia to Capua 310
(312).
From early times the Roman family was governed by the principle of patria potestas.
This was the power held by the oldest surviving male ascendant (paterfamilias) over the
property, conduct, and survival of his agnatic descendants—sons, unmarried daughters,
grandchildren by sons, married daughters in sine manu relationships, and daughters-inlaw if married with manus, plus slaves (these together constituted the familia). All these
remained under the power of the paterfamilias until his death, at which time each son
became a paterfamilias and head of his own familia,while daughters gained limited
independence under the supervision of a male guardian (tutor) and slaves together with
other property were passed on through inheritance. Inherited property, including land,
was equally divided among heirs. From at least the mid-fifth century, there were two
forms of marriage at Rome; under one, the wife passed into the manus (authority) of the
head of her husband's family, while under the other she did not.
3
Beyond the familia, the larger social unit was the gens (clan), whose development is
reflected in early onomastic practices. The gens consisted of those who shared a nomen
(family name), who were sometimes thought to descend from a common clan ancestor.
Men had personal names (praenomina), women did not. The division of large clans into
subgroups came to be denoted by a third name, the cognomen, which was certainly in use
by the 4th century. Sometime during the regal period a group of gentes, called patricians,
secured for themselves certain political and religious privileges to the exclusion of other
plebeian gentes. Various theories try to explain the basis for the distinction—native vs.
immigrant; patron vs. client; cavalry vs. infantry—but none is entirely convincing. A
characteristic feature of Roman life was patronage (clientela). This extralegal
relationship that occurred at a variety of social levels involved mutual obligations
between a free Roman citizen of inferior status (cliens) and a more powerful citizen
(patronus). Its origin, stability, extension through society, and political function are
obscure and debated, but its importance is undeniable. Slavery is mentioned in the midfifth century Twelve Tables butmust have been practiced on a relatively small scale in the
Archaic period. At that time the need for labor on the estates of wealthy Romans would
have been met by citizens who had fallen into debt-bondage, nexum, which is also
4
mentioned in the Twelve Tables. Enslavement of defeated enemies was the principal
source of slaves, and the military successes of the 4th century increased the supply
greatly. It is not coincidental that debt-bondage was formally abolished at the beginning
of a major war in 323 (326). The institution of a tax on manumissions in 353 (357) attests
to a substantial number of slaves. A Roman slave on being manumitted was called a
freedman (libertinus) and became a citizen.
The cultural life of archaic Rome was heavily affected by Etruscan and Greek
influences, the latter either direct or mediated through the Etruscans. The presence in 6thcentury Rome of the Italic (Etruscan) temple and the Latin alphabet (adapted from the
Etruscan, which in turn was adapted from Greek) reflects Etruscan variations on Greek
forms. Direct Greek influence is attested in the 6th century by a votive inscription to the
Greek gods Castor and Pollux at the pan-Latin sanctuary at Lavinium, by the
syncretization in Rome of native and Greek deities, and by early 5th-century Roman
temples dedicated to Greek deities. Political revolution, foreign invasion, and internal
unrest brought on a century of decline that ended with the cultural advances produced by
late 4th-century military successes and prosperity. Rome was once again open to foreign,
particularly Greek, influences, which can be seen in the renewed production of pottery
and bronze work. The “publication” of the civil law by Cn. Flavius in 303 (304) shows
that writing, though still limited to relatively small numbers of citizens, had gained a new
importance. The capture of cities of Magna Graecia in the early 3rd century brought
substantial numbers of Greek slaves to Rome. The Tarentine Livius Andronicus worked
as a teacher and poet, but other captive Greeks were employed in a variety of occupations
throughout the city. The process of “Hellenization,” therefore, was taking place in the
streets as well as the salons of Rome long before the 2nd-century conquest of Greece.
5
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Republic, 334 (338)–264 B.C.E. > d. The Regal Period
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d. The Regal Period
The history of early Rome rests on a highly dubious literary tradition, based mostly on
oral tradition, and a sketchy archaeological record. The latter suggests that Rome's first
residents were herdsmen living in seasonal settlements on Rome's various hills (Palatine,
Esquiline, Quirinal) and using the low-lying areas for burials (both inhumation and
cremation). The chronology is disputed, but permanent settlements on these hills seem to
have been established by the 10th century B.C.E. The early importance of the Tiber ford as
the crossroads of the two principal trade routes of central Italy is suggested by the
presence of 8th-century Greek geometric pottery in the adjacent area—the later Forum
Boarium. By the early 7th century settlements began to move down from the hills to the
eastern fringes of the Roman Forum. Around 625, the central area of the Roman Forum
was drained and paved. During the second half of the 6th century, an enormous Etruscanstyle temple (with three rooms or cellae) was built on the Capitoline hill; in the Forum
Boarium remains of a large temple have been found with an Etruscan inscription nearby.
1
Roman tradition said that Romulus founded Rome, and antiquarians later fixed the date
at 753. Tradition also said that early Rome was ruled by seven kings—Romulus, Numa
Pompilius, Tullius Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullus, and
Tarquinius Superbus. The latter was supposed to have been expelled in 505 (509). The
last three rulers represent a foreign, Etruscan dynasty responsible for major building
projects, among them the construction of a great drainage sewer (cloaca maxima) and the
temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitol. The tradition also says that the
political organization of regal Rome was originally based on three tribes and 30 curiae
(wards), and that the kingship was elective not hereditary. The king was advised by a
senate of 100 elders (patres). The penultimate king, Servius Tullius, reputed to be of
Latin servile descent, is credited with a reorganization of the army (hoplite reform) that
divided citizens into five classes and 193 centuries determined by wealth.
2
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Republic, 334 (338)–264 B.C.E. > e. The Early Republic
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e. The Early Republic
The Republic was founded in 505 (509), according to tradition, when the last king,
Tarquinius Superbus, was expelled by a revolt of native Roman aristocrats led by L.
Junius Brutus. The dominant tradition states that the Republic was led from the
beginning by two annual, eponymous officials called consuls, but some scholars think
that until 363 (367) they were known as praetors (the latter then became the second tier
of officials). The consuls exercised imperium, which gave them absolute power
(including over life and death and in war), while in the city they exercised the power of
coercitio, a sort of summary police power. The consuls were elected by the comitia
centuriata, a plutocratically organized assembly of the male citizens, but their imperium
continued to be conferred by the comitia curiata (lex curiata). Assisting the consuls
were two financial officials called quaestors who were originally appointed by the chief
officials and after 443 (447) were elected. Two plebeian quaestors seem to have been
added in 418 (421) to administer the state treasury (aerarium) in Rome. In either 439
(443) or 431 (435), the job of counting Roman citizens was transferred from the consuls
to two censors, nonmilitary but prestigious officials. Every four years the censors,
holding office for a maximum of 18 months, made up the citizen lists for tax and
military purposes (the census), enrolled senators (lectio senatus) and cavalrymen
(recognitio equitum), and examined public morals (regimen morum). A third magistrate
with imperium, the praetor urbanus, was created in 363 (367) to relieve the consuls of
some judicial responsibilities. In a time of crisis the senate could establish unity of
command by instructing the consuls to appoint a dictator, who appointed his own
assistant as a master of the cavalry (magister equitum). The dictator had imperium and
absolute power in all fields but had to resign when his task was completed, and in no
case could he remain in office for more than six months. All magistrates with imperium,
and also the censors, were elected by the military assembly, comitia centuriata. Other
officials were elected by the comitia tributa, which passed the great majority of laws
(leges).
1
Religious power was closely intertwined with political power. The relationship between
the Roman people and the divine, which had once been controlled by the king and by
priests of specific deities, was taken over under the Republic by three boards or colleges
2
of religious officials who were experts in, and managers of, the various methods of
communication between the community and the gods. The three priestly colleges were
(1) the augurs (originally three? in number, raised to nine by 300), who were expert
advisers in determining whether the gods approved courses of action; (2) the decemviri
sacris faciundis, a committee of ten (earlier, fewer in number), who supervised the
Sibylline Books and the few other oracular documents recognized at Rome; and (3) the
pontifices (priests, originally three?, raised to nine by 300), who exercised a general
supervision over the religious life of the Romans. Members of these colleges were
selected by co-optation and were originally limited to patricians. Plebeians were
admitted to the college of decemviri sacris faciundis in 364 (367), of priests and augurs
in 300. But members of the three colleges were always drawn from the best senatorial
families, be they patrician or plebeian, and individual augurs, decemviri, and priests
pursued full political and military careers like other Roman aristocrats.
The internal political history of the early Republic centers on the STRUGGLE OF THE
ORDERS—the campaign by plebeians to break the political and religious monopoly of
the patricians and to relieve the economic distress of poor citizens. In the early 5th
century, the plebeians organized their own assembly, the concilium plebis, whose
resolutions, called plebiscita, were binding only on plebeians. The plebs elected their
own officials, tribuni plebis (plebeian tribunes), and two aediles plebis (plebeian
aediles), who handled fines imposed by the tribunes or the concilium. The plebeian
tribunes at first numbered either two, four, or five but by sometime in the 5th century
had reached their canonical number of ten. They were elected by and presided over the
concilium plebis and, in order to carry out their mandate to defend the lives and property
of plebeians against patrician magistrates, they exercised a veto (intercessio) over laws,
elections, and the acts of magistrates. The plebeians swore an oath binding themselves to
avenge any injury done to the tribunes and making their persons inviolate.
3
505 (509)
L. Junius Brutus and L. Tarquinius Collatinus were supposedly the first pair of consuls.
4
504 (508)
A very early treaty between Carthage and the new Republic, confirming Rome's
dominant position in Latium, was later attributed to this year. Tradition said that shortly
after Tarquinius's explusion, Lars Porsenna, the king of Etruscan Clusium, attacked
Rome; he may well have captured it. Later he was apparently defeated by the Latins at
the Battle of Aricia (504).
5
495 (499) or 492 (496)
On this antiquarian date the dictator A. Postumius defeated the Latins in the Battle of
Lake Regillus.
6
491 (495) or 489 (493)
On this antiquarian date Sp. Cassius supposedly negotiated the treaty named after him
(foedus Cassianum) with the Latin League, establishing a defensive alliance to combat
the invasion of Latium by the Aequi and Volsci. Rome and the Latin League agreed to
conduct joint annual campaigns with command alternating between Roman and Latin
generals, to distribute booty equally, and to establish joint colonies on reconquered
territories.
7
490–489 (494–493)
The antiquarian date the office of plebeian tribune and the plebeian assembly were
created. These events were supposed to have happened when the plebeians, oppressed by
debt, moved to the Sacred Mount to return only after patrician concessions.
8
473 (477)
On this antiquarian date the Fabian gens, fighting as a unit on behalf of Rome against the
Etruscan city of Veii, was annihilated on the Cremera (a tributary of the Tiber).
9
454 (458)
On this antiquarian date L. Quinctius Cincinnatus was called from his farm to become
dictator and then defeated the Aequi.
c. 447 (451)
10
Agitation of the plebs for the codification of law led to the creation of ten patrician
decemviri in the place of consuls and tribunes. The first decemviri published ten tables
of laws that proved insufficient, so new decemviri created in 446 (450) added two more
tables. The TWELVE TABLES set out the basic rules for civil law, confirming the
privileges of patricians. This was the last codification of Roman law until the 3rd
century C.E. Shortly after the writing of the Twelve Tables there was a plebeian protest,
supposedly in 445 (449).
11
445 (449)
The Second Secession of the plebs supposedly occurred, followed by the election of
tribunes and then of patrician consuls L. Valerius and M. Horatius. The latter passed a
series of Valerio-Horatian laws, whose provisions are obscure, though important. They
perhaps established provocatio, the right of appeal of magisterial decisions, and affirmed
the inviolability of the tribunes and also the aediles.
12
441 (445)
On this antiquarian date, the lex Canuleia took effect, which allowed marriage between
patricians and plebeians, with children inheriting the father's status.
13
440 (444)
Two patrician censors were created. Either as a compromise in the face of plebeian
agitation that the consulship be opened to plebeians, or as a measure to meet increased
military commands, military tribunes with consular power, who might be plebeians,
were created. These alternated irregularly with consuls until 363 (367).
14
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II. Ancient and Classical Periods, 3500 B.C.E.–500 C.E. > E. Rome > 1. The Monarchy and the Early
Republic, 334 (338)–264 B.C.E. > f. The Conquest of Italy
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
f. The Conquest of Italy
334 (338)
The Latin League was dissolved, and its former members forfeited an independent
foreign policy, being bound to Rome by the various methods discussed below.
1
323 (326) or 310 (313)
The lex Poetelia abolished nexum (debt-bondage).
2
323–303 (326–304)
THE SECOND SAMNITE WAR began when Rome violated a treaty by establishing a
Latin colony across the Liris River at Fregellae. The war was fought principally in
Samnium. After initial successes from 323–320 (326–322), a Roman army was trapped
at the Caudine Forks in 319 (321), and Rome was forced to negotiate an unfavorable
peace. Rome resumed hostilities in 314 (316), suffered a defeat at Lautulae 313 (315),
but soon reversed its fortunes. In 304 (305) the Samnites were decisively defeated and
forced to sign a peace in 303 (304), giving sole hegemony of Campania to Rome.
3
310 (312)
Appius Claudius (later Caecus, “the blind”) as censor distributed freedmen among the
rural tribes (in 302 (304) freedmen were confined once again to the four urban tribes).
298–290
4
The THIRD SAMNITE WAR was the final effort by the Samnites—aided by the
Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls—to halt Roman domination. In 295 a large force of
Samnites and Gauls was defeated at Sentinum, where a second Decius Mus was reputed
to have secured a Roman victory by a devotio—that is, by seeking death in battle in
exchange for divine assurance of Roman victory. The Gauls scattered, the Etruscans
sued for peace in 294, and the Samnites finally surrendered in 290. Samnite land was
taken, and Latin colonies were established on it. In 290 the Sabines were given Latin
rights.
5
287
After a period of violence and the Third Secession of the plebs to the Janiculum, the
dictator Q. Hortensius passed the lex Hortensia. It made plebiscita passed by the
concilium plebis binding on all Romans. This marked the legal end to the Struggle of the
Orders and the formation of a joint patrician-plebeian nobility.
6
284–283
The Romans defeated a Gallic army at Lake Vadimon in Etruria and then annexed the
land of the Senones (the ager Gallicus) along the Adriatic.
7
282–272
WAR WITH PYRRHUS arose from Roman occupation of Thurii, a Greek city of
Magna Graecia. The Tarentines sunk four Roman ships that had violated a treaty by
sailing into Tarentine waters and expelled a Roman garrison from Thurii. Rome declared
war, and the Tarentines called in King Pyrrhus of Epirus. In 280, with a professional
Hellenistic army of 25,000 and 20 elephants, Pyrrhus suffered heavy casualties but won
a “Pyrrhic victory” over the Romans at Heraclea in Lucania. The Bruttii, Lucani, and
Samnites joined Pyrrhus, but the Roman senate, rallied by the blind ex-censor Ap.
Claudius, rejected the peace offer of Cineas, Pyrrhus's ambassador. In 279 Pyrrhus won
a hard-fought victory at Ausculum.
279–276
8
Pyrrhus campaigned in Sicily (See 282–275) and returned to Italy to be defeated by
Rome at Beneventum in 275. He went back to Greece, leaving his general, Milo, to
surrender Tarentum to the Romans in 272. Rome garrisoned Tarentum and other Italiot
Greek cities; reduced the Bruttii, Lucani, and Samnites; and took Rhegium from the
Mamertines in 270. Minor rebellions in Etruria occurred until 264.
9
Rome's aggressive foreign policy had won it domination of all Italy south of the Po
Valley. In its relationships with other communities, Rome denied them an independent
foreign policy but customarily permitted local autonomy. Italian communities outside
the ager Romanus (Roman territory immediately around Rome), fell into the following
main categories:
10
(1) Municipia or praefecturae. These were states, such as Capua and Cumae, whose
governments managed their own internal affairs, subject to the supervision of a Roman
official called praefectus Capuam Cumas. Their aristocrats were full Roman citizens,
while others were cives sine suffragio (Roman citizens without the vote).
11
(2) Old Latin states. States such as Tibur and Praeneste, defeated in the Latin War,
retained autonomous governments by the treaty of 338. They passed their own laws,
managed their internal affairs, and retained the Latin rights of ius migrationis, by which
citizens could move to Rome and become Roman citizens. They were obliged to provide
soldiers for Rome, but not tribute.
12
(3) Colonies of Roman citizens. These were established for defensive purposes, usually
on land taken from conquered peoples, and comprised about 300 Roman citizens. They
did not have independent local governments. Eight of these had been founded by 264, all
coastal.
13
(4) Latin colonies. These were established as military outposts on conquered land and
usually had 2,500–4,000 settlers drawn from Rome or Latin communities. The colonists
had the status of Latins, and their governments, modeled on that of Rome, passed their
own laws and managed their internal affairs. They were obliged to provide soldiers for
Rome, but not tribute.
14
(5) Civitates foederatae, socii (allied states). The great majority of Italic states fell into
this category. Most had been defeated by Rome and had suffered confiscation of land
which became ager publicus of Rome. Their governments passed their own laws and
managed internal affairs, subject to interference from Rome. They had to contribute
troops to Rome, but did not pay tribute.
15
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2. The Republic, 264–70 B.C.E.
a. Geography and Climate
During this period Rome acquired a Mediterranean empire that comprised the following
areas:
1
(1) Sicily's eastern end is mountainous and dominated by Etna. Farther west, a central
plateau recedes into a coastal plain toward the south. There were fine harbors at Syracuse
on the east, at Panormus on the north, and at Drepana on the west. Sicily's major rivers
were navigable in antiquity, and its mountains were heavily forested. Excellent volcanic
soil produced an extraordinary yield and a variety of crops; by the mid-third century,
Sicily was the major exporter of grain in the Mediterranean. The hills of the interior
contained good summer grazing land and made Sicily a major exporter of wool, as well
as the home of outstanding horses and livestock. Sicily's climate follows the
Mediterranean pattern and, except for a longer summer's drought lasting four months, is
like that of peninsular Italy. Before the Romans, eastern Sicily was held by the Greeks;
Phoenicians inhabited the west; and Sicels lived in isolated communities in the interior.
2
(2) Located in the Po Valley, Cisalpine Gaul had a continental climate with summers
that were cooler, and winters that were harsher, but not as wet as those of peninsular
Italy. Although rainfall was well distributed over the seasons, melting snow caused
frequent flooding and permanent swamps, especially in the east. The region was covered
with dense forests that provided timber as well as a home to large herds of pigs. Forest
clearing and drainage made Cisalpine Gaul into an enormously fertile land, producing
prodigious yields of grain and, in the southern regions, abundant wine harvests. Good
grazing land provided a wide variety of fine wools. Once drained, the flat plain facilitated
road building and overland trade, while navigation on the Po River was possible as far as
Turin. The Po Valley was inhabited by three principal Celtic tribes: the Boii in the south,
the Cenomani in the center, and the Insubres in the north. To the east in Venetia lived
the Veneti, and to the west in the Apennines lived the Ligurians, both non-Celtic peoples.
3
(3) The Spanish peninsula comprises an elevated central plateau whose climate is
continental and whose sparse rainfall makes it suitable for pasturage rather than
agriculture. On the north and south are high mountains, forested in antiquity—the
4
Pyrenees and Sierra Nevada, respectively. Lower interior mountains border fertile river
valleys—Baetis (Guadalquivir) and Ebro—that lead down to fertile coastal plains.
Spanish agriculture was noted for its cereals, wines, and especially olive oil, while flax
was a specialty of the Ebro Valley. Spain's mountains were particularly abundant in
minerals—copper, iron, and, in the Sierra Morena, prodigious amounts of silver. There
were good harbors on the southern coast at Gades and Carthago Nova. Celtiberians
inhabited the north-central plateau, to the west were Lusitanians, and throughout the rest
of the peninsula lived some 20 other independent peoples. (For the other area of the
empire—the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, Syria, and North Africa (See Foreign
Invasion and Internal Disarray))
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II. Ancient and Classical Periods, 3500 B.C.E.–500 C.E. > E. Rome > 2. The Republic, 264–70 B.C.E. >
b. Economy, Society, and Culture
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
b. Economy, Society, and Culture
In 225, Roman citizens living in all parts of Italy numbered about 280,000; the free
population was between 3,000,000 and 3,500,000; and slaves brought the total population
to over 5 million. Foreign wars of the 3rd century brought significant numbers of slaves
to Italy, and during the 2nd century the number of war captives vastly increased. Between
225 B.C.E. and 14 C.E., the population of Italy seems to have increased by 50 percent,
slaves accounting for most of the increase. The economy of Italy was consequently
transformed by the slave labor, which was fundamental to the creation of
latifundia—large, scattered estates devoted in part to the production of grapes and olives.
The upper classes invested wealth newly acquired from conquests in these estates. To
facilitate such investments, small citizen farmers, many of whom were also burdened by
extended military service, were pressured to leave their land and emigrate to Rome. The
consequent economic dislocation led to chronic social and political problems. The
devastation during the Hannibalic War of large stretches of Italian land, particularly in
the south, also contributed to the growth of latifundia, as well as that of large-scale sheep
farming. Much of this land was confiscated by Rome and rented as ager publicus to
wealthy citizens. To meet the needs of a city swelled by immigrants and slaves, as well as
those of Rome's armies, grain was imported on a large scale, primarily from Sicily.
Sometime before the mid-third century, wheat (triticum) had displaced emmer (far),
allowing bread to replace porridge as the staple of the diet, although Greeks continued to
refer to Romans as “porridge eaters.” Public bakeries were said to have been introduced
in Rome c. 170. After the disruptions of the Pyrrhic and First Punic wars, trade revived.
Grain, metals, slaves, and wines were imported into Italy, and beginning with the second
half of the 3rd century, wines of Latium, Campania, and Etruria began to be exported to
the Adriatic, and later, to southern France. The 2nd-century conquests of Spain and
Cisalpine Gaul, and then of the Aegean, opened up markets which were fully exploited by
Roman and Italian businessmen who brought wealth to the towns of Italy, as well as to
the capital. The earliest Roman money was minted in bronze, beginning in the 4th
century. The first silver coinage was produced c. 300, and what would become the
standard silver coin—the denarius—was first issued in 211. Like all ancient states, Rome
produced coinage to facilitate the collection of taxes and state payments, not to encourage
1
trade. A technological revolution occurred when the traditional method of building in
stone was replaced by stronger, more flexible, and cheaper concrete construction, with
the discovery of pozzolana mortar made from volcanic stone. Cement's first use was
purely functional, that is, the building of the warehouse—the Porticus Aemilia, in Rome's
new dockyards (193). By the century's end cement was being fully exploited in the
construction of vaulted and terraced sanctuaries, such as that at Praenestae, and in highrise urban tenements.
The Roman family had become nuclear and smaller by the 2nd century, and most
marriages seem to have been sine manu (without authority). Restrictions on women
were legislated—the lex Voconia (169) limited the amount a woman could inherit by
will. But by the 1st century these and other restrictions could be circumvented by various
legal dodges, and a woman who was sui iuris (independent) could acquire considerable
freedom—to transfer property and to divorce—through a legal device which permitted
her to select her own guardian. Educated Greeks began working as teachers in the early
3rd century, and Rome's first elementary school opened in 234. By the mid- to late 2nd
century most upper-class Romans knew some Greek; literacy in Latin existed among the
elite, and, to a lesser degree, among skilled craftsmen. With the ending of the Struggle of
the Orders, a new nobility of office-holding families, both patricians and plebeians, grew
up. A man without office-holding ancestors was called a novus homo, or “new man,” and
required the help of a nobleman to obtain high office.
2
A major social change that occurred during the 3rd and 2nd centuries was the growing
disparity of wealth, owing to the unequal distribution of riches acquired from foreign
conquests. The traditional aristocratic practice of spending on public building was
augmented by private spending and public largess. Viewed as luxuria, such conduct
raised opposition expressed in the form of censorial reprimands, sumptuary laws (in
215, 181, 161, and 115), and numerous speeches. This prompted the wealthy to seek the
pleasures of a Hellenic private life in suburban villas or, beginning in the 170s, in villas
in Greek Campania.
3
From the 3rd century on, the major cultural phenomena were Hellenism and, beginning
in the mid-second century, the articulation of a Roman culture that attempted to define
itself, first in literature then in art, in opposition to Hellenism. Latin literature began
formally in 240 with the translation of a Greek play by Livius Andronicus, a Greek
freedman who had been captured at Tarentum in 272 and who also translated Homer's
Odyssey. Before Livius, Latin poetry consisted of hymns and drinking songs. Greek
culture continued to exercise its influence as seen in the Latin epic on the First Punic
War, Bellum Punicum, by Cn. Naevius (c. 270–200), who also composed dramas.
Enormously popular Latin comedies modeled on Greek originals were written by T.
Maccius Plautus (?–184). Q. Ennius wrote in many genres and produced the national
epic, the Annales, in a Greek meter (dactylic hexameter). The comic tradition was carried
on by the highly regarded P. Terentius Afer (194–159), Caecilis Statius (fl. 179), and
4
L. Afranius (c. 160–120). Tragedies were written by M. Pacuvius (220–131), a nephew
of Ennius who was also a noted painter, and by L. Accius (170–87). It was C. Lucilius
who invented the Roman genre of satire. Rome's earliest historians, Q. Fabius Pictor, L.
Alimentus, A. Postumius Albinus, and C. Acilius, composed in Greek. The first to write
a history in Latin was the “new man” from Tusculum, M. Porcius Cato (234–149),
whose Origines was about Rome and Italy. Cato also wrote a treatise on agriculture and
numerous influential speeches. He was a critic of Greek culture. In 173 and 161, Greek
philosophers were banished from Rome. Noted Roman orators included C. Sempronius
Gracchus (154–121), M. Antonius (c. 140–87), and L. Licinius Crassus (140–91). Q.
Mucius Scaevola (c. 140–82) wrote to organize Roman civil law by Greek logical
categories. Beginning with the 3rd century, Roman art celebrated victory, its principal
manifestations being representations of battles or triumphant generals and the decoration
of Rome with art plundered from major Hellenistic capitals—Syracuse and Tarentum,
and later, Corinth and Carthage. By the mid-second century, Rome's wealth was
attracting artists from all over the Greek world. The result was that eclecticism became a
fundamental element of Roman art. It was in portrait sculpture that Roman art sought to
define itself against Greek models by stressing hard-headed maturity, warts and all
(realism), over beauty and youth. Architecture remained conservative in the 3rd century,
continuing to produce traditional Italic temples, along with aqueducts—the Anio Vetus
(272), and roads—the Via Aurelia (241) and the Via Flaminia (c. 220). The basilica, a
building type with multiple civic functions, was introduced to Rome in the early 2nd
century. The first stone bridge, the Pons Aemilia, was begun in 179; in 144 a large new
aqueduct, the Aqua Marcia, was constructed, followed by the Aqua Tepula (125). In
religious architecture, distinctively Greek influences began to appear both in plan and
building material (e.g., the round temple in the Forum Boarium, c. 146 or 125, which in
form resembles a Greek tholos and which was built with imported Attic Pentalic marble).
Private architecture was marked by the addition of the Greek peristyle garden to the
Italic atrium house and by the construction of large luxury villas outside of Rome.
Romans followed the Greek fashion of decorating their houses with painting. The First
or “Masonry” Style imitiated marble architectural decoration in single-dimensional
painted walls.
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c. The Punic Wars
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c. The Punic Wars
264–241
The FIRST PUNIC WAR arose from the Roman decision to accept the appeal of the
Mamertines—Campanian mercenaries in Messana—to aid them against King Hiero of
Syracuse and the Carthaginians (See 275–215). In 264 Ap. Claudius Pulcher defeated
the Carthaginians and Hiero and besieged Syracuse; Hiero shifted his alliance to Rome.
1
262
After sacking Agrigentum, the Romans decided to expel the Carthaginians entirely from
Sicily.
2
260
The Romans under C. Duilius won the naval victory of Mylae.
3
256
A Roman army under M. Atilius Regulus landed in Africa. Carthage rejected Regulus's
stringent terms and continued resistance under the Spartan mercenary Xanthippus.
4
255
Xanthippus captured Regulus and part of his army.
5
254
Rome seized Panormus and, in 250, began an unsuccessful nine-year siege of
Lilybaeum.
6
244
The Romans failed to dislodge the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca from the
promontory of Eryx.
7
241
At the Aegates Islands C. Lutatius Catulus destroyed the Carthaginian fleet. Carthage
eventually negotiated peace on the condition of the surrender of Sicily and a payment of
3,200 talents over ten years. At Rome the final two voting tribes were created, making a
total of 35 in the tribal assembly. Sometime between 241 and 217, the comitia centuriata
was reorganized to make it partially correspond to the tribal system. The reform was
democratic to the extent that it reduced the number of voting units (centuries) of the
wealthiest first class from 80 to 70, to produce a multiple of the 35 tribes of the more
egalitarian tribal assembly, and that it transferred the right of first vote from the elite
equestrian centuries to those of the first class.
8
237 (238?)
Carthage, weakened in the recent Mercenary War (241–238), was blackmailed by the
threat of war into surrendering Sardinia to Rome and paying an additional 1,200 talents.
9
237–228
Hamilcar Barca established a Carthaginian dominion in southern and southeastern Spain.
229–228
10
The First Illyrian War. To suppress Illyrian pirates, Rome sent a large army and fleet,
defeated Queen Teuta, and established “friendship” with the Greek cities of Illyria.
11
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d. Conquest of the Mediterranean
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d. Conquest of the Mediterranean
201–190
Annual campaigns were conducted in Cisalpine Gaul against the Cenomani, Insubres,
and Boii until 190.
1
200–197
The SECOND MACEDONIAN WAR. Encouraged by Pergamum, Rhodes, and
Athens, the senate resolved to make war on Philip V of Macedon and frightened an
unwilling comitia centuriata into declaring war by visions of a renewed invasion of
Italy. T. Quinctius Flamininus, supported by both the Aetolian and Achaean Leagues,
finally (197) defeated Philip at Cynoscephalae in Thessaly and forced him to make
peace (196) on the following terms: surrender of all cities in Greece; payment of 1,000
talents in 10 years; reduction of his navy to five ships; promise not to declare war
without permission of Rome. At the ensuing Isthmian Games, Flamininus proclaimed
the independence of the Greek cities.
2
197–180
Regulation of the cursus honorum (succession of offices). After 197, candidates for the
consulship had to have held the praetorship. In 180, the lex Villia annalis established
minimum ages for magistracies.
197–155
3
Roman armies invaded Liguria almost yearly until 172. The region was not conquered
until 155.
4
197–175
Two provinces were created in 197—Nearer Spain (Hispania Citerior) in the Ebro
Valley, and Farther Spain (Hispania Ulterior) in the Baetis Valley. The Romans began
war with the Celtiberians in 195, and with the Lusitanians in 193, and campaigned until
victory in 175.
5
192–189
THE SYRIAN WAR (See 192–189). Failed negotiations with Rome over Greece and
Asia led Antiochus III, invited by the Aetolians, to invade Greece, but M. Acilius
Glabrio routed his forces at Thermopylae (191).
6
190
The Roman army, under L. Cornelius Scipio (later Asiaticus) and his brother Scipio
Africanus, crossed the Hellespont and defeated Antiochus in the Battle of Magnesia. By
the Treaty of Apamea (189), Antiochus was obliged to surrender all European and
Asiatic possessions north of the Taurus Mountains, and pay 15,000 talents in 12 years.
Rome divided the Anatolian territory of Antiochus between Pergamum and Rhodes and
aided Eumenes II of Pergamum against the Galatians (189). In Greece, Rome subjected
the Aetolians but left the other cities free.
7
171–167
The THIRD MACEDONIAN WAR. Uneasy over the dealing in Greece of Philip's
successor Perseus, and encouraged by Pergamum, Rome declared war. After several
unsuccessful campaigns, the Romans placed L. Aemilius Paullus in command.
168
8
Battle of Pydna. Paullus defeated Perseus and brought him back to Rome in a triumphal
procession. So great was the booty and tribute that Roman citizens were thereafter
relieved of direct taxation. Macedonia was broken up into four wholly distinct
confederacies. Illyria was reduced to three tributary confederacies, and Epirus was
devastated. From the Achaean cities 1,000 of the chief citizens were taken as hostages
and kept in Italy for 16 years. Rome likewise dictated to Eumenes of Pergamum, to
Rhodes, and to Antiochus IV, who was prevented by the ambassador C. Popilius Laenas
from making war on the Ptolemies of Egypt.
9
154–133
A major rebellion broke out in Spain. The Celtiberians were brought to terms in 151; the
Lusitanians, under Viriathus, fought on until 139. The city of Numantia was taken by P.
Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus in 133.
10
149
The tribune L. Calpurnius Piso enacted a lex Calpurnia which set up a permanent
commission of senators to hear the suits of provincials to recover from governors money
unjustly collected (quaestio de rebus repetundis). Decisions were motivated not by
justice but by class selfishness.
11
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e. Domestic Strife
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e. Domestic Strife
Foreign conquests engendered domestic changes and problems. Among them were: (1)
the growth of large estates and slave labor in Italian agriculture; (2) the flight of citizen
farmers from the land; (3) consequent shortages of military manpower, since military
service was based on a property qualification that could no longer be met; (4) the danger
of slave revolt; (5) increased aristocratic competition for high office, and the growing rift
between the interests of senators and equites; (6) a swelling poor urban population; (7)
and, behind it all, the desire of the Italian allied states to have Roman citizenship. During
the 2nd century, these problems were manifested in various ways; they came to a head
with the tribunate of Tiberius Gracchus in 133.
1
133
Ti. Sempronius Gracchus as plebeian tribune proposed an agrarian law that limited
holding of public land to 500 iugera (312 acres) per person, with an additional 250
iugera for each son, thereby threatening the wealthy and certain Italian cities. The
measure was vetoed by another tribune, but Tiberius had him deposed, and the bill
passed. A commission of three began to confiscate land held in violation of the law and
to distribute lots of 30 iugera to landless Romans. To finance his program, Tiberius
proposed that Attalus's bequest of Pergamum be used, intruding on a senatorial
prerogative in foreign affairs. Violating custom, Tiberius stood for a second tribunate.
During the voting, Tiberius and 300 followers were murdered by conservative senators.
2
129
The kingdom of Pergamum was organized into the province of Asia.
123–122
3
The Tribunates of C. Sempronius Gracchus. Gaius Gracchus proposed a more
extensive program aimed to win wider support against conservative opposition. He
reaffirmed his brother's agrarian law and legislated for founding colonies at Tarentum,
Capua, and Carthage. For the urban poor he passed a grain bill that subsidized prices.
He transferred membership on extortion juries from senators to equestrians, giving the
latter power over senatorial governors. He also won equestrian support by giving the
right of collecting the taxes of the province of Asia to Roman publicani. He proposed
that Roman citizenship be given to Latin communities and that Latin rights be given to
the Italian allies. Conservative senators divided Gaius's support by playing to the
plebeian unwillingness to share the citizenship. Gaius was defeated in his bid for a third
tribunate.
4
121
When conservatives attempted to annul Gaius's colony bill, riots ensued. The senate
passed the senatus consultum ultimum—SCU—which permitted the consuls to execute
without trial any citizen deemed to be a danger to the Republic. Gaius and 3,000 of his
supporters were then attacked and killed in the city. The Gracchan crisis caused a divide
in subsequent Roman politics between optimates, conservatives who opposed the
Gracchan approach, and populares who supported it.
5
125–118
Roman armies campaigned in Transalpine Gaul in 125–124. The province of Gallia
Narbonensis was created in 121(?), and the colony of Narbo founded in 118.
6
111–105
The Jugurthine War resulted when the kingdom of Numidia was usurped by Jugurtha,
who eventually had to fight Q. Caecilius Metellus (Numidicus). The latter won victories
but failed to end the war.
107
7
Gaius Marius, a new man, while Metellus's legate and against senatorial opposition,
won the consulship and the Jugurthine command. Refused funds for an army, Marius
enlisted volunteers without the requisite property qualification. The Roman legion
was reformed, the cohort replacing the maniple as the tactical unit.
8
107–105
Marius ended the Jugurthine War and triumphed in Rome.
9
105
German tribes—Cimbri and Teutones—had been defeating Roman armies in the north
since 113. In 105 they wiped out two consular armies at Arausio (Orange).
10
104–100
Marius was elected consul for five consecutive years to combat the German threat.
11
102
Marius followed the Teutoni to Aquae Sextiae (Aix en Provence) and annihilated them.
12
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f. War and Politics, to 70 B.C.E.
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f. War and Politics, to 70 B.C.E.
91–87
THE SOCIAL WAR (War of the Allies). Italian allied states formed their own republic,
Italia, and declared war on Rome. Latin communities, together with Etruscans and
Umbrians, remained loyal.
1
90
The lex Iulia extended Roman citizenship to all Italians, thus undermining Italian
solidarity. The new citizens, however, were enrolled in only eight tribes, severely
limiting their voting power.
2
89–88
Roman victories effectively ended the war, though it dragged into 87. Before it was
over, 50,000 had died on each side and Italy was devastated.
3
88–84
First Mithridatic War. Taking advantage of the Social War and Greek hatred of Rome,
Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus invaded Bithynia and the province of Asia. L.
Cornelius Sulla, a successful optimate general in the Social War and consul in 88,
received the command against Mithridates.
88–82
4
CIVIL WAR broke out in Rome when a popularis tribune, P. Sulpicius Rufus, passed
laws distributing new Italian citizens through the 35 tribes and transferring the
Mithridatic command to Marius. Sulla marched his army on Rome, killed his
opponents (Sulpicius among them—Marius escaped), passed conservative laws, and
then left to fight in the east as proconsul of 87.
5
87–84
The popularis consul of 87, L. Cornelius Cinna, went to war with his optimate
colleague and captured Rome with the support of Marius, who then began slaughtering
his optimate enemies. Cinna and Marius became consuls for 86, but Marius soon died.
Cinna's attempts to negotiate with Sulla were fruitless, and he died in a mutiny in 84.
Meanwhile, Sulla had defeated Mithridates' generals in Greece (86–85) and driven
Mithridates from Asia; then, eager to return to Italy, he made peace (85). Sulla
demanded the enormous sum of 20,000 talents from the cities of Asia.
6
83–81
The Second Mithridatic War resulted from a Roman invasion of Cappadocia. Peace
was made on the terms of 84.
7
83–82
Sulla landed at Brundisium, attracting talented young commanders—M. Licinius
Crassus and Cn. Pompeius (Pompey). He routed his opponents in the field and in Rome
“proscribed” his enemies by listing those whose lives and property were forfeited; over
2,000 died. Eighty thousand Sullan veterans were settled in 20 military colonies
founded on confiscated Italian land.
8
82–79
Sulla was appointed dictator for restoring the Republic. He passed a legislative
program that included: (1) increasing the senate from 300 to 600 by adding new
equestrian members; (2) severely limiting the powers of plebeian tribunes and
forbidding tribunes to hold further office; (3) regulating the provincial system by
9
increasing praetors to eight, quaestors to 20, and forbidding governors to lead armies
outside their provinces; (4) establishing seven additional permanent courts, in which
juries were exclusively senatorial. Sulla retired in 79 and died the following year. He
had tried to ensure senatorial rule and optimate supremacy against the challenges of
tribunes and generals like himself.
78–77
M. Aemilius Lepidus, consul of 78, sought to undo Sulla's reform. He raised an army
but was defeated in 77 by his optimate colleague, Q. Lutatius Catulus, and Pompey.
10
82–72
The Marian leader Q. Sertorius held optimate generals at bay in Spain. Pompey arrived
in 77, but was not victorious until Sertorius's assassination in 72.
11
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B.C.E.–14 C.E.
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3. Civil War and Renewal, 70 B.C.E.–14 C.E.
a. Economy, Society, and Culture
In 70 B.C.E., Rome's empire comprised most of the lands bounding the Mediterranean. By
14 B.C.E., it had been extended to include, in the west, large areas of continental Europe
(France, the low countries, and the lands bordering the Rhine and Danube Rivers), and, in
the east, substantial parts of Anatolia, plus Syria, Judaea, and Egypt. Although the
economy continued to be characterized by small-scale industry, and by agriculture and
trade that were predominantly local, a substantial Mediterranean-wide commerce was
conducted between cities united by river and maritime communications, a common
material culture, and a common coinage. The potential benefits were hampered by the
frequently rapacious treatment of provincial resources, by piracy, and, above all, by war.
Some 200,000 Italian men were killed in the wars of 90–81; those of 49–31 claimed
perhaps another 100,000. Italian agriculture was devastated by pillaging and the largescale reallotment of land. The result was debt, lawlessness, social unrest, and economic
disarray. During all this time the provincial economies were being ruthlessly exploited by
Roman armies. The great achievement of the emperor Augustus was to end war within
the Empire.
1
The growing complexity of economic life made the traditional system of Roman civil law
untenable. By recognizing the praetor's formulae, the lex Aebutia (c. 150?) officially
liberated the ius civile from the constraints of the highly formalistic and narrow rules of
the legal procedure called the legis actio system, which had been established in the
Twelve Tables. Under the new formulary system, the praetor “interpreted” as actionable
circumstances not strictly covered by the traditional “actions,” thereby greatly extending
the protection of the law. The praetor's edict defined what formulae would be employed.
These edicts were passed on to succeeding praetors, creating a body of “tralatician” law,
which became the chief authority for civil law. The edicts, and the innovative
interpretations they embodied, were not, however, the work of the praetors themselves,
but of legal scholars (jurisconsults) who advised the praetors. Criminal law evolved
from the Twelve Tables' regulation of private vengeance to a more active concern for
public safety and order. Criminal actions were initiated by either magistrates or private
2
citizens, and trials traditionally were conducted before one of the popular assemblies.
Around 200, the senate entrusted certain cases to special courts, quaestiones
extraordinariae, composed of senators and presided over by a consul or praetor. Sulla's
legislation defined other types of crimes and established permanent courts to adjudicate
them. Under Augustus, these permanent courts continued, but emphasis began to shift to
a more expedient procedure, the cognitio extraordinaria, wherein a magistrate appointed
by the emperor, the praefectus urbi, conducted trials and rendered decisions without the
aid of a jury.
The late Republic was a time of great social upheaval. Slaves continued to flood into
Italy. The slave population of Italy in 14 C.E. has been estimated at around 3 million out
of a free population of about 7,500,000. Hundreds of thousands of Italian peasants were
conscripted into armies to wage civil wars. For those who survived, land had to be found,
and the resultant confiscations produced great numbers of dispossessed, many of whom
immigrated to Rome where living conditions were worsening. Debt and violence brought
about social discontent in both city and countryside, which led to the call for revolution
by such men as Catiline. The composition of the governing aristocracy changed. A
generation after receiving the Roman citizenship, Italian aristocrats began entering the
Roman senate in numbers. The process was accelerated by civil wars, which killed off
many of the old Roman nobility and provided opportunity for advancement to the capable
and unscrupulous. Competition for office led aristocrats to finance ever more spectacular
public entertainment—dramas, mimes, public banquets, and gladiatorial contests.
Augustus's attempts to curb public aristocratic display were successful, but his programs
to put an end to private luxuria failed utterly. By the late Republic, women had acquired
the ability to divorce independently and to force the consent of a male guardian (tutor).
Augustus curbed the relaxing of traditional restrictions on upper-class women but
released women from guardians if they had three children (four for freed women).
The numbers and influence of freedmen grew significantly; some of them gained great
wealth and considerable indirect power. The primary avenue of social mobility for the
Roman citizens remained the army, the vast majority of whose members came from the
peasantry.
3
If the 1st century B.C.E. was a period of political turmoil, it was also a time of
extraordinary cultural activity. Elite education included pursuing advanced studies in the
Greek east. Latin literature entered its golden age. Cicero's (106–43) works in oratory
and philosophy transformed the language. Julius Caesar's (100–44) masterly
commentaries on the Gallic and Civil wars combined rapid narrative with political
propaganda. C. Sallustius Crispus (Sallust, c. 86–c. 35) wrote two classic historical
monographs—the Catilinarian Conspiracy and the Jugurthine War, as well as a major
history (lost). Latin biography was composed by Cornelius Nepos (c. 99– c. 24), while
the polymath M. Terentius Varro (116–27) wrote on a wide variety of subjects,
including etymology, antiquities, farming, and satire; most of his work is lost. Latin
poetry displayed tremendous vigor and range. T. Lucretius Carus (c. 94–55) penned an
4
epic, De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things), elucidating the philosophical doctrines
of Epicurus, while C. Valerius Catullus (87–54?) used Alexandrian models to produce
an elegant and personal poetry. The vigor of late republican Latin carried over into the
Age of Augustus, where it was harnessed by the patronage of the imperial court, most
effectively by C. Maecenas, friend and adviser of Augustus. P. Vergilius Maro (Vergil,
70–19) wrote the pastoral Eclogues, then the didactic poem, Georgics, and finally Rome's
national epic, the Aeneid. Q. Horatius Flaccus (Horace, 65–8) mastered a wide range of
genres (satire, ode, and epode), while the composition of Catullan love elegies was
continued by Sextus Propertius (c. 50–15) and Albius Tibullus (c. 55–19). P. Ovidius
Naso (Ovid, 43 B.C.E.–17 C.E.) wrote elegies and a distinctively light didactic and epic
poetry. T. Livius (Livy, 64 B.C.E.–12 C.E.) capped the annalistic tradition by writing a
monumental history of Rome from its origin. In public architecture military dynasts of
the late Republic drove less wealthy aristocrats from the field of competition and
transformed the political centers of the Republic to reflect their glory. Julius Caesar and
then Augustus recast the Roman Forum with the new Curia Iulia, the Basilica Iulia, the
temple of Divus Iulius, the Portico of Gaius and Lucius, and the triumphal arches of
Augustus. In addition, Caesar and Augustus built completely new fora—the Forum
Iulium and the Forum of Augustus—dedicated to their personal achievements. Rome's
other political center, the Campus Martius, was altered, first by Pompey with the
erection of Rome's first stone theater in 55, then by Caesar who remodeled the Saepta
(voting stalls). In the late Republic, works of Greek art continued to accumulate in Rome
and Italy as a result of being brought there as war booty and of being purchased or stolen
to satisfy the elite obsession with “collecting.” Old masterworks were joined with copies
of Greek originals to decorate private villas. Meanwhile, in public art, Roman military
leaders increasingly disregarded traditional republican constraints and were portrayed in
the manner of Hellenistic kings—as nudes or in equestrian statues. In wall painting the
Second Style (60–20) created the illusion of depth, both in architectural features and in
framed tableaux using theatrical and other decorative conventions from Hellenistic art.
The Augustan court created a center of patronage which affected architecture and art, no
less than literature. A self-consciously new architectural style—Roman
Corinthian—was introduced, which intentionally distanced itself from its Greek
predecessors (Ionic and Doric). Augustus and Agrippa changed the Campus Martius from
a voting center into an area for public amenities and entertainment by building theaters,
an amphitheater, a public bath, temples, and museums. The Augustan program of
rebuilding and renewal made greater use of travertine and introduced Italian Carrara
marble. In sculpture, official portrait types moved away from the realism of the Republic
to ideal types (the Prima Porta Augustus). In private art, the extravagance of developed
Second Style wall painting was succeeded by the Third Style (20 B.C.E.–20 C.E.), which
abandoned the illusion of depth and emphasized the solidity of the wall. Architectural
decoration in this style was intricate and fanciful rather than grand.
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b. Military Dynasts and Civil Wars
The years 70 to 31 witnessed the collapse of the Roman Republic and its replacement
by military dictatorships. After Sulla, the inability of the senatorial oligarchy to find
generals led to the creation of extended special commands, and to the new imperialism
of Lucullus, Pompey, and Caesar.
1
102–67
The menace of Mediterranean piracy had prompted sporadic Roman responses with
commands in 102, 78, 74, and 68. In 67 the lex Gabinia conferred an extraordinary
three-year command on Pompey. In three months Pompey cleared the sea of pirates
and pacified their homeland of Cilicia.
2
74–64
The Third Mithridatic War. Mithridates' opposition to the Roman annexation of
Bithynia led him to attack the Roman province of Asia. The consul of 74, L. Licinius
Lucullus, drove Mithridates out of Asia and Bithynia, and in 73 he invaded Pontus
without permission of the senate. In 69 Lucullus, again on his own initiative, invaded
Armenia and defeated Tigranes I, the son-in-law of Mithridates, who had been
expanding into Cappadocia, Cilicia, Phoenicia, and Syria. But Lucullus's armies
mutinied in 68 and 67, he failed to capture Mithridates, and he had antagonized the
publicani by reducing the debt of Asian cities.
3
66–63
The lex Manila, spoken for by Cicero, transferred command of the Mithridatic War to
4
Pompey. Pompey defeated Mithridates, then Tigranes, pursuing the former to the
Crimea where he committed suicide in 63. Pompey proceeded to march through the
former Seleucid domains and reorganize the east (65–63), with Roman provinces in
Asia, Cilicia, Bithynia-Pontus, and Syria, and with client kingdoms in Pontus,
Cappadocia, Galatia, Lycia, and Judaea (See 63). His settlement vastly increased both
the revenues of the Roman state (from 50 million to 135 million denarii) and his own
personal wealth.
64–63
Conspiracy of Catiline. The oppressed and discontented classes at Rome—debtors,
veterans, ruined nobles, and those proscribed by Sulla—found a leader in the aristocrat
L. Sergius Catilina, who proposed a program of debt cancellation (novae tabulae).
Disgruntled over setbacks and defeats in the consular elections of 66 and 64, Catilina
turned to armed revolt. As consul in 63, Cicero uncovered the conspiracy and in a series
of speeches (the Catilinarians) convinced the senate to pass the SCU. Catilina's
associates were arrested and executed without trial. Catilina himself died bravely in
battle.
5
62–61
Pompey returned to Italy, disbanded his army, and triumphed. But the optimate senate,
led by M. Porcius Cato, refused to ratify his eastern settlement and blocked a land bill
for his veterans.
6
60
The First Triumvirate. The frustrated military hero Pompey then formed a political
alliance with M. Licinius Crassus, who had the support of the publicani, and the
patrician C. Julius Caesar, a popularis politician and favorite of the people.
7
59
Caesar, as consul, employed Pompey's veterans to overcome violently optimate
opposition. He passed a land bill and ratification of his eastern settlement for Pompey,
had an unfavorable tax contract remitted for Crassus's publicani, and secured for
8
himself, by the lex Vatinia, the provinces of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum for five years.
Later the province of Gallia Narbonensis was added.
58–51
THE CONQUEST OF GAUL. Using Narbonensis as a base, Caesar subjugated Gaul
in a series of annual campaigns. In 55 he invaded Britain (See 55 B.C.E.–c. 450 C.E) but
soon withdrew; in 54 he made a demonstration across the Rhine. Vercingetorix led a
serious national revolt in 52 but was defeated by Caesar, who suppressed the rebellion
by 51. With his Gallic victories, Caesar equaled or surpassed the military reputation and
personal wealth of Pompey.
9
58–57
In Rome the tribune P. Clodius pursued a popularis program (e.g., free grain), thwarting
optimate opposition with gangs of thugs organized under the guise of legitimate collegia
(clubs). His opponents retaliated by having the optimate tribune T. Annius Milo organize
his own band of thugs. In 57 a shortage of grain prompted the senate to grant a special
command to Pompey for supervision of the grain supply—cura annonae.
10
56
Worried by growing dissension between Pompey and Crassus, Caesar called for a
meeting at Luca on the southern border of Cisalpine Gaul, where reconciliation and
future plans were arranged between the three.
11
55
Pursuant to the arrangement, Pompey and Crassus were consuls and carried the
following measures by force. Caesar's command was extended for another five years,
and Crassus and Pompey were given matching five-year proconsular
commands—Crassus in Syria, Pompey in the two Spanish provinces. Crassus departed
for his province, while Pompey, contrary to custom, remained near Rome and governed
Spain through legati.
12
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
c. Augustus and the Principate
THE ROMAN EMPIRE UNDER AUGUSTUS (MAP)
The Roman Republic had fallen, a victim of its own success. The post-Sullan nobility
had proved incapable of governing a Mediterranean empire, while some, such as Caesar,
succumbed to the temptation of personal power. In addition, the enfranchisement of
millions of Italians had overwhelmed a political system designed for a citizen body of
about 300,000. Finally, the development of a professional army necessary for an
overseas empire had presented the new problem of who was going to pay for it. Because
the governing classes had been unwilling to foot the bill, the loyalty of landless soldiers
had shifted from the government to generals who promised land after service. The force
that used soldiers to acquire that land helped to bring the Republic down. Augustus
solved these problems by effectively putting an end to free elections and aristocratic
competition; by opening up the government to equestrians and Italians; by
continuing the policy, initiated by Caesar, of extending the Roman citizenship beyond
Italy to the provinces; and by securing the loyalty of the armies by taxing the upper
classes and using the proceeds to finance a regular program of payment for veterans.
1
30–29
On returning from Egypt, Octavian's first task was to control the military. He reduced
the legions from about 60 to 29, and between the years 30 and 29 settled some 57,000
veterans in colonies. He eventually established a system of 28 legions (about 150,000
men), wherein legionaries received regular pay and retired after 20 years with land or a
monetary bonus. Complementing this was an equal number of noncitizen auxiliary
soldiers who, after 25 years, received Roman citizenship on retirement.
2
27
The Senate bestowed on Octavian the title Augustus, chosen by himself. Augustus then
gave up all extraordinary powers, ostensibly restoring the Republic by returning it to
the “senate and people.” But he was careful to retain exclusive control of the army by
dividing the provinces between the senate and himself. “Senatorial provinces” were
those that required few troops and were governed by regular senatorial proconsuls
serving for one year. Augustus retained for himself as “imperial provinces” all those
provinces where large armies were stationed. These he governed by carefully chosen
legates—legati Augusti pro praetore—who tended to have longer terms of office. All
provincial governors were salaried. Augustus also excluded independently minded
senators from power by employing equestrians in military positions and
administrators—prefects or procurators. The most important of these equestrian
positions were the praefectus annonae, who was in charge of Rome's grain supply; the
praefectus vigilum, who oversaw the city's fire brigade; the praefectus Aegypti, who
governed Egypt as Augustus's private holding; and the praefectus praetorio, who
controlled the praetorian guard—nine cohorts scattered over Italy. Augustus's vast
private wealth was organized into an imperial treasury—the fiscus—distinct from the
senatorial treasure—the aerarium.
3
23
From 31, Augustus had held the consulship every year; then in 23 Augustus resigned the
consulship and arranged a new settlement whereby he received tribunicia potestas—the
power of a tribune—giving him the authority to initiate and veto legislation and convene
the senate. He and all subsequent emperors would number their reigns by tribunician
years. He retained control of the military by a grant of imperium maius, a “command
greater” than that of other magistrates. To control elections, Augustus exercised the right
to nominate and commend candidates of his choice. Thus, without holding office, and
merely as first man (princeps), Augustus controlled the Roman state.
4
20
A diplomatic settlement of Rome's eastern frontier was struck with Parthia, whereby
Rome recovered the standards lost by Crassus and Antony, while a compromise
candidate governed Armenia, the strategic high road between Parthia and Roman Syria.
Augustus otherwise followed a policy of military expansion.
5
19
Agrippa subdued northwest Spain. Gaul had been organized into three provinces, and
beginning in 12, Roman armies extended Roman territory across the Rhine (abandoned
after a disaster in 9 C.E.). Augustus's armies also fought along the Danube, creating four
provinces: Raetia was formed by 16, Noricum in 16, Pannonia in 13, and Moesia by 6
6
C.E.
18
Augustus used his tribunician power to pass the lex Iulia de maritandis ordinibus, which
regulated marriages between the various social orders, and the lex Iulia de adulteriis
coercendis (18?), which made adultery a crime. This was the beginning of Augustus's
program of social improvement, which he continued with legislation restricting the
manumission of slaves—the lex Fufia Caninia of 2 C.E. and the lex Aelia Sentia of 4
C.E.—and a law, the lex Papia Poppaea (9 C.E.), to encourage marriages.
7
12
Agrippa died in Pannonia. Since 18 he had shared tribunicia potestas and since 21 had
been married to Augustus's daughter, Julia, the union producing two sons, Gaius (b. 20)
and Lucius (b. 17), whom Augustus adopted as his sons. In 11, Julia was married to
Tiberius Claudius Nero (Tiberius), the son, along with Nero Claudius Drusus
(Drusus), of Livia by her first husband.
8
12–9
Drusus led Roman armies across the Rhine to the Elbe, while Tiberius campaigned in
Pannonia. Drusus died in 9 and was replaced by Tiberius, who campaigned in Germany
until 7.
6
9
Tiberius, after receiving tribunicia potestas for five years, suddenly renounced public
life and retired to Rhodes.
10
2 B.C.E.–4 C.E
Augustus's daughter, Julia, was banished for adultery in 2. In 2 C.E., Augustus's
grandson Lucius died in Spain. In 4 C.E. his other grandson, Gaius, died in the east. Left
with no heirs, Augustus adopted his stepson, Tiberius, who had returned to Rome in 2
11
C.E.
4–6
Tiberius campaigned in Germany, until he was called to suppress a serious revolt in
Pannonia in 6.
12
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4. The Roman Empire, 14–284 C.E.
a. Geography and Climate
During this period Rome organized the provinces of Gallia Transalpina, Britannia,
Raetia, Noricum, Pannonia, Moesia, Dacia, Mauretania, Cyrenaica, Egypt, Thrace, Syria,
Judaea, Mesopotamia, Bithynia et Pontus, Galatia, Cilicia, and Lycia et Pamphylia. The
Roman world therefore encompassed an enormous area centering around the
Mediterranean but extending, significantly in places, into continental Europe, Asia,
and Africa. It can be conveniently divided into several climatic and geographic zones.
Provinces circling the Mediterranean enjoyed mild rainy winters and summers which
were moderate on the northern coasts and warmer and drier on the southern. Agricultural
productivity depended on exploiting the winter rains and working soil which, except for
volcanic regions, was comparatively light. In lands such as Greece, where rocky soil is
common, the typically Mediterranean combination of olive trees and grapevines
predominated. These crops were combined with intensive cultivation of cereals in the
more fertile areas of North Africa (modern Tunisia) and Sicily, and to a lesser degree in
Italy, in the valleys of Anatolia, and southwestern Spain. The land of Egypt was uniquely
fertile, since it depended not on rainfall, but on the regular flooding of the Nile. In most
Mediterranean countries, however, rivers that were navigable year-round were
uncommon; cities therefore tended to cluster along the coasts or in nearby valleys and
plains. The climate of northern European provinces was characterized by seasons that
were more extreme and by rainfall that was more evenly distributed than in
Mediterranean countries. Agricultural development was impeded by various factors. The
soil was fertile but heavy and consequently more difficult to work. In addition, a climate
that was generally more humid resulted in wide belts of heavy forests, many of which
were also swampy. Highlands made for excellent pasturage, while mountains were
frequently rich in minerals of various kinds. Navigable rivers were the principal avenues
of communication and trade, and it was on these that cities were founded. Few cities of
the Roman Empire had populations of more than 20,000 persons. Larger ones, like
Pergamum, reached 100,000, while a few, such as Alexandria and Antioch, approached
500,000. The city of Rome was unique in having about one million inhabitants. The
population of the Roman Empire is estimated to have been between fifty and sixty million
1
persons in 14 C.E. The southern boundaries of the Roman world were desert country.
Here irrigation extended agriculture and urban life into regions where pasturage and
nomadic life prevailed.
The Romans had a clear idea of the frontiers (limes) of their empire and had armies to
guard them. But these borders were very permeable, and the function of soldiers was as
much to monitor the movements of persons and goods across the frontier as it was to
defend them. The Roman world, in fact, extended beyond the borders of Roman
provinces to trans-Danubian areas where overland commerce was constant, as well to the
Indian Ocean, where long-distance, seasonal maritime trade was conducted. The true
boundaries of the Roman world were not marked by frontiers. Roman civilization was
urban, and it was delimited by deserts and mountains both outside and inside its imperial
borders.
2
The ancient Roman view was of a spherical world, the inhabited region of which (the
oikoumene) was surrounded by oceans, and this world centered around the
Mediterranean. It was bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean and on the east by the
mouth of the Ganges River. The southern extent of the African continent and the northern
expanses of the land masses of Europe and Asia were vastly underestimated.
3
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b. Economy, Society, and Culture
With the Principate came a long period of civic peace (pax Romana), which greatly
benefited the economy of the Roman Empire. Older areas devastated by war, such as
Italy and Asia, returned to their former prosperity, while recently conquered regions
underwent population increases, urbanization, and intensified agricultural cultivation.
Increased agricultural productivity was a response to the consumer needs of growing
and newly founded cities and of the provincial armies, though in some respects Roman
technology, as opposed to engineering, lagged behind eastern and southern Asia. The
wheeled plow was introduced in Gaul, in order to till the heavier earth. Other innovations
included an improved scythe and a mechanical reaper. From the 1st through the 3rd
centuries, the overall trend in the agrarian labor force was a change from slavery to
tenancy. How this occurred is very unclear, but it was certainly a long and slow process;
slaves were still regularly employed in agriculture in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The
major source of slaves, foreign conquest, did slow down, but the wars of Claudius,
Vespasian, and Trajan brought in large numbers of slaves, while other sources—the
exposure of unwanted infants, as well as slave breeding—continued to provide slaves in
substantial numbers. Few figures are available, but in the mid-2nd century slaves totaled
40,000, or one-third of the adult population of the Asian city of Pergamum. In Roman
Egypt, the slave population was lower, making up less than one-tenth. The proliferation
of cities was a major development of the imperial period. Most of the newly founded
cities were in the western empire, especially in south and central Gaul, in the lowlands of
Spain, and in the fertile valleys and coasts of North Africa. Many cities relied on local
production for their food. When intensified cultivation made regions productive,
however, their surpluses were sent to large cities which required imports. The grain of
North Africa and Egypt surpassed that of Sicily as Rome's major source, while olive oil
from Spain and wine from many regions were imported into the capital. Industry
remained small-scale, but trade of the local, interprovincial, and extraprovincial types
was very significant by a scale of preindustrial societies. Produce, large amounts of
timber, metals, and textiles were carried primarily by a sophisticated system of water
transport but also by much used overland routes.
1
The Roman government was committed to founding cities as centers of civic and judicial
2
administration, and of tax collecting. Archaeology testifies to the great number of cities
that prospered during the high empire, although food shortages and financial and
administrative difficulties were chronic problems which required outside assistance and
which came increasingly from Rome. Cities were largely autonomous and governed by
local elites, who resided in the cities and drew rents from their rural properties. Annual
magistrates (duoviri, archontes, strategoi, grammateis) drawn from the body of
municipal senators (decuriones, bouleutai) were responsible for maintaining law and
order and ensuring municipal as well as imperial taxes. They also supported the cities'
essential services and amenities through largess, giving their money and services in
exchange for public recognition and status. Much of the space in a Roman city was taken
up by public buildings and the large houses and gardens of the rich. For the nonelite,
urban living conditions were crowded and, by modern standards, unsanitary, so life was
lived outdoors during daylight hours. Most private dwellings were not connected to the
public sewers, and few had running water. Although public baths were inexpensive and
often sumptuous, they were also unhygienic, since the water was infrequently changed.
A major trend in the imperial period was the extension of Roman citizenship. Under
Julius Caesar and the triumvirs, whole regions—Cisalpine Gaul, Sicily, along with
Romanized provincial cities in the west—had received citizenship, while in more recently
conquered areas, and in the Greek-speaking east, citizenship had been rewarded to
prominent individuals. The establishment of Roman citizen colonies around the Empire,
which had been greatly favored by Caesar and Augustus, slackened during the first
century but was continued under Trajan and Hadrian. Citizenship status—either Roman
or Latin—was granted to communities and whole regions. Latin status was granted to the
Alpine provinces by Claudius and Nero, and to all of Spain by Vespanian. Roman
citizenship was also extended by the auxiliary units of the army, where after 25 years of
service noncitizen provincial soldiers received the citizenship for themselves and, until c.
140, their families. By the early 3rd century, every province of the Empire had large
numbers of Roman citizens. In 212 the distinction between citizen and noncitizen was
eliminated by the constitutio Antoniniana, which granted Roman citizenship to virtually
all free male inhabitants of the Empire. As Roman citizenship became more common, its
privileges diminished, and two legal statuses developed. One status included Roman
citizens of the upper classes—senators, equestrians, and local magistrates, who were
called honestiores. Everyone else, Roman citizen or not, fell into the class of humiliores
and were subject to harsh punishments—crucifixion, burning, the arena, chained
labor—which had previously been associated with servile punishments. Another function
of the spread of Roman citizenship was the opening up of the equestrian order and, later,
the senatorial order to upper-class provincials. The number of easterners in imperial
equestrian service began to rise from about 100 C.E. In the Roman senate, old Roman
noble families died out and were replaced by Italians. Wishing to exploit their wealth and
energy, emperors then began to appoint wealthy provincials to the senate. Finally,
emperors were chosen from provincial families. Trajan and Hadrian were descendants of
3
old families of Roman settlers in Spain; Septimius Severus came from North Africa. The
upwardly mobile freedman class was of great importance to the urban society and
economy of the Empire. Beginning with Augustus, the energies and wealth of freedmen
were officially recognized and channeled into government service. In Rome, freedmen
became ward leaders (magistri vici), while in the municipalities of Italy and the west,
they served the imperial cult as honorary officials (seviri Augustales). Women remained
subordinate. Their legal status changed little, but a significant reform came when
Claudius abolished guardianship (tutela) for adult women of free birth. And for a time,
starting with Augustus, the husband lost the right to kill an adulterous wife. In the upper
classes women received a literary education. Outside of the elite, many worked—most as
fieldworkers, with others in a wide variety of urban occupations. Almost all women
married. In the upper classes, women on average had their first child at 15. Family size
was limited through infanticide, by exposure to the elements; by effective, if dangerous,
forms of artificial birth control; and by equally dangerous abortions. Life expectancy for
males at birth was between 20 and 30 years.
In law the formulary system was replaced by juristic interpretation and various forms of
imperial intervention. After the praetor's edict was codified under Hadrian, the
pronouncements of the emperor (constitutiones principis), in the form of edicts, decrees,
and rescripts, became the principal source of law. By the 2nd century C.E. the culture of
the upper classes of the Roman Empire had become truly Greco-Roman. The ruling
classes of Greek cities learned Latin in order to participate in the Roman imperial
government, while in Rome and Italy, the upper classes had been Hellenized since the
late Republic. Roman elite education was centered on rhetoric and included the study of
both Greek and Latin literature. Romans also took up the various schools of Greek
philosophy—Platonism, Epicureanism, and Stoicism—the latter becoming dominant
during the imperial period and counting among its chief exponents the senator Seneca (c.
1–65), the slave Epictetus (c. 55–c. 135), and the emperor Marcus Aurelius (122–180).
A moderate rise in literacy is indicated by, among other things, the great increase in
inscriptions, the production of Greek papyrus texts, and the expansion of the Roman
Empire into less advanced areas. While Greek and Latin became international languages,
vernacular languages continued to be spoken by many populations in many parts of the
Empire.
4
Latin literature entered its so-called Silver Age, characterized by its penchant for
rhetoric. The Roman satirical tradition was continued by A. Persius Flaccus (34–62) and
mastered by D. Iunius Iuvenalis (Juvenal, c. 55–138). Prose satire was cultivated in the
picaresque novel Satyricon by Petronius Arbiter (d. 66), probably Nero's friend. Under
Tiberius, Valerius Maximus composed Facta et dicta memorabilia, nine books of
historical examples of virtues and vices. Spain was home to a noted literary family which
flourished in Rome. Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the rhetorican (c. 55 B.C.E.–c. 40 C.E.),
wrote declamationes (set speeches). His son, L. Annaeus Seneca (c. 1–65), wrote Stoic
philosophical treatises as well as tragedies; this man's nephew, M. Annaeus Lucanus
5
(Lucan, 39–65), composed the historical epic Pharsalia. M. Valerius Martialis (Martial,
c. 40–104) of Spain wrote satirical epigrams in Rome, as did the noted teacher of rhetoric
and author of Institutio Oratoria, M. Fabius Quintilianus (c. 35–c. 100). The provinces
were also the birthplace of the historian Cornelius Tacitus (c. 56–118?), author of
Dialogus de oratoribus, the biography Agricola, the ethnological Germania and his
historical works, the Historiae and Annales. In science, Galen of Pergamum (c. 130–200)
furthered the Greek scientific tradition with prolific writings on medicine. Ptolemy (c.
85–165) wrote on astronomy, furthering the Hellenistic belief in an Earth-centered
universe. C. Plinius Caecilius Secundus (Pliny, c. 61–c. 113) was a noted political and
literary figure, who composed elegant Epistulae; his prolific uncle, C. Plinius Secundus
(c. 23–79) wrote, among other works, the encyclopedic but uncritical Historia Naturalis.
Another prolific author was C. Suetonius Tranquillus (c. 69–121?), whose biographies,
De Vita Caesarum, extended from Caesar through Domitian. Under Hadrian and the
Antonines began a revival of interest in pre-Ciceronian Latin, and a school of florid Latin
writers emerged. Its exponents were the orator and writer M. Cornelius Fronto (c.
100–c. 166), whose correspondence with his student Marcus Aurelius survives, and the
author of Metamorphoses, L. Apuleius (c. 124–170?), both from North Africa. Aulus
Gellius (c. 130–c. 180) wrote the literary miscellany, Noctes Atticae (Attic nights), and
the emperor Marcus Aurelius penned his stoical Meditations in Greek.
In early imperial architecture, concrete vaulting was increasingly exploited to create
novel spatial effects (the Domus Aurea). Brick became the preferred facing material for
concrete construction during Tiberius's reign. By the Flavian period, a new type of
vaulting (the groin vault) was introduced (the Colosseum). In the 2nd century, the old
canons were being rethought to create a new sumptuousness. Novelties included the
broken pediment (first seen in Trajanic Rome) and the aedicular facades (the library of
Celsus at Ephesus). In the city of Rome, architectural sophistication and daring reached
its zenith under Hadrian in the 150-foot-wide concrete dome of the Pantheon and the
large and radical Temple of Venus and Roma, whose top-heavy proportions evoked older
temple types and marked a deliberate break with the Augustan Corinthian canon.
Afterwards, creative experimentation in architecture increasingly shifted from the capital
to the provinces (e.g., Leptis Magna in North Africa, Baalbek in Syria, and Ephesus in
Asia Minor). In Roman state art, historical relief came into prominence. In Augustan
reliefs the emperor had been consistently portrayed as first among equals in a realistic
context (Ara Pacis), but in the course of the 1st century new conventions (such as the
juxtaposition of real and allegorical figures, divinizing attributes, and apotheosis) made
their way into the representations of rulers in state art (e.g., the Flavian Arch of Titus and
Cancellaria reliefs). In the early 2nd century, emperors began to be portrayed showing
imperial virtues in increasingly varied and elaborate, but essentially realistic, contexts in
both peace and war. In portrait sculpture the realistic-looking portraiture of the late
Republic continued to be employed. Imperial portraits of the Julio-Claudian dynasty
adapted various ages and physiognomies to the ageless Augustan model. Under the
6
Flavians a literal element was introduced into imperial portraiture. Portraits of Hadrian
broke from tradition by showing the emperor wearing a beard, which reflected military
fashion, philosophical phil-Hellenism, or both. A trend was introduced in the 3rd century
by Caracella, whose portrait types sported the close-cropped hair and beard, and became
the canonical style of the 3rd-century soldier emperors. In Roman painting, the Fourth
Style, introduced about 62, combined Third Style panel painting motifs with Second
Style representations of architecture in depth.
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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c. The Julio-Claudians
JULIAN-CLAUDIAN HOUSE
14–37
TIBERIUS Claudius Nero (b. 42 B.C.E.) became emperor, when the senate conferred on
him the powers and titles of Augustus. He transferred the elections from the assemblies
to the senate. Already the passage of laws in the assemblies had become a formality.
1
14–16
The revolt of the Pannonian legions was suppressed by Tiberius's son, the younger
Drusus. The son of Tiberius's brother Drusus, who is known by his father's title,
Germanicus, and whom Augustus had forced Tiberius to adopt as a possible successor,
suppressed the German mutiny and campaigned in Germany with some successes. He
defeated Arminius, and recovered the eagles of Varus's legions. He was, however,
recalled, probably not because Tiberius begrudged his victories, but because he found
them too costly.
2
17
On the death of their kings, Cappadocia and Commagene became a province.
17–19
3
Germanicus, sent to install a king in Armenia, conducted himself in a high-handed
manner both in Syria and in Egypt. When he died in Syria, however, the enemies of
Tiberius rallied about his wife Agrippina.
4
21
A revolt against Rome broke out in Gaul among the Treveri, led by Julius Florus, and
the Aedui, led by Julius Sacrovir. Although suppressed, it showed that anti-Roman
feeling was still strong in Gaul.
5
23–31
Tiberius fell increasingly under the influence of the ambitious equestrian prefect of the
guard L. Aelius Sejanus who quartered the praetorian cohorts in one camp in Rome. He
encouraged the gathering of information against those hostile to Tiberius by informers
(delatores) and the prosecution of the accused under the law of treason (lex de maiestate
imminuta). When such trials involved senators or important equestrians, they were heard
by the senate, which came increasingly to act as a court under the presidency of the
emperor or the consuls. In 23, Sejanus probably poisoned Tiberius's son Drusus, in order
to plot his own succession.
6
26
Tiberius retired from an increasingly hostile Rome and eventually settled on Capreae
(Capri).
7
29
Livia, accused of attempting to dominate the Empire after Augustus's death, died.
Sejanus secured the exile of Agrippina, wife of Germanicus (she died in 33), and the
arrest of his two eldest sons, Nero (d. 31) and a third Drusus (d. 33).
31
8
The plots of Sejanus finally came to the notice of Tiberius, who engineered his arrest
and execution. Tiberius remained in seclusion in Capreae.
9
36
Artabanus, king of Parthia, made peace with Rome.
10
37
Tiberius, dying at Misenum (Mar. 16), indicated as his successors his young grandson,
Tiberius Gemellus, and the twenty-four-year-old surviving son of Germanicus, Gaius
Caesar, nicknamed Caligula (“Bootsy”). Gaius soon put Gemellus to death.
11
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d. Early Christianity
By the 1st century B.C.E., JUDAISM had been diffused in the Roman Empire, with Jews
residing mainly in Palestine and in the cities of the east. Palestine itself, however, was by
no means wholly Jewish; it had a substantial population of non-Jewish Semites as well as
Greeks. The area was consequently home to an amalgam of beliefs, and to religious
contention. The god of the Jews was Yahweh; his worship was centered around the cult
of his temple in Jerusalem, which was run by a hereditary high priesthood, and around his
law, which was preserved in Hebrew scriptures. By the 1st century, however, observant
Jews were divided into three principal sects, each of which regarded the others as ritually
unclean: upper-class Saducees, who were devoted to ritual sacrifice at the temple;
Pharisees, whose worship was organized around the synagogue and the rabbi, rather than
the temple and the priesthood; and a number of ascetic sects, the most important being the
Essenes, whose strict observance of the law led them to live in isolated monastic
communities. The kingdom of Judaea was annexed by Rome in 6 C.E. and placed under a
procurator; the other areas of Palestine—Galilee, Samaria, Peraea, Idumaea, and
Batanaea—were ruled intermittently by vassals (the descendants of Herod the Great,
king of Judaea 37–4 B.C.E.); all of Palestine became a Roman province in 44 C.E. But
foreign rule engendered the belief in a national liberator called the Messiah, who would
restore political freedom; in some versions the liberation would be accompanied by an
apocalyptic reckoning. CHRISTIANITY originated as a Jewish sect. Its founder,
JESUS, was a Jew born in Palestine, somewhere within eight or ten years of 1 C.E.; he
grew up in Galilee. When he was about 30, he was baptized by John the Baptist. He then
formed his own group and began his public career as a teacher and miracle man,
practicing principally in Galilee. Jesus's historical teachings are obscure, but included
some form of freedom from the Jewish law, the promise of salvation after death,
immediate salvation for the chosen, and the claim that he was the son of the Jewish god.
On visiting Jerusalem, Jesus gained notoriety by attacking the temple priesthood. He was
arrested, then tried and convicted, probably for sedition, by the Roman prefect Pontius
Pilate (26–36 C.E.), and was crucified. After his death, his followers began to preach in
Jerusalem that Jesus had been resurrected and that he was the Messiah (Christ). The early
Christian community comprised poor Jews and Greeks and was led by Peter, who
1
seemed to have espoused a doctrine of freedom from Jewish law, which quickly led to
violent reactions by observant Jews. Paul of Tarsus, a devoted Pharisee, at first
persecuted Christians but was later converted. Against the opposition of some Christian
leaders, Paul went on missions (48–51 and 52–55) to convert non-Jews, founding
Christian communities in Asia Minor and Greece. Paul's brand of Christianity taught
freedom from Jewish law for gentiles and salvation with baptism. In Jerusalem,
persecution of Christians ended when leadership passed from Peter to James, the brother
of Jesus, who was a strict observer of the Jewish law and on good terms with the
Pharisees. But James was executed by the Saducees in 62; after the destruction of the
temple by the Romans in 70, a reconstituted Pharisee leadership excluded Christians from
their worship. The center of Christianity then passed from Jewish Jerusalem to gentile
Christian communities around the Empire.
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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C.E. > e. The High Empire
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e. The High Empire
1. Civil War and a New Settlement
68–69
Servius Sulpicius GALBA (b. 5 or 3 B.C.E.). The senate's acquiescence to the army's
proclamation of Galba as emperor in 68 had exposed what Tacitus called the great secret
of the empire—“that emperors could be made elsewhere than at Rome.” The power of
the praetorian guard in choosing an emperor had already been demonstrated. In 69, the
year of the emperors (Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian), the provincial armies
asserted their powers in a civil war, which ended with the victory of Vespasian, and the
establishment of the Flavian dynasty.
1
69, Jan. 1
The eight legions on the Rhine refused allegiance to Galba, and on Jan. 3 the four in
lower Germany saluted as emperor their legate Aulus Vitellius (b. 15). He was also
accepted by the four legions of upper Germany. Galba had reached Rome, where he
adopted as his successor the aristocrat L. Piso Licinianus.
2
Thereupon, M. Salvius Otho (b. 32), the friend of Nero, secured the support of the
praetorians and had Galba and Piso murdered (Jan. 15). The helpless senate then
recognized him.
3
Meanwhile, the troops of Vitellius approached Italy in two divisions under Valens and
Caecina. They met in the plain of the Po Valley and defeated the forces of Otho (Apr.
19) in the First Battle of Bedriacum (near Cremona), whereupon Otho, to avert further
bloodshed, committed suicide. The senate immediately recognized Vitellius, who
presently reached Rome himself.
4
In the meantime (July 1) the prefect of Egypt, Tiberius Julius Alexander, proclaimed as
emperor Vespasian, legate in Judaea. Mucianus, legate of Syria, lent his support.
Antonius Primus, commander of the seventh legion in Pannonia, rallied all the Danubian
5
legions to Vespasian and moved rapidly into northern Italy. There he defeated the forces
of Vitellius in the Second Battle of Bedriacum and sacked Cremona (late Oct.). When
Antonius approached Rome, Vespasian's brother seized the Capitol, which was burnt in
the ensuing struggle. The Vitellians fought bitterly in the city streets, but Vitellius was
finally slain (Dec. 20). The senate immediately recognized Vespasian. After his
proclamation as emperor, Vespasian left his son, Titus, to complete the siege of
Jerusalem. In 70 Titus sacked the city, destroyed the temple, and installed a garrison. He
celebrated a triumph in 71, which is commemorated on the Arch of Titus in Rome.
69–79
Titus Flavius VESPASIANUS (b. 9) was the son of a tax collector from the Italian
municipality of Reate. The Augustan system had survived the idiosyncrasies of its rulers
because the administration of the Empire had been separated from the politics of the
palace and senate at Rome. But the civil war of 69 had shown the need to control the
Empire and its armies more closely, and so the extravagance and self-indulgence of the
Julio-Claudians were replaced by the hands-on work ethic of the Flavians. Vespasian
oversaw a careful and frugal administration of the Empire, in which the frontiers and
finances were reorganized and the armies and upper classes monitored. Respectful to the
senate, Vespasian nevertheless insisted on establishing dynastic succession, and he and
his son Titus were consular colleagues in every year of his reign except 73 and 78. To
reorganize the senate, Vespasian felt compelled to revive the censorship with Titus in
73, instead of tacitly assuming the right of enrollment (adlectio) exercised by his
predecessors. In 74 he granted Latin rights to all of Spain.
6
69–71
The revolt of some Batavian auxiliaries under their native commander, Julius Civilis,
won the support of some of the legions of Germany. This inflamed the Gallic Treveri
under Julius Classicus and Julius Tutor and the Lingones under Julius Sabinus. Petillius
Cerealis crushed the revolt piecemeal. Thereafter auxiliaries were not employed in the
country of their origin, and the corps soon came to be composed of recruits of different
nationalities. By this time the praetorian guards alone were recruited in Italy; the legions
drew from Roman settlers in the provinces or Romanized provincials, to whom
citizenship was often granted to secure their enlistment. Thus the army had become less
Italian, more provincial.
70–75
7
Vespasian consolidated the eastern frontier against Armenia and Parthia.
8
71
Titus, though a senator, was made praetorian prefect, a post hitherto equestrian. He also
received both proconsular imperium and tribunician power. He ruthlessly suppressed
senatorial opposition to his father.
9
71–84
Further Conquest in Britain. Under the Flavian commander Petillius Cerealis (71–74),
Sextus Iulius Frontinus (74–78), and Cn. Julius Agricola (78–84), Roman conquest
advanced into Wales and Scotland (See 78–142).
10
73–74
Vespasian began the conquest of the territory east of the upper Rhine and south of the
Main, the later agri decumates (or decumathes; the meaning is uncertain). He
furthermore reorganized the defenses of the upper and lower Danube.
11
73
At about this time Vespasian banished Helvidius Priscus, son-in-law of Thrasea and his
successor as leader of the Stoic opposition to the Empire. He also banished the
professors of philosophy, perhaps because their doctrines encouraged disloyalty.
12
79–81
TITUS Flavius Vespasianus, who was co-ruler with his father, succeeded on the death
of Vespasian (June 23). His hostility toward the senate ceased, and he won popularity by
his largess.
13
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f. The Third Century
1. Civil War and the Severans
Augustus had created a system whereby a large empire was defended by a limited use of
force, and at a relatively small cost to the upper classes. Soldiers, numbering about
300,000, were disposed judiciously along the frontiers and were moved to meet
changing threats. A second element in the defense of the frontiers was client
states—peoples living just outside the Empire whom the Romans controlled through
diplomacy and money. These states helped protect the borders and provided soldiers for
units of the Roman army. It was the movements of peoples from northern and eastern
Europe beginning in the latter 2nd century which upset the balance. The Marcomannic
War, which was a revolt of the client peoples along the Rhine and Danube, signaled the
end of diplomacy as an effective and inexpensive method of defending the northern
borders. The only alternative was more soldiers, but this entailed greater expense. As a
“good emperor,” Marcus Aurelius was unwilling to tax the wealthy. The result was a
drawn-out war which seriously strained the Empire's resources. Subsequent emperors
felt less compunction about expropriating the wealth of the upper classes to pay for the
armies. The civil war which followed the murder of Commodus exacerbated the trend,
and its ultimate victor, Septimius Severus, ruthlessly exposed the military basis of
imperial power and made the upper classes pay for it. The political reality of the 3rd
century is summarized in the dying Septimius's advice to his sons—“Enrich the soldiers,
despise everyone else.”
1
193
Publius Helvetius PERTINAX, a sixty-six-year-old senator, who had risen from
obscurity as an officer under Marcus Aurelius, was chosen emperor by the senate. His
strict and frugal rule led to his murder (Mar. 23) by the praetorian guard, who then
auctioned off the Empire to M. Didius Julianus, who promised to pay them the highest
donative. The provincial armies reacted by nominating their own candidates; the British
2
legions proclaiming the legate D. Clodius Albinus; the Syrian army, C. Pescennius
Niger; and the Pannonian legions, L. Septimius Severus. Severus marched to Rome,
where the senate deposed and executed Julianus.
193–211
Lucius SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS (b. 146, at Leptis in Africa), emperor. He dissolved
the existing praetorian cohorts, composed of recruits from Italy, and enrolled new ones
from legionary veterans. He kept Albinus quiet by recognizing him as Caesar (i.e., heir).
He then defeated Niger in Battles at Cyzicus and Nicaea and at Issus (the Cilician
Gates) and put him to death near Antioch (194). Albinus, who now claimed full equality,
was defeated and slain (197, Feb. 19) at Lugdunum (Lyons), which was also sacked and
which never recovered its prosperity. Severus executed the supporters of Albinus in
Gaul and Italy.
3
Severus created three new legions, one of which was quartered near the Alban Lake in
Italy, hitherto free from the presence of legionary troops. He appointed equestrians to
command these legions, contrary to the Augustan rule, and also put the new province of
Mesopotamia under an equestrian. He thus initiated the replacement of senators by
equestrians in military posts which culminated under Gallienus. Military marriages were
recognized, auxiliaries were settled on public land in return for military service, and the
legionary pay was raised. Severus gave the jurisdiction over Rome and the area within
100 miles to the prefect of the city and over the rest of Italy to the praetorian prefect,
who also exercised jurisdiction on appeal from the provinces. The emperor began the
subdivision of provinces into smaller units, which culminated under Diocletian, and
extended the organization of municipalities as the basis of tax collecting even to Egypt,
which shows how valueless municipal status had become. He created a new treasury in
addition to the fiscus (the original imperial treasury) and the patrimonium Caesaris
(originally the ruler's private property, then crown property), namely the res privata, his
personal funds, which were swelled by confiscations. He reduced the state senatorial
treasury (aerarium) to a municipal treasury of Rome. He depreciated the silver content
of the denarius to below 60 percent. Extensive and magnificent building programs were
carried out in Rome, Africa, and Syria.
4
197–199
In a successful Parthian war Severus advanced as far as Ctesiphon and reconstituted the
province of Mesopotamia under an equestrian governor with two legions.
5
205–211
A recurrence of troubles in Britain required the presence of Septimius himself to fight
the Caledonians. He definitely withdrew from the wall of Antoninus to that of Hadrian,
which he rebuilt. He died at Eboracum (York) on Feb. 4, 211.
6
211–217
CARACALLA (properly Caracallus), so named from a Gallic cloak which he wore,
began to rule. He was the oldest son of Septimius and had been associated with him as
Augustus (198). To strengthen the bond between the Severi and the Antonines he had
changed his name from Septimius Bassianus to Marcus Aurelius (Severus) Antoninus
(197). Upon his accession, he murdered his colleague (since 209) and younger brother,
P. (originally L.) Septimius (Antoninus) Geta (b. 189), along with the jurist Papinian and
many others. He increased the pay of the troops. To meet the consequent deficit he
issued a new coin, the antoninianus, with a face value of two denarii but a weight of
only one and two-thirds. He erected at Rome the vast Baths of Caracalla (thermae
Antoninianae).
7
212
The EDICT OF CARACALLA (constitutio Antoniniana) extended Roman citizenship
to all free inhabitants of the Empire save a limited group, perhaps including the
Egyptians. Citizenship now meant so little that this step was a natural culmination of the
leveling down of distinctions that had been continuous throughout the Empire.
Caracalla's motive has been much disputed; he probably hoped to extend to all
inhabitants the inheritance tax paid by Roman citizens.
8
213–217
Caracalla successfully defended the northern frontier against the Alamanni in southern
Germany and the Goths on the lower Danube (214), and in the east he annexed Armenia
(216). But as he was preparing an invasion of Parthia, he was murdered by a group of his
officers (217, Apr. 8).
217–218
9
Marcus Opellius (Severus) MACRINUS (b. 164?), emperor. He was a Mauretanian
who had risen from the ranks to be praetorian prefect and was the first equestrian
emperor. He surrendered Caracalla's eastern gains and sought to reduce the pay of the
troops, who set up as a rival (218, May 16) at Emesa in Syria Bassianus, a grandnephew
of Julia Domna, the Syrian wife of Septimius. Macrinus was assassinated on June 8, 218.
10
218–222
The young Bassianus, surnamed ELAGABALUS (Heliogabalus, b. c. 205), came to
power. He derived his cognomen from the Emesa god, whose priest he was. To
legitimize his rule, he changed his name from (Varius) Avitus to Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus and claimed to be a son of Caracalla. While Elagabalus surrendered himself
to license and introduced the worship of his god to Rome, the Empire was really ruled
by his forceful mother, Julia Maesa. She obliged him to adopt his cousin (Gessius)
Bassianus (Alexianus?), son of her sister, Julia Mamaea. The praetorians murdered
Elagabalus (222, March 11).
11
222–235
Marcus Aurelius SEVERUS ALEXANDER (b. c. 208), emperor. He was the adopted
son of Elagabalus and was dominated by his mother, Mamaea. She established a regency
committee of senators and used the advice of the jurists Paulus and Ulpian.
12
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g. The Rise of Christianity
The principal characteristic of early Christianity was its plurality. A wide variety of
divergent and competing doctrines—gnostic, libertine, observant—were practiced, all
claiming the authority of Jesus Christ. The “orthodox” church—it was only after the
Roman government had given its support to one sect that the terms “orthodox” and
“heretical” became official—eventually accepted four Gospels—Mark (c. 64–70),
Matthew (c. 80–90), Luke (c. 70–90), and John (c. 95–115)—the book of Acts, fifteen
Pauline letters (only six are certainly by Paul), and a few other works as canonical.
Other, “heretical” texts were burned. The success of the form of Christianity that would
eventually prevail was a function of its superior organization. Paul had formed his
communities (c. 48–60) with overseers (bishops), and ministers (deacons), and had
stressed obedience. In the writings of the Apostolic Fathers—the martyred bishops
Clement of Rome (d. 96), Ignatius of Antioch (d. 98–117), and Polycarp of Smyrna (d.
155)—we find churches organized around the three-fold ministry of bishops, presbyters
(councils of elders), and deacons; these writings also put the same emphasis on discipline
and authority. By the mid-second century, this disciplined Christian sect began to attract
educated converts—Justin Martyr (d. 160?), Athenagoras (fl. 176–177), Irenaeus (fl.
177), Tertullian (c. 160–240), and Minucius Felix (fl. 200–240), and the bishops
Theophilus of Antioch (d. 180), Melito of Sardis (fl. 175), Clement of Alexandria (fl.
190–203), and Origen (c. 185–254)—who wrote Apologies defending the Christian faith
against calumnies and official persecutions. In Rome, Christians were executed under
Nero, Domitian, and Marcus Aurelius; in the provinces persecutions of Christians were
equally sporadic. Whether Christianity was illegal per se or whether Christians were
persecuted for alleged criminal behavior is problematic. Well-organized Christian
communities provided its members with benefits both social—burial; care for orphans,
the sick, and the poor—and psychological—institutional identity and protections from
demons. Their successes in urban centers around the Empire left these Christian churches
poised to assume more important social roles when the civic institutions of the Roman
Empire were shaken by the crisis of the 3rd century.
1
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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5. The Later Empire, 284–527 C.E.
a. Economy, Society, and Culture
The economy of the Empire continued to be troubled. Land went out of cultivation
because of war, the flight or revolt of hard-pressed peasants, and an overall decline in
population. In an effort to maintain agricultural production, the settling of barbarians
inside the Empire, which had become regular in the 3rd century, assumed a grand scale
in the 4th century. The number of slaves continued to decline, but slavery by no means
disappeared. In agriculture, the labor of slaves tended to be replaced by that of coloni
(tenant-farmers), whose status was originally free but fell over time to that of being tied
to the land. By 400, the legal codes refer to coloni as servi terrae (slaves of the land). The
power of landowners grew correspondingly, and those in the west became independent
of the imperial government, even raising private armies. In the east, where the imperial
presence in Constantinople assured a strong central administration, wealthy landholders
were less independent. Another reflection of the decreasing need for slaves is the
dramatic decline in freedmen, both in and outside of the imperial service. In the late
Empire, freedmen were replaced by freeborn bureaucrats, as the imperial bureaucracy,
together with the army, became the principal avenue of social mobility. The economic
focus, and increasingly the cultural focus, of the Empire shifted from cities to large
estates, particularly in the west. Municipal office had lost most of its authority and
independence to imperial officials, and from the time of Diocletian and Constantine it
was a hereditary duty. Laws forbidding municipal aristocrats to escape the ruinous
burdens of office were regularly circumvented or ignored, and many of the urban elite
retreated to their countryside estates, which had always been their sources of wealth.
In the east, however, where the institution of the city-state had a longer tradition, and
where proximity to Constantinople and imperial armies afforded protection, cities
remained prosperous until the 6th century. Not all areas of the Empire were equally
affected by economic decline. The Danubian provinces and large parts of Gaul suffered
from foreign invasion (See Foreign Invasion and Internal Disarray), but Sicily enjoyed
continuing prosperity, and Africa remained prosperous until it was taken by the Vandals
(429–39) (See 429–534). The eastern provinces, which were less affected by foreign
invasion, remained relatively prosperous. Interprovincial trade in grain and other
1
articles of mass consumption revived under Diocletian and lasted, though at a reduced
rate, through the 4th century. It was the invasions of the 5th century that brought about
irreversible decline.
Trade was to a great degree subordinated to imperial needs. By the end of the 3rd
century, members of collegia, who had originally been partners in independent business
associations, were legally tied to their occupations. By the 4th century all trades and
occupations were organized into hereditary collegia, which were bound to provide
services for the state. Compensation was paid at a fixed rate, which became lower over
time, and was accompanied by increased regulations. The economic troubles of the 3rd
century had led to a severe debasement of the coinage, but although the monetary
element of the economy was severely curtailed, it never disappeared. Diocletian's attempt
to reestablish the currency with the issuing of the new gold aureus and silver argenteus
failed, and bronze and silver coins continued to decline in value; silver coins ceased to be
minted altogether by the 5th century. Stability was established by Constantine's new gold
coin—the solidus—which remained the standard coinage of the Eastern Empire until
1070.
2
The emperor was now the sole source of Roman law. But the extension of the Roman
citizenship to virtually all free inhabitants of the Empire had affected the practice of law
in the provinces, which became a mixture of debased Roman law and local practice. An
example of this “vulgar law” is the lex Romana Visigothorum issued in 506 by Alaric II,
king of the Visigoths (See 419–507). Classical Roman law was continued in the east by
the law schools of Beirut and Constantinople. The problem of codifying the enormous
body of earlier law was met by the publication of the codex Theodosianus in 438, which
continued to be used in the west. The greatest work of legal compilation was carried out
under Justinian (See 527–65) by the jurist Tribonian and encompassed the publication
(between 530 and 534) of the Digest (or Pandects), the Institutes, the Codex Justinianus,
and the Novellae Constitutiones (the Novels), which together make up the Corpus Iuris
Civilis, as it was later called.
3
As a function of urbanism, literacy, together with schools and the production of books,
underwent a general if uneven decline beginning in the mid-third century. A cultural
disjuncture grew up among the governing classes between administrators who continued
to be highly educated and less-literate military men. It was for the latter that the
numerous epitomes of the lengthier works of classical literature were now produced. The
rise of Christianity affected a change in the pattern of literacy but did not cause an overall
increase. For while literacy was important for church leaders, most Christians heard
rather than read holy scripture. Christians were in the forefront of the replacement of the
book scroll by the codex. The majority of non-Christian texts began to be affected by the
change only in the 4th and 5th centuries.
4
The relative peace established by Diocletian and Constantine led to a revival of literature,
but with a number of significant changes. As the Empire had been administratively
5
divided between east and west, so too was its culture. Knowledge of Greek became rarer
in the west, and Latin literature no longer drew so heavily on Greek models. The focus of
Latin literature moved away from Rome, as centers of literary patronage shifted to other
imperial capitals. To varying degrees authors began to use the classical tradition in
writing about Christian themes. Latin poetry was continued by Decimus Magnus
Ausonius (310–394), who became tutor to young Gratian and composed a great number
of poems in a variety of genres. Claudius Claudianus (Claudian, c. 370–404) was born in
Alexandria and became court poet at Milan, where he wrote panegyric and historical and
mythological epics. Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348–405), born in Spain, wrote lyric
poems on Christian themes. Gaius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius (c. 431–486), who
eventually became a bishop, was from a Gallic family of distinguished imperial officials.
Dividing his life and his work between politics and leisured retirement, he wrote light
poems (nugae), verse panegyrics, and letters, which give a vivid description of Romans
and barbarians in fifth-century Gaul. Latin biography was continued in the form of the
4th-century collection of imperial lives (Hadrian to Numerianus) called the Historia
Augusta. Ammianus Marcellinus (c. 330–395), an army officer from Syria, wrote the
last great history in Latin (Res Gestae), which treated the years 96–378 (only the parts
covering 353–378 survive). The letters and speeches of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
portray the life of a distinguished Roman senator who revived and fought for classical
literature and traditional culture. The antiquarian Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius (fl.
430) preserved a vast amount of earlier learning in his Saturnalia, while Martianus
Capella (fl. 420) wrote The Marriage of Mercury and Philosophy, an allegorical
potpourri of classical learning.
Concrete and brick architecture reached truly grandiose proportions. In Rome,
Diocletian surpassed the great thermae of Caracalla, with his own enormous bath
complex, while Maxentius began, and Constantine completed, the equally enormous
Basilica Nova on the Via Sacra. Imperial complexes which combined palaces and
circuses, and sometimes mausolea, were built in or near most imperial capitals—Rome,
Milan, Thessalonica, Antioch, and Trier, while Diocletian built a grand palace at Salona
(Split) on the Dalmatian coast. With Constantine's conversion to Christianity, imperial
largess went to building great churches. Public and private buildings were decorated
with varieties of imported marbles, wall paintings, and mosaic work (e.g., Santa Costanza
in Rome). The sculptural programs of late Roman imperial monuments witness not a
degeneration of technique, but an expansion of the repertoire of styles to include the
traditional and new (the arches of Diocletian and Constantine in Rome). In official
portraiture, the tetrachs continued to be presented in the style of third-century military
emperors (the Venice Tetrarchs). After 312 Constantine, wishing to distance himself from
his predecessors, adopted a new image which was civilian and youthful. After 324 the
diadem and the upward gaze were added, evoking both contemporary religiosity and the
image of Hellenistic kingship.
6
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C.E. > b. Diocletian and the House of Constantine
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b. Diocletian and the House of Constantine
The advent of Diocletian saw a thoroughgoing administrative reform of the Empire.
Since it is difficult to distinguish which innovations were due to Diocletian and which to
Constantine, a general summary will be given here. Senatorial governors of provinces
had been first relegated to solely civic functions, then virtually eliminated in favor of
equestrians by Diocletian. At Rome, the power of the senate and of magistrates waned
when the emperor and his court moved to cities closer to the theaters of war. The
function of the Roman senate was limited to governing the city of Rome. Meetings,
presided over by the urban prefect, were often unattended, most senators preferring to
remain on their estates. But the prestige of the Roman senate was sufficiently high in the
4th century for Constantine to established a second senate at his new capital of
Constantinople. Over the course of the 3rd century, the duties of most traditional
Roman magistracies had been either eliminated or absorbed by equestrian officials
appointed by the emperor. The consulship survived as a largely honorary office. In
the 3rd century its prestige declined, but it was revived in the 4th, when Constantine
established two annual consuls in Constantinople to match the pair in Rome. Thereafter,
in the west the consulship became the prerogative of a narrow circle of aristocratic
Roman families, while in the east the office tended to be monopolized by emperors, or
used by them to reward both military and civic service. The emperor was chosen by the
army and ruled absolutely. Beginning with Diocletian, the pomp and ceremony of the
Persian court was adopted. The emperor was lord (dominus), and everything
surrounding him sacred (sacrum). He wore a diadem, purple and gold robes, and jeweled
slippers. Subjects prostrated themselves in his presence. The imperial court (comitatus)
comprised great numbers of officials which included a large domestic staff headed by a
eunuch, various offices (officia), and a magister memoriae (master of records), all
supervised to one degree or another by the magister officiorum. In addition, there was
the imperial guard (scholae), from which 40 men were selected to be the emperor's
bodyguard (called candidati after their white uniforms). Also present at court was the
officer training corps (protectores), in which promising officers served for a few years
before being posted to high office. At court, protocol ruled.
1
The Empire was divided for administrative purposes into two spheres, eastern and
2
western. Instituted by Diocletian, the division was in effect sporadically during the 4th
century and became permanent with Arcadius and Honorius (395). Under Diocletian's
tetrarchic system, there were two co-ruling senior emperors (Augusti), one in the east,
the other in the west. Each Augustus chose an assistant and successor (Caesar). Imperial
edicts were issued in the names of all four. There were four praetorian prefects who
served under each of the four rulers and administered the four prefectures—Gaul, Italy,
Illyricum, and the east. Each prefecture was divided into several dioceses under vicarii
(vicars). In 312 Constantine disbanded the praetorian guard; and the prefects, together
with their subordinate vicars, lost all military functions which were transferred to a
magister militum. The dioceses were subdivided into provinces, which had themselves
been divided so that their number doubled. Provinces were under the supervision of
equestrian governors called praesides. Italy assumed the status of a province, its districts
supervised by senatorial correctores.
In the late Empire, the military was wholly separated from the civilian
administration, with the army bureaucracy usurping many administrative functions.
The imperial armies of the high Empire had been tied to the defense of particular
provinces. The system had proved inadequate during the third-century invasions, and so
two distinct types of armies had developed. In the provinces, stationed along the borders,
were the frontier armies made up of resident soldiers (limitanei) and commanded by a
dux. A larger, better trained, and more mobile field army (comitatenses) was under the
command of masters of infantry and cavalry (magistri peditum, equitum). Auxiliary
troops were mostly foreign soldiers commanded by their own leaders, some of whom
became very influential. Under Constantine a large part of the field army stayed with the
emperor. Another contingent was permanently stationed on the eastern frontier under a
magister equitum et peditum per Orientem, while the west was defended by another field
army stationed in Gaul and commanded by a magister equitum et peditum per Galliam.
Smaller units of the field army, stationed in Illyricum and Thrace, were commanded by
officers called comites rei militaris. The size of all these units is controversial.
Diocletian seems to have increased the numbers of legions of the frontier army from
about 40 to 60. Under Constantine the field army might have reached 200,000 men. The
Roman armies of the 4th century have been estimated at between 500,000 and 730,000
men.
3
Diocletian attempted to create a more efficient tax system. He established a regular
system of requisitioning food and transport, and his taxes were based both on the iugum
(a unit of land) and the caput (a unit of labor) and included Italy. Annual estimates were
made for the imperial costs for the army, administration, and city of Rome, and a budget
was produced to which taxes were adjusted. To facilitate the reform, a new census was
conducted. Diocletian's attempt to control inflation by fixing prices and maximum wages
in his Edict on Prices (301) resulted in goods being withdrawn from market and in
violence, while prices continued to rise.
4
284–305
Gaius Aurelius Valerius DIOCLETIANUS (Diocletian, b. 245, saluted as emperor
Nov. 284).
5
285
Upon the defeat of Carinus, Diocletian chose as his colleague the Illyrian, M. Aurelius
Valerius Maximianus (Maximian), who was given the title of Caesar.
6
286
After suppressing the peasant revolt of the Baucaudae in Gaul, Maximian was raised to
the position of Augustus. Diocletian took up residence at Nicomedia in Bithynia, while
Maximian lived mostly at Mediolanum (Milan). Diocletian assumed the title Jovius, and
Maximian assumed that of Herculius.
7
288–292
Diocletian and Maximian waged constant war to hold the Empire together. Maximian
was unable to oust M. Aurelius Mausaeus Carasius, who had seized the province of
Britain and declared himself Augustus.
8
293, Mar 1
Creation of the Tetrarchy. Diocletian chose as his subordinate Caesar, C. Galerius
Valerius Maximianus (b. c. 250). Galerius became Diocletian's son-in-law and governed
most of the Balkan provinces; Diocletian governed the rest of the east. Maximian chose
as his Caesar, Flavius Valerius Constantius, who divorced his wife Helena to marry
Maximian's daughter. Constantius governed Gaul whence he drove Carasius to Britain,
where he was killed and superseded by Allectus.
296
9
Constantius crossed to Britain, defeated and killed Allectus, and restored Britain to the
Empire. Egypt revolted under Aurelius Achilleus, and L. Domitius Domitianus was
proclaimed emperor. Diocletian put down the revolt in the winter of 296–7.
10
297
Narseh (Narses), the king of Persia, expelled the pro-Roman king of Armenia (See 297).
Galerius invaded Persia and was defeated but returned in the following year to crush the
Persians. Narseh ceded Mesopotamia and other territories east of the Tigris to Rome.
11
298
Constantius returned to Gaul and defeated the Alamanni.
12
301
Diocletian's Edict on Prices.
13
303, Feb. 23
Galerius persuaded Diocletian to declare a general persecution of the Christians,
which, however, Constantius did not fully enforce in his prefecture. The persecution was
stopped in the entire west in 306 but raged in the east until 313.
14
305, May 1
Diocletian and Maximian abdicated voluntarily; Galerius and Constantius became
Augusti; Diocletian and Galerius selected as Caesars Flavius Valerius Severus under
Constantius, receiving the prefecture of Italy, and for Galerius his own nephew Galerius
Valerius Maximinus Daia, who received Syria and Egypt. The hereditary claims of
Maximian's son Maxentius and Constantius's son Constantine were neglected.
15
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C.E. > c. From the Death of Julian to the Death of Valentinian III
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c. From the Death of Julian to the Death of Valentinian III
363–364
Flavius JOVIANUS (b. c. 331) was elected emperor by Julian's soldiers. He
surrendered Mesopotamia to the Persians and died soon after (364, Feb. 17).
1
364–375
Flavius VALENTINIANUS I (Valentinian, b. 321) was the next choice of the army. He
ably defended the west against the barbarians and made his brother Valens co-Augustus
in the east (364, Mar. 28).
2
367
Valentinian made his son, Gratian, co-emperor in the west.
3
374
Valentinian died on an expedition against the Quadi and Sarmatians (Nov. 17).
4
375–383
Flavius GRATIANUS (Gratian, b. 359) named his young half brother Valentinian II
(b. 371) co-Augustus in the west.
5
376
The Visigoths (West Goths) crossed the Danube and wiped out Valens and his army at
Adrianople (378, Aug. 9). The Goths continued to ravage the Balkan region.
6
379, Jan. 19
Gratian appointed as co-Augustus for the east, Theodosius, son of Valentinian's
magister equitum.
7
379–395
Flavius THEODOSIUS “THE GREAT” (b. 346). He came to terms with the Goths by
settling them as military allies (federates) in the Balkans.
8
383
The British legions proclaimed Magnus Maximus, who seized Gaul. Gratian was slain
at Lugdunum (Aug. 25). Theodosius recognized Maximus.
9
387
When Maximus drove Valentinian II from Italy, Theodosius captured and executed
Maximus at Aquileia (388, July 28).
10
392, May 15
The Frankish magister militum Arbogast murdered Valentinian II at Vienne and set up
as emperor the non-Christian rhetorician Eugenius.
11
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C.E. > d. Christians and Pagans
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d. Christians and Pagans
Christian churches flourished in the third-century crisis that affected the civic institutions
of the Empire (See The Rise of Christianity). The extent of Christian belief at the end of
the century is controversial, however. While some Christians held positions in the
government and army, and some were well-to-do, the great majority were uneducated,
poor city-dwellers. Nevertheless, Christians were sufficiently conspicuous for them to be
perceived as a threat and to be officially and systematically persecuted by Decius in 250,
by Valerian in 257–260, and, finally, from 303 to 311 by Diocletian and Galerius. The
persecutions, which entailed the burning of sacred books, the destruction and confiscation
of church property, the loss of high status (honestiores) for Christians, and the arrest of
the clergy, failed to curtail the growth of Christian communities.
1
Constantine, whose mother, Helena, was a Christian, and who described himself as a
Christian after 312, is the pivotal figure in Christianity's rise. As emperor he ended all
persecution and restored church property, and in 313 with his Edict of Milan, he granted
toleration and legal recognition to Christian churches. He also enforced the legitimacy of
the particular Christian sect he supported by actively suppressing other “heretical” sects
(e.g., the Donatists) and by insisting on compromise in doctrinal disputes within the
“orthodox” church. The bitter controversy between Arius of Alexandria, who held that
Christ was of a different substance—heterousios—than god, and Bishop Alexander (to be
succeeded by Athenaeus), who held that they were of the same substance, was settled by
the emperor at the Council of Nicea in 325, where the doctrine that Christ was
consubstantial—homoousios—was sanctioned. (The dispute raged on until the reign of
Theodosius I.) The conversion of Constantine did not, however, make Christianity the
religion of the Roman state. Under Constantine and his successors, the Empire remained
officially multireligious, and traditional polytheism continued to be openly practiced. But
Constantine did turn the tide by shifting imperial largess away from the traditional
Roman cults to Christian churches (the bishops of large cities became enormously
wealthy due to imperial largess), by granting exemption and immunities to Christian
clergy, and by favoring Christians in the army and administration. The gradual
conversion of the upper classes to Christianity was accomplished, not by force or
persuasion, but by the patronage and example of the imperial family. Constantine's sons,
2
especially Constantius, were fervent Arians, and under them the cults of traditional
Roman religion suffered from lack of government support, confiscation of land, and
official indifference to organized Christian attacks, as well as from the actual closings of
temples. The tide was briefly reversed by Julian (361–363), who attempted to restore the
traditional religion by granting toleration to polytheists, by shifting imperial funding back
to the old cults, by revoking privileges for the Christian clergy, by forbidding Christians
to teach Greek and Latin literature, and by passively condoning attacks on Christian
churches. The official revival of polytheism ended with Julian's premature death. That
Julian's successors as emperor were all Christians shows how far the faith had penetrated
the army. Yet Julian's reform was not entirely in vain, since it was almost 30 years before
the vehement intolerance of Constantius was again official policy. On becoming emperor,
Jovian issued an edict of general toleration, which was renewed by Valentinian and
Valens, under whose reigns non-Christian temple lands were confiscated, although the
temples remained open.
It was the growing numbers of powerful men who were entering the higher orders of the
Church that effected a change. In 374, Aurelius Ambrosius (Ambrose, c. 339–397), the
son of a praetorian prefect and himself consul of Aemilia, was elected bishop of Milan. In
this position he exerted great influence, first over the emperor Gratian (who revoked the
edict of toleration, dropped the title pontifex maximus, confiscated the revenues of the
Vestal Virgins and other priesthoods in Rome, and removed the Altar of Victory from the
senate house), then over Valentinian II (whose denial in 384 of Symmachus's request to
restore the Altar of Victory was due to Ambrose), and finally over Theodosius. The aim
of Ambrose and men like him to create a Christian state in which traditional Roman
polytheism, Judaism, and Christian heresies (especially Arianism) would not be tolerated
was accomplished during the reign of Theodosius. Christian letters were continued in
Greek by such men as Eusebius of Caesarea (260–340), who among other things
established the tradition of Christian chronography, and by the theologian Gregory of
Nazianzus (329–89). Latin Christian writing was dominated by North Africans such as
Arnobius (fl. 295) and Lactatius (c. 240–320). The preeminent figures of the late 4th
century were Jerome (Hieronymus, 348–430), who composed a major revision of the
Latin Bible (the Vulgate), and Augustine (354–430), whose Neo-platonic thinking
revolutionized Christian theology in the west (See c. 340).
3
The subsequent religious history of the Christian Roman Empire is essentially that of
doctrinal disputes. Under Theodosius II (408–450), Nestorius, the bishop of
Constantinople, who argued for a sharp distinction between the divine and human nature
of Christ, was condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431. During the 5th and 6th
centuries, the eastern Church was torn by the Monophysite heresy, whose doctrine was
that Christ had a single nature. Although the doctrine was condemned at the Council of
Chalcedon in 451, the eastern emperors on the whole were Monophysite. As imperial
authority weakened in the west, the bishop of Rome became powerful and wielded
political as well as religious power. A major development was monasticism which had a
4
long tradition in the east (Antony in Egypt, c. 285). The work of Martin of Tours (362)
(See c. 340) spread monasticism in the west, culminating in the rule of St. Benedict
(regula Sancti Benedicti), who founded his monastery at Monte Cassino in 529. The rule
was adopted by Cassiodorus (480–575), secretary of Theodoric, who founded a
monastery at Beneventum in 540. The closing of the philosophical schools in Athens by
Justinian, the execution of Boethius, and the founding of the Benedictine monastery mark
the transition from the classical to the medieval world. (See Conditions of Life)
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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C.E. > e. The Later Fifth Century
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e. The Later Fifth Century
455–472
A succession of puppet rulers in the west. In 455 Eudoxia, widow of Valentinian, set up
Petronius Maximus at Rome. On his murder, in the same year, she called the Vandals
from Africa.
1
455, June 2–16
Gaiseric and the Vandals sacked Rome.
2
456
Avitus advanced from southern Gaul to Rome but was deposed by his able general, the
Suevian Ricimer. Ricimer retained power by securing the consent of the eastern
emperors to his nominees, who were Majorianus (457–461), Severus (461–465), and,
after a two-year interregnum, Anthemius (467–472) and Olybrius (472). When in 472
both Ricimer and Olybrius died, the eastern emperor, Leo I, appointed Glycerius (473)
and Julius Nepos (473–475).
3
457–474
LEO I (b. ?), a Thracian (?), succeeded Marcian as emperor of the east. To offset his
master of the troops, the Alan Aspar, he married his daughter Ariadne to Zeno, an
Isaurian from the mountains of southern Asia Minor (467) and made Zeno's son, Leo, his
colleague (473).
4
474
Leo II succeeded on the death of Leo I. His father, Zeno, made himself his colleague.
Leo died the same year.
5
474–491
ZENO (b. 426) disposed of the pretender Basiliscus, brother-in-law of Leo I (475).
6
475
The master of the troops, Orestes, removed Nepos in favor of his own son, whose name
combined those of the founder of Rome and of the Empire.
7
475–476
ROMULUS AUGUSTUS (nicknamed Augustulus).
8
476, Sept. 4
After defeating and killing Orestes at Pavia, the Herulian Odovacar (Odoacer) deposed
Romulus Augustulus, the last emperor of the west, at Ravenna. Traditional end of the
Roman Empire. (See Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages, 461–1000)
9
The eastern emperor Zeno apparently recognized Odovacar as “patrician” (patricius had
become the title of honor for barbarian commanders). Nepos retained titular claim as
emperor until his death in 480, and after that date the Empire was theoretically reunited
under the eastern emperors, but actually Odovacar ruled as an independent king in Italy.
10
481
On the death of Theodoric, the son of Strabo, Zeno recognized his rival as patrician and
master of the troops. His people were established in Moesia as foederati.
11
488
Theodoric, ostensibly as Zeno's agent, invaded Italy.
12
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(See Arabia, c. 850–332 B.C.E.)
F. The Neo-Persian Empire of the Sassanians, 223–651 C.E.
a. Economy, Society, and Culture
The economy of the Sassanian Empire was based on agriculture, and the great majority
of its inhabitants were peasants. While most farming was done by free peasants, chattel
slavery was employed in royal mines, in building, in the crafts, and in agriculture,
particularly on temple estates. Sassanian rulers, especially Shapur I (240–270) and
Khusrau I (531–579), undertook a great increase in irrigation and land under cultivation.
Much of the empire's agricultural wealth was centered in Mesopotamia, especially in the
south region of Asuristan, where extensive irrigation produced an abundance of wheat
and barley. To the southeast and across the Tigris was Khuzistan, which also produced
great harvests of wheat and barley, sesame and rice. The district of Meshan (modern
Kuwait) was famous for its palm dates; it also controlled access to the Persian Gulf and
trade with India. Commerce was predominantly local, but a lucrative international
caravan trade followed the royal road, extending north to Merv, Samarkand, and then on
the silk road to China. Syrian glass, dyed fabrics, and metals were exchanged for silk,
which served a diplomatic as well as an economic function. The primary form of taxation
under the Sassanians was a land tax and, for religious minorities, a poll tax. The reforms
of Khusrau I made the land tax, which began to be calculated in monetary terms, more
efficient and extended the poll tax to all inhabitants between the ages of 20 and 50.
1
Sassanian society was divided into the traditional Iranian estates: priest (magian),
noble (azatan), and farmer (ram); the last estate also included traders, craftsmen, and
bureaucrats. The basic social unit was the extended family of three or four patrilineal
generations. Members shared religious and secular obligations and rights, as well as joint
family property. Beyond the agnatic family, the larger social group was the clan (naf,
toxum, or gohr) which comprised several dozen families whose heads shared a common
ancestor and within which endogamous marriage was the rule. A wife and her property
entered into the family of her husband, he becoming her guardian. The exercise of full
2
legal rights required membership in a recognized urban or rural community, which in turn
was determined by membership in one of the clans which formed the community. Free
persons who were not members of a community—aliens, illegitimate children, freed
slaves—were semidependent and had restricted rights.
The Sassanian period saw an increase in centralization. The semi-independent kingdoms
characteristic of the Parthian era gave way to a unified state administration. Independent
city-states that flourished under the Parthians were replaced by “royal cities,” that is,
military centers governed by state-appointed officials called shahrabs. Rural districts
were under the jurisdication of the city administration. In the late Sassanian period, the
kingdom was divided into four large divisions headed by a military and civil authority.
The numerous religions tolerated by the Parthians were replaced by the single state
religion, Zoroastrianism, whose administration of temple lands throughout the empire
by officials called magupats paralleled that of the civil and military administration.
3
In Sassanian Persia, state and religion were twin sisters. By the mid-fourth century,
thanks to the efforts of the priest Kartir, Zoroastrianism had become the official state
religion, whose priesthood sometimes challenged the authority of the king. The ruler, the
king of kings, was chosen by God and crowned by the chief priest (mobadan-mobad). All
power and law devolved from the king, who ruled with the support of the priesthood and
the nobility that monopolized high administrative and court positions. The court of the
Sassanian king was famous for its elaborate protocol and hierarchy of officials in which
the priests played an important role. Despite the intolerance of Zoroastrianism, a number
of influential religious movements sprang up during the Sassanian period. Mani
(216–277), the founder of Manichaeism, was born in Babylonia of an Arsacid priestly
family. He gained the support of the upper levels of Iranian society and become a
companion of Shapur I. His doctrine became especially strong in Parthia and central Asia.
Mani eventually fell afoul of the powerful Zoroastrian priest, Kartir, and in 277 he was
imprisoned and died. Manichaeism spread from Spain to China. Another new religion
was Mazdakism. The gnostic-socialist offshoot of Zorastrianism caused major social
unrest during the reign of Kavad I (488–531), who initially supported it as a
counterbalance to the power of the nobles and the priesthood. Its leader, Mazdak, son of
Bamdad, preached a radical doctrine of redistribution of wealth and women which
threatened the privileges and power of the upper classes. Mazdak was executed at the end
of Kavad's reign, and the sect was persecuted and went underground. The official attitude
toward previously established religions varied. The large Jewish population of
Mesopotamia suffered sporadic persecution at the hands of Zoroastrian magi. Because of
its connection with Rome, Christianity aroused the political as well as the religious
opposition of the Sassanian state and church and was frequently persecuted.
4
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b. Ardashir I to Shapur II
223, 226?–243
Ardashir I (Artaxerxes, Artashatr), founder of the Sassanian dynasty. The son of Papak,
a vassal king of the Parthians ruling in Persis (Fars), Ardashir revolted against
Artabanus, the last king of the Arsacid dynasty of Parthia, defeating and killing him at
Hormuz (Hormizdagan, c. 224). Ardashir ruled over the territories of the Parthian
empire, received the submissions of the kings of the Kushans and of Turan (Pakistan and
Baluchistan, respectively) in the east, and gained control of Merv in the northeast.
1
230–243
War with Rome. Ardashir besieged Nisibis in Roman Mesopotamia and raided Syria
(230). In 232 his forces were repulsed by Alexander Serverus, after whose murder in 235
Ardashir took Nisibis, Carrhae, and the strategic city of Hatra.
2
243–270, 273?
Shapur I (Sapor) had been co-ruler with his father, Ardashir, since 240. After
conquering the peoples along the coast of the Caspian Sea, he had to defend his kingdom
against Rome.
3
242–244
SHAPUR I'S FIRST WAR WITH ROME. The Roman emperor Gordian recaptured
Carrhae and Nisibis and then defeated the Persians near Resaina. But Gordian was
murdered, and his successor, Philip, losing a battle near Ctesiphon, was forced to sue for
peace and pay a ransom. Having deprived Armenia of Roman support, Shapur
4
engineered the assassination of its Arsacid king, Chosroes (c. 252). When the Armenian
prince Tiridates was received by the Romans, Shapur attacked and began the second
Roman war.
253, 256?–260
SECOND ROMAN WAR. A Roman army was defeated at Barbalissa, Syria was
invaded, and Antioch was taken (256). When the Romans counterattacked, Shapur
defeated and captured the emperor Valerian near Edessa (258, 259?); Valerian remained
a captive until his death (265–66). Syria and Asia Minor were invaded by Persian forces,
but no attempt was made to retain the conquered territories.
5
260–267
Palmyra. Roman territory was defended by Odenathus, the ruler of Palmyra, who
chased the Persians back across the Euphrates and defeated Shapur (260). Soon after
(262–267), he reconquered Mesopotamia, failed to take Ctesiphon, and was given the
title of imperator by Gallienus. In 267 he was murdered and was succeeded by his
widow, Zenobia.
6
Shapur devoted his remaining years to consolidating his power. He installed his sons as
kings in Armenia, Mesene (southern Mesopotamia), Gilan (on the Caspian coast), and
Sakas (in eastern Iran). In the north his kingdom extended to Iberia (Georgia); in the east
to the borders of Sogdiana and central Asia. He built dams and a new city, Bishapur, in
Persis. He also took an interest in the teachings of Mani, the founder of Manichaeism.
Shapur was succeeded by his son, Hormizd I.
7
270, 273?–293
Hormizd I (Hormisdas, 270–271), son of Shapur, was killed in battle against the
Sogdians and was followed by his brother, Bahram I (Varahan, 271–274). During his
reign Aurelian defeated Zenobia of Palmyra and reestablished Roman rule in the east.
Conservative Zoroastrian priests brought about the execution of Mani. Bahram was
succeeded by his son, Bahram II (274–293). An eastern campaign against the Sakae
was brought to an end by the Roman invasion of Persia under the emperor Carus, who
conquered Mesopotamia and took Ctesiphon. The mysterious death of Carus ended the
war (283). The new Roman emperor Diocletian installed Tiridates III in Armenia (c.
288). Bahram III, son of Bahram II, reigned for a few months and was deposed by his
8
uncle, Narseh.
293–302
Narseh (Narses) worsted his brother and rival, Hormizd, and drove Tiridates from
Armenia (296).
9
297
WAR WITH ROME. A Roman army under Galerius (See 297) was defeated near
Carrhae and Narseh recaptured Mesopotamia (297). The following year, Galerius
returned and crushed the Persians. Narseh surrendered to Rome Mesopotamia and other
territories east of the Tigris, the western part of Media was ceded to Armenia, and Iberia
became a Roman protectorate. The Romans and Persians then remained at peace for
forty years. During the reign of Narseh, the king of Armenia was converted to
Christianity.
10
302–309
Hormizd II, son of Narseh, was remembered as a just ruler. On the death of Hormizd
his natural heir, Hormizd III, was set aside by the nobility, who elected his posthumous
son, the child Shapur II.
11
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c. Shapur II to the Reforms of Khusrau I
309–379
SHAPUR II, the Great.
1
337–350
FIRST WAR WITH ROME (See 337–363). Shapur invaded Mesopotamia, won some
victories, but failed in three attempts to take Nisibis. In 350 he had to break off the war
and go east to counter an invasian of the Chionites (Huns), whom he defeated and forced
into an alliance (357). Beginning in 339 Christians began to be persecuted. Jews and
Manichaeans also suffered.
2
359–361
SECOND WAR WITH ROME. Syria was invaded, and Amida was taken after a
heroic defense (359). Singara and Bezabde were captured (360). Constantius attempted
in vain to recapture Bezabde and died in the following year. His successor, Julian,
invaded Persia, forced the passage of the Tigris, defeated the Persians north of Ctesiphon
but retreated before investing that city, and was mortally wounded in a battle near
Samarra (363). His successor, Jovian, made a treaty with Shapur in which Rome restored
all the Mesopotamian territories ceded by Narseh, as well as Nisibis and Singara. Shapur
was also given a free hand in Armenia, which he invaded and devastated in 365. He later
made it and Iberia vassal states (378).
3
371–376
THIRD WAR WITH ROME. There were no decisive results, and an obscure peace
4
followed. Persian power was at its zenith at the death of Shapur II. His immediate
successors, Ardashir II (379–383) and Shapur III (383–388), were weak, however.
Shapur concluded a peace with Rome (384) whereby Armenia was partitioned between
Rome and Persia. Bahram IV (388–399), probably the son of Shapur III, succeeded. He
placed his brother on the throne of Armenia. Bahram was killed in a mutiny and was
succeeded by his son, Yazdgird I.
399–420
Yazdgird I, the Wicked, was so called because of his conflict with the Zoroastrian
priesthood. The persecution of Christians and Jews ended for a time. Under the
patronage of Yazdgird, Sassanian Christians held the Council of Seleucia and adopted
the anti-Arian creed of the Council of Nicaea. Near the end of Yazdgird's reign,
toleration ceased when Christians began burning down Zoroastrian fire temples. In 409
Yazdgird struck a treaty with Rome and his rule was peaceful. He was succeeded by his
son Bahram V.
5
420–438
Bahram V, known as the “wild ass,” was supported by the Arabs against his cousin,
Khusrau, the choice of the nobles. He continued persecution of the Christians and
declared war on Rome (421) when the Christians crossed the border seeking Roman
protection. Bahram was defeated (422) and agreed to permit Persian Christians to seek
refuge in the Roman empire and to halt persecution. The eastern Christian church
declared itself independent at the Council of Dadiso (424). Persian Armenia was
reduced to a satrapy (428). Bahram campaigned against the Hephthalites (of Turkish
stock?), driving them out of Persia across the Oxus. Bahram was succeeded by his son
Yazdgird II.
6
438–457
Yazdgird II declared war on Rome and concluded peace in the same year (440). He then
campaigned successfully against the Hephthalites (443–451). Urged on by his minister,
Mihr-Narseh, and the clergy, Yazdgird sought to impose Zoroastrianism on Armenia
and Iberia (449). Strong Armenian opposition was crushed at the Battle of Avarair (451).
Yazdgrid's last years were spent fighting on the northern borders against the
Hephthalites. He died in 457 without a decisive victory. His younger son, Hormizd,
7
seized the throne.
459–484
Peroz, the elder son of Yazdgird, defeated the usurper Hormizd with the help of the
Hephthalites. His reign was marked by a severe famine and the renewed enmity of the
Hephthalites who in 469? captured Peroz and forced him to give his son as hostage and
to pay tribute. National resistance in Iberia and Armenia led to a revolt led by Vahan
(481–483). Persian forces were withdrawn from Armenia to aid Peroz's campaign
against the Hephthalites in which he was killed in 484. He was succeeded by his brother
Balash.
8
484–488
Balash, Peroz's brother, was selected by the nobles. The Persians agreed to pay tribute to
the Hephthalites. After Vahan had aided Balash in civil war, the king permitted
Armenians to practice Christianity and ended Zoroastrian practice in the province. With
royal approval, Bar-Sauma established Nestorianism (two natures of Christ) as the sole
doctrine of the Persian Christian Church (484–489). Balash was assassinated and
succeeded by the son of Peroz, Kavad.
9
488–496
Kavad (Kabades, first reign), son of Peroz, lived with the Hephthalites as a hostage and
was supported by them. Kavad supported the religiosocialist movement of Mazdak, son
of Bamdad. Mazdak seems to have been a Zoroastrian priest whose gnostic and
egalitarian doctrine gained support among the common people but hostility from the
nobles and the traditional priesthood. A conspiracy was formed against Kavad; he was
arrested and replaced by his brother, Zamasp, who ruled from 496–498. Kavad escaped
to the Hephthalmites, who accompanied him back to Persia where Zamasp resigned.
10
498–531
Kavad (second reign) returned to power and withdrew official support for increasingly
radical reforms demanded by Mazdak.
11
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d. Hormizd IV to the Muslim Conquest
579–90
Hormizd IV. War with Rome (Byzantium) continued. The Persians were defeated by
Maurice at Constantia (581). In 589 the Romans took Martyropolis, while the Romans
won an important victory near Nisibis. The war continued indecisively, weakening both
sides.
1
589
Persia was invaded by Arabs. The advance of the Turks constituted a real danger, but
they were defeated by the Persian general Bahram. Bahram was ordered to invade Lazica
but was met and defeated by the Romans on the Araxes. Superseded and insulted by the
king, he rebelled. Hormizd was deposed and murdered; he was succeeded by his son,
Khusrau.
2
590–628
KHUSRAU II PARVIZ (“the victorious”). Challenged by Bahram, Khusrau sought help
from Constantinople; Bahram then seized the throne and ruled as Bahram VI (590–591).
Khusrau was restored with the help of the emperor Maurice. Bahram fled to the Turks,
where he was assassinated. Under Khusrau the Sassanian empire reached its greatest
extent but then suffered a precipitous decline. Khusrau initially tolerated Christianity and
in the disputes between Nestorians and Monophysites favored the latter. At the end of his
reign, persecution was resumed.
603–606
3
The assassination of Maurice and his sons by Phocas (602) gave Khusrau the opportunity
to declare war against Constantinople. After defeating the forces of Phocas, Khusrau's
armies invaded Armenia and Syria and ravaged Cappadocia; many cities were captured,
including Dara (603), Amida, and Resaina (606). In 604 a Sassanian army had been
defeated by the Arabs at the Battle of Dhu Qar.
4
610–619
After Phocas was overthrown, Khusrau continued the war against his successor,
Heraclius (See 610–41). The leading cities of Armenia and Cappadocia were taken
(610–611), and Persian armies captured Antioch, Damascus, and Tarsus (613). Jerusalem
was occupied and the “true cross” taken to Ctesiphon (614). Anatolia was invaded,
Chalcedon taken (615), and Constantinople endangered (616). In 619 Alexandria was
taken, and Egypt came under Persian rule. Khusrau had restored the Achaemenid empire.
5
622–627
Heraclius counterattacked by invading Armenia, flanking and decisively defeating the
Persians, who then evacuated Asia Minor. Heraclius again invaded Armenia, defeated the
Persians, and ravaged Azerbaijan (623–624). Persian forces invaded Anatolia and took
Chalcedon but were prevented from aiding the Avars in their abortive siege of
Constantinople (626). In 627 Heraclius swept down into Mesopotamia and defeated a
Persian army near Nineveh. Khusrau fled, a revolt ensued, and Khusrau was murdered
and succeeded by his son Shiroe, who ruled as Kavad II.
6
628–629
Kavad II made peace with Heraclius, agreeing to evacuate Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Asia
Minor, and western Mesopotamia and to restore prisoners and the true cross. Kavad died
of the plague. The general Shahrbaraz (Sarbaros) usurped the throne and killed the
infant son of Kavad, Ardashir III (628–629), but was himself murdered (629). Khusrau's
daughter Borandukht (630–631) ruled for a year. On her death there was anarchy that
seriously undermined the central authority of the monarchy (631–632).
632–651
7
Yazdgird III, the grandson of Khusrau, ascended the throne in 632 but did not receive
the support of the Persian nobility in the face of the invasion to follow.
8
636–651
Arab invasion of Persia (See 632–750). The Persian army under the general Rustam was
defeated at Qadisiyya, near Hira (636). In 637 the armies of Islam occupied Ctesiphon.
Yazdgir's appeal for Chinese aid went unanswered (638). The Arab army swept over the
Iranian plateau and wiped out the imperial Sassanian army at Nihavand (642). Yazdgird
fled to Merv, where he was murdered while hiding in a mill (651). Sassanian rule had
ended, and the Persian provinces were incorporated into the caliphate. (See The Global
Picture)
9
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Table of Contents
Page 3
III. The Postclassical Period, 500–1500
A. Global and Comparative Dimensions
1. Periodization, 500–1000
a. Transformation of Regional Civilizations
b. Comparisons
c. Interregional Relationships
d. Continued Spread of Religions
e. The Global Picture
2. The High Postclassical Period, 1000–1500
a. Major Interregional Expansions
b. Interregional Exchanges
c. The Religious Context
d. The Global Picture
B. The Middle East and North Africa, 500–1500
1. The Rise and Expansion of Islam, 610–945
a. Overview
b. Muhammad and the Rise of Islam
c. The Umayyad Caliphate
d. The Abbasid Caliphate and Its Breakup
2. The Muslim Middle East and North Africa, c. 945–1500
a. Overview
b. Iran, Iraq, and Anatolia
c. The Mongol Empire and Its Successors
d. The Ottoman Empire
e. Egypt and Syria
f. North Africa
C. South and Southeast Asia, 500–1500
1. South Asia, 500–1199
a. North India
b. Deccan and Western India
c. South India
2. Southeast Asia, 500–900
a. The Malay Archipelago and Peninsula
b. Mainland Southeast Asia
3. South Asia, 1000–1500
a. North India and Deccan
b. Bengal
c. South India
d. Ceylon
4. Southeast Asia, c. 900–1557
a. The Malay Archipelago and Peninsula
b. Mainland Southeast Asia
D. Africa, 500–1500
1. Historical Trends, 500–1000
2. Regions, 500–1000
a. Sudanic West and Central Africa
b. Forest West Africa
c. Northeast Africa (Horn)
d. East Africa
e. West Central Africa
f. Southern Africa
g. Madagascar
3. Historical Trends, 1000–1500
4. Regions, 1000–1500
a. Sudanic West and Central Africa
b. Forest West Africa
c. Northeast Africa (Horn)
d. East Africa
e. West Central Africa
f. Southern Africa
g. Madagascar
E. East Asia, to 1527
1. China, 589–960
a. Periodization and Events
b. Political, Social, and Cultural Patterns
2. China, 960–1521
a. Periodization and Events
b. Political, Social, and Cultural Patterns
c. The Mongol Period
d. The Early Ming
3. Korea, 540–918
4. Korea, 918–1392
a. Major Events
b. Political, Social, and Cultural Patterns
5. Japan, 552–1185
6. Japan, 1185–1493
a. General Characteristics
b. Major Events
7. Vietnam
a. Origins to 1009
b. 1009–1527, Independence and Its Defense
F. Europe, 461–1500
1. Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages, 461–1000
a. Conditions of Life
b. The Early Church
c. Invaders of the West
d. The Ostrogoths in Italy
e. The Frankish Kingdom
f. The Lombards and the Popes
g. The Empire of Charlemagne and Its Disintegration
h. The West Franks under the Carolingian Kings
i. Germany under the Carolingian and Saxon Emperors
j. Spain
k. The British Isles
l. Scandinavia
2. Eastern Europe, 500–1025
a. The Byzantine Empire
b. The First Bulgarian Empire
3. Western Europe and the Age of the Cathedrals, 1000–1300
a. Overview
b. The British Isles
c. France
d. Germany
e. Scandinavia
f. The Papacy and Italy
g. The Iberian Peninsula
4. Eastern Europe, 1000–1300
a. The Slavs
b. Bohemia and Moravia
c. Poland
d. Kievan Russia
e. Hungary
f. Serbia
g. The Second Bulgarian Empire
5. Christian States in the Eastern Mediterranean, 1000–1300
a. The Byzantine Empire
b. The Crusades
c. Latin and Greek States in the Middle East
6. Western Europe, 1300–1500
a. Overview
b. The British Isles
c. France
d. The Iberian Peninsula
e. The Papacy and Italy
f. The Holy Roman Empire
g. Scandinavia
7. Eastern Europe, 1300–1500
a. Poland
b. Lithuania
c. Russia
d. Hungary
e. The Serbian States
f. The Byzantine Empire
G. The Americas, 1000–1525
1. Pre-Columbian South and Central America and the Caribbean, 1200–1530
2. Pre-Columbian Explorations by Europeans, 1200–1530
3. The Voyages of Columbus, 1492–1504
4. Post-Columbian Discoveries, 1497–1522
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III. The Postclassical Period, 500–1500
A. Global and Comparative Dimensions
1. Periodization, 500–1000
During the postclassical period, following the decline of the great classical empires of
Asia and the Mediterranean, three major developments stand out in world history and the
history of many individual societies: the expansion of civilization to new areas—in
Asia, Africa, and Europe, this involved contact with and outreach from the older centers
(China, India, the Middle East and North Africa, and Byzantium); the spread of major
world religions, including the development of Islam, the most successful single religion
during this period; and the intensification of international contacts in the Eastern
Hemisphere. These themes were all established in the first part of the postclassical
period, 500–1000. Changes in the Islamic world, the rise of new empires spreading from
central Asia, new patterns of international contact (involving new policies in China and in
Europe), and solidification of the major religions mark the second phase of the
postclassical period, 1000–1500. In European history this period coincides with the
Middle Ages (See Europe, 461–1500), and the resultant label “medieval” was formerly
applied to world history more generally during the postclassical era.
1
The regional civilizations of the Eastern Hemisphere were transformed in this period. The
Eastern Hemisphere ecumene continued to expand through trade, the spread of religions,
migrations of peoples, and conquests. In the Western Hemisphere, Mesoamerican and
Andean civilizations emerged in a context of complex, nonurbanized societies.
2
a. Transformation of Regional Civilizations
The major traditions of classical empires ended either through defeat and collapse or
transformation.
220–960
3
CHINESE IMPERIAL EXPERIENCE. The end of the Han Empire in 220 created an
era of warfare among small rival states. This “period of the Six Dynasties” lasted until the
reestablishment of imperial unity by the SUI DYNASTY (589–618) and the TANG
DYNASTY (618–907) (See 618–907). The new imperial system was more clearly based
on the bureaucratic skills of the scholar-gentry class, with the aristocracy and military
playing a less central role than in the classical system. This postclassical style of empire
was confirmed by its continuation in the SONG DYNASTY in 960, following a time of
instability after the fall of the Tang.
4
476–973
POST-ROMAN WESTERN EUROPE. When Roman rule collapsed in western
Europe, a number of states were established by groups that had migrated into the region.
The Franks (See The Frankish Kingdom), in the area of modern France and Germany,
established a kingdom whose leader, Charles the Great, or CHARLEMAGNE (r.
768–814), was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the pope in 800. The Carolingian
Empire disintegrated, and the later efforts by a German king, OTTO THE GREAT (r.
936–73), also failed to reestablish regional imperial unity. The major sources of unity
were the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH and the teachings of Latin Christianity.
5
527–1025
EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE AND BYZANTIUM (See The Byzantine Empire).
Imperial rule continued in the eastern Roman Empire under the emperors in
Constantinople. JUSTINIAN (r. 527–65) reconquered most of the Mediterranean areas
of the Roman Empire (See 532), but was unable to recreate broader Roman unity. The
postclassical eastern Roman Empire gradually became a powerful Greek imperial
monarchy known as the BYZANTINE EMPIRE, identified with the ORTHODOX
CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Despite losses to invaders from central Eurasia in the north
and to Muslims, it remained a major regional empire. The MACEDONIAN DYNASTY
(867–1055) led a resurgence, but following the death of Basil II (1025), internal divisions
and territorial losses reduced the empire to a minor state around Constantinople.
6
535–977
POST-GUPTA INDIA. The most successful effort to restore regional imperial unity in
7
India was made by HARSHA (r. 606–47) (See 606–47). However, his empire collapsed
at his death, and no later state assumed a dominant position until the end of the 10th
century, when Muslim military dynasties from the northwest continued the Muslim
conquest of India. Hindu culture provided the foundation for regional civilizational
unity without political integration.
651–945
EMERGENCE OF THE ISLAMIC MIDDLE EAST. The rise of ISLAM (See
Continued Spread of Religions) in the 7th century brought an end to the classical imperial
systems of the Middle East. Islam was a continuation of ethical monotheism and is
recorded as the revelation to the prophet MUHAMMAD (570–632). Muhammad's
successors as leader of the Muslim community, called caliphs, conquered most of the
Middle Eastern provinces of the Byzantine Empire in 634–43 and brought an end to the
Sassanid Empire in 637. Civil wars brought the UMAYYAD CALIPHATE (661–750)
and then the ABBASID CALIPHATE (750–1258) to power in an empire that initially
continued classical Sassanid and eastern Roman structures. However, the Islamic world
became a postclassical society unified by the faith and institutions of Islam. By the mid10th century, the caliphate imperial structure was replaced by a new style of state based
on commanders called sultans (See Overview), who initially gained titles and legitimacy
by supporting the then-powerless caliphs.
8
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b. Comparisons
In all regional civilizations, new structures emerged that were significantly different from
the classical imperial societies. In China, India, and the western Roman Empire, imperial
traditions were interrupted, and only in China was a restoration possible. However, in
China the restored empire emerged in a postclassical form dominated by the scholargentry. In eastern Rome and the Middle East, there was continuity of imperial unity, but
the basic nature of the imperial community was transformed. In all regional civilizations,
the basis of identity shifted from imperial unity to community identified by religion or
cultural worldview.
1
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c. Interregional Relationships
MIGRATIONS. In the Far Western region of the Eastern Hemisphere, the invasions of
the Huns in the 4th century were followed by Germanic migrations and the arrival of
additional peoples from the central Asian steppes, such as the Avars and Bulgars in the
6th and 7th centuries. Later invasions and migrations from Scandinavia laid the
foundations for new states from the Volga River to England and Greenland.
1
On the frontiers of China, tribal federations continued to rise and fall, exhibiting
increasing skill in managing large states. Some, like the Khitans (See 951–60), who ruled
much of Mongolia and Manchuria from 907 to 1123, integrated Chinese and nomadic
elements. In central Asia, the Uighars became important in interregional trade and crosscultural contacts.
2
Turkish peoples began to migrate into the Middle East during the Abbasid Caliphate;
they became the dominant political and military force in a new-style Muslim society
which was emerging by the 11th century.
3
TRADE. Commercial relations along the great Silk Road of Eurasia continued despite
the rise and fall of imperial states. By 1000, Muslim traders, Indian merchants, and
Chinese products and technologies were important elements in a growing hemispheric
network. Maritime trade in the Indian Ocean basin and growing trans-Saharan trade in
Africa, both dominated by Muslim merchants, opened vast regions to closer involvement
in hemispheric networks.
4
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d. Continued Spread of Religions
The communities identified by the major religions expanded far beyond the boundaries of
the classical regional civilizations.
1
BUDDHISM became firmly established in both the mainland and island societies of
Southeast Asia, receiving support from rulers in Srivijaya on Sumatra, a major maritime
power from the 7th to the 13th century. Central Asian societies, like that of the Uighars,
also saw an increasing Buddhist influence. During the SUI and TANG DYNASTIES in
China, Buddhism became a significant part of the broad synthesis of popular Chinese
religion, enabling Buddhism to survive periods of official opposition (See Political,
Social, and Cultural Patterns). In JAPAN, the emerging centralized monarchy in the 6th
and 7th centuries supported Buddhism, which became an important part of Japanese life.
2
CHINESE WORLDVIEW as a combination of cultural patterns, political concepts, and
religion spread significantly in the postclassical era. Chinese interactions with central
Asian societies continued, and peoples like the Khitans created effective political systems
combining Chinese and local traditions. In JAPAN during the Taika period (645–710)
(See 646–784), major efforts were made to shape the developing centralized monarchy
into one governed by a Confucian-style emperor. Aristocratic and warrior families and
Buddhist leaders were able to limit the impact of Confucian political models, but the
Chinese worldview in political, literary, and religious terms became a major component
of Japanese society in the postclassical era. KOREA was unified as a centralized
monarchy by the Silla dynasty (668–935) following Confucian models, and Korean
society and culture became strongly Sinified. VIETNAM had been conquered by the
Han Empire and later by the Tang. The LE DYNASTY (980–1009) (See 980) brought
independence, but the state was influenced by Chinese models, which provided a basis
for expansion. Chinese commercial involvement in the whole Southeast Asian region as
well as in central Asia in the postclassical era meant that Chinese influences on culture
and worldview were very strong in a vast part of Asia.
3
CHRISTIANITY spread significantly in the postclassical era. CATHOLIC
CHRISTIANITY emerged as the major unifying force in western Europe after
competition with other forms of Christianity, overcoming Arian Christianity among the
4
Franks and Celtic Christianity in the British Isles in the 6th and 7th centuries. Spreading
north and east, Catholic Christianity was adopted by rulers of Bohemia (9th century) and,
in the 10th and 11th centuries, rulers in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, and
Hungary. ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY spread beyond the borders of the Byzantine
Empire, with rulers of the Bulgars and early Serbs converting in the 9th and 10th
centuries. The conversion of King VLADIMIR I (r. 980–1015) of Kiev (See 980–1015)
brought Russia into the Orthodox Christian world. NESTORIAN CHRISTIANITY (See
1315) spread through a diaspora of traders and missionaries in central Asia and as far as
China. It was an intellectual force in the ruling courts but did not succeed in winning
mass support, and it lost many followers in the Middle East to Islam after the 7th
century.
ISLAM was the major new religious force in the postclassical era. Although the Muslim
community was identified in many ways with the Umayyad and Abbasid empires, social
institutions of learned scholars, or ulama, and pious devotional teachers, as well as
widely traveling Muslim merchants, provided vehicles for the expansion of Islam beyond
the military boundaries of the Muslim Empires. By 1000, the majority of the populations
throughout the Middle East were Muslims, having been converted by a long process of
social and religious transformation (See Overview). Muslims represented diaspora
communities of teachers, preachers, and merchants throughout Central, South, and
Southeast Asia, as well as in many parts of Africa.
5
ABSORBED WORLDVIEWS. Some of the major classical worldviews ceased to have
a separate existence by 1000 C.E., although they were still influential, as their major
themes were absorbed into other religious traditions. HELLENISM disappeared as an
independent worldview, but its concepts strongly influenced the development of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ZOROASTRIANISM all but disappeared following
the end of the Sassanid Empire, but many of its major themes influenced Jewish,
Christian, and Islamic thought. MANICHAEISM declined after the fall of the classical
empires (See 841–45) but had some missionary success in central Asia and China, being
declared the state religion for a time in the 8th century by the Uighars. Even though it
disappeared as a separate religion, its concepts of conflict between good and evil shaped
later thought, especially in Europe and the Middle East, and occasionally provided the
foundations for counterestablishment religions.
6
1000
RELIGIOUS CONTEXT. The great classical empires had been replaced as the
dominant features of the major societies in the Eastern Hemisphere by major interregional
religious communities. In the Far West, there were the two emerging Christian worlds of
Catholic and Orthodox Christianity; the Islamic world extended from Spain to central
7
Asia and south into Africa; in central and eastern Asia, Buddhism, either by itself or in
conjunction with the Confucian-based Chinese worldview dominated the societies from
Japan to Southeast Asia. Hinduism established itself as the culturally dominant force
within the broad complexity of South Asian society.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
e. The Global Picture
The EASTERN HEMISPHERE ECUMENE expanded with continuing interaction
between the great civilizations and the complex noncitied societies. The distinction
between the two types of societies and also among the civilizations became less clear as
religions, trade, and the movements of people widened to create networks that included
all but the most isolated societies of the Asian far north and African far south. The way
was opened for expansion on a hemispheric and a global scale.
1
Entirely separate from the Eastern Hemisphere ecumene, WESTERN HEMISPHERE
societies developed major temple-palace civilizations in the Mexican highlands around
Teotihuacán, in the MAYAN areas of the Yucatán Peninsula, and in the Andes around
great cities like Tihuanaco. These civilizations did not establish persistent dynamism or
continuity over time, however, as they experienced significant eras of decline, followed
by the emergence of new societies. By the year 1000, great “classical” periods in both
Mesoamerica and the Andes had come to an end, and networks of smaller complex states
existed.
2
COMPLEX NONURBANIZED SOCIETIES continued to develop in North America,
building on the traditions of earlier mound builders. HOPEWELL CULTURE created
large new centers in the Mississippi Valley (See North American Chiefdoms), like
Cahokia, and in the southwestern desert areas, large settlements were built by such
peoples as the ANASAZI. In the PACIFIC OCEAN BASIN, this was an era of
movement for the POLYNESIAN peoples (See The Pacific Islands in Pre-European
Times) who settled many of the islands and possibly facilitated interregional exchange of
plants.
3
LARGE INTERREGIONAL NETWORKS in the Eastern Hemisphere and new
contacts within the Western Hemisphere and in oceanic regions were developing by
1000, changing the picture of scattered but interacting separate societies and opening the
way for the creation of even larger basic networks.
4
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2. The High Postclassical Period, 1000–1500
The emerging networks involved different types of interactions, ranging from the
exchange of scientific ideas and commercial goods to religious conversions and military
conquests. These laid the foundations for more global integration by 1500.
Improvements in navigation facilitated some expansions. They included the magnetic
compass, in use on Chinese ships by 1100 and on Arab ships soon after; and
development of more accurate maps by the Arabs.
1
a. Major Interregional Expansions
INTERREGIONAL EURASIAN EMPIRES. Central Asian peoples created a series of
great conquest empires. The SELJUK SULTANATE emerged as a part of the
migrations of Turkish peoples into the Middle East. Seljuks conquered the eastern
provinces of the Abbasid Caliphate in the 11th century, proclaiming themselves the
protectors of the caliphs and Sunni Islam, and following their victory over the
Byzantine Empire at Manzikert in 1071 (See 1071), they took control of Anatolia.
Although the extended Seljuk Sultanate lasted only from 1037 to 1092, Turkish soldiers
became the ruling elite in many Muslim lands.
2
The MONGOL EMPIRE was the largest of the central Asian empires. It began with
the conquests of Chinggis Khan (c. 1170–1227) (See 1206), and by the time of his
grandsons' rule, it had become a network of large states. One grandson, KHUBILAI
KHAN (r. 1260–94), established the Yuan dynasty, which controlled China until 1368,
although expeditions to conquer Japan (1274 and 1280), Vietnam, and Java failed. A
second grandson, HULEGU (r. 1256–65), established the ILKHAN EMPIRE
(1256–1335) in the Middle East (See 1265–1335) and brought an end to the Abbasid
Caliphate with the conquest of Baghdad in 1258. Mongol expansion was stopped in
Syria in 1260 by MAMLUKS from Egypt. The central Asian territories were under the
control of Djagatai (d. 1241) and were the basis for later Mongol-Turkish states. In the
Far West, most Russian states, including Kiev and Moscow, came under the control of
3
the khans of the GOLDEN HORDE, whose descendants ruled parts of Russia until the
18th century. Invasions of Poland and Hungary brought devastation but no permanent
occupation. The fact that Mongols did not rule the Ukraine and the Baltic regions
encouraged those areas to distinguish themselves from Russia. The khans of the Golden
Horde converted to Islam in 1257, and the Ilkhan ruler Ghazan Khan became Muslim
in 1295. For almost two centuries, Mongol rulers provided a vast domain within which
trade flourished and ideas and technologies were exchanged across much of Asia and
Europe. However, Mongol leaders were unable to create effectively centralized control,
and the Mongol world gradually disintegrated.
TIMUR-I LANG (r. 1360–1405) (See 1398–99) (See 1405) created the last great
central Asian conquest empire, which controlled most of the territories of the Ilkhans
and Djagatai's successors. However, the empire collapsed with his death.
4
1000–1400
EARLY EUROPEAN EXPANSIONS. The postclassical states in Europe attempted a
number of interregional expansion efforts. (Irish monks had discovered Iceland in 790,
and Erik the Red discovered Greenland in 981.) SCANDINAVIANS made some of the
earliest efforts to expand, across the North Atlantic. Permanent settlements were
established in Iceland, and by the 11th century communities were established for a time
in Greenland and some people had traveled even farther west.
5
1000
Leif Ericsson driven off course to Newfoundland (which he called Vinland).
6
1003–6
Thorfinn Karlsefni, with three ships, explored parts of the North American coast.
Contacts definitely continued until 1189, perhaps until 1347, by which point Greenland's
settlements were in decline (See Scandinavia).
7
TEUTONIC KNIGHTS, a Christian military order, provided leadership for an
eastward expansion of warriors and farmers, changing the character of northeast Europe.
8
THE RECONQUISTA (reconquest) (See 1212, July 16) of the Iberian Peninsula by
Christians from the Muslims increased in intensity by the 11th century, and continued
until the final Muslim defeat in 1492.
9
THE CRUSADES (1095–1291) were the efforts led by the Catholic Church to take the
Middle East (See The Crusades)—especially the Holy Land and Jerusalem—from
Muslims. Although western European knights ruled Jerusalem for almost a century, after
a number of formally proclaimed Crusades, Crusader control in the Holy Land came to
an end in the 13th century. The Crusades had an important impact in that they intensified
commercial and cultural contacts, but they did not reflect any distinctive European
power.
10
Isolated efforts to explore the Atlantic were launched from Portugal, Spain, and Italy.
1270: the Portuguese began to explore the west coast of Africa. 1291: the Vivaldo
brothers from Genoa sailed into the Atlantic seeking a western route to “the Indies”; did
not return. 1340–41: the Portuguese rediscovered the Canary Islands (assigned to Spain
after conflicts, by Treaty of Alcaçovas, 1480). 1351: Genoese sailors may have reached
the Azores. 1360s: regular expeditions from Barcelona were made along the northwest
African coast. Technological limits prevented further activity until after 1430. Other
contacts with Africa: papal representatives sent to Ethiopia, 1316; Ethiopian delegations
visited Venice, beginning in 1402, to discuss alliance against Muslims.
11
1368–1500
CHINESE EXPANSION. The Yuan (Mongol) dynasty was defeated by an antiforeign
revolution that established the MING DYNASTY (1368–1644). Early Ming rulers
worked to reestablish Chinese dominance in the areas of long-standing Chinese interests
and influence, such as Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, and central Asia. In addition, in 1405–33,
Ming rulers sponsored a series of major commercial expeditions led by CHENG HO
(Zheng He) (See 1405–33). Great Chinese fleets sailed as far as East Africa and the
Middle East, establishing the potential for regular, Chinese-dominated trade throughout
the Indian Ocean. However, the emperor ordered the halt of the expeditions by 1433.
Nonofficial Chinese merchant activity continued in Southeast Asia, where Chinese
commercial communities became an important force.
12
1000–1500
ISLAMIC EXPANSION continued throughout the Eastern Hemisphere. Turkish
peoples and sultanates were important vehicles for this expansion. Although the Seljuk
sultans were defeated, other sultanates were established, creating a belt of states
controlled by mercenary military establishments identified with Islam. The OTTOMAN
SULTANATE (See The Ottoman Empire), established in the thirteenth century, gained
control over most of northern Africa, the eastern Arab world, Anatolia, and much of the
13
Balkan Peninsula by the early 16th century. The Muslim Mongol rulers in Russia and
Persia confirmed the military-style Muslim state in those regions, and the DELHI
SULTANATE (1206–1526) (See 1206–66) was the major Muslim state in India. NonTurkish sultanates developed as combinations of Muslim and local monarchical
traditions throughout Southeast Asia.
WEST AFRICAN MUSLIM STATES followed the pattern of combining Islamic and
local traditions. Islamic expansion in the region was confirmed by a sequence of major
states, beginning with the conversion of the rulers of Ghana in the 10th century (See
500–800), followed by MALI in the 13th century. The next state in the sequence was
the SONGHAY EMPIRE (emerging in the 14th century and ending in 1591), whose
leaders took the title of askia, or military commander.
14
EXPANSION THROUGH MISSIONARIES AND TRADERS. The major means by
which Islam expanded beyond the ruling elites in societies outside of the Middle East
was through the activities of merchants, who carried their faith abroad, along with their
products. From the South China Sea and the India Ocean basin to sub-Saharan Africa,
merchants were often the first contact between local peoples and Islam. An important
means for combining local and Islamic traditions was the development of SUFISM, the
Islamic form of mystical piety (See 950–1300). Sufism provided the basis for
brotherhoods that combined popular piety with organizations for social cohesion. Sufi
teachers were the major missionary force in the Islamic frontier areas. Great commercial
cities on the East African coast, in central Asia, and on the islands of Southeast Asia
became special centers for the popular expansion of Islam.
15
The Islamic world more than doubled in size between the 10th-century decline of the
Abbasid Caliphate and the early 16th century. This was largely the result of the activities
of Sufis, Muslim merchants, and sultans.
16
1400–1550
LATER EUROPEAN EXPANSIONS. By 1439 Portugal controlled the Azores and
granted land to colonists; Spain soon did the same in the Madeiras and (1480) the
Canaries (previously, the islands were inhabited by hunter-gatherers). Both countries
imported European plants, weapons, and diseases, set up sugar plantations for exports
to Europe, and brought in slaves from northwestern Africa as workers, foreshadowing
later developments in the Americas.
17
Western European states began larger efforts at expansion in the 15th century. The new
national monarchies of PORTUGAL and SPAIN played leading roles in supporting
maritime expeditions for commercial and crusading purposes. Developing European
naval technologies, utilizing rigid hulls and multiple masts with adjustable sails, made
transoceanic travel possible in the Atlantic. Such ships were also able to carry cannons
18
to give them extra firepower. Contacts with Asia gave Europeans knowledge of the
compass and explosive powder. Motivation for expansions included fear of the new
Ottoman Empire and the resultant desire to find independent trade routes, and an
unfavorable balance of trade with Asia.
PORTUGAL began a major program of oceanic exploration and trade under the
leadership of PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR (1394–1460).
19
Portuguese Exploration
1418–19 Exploration of Madeira Islands.
1427–31 Definitive discovery of Azores by Diogo de Sevilla.
1433
Afterten-year effort, Portuguese ships rounded Cape Bojador; increased
slave raiding.
1444
Nuño Tristam reached Senegal River.
1445
Dinís Diasrounded Cape Verde; increased trade, Portugal–West Africa.
1455–57
Alvise da Cadamosto, Venetian serving Prince Henry, explored Senegal and
Gambia Rivers, discovered Cape Verde Islands.
1470–71
João de Santarem and Pedro Escolar reached Mina on Gold Coast, set up
Portugese trading station (fort, 1482).
1472
Expeditions passed equator; Fernando Po discovered island that bears his
name.
1482–84 Diogo Cão reached Congo River.
1487
Portuguese King John sent overland expedition (Pedro da Covilhã) to India
and east coast of Africa.
Portuguese ships gradually moved along the African coast, with Bartolomeu Dias
reaching the Cape of Good Hope in 1487 and VASCO DA GAMA sailing around
Africa and entering the Indian Ocean in 1497. PEDRO CABRAL touched Brazil en
route to India (1500); regular Portuguese trade to India began. Da Gama attempted to
close the Red Sea to Arab trade (1501). Almeida defeated Muslim Indian Ocean fleet
(1509). Within the next half century, Portuguese commercial and military bases were
established throughout the Indian Ocean basin and in the South China Sea, in Goa
(1510; governorship of Alfonso de Albuquerque), in Malacca (1511), and in Macao by
1557. Jorge Alvarez first reached China in 1513. In 1542 Antonio de Mota first
reached Japan, after being blown off course.
20
SPAIN began building a major global empire after emerging as a national monarchy
through the union of Aragon and Castile, beginning in 1469, and the completion of the
21
Reconquista in 1492. In that year, QUEEN ISABELLA provided support for the
expedition of Christopher Columbus (See 1492), who hoped to find a westward route
to eastern Asia. He landed in the islands of the Western Hemisphere, and his trips were
followed by other expeditions that established Spanish control in Mesoamerican and
South American areas outside of those claimed by Portugal. Spanish expeditions
conquered and effectively brought an end to the regional civilizations of the Western
Hemisphere. Hernando Cortés destroyed the AZTEC EMPIRE of Mexico in
1518–21, and Francisco Pizarro conquered the INCA EMPIRE in Peru in 1531–36.
Further European expeditions opened the way for travel between the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans, with Vasco Núñez de Balboa sighting the ocean to be called the Pacific
in 1513 and Ferdinand Magellan organizing the fleet supported by Spain that in
1519–22 was the first to sail around the world (See 1519–22).
22
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b. Interregional Exchanges
COMMERCIAL AND MATERIAL. Expansion efforts involved increasing
interregional exchanges of goods. Traveling merchants were often a major vehicle for
creating broad interregional networks.
1
Trade routes in the great overland and oceanic networks increased in importance. The
Silk Road of central Eurasia flourished in the era of Mongol power, but gradually
declined in importance as other routes developed and security became less reliable
following the breakup of the Mongol Empire. Indian Ocean trade increased, first under
the leadership of local groups from southern Arabia, India, and Southeast Asia, and then
outside groups, such as the Chinese, became involved. A trade network was established
linking East African commercial city-states with the Middle East, India, and emerging
commercial centers like Malacca in Southeast Asia. At the beginning of the 16th century,
the Portuguese were able to dominate this system and link it directly, rather than through
Mediterranean intermediaries, with Europe. Products exchanged continued to include
spices from Southeast Asia and other expensive goods, but bulk goods, like sugar and
textiles, were increasingly involved. Trans-Saharan trade continued to flourish between
the Mediterranean lands and central Africa, but this was increasingly superseded by the
coastal trade that developed with the emergence of the city-states of East Africa and
especially with Portuguese expansion in the 15th century. The SLAVE TRADE came to
be a major element in this commercial network as trade in the Atlantic developed.
2
BUBONIC PLAGUE, or Black Death, spread interregionally along trade routes through
the exchange of bulk goods like grains. It began in the 1320s in the Gobi Desert, from
which it spread to China. It began moving west in 1339; hit the Middle East and North
Africa in 1347–48; reached Sicily in 1347, France in 1348, and western Russia in 1351.
Major population losses occurred in China, India, the Middle East, and Europe.
3
1000–1500
TECHNOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC EXCHANGES. New technologies were
4
exchanged relatively rapidly as they developed in the major societies. The MAGNETIC
COMPASS was developed in China and was adopted as a navigational tool by western
Europeans. This and other developments in navigation transformed the nature of oceanic
travel. GUNPOWDER was originally developed in China around 1000, but it had
limited use there until Mongols began to use “bombs” in sieges and the Ming military
developed some form of cannon. Other states developed artillery and hand-carried
weapons to give them military firepower. Cannons helped to defeat castle-based nobility
and, by 1500, the more successful centralized states were “gunpowder empires” (See
Global and Comparative Dimensions). These included the Ottoman and emerging
Russian Empires as well as the European monarchies.
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c. The Religious Context
The interregional religious communities developed comprehensive articulations that
became the standard for religious establishments in the regional civilizations. NEOCONFUCIANISM in China, especially as presented in the writings of Zhu Xi
(1130–1200) (See Political, Social, and Cultural Patterns), provided a comprehensive
statement of the Confucian tradition that became basic for the scholar-gentry-dominated
state. CHRISTIAN SCHOLASTICISM in western Europe was the product of a similar
comprehensive definition by teachers like Thomas Aquinas (1225–74) (See 1270),
whose writings became fundamental for Catholic Christianity. JUDAISM received an
influential and comprehensive presentation by Maimonides, or Moses ben Maimon
(1135–1204). In ISLAM, a broad standard synthesis also emerged but was not as
identified with a single person. In SUNNI ISLAM, four standard law schools developed,
and Sufism was integrated into the broader canon by al-Ghazali (d. 1111) (See 1111). In
HINDUISM, teachers like Sankara (c. 800) and Ramanuja (1017–1137) created a
comprehensive philosophical framework for the immense diversity of Hindu thought and
practice. In this way, the major religious traditions experienced an important
standardization and rearticulation of basic worldviews with roots in the earlier Axial Age
(See The Axial Period).
1
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d. The Global Picture
Great interregional networks of trade, conquests, and exchanges of ideas blurred the
boundaries between the major societies in the Eastern Hemisphere, and oceanic travel
opened the way for a fully global network. In this emerging global network, as Europeans
began to cross the Atlantic, the older temple-palace civilizations of the Western
Hemisphere were destroyed. Although the nomadic peoples of central Eurasia played a
significant role in hemispheric interactions, by 1500 they had become peripheral peoples
with little ability to influence major developments. The emerging great powers were the
monarchical states of western Europe and the bureaucratic gunpowder empires in the rest
of the Eastern Hemisphere. (See Global and Comparative Dimensions)
1
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(See 636–651)
B. The Middle East and North Africa, 500–1500
1. The Rise and Expansion of Islam, 610–945
a. Overview
In the early 7th century, Arab Muslim armies spread out from the Arabian Peninsula into
the surrounding lands and, in a wave of expansion that lasted about a hundred years,
conquered almost the entire Middle East and North Africa. The Sassanian Empire based
in Iran and Iraq ceased to exist, while the Byzantine Empire to the west lost large
territories around the Mediterranean basin, including Syria, Egypt, and North Africa (See
622–30). The political map of the region was completely redrawn as a new Islamic
empire established its dominion over lands stretching from Spain to central Asia. The
conquerors were initially a small minority ruling a non-Muslim society, but they set in
motion changes that in time reshaped the overall identity and fortunes of the region.
1
The Arabs brought with them their newly founded faith of Islam. While they did not
force conversion on the conquered population—mostly Christians, Jews, and
Zoroastrians—the Muslims made the adoption of the new faith socially and economically
advantageous. By the mid-10th century a sizable part of the population had converted,
and while the region was not yet predominantly Muslim, mass conversion was well
advanced, to be completed in the following three centuries or so.
2
The Arabic language, which until the conquests was confined to Arabia, spread in the
region together with Islam. In the lands from Iraq to Morocco the populations became
essentially Arabic-speaking; other languages, such as Greek, Aramaic, and Coptic,
steadily disappeared from common use, surviving mostly in liturgy and religious
writings. In Iran, the Persian language held out against this process of Arabicization, but
not without adopting the Arabic script and a vast vocabulary of Arabic words.
3
The Islamic religion that arrived in the Middle East in the 7th century was rudimentary
in form, consisting mostly of basic rituals, the divine revelation of the Qur'an, and the
4
directives of the Prophet Muhammad. The period up to the mid-10th century marked the
formative stage in which Islam elaborated its structures and established its distinctive
institutions. Islamic law, theology, tradition, and mysticism took shape, to be developed
to full maturity in the succeeding three or four centuries. A class of Muslim religious
leaders and scholars, the ulama, emerged as the custodians and interpreters of the faith
for the growing community. Their writings defined the terms of speculative thought and
communal debate on the nature of Islam and its place in society.
During this formative phase, Islam, and Arab-Islamic civilization in general, were very
much influenced by the Middle Eastern milieu in which they evolved. Greek philosophy
and medicine, Iranian concepts of state, Byzantine administrative practice, Christian
asceticism, Jewish and Zoroastrian codes of ritual purity, local architecture, cuisine, and
popular lore—these and other elements of the regional heritage carried over into the
Islamic period. Arab-Islamic civilization evolved as a synthesis of elements of different
origins brought together in an original unity.
5
The structure of politics also underwent great changes. The Islamic empire was initially
a unitary state ruled by a caliph and dominated by a small Arab elite that excluded nonArab converts to Islam from an equal share in the benefits of power. By the mid-10th
century the Abbasid Caliphate had been broken up into many virtually independent
political entities. Struggles over succession gave rise to opposition and separatist
movements, and to the greatest sectarian divide within Islam: that between Sunnis and
Shi’ites. The Arabs lost their monopoly on power as the system was opened to all
Muslims regardless of origin. The Abbasid caliphs became figureheads with little
political authority, and the creation of an imperial slave army composed of imported
Turks—an innovation of the period that remained a feature of Middle Eastern regimes
until modern times—further transformed the political landscape, introducing a new power
group that came to dominate the region's politics.
6
But while government became fragmented, the region evolved into a thriving
commonwealth. A single trading system now linked the basins of the Mediterranean
and the Indian Ocean. People, goods, and ideas moved freely within this vast sphere of
interaction, relying on transport by water and caravans (wheeled transport having
essentially disappeared in the region around the time of the Arab conquest, not to return
until the 19th century). Large cities, foremost among them Baghdad, emerged as
luxurious centers of culture, power, manufacturing, and consumption. In the agricultural
countryside, where most of the population continued to live, a “green revolution” took
place. New crops, including rice, sugarcane, cotton, oranges, and lemons, entered the
region from China and India, and these, together with new techniques and investments in
irrigation, improved both yields and diets. The population of the Middle East and North
Africa may have experienced an overall expansion during the period, reaching a
relatively high level of some 25 to 30 million in the 10th century.
7
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b. Muhammad and the Rise of Islam
On the eve of the rise of Islam, Arabia was a tribal, desert environment with no single
political organization or faith. The majority of its inhabitants were pastoral nomads
organized by tribe and clan, who fought with one another for access to precious
resources such as water, herds, and land. Some Arabs were sedentary and farmed at
oases, such as Yathrib, while at Mecca many of the inhabitants drew their livelihood
from trade caravans between Yemen and Syria.
1
Around 100 B.C.E., the northern Arabs developed a new saddle that allowed them to gain
greater control over the camels they rode. This breakthrough gave them the ability to
use the camel for military purposes, which allowed them to control trade in Arabia and
earn enough money from the transport and protection of goods to buy metal weapons.
Although confined to a largely nomadic environment, many Arabs, especially those in
the caravan trade, had contact with the two major empires to the north: the Byzantine
Empire centered at Constantinople (324–1453) and the Zoroastrian Sassanian Empire
(224–651), with its capital at Ctesiphon in Iraq. Both empires employed Arab
mercenaries to protect their borders with Arabia. The Byzantines used the tribe of
Ghassan, which converted to Christianity, while the Sassanians paid the Lakhmids, at alHira, for their military services.
2
Before the advent of Islam, most Arabs worshipped a variety of male and female deities.
Only a minority, who were neither Christians nor Jews, were monotheists (hanif).
Despite the vagaries of frequent feuds and raids (ghazwa), Arab tribes from surrounding
areas journeyed to Mecca during truce months to worship at the polytheist shrine of the
Ka’ba. The tribe of Quraysh in Mecca enjoyed special prestige as keepers of the
Ka’ba, as well as political and economic prominence built on fortunes drawn from trade.
3
610
FOUNDATION OF THE FAITH OF ISLAM. The founder of Islam was Muhammad
ibn Abdallah, a member of the tribe of Quraysh and the clan of Hashim who was born
4
in Mecca around the year 570. Orphaned at an early age, Muhammad found employment
in the caravan company of a rich widow named Khadija, whom he later married.
According to Islamic tradition, in 610 he received his first divine revelation. He was
ordered to recite the words that the angel Gabriel conveyed to him in Arabic from Allah,
the supreme and sole deity of the new faith of Islam. The revelations continued
throughout his lifetime and formed the Qur'an (“recitation”), regarded by all Muslims as
their divinely dictated scripture. As the Prophet of Allah, Muhammad's task, according
to Muslims, was to deliver the final and perfect message from God to all humanity.
Previous communications had been misunderstood or corrupted by the Jews and
Christians. As the bearer of the true message, Muhammad was considered the “Seal of
the Prophets,” the last in a line of monotheistic messengers from Adam to Jesus.
The name of the religion, Islam, means submission to Allah, to be demonstrated by the
five pillars of the faith defining the duties incumbent on all Muslims: salat (ritual
prayer), zakat (almsgiving), hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca), sawm (the fast during the
month of Ramadan, when the Qur'an was first revealed), and the shahada, the recitation
of faith that states, “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger.”
5
The Qur'an consists of 114 chapters (suras) organized, after the first short opening
chapter (the fatiha), from longest to shortest. Each chapter is divided into verses (ayas),
the longest chapter containing 286. The text covers a multitude of themes, from
descriptions of paradise and hell to social codes in matters of marriage and inheritance.
The Qur'an was not set down in writing by the Prophet himself during his lifetime. He
may have dictated parts of it to a secretary, but much of it remained scattered in written
fragments and in the memory of men, not unusual in a society that favored oral tradition.
The text was collected and organized in its definitive form around 644, some 12 years
after the Prophet's death.
6
During Muhammad's lifetime and for many years to follow, the new faith remained
rough and unformed. It took several centuries for Muslims to develop Islam's rich
theological and legal traditions, including its elaborate code of laws (the shari’a).
7
613
Muhammad began preaching Islam publicly in Mecca. His early themes involved
warnings about the end of the world and the Day of Judgment. Initially the Prophet met
little opposition, because he was perceived as merely a poet or a soothsayer (kahin), but
when he became insistent that there was only one god and that the Ka’ba must be
reserved for Allah alone, the response of the Meccans grew harsh, even violent. They
understood that Islam threatened their own beliefs, their prestige as the keepers of the
sacred shrine, and the prominence of Mecca as a site for pilgrimage and trade. The
earliest converts to Islam (Muslims) were members of Muhammad's family, young men
8
from weak Meccan clans, and outsiders, often of slave origin.
According to the Qur'an and later Islamic tradition, Muhammad made his famous night
journey and ascension to heaven (mi’raj) during this period. The Prophet began his
journey from Mecca or, according to many other traditions, from Jerusalem, on the
winged mule named Buraq. He met the prophets who had preceded him, and in the
highest level of heaven he appeared before the throne of Allah.
9
615
Emigration of a small group of Muslims to Ethiopia, in search of a new site in which to
practice their faith peacefully.
10
619
Death of Abu Talib, Muhammad's uncle and chief protector in Mecca. Without Abu
Talib's influence, life for Muhammad and his followers, a persecuted minority, became
increasingly difficult.
11
Death of Khadija bint Khuwaylid, the first wife of Muhammad and the first convert to
Islam. She supported Muhammad economically and stood by him when, as a prophet, he
was reviled by the Meccans. Muhammad had remained in a monogamous union with
Khadija, with whom he had many children. The only child to survive the Prophet was his
daughter Fatima (d. 633), whose sons would play a major role in later Islamic history.
None of Muhammad's sons by Khadija lived through infancy.
12
622, Sept
The hijra, or emigration, of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina.
Forced to flee the threatening environment of Mecca, Muhammad was asked to arbitrate
a bloody dispute between the rival Aws and Khazraj tribes at the oasis town of Yathrib,
known thereafter simply as Medina, meaning “the city” (of the Prophet). He soon
emerged as the local leader, establishing the first Islamic theocratic community
(umma), with himself as both Prophet and political leader.
13
The Islamic polity at Medina included those Meccan Muslims who had followed the
Prophet to Medina (muhajirun) and Medinan converts to Islam (ansar). Inhabitants of
Medina who did not accept Muhammad as their spiritual leader acknowledged his
political supremacy. These groups included three Medinan Jewish tribes (Banu
14
Qaynuqa’, Banu al-Nadir, and Banu Qurayza) as well as non-Muslim Arabs. In an effort
to win the support of the Jews, Muhammad initially incorporated Jewish observances,
such as the fast of Yom Kippur, into Islamic ritual, and designated Jerusalem as the
Muslim direction of prayer. The Jews, however, rejected Islam and opposed the
Prophet's mission on religious grounds.
The hijra became the first year of the Islamic calendar, a lunar calendar of 354
days—twelve months of either 29 or 30 days. The Islamic calendar is not adjusted
periodically to correspond with the seasons, and over time, religious holidays fall in all
seasons of the solar year.
15
624
The Battle of Badr. The victory of a small Muslim force over more numerous troops
protecting a Meccan caravan resulted in the strengthening of Muhammad's political and
economic position. Many of those Medinans who doubted him (munafiqun) were
silenced, and the Jewish tribe of Banu Qaynuqa’ was exiled.
16
625, March
The Battle of Uhud. Meccan forces marched to the outskirts of Medina to take revenge
for those slain at Badr, but the confrontation was inconclusive. The Jewish tribes
avowed neutrality, but Muhammad accused the most wealthy of them, the Banu alNadir, of aiding the Meccans and expelled them from Medina.
17
627, March
Battle of the Trench (al-Khandaq). About 10,000 Meccan troops unsuccessfully
besieged Medina. Muhammad and his 3,000 supporters dug a trench to prevent an attack
on the city. The failure of the Meccans demonstrated that the Muslims of Medina had
become a power to be reckoned with in western Arabia. After the battle, the Muslims
accused the remaining Jewish tribe, the Banu Qurayza, of treason. The men were
executed and the women and children sold into slavery. The Prophet now ruled a unified
Medina and sought further influence among the tribes of western and northern Arabia.
628
18
Treaty of Hudaybiyya. The Meccans agreed to peace with Muhammad for ten years.
19
629
The Meccans vacated their city for three days to allow the Muslims to worship at the
Ka’ba. All Muslims now focused on Mecca as the direction of prayer (qibla).
20
630, Jan
Meccan capitulation to Muhammad. The Muslims entered Mecca, cleared the Ka’ba
of idols, and established the city as their religious center. Three weeks later the unified
Muslim and Meccan forces defeated a confederation of beduin tribes from the nearby
city of Ta'if, at the Battle of Hunayn. Muhammad's prestige was confirmed and the
support of the Meccans cemented.
21
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c. The Umayyad Caliphate
THE ARAB-MUSLIM EMPIRE 632 C.E.-750 C.E. (MAP)
For a complete list of the Umayyad caliphs, see Appendix III.
1
661–80
MU’AWIYA I, THE FOUNDER OF THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY. Mu’awiya
established the first Arab-Islamic dynasty, with its capital at Damascus. He rested his
state on the support of the Arab tribes, gathering around him a circle of tribal chieftains
with whom he consulted regularly. While he ruled as a caliph, opponents defined his
regime as a form of kingship (mulk), an un-Islamic departure from the precedent of the
Rashidun caliphs.
2
Mu’awiya founded a decentralized state in which local governors, particularly in the
most troublesome province of Iraq, were given free rein to collect taxes and punish
rebels. The day-to-day administration of each province continued to be run by
Byzantine and Sassanid bureaucrats who maintained pre-Islamic governmental
divisions (diwans) and conducted official business in Greek and Pahlavi.
3
667
Islamic forces crossed the Oxus River into central Asia, the northeastern boundary of the
Islamic expansion.
669
4
First Muslim attack on Constantinople.
5
670
The garrison city of Qayrawan in Tunisia was founded. It served as the base for the
further expansion of Islam westward across North Africa.
6
671
Ziyad ibn Abihi, governor of Kufa, sent 50,000 troops to the Iranian oasis of Merv as
part of a policy to resettle Arabs in the area. These soldiers eventually intermarried with
the indigenous Zoroastrian-Iranian population, and their descendants played a major role
in the 8th-century Abbasid revolution that overthrew the Umayyad dynasty.
7
672
The isle of Rhodes was taken by the Umayyads.
8
674
Arab forces captured Crete.
9
674–80
A series of unsuccessful campaigns against Constantinople (See 673–78) as well as
raids against Armenia.
10
680, Oct. 10
Death of Husayn, the son of Ali, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and third leader
(imam) of the Shi’ite Muslims. After Mu’awiya's death, Husayn had attempted to wrest
political control from the Umayyad government. On his way to Kufa in search of
11
military support he and his followers were surrounded by Umayyad troops at Karbala
and then killed after being deprived of water for days. The suffering and death of the
Prophet Muhammad's grandson came eventually to be commemorated by the Shi’ite
community as a martyrdom, in a yearly ritual of communal mourning (the ashura)
held on the tenth day of the Islamic month of Muharram.
683
Umayyad forces reached Tangier and the Atlantic Ocean.
12
683–92
SECOND CIVIL WAR. The Umayyads put down several serious challenges to their
rule, restoring their effective hold on power after almost a decade of rebellions. The
most lengthy threat came from Abdallah ibn al-Zubayr, whose father, al-Zubayr, had
risen against the fourth caliph, Ali, in 656. Ibn al-Zubayr demanded that the caliph be
selected from among the tribe of Quraysh, not just the Umayyad clan. He claimed the
office and raised a revolt in Arabia and Iraq that lasted till 692, when Umayyad forces
killed him in Mecca.
13
Another challenge to the Umayyads came from the Qays tribal confederation based in
northern Syria and Iraq. It threw its support behind Ibn al-Zubayr, but the rival tribal
confederation of Kalb (based in southern Syria and Palestine) backed the Umayyads,
and in a bloody battle in Marj Rahit (July 684) they defeated the Qaysis. The feud
between the northern and southern tribal groups continued to fester, weakening the
Umayyad base of political and military support.
14
In 685–87 the Umayyads also faced the revolt organized in Kufa by al-Mukhtar on
behalf of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, a son of Ali by a concubine. The uprising
tapped the support of the mawali, or non-Arab converts to Islam, who were emerging as
an important social group with grievances against the regime for being treated as
second-class Muslims and having to pay the taxes demanded of non-Muslims, despite
their conversion. Al-Mukhtar proclaimed Ibn al-Hanafiyya as the Mahdi, the messianic
redeemer who would come at the end of time to institute a reign of justice. (This was the
first appearance of this idea, which became common in Islam, particularly in its Shi’ite
forms.) The uprising was crushed in 687.
15
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d. The Abbasid Caliphate and Its Breakup
MUHAMMAD AND THE DESCENT OF THE CALIPHAL DYNASTIES
For a complete list of the Abbasid caliphs, see Appendix III.
1
749–54
ABU AL-ABBAS AL-SAFFAH, FOUNDER OF THE ABBASID DYNASTY. The
first Abbasid ruler, a descendant of the Prophet's uncle al-Abbas, was proclaimed caliph
publicly in the mosque in Kufa on Nov. 28, 749, just months before the forces of the
Abbasid Revolution brought a final end to Umayyad rule. His regnal title, al-Saffah, “the
Shedder of Blood,” announced his promise to avenge the Shi’ites and Abbasids killed by
the Umayyads. He set up the initial Abbasid capital at Kufa.
2
751
Abbasid forces triumphed over the Chinese at the Battle of Talas in central Asia (See
747). Chinese papermakers were captured after this largely symbolic victory. Paper
manufacture then spread westward throughout the Islamic world, and factories were
founded in Baghdad (c. 800), Egypt (c. 900), Morocco (c. 1100), and Spain (c. 1150).
The advent of readily available paper increased the rate of manuscript production
throughout the Islamic world.
754–75
3
AL-MANSUR consolidated Abbasid authority, turned the troops of Khurasan—the
mainstay of his support—into a professional army, and created a highly centralized
bureaucracy that employed many mawali. The opening of this new avenue of social
mobility was one aspect of the general improvement in the status of non-Arab
converts to Islam. The new policy speeded up the process of conversion, especially in
Iran, where the estimated Muslim population increased from 8 percent in 750 to some 80
percent in 950. Some tensions remained between Arabs and Iranians, and they prompted
a court-centered literary movement called the Shu’ubiyya, which championed the
Persian language and Iranian cultural values above those of the Arabs. The pre-Islamic
Iranian ideas promoted by the Shu’ubiyya shaped Arabic literature, Abbasid court
ceremony, and notions of kingship and social hierarchy.
4
755
Abu Muslim, the former leader of the Abbasid Revolution in Khurasan, was killed by
order of the caliph, who feared his power in the province.
5
755–56
Revolt of Sunpadh (Sinbad) in Khurasan. Sunpadh was a Zoroastrian who preached that
Abu Muslim had not died, but would return again in the company of the Islamic Mahdi,
or redeemer, to institute a reign of justice. He fomented rebellion in the cities of
Nishapur, Rayy, and Qum.
6
c. 757
Death of Ibn al-Muqaffa, a Zoroastrian convert to Islam who became a secretary in the
Abbasid administration and translated many works from Pahlavi (Middle Persian) into
Arabic, including the famous fables Kalila wa Dimna.
7
757–960
THE MIDRARID DYNASTY. Centered in Sijilmasa in Morocco, the dynasty was
founded by Midrar (Sam'un ibn Yazlan), a Khariji Muslim and Zanata Berber from
Meknes, after a revolt against the Abbasid governor of Qayrawan. The Midrarid state
signaled that the egalitarian message of Kharijism continued to appeal to Berber groups
8
who resented Arab elitism and discrimination. The capital of Sijilmasa was founded
during the reign of Abu Mansur al-Yasa (790–823), who consolidated the dynasty's
territory. He married one of his sons to the neighboring Rustamid dynasty to ensure
peaceful relations. Sijilmasa became a major point on the gold trade route with Sudan
and attracted refugees from Muslim Spain (c. 818) as well as Jews interested in
commercial opportunities. The Midrarids sided with the Umayyads of Spain, along with
other Zanata Berber groups, but were vanquished by Fatimid forces in the 10th century.
758
Muslim armies destroyed parts of the Chinese city of Canton.
9
761–909
THE RUSTAMID DYNASTY. The second Khariji state in North Africa was founded
by an Iranian Muslim named Ibn Rustam, who had come to North Africa to serve as the
Abbasid governor of Qayrawan (758–61). He won Zanata Berber military backing and
founded his own theocratic state, where he took the title of imam and ruled as both a
spiritual and a political authority. The Rustamid state was significant as a center of
Khariji scholarship and was a focus of allegiance for other Khariji communities scattered
throughout North Africa. The capital of Tahert attracted many Khariji Muslims from
Iraq and flourished as a northern point on the trans-Saharan trade route. The Rustamids
failed to organize an effective army and lost Tahert to the Fatimids in 909. The survivors
escaped to the southern oasis of Wargala. Kharijism has survived to the present day in
the oasis of Mzab, on the island of Jerba, and in Jabal Nafusa.
10
762
FOUNDATION OF BAGHDAD, the new Abbasid capital, by al-Mansur. This first
truly Islamic imperial city, situated 18 miles north of the Sassanian capital of Ctesiphon,
was designed on a circular plan and was known as the City of Peace (Madinat al-Salam).
Canals were dug to make the site accessible to both the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Riverine access to Baghdad attracted traders from as far away as China, India, and
northern Europe. By the 9th century, the city's population had reached more than
300,000.
11
762
Unsuccessful revolt of the Shi’ite Muhammad ibn Abdallah, known as the Pure Soul
(al-Nafs al-Zakiyya), in Medina. His brother Ibrahim led an uprising in Iraq in Feb. 763
that briefly captured Basra and Wasit but was soon thereafter quashed by Abbasid
troops.
12
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2. The Muslim Middle East and North Africa, c. 945–1500
a. Overview
Between the breakup of the Abbasid Empire in the 10th century and the restoration of an
imperial hegemony under the Ottomans in the 16th century, the Middle East and North
Africa lost any semblance of political unity. Dozens of dynasties ruling over parts of the
region came and went, and the boundaries of states shifted endlessly. A broad political
division emerged, however, among several territorial units: Iran and Iraq, Egypt and
Syria, and North Africa. To these was added the area of Anatolia (Asia Minor), which
first came under Muslim rule during this period; after being tied initially to the political
destinies of Iran and Iraq, it developed into a distinct political entity that became linked,
under the expanding Ottoman state, with the newly conquered Balkan lands.
1
The Muslim advance into Anatolia and Europe brought a final end to the Byzantine
Empire, for eight centuries a neighbor and adversary of the Muslim states in the eastern
Mediterranean. In the western Mediterranean, however, Muslim states were on the
defensive as the Christians reconquered all of Spain and established military outposts on
the North African coast.
2
The end of the Abbasid imperial order reduced the caliphate in Baghdad to little more
than a symbolic presence; real power was vested in the institution of the sultanate and a
new type of regime characteristic of the postimperial era. The bureaucratic, landowning,
and merchant elites that had dominated the region gave way to slave soldiers and tribal
warriors. Slave armies, composed most commonly of Turks, became the mainstay of
dynasties everywhere; in Mamluk Egypt and Syria (1250–1517) the Turkish and
Circassian slave soldiers even became the rulers in place of a dynastic order. From the
11th century, large-scale migration of central Asian Turkish nomads into the region
overran large territories and brought to power Turkish tribal chieftains. In North Africa,
Berber tribal warriors defeated Arab-dominated regimes and established new dynasties.
3
In the midst of this political upheaval, the Middle East endured two major non-Muslim
military invasions, by the Crusaders and the Mongols. The onslaught from the east was
by far the more consequential for the region and caused unparalleled devastation. The
Crusader presence, on the other hand, was more in the nature of a prolonged nuisance; it
4
loomed large only in European annals. In the long term, neither invasion was able to
reverse the Muslim hold on the region.
The long-term social and economic effects of these movements of tribes and armies
across the region were felt most acutely in Iran, Iraq, and Anatolia. The influx of Turkish
nomads made large tracts of agricultural land the domain of pastoralists. It also brought
into the region a new ethnic element, one that became a formidable presence not only
within the political elites. The economic fortune of the lands farther west, especially
Egypt and Syria, was generally better, although the Black Death (See Interregional
Exchanges) and the recurrent plague epidemics that followed it caused massive
dislocations everywhere. The population appears to have suffered an overall decline
during the period.
5
Despite the unsettled conditions and political fragmentation, this was a period of
remarkable cultural achievement. A unity built on a universal religion and civilization
took the place of political unity. The mass conversion to Islam was completed, and the
population became almost solidly Muslim. And the faith itself reached maturity as an
elaborate system of belief: Islamic law developed into a comprehensive code, with four
recognized schools of interpretation; the madrasa came into being as the institution of
advanced religious learning; Sufism developed organized orders and became integrated
into Islamic thought and worship (See 950–1300); the Sunni-Shi’ite sectarian divide
became clearly defined; and a large body of distinguished writing gave definitive form to
Islamic tradition and learning.
6
Impressive creativity also marked secular fields of study, ranging from astronomy and
algebra to philosophy and history. The period produced some of the region's most
celebrated Arabic, Persian, and Turkish literary works, and some of its finest
architectural and artistic creations. While religious opinion had its quarrels with
philosophy, Islam in general did not seriously oppose or stifle work in the physical and
natural sciences, which remained productive into the 15th century.
7
In the sphere of high culture, as in politics and economics, men were dominant. The
period reinforced an inherited social order based on the superior rights and power of
men. Islamic law, more readily enforced in the cities, did provide women with rights to
property, inheritance, and matrimonial support, and these helped them acquire leverage
within their families. But in many respects the legal norms and social practice worked in
men's favor. In both the city and the countryside, needy women worked outdoors, in
menial and lowly professions. The female seclusion associated with Islamic society was
an ideal achieved only in the better-off classes. Women's veiling, part of a code of female
modesty and sexual segregation, was commonplace, particularly in the cities.
8
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b. Iran, Iraq, and Anatolia
SELJUK SULTANS (1055-1194)
945–1055
THE BUYIDS (BUWAYHIDS). The fall of Baghdad, as well as parts of Iraq and Iran,
to the three conquering Buyid brothers established a new regime in the region. While
maintaining the Abbasid caliphs as titular heads of state, the Buyids created a
confederation of several principalities ruled by members of their family (based
primarily in Baghdad, Shiraz, and Rayy). They revived some of the Persian
monarchical traditions, including the Sassanian title of shahanshah (king of kings),
held by the leading family member. Their ability to rule effectively in Baghdad was
undermined in part by the poor state of the Iraqi economy, which could not adequately
support their army (made up of Daylamites and Turkish slaves). After the death of their
greatest ruler, Adud al-Dawla, in 983, the Buyids suffered from succession struggles,
factionalism, and the loss of outlying territories. Rayy fell to the Ghaznavids in 1029,
and the Seljuks brought an end to Buyid rule in Baghdad in 1055 and in Shiraz in 1062.
1
The Buyids had Shi’ite leanings, and it was during their period of rule that the SunniShi’ite divide in Islam became fully established and Shi’ism developed its distinct
sectarian character. Buyid officials intermittently patronized the Shi’ites in Baghdad and
encouraged their developing into an armed political group that fought it out with Sunni
groups. At the same time, Shi’ite scholars put Shi’ite hadith, law, and theology into
written form, and new, typically Shi’ite communal rituals became established, notably
the annual public mourning for the death of Husayn at Karbala (the ashura), the public
cursing of the first two caliphs, and pilgrimages to the tombs of Ali's family. Largely in
response to this Shi’ite sectarianism and its challenges, the Sunnis developed a
conception of themselves as a distinct Muslim community. The Abbasid caliph al-
2
Qadir (991–1031) took the lead in asserting an explicitly Sunni position, one that
upheld the legitimacy of all four of the first caliphs.
950
Death of Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi (b. c. 870), one of the greatest Middle
Eastern scholars and philosophers. He wrote extensively on logic, ethics, politics,
grammar, mathematics, and music. Drawing on Aristotelian and Platonic thought, he
gave primacy to philosophy as the path to divine truth, presenting religion as an
approximation of the truth more suitable to the masses. His Kitab al-musiqi al-kabir
(Grand Book of Music) remains one of the most comprehensive and systematic treatises
on the theory of Middle Eastern music. It discusses the science of sound, intervals,
tetrachords, instruments, and compositions, and outlines a lute fretting that incorporated
two newly introduced neutral or microtonal intervals in addition to the basic diatonic
arrangement of Pythagorean intervals.
3
950–1080
Ascendancy of Kurdish dynasties. Several Kurdish dynasties established states in the
second half of the 10th century: the Shaddadids (c. 950) and the Rawwadids (later 10th
century) in Azerbaijan, the Hasanuyids (c. 960) and Annazids (c. 990) in the central
Zagros region, and the Marwanids (982) in southeastern Anatolia. Their regimes were
set up in mountainous regions, relied on the military power of Kurdish tribesmen rather
than slave soldiers, and worked with rudimentary administrative systems. Their rise
reflected the general flourishing of local autonomy brought about by the breakup of the
Abbasid Caliphate.
4
950–1100
Emergence of the Muslim religious college (madrasa). The madrasa had its origins
probably in 10th-century Khurasan, from which it spread steadily throughout the region
to become the standard Muslim institution of advanced religious and legal training.
Subjects commonly taught in the madrasas included Islamic law, hadith, Qur'anic
commentary, Arabic grammar, and theology. Students worked individually with
teachers to acquire mastery of particular texts along with written certification of their
authority to teach those texts to others. The colleges were set up as private acts of
charity and were supported by endowed property (waqf), which paid the salaries of the
5
staff and stipends for students.
950–1250
DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAMIC LAW. The four major schools (madhhabs) of
Islamic law—the Hanafi, Shafi’i, Maliki, and Hanbali—were established during the
period as the only recognized interpretations; over time, a variety of other schools that
had emerged disappeared from the scene. The differences among the four schools
revolved around matters of detail rather than grand issues of principle.
6
Legal scholarship mushroomed as jurists codified rules and case materials, issued
standardized legal manuals and collections of legal opinions (fatawa), and even created
legal devices (hiyal) for getting around certain restrictive principles without violating the
letter of the law. Islamic law, the shari'a, was regarded as immutable and, according to
most jurists, no longer open to independent interpretation by scholars. In practice,
however, judges and jurisconsults accommodated legal principles to custom and
circumstance, and a great degree of flexibility in the interpretation and application of
the law prevailed.
7
One of the striking developments of the period was the fierce factional rivalry among
the schools of law. In the 11th and 12th centuries the schools evolved from scholarly
groups committed to a shared legal doctrine into sectarian movements that cultivated
mass followings and stirred popular passions. In Baghdad and eastern Iran there were
struggles, including bloody street battles, between adherents of different schools
competing for influence and patronage. This factionalism subsided after the 12th
century, and affiliation with the legal schools ceased to be a source of intense contention.
8
950–1300
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUFI ORDERS AND THOUGHT. From numerous
loose associations of mystics led by independent masters, the Sufi movement matured
during the period into a number of formally organized religious orders or brotherhoods
(tariqat). Each order defined its own particular doctrines, modes of worship, and
initiation rites, which it attributed to an originating master, after whom the order was
usually named. The major orders, such as the Qadiriyya, Rifa’iyya, and Suhrawardiyya,
grew beyond their local origins and became regional, establishing chapters whose
members were all considered disciples of a common spiritual ancestor.
The Sufi orders varied widely in their practices and general outlook: some tended toward
a sober pietistic and ascetic view consistent with the scripturalist conception of Islam;
others promoted ecstatic practices, magical beliefs, and the veneration of saints. But
9
10
everywhere, Sufi lodges (khanaqas) became centers of prayer, instruction, and
pilgrimage, and worship at the tombs of saints developed into a central feature of
popular Islam.
Alongside the institutional development of Sufism came also the steady integration of its
initially separate ways of thought and practice with mainstream Islamic belief and
worship. Treating Sufism as a science, writers worked out a systematic body of thought
that integrated Sufism with law and theology and helped to legitimize it as an
acceptable path to Muslim spiritual fulfillment. Most noteworthy was the work of the
great theologian al-Ghazali (d. 1111), who developed a definitive conception of Islam
that brought together law and Sufism as compatible and complementary aspects of the
faith.
11
967
The death in Baghdad of Abu al-Faraj Ali al-Isfahani (b. 897), the poet and socialite
famous for his monumental Kitab al-aghani (Book of Songs). The work compiled an
immense corpus of songs, anecdotal material, and popular lore; it forms an unequalled
treasure of information on the culture, musical life, and social history of early Islamic
society.
12
977–97
SEBUKTIGIN, FOUNDER OF THE GHAZNAVID DYNASTY. A Turkish slave
general in the service of the Samanids, Sebuktigin established a state with its capital at
Ghazna, south of Kabul in Afghanistan (then on the remote fringes of the Islamic
world). He actually built on the base prepared by his commander, Alptigin, who had set
up an autonomous city-state in Ghazna in 961. The Ghaznavid regime was rather
decentralized, relying on the services of slave soldiers paid by way of grants of tax
revenue from land (known as iqta’). The regime proclaimed its allegiance to the Abbasid
Caliphate and cultivated Islamic learning and Persian literature. The dynasty lasted until
1186, and at its height (under Sebuktigin's son Mahmud, 998–1030) it ruled
Afghanistan, Khurasan, Khwarazm, and northern India.990–1096. Uqaylid rule in
Mosul. The Buyids took the region of Mosul from the Hamdanids in 979, but in 990 the
Uqayli Arab tribe established itself there, after a short-lived attempt by the Hamdanids to
restore their rule. The Uqaylid dynasty, which held Mosul until 1096, is usually said to
have been Shi’ite, although the evidence of its religious leanings appears inconclusive.
13
995
Death of Ibn al-Nadim, a librarian whose Fihrist (Catalogue) was an annotated
bibliography of all the works of Arabic literature available at the time, including many
now lost.
14
Death of Abu Ali al-Tanukhi, a judge in Buyid service and author of a book of
anecdotes (Nishwar al-muhadara) that throws light on the social life of his time.
15
c. 998
Ali ibn Mazyad, leader of the Arab tribe of Banu Asad, established a virtually
independent Mazyadid state in the Kufa area south of Baghdad. Backed by a powerful
tribal army, the Mazyadids enjoyed great influence in the area for a century and a half.
They acquired titles and subsidies from the Buyids in return for military services. Their
most lasting achievement was the founding of the city of Hilla, which became their
capital.
16
998–1030
MAHMUD OF GHAZNA. The Ghaznavid state based in Afghanistan reached the
height of its power under Mahmud, who ranked among the great Middle Eastern leaders
of his time. He distinguished himself with his extensive military conquests, his
patronage of literary talents (including Firdawsi), and his fervent championship of
Sunnism in an age of Shi’ite victories. He annexed Khurasan from the Samanids in
999, took the region of Rayy in western Iran from the Buyids in 1029, and occupied
parts of northern India. But within ten years of his death the Ghaznavids lost his Iranian
acquisitions to the Seljuks.
17
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c. The Mongol Empire and Its Successors
1258–60
Mongol forces brought territories in Iraq and Anatolia under Hulegu's rule, but failed
to hold on to Syria, where they suffered defeat by the Mamluks (See 1260).
1
c. 1260
The principality of Karaman in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains was founded by
the Turkoman leader Karaman ibn Musa. It emerged as a formidable power in central
Anatolia and a rival to the Ottomans until its annexation by them in 1468.
2
1261
Menteshe Bey, a Turkoman leader, launched the conquest of Byzantine ports and lands
in western Anatolia, establishing the principality of Menteshe in the area. It survived
until its absorption by the Ottomans in 1390.
3
1265–1335
THE ILKHANID STATE AFTER HULEGU. Hulegu succeeded in creating an
extensive Middle Eastern empire that included Iran, Iraq, and much of Anatolia. His
descendants, who held the title of ilkhan (viceroy), ruled the empire as a unified state
until 1335, after which it disintegrated into rival provincial regimes. The capital was set
up initially at Maragha in Azerbaijan, but it was moved by Ilkhan Abaqa (1265–82) to
Tabriz, and then by Oljeitu (1304–16) southeast to Sultaniyya.
4
The Ilkhanids relied on the existing Iranian bureaucracy to handle their administrative
5
and financial affairs. Iranian Muslims served commonly as their chief ministers, the
most famous of whom was Rashid al-Din (1247–1318). At least in the first three
decades after Hulegu, their main aim was to extract as much revenue as possible from
the population, which suffered enormous tax demands. During that period the Mongols
were pagan or Buddhist in their religious inclinations, and freed their non-Muslim
subjects from their previous social restrictions and tax burdens. The rule of Ghazan
(1295–1304), who converted to Islam, marked an important shift in Ilkhanid policies,
both fiscal and religious.
The Mongol period was of cataclysmic consequences for the region. In addition to the
unparalleled massacre and destruction—described by Muslim chroniclers as a
holocaust—the Mongol invasions caused lasting demographic and economic changes.
Large numbers of Turks settled permanently in Iran, establishing a formidable Turkish
presence in the country, especially in the northwestern region of Azerbaijan. The
nomadic influx also turned extensive lands from agricultural to pastoral use and brought
a long-term shift in the area's economic balance.
6
1273
Death of Jalal al-Din Rumi, perhaps the greatest of the Persian mystical poets. Born in
Balkh in 1207, he fled west from the advancing Mongol hordes and finally settled in
Konya. His large collection of impassioned lyrical works (among them the celebrated
Mathnavi) explores the spiritual paths to the identification of the human self with the
divine being, blending mystical sentiment with amorous feelings. He became the patron
saint of the Mevlevi Sufi order, whose ceremonies incorporated music and whirling
dances in special dress (from which came their common description as “whirling
dervishes”). The order spread from its headquarters in Konya to other cities, and won
adherents among the Ottoman elite and the patronage of Ottoman sultans.
7
1274
Death of Nasir al-Din Tusi, a prominent Shi’ite theologian famous for his work in
astronomy. He was high in the counsels of Hulegu, who built for him an observatory in
Maragha that produced important findings. Qutb al-Din Shirazi (d. 1131), another
distinguished astronomer, collaborated with Tusi in his scientific research.
c. 1283
8
The principality of Germiyan was founded in western Anatolia, with its capital in
Kutahya. It was one of the leading Turkoman principalities on the Byzantine frontier,
and was annexed by the Ottomans in 1389–90.
9
1291
Anti-Jewish riots in Iraq and Iran. The chief minister of the state, the Jewish scholar
and physician Sa’d al-Dawla, was murdered along with his Jewish associates, and a
widespread purge removed numerous Jewish officials who had entered the service of the
Mongol administration. This marked the end of three decades of unusual opportunity
and freedom enjoyed by the Jews during the non-Muslim phase of Ilkhanid rule.
10
1292
Death of Sa’di, among the giants of Persian prose and lyric poetry. His Gulistan, a
volume of practical wisdom and wit, ranks among the finest works of Persian classical
literature.
11
1294
The Ilkhanids introduced paper money in an attempt to deal with the bankruptcy of the
treasury. The paper certificates, which followed Chinese models, brought all business to
a standstill and had to be withdrawn.
12
Death of Safi al-Din al-Urmawi (b. 1216), an accomplished Baghdadi musician and
author of an important treatise on musical theory (al-Adwar). His detailed analysis of
melodic modes and scale intervals had a profound influence on later writers and on the
musical systems of Iran and Turkey.
13
1295–1304
RULE OF THE ILKHAN GHAZAN. Breaking away from the pagan or Buddhist
affiliations of his predecessors, Ghazan embraced Islam and instituted it as the religion
of the state. Buddhist temples were destroyed and the traditional restrictions on
Christians and Jews restored. The conversion of the Mongols contributed to their gradual
assimilation into local society. With the aid of his able minister Rashid al-Din, Ghazan
also attempted to correct the damage caused by decades of Mongol misgovernment and
14
exploitation of the population. He instituted reforms to regulate taxation, improve
security in the countryside, encourage recultivation, and correct disorder in the military
and administration. It is not clear to what degree his program was actually implemented,
although the new official orientation probably improved efficiency and the overall
treatment of the population.
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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d. The Ottoman Empire
EXPANSION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE (MAP)
The story of the Ottoman Empire has its beginning around the turn of the 14th century,
in a corner of northwestern Anatolia where a group of Muslim Turkish tribesmen led
by their chieftain, Osman, started to expand beyond their small principality on the
Byzantine frontier. Their territorial base eventually grew into a great world empire that
was named after Osman and was ruled by his descendants in unbroken succession
throughout its nearly six and a half centuries of history.
1
When the Ottomans emerged on the scene as a political force, Anatolia was divided into
a number of principalities (beyliks) ruled largely by Turkoman chieftains and families.
The population was a mix of Muslims and native Christians, many of whom were
converting to Islam. This situation was the outcome of a long process, beginning in the
11th century, by which Muslims, primarily western (Oghuz) Turks originating in central
Asia, steadily broke through the Byzantine defenses and conquered Anatolia. New
waves of Turkish and Muslim refugees fleeing from the Mongols entered Anatolia in the
13th century.
2
Information on the early Ottomans remains very patchy, and legends woven around
their origins and exploits further complicate the task of reconstructing their formative
years. Ottoman chroniclers portrayed them as Muslim ghazis, or holy warriors, driven
to conquest and expansion by their religious zeal for the struggle against the infidel. This
view, which modern scholarship has often perpetuated, appears to have been very much
an idealization created by later writers and servants of the royal house. In reality the
early Ottomans, like other Turkish nomads in the milieu of western Anatolia, conquered
land and engaged in predation to meet the economic needs of their pastoral society
rather than as part of a strictly religious campaign. They expanded at the expense of
fellow Muslims, did not force conversion on the conquered Christian peoples, and
maintained friendly ties with the Byzantine population, even using Christians in their
3
armies.
The early Ottomans were nomadic pastoralists with an elected chieftain and an armed
force made up of bands of tribesmen on horseback. But as the territory under their rule
expanded and the tasks of governing and fighting became more complicated, their tribal
organization was transformed into a settled state. In the course of the 14th century, they
developed a standing army and a bureaucracy, shifted from pastoral life to agriculture,
and transformed their chieftains into sultans who ruled as despotic monarchs. The result
was a complex imperial system fashioned from a blend of Islamic, Turko-Mongol, and
Byzantine institutions.
4
1. From Frontier Principality to Regional Power
c. 1280–c. 1324
OSMAN I, FOUNDER OF THE OTTOMAN DYNASTY. Although the chronology
of his activities before 1302 cannot be established accurately, Osman appears to have
been elected chieftain by his tribesmen sometime around 1280, and to have led their
seasonal migrations and predatory raids from their pasture areas around Dorylaeum
(Eskishehir) in northwestern Anatolia. He took advantage of the weakness of the
Byzantines by launching attacks against their frontier settlements. His territorial base
expanded steadily, especially in the fertile plains of Bithynia, and many native Christians
became subject to his authority and even entered his service.
5
1302, July 27
Battle of Bapheus, outside Nicomedia, in which Osman defeated a Byzantine force and
strengthened his standing as a recognized local leader. In the following years his forces
were able to capture small forts in the area, although the larger cities, too heavily
fortified for the light arms of the Ottomans, held out for a while.
6
c. 1324–62
ORHAN, Osman's son, continued the policy of territorial expansion, conquering
virtually all of northwestern Anatolia and establishing a foothold in Europe. Cities and
agricultural populations came under his family's control, and the frontier principality
developed more fully into a settled state as well as a formidable player in the region's
affairs. The title of sultan first appeared on coins minted by Orhan.
7
1326, Apr. 6
Fall of Bursa to the Ottomans, after a lengthy siege. Orhan made the city his capital.
8
1327, May 13
Ottoman conquest of Lopadion (Ulubad).
9
1329, June 10
Battle of Pelekanon, in which Orhan defeated a Byzantine expedition personally
commanded by the emperor Andronicus III. The Byzantines abandoned further efforts to
organize resistance to the Ottomans in Anatolia or to supply the remaining Byzantine
cities there.
10
1331, Mar. 2
Ottoman conquest of Nicaea (Iznik). The first Ottoman medrese, or Muslim religious
college, was created in the city that year, using a converted church building.
11
1337
Ottoman conquest of Nicomedia (Izmit).
12
1345
The Ottomans absorbed the neighboring Turkoman principality of Karasi, which
brought them to the southern shores of the Dardanelles. They first crossed into Europe
that year at the request of John Cantacuzenos, a claimant to the Byzantine throne who
solicited their military assistance in his struggle for power. Orhan helped him take the
towns along the Black Sea, and to cement the political alliance was given
Cantacuzenos's daughter Theodora in marriage. From that point on, Ottoman troops
13
moved back and forth across the straits.
1354
Ottoman conquest of Gallipoli, after the establishment of a bridgehead on the peninsula
(in Tzympe) in 1352. From this European base, troops led by Orhan's sons Suleyman
and Murad began to launch raids northward into Thrace and to expand the area of
Ottoman occupation. The Ottomans lost Gallipoli in 1366, but in 1376 the Byzantine
emperor ceded it to the sultan by way of tribute.
14
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e. Egypt and Syria
935–69
The IKHSHIDID DYNASTY in Egypt and southern Syria. The first of this line was
Muhammad ibn Tughj, later known as the Ikhshid (r. 935–46); he arrived in Fustat in
935 as the new Abbasid governor. His outstanding accomplishments were the defense of
Egypt against Fatimid raids and the reorganization of the government. Under the
Ikhshidids, Egypt continued its reemergence, begun during the Tulunid period, as a
political and economic center. Ties with the caliphal government in Baghdad were
slowly loosening, allowing the Egyptian administration to retain more of the country's
revenue, build a large army, and assume a more independent role in regional affairs.
After the Hamdanid takeover of Aleppo in 945, the Ikhshidids retained a hold on the
areas of Damascus and Palestine.
1
945–67
Reign of SAYF AL-DAWLA, emir of Aleppo and founder of the Syrian branch of the
HAMDANID DYNASTY. At the time of his ascent to power, the city had nominally
been under the rule of the Ikhshidids, based in Egypt. Formerly the commander of
Hamdanid forces in Iraq, he was able to seize Aleppo for himself, thanks to support from
the Banu Kilab, a local beduin tribe. The emirate of Aleppo, which embraced most of
central and northern Syria, including Homs, functioned as a buffer state between the
Ikhshidids, the Byzantine Empire, and the Iraqi states. During the final years of Sayf alDawla's reign, the Byzantines put increasing pressure on his state and occupied its
northern and western provinces. The conflict with Byzantium conferred on Sayf alDawla a reputation as a Muslim crusader, a noble image that court poets such as alMutanabbi and Abu al-Firas helped to perpetuate.
965
2
Death of Abu al-Tayyib AL-MUTANABBI (b. 915), the most honored poet of
medieval Arabic literature. He was most renowned for his panegyrics and masterful
manipulation of language. He spent a good part of his career at the court of the Syrian
ruler Sayf al-Dawla, whose exploits he immortalized in his poetry.
3
969–1171
The FATIMID DYNASTY in Egypt. The Fatimids, who had already established an
empire in North Africa, moved their base of operations to Egypt, which they invaded in
969. The dynasty was the chief exponent of a radical religious movement, the Isma’ili
sect of Shi’ite Islam. The Fatimids denied the legitimacy of the Abbasid caliphate and
sought to install themselves as the spiritual and temporal leaders of the Islamic world.
But their bid to overthrow Abbasid power ended in failure, despite the extensive
proselytizing that their Isma’ili missionaries conducted throughout the Islamic world.
Their spiritual authority remained circumscribed even in Egypt, where Shi’ite Islam was
confined largely to the ruling elites.
4
At its greatest extent, the Fatimid Empire embraced Egypt, North Africa, the Hijaz, and
much of Syria. But North Africa gradually slipped away, and control of the remaining
provinces was always infirm. On the whole, the Fatimid period was remembered as a
time of general prosperity. Agriculture flourished, and Fatimid commercial policy
succeeded in diverting the lucrative spice trade from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea.
5
During the 11th century, various military cliques progressively usurped the caliphs'
powers and reduced them to mere figureheads. By the middle of the 12th century, the
Fatimid government had become so decrepit that it functioned as little more than a pawn
in the power struggle that was then taking place in Syria.
6
969
The FOUNDING OF CAIRO under orders from the Fatimid conquerers of Egypt. The
new city replaced adjacent Fustat (three miles south of Cairo) as the capital, a rank it
has held into modern times. But during most of the Fatimid era, Fustat remained the
center of commerce, industry, and population.
969
7
Byzantine capture of Antioch and the coastal lands of northern Syria (See 964–68),
which remained in Christian hands until 1084. The Hamdanid emirate of Aleppo
shrank to the city and its hinterland and became, in effect, a Byzantine satellite during
the late 10th century. Riven by internal rivalries, the Hamdanids of Syria grew ever
weaker until their line finally ended in 1016.
8
971
Opening of AL-AZHAR Mosque. It operated originally as a center for Shi’ite
propaganda. After the fall of the Fatimids (1171), it was transformed into the premier
Sunni religious college in the Muslim world.
9
978
Fatimid victory in Palestine over Turkish and Qaramita forces, which had seized
control of southern Syria after the fall of the Ikhshidids. As a result the Fatimids were
able, at least for a short time, to gain control of southern Syria, and the Qaramita were
permanently cleared from Syria and its commercial routes. Equally significant was the
introduction of Turkish slave recruits (mamluks or ghilman) into the Fatimid military
and administration. The government in Egypt relied increasingly on slaves to serve as
officials and troops. The Turkish presence among the elites, together with an influx of
Iraqi bureaucrats and soldiers, served as a counterweight to North African contingents,
which had formerly been dominant in the Fatimid state.
10
996–1021
Rule of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, who vanished at the end of his reign. Al-Hakim is
remembered for his eccentric and cruel behavior, repudiation of orthodox Islam, and
persecution of non-Muslim subjects. His most devoted followers declared him to be an
incarnation of God. After his mysterious disappearance (he was probably murdered), his
followers formed their own sect of Islam and became known as the DRUZE. One of the
chief missionaries of the radical doctrines was Hamza ibn Ahmad, who established the
Druze in Syria, where they live to this day.
1023–79
11
The MIRDASID DYNASTY in Aleppo. The Mirdasids were a prominent family from
among the Banu Kilab, the most powerful tribe in the northern Syrian Desert. Backed
by their fellow tribesmen and Fatimid allies, the Mirdasids overcame the successors of
the Hamdanid dynasty (the general Lu'lu' and his Turkish troops), who had received
unavailing support from the Byzantines. The state that the Mirdasids carved out for
themselves occupied a territory not much larger than Aleppo and its extended hinterland.
The Mirdasid regime owed its survival largely to skillful diplomacy, balancing Fatimid
and Byzantine interests on the international scene and tribal and urban factions locally.
For the people of Aleppo, the reign of the Mirdasids was remembered as a period of
general prosperity. The Mirdasids were ousted from Aleppo only after the rise of the
Seljuk Turks, who disrupted the fragile diplomatic equilibrium that had been maintained
in Syria for more than half a century.
12
1057
Death of Abu al-’Ala' al-Ma’arri, one of the most famous poets of medieval Arabic
literature. He was noted for his ornate imagery, mastery of rhetoric, and highly refined
verse. In tone, his poetry displayed an open irreverance and contempt for orthodox
religion.
13
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f. North Africa
943–47
The great revolt of Abu Yazid, a Khariji leader who assembled a large tribal coalition
against Fatimid rule. The movement nearly toppled the Fatimids before it was finally
suppressed. The difficulties of the Fatimids in restoring their authority revealed the
shallow base of the regime in North Africa. In 972 they relocated their capital to Egypt
and gradually relinquished their North African possessions to the Zirids, who originally
operated as their governors.
1
951
The Fatimids persuaded the Qarmatis (Qaramitas) to return to Mecca the Black Stone
of the Ka’ba, which they had earlier stolen. The success of Fatimid diplomacy raised
their prestige throughout the Islamic world.
2
958–60
The Fatimids temporarily secured Morocco against Umayyad influence. Their victory
on the western front allowed them later to resume their dynastic ambition of conquering
Egypt. Earlier raids had been turned back (913–15, 920, and 935).
3
972–1148
The ZIRID DYNASTY, which ruled Tunisia and eastern Algeria. The Zirids were
originally appointed as governors of the North African provinces within the Fatimid
Empire. They gradually broke away from the Fatimids, who adhered to Shi’ite Islam,
and restored Sunni doctrine as the official religion of the state. Their public conversion
4
to Sunnism occurred sometime during the 1040s (probably 1044). A simultaneous
development was the growing predominance of the Maliki school of Islamic law and the
rapid spread of Sufism among all sections of the population.
973
The Umayyad invasion of Morocco from Spain decisively ended the Umayyad-Fatimid
struggle over the country that had begun in the first decade of the 10th century. The
Umayyad forces succeeded in establishing indirect control through local allies, until they
were overcome by the Almoravids in the late 11th century. Among local factions, the
most powerful was the Zanata tribe, operating primarily in the northeast.
5
981
Death of Ibn al-Tabban (b. 923), a renowned scholar and polymath. Among the fields
treated in his writings were Islamic law, philology, medicine, astronomy, and
mathematics.
6
1012
Death of al-Qabisi (b. 935), a noted Muslim theologian and mystic who advocated a
highly ascetic version of Islam.
7
1015–1152
The HAMMADID DYNASTY, which governed much of central and eastern Algeria.
The dynasty was founded by a revolt of the Banu Hammad (1015) under the leadership
of the Zirid governor of eastern Algeria.
8
1016–17
Widespread rioting in Tunisia by Sunni agitators demonstrating against the position of
Shi’ite Islam as the official religion of the state. The clashes developed out of social
tensions pitting the Shi’ite ruling elites against the largely Sunni urban populations.
9
1051–57
Invasion of Tunisia and Algeria by the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym, warlike Arab
tribes that had migrated to Egypt in the 8th century. They were encouraged by the
Fatimid rulers of Egypt to move to the dynasty's former North African provinces, which
were “granted” to them. As they moved westward, the Banu Sulaym stopped early and
settled in Cyrenaica. The Banu Hilal pushed on to Tunisia and eastern Algeria, where
they seized most of Zirid and Hammadid territory during the 1050s.
10
For Tunisia, one of the principal consequences of the tribal invasion was the spread of
the Arabic language to large parts of the countryside, where, unlike in the towns,
Berber had formerly predominated. At the same time, the tribes' constant raids sent the
region's economic and urban life into decline. The most notable casualty was the city
of Qayrawan, which was sacked in 1057 and thereafter lost its cultural and commercial
preeminence.
11
1056–1147
Reign of the ALMORAVIDS. The Almoravid movement (al-Murabitun) sprang up
among Saharan tribal groups in the mid-11th century. It was inspired by the teachings
of a religious sheik (leader), IBN YASIN, who introduced orthodox Islam among the
tribes and strictly imposed Islamic law. Under the later rule of Ibn Tashfin (r.
1061–1106), this religious ideology became the justification for a campaign of conquest
that subjugated Morocco, Algeria, and Spain by the end of the 11th century. The
Almoravid capital was located at the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, founded around
1070. Among the lasting achievements of the Almoravids were the introduction of the
Maliki school of Islamic law to the Maghrib and the importation and sponsorship of
Andalusian art and culture. They also made possible the political unification of
Morocco, which had formerly been fragmented into petty tribal domains.
12
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(See South Asia, 72 B.C.E.–500 C.E.)
(See 477–495+)
C. South and Southeast Asia, 500–1500
1. South Asia, 500–1199
Through invasions, immigration, and related changes, South Asia was increasingly
drawn in this period into what would be characterized by the end date as an Islamicate
world system. As representatives of Islam (soldiers as well as merchants and Sufi
mystics) spread across the known world, the global community shared for the first time a
set of understandings about legal premises, state structures, and the model of the ideal
ruler, as well as the accepted attributes of a cultured person and the resulting criteria for
poetic and artistic production. Of course the interaction of these Islamicate
understandings with local cultures led to a range of variations on the Islamicate theme.
1
At the same time, regional cultures within the South Asian subcontinent were beginning
to emerge (primarily around linguistic bases). At least five distinctive regional cultures
eventually emerged: Punjab in the northwest, home to both settled agriculture and
pastoralists; the agriculturalist Gangetic Plain; deltaic Bengal in the east; the Deccan
plateau in the middle, encompassing several cultural zones; and Dravidian South India.
2
a. North India
The White Huns or Hephthalites, a branch of the Mongol Juan-juan who dominated
central Asia (407–553), had occupied Bactria (425) and, after defeat by Sassanid
Bahram Gor (428), Gandhara. Victory over Sassanid Peroz (484) freed them for raids
from the Punjab into Hindustan.
3
c. 500–502
Toramana ruled as far as Eran.
4
502–c. 528
Mihirakula from Sialkot controlled Gwalior and Kashmir. Bhanugupta probably
expelled him from Eran (510). Yasodharman of Mandasor (?) boasts (533) of victory
over him. Although the Huns in central Asia were crushed by Turks and Sassanians
(553–67), their chiefs kept rank in the Punjab and Rajputana till the 11th century.
5
From the decline of the Guptas until the rise of Harsha, the area was characterized by a
confused political scene and the large-scale displacement of peoples. The dramatic
movement of populations (especially from the Punjab and Rajasthan, where the impact
of the Huns was felt most acutely) and the resulting new ethnic combinations of people
did much to underscore the confusion and insecurity of the period.
6
606–47
HARSHA, fourth king of Thanesar, north of Delhi (new era Oct. 606), succeeded his
brother-in-law as king of Kanauj (royal title 612), and quickly conquered an empire
across northern India, to which he left no heir. Although Harsha aspired to a closely
integrated empire following the Mauryan model, all he managed to achieve was a large
kingdom in the north only loosely connected through feudal ties. Decisions of policy as
well as pragmatic practice were made locally. Because commercial activities did not
provide as large an income to the state as they had earlier, revenue came mainly from the
land (in the form of a variety of taxes). Autonomous guilds continued to serve as the
major institutions organizing manufacture and trade, with textiles being the most
important industry (meeting both internal and foreign demand). The Buddhist church, or
sangha, was now rich enough to act as banker, lending money on interest and renting out
land, as well as performing mercantile functions.
7
Harsha received an embassy (643) from Emperor T'ang T'ai-tsung. A poet and dramatist,
he patronized men of letters. He is well known through Bana's poetic romance
Harshacharita, and by the Hsi vü chi (Record of Western Lands) of his guest, the
pilgrim Hsüan-tsang, whose exact observations in India (630–43) have given priceless
guidance to modern archaeology.
8
Tantrism meanwhile sought to secure for its adepts in magic arts, through esoteric texts
(tantra) and charms, rapid attainment of Buddhahood or at least supernatural powers.
Partial syncretism with Saivism led to a cult of Vairochana and various new divinities,
largely terrible or erotic. Spells (dharanis) appear early (Chinese trans. 4th century), but
the Panchakrama is in part the work of Sakyamitra (c. 850). Tantrism seems to have
flourished chiefly along the northern borderland. Buddhism, however, progressively
9
disappeared from India from the 9th century, lingering in Bengal and Bihar until the
Muslim conquest (1202). It was largely absorbed by Hinduism.
647
A second Chinese embassy, under Wang Hsüan-tse, having been attacked by a usurper
on a local throne (Tirhut, north of Patna?), secured 7,000 troops from Amsuvarman, king
of Nepal, and 1,200 from his son-in-law, Srong-tsan-sgampo, king of Tibet; captured the
malefactor; and haled him to Ch'ang-an (648).
10
c. 730–c. 740
YASOVARMAN, king of Kanauj, an author, patronized the Prakrit poet Vakpatiraja
and Bhavabhuti, a Sanskrit dramatist ranked by Indian criticism next to Kalidasa.
11
c. 725–1197
The Pala Buddhist kings ruled Bengal (till c. 1125) and Magadha. Leading rulers:
Dharmapala (c. 770–c. 883), and Devapala (c. 881–c. 883), who endowed a monastery
founded at Nalanda by Balaputradeva, king of Sumatra.
12
c. 1125–c. 1225?
Senas from the Carnatic gradually advanced from North Orissa into Bengal.
13
c. 1169–c. 1199
Lakshmanasena patronized Jayadeva, whose Gitagovinda, mystic call to love of Krishna,
is considered a Sanskrit masterpiece. Tightening of caste restrictions was accompanied
in some areas by the origin of kulinism: the prohibition of marriage of any girl below
her own caste, which led to female infanticide; and the rise in caste by marriage to a man
of higher caste, which led to polygamy of high-caste husbands to collect dowries.
14
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b. Deccan and Western India
Western India, thanks to the many impregnable fortresses in Rajputana, was usually
divided among local dynasties from the time of the Gupta power to the advent of the
Muslims.
1
c. 490–766
A dynasty of Maitrakas, foreigners of the Rajput type, usually independent at Valabhi
in Surashtra, created a Buddhist scholastic center that rivaled Nalanda. Their gifts reveal
that Buddhist images were honored with puja of the kind devoted to Hindu gods.
2
c. 550–861
The GURJARA horde of central Asiatic nomads established a dynasty of 12 kings at
Mandor in central Rajputana. Two retired to Jain contemplation, and a third to selfstarvation.
3
712–66
Arab raids from Sind (See 711–13) devastated Gujarat and Broach (724–43) and finally
shattered the Maitraka dynasty (766).
c. 740–1036
4
The GURJARA-PRATHIHARA DYNASTY, by uniting much of northern India,
excluded the Muslims till the end of the 10th century. Prominent early rulers were
Nagabhata I (c. 740–60), who defeated the Arabs; Vatsaraja (c. 775–800); and
Nagabhata II (c. 800–36), conqueror of Kanauj.
5
746–c. 974
The Chapas (or Chapotkatas), a Gurjara clan, founded Anahillapura (or Anandapura,
746), the principal city of western India until the 15th century.
6
831–1310
A Dravidian dynasty of Chandellas (in present Bundelkhand) built numerous
Vaishnava temples, notably at Khajuraho, under Yasovarman (c. 930–54) and Dhanga
(954–1002).
7
c. 840–c. 890
Mihira, or Bhoja, devoted to Vishnu and the Sun, ruled from the Sutlej to the Narmada,
but failed to subdue Kashmir.
8
c. 950–c. 1200
The Paramaras of Dhara, near Indore, were known for two rulers: Munja (974–c. 994)
who invaded the Deccan, and Bhoja (c. 1018–60), author of books on astronomy,
poetics, and architecture, and founder of a Sanskrit college.
9
c. 974–c. 1240
The Chalukya or Solanki Rajput clan, led by Mularaja (known dates 974–95), ruled
from Anahillapura over Surashtra and Mt. Abu.
977–1186
10
The Ghaznavid (Yamini) dynasty ruled at Ghazni and Lahore. It was founded by
Subaktagin (977–97), a Turkish slave converted to Islam, who extended his rule from
the Oxus to the Indus and broke the power of a Deccan confederacy that included King
Jaipal of Bhatinda, the Gurjara-Prathihara king of Kanauj, and the Chandella king
Dhanga.
11
998–1030
MAHMUD OF GHAZNI made 17 plundering raids into the Punjab (defeat of Jaipal,
1001) to Kangra (1009), Mathura and Kanauj (1018–19), Gwalior (1022), and Somnath
(1024–26). Vast destruction, pillage of immensely rich Hindu temples, and wholesale
massacre resulted only in enrichment of Ghazni and annexation of the Punjab. Ghazni,
heir to the rich artistic heritage of the Samanids of northeastern Persia, was now one of
the most brilliant capitals of the Islamic world. Alberuni (973–1048) of Khiva, the
leading scientist of his time, followed Mahmud to the Punjab, learned Sanskrit, and
wrote the invaluable Tahkik-i Hind (Inquiry into India).
12
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(See c. 400–611)
c. South India
In this period in the south, a series of cultural reconfigurations led to greater integration
between Aryan and Dravidian cultural systems. The Pallava period, for instance, saw a
greater assimilation by the elite of Aryan ideals, while popular culture reasserted Tamil
ideas and values—and the tension between these developments helped to shape a distinct
and new Tamil culture. Geopolitically, the conflict between the two geographical
regions of the Deccan and Tamilnad (the fertile plain south of Madras) marked the early
centuries of this period. The area between the Godavari and Krishna deltas often served
as the focus of the political contests. Three major kingdoms were involved in the
conflict: the Chalukyas of Badami, the Pallavas of Kanchipuram, and the Pandyas of
Madurai.
1
The pattern of warring states, with no single polity able to establish hegemony over the
others, continued through much of this period. The ascendancy, around 900, of the
Cholas also marked the crystallization of Tamil culture, as expressed in social
institutions, religion, and the fine arts. Chola cultural production, in fact, came to be
defined as “classical” and influenced models of kingship, cultural patronage, community
formation, and religious views not only throughout the south, but also in the Deccan.
Chola culture also spread to Southeast Asia in this period, as South India intervened
actively in the commerce with that region.
2
Despite a somewhat elaborate administrative structure connecting the king to the realm,
villages had significant degrees of autonomy under the Cholas. Village sociopolitical
structure distinguished sharply between those who paid land taxes and the landless
laborers who worked the fields, with the latter being in positions of agrestic slavery.
Wealthier members of rural society found strong motivations to invest their wealth in
irrigation and land-clearing activities, or to patronize temple complexes. Until the end of
this period, when Chola expansion of trade fostered the growth of cities and the need for
a monetary economy to move agricultural surplus to the cities, villages had relatively
little connection to the larger society. Chola political power extended well past the year
1000 (See 1001–4).
3
c. 300–800
The Pallava warrior dynasty ruled from its base at Kanchi (near Madras) and
exercised hegemony over the Deccan while disputing throughout this period with the
Chalukyas and others.
4
c. 500–753
The first Chalukya dynasty in Maharashtra advanced from Aihole on the upper Kistna
to nearby Vatapi (or Badami, c. 550) and to Banavasi (566–97) at the expense of the
Kadambas. Construction of the earliest temples at Aihole was followed by that of
Mahakutesvara (c. 525) and completion of the cave-temple to Vishnu at Vatapi (578).
5
c. 575
The Pallava Simhavishnu seized the Chola basin of the Kaveri, which his family held
until after 812.
6
c. 600–625
The Pallava Mahendravarman I, converted from Jainism to Saivism, destroyed a Jain
temple, but dug the first (Saivite) cave-temples in the south (at Trichinopoly,
Chingleput, etc.). From his reign date Buddhist monasteries (in part excavated) and
stupas on the Samkaram Hills (near Vizagapatam).
7
609–42
The Chalukya Pulakesin II placed his brother on the throne of Vengi, where he ruled as
viceroy (611–32), repulsed an attack by Harsha of Kanauj (c. 620), sent an embassy to
Khosroes II of Persia (625), and enthroned a son, who headed a branch dynasty in
Gujarat and Surat (c. 640–740). Hsüan-tsang (641) describes the prosperity of the
country just before the Pallavas pillaged the capital (642), a disaster that was avenged by
pillage of the Pallava capital, Kanchi, by Vikramaditya (c. 674).
8
611–c. 1078
The Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi (independent after 629–32), were continually at war
with Kalinga to the north, the Rashtrakutas to the west, and the Pandyas to the south.
9
c. 625–c. 645
The Pallava Narasimhavarman defeated Chalukya Pulakesin II (c. 642) and took
Vatapi. He defeated also his southern neighbors and enthroned Manavalla in Ceylon (?).
He improved the port of Mamallapuram, near Kanchi, and cut there the first of five
raths, monolithic sanctuaries in the form of cars, the earliest monuments of the
Dravidian style; also the cliffside relief depicting the descent of the River Ganges from
Heaven.
10
c. 675–c. 705
The Pallava Narasimhavarman II built in stone and brick the Shore temple at Mamalla,
and the central shrine of the Kailasa temple at Kanchi, completed by his son.
11
c. 700
Conversion of King Srimaravarman to Saivism by Tirujnana Sambandhar, the first of
63 nayanmars, or Tamil saints, led the king to impale 8,000 Jains at Madura in a single
day, since celebrated by the Saivas. Another saint, Manikka Vasagar (9th century), wrote
poems of his own religious experience which correspond to our Psalms. The Tamil
Vaishnavas, too, had their saints, 12 alvars, who also expressed emotional religion and
whose works were collected c. 1000–1050.
12
733–46
The Chalukya Vikramaditya II thrice took Kanchi, and distributed presents to the
temples. He imported Tamil artists, and his queen commissioned Gunda, “the best
southern architect,” to build the temple of Virupaksha. The frescoes of Ajanta caves I
and II are believed to date from this period. So too the Saiva and Vaishnava sculptures
13
of the Das Avatara cave-temple at Ellora.
c. 735–c. 800
Nandivarman II, a collateral kinsman 12 years of age, accepted the Pallava throne
offered him by the ministers and elders, who defended him against rival claimants.
14
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(See Funan)
2. Southeast Asia, 500–900
In Southeast Asia, the years 500–900 are referred to as the classical period. The Indic
concept of mandalas, or circles of kings, continued to be the primary form of state
organization, developing into more widespread centers of power than had existed in the
region earlier. In large part because of the importance of trade, one should envision
Southeast Asia as an area united by bodies of water—the sea surrounding (and, to some
extent, connecting) the mainland and the archipelago, as well as the rivers flowing south
from the Himalaya into mainland Southeast Asia. Government, religion, and art were
closely intertwined; common aspects for both mainland and peninsular Southeast Asia
related in part to Indian literary models.
1
a. The Malay Archipelago and Peninsula
Early Indian commercial settlements in Sumatra and Java, at first Brahman in religion
and later influenced by Buddhism, became the center of organized states. Through trading
networks, the more influential mandalas (such as Srivijaya) fostered Malay acculturation
across a network of Malay-speaking centers dotted throughout the Riau-Lingga
Archipelago to the southern part of the Malay Peninsula. Toward the end of the 7th
century, Srivijaya (a trade-based empire; Malay rulers exercised influence in Sumatra
and the Malay Peninsula, 600–1000) became the dominant state of Sumatra and built up a
commercial empire.
2
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(See Burma (Pagan))
b. Mainland Southeast Asia
Dvaravati settlements in central Thailand (6th–11th centuries). During the early
centuries C.E., the Khmer peoples of the Menam Valley came under the influence of
Indian civilization, and about the 6th century there was organized, in the region of
Lopburi, the kingdom of Dvaravati, which was Buddhist rather than Brahman in religion,
and from which, during the 8th century, migrants to the upper Menam Valley established
the independent and predominantly Buddhist kingdom of Haripunjaya (See Siam), with
its capital near the present Chiang Mai.
1
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3. South Asia, 1000–1500
INDIA BEFORE THE MUSLIM CONQUEST (MAP)
State forms began to be elaborated in this period, both in the north and the south, under
the influence of models and values imported from other parts of the Islamicate world and
renegotiated in the subcontinent as they met with emerging regional cultural systems.
Though scholars and commentators have used shorthand labels that identify these
kingdoms as Hindu or Muslim, they became increasingly distinctive as Indian or South
Asian in ways that are independent of particular religious practices or values.
1
Throughout much of this period, the dominant pattern continued to be that of smaller
kingdoms vying for dominance in a region, although the Delhi Sultanate did manage to
expand its rather loose hold over significant parts of the subcontinent before it was
superseded by the Mughals. In the Deccan, particularly, a range of differing regional
cultures met and interacted, including the Telugu kingly culture from the south, the
Maharashtrian military culture from the west, and Muslim notions of ruler and state
brought through Islamicate ties. In this politico-cultural melting pot, much influence
from Islamicate states helped to shape, especially, the emerging empire of Vijayanagara.
(See India, 1500–1800)
2
a. North India and Deccan
1093–1143
The Chalukya ruler, Jayasimha Siddharaja, a patron of letters, although himself a
Saiva, organized disputations on philosophy and religion, and favored a Jain monk,
Hemachandra, who converted and dominated Kumarapala.
3
1143–72
As a good Jain, Kumarapala decreed respect for life (ahimsa); prohibited alcohol, dice,
and animal fights; and rescinded a law for confiscation of property of widows without
sons. He also built (c. 1169) a new edifice about the Saiva temple of Somanatha, which
had been reconstructed by Bhimadeva I (1022–62) after destruction by the Moslems.
4
1151–1206
The Shansabani Persian princes of Ghur (Ghor), having burned Ghazni (1151), drove the
Yamini to the Punjab and deposed them there (1186).
5
1172–76
Ajayapala, a Saiva reactionary, ordered the massacre of Jains and the sacking of their
temples, until he was assassinated. Jain rule was restored under a mayor of the palace
whose descendants displaced the dynasty (c. 1240).
6
Two Jain temples at Mt. Abu are the work of a governor, VimalaSaha (1031), and a
minister, Tejpala (1230). Built of white marble with a profusion of ornamented
colonnades, brackets, and elaborately carved ceilings, they represent the most elegant
version of the northern or Indo-Aryan architectural style.
7
Kashmir, already (c. 100) an important home of the Sarvastivadin Buddhist sect,
remained a center for Buddhist studies (till the 10th century; degenerate before the
Muslim conquest, 1340) and the study of Sanskrit literature (until today). Its history
from c. 700 is rather fully known through the Rajatarangini, the only extant document
by Kalhana (c. 1100), the sole early Indian historian, who consulted literary sources and
inscriptions but accepted tradition without criticism.
8
1175–1206
Muhammad of Ghur, Mu'izz-ud-Din, undertook conquest of Hindustan by capture of
Multan and Uch. He ruled from Ghazni as governor for his elder brother, Ghiyas-udDin Muhammad, whom he succeeded as ruler of Ghur (1203).
9
1192
A battle at Tararori (14 miles from Thanesar) decisively crushed a new Hindu
confederacy led by the Chauhan king of Ajmer and Delhi. Cumbersome traditional
tactics, disunited command, and caste restrictions handicapped the Hindu armies in
conflict with the mounted archers from the northwest. Victory led to occupation of
Delhi (1193) and to conquest of Bihar, where the organized Buddhist community was
extinguished (c. 1197), Bengal (c. 1199), and the Chandella state in Bundelkhand.
Muhammad appointed Kutb-ud-din Aibak, a slave from Turkestan, viceroy of his
Indian conquests, and left him full discretion (1192, confirmed 1195).
10
1206–66
A dynasty of slave kings, the first of six to rule at Delhi (until 1526), was founded by
Aibak (killed playing polo, 1210).
11
The numerically weak early Muslim rulers in India were forced to employ Indian troops
and civilian agents, welcome allegiance of Indian landholders, and afford their native
subjects much the same limited protection (including tacit religious toleration) and
justice to which they were accustomed. This led to active efforts to create a polity
regarded as legitimate both in the Islamicate world and in the eyes of local elites. Rebels,
both Hindu and Muslim, were slaughtered with ruthless barbarity.
12
1211–36
Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, the ablest slave and son-in-law of Aibak, succeeded to his
lands in the Ganges Valley only, but recovered the upper Punjab (1217), Bengal (1225),
the lower Punjab with Sind (1228), and Gwalior after a long siege (Feb.–Dec. 1232). He
advanced to sack Ujjain (1234).
13
1229
Iltutmish was invested as sultan of India by the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad.
14
Islamic architects brought to India a developed tradition of a spacious, light, and airy
prayer chamber covered by arch, vault, and dome, erected with aid of concrete and
mortar, and ornamented solely with color and flat linear, usually conventional,
decoration. This formula was applied with recognition of local structural styles and the
15
excellence of Indian ornamental design. Aibak built at Delhi (1193–96) with the spoils
of 27 temples a mosque of “Hindu” appearance to which he added (1198) an Islamic
screen of arches framed with Indian carving. He began (before 1206) a tower for call to
prayer, which was finished (1231–32) and named Kutb Minar to honor a Muslim saint
(d. 1235) by Iltutmish, who also enlarged the mosque in strictly Islamic style. In the new
architectural style that emerged, the emphasis shifted from mosques to tombs of rulers
and of Sufi saints. The shift underscored the importance of local rulers (rather than an
internationalized Islam) and of the new force of devotionalism (which expressed a value
common to those called Hindus and Muslims).
Upon the death of Iltutmish, actual power passed to a group of 40 Turks who divided all
offices save that of sultan and controlled the succession.
16
1266–90
A new dynasty at Delhi was founded by Balban (d. 1287), a slave purchased by
Iltutmish (1233) who was made chamberlain (1242) and became father-in-law and
lieutenant (1249–52 and 1255–66) of King Mahmud (1246–66). As king, aided by an
effective army and corps of royal news writers, Balban repressed the 40 nobles, ended
highway robbery in the south and east, and suppressed rebellion in Bengal. His son
repelled the Mongols established in Ghazni (since 1221) but was killed by them (1285).
17
The tomb of Balban is the first structure in India built with true arches instead of Hindu
corbeling.
18
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b. Bengal
From an area marked by strong adherence to Buddhism and Brahman-dominated
Hinduism, Bengal began to change in this period into a culture marked by Islam-oriented
devotional life. This reflected political, social, and economic changes that occurred at
different rates. Monumental royal temples remain as witness to the fully elaborated style
of medieval Hindu kingship that had emerged in deltaic Bengal, as do the Buddhist
stupas. The conquest of Bengal by Muhammad of Ghazni in 1199 initiated the first
political changes, as a Muslim elite was imported to serve as soldiers and administrators
in the new territory.
1
Buddhism and Islam, both being institutionalized, proselytizing religions, attracted many
of the same followers. This competition prompted attacks on Buddhist monasteries by the
Muslim elite as it moved in, with a resulting exodus of Buddhists from eastern India into
Southeast Asia. Indeed, Islam found its greatest support in areas previously dominated by
Buddhism. Moreover, beginning in the 14th century, the vacuum left by the exodus of
Buddhists began to be filled with a new form of popular devotionalism, bhakti, which
also left room for Sufism as a related phenomenon.
2
Even with Persianized Turks as rulers, however, the population of the area remained
Buddhist or Brahman-ordered for a very long time. Ultimately, as Sufi saints came to
dominate popular religion in a world filled with saintly figures, Bengali cosmologies first
used Islamicate terms interchangeably with local (Hindu) ones, and then began to prefer
the Islamic concepts. But this slow, shifting form of conversion did not show concrete
results (for example, in the choices of names for children) until well after the end of the
period.
3
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c. South India
1001–4
A successful invasion of Ceylon permitted assignment of Singhalese revenues to the
Saiva great pagoda of Rajarajesvara, which Rajaraja I built at Tanjore, the masterpiece
of baroque Dravidian architecture. He also endowed a Buddhist monastery built at
Negapatam by a king of Srivijaya (Sumatra).
1
1014–42
Rule of Rajendra Choladeva, who had helped his father since 1002.
2
1014–17
A second invasion of Ceylon secured the regalia and treasure of the Pandya kings, so
that a son of the Chola could be consecrated king of Pandya.
3
1024
An invasion of Bengal enabled the Chola to assume a new title and establish a new
capital near Trichinopoly.
4
c. 1030
By use of sea power, the Chola exacted tribute from Pegu, Malaiyur (Malay Peninsula),
and the empire of Srivijaya.
5
1040–68
Chalukya Somesvara I founded Kalyani, the capital until c. 1156. He drowned himself
in Jain rites in the Tungabhadra, a sacred river of the south.
6
1042–52
Rule of Chola Rajadhiraja I, who had aided his father since 1018. He was killed in
battle at Koppam against Somesvara I of Kalyani.
7
1062–70
Chola Virarajendra defeated the Chalukyas and gave his daughter to Vikramaditya VI.
He founded a vedic college and a hospital. His two sons fell into conflict and
extinguished their line by assassination (1074).
8
1073–1327
The Hoysalas, at first a petty dynasty, ruled at Dvarasamudra (Halebid) in Mysore.
9
1074–1267
The Chalukya-Chola dynasty, founded by Rajendra, son and grandson of Chola
princesses, king of Vengi (b. 1070), who took the vacant throne of Kanchi (1074) and
thenceforth ruled Vengi through a viceroy. His authority was recognized by the Ganga
king of Kalinga.
10
1075–1125
Vikramaditya VI of Kalyani began a new era in place of the Saka era, but with small
success. He built temples to Vishnu, but made gifts also to two Buddhist monasteries
that must have been among the last in the south to withstand Hindu reaction and
11
absorption. Bilhana of Kashmir, in return for hospitality, a blue parasol, and an
elephant, wrote the Vikramankacharita in praise of his host.
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d. Ceylon
846
The capital of Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) was moved south to Polonnaruva to escape
Tamil invasions.
1
1001–17
The two great invasions (1001–4 and 1014–17) by Chola Rajaraja and his son Rajendra.
2
1065–1120
Vijayabahu ruled prosperously despite further incursions (1046, 1055).
3
1164–97
Parakramabahu I repelled the Tamils (1168), invaded Madura, and united the two rival
monasteries.
4
1225–60
Parakramabahu II repelled two attacks (c. 1236 and c. 1256) by a king of Tambralinga
(Ligor on the Straits of Malacca), with Pandya help.
1284
5
The king sent a relic of the Buddha to Khubilai Khan. (See India, 1500–1800)
6
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c. 900–1557
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4. Southeast Asia, c. 900–1557
In this period developed distinct civilizations that can be divided into three main patterns:
those based on Theravada Buddhism (See c. 78–96+ C.E) (the present-day countries of
Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia); those shaped by Sinitic influences (Vietnam);
and those influenced by mercantile connections to the Islamicate world (Malaya).
Theravada Buddhism probably came not from India but from Ceylon in the 11th century.
Buddhist concepts were interpolated into Hindu concepts of kingship. The Hindu concept
of devaraja, or the divine connection between the king and god, played a crucial role in
forming the notions of power and state during this period. With this delineation came a
transition from what scholars have called “early kingdoms” to “imperial kingdoms” and a
changing “ritual policy,” important for the functioning and distribution of temples.
1
Srivijaya and other kingdoms of central Java as well as the kingdoms of the mainland
relied on alliances, often via marriage, and on relationships that were mutually beneficial.
Once again, the flexibility of Southeast Asian conceptualizations of polities meant that
the ruler's power did not need to be based on rooted infrastructures such as landholding,
bureaucracy, or highly institutionalized state organizations. Local units continued to have
separate identities. A ruler's power was based on “ritual sovereignty”: the king was
endowed with sacred powers, and he reinforced the aura of divine majesty through his
patronage of temple complexes, patronage of monks and priests possessing the sacred
Indian learning, and support for sacred monuments, elaborate rituals, and state
ceremonies. The ruler's creation of ceremonial centers—centers of religion, art, and
learning—was the source of his ability to attract and maintain alliances. They were
demonstrations of his connections to higher gods and higher learning, and of his spiritual
superiority.
2
Scholarly debate among historians of Southeast Asia recently has centered on the issue of
how a “state” is defined. One school of thought has emphasized the standard of a unified,
bureaucratized polity that is consistent with traditional Western understanding of an
“advanced civilization.” However, in view of the nature of state organization in Southeast
Asia, it seems clear that an institutionally weak yet integrated society could still be
considered a major civilization. This is demonstrated by the fact that the Indic concept of
mandalas, or circles of kings, continued as the dominant model of state organization in
3
the region during this period. Each kingdom—such as Angkor, Ayudhya,
Majapahit—formed concentric circles of influence radiating out from a center
representing the ruler (whose authority generally became weaker the further from the
center an area was located), and moving toward more distant or geographically remote
territories. This model was often unstable politically and represented a form of “state”
with a vaguely defined geographical area and no fixed boundaries, which could expand
and contract depending on interactions with other competitive state centers. Smaller
centers would switch allegiances as they looked for security. Negeri, a Malay-Indonesian
word for state, was particularly applicable to riverine or coastal principalities in the
Malayo-Muslim world; derived from the Sanskrit term for “kingdom” or “capital,” negeri
continued to be used to define the state during this period in Southeast Asia.
Java (or Mataram) provides one example of the concentric-circles model of power
relationships. Kraton was the word used for the sacral palace-city of the Javanese kings
that formed the center of their kingdom. Negara agung was used to describe the second
administrative circle in the kingdom of Mataram; it consisted of the core area
immediately outside the palace-city. Manca negara was the term used for the third
administrative circle of Mataram, which consisted of most of Java outside the palace city
and the core administrative area. (See Southeast Asia, 1500–1800)
4
a. The Malay Archipelago and Peninsula
The prominence of the kingdom of Srivijaya, crucial to the development of Malay
society and the founding of Malacca, continued during this period. Along with
developments in wet-rice cultivation in agrarian societies in the Indic mode came the
spread of Islam, especially in Java (14th–18th centuries) and initially in trading ports
along the north coast. (Trading ports served as part of the great network of shipping in the
archipelago, moving spices to the archipelago and rice to Malacca after 1400. This
network, in turn, was connected to an international system of commerce reaching from
the Moluccas to the Mediterranean, linking Southeast Asia to the expanding world of
European trade and conquest. Through this period, however, the general linkage was to
the larger Islamicate world.)
5
At the end of the 7th century, Srivijaya became the dominant state of Sumatra and built
up a commercial empire. Srivijaya, at its height (c. 1180), controlled the Straits of
Malacca and of Sunda, all of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, and the western half of
Java; its authority was recognized as far away as Ceylon and Formosa, and in many
colonies throughout the East Indies. The Sailendra dynasty, rulers of Srivijaya, were
ardent patrons of Buddhism, as is shown in the great Borobudur victory monument in
central Java. The consolidation of petty Javanese states, begun after the middle of the 9th
century, led to the rise of Singosari in eastern Java, which under Kartanagara (who ruled
6
1268–92) challenged and finally destroyed the power of Srivijaya.
1293
A Mongol expedition, sent to avenge insult offered by Kartanagara, was forced out of
Java by a new kingdom, Madjapahit, which during the 14th century built up a
commercial empire with authority extending over Borneo, Sumatra, and parts of the
Philippines and of the Malay Peninsula, and profited by an extensive trade with China,
Indo-China, and India.
7
1389
Death of Hayam Wuruk, after which the power of Madjapahit disintegrated.
8
1405–7
The first Chinese expedition under Zheng He (See 1405–33) established tributary
relations between many Malay states and the Ming Empire; the authority of Madjapahit
rapidly gave way to that of the Muslim Arabs. During the 15th century Muslim
commercial operations, based chiefly on Malacca, were extended to the whole
archipelago, and some 20 states accepted Islam as the state religion. (See The Malay
Peninsula and Archipelago)
9
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(See By the 6th Century)
b. Mainland Southeast Asia
This period witnessed the strengthening of administrative centralization, the
augmentation of the political and coercive authority of the state, and the dissemination of
a normative value system (from Theravada Buddhism) that began to supplant local
custom.
1
Similarly, the movement of Tai peoples, a gradual infiltration along the rivers and
streams, culminated by the 11th century in the introduction of an alternative social
structure (neither Indic nor Sinitic but similar to that of the Mongols), based on
territorial units. Interaction with other polities led to political dominance by the Tais,
especially from the 13th century onward.
2
1. Angkor
Based on limited information, the economy of Angkor (present-day Cambodia) seems to
have been focused on wet-rice agriculture rather than on coastal trade. The king's
authority appears to have been expressed through a well-developed hierarchy that
included priests and religious sanctions. In addition, temples played a prominent role as
custodians over land and peasants.
3
889–900
Rule of Yasovarman I, first king to reside at the actual site of Angkor. He built
numerous monasteries that variously worshipped the three chief deities of Angkor: Siva,
Vishnu, and Buddha. These cults all favored royal power and all received patronage
from Angkorian kings.
4
940s
Rajendravarman is remembered for his conquests and his architectural achievements.
5
1006
Suryavarman I (d. 1050) extended his authority to the north and west.
Udayadityavarman II is credited with the construction of the Baphuon, one of the great
Saivite temples at Angkor, and also the Western Baray, the large artificial lake of a
Vaisnavite temple.
6
1113
Suryavarman II (d. 1150) was famous for his military conquests. During his reign, the
most famous of all Angkorian edifices, the Angkor Wat, was built for him as his
personal funerary temple. (Angkor Wat represents the splendor of Khmer architecture
and reflected the status of the god-kings of Angkor, as succeeding rulers added to its
vastness.) Angkor Wat was devoted to Vishnu; this may reveal an awareness of and
sensitivity to the larger Sanskritic world, since this sect was prominent at the time in
India and Java. Suryavarman II also conducted diplomatic relations with China.
7
1177
Cham raid resulted in the sacking of Angkor. (The series of Cham raids probably
reflected Angkor's weakness due to internal problems over succession.)
8
1180s
Jayavarman VII (reign ended c. 1220), successfully expelled the Cham and established
his authority. He favored Mahayana Buddhism and built many impressive buildings,
including the Bayon, a Mahayana Buddhist temple in the center of the Angkor Thom
wall enclosure.
1190s
9
Jayavarman VII sent expeditions into Champa, which came under Angkorian rule for
almost 20 years.
10
1220
Khmer lost their dominance over the Cham.
11
By the late 14th century, Tai military pressures made defense of Angkor difficult. In
addition to this pressure, the Khmer kings were led to abandon Angkor for sites in the
vicinity of modern Phnom Penh by a shift in their state's focus from wet-rice agriculture
to revitalized maritime trade which, at this time, benefited from China's commercial
initiatives.
12
By the 1430s, Angkor was finally abandoned. Rather than a dramatic collapse, it was
more like a Khmer reorientation. It represented not only an economic shift but also a
shift in religious culture, from priestly to monastic. In addition, the cult of personality of
the Angkorian rulers had not led Khmers to invest in any particular cultural or political
heritage. (See Cambodia)
13
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D. Africa, 500–1500
1. Historical Trends, 500–1000
This period was a formative one, during which processes of change and adaptation
originating in local and regional African conditions accelerated in response to new
forces emanating from outside the subcontinental region. Change occurred unevenly in
sub-Saharan Africa. On the cultural level, the most important processes include the
migration of Bantu speakers throughout the central and southern half of the continent;
the widespread diffusion of iron technology, which accelerated the Bantu migrations;
the domestication of new cultigens, especially varieties of banana; and the
development of communities that mixed agriculture and cattle raising. On the political
level, this period witnessed the burgeoning of polities and the articulation of complex
political organizations. Associated with the development of polities was social
stratification based on wealth and access to political and religious power. On the
religious level, Islam expanded militarily up the Nile, into the region between the
fourth and fifth cataracts, throughout North Africa, and into the Sahara. Most of the
expansion of Islam in sub-Saharan Africa, however, followed the quietest path,
associated with Muslim merchants. Throughout the sahel (an Arabic term for shore)
along the desert's edge and on the East African coast, Muslim communities established
mutually beneficial relations with communities and political leaders practicing
traditional or animist religions. These Muslim communities often developed in
diasporas, dispersed communities settled along trade routes. Long-distance trade
across the Sahara, up the Red Sea, and across the Indian Ocean linked Africa with the
peoples of the Mediterranean, the Near East, and the Indian subcontinent. Long-distance
trade was built on local and regional trade and stimulated both. Merchants imported
exotic goods, which often entered complex circuits of prestige and patronage and
contributed to social stratification and political centralization. The emergence of the East
African Swahili communities represents a variant of this process.
1
Developing a chronology for these changes has been difficult, due in part to the paucity
of archeological investigations for this period and to the absence of written documentary
evidence. With very few exceptions, sub-Saharan African societies did not develop
written language. As Islam spread throughout the continent, writing was widely diffused,
2
often taking the form of vernacular uses of Arabic script, called ajami. Wider diffusion
of writing took place at a later time and was largely limited to clerics and bureaucracies.
To be without writing was not, however, to be without history. Instead, African societies
produced oral traditions to recount the past. Historians of Africa make extensive use of
oral traditions, although these traditions cover relatively short time spans and, like all
historical sources, are characterized by certain distortions, especially: bias toward
political events, continuous potential for revisionism, telescoping of events to occur
within particular reigns, and artificial lengthening of reigns of certain rulers. Historians
have developed sophisticated methodologies to control for these potential problems, and
they make use of corroborating evidence from archeology, dendochronology, genetic
mapping, historical linguistics, and related disciplines. Historical linguistics, in
particular, has provided a method for measuring change in language, called
glottochronology. Although many historians are dubious about the assumptions of a
constant rate of language change, historical linguistics has yielded important evidence
for cultural change, especially for the period anterior to the historical reach of oral
traditions. The net result is a general chronology that illuminates relative, sequential
change.
Three historical trends during this period warrant special attention: the spread of the
Bantu, the rise of complex polities in the West African sahel, and the emergence of
the Indian Ocean Swahili communities.
3
The Bantu languages are part of the larger Niger-Congo language family. Numbering
some 300 languages, Bantu predominates in the central and southern half of the
continent. What is remarkable about Bantu languages is their relatively close linguistic
structure, which suggests to historians a fairly recent and rapid expansion. Based on
historical linguistic evidence, scholars generally agree that in the late Stone Age the
early Bantu speakers developed a sophisticated food-producing and fishing complex in
the forested region of what is now southern Nigeria and northern Cameroon. Armed with
these skills, early Bantu speakers pursued two routes, eastward and southward. Already
well dispersed, they probably acquired iron technology around 500 C.E. On their route
eastward, the Bantu speakers skirted the northern forest edge toward the interlacustrine
region of East Africa. Along the way, they adapted livestock keeping to their agricultural
skills. As cattle-keeping farmers, they were able to sustain much higher population
growth, attracting both the hunter-gatherers and the livestock nomads of the region for
trade. The southward-moving group penetrated the equatorial forest. Iron implements
and food-producing skills permitted them to colonize this region more effectively than
the autochthonous inhabitants.
4
The two groups rejoined in the eastern and southern edge of the forest, where the
southward-traveling Bantu groups acquired livestock. Sustained increases in human and
livestock populations contributed to the emergence of “big-men” and chiefdoms. By
1000, Bantu-speaking communities were forming polities in the more densely populated
5
regions of eastern and central Africa, and they were expanding rapidly into southern
Africa. Loans of cattle and livestock-based bridewealth payments were common means
of building large followings and tying communities together. Cattle-keeping Bantu
farmers predominated in central and southern Africa, and they shared economic,
cultural, and political traditions. Many non-Bantu-speaking people adapted Bantu
languages to participate in these dynamic communities; others moved to less hospitable
regions and retained their hunting and gathering traditions.
Roughly contemporary with the spread of the Bantu speakers, from the middle of the
first millennium B.C.E. to the middle of the first millennium of the current era, West
Africans along the sahel and savanna developed an urban tradition. This urban
tradition seems to have its roots in the fortified villages found along the desert's edge,
which may have been the result of episodic periods of conflict in the ordinarily
symbiotic relations between desert nomads and settled agriculturalists. Whatever its
particular origin, the urban tradition spread along the West African sahel and savanna to
Lake Chad, and supported communities as small as several hundred to some as large as
several thousand. These urban communities were largely agricultural with significant
occupational specialization, including artisanal castes, religious specialists, and,
increasingly, military and political leaders.
6
By around 500 C.E., clearly identifiable but small-scale polities had emerged. They set
the stage for the development of larger empires around 800, such as that of Ghana and
Kanem. These empires were superimposed above the smaller polities and held together
through powerful armies and tribute collecting. Despite their capacity to survive for
many centuries, these West African empires were fragile polities, rarely able to
transform daily life in their smaller, outlying communities. Nonetheless, the empires
fostered military and political specialists and encouraged trade. Carried by merchants,
Islam found a fertile foothold in these urban settings.
7
Islam, commerce, and an urban tradition were also emerging along the East African
coast at this time. Although East Africa had been a central part of the developing world
of the Indian Ocean since at least the 2nd century B.C.E., the emergence of a distinctive
urban, cosmopolitan, and Muslim African culture occurred from about the 9th century.
This was the beginning of the Swahili culture, which was to dominate the East African
coast until the end of the 19th century.
8
East Africa's place in the Indian Ocean system was partly due to the monsoon winds,
which blow consistently from the northeast from November to March (facilitating
navigation from the Persian Gulf and the Indian subcontinent) and from the southwest
from April to August (facilitating the return voyage). Ivory, gold, incense, building
materials, and slaves were part of this Indian Ocean trading system, although the
intensity of the maritime commerce increased as the Abbasid capital shifted from Syria
to Iraq and as the Persian Gulf increased in importance. Already by the 9th century,
large numbers of slaves were draining the swamps of southern Iraq and planting
9
sugarcane. These slaves, referred to as Zenj, the term for East Africa, were involved in
the 896 slave revolt, which lasted for 14 years before the Abbasids suppressed it.
Visiting Ibadi, Omani, and Indian merchants found good anchorage on the archipelago
of offshore islands along the Kenyan and Somali coast. There they entered into relations
with Bantu speakers who controlled the commodities the merchants wanted. To
accommodate this commerce, permanent settlements were created on these islands,
although the pace of urban development increased in the 9th century. The process of
interaction between these foreign merchants and local Africans over the course of many
centuries led to the development of Swahili, both as a cosmopolitan, urban culture and
as the language of that culture. Swahili is a Bantu language with many Arabic
loanwords. The development of Swahili demonstrates the processes of social and
cultural synthesis that were also occurring in other regions of sub-Saharan Africa. (See
Historical Trends, 1000–1500)
10
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2. Regions, 500–1000
a. Sudanic West and Central Africa
c. 1st Century C.E
Camels were introduced into the Sahara from the lower Nile Valley during the late 1st
and early 2nd centuries. These animals thrived in the sandy, arid conditions of the
Sahara—they could carry heavy loads, travel vast distances, and go without water for
prolonged periods. Their increasing use from the 2nd and 3rd centuries onward
strengthened nomadic societies by facilitating travel and improving military capabilities.
The use of camels significantly expanded the scale of TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE.
1
500–800
Alternating symbiosis and conflict between nomadic and settled agricultural
communities led to the consolidation of states along the desert edge. Especially during
periods of drought, nomads from the Sahara raided the sedentary societies of the sahel.
Nomadic incursions encouraged the Soninke to adopt a more complex sociopolitical
organization. They formed the kingdom of GHANA between the 6th and 9th
centuries. The kingdom's rulers asserted control over key trans-Saharan trade routes.
Soninke merchants traded gold and slaves for desert salt and imported goods from the
north. The presence of Muslim merchants residing at Kumbi-Saleh, Ghana's capital, is
attested to by evidence of two separate parts of the capital: one for the ruler and his court
and the other for Muslims.
2
Other West African kingdoms arising in this period included Gao and Kanem. By the
mid-11th century, Ghana had become the largest and most powerful kingdom in the
western Sudan. The kingdom of Songhay, referred to as Kawkaw (Gao) in the Muslim
travelers' accounts, was contemporary with Ghana, although it emerged to a position of
power only in the 14th century (See Historical Trends, 1000–1500).
3
700–800
Ibadi traders from North Africa were the first to introduce Islam into the Sudan in this
period. Their success in gaining Sudanese converts greatly stimulated trans-Saharan
trading networks. Although Islam flourished along trade routes and in urban trading
enclaves, the peoples of the Sudanic hinterland initially remained wedded to traditional
beliefs. Many Muslim merchants also practiced syncretic forms of Islam.
4
Oases attracted settlers and became important centers of the growing trans-Saharan
trade. Inhabitants of oases became experts in constructing wells. They grew such
produce as dates, figs, grapes, lemons, raisins, and wheat, and engaged in trade with
traveling merchants. Caravan routes passing through Saharan oases solidified trading
relations between North Africa and the Sudan and led to the political consolidation
of nomadic groups. The principal trans-Saharan trade routes extended north-south.
Traders from the Sudan, south of the Sahara, exchanged slaves and gold for Saharan salt
and North African horses. Long-distance trade across the Sahara stimulated regional
and local commerce in a wide variety of commodities.
5
Founding of Islamic military and commercial centers. Berbers in the Sahara began
converting to Islam during the first half of the 8th century. By the latter half of the 8th
century, Muslims formed the Amal Wah state around four Libyan oases.
6
c. 800–900
First established in the 2nd century in the inland Niger Delta region, the settlement at
Jenne-Jeno developed into an important urban center by the 9th century. Its position as a
major center of regional and long-distance trade lasted several centuries. Foodstuffs
traded in Jenne-Jeno included fish, rice, and millet.
7
872
Kingdom of Kanem is mentioned in Arabic chronicles. Nomads herding sheep, cattle,
camels, and horses initially founded the kingdom of Kanem in the Lake Chad region.
Kanem was the first and largest state to be established between the Nile and the Niger
River in this era. By the 10th century, urban centers had arisen and a royal palace had
been built.
900–1100
8
Nomadic Berber pastoralists of the western Sahara, the Sanhadja, gained power and
influence in the western Sahara by establishing control over many trans-Saharan caravan
routes and commercial centers. Sanhadja chiefs collected dues from traders, dispatched
guides on trade routes, and exerted authority over a confederation of ethnic groups.
The Almoravids, also desert nomads, conducted a series of successful holy wars in
northwestern Africa. By the late 11th century they had established a powerful Islamic
empire stretching from present Spain and Morocco to Mauritania. The Almoravid
conquest of West Africa was led by Abdallah ibn Yasin.
9
10
1000–1100
The rulers of Kanem and Ghana converted to Islam. Consolidation of the kingdom of
Takrur along the Senegal River Valley (See 1076). According to Muslim travelers'
accounts, Takrur was the most Islamized kingdom of the western Sudan. Even more than
that of West African merchants, the Islam practiced by West African rulers at this time
was syncretic. Few rulers were able completely to shed traditional religions, since their
political positions had religious roots. Nonetheless, the conversion of West African
leaders greatly hastened the spread of Islam into the entire region.
11
1076
The Almoravids pillaged Kumbi-Saleh, the capital of Ghana, which led to the gradual
disintegration of the Ghanaian Empire (See Historical Trends, 1000–1500).
12
c. 1179–80
King of Mali converted to Islam by an Ibadi traveler from North Africa.
13
1100–1200
Decline of Almoravid Empire. (See Sudanic West and Central Africa)
14
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Africa
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b. Forest West Africa
5th–1st Centuries B.C.E
Rise of Nok culture. The Nok culture in southeastern Nigeria was one of the earliest and
most influential of the West African Iron Age societies. Besides developing ironworking
technology, the Nok culture possessed a unique artistic tradition that it spread widely in
the West African forest region.
1
The 1st century C.E. and onward saw a transition to more extensive use of iron. The
spread of ironworking technology led to an agricultural revolution. Iron hoes and other
tools enabled farmers to produce surplus crops, which supported the growth of urban
centers and royal courts. Expanded agricultural productivity also encouraged a greater
division of labor in the rural areas. Besides greatly aiding subsistence efforts, the Iron
Age led to the development of new, more effective weapons.
2
3rd Century B.C.E. Onward
By adopting improved agricultural techniques, including new stone axes and hoes,
residents of the West African forest region began to enhance greatly their agricultural
capabilities. The new tools facilitated the clearance of vegetation and the preparation of
soil for planting, especially of root crops such as yams.
3
1st Century C.E
Forest region of Nigeria became settled by populations practicing root crop and oil palm
cultivation.
600–1100
4
The Akan region of present Ghana became an important center of ironworking. Iron tools
greatly facilitated clearing of the forest. Inhabitants of the region became increasingly
urbanized, formed states, and engaged in long-distance trade.
5
600–1200
Gradual process of village settlement and intensification of agriculture in the Yoruba area
of Nigeria. Archeological evidence suggests emergence of religious specialists. Forest
clearing and population concentration led to the formation of polities. By the 10th
century, development of distinctive, naturalistic terra-cotta sculpture of the Ife tradition.
6
700–1100
Archaeological excavations in southeastern Nigeria suggest that a rich and complex
civilization existed. Artifacts unearthed at shrines and burial grounds at IgboUkwe—mostly ironware and pottery—attest to the society's multilayered social
organization. Using Iron Age technology to harness agricultural wealth, inhabitants of
Igbo-Ukwe became urbanized, participated in long-distance trade, and instituted new
social and political hierarchies. Atop the society, generally characterized by the absence
of rulers, were wealthy individuals. The civilization at Igbo-Ukwe marked a high point of
Iron Age development in the region.
7
900–980
Beginning of state formation among iron-using Edo of Benin. King lists indicate that
the first Benin ruler (ogiso) emerged c. 950. Early use of bronze in casting suggests
complex long-distance trade routes feeding this region.
8
900–1100
Increasing root and tree agriculture led to increased population growth and permitted
trade across the ecological frontier with the settled cereal farmers of the grasslands. Kola
nuts, sea salt, and dried fish were traded northward for livestock, desert salt, and cloth.
(See Forest West Africa)
9
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Africa (Horn)
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c. Northeast Africa (Horn)
African states existed in this region considerably earlier than the beginning of this
period. In Nubia (northern part of present Sudan), for instance, Kush became
independent from Egyptian rule around 750 B.C.E.; later politics were centered further
south at Meroë, which was situated in a more fertile region. The history of Meroë was
marked by long-term stability, centralized kingship, and a distinctive (although
Egyptian-derived) artistic and architectural tradition. After a period of decline, it was for
a time conquered by Axum (350 C.E.).
1
500 C.E
Nubia was predominantly Christian, and remained so until Muslim rulers came to power
in the 14th century.
2
651–52
As part of the Arab conquest of North Africa, Arab armies attacked Nubia. A
nonaggression treaty (the bakt) was concluded in 651, resulting in five centuries of
freedom from attack, with continued trade and cultural contact with Egypt.
3
697
Peaceful bakt conditions allowed Nubia to achieve political unity from this year, as well
as religious unity (under the Monophysite Egyptian Church) and economic prosperity.
800–1000
4
Nubia flourished from the end of the 8th to the 12th century.
5
956
A militarily powerful Nubia attacked Aswan (Egypt).
6
962
Nubia occupied much of upper Egypt.
7
969
The Nubian king refused payment of the tribute required by the bakt and refused to
convert to Islam.
8
The area of present-day Ethiopia also had states that long predated this period. The
kingdom of Axum came into being in the 2nd century C.E. and enjoyed wealth based on
trade in the Red Sea and Mediterranean areas. It was predominantly Christian from the
3rd century.
9
300–600
States in what became Ethiopia flourished with Indian Ocean trade from the 4th to the
6th century.
10
600–800
Ethiopia began to decline in the 7th century, disappearing in the 8th century. Axum
came into conflict with the early Muslims in southern Ethiopia (including Shoa and Ifat)
and on the Red Sea coast in this period. (See Northeast Africa (Horn))
11
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d. East Africa
500–600
The interior was not yet greatly involved with the coastal commerce. The most important
changes in the interior in this period concerned the introduction of the banana and the
development of highland agriculture based on it, and the spread of iron technology. The
dominant groups (in terms of language) were the Cushites, who had entered the region
between 3000 and 2000 B.C.E., and the Bantu, who had spread through the area in the
first centuries C.E. Nilotes, Khoisan, and central Sudanic groups were also present.
Cushites were cattle keepers and grain cultivators, while Bantu peoples practiced forest
agriculture based on the yam, and therefore were concentrated in the wetter regions.
During this period they began to adopt cattle and grain agriculture from their neighbors in
the eastern part of the region. By the 7th century, Bantu dialects were diverging,
indicating an end to the great sweep of migration and expansion by separate groups
within more limited areas.
1
500–1000
The interlacustrine region saw a buildup of population along the western and
southwestern shores of Lake Victoria, leading to expansion to the northwest and north,
settling the protopopulations of later communities such as the Ganda, Soga, Nkore, and
Bunyoro. Iron tools slowly expanded in the interior, supplanting the earlier stone
technology. Bantu groups made iron tools from the beginning of the Christian era. Such
tools were also acquired in coastal trade by Cushites.
2
The processes leading to the development of Swahili culture on the coast accelerated in
this period. Most important were the expansion of trade, the emergence of urban centers
on the coast, and the beginnings of Islamic influence. The monsoon winds of the
northern Indian Ocean region and the equatorial current, flowing south along the coast
from Somalia, facilitated development of maritime trade linking India, Persia,
southern Arabia, and the East Africa coast from the era of the Greek and Roman
3
Empires.
650–800
Maritime trade was greatly stimulated by the growth of the Arab Islamic Empire
beginning in the 7th century. The East African coast began to export new goods, and
coastal towns grew and fell on the strength of the trade. Islam came with small numbers
of immigrant merchants from Arabia and Persia from the 8th century, most of whom
settled on offshore islands. Islam was slowly adopted by coastal Africans involved in
trade but did not become dominant until the 12th century. However, the influence of the
immigrant traders led to the absorption of a large number of Arabic loanwords into the
developing indigenous language, Swahili, in the Bantu group, and to the use of Arabic
script for writing Swahili.
4
800–1000
Many coastal urban centers emerged during the 9th and 10th centuries, but most did not
become prominent until the 11th century.
5
850–1000
A new type of agriculture emerged toward the end of this period, practiced on the
highland slopes of the Pare Mountains by the proto-Chagga (a blend of Nilotes, Cushites,
and Bantu) and based on intensive cultivation of bananas, probably introduced by
Indonesian traders. Bananas also spread in this period from the south to the
interlacustrine region and to Mt. Elgon. (See East Africa)
6
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e. West Central Africa
500–1000
This was a period marked by a change from hunting and gathering to food production and
a transition from Stone Age to Iron Age technology, as well as a rapid expansion of
Bantu languages and an increase in population. Bantu speakers were present on the north
margins of the Congo forest, from where they began to spread throughout the region. On
the northern edge, Bantu speakers were raising cereals and livestock, while those in the
forest practiced fishing and forest agriculture. Cereal agriculture and cattle keeping were
made more efficient by the coming of Iron Age technology, which facilitated Bantu
expansion into the east and southeast, displacing the hunters who preceded them by
pushing them into more remote and less hospitable regions. The spread of Iron Age Bantu
speakers was also associated with a rapid expansion of population and by the
establishment of local and regional trade links involving salt, iron, and copper.
1
700–800
By the 8th century, a relatively advanced metalworking culture had developed in the
Katanga (Shaba) region of southeastern Congo. The culture grew up as a result of
important deposits of minerals in the region, especially copper and iron, and it may have
been an important center of independent invention of metallurgy. In any case, the wealth
developed from exploitation of mineral resources encouraged the emergence of
differentiated “big men” among the proto-Luba and proto-Lunda cultures.
1000
2
Bantu expansion was complete. Bantu ascendancy had been established by Iron Age
farmers who were adaptable to a variety of environments. Cattle-keeping farmers
augmented the economic diversity among expanding Bantu communities. (See West
Central Africa)
3
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f. Southern Africa
500
By this time, several Iron Age farming populations had long been present in southern
Africa.
1
600–700
The Leopard's Kopje culture (proto-Shona) were farmers who also kept cattle and lived
in semipermanent villages in southwestern present-day Zimbabwe and northern
Transvaal. Also by this century, there is evidence of the southern African Bantu cattle
culture, in which men, ancestors, and cattle played pivotal roles. Archaeological
evidence shows the presence of central cattle byres containing storage pots and burial
remains.
2
700–1000
Zhizo people on the eastern fringe of the Kalahari desert practiced Bantu cattle culture.
3
1000
Bantu speakers evolved the Zimbabwe culture at Great Zimbabwe and other centers.
Autochthonous inhabitants were pushed into less hospitable areas. (See Southern Africa)
4
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g. Madagascar
500
Early in the first millennium, Austronesian seafarers brought people, language, and
culture to the island that was already part of an inter-regional Indian Ocean trade
network for timber, gum, and aromatics. Very little is known about the early history of
this region, although it was the site of important ethnic, agronomic, and cultural
exchanges with Indian Ocean neighbors.
1
650–1000
The period saw a development of trade with the Muslim world and a conversion of some
to Islam. (See Madagascar)
2
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(See Historical Trends, 500–1000)
3. Historical Trends, 1000–1500
Between 1000 and 1500, processes of political, economic, and cultural change moved
along the same trajectories as in the earlier period, but at an accelerated pace. This is a
period still beyond the reach of all but the most mythical of traditions. Oral traditions,
especially those dealing with the origins of kingdoms, often portray the complex
processes that led to the formation of larger kingdoms in terms of the heroic actions of
the kingdom's founder. Rather than seeing these oral traditions as discrete historical
experiences, historians interpret such “foundation traditions” as symbolic templates for
examining the general historical processes of transforming small-scale polities into
larger kingdoms. Using corroborative historical sources—including archeology, king
lists, and written records, including tarikhs, or chronicles—historians date the founding
of many African kingdoms to this period.
1
In interpreting the history of this period, Africanists have found it difficult to separate
political, economic, and cultural change. Instead, they understand change as mutually
reinforcing processes that led to the gradual formation of larger polities, which in turn
stimulated increased commercial activities and accelerated cultural change and
experimentation. Although the central historical experience on the political level during
this period was the gradual process of forming larger states out of clusters of smaller
polities, large states or empires remained inherently unstable and prone to periodic
dissolution. Oral traditions dealing with this period, as well as the available written
records, are biased toward the more stable and enduring polities and their political
histories. In contrast, we know relatively little about acephalous societies, although the
archaeological excavations at Igbo- Ukwe in southeastern Nigeria demonstrate that
complex political organizations may have existed even in societies without rulers. These
excavations also point to important patterns of cultural change and social differentiation
based on wealth.
2
In the West African savanna, this period witnessed the flowering of the medieval West
African empires. Ancient Ghana (See 1076), to be distinguished from the modern
nation of Ghana, was formed around the 9th century and reached its apogee at the
beginning of the 11th century. The Morocco-based Almoravids sacked Kumbi-Saleh,
3
the sahel capital of Ghana, in 1086, which ushered in the gradual decline of the first
West African Empire. The sack of Kumbi-Saleh led to a dispersion of Soninke chiefs,
princes, and merchants that stimulated state formation elsewhere in the region.
Mali, located in the Mande zone farther south, congealed around a series of
micropolities and transformed them into a larger state. The founding of Mali is told in
the epic of Sundiata. Using armies of conquest, Mali succeeded Ghana in forming a
huge territorial empire, which stretched from Senegambia in the west to the Niger Bend
in the east, and from the desert's edge in the north to the forest in the south. Mali's rulers
converted to Islam, and Mansa Musa made the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1325. He was
accompanied by such a large entourage and carried so much gold that Arab and
European geographers began to include Mali on their world maps.
4
By the beginning of the 15th century, Mali was in decline and the Niger Bend state of
Songhay was ascendant. By the time of Sonni Ali (r. 1464–92), Songhay had
transformed itself from a small riverain polity into a great empire. Due to the existence
of two important tarikhs originally written at this time, historians know that Songhay's
core military divisions consisted of tightly organized cavalry, infantry, and river-based
naval units; territory was governed by appointed military leaders; and bureaucracies
managed diplomacy and the massive slave plantations that supplied the court and the
standing army with food and materials.
5
The same processes of change represented in the formation and decline of the West
African empires played out on a smaller scale throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa
during this period, but the details are less available to historians. In the West African
forest zone, Yoruba and Edo kingdoms emerged out of compact village communities.
In the interlacustrine region of East Africa, five or six larger kingdoms developed out
of a cluster of some 200 micropolities. Similar patterns yielded the kingdoms of the
BaKongo, Luba, and Lunda of the savannas to the south of the equatorial forest, and
they occurred in central Africa, where the Mwene Mutapa Empire transformed smaller
Shona chieftancies into a larger territorial unit. In all cases, political consolidation was
linked with military exploits, commerce, and culture change.
6
Political power in precolonial Africa was often expressed in terms of control over
people and resources. The formation of larger polities in sub-Saharan Africa invariably
involved competition. Military force was one, but only one, means of achieving control
over people and resources. Alternatively, emergent rulers solidified their control over
followers through patronage, often loaning cattle or distributing women to followers.
Redistribution of wealth, especially of exotic trade goods, also bound followers to
rulers.
7
Military force was a prime means of maintaining control over people and resources.
Warfare became a central expression of political and economic power, although
communities without formal state organizations also engaged in raiding and warfare.
Warfare yielded booty, especially livestock and slaves. Slaves were important elements
8
of most premodern societies, especially in societies where land was abundant in relation
to the number of people to cultivate it. Since slaves could easily run away, they did not
have much value at the point of capture; slaves' value increased the farther away they
were transported. Thus warfare was inextricably linked to long-distance trade.
This period witnessed the development of important long-distance trade systems that
linked sub-Saharan Africa with the Indian Ocean and with North Africa and the Middle
East. Slaves, as a by-product of the consolidation of African polities, fed the growing
demand for soldiers, for loyal government officials, for concubines, and for agricultural
labor in the Muslim empires of North Africa and the Middle East. The trans-Saharan,
Nile Valley, and Red Sea slave trades carried approximately 1 million slaves each
century, from the 9th to the late 19th century.
9
Long-distance traders were also interested in African gold—which became the principal
gold supply for the commercial world of the Mediterranean—as well as in exotic
feathers, skins, and incense. Because long-distance trade deals primarily in low-weight,
high-value items, it tends to cater to wealthy consumers. African consumers in the
intercontinental market were interested in exotic luxuries, such as glass beads, fine
ceramics, luxury textiles, paper, and books (especially copies of the Qur‘an), as well as
mineral salt, horses, and weapons.
10
Long-distance traders needed to resolve several important technical impediments to
cross-cultural trade, including the lack of a common language, adjudication in
disputes, and reliable market information. To solve these problems, traders developed a
network of linked yet dispersed communities known as diasporas. Long-distance trade
depended on—and stimulated—local and regional trade. Trade was ubiquitous
throughout sub-Saharan Africa, stimulated by specialized economic activities. Economic
specialization grew out of adaptation to specialized environments, such as through
herding or fishing, and out of specialized knowledge, such as smelting, weaving, or
ceramics. Long-distance trade was one form of specialized economic activity, which
flowed from the demand for commodities not locally available. The list of imported
luxuries illuminates the close links between long-distance trade, political change, and
cultural change. Most of the goods imported by long-distance traders catered to wealthy
consumers and served military or patronage needs. Control over trade was a central part
of maintaining political power, and it created needs that required continued participation
in long-distance trade.
11
The traders best able to resolve the technical impediments to cross-cultural trade were
those who shared a sense of belonging to supranational communities. In sub-Saharan
Africa, most long-distance traders who plied the intercontinental trade routes were
Muslims. In their diaspora settlements, Muslim merchants settled with clerics and
created Muslim communities. African rulers, particularly those involved in the transSaharan, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean trades, saw in Islam a means of participating in a
different moral and political community. The conversion of African rulers to Islam is
12
indicative of the complex cultural changes that swept the continent during this period.
Conversion must also be understood as part of a political calculus, in which some
African rulers sought to consolidate their own power at the expense of traditional
religious authorities. These were some of the reasons that, in 1492 or 1493, Muhammad
Rumfa, ruler of the Hausa city-state of Kano, invited the Saharan cleric al-Maghili to
instruct him in the arts of Islamic statecraft.
Although the historical evidence on social change is not very reliable for this period,
some trends that became clearer over the period 1500–1800 certainly had their roots in
this period. Increasing social differentiation by wealth and rank occurred
simultaneously with increased trade and political consolidation. There were no
sumptuary laws to distinguish noble from commoner, although such distinctions must
have been fairly obvious. Nobles and the wealthy simply had more possessions than
common folk: more wives, more children, more grain, more cattle, more slaves and
dependents, bigger houses, and so on. Warrior aristocracies also emerged during this
period to serve the political needs of larger polities and to provide slaves for the
intercontinental trade. Increased trade between African groups and increased warfare
heightened a sense of ethnic separateness, and led to the articulation of bounded ethnic
identities. These trends became more pronounced in the period 1500–1800, which
coincided with Africa's increased participation in the international slave trade. (See
Overview)
13
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(See 1100–1200)
4. Regions, 1000–1500
a. Sudanic West and Central Africa
1076
Almoravid destruction of the empire of Ghana and the spread of Islam in the political
center of the emerging states of Takrur, Songhay, Soso, and Kanem-Borno. The empire of
Ghana had reached its zenith by the late 11th century. In 1076 the Almoravids
conquered Ghana and forcibly converted its people to Islam. The conquest of Ghana led
to the gradual decline of Ghana's power, which encouraged the rise of regional polities
and the wider diffusion of Islam. Even before the conquest of Ghana, the king of Takrur
had converted to Islam. By the 12th century, the Takrur state controlled the Senegal River
and reaped profits by controlling the trade from nearby gold and salt mines. Takrur's
influence spread throughout the Senegal River basin. The rulers of Songhay converted to
Islam around 1010. In the 12th century, the Songhay kingdom occupied the Niger Bend
region. Timbuktu emerged as an important entrepôt on the southern edge of the desert.
Soso, another state to emerge in Ghana's wake, arose in the late 12th and early 13th
centuries. It developed a rich tradition in ironworking. The powerful Kanem kingdom
(See 1000–1100) dominated the Lake Chad region by the 12th century. The only major
political entity between the Nile Valley and the Niger Bend, Kanem served as the
southern terminus of a major caravan route between Lake Chad and the Mediterranean. In
the 12th century, the peoples of Kanem began to migrate to Borno, west of Lake Chad, to
a region better suited to agriculture and sitting astride important trade routes down the
Benue River Valley toward the coast.
1
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(See 900–1100)
b. Forest West Africa
c. 1000–1100
The first Yoruba kingdom to develop a highly centralized state, Ife achieved renown for
its patronage of skilled craftsmen. Ife kings especially encouraged the production of
cooper and brass ornaments. As the 11th century progressed, the hierarchy of courtly
officials serving under the monarchy expanded.
1
1200–1300
The city of Benin flourished as a regional center of politics and commerce.
2
c. 1300–1400
The powerful kingdom of Benin entered a new phase of growth and consolidation,
according to the oral traditions surrounding Prince Oranyon.
3
1400–1500
During the rule of Ewuare, the power of the Benin monarchy grew considerably, far
outstripping that of Ife at its height. He ushered in a political revolution that led to the
emergence of a bureaucracy tosupport the ruler's power against the hereditary chiefs.
Benin city walls were built, and Benin expanded militarily and commercially throughout
the Niger Delta region. At the time of the Portuguese contact, Benin was the most
4
powerful forest kingdom. The artisanal caste of bronze casters was under the direct
patronage of the oba, the ruler of Benin, and produced very impressive bronze works.
c. 1400–1500
The Upper Guinea coast—between present-day Senegal and Sierra Leone—witnessed the
development of several kingdoms prior to the arrival of the Portuguese, including the
Niumi, Badibu, Niani, and Wuli. Part of the stimulus to state formation in the region
was the expansion of Malian authority. One of Sundiata's generals established the
Kaabu state there, providing the kingdom of Mali with a western outpost.
5
1462
Seeking a local base near Africa, the Portuguese established their headquarters on São
Tiago, one of the Cape Verde Islands close to the African mainland. Following
Portuguese occupation, herding, cotton cultivation, and weaving became the mainstays of
the Cape Verde economy. Slaves from Senegambia and Upper Guinea were imported
soon after Europeans settled on the islands.
6
1472
With the help of African slave labor, the Portuguese established sugarcane plantations on
São Tomé Island in the Bight of Benin. Exclusively using African slaves to cultivate
sugar, São Tomé became the harbinger of the slave system of the Atlantic economy.
7
1481
Portuguese constructed the fort of Elmina on the Gold Coast. Elmina was the first
Portuguese settlement on the African mainland. From this strategic site, the Portuguese
began to engage in trade with the indigenous peoples, often acting as middlemen between
two African societies. The Portuguese traded African slaves for locally mined gold.
Slaves helped to clear the forests and provided new power to the emerging African rulers
of the Gold Coast. (See Forest West Africa)
8
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III. The Postclassical Period, 500–1500 > D. Africa, 500–1500 > 4. Regions, 1000–1500 > c. Northeast
Africa (Horn)
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 600–800)
c. Northeast Africa (Horn)
The defining characteristics of this period were the expansion of Arab peoples and the
growth of Islam as a result of migration; pastoralism; and the establishment of trade
networks of Muslim merchants.
1
1000–1170
Nubia, dominated by the central state of Mukurra, reached the height of its power as a
Christian kingdom during the bakt (in force since 651).
2
1150–1270
Although Islam had also begun to expand in the Horn of Africa region in the new
millennium, especially in the trading centers along the Red Sea Coast, there was a
revival of Christian central power under the Zagwe dynasty, based in Ethiopia's
northern highlands.
3
1171–1250
Good relations between Nubia and Egypt, existing while the latter was under Fatimid
rule and the bakt continued to be observed, gave way to hostility under the Ayyubid
dynasty in Egypt. Nubia began to decline during the Egyptian dynasty of the Ayyubids.
Egyptian campaigns against rebellious Arab groups encouraged the latter to move into
Nubian territory.
4
1250–1500
Nubian decline intensified under the Egyptian Mamluks (1250–1517), a result of direct
Egyptian pressure as well as the immigration of Arabic nomadic pastoralists. Nubia
eventually fell to the Mamluk Empire.
5
1270–85
Succession problems in Ethiopia led to the Zagwe dynasty's overthrow at the hands of
Yekunno-Amlak (1270–85), who established the Solomonic dynasty, claiming
legitimate succession from ancient Ethiopian kings who had claimed descent from King
Solomon of the Old Testament.
6
1272
When the Mamluk sultan Baybars (1260–77) demanded resumption of the bakt, Nubian
king Dawud responded by taking the Egyptian Red Sea port of 'Aydhab.
7
1275–1325
The weakening of the Nubian state encouraged depredation by migrating Arab groups,
which in turn resulted in further Egyptian incursions in the late 13th and early 14th
centuries.
8
1276
Baybars mounted a punitive expedition (See 1276) and installed Dawud's cousin
Shakanda as king. As a result Nubia became a vassal state contributing slaves, state
revenue, and revenue from a poll tax on non-Muslims.
9
1300–1500
The fall of Christian power in Nubia left Ethiopia the only Christian state in the
region. Arabization and Islamization of the population—including the royal family
10
(encouraged by the indigenous matrilinieal descent pattern)—continued, along with
decentralization of power. Nubian decline led to a much wider dispersion of Arab groups
toward southern pastures, carrying them west as far as Lake Chad.
1314–44
Amda-Siyon, grandson of the founder of the Solomonic dynasty in Ethiopia, gained the
throne in 1314 and ruled until 1344. Under his rule the state established military
dominance over its Muslim neighbors and conquered extensive new territories. Ifat, the
most important Muslim neighbor, became a tributary. Lack of Muslim unity
contributed to Amda-Siyon's successes. The new regions were not ruled directly, but by
local rulers under the authority of the Christian emperor, who reigned from a mobile
capital. Tribute and control over trade in slaves, ivory, and gold made the Solomonic
state wealthy. The establishment of new monasteries in the interior spearheaded the
spread of Christianity and learning.
11
1315
Nubia's failure to pay tribute resulted in the naming of a Muslim nephew of King Dawud
to the Nubian throne.
12
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III. The Postclassical Period, 500–1500 > D. Africa, 500–1500 > 4. Regions, 1000–1500 > d. East Africa
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 850–1000)
d. East Africa
The monsoon wind patterns that facilitated the rise of East African Indian Ocean trade
(See Historical Trends, 500–1000) led to the development of coastal fishing and farming
communities into large African towns with trading, religious, and ultimately political ties
to Arabia, Persia, and India. These contacts are exemplified by Arab geographer alIdrisi's description of the known world (1154), which divided the Swahili coast into the
land of Zanj, in the north, and the land of Sofala, in the south.
1
1000–1500
The Swahili civilization, which grew out of coastal communities of Bantu speakers, and
augmented by peoples from the interior and immigrants from Arabia, Persia, and India,
reached its height in this period. Wealth from trading activities led to the development of
several important trading towns along the coast, from Mogadishu in the north through
Lamu and Zanzibar to Kilwa in the south. These towns imported Arabic pottery and
Chinese porcelain and, for the interior trade, Indian cloth. They exported tropical woods
and ivory, shells, slaves, iron, and, from Kilwa, gold from the mines of Zimbabwe.
2
In the interlacustrine zone, trade between specialized agriculturalists and pastoralists led
to the formation of new polities late in the period.
3
1100
Bantu-speaking groups (who had emerged from the western forests) were still few in
number and were concentrated in the areas of higher rainfall (at least 1000 mm annually).
The Bantu speakers therefore continued to be root agriculturalists. The drier plains and
highlands were dominated by cattle-raising and grain-growing Nilotic and southern
Cushitic groups. Some hunter-gatherer groups were interspersed throughout the region.
4
Bantu movements into the drier areas resulted in their adoption of cattle raising and grain
cultivation. They also adopted some cultural patterns. For example, Bantu groups affected
by contact with southern Cushites and southern Nilotes on the east side of Lake Victoria
adopted male and female circumcision and discontinued chieftaincy. Intensive banana
and grain cultivation grew out of a merger of Bantu and Cushitic traditions on the
slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The Bantu's adaptability, therefore, encouraged their
expansion. The western interior, however, continued to be dominated by southern Nilotic
groups. In eastern Uganda, the migration of Bantu speakers (known in tradition as the
founder Kintu and his followers) from Mt. Elgon and northeastern Lake Victoria led to
the formation of several small states from 1100.
1100–1200
A new dynasty identifying itself as Shirazi (from Shiraz, Persia) came to power in the
coastal town of Kilwa in the 12th century. The culture of the immigrants from Persia and
Arabia was important in East African religion and politics, though the immigrants were
not numerous and intermarried with Africans. The ruling classes in the towns were
probably of mixed Afro-Arab descent, while commoners and slaves were Africans.
Recent immigrants from Arabia and Persia formed a separate group. Islam, adopted first
by the merchants and then by other elites and urbanites along the coast, began to spread
in the 12th century. The Swahili language was put into written form using Arabic
script in the early part of this period.
5
1300–1500
The rise of the gold trade led to Kilwa's eclipse of Mogadishu, Lamu, and Zanzibar after
the 13th century. Cowrie shells and locally minted coins were used as currency in this
trade. New wealth led to construction in coral in the towns, in a distinctive Swahili style
of architecture. One of the most outstanding examples is the Great Mosque of Kilwa,
reconstructed in the first half of the 15th century. Swahili civilization reached its peak
in the 13th through the 15th centuries, before being overshadowed by the arrival of
Portuguese power in the early 16th century. Less is known about the East African
interior, because of the absence of written sources, but important developments can be
discerned from archaeology and linguistics and in some cases from oral traditions. The
history that emerges is one of the movements of various populations, identified by
language groups, and changes in material culture due to contact with other people and the
entry into new ecological zones.
6
Larger kingdoms, based on the interaction between pastoralists and cultivators,
7
began to emerge in the interlacustrine region. These kingdoms succeeded smaller states
organized by Bantu cultivators in the region from around 900. Thus, the Bito dynasty in
the Bunyoro kingdom (southwestern Uganda), founded by Luo or Hima pastoralists in
about 1400, succeeded the Chwezi dynasty of Bantu cultivators. A new larger kingdom
succeeded smaller Bantu states inRwanda in the same period, incorporating both
pastoralist and agriculturalist elements under Tutsi domination from about 1400.
R. 1344–74
Another tradition based on migrations from the west following the Chwezi collapse
names Kimera (1344–74) as founder of a new dynasty in Buganda, which was to
become an important state in the succeeding era. (See East Africa)
8
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1000)
e. West Central Africa
1000
Despite an expansion of population in the preceding half millennium, the region was still
sparsely populated compared with West Africa and the interlacustrine region. Sanga, on
the Lualaba River in the Katanga (Shaba) region of present-day Zaire, had by this time a
rich metalworking tradition in an area that attracted Iron Age populations, due to a
good supply of fish and game and good rainfall for agriculture. These populations worked
copper mines on the upper Lualaba River, to the southeast. The presence of salt and
minerals also favored the development of trade—with standardized copper ingots as
currency—and towns, which facilitated political centralization. This area was the core
region for the development of the political culture that evolved into the Luba and Lunda
Empires.
1
1250
The transition to later Iron Age culture in Lunda led to a centralization of power by
territorial chiefdoms, in competition with lineage-based authority.
2
1350
The Kongo kingdom developed out of a prosperous farming community near the mouth
of the Congo River. This location, with access to both forest and grassland economies,
stimulated growth and trade. Kings at the settlement of Mbanza Kongo centralized
power based on a hierarchical system of tribute and trade. The kingdom slowly
3
expanded south of the river, conquering other chiefdoms.
1400
Lunda arrived at political stability based on the alliance of a central chief of real or
putative foreign origin and the old lineages. A system of “perpetual kingship” developed,
in which the new officeholder “becomes” his predecessor, ensuring continuation of
alliances based on kinship, marriage, and conquest.
4
1400–1500
In Angola, this period saw the emergence of many small kingdoms or chiefdoms
among the Ndongo peoples of the Luanda plateau. These small kingdoms coalesced
around two types of cults: the malunga, associated with rainmaking, and the ngola,
associated with iron. The ngola kings began to consolidate political and spiritual
authority as well as control of trade and important resources, such as salt.
5
1483
Portuguese arrived in Kongo with commercial, religious, and strategic interests. They
found a distinct class of aristocrats at the urban center and slaves who performed
agricultural labor to support the elite class. The king appointed provincial governors,
often his relatives. The king was chosen by a group of electors, and his power was to
some degree limited by a council. The capital was the focus of regional trade networks
involving iron, pottery, salt, copper, and ivory. Imported European trade goods, along
with teachers, priests, craftsmen, and Christianity created a distinctive court culture
and had far-reaching effects on the development of Kongo.
6
1500
Sometime before this date, the Luba state emerged, fusing several clans under one chief.
By this time, Kongo was becoming a conquest state and a trading empire, with a separate
aristocracy and middle class. Increasing commerce linked the forest zone to the
interlacustrine region in the east and the emerging state systems to the west. (See West
Central Africa)
7
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1000)
f. Southern Africa
1. North of the Limpopo
1000
By this date, the Zambezi and Limpopo basins were widely settled by Iron Age peoples,
who farmed sorghum and millet and kept cattle and small livestock. Pockets of Stone Age
hunter-gatherers remained in the savanna. Hunter-gatherers, ancestors of modern San
groups, occupied the Kalahari to the southwest.
1
1000–1200
New cultures, including the Leopard's Kopje tradition in modern Zimbabwe, supplanted
the early Iron Age cultures of this region. The new developments may have been
influenced by the immigration of pastoralists in the 9th or 10th century. By the 12th
century, Leopard's Kopje people were engaged in gold mining. The mining and trading
economy led to the accumulation of wealth by a privileged class and political
centralization. Other new farming-based societies, sparked by immigration or
technological innovation, emerged in this region in the 12th century among Shona
speakers. Later Iron Age peoples settled at what became Great Zimbabwe in the 10th or
11th century. Trading states linked to the trade of the East African coast appeared in
coastal Mozambique.
2
1100–1300
From the 12th century, gold mining increased in the Leopard's Kopje area. In the 12th
3
century, significant changes took place in Great Zimbabwe, through which Leopard's
Kopje exports were traded to the coast. These changes included the building of stone
walls and the import of glass beads and other luxury goods, indicating new trade and
wealth. A powerful state structure emerged there by 1300. Its domain included much of
central and southern Mashonaland. Both Zimbabwe and Leopard's Kopje developed
extensive trading networks and political centralization. Long-distance trade led to the
accumulation of considerable wealth by the rulers at Great Zimbabwe. This in turn led to
greater population densities, which in the long run probably resulted in overgrazing and
loss of fertility of the land.
1300–1400
Great Zimbabwe's trade continued to flourish through the 14th century. By this
century, imports at Great Zimbabwe included glass beads as well as ceramics from
Persia, Syria, and China.
4
1400–1500
The gold trade from Sofala to Kilwa, on which Great Zimbabwe's wealth depended,
reached its height in this century and then went into a steep decline, influencing the rapid
decline of Great Zimbabwe as a political and trading center. The site was abandoned at
the end of the 15th century, perhaps as a result of environmental degradation. The decline
of Great Zimbabwe coincided with the emergence of the Rozwi Empire under a ruler
known as Mwene Mutapa (Master Pillager). About 1490 the southern part split off,
leaving Mutapa with domain over a region south of the Zambezi stretching to the Indian
Ocean. This northward shift of power was related to new gold production from 1450 on
the Zambezi tributaries.
5
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Madagascar
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 650–1000)
g. Madagascar
1000
Indonesian immigrants had been settled on the island since the previous century.
1
1100–1500
Arab Muslim influence became important as a result of immigrants involved with trade
to the Arab and Swahili worlds.
2
1200–1500
A new wave of Indonesian immigration to the east coast or northwest brought irrigated
cultivation of rice, bananas, yams, and cocoa. Immigrants encountered earlier mix of
Indonesian settlers and Africans, whom they called Vazimba. The two groups initially
cooperated but eventually come into conflict, which led to the founding of Merina state
on the interior plateau, toward the end of the period. The new immigrants (including
Muslims) brought institutions of royalty, which had not existed previously on the island,
but the developing political institutions reflected the contributions of Asians, Africans,
and Muslims.
1300
3
Muslim settlers arrived in the Comoro Islands from the east coast of Africa, and later
settled in northwestern and northeastern Madagascar.
4
1400–1500
By this time, Muslim settlements comparable to the Swahili coastal towns had been
established on the northwestern and (later in the century) northeastern coasts, for trading
with the Swahili and Arab worlds. The settlements exported rice and soapstone carvings
in exchange for imported pearls, cloth, and Chinese ceramics. (See Madagascar)
5
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Korea, to 540 C.E.)
E. East Asia, to 1527
1. China, 589–960
a. Periodization and Events
The period from 589 to 960 covers the short Sui dynasty, the Tang—one of the longest
Chinese dynasties—a period of splendorous growth in every way, and a half century of
disunion. Most historians of China, regardless of their subspeciality, would agree that a
breaking point of great significance occurred at the end of the Tang and the beginning of
the next imperial dynasty, the Song; others place it more generally over the course of the
10th century. This period has been forcefully argued as marking the beginning of
Chinese modernity, the end of aristocracy and the commencement of meritocratic
government, the shift from slavery to feudalism, the rise of centralized autocracy, and a
host of other important transitions. Irrespective of ideological bent, though, virtually all
historians recognize an all-important shift.
1
589
With the Sui dynasty, efforts began immediately to link the Yellow River with the
Yangzi River. A reintegration of north and south China began.
2
602–5
Liu Fang suppressed a rebellion in An-nam, repelled the Cham, and sacked their capital
at Indrapura.
3
604–18
The reign of Yangdi (569–618) was tyrannical and egocentric; he was alleged to have
killed his father. He moved the capital to Luoyang, began rebuilding the Great Wall
(607–8), and completed the Grand Canal (605) to link Luoyang to the Yangzi River,
which later was linked further to Beijing (608) and Hangzhou (610), as well as
undertaking other fiscally draining public works projects.
4
606
The National University was enlarged and the doctoral, or jinshi, degree was first
awarded. The first Japanese embassy was received from Empress Suiko.
5
607–8
Sui armies under Pei Ju attacked west into Xinjiang but were defeated.
6
612, 613, 614
Three huge assaults on Kogury , a state on the Korean peninsula, by massive Sui
armies proved economically and militarily debilitating. They destroyed the Sui economy
and incurred popular ire, leading to domestic upheaval.
7
615
Sui forces were defeated by the Turks, prompting Yangdi to send Gen. Li Yuan
(566–635) to combat the Turks, while he retired to the south, where he was murdered
(618).
8
The recentralization policies set in motion by the Northern Zhou were continued by the
Sui, and this aided the reunification of the empire and helped break the back of the great
families. The Sui central government took control of all appointments to the regular
bureaucracy and used extensive examinations. The Sui also adopted the Western Wei's
militia system. The Sui census of 606 gave a national population of 46,019,956, a great
rise from earlier. The Sui also continued the Tuoba Wei's equal-field system for land
9
distribution and taxation. Like the Qin, the Sui unified the country rapidly after centuries
of disunion, but moved too quickly and too forcefully to try to secure its achievement;
both were extremely short-lived.
618–907
The TANG DYNASTY, founded by Li Yuan (r. 618–26, as Taizu) and his son LI
SHIMIN (600–49). The Tang was a truly brilliant age in Chinese history, and Tang
institutions became models for the other countries of East Asia. The Tang's principal
capital was placed at Chang'an, which became the largest city in the world and
attracted visitors from many different lands, and an eastern capital was set up at
Luoyang. The basic institutional foundation on which the Tang built—centralized
authority, the civil service examination system, and the like—had been laid by the Sui.
Li Shimin had pushed his father to depose Yangdi of the Sui and seize the throne. When
the Tang came into existence, rebellions were still going on throughout the empire. Li
Shimin fought them for seven years, and by 624 north China had been reconquered. The
south was brought into line more through ameliorative, less harsh measures.
10
624
Li Shimin ambushed and eliminated his two elder brothers, had himself named crown
prince, and two years later compelled his father to step down.
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
b. Political, Social, and Cultural Patterns
The Tang government built on the Sui foundations of recentralized administrative
control. In addition to the armed forces and the censorate, the administration was split
into three parts: the Department of State Affairs, the Secretariat, and the
Chancellery. At the beginning of the dynasty, the highest officials of these three
agencies met daily with the emperor to hammer out decisions of state. Prior to his
accession to the throne, Li Shimin headed the Department of State Affairs. Imperial
edicts had to go through both the Secretariat and the Chancellery, which thus served as a
check on the autocratic control of the sovereign. The Department of State Affairs had six
ministries under its aegis: personnel, revenues, rites, war, justice, and public works. The
entire administrative organization of state was laid out in the Tang liudian (Six Canons
of the Tang), which was written under Xuanzong.
1
In 711 all prefectures in the empire were placed into one of 10 circuits, later (733)
expanded to 15, and later yet to 20. These circuits in the Xuanzong reign of the midTang were headed by regional commanders who held both civil and military authority.
After the Rebellion of An Lu-shan, they became virtual satrapies, the bases for the Five
Dynasties era that followed the Tang.
2
Personnel tapped for bureaucratic appointments came from a much wider group in
the Tang than before; far more men (only men) sat for the civil service examinations,
and only a small percentage passed them. As the examination system became the
regularized route to government service, the importance of education, necessary to pass
the exams, skyrocketed. This in turn caused the spread of education. There were two
national universities in the Tang period, one in Chang'an and one in Luoyang. The
student populations were dominated by the aristocracy and sons of officials; the
education offered was geared to taking the examinations at the various levels. The two
most important examinations tested one's literary skills and one's knowledge of the
classics of antiquity. A standard appointment lasted for three years, after which time one
reapplied to the Ministry of Personnel. While on duty, all officials were evaluated
annually by higher officials. There were nine bureaucratic ranks attached to the level and
importance of a position, and movement up the ladder depended on receiving good
reports, the availability of openings, and good family background. The Tang system
3
mixed aristocracy with meritocracy; the great families retained their prestige, but rising
egalitarianism was creating more access to government for others. The Tang legal codes
became the models for all of East Asia.
The Tang militia system also carried on from that of the Sui, but the Tang had
professional career soldiers who tilled their own fields, a revered group in Tang times.
There were 600 garrisons throughout the empire, mostly near Chang'an, Luoyang, and
along the northern border. There was also a standing army, stationed in the capital,
which served as an imperial bodyguard. It provided the base of the Tang fighting force
into the 8th century. By 749 the militia system had effectively become defunct in the
capital region, although it remained in force along the border areas; even it needed
conscription, though, to keep troop strength up. Later in the dynasty, the state was
compelled to rely on mercenaries hired in the regional commanderies, a background
cause of both the Rebellion of An Lu-shan and the subsequent decentralization of power.
4
In population, the census of 753 (on the eve of the Rebellion of An Lu-shan) recorded a
figure of 52,880,488. Eleven years later, the census of 764 (after the rebellion) gave a
figure of 16,900,000. Although this figure is certainly too low, it does indicate a clear
decline in population. Two-thirds of the population still lived in northern China until
after the rebellion; from that point on, the population of the Yangzi Delta reached parity
with the north. In the early 8th century, the 26 largest prefectures all had more than
500,000 people. Chang'an prefecture had 2 million, and Luoyang was in excess of 1
million. Chang'an in the mid-Tang was both the largest and the most cosmopolitan city
in the world. There were 30 square miles within the city walls, divided into countless
wards for specific uses, and boasting hundreds of temples.
5
Either in the late Tang or during the Five Dynasties period, the practice of foot binding
began to spread. Young girls would be guided, usually by their mothers, to wrap their
feet extremely tightly with pieces of cloth. These would then restrict the growth of the
foot and keep it stylishly small and dainty, albeit at cost of great pain for the young
women. The practice eventually spread to various social classes, although certain ethnic
groups (such as the Hakka people) never practiced the custom.
6
The equal-field land system was in full force early in the Tang. Under this system, all
families were allocated land by the state, and in return they paid a tripartite tax: a grain
payment for land rent, a corvée labor assessment or payment in its stead, and payment of
a set amount of cloth. This system held up through the middle of the Tang, despite
inequities and favoritism, and helped the peasantry's state of affairs. Buddhist temples
and monasteries acquired land without taxation. The tax reforms of 780 instituted by the
official Yang Yan (727–81) aimed at saving the declining equal-field system. This
created a new structure known as the double-tax system (paid in summer and fall): half
was a household tax payable in cash, indicating the rise of monetary economy; and half
was a land tax payable in grain. These measures brought stability to the national taxation
system, although they did favor those with land. In fiscal administration, Liu Yan
7
(715–80) rebuilt and oversaw the state's monopoly on salt, which brought the state
considerable revenue before the double-tax reforms.
The variety of religions present in the Tang period was remarkable. It was an era of
great development, particularly for Buddhism. After 16 years spent in India, the famed
pilgrim XUANZANG (c. 596–664) returned to China in 645 with a large quantity of
original Indian texts. He chronicled his travels and later headed a commission that
translated 75 books in 1335 volumes, creating a system of consistent transcription from
Sanskrit. He introduced the scholastic doctrine of Vasubandhu, that the visual universe
is only a mental image. The Pure Land sect of Buddhism enjoyed popular favor for the
next 70 years. Based on texts translated earlier, it taught direct salvation through faith in
Amitabha and the repeated invocation of his name. The Chan sect was developed by
Huineng (638–713), the sixth patriarch. It continued to acquire followers, especially as
disorder grew in the later years of the dynasty, offering refuge through introspective
contemplation.
8
As early as 607, the Sui had ordered all Buddhist sects to pay homage to the throne and
had tried to regulate entry into the Buddhist and Daoist clergy. These practices were
continued by the Tang, and Buddhism flourished through the Tang until the persecution
of 841–45. Earlier, the great poet and prose writer Han Yu (786–824) had vilified
Buddhism as a foreign, non-Chinese religion, as part of an effort to revive
Confucianism. The persecutions of the 840s destroyed 4600 monasteries and 40,000
temples and shrines; 260,500 monks and nuns and 150,000 lay servants were returned to
the tax rolls; and huge amounts of land were likewise returned to the tax registers. The
attacks were not so much inspired by anti-Buddhist sentiments as they were an effort to
regain state control in that sector, and they reveal that even at a time when there was an
allegedly weak center, the state had the capacity to carry out such a repression.
9
Daoism also prospered in the Tang. It was, in many ways, reorganized on the Buddhist
model, gaining imperial patronage. It was argued that since Laozi was said to have been
surnamed Li and so was the Tang imperial house, he must have been the ancestor of the
Tang emperors. A large compendium of Daoist writings, the Daozang, was prepared
along Buddhist lines.
10
In historical scholarship, Liu Zhiji (661–721) composed the Shitong (Generalities on
History), the world's first work explicitly in the field of historiography. Du You
(735–812) devoted 36 years (766–801) to the compilation of the Tongdian
(Comprehensive Canon), a historical encyclopedia with 200 sections, covering a panoply
of topics from high antiquity through the year 755. In literature, fiction began to
develop, especially toward the end of the Tang, in the form of the chuanji (strange tales),
short stories that appeared in numerous anthologies. They were composed in the literary
language, and only later appeared in the colloquial. Han Yu urged a return to a simple
“ancient style,” and he spawned a movement that produced much chuanji writing. The
Tang was the golden age for Chinese poetry. The Quan Tang shi (Complete Tang
11
Poems) includes 48,900 poems written by 2300 authors, mostly officials or candidates
(and hence intellectuals). Regulated verse, prose poems, songs, and other forms
flourished. During the Xuanzong reign lived three of the greatest poets: Wang Wei
(699–759), Li Bo (701–62), and Du Fu (712–70). In the 9th century, in addition to Han
Yu, Bo Juyi (772–846) was a high official and a brilliant poet and essayist.
In the field of art, Wu Daoyuan (c. 700–60) painted murals in temples and monasteries
and was also a fine figure painter. Li Sixun (651–716) and the poet Wang Wei created
two of the first and most influential landscape styles. Tang-period pottery was
resplendent with new colors in soft lead glazes, applied with new technical versatility.
The first true porcelain with high-fired feldspathic glaze probably dates from about this
time.
12
Yixing (c. 725), a Buddhist astronomer, invented the first known clock escapement. The
Buddhists also enlarged the seal and produced wood blocks for printing on paper,
although the oldest extant datable text is from 8th-century Korea. During the Five
Dynasties era, a complete, 130-volume set of the classics was first printed (932–53),
with commentaries, from wood blocks—a cheap substitute for stone engraving. The
volumes were printed in the Later Tang capital of Luoyang by Feng Dao (882–954),
who had seen the process in Sichuan. The text used was that of the stone inscription of
836–41.
13
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
2. China, 960–1521
a. Periodization and Events
The period from 960 through 1521 covers two great Chinese dynasties, the Song and the
first part of the Ming, and the first complete conquest of China by the Mongols.
1
960–1279
The SONG DYNASTY marked a shift away from the earlier aristocratic traditions
toward a more open, meritocratic state and society. Reflections of this development can
be found in scholarship, literature, thought, and art. Some have identified the Song with
the advent of modernity or early modernity; others have seen it as a Chinese counterpart
to the European Renaissance; still others have seen fit not to name it as such. It was an
age marked by humanism and a turning inward, an age of less cosmopolitanism than in
the Tang, an age that saw Confucianism eclipse Buddhism and Daoism. The Song was
the only major dynasty in Chinese history not to be overthrown by rebellion from within.
The first half of the dynasty is usually distinguished as the Northern Song (960–1127),
when the capital was at Kaifeng, then called Bianjing or Bianliang.
2
960–76
The reign of Zhao Kuangyin (b. 927), or (Song) Taizu, who founded the Song dynasty,
brought a measure of order and unity to the empire. Zhao had been a general in the Later
Zhou state, the last of the Five Dynasties. Zhao and the Song were immediately beset by
problems on the Song state's borders: from the Khitan Liao to the northeast; the Tangut
kingdom of Xixia, a confederation of Tibetan tribes in the northwest; and separatist
kingdoms in the south. Through expansion of the civil service examination system, Zhao
began a process of increasing civil control over the military and of ensuring that all civil
officials were beholden to the center. This also served to centralize the authority of the
3
imperial institution.
963–75
Through continued campaigns against various regimes in the south, the Song brought
those peoples under Chinese control. Exceptions were An-nam, which secured its
independence, and the Nanzhao kingdom and Wuyue, which were not attacked.
4
976–97
The reign of Taizong (b. 939) completed the program of reunifying the empire (979),
except for the 16 northern prefectures that were seized earlier by the Khitan and held
despite several attacks against them (979, 986).
5
1004
An invasion by the Khitan reached the Yellow River area near Kaifeng. The invaders
were appeased with an annual tribute payment in silver and silk, which was increased in
1042.
6
1006
Granaries for emergency relief were established in every prefecture.
7
1040–44
War was begun by the Xixia, but there was no discernible victor. To gain peace, the
Song agreed to pay an annual tribute of silver and silk. Subsequent efforts (1069,
1081–82) by the Chinese failed to halt continued trouble from the Xixia.
8
By the year 1100, the population of China probably neared 100 million, having
surpassed the Tang's highest figure of 60 million some time in the middle of the 11th
century. The introduction of new seeds from Southeast Asia and advances in technology
for both industry and agriculture helped fuel this growth. The cities of Song China
became complex urban networks, and commerce flourished as it had never before. The
9
spread of printing served to bring literacy and education to a much wider segment of the
populace than had earlier been the case, and the old Chinese aristocracy effectively lost
all hold on Chinese politics, education, and government. The military, from the Taizu
and Taizong reigns forward, was permanently placed at a social level beneath civil
positions.
1043–44
Fan Zhongyan (989–1052) proposed a ten-point program of reform. Abuses through the
course of the prosperous 11th century, especially in the countryside, brought rural
misery and the depletion of the central treasury. Fan sought to bring better men into
government and to concentrate on local government.
10
1069–73
WANG ANSHI (1021–86) attempted to implement a program of radical reforms, his
famous New Laws (Xinfa), with the full confidence of Emperor Shenzong (r. 1068–85)
and in the face of the bitter opposition of more conservative statesmen. These reforms
included the following. Through a financial bureau (1069), he cut the budget by 40
percent and raised salaries, in an effort to make honesty feasible for ordinary officials.
To avoid excessive transport costs and to control prices, he empowered the chief
transport officer to accept taxes in cash or kind, to sell from the granaries, and to buy
from the cheapest markets. To protect poor farmers further against usurers and
monopolists, loans of cash or grain were offered in the spring against crop estimates to
be repaid in the fall with an interest of 2 percent monthly (moderate for China at the
time). Ambitious officials forced these loans on merchants and others who did not want
them. Objections to both the principles and the administration of these measures, which
were accompanied by a considerable centralization of power and credit in state hands
and by disregard for precedent, led to numerous resignations and the transfer of many of
the best officials, whose help might have made them successful. Conscript militia were
organized (1070) and trained for police purposes and national defense. The standing
army of well over a million less-than-efficient men was gradually cut in half. By 1076
the militia, volunteer guards, and border bowmen numbered more than 7 million men.
Cash assessments graded in proportion to property were substituted (1071) for
compulsory public services, such as corvée. The exemption for officials, clergy, and
small families was reduced by half. State banking and barter offices were opened
(1072), first at the capital and later in every prefecture, with the object of controlling
prices for popular benefit. Among those most fervently opposed to Wang were the
brilliant writer Ouyang Xiu (1007–72), the great historian Sima Guang (1019–86), and
11
the most famous poet of the day, Su Shi, or Su Dongpo (1037–1101).
1074–85
Wang's reform program was continued, despite claims of excessive cash levies and other
abuses, until the death of Shenzong.
12
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
b. Political, Social, and Cultural Patterns
The Tang-Song transition in Chinese government was marked by two seemingly
contradictory trends, rising absolutism in the imperial institution and growing,
institutionalized meritocracy through regularization of the civil service examination
system. In earlier eras, the emperor had ruled on behalf of a collegial body of aristocrats,
among whom his family might not even have been the highest ranking. With the
disappearance of the aristocracy, the Song needed able men to staff its bureaucracy, and
it turned to the male population at large. Thus status in the civil service became a
function of knowledge, acquired through long hours of rigorous study of the Confucian
canon. Concomitant with the centralizing trend in imperial authority was the trend to
consolidate as much power as possible in fewer and fewer hands directly answerable to
the emperor.
1
In military affairs, the Song seems to have learned an important lesson from the
experience of the Tang and earlier states. Centralization of authority in all military
matters served to eliminate regional military power. Civil authority came to gain control
over the military. With this trend came a sharp decline in the prestige of military careers.
2
Local society in the Song, below the level of centrally appointed local officials,
remained largely in the hands of local leaders. All the normal functions of
government—taxation, jurisprudence, social order, and the like—were the responsibility
of local elites. Even as the population grew, though, the number of local political
units—counties and prefectures—remained roughly the same; they were simply much
more heavily populated. In addition there was rapid commercialization and
urbanization as Song cities grew and new ones came into existence. After the Jurchens
conquered the north, the Southern Song's population was roughly 60 million.
Approximately 2 million people lived within the walls of the Southern Song capital of
Hangzhou, which Marco Polo (1254–1324) visited and described shortly after the fall of
the Song.
3
Printing, invented earlier, developed rapidly in the Song into a vibrant industry. The
entire Buddhist canon, or Tripitaka (Three Baskets), was printed (972–83), a collection
of 1521 texts on 130,000 pages, and it was reprinted many times thereafter.
4
Chinese agriculture from the late Tang through the Northern Song underwent a major
transformation. As a larger percentage of the population moved into the south, the
production of rice rapidly grew in importance. It required new kinds of irrigation
techniques and intensive labor. Introduced from Champa in Southeast Asia was a strain
of rice that ripened more quickly and thus enabled Chinese farmers to plant a second
crop after their rice was harvested. In some areas, three crops could be grown and
harvested in one season.
5
The world of thought in the Song period witnessed the decline of Buddhism and the
rise of Neo-Confucianism. This occurred in tandem with the wide extension and
regularization of the examination system, the education that was necessary to pass the
exams, and the explosion in printing. Following the model of the Buddhist Tripitaka, the
Daozang, a Daoist Tripitaka, was published (1019). The major Buddhist sects that
remained vital after the Song were the Pure Land and Chan sects, the latter splitting into
a number of subdivisions of its own.
6
Neo-Confucianism, although datable to trends in the late Tang, took off as a movement
in the Northern Song. It was an attempt to go back to the original sources of Chinese
tradition, before the coming of Buddhism, to create a Chinese tradition with answers to
the metaphysical and cosmic questions that until then only Buddhism and Daoism had
been able to answer. It reinterpreted many of the texts thought to date from the Zhou
period in new ways that could present secular counterparts to a range of ideas to which
Buddhism appealed. It was closely tied to state service through its great stress on
education and on making officials as sagacious as possible.
7
The principal figures in what became known as the Cheng-Zhu school of NeoConfucianism were: Zhou Dunyi (1017–73), who worked extensively on explicating the
“Supreme Ultimate” (from the Yijing), describing a “diagram” of it that linked man to
nature and the cosmos; Shao Yong (1011–77) who studied the Yijing as well; Zhang Zai
(1020–77), who is often seen as an early materialist because of his belief in the
omnipresence in the universe of qi (ether, or material stuff); and the Cheng brothers,
Cheng Hao (1032–85), who worked further in the field of metaphysics, and Cheng Yi
(1033–1108), who was principally responsible for identifying four texts—Mencius, The
Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, and The Analects of Confucius—as the most
essential and which became the basis of Neo-Confucian education thereafter. The final
synthesis of the Cheng-Zhu system (also known as lixue, or the learning of principle)
was the work of ZHU XI (1130–1200). Zhu was a great polymath who wrote on
education, philosophy, the family, and the state, and commentaries on all the classics.
The Four Books identified by Cheng Yi were later almost always published with Zhu's
interlinear commentaries. Although Zhu was not overly successful in his lifetime and his
work was subject to imperial ban shortly before his death, his posthumous influence
would be unmatched from his time forward. His major work, Jinsi lu (Reflections on
Things at Hand), was compiled in 1175–76 and was intended as a guide to Cheng-Zhu
8
doctrines and the classics.
The principal opponent of the Cheng-Zhu school in the Song period was Lu Jiuyuan
(1139–93), who argued that human nature was a function of one's mind or heart. Hence,
the school he spawned was known as xinxue, or learning of the mind-and-heart. Zhu Xi
had not denied the mind as much as Lu Jiuyuan did deny the importance of principle.
Lu's school was developed much further by more influential and prolific scholars during
the Ming dynasty.
9
Historical scholarship similarly made great advances in the Song era. The
“rediscovery” of the ancient classical texts required extensive explanations and
commentaries of those works. Ouyang Xiu (1007–72) was a prominent statesman and
an advocate of composition in the ancient style of writing; he prepared the New History
of the Tang Dynasty and was famed for his prose style. Sima Guang (1019–86), well
known for his political opposition to Wang Anshi, spent 19 years compiling his
comprehensive history of China from 404 B.C.E. into the first reign of the Song dynasty,
the Zizhi tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government), which was presented
to the emperor in 1084. Other forms of historical writing also prospered in the Southern
Song, among them local histories and gazetteers. Several major encyclopedias were also
completed in the Song, including Wenxian tongkao, by Ma Duanlin (c. 1250–1325);
Taiping yulan (983); Cefu yuangui (1013); and Yuhai, by Wang Yinglin (1223–96).
10
Poetry was produced in great quantity by Song writers, but not of a quality as great as
that of the Tang. There were exceptions, like the poems of the great Su Shi, who was
also a master calligrapher. Another exceptional poet was Lu You (1125–1209), an
author of patriotic poetry.
11
Painting developed dramatically in the Song. Emperor Huizong, himself an able painter,
was an active patron of the arts. He founded the Imperial Academy of Painting. The
Northern Song was a golden age for landscape painting, with compositions of immense
size and great detail rendered in monochrome and color on long rolls or broad panels of
silk. Guo Xi (1020–90?) not only painted landscapes but also wrote on the theory of
painting. Mi Fei, or Mi Fu (1051–1107), scarcely used lines in his work, building
mountains and forests from graded accumulations of ink; he was also a master
calligrapher, as was Huang Tingjian (1045–1105). All considered themselves
“amateur” or “literati” painters rather than specialized artists. In the Southern Song,
painters most often reproduced the misty landscapes of the Hangzhou area. Ma Yuan
(1190–1224), Xia Gui (c. 1180–1230), and their school placed special emphasis on
economy of line and the representation of mists and clouds. Religious painters continued
to produce work as well; Chen Rong (c. 1235–55) ranks as China's greatest painter of
dragons.
12
During the Song period, ceramics became objects of both art and everyday use in the
household. Local areas became known for their pottery, usually in conjunction with
state-sponsored kilns. Song ceramicists mastered the technique of high-fired glazes.
13
Although tea was cited as early as the 3rd century as a substitute for wine, tea drinking
became prominent in the Northern Song.
14
Exactly when the principle of magnetic polarity, known to the Chinese at least from
the 1st century C.E., was first employed in the invention of the mariner's compass with
the floating needle has not been firmly established. However, Chinese ships were
outfitted with them in the Song period. The compass is mentioned by Chinese writers in
the 12th century. The volume of maritime commerce swelled greatly as Arabs in the
9th and 10th centuries entered into competition with Persians at Guangzhou (Canton)
and Quanzhou, and later at Hangzhou as well.
15
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
c. The Mongol Period
THE MONGOL EMPIRE (MAP)
THE SUCCESSORS OF CHINGGIS KHAN (1227-1336)
1190s
THE MONGOLS in central Asia formed a new empire under Temujin (1167–1227),
who rapidly expanded the empire by use of strategy and his military machine, employing
discipline, extraordinary mobility (especially on horseback), espionage, terror, and
superior siege material.
1
1194
The Yellow River shifted direction and flowed south of the Shandong Peninsula until
1853.
2
1206
Temujin was proclaimed CHINGGIS KHAN “ruler of the world”) at the Mongolian
capital of Karakorum.
3
1210
The Mongols under Chinggis Khan first attacked the northern border of the Jin, seizing
Beijing in 1215 and the Xixia state two years later. The Jin were driven south to the
Yellow River (1211–22).
4
1215
Yelü Chucai (1189–1243), Sinified descendant of the royal Khitan house, became an
adviser to Chinggis. He allegedly convinced his lord that it might not be a wise idea to
depopulate northern China and make it into a grazing land for the migrating herds;
instead he taught the Mongols how to collect agricultural taxes by time-tested Chinese
methods.
5
1219–21
Mongol armies conquered the Turkish empire of Khwarazm (See 1220–23).
6
1227
The Xixia was finally destroyed with a massacre at Ningxia. At the end of his life,
Chinggis divided his massive empire into four khanates and bequeathed them to his
immediate descendants: the Kipchak khanate (Golden Horde) to Batu (1207–55); the
Chaghadai khanate (the former Kara-Khitai empire) to Chaghadai (d. 1242); the Great
Khan to Ögödei (1186–1241); and the Persian khanate (the Ilkhanids) to Tului
(1192–1232).
7
1232
Using the same policy ill-advisedly used with the Jurchens against the Liao, the Song
allied with the Mongols to defeat the Jin. Kaifeng was taken. Within two years, the Jin
were overwhelmed, but in 1235 the Mongols began to attack the Song, taking Sichuan in
1236–38.
8
1241
After stunning Mongol military successes in Russia in the late 1230s, two Mongol
armies entered central Europe and the Balkans and were poised to attack Western
Christendom. Mongol horsemen were outside the walls of Vienna when news arrived
that the Great Khan had died. As per Mongol custom, the armies withdrew to
Karakorum so that the generals could participate in the election of a new Great Khan,
Chinggis's son Ögödei.
9
1251–59
After discord and several short-reigning Great Khans, Möngke (1208–59) was elected
by the Mongolian diet. His brother Khubilai (1214–94) led armies on attacks to the
south and west, defeating Nanzhao (1252–53). Khubilai's forces laid siege to the city of
Wuhan (1259), but again news of the death of the Great Khan forced the Mongols to
withdraw to Karakorum.
10
1254
Möngke, the son of a Nestorian woman and Tului, told William of Rubruck (c. 1220–c.
1293), envoy of Louis IX of France, that religions were like the fingers of one hand.
11
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d. The Early Ming
The MING DYNASTY was founded by ZHU YUANZHANG (b. 1328, r. 1368–98),
who reigned as Taizu, the second time a peasant had risen all the way to emperor. Owing
to poverty, Taizu had become a Buddhist monk, but later he turned to rebellion against
the Mongols, leading a huge band of followers in south China to conquer the north, the
first time the country was reunited through conquest from the south (the only other time
was by the Chinese Communists). He first took Nanjing (1356) and set up a government
there, and then he expanded to force the Mongols out of Beijing (1368), Manchuria
(1387), and Xinjiang (1388), as well as through western and southwestern China. He kept
Nanjing as his capital. He changed the practice of reign titles, so that there would be only
one per reign, his being Hongwu. He furthered the two earlier trends toward the
centralization of power and the opening of the avenues of access to bureaucratic
advancement. The early Ming launched expansion drives on the borders and overseas,
while working to minimize contacts between Chinese and foreigners; these restrictions
abated by the mid-15th century.
1
1402–24
After a short second reign, Taizu's son Chengzu, or Yongle (b. 1360), seized the throne.
He proceeded to have Beijing rebuilt and to have the Grand Canal refurbished to handle
traffic in supplies and foodstuffs, and he then ordered the capital moved to Beijing
(1421). He began the process of building up the Grand Secretariat. Yongle led a series of
military missions into Mongolia (1410, 1414, 1422–24); he sent expeditions south against
Dai Viet and annexed it (1406); and he tried to quell the coastal raiders known as
“Japanese pirates,” forcing Japan to accept tributary status.
1405
2
The death of Timur I-Lang (known in the West as Tamerlane, b. 1336) (See Major
Interregional Expansions) brought to an end an imminent military threat to the Ming from
the east. Having risen to power in 1369, Timur had taken over the Chaghadai khanate,
conquered the Kipchak khanate, and, with his capital in Samarkand, was in the process of
rebuilding the Mongolian Empire.
3
1405–33
Zheng He (1371–1433), the eunuch Muslim admiral, was sent on a series of seven naval
expeditions to the Indian Ocean, going as far as the east coast of Africa and bringing a
number of regimes en route into vassalage status with respect to the Ming. The
expeditions were discontinued for reasons still not well understood, although they never
were seen in the same light as later European explorations to other continents. The
voyages were extremely expensive, and the goods obtained in trade were ultimately not
that dearly desired back in China.
4
1449
Emperor Yingzong (b. 1427, r. 1435–49, 1457–64) was captured in battle by the chief of
the Oirat, a new Mongol confederation of four tribes. He was released the next year and
recovered the throne seven years later.
5
1520–21
The Portuguese, who under Albuquerque (1453–1515) had seized Malacca (1511), sent
Thomé Pires to Beijing. The Portuguese established a permanent settlement at Macao
(1557).
6
1521
Death of the Chengde emperor Wu-tsung (r. 1506–21). The Jiajing emperor (r. 1522–66)
assumed the throne the following year. (See The Remainder of the Ming Dynasty)
7
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(See Geography)
3. Korea, 540–918
This period began with Korea divided into three contending kingdoms at war with one
1
another: Silla, Paekche, and Kogury . When the Sui dynasty reunified China (589), it
attempted to incorporate Korea militarily into the new empire, but was unsuccessful. The
Silla state eventually reunited the kingdoms into a single state on the Korean Peninsula
(668), and this lasted for two and a half centuries before breaking up again. The major
Sinitic schools of thought and religion continued to penetrate Korean society and
culture, and many Koreans actually traveled to China to study with great teachers at the
source, returning home to sponsor new schools, reform programs, doctrines, and the like.
540–76
During the reign of King Chinh ng, Silla's expansion progressed. Silla launched an
attack, together with Paekche (551), and took the entire Han River Basin area. The
2
Paekche king S
ng (r. 523–54) moved the capital from Ungjin to Sabi and then
attacked Silla, thus ending an alliance of 121 years. Silla won, thus opening a window
for sea contact with southern China across the Yellow Sea.
562
The small Kaya kingdom at the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula was finished off by
Silla.
589
3
The Sui reunified China and confronted the Tujue from the northern steppe (See 589).
4
Kogury
allied with the Tujue against the Sui; Paekche, Kogury
's erstwhile ally,
linked up with the Wa state in Japan; Silla joined forces with the Sui.
598
Kogury
attacked across the Liao River. Wendi of the Sui responded militarily but
was beaten back.
5
612
Yangdi of the Sui sent a huge force of more than one million against Kogury
was defeated and suffered many casualties.
, but
6
618
The Sui fell after several more attempts to conquer Kogury
Tang invasions.
, which then prepared for
7
Chinese political institutions, Buddhism, Confucianism, and the Chinese writing system
were imported to all three of the principal Korean kingdoms, in spite of changing
conditions of war and peace with various Chinese states.
8
The Three Kingdoms period was an age of strong, centralized aristocracy in all three
states. The best known was Silla's “bone-rank” system, which implied a hereditary
bloodline; it had a detailed differentiation of social strata, with stratified privileges.
Bureaucratic administrations were also uniformly structured around the aristocracies in
all three kingdoms. The highest aristocrats controlled politics, often in collegial bodies
such as Silla's Council of Nobles. Although the states were each subdivided into
administrative units (districts), centralized authority remained in the capitals. The
military was also organized under each state's king.
9
Gradually the idea emerged that the king owned all the land, even though aristocrats
held immense landed estates; others were given land for meritorious deeds. The states
theoretically had control over the farming populace, which paid taxes and performed
corvée labor.
10
In culture, the Three Kingdoms witnessed a wide usage of Chinese writing, with various
11
adaptations attempting to accommodate the Korean language, which is radically
different in structure from Chinese. The first historical compilations in, respectively,
Kogury
, Paekche, and Silla were: Sinjip (New Compilation) by Yi Mun-jin (600); S
gi (Documentary Records) by Koh
ng (mid-4th century); and Kuksa (History of
the Nation) by K
ch'ilbu (545). None of these is now extant, but they were said to
have later been used by Kim Pu-sik (1075–1171) in his magnum opus, Samguk sagi
(History of the Three Kingdoms). All three states pushed Confucianism as a way to
preserve the aristocratic orders.
Buddhism was adopted in all three states as a part of the Chinese cultural package. It
was probably seen by the elite as supportive of the aristocratic state structure. High
monks acquired political clout as royal advisers.
12
640s
Paekche attacked Silla (early 640s), and Silla sought out Chinese help. Two Tang
expeditions against Kogury
13
(645–47) ended in defeat for the Chinese.
654
King Muy
l (r. 654–61) seized the throne, commencing a trend toward a more
autocratic Silla royal institution, at the expense of the aristocracy.
14
660
Tang armies attacked Paekche, took the capital at Sabi, forced the surrender of King
ija (r. 641–60), and destroyed the state of Paekche.
15
667
Tang and Silla joined forces to attack Kogury
internecine dissension. Kogury
, already weakened by war and
was defeated the following year.
16
668–918
Unified Silla reunited the Korean Peninsula. The Tang wanted to retain control over the
17
terrain of the former Kogury
and set up commanderies there, some headed by
Koreans. Silla became apprehensive about Tang objectives. Silla took Sabi from the
Chinese (671), and with it control over Paekche. After 676 the Tang dynasty accepted
Silla as master over the peninsula, though much of the Manchurian territory under
former Kogury
placed at Ky
control did not fall into the hands of Unified Silla. The capital was
ngju, where the Silla aristocracy settled.
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4. Korea, 918–1392
a. Major Events
918–1392
The KORY
STATE was founded by Wang K
n (b. 877, r. 918–43), who through
military and civil capacities had become king of Later Kogury
Kingdoms era). He renamed it Kory
1
(Later Three
.
934–36
Kory
began the process of reunification of the Later Three Kingdoms by defeating
Later Paekche. Silla surrendered in 935. Wang K
2
n became King T'aejo. He treated
the former Silla aristocrats well, and many of them became Kory
bureaucrats, even
as he set out to dismantle the bone-rank system. He established good relations with the
castle lords in the local areas.
942
King T'aejo responded to peaceful overtures from the Khitans by snubbing them, as he
considered them barbarians.
949–75
3
During the reign of King Kwangjong, order was revived in the face of the rebellions
following T'aejo's death. Kwangjong began a military push toward the Yalu River, in the
Khitans' direction.
4
958
Kwangjong implemented a civil service examination to bring Confucian-minded men
into civil office and to build a new bureaucratic apparatus.
5
981–97
During S
ngjong's reign, efforts continued to create a new aristocratic order with
aristocrats drawn from many different great families, not just high-born royal clans.
They came to control the politics and government under Kory
6
, with its capital at
Kaes
ng. Measures were adopted to guarantee that social status would be hereditary,
though there were many cases of social mobility in civil and military realms.
983–1076
Kory
governmental administration took shape, with three principal agencies and six
boards modeled after those of Tang China.
7
992
A National University was established in the capital under S
ngjong, who was
particularly attentive to spreading education among the larger populace.
8
993
The Khitans crossed the Yalu and invaded Kory
withdrawing by an adept Kory
(993), but were talked into
diplomat. A second invasion early in the 11th century
9
led to the occupation of Kaes ng, but the Khitans again withdrew when their supply
lines grew dangerously stretched. The third and final Khitan attack (1018) was
vigorously repulsed at the great loss of Khitan life.
1087
Printing of the Kory
Tripitaka, an edition of the Buddhist canon printed from wood
blocks, was completed. It was begun early in the century in supplication to forestall the
Khitan attacks.
10
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b. Political, Social, and Cultural Patterns
In military matters, Kory
achieved power through military conquest of the other
Later Three Kingdoms and was confronted with problems from the Khitans soon after
taking power. However, the rise of aristocratic rule was premised on the superiority of
civil to military affairs, and thus military men were given lower social and economic
status in Kory
. Denigration of the military grew severe under King
1
ijong. Military
officers rebelled (1170), deposed
ijong, placed a puppet king on the throne, and wiped
out numerous civil officials. Bloody infighting ensued.
Land was granted by quality and allocated (998) in accordance with an official's
bureaucratic rank, thus providing said official's salary. When the official died, his land
reverted to the state, following the theory that all land belonged to the king. The state
managed the land and collected rents. Higher officials earned special stipends of land in
addition. In fact, there was private land as well. During the 13th century, large portions of
2
land were given to the Mongols. With the reforms at the end of Kory
, and the
reversion of all private and public lands to state control, the powerful families found their
economic underpinnings demolished.
The Kory
taxation system was tripartite in structure, again much like Tang China.
The peasants who worked the land paid a rent based on a percentage of crop yield, they
paid a tribute tax in cloth, and all able-bodied men were obliged to serve in corvée labor
annually. Below the peasantry was a slave class, some state-owned and some in private
hands. To relieve the harsh lives of the farming population and prevent large-scale
vacating of lands and roving bands of landless peasants, the state instituted a number of
measures, such as “ever-normal granaries” (as in China).
The Kory
civil service examinations were theoretically open to all men, with several
exceptions, but in fact only the elite sat for them. There were two types of examinations,
one on composition and one on the Chinese classics; the latter tended to be more
important. Since, unlike earlier, access to government office was opened to a wide
number of elite families, the civil service examinations became the means of controlling
3
4
entrance into the bureaucracy.
Confucianism, in the political mold it had taken in China as working together with the
Legalist state, proved desirable to Kory
5
aristocrats and thus developed rapidly in the
Kory
era. Private academies, the primary avenue for the education of aristocrats,
flourished. Ch'oe Ch'ung (984–1068), known as the Confucius of Korea, ran one such
academy. At the same time, state schools went into decline. Under Yejong (r. 1103–22)
and Injong (r. 1122–46), efforts were made to stem this tide. Confucianism stressed moral
cultivation and social order. The rise of the scholar-official class in late Kory
went
hand in glove with the rising popularity of Neo-Confucianism, especially with its stress
on moral character as the foundation of the state.
Buddhism was not repudiated but was supplemented by Confucianism's worldly
6
rationalism. The Ch' nt'ae (Tiantai in Chinese) sect became very popular. Tax-exempt
Buddhist monasteries became exceedingly wealthy, and monks armed themselves to
defend their wealth. The Chogye sect of S n Buddhism, a tradition native to Korea,
developed following the Ch'oe coup; it taught that sudden enlightenment must be
followed by gradual cultivation of the mind.
In painting, little remains from the Kory
period, though here Chinese models seem
7
not to have been dominant. In the late Kory
, a trend similar to one in Song China
emerged: that of the literati (nonprofessional) painter. Calligraphy also flourished. Kory
celadon ware showed Song influence, but it is considered even better than its
Chinese models.
Several major works of historical scholarship date from this era, including Samguk sagi
(History of the Three Kingdoms) by Kim Pu-sik (1075–1151), a thoroughly Confucian
work written in the Chinese annalistic style; and Samguk yusa (Memorabilia of the Three
8
Kingdoms) by the Buddhist monk Iry n (1206–89), which traced Korean history back
to the legendary Tan'gun. (See Korea, 1392–1800)
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(See Geography)
5. Japan, 552–1185
552
It is traditionally believed that in this year Buddhism was introduced to Yamato Japan
from Paekche. Although there were probably Buddhist converts already in Japan at the
time, at this point Buddhism began to play a major role in Japanese history and to
stimulate the continued influx of mainland culture by way of Paekche. Supported by the
powerful Soga clan and strengthened by the recent arrival of Buddhist monks from
Korea, Buddhism made headway at court, but a temporary proscription of it was enacted
by the Nakatomi and Mononobe clans, political rivals of the Soga. It was soon restored
and embraced by Emperor Y
1
mei (r. 587–88) shortly before his death.
562
Silla drove Japan out of Kaya, ending Japan's long influence over a portion of the
Korean Peninsula.
2
587
The Soga crushed their rivals in a short civil war, thereby establishing their political
supremacy and the right of Buddhism to an unhampered development in Japan.
592
3
Soga Umako (d. 626), having decided not to occupy the throne himself and enthroning
children of Soga women instead, had one of them, Emperor Suchun (r. 588–92),
assassinated.
4
593–628
Soga Umako placed his niece Empress Suiko on the Yamato throne, the first officially
5
recognized empress. Suiko was served as regent by Crown Prince Sh toku
(574–624), who worked vigorously to import continental civilization to Japan. Under his
aegis, the foundations for a Chinese-style state and Buddhist religion were laid that
would last for several centuries. During this period, such famous Buddhist temples as
Shintenn
built.
ji (593), H
k
ji (or Asukadera, 588–96) and H
ry
uji (607?) were
603
A “cap ranks” (kan'i) system of bureaucratic rankings at court was adopted by Sh
toku that closely followed comparable systems from 6th-century Kogury
Paekche.
6
and
604
Prince Sh toku issued his Seventeen-Article Constitution (or Seventeen
Injunctions), a list of moral injunctions imbued with the spirit of Confucian ethics and
mainland theories of centralized political rule. They also bore clear Buddhist influences,
indicating an awareness of Buddhism's philosophical and ethical importance. In this
same year, the court adopted the Chinese-style calendar.
7
607
Ono no Imoko, the first official envoy from the Yamato government, was dispatched to
the Sui court, and relations with China were thus established. Another embassy followed
in 608, a third in 614, and there were many more over the course of the next three
centuries, with the subsequent Tang dynasty. Since Japanese students, scholars, and
8
monks accompanied the envoys to China—during the Tang, the embassies tended to be
extremely large—and sometimes remained there for prolonged periods of study, these
embassies were a very important factor in the importation of Chinese civilization to
Japan.
630
The first embassy to the Tang.
9
643
Prince Yamashiro no
e, heir of Prince Sh
toku, was forced to commit suicide by
Soga no Iruka (d. 645), son of Emishi (d. 645), the kingmaker of the period. This was the
culmination of a power struggle, following the death of Sh
Soga and Nakatomi clans.
10
toku in 622, between the
645
The Downfall of the Soga in a coup led by Nakatomi no Kamatari (614–69) and the
future Emperor Tenchi (r. 668–71); the Nakatomi were henceforth given the surname
Fujiwara. The coup was supported by the Sinophilic elements at court who encouraged
continued reforms along mainland models and continued missions to and ties with China
and Korea. There were five missions between 653 and 669 alone.
11
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6. Japan, 1185–1493
a. General Characteristics
1185–1333
The Kamakura period. The outstanding feature of this era was the clear division
between the now powerless civil and religious government of the imperial court at Kyoto
and the military government (bakufu) of the Minamoto established at Kamakura, near the
clan estates in eastern Japan and away from the enervating influence of the court nobility.
The transition from civil to feudal military rule had begun with the Taira and was not
completed until centuries later, but it was in the Kamakura period that the most
significant changes occurred, and the political and economic institutions of the next
several centuries began to take shape.
1
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b. Major Events
1185–99
Minamoto no Yoritomo, as the effective military dictator, organized the new bakufu
1
with the aid of Kyoto scholars like
e Hiromoto (1148–1225). He had already created,
in 1180, the Samuraidokoro (Board of Retainers) to perform police duties and to control
affairs of the warrior class. In 1184 he had established an administrative board, renamed
the Mandokoro in 1191. In 1184 the Monch
jo (Board of Inquiry) had also been
established as a final court of appeal. Impartial administration of justice characterized
the rule of the Kamakura bakufu and was one of the chief reasons for its long duration.
In 1185 Yoritomo appointed military constables (shugo) in some provinces and placed
2
military stewards (jit ) in many of the large manors. A few such appointments had
been made in preceding years, but now he expanded this system to strengthen his
influence in regions in which he had hitherto had no direct control. The constables were
special military governors in charge of the direct vassals of the Minamoto. The stewards,
representing Yoritomo on estates not otherwise under his control, levied taxes on the
estates for military purposes. Thus the fiscal immunity of the estates was violated, and
Kamakura retainers were scattered in key posts throughout the country. The constables
and stewards rapidly grew in importance in the economic and political life of the
provinces, and in time developed into the feudal lords of later centuries.
1189
Yoshitsune was killed on the orders of Yoritomo, who apparently was jealous of the
fame the former had won as the brilliant general responsible for the greatest victories
over the Taira. Yoritomo similarly disposed of other prominent members of the family,
including his cousin Yoshinaka (1184), who as a warrior ranked next only to
Yoshitsune; his uncle Yukiie (1186), who was one of the prime movers in the Minamoto
uprising; and his brother Noriyori (1193), who was also one of the clan's great generals.
3
His cruel treatment of his own relatives contributed to the early extinction of the family.
1189
Yoritomo crushed the powerful Fujiwara family of northern Japan on the grounds that
they had killed Yoshitsune, albeit on his own orders. The northern Fujiwara in the course
of the previous century had become a great military power and had made their capital,
Hiraizumi, a major center of culture. Their elimination removed a serious menace to
Minamoto supremacy.
4
1191
Eisai (1141–1215) propagated the Rinzai branch of the Zen sect after his return from a
second study trip to China. The Zen sect enjoyed the official patronage of the Kamakura
bakufu and the special favor of the warrior class in general.
5
1192
Yoritomo had himself appointed Seii taish
gun (“barbarian-subduing great general”),
or shogun for short. Though not the first to bear this title, he was the first of the long line
of military rulers called shoguns.
6
1199–1219
Transition from Minamoto to H
j
rule. Yoritomo was succeeded as the head of
the Minamoto by his eldest son, Yoriie (1182–1204), who was not appointed shogun
until 1202; instead his mother, Masako (1157–1225), ruled with the aid of a council
headed by her father, H
j
Tokimasa (1138–1215). The latter, though a member of
the Taira clan, from the start had cast his lot with Yoritomo and had exercised great
influence in the Kamakura councils before Yoritomo's death. The H
j , though
loyal to the military government, unscrupulously did away with Yoritomo's descendants
and crushed their rivals among other Minamoto vassals.
7
1203
Yoriie was exiled and his younger brother, Sanetomo (1192–1219), was made shogun by
Tokimasa. The following year Yoriie was murdered.
8
1205
Tokimasa was eliminated from government by Masako. His son, Yoshitoki
(1163–1224), then became regent (shikken) of the shogun, a post held by successive H
j
9
leaders, who were the real rulers.
1219
The Minamoto line came to an end when Sanetomo was assassinated, probably with H
j
10
connivance, by his nephew, who was in turn executed.
1219–1333
11
The period of rule by the H j
as regents for weak shoguns of Fujiwara and
imperial stock was characterized by administrative efficiency.
1221
An uprising under the leadership of retired emperor Gotoba (r. 1184–98) was the
gravest menace the H
j
faced, but it was quickly crushed. Two prominent H
12
j
leaders were left in Kyoto as joint civil and military governors of the capital region.
The estates confiscated from the defeated partisans of Gotoba gave the Kamakura much
needed land with which to reward its followers, and the abortive uprising gave the H
a chance to extend the system of constables, stewards, and military taxes to regions
hitherto unaffected by it.
j
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7. Vietnam
a. Origins to 1009
Vietnam's history is intimately tied, for better or for worse, to its long relationship with
China. The impact of Chinese cultural and political forms is difficult to overestimate, as
is the impact of wars begun by its powerful neighbor to the north. Although the borders
of what is now called Vietnam and the country's name have changed many times, a
continuous history can be delineated.
1
In the early to mid-2nd millennium B.C.E., it appears that bronze implements began to be
used. The Dông-son archeological site has unearthed particularly fine items in bronze.
Legend recounts a Van Lang kingdom, supposedly a strictly hierarchical, feudal regime,
that held sway from 2879 until 258 B.C.E. It was thereupon replaced by the Au Lac
kingdom, which ruled in the south. In 214 B.C.E. the newly unified Qin empire of China
sent a military expedition south to conquer northern Vietnam. The ruler there, fearing
devastation, submitted to the Qin, and the north was divided into three commandaries,
much like Korea was under the Han. With the decline of the Qin, the governor of one
commandery in 208 B.C.E. conquered Au Lac and renamed the new entity under him
Nam Viêt. During the Han dynasty, Nam Viêt became part of the Chinese tributary
system. This relationship continued through the end of the 2nd century B.C.E., but in 111
B.C.E. Chinese troops attacked and captured Nam Viêt on the order of Emperor Wu of the
Han. The country was renamed Giao-chi (Jiaozhi in Chinese) and was incorporated into
the Han empire. There it remained for more than a millennium.
2
The Han did not draw Giao-chi (Vietnam) closely into its orbit, seeing it primarily as
providing access to trade routes and luxury goods from the south. Local notables were
given jurisdiction in the counties and prefectures under the control of Han governors.
The population census of 2 C.E. recorded more than 1 million residents in northern
Vietnam. There is also evidence that farmers were already double-cropping before the
Han conquest, and this too may indicate that a well-organized, centralized form of
government was in place earlier. During the Wang Mang era (9–23 C.E.), a noteworthy
number of elite Han families fled to Vietnam, strengthening the Chinese official stratum
already there. They pushed for a more concerted program of patriarchal control of the
3
economy, rather than the bilateral kin patterns favored in Vietnam and elsewhere in
Southeast Asia. In 43, the Trung sisters led an unsuccessful rebellion against Han rule.
From this point, Dông-son culture began to disappear, as Chinese-style centralized
bureaucracy and tax-assessed landholdings replaced native systems. The newly emergent
elite was a Han-Viêt mix, due to cultural interpenetration as well as intermarriage. With
the decline and collapse of the Later Han, Chinese influence in Vietnam waned. During
the centuries of disunion in China, Vietnam fell under the domination of a succession of
smaller states to the north. In the 540s and 550s, a number of rebellions against the
Chinese erupted, and fighting continued for some time. By the end of the 6th century,
Vietnam had been defeated and returned to the Chinese sphere.
4
When China was reunified under the Sui and Tang dynasties, Vietnam fell again under
Chinese control. The Tang set up the Protectorate of An-nam (literally, the “pacified
south”) in the northern part of the country in the 7th and 8th centuries, typical of Chinese
regional control structures at the time. When the central control of the Tang waned in the
9th century, control in the extremities waned as well and gave rise to instability. During
the Tang, the political center of what was then Vietnam became Hanoi.
5
939
After a defeat of the army of the Southern Han, Ngô Quyên (898–944) declared himself
king, although infighting continued for the entire three decades of his and his
descendants' rule.
6
968
Dinh Bô Ling (c. 925–79) established a stable regime, with himself as king, from Hoalu, near the southern rim of the Red River plain. The country was renamed Dai Viêt. He
sent his son (972) to China to establish contacts, and he was recognized as the king of
Giao-châu, while his son became commander in chief of the An-nam Protectorate. Both
were assassinated in 979.
7
980
Lê Hoan (950–1005) continued rule from Hoa-lu after defeating a Song expeditionary
force from China, but he and his descendants, being thoroughly military men, were
unable to establish the foundations of long-term political stability. What is sometimes
called the Early Lê dynasty ended in 1009, when it was replaced by the Ly dynasty.
8
As Thang-long (Hanoi) became the political center of the country during Tang
hegemony, Chinese-style agricultural organizations and taxation systems came to
Vietnam, in part aimed at breaking up the older, entrenched great families. Thang-long
was the first urban center south of the Red River, and these new systems opened up rich
new farmlands that were placed in the hands of free peasants trained militarily to defend
their lands against the older elites. By the end of the 8th century, the Tang's double-tax
reform had fostered the emergence of a new great landlord class. Vietnam was seen by
its northern master as a source of revenue and luxury items.
9
Buddhism probably came to Vietnam between the 4th and 5th centuries C.E., perhaps as
early as the 2nd century. A number of famous Buddhist travelers passed through
Vietnam en route to or from China, and by the early years of the Tang, Vietnamese
monks were among those travelers. In the 7th century, Vân-Ky brought home Chineselanguage Buddhist texts from China. The most popular and influential Chinese sect in
Vietnam was the Chan (in Vietnamese, Thiên). An Indian traveler in China in the 6th
century had proceeded to Vietnam and launched the first Thiên sect. Another took root
during the Tang; by the late 10th century, the fourth patriarch of the sect was a teacher at
the Lê Palace.
10
While the status of women in pre-China-dominated Vietnam may have been better than
it became, women were never the legal or social equals of men of their same class.
Nonetheless, the relatively more important roles women played throughout Vietnamese
society mark a significant distinction with respect to China.
11
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b. 1009–1527, Independence and Its Defense
These five centuries mark the first vibrant era of Vietnamese independence. They
include rule by three major dynasties, wars with China, and three gruesome but
ultimately unsuccessful invasions by Mongol armies. Despite conflicts with the rulers of
China, Sinitic culture continued to make inroads into Vietnam, just as classical Chinese
remained the language of the elite throughout these years.
1
1009–1225
The Ly dynasty came to power when Ly Công Uan (or Ly Thai-tô, 974–1028),
commander of the palace guard, seized the throne. Raised by Buddhist monks and
supported by the Buddhist establishment, he worked to create a close relationship with
the clergy. He was also much influenced by traditional Chinese notions of kingship. He
frequently remitted taxes in an effort to create better ruler-populace relations. The
country became known as Dai Viêt.
2
1010
Ly moved the capital to Thang-long (present Hanoi).1028–54. During the reign of Ly
Phât Ma (or Ly Thai-tông, b. 1000), an apparently brilliant leader, Ly rule was
regularized. He had six reign titles in 26 years. Through his constructive interaction with
officials, they came to understand the relative importance of bureaucracy and the throne
in institutional development. The Buddhist clergy entered an ever closer relationship
with government, and Phât Ma became a patriarch of a Thiên sect himself.
1042
3
A new legal code was enacted in an effort to make the law more fair and put it in tune
with the times.
4
1044
A naval expedition by sea was led by Phât Ma himself to Champa. Champa was
defeated, and the war booty enabled the king to remit taxes.1054–72. The reign of Ly
Nhat Ton (or Ly Thanh-tông, b. 1023) continued the policies and institutional
arrangements put in place by his father. He began to adopt many of the ritual trappings
of a Chinese-style emperor, which worried the Song court to the north.
5
1069
Nhat Ton repeated his father's expedition to Champa, this time sparing the life of the
Champa king.
6
1072
At the time of Nhat Ton's death and the accession of Ly Can Duc (1066–1127), Wang
Anshi was in the midst of implementing his New Laws in China (See 1069–73). Among
them was a vigorous response to border encroachments by China's neighbors, and Ly
attempts at such provoked him. Vietnamese troops attacked (1075), defeating Song naval
forces and sacking several sites.
7
1075–77
The first examinations for recruitment to bureaucratic office were implemented but
were abandoned soon thereafter. A national college was allegedly founded (1076) for the
best scholars of the land.
8
1076–77
The Song sent a military force south but reached no conclusive victory; after several
years of talks, borders were determined.
9
1127
Ly Can Duc's death without an heir left the succession problematic. Maternal clansmen
of the crown placed “kings” on the throne, but they tended to be little more than nominal
rulers. Civil wars wracked the country for much of the 12th century.
10
Buddhism became an essential component of traditional Vietnamese kingship, as the
throne and the clergy developed an intricate, symbiotic relationship. Confucianism, too,
made inroads into elite society. Scholars wrote commentaries on the Chinese classics,
and those texts became the basis for the state examinations. Native Vietnamese “deities”
also became associated with the throne.
11
1225–1400
The Trân dynasty came to power in the decay and strife at the end of the Ly. The last
queen of Ly was from the Trân family. Thereafter, the Trân took queens only from its
own family. Collegial rule among senior Trân men, with royal abdication on the death of
a predecessor, became the rule. Trân family members were given local prerogatives in
political and economic control that enabled them to gain control through hegemony over
the Red River plain. As with the Ly, the royal family was made up of pious Buddhists.
12
1230s
The Trân inaugurated an examination system to recruit civil servants into government
service. The curriculum was Chinese classical lore. This fostered the slow emergence of
a Confucian literati among scholar-officials, much as earlier in China, in tandem with
the centralizing policies of the throne. Military service became compulsory for every
able-bodied man; and this had a salutary effect on the fighting prowess of the
Vietnamese army.
13
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(See 455–472) (See 476, Sept. 4)
F. Europe, 461–1500
In Europe, particularly western Europe, the postclassical period is commonly called the
Middle Ages (Lat., Medii Aevi), originally a pejorative term coined by the 14th-century
Florentine poet Francesco Petrarch (See 1378) to describe what he considered a period of
cultural stagnation (c. 400–1300) between two eras of cultural brilliance, the ancient
Roman and his own. Scholars often divide the Middle Ages into three time periods: an
early phase, c. 500–1000; the central or High Middle Ages c. 1000–1300; and a later
period, c. 1300–1500, when medieval patterns of culture began to decline.
1
1. Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages, 461–1000
The general characteristics that made the early Middle Ages are the collapse of the
centralized state (the Roman Empire), which had provided much of western Europe with
a government of law and social order, and the assumption of power by local strongmen.
The decay of the ancient city-state as a physical and social unit and as a way of life
meant that the isolated rural estate became the typical form of social and economic
organization; some cities survived as ecclesiastical or political centers, but not as
economic or cultural ones. The decline of long-distance trade forced the individual to
depend for all of his or her needs on locally produced goods. Disease, especially periodic
outbreaks of bubonic plague, chronic domestic violence, and assaults from outside
Europe made for drastic population decline. The slow, steady, but very imperfect
conversion of peoples to Christianity led to a shift of basic loyalty from the state to
religion; Europeans came to define themselves and their world in religious terms, and
they gave a spiritual loyalty to Rome that was slowly transformed into a supranational
authority independent of any secular power.
2
The ancient Roman world had been a Mediterranean-based civilization whose “center of
gravity” lay in the East. The subsequent consolidation of the Byzantine Empire, the
expansion of Islam through the Mediterranean, and the rise of Frankish power meant that
no single culture would unite the former Roman world. When the term Europa was first
3
used around 1500, it referred to the areas over which the Frankish ruler Charlemagne had
nominally held jurisdiction, a territory far smaller than that which the word “Europe”
implies today.
a. Conditions of Life
In the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries, the Germanic invasions led to the decline of city-states
throughout the Mediterranean world; free tenant farmers abandoned their small farms,
and the land was acquired by large landowners. Large, economically self-sufficient villas
or manors became the dominant form of social organization, and agriculture the major
occupation. Political instability and invasions (See Invaders of the West) also reduced
long-distance trade. Most commerce was local. Existence for most people was rural,
isolated, and limited by the borders of the province.
4
Free farmers, weak and defenseless before barbarian invaders, brigands, and greedy
officials, sought protection from powerful local landowners. In return for support and
protection, small landholders surrendered their lands to, and became the dependents of,
the strong. The weak became bound to the soil, working their patron's lands; they lost
their freedom, could not move, and became serfs. This trend toward serfdom continued
to the 11th century.
5
Communication was difficult; roads and harbors were unused and in disrepair until about
the 8th century. Building was stagnant; the art of brick-laying appears to have been lost;
few stone buildings were erected in northern Europe. Metalworking was still important,
although stamping was unskilled, and hence coins were crude. Precious metals were
worked with enamel decorations, while silver and bronze could be cast. Unlike the light
Mediterranean soils, those of northern Europe could not be pulverized for farming
purposes; these heavy soils had to be sliced, broken up. This was impossible until the
introduction of the iron, wheeled plowshare, with moldboard. The basic farm tools
evolved during this period: rake, spade, fork, pick, balanced sickle, scythe. Development
of the horse collar was very important, for an efficient draft animal relieved the small
workforce. With an effective harness and stirrup (the latter depicted in a drawing c. 900),
and tandem rather than fan-hitched teams of horses or oxen, men were freed of even more
work. Another important source of power was water: the Roman water mill (in use 536)
spread throughout Europe.
6
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b. The Early Church
For a complete list of the Roman popes, see Appendix IV.
1
Christianity emerged in the cities of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. The earliest
Christians, because they refused to honor the Roman pagan gods, were considered
atheists, and thus were subject to civil penalties, sporadic persecutions, the contempt of
the Roman social establishment. The first Christians, Jesus' followers, were Jews. An
urban religion, Christianity initially spread to the Gentiles through the preachings of St.
Paul (See The Rise of Christianity), and it subsequently attracted converts from all social
classes: senators, knights, merchants, the poor, servants. The series of decrees issued by
Constantine I (See Christians and Pagans) between 312 and 330 formally tolerated
Christianity, gave Christians the right to build churches, to accommodate property, to
establish courts with jurisdiction over clergy; these decrees were known as the Peace of
Constantine and marked the beginning of the institutional Church. Emperor Theodosius
(391–94) outlawed the pagan religions and made Christianity the official religion of the
empire. Since a profession of faith advanced one's public career, the number of followers
increased, but piety was weakened.
2
In the 2nd century, the Church (Gr., ecclesia; the Christian community) consisted of
widely scattered, loosely knit groups, united by their faith in New Testament teachings
and sometimes divided by doctrinal disagreements. Baptism and participation in the
Eucharist became the basic signs (sacraments) of the Christians. Ecumenical (general,
theoretically universal) councils such as Nicaea (325), Constantinople I (381),
Ephesus (431), and Chalcedon (451) tried to resolve conflicts and to define doctrine.
These councils were called by the emperor and presided over by him in person or by
legate. Local problems were dealt with in synods.
3
Christian communities of the apostolic age made no distinction between clergy and laity,
but by 100 C.E. episkopoi (supervisors) and presbyteroi (elders) sat apart at religious
ceremonies from the laikoi (the people). Episkopoi, or bishops from the 4th century
onward, often descended from the Roman senatorial aristocracy or provincial officials
and were elected directly by Christians of local communities on the basis of spiritual
charisma and reputation for piety. They served as overseers, responsible for distribution
4
of goods to the poor, for preaching, for maintenance of gospel standards. Each town had
its bishop, and his church (cathedral) possessed his throne or chair (Lat., cathedra), the
symbol of his authority. Christians considered bishops to be successors of the apostles:
just as Jesus had consecrated his apostles by laying hands on them and sending them out
to teach what he had taught them, so the apostles consecrated their successors and they,
further successors. This apostolic succession gave the bishops organizational authority
and doctrinal security. Papa was a title applied to all bishops until c. 425; it did not take
on its present meaning until the 7th century.
The emergence of Roman primacy. As Christian communities developed
organizations, they adopted the diocesan (territorial unit) system of the Roman Empire.
Just as the eastern part of the Mediterranean world contained the population and
commercial centers of the Roman Empire and, after the establishment of Constantinople,
the political capital, so the East held the patriarchal or metropolitan sees of Jerusalem,
Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople, which had provincial, not just diocesan,
jurisdiction; Rome was the only western metropolitan see.
5
In the first four centuries C.E., authority in the Church rested in: (1) the emperor, who
continued to take the title pontifex maximus and to exercise a prominent role in religious
affairs. Thus, Constantine I considered himself the equal of the apostles and called and
controlled the Council of Nicaea (See Christians and Pagans); (2) the universal or
ecumenical council, whose canons (decisions) held an authority second only to
Scripture; (3) the Roman papacy, whose influence grew very gradually. As the seat of
the empire and the site of the martyrdoms of the apostles Peter and Paul, Rome held a
primacy of respect and honor throughout the Church. Moreover, according to the gospel
tradition (Matt. 16:16–18, Luke 22:31–32, John 21:16–17) Jesus had assigned Peter a
position of leadership among the apostles. Peter led (as bishop) the Christian community
in Rome, and, in turn, transmitted “the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven” to
his successors. Popes Innocent I (401–17) and Celestine I (422–32) used this Petrine
theory to extend the rights of Rome. The bishops of Rome slowly acquired the rights to
resolve disputes in other dioceses, to define doctrine, and to exercise administration and
discipline throughout the Church. Under Pope Leo I (440–61) the weakness of the
imperial power forced the bishop of Rome to assume defensive, financial, civil, and
political responsibilities for the city, because the imperial government was unable to do
so. Leo I claimed to possess the plenitudo postestasis (fullness of power or jurisdiction)
over the entire Church. This impetus to universal Roman authority, however, could not
be sustained by Leo's immediate successors.
6
c. 340
MONASTICISM originated in Egypt and Syria as an ascetic (disciplined) reaction to
7
the moral corruption of the late antique city-state, and was introduced into the West by
Athanasius (d. 373). Monastic individuals withdrew (Lat. anchoreo, to withdraw) from
urban society to seek God alone, through prayer in the desert (Gr., eremos), hence
Eastern monks were called “men of the desert.” Many women were also attracted to
monasticism. Hermits led a solitary life. In his Life of St. Anthony, Athanasius described
the first (Egyptian) monk (c. 251?–350), now considered the father of Christian
monasticism. Although monks (and nuns) led isolated lives and the monastic movement
represented the antithesis of the ancient ideal of an urbane social existence, monks were
soon recognized as holy people and sought out as spiritual guides. In the first half of the
4th century Pachomius (c. 290–346) established cenobitic (communal, in contrast to
eremitic) monasteries for men and for women in Upper Egypt. Basil of Caesarea
(330–79), a leading Greek theologian, attacked the eremitic life, because of the
impossibility of material self-sufficiency, the excessive concern with the self, and the
lack of opportunity for the exercise of charity; he espoused cenobitism, which eventually
became the common form of monasticism in the West. The Egyptian monastic
experience came to the West through The Institutes (c. 417–18) and The Conferences
(426–29) of the monk Cassian (c. 360–c. 435), based on his eyewitness accounts and
conversations with the Desert Fathers. Martin of Tours founded (c. 362) a cenobitic
community of monks near Poitiers.
The Latin Fathers of the Church (Lat., Patres Ecclesiae), was a term first used in the
late 4th century by the Greek writers and Sts. Basil and Gregory of Nazianzos to refer to
Sts. Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine. Jerome (c. 342–420), a Dalmatian, was devoted
to pagan learning despite his keen ascetic convictions. The first great Western exponent
of monasticism. One of the greatest scholars of the Latin Church, his translation of the
Bible into Latin (the Vulgate) is still authoritative in the Roman Church today. This
excellent version exerted stylistic and theological influence throughout the Middle Ages.
Ambrose (c. 339–97) of Trier, a Roman provincial governor, was elected (374) bishop
of Milan before he was baptized. His Duties of the Clergy (based largely on Cicero, de
Officiis) was for centuries the standard work on ethics, and is probably the chief single
source of the Stoic tradition in early Western thought. He made Milan almost the equal
of Rome in prestige, and forced the Emperor Theodosius to do penance, maintaining that
in ecclesiastical matters a bishop was superior to an emperor. Augustine (354–430) of
Hippo was the greatest of the Western Fathers. Converted to Christianity after ventures
into Neo-Platonism and Manichaeism, he was founder of Western theology, the link
between the classical tradition and the medieval schoolmen. Through him a great stream
of Platonic and Neo-Platonic thought came into the Church. For a thousand years all
thought was influenced by Augustine, and theology betrays his influence to this day. He
gave wide currency to the doctrines of original sin, predestination, and salvation through
divine grace, and his influence was felt by Calvin and Luther. His City of God presents a
dualism of the heavenly city (those who live according to the spirit; those who live
according to the flesh) and the earthly city (Rome), and was written to prove that the
8
misfortunes of Rome (e.g., the sack of 410) were not due to Christianity; all history is
the account of God acting in time. The Confessions set the fashion in spiritual
autobiography.
The Latin Fathers debated matters of sexuality and marriage. In the ancient world,
many thinkers, both Gentile and Jewish, held that sexual relations between man and
woman hindered the soul's rise to higher things, but Jesus' apostles believed marriage
was no sin and that celibacy was a grace not given to all. In the 2nd century, Christian
writers advanced the revolutionary ethic that husbands should be as faithful to their
wives as wives were expected to be to their husbands; that marriage was a free
partnership of equals, with ideals of mutual respect and affection. Early Christians
condemned infant exposure, abortion, and capital punishment—all widely practiced in
the ancient world. With this benign attitude, however, there gradually emerged a strong
current of negativism toward the body, of hostility toward sexuality. The Fathers took
for granted the superiority of celibacy (total abstinence from all sexual activity) over
marriage. Thus, Jerome denigrated marriage; Augustine held marriage to be “a cure for
concupiscence,” with procreation the only truly moral use of, or justification for,
sexuality. As in the ancient world, marriage remained a private arrangement, not the
concern of civil authorities. Recent historians have disputed the early Christian attitude
toward homosexuality. Some scholars argue that early Christian thinkers had a tolerant
and positive position on male love and eroticism as being natural; other modern writers
claim the Fathers condemned same-sex love and activity. The debate continues.
9
401–17
Innocent I asserted that the pope was custodian of the apostolic tradition and claimed
universal jurisdiction for the Roman Church.
10
440–61
Leo the Great, the first great pope, a highly cultivated Roman, a vigorous foe of the
Manichaean heresy. He procured an edict from Emperor Valentinian III (445) declaring
that papal decisions have the force of law. Leo was probably the first pope to enunciate
the theory of the mystical unity of Peter and his successors, and to attribute all their
doings and sayings to Peter. The tradition of Leo's miraculous arrest of Attila's advance
and his efforts to stop Gaiseric's attack (455) won the papacy tremendous prestige in
later days. (See 535–54) (See The Lombards and the Popes)
11
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c. Invaders of the West
Origins of the invaders. The Germanic peoples were established in Scandinavia
(Denmark) and between the Elbe and Oder as early as the 2nd millennium B.C.E.
Eastward lay the Balts (Letts), and the west of the Elbe were the Celts.
1
Expansion. The western Germans (Teutons) displaced (c. 1000 B.C.E.) the Celts, moving
up the Elbe and Rhine (the Main reached c. 200 B.C.E.). South Germany was occupied (c.
100 B.C.E.); Gaul threatened (cf. Caesar's Commentaries). These invaders were a pastoral,
agricultural folk, tending to settle down. By the time of Tacitus's (c. 55–c. 117 C.E.)
Germania they were wholly agricultural. Later new tribal names and a new kind of
federated organization appeared. The eastern Germans (Scandinavians) crossed the Baltic
(c. 600–300 B.C.E.) and pushed up the Vistula to the Carpathians. The northern Germans
remained in Scandinavia.
2
The Greeks and Romans invented the concept of “barbarian,” applying it to all peoples
(except the Persians) living outside Greco-Roman civilization—peoples who did not
share urban Mediterranean culture, who did not speak Greek or Latin. To the Romans,
such peoples had no history and encountered history only when they entered the civilized
Roman world. Barbarian peoples as they entered the Roman orbit had many changing
ethnic identities; all viewed the Roman empire as the source of great wealth.
3
GERMANIC SOCIETIES. The basic unit was the tribe (folk), united by blood kinship
and guided by unwritten customary law passed down through the generations by word of
mouth. Thinking in social not political terms, the Germans had no notion of the state.
Basic institutions were the kings and the war bands. The kings, or chieftains, were
elected from male members of the strongest or physically toughest family. They led
religious sacrifices to the gods. Kingship was strengthened during period of migrations;
tribes that did not migrate did not develop kingships. The comitatus, or war band, the
bravest young men of the tribe, was bound by loyalty to the king, fought beside him in
battle, and was not supposed to leave the field without him—to do so brought social
disgrace.
4
The role and status of women has yet to be thoroughly explored. Society was patriarchal:
within each household the male head had authority over his wives (polygamy was
5
practiced by the wealthy), children, and slaves (captured in war). Women were viewed as
property; marriageable daughters were sold to the highest bidder; and their subsequent
status depended on their production of children, especially sons. In settled communities,
women performed the heavy work of raising, grinding, preserving cereal crops; making
beer and ale; weaving and spinning; caring for the children, and other domestic tasks.
Progress of migrations. The eastern Germans (Bastarnae, Burgundians, Gepids, Goths,
Heruls, Rugians, Sciri) moved toward the Black Sea; they arrived there by 214 C.E. The
division of Visigoth (West Goth) and Ostrogoth (East Goth) probably arose after their
arrival at the Black Sea.
6
1. The Huns
The Huns, nomadic Mongols of the Ural-Altaic group, probably under pressure from the
Zhu-Zhu Empire in Asia, swept into Europe in the 4th century and halted for some fifty
years in the valley of the Danube and Theiss.
7
445–53
Height of the Hun power under Attila. Honoria, sister of Valentinian III, to escape an
unwelcome marriage, sent her ring to Attila and asked for aid. Attila claimed this to be an
offer of marriage. About the same time, Gaiseric the Vandal was intriguing to induce
Attila to attack the Visigoths. By a clever pretense of friendliness to both sides, Attila
kept the Romans and Goths apart, and set out westward with a great force (451). Metz
was taken and the Belgic provinces ravaged. To meet Attila, the Roman Aëtius mustered
a force of Salian Franks, Ripuarians, Burgundians, Celts, and Visigoths under Theodoric
I, as well as his own Gallo-Romans. Attila apparently declined battle near Orleans and
turned back.
8
451
Aëtius overtook him at an unknown spot near Troyes, and a drawn battle was fought.
Attila continued his withdrawal. Still claiming Honoria, Attila turned into Italy, razed
Aquileia, ravaged the countryside (foundation of Venice), and opened the road to Rome.
Pope Leo, one of a commission of three sent by the emperor, appeared before Attila.
Attila retreated after plague had broken out in his force, food supplies had run low, and
reinforcements arrived from the east for the Roman army. Attila's death (453) was
followed by a revolt of his German vassals and the defeat of the Huns on the Nedao (in
9
Pannonia). The remnant of the Huns settled on the lower Danube; the Gepids set up a
kingdom in Dacia; the Ostrogoths settled in Pannonia.
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d. The Ostrogoths in Italy
On the breakup of the Hunnic Empire (after Nedao, 454), the Ostrogoths settled in
Pannonia (their first settlement inside the Roman frontier) as federates of the empire.
Under the Huns, the emergence of a single ruler had been impossible. Thiudareiks
(“ruler of the people”), corrupted into Theodoric, had been educated as a hostage at
Constantinople, was elected (471), and soon became leader of his people on a march into
the Balkan Peninsula, where he forced the Emperor Leo to grant them lands in
Macedonia. His ambition for imperial appointment was realized when he was made
magister militum praesentalis (483), and consul (484). He quarreled with the emperor
and marched on Constantinople. To get rid of him, the emperor commissioned him
(informally) to expel Odovacar from Italy. Arriving in Italy (489) the Ostrogoths
triumphed over Odovacar, but did not reduce Ravenna until 493. Theodoric killed
Odovacar with his own hands and had his troops massacred.
1
489–526
Theodoric the Great. In general Theodoric continued Odovacar's policy, substituting
Ostrogoths for Odovacar's Germans, and assigning one-third of the Roman estates (as
Odovacar had probably done) to his own people. Theodoric's rule was officially
recognized (497) by Constantinople. Together with the emperors he named the consuls
in the west, but never named an Ostrogoth. Theodoric was the only member of his
people who was a Roman citizen; constitutionally the others were alien soldiers in the
service of the empire. No Roman was in military command, no Ostrogoth in the civil
service. Imperial legislation and coinage continued. The so-called Edictum Theodorici
was a codification of Theodoric's administrative decrees rather than a body of
legislation, as none of Theodoric's “laws” were anything more than clarifications of
imperial legislation. Theodoric's secretary was the learned Italian Cassiodorus, and the
dual state was paralleled by a dual religious system. Theodoric was tolerant of the
orthodox Catholics and a protector of the Jews. His chief aim was to civilize his people
under the Roman environment and to keep peace.
2
Theodoric's cooperation with the other Germanic peoples was close, and he cemented
his associations with marriage alliances (one daughter married Alaric II, the Visigoth,
another Sigismund the Burgundian, and he himself married Clovis's sister). He
intervened to protect the Alamanni from Clovis and tried to save the Visigoths. Provence
was acquired from Burgundy and annexed to Italy. He was regent and protector of his
grandson Amalaric after Alaric II's death, and virtually ruled the Visigothic Kingdom
until his death (526)
3
To the Italians, Ostrogothic rule was alien and heretical, and they resented it. The end of
Theodoric's reign was marked by growing ill feelings and suspicion. Boethius, the
Roman philosopher and commentator on Aristotle, author of De consolatione
philosophiae and an official of Theodoric's government, and his father-in-law, the
brilliant and polished Roman Symmachus, were both executed (c. 524) on a charge of
treasonable conspiracy.
4
535–54
Reconquest of Italy by the Emperor. Justinian, as part of his grandiose reconstitution
of the Roman Empire, dispatched Belisarius and later Narses, who reduced the stubborn
Ostrogoths and drove them over the Alps to an unknown end.
5
After the expulsion of the Ostrogoths, the Exarchate of Ravenna was established under
Emperor Maurice (582–602). The exarch had military and civil powers and received full
imperial honors. He exercised imperial control over the Church, including the bishopric
of Rome. War and pestilence had completely ruined northern Italy; Rome, in ruins, had
sunk from her imperial position to that of a provincial town.
6
Ravenna was the capital of the West (c. 402–76) and was the home of Theodoric's
brilliant court. The architecture of the city offers a unique series of examples of Roman
and Romano-Byzantine buildings begun under the emperors and continued by
Theodoric. Theodoric's fame survives in the Middle High German epic Nibelungelied (c.
1200).
7
Ruined by invasion, its aqueducts cut, Rome was reduced in population from a half
million to perhaps 50,000. Its aristocracy had fled, and medieval decay had replaced
pagan grandeur. The city was not revived until the Renaissance.
8
Progress of the papacy. Gelasius (492–96) was the first pope to proclaim the
independence of the papacy from both emperor and Church council in matters of faith.
He asserted that two powers rule the world, the sacerdotium and the imperium. The
sacerdotium, since it is the instrument of human salvation, was declared superior to the
imperium.
9
The barbarian invasions had isolated Italy, accentuated the break with the empire, and
10
left the pope as the sole representative of ancient unity and Roman hegemony. At the
same time, the Ostrogoths (half romanized as they were) did not destroy the culture, but
encouraged the Church to transmit the Greco-Roman tradition (linguistic, social,
cultural, administrative, and religious) in the West.
529
Having originated in the East in the 2nd century, monasticism, female as well as male,
rapidly expanded in the West in the 5th and 6th centuries, but it had no structure, and
had ascetic extremes on the one hand, laxness on the other. In 529 Benedict of Nursia,
scandalized by conditions in Rome, withdrew to Monte Cassino between Rome and
Naples, established a colony, and gave it a Rule, or constitution. The Rule of St.
Benedict represents the accumulated spiritual wisdom of earlier centuries of monastic
experience, drawing as it does on the writings of Cassian (See c. 340), the practice of
monastic life in southern Europe, and (especially) The Rule of the Master, a long,
detailed, exhortatory document. By classical standards, Benedict was not well educated:
his Rule contains not one reference to an ancient Greek or Latin author. But it displays a
deep knowledge of Scripture, the writings of the Church fathers, and the Egyptian
monastic tradition. Modern scholars stress the major influence of the wisdom literature
of the Old Testament—the Book of Proverbs, the Psalms, Sirach, and Wisdom.
Benedict's Rule contains both theoretical principles for the monastic life and practical,
everyday directives. He legislated for a community of laypersons governed benevolently
by an abbot (father)—a community whose purpose was the glorification of God and the
salvation of the individual. After a year's novitiate, or probation, the monk professed
three vows: stability (in the monastery), the reformation of his life, and obedience.
Benedictine life meant a routine lived in a spirit of silence, dedicated to prayer and work
and characterized by moderation and flexibility in all things.
11
Benedict planned the monastery as a self-sufficient socioeconomic unit, “so
constructed that within it all the necessities, such as water, mill, and garden are
contained and the various crafts are practiced. Then there will be no need for the monks
to roam outside, because that is not at all good for their souls” (ch. 66). Having stated
that “idleness is the enemy of the soul; therefore, the brethren should be occupied at
stated times in manual labor, and at other fixed times in sacred reading” (ch. 48), the
Rule prescribes that all monks in good health should spend part of the day in manual
labor. Anticipating the entrance of persons of all social classes, Benedict advised the
abbot, “Let him make no distinction of persons…Let not the one of noble birth be put
before him who was formerly a slave” (ch. 2). He expected that many recruits would be
oblates, children offered to the monastery by their parents to be brought up and
eventually professed (vowed) there (ch. 59), a system that lasted well into the 19th
century; thus monasticism fulfilled an important social function in a world in which
12
career opportunities were severely limited. Each monastery was autonomous; strictly
speaking, there was and is no Benedictine order. Gradually replacing other forms of
monastic life in the West, and drawing both men and women, Benedictine monasticism
served as the chief instrument for the reform of the Frankish Church and for the
conversion and civilization of England and Germany. It was the sole form of corporate
and organized religious life between the 6th and 11th century.
541–42
Probably more destructive of population than the Germanic invasions and the wars
connected with Justinian's reconquest was the plague. In 541–42 the bubonic plague
(identified only in 1894 by bacteriologists, who labeled the bacillus that causes the
disease Pasteurella pestis after one scientist's teacher, Louis Pasteur) swept into Italy,
southern France, the Rhine Valley, and the Iberian Peninsula, killing 20 percent of the
population. Reappearing in cycles (558–61, 580–82, 588–91, 599–600), though each
time with reduced intensity, it swept as far north as Sweden and as far west as Ireland.
Scholars estimate that by 700 southern Europe and the Rhine Valley had lost between 50
and 60 percent of their populations. Consequences of the plague were a sharp rise in the
price of labor, reduced trade, and an intensification of religious belief (that disease,
suffering, and death are God's punishment for sin).
13
554
Justinian's Pragmatic Sanction restored the Italian lands taken by the Ostrogoths and
made a pro forma restoration of government, but agricultural lands had been depopulated
and had reverted into wilderness, and the rural proprietors were sinking into serfdom.
Town decline was similar. The Roman Senate ceased to function after 603, and the local
curiae disappeared at about the same time.
14
Duces were appointed, probably over each civitas, as part of the imperial administration,
but they gradually became great landowners, and their military functions dominated their
civil duties. A fusion of the ducal title and landownership ensued, and a new class of
hereditary military proprietors emerged beside the clergy and the old nobles. The details
of this process are, of course, hard to determine, because evidence is scant.
15
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
e. The Frankish Kingdom
THE MEROVINGIAN KINGS
The Franks first appeared as settlers on the lower Rhine in two divisions, the Salians
(dwellers by the sea, sal) and the Ripuarians (dwellers by the riverbank, ripa). By the
end of the 4th century the Salians were established in the area between the Meuse and
the Scheldt as federates of the Roman Empire; the Ripuarians, in the tract between the
Rhine and Meuse. They formed no permanent confederations, and, unlike the other
Germanic peoples, did not migrate as a nation, but expanded.
1
431–751
The Salian Franks under the Merovingians. The dynasty descended from the
semilegendary Merowech, first noted c. 430. King Childeric (d. 481) fought as a
federate of the empire at Orleans when Aëtius defeated the Visigoths, and he later
defeated the Saxons on the Loire. His tomb was found (1653) at Tournai, the “capital” of
the Salians.
2
481–511
Clovis (Chlodovech), son of Childeric, in the service of Julius Nepos and Zeno. He
defeated the Gallo-Roman general Syagrius at Soissons (486), expanding Salian power
to the Loire. Friendly relations existed between Clovis and Bishop Remigius, who later
baptized him. Sigebert, the Ripuarian, defeated an Alamannic invasion at Tolbiac (496)
with Salian support. Clovis, in the same year, defeated the Alamanni (Strasburg?) and
3
later, after election as king of the Ripuarians, emerged as master of the Franks on both
sides of the Rhine.
496
The traditional date of the conversion of Clovis to Roman Catholicism is 496. He had
previously married a Burgundian, Clotilda, who was of the Roman communion. The
Burgundians in general were Arians, and Clovis's choice may have been deliberate. In
any case his conversion won him papal support and opened the way to wide conquests
from the heretic (i.e., Arian) German peoples. Burgundy was conquered (after 500); the
Visigoths defeated at Vouillé (507); and their whole kingdom north of the Pyrenees
(except Septimania and Provence) was soon subjugated. These conquests were
supported by the Gallo-Roman clergy as a religious war. Clovis founded the Church of
the Holy Apostles (Ste. Geneviève) at Paris, and shortly moved his “capital” from
Soissons to Paris. He was made an honorary consul by Emperor Anastasius, a
proceeding that brought the Franks technically into the empire.
4
Frankish Administration. The old Roman civitas, city and surrounding territory,
served as the basis of Merovingian and (later) Carolingian administration. Comites, later
called counts, royal officials of Gallo-Roman descent, presided over the civitas,
collected taxes, heard lawsuits, enforced justice, and raised troops. Clovis and his
descendants issued capitulares, legislative and administrative orders divided by
chapters, that tried to reduce violence; these showed the strong influence of Roman law.
5
511–628
Divisions of the Frankish lands after the death of Clovis: (1) His four sons established
four capitals—Metz, Orleans, Paris, Soissons. Expansion eastward continued along the
upper Elbe; Burgundy was added, and the territory of the Ostrogoths north of the Alps.
After a period of ruthless conflict, only Lothair (Chlothar) survived, and for a brief time
(558–61) the Frankish lands were under one head again. (2) Lothair's division of his
lands among his four sons led to a great feud from which three kingdoms emerged:
Austrasia (capital Metz) lying to the east (Auster) and mostly Teutonic; Neustria (the
“new land,” as the name implies; capital Soissons), Gallo-Roman in blood; and
Burgundy, which had no king of its own but joined Neustria under a common ruler. The
prince of Neustria exterminated the rival house in Austrasia, but the local chieftains
preserved the kingdom's identity. Under Lothair II all three kingdoms were united again
(613) under one ruler.
6
629–39
Dagobert (Lothair's son), the last strong ruler of the Merovingian house, made wide
dynastic alliances and found wise advisers in Bishop Arnulf and Pepin of Landen. His
firm rule led to a revolt. Under the rois fainéants(lazy, “do-nothing kings,” who were
rulers in name only) following Dagobert, the mayors of the palace emerged from a
menial position to take a dominant role in the government both in Austrasia and
Neustria.
7
Merovingian government retained the Roman civitas as a unit of administration and set
a count (comes or graf) over it. The source of law was not the king but local custom,
administered by the graf with the aid of local landowners. Military leaders of large
districts were the duces, who were over several counts. Land grants were made in lieu of
pay to officials.
8
Gregory, bishop of Tours (c. 540–94), a Frank, wrote in Latin the Historia Francorum,
the best single source on the history of the Merovingian period.
9
Decline of royal power under the last Merovingians and feudal decentralization.
Feudalism implies a kind of politically decentralized society in which public power—to
raise an army, to hold courts that administer some form of law or justice, to coin money,
and to negotiate with outside powers—passes into private hands. Feudal decentralization
was characterized by the breakdown of the old class and Germanic tribal organizations
without an effective system to replace it, which led to the personal and economic
dependence on private individuals; by the increasing concentration of land in the hands
of a few (i.e., a landed “aristocracy” of which the mayors of the palace were
representative; and perhaps by the increasing importance of the possession of a horse
and the ability to fight on horseback. (This was due in part to the arrival of the stirrup, an
Asian invention, that attached rider to horse, enabling him to use the force of his
galloping animal to strike and cripple his enemy.) However, although Charles Martel
used some cavalry in his wars against the Muslims, the infantry was the typical and
decisive unit in all Carolingian warfare, and so the stirrup's importance has been
downplayed. Warriors who attached themselves to strong “lords” were at first supported
in the lord's own household; they were later rewarded, sometimes with land, sometimes
with cash, with which they maintained themselves. In the lord's household, the wife
frequently had responsibility for the dispersal of cash and goods.
10
Emergence of the Carolingians in Austrasia. The son of Arnulf married the daughter of
Count Pepin I (of Landen, d. 640), mayor of the palace, founding the line later called
Carolingian.
11
687
Pepin II (of Heristal), grandson of Pepin I, gained supremacy in Austrasia and Neustria
by his victory at Tertry. The kingdom was on the verge of dissolution (ducal separatism),
and Pepin began an effort to reduce the landed aristocracy from which he himself had
sprung.
12
714–41
Charles Martel (i.e., the Hammer), Pepin's son, an ally of the Lombards.
13
716–54
Missionary activities of St. Boniface (Winfrid, Wynfrith), Apostle of Germany. With the
support of Charles Martel and Pope Gregory II, Boniface worked to establish a
centralized and episcopal church in Germany under Carolingian supervision. He founded
dioceses, made Mainz a metropolitan see, established several monasteries, including
Fulda, and encouraged the observance of the Rule of St. Benedict in all houses of men
and women.
14
733
Martel's victory at Tours arrested the advance of the Muslims in the west, and was
followed by their final retreat over the Pyrenees (759).
15
Pepin's conquest of the Frisians was continued, five wars were waged against the
Saxons, and powerful decentralizing forces (notably in Burgundy and Alamannia) were
broken down.
16
739
Pope Gregory III, threatened by the Lombards, sent an embassy to Martel, and offered
the title of consul in return for protection. Charles, an ally of the Lombard king, ignored
the appeal. At the end of his life, Martel, like a true sovereign, divided the Merovingian
lands between his sons, Austrasia and the German duchies going to Carloman, Neustria
and Burgundy to Pepin. Carloman and Pepin ruled together, 741–47; Pepin ruled alone,
747–68. (See The Empire of Charlemagne and Its Disintegration)
17
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 440–61)
f. The Lombards and the Popes
For a complete list of the Roman popes, see Appendix IV.
1
Under Emperor Augustus, the Lombards were still established on the lower Elbe
(Bardengau) and were defeated (5 C.E.) by the Romans. Their history for the next 400
years is confused. They were members of the Hunnic Empire and were probably Arians.
They were given land by Justinian in Noricum and Pannonia, and they aided (553) the
imperial attacks on the Ostrogoths. The Lombards took part in Belisarius's conquest, and
soon they began to move south toward Italy.
2
568
The Lombard conquest of Italy. Italy, worn out by the Gothic wars, famine, and
disease, offered little resistance. Constantinople was indifferent, and the conquest was
easy. The Lombards, always few in number, had associated other peoples (including
Saxons and some Slavs) in their invasion, but even then they were not numerous enough
to occupy the whole peninsula. Rome and Naples were never held, and Ravenna only
briefly. The coast was not really mastered. The Lombards did not enter into a compact
with the empire, and Italian feeling against them was bitter. Pavia became the capital
(Italy, until 774, always had two and usually three capitals: Rome, the papal capital;
Ravenna, the Byzantine capital; and Pavia, the Lombardian capital after 573), and the
peninsula was a mosaic of Byzantine, papal, and Lombardian jurisdictions.
3
Lombard occupation (virtually military rule at first) covered inland Liguria, inland
Tuscany, inland Venetia, the duchy of Spoleto and the duchy of Benevento. Imperial
Italy comprised Venice and the land from north of Ravenna to the south of Ancona, and
included the duchy of Rome and the duchy of Naples, as well as the toe and heel of Italy.
Hospitalitas was revived, and one third of the produce of the land (not one third of the
land) was given to the Lombards. Lombards also took the lands of the dead and the
exiled.
4
The Lombards took Roman titles and names, and in the end accepted Roman
Catholicism. Legally there was a dual system of private law, and in Lombard territories
there was a dual episcopal system (i.e., Arian and Roman).
5
573–84
A period of anarchy and private war under a loose federation of dukes (some 36 in
number). Roman Catholic opposition and papal negotiations with the Franks alarmed the
Lombards, and led to the election of King Authari in 584.
6
584–90
King Authari was endowed with half the baronial lands as royal domain. The dukedoms
were gradually absorbed (the marches, like Fruili, Trent, Turin, survived longest).
7
Authari's widow, Theodolinda, a devoted Roman Catholic, bidden to choose a husband
who should also be king, selected a Thuringian.
8
590–604
Gregory the Great. His family was a rich senatorial house, and Gregory was prefect of
Rome (573). He founded (c. 574) six monasteries in Sicily and one at Rome (St.
Andrews) into which he immediately retired as a monk. Embassy to Constantinople (c.
579–86). Elected pope (590) against his will, he began a vigorous administration.
Discipline within his patriarchate was rigorous (stress on celibacy, close watch on
elections, insistence on exclusive clerical jurisdiction over clerical offenders). Church
revenue was divided into four shares, for the bishop, the clergy, the poor, and church
buildings. His administration of the wide estates of the Church was honest, and the
revenue was expanded to meet the tremendous demands on Rome for charity. The pope
continued the old imperial grain doles in Rome and elsewhere, aqueducts were repaired,
urban administration, especially in Rome, was reformed.
9
Outside his immediate patriarchal jurisdiction, Gregory expanded the influence and
prestige of the pope, maintaining that the pope was by divine designation head of all
churches. Appeals to Rome were heard even against the patriarch of Constantinople,
whose claim to the title of universal bishop was denied. Without secular authority,
Gregory assumed the powers of a temporal prince, counterbalancing the prestige of
Constantinople. Gregory was the real leader against the Lombards, appointing governors
of cities, directing the generals in war, and receiving from Constantinople pay for the
10
army.
The first monk to become pope, Gregory made a close alliance between the Benedictines
and the papacy (at the expense of the bishops). The monks were given charters and
protected from the bishops, the Benedictine Rule was imposed, and a great missionary
campaign was begun with monastic aid: the mission to Britain (596) under Augustine of
Canterbury and the conversion of England provided a base from which the Frankish
Church was later reformed and the German people converted; and campaigns were
waged against paganism in Gaul, Italy, and Sicily, and against heresy in Africa and
Sicily.
11
Gregory was the last of the four great Latin Fathers, and first of the medieval prelates, a
link between the classical Greco-Roman tradition and the medieval Romano-German
one. Not a great scholar, he was a great popularizer, and he spread the doctrines of
Augustine of Hippo throughout the West. At the same time he gave wide currency
through his Dialogues to the popular (often originally pagan) ideas of angels, demons,
devils, relic worship, miracles, the doctrine of purgatory, and the use of allegory. His
Book of Pastoral Care remained for centuries an essential in the education of the clergy.
There was a school of music at Rome, but how much Gregory had to do with it, and how
much with the introduction of the Gregorian chant, is uncertain. Gregory introduced the
papal style, Servus Servorum Dei.
12
590–615
Duke Agilulf of Turin was friendly to the Roman Church and was the true founder of
the Lombard state. Gregory the Great blocked an Italian conspiracy against the
Lombards. Rothari (636–52) became a Roman Catholic. He collected Lombard
customary law in Latin and began the consolidation of Lombard power. Eventually
Roman law triumphed and Lombard law survived only in the schools (e.g., Pavia).
13
The Italian bishops since 476 had been the leaders of the peaceful civilians in the cities,
the protectors of the oppressed, and the dispensers of charity. Under the Lombards, a
system of episcopal immunities emerged that made the bishops virtually local temporal
sovereigns and enabled them to preserve the local spirit of municipal independence and
organization (e.g., consuls, guilds). The urban population was free, and the town walls
(often built by the bishops) were refuges. Milan resumed her greatness and almost
equaled Rome. These developments prepared the way for the assertion of Italian town
independence against Roman clerical and German feudal encroachments. Paul the
Deacon (c. 720–c. 800), the first important medieval historian, wrote theHistoria gentis
Langobardorum.Martianus Capella (fl. c. 600), encyclopedist, formulated the seven
arts (grammar, logic, rhetoric, geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, music), which were to
guide education down to the Renaissance.
14
Continued alienation of Italy from the East. Arrest (653), by the exarch, of Pope
Martin I (649–55), who died in exile in the East. The Council of Constantinople (692)
reasserted the equality of the patriarchates of Constantinople and Rome.
15
Emperor Leo III the Isaurican (717–41) attempted to bring Italy back to obedience:
heavy taxation to reduce the great landowners angered Pope Gregory II (the largest
landowner in Italy) and Leo's iconoclastic decree (726) aroused all Italy. Gregory III
excommunicated all Iconoclasts (731). Gregory's defeat and final humiliation weakened
the pope and opened the way for the final Lombard advance.
16
712–44
Destruction of the Lombard Kingdom. Liutprand, king of the Lombards (712–44),
extended his rule over the duchies of Benevento and Spoleto. Ravenna was taken
temporarily. During the Iconoclastic controversy, Liutprand's sincere efforts at
rapprochement with the papacy met a brief success.
17
749–56
Aistulf continued Liutprand's policy of consolidation. The pope, alarmed at Lombard
progress, had already (741) made overtures to Charles Martel. Martel, busy with the
Muslims, remained faithful to his alliance with the Lombards, but Aistulf's continued
advance brought a visit (753) from Pope Stephen II. Stephen had already begun
negotiations with Pepin III, king of the Franks, and the mutual needs of the rising papacy
and the upstart Carolingian dynasty drew them into alliance.
18
754, 756
Pepin, in two expeditions, forced Aistulf to abandon the Pentapolis and Ravenna
(bringing the Lombards virtually to their holdings of 681). Legally the lands involved in
the Donation of Pepin (756) belonged to the Eastern Empire. The Donation was a tacit
recognition of implicit claims of the popes to be the heirs of the empire in Italy. Most
important from the papal point of view was the fact that the Church had won a powerful
military ally outside Italy. Henceforth the Carolingians maintained a protectorate over
the papacy in Italy.
774
19
Charlemagne, heir to the traditions of Pepin, having repudiated the daughter of the
Lombard king, Desiderius, appeared in Italy to protect the pope. After a nine-month
siege, Pavia was taken, Spoleto and Benevento were conquered, and Charlemagne
(Charles the Great) absorbed the Lombard Kingdom into the rising Frankish Empire and
assumed the crown of the Lombards. On a visit to Rome (774), Charlemagne confirmed
the Donation of Pepin but made it plain that he was sovereign even in the papal lands. At
no time did Charlemagne allow the pope any but a primacy in honor (in this respect,
following the strict Byzantine tradition). The Donation of Pepin was the foundation of
the Papal States and the true beginning of the temporal power of the papacy.
Henceforth there was neither a Lombard menace nor the overlordship of the exarch to
interfere with the rising papal monarchy. In this sense the fall of the Lombard Kingdom
was decisive in papal history. It was equally decisive in Italian history, for the papal
victory over the Lombards terminated the last effective effort to establish unity and a
centralized government until the end of the 19th century. For the Carolingian monarchy,
the episode was equally significant.
20
Under the successors of Charlemagne, the emperors continued to participate in the papal
elections and did what they could to protect Italy against the attacks of the Muslims from
Africa.
21
827–31
The Muslims conquered Sicily.
22
837
Muslims attacked Naples, pillaged Ancona (839), and captured Bari (840).
23
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 739)
g. The Empire of Charlemagne and Its Disintegration
THE HOUSE OF PEPIN (640-814)
747–68
Pepin the Short, who attempted to conciliate the Church by granting and restoring lands
to it.
1
752
Pepin was elected king by the Frankish magnates. Both the house of Pepin and the
papacy (in the process of securing independence from the emperor at Constantinople)
needed each other's support. The immediate need of the popes was for protection against
the expanding Lombard monarchy. Aistulf, king of the Lombards, had taken Ravenna
(751), the seat of the exarch, besieged Rome, and exacted tribute.
2
754
Pope Stephen II arrived in Gaul, anointed Pepin, and by conferring the title Patricius
Romanorum (which could legally come only from Constantinople), designated him in a
sense regent and protector of Italy. The result was to give some authority to Pepin's new
title as king of the Franks.
3
754
Pepin marched into Italy, defeated the Lombards, and required them to hand over the
exarchate and Pentapolis to the pope. The Lombards failed to do so.
4
756
Pepin returned and, after defeating the Lombards again, made his famous Donation. The
Donation of Pepin established the Franks, a distant, non-Italian power, as the allies and
defenders of the papacy.
5
759
Pepin conquered Septimania, disciplined Aquitaine, and so brought effective Frankish
rule to the Pyrenees. On his death his lands were given to his sons, Charles receiving
Austrasia, Neustria, and northern Aquitaine; Carloman, southern Aquitaine, Burgundy,
Provence, Septimania. The brothers ruled together, 768–71; Charles alone, 771–814.
6
771–814
Charles the Great (Charlemagne), a reign of the first magnitude in European history.
Charles was well over six feet tall, a superb swimmer, with an athletic frame, large
expressive eyes, and a merrydisposition. He understood Greek, spoke Latin, but did not
learn to write. He preferred the Frankish dress. In general he continued the Frankish
policies: (1) expansion of Frankish rule to include all the Germans was completed
(omitting only Scandinavia and Britain); (2) a close understanding with the papacy; (3)
support of Church reform (which settled the foundations of medieval Christian unity).
7
Already overlord of the Lombards, Charles married King Desiderius's daughter but soon
repudiated her.
8
773–74
Charlemagne conquered Lombard Italy and became king of the Lombards, whose
kingdom was absorbed into the Frankish Empire. Charlemagne also established his rule
in Venetia, Istria, Dalmatia, and Corsica.
9
778
At Roncesvalles near Pamplona, on a pass in the western Pyrenees, the Basques
destroyed the rear guard of Charlemagne's army as it was returning to France. The battle
inspired the late 11th-century poem The Song of Roland, the most famous of the
chansons de geste, or medieval epics. The poem celebrates Roland as the perfect
chivalric knight and Charlemagne as the ideal Christian king. The poem was popular in
French, Spanish, and Italian literature of the later Middle Ages; the values expressed are
those of the 11th, not the 8th century.
10
787–88
Bavaria was incorporated; its duke, Tassilo, first made a vassal and then deposed.
11
785
Saxony, after a costly and bitter struggle of 30 years that involved 18 campaigns, was
conquered, and Christianity was forcibly introduced despite stubborn pagan resistance.
Foundation of the bishopric of Bremen (781).
12
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h. The West Franks under the Carolingian Kings
840–77
Charles the Bald (emperor, 875–77). His kingdom under the Treaty of Verdun was
roughly equivalent to modern France, with additions in the north and south and a
restricted frontier on the east. Charles was effective master of Laon, but his sway over
Neustria was nominal, his control sporadically maintained by war and intrigue. Charles
granted three great fiefs as a buffer for his frontiers: the county of Flanders to his son-inlaw, Baldwin Iron-Arm (862); Neustria to Robert the Strong as “duke between Seine and
Loire”; the French duchy of Burgundy to Richard, count of Autun. Brittany (Amorica)
was semi-independent under its own dukes and counts in the 9th century and continued
so virtually to the end of the Middle Ages. Aquitaine, joined to Neustria for Charles
(838), soon emerged as a duchy and was consistently hostile. The duchy of Gascony was
joined to Aquitaine in 1052. From Neustria were carved the counties of Anjou (870) and
Champagne. Septimania remained refractory.
1
870
Carloman, Charles's son, emerged from monastic retirement and led a series of intrigues
that ended when he was blinded and fled to his uncle, Louis the German. He died in 874.
Charles was further weakened by his intrigues in Lorraine and Italy, and by his efforts to
win the imperial crown, leaving France open to invasion, anarchy, and brigandage.
2
The crown, impotent and virtually bankrupt, commanded no respect from magnates or
prelates, and the Capitulary of Mersen (847) shows clear evidence of the progress of
essentially feudal ideas: every free man is to choose a lord; none may quit his lord; each
must follow his lord in battle. It must be noted that this was purely a military measure.
France was already divided into comtés under counts theoretically removable by the
king.
3
875
Expedition of Charles to Italy and imperial coronation.
4
877
The Capitulary of Kiersy made honors hereditary, but lands were still granted only for
life.
5
877–79
Louis II (the Stammerer), son of Charles the Bald, maintained himself with difficulty,
despite the support of the Church.
6
884–87
Charles the Fat, son of Louis the German, already king of the East Franks (879) and
emperor (876–87), was chosen king of the West Franks instead of Charles the Simple,
the five-year-old brother of Louis and Carloman. Charles the Fat, having failed (886) to
aid the gallant Odo (Eudes) against the Northmen, was deposed (887).
7
887–98
Odo (Eudes), count of Paris, marquis of Neustria (son of Count Robert the Strong), was
elected king of the West Franks by one faction of magnates, to avoid a minority on the
deposition (887) of Charles the Fat. Another faction chose Charles III, the Simple, son of
Louis II (Carolingian).
8
893–923
Despite five years of civil war, Charles III ruled from Laon, the last Carolingian with
any real authority in France. Charles, unable to expel the Northmen from the mouth of
the Seine, granted (911) Rollo (Hrolf the Ganger, d. 931), a large part of what was later
Normandy, for which Rollo did homage.
9
Formation of Normandy. Rollo was baptized (912) under the name Robert, acquired
middle Normandy (the Bessin, 924) and the western part of the duchy (Cotentin and
Avranche, 933). Fresh settlers from Scandinavia were recruited for the colony for the
best part of a century, and it was able to retain a strong local individuality. Yet soon after
1000, the duchy was French in both speech and law. Between this period and the
accession of Duke William I (the Conqueror), Norman history is fragmentary.
10
923–87
The French kingship. Robert, count of Paris, duke between the Seine and Loire, won
the West Frankish crown with the aid of his sons-in-law, Herbert, count of Vermandois,
and Rudolf, duke of Burgundy, but was killed (923), leaving a son (later Hugh the Great)
too young to rule.
11
929–36
Rudolf followed Robert as the foe of Charles the Simple, and ruled with no opposition
after Charles's death. Hugh the Great, master of Burgundy and Neustria, declined the
crown, preferring to rule through the young Carolingian heir,
12
936–54
Louis IV, a son of Charles the Simple. Hugh's title, duke of the French, seems to have
implied governmental functions as much as territorial sovereignty, and he held most of
the northern barons under his suzerainty.
13
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i. Germany under the Carolingian and Saxon Emperors
CAROLINGIAN DYNASTY
THE SAXON AND SALIAN EMPERORS (919-1125)
843–76
Louis the German. Increasing Slavic and Norse pressure (general Norse attack on
Carolingian lands, 845). Louis had three sons: Carloman (d. 880), Louis (d. 882), and
Charles the Fat. Carloman was assigned Bavaria and the East Mark; Louis, Saxony and
Franconia; Charles, Alamannia. Contest with Charles the Bald for Lorraine. By the
Treaty of Mersen (870) Louis added a strip of land west of the Rhine.
1
876–87
Charles the Fat. He blocked Charles the Bald's advance toward the Rhine. Emergence
of the kingdom of Cisjuran Burgundy (i.e., Dauphiné, Provence, part of Languedoc)
under Boso (879). Expedition to Italy and coronation by John VIII (881). Negotiations
(882) with the Northmen, now permanently established in Flanders. While Charles was
in Italy settling a papal election, a great Norse invasion burst on France. Deposition of
Charles by the Franconian, Saxon, Bavarian, Thuringian, and Swabian magnates at
Tribur (887).
2
887–99
Arnulf (illegitimate son of Carloman, grandson of Louis the German). A certain
supremacy was conceded to Arnulf by the various rulers of Germany and Italy who
rendered homage to him. Victory over the Norse on the Dyle (Löwen, 891); resistance to
the Slavic (Moravian) advance (893), with Magyar aid. Magyar raids after 900. Arnulf
went to Italy (894), was crowned king (896), and received homage from most of the
magnates. On appeal from Formosus (895), he took Rome and was crowned emperor
(896).
3
899–911
Louis the Child (born 893), last of the Carolingians, elected king by the magnates at
Forchheim (900). Increasing Norse, Slavic, and Magyar pressure and devastation.
4
The weakening of the royal power as the East Frankish kingdom of the Carolingians
declined, and the survival of tribal consciousness left the way open for the emergence of
the stem (Ger., Stamm, tribe) duchies. These duchies preserved the traditions of ancient
tribal culture, and their independent development under semiroyal dukes (beginning in
the 9th century) contributed to the disruption of German unity. These stem duchies were:
Franconia (the Conradiners ultimately drove the Babenbergers into the East Mark, later
Austria); Lorraine (not strictly a stem duchy but with a tradition of unity); Swabia (the
early ducal history is obscure); Bavaria (under the Arnulfings; repulse of the Magyars,
acquisition of the mark of Carinthia); Saxony (under the Liudolfingers; repulse of the
Danes and Wends, addition of Thuringia); Frisia (no tribal duke appeared).
5
911
End of the East Frankish line of the Carolingians with the death of Louis the Child
(911); the German magnates, to avoid accepting a ruler of the West Frankish (French)
line, elected Conrad, duke of Franconia.
911–18
6
Conrad I. Magyar raids and ducal rebellions in Saxony, Bavaria, and Swabia met
vigorous but futule resistance from Conrad. Lorraine passed (911) temporarily under the
suzerainty of the West Frankish ruler, Charles the Simple. Conrad nominated his
strongest foe, Henry, duke of Saxony, as his successor, and he was elected.
7
919–1024
The Saxon (or Ottonian) House.
8
919–36
King Henry I (called the Fowler, supposedly because the messengers announcing his
election found him hawking). Tolerant of the dukes, he forced recognition of his
authority; cool to the Church, he avoided ecclesiastical coronation.
9
920–21
Reduction of the duke of Bavaria; alliance with Charles the Simple.
10
923–25
Lorraine restored to the German Kingdom and unified into the duchy of Lorraine, a
center of spiritual and intellectual ferment. Henry's daughter married the duke of
Lorraine (928).
11
924–33
Truce (and tribute) with the Magyars; fortification of the Elbe and Weser Valleys
(Saxony and Thuringia); palisading of towns, villas, monasteries; establishment of
garrisons (which later often became towns like Naumburg, Quedlinburg).
12
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j. Spain
1. The Visigothic Kingdom
For a complete list of the caliphs, see Appendix III.
1
In the time of Euric (466–84) the Visigothic rule extended from the Loire to Gibraltar
and from the Bay of Biscay to the Rhône. The capital was Toulouse.
2
507
Clovis's victory in the Battle of Vouillé obliged the Visigoths to withdraw over the
Pyrenees, retaining only Septimania north of the mountains. The new capital was Toledo.
3
The Visigoths in Spain were a small minority and were rapidly romanized. The
conversion of King Reccared (587) from Arianism to Roman orthodoxy brought an end to
their religious separateness and accelerated the process of romanization. The Synod of
Toledo (633) assumed the right of nobles and clergy to confirm elections to the crown.
After 600 the Jews were forced to accept baptism, for which reason they later on
welcomed the Muslim invasion. Visigothic speech gradually disappeared, and the current
vernacular was of Latin origin. Roman organization and tradition survived to a marked
degree. Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636), a bishop, theologian, historian, man of letters,
and scientist, produced in his Etymologiae a general reference work that remained a
standard manual for 500 years and was a medium for transmitting much ancient
knowledge to the medieval world.
4
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Ages, 461–1000 > k. The British Isles
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k. The British Isles
1. England
THE ANGLO-SAXON KINGS OF ENGLAND (802-1066)
THE DANISH KINGS OF ENGLAND (1013-66)
Prehistoric Britain. The prehistoric inhabitants of Britain (called Celts on the basis of
their language) were apparently a fusion of Mediterranean, Alpine, and Nordic strains
that included a dark Iberian and a light-haired stock. Archaeological evidence points to
contacts with the Iberian Peninsula (2500 B.C.E.) and Egypt (1300 B.C.E.)
1
1200–600 B.C.E
The true Celts are represented by two stocks: Goidels (Gaels), surviving in northern
Ireland and high Scotland, and Cymri and Brythons (Britons), still represented in Wales.
The Brythons were close kin to the Gauls, particularly the Belgi. Their religion was
dominated by a powerful, organized, priestly caste, the druids of Gaul and Britain, who
monopolized religion, education, and justice.
2
55 B.C.E.–c. 450 C.E
Roman occupation began with Julius Caesar's conquests in Gaul and Britain (57–50
B.C.E.); Emperor Claudius's personal expedition and conquest (43 C.E.) were decisive in
3
the romanization of Britain. Construction of the great network of Roman roads began
(eventually five systems, four centering on London). Bath emerged as a center of
Romano-British fashion.
78–142
Roman conquests in the north began under Agricola (See 71–84); results north of the
Clyde-Forth line were not decisive. Emperor Hadrian completed the conquest of Britain
in person; construction of Hadrian's Wall (123) from Solway Firth to Tyne mouth.
Firth-Clyde rampart (c. 142).
4
208
Emperor Septimius Severus arrived (208), invaded Caledonia (Scotland), restored
Roman military supremacy in the north, and fixed Hadrian's Wall as the final frontier of
Roman conquest.
5
300–350
Height of villa construction in the plain of Britain. Chief towns: Verulamium (St.
Albans), Colchester, Lincoln, Gloucester, York. Sheep raising was widespread, and the
skill of the artisans and clothworkers of Britain was already famous on the Continent in
the 4th century. The island south of the wall was considerably romanized. Recent
archaeological investigations suggest that Christianity had made progress.
6
410–42
Withdrawal of the Roman legions and the end of the Roman administration coincided
with an intensification of Nordic pressure and the influx of Jutes, Angles, and Saxons,
which permanently altered the racial base of the island. By c. 615 the Angles and Jutes
had reached the Irish Channel and were masters of what is virtually modern England. A
Celtic recrudescence appeared in the highlands of the west and northwest. The history of
Britain for two centuries (c. 350–597) is obscure.
7
Seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the Heptarchy, emerged after the Teutonic conquest:
Essex, Wessex, Sussex (Saxon, as the names suggest); Kent (Jutes); East Anglia,
Mercia, Northumbria (Angles).
8
560–616
The supremacy of Ethelbert of Kent in the Heptarchy.
9
597
Ethelbert's supremacy coincided with the arrival of Augustine the Monk (See 590–604)
and the conversion of Kent to Christianity. The Frankish princess Bertha, Ethelbert's
wife, who was already Christian, probably exercised a strong influence on him; she was
archetypical of the role of women in evangelization. The hegemony in the Heptarchy
passed eventually to Edwin of Northumbria (who had also been converted).
10
633
Oswald of Northumbria called Aidan from Iona, a monastery on an island off the west
coast of Scotland. His mission began the great influence of Celtic Christianity, which for
a time threatened to replace the Roman Church.
11
c. 628–89
Benet Biscop, a strong supporter of Benedictine monasticism. He founded the
monastery of Wearmouth in Northumbria and on five trips to Italy collected books,
manuscripts, and paintings that formed the intellectual milieu for the work of Bede.
12
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Ages, 461–1000 > l. Scandinavia
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l. Scandinavia
Origins. References in Pytheas, Pomponius Mela, Pliny the Elder, Tacitus, Ptolemy,
Procopius, Jordanes. Archaeological remains indicate Roman connections in the 3rd
century after Christ, but there is no evidence for close Continental relations until the
Viking period.
1
Viking period. Scandinavia developed in isolation during the barbarian migrations until
the 2nd century C.E. The Viking expansion from Scandinavia itself prolonged the period
of migrations in Europe for 400 years. The traditional participation of Scandinavia was as
follows: Norwegians (westward): raids in Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, east
coast of North America, perhaps as far south as present-day Connecticut (Hrolf the
Ganger, or “Rollo”); Danes (the middle passage): British Isles, France, the Low
Countries; Swedes (eastward): across Slavdom to Byzantium (foundation of Novgorod,
862, Kiev c. 900). There never was a mass migration, and probably all shared in the
various movements to some degree. Causes: scholars speculate that polygamy may have
created population pressures for emigrations; that the practice of primogeniture forced
younger sons to seek their fortunes abroad; that mercantile expansion, especially among
the Frisians (people in area of modern Holland) whetted the Viking appetite for trade, and
that the Viking culture encouraged the desire for adventure and plunder abroad. Means:
shallow longboats, equipped with sails, oars, a rudder at the stern and capable of carrying
40 to 60 men, proved easily maneuverable on both rough northern waters and inland
rivers, and were versatile—used for raiding and commerce.
2
Norwegian Colonization. Ireland: the Norwegian conquest began c. 823, and centers
were established at Dublin (the kingdom endured until 1014), Waterford, and Limerick.
Exodus of learned monks to Europe (Scotus Erigena?). Attacks by the Picts and Danes.
The subsequent colonization of the Scottish Islands drew Norwegians from Ireland and
accelerated the celticization of the colonists who remained there. The Islands: Hebrides,
Man, Faroes, Orkneys, Shetlands. Iceland: reached by Irish monks c. 790; discovered by
the Northmen (Norsemen) in 874 and colonized almost at once; establishment of a New
Norway, with a high culture. Greenland: visited by Eric the Red of Iceland (981) and
colonized at once; expeditions from Greenland to the North American continent (See
1003–6). The Norse settlements in Greenland continued until the 15th century.
3
Civilization. Large coin hoards indicate the profits of raids and trade with the British
Isles, Mediterranean, Byzantium, and Muslim Asia. Export of furs, slaves, arms (to
eastern Europe), and mercenary services to rulers (e.g., bodyguards of Ethelred, Canute,
Slavic princes, Byzantine emperors). Trade eastward was cut off by the Huns and Avars
(5th and 6th century) but resumed after Rurik's expedition (862) reopened Russia.
4
Runes (from a Scandinavian root meaning to inscribe) were already ancient in the Viking
period, and probably are modified Roman letters. The Eddas, dramatic lays (prose and
verse) of the Norwegian aristocracy (especially in Iceland) dealing with gods and heroes
(many in the German tradition, e.g., Sigurd and the Nibelungs), are the highest literary
production of pagan Scandinavia.
5
Scandinavian society rested on wealth from raids and commerce and consisted of a
landed aristocracy with farmer tenants who had the right and obligation to attend local
courts. The only general assembly was the Allthing of Iceland (established 930), the
oldest continuous parliamentary body in existence.
6
Mythology and religion. The Norwegians had a more complicated mythology than any
other Teutonic people: giants, elves, dwarfs, serpents, succeeded by the triumph of Odin,
his wife, Friga, and his son, Thor.
7
Conversion to Christianity. The first Christians (probably captives) appeared in the 6th
century. The first Christian missionary was the Anglo-Saxon Willibord (c. 700), who
accomplished little. A Carolingian mission (c. 820) was welcomed by King Bjorn of
Sweden. A few years later (c. 831) the archbishopric of Hamburg was established and
became at once the center for missionary work in the north. (See Scandinavia)
8
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(See 527–565)
2. Eastern Europe, 500–1025
a. The Byzantine Empire
THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE IN THE 6TH CENTURY (MAP)
THE MACEDONIAN EMPERORS (867-1056)
For a complete list of the Byzantine emperors, see Appendix II.
1
The Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantine Empire, was a polyglot, multiethnic,
polysectarian state, at the head of which was the emperor (basileus, autokrator), whose
autonomous monarchical power rested on Hellenistic political philosophy and Christian
political theory.
2
527–65
Justinian. Justinian was a man of autocratic character and grandiose conceptions. He
was strongly influenced by his wife, Theodora (d. 548), a woman of humble origin but
of iron will and unusual political judgment. Justinian's whole policy was directed toward
the revival of a universal Christian Roman Empire. The entire reign was filled with wars
in the east and the west, punctuated by constant incursions of the barbarians from the
north.
3
Justinian and the Church. Peace had been made with Rome in 519 and Pope John I
had visited Constantinople in 525. Justinian made a great effort to maintain the unity of
the western and eastern churches, but this led him into trouble with the Monophysites of
Syria and Egypt. He attempted to reconcile them also, but with indifferent success. The
4
cleavage between Latin and Greek Christianity became ever more marked. Justinian
suppressed all heresies and paganism (closing of the Neo-Platonic Academy at Athens,
529). Extensive missionary work was carried on among the pagans and in Ethiopia. For
the rest, the emperor, with a great taste for dogma, set himself up as the master of the
Church and arrogated to himself the right to make binding pronouncements in even
purely theological matters.
Administration. The emperor abolished the sale of offices, improved salaries, united the
civil and military powers of provincial authorities. To hold back invaders, he built
hundreds of forts along the frontiers and established a regular system of frontier forces
(limitanei). Financially the empire suffered greatly from the extensive military
operations and from the great building activities of the court.
5
Law reform. To clarify the law, Justinian appointed a commission headed by the jurist
Tribonian. This commission collected and ordered all the constitutions promulgated
since the time of Hadrian and published them as the Codex Justinianus (529). There
followed the collection of opinions of the jurists, the Digest, or Pandects (533), and a
general textbook of the law, the Institutes. Justinian's own legislation was collected in
the Novellae (565). By this great work of codification Justinian assured for the Roman
Law an immense prestige and far-reaching influence, but at the same time diminished its
chances of further development.
6
Building activity. The period was one of unexampled construction, ranging from whole
towns to public baths, palaces, bridges, roads, and forts, as well as countless churches
and cloisters. It was a period of much free experimentation and originality in
architecture, resulting in unusual variety of types, all of them, however, marked by
grandeur and splendor. The Church of St. Sophia (constructed between 532 and 537 by
Anthemois of Tralles and Isidoros of Miletus) is the greatest of the many monuments of
Justinian's reign.
7
Literature. An age of revival. The Anekdota (Secret History) of Procopius; the
historians Agathias and John of Ephesus. Renascence of Greek classical poetry;
creation of religious poetry by Romanos.
8
527–31
The first Persian War of Justinian (See 527–531). His commander, Belisarius, won a
victory at Dara (530), but was then defeated at Callinicum. The conflict ended with the
Perpetual Peace of 532, designed to free the imperial armies for operations in the west.
532
9
The Nika Insurrection (so called from the cry of the popular parties, nika meaning
victory). This was the last great uprising of the circus parties. Much of Constantinople
was destroyed by fire. Justinian was deterred from flight only through the arguments of
Theodora. Ultimately Belisarius and the forces put down the insurrection with much
cruelty (30,000 slain). Therewith autocracy was reaffirmed. People started to regard the
emperor as God's regent on earth, and church and state became one. Not only land
ownership but also lucrative economic activities, like the silk industry, were state
monopolies (Byzantium succeeded in importing silkworms directly from China and
developed a silk industry of its own). Another precedent to be followed by most
Byzantine emperors until the 13th century was Justinian's ambition to restore the
previous Roman Empire with the entire Mediterranean under its control.
10
533–34
The Vandal usurper Gelimer was defeated, and the whole of North Africa was
reincorporated into the empire.
11
535–54
After a series of devastating wars against the Ostrogoths, all of Italy was brought under
imperial rule.
12
540
The Huns, Bulgars (See 584–642), and other barbarian tribes crossed the Danube and
raided the Balkan area as far south as the Isthmus of Corinth.
13
540–62
The great Persian War against Khusru I (Chosroes) (See 531–579). The Persians
invaded Syria and took Antioch. A truce was concluded in 545, but hostilities were soon
resumed in the Transcaucasus region. By the 50-year Peace of 562, Justinian agreed to
pay tribute, but Lazistan was retained for the empire.
542–46
14
Constantinople and the empire were affected by the first main cycle of bubonic plague,
which struck the Mediterranean world throughout the 6th century and recurred
periodically perhaps for the next 200–300 years. The 542–46 epidemic possibly caused
the death of as many as 300,000 people in Constantinople alone. By the end of the 6th
century, Byzantium saw its manpower severely debilitated.
15
554
The conquest of southeastern Spain by the imperial armies. Cordoba became the
capital of the province.
16
559
The Huns and Slavs, having advanced to the very gates of Constantinople, were driven
off by Belisarius.
17
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b. The First Bulgarian Empire
584–642
Rule of Kubrat, or Kurt, of the Dulo tribe, approximately one century after Bulgarian
settlement in the Balkans (See 673–78). His dominion extended from the Don to the
Caucasus. In 619 he visited Constantinople to secure aid against the Avars, at which
time he became converted to Christianity, though this step seems to have had no
consequences for his people.
1
643–701
Isperikh (Asperuch), the son of Kurt. The old Great Bulgaria was disrupted by the
attacks of Avars and Khazars, and various tribes of Bulgars moved westward into
Pannonia and even into Italy. Those under Isperikh crossed the Danube (650–70) and
established a capital at Pliska. In 680 they defeated a Byzantine army and occupied the
territory between the Danube and the Balkan Mountains. At the same time they still held
Wallachia, Moldova, and Bessarabia.
2
701–18
Tervel, to whom Emperor Justinian II paid a subsidy or tribute, but only after the
imperial forces had been defeated at Anchialus (708) and after Tervel had advanced to
the very gates of Constantinople (712).
3
718–24
Ruler unknown.
4
724–39
Sevar, during whose reign the peace with the empire was maintained. The Dulo dynasty
came to an end with Sevar, whose death was followed by an obscure intertribal struggle.
5
739–56
Kormisosh, of the Ukil tribe. Until the very end of his reign he maintained peace with
the empire, until further domestic disorders gave the signal for Byzantine attacks (from
755 on).
6
756–61
Vinekh, who was killed in the course of an uprising.
7
c. 760
208,000 Slavs fled from Bulgaria, asked Byzantium for asylum, and were allowed to
settle in Asia Minor.
8
761–64
Telets, of the Ugain tribe. He was defeated at Anchialus by the Byzantines (763) and put
to death by the Bulgarians.
9
764
Sabin, of the family of Kormisosh. He was deposed and fled to Constantinople.
764?
10
Pagan, or Boyan, who finally concluded peace with the emperor.
11
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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III. The Postclassical Period, 500–1500 > F. Europe, 461–1500 > 3. Western Europe and the Age of the
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
3. Western Europe and the Age of the Cathedrals, 1000–1300
a. Overview
This period witnessed great agricultural expansion, which made possible considerable
population growth, which in turn contributed to the rise and growth of towns. A
general commercial revival, especially of long-distance trade, brought Europeans, at
least indirectly, into contact with many parts of the eastern Mediterranean, East Africa,
East and Southeast Asia. Agricultural and commercial revivals allowed for upward
social mobility. The period also saw remarkable intellectual creativity, with results
including the uniquely European educational institution, the university; stunning
architectural and artistic vitality; technological change, especially in the tremendous
spurt in the use of energy, as in water and windmills and the discovery of new ironcasting techniques; and spiritual piety. Perhaps the best indication of all this change is
the medieval cathedral, a symbol of local civic pride, wealth, architectural imagination,
and deep religious feeling. In this rich and creative era, the Roman papacy led the way in
the development of administrative techniques; England, in the formation of political
institutions, including the law; and France, in the evolution of sophisticated cultural
influences.
1
SOCIAL INTOLERANCE. Xenophobia (especially against Muslims) resulted from the
long crusading tradition; the general systematization of civil and ecclesiastical law
stressing social and religious conformity led to increasing hostility against those
perceived as social outsiders, aliens. This new intolerance manifested itself first in the
expulsion of the Jews (from England in 1290, France in 1306), then in legislation
against homosexuals, enacted in Norway (1250), Castile (1250), Siena (1262), Bologna
(1265), England (1275), France (1283), Florence (c. 1340); adults convicted were
sentenced to death by burning. These laws remained on the books until the 1960s.
2
Estimates of Population Growth, c. 1000–1300
Italy (including Sicily)
from 5 million to 10 million
British Isles
2 million to 5 million
France
7 million to 16 million
Iberia
7 million to 9 million
Germany and Scandinavia 4 million to 11.5 million
DEVELOPMENTS IN TECHNOLOGY. The great availability of slave labor in the
ancient and early medieval worlds had retarded thedevelopment of water mills. The 10th
and 11th centuries, however, witnessed a spectacular increase in the number of water
mills; for example, the Robec River near Rouen in Normandy had 2 mills in the 10th
century, 4 in the 11th century, 10 in the 13th century, and 12 in the 14th century. The
Domesday Book (See 1086) recorded 5,624 water mills in England in 1086; many manors
had at least one mill for grinding grain, fulling (the process of scouring, cleaning, and
thickening cloth), stone cutting, and wood cutting. The windmill (documented from the
12th century) was more complex than that used in the East, due to the more variable
winds of Europe. Cistercian monks often took the lead in establishing mines: iron
(Furness in Lancashire, Igny in Champagne), coal (Newbattle in Scotland, Grünhain in
Bohemia), salt (Wachock near Kraków in Poland, Aussee in Austria), and silver
(Grünhain, Altzelle in Saxony). Communications improved partly because bridge and
road building was considered a social duty and partly because of the more effective use of
animal power. Communication by sea was improved by the Lateen sail, in use in Italy in
the 11th century, and by the sternpost rudder compass and the astrolabe, about which
Europeans learned from the Muslims.
3
Along with the increase in the construction of stone bridges came an increase in the
number of stone buildings; between 1180 and 1270 in France alone, 80 cathedrals, 500
abbey churches, and tens of thousands of parish churches were constructed in stone; more
stone was quarried for churches in medieval France than had been extracted for the Great
Pyramid in ancient Egypt, which alone had consumed 40.5 million cubic feet of stone.
All these churches displayed a new architectural style, which 15th-century critics called
gothic. Europeans’ greater knowledge of architectural techniques—the distribution of
weight, arches—derived from Arabic contacts and sources.
4
The textile industry developed, making use of wool, linen, cotton, and silk. The spinning
wheel dates from the 13th century and is the first example of belt-driven power
transmission. Soap was also invented and produced on a large scale by the 12th century.
5
The most important development was in the discovery of iron-casting techniques; tools
and weapons could be more efficiently produced. Gunpowder, although known in
Europe in the 13th century, did not become revolutionary until the 14th century, when it
was first used to propel missiles.
6
DEVELOPMENTS IN POPULAR CULTURE. As in earlier centuries, women worked
alongside men in all agricultural work, such as grain cultivation and viticulture, and in the
preparation of wool and dyes in the textile industry; they dominated the production of ale
and beer; they supplemented household income with poultry farming and the manufacture
of cheese. Through a practical apprenticeship, women learned midwifery, and, until
around 1400, women attended all births; beginning in the 13th century, midwives
sometimes found it necessary to deliver the child by cesarian section, but in the 14th
century doctors' guilds and medical schools restricted the performance of cesarians to
licensed surgeons, while denying women entrance to medical schools. By the late 14th
century, women were engaged in every urban commercial activity as helpmates to
husbands and independently; in many manufacturing trades (e.g., in the Parisian silk and
woolen industries), women predominated. In the 15th century many craft guilds (such as
at Cologne) greatly restricted or entirely excluded female members.
7
In the 12th century, the cult of the saints (persons considered outstanding in holiness)
gained great popularity: resting on the customary relationship of mutual fidelity and aid,
the pious offered prayers and gifts in return for support and healing. Initiative in creating
a saint belonged to ordinary believers, in spite of papal efforts at centralization. Social
structures in different parts of Europe had different models of holiness: Italy and
Mediterranean lands chose popolani (non-nobles), whereas in France, Germany, and
England, primarily persons of noble status tended to be selected as saints.
8
At the center of the new (12th-century) sacramental system stood the Eucharist of the
Mass, which Christians believed after priestly consecration became the living body and
blood of Christ and a most important channel of grace. Beginning in the 11th century,
because of her special relationship to Christ, there was a huge outpouring of devotion to
the Virgin Mary, as a powerful intercessor with Christ. Prayers, hymns, ceremonies
were created to honor her; many churches, including all Cistercian monasteries, were
dedicated to her.
9
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cathedrals, 1000–1300 > b. The British Isles
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1066)
b. The British Isles
1. England
ENGLAND: THE NORMAN AND PLANTAGENET KINGS (1066-1377)
1066–87
William I (the Conqueror), a man of medium height, corpulent, choleric, but majestic in
person and a great soldier, governor, centralizer, legislator, innovator.
1
1066–72
Speedy submission or reduction of the south and east. The Confessor's bequest,
acceptance by the witan, and coronation “legalized” William's title. Reduction of the
southwest (1068). Reduction of the rest of England (1067–70): a series of local risings
leniently dealt with; construction by forced native labor of garrison castles (Norman
mounds). Great rising of the north (Edwin and Morca's second) with Danish aid (1069)
put down by William in person. The “harrying of the north” (1069–70), a devastation
(often depopulation) of a strip from York to Durham (the consequences survived to
modern times), ended Scandinavian opposition in England.
2
Norman fusion, conciliation, innovation: (1) Feudalization on centralized Norman
lines (on the ruins of the nascent Saxon feudalism) followed military reduction and
3
confiscation of the rebel lands (1066–70). Theoretically every bit of land in England
belonged to the crown; in practice only the great estates changed hands and were
assigned to William's followers on Norman tenures. The king retained about one-sixth of
the land; less than half of the land went to Normans on feudal tenures. Except on the
border, few compact holdings survived; the earldoms, reduced in size, became chiefly
honorific. Some 170 great tenants-in-chief and numerous lesser tenants emerged. A
direct oath (the Oath of Salisbury) of primary vassalage to the crown was exacted from
all vassals, making them directly responsible to the crown (1086). Construction of
castles (except on the borders) subject to royal license; coinage a royal monopoly;
private war prohibited. (2) The Anglo-Saxon shires (34) and hundreds continued for
local administration and local justice (bishops no longer sat in the shire courts and the
earls were reduced) under the sheriffs (usually of baronial rank), retained from AngloSaxon days, but subject to removal by the king. The sheriffs were an essential link
between the (native) local machinery and the central (Norman) government.
Communities were held responsible for local good order; sporadic visitations of royal
commissioners. Anglo-Saxon laws little altered. (3) Early grant of a charter to London
guaranteeing local customs. (4) Innovations of the centralizing monarch: a royal
council, the great council, meeting infrequently (three stated meetings annually),
replaced the Anglo-Saxon witan and was of almost the same personnel: tenants-in-chief;
the chancellor (introduced from Normandy by Edward the Confessor); a new official, the
justiciar (in charge of justice and finance, and William's viceroy during his absences);
the heads of the royal household staff. This same body, meeting frequently and including
only such tenants-in-chief as happened to be on hand, constituted the small council, a
body that tended to absorb more and more of the actual administration.
The Church retained its lands (perhaps a fourth of the land in England). Pope Alexander
II had blessed William's conquest, and William introduced the (much-needed) Cluniac
reforms (See 1012–46). Archbishop Stigand and most of the bishops and great abbots
were deprived or died, and were replaced by zealous Norman reformers; Lanfranc (an
Italian lawyer, a former prior of Bec), as archbishop of Canterbury, carried through a
wide reform: celibacy enforced, chapters reorganized, new discipline in the schools,
numerous new monastic foundations. By royal decree, episcopal jurisdiction was
separated from lay jurisdiction, and the bishops were given their own courts, a decisive
step in the evolution of the canon law of the Church and the common law as separate
jurisdictions. William refused an oath of fealty to Pope Gregory VII for his English
conquests and (despite the papal decree of 1075) retained control of the appointment of
bishops and important abbots, from whom he drew his chief administrators (thereby
making the Church, in effect, pay for the administration of the state). No papal bull or
brief, no papal legate might be received without royal approval, and no tenant-in-chief or
royal officer could be excommunicated without royal permission. The king retained a
right of veto on all decrees of local synods. The great prelates were required to attend the
great council, even to do military service.
4
1086
The great Domesday survey. Royal commissions on circuit collected on oath (sworn
inquest) from peoples of the counties and vills full information as to size, resources, and
present and past ownership of every hide of land. The results, arranged by counties in
the Domesday Book, gave a unique record as a basis for taxation and administration.
Recent research on the Domesday Book allows tentative and approximate population
estimates for England in 1086: slaves, 9 percent (in some western counties, such as
Cornwall, 20 percent); serfs, 85 percent; burghers and townspeople, 3.5 percent; clerics
(priests, monks, nuns), .5 percent; knights and nobles, 1 percent.
5
Royal finance: (1) nonfeudal revenues: Danegeld, shire farms, judicial fines; (2) the
usual feudal revenues: relief (inheritance tax on great fiefs), scutage (paid in lieu of
performance of knight's service).
6
Military resources of the crown: (1) (nonfeudal) the old Anglo-Saxon fyrd (including
ship fyrd) was retained (i.e., a national nonfeudal militia, loyal to the crown, was used,
as against the Norman rebellion of 1075); (2) (feudal) about five thousand knights' fees
owing service on the usual feudal terms. The prosperity of England under Norman rule
was great, and an era of extensive building (largely churches, cathedrals, and
monasteries) began under the Conqueror and continued even through the anarchy of
Stephen and Matilda.
7
1087–1100
William II (Rufus), a passionate, greedy ruffian, second son of the Conqueror,
designated by his father on his deathbed (Robert, the eldest, received Normandy; Henry,
cash). A Norman revolt (1088) was put down, largely with English aid, and William was
firmly settled on the throne. Justice was venal and expensive, the administration cruel
and unpopular, taxation heavy, the Church exploited. On Lanfranc's death (1089),
William kept the revenues of the see of Canterbury without appointing a successor until
he thought himself dying, when he named (1093) Anselm (an Italian, abbot of Bec, a
most learned man, and a devoted churchman), who clashed with William over the
recognition of rival popes; Anselm maintained church law to be above civil law and
went into voluntary exile (1097). William, deeply hated, was assassinated (?) in the New
Forest.
1100–35
8
Henry I (Beauclerc, Lion of Justice), an educated, licentious, prudent ruler, a good
judge of men, won the crown by a dash to the royal treasury at Winchester and a quick
appeal to the barons by his so-called Coronation Charter, a promise of reform by a
return to the good ways of the Conqueror (a promise often broken). Anarchy in
Normandy under Robert's slack rule, an invitation from the revolting Norman barons,
and the victory of Tinchebray (1106) gave Henry Normandy (Robert remained a
prisoner until his death). Anselm, faithful to the reforming program of the revived
papacy, on his recall from exile refused homage for the archiepiscopal estates (i.e., he
refused to recognize lay investiture) and refused to consecrate the bishops who had
rendered such homage. Henry temporized until firmly on the throne, then seized the fiefs
and exiled Anselm. Adela, Henry's sister, suggested the Compromise of 1107, which
terminated the struggle by establishing clerical homage for fiefs held of the king, while
the king allowed clerical investiture with the spiritual symbols. The crown continued to
designate candidates for the great prelacies.
9
This reign was marked by a notable expansion, specialization, and differentiation of
function in the royal administration (e.g., the exchequer, influenced by accounting
methods from Lorraine, or Laon). Extension of the jurisdiction of royal courts: growing
use of royal writs, detailing of members of the small council as judges on circuit
(hitherto a sporadic, now a regular practice), who not merely did justice but took over
increasingly the business formerly done by the sheriffs (e.g., assessment and negotiation
of aids and other levies), and brought the curia regis into closer contact with shire and
hundred courts.
10
Prosperity was general, and trade in London attracted Norman immigrants. The
Cistercians arrived (1128) and began an extensive program of sheep farming, mill and
road building, agricultural improvement, and stock breeding. Henry began the sale of
charters to towns on royal domain.
11
Influence of the conquest on English culture. In architecture: wide introduction of
the Norman (Romanesque) style (St. John's Chapel in the Tower of London, end of the
11th century; Durham Cathedral, c. 1096–1133). In literature: Anglo-Saxon, the speech
of the conquered, almost ceased to have a literary history, rapidly lost its formality of
inflections and terminations, and became flexible and simple, if inelegant. Norman
French, the tongue of the court, the aristocracy, the schools, the lawyers and judges,
drew its inspiration from the Continent until the loss of Normandy (1204). The Normans
then began to learn English, and Anglo-Saxon was enriched with a second vocabulary of
Norman words, ideas, and refinements.
12
Anglo-Norman culture. In historical writing: Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the
Kings of Britain (written in Latin, before 1147), created the tale of Arthur for Europe;
Walter Map (c. 1140–c. 1200), author of Goliardic verse, welded the Grail story into
the Arthurian cycle, giving it a moral and religious slant; Wace (c. 1124–c. 1174),
13
Roman de Brut and Roman de Rou; Marie de France; all three were at the court of
Henry II. In science: Adelard of Bath, a student of Arabic science, in the service of
Henry II, observed and experimented (e.g., studying the comparative speed of sound and
light), translated Al-Khwarizmi's astronomical tables into Latin (1126) and introduced
Al-Khwarizmi's trigonometric tables to the West; Robert of Chester translated AlKhwarizmi's algebra into Latin (1145); Alexander Neckham (1157–1217),
encyclopedist, wrote on botany and on the magnet. In philosophy: John of Salisbury
(d. 1180), pupil of Abelard, the best classical, humanistic scholar of his day, attached to
the court of Henry II and later bishop of Chartres, wrote the Policraticus. Beginnings of
Oxford University (c. 1167) on the model of Paris, a center of national culture.
1135–54
Stephen. Henry's son drowned on the White Ship (1120), and Henry had had his
daughter Matilda (widow of the emperor Henry V) accepted as his heir and married to
Geoffrey of Anjou, as protector. Stephen of Blois (son of Henry's sister Adela) asserted
and maintained his claim to the throne at the price of a dynastic war (till 1153) with
Matilda, the climax of feudal anarchy, and the ruin of English prosperity. Archbishop
Theobald finally negotiated a compromise (1153) whereby Matilda's son Henry should
succeed to the crown on Stephen's death. The reign was remarkable for a tremendous
growth of ecclesiastical influence.
14
1154–1399
The house of Plantagenet (Angevin).
15
1154–89
Henry II. Master of a hybrid “empire” (England, Normandy, Anjou, Maine and
Touraine by inheritance; Poitou, Aquitaine and Gascony by marriage with Eleanor of
Aquitaine (1152); Brittany (acquired 1169), and Wales, Ireland, and Scotland (on a loose
bond)) without unity save in the person of the ruler. Dynastic marriages: daughter
Eleanor to the king of Castile, Joan to the king of Sicily, Matilda to Henry the Lion.
King Henry was a man of education, exhaustless energy, experience as an administrator;
a realist; violent of temper.
16
Restoration of England to the good order of Henry I: dismissal of mercenaries, razing
of unlicensed castles (1000?), reconquest of Northumberland and Cumberland from the
17
Scots, resumption of crown lands and offices alienated under Stephen. Reconstitution of
the exchequer and great council. After 1155 Henry felt free to leave England, and spent
less than half his reign in the realm.
1155–72
Struggle to reduce clerical encroachment on the royal courts. Under Stephen,
anarchy and the theories of Roman law had favored the expansion of clerical courts,
extending to all who were literate, even accused murderers, benefit of clergy—that is,
trial in the ecclesiastical court, where the penalties were far milder than in the king's
court. Thomas Becket (a close friend of Henry's at the time of his elevation to the
chancellorship, 1155) resigned as chancellor when he became archbishop of Canterbury
(1162), and clashed at once with Henry over the criminous clerks. The Constitutions of
Clarendon (1164), largely a restatement of old customs (including the Conqueror's),
provided (inter alia) for the indictment of clerics in royal courts, their trial in
ecclesiastical courts, and their degradation, followed by their sentencing and punishment
in royal courts. Becket claimed this amounted to double jeopardy, that “not even God
judges twice for the same thing.” Henry argued that too many criminals were escaping
justice. The Constitutions also extended royal jurisdiction (at the expense of clerical),
and asserted royal rights of control in episcopal elections. Becket yielded, was dispensed
from his oath by the pope, violated the Constitutions, and fled to France. Reconciled
(1170) with Henry, Becket returned, excommunicated certain bishops friendly to Henry,
and was murdered in the cathedral of Canterbury by four knights of Henry's court,
spurred by Henry's outbreak of fury against Becket, but not by Henry's orders. Henry
escaped excommunication by promising to abide by the papal judgment, and was
reconciled with the papacy (1172) after swearing an oath denying all share in the crime.
Henry retained the right of presentation and virtual control over episcopal elections.
18
Judicial reforms: (1) Increasing concentration of judicial business in the small council.
(2) Designation (1178) of five professional judges from the small council as a
permanent central court; extension of the transfer of judicial business to royal courts
by the increase and specialization of royal writs (the fees a valuable source of revenue);
formalization and regularization (c. 1166) of the itinerant justices (justices in eyre), the
great source of the common law (a law universal in the realm). One of the judges,
Glanvil, wrote the Treatise on the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom of England, the
first serious book on the common law, which revealed the formal influence of Roman
law but was English in substance. The itinerant judges were charged with cases dealing
with crimes like murder, robbery, forgery, and arson, and with financial business as well
as judicial. (3) Expansion of the sworn inquest (probably of Roman origin, introduced
into England by the Conqueror): statements by neighbors (freeholders) under oath in the
shire courts, in the form of a jury (12 members) of presentment in criminal cases (Assize
19
of Clarendon, 1166) later called the accusing, indicting, or grand jury, but guilt in
criminal cases determined by ordeal by battle or hot iron or cold water, which were
appeals to the supernatural; local juries used to determine rightful possession of land in
civil cases.
Reorganization of the exchequer. Nigel, bishop of Ely (nephew of the original
organizer, Roger of Salisbury), restored the exchequer to the general form of Henry I.
Innovations in the raising of revenue: (1) tallage, levied by local negotiations (i.e., by
the itinerant justices) with boroughs and tenants: (2) hidage (carucage) replaced the
Danegeld; (3) scutage, levied by Henry I on the clergy, now extended to knights' fees in
lieu of military service (due to Henry's need of nonfeudal levies across the channel); (4)
personal property taxes (the first, 1166), Saladin tithe (1188), assessed by
neighborhood juries. The Dialogue of the Exchequer was written by one of the officials
of the exchequer.
20
Extension of trade. German merchants were well established in London by 1157; there
was a large Italian business in wool; and there was extensive development of domestic
trade.
21
Foreign affairs. The Norman penetration of Wales since the conquest bred a sporadic
national resistance; Henry, with three expeditions, reduced Wales to nominal homage to
the English crown. Ireland, despite a brilliant native culture, was in political chaos
under rival tribal kinglets and was economically exhausted. Pope Adrian IV, hoping that
Henry would reform the Church in Ireland, “gave” Ireland (1154) to Henry. Richard of
Clare's (Strongbow) expedition (1169–70) established a harsh rule; Henry landed (1171),
temporarily reduced the rigors of the baronial administration, and reformed the Irish
Church (Synod of Cashel, 1172). John Lackland (Henry's son) was appointed lord of
Ireland (1177), arrived (1185), and was soon recalled for incompetence.
22
Intrigues and revolts (beginning 1173) of Henry's sons, supported by their mother,
Eleanor, King Louis VII, and later Philip II of France, as well as by disgruntled local
barons.
23
The ruling class continued to speak French during this reign, but the establishment of
primogeniture as applied to land inheritance ensured that younger sons would mingle
with the nonaristocratic sections of society and accelerate the fusion of Norman and
native elements. Manor houses began to appear in increasing numbers as domestic peace
continued. Numerous Cistercian houses spread new agricultural methods and especially
improved wool raising.
24
1189–99
Richard I (Coeur de Lion). Neither legislator, administrator, nor statesman, but the
greatest of knights errant, an absentee ruler who spent less than a year of his reign in
25
England, he visited his realm only twice, to raise money for Continental ventures.
Taxation was heavy. The government remained in the hands of ministers largely trained
by Henry II, but there appeared a tendency toward a common antipathy of barons and
people toward the crown. Richard (having taken the Cross, 1188) went on the Third
Crusade with Frederick Barbarossa and Philip II, his most dangerous foe. On his return
trip Richard was captured by Duke Leopold of Austria and turned over to Emperor
Henry VI, who held him for a staggering ransom. John and Philip bid for the prisoner,
but Richard finally bought his freedom (1194) with a ransom raised partly through
taxation in England. The crusade gave Englishmen their first taste of Eastern adventure,
but drew few except the adventurous portion of the baronage. The domestic reflection
was a series of anti-Semitic outbreaks. John Lackland (despite his known character) was
given charge of several counties; his plot against Richard was put down by Hubert
Walter with the support of London. Hubert Walter, archbishop of Canterbury and
justiciar (1194–98), ruled England well, maintained the king's peace, and began a clear
reliance on the support of the middle class in town and shire. Charters were granted
towns (London received the right to elect its mayor)—and the knights of the shire were
called on to assume a share of county business as a balance to the sheriffs. Knights
(elected by the local gentry) served as coroners and chose the local juries, a departure
looking to the day when local election and amateur justices of the peace would be the
basis of government. The first known merchant guild established in 1193.
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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III. The Postclassical Period, 500–1500 > F. Europe, 461–1500 > 3. Western Europe and the Age of the
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 987)
c. France
GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF FRANCE 1180-1314 (MAP)
FRANCE: THE CAPETIAN KINGS (987-1328)
987–1328
Direct line of the Capetian house (the dynasty continued until 1792).
1
987–96
HUGH (called Capet, for the cloak he wore as abbot of St. Martin de Tours). At Hugh's
accession, the kingship was at its nadir; such power as Hugh had was feudal; the royal
title meant little more than hegemony over a feudal patchwork, an ill-defined area called
France, and the prestige of ancient monarchical tradition sanctified by ecclesiastical
consecration. Hugh's own feudal domain consisted of the Île de France (extending from
Laon to Orleans, with its center at Paris) and a few scattered holdings. The great barons
of the so-called royal fiefs recognized Hugh as their suzerain, but never did homage nor
rendered service. Hugh's special interest was to maintain his control over his chief
resources, the archbishopric of Reims and the great bishoprics (Sens, Tours, Bourges)
2
and abbeys of the Île de France, and to wean northeastern France away from the
Carolingian and imperial interest. Despite clerical pressure, he avoided submission to
imperial suzerainty, a policy that facilitated the demarcation between France and
Germany. In defiance of pope and emperor, he forced his own candidate into the
archbishopric of Reims. Hugh crowned his son shortly after his own coronation and
began a practice (cooptation) that the early Capetians continued (until Philip II no longer
felt it necessary), thus ensuring the succession and weakening the principle (dear to the
feudality) of elective kingship.
996–1031
ROBERT II (the Pious), an active, well-educated, polished, amiable ruler, a good
soldier, supported by the duke of Normandy in constant wars against his neighbors, and
by the monasteries of Burgundy in attacks on the dukes of Burgundy. The duchy of
Burgundy escheated to the crown and was given to Robert, a younger son. Robert the
Pious, like his father, supported the Cluniac reformers. Minor territorial additions signify
the revival of royal power.
3
1031–60
HENRY I, an active, brave, indefatigable ruler whose reign nevertheless marked the
lowest ebb of the Capetian fortunes. The rebellion of his brother Robert, supported by
Eudes, count of Chartres and Troyes, was put down with the aid of the duke of
Normandy, and Robert was pacified by the grant of the duchy of Burgundy (which
continued in his family until 1361). Henry supported the duke of Normandy (1047), but
led a coalition against him two years later and was defeated. The prévôts were
introduced to administer justice and taxation in the royal lands. The kingdom of
Burgundy passed (1032) to the empire.
4
1035–66
Rise and expansion of Normandy. William I became duke (1035) and until 1047 faced
a series of baronial revolts. With the aid of his feudal suzerain, King Henry of France,
William defeated his revolting barons (1047) and razed their castles. The union of
Normandy and Maine was completed (1063) against powerful opposition from the
counts of Anjou. William's alliance with Henry was broken (1053), and Henry ravaged
the heart of Normandy (1058). Normandy was becoming a developed feudal state under
5
firm ducal control: military service, assessed in knights' fees, was attached to specific
pieces of land; no castles could be built or maintained without ducal license; private
warfare and blood feud were strictly limited. Coinage was a ducal monopoly. The legal
jurisdiction of the duke was wide, local government was under the duke's representatives
(the vicomtes), who commanded the local forces, guarded the castles, did justice,
collected the revenue (a large part of which was cash). The Church had been revivified
with the duke supreme, naming bishops, most of the abbots, and sitting in provincial
synods.
Norman relations with England had grown closer, and this tendency culminated (1002)
in the marriage of Duke Robert's sister Emma with King Ethelred. The son of this
marriage, Edward the Confessor, educated largely at the Norman court, came to the
throne of England (1042) and died without heirs (1066). The witan at once elected
Harold, Earl Godwin's son. William I of Normandy, with a volunteer force (perhaps
5,000–6,000) collected from Normandy and the Continent, defeated Harold in the Battle
of Hastings (Oct. 14) and was crowned king of England on Christmas Day (See
1042–66) (See 1066–87). The Bayeux Tapestry (actually a long 230-foot-by-20-inch
strip of embroidery), made in the south of England before 1082, gives a narrative in
picture and text of events surrounding the Norman Conquest; it is a primary historical
source for the period.
6
1060–1108
PHILIP I, enormously fat but active and vigorous; excommunicated and unpopular with
the clergy as the result of an adulterous marriage (1092) and because of his hostility to
clerical reform. He defeated (1079) Duke William of Normandy (the Conqueror) and
steadily supported Robert Curthose, William's son, against Anglo-Norman pressure.
His reign was characterized by systematic expansion of the resources of his house and
regular annexations to its domains in the face of stubborn feudal resistance.
7
The growth of feudalism tended to diminish anarchy and to improve the general security
of life, and ultimately led to decisive economic recovery in western Europe, a trend
toward urban economy, and the emergence of a bourgeoisie that was beginning to
accumulate capital. This development was a determining factor in the economic, social,
and monarchical evolution of the 13th century. The Peace of God and the Truce of God
(See 1012–46) were promoted by the Church with Capetian support but had limited
effect.
8
1108–1328
A period in which the Capetians reduced the great feudatories north of the Loire and
began the transformation of the vague ecclesiastical, judicial, and military rights derived
from Carolingian tradition into royal powers.
9
1108–37
LOUIS VI (the Fat). A brave soldier of tremendous physique, intelligent, affable; liked
by the peasantry, commercial class, and clergy; the first popular Capetian. Consolidation
of his Norman frontier (wars with Henry I of England: 1109–12; 1116–20), and steady
reduction of his lesser vassals as far as the Loire. His charters to colonizers (hôtes) of
waste lands, and frequent if inconsistent support of the communes, especially on the
lands of the Church and the baronage, began the long alliance of the Capetians with
bourgeois interests; Louis's charter of Lorris, widely copied in town charters, was a
significant sign of the great urban development setting in all over Europe in this period.
As protector of the Church, Louis gained a foothold in the lands of his vassals. Careers
at court were opened to talented clergy and bourgeois. Louis's compromise with the
Church over feudal patronage and investiture initiated the king of France's effective role
as eldest son of the Church. He was the first Capetian to intervene effectively outside
his own feudal lands. He defeated the alliance of Henry I of England with the Emperor
Henry V, and stopped a German invasion (1124). The marriage (1137) of his son Louis
to Eleanor, heiress of William X of Aquitaine (i.e., Guienne (Aquitania Secunda) and
Gascony), marked the Capetian effort to balance the Anglo-Norman menace in the north
with additions of territory south of the Loire. The Anglo-Norman danger had appeared in
aggravated form when, in 1129, Geoffrey became count of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine.
He had married Matilda (daughter of Henry I of England) in 1128 and proceeded (1135)
to conquer Normandy.
10
Development of royal administration under the early Capetians. The court of the king,
usually known as the curia regis, consisting as it did of magnates, royal vassals, and
court officials (mainly chosen from the baronage), was essentially feudal in spirit and
tradition. Meeting on royal summons and relatively frequently, its early duties were
undifferentiated, its functions judicial, advisory, legislative. The royal administration
was in control of the great officers of the crown, whose aim was to concentrate power in
their own hands, a process that culminated in a virtual monopoly of such power by the
Garlande family early in the 12th century. Louis VI, after a struggle (1128–30),
terminated their dominance, and thenceforth the Capetians relied increasingly on lesser
and more docile nobles, clerics, and bourgeois men of affairs. These career men were
devoted to the crown rather than to feudal ambitions, and their presence in the curia
regis began the differentiation of its functions and its subjection to royal rather than
feudal influences. Most notable of these careerists was Suger, Louis's old tutor, a cleric
of peasant origin, who became abbot of St. Denis (1122). An able statesman, his
11
influence was decisive in the reigns of Louis and his son Louis VII. Suger began (c.
1136) the new abbey church of St. Denis, the first edifice Gothic in design.
1100–1400
Rise of towns. The economic revival of western Europe was paralleled by a resumption
of town life and development throughout the west, which was most notable in France,
where the movement reached its apogee in the 12th century, before the consistent
advance of the Capetian monarchy began to retard its progress. Types of town
development were by no means uniform, but important general categories can be
distinguished. (1) The commune proper, a collective person endowed with legal rights
and powers (e.g., financial, judicial), able to hold property. As a feudal person, the
commune could have vassals, render and exact homage, establish courts for its tenants,
and even declare war and make treaties. Symbols of its independence were the belfry,
town hall, and seal. Typical communes of northern France and Flanders were the
communes jurées (e.g., Beauvais, St. Quentin (chartered before 1080), Rouen (chartered
1145), and Amiens (chartered in the 12th century)); in southern France the
corresponding communes were called consulates, which enjoyed even greater rights than
in the north, especially in Roussillon, Provence, Languedoc, Gascony, and Guienne. In
the south the nobles took an active part in the formation of consulates and shared in their
government. (2) Villes de bourgeoisie (or communes surveillées) had elements of
communal powers in varying degrees, but lacked full political independence (i.e., they
were privileged but unfree). They were found all over France, but especially in the
center, and were the prevailing type in the royal domain. Citizens enjoyed specific
privileges, but the crown retained judicial and other powers in varying degrees. (3)
Villes neuves (characteristic of the commercial north) and bastides (typical of the south,
and usually strongholds) were small rural creations of kings or feudal lords, given a
charter from the first that established their status. (4) Peasant associations and village
federations (influential in the north), which sought to define and guarantee the rights of
their citizens. Governmentally, town development seems to have been hardly the result
of conscious effort to introduce a new political dispensation. It was, rather, an attempt to
establish and define the rights of nonfeudal groups, and aimed at economic prosperity
and personal security. The movement constantly enjoyed royal support, but royal policy
toward it was governed by immediate political or financial considerations, and the crown
always strove to reduce or control town independence in the interest of its own power.
Ultimately monarchy triumphed, but not before the bourgeois groups and the serfs had
gained substantial advantages.
1137–80
12
LOUIS VII (the Young). Pious and therefore popular with the clergy. He remained
under the influence of Suger until the latter's death in 1151. A papal interdict on the
royal lands, resulting from Louis's insistence on his feudal rights, led to intervention by
Bernard of Clairvaux.
13
1147
Louis inspired the Second Crusade (See 1147–49). He induced the German king,
Conrad III, and Bernard of Clairvaux to join him, and, leaving the kingdom in the hands
of Suger, he set out for the east. He returned (1149) beaten, humiliated, and estranged
from his wife, Eleanor, who had accompanied him. The marriage was annulled (1152),
probably due to lack of a male heir. This step cost the Capetians the territories of Poitou,
Guienne, and Gascony, for Eleanor at once married Henry, duke of Normandy, who in
1151 had succeeded his father as count of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine. The acquisition
of Eleanor's domains made Henry master of more than half of France and put him in a
position to bring pressure on the holdings of the king of France both from the north and
the south. When Henry in 1154 became king of England, the so-called Angevin Empire
extended roughly from the Tweed to the Pyrenees.
14
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(See 1006–7)
d. Germany
THE WELF AND HOHENSTAUFEN FAMILIES
1024–1125
The Franconian (or Salian) house. Dawn of the great imperial age.
1
1024–39
Conrad II (the Salian). He continued the general policy of Henry: personally interested
only in the churches of Limburg and Speyer, he was firm in his dealings with the Church
in general and relied on the lesser nobles to balance the clergy and magnates. The
ministeriales, laymen of servile origin, were used to replace the clergy in many
administrative posts; regalian rights were retained and exploited. Dukedoms were not
regranted as they fell vacant, but were assigned to Conrad's son Henry, who, on his
accession to the crown, held all but the duchies of Lorraine and Saxony. By encouraging
the making of fiefs heritable, Conrad weakened the dukes and got the support of the
lesser nobles but ensured the ultimate feudalization of Germany. Conrad's brilliant
imperial coronation (1027), in Rome, was witnessed by two kings, Canute the Great and
Rudolf III of Burgundy. Burgundy, willed to Conrad by Rudolf III and guardian of one
road to Italy, was reincorporated (1033) in the empire on the death of Rudolf. Failure of
an expedition (1030) against Stephen of Hungary; successful disciplinary expedition
(1031) against the Poles; recovery of Lusatia; payment of homage by the Poles.
2
1039–56
Henry III (the Black). Imperial authority at its height. A period of great town
prosperity, due to development of trade. His wife, Agnes of Poitou, was an ardent
devotee of Cluny; Henry, an honest reformer, abandoned simony and purified the court
along Cluniac lines, but retained a firm hold on the Church. Strongest of the German
emperors, he asserted his mastery in parts of Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary; Saxony
was the only duchy to keep a trace of its original independence; resumption of the
dangerous practice of granting duchies outside the royal house made Germany a feudal
volcano; use of the ministeriales in administration, but retention of the bishops as
principal advisers and administrators. Henry's reforms alienated the bishops, the
magnates, and the nobles.
3
1043
Henry proclaimed the Day of Indulgence, forgiving all his foes and exhorting his
4
subjects to do likewise; Br
tislav of Bohemia forced (1041) to do homage; pagan
reaction in Hungary put down (1044); final peace in Hungary (1052), which became a
fief of the German crown. Homage of Denmark, repudiated soon after.
1046
Synods of Sutri and Rome. Deposition, at Henry's instigation, of three rival popes, and
election of his nominee, Clement II, the first of a series (Clement, Leo IX, and Nicholas
II) of reforming German popes; reaffirmation of the imperial right of nomination to the
papacy.
5
1047
Godfrey the Bearded, duke of Upper Lorraine, joined Baldwin of Flanders in a revolt at
first supported by Henry of France (1047); he married (1054) Beatrice, widow of
Boniface, marquis of Tuscany, one of the most powerful Italian supporters of the popes.
1050–1400
6
While France and England witnessed the slow beginnings of centralized national states
through royal efforts to check or reduce powers of independent feudal barons, Germany
experienced the development of territorial lordships. German emperors consciously
supported princely territorial power and legal jurisdictions.
7
1056–1106
Henry IV. (Age six at his accession; nine-year regency of his pious mother, Agnes.)
During the regency, lay and clerical magnates appropriated royal resources and
sovereign rights with impunity, and dealt a serious blow to the monarchy.
8
1062
Anno, archbishop of Cologne, kidnaped the young king and, with Adalbert, archbishop
of Hamburg-Bremen, governed in his name; they divided the monasteries (one of the
chief resources of the crown) between themselves.
9
1066
The Diet of Tribur, thanks to the reaction of the clergy and nobles against Adalbert,
freed Henry from Adalbert, and his personal government began.
10
Henry was a remarkable but undisciplined man, intelligent, resolute, headstrong, with
the odds against him from the start; under papal pressure he was reconciled (1069) with
his wife, Bertha, reformed his personal life, and began a vigorous rule. His policy was a
return to the Ottonian habit of using the Church as a major source of revenue; simony
was open, and the reforming party appealed to Rome against Henry. Henry began the
recapture, reorganization, and consolidation of royal lands and revenues, especially in
Saxony, and probably planned to consolidate the monarchy in the Capetian manner,
around a compact core of royal domain in the Harz-Goslar region.
11
1073
A great conspiracy of the leading princes led to a rising of virtually all of Saxony.
Henry came to terms with the pope, played one faction off against the other, won the
South German baronage, and finally defeated the rebels (1075).
12
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Scandinavia)
e. Scandinavia
1. Denmark
c. 950–85
Harald II (Bluetooth), whose reign saw a steady advance of Christianity and expansion
of Danish power over Schleswig, the Oder mouth, and Norway.
1
985–1014
The kingship was of little importance until the reign of Sven I (Forked Beard). He
defeated the Norwegians, Swedes, and Wends and conquered England (1013).
2
1014–35
Canute II, the Great (Knut), Sven's son, was king of Denmark, Norway (1028), and
England (1016–35), the first “northern empire.” Canute's conversion meant the
conversion of his people. He imported priests, architects, and artisans from his English
realm, and new influences spread from Denmark to Norway and Sweden. On his death,
Norway broke away; England passed to Edward the Confessor. By the late 12th century,
Arhurs and Copenhagen were sizable trading centers, exporting great amounts of fish,
especially herring.
1157–82
3
Under Waldemar I, the Great, the founder of the Waldemarian dynasty, a great
expansion eastward took place at the expense of the Wends; Copenhagen was
established as the capital.
4
1182–1202
Canute VI made conquests in (Slavonic) Mecklenburg and Pomerania.
5
1202–41
Waldemar II (the Conqueror) led crusading expeditions into Livonia and Estonia
(Reval founded), and penetrated the Gulf of Finland, making the southern Baltic a
Danish lake (the second “northern empire”). This empire collapsed in 1223, and the
advance was in fact more in the nature of a crusade than a permanent imperial
expansion. The monarchy was now dominant, the nobles largely feudalized, the clergy
(with royal grants) powerful, the bourgeoisie vigorous (fisheries and cattle raising), the
yeoman class strong and independent.
6
1241–50
Eric IV (Plowpenny), whose reign was taken up with civil war against his brothers
Christopher and Abel.
7
1250–52
ABEL was supported by his brother-in-law, the count of Holstein, and also by the
Swedes and the city of Lübeck.
8
1252–59
Christopher I. His effort to tax the Church opened a struggle that lasted nearly a
century.
1259–86
9
Eric V (Glipping). He was forced by the nobility to sign a charter, the Danish Magna
Carta (1282), recognizing the national assembly and initiating the subordination of the
king to the law. He continued the contest with the clergy, fought against dynastic rivals,
planned expansion in Mecklenburg and Pomerania, and lost Scania and North Halland to
Sweden.
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 892–98)
f. The Papacy and Italy
For a complete list of the Roman popes, see Appendix IV.
1
The papacy, frequently in immoral hands and the political football of Roman families
until c. 1048, initially exercised no broad religious influence; the Italian Peninsula was
without effective political leadership.
2
888–924
Berengar I, last of the phantom “emperors” (vacancy in the empire, 924–62), was the
grandson of Louis the Pious. Raids of Saracens (c. 889) and Magyars (c. 898) into
Lombardy; a Saracen stronghold at Freinet controlled the Alpine passes; Saracen
settlements in southern Italy, and the Muslim conquest (827) of Sicily; Italian urban life
had become almost extinct; the invasions were checked not by the shadowy monarchs,
but by the rise of feudal defenders.
3
914–63
The nadir of the papacy (the “pornocracy”): the landed aristocracy of Rome, under the
leadership of the senator Theophylact, his wife, Theodora, and his daughter Marozia
(mistress of Pope Sergius III and mother of Sergius's son John, later Pope John XI),
dominated the curia.
4
928
Marozia, having imprisoned Pope John XI, took control of Rome.
5
932–54
Alberic II, Marozia's son, assumed power. The Patrimonium Petri was a plaything of
the Crescentii (Marozia's family), who maintained an intermittent supremacy in Rome
during the 10th century. The papacy was without political power or spiritual prestige,
and the western Church for all practical purposes became a loose organism under its
bishops, who gave “national churches” such coherence as they had, and acknowledged a
vague kind of allegiance to Rome.
6
950–61
Berengar II. He imprisoned his widow, Adelheid, who appealed (according to tradition)
to Otto the Great.
7
951–52
Otto the Great's first expedition to Italy.
8
961–64
Otto's second expedition to Italy, in answer to the appeal of the profligate pope, John
XII, for protection against Berengar.
9
962
Otto's coronation at Pavia as king of Italy and his coronation by the pope as Roman
emperor, marked the revival of the Roman Empire. Otto confirmed his predecessors'
grants in the Patrimonium Petri (probably with additions), but carefully reserved the
imperial right to sanction papal elections and treated the pope like a German bishop (i.e.,
subject to the state). Otto also exacted a promise from the Romans not to elect a pope
without imperial consent. He established a precedent by calling a synod at Rome that
deposed (963) Pope John XII for various crimes, and selected a (lay) successor, Leo VIII
(963–64). This synod opened a period of about a hundred years when the papacy was
dominated by the German emperors and by the counts of Tusculum, vassals of the
10
emperors, who had the title of patricius in Rome. In the same period, the bishops in the
west lost the position they had won in the 9th century and became increasingly
dependent on the kings and feudal nobility, and increasingly secular in outlook. The
homage of Pandolf I for Capua and Benevento (967) and his investiture with the duchy
of Spoleto mark the beginning of the long imperial effort to include southern Italy in the
empire.
964
Pope Leo VIII was expelled by the Romans shortly after his election, and Benedict V
was elected (964) by the Romans without imperial consent.
11
966–72
Otto's third expedition to Italy. Otto held a synod that deposed Benedict. Pope John
XIII (elected with imperial cooperation) was soon expelled by the Romans, and Otto,
after a terrible vengeance on Rome, restored him. Imperial coronation of the future Otto
II (967) by John XIII.
12
980–83
Otto II's expedition to Italy. Otto crushed Crescentius I, duke of the Romans, restored
Pope Benedict VII (981), and was utterly defeated in his effort to expel the Saracens
from southern Italy by a Greco-Muslim alliance (982). Otto dominated Pope John XIV
(983–84).
13
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(See 1035–65)
g. The Iberian Peninsula
1. Muslim Spain
1037–86
The Muluk al-Tawa'if (Party Kings). These were petty dynasties founded on the ruins of
the Umayyad caliphate: the Hammudids of Malaga (from 1016 onward) and of Algeciras
(1039–); the Abbadids of Sevilla (1031–); the Zayrids of Granada (1012–); the Jahwarids
of Córdoba (1031–); the Dhul-Nunids of Toledo (1035–); the Amirids of Valencia
(1021–); the Tojibids and Hudids of Saragossa (1019– and 1031–). Most of these
dynasties were absorbed by the most distinguished of them, the Abbadids, who
summoned the Almoravids from Africa to aid them against Alfonso VI of Castile. This
lack of Muslim unity encouraged expansion of northern Christian kingdoms southward.
1
1056–1147
The Almoravids, a Puritanical Berber sect founded by the Berber prophet Abdullah ibn
Tashfin. They conquered Morocco and part of Algeria and were called into Spain by the
Abbadids to help in the defense against the Christians. They defeated Alfonso of Castile
at Zallaka (1086) and proceeded to annex Moorish Spain, with the exception of Toledo
and Saragossa.
1130–1269
2
The Almohades, a dynasty founded by the Berber prophet Muhammad ibn Tumart. His
successor, Abdul-Mu'min, annihilated the Almoravid army (1144), after which Morocco
was conquered (1146).
3
1145–50
The Almohades invaded and conquered Moorish Spain, after which they conquered
Algeria (1152) and Tunis (1158).
4
1212, July 16
The Almohades were finally defeated by an alliance of the Christian kings Peter II of
Aragon and Alfonso VIII of Castile, in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, which was
followed by their expulsion from Spain. Thereafter only local Muslim dynasties
remained, of which the Nasrids of Granada (1232–1492) alone offered much resistance
to the Christians.
5
The height of Muslim learning was reached by Averroës (ibn-Rushd, c. 1126–98),
philosopher, physician, and commentator on Plato and Aristotle, master of the Christian
schoolmen.
6
In the 10th through the 15th century, Christian kingdoms in the north, propelled by
demographic pressure, land hunger, nobles' demands for estates, advances in military
technology, and the appetites of transhumant sheep, pushed southward. In the 14th
century, clerical propagandists labeled this movement the Reconquista (Reconquest): a
sacred crusading struggle to wrest the country from alien Muslim hands and to restore
Christian control. This religious myth subsequently became part of Spanish political
history and the Spanish “national” psychology.
7
1238
The Nasrid rulers began reconstructing an old fortress, the Alhambra in Granada, a
monumental and magnificent complex of buildings combining fortress, palace, and small
city. Completed in the 14th century, these buildings and gardens survive as the finest
example of Muslim culture in Europe.
8
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
4. Eastern Europe, 1000–1300
a. The Slavs
The Slavs, an eastern branch of the Indo-European family, were known to the Roman and
Greek writers of the 1st and 2nd centuries C.E., under the name of Venedi, as inhabiting
the region beyond the Vistula. The majority of modern scholars agree that the “original
home” of the Slavs was the territory to the southeast of the Vistula and to the northeast of
the Carpathian Mountains, in the upper basins of the Western Bug, the Pripet, and the
Dniester. In the course of the early centuries of our era, the Slavs expanded in all
directions, and by the 6th century, when they were known to Gothic and Byzantine
writers as Sclaveni, they were apparently already separated into three main divisions: (1)
the western Slavs (the present-day Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, and Moravians); (2) the
southern Slavs (the Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes); (3) the eastern Slavs (the
Russians, subsequently subdivided into the Great Russians, the Little Russians or the
Ukrainians, and the Belorussians, Russian for “White Russians”).
1
The Slavs emerged as a distinct people after mingling with the Goths and Huns. Those
not affected by the invasions of the Goths and Huns constituted another branch of IndoEuropean people, namely the Balts (Lithuanians, Latvians, and the early Prussians).
These peoples inhabited the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea, between the present
2
Klaip
da (Memel) and Estonia.
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Bohemia and Moravia
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b. Bohemia and Moravia
c. 623–58
The earliest recorded attempt at the construction of a Slavic kingdom was that made by
Samo, who appears to have been a Frankish tradesman traveling in central Europe.
Probably taking advantage of the defeat of the Avars by the Greeks in 626, he managed
to unite the Czechs and some of the Wends, and succeeded in repulsing not only the
Avars, but also the Franks under King Dagobert (631). But on the death of Samo, the
union of the tribes disintegrated.
1
833–36
Mojmir, founder of the Moravian state, maintained himself against pressure from the
East Franks.
2
846–69
Rastislav, prince of Moravia, made an alliance (862) with Michael III, the Byzantine
emperor, to counteract the close relationship between the East Franks and the
Bulgarians.
3
863
Conversion of the Moravians by Cyril (Constantine, 826–69) and Methodius
(815–85), two monks from Salonika (Thessalonica) sent at Rastislav's request (See
863–85). Beginning of Slavic church language and liturgy. Glagolitic alphabet.
4
869
Rastislav captured and blinded by Carloman.
5
870–94
Sviatopluk, a Moravian prince, succeeded in uniting under his authority Moravia,
Bohemia, and present-day Slovakia, and managed to maintain his position as against the
Germans. During his reign, the western Slavs were converted to Christianity by Cyril
and Methodius, but in the last years of the century, the German clergy redoubled its
efforts and won Bohemia and Moravia for the Latin Church, thus establishing the
ecclesiastical dependence of the western Slavs on Rome.
6
906
The kingdom of Moravia was dissolved as the result of a great defeat by the
Hungarians.
7
c. 907–29
St. Wenceslaus (in Czech, Vaclav), duke of the Premysl house from c. 922. Educated by
his grandmother, St. Ludmilla, a devout Christian. He worked for the cultural
improvement of his people, and seeking broader Christian contacts, maintained friendly
relations with the German king Henry I (the Fowler) (See 919–36). This policy,
combined with a pagan reaction against a determined Christian king, led to Wenceslaus's
murder by his brother Boleslav I. Prague soon became the center of a Wenceslaus cult;
by 1100 he was recognized as Bohemia's patron saint, and his crown has served as the
symbol of Czech independence.
8
929–67
BOLESLAV I. He seems to have carried on constant warfare against the encroaching
Germans, until forced (950) to accept German suzerainty. To the east he conquered
Moravia, part of Slovakia, part of Silesia, and even Kraków. Furthermore, he appears to
have established a fairly strong royal power over the old tribal chiefs.
9
967–99
BOLESLAV II. He apparently continued the policies of his father and saw to the final
victory of the Christian faith (foundation of the bishopric of Prague, 973). Missionaries
from Bohemia took an active part in the conversion of Hungary and Poland.
10
The entire 11th and 12th centuries were filled with chronic dynastic conflicts between
members of the Premysl family and the various claimants appealing to Poland and more
particularly to the German emperors for support. The result was the gradual integration
of Bohemia with Germany, and the extension of feudalism to the Czech lands.
11
999–1000
Boleslav the Brave of Poland took advantage of the anarchy in Bohemia to conquer
Silesia, Moravia, and Kraków. In 1003 he became duke of Bohemia, but he was driven
out in the next year by a German army.
12
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c. Poland
The Polish kingdom emerged in the 10th century, the result of the unification of some
six tribes under the Polani, who were ruled by the members of the semimythical family
of Piast. From the outset the Poles were obliged to fight against the encroachment of the
Germans from the west, the Prussians from the north, the Bohemians from the south, and
the Hungarians, also from the south.
1
c. 960–92
MIESZKO I, of the house of Piast, the first ruler for whom written evidence survives.
He conquered the territory between the Oder and the Warthe Rivers, but was defeated by
Markgraf Gero and obliged to recognize German suzerainty (973).
2
966
Mieszko was converted to Christianity by Bohemian missionaries, probably for political
reasons, to deprive the Germans of any further excuse for aggression. The acceptance of
Latin Christianity meant the connection of Poland, like Bohemia and Hungary, with
Roman-European culture.
3
992–1025
BOLESLAV I (Chrobry, the Brave). He ascended the throne at 25 and was the real
organizer of the Polish state. An energetic but at times treacherous and cruel ruler, he
built up an efficient military machine, laid the basis for an administrative system
(comitescastellaniBurggrafen, with civil and military powers), organized the Church
(establishment of Benedictine monasteries). Politically his aim appears to have been the
4
union of all western Slavs under his rule. He conquered eastern Pomerania and gained
access to the Baltic (992–94), added Silesia, Moravia, and Kraków to his domain (999),
and induced Otto III to erect an independent archbishopric of Gnesen (1000). On the
death of Otto, he took advantage of the confusion in Germany to occupy Lusatia and
Meissen, and in 1003 made himself duke of Bohemia. The new emperor, Henry II,
carried on long wars against Boleslav and ultimately forced the abandonment of
Bohemia and Lusatia (1005). But in the Treaty of Bautzen (1018), Boleslav was given
Lusatia as an imperial fief, and just before his death he was able to make himself king of
Poland (1025).
1025–34
MIESZKO II, whose reign marked the culmination of feudal separatism. The Poles,
like the other Slavs, divided their domain among the various sons of a deceased king,
thus creating endless dynastic conflict and ample opportunity for intervention by
neighboring rulers. During Mieszko's reign, most of the territorial gains of Boleslav
5
were lost: St. Stephen of Hungary conquered Slovakia (1027); B etislav of Bohemia
took Moravia (1031); Yaroslav of Russia acquired Ruthenia (1031); Canute of Denmark
took Pomerania (1031). In 1032 the Emperor Conrad actually divided Poland between
Mieszko and two of his relatives.
1034–40
A period of violent dynastic struggle and general insurrection, including a pagan
reaction (burning of monasteries, massacre of the clergy) and a peasant uprising against
the landlords. Meanwhile B
6
etislav of Bohemia seized Silesia (1038).
1038–58
CASIMIR I (the Restorer), who succeeded, with the aid of the Emperor Henry III, in
reconquering his domain, reestablishing Christianity, and restoring order. Silesia was
recovered (1054). In return Casimir was obliged to give up the royal title (becoming
merely a grand duke) and to make numerous concessions to the nobility and clergy,
thus initiating a baneful practice.
1058–79
7
BOLESLAV II (the Bold), one of the great medieval Polish rulers. In the great struggle
between the emperor and the pope, he consistently supported the latter, as a
counterweight to German influence. At the same time, he did his utmost to throw off the
pressure of the nobility. In his countless campaigns, he reconquered upper Slovakia
(1061–63) and marched as far as Kiev to put his relative on the Russian throne (1069).
In 1076 he reassumed the royal crown, with the pope's approval. But his entire policy
estranged the nobility, which ultimately drove him from his throne.
8
1079–1102
Vladislav I (Ladislas), an indolent and unwarlike ruler, brother of Boleslav. He resigned
the royal title and attempted to secure peace by supporting the Emperor Henry IV, as
well as by courting the nobility and clergy.
9
1102–38
BOLESLAV III (Wry-mouth), who acquired the throne after a violent struggle with his
brother Zbigniew. He was one of the greatest Polish kings; he defeated the Pomeranians
(battle of Naklo, 1109) and, by the incorporation of Pomerania (1119–23), reestablished
access to the sea. At the same time, he defeated the Emperor Henry V (1109, battle of
10
Hundsfeld, near Breslau, now Wroc
aw) and checked the German advance, but his
campaigns in Hungary (1132–35) had no permanent results.
Boleslav completed the organization of the state, in which the great landlords (nobiles,
or magnates) and gentry (milites, knights, or szlachta) had become well-defined social
classes, the peasantry having steadily lost ground in the periods of confusion. The
Church was reorganized under the archbishop of Gnesen, by the papal legate Walo. To
avoid dispute, Boleslav fixed the royal succession by seniority. Poland was divided into
five principalities (Silesia, Great Poland, Masovia, Sandomir, Kraków) for his sons;
Kraków was established as the capital, and was to go, with the title of grand duke, to the
eldest member of the house of Piast. In actual fact, this arrangement by no means
eliminated the dynastic competition but introduced a long period of disruption, during
which the nobility and clergy waxed ever more powerful and the ducal or royal power
became insignificant. Only the weakness of the neighboring states saved Poland from
destruction.
1146–73
11
Boleslav IV, an ineffectual ruler, during whose reign the Germans, under Albert the
Bear and Henry the Lion, supported by Waldemar of Denmark, drove back the Poles
from the entire territory along the Baltic and west of the Vistula (1147). Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa intervened and forced the submission of Boleslav (1157).
12
1173–77
Mieszko III, a brutal and despotic prince who antagonized the nobility and was soon
driven out by them.
13
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Kievan Russia
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d. Kievan Russia
GRAND PRINCES OF KIEV (862-1212)
The eastern Slavs settled on the territory of present-day European Russia from the 5th
to the 8th century A.D. In the 8th century some of the eastern Slavs were under the
protectorate of the Khazars, an Altaic people who established a strong and prosperous
state along the lower Volga. After the end of the 8th century, the northern part of Russia
began to be penetrated by the Scandinavian Vikings, called in the old Russian chronicles
Varangians or Rus (hence the name of Russia). In the course of the 9th century, the
Varangians constantly moved southward along the main waterway leading from the
Baltic to the Black Sea, gradually establishing domination over the Slav communities.
According to tradition, the Scandinavian chieftain Rurik ruled in Novgorod in the 860s.
Later he was recognized as the founder of the Russian princely dynasty.
1
860
The first recorded appearance of the Russians (Varangians) at Constantinople. This was
a raid not unlike those of the Norsemen on Britain and France in the same period.
2
879–912
Prince Oleg, who transferred his residence to Kiev on the Dnieper River. Kiev remained
the capital of Kievan Russia, a loose federation of territories, until 1169. Oleg also
united the eastern Slavs, freed them from Khazar control, and signed a commercial treaty
with the Byzantine Empire.
3
907
The Russians again appeared at Constantinople and extracted trade privileges from the
Byzantine emperor. Trade became a leading occupation of the Russian princes, who,
with their followers (druzhina), protected the merchant ships. On the other hand, private
property appears to have been less developed among the eastern Slavs than in the West.
4
945
Further trade agreements with the Greek Empire testify to ever closer economic
connections and no doubt to an increasing cultural contact.
5
957
The Russian princess Olga visited Constantinople and was converted to the Christian
faith. This was, however, a personal conversion and may in fact have been Olga's
second.
6
964–72
SVIATOSLAV, the son of Olga. He was the first of the great conquering princes. In
965 he defeated the Khazars on the lower Volga and proceeded to establish a Russian
state in place of the Khazar Empire. Called to the Balkans to aid the Greek emperor
against the powerful Bulgars, he carried on a successful campaign (967) and decided to
establish himself on the lower Danube. At this time his power extended from Novgorod
in the north to the Danube in the southwest and to the lower Volga in the southeast. He
was forced to abandon Bulgaria in order to resist the Patzinaks (Pechenegs), who had
entered southern Russia from the east and were threatening Kiev. Having repulsed them
(968), Sviatoslav returned to Bulgaria, but he was no more welcome to the Greeks than
were the Bulgars. In 971 he was defeated and driven out by the Emperor John Tzimisces
(See 969–72). Sviatoslav was defeated and killed by the Patzinaks on his way back to
Kiev (972).
972–80
7
With Sviatoslav's death began a dynastic struggle between his sons.
8
980–1015
The battle ended with the victory of Vladimir the Saint, in whose reign (c. 990) the
Russians were converted en masse to Christianity in the Orthodox (Byzantine) form. The
Russian church was organized on the Greek pattern and was considered to be under the
canonical authority of the patriarch of Constantinople. From this time on, the cultural
relations between Constantinople and Kiev were very close.
9
1015–19
Dynastic conflict between the sons of Vladimir.
10
1019–54
YAROSLAV (the Wise), the greatest ruler of Russia in the Kievan period. He was
successful in the struggle with his brother Sviatopolk, but was obliged to leave to
another brother, Mstislav, that part of the principality that lay east of the Dnieper River,
until Mstislav's death in 1036. Yaroslav was then supreme ruler of all Russia. Extensive
building activity at Kiev (Cathedral of St. Sophia). Religious activity (Metropolitan
Hilarion and the Monastery of the Caves). Promotion of education. Revision of the
Russian Law (the earliest known Russian law code), under Byzantine influence.
Dynastic alliances with western states (Yaroslav's daughter, Anna, married Henry I of
France).
11
The period following the death of Yaroslav the Great was one of disintegration and
decline. Technically the primacy of Kiev continued and the power remained
concentrated in the family of Yaroslav. Actually, however, Kiev continued to decline in
importance, and authority came to be divided between members of the princely family
according to a system of seniority and rotation, which led of necessity to much dynastic
rivalry and countless combinations, sometimes with Poles and Hungarians.
12
At the same time the Kievan state was subjected to ever greater pressure from the
nomads (Patzinaks and Cumans) moving into southern Russia from the east. The period
also witnessed a shifting of the older trade routes, due to the decline of the Baghdad
Caliphate and the conquest of Constantinople (1204) by the Latin crusaders.
13
Emergence of new political centers: Galicia and Volynia in the southwest,
principalities characterized by a strongly aristocratic form of government; Novgorod the
Great, in the north, controlling territory to the east to the Urals. In Novgorod the
assembly of freemen (Vieche) reached its fullest development; Suzdal-Vladimir in
central Russia, the precursor of the grand duchy of Moscow. In this region the princely
power was dominant, and private property was the least developed.
14
1113–25
VLADIMIR MONOMAKH, prince of Kiev. His reign marked the last period of
brilliance at Kiev.
15
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e. Hungary
THE ARPAD DYNASTY OF HUNGARY (907-1301) AND THE PREMYSLID
KINGS OF BOHEMIA (1198-1378)
896
The Hungarians, or Magyars, organized in a number of tribes, occupied the valley of the
middle Danube and Theiss (Tisza). Under Arpad (d. 907) they had come from southern
Russia by way of Moldova, driven on by the Patzinaks (Pechenegs) and other Asian
peoples. The Hungarians were themselves nomads of the Finno-Ugrian family. For more
than half a century after their occupation of Hungary, they continued their raids, both
toward the east and toward the west.
1
906
The Hungarians destroyed the rising Slavic kingdom of Moravia.
2
955
Battle of Lechfeld (See 955), in which Emperor Otto I decisively defeated the raiding
Hungarians. From this time on, the Hungarians began to settle down and establish a
frontier.
3
972–97
Geza, the organizer of the princely power. He began to reduce the tribal leaders and
invited Christian missionaries from Germany (Pilgrin of Passau, 974; St. Adalbert of
Prague, 993). Christianization had already begun from the east, and was furthered by
large numbers of war prisoners.
4
997–1038
St. Stephen (I), greatest ruler of the Arpad dynasty. He suppressed eastern Christianity
by force and crusaded against paganism, which was still favored by the tribal chiefs.
Stephen allied with the west, married a Bavarian princess, called in Roman churchmen
and monks, and endowed them with huge tracts of land. With the help of the clergy, he
broke the power of the tribal chieftains, took over their land as royal domain,
administered through counts (föispán) placed over counties (vármegyék). The counts and
high churchmen formed a royal council. Every encouragement was given to agriculture
and trade, and a methodical system of frontier defense was built up (large belt of
swamps and forests, wholly uninhabited and protected by regular frontier guards; as time
went on this frontier was gradually extended).
5
1001
Stephen was crowned with a crown sent by the pope. He was canonized in 1083.
6
1002
Stephen defeated an anti-Christian insurrection in Transylvania.
7
1030
Attacks of the Germans under Conrad II.
1038–77
8
A period of dynastic struggles over the succession, every member of the Arpad family
claiming a share of the power and sometimes calling in the Germans for support.
9
1038–46
Peter Urseolo, son of Stephen's sister and the doge of Venice, succeeded to the throne.
10
1046
Peter was overthrown in the course of a great pagan rising of the tribal chiefs, who
massacred the Christians and destroyed the churches. This was the last serious revolt.
11
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f. Serbia
650
Approximate date of the completion of the Slav occupation of the Balkan area. Part of
the Slav people extended as far west as Carniola and Carinthia, but these (the Slovenes)
were conquered by the Franks in the early 9th century and were thenceforth part of the
German Empire.
1
818
The Croats, who had also been conquered by the Franks, revolted but were again
subdued.
2
924
Tomislav became king of Croatia, accepting his crown from the pope. He ruled over
latter-day Croatia and over the territory as far south as Montenegro, though the coastal
towns were mostly under Byzantine control.
3
960
Death of Cheslav, who had made the first effort to unite the Serbs. The Serbs, inhabiting
a mountainous area, were divided into tribes and clans, under headmen or zupans. The
grand zupan held an honorary preeminence. Technically the territory was under
Byzantine suzerainty, which, when the Eastern Empire was strong, was effectively
exercised. By the end of the 10th century the inhabitants of present Serbia and eastern
Bosnia had for the most part accepted Eastern Christianity, while western Bosnia and
Croatia leaned toward Roman Catholicism. However, both socially and culturally, the
4
Serbs seemed to be one of the most westernized Eastern Orthodox peoples.
1077
Mikhail of Serbia was crowned by a papal legate.
5
1081–1101
Bodin established a Serbian state in Zeta (i.e., Montenegro).
6
1102
Croatia was joined with Hungary in a dynastic union, after the defeat of the last ruler,
Petar, by King Ladislas. This involved the definitive victory of the western orientation in
Croatia and separation from the other southern Slavs.
7
1168–96
STEPHEN NEMANYA, founder of the Nemanyid dynasty in the Raska (i.e., Rascia, or
Serbia proper). Though only grand zupan, Stephen appears to have made considerable
progress in uniting the various clans. He definitely adopted the Eastern Orthodox faith
and persecuted the Bogomils, who were forced across the frontier into Bosnia, which at
that time was ruled by a strong prince, Kulin (d. 1204). The death of Manuel I
Comnenus (1180) and the subsequent decline of the Eastern Empire gave Stephen an
opportunity to establish his independence from Constantinople and to conquer extensive
territories to the south. In 1196 he retired to a monastery on Mt. Athos that had been
founded by his son, St. Sava. Stephen died in 1200.
8
1196–1223
STEPHEN NEMANYA II, the son of the preceding. The beginning of his reign was
marked by a struggle with his elder brother, Vukan, to whom Montenegro had been
assigned. The Hungarians, who became an ever greater menace to Serbia, supported
Vukan, and Stephen was forced to flee to the Bulgarian court. He returned with an army
of Cumans supplied by Kaloyan (see below), who appropriated for himself most of
9
eastern Serbia, including Belgrade and Nish. Stephen's brother St. Sava finally mediated
between the two contestants, and Stephen became ruler of Serbia proper.
1217
Stephen was crowned king by a papal legate (hence Stephen the First-Crowned).
10
1219
St. Sava, fearful of the Roman influence, visited Nicaea and induced the Greek patriarch
to recognize him as archbishop of all Serbia and as head of an autocephalous
(independent) church.
11
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(See 1016–18)
g. The Second Bulgarian Empire
Following the collapse of the First Bulgarian Empire in 1018, Bulgaria was, for 168
years, an integral part of the Byzantine Empire. The replacement of taxation in kind with
taxation in cash, and other grievances, led to a serious revolt in 1040, led by Peter
Delyan, a son of Gabriel Radomir, that was confined to the northwest and western parts
of the former empire. Delyan had himself proclaimed tsar, but the movement suffered
from his rivalry with Alusian, son of John Vladislav. In 1041 Delyan was defeated and
captured by the imperial troops. Another uprising, led by George Voitech in 1072–73,
was suppressed without much difficulty. During the Byzantine period, the country was
constantly exposed to raids by the Patzinaks (1048–54), many of whom settled in
northeastern Bulgaria. The Bogomil heresy (a dualistic sect) continued to spread,
despite persecution by the government (1110 ff.).
1
1185
Rising of Asen and Peter, two Bulgarian lords from the vicinity of Tirnovo. Defeated
by the Emperor Isaac II Angelus (1186), they fled to the Cumans and returned with an
army. After raiding into Thrace, they accepted a truce that left them in possession of
Bulgaria north of the Balkan Mountains.
2
1189
Asen attempted to effect an alliance with Frederick Barbarossa and the leaders of the
Third Crusade, against the Greeks. This came to nothing, but the Bulgarians resumed
their raids into Thrace and Macedonia. An imperial army under Isaac Angelus was
completely defeated in a battle near Berrhoe.
3
1196
Peter succeeded to leadership of the movement after the murder of Asen by boyar (i.e.,
noble) conspirators.
4
1197
Peter himself fell a victim to his boyar rivals.
5
1197–1207
KALOJAN, the younger brother of Asen and Peter. He made peace with the Greeks
(1201) and then engaged (1202) in campaigns against the Serbs (taking of Nish) and the
Hungarians, whom he drove back over the Danube.
6
1204
The collapse of the Byzantine Empire gave Kalojan an excellent opportunity to
reaffirm his dominion. By recognizing the primacy of the pope, he succeeded in securing
the appointment of a primate for Bulgaria and in getting himself crowned king by the
papal legate. At the same time, he took over the whole of western Macedonia.
7
1205
Supported by the Cumans and the local Greeks, Kalojan completely defeated the
Frankish crusaders near Adrianople and captured the Emperor Baldwin I.
8
1207
Kalojan was murdered while besieging Salonika (Thessalonica).
1207–18
9
Boril, the nephew of Kalojan. By this time the Bulgars had adopted the Byzantine social
structures, including the appanage system: the tsar was considered supreme owner of
the state, the land, and even the official and Church language; only members of the tsar's
family had the privilege of possessing large estates as appanage, where the same system
of ownership was reproduced on a local level. Hence, unlike in the West, separatism did
not lead to the emergence of self-governing cities, but resulted only in an overall
weakening of the state. Boril's position was not recognized by most of the other
members of Asens family, some of whom attempted to set up independent principalities.
10
1208
Boril was completely defeated by the Franks and ultimately (1213) was obliged to make
peace.
11
1217
Ivan (John) Asen, son of Asen, supported by Galicia, began a revolt in northern
Bulgaria. He besieged and took Tirnovo.
12
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(See 1020)
5. Christian States in the Eastern Mediterranean, 1000–1300
a. The Byzantine Empire
THE COMNENI AND ANGELI (1057-1204)
For a complete list of the Byzantine emperors, see Appendix II.
1
The period of the later Macedonian emperors (to 1055) and the succeeding century was
marked by barbarian invasions in the Balkans, advances of the Normans on the
remaining Byzantine possessions in Italy, pressure from the Seljuk Turks on the eastern
frontier, popular hostility to mercantile privileges granted to Pisan and Venetian
businessmen, and political disputes between the clerical bureaucratic nobility in the
capital and the military baronage in the countryside.
2
1025–28
CONSTANTINE VIII, the younger brother of Basil II.
3
1027
The Patzinaks, who had invaded the Balkans, were finally driven back over the Danube
by General Constantine Diogenes.
1028–50
4
ZOË, empress. She was the third daughter of Constantine and, though 48 years old at
her accession, married three times, associating her husbands: Romanos, Michael, and
Constantine IX seriatum in the imperial office.
5
1028–34
ROMANUS III (Argyropolus), an official 60 years old, first husband of Zoë. He made
great efforts to gain popularity by catering to the populace, the nobility, and especially
the Church. The patriarchate was permitted to persecute the Monophysites of Syria,
thousands of whom fled to Muslim territory. The hatred engendered by this policy helps
to explain the Seljuk advance in subsequent years.
6
1030
Romanus suffered a severe defeat in a campaign against the Muslim emirs who attacked
Syria.
7
1031
The situation was saved by the victories of Georgios Maniakes, greatest imperial
general of the period.
8
1032
A combined Byzantine-Ragusan fleet defeated the Saracen pirates in the Adriatic.
9
1034–41
MICHAEL IV (the Paphlagonian), second husband of Zoë. He was a man of lowly
origin who promptly established his brothers (mostly men of energy and ability) in high
office.
10
1034–35
The Byzantine fleets, manned by the Norseman Harald Haardraade and Scandinavian
mercenaries, repeatedly defeated the Saracen pirates off the Anatolian coast and ravaged
the coasts of North Africa.
11
1038
Maniakes and Haardraade, with Scandinavian and Italian mercenaries and with the
support of the Byzantine fleets, stormed Messina and defeated the Sicilian Saracens, first
at Rametta (1038), then at Dragina (1040).
12
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b. The Crusades
KINGS OF JERUSALEM (1099-1489)
Definition. In the 11th and 12th centuries, the Crusades were military expeditions
sponsored by the papacy, charged with recovering Christian holy places in the Middle
East from the Muslim Arabs and Seljuk Turks (See 1079–95). In the 13th century,
crusading impulses were often directed against groups within Europe perceived as being
social or political enemies, such as the Albigensian heretics (See 1208–13). By the 15th
and 16th centuries, crusading had become an old European tradition. Thus explorers and
adventurers, such as Christopher Columbus and Hernán Cortés (See 1451, between Aug.
26 and Oct. 31) (See 1518–19), in South and North America, Africa, and Asia, explained
their goals in religious and crusading terms—they were for the conversion of the
Muslims, Indians, or Asian and African peoples.
1
The origins of the medieval Crusades lie in the Christian tradition of penitential
pilgrimages to the sites of Jesus' life and death in Palestine, dating to that of Helena,
Constantine's mother (4th century); the long tradition of Christian wars of reconquest
against the Muslims in Spain beginning in the 8th century and encouraged by the popes
Alexander II and Gregory VII in the 11th century; the hostilities created by Muslim
attacks on southern Europe in the 9th and 10th centuries. In 1071, Turkish soldiers,
financed by Muslims, defeated a Greek army at Manzikert in Armenia; in 1076 the
Turks captured Jerusalem, although they subsequently showed no special animosity
against Christians. The Byzantine emperor appealed to the West at the Synod of
Piacenza (March 1095) for help against Muslim-Turkish expansion.
2
1095, Nov
Council of Clermont. Pope Urban, a Cluniac and a Frenchman, speaking to Frenchmen,
recited the glorious deeds of the French and tales of Muslim atrocities, made open
allusions to the chances for profit and advancement, attacked feudal violence at home,
and brought the audience to a state of wild enthusiasm; he himself distributed crosses.
Urban's propaganda journeys and the preaching of Peter the Hermit and others stirred
the West, but had the greatest effect in France and Lorraine, the area most under Cluniac
influence. The great rulers were all at odds with the papacy or busy at home; the rest of
Europe was indifferent. The Crusades began as they continued, largely under French
auspices.
3
The motives that inspired Europeans to embark on the Crusades varied with the time,
the place, and the individual, but on the first expeditions, to the religious goal of the
recapture of the holy places and their restoration to Christian jurisdiction, the reunion of
the Greek and Roman churches, and the spiritual advantages of the popes' crusading
indulgence, the following secular or material objects should be added. Political: to
acquire land, fiefs, power in the Middle East; for a ruler, to rid his country or territory of
troublesome and rebellious knights. Social: to seek adventure, excitement, the novelty of
travel in an exotic world; to gain the respect, prestige, and status that Crusaders earned.
Economic: to gain the loot and booty taken by victorious armies; for European
townspeople and bankers, the opportunity to profit from the sale of armor, equipment,
horseshoes, fodder; for innkeepers along the crusading routes and prostitutes who
accompanied or followed crusading armies, business and profit.
4
1096–99
The First Crusade. Best recorded and most successful of the Crusades. Five popular,
aimless mass migrations (1096) that emptied whole villages; two (perhaps 7000 under
Peter the Hermit and perhaps 5000 under Walter the Penniless) reached Asia Minor and
were annihilated. The Norman-French baronage flocked to the Cross and converged in
three divisions on Constantinople: the Lorrainers under Godfrey of Bouillon and his
brother Baldwin, via Hungary; the Provençals under Count Raymond of Toulouse and
the papal legate, Adhemar of Puy, via Illyria; the Normans under Bohemund of Otranto
(the most effective leader) via Durazzo by sea and land. Perhaps they were 30,000 in all.
5
The Muslim opposition: the Seljuks had merely garrisoned Syria and were not popular
with the native population. Muslim unity in Asia Minor ended with the death of Malik
Shah (1092), and Syria was divided politically, racially, and theologically (Sunni(s)
versus Shi’ite; the Fatimid capture of Jerusalem (1098) from the Sunnis).
6
1096, Spring
Violent crusader assaults on Jewish communities led to terrible massacres in Speyer,
Mainz, Cologne, and other Rhineland cities.
7
1097
Nicaea (Iznik) (See 1097–98), the Seljuk capital in Asia Minor, taken by the combined
Greek and crusading force; defeat of the Muslim field army at Dorylaeum; excursion of
Baldwin and Tancred, and rivalry in Cilicia; Bohemund established himself in the
Antioch area. Siege and capture (by treachery) of Antioch (1097–98); countersiege of
the Christians in Antioch by the emir of Mosul; election of Bohemund as leader.
Baldwin's conquest of Edessa (1097); Christian divisions: rivalry of Norman and
Provençal.
8
1099
March to Jerusalem (Genoese convoy and food supply); siege, capture, and horrors of
the sack. The death of the papal legate left the organization of the government of
Jerusalem to feudal laymen. Godfrey of Bouillon, elected king, assumed the title of
Defender of the Holy Sepulcher (for pious reasons). The main body of the Crusaders
soon streamed back home. The Norman effort to dominate the government through their
patriarch Dagobert led to his deposition by the anti-Norman party, and Jerusalem
became a feudal kingdom. The government (as revealed by the Assizes of Jerusalem, the
most complete feudal code extant) was narrowly feudal, with the king a feudal suzerain,
not a sovereign, the tenants-in-chief dominant. Besides the feudal organization there
were burgher and ecclesiastical organizations, with their own courts.
9
Continued divisions among the Muslims and the weakness of the Greeks favored the
progress of the Latin states: the kingdom of Jerusalem, in close commercial alliance
with the Italian towns (Genoa, Pisa, and, later, Venice), profited by the commerce
through its ports and extended south to tap the Red Sea trade. The other states: the
county of Edessa (established by Baldwin), the principality of Antioch (established by
Bohemund), and the county of Tripoli (set up by Raymond of Toulouse) were fiefs of
Jerusalem (divided into four great baronies and into lesser fiefs).
10
Muslim unification in Syria was completed by the Atabegs of Mosul and signalized by
the capture of Edessa (1144). Mosul soon mastered Egypt; Saladin emerged supreme in
Egypt (1171), quickly reduced Damascus and Aleppo, and brought Syria and Egypt
under a single efficient rule.
11
1147–49
The Second Crusade. Bernard of Clairvaux, persuaded by Pope Eugenius III,
preached (1145) the Second Crusade. Conrad III and King Louis VII of France took the
Cross. To avoid conflicts, the two monarchs went by separate routes; there never was
coherent direction or unity of command. The Norman Roger of Sicily took advantage of
the Second Crusade to seize the Greek islands and to attack Athens, Thebes, and
Corinth. Nothing of importance was achieved by the Second Crusade, and the movement
was discredited throughout Europe.
12
1184
Saladin's steady advance led to a great appeal to the West; King Philip II of France and
Henry II of England declined the crown of Jerusalem but levied a Saladin tithe (1188)
to finance a Crusade. Christian attack on a caravan (said to be escorting Saladin's sister)
provoked Saladin's holy war (1187–89): capture of Jerusalem (1187) without a sack
and reduction of the Latin states to the cities of Antioch, Tyre, Tripoli, and a small area
around each. Crusader control of Jerusalem, without heavy European support, was
doomed from the start.
13
1189–92
The Third Crusade. Precipitated by the fall of Jerusalem, the Third Crusade was a
completely lay and royal affair, despite the efforts of the papacy to regain control. It was
supported partly by the Saladin tithe, and was led by the three greatest monarchs of the
day: (1) Frederick Barbarossa (a veteran of the Second Crusade) as emperor, the
traditional and theoretical military leader of Christendom, headed a well-organized and
disciplined German contingent starting from Regensburg (1189) that marched via
Hungary, entered Asia Minor, and disintegrated after Frederick was drowned (1190); (2)
King Richard I of England; and (3) King Philip II of France, who went by sea.
Already political rivals, they quarreled in winter quarters in Sicily (1190–91); Richard
turned aside in the spring and took Cyprus, which he sold to Guy de Lusignan. The
quarrels of Philip and Richard continued in the Holy Land, and Philip returned to France
after the capture of Acre (1191). Richard's negotiations with Saladin (Richard proposed
a marriage of his sister Joan to Saladin's brother, who was to be invested with Jerusalem)
resulted (1192) in a three-year truce allowing the Christians a coastal strip between Jaffa
14
and Acre and access to Jerusalem. Captivity of Richard (1192–94) and heavy ransom to
the Emperor Henry VI. The Third Crusade ended the golden age of the Crusades.
1199, Aug. 15
Pope Innocent III (See 1198–1216), determined to regain papal direction of the Crusades
and to reunite the Greek and Latin churches, proclaimed a new crusade, the FOURTH
CRUSADE (1202–4).
15
1201, Lent
Crusade envoys, including Geoffroy de Villehardouin (major chronicler of the events)
and Doge Enrico Dandolo, reached agreement in the Treaty of Venice: Venice was to
transport 33,500 men and 4,500 horses, in return for payment of 85,000 marks. The fleet
was to sail June 29, 1202, for Egypt, thought to be a strategically better site for recovery
of Holy Land.
16
June
Assembly of Crusaders at Soissons elected Boniface of Montferrat, a famous soldier
from a distinguished Lombard family, to lead the crusade.
17
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(See April 12)
c. Latin and Greek States in the Middle East
LATIN EMPERORS OF CONSTANTINOPLE (1204-1373)
Division of the Eastern Empire after the fall of Constantinople: A council, composed
equally of Crusaders and Venetians, decided to award the imperial crown to Count
Baldwin of Flanders, while a Venetian (Pier Morosini) was made patriarch of
Constantinople. Boniface of Montferrat was made king of Salonika (Thessalonica) and
the remaining parts of the empire were assigned to various barons as vassals of the
emperor. In Anatolia the Crusaders were never able to establish themselves except in a
part of Bithynia near the Bosporus. In Europe they were constantly exposed to the
attacks of the Bulgarians. The kingdom of Thessalonica at first extended over part of
Thrace, Macedonia, and Thessaly, but to the west the Greek Michael Angelus
Comnenus set himself up as despot of Epirus and soon began to expand his dominion
eastward. Attica and the Peloponnesus were conquered by crusading barons in a short
time, and these territories were organized on a feudal basis as the lordship of Athens
(Otto de la Roche, 1205–25; Guy I, 1225–63; John I, 1263–80), and the principality of
Achaea (conquered by Guillaume de Champlitte and Geoffroy de Villehardouin in
1205). Achaea was in turn divided into 12 feudal baronies, an example of the French
feudal pattern. Under the Villehardouin family (Geoffroy I, 1209–18; Geoffroy II,
1218–46; Guillaume, 1246–78) it was well governed and popular with the Greco-Slavic
population, which was considerately treated.
1
The Venetians took as their share of the empire most of the islands and other important
strategic or commercial posts. They kept for themselves part of Constantinople,
Gallipoli, Euboea, Crete, the southwestern tip of the Peloponnesus (Coron and Modon),
Durazzo, and other posts on the Epiran coast, as well as the islands of the Ionian and
Aegean Seas. For the most part these possessions were granted as fiefs to the leading
Venetian families (e.g., triarchies of Euboea, duchy of the Archipelago).
2
1204–5
BALDWIN I, Latin emperor.
3
1204–14
Michael Angelus Comnenus, despot of Epirus.
4
1204
Theodore Lascaris, son-in-law of Alexius III, with some of the Byzantine leaders,
established himself in Bithynia; Alexius and David Comnenus organized a state on the
north coast of Anatolia, with David at Sinope and Alexius at Trebizond, thus founding
the empire of Trebizond, which lasted until Ottoman conquest in 1461.
5
1204–22
Theodore I (Lascaris) became founder of the Nicaean Empire. In 1204 he made an
alliance with the (Turkish) sultan of Rum to resist the advance of the Crusaders into
Anatolia, but was defeated by the latter under Peter of Bracheuil.
6
1205
The Bulgars, under Kaloyan, defeated Emperor Baldwin and Doge Dandolo in a battle
near Adrianople. Baldwin was captured and died in captivity. The Bulgars then overran
much of Thrace and Macedonia, exterminating a large part of the Greek population.
7
1205–16
HENRY I, Latin emperor, the brother of Baldwin, and the ablest of the Latin emperors.
1207
8
Kaloyan and the Bulgarians besieged Thessalonica, but in vain. Kaloyan died suddenly,
probably murdered.
9
1207
Theodore Lascaris, allied with the Seljuks of Rum, defeated David Comnenus and drove
him back to Sinope. Theodore then concluded a truce with Emperor Henry, in order to
oppose the advance of Alexius of Trebizond, who was now allied with the Seljuks.
10
1209
Theodore repulsed a second attempt by Peter of Bracheuil and the Crusaders to conquer
Bithynia.
11
1211
Theodore Lascaris defeated Alexius of Trebizond and the sultan of Rum, both of whom
were captured. As a result, a large part of the Anatolian coast was added to the Empire
of Nicaea.
12
1212
Henry I defeated Theodore at Luparcos and began the invasion of Anatolia. Theodore
made peace, abandoning to the Latin Empire part of Mysia and Bithynia.
13
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(See 1305) (See 1245–79)
6. Western Europe, 1300–1500
a. Overview
The period began with significant ecological changes: the end of the optimal
hydrological and thermal conditions that had produced large harvests between c. 1000
and 1250. Bad weather led to poor harvests, while sheep murrain (disease) in England
reduced the size of flocks and the volume of wool exported, severely hurting Flemish and
Italian weavers. The result was general agricultural and commercial weakness,
economic distress for which weak and incompetent governments had no solution.
1
Social consequences: Poor harvests and famine led to great increase in number of
vagabonds or homeless people; the abandonment of entire villages (as in parts of the Low
Countries and on the Scottish-English border); great increase in the mortgaging,
subleasing, and the sale of land, which in turn contributed to a volatile land market;
postponement of marriage and the reduction of population; blame thrown on creditors,
the rich, and the Jews, which led to attacks and pogroms. Government remedies: the
French and English crowns set price controls and forbade the export of grain. Grain
exported from Castile and the Baltic seized by pirates and sold on the black market.
2
A weak, undernourished, and overcrowded population proved ill prepared for the
bubonic plague (Black Death) that swept Europe periodically (1347–1450), causing
psychological pessimism, spiritual malaise, and huge population loss (see below). The
disease may have adjusted population to food supply; it also produced a temporary labor
storage and inflation. High death tolls from the plague broke continuity in record keeping
and prevented landlords from proving servile status; those factors plus the widespread
destruction of records during peasant uprisings, and the purchases of freedom and the
continued flight from rural to urban communities accelerated the decline of serfdom,
which had begun in the 13th century.
3
The Christian Church, centered first at Avignon, not Rome, and then divided by schism,
provided little spiritual consolation and few strong moral examples; papal prestige
4
declined. The series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), in
which England and France became deadlocked, involved the Burgundian struggle for
control of the French crown, aristocratic resurgence, civil war, peasant and urban
revolts in both countries. The long wars promoted the development of national
consciousness, as reflected in the growth of vernacular languages.
Meanwhile, the steady accumulation of wealth in the Italian cities made possible a great
cultural efflorescence, which the 16th-century art historian Vasari (1511–74) first labeled
the Renaissance (It., renascita). In the 15th century this movement spread to France,
England, Germany, and Spain.
Estimates of population decline c. 1300–1500:
Italy fell from 10 million to 7.5 million
British Isles fell from 5 million to 3 million
France fell from 17.5 million to 12.5 million
Iberia fell from 9 million to 7 million
Germany and Scandinavia fell from 11.5 million to 7 million.
5
Fourteenth-century records, the earliest available for structural study of marriage and
the family in medieval Europe, indicate that the nuclear family (father, mother, and their
children) was becoming an increasingly common pattern in all parts of western Europe,
as opposed to extended-family arrangements. The average age at first marriage was 16 for
women, 26 for men. Because of the relatively late marriage age for men, and in an
attempt to reduce the potential for male violence, municipal authorities in many sizable
towns (e.g., Toulouse, Montpellier, Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome, Hamburg, London,
Sandwich) established brothels for the regulation of female prostitution. These cities had
large numbers of unmarried young men and transient merchants, and a culture resting on
a cash exchange. Medieval prostitution was an urban phenomenon and a social issue.
(Research on male prostitution continues.) (See The Byzantine Empire)
6
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(See 1305)
b. The British Isles
1. England
THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK (1377-1485)
1307–27
EDWARD II. Married to Isabelle, daughter of Philip IV of France. A weak ruler and the
tool of ambitious favorites, Edward was dominated first by the Gascon Piers Gaveston
(d. 1312), probably his lover. The Scottish war was continued in desultory fashion. The
baronage, angered by Gaveston, followed the leadership of Edward's nephew, Thomas,
duke of Lancaster, an ambitious, incompetent person. They forced Edward to accept a
committee of reform, the 21 Lords Ordainers (1310), whose reform ordinances,
suggestive of the Provisions of Oxford, were confirmed by parliament (1311). The
ordinances required a baronial consent to royal appointments, to a declaration of war,
and to the departure of the king from the realm, this consent to be given through
parliament. Gaveston was captured and slain (1312).
1
1313–14
The Scottish War. By 1313 only the castle of Stirling remained in the hands of the
English. Edward set out (1314) to relieve the castle, but at Bannockburn (1314) he was
overwhelmingly defeated, and Scottish independence was won.
2
In Gascony the French kings began a policy of egging Edward's vassals on to resistance,
a process that culminated in the French conquest of Gascony and its retention by the
French with the consent (1327) of the regents who ruled after Edward's abdication.
3
1314–22
Supremacy of Lancaster, who offered no resistance to the Scottish raids nor to the civil
disorders that broke out in England. In 1322 Edward defeated him at Boroughbridge,
beheaded him, and had the ordinances of 1311 repealed at the parliament of York.
4
1322–26
Rule of the Despensers, father and son: Scottish truce (1323); decline of the popularity
of the Despensers; alienation of Queen Isabelle. Isabelle went to France (1325), arranged
the marriage of her son, the future Edward III, to Philippa of Hainault, and returned
(1326) with Mortimer and foreign troops. Supported by the barons, Isabelle gained
London, the Despensers were hanged, and the parliament of Westminster (1327),
dominated by Isabelle and by Edward's enemies, forced an abdication that was
tantamount to deposition. Edward was brutally murdered in prison eight months later.
5
Burgesses and knights sat in the parliaments of 1311, 1322, and 1327.
6
1327–77
EDWARD III (age 15 at his accession). Council of regency and rule (1327–30) under
Mortimer, Isabelle's paramour; Bruce's invasion of England forced the acknowledgment
of Scottish independence (1328). Edward led the baronial opposition to Mortimer
(hanged, 1330) and opened his personal rule (1330).
7
1338
Outbreak of the Hundred Years' War. Edward did homage (1329) for his French lands
and renewed the homage (1331). French support of Scottish aggression continued, and
Edward, profiting by civil war in Scotland, supported Baliol; after a series of
expeditions, he avenged Bannockburn at Halidon Hill (1333). French intrigues to
alienate Aquitaine continued. The economic interdependence, due to the wool trade, of
England and the Flemish cities made an English alliance with them likely. Philip
8
continued his advance into the English lands south of the Loire (1337), and open
hostilities broke out (1338). Edward ravaged northern and eastern France without a
decisive battle. Urged on by the Flemings, Edward proclaimed himself king of France
(in right of his mother, Isabelle), and enabled the Flanders towns under Jan van
Arteveldt to support him without violating their oaths.
1340
The naval victory of Sluys transferred the mastery of the Channel from France to
England (until 1372). Intermittent truces (1340–45) were followed by Edward's invasion
of France.
9
1346, Aug. 26
Great victory at CRÉCY, near Ponthieu in northern France, where English
longbowmen, supported by dismounted horsemen, routed the undisciplined cavalry and
mercenary crossbowmen ofFrance. This tactical innovation, the result of English
experiences in Wales and Scotland, began the joint participation of the yeomanry and the
aristocracy in war, and gave the English a unique military power and new social
orientation.
10
1346
The invasion of Philip's Scottish allies was halted at Neville's Cross, and the king of
Scotland captured.
11
1347
Calais was taken after a long siege in which artillery was used, and it remained an
English military and commercial outpost in France until 1558.
12
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(See 1312)
c. France
1314–16
LOUIS X (the Quarrelsome). The real ruler was Louis's uncle, Charles of Valois. A
reaction against the monarchy forced concessions from the king.
1
1316
Louis was succeeded by his posthumous son, John I, who lived only a few days. Louis's
daughter by his first wife, Jeanne, was also an infant. A great national council awarded
the crown to Louis's brother.
2
1316–22
PHILIP V (the Tall). There were frequent meetings of assemblies that included
burghers. Philip, in an enormous number of royal ordinances, gave definitive form to the
Capetian government. He left no male heir.
3
1322–28
CHARLES IV (the Fair), the last Capetian of the direct line, succeeded his brother
Philip, to the exclusion of Edward III of England, grandson of Philip IV. This
established the principle, later called the Salic Law, that the throne could pass only
through males. On Charles's death, an assembly of barons declared that “no woman nor
4
her son could succeed to the monarchy.”
1328–50
THE FRENCH SUCCESSION (1328)
PHILIP VI (nephew of Philip IV, son of Charles of Valois), the nearest male heir.
Jeanne, daughter of Louis X, became queen of Navarre. Brittany, Flanders, Guienne, and
Burgundy remained outside the royal sway. The papacy was under French influence;
rulers of the Capetian house of Anjou were seated on the thrones of Naples, Provence,
and Hungary; Dauphiné, the first important imperial fief added to French territory, was
purchased (1336). The king had become less accessible; the kingdom, regarded as a
possession rather than an obligation, was left to the administration of the royal
bureaucracy.
5
1338–1453
The Hundred Years' War. English commercial dominance in Flanders precipitated a
political crisis. The communes made the count of Flanders, Louis of Nevers, prisoner
(1325–26); Philip marched to his relief, massacred the burghers on the field of Cassel
(1328), and established French administration in Flanders. Edward III retorted with an
embargo on wool exports from England (1336); the weavers of Ghent, under the wealthy
Jan van Arteveldt, became virtual masters of the country and made a commercial treaty
with England (1338). On van Arteveldt's insistence, Edward declared himself king of
France; the Flemings recognized him as their sovereign, and made a political alliance
with him (1340).
6
1338
Philip declared Edward's French fiefs forfeited and invested Guienne. Edward was made
vicar of the empire, and his title as king of France was recognized by the emperor. Thus
began the Hundred Years' War, really a series of wars with continuous common
objectives: the retention of their French “empire” by the English, the liberation of their
soil by the French.
7
1340
Philip, by dismissing two squadrons of Levantine mercenary ships, lost his mastery of
the Channel until 1372 and was overwhelmingly defeated by Edward at the naval battle
of Sluys (June 24) on Scheldt estuary on (modern) Belgian border. This opened the
Channel to the English and gave them free access to northern France.
8
1341–64
A dynastic contest in Brittany, in which both Edward and Philip intervened.
9
1341
First collection of the gabelle (salt tax) in France; increasing war levies and mounting
dissatisfaction.
10
1346
Edward's invasion of Normandy and overwhelming victory at Crécy, Aug. 26 (10,000
English defeated some 20,000 French) (See 1346, Aug. 26). The French military system
was outmoded, the people unaccustomed to arms, and the cavalry inefficient. Blind King
John of Bohemia was slain. Artillery came into use (1335–45). Continued war levies led
to open refusal (1346) of a grant by the estates of Langue d'Oïl, and a demand for
reforms. The king attempted some reforms.
11
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(See 1213–76)
d. The Iberian Peninsula
Parliamentary institutions. As elsewhere in Western Europe (See 1360), parliamentary
assemblies developed in the Iberian Peninsula during the 13th to 15th centuries. In
addition to the nobles and higher ecclesiastics of their courts, Spanish kings summoned
representatives of those towns that were centers of trade, industry, and administration.
The cortes (Sp. vernacular for king's court, the plural implying size and importance)
emerged in Leon (1188), Aragon (1214), Catalonia (1225?), Castile-Leon (1250), and
Portugal (1254). Because ordinary (feudal) revenues failed to meet the rising needs of
the crown, kings had to secure consent for extraordinary levies. The initiative for
summoning assemblies belonged to the king alone. As the clergy and nobles were
usually exempt from taxation, the burden fell chiefly on the townspeople; the
townspeople, however, often attached conditions to their grants: a royal promise of
redress of grievances; a restriction to a fixed number of years; a promise that the levy
would not prejudice town liberties (special privileges previously granted). Although
approval of taxation was the cortes' most important function, they also played a role in
matters of the succession (e.g., Isabella of Castile in 1474) and foreign policy. Neither
Navarre nor the lands in southern Spain under Muslim control developed the cortes, nor
did the Iberian Peninsula again experiment with one “national” assembly—because it
was a collection of separate kingdoms. The disorders of the late 15th century and the
trend toward absolutism in the 16th century weakened the influence of the cortes.
1
1. Castile
THE HOUSE OF CASTILE (1252-1504)
The successors of Alfonso X were not conspicuous for capacity. Frequent minorities and
constant dynastic contests weakened the authority of the crown still further.
2
1312–50
Most outstanding of the Castilian rulers in this period was ALFONSO XI, who
decisively defeated the joint attack of the Spanish and Moroccan Muslims. His victory
at Rio Salado (Oct. 30, 1340) ended the African menace forever and was the chief battle
in the whole history of the Reconquest.
3
Throughout the Hundred Years' War, Castile supported France but attempted to avoid
hostility with England as much as possible.
4
1350–69
PETER (Pedro, the Cruel). His reign was in fact little more than a 19-year dynastic
conflict with his half-brother, the bastard Henry of Trastamara. Ultimately Henry
defeated and killed Peter (1369).
5
1369–79
Henry (Enrique) II (Trastamara), who renewed the alliance with France. The Castilian
fleet, through its victory over the English in the Battle of La Rochelle (1372), restored
command of the Channel to the French. Peace between Castile on the one side and
Portugal and Aragon on the other concluded at Almazan (1374).
6
1375
Rapprochement of Castile and Aragon, through the marriage of Henry's son, John, to
Eleanor, daughter of Peter IV of Aragon.
7
Castilian leadership in the reconquest of Muslim Spain led to a degree of local and
municipal self-government between the middle of the 12th and the middle of the 14th
centuries. The cortes apparently originated from councils of nobles dating from
Visigothic days. The Castilian rulers freely granted fueros (charters of self-government)
to towns in the early stages of the Reconquest, and elements of local liberty appeared in
municipal government in this period.
8
Urban groups, the hermandades (brotherhoods), sworn to defend the laws of the realm
and the lives and property of their members, were clearly developed in the 13th century
9
(e.g., Sancho's, 1282, directed against his father, Alfonso X) and usually supported the
kings in periods of crisis (minorities, succession struggles, baronial assaults). The
decline of the hermandades is associated with the municipal decline and the appearance
of the royal corregidores (mayors) in the towns (14th century), but it is not clear
whether the crown hastened the decay of the towns and the brotherhoods or sought to
stave it off.
Despite all this support, the battle of the kings with the aristocracy, firmly entrenched
during the early stages of the Reconquest, was a losing one. The nobles were exempt
from taxes and from many laws; in general the same was true of the clergy, and some of
the great bishops were virtual sovereigns.
10
The Jewish population of medieval Spain (See 1137) had generally prospered under first
Muslim and then Christian rule. Christian kings welcomed Jews, because they
represented capital investment, banking, and commercial expertise.
11
1391–1420
The nobility's attempt to reimpose serfdom, oppressive taxation, and general workingclass frustration over poor socioeconomic conditions led to widespread Christian
attacks on the Jews (e.g., in Barcelona and Sevilla), some spontaneous, others incited
by churchmen, such as the Dominican St. Vincent Ferrer. Many wealthy
Jews—courtiers, businessmen, scholars, rabbis—lost interest in traditional (Talmudic)
Judaism, and perhaps 100,000 Jews converted to Christianity (c. 1425–50). The vast
majority of these conversos were, within a generation or so, little different in religious
practice and commitment from the rest of the population.
12
1469
Marriage of Isabella, half-sister and heiress of Henry IV, to Ferdinand, heir of the
king of Aragon.
13
1474
ISABELLA succeeded to the Castilian throne. Isabella's succession was challenged by
the daughter of Henry IV, supported by Afonso V of Portugal. But the cortes of Segovia
(1475) recognized Isabella and Ferdinand and the latter defeated the Portuguese in 1476
(Battle of Toro).
14
1479
FERDINAND (FERNANDO) succeeded to the rule of Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia. A
form of dyarchical government was set up for the united Castilian and Aragonese
crowns. Rule of the Catholic kings (Ferdinand and Isabella). Restoration of the royal
power in Castile: by revising the town charters, the towns were made centers of
resistance to feudal aggression; formation of the Santa Hermandad, a union of
Castilian towns in the interest of royal authority and order. The great feudal magnates
were deprived of many of their possessions and rights, and a royal administration was
gradually established. The Libro de Montalvo (1485), an early codification of Spanish
law.
15
Christian resentment of the important economic and ecclesiastical positions attained by
former Jews (See 1479–1516) led to the spread of two ideas: that leadership in Iberian
society required “purity of blood,” and that many new Christians were crypto-Jews
(Marranos), secretly practicing their old religion. On Nov. 1, 1478, at the request of
King Ferdinand (who himself had a Jewish grandmother), Pope Sixtus approved the
establishment of the Inquisition in Spain. It became an instrument for centralizing royal
power against the nobility, of whom the converted Jewish elite was a sizable minority
(perhaps one third). Converted (from Judaism) bishops played a prominent role in the
early work of the Inquisition.
16
1492, Jan
Granada fell to a Christian army, marking the end of the reconquest of Spain from the
Muslims. On March 31, 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella issued an edict from Granada
giving the Jews until July 31 to choose between accepting baptism or leaving the
country. About 40,000, perhaps half the practicing Jews, left the country for Portugal,
Venice, Rome, or Ottoman Turkey.
17
Art and literature. Castilian painting showed the influence of the school of Giotto
(after c. 1380), and in the 15th century painting came under Flemish inspiration (visit of
Jan van Eyck, 1428–29). In general, literature and learning followed the same foreign
tendencies as architecture and painting: French influence came in early, followed later
by Italian and English (notably Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Gower). Introduction of
printing at Valencia (c. 1474) and in Castile (c. 1475).
18
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(See 1305–14)
e. The Papacy and Italy
1. The Papacy
For a complete list of the Roman popes, see Appendix IV.
1
1308
Clement V (1304–14), who had been residing in France, made the decision to settle at
Avignon, in southeast France on the Rhône River. Although technically not in French
territory—it belonged to the Angevin princes of Naples—French influence was very
strong. The actual move of the papal court occurred the following year.
2
1309–78
The Avignonese papacy. The seven popes of Avignon, all French (as were 113 of the
134 cardinals appointed during this period), removed themselves from Rome, the
spiritual center of the West, and devoted their attentions to the reform of the papal
bureaucracy and to the construction of the beautiful Gothic papal palace rather than to
the spiritual problems of the Church and the political difficulties of Rome and Italy. The
term “Babylonian captivity,” sometimes used for the same period, represents a
conflation of the ideas of the 14th-century Florentine poet Francesco Petrarch and the
16th-century German reformer Martin Luther. Petrarch's career in the service of Clement
VI provoked Italian resentment of the French dominance at the papal curia and hostility
toward the fiscal and moral vices of the city and court. His sense of exile led him to
quote the beginning of Psalm 137: “By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept,” the
3
Rhône being the river of the new Babylon. Martin Luther used the term Babylonian
captivity to refer to the entire period of medieval Christianity, when (he believed) the
doctrine of salvation by works predominated. The term became a Protestant image
implying fiscal and moral corruption and should be avoided by those who do not want to
imply a Protestant continuation of medieval Christianity.
1310–13
Expedition of the Emperor Henry VII to Italy (See 1310–13). Henry asserted his
independence of the spiritual power and claimed control of Italy. Clement V and Philip
IV (opposed to him as a rival of the Angevins) combined against him.
4
1316–34
JOHN XXII, who supported the Angevins in Naples. His attempt to decide the validity
of Emperor Louis IV's title led to a long struggle (1323–47). Louis was supported by the
German people, who resented the Avignonese papacy, and by the Franciscans. John was
unable to return to Italy because of the continued anarchy.
5
1342–52
CLEMENT VI’s pontificate was marked by a revolution.
6
1347
Revolution of Cola di Rienzi at Rome. With the support of the populace, Cola
overthrew the rule of the patricians, set himself up as tribune of the people, and
summoned an Italian national parliament. Expelled by his opponents (1348), he returned
in 1352 and was appointed senator by the pope (1354), but was in the same year slain by
his baronial opponents. The lords of the Papal States resumed control and were, for all
intents and purposes, independent of papal authority. Cola is considered a forerunner of
Italian nationalism.
1352–62
7
INNOCENT VI. He sent the Spanish cardinal Albornoz to Italy, and the latter
succeeded in reducing the powerful barons to obedience, thus making possible an
eventual return of the pope.
8
Reform of the Curia during the Avignon period. General work of centralization and
departmentalization: (1) the camera apostolica; (2) the chancery; (3) justice; (4) the
penitentiary (dispensations). The loss of Italian revenues forced the popes to be more
exacting in the levying of their spiritual income; thus the centralization of the papal curia
put many clerical appointments under direct papal control through an extension of the
papal rights of provision (appointment to benefices). The new efficiency in the levying
and collection of taxes, combined with the appointment of Italians to offices in northern
Europe, increased resentment, especially in England and the German Empire after the
outbreak of the Hundred Years' War. Significant items of the budget of John XXII: war,
63.7 percent; upkeep and entertainment, 12.7 percent; alms, 7.16 percent; stables, 0.4
percent; art, 0.33 percent; library, 0.17 percent.
9
Vying with the growing magnificence of the monarchies of Europe, the Avignonese
popes and cardinals became known for their pomp and luxury, and these tendencies
spread to the episcopate, despite the thundering of the Franciscans and the decrees of
local synods. The insubordination of outraged reformers, like the Bohemian preachers
and Wiclif, soon penetrated to the masses.
10
Virtually every pope (notably Clement V and John XXII) made serious and honest
efforts to combat these alarming developments, but the general anarchy in Europe made
success impossible. There was a notable expansion of missions to East Asia: China (an
archbishop and ten suffragans, 1312; 50 Franciscan houses, 1314; missions to Persia).
Rome, the ancient spiritual center of the West, was reduced to an anarchic, povertystricken, provincial city, and clamored for the return of the popes.
11
1376, June 18
Visit of Catherine of Siena (1347–80) to Avignon. Caterina Beninsara, who cultivated
piety and claimed from childhood to have received visions, joined the Dominican Third
Order in 1363 and, with a group of followers, traveled through Italy preaching reform
and ministering in hospitals and leper houses. Her reputation as a mystic and a miracle
worker propelled her into a public role: anxious to see the papacy returned to Rome, she
went to Avignon to urge Gregory IX to return; public opinion credited her influence as
having been decisive. Catherine later supported Urban VI against the Avignonese
antipope, and she died in Urban's service. Her 350 letters and mystical compositions,
dictated because of her own illiteracy, survive. Canonized (1461) by the Sienese Pope
Pius II, she is revered as one of the patron saints of Italy.
12
1370–78
GREGORY XI visited Rome and died before he could leave. The conclave, under
threat of personal violence from the Roman mob, yielded to demands for an Italian pope.
13
1378–89
URBAN VI was elected. His worthy goals of reform were soon vitiated by his tactless
and ill-tempered manner.
14
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(See 1263) (See 1268)
f. The Holy Roman Empire
THE HOUSE OF HABSBURG (1273-1519)
1273
The election fell to Rudolf of Habsburg (b. 1218), who ranked as a prince and wished
to restore and retain in his family the duchy of Swabia. The Habsburgs or Hapsburgs
(from Habichts-Burg, or Hawk-Castle; 10th century) of the district of Brugg (junction of
the Aar and Reuss) had steadily expanded their lands in the Breisgau, Alsace, and
Switzerland, emerging as one of the leading families of Swabia.
1
1273–91
RUDOLF I. Indifferent to the Roman tradition, he concentrated on the advancement of
his dynasty, and founded the power of the Habsburgs on territorial expansion of the
family holdings and dynastic marriages. Edicts for the abolition of private war and
support of local peace compacts (Landfrieden).
2
1276–78
Struggle with Ottokar, king of Bohemia, over the usurped imperial fiefs of Austria,
Styria, Carinthia, Carniola. Rudolf expelled Ottokar from Austria by force (1276), but
allowed him to retain Bohemia and Moravia (after homage) as a buffer against Slavdom.
3
Ottokar was ultimately defeated and killed (Aug. 26, 1278, Battle of the Marchfeld);
investiture of Rudolf's sons with the imperial fiefs of Austria, Styria, and Carniola
(1282) established the Habsburgs on the Danube.
Rudolf yielded the last remnants of Frederick II's great imperial fabric: confirmation of
papal rights in Italy and Angevin rights in southern Italy (1275); renunciation of all
imperial claims to the Papal States and Sicily (1279).
4
1291
Alarmed at the rapid rise of the Habsburgs to first rank, the electors passed over Rudolf's
son, choosing instead Adolf of Nassau, in return for substantial considerations.
5
1291
Revolt of the three Forest Cantons, Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, and formation of a
(Swiss) confederacy (See The Swiss Confederation).
6
1292–98
ADOLF, a strong imperialist. He supported the towns and lesser nobles and entered into
alliance with Edward I of England against Philip IV; the alliance came to nothing, as the
German princes were indifferent. The princes, alarmed at Adolf's advance in Meissen
and Thuringia, deposed him (1298), electing Rudolf's rejected son.
7
1298–1308
ALBERT (ALBRECHT) I, son of Rudolf. Firm reduction of the ecclesiastical electoral
princes (aid of the French and the towns); double dynastic marriage with the Capetians;
acquisition of the crown of Bohemia (on the extinction of the Premyslids, 1306); Albert
supported the Angevin Carobert's acquisition of Hungary; the Rhineland was filled with
Francophile clerical appointees of the pope, and the election of 1308 was dominated by
French influence. Charles of Valois procured the election of Henry of Luxemburg.
1308–13
8
HENRY VII (Luxemburg), a Francophile and bent on restoring the empire. The
marriage of his son John to the sister of King Wenceslas of Bohemia brought the throne
of Bohemia to the house of Luxemburg (1311–1489).
9
1310–13
Expedition to Italy at the urging of Pope Clement V and the Ghibellines; order restored
and Milan, Cremona, Rome reduced; imperial coronation (1312); alliance of the pope
and King Philip IV of France to save Naples from Henry.
10
1314–47
LOUIS IV (Wittelsbach). A Habsburg antiking, Frederick the Handsome, and civil
war (until 1325). Bitter papal opposition (1323–47, refusal of confirmation of Louis's
title to the empire); Louis, backed by the German people, against the Avignonese pope.
Violent war of propaganda: Marsiglio of Padua (Defensor Pacis, 1324) and William of
Occam, defending the imperial position, gave wide currency to conciliar ideas; Dante's
De Monarchia.
11
1327–30
Louis's futile expedition to Italy and “lay” coronation (1328); his demand for a general
council welcomed by the Italian Ghibellines.
12
Effort to give the German monarchy a formal constitution.
13
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(See 1286–1319)
g. Scandinavia
SCANDINAVIAN RULERS (1263-1533)
1. Denmark
The active and on the whole successful reign of Eric Menved (1286–1319) was
followed in Denmark by a period of weakness and decline, marked by the ascendancy of
the nobility and the constant advance of German influence.
1
1320–32
CHRISTOPHER II, elected king after a capitulation, the first in Danish history,
limiting the royal power in the interest of the nobility and clergy. The towns of the
Hanseatic League, having acquired a monopoly of trade in Denmark, soon became
dominant in Danish politics.
2
1332–40
A period of complete anarchy. Christopher was driven from the throne by Gerhard,
count of Holstein, who parceled out the territories of the crown, established German
nobles in all the important fortresses, and gave the German traders full rein. Gerhard was
murdered in 1340.
3
1340–75
WALDEMAR IV, the youngest son of Christopher and one of the greatest Danish
kings. At home he did his utmost to break the German influence and to restrict the power
of the nobility and the clergy. The Church was subordinated to the royal power and the
nobles and towns obliged to perform their military obligations. Abroad, Waldemar
devoted himself to the reconquest of the territories lost by his father. In wars with
Sweden, Holstein, and Schleswig he regained Zeeland (1346), most of Fünen and
Jutland (1348), and Scandinavia (1360). His seizure of Gothland (1361) brought him
into direct conflict with the powerful Hansa towns, which were supported by Sweden.
4
1361–63
First war against the Hansa. Copenhagen was sacked, but Waldemar defeated the
Hansa fleets at Helsingborg (1362) and forced the Hansa to accept peace (1363), which
greatly curtailed their privileges.
5
1368
A revolt against heavy taxation led to Waldemar's flight. His return (1370) was
purchased by tremendous concessions.
6
1368–70
Meanwhile the second war with the Hansa had broken out. The German towns were
supported by Sweden, Norway, Holstein, Mecklenburg, and even by some of the Danish
nobles.
7
1370
Waldemar, badly defeated, was obliged to accept the Peace of Stralsund, renewing the
privileges of the German Hansa, turning over the larger part of the revenues of four
places, and accepting interference in the royal succession. This treaty marked the
ascendency of the Hansa in the Baltic.
8
1376–87
Olaf, grandson of Waldemar, who, until his death, ruled with his mother, Margaret, as
regent.
9
1387–1412
MARGARET, mother of Olaf, was queen, ruling, at the same time, Norway and
Sweden and thus uniting Scandinavia. (See Scandinavia)
10
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(See 1300–1305)
7. Eastern Europe, 1300–1500
a. Poland
The history of Poland in this period is concerned chiefly with the efforts of the kings to
reunite the various duchies and to establish the royal power. This policy was opposed,
with success, by the nobility, which managed to extract countless privileges and to erect
a type of oligarchical government. Externally the Poles were involved in a long struggle
with the Teutonic Knights, designed to secure an outlet to the Baltic.
1
1305–33
VLADISLAV IV (Lokietek), under whom Poland regained its independence after a
brief period of Bohemian domination. Vladislav was obliged to continue the struggle
against Bohemia, and was not crowned until 1320. For protection he concluded dynastic
alliances with Hungary (his daughter married Charles Robert of Anjou) and Lithuania
(his son Casimir married the daughter of Gediminas). He did much to reunite the various
duchies and established a new capital at Kraków. But he failed to secure Pomerania,
which in 1309 passed from Brandenburg to the Teutonic Order. A papal decision in 1321
awarded the region to Poland, but the Knights ignored the order and continued their
raids into Polish territory (1326–33).
2
1333–70
CASIMIR III (the Great). He introduced an improved administration, reduced the
influence of the German town law (a new law code published), developed national
defense, and promoted trade and industry (extensive privileges to the Jews, 1334). In
1364 he founded a school at Kraków, which became a university in 1400 and the chief
intellectual center of eastern Europe. Here Johannes Dlugosz (1415–80) wrote the first
3
critical history of the country. There was a printing press in Kraków as early as 1474.
In foreign affairs, Casimir abandoned claims to Silesia and Pomerania, turning his
attention toward the southeast, where dynastic problems in the Ukraine called forth a
rivalry between Poles, Lithuanians, and Hungarians. In an agreement with Hungary
(1339), Casimir, who had no direct heir, promised that on his death the Polish crown
would pass to Louis, the son of Charles Robert of Hungary. Louis was to reconquer the
lost territories and to respect the privileges of the Polish nobility. This marks the
beginning of the elective system, which gave the magnates an unequaled opportunity for
extracting further rights (first real diet—colloquia—in 1367). In 1340 Casimir seized
Halicz, Lemberg, and Volhynia. War ensued with Lithuania over Volhynia, and
ultimately the Poles retained only the western part (1366).
4
1370–82
LOUIS (of Anjou). He paid but little attention to Poland, which he governed through
regents. To secure the succession to his daughter Maria (married to Sigismund, son of
Emperor Charles IV), he granted to the nobility the Charter of Koszyce (Kaschau), the
basis for far-reaching privileges.
5
1382–84
Opposition to Sigismund led to the formation of the confederation of Radom and civil
war between the factions of the nobility.
6
1384–99
JADWIGA (Hedwig), a daughter of Louis, was elected queen.
7
1386
Marriage of Jadwiga to Jogaila (Jagiello), grand duke of Lithuania, who promised to
become a Christian and to unite his duchy (three times the size of Poland) with the
Polish crown. As a matter of fact, though the marriage prepared the way for union, he
was obliged to recognize his cousin Vytautas (Witold) as grand duke of Lithuania, and
the connection continued to be tenuous.
8
1386–1434
JAGIELLO (title Vladislav V). He had great difficulty in keeping his fractious nobility
in order and in 1433 was obliged to grant the Charter of Kraków, reaffirming and
extending their privileges.
9
1410, July 15
Battle of Tannenberg (Grünwald), a great victory for the Poles, who used Bohemian
mercenaries under John Ziska and were supported by the Russians and even the Tatars,
against the Teutonic Knights. However, Jagiello was unable to keep his vassals in order.
10
1411, Feb. 1
As a result, Jagiello concluded the first Peace of Thorn, which failed to secure for the
Poles an access to the Baltic.
11
1434–44
VLADISLAV VI, son of Jagiello, succeeded to the throne. Since he was only ten years
old, the country was ruled by a regency. Vladislav's brother, Casimir, was offered the
Bohemian throne by the Hussites (1438); Vladislav himself became king of Hungary
(1440). Thenceforth he devoted himself to Hungarian affairs, leaving Poland in the
hands of the magnates. Vladislav lost his life in 1444 at the Battle of Varna (See 1444,
Nov. 10) against the Ottomans.
12
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b. Lithuania
RULERS OF HUNGARY, POLAND, AND LITHUANIA (1205-1492)
Of the early history of Lithuania little is known. The numerous heathen tribes were first
brought to some degree of unity by the threat of the Teutonic Knights (after 1230).
1
c. 1240–63
Mindaugas, one of the Lithuanian chieftains, to deprive the Knights of their crusading
purpose, accepted Christianity and was given a crown by Pope Innocent IV. He later
broke with the Teutonic Order (1260) and relapsed into paganism. He was killed by one
of his competitors.
2
1293–1316
Vytenis reestablished a Lithuanian state.
3
1316–41
Gediminas, the real founder of Lithuania. Blocked by the Germans on the Baltic, he took
advantage of the weakness of the Ukrainian, Belorussian, and Russian principalities to
extend his control to the east and south (acquisition of Polotsk, Minsk, and the middle
Dnieper region). Vilna became the capital of the new state.
4
1341–77
Algirdas, the son of Gediminas, was the ablest of the dynasty. Defeated by the Knights
(1360), he too turned eastward. Siding with Tver in the dynastic conflicts of Russia, he
advanced several times to the very outskirts of Moscow. During his reign the domain of
Lithuania was extended as far as the Black Sea, where Algirdas defeated the Tatars
(1368).
5
1350
The bubonic plague (Black Death) swept through the Baltic region.
6
1377–1434
JOGAILA (Jagiello), the son of Algirdas, married Jadwiga of Poland (1386) and
established the first union of Lithuania and Poland under one king. As a result,
Lithuania was converted to Roman Catholicism. However, the Polish and the Lithuanian
aristocratic assemblies were preserved as separate bodies, while pagan traditions proved
to be much stronger among the Lithuanians than among most of their neighbors. At the
same time, Lithuanian society was somewhat less male-dominated: when she married, the
woman did not lose all relations with her family, and she enjoyed the protection both of
her own family and of her husband's; only the husband could ask for divorce but, on the
other hand, one third of his property was to serve as a guarantee of his own fidelity.
7
1398
Jagiello was obliged to recognize his cousin, Vytautas (Witold) as grand duke of
Lithuania. Vytautas hoped to reestablish the independence of the country from Poland,
but his failure in a crusade against the Tatars greatly weakened him.
8
1447
Casimir IV of Poland, having been grand duke of Lithuania before his accession, once
again united the grand duchy and the Polish kingdom. (See Poland-Lithuania)
9
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(See 1263)
c. Russia
EASTERN EUROPE C. 1430 (MAP)
GRAND PRINCES OF MOSCOW (1176-1505)
The period following the death of Alexander Nevski (1263) was marked by the
continued and repeated disruption of the Russian lands, due to the complicated and
unfortunate system of succession in the princely family. Russia was under the
suzerainty of the Tatars (Mongols), who played off one candidate against another, thus
increasing the confusion and perpetuating the weakness of the country. The gradual rise
of Moscow to prominence among the Russian principalities resulted, among other
things, from a skillful policy of colonization and of loyalty to the Tatars. The Tatars
often responded by supporting the Muscovite rulers against their neighbors, while nobles
and peasants from the other Russian principalities were attracted by the abundance of
land in a sparsely populated region. The princes of Moscow provided the nobles with
land and peasants in exchange for military and administrative services, but the bulk of
the peasants remained on state land (land owned directly by the prince). Moreover, the
peasants were organized in village communes, and they redistributed their holdings
periodically among themselves, while the nobles, unlike their counterparts in western
Europe, did not have alodial estates into which to consolidate their tenures. Thus the
princes of Moscow were able to restrict ever more successfully the influence of the
nobility, despite some violent reactions to that policy.
1
1328–40
IVAN I KALITA (Moneybag), grand prince of Moscow. His was the first of a series of
noteworthy reigns. Extremely cautious and parsimonious, Ivan bought immunity from
Tatar interference and was ultimately entrusted by the Tatars with the collection of
tribute from the other princes.
2
1340–53
Simeon I continued the policy of his predecessor and was placed, by the Tatar overlord,
above all the other princes.
3
1350
The second cycle of plague epidemics spread to Russia.
4
1359–89
DMITRI DONSKOI (of the Don), who ascended to the princely throne at the age of
nine. His reign was filled with a struggle against Michael of Tver, his chief rival, who
was supported by Algirdas of Lithuania. At the same time, he began the conflict with the
Tatars, whose power was fading but who also enjoyed the support of Lithuania.
5
1380, Sept. 8
The Battle of Kulikovo. Dmitri completely defeated the Tatar armies before the
Lithuanians arrived. The victory was in no sense decisive, for the Tatars on several
occasions thereafter advanced to the very gates of Moscow. But Kulikovo broke the
prestige of the Tatar arms.
6
1389–1425
Basil I (Vasili). He annexed Nizhni-Novgorod and continued the struggle with the
Tatars and the Lithuanians, without forcing a decision.
7
1425–62
Basil II, whose reign was distinguished by a relapse into anarchy. A long civil war with
his rivals, Yuri and Shemyaka, was followed by Tatar invasion (1451, the Tatars beaten
back from Moscow). Nevertheless the Moscow principality managed to maintain itself.
In 1439 Basil refused to accept the union of the eastern and western churches, arranged
for at the council of Florence. Thenceforth the Russian metropolitan, who had moved to
Moscow in the time of Ivan Kalita, became more and more the head of an independent
Russian Church.
8
1462–1505
IVAN III (the Great). Through a cautious but persistent policy, he annexed most of the
rival principalities and, after a series of wars, subjected Novgorod, where the patrician
elements tended to side with Lithuania. In 1471 Novgorod was obliged to renounce the
alliance of Lithuania and to pay tribute. After a second war, in 1478, Novgorod's
independence was ended and the troublesome upper classes were deported to central
Russia. In 1494 Ivan drove out the German merchants and closed the Hanseatic trading
station. Thus he acquired the huge territory of Novgorod, extending eastward to the
Urals. The annexation of Tver (1485) put an end to the most formidable rival of
Moscow.
9
1472
Marriage of Ivan with Zoë (Sophia), niece of the last Greek emperor of
Constantinople. This was arranged by the pope, in the hope of bringing the Russians into
the Roman Church, but all efforts in that direction failed. It also served to introduce into
Moscow the Byzantine conception of the autocrat (Ivan took the title of tsar—i.e.,
caesar) and the practice of Byzantine court ceremonial.
10
1480
Ivan threw off the Tatar yoke after a last Tatar advance on Moscow. Ivan avoided open
warfare but took advantage of the Tatars' disunion. Mengli Girai, the khan of the
Crimea, joined him against the Lithuanians.
11
1475–95
Rebuilding of the Kremlin (Russian for “citadel”), including the present wall, 7,200 feet
(2,195 meters) long, and the Uspenski (Assumption) Cathedral, which was the work of
the Italian architect Aristotele Fioravanti. The Kremlin was to be the residence of
Russia's monarchs until the 18th century. The Granovitaya Palace (Hall of Facets), also
built in the 15th century, served as an audience chamber.
12
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(See 1290–1301)
d. Hungary
At the beginning of the 14th century, Hungary was already an essentially feudal country,
in which the great magnates and the bishops, richly endowed with land, ruled as virtually
independent potentates (“little kings”), while the lower nobility, organized in the
Comitats (provincial governments), had, to a large degree, control of the administration.
The nobility, freed of taxation, was responsible for defense, but acted only as it saw fit.
1
1301–8
The extinction of the Arpad dynasty led to a period of conflict, during which Czech,
German, and Italian parties each attempted to put their candidates on the throne.
Wenceslas (Vaclav), son of the king of Bohemia, 13 years old, was first elevated, but
could not maintain himself, nor could Otto of Bavaria.
2
1310–42
CHARLES I (Charles Robert of Anjou), a grandson of Maria, the daughter of Stephen
V, was elected and founded the brilliant and successful Anjou line. Charles established
his capital at Visegrad and introduced Italian chivalry and Western influences. After 15
years of effort, he succeeded in subduing the “little kings,” of whom Matthias of Csak
and Ladislas of Transylvania were the most powerful. Recognizing the hopelessness of
suppressing the nobility entirely, he regulated its position and obliged it to furnish
specified contingents to the army. Regulation of taxation (first direct tax);
encouragement of towns and trade.
1342–82
3
LOUIS (Lajos the Great), the son of Charles, a patron of learning who established a
brilliant court at Buda. He attempted to solidify the position of his house in Naples and
embarked on a successful expedition to Italy to avenge the murder of his brother Andrew
(1347). In conjunction with Genoa, he carried on a long struggle with Venice, which
ended in the Peace of 1381: Venice ceded Dalmatia and paid tribute. In the east the
Hungarian power made itself felt throughout the Balkans: Serbia, Wallachia, and
Moldova recognized the suzerainty of Louis; foundation of the border districts (banats)
south of the Danube and the Sava, as protection against the Turkish advance.
4
1370
Louis became king of Poland but paid little attention to his new obligations. In Hungary
he continued the work of his father: the jus aviticum (1351) restricted the freedom of the
great magnates to dispose of their property.
5
1382–85
Maria of Anjou, queen. She was married to Sigismund of Luxemburg, who became
guardian of the kingdom. His position was challenged by Charles of Durazzo and
Naples, who had many adherents, especially in southern Hungary and Croatia.
6
1385–86
Charles II (of Naples). He was assassinated after a very brief reign, which led to a new
revolt in Croatia.
7
1387–1437
SIGISMUND (of Luxemburg), who became German emperor in 1410 and king of
Bohemia in 1436. His reign marked a great decline in the royal power, due to his
constant absence from the country and his practice of selling royal domains to get money
for his far-reaching schemes elsewhere. In general Sigismund relied on the towns and
lesser nobility against the great magnates. Hence the grant of ever greater rights to the
smaller nobles.
8
1396
The disastrous battle of Nicopolis against the Turks (See 1396). Loss of Dalmatia to the
Venetians. Hussite invasions of Hungary, resulting from Sigismund's attempts to gain
the Bohemian throne.
9
1437–39
Albert (Albrecht) of Habsburg, son-in-law of Sigismund, also German emperor and
king of Bohemia. He was obliged to sign far-reaching capitulations (nobles not obliged
to fight beyond the frontiers).
10
1437
First victory of John Hunyadi over the Turks. Hunyadi was a powerful frontier lord
and patriot.
11
1440–44
Vladislav (Vlászló) I (Vladislav VI of Poland), a weak ruler whose reign was
distinguished chiefly by the continued victories of Hunyadi (1443). Crusade against the
Ottomans (See 1438–44).
12
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(See 1254)
e. The Serbian States
By the end of the 13th century, the Serbian states, like others of eastern Europe, had
evolved a strong lay and clerical aristocracy, which, to a large extent, controlled even the
more outstanding rulers. In view of the general uncertainty of the law regarding
succession and inheritance, the tendency toward dynastic conflict and territorial
disruption was very pronounced. In the western Balkans the situation was further
complicated by the rivalry of the western and eastern forms of Christianity, and by the
persistence of the heretical Bogomil teaching, especially in Bosnia.
1
1281–1321
Milyutin (Stephen Urosh II), the brother of Dragutin. He was a pious and yet dissolute
ruler, but above all a political and religious opportunist. Taking full advantage of the
growing weakness of the Byzantine Empire, he gradually extended his possessions in
Macedonia, along the Adriatic, and, in the north, toward the Danube and the Save.
2
1321–31
Stephen Dechanski (Stephen Urosh III), the illegitimate son of the preceding. His reign
was marked chiefly by the great victory of the Serbs over the Greeks and Bulgarians
near Küstendil (Velbûzhd) in 1330. The Serbs now held most of the Vardar Valley. A
nephew of Milyutin was imposed on the Bulgarian throne, and from 1330 to 1331
Bulgaria was under Serbian suzerainty.
1331–55
3
STEPHEN DUSHAN (Stephen Urosh IV), the ablest of the Serbian rulers in the Middle
Ages. Dushan began his career by deposing his father, who was then strangled. For most
of his reign he attempted to maintain friendly relations with Hungary and Ragusa
(Dubrovnik), in order to have a free hand to exploit the dynastic war in the Byzantine
Empire between the Palaeologi and John Cantacuzene. By 1344 he had subjected all of
Macedonia, Albania, Thessaly, and Epirus.
4
1346
Dushan set up his capital at Skopye and proclaimed himself emperor (tsar) of the Serbs,
Greeks, Bulgars, and Albanians. At the same time, he set up a Serbian patriarchate at Pe
5
(Ipek), for which he was anathematized by the Greek patriarch. Dushan established
a court wholly Byzantine in character. In the years 1349–54 he drew up a law code
(Zabonnik).
1353
Dushan defeated Louis of Hungary, who had been urged by the pope to lead a Catholic
crusade. The Serbs acquired Belgrade.
6
1355
Dushan died at the age of 46, en route to Constantinople. Thus perished his hope of
succeeding to the imperial throne and consolidating the Balkans in the face of the
growing power of the Ottoman Turks (See 1354).
7
1355–71
Stephen Urosh V, a weak ruler who was faced from the outset by the disruptive
ambitions of his uncle Simeon and other powerful magnates. He was the last of the
Nemanyid house.
1358
8
Hungary obtained most of Dalmatia, after defeating Venice. Ragusa (Dubrovnik)
became a Hungarian protectorate.
9
1371
Battle of the Maritza River, in which the Turks, having settled in Thrace, defeated a
combination of Serbian lords.
10
1371
Zeta (Montenegro) became a separate principality under the Balsha family (until 1421).
11
1375
The Greek patriarch finally recognized the patriarchate of Pe
12
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(See 1261)
f. The Byzantine Empire
THE PALEOLOGUS FAMILY (1260-1453)
After the recapture of Constantinople by the Greeks in 1261, the empire of the
Paleologi was still a relatively small domain, consisting of the former Nicaean Empire,
the city of Constantinople and its immediate surroundings, the coastal part of Thrace,
Salonika (Thessalonica), and southern Macedonia with the islands of Imbros,
Samothrace, Lesbos, and Rhodes. The northeastern part of Anatolia was still held by the
Greek empire of Trebizond, which, in the course of the 13th century, had managed to
hold a balance between the Seljuk Turks and the Mongols and had become the great
entrepôt of the eastern trade coming to the Black Sea by way of Persia and Armenia. The
city and the court reached their highest prosperity and brilliance under the Emperor
Alexius II (1297–1330), whose reign was followed by a period of dynastic and factional
struggle. The reign of John Alexius III (1350–90) marked a second period of splendor,
but the 15th century was one of decline. The empire of Trebizond ended with the
Ottoman conquest in 1461 (last ruler, David, 1458–61).
1
The European territories of the earlier empire were divided between the Greek despotate
of Epirus and the Greek duchy of Neopatras (Thessaly, Locris), the Latin duchy of
Athens, the Latin principality of Achaea, and the Venetian duchy of the Archipelago.
2
1259–82
MICHAEL VIII (Paleologus). He was the ablest of the Paleologi, a man who devoted
himself to the restoration of Byzantine authority throughout the Balkan area, persisting
despite many setbacks.
3
1261
Michael established a foothold in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese (Morea).
Mistra (Misithra) became the capital of a flourishing principality and one of the great
centers of late-Byzantine culture.
4
1262
Michael II of Epirus was forced to recognize the suzerainty of the Constantinople
emperor. In a series of campaigns, much of the despotate was regained for the empire
(Janina taken, 1265).
5
1264–65
Constant raids of the Bulgars into Thrace led to a formidable campaign against them and
the reconquest of part of Macedonia.
6
1266
Charles of Anjou became king of Sicily. He made an alliance with Baldwin II, the last
Latin emperor, and, through the marriage of his son with the heiress of the
Villehardouins, extended his authority over Achaea. He soon became the most
formidable opponent of the Greeks, for by the Treaty of Viterbo (1267), he took over
the claims of Baldwin II.
7
1271
Death of Michael II of Epirus. Charles of Anjou had already taken Corfu (1267) and
now undertook the conquest of the Epiran coast, the essential base for any advance on
Thessalonica and Constantinople. Durazzo was taken in 1272. John Angelus, driven out
of Epirus, set up as lord of Neopatras (to 1295). Nicephorus I was the titular ruler of a
much-reduced Epiran state (to 1296). Charles of Anjou proclaimed himself king of
Albania and entered into alliance with the Serbs, who had begun the construction of a
large state by advancing down the Vardar Valley.
8
1274
The Council of Lyons. Michael, to escape from the Angevin danger, accepted the
Roman creed and the primacy of the pope, thus effecting the reunion with Rome. This
purely political move met with vigorous resistance on the part of the Orthodox Greeks.
9
1274
Campaigns of Michael against the Angevins in Epirus had varying success.
10
1278
The death of William of Villehardouin, prince of Achaea, gave the Greeks an
opportunity to expand their holding in the southeastern part.
11
1281
Michael VIII won a great victory over the Angevins at Berat. Thereupon Charles made
an alliance with the papacy and with Venice, with which the Serbs and Bulgars were
associated. Michael, in reply, effected a rapprochement with Peter of Aragon.
12
1282
The Sicilian Vespers (See 1268–85) served to relieve the pressure on the Greek Empire.
13
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(See The End of Prehistory (1500 C.E. to Modern Times))
G. The Americas, 1000–1525
1. Pre-Columbian South and Central America and the Caribbean,
1200–1530
The aborigines of America developed social organizations that ranged from stateless
tribes to kingdoms and imperial states. Many groups remained simple hunters and
gatherers, while others built complex agricultural systems. Iron was unknown, as was
the utilitarian application of the wheel. Estimates of pre-Columbian populations are
highly debatable. Especially controversial are estimates that assess population at the
time of the European invasion, since they have been used politically to justify or to
condemn Spanish and Portuguese conquest.
1
The Mexica (Aztecs) were originally a minor tribe of the greater Nahua group. After the
disintegration of the Toltec domination of the valley of Mexico (about 1200 C.E.), the
Acolhua confederation and the Tepaneca confederation struggled for hegemony in the
region. With help from the Mexica, the Tepanecas defeated the Acolhuas in 1370. The
Mexica founded Tenochtitlán on an island in the lake of Texcoco during the first half of
the 14th century. They organized a monarchical system, with a prince of Toltec ancestry
as king, or tatloani. Owing to their military prowess, the Mexica gained political
importance and formed the Triple Alliance with the chiefs of Tacuba and Texcoco,
which defeated the Tepanecas (1426–28).
2
The Mexica promoted regional innovations in astronomy, agriculture, architecture,
jewelry, and picture writing. Their basic social organization was the calpulli, a kinship
group with access to land and resources to be distributed among its members. Each
calpulli had its own school, temple, and company of warriors. The calpulli was
internally stratified: the majority of members of the calpulli were peasants and workers
(macehualtin), who toiled on the land and manufactured products. Slavery developed
when impoverished commoners sold themselves to wealthier persons. The slaves could
buy their freedom, but as the practice of human sacrifice expanded, the enslaved
condition became more precarious. An elected chief governed the calpulli with the help
of a council of elders. Warriors received prizes, and tributes were paid directly to them
3
by defeated populations, who became serfs (mayeque). With the consolidation of Mexica
dominance, a military aristocracy displaced the traditional hierarchy in the calpulli. The
merchant class (popochca) also extended its influence. After the defeat of the Tepanecas,
a council of four lords monopolized the election of the king.
Mexica religion was polytheistic. With the increasing role of war and warriors in
society, the state promoted the cult of Huitzilopochtli, a war god. His worship led to
the practice of human sacrifice and ritual cannibalism on an unprecedented scale for the
area.
4
War allowed the Mexicas to capture victims for sacrifices, and to compel defeated
populations to pay them tribute. As the population of Tenochtitlán grew, problems of
supply and famine developed. Mexica rulers pressured conquered populations to provide
more resources, and there were constant rebellions against Mexica exactions. The
Tlaxcalans and the Tarascans, the inhabitants of Oaxaca and Yopitzingo (in present
Guerrero), maintained their independence from the Mexica. Moctezuma II (1503–19)
tried to conquer these independent peoples, to consolidate the Mexica state. He
centralized power in Tenochtitlán, which alienated the support of Texcoco. His attempts
to limit access to the ranks of the nobility caused dissatisfaction among upwardly mobile
merchants and bureaucrats. Estimated population at the eve of the conquest was 9
million.
5
The Mayas were established in the Yucatán Peninsula, Tabasco, and Chiapas; in
northern, central, and eastern Guatemala; and in western Honduras (See Teotihuacán).
Between 200 and 950 C.E., religious centers of considerable importance developed
(including Tikal, Copán, Nakum, Palenque, Uxmal). Supported by masses of
agriculturalists, a class of priests and warriors developed the arts, architecture,
mathematics, engineering, and astronomy. They formulated the conception of zero, a
vigesimal numerical system, and a calendar more accurate than the Julian. Picture
writing was employed in codices formed for religious and astronomical purposes. The
Mayas preserved orally a body of traditions, history, and religious prophecies.
6
During the 9th century, many Mayan centers went into irreversible decline. Around
925, invaders from Mexico took control of Mayan lands and brought with them Toltec
influence. They promoted the cult of their mythic ancestor Kukulcán, or Quetzalcoatl
(the feathered serpent). Chichén Itzá became the most important center of power. In
1200, however, the league of Mayapán became hegemonic in the Yucatán, and the
Quiché chief gained power in Guatemala. About 1450, extensive warfare destroyed the
predominance of Mayapán and the Quiché, and small chieftainships emerged as the main
political units for the Mayas. The estimated population in the Yucatán was 400,000 to
500,000 at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards.
7
In the circum-Caribbean, the Muiscas (Chibchas), the Taironas, and the Cenú were
the predominant chiefdoms before the European invasion. They developed a longdistance system for the exchange of sumptuary goods of religious character, such as
8
emeralds, gold jewelry, fine textiles, and fine seashells, as well as war slaves. The
populations were mostly of agriculturalists organized into kinship groups, who paid
tribute and worked their lords' lands. Estimated population of this area was 3 million. In
the Caribbean islands, the indigenous population was about 750,000, with most of the
people living on the island known as Española (Santo Domingo). There were three
ethnic groups in the islands: the Ciboney or Guanahuatebey, the Taino Arawak, and
the Carib. The Ciboney were the oldest settlers, having migrated in several waves from
the mainland (1000 B.C.E.–1000 C.E.). They were hunters and gatherers, organized in
independent nomadic clans. The Arawak migration (1100–1450) displaced and absorbed
the Ciboney. The Arawak formed chiefdoms based on agriculture. The Caribs formed a
highly mobile society, being the last migrant group to enter the Caribbean. By 1500 they
dominated all of the eastern Caribbean islands. They settled in places that facilitated
both agriculture and fishing. Land was communally held by the extended family. The
head of the family supervised productive activities, settled internal disputes, and served
in military groups of the most experienced warriors in raids against surrounding
populations, to seize women for the local young men. Warfare was a central activity of
Carib males, and ritual cannibalism was practiced. Caribs believed in the existence of
spirits, and shamans were in charge of religious activities.
The Incas, with their capital in Cusco, extended their control over the area from Ecuador
to central Chile along the coast and inland to the eastern slopes of the Andes, including
the Bolivian Plateau (See Chimu). Expansion was particularly rapid from the 14th
century onward. Inca myths claimed that, previously, Andean peoples had lived in a
primitive state, but that the Inca institutions were based on those developed earlier in the
area.
9
In the Andes, the fundamental social unit was the ayllu, a kinship group with a common
ancestor. Women were organized matrilineally and men patrilineally, with marriage
being endogamous. The chief of the ayllu was called the kuraka. The ayllu had access to
land, and the ayllu families cultivated assigned plots and had reciprocal duties in
community activities. Leadership in war was provided by elected chiefs, called sinchis.
10
Frequent skirmishes among tribes in the Cusco area helped to consolidate warrior
leadership among the Incas, eventually producing a monarchial system. Oral tradition
preserved a list of 13 kings (Incas), but imperial expansion only began with Pachacútec,
the ninth Inca king (1438–71). In 1438, the Chancas put Cusco under siege, but the
Incas under Pachacútec defeated them completely. After Pachacútec, Túpac Inca
(1471–93) and Huayna Cápac (1493–1525) continued rapid military expansion.
Plebeians who distinguished themselves as warriors could obtain positions in the
administration and a secondary nobility.
11
The Incas subjected different ethnic groups, recognizing their original chiefs (kurakas)
and making them responsible for the fulfillment of labor corvées on Inca lands. The
royal ayllus, called panacas, inherited all the properties of the dead sovereign, to
12
preserve the cult of his mummy. To secure manpower to cultivate lands of the nobility as
well as the Inca and state lands, a class of perpetual serfs (yanas) was formed. The Incas
displaced original populations to establish loyal settlers (mitmaqkuna) who would deter
rebellions and expand cultivation of maize for the state. Rebellions against state
exactions were constant. Huayna Cápac subdued uprisings in Ecuador, and Túpac Inca
Yupanqui suppressed them on the Titicaca Plateau. Inca expansion confronted
insurmountable obstacles in the eastern tropical lowlands and in the southern area
dominated by the Araucanians (Mapuche).
Inca religion included a heaven god, the cult of the ancestors (especially the deceased
Inca kings), and huacas (objects and places considered sacred). The Inca state
emphasized the solar aspect of the heaven god, as the Incas claimed to be children of the
sun (Inti).
13
After the death of Huayna Cápac, his sons Atahuallpa and Huáscar warred over the
kingdom. Atahuallpa, son of a secondary wife, gained the nobility's support, and a civil
war began (1529–30). In 1532 the war ended with the defeat of Huáscar, but by that time
the Spaniards had already destroyed the Inca domination of Peru. Population at this time
was estimated at 9 million.
14
The area of the Río de la Plata was occupied by several tribes who combined hunting
and gathering with agriculture. In the lower Paraná resided the Charrúas and the
Caingang. The more numerous of the Guaycuru inhabited the Chaco, and were divided
into the Abipón, Mocovi, Toba, Mbayá, and Caduveo tribes. The Guaraní expanded
in the Paraná basin and practiced slash-and-burn agriculture. In Patagonia and Tierra del
Fuego, the Ona and the Tehuelche lived as hunters of guanacos and rhea. In the area of
the Beagle Channel and on the islands, Alacaluf, Yahgan, and Chono tribes were
migrant fishermen. In the south of Chile, the Mapuche, Araucanian, and Huilliche
groups subsisted on llama husbandry and agriculture that combined rotating-field and
slash-and-burn methods.
15
Brazil was inhabited by groups from four linguistic families: Tupi-Guaraní, Gê, Carib,
and Arawak. The Tupi-Guaraní were established along the Atlantic coast, from the
mouth of the Amazon River to south of present São Paulo. They were divided into many
tribes and frequently engaged in war. Tupi, Arawak, and Carib tribes populated the
Amazon basin. The Gê tribes lived in central Brazil. All of Brazil's native populations
were organized in seminomadic communities. Hunting and gathering were important
activities, complementing slash-and-burn agriculture. The estimated population in the
Amazon basin was 5 million; for the rest of Brazil, 6.8 million.
16
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2. Pre-Columbian Explorations by Europeans, 1200–1530
1000
Leif Ericson, returning from Norway to Greenland, was driven onto the North American
coast. Settlements near L'Anse aux Meadows, at the northern tip of Newfoundland, show
evidence of Norse presence and might be the Wineland (Vinland) mentioned by Ericson.
1
1003
Thorfinn Karlsefni set out from Greenland with three ships, to settle Wineland. He and
his party spent three winters on the North American continent. The localities he visited
have not been determined.
2
The last mentioned visit to Wineland was in 1189, although it is possible Norsemen came
at least as far as southern Labrador for ship timber as late as 1347. After that date, the
Greenland colonies declined, though the West Colony (in southeast Greenland) continued
to exist until at least the mid-15th century.
3
It is possible, though there is no evidence, that Breton, Gascon, or Basque fishermen
regularly visited Labrador in this period. Many theories have been advanced to
demonstrate a European presence before Columbus, but most rest on hypotheses and
clever deductions. After the translation of Ptolemy's Geography into Latin (1410), the
idea that the earth was spherical (never entirely lost during the Middle Ages) spread
rapidly in scientific circles and revived the goal of reaching Asia by sailing west.
4
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3. The Voyages of Columbus, 1492–1504
1451, between Aug. 26 and Oct. 31
CRISTOFORO COLOMBO (Christopher Columbus; in Spanish, Cristóbal Colón)
was born near Genoa, the son of a weaver. Almost nothing definite is known of his
youth. He seems to have gone to Portugal in 1476 and to have been in England in 1477.
In 1480 he married the daughter of Bartholomew Perestrello, hereditary captain of Porto
Santo, near Madeira. He was familiar with the idea then popular of seeking to reach
India or China by navigating westward.
1
1483 or 1484
Columbus appealed to King John II of Portugal to finance a voyage to the West, but
experts at the court rejected his project as unfeasible.
2
1486
Columbus, through the mediation of some Franciscan monks, was able to submit his
project to the king and queen of Spain, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile.
His religious fervor and personal magnetism impressed the queen, but experts rejected
his project again. In the following years, Columbus met the three Pinzón brothers,
wealthy traders and expert navigators.
1492
3
Columbus, again in the court, induced Queen Isabella to finance his expedition. His
objective was to find a route to the Indies, rather than to discover a new world. The
queen named him admiral and governor of the territories to be discovered, and gave him
letters to the Great Khan.
4
1492–93
The first voyage (Aug. 3–March 15). Columbus left Palos, Spain, with three caravels,
La Pinta, La Niña, and the Santa María. Martín Pinzón and Juan de la Cosa commanded
two of them. They left the Canaries (Sept. 6) and reached land in the Bahamas (Oct. 12),
naming it San Salvador. Columbus then discovered Cuba, which he thought was the
territory of the Great Khan, and Santo Domingo (Española). He established a post,
Navidad, on Santo Domingo, and set out on the return voyage (Jan. 4, 1493), touching
the Azores (Feb. 15), landing at Lisbon (March 4), and finally reaching Palos (March
15). Columbus announced that he had discovered the route to the Indies, news of which
quickly spread throughout Europe and caused much excitement.
5
1493, May 4
The line of demarcation. At the insistence of the Spanish rulers, who feared
counterclaims by Portugal, Pope Alexander VI granted them the exclusive right to and
possession of all lands to the south and west toward India not held by Christian princes
on Christmas Day 1492, beyond a line drawn 100 leagues west of the Azores and the
Cape Verde Islands.
6
1493–95
Second voyage of Columbus (Sept. 25, 1493 to June 11, 1495). He left with 17 caravels
and 1,500 men to establish Spanish settlements. On this voyage he discovered Dominica,
Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and other islands of the Antilles; explored the southern coast of
Cuba; and circumnavigated Española, where he founded the town of Isabella. There he
left in charge his brother Bartholomeo, who in 1496 transferred the settlement to the
southern coast (Santo Domingo).
1494, June 7
7
Treaty of Tordesillas, between Spain and Portugal. The line of demarcation was moved
270 leagues farther west, Portugal to have exclusive rights to all lands to the east of the
line, and Spain to have rights to the west.
8
1498–1500
Third voyage of Columbus (May 30, 1498, to Nov. 15, 1500). Discovery of Trinidad
Island (July 31, 1498) and South America (Aug. 1), near the mouth of the Orinoco.
Columbus explored the coast westward as far as Margarita Island. He then went to
Española, where a revolt broke out against him. The Spanish government sent a judge,
Francisco de Bobadilla, who imprisoned Columbus and his brother and sent them to
Spain. Columbus was released and treated with distinction, but the queen never restored
him to his former authority and monopolistic grants. Bobadilla established direct royal
control in the territories.
9
1502–1504
Fourth voyage of Columbus (May 11, 1502, to Nov. 7, 1504). He reached the coast of
Honduras and passed south to Panama, returning after having suffered a shipwreck in
Jamaica.
10
1506, May 21
Columbus died in relative obscurity in Spain, at Valladolid. He believed to the end of
his days that he had discovered outlying parts of Asia, despite the conviction of other
experts since 1493 that a new world had been discovered.
11
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4. Post-Columbian Discoveries, 1497–1522
1497, May 2–Aug. 6
Voyage of John Cabot. Cabot was a wealthy Italian merchant who settled in England
about 1495. He organized an expedition that reached land (June 24) on northern
Newfoundland. Cabot was convinced he had discovered the country of the Great Khan.
He intended a second voyage but failed.
1
1499–1500
Voyage of Alonso de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci in the service of Spain (May
1499–June 1500). They landed in what would be French Guiana, discovered the mouth
of the Amazon, and proceeded as far as Cape St. Roque, after which they turned north
and west along the coast as far as the Magdalena River.
2
Voyage of Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (Sept. 1499–Dec. 1500). He made a landfall near
Cape St. Roque (Jan. 1500) and thence followed the coast northwest. At about the same
time, the Spaniard Diego de Lepe explored the Brazilian coast from Cape St. Roque to
about 10 degrees S.L.
3
1500, Apr. 21
The Portuguese commander PEDRO CABRAL, sailing to India from the Cape Verde
Islands with 13 caravels, landed in BRAZIL. The expedition stayed only ten days, but
took official possession of the country, which Cabral named Terra da Vera Cruz.
1500–2
4
Rodrigo de Bastidas traced the coast from Panama to Port Manzanilla.
5
1501–2
Second voyage of Amerigo Vespucci (May 1501–Sept. 1502), this time in the service
of Portugal. He voyaged south along the Brazilian coast to about 32 degrees S.L.
Vespucci published an account of this voyage in which he expressed the conviction that
what had been found was a “New World.” On this basis, the German geographer,
Martin Waldseemüller, proposed that this New World be called AMERICA (1507).
The name was first applied to South America, and the use of it spread slowly until its
general adoption.
6
1508
Vicente Pinzón followed the mainland from the Bay of Honduras to beyond the
easternmost point of Brazil.
7
1512
Juan Ponce de León, the governor of Puerto Rico, discovered Florida.
8
1513, Sept. 25
Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and discovered the Pacific
Ocean.
9
1515–16
Juan Díaz de Solís, chief pilot of Spain, searching for a strait to the Pacific, explored
the coast of South America from the area of Rio de Janeiro to Río de la Plata, where he
was slain by the indigenous inhabitants.
1517
10
Francisco Hernández de Córdoba discovered the Yucatán Peninsula.
11
1518
Juan de Grijalva followed the coast north from the Yucatán to the Panuco River.
12
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Table of Contents
Page 4
IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800
A. Global and Comparative Dimensions
1. New-Style Empires and States, 1500–1700
a. Gunpowder Empires
b. Other Emerging States
c. European National Monarchies
d. The New Context of the 18th Century
2. Transformations of Major World Societies, 1500–1800
a. Commercialization
b. Worldview Reformations
3. Global Interaction Networks
a. The Emerging World Economy
b. The Exchange of New Products
c. The Spread of Diseases
B. Early Modern Europe, 1479–1815
1. Europe, 1479–1675
a. Overview
b. England, Scotland, and Ireland
c. The Netherlands
d. France
e. The Iberian Peninsula
f. Italy
g. The German Empire
h. Scandinavia
i. Russia
j. Poland-Lithuania
k. Bohemia
l. Hungary
2. Science and Learning, 1450–1700
a. Science
b. Inventions and Technology
3. Europe, 1648–1814
a. Economic and Social Changes
b. Intellectual Developments
c. Culture and Popular Culture
d. Science and Technology
4. European Diplomacy and Wars, 1648–1795
5. National Patterns, 1648–1815
a. England, Scotland, and Ireland
b. The Dutch Republic
c. France
d. The Iberian Peninsula
e. Italy and the Papacy
f. The Swiss Confederation
g. The Holy Roman Empire
h. Scandinavia
i. Poland
j. Russia
C. The Middle East and North Africa, 1500–1800
1. Overview
2. The Middle East, 1501–1808
a. The Ottoman Empire
b. Iran
c. Afghanistan
d. Arabia
3. North Africa, 1504–1799
a. Morocco
b. Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya
D. South and Southeast Asia, 1500–1800
1. India, 1500–1800
2. Southeast Asia, 1500–1800
a. The Malay Peninsula and Archipelago
b. Kedah
c. Aceh
d. Malaysia, 1509–1790
e. Maluku (Eastern Indonesia), 1500–17th Century
3. Mainland Southeast Asia, 1500–1800
a. Burma
b. Siam (Ayutthaya)
c. Cambodia
E. East Asia, c. 1500–c. 1800
1. Overview
2. China, 1522–1796
a. The Remainder of the Ming Dynasty
b. The Qing Dynasty
3. Korea, 1392–1800
4. Japan, 1542–1793
5. Vietnam, 1527–1802
F. The Pacific Region, 1513–1798
1. The Pacific Islands in Pre-European Times
2. European Exploration, 1600–1800
3. The Philippines, 1500–1800
G. Africa, 1500–1800
1. Overview
2. Regions
a. Sudanic West and Central Africa
b. Forest West Africa
c. Northeast Africa (Horn)
d. East Africa
e. West Central Africa
f. Southern Africa
g. Madagascar
H. Latin America, 1500–1800
1. The Spanish Conquest
2. The Caribbean and the Isthmus, 1499–1531
3. Venezuela and Nueva Granada, 1521–1549
4. Peru and the West Coast, 1522–1581
5. The Río De La Plata
6. New Spain, 1518–1574
a. The Conquest of Mexico
b. Expansion to the South
c. Expansion to the North and the Pacific Coast
d. The Gulf Coast, Florida, and the Carolinas
7. Foreign Encroachments and Territorial Changes, 1580–1800
8. The Spanish Colonial System, 1550–1800
a. Population Development
b. Administration
c. The Church and the Missions
d. Economic Conditions
e. Social and Cultural Evolution
f. Insurrections
9. Portuguese America, 1500–1815
10. The Portuguese Colonial System
I. North America, 1500–1789
1. Overview
2. Exploration and Settlement, 1500–1719
a. The French in North America
b. The English in North America
c. Dutch and Swedish Settlements
3. Colonial History, 1641–1737
a. New England
b. New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
c. Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland
d. The Southern Colonies
4. Wars of England with France and Spain, 1651–1763
5. Reform, Resistance, and Revolution, 1763–1789
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(See The Global Picture)
IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800
A. Global and Comparative Dimensions
During the early modern period, the context of human affairs was changing dramatically.
Within the globalization of life, three major changes were of special significance. 1. The
development of new-style empires and large state systems that came to dominate
global political and military affairs. 2. The internal transformation of the major
societies, but especially the transformation of society in western Europe. 3. The
emergence of networks of interaction that were global in their scope. These
developments reoriented the global balance of societal power. In 1500 there were four
predominant traditions of civilization in the Eastern Hemisphere in a position of relative
parity, but by 1800, one of these societies, the West, was in a position to assume political
and military control over the whole world.
1
1. New-Style Empires and States, 1500–1700
a. Gunpowder Empires
These empires established strong centralized control through employing the military
potential of gunpowder (naval and land-based siege cannon were particularly important).
The major states of the Western Hemisphere were destroyed by European gunpowder
empires while throughout the Eastern Hemisphere, regional empires developed on the
basis of military power and new centralized administrations.
2
1453–1699
OTTOMAN EMPIRE. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 brought an end
to the Byzantine Empire. The Ottomans emerged as one of the strongest empires in the
world, employing artillery to support their cavalry and then creating the Janissary
3
Corps, an infantry using firearms. The new and expensive military was supported by the
development of an effective bureaucracy. This centralized gunpowder empire rapidly
expanded, conquering most of the Arab Middle East and the Balkan Peninsula. Ottoman
forces laid siege to Vienna in 1529 and 1683 but did not capture this central European
capital. However, in both eastern Europe and the Middle East the Ottomans remained
essentially dominant until the war ending with the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) (See
1699, Jan. 26).
1492–1700
THE IBERIAN EMPIRES. Large maritime empires were created by the emerging
monarchies on the Iberian Peninsula. European ship design enabled ships to carry
cannons, giving them a military advantage over other ships in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The PORTUGUESE EMPIRE expanded rapidly in the Indian Ocean basin but its
largest stations in Goa, Malacca, and Macao were soon integrated into the local trade
networks. Territories in Brazil and southern Africa were the only major territorial units
within the Portuguese empire by the end of the 16th century. This overseas empire
remained intact despite the problems of homeland, which included a forced union with
Spain between 1580 and 1640. However, by the 17th century, the Portuguese empire had
ceased to be a major world power.
4
The SPANISH EMPIRE expanded rapidly in the Western Hemisphere and gained
control of all of Central and South America except Brazil (See The Spanish Conquest).
Despite setbacks in Europe, Spain's overseas empire remained intact as the largest in the
Western Hemisphere until the early 19th century. In the European context, Spain was
joined with the Netherlands and Austria in the HABSBURG EMPIRE of Charles V
(1519–58) (See 1519–56) (See 1516–56). This empire, though vast and powerful, lacked
an effective central administration and geographic core, and soon divided. The Spanish
Habsburgs, especially during the reign of Philip II (1556–98), were a major power on
the European continent but were weakened by a long series of wars with France; the
Treaty of the Pyrennes (1659) marked the end of Spanish dominance. The last Habsburg
king of Spain died in 1700, and the long disintegration of the Spanish Empire was
hastened by the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14) (See 1701–14).
5
1526–1707
MUGHAL EMPIRE. India was conquered by the Mughals, Muslim invaders from
central Asia led by Babur (1483–30), a military adventurer. Small Mughal armies
defeated huge Indian armies through effective use of firearms. Artillery enabled Mughal
6
rulers to control local notables, and after the conquest of all of India, significant
administrative reorganization during the reign of AKBAR (1556–1605) established a
major centralized gunpowder empire. Dynastic disputes and attempts to impose a
standard form of Islam along with drastic limitations on the practice of Hinduism led to
growing conflict, and, following the death of Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707), Mughal power
rapidly declined, though the empire technically lasted into the following century.
1501–1722
SAFAVID EMPIRE. In the instability following the disintegration of the empire of
Timur-I Lang (See Major Interregional Expansions), various tribal and religious groups
competed for power. The Safavids, under the leadership of SHAH ISMAIL (r.
1502–24), conquered most of present-day Iran and established a state whose official
religion was Shi'ite Islam. The early state had a traditional military structure, but SHAH
ABBAS I (r. 1587–1629) created a gunpowder-based military force that enabled him to
further centralize control. However, internal conflicts arose between the imperial and
traditional military forces, and under the weak leadership of Shah Abbas's successors, the
Safavid state disintegrated by 1722 and was replaced by the rule of a warrior-adventurer,
Nadir Shah (r. 1736–47), who was a successful conqueror but was unable to establish an
effective centralized state (See 1737–38).
7
1462–1725
RUSSIAN EMPIRE. In central Eurasia, the huge Russian Empire began to emerge in the
15th century under the leadership of the Grand Duke of Moscow, Ivan III (r.
1462–1505), who created an effective artillery and a centralized absolutism that enabled
him and his successors to conquer the other Russian city-states and, by the end of the
16th century, free them from the old Mongol domination. By the early 18th century, the
military power and centralized absolutism of the Russian Empire brought the superiority
of nomadic cavalry to an end and the Eurasian steppes into the ecumene. The
modernizing efforts of PETER THE GREAT (r. 1689–1725) brought Russian power to
near parity with its European and Ottoman neighbors and superiority over the central
Asian Muslim and Chinese states to the east.
8
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b. Other Emerging States
In addition to the great empires that were based on centralized administration and
gunpowder weaponry, other types of states developed. These ranged from empires that
continued more traditional approaches of ruling to new centralized national monarchies
with potential for significant expansive power. All were departures from the standard
postclassical systems.
1
1644–1722
QING DYNASTY IN CHINA. Manchus in areas northeast of China established an
effective state, in the later years of the Ming dynasty, which combined nomadic war
skills with Chinese administrative ideas. In 1644, the Manchus took control of Beijing
and established the Qing dynasty, which ruled China until 1911. During the first century
of Qing rule, when it gained control of Tibet, Xinjiang, and Outer Mongolia, the Chinese
Empire became larger than it had ever been except in the greatest days of the T'ang
dynasty. The Qing maintained the examination system and the structure of the scholargentry bureaucracy. The Manchu military was well organized but was not primarily a
gunpowder-based force. However, the Qing use of artillery in crushing a major Mongol
force led by Galdan in 1696 marked the end of serious nomadic military threats on the
inner Asian frontiers. Similarly, the Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689) (See 1689) between
Russia and China essentially divided central Asia, reflecting the end of independent
nomad power as a force in world history. The reign of KANGXI (1661–1722) (See
1661–1722) marked the high point of Qing power.
2
1543–1853
JAPANESE CENTRALIZED STATE. Japan emerged from an era of political turmoil
with the careers of three prominent military leaders who defeated local military nobles
3
and reestablished strong central control. Firearms, introduced into Japan in 1542 or 1543,
played an important role in the unification process through the power that they gave to
these three commanders. Nobunaga (1534–82), the first, gained control of central
Honshu Island, and his successor, TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI (1537–98), destroyed the
power of the last resisting local lords and tried to establish a mainland empire by invading
Korea in 1592 and 1597. Although these efforts failed, Japanese unification was
continued following Hideyoshi's death when a former vassal, TOKUGAWA IEYASU
(1542–1616), defeated rival commanders in 1600. He established the TOKUGAWA
SHOGUNATE (See 1600–1867), which initiated a period of almost two and a half
centuries of internal stability. Important keys to this era of peace were a policy of
relatively rigid isolation (enforceable because of Japan's island location, strict limitations
on foreign religions, and the maintenance of the old Samurai warrior-gentleman
domination, which involved the imposition of strict controls on guns and a return to more
traditional weaponry. The coming of the American ships commanded by Matthew Perry
in 1853 brought a formal end to this long era.
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c. European National Monarchies
At the beginning of the early modern era, political leaders and systems in Europe
responded in many ways. Some established strong institutions of centralized control and
administration, frequently with the aid of gunpowder weaponry. This process
strengthened the monarchy as the most visible central institution and opened the way for
expansion. Other states were unable to establish effective central control and gradually
became minor elements on the continental and global scene. The turning point in many
areas was the ending of wars of religious division and national consolidation by the
second half of the 17th century.
1
FRANCE emerged from the One Hundred Years' War of the 15th century with an
independent monarchy and substantial territory. After a period of internal and external
wars, the development of a strong centralized monarchy made France the foremost
continental power in Europe and a global imperial power. By creating a highly effective
gunpowder-based army and a centralized bureaucracy, France represented the
culmination of the age of the gunpowder empires. During the reign of LOUIS XIV (r.
1643–1715), the transition to centralized national monarchy and the modern state had
begun (See 1643–1715).
2
ENGLAND, under the TUDORS, developed a centralized monarchy with an
increasingly professional administration. After the subsequent civil war, the monarchy
was restored in 1660; it was not absolute in the same sense as the emerging French
monarchy, but the absolute power of the central government, combining the monarchy
and parliament, was established. The Puritan New Model Army laid the foundations for
a permanent standing army for the central government. By 1700 an administratively and
militarily centralized state emerged in England.
3
SWEDEN emerged as a unified monarchy under the House of Vasa in the 16th century.
A centralized administration helped the monarchs reduce the power of the aristocracy.
Under GUSTAVUS II ADOLPHUS (1611–32), Sweden became a major power and its
army was in the forefront of the development of disciplined musket warfare. Sweden
unsuccessfully tried to establish a North American trading colony in Delaware
(1638–55). A long series of wars and costly efforts to create a northern European empire
4
reduced Sweden's influence and power. By the end of the Great Northern War
(1700–1721) (See 1700–1721), aristocratic and parliamentary forces had placed limits on
the powers of the monarchy internally, and the rise of Russia and Prussia effectively
ended Swedish expansion. The Swedish experience showed that an efficient central
administration and a strong gunpowder military could provide the basis for significant
power but did not inevitably result in the creation of a large empire or long-term greatpower status.
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d. The New Context of the 18th Century
Outside Europe, the older pattern of the rise and decline of major states continued, with
the predominant gunpowder states entering periods of reduced effectiveness. However, in
Europe, the development of the centralized monarchies opened the way for growing
power at the beginning of the great socioeconomic transformations of early
modernization.
1
1700–1800
NON-EUROPEAN EMPIRES. The OTTOMAN EMPIRE continued to be a major
power but lost a series of wars and considerable territory, especially to Russia and
Habsburg Austria. The administrative system and the military became increasingly
ineffective as corruption and internal rivalries grew. Local governors in Egypt, North
Africa, and the Balkans grew more independent, and attempts at administrative and
military reform had little effect. Finally, a more comprehensive reform effort strongly
influenced by European models as undertaken by SELIM III (1789–1807), but he was
overthrown by conservative opponents of reform (See 1789–1807). The MUGHAL
EMPIRE experienced succession conflicts and the growing power of provincial
governors (See 1526–1761 (1857)). Mughal authority was seriously threatened by a
revival of Hindu forces under the Marathas and the Rajputs and the emergence of the
SIKHS as a new militant religious community (See 1500). However, the expansion of
European powers brought the Mughal Empire to an end. Portuguese influence declined
and was replaced by the growing power of the EAST INDIA COMPANIES (See 1761,
Jan. 14) of the British, French, and Dutch. In a series of conflicts, the British ultimately
defeated the Dutch (1759) and the French (1763). The English East India Company
gained full control of Bengal and Bihar by 1764 but ruled in the name of the Mughal
emperor. By the early 19th century, the British controlled nearly all of India. The formal
end of the Mughal Empire followed a major revolt in many areas of northern India in
1857–58. The last Mughal was deposed, and in 1858 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
ACT by the British Parliament created direct rule by the monarch of England, ending
2
government by the East India Company and the Mughals. Other major non-European
empires also declined during the 18th century. The collapse of the Safavid state in Iran
brought a period of warfare and disunity to Iran. By the end of the 18th century, the Qing
dynasty in China exhibited the characteristics of decline. The strength of the military was
reduced; the bureaucracy became increasingly corrupt and inefficient. Large-scale
revolts, like that of the White Lotus Society (1796–1804), emphasized the growing
weakness of the empire (See 1796–1804).
EMERGING GREAT POWERS. Some states in Europe made an important transition
during the 18th century to new centralized systems that could draw strength from the
growing commercialization of society and the beginnings of industrialization. As a result,
by the end of the century, France, Great Britain, and Prussia, along with the Russian
Empire, displaced Spain, Habsburg Austria, and Portugal as major powers in
European and global affairs. The Dutch Republic became a preeminent commercial
power with large overseas possessions but was not a significant military presence.
3
ROYAL ABSOLUTISM was the primary force in developing strong central
governments in some of the emerging powers. FRANCE was earliest, with the effective
absolutism of LOUIS XIV (r. 1643–1715), but his successors were less effective and
French monarchical absolutism came to an end with the FRENCH REVOLUTION,
beginning in 1789 (See Overview). During the reign of Frederick II, the Great
(1740–86), Prussian royal absolutism and great-power status were confirmed. RUSSIA
modernization, centralization, and expansion in both Europe and Asia were strengthened
by CATHERINE THE GREAT (r. 1762–96) as Russia became a major intercontinental
power, with some overseas expansion into North America and northern Pacific islands.
The AUSTRIAN HABSBURGS gained territories at the expense of weaker neighbors
like Poland and the Ottoman Empire, but were less successful than Prussia and Russia in
improving the effectiveness of their royal absolutism. The reforms and policies of Maria
Theresa (r. 1740–80) and Joseph II (r. 1780–90) were not sufficient to create
administrative unity among the scattered Habsburg domains. In SPAIN and
PORTUGAL reform efforts by leaders like the Marquis de Pombal in Portugal failed to
revive effective state power. In POLAND the state simply ceased to exist as nobles
limited the ability of monarchs to institute reforms and Russia, Prussia, and Austria took
control of all of Poland in three partitions (1772, 1793, 1795) (See 1794, March 24).
4
PARLIAMENTARY STATES. The centralized parliamentary state in ENGLAND
provided the effective support for expansion. English colonial settlements in North
America and the expansion of the East India Company in India created a global empire
during the 18th century. After its successful revolt against Habsburg control at the
beginning of the 17th century, the DUTCH REPUBLIC emerged as a significant
commercial power. The Dutch created an overseas empire with holdings in North and
South America, South Africa, and the Indian Ocean basin, especially in southeast Asia;
its wealth made it an important political force in Europe. By the middle of the 18th
5
century, it had become a minor European power and its commercial preeminence was lost
to Britain, although the Dutch still maintained a small but important overseas empire.
“WORLD WARS” OF THE 18TH CENTURY. Many of the conflicts among the
European powers involved clashes beyond the European continent. They were primarily
European wars fought on a global scale, with two chief lines of conflict: the struggle for
continental domination in Europe and the battle for control of overseas colonies and naval
access to them. In the continental struggle, France, Prussia, and Russia became the great
powers, and in global maritime empires, Great Britain was the major force. The
European names of the most important global wars in creating this power structure are the
War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14) (See 1701–14), which began the reduction of
French power in North America; the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) (See
1740–48); and the Seven Years' War (1756–63), which resulted in France's loss of most
of its overseas empire in India and North America; finally, there were the wars of the era
of the French Revolution and Napoleon (See Overview), which were fought in North
America, Asia, and Africa as well as in Europe.
6
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
2. Transformations of Major World Societies, 1500–1800
The major world societies experienced significant social transformations in the early
modern era. The most comprehensive changes took place in the West, where the citycentered but agricultural societies typical of premodern civilizations were transformed by
1800 into early industrial societies. Important changes also altered the nature of other
major world societies in this era. Two important lines of internal change involved (1) the
commercialization of societies and (2) reorientations of worldviews in what frequently
took the form of religious reformations.
1
a. Commercialization
Commercialization involved changing structures of regional and national economies as
well as the growing globalization of commercial networks and their increasing
domination by western European organizations and states. The growth of global trade in
the 16th century was part of a transformation involving increasing importance of markets
and specialized production of agricultural and manufactured goods. This
commercialization of economic life had significant effects on all of society.
2
EUROPEAN TRANSFORMATION. Western Europe experienced a Commercial
Revolution that had a major impact during the 16th century. Growing global contacts
increased demand for a variety of goods in Europe. The development of new overseas
colonies in the 16th and 17th centuries provided both new products and new markets. The
influx of gold and silver from the Spanish possessions in the Western Hemisphere
increased the monetarization of European national economies and provided the basis for
growing demand and price inflation. The development of more effective methods of
managing trade and investment heightened the impact and extent of commercialization.
Emerging institutions like national banks and chartered companies provided the means
for expanding commercial activities. What was in effect an AGRICULTURAL
REVOLUTION took place by the 17th and 18th centuries. New products like potatoes
and maize from the Western Hemisphere and new farming techniques and technologies
3
transformed old peasant agriculture, providing more food for expanding cities and
growing numbers of workers who were peasants displaced by new farming methods.
Processed products like refined sugar and manufactured textiles became important for the
general population. Agricultural developments in this way further strengthened the
commercialization of societies. The INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, especially in Great
Britain and France, transformed the means, methods, and concepts of production and
gave immense economic power to those societies that industrialized in this early modern
era. By 1800 much of western Europe no longer comprised basically agricultural societies
with growing commercialization. Instead, the profound transformation to industrial
societies had begun.
WESTERN HEMISPHERE. European colonies in the Western Hemisphere
effectively eliminated the independent indigenous societies. Local populations
decreased disastrously during the 16th century, and European immigrants and African
slaves became important elements in the emerging societies. In the north, French and
British settlement colonies were integrated into the larger commercial networks through
trade in furs, forest products, naval stores, and similar goods. In the Spanish Caribbean
and South American colonies and in Portuguese Brazil, highly commercialized
plantation economies producing sugar and other popular export products made these
regions an important market for African slaves and a significant element in the emerging
global trade networks. The Americas provided vital raw materials but the terms of trade
were established by European commercial companies, which dominated shipping and
provided manufactured and luxury goods. By the 18th century, many of these colonies
were nearing the ability to assert independence from the imperial center. The first to
succeed were 13 of the British North American colonies in the American Revolution
(1776–83). In 1794, Haiti gained its independence, and most of the rest of Central and
South America followed in a series of revolutions in the early 19th century. These
revolutions did not, however, represent the emergence of industrial societies, except in
the new United States to a degree. Instead, both colonies and independent states in the
Western Hemisphere (including the U.S. South) remained commercialized agricultural
societies tied to the European economies.
4
ISLAMIC SOCIETIES experienced significant changes that also represented the
increasing commercialization of economic life. In the Ottoman Empire, a growing
monetarization of the economy occurred contemporaneously with a significant movement
of peoples from rural to urban areas. Development of urban manufacturing and the
increased production of cash crops like cotton changed urban and rural social institutions.
During the same period, the diversion of Asian trade away from Muslim intermediaries,
first as Portuguese and then as Dutch and British commercial activities expanded in the
Indian Ocean, proved deleterious to Ottoman merchants, as did the price inflation
resulting from the influx of American silver. The Ottoman government and ruling elite
tended not to be directly involved in commercial and manufacturing activities, and these
areas gradually came under the control of non-Muslim Ottoman subjects and European
5
commercial interests. Special exemptions, or capitulations, for European merchants from
Ottoman law began to be granted with an agreement with France in 1536; these
extraterritorial rights meant that outsiders gained increasing control of Ottoman
commercial life by the end of the 18th century. In the Safavid Empire, the changes were
similar but less significant. The Safavid ruler, Shah Abbas I (r. 1587–1629), encouraged
the manufacture of luxury textiles, and Safavid shahs worked first with Portuguese and
Dutch and later with British commercial interests to integrate Iran into the broader
patterns of world trade. However, the Iranian economy was less commercialized, and
after the fall of the Safavids in the early 18th century, instability and wars led to
economic disorganization and increasing control of large-scale economic activity by
Europeans. The military power of the Mughal Empire did not deter the expansion of
Portuguese and then French and British commercial interests. The great East India
Companies gradually took increasing control of Indian economic life. This process
involved a significant commercialization of the society, as new agricultural products were
developed for world markets and a broad, controlled internal market economy emerged.
All of these changes took place in the context of the military and political developments
that led to British domination of India by the end of the 18th century.
CHINA experienced significant changes but was the most successfully conservative of
the major urban-agrarian societies. The establishment of the Qing dynasty in 1644
provided a strong central power that could afford to pay relatively little attention to
developments elsewhere. Yet the stability of the early Qing period opened the way for
expanded production of important export products like tea, silk, and porcelain. China also
benefited from the influx of American silver into the world markets. In addition to the
commercial growth and prosperity of the merchant classes, there was a significant growth
in population and in large cities as new agricultural products increased food supplies.
However, this prosperity tended to occur outside the areas of state control, and by the end
of the 18th century the cultural conservativism of the Qing period had laid the foundation
for the loss of control of both politics and the economy to European powers.
6
AFRICAN SOCIETIES also experienced significant transformations in the early
modern era. Until the age of European expansion beginning in the 15th century, the
primary interaction of African societies with other parts of the world had been with the
Islamic world, along a frontier across the continent that, by the 15th century, extended
from the Atlantic to the Indian Oceans just south of the Sahara and along the east African
coast. East Africa, in the longer span of world history, had also participated in the broad
cultural and economic exchanges of the Indian Ocean basin. European expansion
changed the orientation of movement of peoples and goods from the old north-south
axis to movement toward the coastal regions. This had already been an important
direction of movement in east Africa under the influence of Muslim merchants, but it
represented a dramatic transformation for much of the rest of Africa.
7
The most important dimension of the commercialization of African economies was the
8
development of the large-scale SLAVE TRADE, especially in the Atlantic region. The
growth of the colonial plantation economies created a vast market that was filled by
slaves from Africa. In the process African societies, especially along the Atlantic coasts,
were transformed by political reorganization and depopulation. The importation of
firearms gave impetus to the establishment of more centralized west African states, like
the kingdoms of Ashante and Dahomey (See c. 1575) (See c. 1630–70).
Commercialization of societies had profound effects in different African regions by
changing the nature of political systems and the orientation of trade.
COMPARISONS. In the early modern era, many societies experienced important
economic transformations. In western European societies these changes led to increased
strength and expansion. In other parts of the world, the results were very different. Local
economies in the Western Hemisphere were destroyed by European expansion, and the
new commercialized colonial economies retained a dependence on Europe despite the
achievement of political independence. In the major urban societies of the Eastern
Hemisphere, local economies experienced a significant reorientation by the end of the
18th century, also coming under the European influence. By 1800 the leading world
economies, earlier a network of interacting but autonomous urban-centered, agrarian
economies, had become a vast global network of commercialized societies dominated by
the economic power of western European societies. In this transformation, western
Europe had emerged as an assembly of independent industrial societies while the rest of
the world entered the era of industrial society in a dependent condition.
9
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Transformations of Major World Societies, 1500–1800 > b. Worldview Reformations
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b. Worldview Reformations
In the major regional civilizations in the Eastern Hemisphere, the comprehensive
religious syntheses that developed in the postclassical era were challenged in a number of
ways. In general terms, there were efforts to articulate the basic themes of the traditions
of world religions in new ways, sometimes resulting in reformations and sometimes in
the creation of new religions and, more dramatically, in the emergence of altogether new
worldviews by the end of the 18th century in western Europe.
1
EUROPEAN TRANSFORMATION. In western Europe, the changes involved
significant challenges to the postclassical synthesis. In the Renaissance of the 15th and
16th centuries, there was a rebirth of interest in and respect for classical Greek and
Roman thought. The foremost challenge to the comprehensive synthesis of the Christian
scholasticism of Catholic Christianity emerged with the PROTESTANT
REFORMATION of the 16th and 17th centuries. In this, the authority of the Roman
Church to define doctrine and practice was challenged in a variety of ways by Protestant
leaders like Martin Luther and John Calvin. Nevertheless, all of these challenges
remained within the framework of Western Christianity and accepted the authority of
the Bible. By the 17th century, the beginnings of the SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
marked the start of a wholly new style of cosmology and worldview that came to
characterize the modern approach. This approach did not necessarily reject traditional
religious beliefs but tended to see them as only indirectly relevant to understanding the
natural world. In the 18th century, the beginnings of modern secularism sought to
separate religion from other areas of life, especially the political. By the end of the 18th
century, foundations were created for modern worldviews and cosmologies which
transformed rather than simply reformed the religious traditions of western Europe.
2
NON-EUROPEAN WORLDVIEWS also experienced a variety of reformations. In the
ISLAMIC WORLD, the establishment of Shi'ite Islam as the religion of the Safavid
Empire brought renewed prominence to Shi'ism and a new era of Sunni-Shi'ite conflicts
in the wars between the Ottoman and Safavid states. In the world of Sunni Islam,
challenges to the postclassical synthesis assumed a number of forms by the 18th century.
The tolerant missionary approaches of Sufi teachers in various regions allowed for
inclusion of pre-Islamic elements in the practices of newly converted societies. By the
3
18th century, activist reform movements in a number of regions sought to bring local
practices in line with stricter interpretations of the Islamic tradition. In West Africa a
series of puritanical movements and holy wars began with the jihad of Karamoko Alifa
(d. 1751) in the Futa Jallon region of modern Guinea and culminated with the holy war of
Usuman dan Fodio (1754–1817) (See 1754, Dec. 15) in the area of modern Nigeria.
Abd al-Ra'uf al-Sinkili (d. after 1693) expressed a similar reforming spirit in Aceh in
Sumatra. Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703–92) (See 1745) established a major
puritanical reform tradition in Arabia which remains the foundation for the
fundamentalist Saudi state today. In India a comprehensive examination of Islamic
thought and practice in light of the decline of Muslim power was undertaken by Shah
Wali Allah al-Dihlawi (1702–62), whose ideas provide the basis for much of modern
Islamic thinking in south Asia. Within the central parts of the Ottoman Empire were a
variety of reformers who were more politically oriented. In general terms, important
aspects of the postclassical synthesis were rearticulated in Islamic reformations, but the
overall structure of faith and practice remained intact at the end of the 18th century.
HINDUISM developed in a number of directions as a result of internal developments and
in response to the challenges of Muslim rule. One such response constituted an attempt at
reformulations that could combine Islamic and Hindu elements. For instance, Nanak
(1469–1539) (See 1500) created a body of devotional literature that became the starting
point for SIKHISM, a new religion that emerged during the 16th century. The Mughal
emperor Akbar (1556–1605) tried unsuccessfully to establish a syncretistic court religion
that could bring together the different religions of India. Within mainstream Hinduism,
reform further developed in the traditions of popular devotional piety, including the
special worship of Rama that emerged after the composition of the Ramcaritmanas, a
retelling in the Hindi language of the story of the ancient hero Rama by the poet Tulsi
Das, around 1575.
4
NEO-CONFUCIAN SYNTHESIS in China remained dominant throughout the later
Ming and the Qing dynasties. Confucianism also gained new influence in China. The
writings of Zhu Xi remained authoritative and officially sanctioned, but the thought of
Wang Yang-ming (1472–1529) provided an idealist alternative Confucian tradition that
strongly influenced reformers in the 19th and 20th centuries in both China and Japan.
5
COMPARISONS. While all of the prominent worldview traditions underwent some
significant reformulation of basic positions, it was only in western Europe that, in
addition to renaissance and reformation experiences, there was a major transformation of
worldview. Here modern worldviews emerged as the dominant perspective by the end of
the 18th century, rather than as reformed postclassical traditions.
6
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Interaction Networks
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3. Global Interaction Networks
In the early modern era a number of global patterns of interaction developed. These
emerging networks, which created a worldwide context for human activity, involved (1)
the more consciously organized commercial activities, (2) the exchange of new products,
and (3) the spread of diseases.
1
a. The Emerging World Economy
The commercialization of societies opened the way for the commercialization of global
interactions. In the 16th century, local and regional networks of commercial exchange
continued to be of great importance. The Mediterranean and Indian Ocean basins
remained important zones of interaction, and the growth of the European-controlled
oceanic trade created new regional networks in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific
Ocean. These large zones became increasingly interconnected and integrated with the
older continental overland routes of Asia and the emerging continental systems of Russia
and Europe and in the Western Hemisphere. By the end of the 18th century, maritime
trade represented a European-controlled global commercial network in which products
from nearly every part of the world were exchanged.
2
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b. The Exchange of New Products
An important part of the growing global integration of the early modern era was the
exchange of many new goods and products both interregionally and globally (called the
“Columbian exchange”). Agricultural goods from the Western Hemisphere had a
profound impact on societies throughout the Eastern Hemisphere. The introduction of
maize and potatoes aided in the rapid growth of population in China, Africa, and western
Europe, and tobacco changed lifestyles around the globe. In the Western Hemisphere the
introduction of new domesticated animals like horses and cattle transformed indigenous
societies in many areas even before their conquest by Europeans. A special case of
product exchange that had a major impact on global economies was the rapid increase in
the available quantities of precious metals used for money, especially SILVER from the
Spanish colonies in the Western Hemisphere. In some areas of Europe the growing
money supply increased demand and encouraged productivity, thereby strengthening the
economy. This was an important part of the economic growth in England, France, and
Holland and may have played a role in the decline of Spain. It had a negative impact in
those areas where the power of ruling elites was associated more with ownership or
control of land. Outside western Europe, the influx of American silver appears to have
bolstered commercial elements and to have aided the growing European economic
dominance.
1
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c. The Spread of Diseases
A tragic dimension of early modern global interactions was the exchange of diseases.
Populations in the Western Hemisphere lacked established immunities to diseases that
were common in the Eastern Hemisphere. As a result, epidemics of SMALLPOX,
measles, and other diseases killed whole populations in some regions and more than half
of the total population of the hemisphere. In global terms, the increasing levels of contact
and population movements created a more uniform level of contact with diseases and
immunity. Great plagues like the Black Death of postclassical times became less
common, and by the end of the 18th century, pandemic diseases had less ability to
destroy entire populations. (See Global and Comparative Dimensions)
1
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(See Overview)
B. Early Modern Europe, 1479–1815
The early modern period in Europe can be said to begin around 1648. Between 1500 and
1648 dominant trends reflected intense religious conflict and colonial expansion. After
1648 the emphasis shifted to the activities of national monarchies and their mutual wars
as well as the rise of science. Popular unrest receded somewhat, but profound changes in
beliefs and in economic activities took shape beneath the surface.
1
Many trends in eastern Europe differed from those in the West. Eastern Europe saw a
tightening of serfdom, rather than the rise of wage labor and the growth of commercial
cities. Soon after 1648, however, eastern Europe began to share in many of the
intellectual and political trends of the West, and a more European-wide diplomatic
framework emerged.
2
1. Europe, 1479–1675
EUROPE ABOUT 1520 (MAP)
a. Overview
The reformation of the Christian Church, launched in 1517 by the Augustinian friar
Martin Luther (1483–1546), had profound political, social, and economic as well as
religious consequences that redounded throughout the entire period. Religious beliefs
became conflated with national sentiment and political ambitions, with economic goals
and perceived social injustices; and religious schism, civil and international wars, and
domestic revolts ensued. The Roman Catholic Church responded to calls for reform with
3
the establishment of new religious orders (notably the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits); with
the Holy Office, which investigated heresy; and with the Council of Trent (1545–63),
which defined doctrine (notably on the issue of marriage) for the next four centuries.
Meantime, the centuries-old European expansion accelerated. Overseas expansion
broadened the geographical horizons of Europeans and brought them into confrontations
with ancient civilizations in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. These conflicts led first to
conquest, then to exploitations, and eventually to economic changes in both Europe and
overseas territories. For example, gold and silver from Mexico and Peru which began to
flow into Europe in 1503 caused a continent-wide inflation between 1550 and 1565
(though the peak period of Spanish bullion imports was 1580–1620). American
potatoes, tomatoes, and maize (Indian corn) began to revolutionize Europeans' diet. By
1575 Europe participated in the first truly global economy, paying for Asian silks,
spices, and porcelain, Persian carpets, and Ottoman Turkish kilims with South American
silver.
4
Furniture and house decor testified to rising bourgeois wealth, to economic and
cultural change: chairs; cupboards, dressers, and sideboards that supported gold, silver,
and pewterware and held supplies of table and bed linens, laces, and brocades; canopied
four-poster beds; and mirrors and paintings. Ceramic tile floors were common by the
17th century, as were, in wealthy homes, oak parquet floors often covered by Ottoman
Turkish or Persian rugs. Such luxuries were depicted in the paintings of Ghirlandaio, Jan
van Eyck, Holbein, and the Venetians Carpaccio and Crivelli, reflecting the close
commercial ties between Venice and the Ottoman world. In the 16th century, transparent
glass windowpanes spread so rapidly that by the 1560s prosperous peasant homes had
them, although in eastern Europe, even the grandest houses continued to cover windows
with oiled paper. The indoor water closet (toilet), invented by the Englishman Sir John
Harrington in 1596, was a luxury everywhere before the 18th century. By the mid-17th
century, the houses of wealthy Dutch merchants displayed a conspicuous consumption.
5
The expansion of the Ottoman Turks into southeastern Europe provoked great fears
and preoccupied Europeans far more than did “discoveries” and developments in Asia
and the Americas.
6
The 17th century opened with agricultural and commercial crises that had serious
social and political consequences. Colder, wetter weather meant shorter farming seasons,
which in turn meant smaller harvests, food shortages, and widespread starvation. The
output of textiles also declined. The Thirty Years' War (1618–48) in Germany, which
at some point involved most of the states of Europe, proved the greatest economic
disaster for Germany before the 20th century. The widespread use of gunpowder
increased the costs and destructiveness of war while reducing its glamour. To finance the
larger armies that warfare required, governments resorted to heavier taxation mainly on
overburdened peasantry, sparking revolts. To free themselves from the restrictions of
competing institutions (such as the churches) or social groups (such as the nobilities),
7
governments claimed to possess sovereignty, the right to make law for all people, a
monopoly over the instruments of justice (the courts), and the use of force (police and
state armies). In the process two patterns of government began to emerge in the early
17th century: absolutism and constitutionalism.
Peasant and urban workers' revolts erupted frequently between 1550 and 1650,
cresting around 1648, because of bad harvests that led to widespread starvation,
extraordinary royal and seigneurial taxation, and rampant pillaging by soldiers during
the Thirty Years' War. A new class structure was taking shape with a growing group of
landless wage laborers at the bottom, and this process mobilized many groups in its
early phases. Radical outbursts in London, Lyons, Bordeaux, Naples, Salerno, Palermo,
Granada, Cordoba (where women led the rebellion), Salzburg, parts of the Swiss
cantons, Lithuania, and Moscow often had an egalitarian flavor and, in urban centers,
reflected the growth of class consciousness among wage laborers. These revolts, in the
towns in western Europe and in the countryside in eastern Europe, constituted the most
widespread movements of social protest before 1848.
8
Cultural Changes
Although skepticism, sexism, and racism originated in ancient times, during the age of
religious wars these attitudes took on distinctively modern forms. New religious
conflicts spurred changes in popular beliefs, while segments of the European elite
(including Catholic as well as Protestant leaders) tried to discipline many traditional
values and behaviors.
9
Skepticism, which is based on the doubt that certainty, especially religious certainty, is
ever attainable, rejected dogmatism and increased secularism. The French essayist
Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) is perhaps the best representative of early modern
skepticism, which was ultimately linked to, though modified by, the rise of science.
10
Witchcraft was an integral part of the mental climate of the age. Educated as well as
illiterate people (the French political philosopher Jean Bodin (1530–96) and the English
jurist Sir Edward Coke (1552–1634) are just two examples of the former) believed in the
existence of witches. They were popularly described as old women (but sometimes
children and young women) who convened for sabbath (midnight assemblies),
worshiped, engaged in sexual orgies, and made pacts with the devil (thus renouncing
Christian baptism), in return for which they acquired powers to control natural forces
such as storms, destroy crops, harm cattle, or incapacitate human genitals. Almost all
witches seemed to come from the lower levels of society and were female: the poor, the
aged, the senile, and those least able to defend themselves. In the period 1470–1700,
5,417 women were executed (by burning or hanging) in the Swiss Confederation; in
1559–1736, 1,000 women were executed in England; and in 1561–1670, 3,229 women
11
were executed in southeastern Germany. Some possible explanations for these
persecutions: pervasive misogyny; treatment of the poor as scapegoats in times of
economic and social distress, when outbursts of hysteria toward witches most often
occurred; identification of these women with heresy; a desire to control, or to have the
appearance of controlling, the scientifically inexplicable and uncontrollable; and a
means of eliminating the social nonconformist.
Racism. Europeans carried to the Americas racial stereotypes derived from Christian
theological speculation and from Muslim theories: that the color white represented light
and godliness and that black stood for the hostile forces of the underworld; that subSaharan Africans' morals were heathen, their languages barbarous; that Blacks possessed
an especially potent sexuality; and, according to the Muslim traveler Ibn Khaldun, that
Blacks readily accepted slavery “owing to their low degree of humanity and their
proximity to the animal stage.” Such absurd hypotheses provided justification for and
rationalization of slavery.
12
Estimates of Population Growth, 1500–1648
France:
12 to 15 million
Spain:
6.5 to 7.5 million rise (in addition to heavy emigration to the
Americas)
Holy Roman
Empire:
steady at 8 million (the Thirty Years' War took about 8 million
lives)
Italy:
10 to 12 million
Low Countries:
2.5 to 3.5 million rise
British Isles:
5 to 7.5 million rise
Scandinavia:
2 to 2.5 million rise
(See Europe, 1648–1814)
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(See 1485) (See 1460–88) (See 1449)
b. England, Scotland, and Ireland
1485–1603
HOUSE OF TUDOR.
1
1485–1509
HENRY VII. Henry's first act was to imprison the earl of Warwick, son of the duke of
Clarence. His first parliament (1485) confirmed the crown to him and his heirs. Though
the traditional medieval checks on the power of the crown were maintained in theory, in
practice Henry went a long way toward developing royal power—establishment of the
administrative court later called the Star Chamber (1487), suppression of recalcitrant
nobles and livery and maintenance (private armies clothed and supported by nobles and
representing a resurgence of feudalism) (See 1066–72), development of an efficient if
arbitrary royal financial system.
2
1494
STATUTE OF DROGHEDA (Poyning's law): (1) No Irish parliament should be held
without the consent of the king of England. (2) No bill could be brought forward in an
Irish parliament without his consent. (3) All recent laws enacted in the English
parliament should hold in Ireland.
1496
3
Percy Warbeck, a Fleming, and James IV of Scotland invaded England. In 1497 a
formidable insurrection broke out in Cornwall on occasion of an imposition of a tax by
parliament. It was suppressed by the defeat at Blackheath (June 22, 1497), and the
leaders executed (Flammock). Peace with Scotland (Sept. 1497). Warbeck was soon
taken and imprisoned in the Tower.
4
1496
Intercursus magnus, commercial treaty with Netherlands, granted mutual privileges to
English and Flemings and provided fixed duties. Support of the wool trade; taxes on that
trade augmented Henry's treasury and made him financially independent of parliament.
5
1501
Marriage of Henry's eldest son, Arthur, and Catherine of Aragon of Spain.
6
1502
Marriage of Henry's eldest daughter, Margaret, with James IV, king of Scotland.
7
1509–47
HENRY VIII. He was six times married: (1) Catherine of Aragon, widow of his
brother Arthur, mother of Mary the Catholic (married on June 3, 1509, divorced on
March 30, 1533). (2) Anne Boleyn, mother of Elizabeth I (married on Jan. 25, 1533,
beheaded on May 19, 1536). (3) Jane Seymour (married on May 20, 1536, died after
the birth of her son Edward VI, on October 24, 1537). (4) Anne of Cleves (married on
Jan. 6, 1540, divorced on June 24, 1540). (5) Catherine Howard (married on Aug. 8,
1540, beheaded on Feb. 12, 1542). (6) Catherine Parr (married on July 10, 1543,
outlived the king).
1511
8
Henry a member of the Holy League (See 1495–96) (See 1511), . Having laid claim to
the French crown, he sent troops to Spain, which were unsuccessful (1512). In 1513 the
king went to France in person and with Emperor Maximilian won on Aug. 17, the
bloodless victory of Guinegate, the battle of the Spurs.
9
1513, Sept. 9
Battle of Flodden Field. Defeat and death of James IV of Scotland, who was allied with
France.
10
1514, Aug
Peace with France and with Scotland.
11
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1479–1675 > c. The Netherlands
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
c. The Netherlands
The provinces of the Low Countries (so called because much of the land lies below sea
level), originally inhabited by Batavians and other Germanic tribes, had formed a part of
the empire of Charlemagne and, after the treaty of Mersen (870), belonged in large part
to Germany, forming a dependency of the kingdom of Lotharingia. The decline of the
ducal power favored the growth of powerful counties and duchies, such as Brabant,
Flanders, Gelders, Holland, Zeeland, Hainault, and the bishopric of Utrecht. After 1384
the provinces were brought under the control of the dukes of Burgundy in the following
manner: Philip II (the Bold), fourth son of John II of France, became the duke of
Burgundy in 1363. He acquired Flanders and Artois (1384) through marriage with
Margaret, heiress of Count Louis II. Their son was John the Fearless, duke of
Burgundy (1404–19), who was succeeded by his son, Philip the Good (1419–67). Philip
acquired Namur by purchase (1425). Brabant and Limburg came to him by bequest
(Joanna, daughter of John III, duke of Brabant, left them to her great-nephew, Antoine,
brother of John the Fearless). In 1433 he acquired Holland, Hainault, and Zeeland by
cession from Jacqueline, countess of Holland; and in 1443, Luxemburg, by cession from
Elizabeth of Luxemburg. He also added Antwerp and Mechlin. His son, Charles the
Bold (duke of Burgundy 1467–77), acquired Gelderland and Zutphen by bequest from
Duke Arnold (1472).
1
Mary, the daughter and heiress of Charles the Bold, married Maximilian, archduke of
Austria and later emperor (See 1486). Their son, Philip the Handsome (duke of
Burgundy), married Joanna, the daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of
Castile, and thus the Netherland provinces passed ultimately into the hands of Philip's
son, Charles I (Charles V as emperor).
2
1548
Charles annexed the 17 provinces (Brabant, Limburg, Luxemburg, Gelderland, Flanders,
Artois, Hainault, Holland, Zeeland, Namur, Zutphen, East Friesland, West Friesland,
Mechlin, Utrecht, Overyssel, Groningen) to the Burgundian circle of the empire.
3
1556
Abdication of Charles. The Netherlands, like Spain, passed to his son.
4
1556–98
PHILIP II.
5
1567–1648
REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS. The provinces had long enjoyed ancient and
important privileges. The estates (staaten, états) granted taxes and troops. The Spanish
garrison, the penal edicts against heretics, the dread of the introduction of the Spanish
Inquisition, all these factors led (during the rule (1559–67) of Margaret of Parma, the
natural sister of Philip II, and her adviser, Cardinal Granvelle) to the formation of a
league of nobles (Compromise of Breda), headed by Philip Marnix of St. Aldegonde.
6
Religious background: the 13th-century tradition of the Beguines, communities of
women who led lives of prayer and meditation; the 14th-century Brethren of the
Common Life, groups of pious laypeople who living in stark simplicity provided relief
to the poor, taught the young, and emphasized the centrality of scripture in the Christian
life—these groups found in most large cities of the Low Countries; great mobility of
merchants who traveled widely and brought back Lutheran and Calvinist ideas; the
high level of literacy in an urban commercial society with many able to read Luther's
and Calvin's writings. Calvinism took firm root in the northern provinces, commonly
called Holland (the southern provinces, now Belgium, remained Catholic).
7
To finance the government, Margaret raised taxes, thus uniting opposition to the
government's fiscal policies with its official repression of Calvinism.
8
1566, Aug
A year of high grain prices. Fanatical Calvinists of the poorest classes incited by popular
9
preaching embarked on a wave of iconoclastic destruction of artwork, libraries, and
churches in Antwerp; disorders spread to Ghent and Brussels. These disturbances
initially opposed by Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1522–68), and William of Nassau,
prince of Orange (1533–84), later called William the Silent because of his reputation
for diplomatic tact, and other members of the great nobility who, however, lost control
of the movement. Revolt, sparked by religious and economic protests and by sectional
discontents, won support by uniting the elite classes' appeal to constitutionalism (royal
attacks on aristocratic liberties) with the general population's antipathy to Spanish
outsiders.
1567
Philip sent to the Netherlands the duke of Alva (1508–82) with an army of 20,000.
Creation of a tribunal at Brussels to investigate rebellion and heresy, subsequently called
the Council of Blood because 18,000 executed, including the Catholic Egmont, Hoorn,
and other prominent figures. Estates of those who failed to appear before the tribunal,
including those of William of Orange, confiscated; additional arbitrary taxes levied.
These measures led (1568) to open rebellion against Spanish rule.
10
1572–76
The northern provinces under leadership of William of Orange expelled the Spanish
garrisons, but in 1576 the Spanish capture of Antwerp, Maestricht, and Ghent led to the
PACIFICATION OF GHENT, a treaty among all the provinces by which they united,
without regard to national or religious differences, to drive out the Spaniards. The new
governor, Don John of Austria, was unable to quiet the country, despite disputes
between the various parties.
11
1578–92
Don John died in 1578 and was succeeded by Alexander Farnese (duke of Parma), a
shrewd statesman and an excellent general. Parma ultimately subdued the southern
provinces, on the promise that their old political freedom should be restored. The seven
northern provinces (Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Groningen, Friesland,
Overyssel) thereupon concluded the UNION OF UTRECHT (1579), followed by a
proclamation of independence from Spain (1581). The office of stadholder, chief
executive officer of a Dutch province that later formed union, the United Provinces, and
12
usually a member of the House of Orange, was settled on William of Orange. After his
murder at Delft (July 10, 1584), he was succeeded by his son.
1584
Maurice of Nassau, son of William of Orange, was only 17 years old when he assumed
stadholdership. Parma continued his victorious campaigns and managed to capture
Antwerp. Thereupon the English came to the aid of the insurgents.
13
1588
Philip II, hoping to put an end to the Anglo-Dutch combination, organized the Armada,
which was defeated by the English and destroyed in a terrible storm (See 1642, Jan. 3).
14
1609
The Twelve Years' Truce put an end to sporadic and inconclusive fighting and
essentially established the independence of the northern provinces. After its expiration
the war was resumed by the Spaniards. The Hollanders, who had grown rich and
powerful at sea in the course of the struggle, were well able to hold their own, and
finally
15
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(See 1480)
d. France
LAST VALOIS KINGS (1498-1589)
1483–98
CHARLES VIII. Death of the duke of Brittany (1488) called forth a coalition of the
empire, Spain and England to preserve the independence of the duchy, but this proved
futile. Charles married Anne, the heiress, in 1491 and concluded the Treaties of Senlis
(with the emperor) and Étaples (with England). Spain was bought off by the cession of
Roussillon and Cerdagne.
1
1495–96
Charles's expedition to Italy to claim the inheritance of Naples (through his father
from Charles, duke of Maine and Provence; see genealogical table). Charles marched
victoriously through Italy and conquered Naples (bringing the venereal disease syphilis,
which rapidly spread across Europe), but he was soon obliged to withdraw in the face of
the Holy League (Emperor Maximilian, Pope Alexander VI, Spain, Venice, Milan, and
England), formed to protect Italy from foreign domination. Expedition led to the
introduction of Renaissance culture into France and marked beginning of Habsburg
(Spanish)–Valois (French) conflict (1494–1559) over Italy.
1498–1589
2
HOUSES OF ORLÉANS AND ANGOULÊME. Branch lines of the house of Valois
(since 1328), whose relation to the main line is shown on page LAST VALOIS KINGS
(1498-1589).
3
1498–1515
LOUIS XII obtained a divorce from Jeanne, daughter of Louis XI, and married Anne of
Brittany, widow of Charles VIII, in order to keep this duchy for the crown; as grandson
of Valentina Visconti he laid claim to Milan and drove out Ludovico Moro, who was
imprisoned when he tried to return (1500).
4
1501
Louis, in alliance with Ferdinand the Catholic, king of Aragon, conquered the kingdom
of Naples. The Spaniards and French soon falling out, the latter were defeated by the
Spanish general Gonzalvo de Córdoba on the Garigliano (1503). Louis XII gave up his
claims to Naples.
5
1508
League of Cambrai (See 1508). In 1511 the pope, Ferdinand the Catholic, and Venice
renewed the Holy League, with the object of driving the French out of Italy. The latter,
under the young Gaston de Foix, duke of Nemours, nephew of Louis XII, were at first
successful in the war, taking Brescia (1512) by storm and defeating the united Spanish
and papal armies at Ravenna, with the aid of 5,000 German mercenaries, in the same
year; they were, however, compelled by the Swiss to evacuate Milan. In 1513 the French
formed a new alliance with Venice but were defeated by the Swiss at Novara and
withdrew from Italy. Henry VIII of England, who had joined the Holy League in 1512,
and the Emperor Maximilian, who had joined in 1513, invaded France.
6
1513, Aug. 17
They defeated the French at Guinegate, called the Battle of the Spurs from the hasty
flight of the French.
7
France concluded peace with the pope, with Spain (1511), with the emperor, and with
Henry VIII (1514). Anne of Brittany having died, Louis took as his third wife Mary, the
sister of Henry VIII. He died soon after the marriage (1515).
8
1515–47
Louis was succeeded by his cousin and son-in-law, the count of Angoulême, FRANCIS
I.
9
1515, Sept. 13–14
Francis reconquered Milan by the brilliant victory of Marignano over the Swiss. Peace
and alliance between France and Switzerland. Treaty of Geneva (Nov. 7, 1515); Treaty
of Fribourg (Nov. 29, 1516). The latter (la paix perpétuelle) endured until the French
Revolution.
10
1516
Increase of the royal power by the concordat of Bologna with the pope, which
rescinded the Pragmatic Sanction of 1438 and placed the choice of bishops and abbots in
the hands of the king; the pope on the other hand received the annates, or the first year's
revenue of every ecclesiastical domain where the king's right of presentation was
exercised. Francis in return abandoned the principle of the council of Basel that the pope
was subordinate to an ecumenical council.
11
Francis invited the Florentine artists Leonardo da Vinci, Andrea del Sarto, and
Benvenuto Cellini and the architect Rosso to grace and decorate his court; established
lectureships that formed the basis of the Collège de France; and supported the navigator
Jacques Cartier (1491–1557), who established French interests in North America.
12
1536
The humanist and theologian John Calvin (1509–64) published the Institutes of the
Christian Religion (definitive edition 1559), a systematic theology for Protestantism;
because of its social and economic implications and Calvin's remarkable facility with
language (French) the work won a wide readership and many converts, especially in
urban centers such as Paris, Lyons, and Grenoble. Members of the Reformed Church,
13
as Calvinists were called, became the dynamic force in international Protestantism.
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(See 1479–1516)
e. The Iberian Peninsula
1. Spain
1479–1516
REIGN OF FERDINAND of Aragon and his wife, ISABELLA, queen of Castile
(1474–1504). During this period much progress was made, notably in Castile, toward the
suppression of the fractious aristocracy and the regulation of the Church. Aragon, on the
other hand, retained most of its privileges. Ferdinand devoted his efforts to the
conclusion of profitable marriage alliances and to the furtherance of his designs in Italy,
which brought him into conflict with France and other Italian powers.
1
In the 14th century, economic dislocation, the search for scapegoats during visits of the
Black Death, and anti-Jewish preaching contributed to growing anti-semitism in Spain.
In 1331, a mob attacked the Jewish community of Gerona in Catalonia; in 1335, royal
troops massacred Jews in Toledo; in 1391, mobs sacked and burned the Jewish
community in Seville, and from Seville, anti-semitic pogroms swept Valencia, Majorica,
Barcelona, Burgos, Madrid, and Segovia. Those forced to convert were called “New
Christians.”
2
In the 15th century, New Christians held high positions in the administration of Castile,
including the royal secretaryship; controlled the royal treasury; composed one-third of
the royal council; were arch-bishops, bishops, and abbots; included some of the leading
merchants; intermarried with the nobility; and held prominent positions in law and
medicine. They numbered perhaps 200,000 in a total population of 7.5 million. New
Christians, also called conversos, insisted their faith was identical to that of other
Christians. Detractors stressed not belief, but blood, developing the racial theory that
New Christians were the same as their ancestors, Jews. This theory emerged at the same
time as Spanish nationalism. Courting public opinion, on Sept. 28, 1480, Ferdinand and
Isabella (with papal permission) established the Inquisition, ecclesiastical tribunals to
3
judge “heretical depravity … to search out and punish converts from Judaism who had
transgressed against Christianity by secretly adhering to Jewish beliefs and performing
Jewish rites.” The inquisition became an important instrument of Spanish royal policy.
The Most Catholic kings, as they were called, had the able assistance of Francisco
Jiménez de Cisneros (1436–1517), an austere Franciscan and (1507) cardinal: he
directed the forcible conversion of the Muslims of Granada; pressed monastic reform
and education of the clergy; served as regent of Castile (1506–7); and financed and led
an expedition to Africa (1510–11), resulting in the capture of Oran.
The centuries-long reconquista (reconquest), the term given the Crusades led by the
northern kingdoms to expel the Muslims from the Iberian peninsula by 14th-century
clerical propagandists, ended Jan. 2, 1492 with the conquest of Granada.
4
1492, March 11
Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the Jews from Spain, giving them four months to leave.
Many went to Istanbul and other parts of the Ottoman Turkish empire.
5
1494
Foundation of the Consulado for foreign trade at Burgos. This chamber and the Casa
de Contratación at Seville (1503) undertook to regulate Spanish trade and had much to
do with the commercial expansion of the 16th century.
6
1500
By the Treaty of Granada, France and Spain again engaged to cooperate in Italian
affairs, but friction over Naples soon led to hostilities. Victories of the great Spanish
commander Gonzalvo de Córdoba (especially at Garigliano, 1503). Aragon retained
Naples.
7
1503
The first gold from Mexico arrived at the Port of San Lucar at Seville. Beginning of
Spanish emigration to the Americas.
8
1504
The death of Isabella made Joanna (wife of Philip, archduke of Austria) legal heiress
to Castile. Ferdinand, who had long planned the union of Castile and Aragon, in Joanna's
absence secured from the Cortes authority to carry on the government in his daughter's
behalf. In 1506 Philip and Joanna came to claim their inheritance. Treaty of Villafavila
between Philip and Ferdinand, the former securing the regency. Philip's death in the
same year and the insanity of Joanna (kept in confinement for 49 years, d. 1555)
allowed Ferdinand to resume control.
9
1509–11
African campaigns, organized, financed, and led by Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros
(1436–1517), aided by Pedro Navarro. Cisneros was one of the ablest statesmen of his
time who, having reformed the Spanish church, now devoted himself to the crusade. The
Spanish forces took Oran, Bougie, and Tripoli and forced the Muslim rulers to pay
tribute.
10
1511
The Holy League (the pope, Ferdinand, and Venice) against France and the Empire.
Victory of the league at Novara (1513). At the same time (1512) the Spaniards
conquered Navarre, which was annexed to the Castilian crown, though it retained its
own government (1515).
11
1516
The death of Ferdinand led to the regency of Cardinal Cisneros, who vigorously
repressed incipient disturbances by the nobles. The crowns now passed to the son of
Philip and Joanna, Charles of Ghent, who became
12
1516–56
CHARLES I of Spain, founder of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty. Charles, who had
been educated in Flanders, arrived (1517) with a large Flemish following, which
13
regarded the Spaniards with disdain. Dissatisfaction of the Spaniards with Charles's
election to the imperial throne (1519) led to widespread opposition to his leaving the
country and using Spanish money and men for imperial purposes.
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > B. Early Modern Europe, 1479–1815 > 1. Europe,
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(See 1489)
f. Italy
1. The Italian Wars
The period from about 1450 to 1550 marked not only the apogee of the Renaissance but
also the intellectual and artistic primacy of Italy. In the field of history and political
science, Francesco Guicciardini (1483–1540; Istoria d' Italia published only in 1561)
and Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527; Il Principe, 1513) were outstanding. In art
history, Lives of the most excellent painters, sculptors, and architects (1550, rev. ed.
1568), by Giorgio Vasari (1511–74), stands as the first and most influential of all
critical histories of art. The satirist Pietro Aretino (1492–1556) used the shock of sex in
pornography as a vehicle to criticize: his Sonnetti lussuriosi (1527) and Ragionamenti
(1534–36), sonnets accompanying 16 engravings of as many sexual positions, attacked
princely court life, humanist education, and false clerical piety, while Baldassare
Castiglione (Il Cortegiano, 1528) produced a famous handbook of the courtier.
Ludovico Ariosto (1474–1533; Orlando Furioso, 1516) was one of the greatest epic
poets of all time. In the field of music Giovanni da Palestrina (1525–94; at St. Peter's
after 1551) and Orlando di Lasso were men of the first rank. Architects and painters of
eminence are too numerous to be listed, and it will suffice to recall names like Leonardo
da Vinci (1452–1519); Raffael Santi (1483–1520; Sistine Madonna, 1516);
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564; Sistine Chapel paintings, 1508–12, 1534–41;
dome of St. Peter's, 1547); Andrea del Sarto (1486–1531); Giorgione da Castelfranco
(1477–1510); Titian (Tiziano Vecelli, 1477–1576); Gentile Bellini (1429–1507);
Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti, 1518–94); Paolo Veronese (1528–88); Sofonisba
Anguissola (c. 1530–1625) of Cremona, who produced superb family portraits and was
the first woman artist to achieve international renown; Andrea Mantegna, Allegri da
Correggio, Benvenuto Cellini, and the extraordinary and formidable woman artist
Artemisa Gentileschi (1593–c. 1652), whose Judith and Holofernes reflects her
bloodthirsty themes.
1
Politically, however, Italy was divided and soon became the “cockpit” of Europe, the
victim of the rivalries of the rising monarchies, which coveted the wealth of the
peninsula. There were, at the time, five major Italian states: Venice, the strongest of all,
deriving its wealth and influence from the extensive eastern trade, from its possessions
in the Adriatic, Ionian, and Aegean Seas, and from domination of the neighboring
mainland; Milan, ruled by Ludovico Sforza and commanding the rich valley of the Po;
Florence, long one of the most progressive of Italian communities, having attained to
great splendor under Lorenzo the Magnificent; the Papal States, carved from the central
part of the peninsula and in process of expansion under the political popes of the late
15th century; the kingdom of Naples, deeply involved in the Middle East, ruled by a
branch of the Aragonese house. These states maintained a precarious balance among
themselves but were almost all so imperialistic that they were constantly endeavoring to
victimize one another and ultimately reached the point of calling in the foreigner, with
the result that Italy became the prey of French, German, and Spanish ambitions.
2
1492
Formation of a secret alliance between Florence and Naples for the spoliation of Milan.
This led to Ludovico Sforza's appeal to Charles VIII of France to make good the Anjou
claims on Naples.
3
1494–95
THE FRENCH INVASION OF ITALY. Charles arrived in September and met with
no real resistance. Florence submitted but then drove out Piero de' Medici (Nov.) and
abandoned the French connection. Thereupon Charles attacked and took Florence, which
was obliged to give up Pisa and other towns. Charles advanced on Rome (Jan. 1495) and
thence into Naples. Alfonso fled to Sicily, leaving Naples to his son Ferrante, who was
driven out by a revolt. The French entered Naples (Feb. 22, 1495), but their very success
led to the formation of a coalition directed against them: Milan, Venice, Emperor
Maximilian, Pope Alexander VI, and Ferdinand of Aragon leagued together against
Charles, forcing his retreat to the north. The Spaniards (Gonzalvo de Córdoba) soon
reconquered Naples.
4
1499, Feb
Venice agreed to support the claims of Louis XII of France to Milan in return for a
5
promise of Cremona. The French thereupon invaded Italy a second time (Aug.) and
forced Ludovico Sforza to flee from Milan to Germany. Milan surrendered (Sept. 14).
The next year Sforza returned with an army of German mercenaries and obliged the
French to evacuate. Before long the German forces began to disintegrate and the French
returned to Milan. Sforza was captured and died (1508) in a French prison. Milan thus
became French.
1500, Nov. 11
By the Treaty of Granada, Ferdinand of Aragon agreed to support Louis's claim to
Naples, which was to be divided between France and Spain. In 1501 (June) the French
army, marching south, entered Rome, whereupon the pope declared Federigo of Naples
deposed and invested Louis and Ferdinand with the kingdom. The French took Capua
(July), while the Spanish fleet seized Taranto (March 1502). So much having been
gained, the two allies fell to quarreling over the division of the spoils, and war resulted
(July). The Spaniards at first suffered reverses but in 1503 defeated a French fleet and
won a decisive victory at Cerignola (April 28). They took Naples (May 13), and after
another victory at Garigliano (Dec. 28), forced the French to surrender at Gaeta (Jan. 1,
1504). This completed the Spanish conquest of Naples, which, with Sicily, gave them
control of southern Italy, as the French had control of Milan in the north.
6
1508, Dec. 10
The LEAGUE OF CAMBRAI, organized to despoil Venice of its possessions on the
mainland and in Apulia. Emperor Maximilian promised Louis XII the investiture of
Milan in return for support. Ferdinand of Aragon and Pope Julius II joined the coalition.
The French attacked and defeated the Venetians at Agnadello (May 14, 1509). Surrender
of Verona, Vicenza, and Padua, which were handed over to Maximilian. But the
Venetians soon rallied and retook Padua (July 17), which was besieged in vain by
Maximilian. Vicenza too rose against the emperor and recalled the Venetians. After a
French victory at Ravenna (Easter, 1512), even the emperor and the Swiss cantons
joined the coalition against the French, who were driven out of Milan (May). In a
congress of the league at Mantua (Aug.), the Spaniards forced the Florentines to take
back the Medici and join the league. Milan was given to Maximilian Sforza (son of
Ludovico). The war continued until the French were badly defeated at Novara (June 6,
1513), after which the pope, Ferdinand, and Henry of England all made peace.
1515
7
The new French king, Francis I, as deeply interested in Italy as his two predecessors
and quite as adventurous, concluded an alliance with Henry VIII and Venice against the
emperor Maximilian, the pope, Ferdinand, Milan, Florence, and the Swiss. The French
won a great victory at Marignano (Sept. 13), by which they recovered Milan.
Thereupon the pope came to terms, surrendered Parma and Piacenza, and in return
secured the Concordat of Bologna (See 1515, Sept. 13–14). After the death of
Ferdinand (Jan. 1516), his successor, Charles I (later Emperor Charles V), confronted
with problems in Spain and Germany and eager to secure European cooperation against
the advance of the Ottoman Turks, concluded with Francis the Treaty of Noyon (Aug.
13, 1516), by which the French retained Milan but gave up their claims to Naples.
Maximilian returned Brescia and Verona to Venice in consideration of a money
payment.
8
1522–23
First of the Habsburg-Valois Wars, (See 1521–29) for many of which Italy became a
battlefield. The pope and England supported Charles V against Francis. Having been
driven out of Milan, Parma, and Piacenza, the French were defeated at Bicocca (April
27, 1522) and retained only the citadel of Milan. In May they were even driven from
Genoa, their all-important sea base. But in Oct. 1524 the French invaded Italy with a
large army and retook Milan (Oct. 29). The pope changed sides and joined the French.
9
1525, Feb. 24
The BATTLE OF PAVIA, the most important engagement of the long Italian wars. The
Spanish commanders, Constable de Bourbon (prominent French noble and opponent of
Francis) and Marquís de Pescara, completely defeated the French. Francis himself was
captured and sent to Madrid. There he concluded the Treaty of Madrid (Jan. 14, 1526)
(See 1521–29).
10
1526, May 22
The LEAGUE OF COGNAC, a coalition of Francis I, the pope, Sforza, Venice, and
Florence against Charles and the Spaniards. The league was the natural result of the too
great success of the Spaniards in Italy, and the objective was to restore the status quo of
1522. But the Spaniards forced Sforza out of Milan (July 24) and before long attacked
11
Rome (Sept. 21).
1527, May 6
The pope was helpless and could not prevent the SACK OF ROME by the Spanish and
German mercenaries of Charles. The sack was horrible even when judged by the
customs of the day.
12
May 17
Florence rose against the Medici, who were again driven out and replaced by a
republic (under Niccolò Capponi). Genoa also revolted, under Andrea Doria. The
French were expelled and a republican constitution established. The French, however,
having overrun Lombardy (Oct.), began to march south. Meanwhile the pope, who had
fled to Orvieto (Dec.), made his peace with Charles (Treaty of Barcelona, June 29,
1529—the Papal States to be restored and the Medici returned to Florence).
13
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > B. Early Modern Europe, 1479–1815 > 1. Europe,
1479–1675 > g. The German Empire
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(See 1486)
g. The German Empire
1. Overview, to 1618
THE HOUSE OF HABSBURG (1493-1780)
1493–1519
MAXIMILIAN I, who first took the title Roman Emperor elect.
1
1495
Diet of Worms. Constitutional reform. Attempted modernization of the medieval
empire. Perpetual public peace. Imperial chamber (Reichskammergericht), first at
Frankfurt, then at Speier, finally at Wetzlar (1689). At the Diet of Köln (1512) the
reorganization of the empire was carried further: establishment of ten circles for the
better maintenance of public peace (Landfriedenskreise): (1) Austria; (2) Bavaria; (3)
Swabia; (4) Franconia; (5) Upper Rhine; (6) Lower Rhine; (7) Burgundy (ceded to the
Spanish line of the Habsburgs, 1556); (8) Westphalia; (9) Lower Saxony; (10) Upper
Saxony. In all there were 240 states in the empire, exclusive of the imperial knights.
Bohemia and the neighboring states (Moravia, Silesia, Lusatia) with Prussia and
Switzerland (which was already completely independent) were not included in the
circles. Establishment of the Aulic Council, a court more under the control of the
2
emperor than the imperial chamber, and to which a large part of the work of the latter
was gradually diverted.
1508
The League of Cambrai, among Maximilian, Louis XII, Pope Julius II, and Ferdinand
the Catholic (See 1508, Dec. 10).
3
1511
Pope Julius II, Venice, and Ferdinand of Spain formed the Holy League aimed at
France; in 1513 Maximilian joined.
4
The genealogical table shows the claim of the Habsburgs to Spain and division of the
house into Spanish and German lines. Through these marriages the central European
lands of the Habsburgs, the Burgundian lands in what are now France and Belgium, and
the united lands of the crowns of Castile and Aragon (Spain, Naples, and the Americas)
all came by birth to Charles I of Spain (eldest son of Philip and Joanna). He acquired
the empire and his better known title Charles V by election in 1519.
5
1517
BEGINNING OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION. Background: Wiclifite,
Hussite, and other preceding rebellions against the Roman church; Babylonian Captivity
and the Great Schism, which weakened the prestige of Rome; corruption and worldliness
of Church officials during the Renaissance; development of critical scholarship, as
represented by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, whose editions of the Church Fathers
and whose Greek text of the New Testament (1516) revealed the scriptural weakness of
ecclesiastical writings; rise of national feeling and dislike of foreigners, especially in
Germany and England; growth of a middle class and a capitalist economy, which felt
Roman Catholicism as a restraint (economic interpretation of the Reformation in modern
writings of Max Weber and R. H. Tawney); resentment by civic authorities, as at Zurich,
of clerical privileges and exemption from taxation; establishment of endowed
preacherships by pious townspeople (such as Stuttgart, Eisenach, Jena) to raise
intellectual level of sermons; great landed wealth of the Church available for
confiscation by ambitious and unscrupulous princes.
6
Martin Luther (1483–1546), born at Eisleben, the son of a miner; friar in the Augustine
convent at Erfurt; priest (1507); professor at Wittenberg (1508); visit to Rome (1511).
7
1517, Oct. 31
Luther nailed on the door of the castle church at Wittenberg his 95 theses (in Latin)
against the misuse of absolution or indulgences (especially by the Dominican friar
Johann Tetzel); translated into German, the theses soon circulated widely.
8
1518
Summoned to Augsburg by Cardinal de Vio of Gaëta (Cajetanus), Luther refused to
abjure but appealed to the pope. Mediation of the papal chamberlain, Karl von Miltitz.
9
1519
Discussion at Leipzig between Andreas Bodenstein (called Karlstadt) and Johann
Eck. The latter secured a papal bull against 41 articles in Luther's writings. Luther
burned the papal bull and the canon law (1520). Thereupon he was excommunicated.
10
The German electors chose as emperor the grandson of Maximilian, King Charles I of
Spain, who as emperor became
11
1519–56
CHARLES V. He came to Germany for the first time in 1520 to preside at the Diet of
Worms (1521). There Luther defended his doctrines, coming under a safe conduct. The
ban of the empire having been pronounced against him, he was taken under the
protection of Frederick the Wise, elector of Saxony. The Edict of Worms prohibited all
new doctrines. Luther's translation of the Bible.
12
1521
Hieronymus, envoy of the king of Hungary, pled for Western support against the
advancing Ottoman Turks (See 1521). Charles preoccupied with imperial matters and
the Lutheran revolt.
13
Aug. 28
The Ottoman Turkish sultan Suleyman the Magnificent conquered Belgrade, gateway to
Hungary and Habsburg lands along the Danube.
14
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > B. Early Modern Europe, 1479–1815 > 1. Europe,
1479–1675 > h. Scandinavia
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(See 1387–1412)
h. Scandinavia
1. Denmark and Norway
During this period the union of the three Scandinavian kingdoms became dissolved.
1
1513–23
The attempt of the Danish king, CHRISTIAN II, to assert Danish supremacy in Sweden
by invading it and executing the leaders of the national Swedish party (the massacre of
Stockholm, 1520) led to a national revolt (1520) headed by Gustavus Ericksson Vasa,
a young Swedish nobleman.
2
1523
The Danes were defeated, and Gustavus Vasa became first administrator of the kingdom,
then king (see below, Sweden).
3
In his domestic policy Christian II, in alliance with the middle classes, tried to
strengthen royal authority at the expense of the nobility and the Church. This caused a
rebellion, led by the nobles and the bishops.
4
1523–33
They invited the duke of Holstein to rule over Denmark as FREDERICK I. A civil war
followed in which the middle classes sided with Christian II. Christian was defeated and
deposed in 1532. After the death of Frederick in 1533, civil war broke out anew (the
Counts' War).
5
1534–59
Order was restored with the accession of Frederick's son CHRISTIAN III. During his
reign, Protestantism triumphed in Denmark. Church property was secularized and a
national (Lutheran) church was established. Simultaneously there was a great
strengthening of royal power. Christian III intervened in the religious struggle in
Germany, siding with the Protestant princes against the emperor.
6
1559–88
Frederick II.
7
1588–1648
CHRISTIAN IV. At the same time, rivalry with Sweden in the Baltic caused the War
of Kalmar (1611–13), with indecisive results, and Denmark's participation in the Thirty
Years' War (1625–29) (See The Danish Period, 1625–29).
8
1643–45
A second war, in which the Swedes were victorious. Denmark lost some territory on the
farther side of the Sound. Upon the death of Christian IV, an aristocratic reaction
brought about a temporary weakening of the royal power.
9
Norway during this period remained under Danish domination: all the important posts in
the administration were occupied by the Danes, and the Danish language was
predominant. However, Norway benefited from the activity of some of the Danish kings.
Christian IV improved administration, developed national resources, founded
Christiania (Oslo). Under the influence of Denmark, Norway also became Protestant
(Lutheran). (See Denmark, Norway, and Iceland)
10
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > B. Early Modern Europe, 1479–1815 > 1. Europe,
1479–1675 > i. Russia
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(See 1492)
i. Russia
GROWTH OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE TO 1796 (MAP)
In Russia, the early 16th to the mid-17th century was a time of conflict between the
crown and the powerful landed nobility, which was eventually destroyed. This was
accompanied by a decline in the influence of the townsmen and a gradual relapsing of
the peasantry into serfdom. The latter problem was closely connected with defense and
territorial expansion. Since 1454 the grand dukes of Moscow had granted nonhereditary
military fiefs (pomestye) to secure a supply of fighting men for use in the struggle
against the Tatars. The corollary was a steady debasement in the position of the peasants,
who consequently tended to run off to newly conquered territories in the southeast.
Depopulation in the center resulted in ever more drastic measures to hold the cultivator
on the land. At the same time there grew up on the borders the Cossack colonies,
independent communities of peasant soldiers that were to play a great role in this period.
1
1505–33
BASIL III, the son of Ivan the Great and Sophia. The reign was a fairly quiet one,
during which the work of consolidation was continued by the reduction of Pskov (1510),
Smolensk (1514), and Riazan (1517).
1533–84
2
IVAN IV (the Terrible), the son of Basil. He ascended the throne at the age of three. The
regency was in the hands of his mother, Helen Glinski (of Lithuanian family), until
1538, and then fell into the hands of powerful noble (boyar) families, notably the
Shuiskys and Belskys.
3
1547
Ivan assumed power and had himself crowned tsar, the first Russian ruler to assume the
title formally. At the same time he established a “chosen council,” composed of
personally selected advisers, which he hoped to make a counterweight to the power of
the council of boyars (duma). This was followed in 1549 with the convocation of the
first national assembly, or zemski sobor, including merchants and lesser nobles and
meant to broaden the support of the crown. In these early years Ivan made considerable
progress in breaking down the power of the provincial governors and establishing a
measure of local government.
4
1552–56
The conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan from the Tatars gave Russia control of the
entire course of the Volga and opened the way for expansion to the east and southeast.
Already in the last years of Ivan's reign (1581–83), Russian traders (the Stroganov
family) established themselves east of the Urals, and Cossack pioneers, under Yermak,
began the conquest of Siberia.
5
1553
The British, under Richard Chancellor, reached Moscow by way of the White Sea and
Archangel. They were given trade rights in 1555 and formed an important link in
Russian communications with the west.
6
1557–82
The LIVONIAN WAR, arising from the disputed succession to the Baltic territories
ruled by the Teutonic Knights. Ivan appreciated to the full the importance of an outlet to
the Baltic, and seized Narva and Dorpat. In 1563 he conquered part of Livonia, which
had been taken over by the Poles.
7
1564
Conflict of Ivan with the powerful boyars, led by Prince Andrei Kurbski. Ivan
eventually withdrew from Moscow and issued an appeal to the people, who, through the
metropolitan, urged him to return. He took a terrible revenge on his opponents and began
a reign of terror marked by the execution or exile of many boyars, as well as violent
rages, in one of which he killed his son and heir, alternating with deep repentance. At the
same time Ivan set aside about half of the realm as his personal domain (oprichnina), in
which he established a new administration and a separate royal army. Printing
introduced into Russia during Ivan's reign.
8
1570
Ivan ravaged Novgorod and massacred many of the inhabitants, whom he suspected of
sympathy for the Poles.
9
1571
The Crimean Tatars attacked and sacked Moscow.
10
1578
Defeat of the Russians by the Swedes at Wenden, in the course of the struggle for the
Baltic lands. Polotsk was lost in the following year.
11
1581
Stephen Bathory, king of Poland, invaded Russia and advanced victoriously to Pskov.
12
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1479–1675 > j. Poland-Lithuania
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(See 1447) (See 1612) (See 1650)
j. Poland-Lithuania
The history of Poland in this period was marked by a constant growth of power by the
lesser nobility, so that Poland became transformed into a republic of the gentry
(szlachta) (Rzeczpospolita) with an elected king as the titular head. The Rzeczpospolita
had to fight constantly against the expansion of two powers, Muscovite Russia and
Ottoman Turkey, but all efforts of the kings to establish a modern standing army failed.
1
1492–1501
JOHN ALBERT, the son of Casimir IV, relied upon the gentry to reduce the power of
the great magnates.
2
1496
The result was the Statute of Piotrkow (the Magna Carta of Poland), which gave the
gentry extensive privileges at the expense of the burghers and peasants. The burghers
were restricted from buying land and the peasants were practically deprived of freedom
of movement.
3
1497–98
A futile invasion of Moldova, which was intended to secure a throne for the king's
brother, led to a devastating invasion by the Ottoman Turks.
1501–6
4
ALEXANDER I, brother of John Albert and, since 1492, grand duke of Lithuania. His
reign was important only for the war with Ivan the Great of Russia (See 1462–1505),
which resulted in the loss of the left bank of the Dnieper by Poland (1503), and for the
Constitution of Radom (1505), which made the national diet, elected by the nobles at
their provincial assemblies (the dietines), the supreme legislative organ. Henceforth no
new laws were to be passed without the diet's consent.
5
1506–48
SIGISMUND I, brother of John Albert and Alexander, during whose reign the diet
(1511) passed laws finally establishing serfdom in Poland and Lithuania. The serfs were
attached to the soil and could be sold by one lord to another, but only together with the
land. In times of war each lord had to provide a fixed number of fully equipped soldiers,
recruited from among his serfs.
6
1512–22
War with Russia over the White Russian region (Belarus). The Russians made
considerable gains and in 1514 took Smolensk, but most of Belarus remained under
Polish-Lithuanian rule.
7
1525
Secularization of Prussia and end of the rule of the Teutonic Knights. Prussia remained
a fief of Poland.
8
1534–36
Another war with Russia brought no success to the Poles.
9
1548–72
SIGISMUND II (Aug.). His reign was distinguished by the wide spread of the
10
Protestant Reformation, which had taken root in 1518 and had gained ground,
especially in the Baltic lands and in the towns, despite many edicts penalizing the
adherents, who were known as Dissidents. Demands for a national church, marriage of
the clergy, communion in both kinds, Slavonic liturgy, and so on. Calvinism and
Antitrinitarianism also established themselves. After the Council of Trent (See
1523–34) the crown, backed by the recently formed Polish-Lithuanian chapter of the
Jesuit Order (1565), succeeded in checking the movement and in restoring the
supremacy of Roman Catholicism.
1557–71
The Livonian War, arising from a disputed succession and from the conflicting claims
of Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark. The Russians invaded the country (1557) and
the Swedes took Estonia, while the Danes acquired part of Courland. In 1561 the Poles
took over Livonia, but Ivan the Terrible of Russia conquered part of it in 1563.
11
1569, July 1
The UNION OF LUBLIN, which, despite opposition on the part of Lithuania, merged
that country with the Polish kingdom. The two nations were to have a common
sovereign and a common diet, though Lithuania was to retain a separate administration
and army.
12
With the death of Sigismund II the Jagellon dynasty came to an end and the Polish
crown, already elective in theory, became so in fact.
13
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > B. Early Modern Europe, 1479–1815 > 1. Europe,
1479–1675 > k. Bohemia
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(See 1462)
k. Bohemia
1471–1516
LADISLAS II, son of the king of Poland, first ruler of the Jagiello family, a boy of 16 at
his accession. Ladislas continued the persecution of the Bohemian Brotherhood but made
no progress toward unifying the country. As king of Hungary also, he spent most of his
time at Pressburg (today Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia), leaving open the way for the
domination of Bohemia by powerful nobles. During the entire later 15th century the
aristocracy extended its possessions and power at the expense of the crown and Church.
The towns declined in power and the peasantry sank back into serfdom or a status close to
it. Great influx of German peasants in the west and north and in the towns.
1
1516–26
LOUIS, son of Ladislas, who ascended the throne of Bohemia and Hungary at the age of
ten. Conditions continued as under Ladislas, further complicated by the spread and
persecution of Lutheranism.
2
1526
Louis was defeated and killed by the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Mohács.
Ferdinand, brother of Emperor Charles V and brother-in-law of Louis, was elected king,
beginning a long period of Habsburg rule.
3
1547
The Bohemian crown was proclaimed hereditary in the house of Habsburg. Constant
growth of the royal prerogative at the expense of the diet and town government.
4
1618
Defenestration of Prague and beginning of the Thirty Years' War (See 1618, May 23).
Ferdinand II was declared deposed and the Protestant Frederick of the Palatinate was
elected king (the Winter King).
5
1620, Nov. 8
BATTLE OF THE WHITE MOUNTAIN; defeat of Frederick and the Bohemians.
Bohemia was virtually deprived of independence, and a wholesale confiscation of the
lands of the native nobility took place.
6
1627
A new constitution confirmed the hereditary rule of the Habsburgs and strengthened
royal power. The incorporation of Bohemia with the Habsburg empire was completed in
the 18th century with the extension of the imperial administration under Joseph I
(1705–11) and with the Pragmatic Sanction of 1720 (See 1712–23). (See Poland)
7
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1458–90)
l. Hungary
1490–1516
LADISLAS II, king of Bohemia, was elected king of Hungary by the nobles. To secure
recognition from the Habsburgs, he gave up the conquests of Matthias and arranged
dynastic marriages with the Habsburgs (his infant son Louis was married to Mary,
granddaughter of Maximilian; his own daughter, Anne, was married to Maximilian's
grandson Ferdinand). This policy led to the formation of a national party among the
Hungarian nobility, headed by Stephen Zápolya (Szapolyai), the vajdu (prince) of
Transylvania. The nobles refused Ladislas all effective financial support, so he was
unable to maintain an army and was soon at the mercy of the nobles.
1
1514
A great revolt of the peasants, led by George Dózsa, was directed against the ruthless
exploitation by the aristocrats. It was suppressed in a sea of blood by John Zápolya,
leader of the nobility.
2
1514
The Tripartitum, a constitution worked out by Stephen Verböczy, was passed by the
diet. It established the equality of all nobles and at the same time fixed the system of
serfdom on the peasantry.
3
1516–26
LOUIS II, the son of Ladislas, succeeded his father at the age of ten. His reign was
marked chiefly by the spread of Protestantism. The movement first took root in the
German areas and in the towns and was vigorously opposed by the nobles. In 1523 it
was declared punishable by death and confiscation of property, but despite all edicts it
took firm hold of the country.
4
1521
The Ottomans took Belgrade, beginning their victorious advance into Hungary.
5
1526, Aug. 29–30
BATTLE OF MOHÁCS. Defeat and death of Louis when the Ottomans completely
overwhelmed his disorganized army of 20,000.
6
1526–28
The death of Louis was followed by a hot contest over the succession. Part of the
nobility, hoping for German aid against the Ottomans, elected Ferdinand of Habsburg,
brother of Emperor Charles V. The national party, on the other hand, elected John
Zápolya king. After a civil war lasting two years, Zápolya was defeated. He appealed to
the Ottomans, who supported him vigorously. By the Peace of Nagyvarad the two kings
recognized each other, each ruling part of the territory. Zápolya became a vassal of the
Ottomans but Ferdinand continued the war against them, which was interrupted only by
occasional truces (See 1526).
7
1540
Death of John Zápolya. The Ottomans recognized his infant son, John II (Sigismund)
Zápolya (1540–71). This led to a new clash with Ferdinand, who began the invasion of
eastern Hungary. The Ottomans again invaded and took Buda. They now took over the
entire central part of Hungary (the great plain), which was organized in four pashaliks
(border districts). There was no settlement by the Ottoman Turks, but the territory was
8
granted in military fiefs and subjected to heavy taxation. Religious tolerance of the
Ottoman Turks. Transylvania, under Zápolya, was a vassal state of the Ottoman Turks
but was left almost entirely free. Under Cardinal Martinuzzi it was organized as a state
(three nations: Magyars, Szeklers, and Germans, meeting in a Landtag, elected the king
and passed laws). The Transylvanians (even the nobility) soon accepted Calvinism, so
that during the later 16th century the larger part of Hungary was either Lutheran or
Calvinist. In 1560 religious toleration was established in Transylvania. The Habsburgs,
on the other hand, held only a narrow strip of western and northern Hungary, and even
for this they long paid tribute to the Ottoman Turks. The Habsburgs employed Italian
and Spanish mercenaries to defend their possessions, and these ravaged the country as
much as Ottoman territory. Ferdinand and his successors governed from Vienna or
Prague and with little reference to the traditional rights of the Hungarian nobility. This
led to growing friction and later to serious conflict.
1581–1602
Sigismund Bathory, prince of Transylvania. His efforts to unite with the Habsburgs for
a grand assault on the weakening Ottoman power met with vigorous opposition on the
part of the Transylvanian nobility.
9
1604
Beginning of the Counter-Reformation, under Habsburg auspices. This resulted in a
revolt of the Hungarians, supported by the Transylvanians.
10
1604–6
STEPHEN BOCSKAY became prince of Transylvania and, after defeating the
Habsburgs, secured the Treaty of Vienna, by which Protestantism was given equal
status with Catholicism. Nevertheless, the Counter-Reformation made great strides,
especially among the nobility, owing to the efforts of Cardinal Pazmany and the Jesuits.
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
2. Science and Learning, 1450–1700
a. Science
1469
Publication of Pliny's Historia naturalis, the first scientific book to be printed.
1
1500
Hieronymus Brunschwig (1450–c. 1512) published Das Buch der rechten kunst zu
distillieren; its bold woodcuts were the first illustrations to depict chemical apparatus
and operations.
2
1527–41
Philippus Paracelsus (Theophrastus von Hohenheim) (1493–1541) crusaded for the use
of chemicals in the treatment of disease. He introduced the system of salt, sulphur, and
mercury as the three prime “elements,” from which all things are made.
3
1537
Niccolò Tartaglia (?1500–1557), in Nova scientia, discussed the motion of heavy
bodies and the shape of the trajectory of projectiles.
1540
4
Posthumous publication of De la pirotechnica, a handbook of metallurgy containing
information about smelting and ore reduction compiled by Vannoccio Biringuccio
(1480–1539).
5
1542
Leonhart Fuchs (1501–66) used the botanical work of his contemporaries, Otto
Brunsfels (1488–1534), Jerome Bock (1498–1554), and Conrad Gesner (1516–65), to
prepare a great herbal, describing some 400 plants, illustrated by realistic woodcuts.
6
1543
The Polish astronomer NICOLAUS COPERNICUS (Niklas Kopernik) (1473–1543)
published De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, which asserted that the planets,
including the earth, circle around a stationary sun. Modern astronomy rests on his work.
7
1543
ANDREAS VESALIUS (1514–64) produced De fabrica corporis humani, an
illustrated, systematic study of the human body. This work is a union of Renaissance
artistic endeavor and a revived interest in the empirical study of human anatomy.
8
1545
Geronimo Cardano (1501–76) published the solution of the cubic equation in Ars
Magna; this first major advance in mathematics in the European Renaissance provoked a
bitter dispute with Niccolò Tartaglia, who claimed to have discovered it. Cardano
described a tactile system similar to Braille for teaching the blind and believed the deaf
could be taught by signs.
1545–73
9
Ambroise Paré (1510–90) encouraged a pragmatic approach to surgery. He
promoted the dressing of gunshot wounds rather than the traditional practice of
cauterizing them with boiling oil.
10
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b. Inventions and Technology
c. 1455
Printing with movable type, perhaps based on the Chinese method of block printing that
reached Europe c. 1250, introduced through the combined efforts of Johann Guttenberg,
Johann Fust, and Peter Schoffer, all experimenting at Mainz. Consequences: Though felt
only gradually over the next 200 years, printing transformed the public and private lives
of Europeans. Governments used it to announce wars, battles, peace, to persuade;
propaganda made possible, showing differences between opposing groups, such as crown
and nobility, Protestants and Catholics, church and state; the literacy of laypeople
stimulated. Although most early books and pamphlets dealt with religious subjects,
printers also responded with medical, practical, household, travel manuals; pornography
as well as piety assumed new forms. Since printed materials were read aloud to the
illiterate, the bridge between written and oral cultures grew. The development of printing
with movable type accompanied an increased use of wood-block illustrations.
1
1485
Publication of Leon Battista Alberti's (1404–72) De re aedificora exemplified the
extended interests of Renaissance architects and artists in the realm of applied science. A
more famous example is Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), who studied human and
animal anatomy and speculated on hydraulics, mechanics, air travel, and on military and
engineering devices. Structural theory did not advance until the work of Galileo Galilei
(Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences, 1638), Christopher Wren, and Robert
Hooke. The revival of interest in classical architecture, sparked by the rediscovery of the
works of Vitruvius, led architects to develop new techniques, flat ceiling, and the dome.
Some architects of the period were Filippo Brunelleschi (?1377–1446), François
Mansard (1598–1666), Claude Perrault (1613–88), François Blondel (1617–86),
Inigo Jones (1573–1652), and Christopher Wren (1632–1723).
2
c. 1500
The Portuguese developed the caravel, a small, light three-masted (square, lateen, or
both) ship that when fitted with cannon could dominate larger vessels and carry more
cargo; caravels enabled the Portuguese to take the lead in exploration and expansion. By
1700 the four-masted galleon had evolved.
3
c. 1510
First of the handbooks on metallurgy appeared, Probierbergbüchlein on assaying,
Bergbüchlein on mining. In 1540 Vannocio Biringuccio's (1480–1539) Pyrotechnica
published, the first practical, comprehensive metallurgy text by a professional
metallurgist. Included were descriptions of alloying and cannon-molding processes. In
1556 De re metallica of Agricola (Georg Bauer), a physician in the mining area of
Saxony, appeared. It covered all aspects of mining from the survey of the site through the
equipment and methods of mining to assaying, descriptions of glass-making and blast
furnaces, and the treatment of iron, copper, and glass. Agricola was concerned with
miners' health and described the diseases to which they are prone.
4
1520
Wheel lock invented, probably in Italy, one of the steps to a single-handed pistol. By
1525 rifling of the gun barrel was a known technique; by 1650 lead shot was molded by
means of a split mold; and by 1697 iron cannon were cast directly from the blast furnace.
The widespread use of cannon and gunpowder, especially during the Thirty Years' War,
increased the costs and destructiveness of war and reduced its glamour. (See Science and
Technology)
5
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3. Europe, 1648–1814
a. Economic and Social Changes
THE LEGACY OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR: This war left two
legacies—massive destruction of land and population and the end of Catholic
supremacy in Europe. Armies moved back and forth across Europe, destroying crops and
routing people from their homes. Estimates indicate that European population declined by
as much as 30 percent in some areas. The war also resulted in major dislocation and
migration throughout Europe. Even countries largely untouched by armies suffered loss
of trade. The Baltic grain trade was devastated. The Peace of Westphalia not only
ended the war and established territorial boundaries, it codified the principle that the
prince would choose the religion (Calvinism, Lutheranism, or Catholicism) of his
territory. This principle weakened the Holy Roman Empire because it recognized princely
sovereignty. It also furthered the gradual decline of the Catholic Church in the 17th
and 18th centuries.
1
THE GENERAL CRISIS OF THE 17TH CENTURY has sparked intense debate
among historians. The term “crisis,” originally used in the medical sense, refers to an
economic and political turning point. Historians cite the shift of economic growth in
Europe from the Mediterranean (especially Spain and Italy) toward western Europe
(particularly England and France) in demonstrating this turning point. They also
recognize the repeated challenges to political authority. The 17th century witnessed
numerous revolutions (England, the Fronde, the Dutch Republic, etc.) and revolts.
Peasant revolts regarding taxes spread throughout the 17th century. These revolts
focused either on new taxes or on extensions of old ones but were characterized by a
desire to return to the status quo.
2
DEMOGRAPHY (see also individual countries): Population grew very slowly or
remained stagnant before 1730. It was hampered by high infant mortality. Among
infants, girls fared better than boys, and adult males characteristically had higher
mortality rates than adult females. However, women had higher mortality rates during
their childbearing years because childbirth was often deadly. Relatively low birth rates
also contributed to a lack of population growth. European men and women typically
3
married quite late and had only small families. They generally lived in a nuclear family,
often leaving older family members without any recourse but charity and poor assistance
from the state. The lack of support for the elderly may have been a byproduct of the
European marriage pattern; families suffered greater poverty when they had several
children too small to contribute to the family economy in the household. This
arrangement also decreased the mother's economic contribution. As a result of late ages at
marriage, families often experienced such life-cycle poverty at the same time as their
elderly parents needed assistance. Problems of life-cycle poverty were exacerbated by the
problems of disease that persisted between 1650 and 1730. Several waves of plague
spread through Europe along trading routes and via armies. Europe also suffered from
famine, typhus, and smallpox. After 1730, these problems decreased and population
began to grow rapidly, encouraged by the development of proto-industrialization, which
led to earlier marriages. However, growth rates varied dramatically from country to
country.
The decline of mortality and rise in fertility were partially the result of the
AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION. Characterized less by major technological
breakthroughs than by changes in farming technique, the Agricultural Revolution
increased productivity without a corresponding increase in the labor needed to produce
food beginning in the late 17th century. This increase came from the introduction of the
nitrogen-fixing crops, which reduced fallow lands, enclosure, and drainage of
wetlands. In the process, some western European landholders consolidated their
property, removing tenants and peasants. These peasants eventually worked as day
laborers or went to the cities in search of work. Their availability also encouraged the
development of protoindustrialization.
4
PROTOINDUSTRIALIZATION: Partially in an effort to bypass the regulations of
guilds, merchants extending the putting-out system, in which they supplied cottiers and
other poor families in the countryside with the necessary tools and supplies, such as a
loom and thread, to complete a given step in a production process. The merchant then
deducted charges for those supplies from the overall piece rate and paid the family the
difference. This process enabled families living on marginal land to supplement their
produce not only with work on neighboring farms but also with nonagricultural work.
The process fit into the family economy but furthered the creation of a family wage
rather than a subsistence economy. It also helped lead to a decline in the age at first
marriage because it gave couples another means of income. These couples no longer had
to secure sufficient land for their livelihood. Likewise, it encouraged increased family
size, as more children meant more hands available for cottage production. However,
unlike the artisan who owned his means of production, these families worked for a
middleman who owned both the materials and the equipment. This distinction led many
historians to argue that the putting-out system was a precursor to the factory system.
The process had three consequences for industrialization. It increased the size of the
labor force by increasing population growth. It created a group of families dependent on
5
cash payment for their labor rather than the sale of their goods. It enabled merchants to
amass capital in a system that had greater elasticity than the factory
system—protoindustrialization required smaller outlays, and fluctuations in demand
could be met by depressing the piece rates. However, protoindustrialization could also
lead to deindustrialization after 1800. In areas where the putting-out process was not
followed by industrial development, emigration drew workers into industrialized areas,
resulting in a decline in population and productivity in nonindustrialized areas.
COMMERCIAL SHIFTS: The crisis of the 17th century shifted economic prospects
throughout Europe. The countries bordering the Mediterranean, especially Italy and
Spain, declined economically and their position within Europe was taken by Holland
and, subsequently, England. This change was partially owing to shifts from trade
exclusively with the east to trade with both the east and the Americas. Such trade favored
England because of its position on the Atlantic. These shifts also resulted from changes
in investment and the necessity for capital expansion. Northwest Europeans created
banks and other institutions capable of financing expanding trade networks and the
putting-out system. Southern Europeans continued to invest in property and land, seldom
having a large amount of ready capital available for new ventures. Northwestern Europe
also benefited from the eastern European grain trade. Eastern European lords
increased serfdom in an effort to provide the necessary labor for grain production. This
enabled eastern Europe to provide large quantities of cheap grain to the west, fueling
western population growth and urbanization. Population growth was also affected by the
introduction of products from the Americas, notably the potato and sugar. The potato
gradually spread throughout western Europe and, because it grew well in poor soil,
became one of the major foodstuffs for many poorer Europeans. The increases in trade,
development of cheap sources of grain and foodstuffs, and population growth ultimately
led to the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and the 19th centuries (See Economic
and Social Changes).
6
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(See 1697)
b. Intellectual Developments
The 18th-Century Enlightenment dominated western thought, a product of the
Scientific Revolution with its emphasis on inductive reasoning and rationality. Though
most intense in France, enlightenment thought affected most parts of Europe to some
degree. Enlightenment thinkers critiqued existing government, society, and economic
development. In all aspects, they emphasized reason and frequently embraced notions of
the perfectability of people and progress. Some, notably Malthus (See 1798) and
Burke, rejected some notions, while in Germany some reaction against Enlightenment
universality occurred in the form of cultural nationalism. In political thought,
Enlightenment thinkers built upon John Locke (See 1690), arguing for a government
that rested on a contract among individuals, in some cases including women, and those
established laws which were reasonable. These ideas threatened the basis for absolutism
but also encouraged notions of enlightened absolutism in which the monarch claimed to
rule for the good of all based on reason. They also gave rise to a radical enlightenment
whose thinkers demanded equality for men, and sometimes women, in political and
economic terms. The Enlightenment thinkers were particularly influential in shaping
economic policies. Many monarchs followed the dictates of mercantilism in the late 17th
and early 18th centuries. Mercantilists argued that the world contained a fixed-size
market and that each country had to secure as large a portion of this market as possible,
through tariffs and colonization. Mercantilism was gradually replaced by laissez faire
capitalism. The Physiocrats stressed agricultural bases for wealth but also discouraged
government intervention as counter to natural economic law. However, Adam Smith
provided the most advanced formulation of this law. He argued that division of labor in
an unregulated market would secure high profits and maximum prosperity for all
concerned because it would be controlled by the invisible hand of commerce, that is,
regulated by supply and demand. The Enlightenment interest in science and human
society set the basis for formal study not only in economics, but also in political science
and psychology. Among the major thinkers of the Enlightenment were (see also
individual countries):
1
Political: Montesquieu, L'Esprit des lois (1748); William Blackstone, Commentaries on
2
the Laws of England (1765–69); Johann Gottfried Herder, Ideen zur Philosophie der
Geschichte der Menschheit (1784-91); Jeremy Bentham, Introduction to the Principles
of Morals and Legislation (1789); Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in
France (1790); Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man; Mary Wollstonecraft, Vindication of
the Rights of Women (1792); William Godwin, Enquiry concerning Political Justice
(1793).
Social and Religious: Bishop George Berkeley, Treatise Concerning the Principles of
Human Knowledge (1710); David Hume, Treatise on Human Nature and Philosophical
Essays (1739); Emanuel Swedenborg, De Nova Hierosolyma (basis for the Church of the
New Jerusalem—1758); Johann P. Süssmilch, Die göttliche Ordnung in den
Veränerungen des menschlichen Geschlechts aus der Geburt, dem Tode, und der
Fortpflanzung desselben erwiesen, pioneering statistical and demographic work (1761);
Cesare Beccaria, Tratto dei delitti e delle pene (1764); Thomas Malthus, Essay on the
Principle of Population (1798); Friedrich Schleiermacher, Reden über die Religion
(1799).
3
General Philosophical and Historical: Pierre Bayle, Dictionnaire historique et critique
(1697); Giambattista Vico, Principi di una scienza nuova intorno alla commune natura
delle nazione (1725); Voltaire, Lettres anglaises ou philosophiques (1734); Denis
Diderot and Jean d'Alembert, ed. L'Encylopédie (1751–72); Jean Jacques Rousseau, Le
contrat social and Émile (1762); Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire (1776–88); Immanuel Kant, Die Kritik der reinen Vernunft (1781);
Marie-Jean Condorcet, Tableau historique des progrès de l'esprit humain (1795).
4
Economic: Richard Cantillon, Essai sur la nature du commerce en général (1755);
François Quesnay, Tableau économique (1758); Pierre Dupont de Nemours, La
physiocratie (1768); A. R. J. Turgot, Réflexions sur la formation des richesses (1766);
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776).
(See Intellectual and Religious Trends)
5
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c. Culture and Popular Culture
Recurrent interest in classical styles of art and architecture characterized much European
culture in the later 17th and through the 18th century. The 17th century saw the
perfecting of the Baroque style (characterized by freedom of form, motion, and feeling
combined with ornamentation) and its use in the great palaces, statuery, and gardens of
the absolute monarchs. In literature and drama, French classicism held considerable
sway. The Enlightenment also encouraged a new interest in the essay.
1
In the 18th century, a countercurrent of sentimental literature began to gain ground, as
the novel was introduced. This would lead to more formal Romanticism by the 1790s, as
in the emotionally charged work of German writers like Johann Wolfgang Goethe
(1749–1832).
2
Significant changes in popular culture also occurred from the 17th century onward in
western Europe. Protestant and then Catholic writers encouraged new attention to
family relationships. An emphasis on the importance of love in marriage developed in
various social groups, resulting in growing tolerance by the 1730s for young people who
sought to avoid marriages arranged against their will. New interest in children,
encouraged by Enlightenment interest in education, led to a reduction in the swaddling
of infants in western Europe and, in the wealthier classes, a growing interest in providing
educational toys and books. From about 1780 onward, particularly in the lower classes,
sexual habits began to change, involving an increase in non-marital sexual activity,
which did not lead to marriage between partners and, thus, produced a rise in illegitimate
births.
3
Spurred by shifts in government policy, popular beliefs in magic and witchcraft either
declined or found less opportunity for public expression. Popularization of science and
the Enlightenment encouraged interest in new forms of thought, particularly among urban
groups. Literacy increased. New institutions, like insurance companies, fire houses, and
lost-and-found departments, signaled a growing belief that planning could reduce risks.
Traditional practitioners like cunning men, previously used to seek lost items, declined,
though in medicine popular healers continued to be valued.
4
With commercial expansion, a new consumer spirit spread. Popular use of purchased
goods like sugar, coffee, and tea expanded. Interest in manufactured, stylish clothing
increased.
5
Popular culture was also colored by new, enthusiastic religious beliefs, like Pietism in
Germany (See The Hohenzollern Dynasty) and Methodism in England (See 1738, May
24). (See Culture and Popular Culture)
6
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(See 1697) (See 1520)
d. Science and Technology
SCIENCE: The Enlightenment continued the scientific methods used during the
Scientific Revolution, emphasizing inductive reasoning and careful analysis. Efforts to
catalogue and study plants and animals closely, including dissections, continued, and
many of today's scientific principles emanated from this period. Leading scientific
thinkers of the period included (see also individual countries): Gottfried Wilhelm
Leibniz (1646–1716); Isaac Newton (1642–1727); Edmund Halley (1656–1742); Gabriel
D. Fahrenheit (1686–1736); Etienne F. Geoffroy (1672–1731); Leonhard Euler
(Mechanica sive motus analytice exposita, 1736); Johann Lehmann (d. 1767); Carl
Linnaeus (1707–78); Albrecht von Haller (1708–77); Giovanni Morgagni (1682–1771);
John Hunter (1728–93); Joseph Priestley (1733–1804); Antoine Lavoisier (1743–94);
Edward Jenner (1749-1823); Joseph Louis Proust (1754–1826). (See Science and
Learning)
1
TECHNOLOGY AND NEW TECHNIQUES: Technology during this period
concentrated on the development of steam engines, machinery, and improved techniques
in engineering, construction, and farming. These were designed as part of the process of
protoindustrialization but ultimately contributed to the Industrial Revolution (See
Economic and Social Changes) because they provided means of producing goods more
quickly and efficiently and offered alternatives to animal and human power, especially
coal and water power. Leading figures in such development were:
2
Thomas Newcomen, whose steam engine pumped water from mines (1712); roadmakers
P. M. J. Trésaguet (1716–94) and John L. McAdam (invented macadamized roads,
1756–1836); Jethro Tull, New Horse Hoeing Husbandry (1732). John Kay invented the
flying shuttle (1733); Robert Bakewell introduced selective breeding (1725–95); Arthur
Young publicized new advances in agriculture; Benjamin Huntsman's (1704–76) steel
processing and Henry Cort's (1740–1800) puddling process; Josiah Wedgewood, who
established his Etruria bone china works (1769); James Hargreaves invented the
spinning jenny (1764); James Watt's steam engine, a great improvement over
Newcomen's (1776).
3
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Diplomacy and Wars, 1648–1795
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1648, Oct. 24)
4. European Diplomacy and Wars, 1648–1795
Overview After the Treaties of Westphalia (See 1648, Oct. 24), European warfare and
foreign policy shifted from a concentration on religious differences to focus on issues of
trade and territorial acquisition. Declining powers, such as Spain, Poland, and Sweden,
attempted to maintain at least regional independence from rising powers such as Prussia,
France, and Russia. The struggle to maintain a balance of power as dynastic lines died
out or were removed—notably in Spain and Poland—also caused tension. The scale of
war and diplomacy increased.
1
1652–54
First Anglo-Dutch War resulting from the Navigation Acts (See 1652).
2
1655–60
The First Northern War, with Sweden against Poland (See 1655–60), concluded by
the Treaty of Oliva and Treaty of Copenhagen. Russia, Denmark, and the empire had
joined against Sweden after initial Polish defeat. The Treaty of Kardis (1661) between
Sweden and Russia reestablished the status quo ante bellum.
3
1656–59
War between England and Spain. War began after the English captured Jamaica
(May). Spanish treasure ships captured off Cádiz (Sept. 9, 1956) and Blake victorious
(Santa Cruz, April 20, 1657). Dunkirk (1658) besieged by the English and French. The
Spanish were beaten (Battle of Dunes, June 14, 1658). Dunkirk surrendered and the
4
English retained it in Peace of the Pyrenees.
1659
Treaty of the Pyrenees settled the War between France and Spain begun during the
Thirty Years' War: (1) France received part of Roussillon, Conflans, Cerdagne, and
several towns in Artios and Flanders, Hainault, and Luxemburg; (2) the Duke of
Lorraine, the ally of Spain, was partially reinstated (France received Bar, Clermont,
etc., and right of passage for troops); the Prince of Condé entirely reinstated; (3)
marriage between Louis XIV and the infanta Maria Teresa, Philip IV of Spain's eldest
daughter. Maria Teresa renounced her claim to that throne if Spain paid the entirety of
her 500,000-crown dowry. Because such a payment seemed unlikely, Louis XIV
entertained notions of controlling the Spanish throne.
5
1661, June 23
Treaty between England and Portugal. Charles II and the infanta Catherine of
Braganza to wed. England received Tangier, Bombay, and 2 million crowns.
6
1665–67
Second Anglo-Dutch War. England defeated the Dutch fleet off Lowestoft (June) but
the Dutch blocked the Thames (Oct.).
7
1666, Jan
Following foiled efforts to mediate between England and Holland, France allied itself
with Holland. English navy defeated at the Four Days Fight but successful at North
Foreland. Robert Holmes set 250 Dutch merchant ships ablaze (Holmes' Bonfire,
Aug.).
1667
8
England and Holland began peace talks (May). Medway Disaster (June) and English
defeat of French off Martinique (June 20).
9
July 31
Peace of Breda. England agreed to the Dutch interpretation of the Navigation Acts and
confirmed control of “the New Netherlands” (See 1664).
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1649, Jan. 20)
5. National Patterns, 1648–1815
EUROPE IN THE 17TH CENTURY (MAP)
a. England, Scotland, and Ireland
1. England and Scotland
HOUSE OF HANOVER (1714-1837)
Monarchs: The Commonwealth (1649–60). Charles II (1660–85). James II (1685–88).
William and Mary (1689–95). William (1695–1702). Anne (1702–14). George I
(1714–27). George II (1727–60). George III (1760–1820).
1
DEMOGRAPHY: Population remained largely unchanged between 1650 and 1730 but
doubled in the latter half of the 18th century, mostly because of increased birth rates, as
infant mortality did not begin to decline until the early 19th century.
2
1648
Typhus epidemic struck Britain.
3
1649–60
THE COMMONWEALTH. Power in the new model army and Oliver Cromwell.
Legislative power theoretically in the Rump, executive power in a council of state of 41.
House of Lords and title and office of the king abolished.
4
Economy: Bad harvests (1647–50) and civil war led to an increase in food prices and in
rents. Lands seized during the civil war were redistributed, which facilitated improvement
of lands after 1668.
5
Society: Non-Anglican congregations and radical movements flourished in the 1650s.
Some congregations gave increased roles to women, who were allowed to teach, preach,
and prophesy. As a result of these increased roles and women's growing independence
during the civil wars, women's status improved after 1648.
6
1648, Sept. 11
Levellers' petition repudiated the notion of economic equality through redistribution of
property. This notion was espoused by the Diggers, or True Levellers, who combined
the Levellers' demands for democracy presented in the Putney Debates with the Leveller
definition of a free Englishman as someone who could freely dispose of his labor,
property, or person.
7
1649
Diggers began cultivating St. George's Hill. Led by Gerrard Winstanley, they called for
wasteland to be given to the poor for cultivation.
8
Feb. 5
Scots proclaimed Charles II in Edinburgh. Cromwell suppressed rebellion in Ireland,
which raised the Irish question to a new height.
9
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Cultural Developments) (See 1648)
b. The Dutch Republic
1647–50
WILLIAM II succeeded his father, Frederick Henry, in the stadholdership. Able,
ambitious, and restless, William disapproved of the Treaty of Münster (1648), which
recognized the independence of the provinces, and would have preferred to continue the
war. He soon became involved in conflict with the states-general and, by arresting some
of the leaders of Holland and attacking Amsterdam itself (1650), forced the submission
of the state-rights group.
1
1650, Nov. 6
William died. His son was born posthumously.
2
1651
The Estates held a constituent assembly but only agreed to stop the possibility of
recreating the office of captain-general.
3
1652–54
The FIRST ANGLO-DUTCH WAR, the direct outgrowth of the English Navigation
Act (1651) (See 1652–54).
4
1652
Dutch South Africa founded (See 1652).
5
1653
John De Witt became pensionary of Holland and thereby controlled the general
policy. An able statesman and adroit diplomat, he easily maintained Dutch prestige and
greatness.
6
1657–60
The Dutch prevented the entrance of the Baltic from falling into exclusively Swedish
control by supporting the Danish in the Swedish-Danish War (See 1655–60).
7
1657–61
War with Portugal, over conflicting interests in Brazil.
8
1660
Dutch states-general rescinded the exclusion of the House of Orange from the
stadholdership following the restoration in England.
9
1662
The Dutch allied themselves with the French to provide against the danger of attack
by the British.
1664
10
The British seized New Amsterdam (New York) and appropriated various Dutch
stations on the African coast.
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1631–48)
c. France
FRENCH BOURBONS (1589-1883)
Monarchs: Louis XIV (1643–1715), Louis XV (1715–74), Louis XVI (1774–92).
1
Demography: Between 1700 and 1789, French population increased from
approximately 19 million to 25 million. Population growth was more rapid in the latter
half of the 18th century than in the first half but lagged behind British population
growth.
2
Economics: Colbert subscribed to mercantilism, arguing that France could improve its
economic position only at the cost of another country. Colbert pursued protectionist
policies and introduced considerable regulation of urban trades. The sale of offices and
the way in which the French national debt was financed discouraged venturesome
investment by the rentier class of established capitalists. Despite such constraints,
reassessments of French industrial development demonstrate the French economic
growth per capita matched that of Britain after 1750.
3
Women: Women were very influential in shaping ideas at court and among the
philosophes. The Enlightenment thinkers in France often gathered in salons run by
wealthy women (e.g., Mme. Geoffrin, Mlle. de Lespinasse, Mme. de Tencin, Mme. du
Deffand), which gave upper-class women increasing access to philosophical and
political ideas. The court society created by Louis XIV at Versailles also provided
women with the opportunity to participate in political discussions. Individual women
gained influence over Louis XV.
4
1643–1715
LOUIS XIV ascended the throne at age five. His mother, Anne of Austria (daughter of
Philip III of Spain), acted as guardian. The government, even after Louis reached his
majority, was conducted by Cardinal Mazarin.
5
1648
Treaty of Westphalia gave Metz, Toul, Verdun, Dreisach, and Pinerolo to France (See
1648, Oct. 24).
6
1648–49
Unrest in provinces, especially regarding tax increases. Mazarin responded by lowering
taxes.
7
1648–53
THE FRONDE, revolt against the regency named after the catapult children used to
hurl clods at passing coaches. This was the last attempt of the nobility to oppose the
court by armed resistance. It had two phases: a parlementary revolt and a revolt of the
princes.
8
Jan. 15
A lit de justice—a sitting of representatives to enforce an edict—created new offices and
raised taxes. Contrary to French traditions, the Parlement examined the edict before
passing it under pressure from Anne.
9
April 7
Parlement presented oral remonstrances to the edict and called upon the queen to
relieve the people of heavy taxes.
April 29
10
Droit annuel granted provided that three of the four courts (the Parlement excepted)
refused wages for four years. These courts appealed to the Parlement for assistance.
Parlement passed an act of union and called all four courts to an assembly (May 13)
despite Anne's objections. Anne arrested deputies and judges responsible for continued
deputations between courts.
11
June 8
Queen's attorneys forbade the meeting of the assembly but capitulated when
Parlement refused to disband. Anne asked that the meeting be immediate and quick.
12
July 4
Parlement assumed legislative powers in the struggle, contravening tradition, and
amended a government declaration that future taxes would be cleared by Parlement
before enacting. Parlement declared all taxes not cleared null and all back taxes
uncollectable.
13
Oct. 24
Parlement registered a declaration of government which was a product of
compromise at a convention. Wages were restored but some offices removed and tax
farming regulated. However, the government began to negotiate further amendments to
this declaration.
14
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1659, Nov. 7)
d. The Iberian Peninsula
1. Spain
Demography: Subsistence crises and high infant mortality led to very slow population
growth in Spain in the last half of the 17th century. Spain experienced rapid growth in
the first half of the 18th century, then slower growth again after 1750.
1
Economy and Society: The Spanish economy was characterized by diversity in
agriculture but dominated by textiles in manufacturing. In most of Spain, land was
owned by nobles and clergy who continued to use traditional farming methods. In some
areas, dominated by sheep and pasturage, enclosure came late. In other areas, such as
Andalucia, landowners controlled huge estates—latafundia—creating a large rural
proletariat of day laborers. In most cases, Spanish agriculture lagged behind that of
much of western Europe. Industry also developed slowly, hampered by lack of
investment, strong guilds, and poor transport. Spain characteristically concentrated on
foreign trade, which suffered with decline of Spanish colonies. In this setting, society
remained split into peasants and nobles throughout much of the countryside, while
guilds dominated the cities.
2
Culture: The French Enlightenment had only limited impact in Spain because the
Spanish Inquisition tried to suppress it. Nonetheless, some Spanish intellectuals did try
to spread Enlightenment ideas. They were led by Benito Jerónimo Feijóo, whose
Teatro Crítico Universal (1726–39) began the compilation of information on a wide
variety of works, which he continued with other, later works. Luis Can¯ uelo's El
Censor provided Spain with an organ of social criticism, while Pedro Rodríguez
theorized on government.
3
Monarchs: Charles II (1665–1700), Philip V (1700–1746), Ferdinand VI (1746–59),
Charles III (1759–88), Charles IV (1788–1808).
4
1648
The Peace of Westphalia marked the beginning of decline for the Spanish Empire.
Spain continued at war with France.
5
1652, Oct
The Catalan revolt begun in 1640 finally ended when the citizen army in Barcelona
surrendered to Don Juan of Austria, the king's illegitimate son.
6
1658
The French besieged Dunkirk; the Spanish were unable to relieve it.
7
1656–59
War with England (See 1656–59).
8
1659
The Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) ended the war with France.
9
1660
In an effort to stop inflation, the government introduced a new copper coinage but
prices continued to rise.
10
1660
Crown took control of municipalities, destroying their autonomy.
1665–1700
11
CHARLES II, the four-year-old son of Philip IV and the last of the Spanish Habsburgs.
Until 1676 his mother, Mariana of Austria, headed the council of regency. She
appointed her personal confessor, John Everard Nithard, inquisitor general, but he was
uniformly disliked.
12
1665
The Cortes lost its right to approve grants for the crown but retained its right to
recognize a new monarch.
13
1667–68
The War of Devolution (See 1667–68).
14
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1623–44)
e. Italy and the Papacy
1. Overview
Economy and Society: The general crisis of the 17th century weakened the basis of
Italian economic development. Population growth stagnated as a result of plague and
famine. Trade with the east suffered from the war with the Ottoman empire and the
decline of the Mediterranean spice trade. Holland and England, situated on the western
European coast, developed seaborne trade routes that took advantage of both eastern and
western trade opportunities and contributed to the decline of the Italian economy. Italian
production also declined dramatically. Investment in Italy had been concentrated in
luxury goods and buildings rather than trade and capital development. In some parts of
Italy, investment in land led to agricultural changes, increased the number of acres in
production, and encouraged a shift from crops such as millet to rye or wheat.
1
In the 18th century, Italy experienced a gradual recovery. It switched crops and lifted
trade barriers. Population increased, especially in the countryside. Reforms in
education, gradual decline of the power of the papacy, and introduction of some
manufacturing innovations all spurred this recovery.
2
Italian towns continued to be controlled by small, often hereditary oligarchies while the
countryside remained dominated by large landowners. The Italian nobility sometimes
proved capable of significant innovation. Peasants protested taxation and overbearing
policies, which led to an 18th-century age of reform fueled by Enlightenment thinking.
3
CULTURE: In music Italy was outstanding. Niccolò Amati (1596–1684) and Antonio
Stradivari (1644–1737); in opera, Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) and Giovanni
Pergolesi (1710–36), Domenico Cimarosa (1749–1801), and Giovanni Paisiello
(1741–1816). Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583–1643), composer of organ music; Arcangelo
Corelli (1653–1713), eminent violinist and composer of sonatas and concerti grossi;
Alessandro Scarlatti (1659–1725), of operas; and Antonio Vivaldi (c. 1678–1741), of
4
chamber music. Two great schools of music at Venice and Naples.
Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680), architect and sculptor, was one of the leading artists of
the Baroque period, which preceded the Rococco of the 18th century and the classical
revival represented by Antonio Canova (1757–1822). Bernini designed and built the
Vatican Palace and St. Peter's Square, while Francesco Borromini (1599–1667)
reconstructed St. John Lateran and built other Roman churches.
5
In painting, Giambattista Tiepolo (1696–1770) for a time brought Venice a final burst
of glory.
6
The Academy of Arcadia (1692) started a widespread vogue of the conventional and
artificial in literature, which was counterbalanced by the comedies of Carlo Goldoni
(1707–93) and the serious patriotic dramas of Vittorio Alfieri (1749–1803). A return to
classicism was apparent in the dramas of Goldoni and in the work of Alfierie and poetry
of Gaicomo Leopardi (1798–1837).
7
Italy was preeminent also in the fields of social and physical science. Pietro Giannone
(1676–1748) created a profound stir with his anticlerical Historia civile del regno di
Napoli (1723); Antonio Genovesi (1713–69) was an outstanding physiocrat;
Giambattista Vico (1668–1744), with his Scienza nuova (1725), laid the basis of the
modern philosophy of history; while Cesare Beccaria (1738–94) in his Dei delitti e delle
pene (1764) founded the modern science of penology. In the natural sciences Lazzaro
Spallanzani (1729–99) made fundamental contributions to the study of digestion, while
Luigi Galvani (1737–98) and Alessandro Volta (1745–1827) were in the front rank
among the pioneers of electricity.
8
Politics: Italy remained divided between 1648 and 1815, different regions coming under
the control of various monarchies in Europe. However, regions dominated by the
Bourbons and the Habsburgs experienced an age of reform fueled by Enlightenment
thinking during the 18th century. (See The Italian States)
9
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1648)
f. The Swiss Confederation
The Legacy of the Thirty Years' War: Despite the involvement of Swiss mercenaries,
Swiss neutrality during the Thirty Years' War made Switzerland a center for refugees
who, along with soldiers, brought the bubonic plague and other diseases into the
country. Swiss neutrality also demanded a strong Swiss army, which the Swiss paid for
partly through the Defensionale of Wyl (1647). This defensionale strengthened bonds
among cantons. The Peace of Westphalia recognized Swiss independence.
1
DEMOGRAPHY: Population remained static during the latter half of the 17th century
but grew in the 18th century, climbing from about 1.2 million to 1.7 million.
2
ECONOMICS: As with most of western Europe, mercantilist thought heavily
influenced Swiss industry and agriculture (See France). Switzerland sought foreign
markets for its products and increased independence from foreign imports. It developed
two leading sectors of industry, in the east and west respectively, between 1648 and
1815. Textiles developed largely free from guild regulation and under the influence of
French immigrants. Clock making remained regulated by guilds but advanced because
of the reputation of Swiss clock makers. Trade also benefited from knowledge of
foreign trade gained by Swiss mercenaries. Agriculture made slow progress during
much of this period, but the latter half of the 18th century saw a back-to-the-land
movement encouraging the foundation of agricultural societies and some improvements
in agricultural techniques. Animal husbandry was encouraged by mercantilism, which
sought to decrease Swiss wool imports. However, Swiss terrain made farming difficult
and Switzerland continued to import agricultural products.
3
SOCIETY: Swiss society reflected the diversity of Swiss cantons—divided by religion
and geography. Protestants generally occupied the plain and Catholics the mountainous
regions. Peasant life reflected long-standing methods of farming; small family holdings,
commons, and continued emphasis on milk production. Cities, on the other hand,
generally had strong guilds regulating production and often dependent on the
surrounding countryside for agricultural products. While never legally abolished, trials
and persecutions for witchcraft came to an end between 1648 and 1815 (Vaud, 1680;
4
Zürich, 1714; Glarus, 1782).
GOVERNMENT: The Swiss cantons established a loose federalist government,
assuring each canton a large measure of independence. Each canton chose its form of
government—ranging from old styles of open-air meetings in forest cantons to elaborate
patriarchies and even absolutism. The Swiss diet had 13 seats; the Protestants held 6 of
these but demanded recognition because of their economic and military strength.
5
1653
Lucerne. Peasants, led by Nicholas Leuenberg, revolted (Jan.) and demanded relief from
taxes and more recognition of tenant rights. Leuenberg amassed an army of 16,000 but
was defeated by federal forces at Wohlenschwil and surrendered on June 8; the terms of
their surrender were renounced.
6
1655
Proposals for the establishment of a more centralized state, put forward by Zürich,
were defeated by the Catholic cantons.
7
1655
The Catholic canton of Schwyz threatened the Protestants within its borders with
suppression. Some fled to Zürich but the remainder were persecuted and, in three cases,
turned over to the Inquisition in Milan. Zürich demanded that Schwyz restore Protestant
land and possessions. Schwyz refused and demanded the return of Protestant refugees.
8
1656
This conflict escalated into the FIRST VILLMERGEN WAR. Bern and Zürich
declared war against five Catholic cantons. The Protestants were defeated at Villmergen
(Jan. 24), reaffirming each canton's right to determine religious activity. However,
Protestant and Catholic conflicts continued.
1663
9
Renewal of the alliance with France, enabling Louis XIV to draw mercenaries from
the cantons despite opposition from Zürich and some of the Protestant cantons.
10
1663–1776
During more than a century there was no meeting of the federal diet, indicating the
almost complete collapse of the federal connection.
11
1678
Franche-Comté (Treaty of Nimwegen) (See 1678–79), hitherto under federal
protection, was annexed to France.
12
1693
The Protestant cantons agreed to supply soldiers to the Dutch and later to the
English. The Catholic cantons responded, agreeing to supply men to the Spaniards.
13
1707
Efforts to extend the franchise in Geneva to include more men were put down.
14
1707
A popular insurrection in Geneva, led by Peter Fatio, was suppressed with the aid of
the Bern and Zürich oligarchies.
15
1708
The house of Hohenzollern succeeded to the principality of Neuchâtel. Louis XIV
was prevented by the war (See 1701–14) from pressing the claims of the prince of Conti.
16
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1648, Oct. 24)
g. The Holy Roman Empire
HOLY ROMAN EMPERORS: Ferdinand III (1637–57), Leopold I (1657–1705),
Joseph I (1705–11), Charles VI (1711–40), Charles VII (of Bavaria, 1742–45), Francis I
(1745–65), Joseph II (1765–90), Leopold II (1790–92).
1
The territorial states of the Holy Roman Empire gained strength and independence
during the 17th and 18th centuries. While each state determined its internal policies, the
empire was dominated by two powers, Austria-Hungary in the east and Prussia in the
west. The Imperial Diet continued to meet and make decisions regarding trade and
foreign policy.
2
Economy and Society: After the Thirty Years' War, Germany suffered agricultural
upheaval. There was a shortage of agricultural labor, and agricultural prices declined
because urban populations had been decimated by the war. This decline encouraged the
continued transformation of Grundherrschaft to Gutsherrschaft, eliminating the free
peasantry east of the Elbe. The Junkers' continued strength encouraged this policy. The
guild recess of 1731 marked the decline of guilds in Germany and the development of
the Verlagssystem (contract or wage labor) west of the Elbe. The Verlagssystem was
fueled by population increases in the18th century.
3
1650ff
Development of Ritterakademien to teach manners and other niceties to sons of the
nobility.
1661
4
Münster and Erfurt lost their status as free imperial cities. Magdeburg came under the
control of the great elector (1666) and admitted a garrison. Surrounding territories
eliminated the autonomy of many free imperial cities. Imperial control declined.
5
1655–60
First Northern War (See 1655–60).
6
1659
Grimmelshausen's Simplicissimus.
7
1661–64
War against the Ottoman Empire (See 1663–64).
8
1667
Samuel Pufendorf's (1632–94) De statute imperii Germanici appeared and would
become a standard text in Germany and Sweden. In it and De jure Naturae et Gentium,
Pufendorf argued for a strong German state, but unlike Hobbes in England, he believed
that the ruler had an obligation to assure the well-being of his subjects.
9
1667–68
War of Devolution against France (See 1667–68).
10
1674
The Dutch War. Holy Roman Empire sided with Dutch against Louis XIV aggression.
1681
11
The Reichskriegsverfa
beta ung
(imperial military declaration) passed in the Imperial
12
Diet. This established military organization on the basis of the circles of empire. It
established a peacetime force of 40,000 men.
1688–97
War of the League of Augsburg, against Louis XIV (See Oct. 30).
13
1692–1701
German princes elevated in rank: Hanover an electorate; Augustus II, Elector of
Saxony, became king of Poland and adopted the Catholic faith.
14
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1648–1815 > h. Scandinavia
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1632–54)
(See 1632–54)
h. Scandinavia
DEMOGRAPHY: With the exception of Iceland, Scandinavian population grew in the
17th and 18th centuries, particularly after 1721 (end of the Great Northern War).
Icelandic population remained steady, punctuated by the oscillations of natural disaster
and famine. Denmark's population increased most rapidly in the 18th century;
population in 1600 was about 700,000, in 1700 about 800,000, and in 1800, one million.
Finland's population did not increase substantially until after the Great Northern War
(See 1700–1721), but then growth seemed to be closely tied to the availability of land
(by 1750 about 420,000 and by 1800 about 833,000). Norway also experienced slow
growth before 1750 and more rapid growth after 1750, spurred by declining death rates
and increasing birth rates.
1
Culture: Scandinavian cultural development included scientific, political, and literary
advances during the 17th and 18th centuries. Linnaeus (1707–78), a Swedish botanist,
published his Systemae Naturae (1735). Anders Celsius (1701–44) invented the
centigrade thermometer, although his version set the boiling point at zero degrees and
freezing at 100 degrees. Two Swedish political theorists followed Lockean notions of
politics: Johan Henrik Kellgren and Nils von Rosenstern. Scandinavian satirists
included Olof Dalin and Holberg. Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht and Gustaf Philip
Cruetz were writers and leading members of the Tankebyggarorden, a literary society
in Stockholm modeled after similar French societies.
2
1. Sweden and Finland
Monarchs: Christiana (1632–54), Charles X (1654–60), Charles XI (1660–97), Charles
XII (1697–1718), Ulrika Eleanora (1718–20; she turned the throne over to her husband),
Frederick I (1720–51), Adolphus Frederick (1751–71), Gustavus III (1771–92),
Gustavus IV Adolphus (1792-1809).
3
Sweden controlled Finland but was challenged by Russia in the 18th century, finally
relinquishing control in 1809.
4
Legacy of the Thirty Years' War: Sweden emerged as the dominant power in the
Baltic region, but its power gradually declined over the next century and a half. Sweden
gained control of Pomerania (Treaty of Westphalia) and sought control of Poland. Its
territorial aggressions resulted in several wars and required huge military expenditures.
5
Agriculture remained unchanged during the 17th century. Peasants still used the strip
system; barley was the primary crop, and crops frequently failed. Finnish settlers in
northern and western Sweden still used the slash-and-burn technique; land was burned,
cultivated, exhausted, and abandoned.
6
Economy: Swedes pursued mercantilistic policies and exported iron, copper, and timber.
They encouraged immigration to provide the necessary labor force for such production,
especially in mining regions and the Umeå Lappmark in the north, and created several
colonial interests, including an African Company (1649-1717) and West India
companies.
7
Society: Lutheran pastors had great sway within Swedish society and spread Lutheran
teachings everywhere Swedish armies conquered. At the end of the century, the Swedish
church received a new hymnal and began a new translation of the Bible. Towns became
more important in the 17th century; their guilds maintained strict control of their crafts.
The government tried to keep its Swedish workforce and encourage foreign workers to
immigrate, regulating when and where workers might go within the country.
8
1648ff
Sweden expanded its colonial influence by establishing several colonial tar companies.
9
1650
The riksdag's protests regarding noble control of former crown lands stifled. These
protests demonstrated growing impatience with state debts incurred in the wake of such
benevolence.
10
1654
Queen Christina, the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, abdicated the throne in favor of
her cousin, Charles Gustavus of Pfalz-Zweibrücken.
11
1654–60
He became CHARLES X GUSTAVUS. His reign concentrated on military
developments because of his attack on Poland.
12
1655–60
This attempt to gain new Baltic territory, the First Northern War, was concluded by
the Treaty of Oliva and the Treaty of Copenhagen (1660; (See 1655–60).
13
1655
Riksdag began the process of “reduction,” eliminating noble control of and benefits
from crown lands, by ordering reductions on mines, forts, and other property.
14
1658, Feb. 26
Treaty of Roskilde between Sweden and Denmark. Sweden received the provinces of
Skåne, Halland, Blekinge, Bohuslän, Trondheim (Norway), and the island of Bornholm.
15
Charles XI began to develop an absolutist monarchy.
16
1660s
Education emphasized by the establishment of several schools, especially a medical
school (1663) and Lund University (1668).
17
1668
National Bank of Sweden founded after an abortive attempt earlier in the century.
1680
18
Under the pressure of the king, the estates passed a law by the terms of which all
earldoms, baronies, and other large fiefs should revert to the crown. The riksdag also
affirmed the king's right to reclaim grants to the nobles without the riksdag's
intervention. This weakened the nobility and forced many to sell their lands, which
increased the percentages of land held by free farmers and office-holding nobility.
19
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1648–1815 > i. Poland
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1627)
i. Poland
THE PARTITIONS OF POLAND, 1772-1795 (MAP)
Monarchs: John Casimir (1648–68), Michael Wisnowiecki (1669–73), John Sobieski
(1674–96), Augustus II (1696–1704), Stanislas Leszchzynski (1704–9), Augustus II
(1709–33), Augustus III (1734–1763), Stanislas Poniatowski (1764–1795).
1
The Legacy of the Thirty Years' War: Poland had not suffered as greatly from the war
as other central European powers. It remained neutral after the Treaty of Stummdorf
(1635). Poland still had a weak government, owing to a lack of bureaucracy and a
relatively weak army without a stable financial base. It also had few merchants, traders,
or other members of a middle class.
2
ECONOMY AND SOCIETY: The Polish economy underwent steady decline between
1648 and 1795. The Vistula grain trade collapsed as a result of warfare. The Polish
economy rested on this trade, exporting more than it imported. It had few large cities
and these remained organized by burghers and guilds. Some of these cities made limited
progress in the 18th century. However, the wars that ravaged Poland took a heavy toll on
its cities, which were frequently captured or sieged. The nobility dominated Polish
society but, unlike the nobility of many Western countries, did not necessarily secure
economic wealth. Nobles with little or no land retained their position long into the 18th
century because nobility rested largely on political and social obligations. Each noble
held an absolute veto over any actions in the Sejm (parliament) and a vote in electing
the monarch. Nobility also continued the tradition of dividing their land among all their
children, male and female, which split many larger estates into increasingly smaller
pieces. Peasants constituted the largest part of the population, especially if the many
“peasants” with the rights of burghers are taken into account. Polish society was divided
by nationality; Ukrainians initiated an uprising in 1647 and 1648. It was also divided by
religion—Catholics, Orthodox, and Lutherans as well as Jews and Muslims.
3
1647–48
Bogdan Khmelnitsky launched his Cossack uprising against Poland. Initially he
sought only to address his grievances to the king in person. John Casimir's ascension
changed the situation, as did the killings of rebelling Ukrainian peasants by government
officials.
4
1651, June 28–30
Khmelnitsky defeated by King John at Berestczko.
5
1652
The Liberum Veto (absolute veto of any member of the Polish Sejm) used by Jan
Sicínski in a motion to prolong the Sejm. This use stopped the proceedings and
paralyzed the Sejm.
6
1654
The Treaty of Peryslavl with Russia. Khmelnitsky swore an oath of allegiance to the
tsar in exchange for assurances that the Ukraine would receive a large amount of
autonomy, a promise the tsar ignored. The Ukrainian situation thus became incorporated
into wider struggles for Polish territory.
7
1655–60
War between Sweden and Poland (See 1655–60). Invasion of the Swedes. Poland lost
its remaining Baltic territories (Treaty of Oliva, May 3, 1660).
1655
8
Swedes took Warsaw. They then demanded Kraków surrender. The king fled to the
Silesian borders; the Polish paid homage to Charles Gustavus.
9
Dec. 26
Siege lifted at monastery of Czestochowa, where the prior had organized a small force
of soldiers to protect the Black Madonna. King John swore that the Virgin would be
venerated (the Cult of Our Lady) and that he would free the serfs following restoration
of Poland.
10
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1648–1815 > j. Russia
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1637)
j. Russia
RUSSIAN TSARS (1645-1917)
Rulers: Alexis (1645–76), Theodore (1676–82), Peter the Great (1682–1725), Catherine
I (1725–27), Peter II (1727–30), Anne (1730–40), Ivan VI (1740–41), Elizabeth
(1741–61), Peter III (1762), Catherine the Great (1762–96), Paul (1796–1801).
1
Economy: The Russian economy rested on agriculture, particularly upon grain
production. Estates relied on increasingly intense serfdom to provide the necessary labor
and trade with Europe. The number of artisans and merchants expanded during the 17th
and 18th centuries, and the government encouraged some development through a
new commercial code. However, the Russian economy remained primarily agricultural.
2
Society: The 17th century was dominated by efforts to restructure Russian society and
religion. Russia also expanded its territories in the 17th century, notably into the Ukraine
and Poland, which added diversity within Russian lands.
3
Alexis tried to overcome financial difficulties by increasing the salt tax and legalizing
and taxing tobacco. However, his administration was troubled by corruption, and
increased taxes led to rebellion.
4
1648, May
Moscow revolted against taxes and corruption. Alexis responded by arresting and
executing some of the corrupt officials, but rebellion spread to many other cities.
1648–49
5
Education: Theodore Rtishchev established a monastery in Moscow to encourage
Kievan monks to come and teach languages and rhetoric there. Other schools were
established during the latter half of the 17th century. They generally deemphasized
science and followed a medieval arts-and-letters curriculum.
6
1649
Ulozheníe, a new legal code (See 1649), improved government administration and
solidified serfdom by eliminating the distinction between old settlers and new peasants,
considering both as serfs.
7
1652
Russia experienced an influx of foreigners in the 16th and 17th centuries. Alexis
provided them with a foreign settlement, Nemetskaia Slobada, northeast of Moscow.
Foreigners later influenced Peter the Great's efforts to reform Russian society and
culture.
8
1653
Russian church council accepted the verification of religious texts, the first in a series
of church reforms. The verification project gained momentum under the patriarch
Nikon. Nikon had the support of the tsar until a break in 1658. He expanded his reforms
to include certain rituals (crossing oneself with three rather than two fingers, changing
the spelling of Jesus, etc.).
9
1654–67
War with Poland for the possession of the Ukraine (See 1654) after the cossack
Hetman, Bogdan Khmelnitsky, had placed himself under Russian protection. By the
Treaty of Andrusovo (Jan. 20, 1667), Russia obtained the Smolensk region and the
eastern Ukraine, with Kiev. The outcome of the war was of great importance, because
the Russian gains first brought the Russians in contact with the Ottomans in southeastern
Europe.
10
1656
Russian government began debasing the currency by adding copper to silver coins.
Such debasement reflected Russian financial collapse in the 17th century and led to
inflation.
11
1656–60
War with Sweden (See 1655–60).
12
1662
Copper coin riot.
13
1664
Russian post office established.
14
1666–67
Church council considered the changes made by Nikon. They defrocked Nikon for his
efforts to gain political power but supported his religious reforms. This acceptance led to
a SPLIT IN THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH; the OLD BELIEVERS
refused to accept the reforms although they included no changes in belief. In later
decades Old Believers colonized various territories acquired in Russian expansion.
15
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1459–99) (See 1504)
C. The Middle East and North Africa, 1500–1800
1. Overview
In the 16th century, a simpler political map took shape in the region with the integration
of the Middle Eastern and North African lands into three states: the Ottoman Empire,
Safavid Iran, and Morocco. The Ottomans, based until then in Anatolia and southeastern
Europe, absorbed nearly all of the Arabic-speaking lands with the exception of Morocco
and parts of the Arabian peninsula. Theirs became the dominant regional power, although
Iran emerged as a formidable foe and bloody conflicts between the two countries erupted
periodically.
1
Several major developments altered the political scene in the 17th and 18th centuries: the
Ottoman Empire became decentralized as Istanbul's hold on the provinces weakened
and autonomous authorities sprang up almost everywhere; the Safavid regime collapsed,
giving way to several decades of internal fragmentation and turmoil; and two new Middle
Eastern countries were born: Afghanistan and the Saudi state in Arabia.
2
Alongside the shifts in the internal power relations came changes in the region's position
vis-à-vis Europe. While Middle Easterners remained virtually untouched by European
culture, they now fought and traded with Europeans on a more extensive basis than
before and on increasingly unfavorable terms. Military conflict with European countries
raged along a wide front extending from the Black Sea area and the Balkans to the
western Mediterranean. The region's armies were able to hold their own until the second
half of the 18th century, when disastrous defeats by Russia and the easy fall of Egypt to
Napoleon brought home to the Ottoman leaders the recognition that global power had
shifted definitely in favor of Europe. This alarming sense prompted their 19th-century
drive to modernize.
3
The region's place in global trade also weakened. European merchants and governments
grew increasingly strong in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean through the use of
new trade routes, the control of shipping, and the acquisition of colonies with cheap
4
labor. With these assets they were able to circumvent the Middle East in their import of
Eastern pepper and spices, to compete successfully with Middle Eastern products such as
coffee and sugar, and to sell in the region some finished goods such as textiles in return
largely for local raw materials. A colonial pattern of exchange (raw materials for
finished goods) was beginning to develop in the early modern period, although it
remained of limited economic importance for the Middle East before the 19th century
because the bulk of the region's trade was still internal or directed toward Asia and Africa
rather than Europe.
Like Europe, the Middle East experienced a marked demographic expansion during the
16th century. But population levels did not continue to rise in the following two
centuries, when plague epidemics hit the region with greater frequency and added to the
already high mortality rates. With about 28 million people in 1800, the society was still
primarily rural, some 80 to 85 percent living in village or tribal communities and the
rest in towns.
5
Economic conditions in this diverse region varied from place to place and fluctuated
over time. But throughout, agriculture remained the predominant sector and industry
continued to be based on small-scale artisanal production. Between them they supplied
the population with its needs in food, raw materials, and manufactured goods at a level
that maintained the region's self-sufficiency. Among the important institutional
developments of the period were the emergence of the guild system in its full-fledged
form and its leading role in regulating the urban economies.
6
Religion remained a central focus of identity as well as the ideological underpinning for a
variety of social and political movements. The period saw the establishment of Shi’ism
as the state religion of Iran, with the forced conversion of its largely Sunni population
under Safavid pressure. New Sufi orders emerged throughout the region and often
became vehicles of protest against the establishment. In Arabia, the Muslim puritanical
movement of the Wahhabis rose to challenge Sufi practices and Ottoman authority and
succeeded in establishing its own brand of Islamic state under the Saudi dynasty. Among
the Christian minorities, Catholicism spread as a result of European missionary work,
causing bitter schisms and a lasting split of the Greek, Armenian, and other Eastern
churches into rival Orthodox and Catholic branches.
7
Religion also remained the core of formal education and higher learning throughout
the period. Both continued to be the preserve of a relative few, especially as an Islamic
ban on printing set limits on the diffusion of knowledge and literacy. But the largely
oral culture that thrived at the mass level produced a rich corpus of skills, stories, plays,
music, pastimes, and popular wisdom. Among the remarkable innovations of this oral
culture was the introduction of the coffeehouse and its rapid emergence as the region's
central institution of public socializing and entertainment. (See The Middle East and
North Africa, 1792–1914)
8
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > C. The Middle East and North Africa, 1500–1800 > 2. The
Middle East, 1501–1808
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1512, Apr. 24)
2. The Middle East, 1501–1808
a. The Ottoman Empire
OTTOMAN SULTANS (1451-1648)
1. The Rise to World Empire
1512–20
SULTAN SELIM I. In his first year as ruler Selim faced down a challenge to his throne
by his brothers and nephews; he extinguished their rebellion in Anatolia and had them
eliminated. His ruthlessness and harsh temper made him known as “the Grim” (Yavuz).
His conquest of Syria and Egypt began the empire's absorption of the Arab lands of the
Middle East and North Africa, which established the Ottomans as heirs to the great
Islamic imperial states.
1
1514
First war with Safavid Iran. Ottoman expansion and Sunni-Shi’ite religious
antagonism brought the Ottomans and Safavids into rivalry for control of eastern
Anatolia. Selim led a large army against Iran, and in the decisive Battle of Chaldiran in
Azerbaijan (Aug. 23), his forces defeated Shah Isma‘il's army and temporarily occupied
the Safavid capital of Tabriz. The victory opened the way for Ottoman expansion in
eastern Anatolia and northern Iraq.
2
1515–16
Annexation of Diyarbakr, the principality of Dulkadir, and the greater part of
northern Iraq, including Mosul.
3
1516
THE CONQUEST OF SYRIA, following the defeat of the Mamluk army in Marj
Dabiq near Aleppo (Aug. 24). The Syrian lands as far as the frontier town of Gaza fell to
the Ottomans. Aleppo and Damascus became the administrative capitals of two newly
constituted provinces.
4
1517
THE CONQUEST OF EGYPT, following the decisive defeat of the Mamluk army at
al-Raydaniyya (Jan. 22) and at Giza (April 2). Egypt was organized as a single province
with its capital in Cairo. The Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina were also absorbed
into the empire after the Hashemite emir of Mecca pledged submission to the sultan
(July). The Mamluk state thus ceased to exist, but many of the defeated Mamluk
officers and administrators entered Ottoman service. They continued to purchase
new slaves, mostly Circassians, and gradually regained control of the government
machinery of Egypt.
5
1520–66
SULTAN SULEYMAN I (THE MAGNIFICENT). With the death of Selim I (Sept.
1520), his only son, Suleyman, inherited a powerful empire, which rose under him to the
peak of its grandeur. Suleyman added new territories in Europe, Asia, and Africa,
leading his army in person on numerous campaigns. He systematized the institutions of
law and administration, for which he came to be known by his own people as the
Lawgiver (Kanuni). In his reign began the rise to power of the imperial harem, as
high-ranking women of the dynasty (especially the mother of the reigning sultan and his
favorite concubines) acquired an unusual degree of political influence and public
prominence. This power, which continued until the mid-17th century, has led to
references to the period as “the sultanate of the women.”
6
Although Suleyman is the most celebrated of Ottoman sultans, various problems
associated with Ottoman decline began to emerge during his reign: rural
overpopulation, unemployment, inflation, and heavy taxation. These fueled discontent
and popular revolts.
7
1520–21
Anti-Ottoman revolt in Damascus, led by Janbardi al-Ghazali, the Mamluk notable
appointed by the Ottomans in 1516 to govern the newly conquered province. An
Ottoman force defeated his troops in Damascus and killed him (Feb. 1521), ending his
bid for independent rule. The governorship of Damascus was henceforth given to
Ottoman officials.
8
1521
The Ottomans captured Belgrade (Aug.) and completed the conquest of Serbia.
9
1522, Dec. 20
The conquest of Rhodes, after some five months of siege. With the elimination of this
center of Christian piracy, the Ottomans secured the maritime routes in the eastern
Mediterranean.
10
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Middle East, 1501–1808 > b. Iran
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1501)
b. Iran
SAFAVID DYNASTY
1501–24
SHAH ISMA‘IL, FOUNDER OF THE SAFAVID DYNASTY. In 1501 Isma‘il
occupied Tabriz and proclaimed himself shah. Within a decade he conquered the
territories constituting present-day Iran as well as Iraq and parts of eastern Anatolia. His
ascension to power culminated a long struggle by the Safavid movement, which had
built a mass following in northwestern Iran and eastern Anatolia, especially among the
Turkoman tribesmen. These followers of the Safavids, known as the Qizilbash
(“Redheads”) because of their distinctive red headgear, felt a devotion to Isma‘il both
as a temporal leader and as head of the Safavid religious order. Isma‘il, who claimed
descent from the founder of the movement, the Sufi leader Sheik Safi al-Din
(1252–1334), embraced Shi’ism, although some of his beliefs—in his own divine
qualities, messianic mission, and infallibility—reflected the religious syncretisms of the
contemporary Safavid milieu.
1
Isma‘il's advent to power signaled the end of Sunni Islam in Iran. He imposed Shi’ism
as the state religion, forcing conversion upon the largely Sunni population of the
country. Initially he had to import Shi’ite religious authorities from Lebanon, Iraq, and
Bahrain, so few were their numbers in Iran. By the 18th century, the great majority of
the population had become Shi’ites, and Shi’ite theologians dominated the religious
establishment.
2
The Safavid dynasty founded by Isma‘il held effective power in Iran until 1722,
3
although nominal Safavid rulers remained on the scene as political pawns for many years
after. The regime rested in good part on the support of the Qizilbash, who helped bring
it to power. Tribal chiefs were granted governorships of provinces and high positions in
the central government. The Qizilbash also controlled military forces that helped them
maintain their influence. A second element in the ruling elite was the Persian
bureaucracy, which was essential to the machinery of government. Although there were
rivalries between the two elements, in the course of time they formed marital and
political alliances that cut across group lines.
1501
Muhammad Baha' al-Dawla, an Iranian physician and scholar, published The
Quintessence of Experience, a work based on his clinical medical experience, which
contained the first known description of whooping cough as well as accounts of chicken
pox and German measles. His manuscript also detailed the earliest description of
syphilis in the East.
4
1504
Death of Sayfi of Bukhara, an artisan and poet who wrote more than a hundred odes,
each dedicated to practitioners of different crafts. This form of poetry, called shahrashub (“city disturbing”), combined Sufi mystical terminology with details about
specific crafts. The verses reveal technical, religious, and social aspects of the many
guilds (asnaf) that flourished throughout Iran. Often these poems were written in a
jargon understood only by guild members.
5
1505
Death of Mulla Husayn Kashefi, the author of Rawzat al-shuhada' (The Garden of
Martyrs), the earliest text for the public recitation and remembrance of the martyrdom of
the third Shi’ite imam Husayn (d. 680). The commemoration of Husayn's death during
the Muslim month of Muharram became part of an annual public mourning ritual that
reached its full dramatic potential in the later Safavid period in the form of the ta‘ziyeh,
or passion play, a distinctly Iranian Shi’ite form of popular religious remembrance.
1507
6
The Portuguese capture of the island of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. It became a
naval base and trade outpost. The shah, who had no navy, reluctantly accepted this
European presence, which lasted until 1622, when the Portuguese were evicted with
British help.
7
1507
The Safavids extended their control into the region of Diyarbakr in eastern Anatolia.
8
1508
The Safavids took Baghdad and Iraq.
9
1510
Capture of Khurasan. Shah Isma‘il absorbed the large province into his state after
defeating the Uzbeks and killing their leader, Muhammad Shaybani, in a battle near
Merv. The Uzbeks remained a formidable adversary of the Safavids throughout the
century.
10
1514, Aug. 23
Battle of Chaldiran, in which Shah Isma‘il's army suffered a crushing defeat by the
Ottomans, who acted in retaliation for Safavid support of Turkoman revolts in Anatolia.
The Ottoman victory resulted from superior numbers as well as the use of field artillery
and guns, not employed by the Safavid army on this occasion. The battle opened the way
for the Ottoman conquest of Diyarbakr, Erzinjan, and other parts of eastern Anatolia as
well as northern Iraq.
1522
11
Shah Isma‘il brought the famous Timurid painter Bihzad from Herat to Tabriz and
appointed him director of the royal library. Bihzad's successors formed a brilliant
artistic school that produced some of the finest Persian manuscript illustrations.
12
1524–76
SHAH TAHMASP I. The eldest son of Isma‘il ascended the throne at the age of ten,
and for the first ten years of his reign, real power was held by a number of leaders of
competing Qizilbash factions, whose feuding caused much political instability. In 1533
Tahmasp asserted his authority. One of his legacies was the introduction of converted
slaves into court and the military. They were drawn from thousands of Georgian,
Circassian, and Armenian prisoners captured in campaigns fought in the Caucasus in the
1540s and 1550s. Female slaves entered the royal harem, becoming mothers of princes
and a force in court politics and dynastic quarrels. Some of the male slaves began to
acquire positions of influence, reaching, under Shah Abbas, high offices that challenged
the supremacy of the Qizilbash.
13
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Middle East, 1501–1808 > c. Afghanistan
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(See 1490)
c. Afghanistan
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Mughal Empire of India and the Safavid Empire of
Iran held between them the area that would emerge in the 18th century as Afghanistan.
The province of Herat remained with Iran, while Kabul was administered by the
Mughals. The contested province of Qandahar moved between the two empires during
this period but by 1700 became part of the Iranian sphere. Unlike Shi’ite Iran, the
populace of Afghanistan remained Sunni Muslim.
1
c. 1700
The Afghan tribes of Ghilzay situated in Qandahar became essentially independent of
Safavid rule, as did their enemies, the Abdali tribe located in Herat.
2
1709–22
Consolidation of Ghilzay control of Qandahar. Mir Vays, leader of the Ghilzay
Afghans, fell out with the Safavids and defeated their attempts to assert control over
Qandahar, which he held until his death in 1715. His son Mahmud, who succeeded him,
consolidated his command of the area.
3
1722
THE AFGHAN INVASION OF IRAN. Led by Mahmud, the Ghilzays defeated the
Safavid army and entered Isfahan after a six-month siege (Oct. 1722). The Safavid shah
Sultan Husayn abdicated after declaring the Afghan victor Mahmud his successor. The
Ghilzay Afghan dynasty ruled much of Iran and Afghanistan under Mahmud
4
(1722–25) and his successor Ashraf (1725–30). But Nadir Shah, the Safavid general,
mounted a campaign that expelled the Afghans from Iran and made him master of the
country.
1737–38
OCCUPATION OF AFGHANISTAN BY NADIR SHAH. The ruler of Iran captured
Herat, Qandahar, Ghazna, and Kabul. The power of the Ghilzay was broken in this
campaign. Nadir favored the Abdalis and enlisted large numbers in his army for his
invasion of India in 1739. His army comprised largely Sunni Afghan troops, since his
own Sunni beliefs had alienated his Shi’ite Iranian soldiers. His reign consolidated all of
Afghanistan, a situation that ended with his death in 1747.
5
1747–73
AHMAD SHAH DURRANI, FOUNDER OF THE SADOZAY DYNASTY.
Following the death of Nadir Shah, Ahmad Shah, the Afghan commander of his
bodyguard and a member of the Abdali tribe, proclaimed himself the ruler in Qandahar.
He adopted the title Durr-i Duran (“Pearl of Pearls”), and after that the Abdalis were
known as the Durranis. He invaded India several times and extended Afghan control
from the eastern borders of Iran to Lahore, Kashmir, and Delhi.
6
1773–93
TIMUR SHAH. The son of Ahmad Shah inherited an extensive empire. He faced many
revolts in his Indian possessions as well as internal difficulties in controlling the
Durranis. In 1776 he moved the capital from Qandahar to Kabul.
7
1793–1800
ZAMAN SHAH. The fifth son of Timur ruled the Durrani Empire with the help of the
chief of the Afghan tribe of Barakzay. His attempt to invade India alarmed the British,
who induced the Iranian Qajar ruler Fath Ali Shah to support Zaman Shah's brother
Mahmud in his struggle for power. With British help Mahmud advanced on Kabul,
captured and blinded his brother, and assumed power. (See Afghanistan)
8
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > C. The Middle East and North Africa, 1500–1800 > 2. The
Middle East, 1501–1808 > d. Arabia
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(See 945, Dec)
d. Arabia
The Arabian peninsula, the birthplace of Muhammad and Islam, became of marginal
importance in Middle Eastern history not long after the Arabs began their conquests in
the 7th century. Various Middle Eastern states extended their formal authority to the
coastal region of the Hijaz, site of Mecca and Medina, and intermittently to Yemen, but
seldom to the interior of the peninsula. The Ottomans established a hold in Yemen and
eastern Arabia in the 16th century, but by the 18th century their authority was confined
to the Hijaz, where the Hashemite emirs enjoyed autonomy while acknowledging
Ottoman suzerainty. Throughout the peninsula powerful family and tribal elites ruled
over essentially sovereign emirates. Several of the dynastic regimes established in the
18th century—in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain—have survived to this day.
1
1745
BIRTH OF THE FIRST SAUDI-WAHHABI STATE. Muhammad ibn Sa‘ud (d.
1765), chief of a tribal emirate based in Dar'iyya in the central Arabian region of Najd,
forged an alliance with MUHAMMAD IBN ABD AL-WAHHAB (1703–92), a
theologian preaching a message of puritanical reform of Islam. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab
criticized the laxities of Muslim observance. He sought to do away with all misguided
innovations in Islam, such as the veneration of saints and Sufi rituals, and to return the
faith to its fundamental scriptural principles. In the next 60 years Ibn Sa‘ud and his
successors extended their domination and the Wahhabi ideas over most of Arabia.
The first Saudi state was finally destroyed in 1818.
2
1748–75
Abbas al-Mahdi ruled as imam of Yemen.
3
1749
Ahmad ibn Sa‘id became ruler of Oman, beginning the rule of the BU SA‘ID
DYNASTY, which remains in power today.
4
1752
Sabah ibn Jabir of the Banu Utub Arabs became ruler of Kuwait, beginning the rule of
the SABAH DYNASTY, which still holds power today.
5
1762–1812
Abdallah ibn Sabah ruled as sheik of Kuwait.
6
1765–1803
Abd al-Aziz ruled as Saudi emir after the death of his father Muhammad ibn Sa‘ud, who
had unified most of Najd under his rule. He continued the expansion of Saudi control
in the peninsula.
7
1773
The Wahhabis annexed Riyadh.
8
1775–1809
Ali al-Mansur ruled as imam of Yemen.
9
1782
Ahmad ibn Khalifa of the Banu Utub Arabs became the ruler of Bahrain, establishing the
rule of the AL-KHALIFA DYNASTY, which still holds power today.
10
1783
Death of Ahmad, ruler of Oman; he was succeeded by his son Sa‘id.
11
1787
The Wahhabis took Hail and gained control of the region of Jabal Shammar in central
Arabia.
12
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Africa, 1504–1799
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(See 1504)
3. North Africa, 1504–1799
a. Morocco
1505–24
MUHAMMAD AL-BURTUGHALI. The sultan of the Banu Wattas (Wattasids)
reigned at Fez but retained no authority over the rest of the country. The remainder of
Morocco was ruled by local tribal authorities and Sufi orders.
1
1505
Portuguese occupation of Tangier and Agadir. A series of Portuguese garrison forts
on the Atlantic coast called presidios was established during this period, while in the
Mediterranean, Spanish forces threatened the Moroccan littoral. These Christian
invasions prompted a renewed religious and martial vigor among the Muslim inhabitants
of Morocco. Local tribesmen who claimed descent from the prophet Muhammad
combined with Sufi leaders to eject both Europeans and the reigning Wattasid dynasty
during the 16th century.
2
1508
Death of Ahmad al-Wansharisi of Fez, one of the best-known jurists in North Africa.
His multivolume work al-Mi‘yar compiled a large corpus of his fatawa (legal opinions),
which shed light on social conditions as well as legal thought.
3
1509–17
MUHAMMAD AL-QA’IM, FOUNDER OF THE SA‘DI DYNASTY. Originally
from Sus, the Sa‘di family took a strong position in support of jihad (holy war) against
the Portuguese, a position that put them in immediate opposition to the Wattasid policy
of appeasement and collaboration. The Sa‘dis claimed descent from Muhammad and
were called sharifs. The founder of their dynasty identified with the Sufi al-Jazuli (d.
1465), whose order had militantly opposed the European presence in Morocco. He began
to build a territorial base in southern Morocco, which his sons Ahmad al-A‘raj and
Muhammad al-Sheik expanded after his death. By 1530 they held between them the
southern half of Morocco.
4
1513
Death of Ibn Abi Abdallah Ghazi, a theologian and jurist from Meknes. He served as
the official preacher of Meknes and wrote a three-volume history of the city.
5
1526
Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzani, known in the West as Leo Africanus, translated
from the Arabic his description of Africa, which furnished the Christian world with most
of its geographical knowledge about North and West Africa. Born in Granada before its
capture by the Spanish, al-Wazzani relocated to Fez. He was captured by European
privateers off the North African coast and converted to Christianity. His learning and
travel experience brought him to the attention of the pope, who became his patron.
6
1536
The Wattasids of Fez, alarmed at the Sa‘di control of southern Morocco, declared war.
In a truce negotiated by the religious leaders, they accepted the autonomy of Sa‘di
Marrakesh.
1541
7
Muhammad al-Sheik, Sa‘di ruler of southern Morocco, captured the Portuguese fortress
of Santa Cruz (Agadir). The victory strengthened Muhammad's political position over
his brother Ahmad al-A‘raj, the heir-designate of the Sa‘di dynasty.
8
1545–57
MUHAMMAD AL-SHEIK (AL-MAHDI). The Sa‘di ruler was proclaimed sultan in
Marrakesh in 1545. In Jan. 1549 he occupied Fez, ejected the Wattasids, and became
sultan of Morocco. The Sa‘dis defended their territory from both Christian and Muslim
incursions, most notably by the Portuguese and by the Ottomans based in Algeria. Under
them Morocco remained the only North African state to evade Ottoman occupation.
9
c. 1550
The Portuguese evacuated their remaining forts on the Moroccan coast.
10
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > C. The Middle East and North Africa, 1500–1800 > 3. North
Africa, 1504–1799 > b. Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya
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(See 1504)
b. Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya
In the 16th century the North African countries, with the exception of Morocco, were
absorbed into the Ottoman Empire. The provincial administrations set up in Algiers,
Tripoli, and Tunis soon developed an autonomous character, with local regimes run
largely by the military. They were not, however, entirely independent of Ottoman
authority: they continued to acknowledge Ottoman suzerainty, to draw on Turkish
recruits for their armies, and to seek Ottoman diplomatic support and mediation in local
disputes.
1
1504
The corsairs Aruj and Khayr al-Din Barbarossa accepted the patronage of the Hafsid
ruler of Tunisia. They made the island of Jerba their base of Mediterranean operations
for their jihad, or holy war, against Christian ships. The corsairs, as pirate captains,
belonged to a highly valued and organized profession in Muslim North Africa. They
banded together into guilds, or ta'ifas, for their mutual benefit. Most of them were
Europeans who had converted to Islam. They played a prominent role in the
governments of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, the three ports that came under Ottoman
control in the 16th century.
2
1509
The Algerian port of Oran taken by the Spanish.
1510
3
Tripoli and Bougie captured by the Spanish. Spanish victories prompted the inhabitants
of Algiers to call upon Muslim corsairs to assist with their defense. The Spanish
controlled all of the Algerian littoral through a series of coastal garrisons (presidios).
They did not occupy Algiers but constructed a fort called the Peñon on an islet
overlooking the harbor. They remained isolated in their coastal enclaves, dependent on
naval support.
4
1515–16
Aruj and Khayr al-Din Barbarossa installed at Algiers at the request of the city's
inhabitants.
5
1518
ESTABLISHMENT OF OTTOMAN RULE IN ALGIERS. Besieged by the Spanish,
Khayr al-Din Barbarossa placed himself under the direct authority of the Ottoman sultan
Selim I, who appointed him beylerbey (provincial governor) and sent him as military
reinforcement a unit of Janissary musket-bearing infantry. In 1529, after a protracted
struggle with the Spanish, he won full control of Algiers and began conquering the
interior of Algeria. Garrisons brought the countryside into the sphere of Ottoman
control, and provincial taxes were collected in yearly military expeditions (mahallas).
But already by the late 16th century, real power rested with local Janissary commanders,
not the Ottoman governor.
6
ALGIERS became the prosperous center of an economy based primarily on
privateering, or state-sponsored piracy. Corsair wealth funded the development of an
imposing city, with tall protective walls, a citadel (completed in 1590), gracious homes,
fine public buildings, and various urban amenities. The population grew from some
20,000 to about 100,000 by the 17th century and included a mix of Turks, corsairs,
native Algerians (baldis), Berbers, and Jews. Thousands of Christian captives taken on
raids were held in prisons called bagnios. They were sold, ransomed, or used as slaves.
7
1528
The Knights of St. John, an order founded by the Habsburg emperor Charles V,
established a garrison at Tripoli.
8
1533
Khayr al-Din Barbarossa was appointed admiral of the Ottoman fleet and took
direction of Ottoman naval operations in the western Mediterranean.
9
1534
First Ottoman conquest of Tunis by Khayr al-Din Barbarossa. He was pushed out by
Spanish forces, which established a garrison in the port. Al-Hasan, the Hafsid ruler of
Tunis, became a vassal of Emperor Charles V.
10
1543
Tlemcen captured by the Habsburgs.
11
1551
ESTABLISHMENT OF OTTOMAN RULE IN TRIPOLI. The Ottoman fleet
dislodged the Hospitallers of St. John from Tripoli. The corsair captain Draghut
(Turghut) was appointed Ottoman governor of the province of Tripoli and began
bringing the interior under Ottoman rule. The province remained under direct Ottoman
control, through governors appointed by Istanbul, until 1629.
12
1569
Second Ottoman conquest of Tunis. The city was recaptured by the Europeans after
their naval victory at Lepanto in 1571.
13
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(See 1498) (See South Asia, 1000–1500) (See 1490) (See 1284)
D. South and Southeast Asia, 1500–1800
1. India, 1500–1800
GROWTH OF BRITISH POWER IN INDIA (MAP)
MUGHAL EMPERORS (1526-1858)
Early modern India continued to be marked by the pattern of alternation between larger,
inclusive (imperial) states and smaller states or kingdoms based on regional power bases
and linguistic/cultural formations. New in this period was a dramatic increase in
urbanization and a greater commercialization of agriculture and trade—results of
the expanded imperial system, which fostered integration of localities into larger
economic networks both within the subcontinent and between South Asia and other
imperial centers. Very little speculation has been put forward regarding demographic
changes before the 19th century; the regions of greatest population density when
censuses began to be taken are presumed to be the same as those during this earlier
period as well (with the rice-growing areas of the eastern Gangetic Basin and the east
coast having the highest population). The increasing size and number of urban centers
established in the early modern period have been presumed to foster as well as absorb
the population increases in the subcontinent.
1
Initially in the north and ultimately over much of the South Asian subcontinent, the
Mughal Empire emerged in this period to tie India to the larger Islamic world. Beyond
economic integration with this larger system, the Mughals encouraged further
integration through the opportunities offered to military and administrative elite
2
migrating from Persia and the Arabic areas of the Middle East. Still, faced with the
necessity of creating a shared political culture that would tie the immigrant ruling class
to indigenous power structures, the Mughals fashioned a new Indo-Persian cultural
system that created a shared elite culture focused on the emperor. Particular
values—including Indian notions of good rule, Indian aesthetics, and hierarchical
conceptualizations of the relationship between community and state—became
incorporated within the ruling ethos.
At the same time in the south, the Vijayanagara Empire consolidated around a state
ideology fashioned from Hindu theories of kingship and new claims to power by soldiermerchant groups. The elaboration of this state made clear the similarities of economic
and political processes faced by both the empires. Key to success were the
administrative and ideological ties established between the state and its constituent
communities; the nature of these ties indicated that while one empire is called Islamic
and the other Hindu, the Mughal and Vijayanagara rulers built their respective politicocultural systems on the basis of many similar cultural assumptions that may be seen as
typically South Asian in nature.
3
Toward the end of this period, the imperial systems in both the north and the south
began to break apart. Across the subcontinent successor states arose, solidifying
political and cultural coherence around regional identities expressed in local vernacular
languages and literary works. The political and economic opportunities presented to
local elite claimants enabled them to direct cultural patronage to solidify these regional
cultures and identities. The ferment provided by the new political formations, and the
contestations that naturally accompanied new claims to power, provided a period of
great flux and creative reinvention of political forms and legitimations.
4
Into this flux moved a variety of European actors, brought to the subcontinent by their
interest in trade and their new organization at home as commercial monopolies (the East
India Companies of the English, the Dutch, and the French). These monopolistic
enterprises facilitated the financing of ambitious pursuit of trade overseas. Still “bit”
players in the unfolding drama, Europeans tried to ally themselves with different Indian
princes absorbed by their internecene warfare, hoping to capitalize on the victories won
by their allies.
5
By 1500
THE VIJAYANAGARA EMPIRE developed, in its second half, into what is known as
the nayaka state-system, in which administrative and political relations differed
significantly from what had gone before. While the Vijayanagara rulers continued to
hold ultimate power over a broad belt of territory, they shared authority locally with a
number of military chiefs, or nayakas. Originally part of the great Telugu migrations
6
southward into the Tamil country in the 15th and 16th centuries, Balija merchantwarriors who claimed these nayaka positions rose to political and cultural power and
supported an ethos that emphasized nonascriptive, heroic criteria in legitimizing political
power. The Balijas were proud of their Sudra status, in a world previously dominated by
a classical Sanskritic varna scheme that insisted that kings had to be Kshatriya (two
castes higher than Sudras). The new egalitarian ethos made it easier for claimants from a
variety of communities to succeed to political control.
1500s
Kaikkolas (weavers) and kanmalas (smiths) increased in power during the 15th and
16th centuries: set privileges were granted to them by nayakas and their subordinate
local magnates. Indeed, the diversity of artisan and merchant communities in this period
shows the increased importance of these professions in the emerging socioeconomic
structure.
7
1500
Spread of the Sikh faith in Bengal. Founded by N
nak (1469–1538), who merged
Hinduism with Muslim egalitarianism. Later turned militant under persecution by the
Mughals.
8
1504
Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur, having annexed Gulbarga, established the Shi'ite form of
Islam under state patronage, despite protest from many Sunnis.
9
1509
The Portuguese, under Francisco de Almeida, at Diu destroyed an Egyptian-Indian
fleet that had, in the previous year, defeated a Portuguese squadron at Chaul.
1510
10
The Portuguese acquired Goa as headquarters, in place of Cochin.
11
1512
Golconda became independent (till 1687).
12
1526–37
Bahadur, the last active sultan of the “sultanate state” period, with the aid of Khandesh
captured Mandu and annexed Malwa (1531), after which he captured Chitor (1534).
13
To 1550s
In the heyday of the Vijayanagara Empire, the center retained full control of the nayaka
chiefs, receiving a third of the revenues collected in the territories assigned to the chiefs.
The nayakas had only limited lordship over territory and had to maintain from their
income armed forces for the king.
14
1526–1761 (1857)
The MUGHAL EMPIRE in India was founded by Babar (1483–1530), descendant of
Timur-I Lang in the fifth generation, who had seized Kabul (1504) and Lahore (1524) as
compensation for loss of Ferghana and Samarkand. Decisive victory at Panipat over
Ibrahim Shah Lodi gave him Delhi and Agra, which he defended in the Battle of
Khanua (1527) against Rana Sanga of Chitor, chief of a Rajput confederacy.
15
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(See Southeast Asia, c. 900–1557)
(See Southeast Asia, c. 900–1557)
2. Southeast Asia, 1500–1800
Southeast Asia played a pivotal role in the changes that mark the early modern world. It
was a maritime region, already to a large extent organized around long-distance trade
and located in the midst of crucial trade routes. It encountered and interpreted in
distinctive local ways the consolidation of the Islamicate world accomplished during
the previous, postclassical period, and the following shift from that world system to one
shaped by European expansion through trade and technology. Consequently, this part of
Asia suffered most quickly and directly the impact of European intrusion; by 1650
Europeans had gained control of most of the vital ports and products through which the
region had been connected to an expanding world economy.
1
Four major kinds of change marked these three centuries in Southeast Asia. The first
was the rise of a number of new states, fostered in part by external factors—new
military techniques, the presence of Islamic models of state organization, and the
expansion of commerce, which helped dynamic new leaders to emerge. Internal factors
also facilitated these new state configurations, particularly the capacity of origin myths
and political theories to be reinterpreted in defining commonalities and identities that fit
new circumstances. The second change also related to ideology: between about 1400 and
1700, three universalist faiths based on sacred scripture became firmly entrenched in
the region. An Islamic arc in the south; a Confucian orthodoxy in Vietnam and a
Theravada Buddhist region in the rest of mainland Southeast Asia; and a Christian
presence in the Philippines (See 1571) were consolidated in the early modern period and
are still the important configurations today. In the midst of the commercial and political
changes altering the region, a preference emerged for textually based belief systems with
sources of authority beyond the localities.
2
The third major change related to a dramatic expansion of commercial activity in the
region. This activity predated the appearance of Europeans, relating instead to the
linkages forged as the Islamicate world system emerged. In the 15th century, significant
activity by Chinese and Indian merchants had increased the circulation of silver and
other metals in the area and initiated a demand for Indian cloth in exchange for spices
3
grown for export. Before 1650, tons of pepper, cloves, and nutmegs were carried by
Muslim traders (of various nationalities) across the Indian Ocean to markets in Egypt
and Beirut. There Italian merchants bought and shipped them back to Europe. At the
peak of early-17th-century commercial activity, the Chinese, Japanese, Spanish,
Portuguese, and Indians all competed for the region's produce. During the second half of
the century, however, many of these players withdrew and a small number came to
dominate international markets in the region, most particularly the Dutch East India
Company. These external changes around the dividing line of 1650 may also be seen as
the point at which promising capitalist economic developments atrophied in the face of
massive European domination.
Accompanying important economic changes were technological and scientific
innovations, particularly in military techniques—the fourth major change. The
increasing presence of firearms marked the opening of this period and influenced other
military practices, including naval technologies and land-based fortifications for
establishing permanent, defensible enclaves. Foreign traders proved especially adept in
this new technology and, over the 16th century, were often impressed into the service of
the most ambitious claimants to royal power in the region. In areas now known as
Burma and Thailand, new states were established with the capacity to exercise
unprecedented power. Relatively centralized powers also emerged in Java and Aceh, and
in Makassar and Ayutthaya (Siam) in the early 17th century. Similarly, new naval
techniques proved crucial for Aceh and Maluku.
4
Before 1750, the region had a low population density except in concentrated areas of
Java (the northern coastal plain and the Mataram area), south Sulawesi, and Bali. Periods
of strong rule and security would foster dramatic population growth in, for example,
Aceh in 1550–1640, Makassar in 1600–1660, and areas of Java after 1650. By contrast,
devastating contractions of numbers may be attributed to the practice, during warfare, of
large-scale forced relocation of captured populations. For example, the Malayan
population was dramatically depopulated by the conquests of Sultan Iskander Muda of
Aceh from 1618 to 1624. (See Southeast Asia, 1753–1914)
5
a. The Malay Peninsula and Archipelago
1511–1722
JOHOR Sultanate (Malay). The power structure in Johor reflected many features that
originated in the Malacca kingdom. Johor continued the Malacca tradition of a maritime
state dependent upon the rivers and the sea; Johor built, as well, on Malaccan
6
perceptions of a state, perceiving in the presence of a ruler with an illustrious and
impeccable lineage the distinction between a “state” such as the Kingdom of Johor and
any number of the small, individual kampung under the leadership of a minor chieftain
which existed along the rivers, estuaries, and coasts of the Malay world. Court literature,
such as the Sejarah Melayu (a work begun in the 15th century in Malacca containing
later interpolations, including the early history of Johor) expounded the ideal of the ruler
responsible solely to God.
The importance of the ministers' role, in efficiently handling mundane affairs of state, is
shown by rivalries between Bendahara and Laksamana families in the 16th and early
17th centuries. The Orang Kaya, or Council of Nobles, consisted of these most
powerful families, who formed individual centers of power within the kingdom. They
performed services for the ruler, including assembling their men and leading them as a
group in battle when the kingdom was at war, and acted as an intermediary between their
people and ruler. They also played an essential role in international trade under a system
of patronage to traders (offering protection and providing capital to traders in return for
commission and share of profits).
7
Orang Laut, a broad term referring to seafaring peoples in the Malay world, in reality
referred to numerous tribes and status groups inhabiting the islands and estuaries in the
Riau-Lingga Archipelagos, the Pulau Tujuh Islands, the Batam Archipelago, and
the coasts and offshore islands of eastern Sumatra and southern Malay Peninsula.
They gathered sea products for the China trade; performed special services for the ruler
at weddings, funerals, or on a hunt; provided transport for envoys and royal missives;
and manned ships to act as ruler's naval fleet and to patrol the waters.
8
Early 1530s
Sultan Alauddin Riayat Syah, successor to the last ruler of Malacca (Sultan Mahmud
Syah, who died between November 1527 and July 1528), moved his residence to the
Johor River and became the first ruler of the Malacca dynasty to establish a permanent
settlement in Johor.
9
1564 and 1613
Ruler of Johor was taken prisoner during the repeated destruction of Johor capitals in
16th and 17th centuries by Portuguese and Acehnese. Both times the conquerors made a
point of setting on the throne another ruler from the same royal family in order to fulfill
expectations about how a kingdom could be perpetuated.
10
1641
Capture of Malacca by the Dutch, who thenceforth dominated the East Indies. The
Dutch extended free passes to all Johor Orang Kaya to trade in areas restricted to other
kingdoms; this enabled these traders to fly the flag of their patrons while conducting a
lucrative trade under Dutch protection.
11
Johor had lost some of the areas that traditionally had been dependencies of Malacca,
but it still controlled extensive areas, including Johor; Selangor; areas on the Kelang,
Linggi, Siak, Kampar, Muar, and Batu Pahat Rivers; and the islands of Ungaran,
Karimum, the Riau-Lingga Archipelagos, and Singapore.
12
1673
Resilience of kingdom shown when Dutch takeover of Johor Lama counterattacked by
Johor's Orang Laut–manned fleet.
13
1691
Having successfully challenged power of Laksamana family by gaining control of
young ruler and through the ruler using the royal drums and reedpipes (nobat and nafiri)
as symbols to legitimize authority, Bendahara Tun Habib Abdul Majid nevertheless
refused to sign any written agreements with Dutch until ruler reached his majority.
14
1699
Assassination of Sultan Mahmud Syah, last male ruler of Malacca dynasty in Johor,
significantly undermined traditional values, especially the sacredness of the ruler; the
depth and extent of loyalty accorded to him; and the special nature of his position within
society. Many Orang Kaya, including Bendahara family, implicated in assassination,
which served to undermine subjects' loyalty to succeeding Bendahara dynasty. Orang
Laut had a strong reaction against assassination, refusing to recognize the new
Bendahara dynasty, which subsequently was forced to rely on apparent and visible
manifestations of power and on close, personal ties with powerful individuals within
kingdom, a significant change from the traditional concept of power.
15
1709
Bendahara ruler moved capital to Riau to meet an invading Siamese force; about a
quarter of entire population moved to assist Siamese against Bendahara ruler because of
questionable legitimacy of new ruler.
16
1718
Raja Kecil, Minangkabau adventurer, claimed to be son of the last male heir of the
Malacca dynasty, gaining mass support among Malay subjects and among almost all
Orang Laut in Johor.
17
1722
Sultan Sulaiman Syah, new Bendahara ruler of Johor, regained throne with help of
Buginese, warriors and seamen from southwest Sulawesi. Buginese regained control of
coronation regalia, possession of which was key to ruler's legitimization.
18
Raja Kecil, accompanied by some of his loyal Orang Laut groups, such as the Orang
Suku Bentan and the Orang Suku Bulang, established a new kingdom in Siak following
his expulsion from Johor.
19
Major shift in power relationships in Johor resulted when the Buginese became an
effective power bloc: replaced the Orang Laut role (in trading, patrolling, and military
functions) and the Orang Kaya role (in the principal decision-making functions).
20
The ongoing tensions between Bugis and Malay ministers and officials is described in
the Tuhfat al-Nafis, a Malay history primarily of the kingdom of Johor-Riau-Lingga
(but also in other areas, e.g., West-Kalimanta, Siak, Kedah, and Terengganu) covering
the early 18th century until 1864.
21
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > D. South and Southeast Asia, 1500–1800 > 2. Southeast
Asia, 1500–1800 > b. Kedah
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
b. Kedah
Like Perak, Kedah was a Muslim state with a political structure and culture based on the
model of the Malacca Empire, having a Muslim sultan at the center of power who was
assisted by ministers drawn from powerful local families.
1
Unlike other Malay states such as Perak, Salalngor, Pahang, and Negeri Sembilan,
which by 1896 had surrendered most control to the British, Kedah maintained internal
independence and strong cohesion within the ruling class. Relatively limited economic
resources precluded the formation of a large body of aristocrats; consequently, members
of the ruling family were appointed to most political posts. Dependent more on rice crop
than on trade, Kedah was also spared the disruption of the large-scale Chinese
immigration that occurred in southern Malay states.
2
1713, 1722, and 1770
Civil wars in these years involved jostling within the Kedah royal family for control;
Bugis served as mercenaries for various factions.
3
c. 1741–1778
Muhammed Jiwa Abidin Syah (d. 1778). Provided stability and increased trade and rice
crops.
4
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > D. South and Southeast Asia, 1500–1800 > 2. Southeast
Asia, 1500–1800 > c. Aceh
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c. Aceh
Rise of Aceh clearly demonstrates impact of Islam and trade in contestation with
Europeans. Portuguese efforts to intervene in Pasai and Pidie, and takeover of Melaka
across the straits, drove elements interested in Islam, commerce, or local patriotism to
unite in support of Sultan Ali Mughayat Syah.
1
1520s
Sultan worked to unite the north Sumatran coast into a new and explicitly anti-Portuguese
kingdom; ideological identity and authority of Aceh competed directly with Portuguese
Melaka as center of Islamic spice route. (Similarly, Banten in western Java emerged as
an Islamic kingdom in competition with the Hindu port of Sunda Kelapa, ruled by a
Portuguese ally.)
2
1534–38
Ottoman expansion (first to Egypt, Syria, and the Hejaz in 1516–17, then to Iraq in
1534–35) provided new military defense of Muslim spice-trading route in the Indian
Ocean. First Ottoman fleet to combat the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean was launched
by the governor of Egypt in 1537–38; this failed.
3
1560s
Establishment of direct commercial and diplomatic relations between Ottomans and
Aceh; this led to concept of pan-Islamic counter-crusade against the Portuguese in
Southeast Asia (e.g., 1566 petition for assistance, sent from sultan of Aceh to Ottoman
sultan).
4
1560–1580s
High point for Islamic military success in Southeast Asia and for Muslim-Christian
polarization in the region.
5
Early 1600s
Evidence that Shari'a courts in use in Aceh, to apply Islamic law in enforcing precepts
relating to prayer, fasting, and religious orthodoxy and to deal with civil matters of debt,
marriage, divorce, and inheritance as well as criminal matters of theft, drunkenness, and
so on. Introduction of the kadi (law officer, an important figure in urban governance)
dates from the 1580s. A number of Islamic leaders, from various parts of the archipelago,
centered in Aceh during the 17th century, writing voluminously on religious topics both
in Arabic and Malay. The last great mystic was ‘Abd al-Ra'uf of Singkel, born around
1615. After studying in the Middle East, he returned to Aceh, served the sultan as
secretary, and wrote widely on law and religion. His fame as a religious reformer spread
widely, before and after his death sometime following 1693. (See The Malayan
Archipelago, 1798–1908)
6
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > D. South and Southeast Asia, 1500–1800 > 2. Southeast
Asia, 1500–1800 > d. Malaysia, 1509–1790
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d. Malaysia, 1509–1790
Sultanate of Melaka served as a model for the Malay world but was not original. Funan,
Champa, and Srivijaya in earlier periods had created a similar economic structure based
on trade rather than agriculture. The Islamicate nature of the cultural system and the
cosmopolitan character of society also had precedents in the area, but taken together
these characteristics came to be perceived as the proper aspects of a Malay state.
Cosmopolitanism of the state was legendary; the state served as the meeting place of two
kinds of solidarities: one based on the traders' mother country identity (including
religious solidarity), the other on identification with the local ruler and local law.
1
1500s
Nature of trade in this mercantile state involved the whole ruling class as well as the
sultan himself. Networks for long-distance trade intersected at Melaka, connecting
Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and Persian Gulf tradeways. But in Melaka this trade connected
to a market economy (where merchants conducted trade on their own behalf), not just
the administered trade that characterized earlier empires (where trade was conducted on
behalf of the sovereign); prices were fixed by supply and demand; and one could choose
to become a merchant without having to secure a royal appointment to do so. Results
included a vigorous monetary economy based on mass trade (rather than trade in luxury
goods).
2
The territorial base for the sultanate's realm composed three concentric circles. At the
center were territories ruled directly by the sultan; in the middle were territories
administered by appointees of the sultan; at the periphery were tributary, vassal, and
allied kingdoms (some ruled by the sultan's kinsmen). Especially where the sultan's hold
was weakest, the ruler would offer shares in commercial profits—a practice that
provided the sultans with almost a third of the capital required to finance trading
expeditions, and this reinforced the economic solidarity between the sultanate and its
dependencies.
3
1509–10
Competing alliances of merchants in Melaka took different stances toward the
Portuguese: one group (including Chinese, some Tamils, and a few Javanese) inclined to
accept them, anticipating new markets and an increase in demand for the commodities
they conveyed. The other party (led by Gujaratis and supported by the local elite) saw
them as competition and a threat to the moral solidarity between the sultanate and its
dependency seaports. The second group prevailed in the short run and seized all the
Portuguese they could in 1509, thus delaying advent of the European influence for two
years.
4
1511
The Portuguese, under Albuquerque, captured Malacca, center of the spice trade. By
this time, the crown was more interested in spice trade than establishing a land-bound
empire. The Portuguese then sent envoys to open trade relations with native states and
set up fortified posts to protect the trade.
5
1515
Portuguese governor ordered cadastral survey, which counted not land for taxation but
irregular occupation of plots abandoned during 1511 uprising; this shows that the
sultanate's economic basis depended on sea, not land.
6
1560s
First Malay mosque built under Sultan Muzaffar (d. 1564).
7
1580s
Dutch began to work in secret with Jambi to corner the pepper production in Sumatra.
1594
8
The Lisbon spice market was closed to Dutch and English traders, thus providing an
incentive for direct trade with the Far East. The English and Dutch East India
Companies (1600, 1602) presently destroyed the Portuguese forts in Malaysia.
9
1596
The Dutch set up a factory at Palembang (Sumatra).
10
1602
The English established themselves at Bantam (northwest Java).
11
1605
The Dutch seized Amboina, then settled in western Timor (1613).
12
1615
British and Dutch gained access to the pepper trade in Jambi (Sumatra). Competition
included Chinese, Malays, Makassarese, and Javanese as well as the three European
trading monopolies.
13
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > D. South and Southeast Asia, 1500–1800 > 2. Southeast
Asia, 1500–1800 > e. Maluku (Eastern Indonesia), 1500–17th Century
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e. Maluku (Eastern Indonesia), 1500–17th Century
In this period, emphasis on an origin myth underscored unities that were island-wide,
area-wide, and region-wide. Ceremonies recognizing the origin myth connected five
kingdoms, with Ternate depicted as the center.
1
1500s
Islam had been introduced over the turn of the century, but conversion touched only
sultans and their own kin-based settlements.
2
1550s
Ternate and Tidore became the two most important centers in North Maluku,
incorporating nearby areas. Expansion due to rapid increase in demand for cloves, which
provided rulers with Indian cloth and iron implements, items that were highly valued.
3
1535–70
Under Sultan Hairun in North Maluku, rulers of area began to become much more
identifiable by European concepts of kings; Sultan Hairun took on imagery of European
rulers; consequently Portuguese treated him as the leader of the Malukan world, which
reinforced the authority and power exercised by this kingdom over the other polities of
eastern Indonesia.
1570
4
Portuguese killed Sultan Hairun; the Ternaten court mobilized resources of sufficient
power to oust the Portuguese from Ternate; avenging his father's death gave the new
sultan grounds for a campaign to make Ternate the single center in the Malukan world.
He subdued Bacan and Tidore, then sent a conquering fleet to Banggai, Tobunku,
Butung, and Salayar. Though some parts remained restive, the origin myth helped to
underscore shared culture and the political claims of Ternate.
5
1570–83
Rule of Sultan Babullah witnessed the culmination of a centralizing process that
reinforced the power of this ruler in North Maluku. Before this period the sultan was still
a kin-based leader; afterward, he could act without the consensus of the elders of many
settlements.
6
By 1600s
Islam had spread to fellow rulers of Ternate and gradually to the rest of population.
Since Muslim traders preferred to work in ports where they could find a mosque and
where they could assume the protection of a Muslim ruler, the spread of Islam also
brought important economic benefits to the sultan. (See The Malayan Archipelago,
1798–1908)
7
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > D. South and Southeast Asia, 1500–1800 > 3. Mainland
Southeast Asia, 1500–1800
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(See 1287)
3. Mainland Southeast Asia, 1500–1800
a. Burma
Heritage of ethnic fragmentation complicated rivalry between developing religious and
political centers. While the prestige of Mon capital at Pegu was on the rise following the
revival of Mon strength in the 15th century (including a renewed patronage of
Buddhism), the center of Burman power, Ava, steadily declined as it found itself the
target of repeated raids by various Shan tribal groups. The early 16th century witnessed
downward Shan pressure, reflecting the development of a greater cohesiveness and a
hierarchical society among the Shan tribal groups leading to a process of expansion into
more desirable lowland areas.
1
Result was an increasing cultural homogeneity achieved in this period, beginning with
policies of first Toungoo kings in the 16th century and continued in 17th and 18th,
especially through integration of Shans and Mons into a Burman-dominated polity.
Maritime trade played a reduced role when the capital was moved inland, but
monetization of the economy continued throughout the 18th century.
2
1519
Following the arrival during the 15th century of a few European travelers (Nicolo di
Conti, c. 1435), the Portuguese by treaty secured trading privileges at Martaban, and an
increasing portion of the foreign trade was conducted by Europeans.
3
By 1527
Ava was under Shan control, with the killing of the Burmese king and the installation of
a Shan prince on the throne. This led to the flight of Burman refugees southward to
Toungoo, which was situated on the Sittang River.
4
R. 1531–50
Tabinshwehti founded new Burman dynasty originating at Toungoo. His goal was to
establish a centralized state in the Irrawaddy basin.
5
Late 1530s
He made successful attacks on the Mon capital of Pegu.
6
By 1539
He captured Pegu.
7
1542
Tabinshwehti crowned king of Lower Burma.
8
1546
He extended his power northward to Pagan and assumed the title King of All Burma.
With Portuguese mercenaries he attacked unsuccessfully both Arakan to the west and
Siam to the east. (The Portuguese had secured trading privileges in Martaban in 1519,
and Europeans were increasing their involvement in foreign trade.)
9
Late 1540s
Tabinshwehti launched attacks on Martaban.
10
R. 1551–81
Bayinnaung, successor to Tabinshwehti. Acted as a model Buddhist king: building and
11
repairing pagodas and monasteries, ordaining and feeding monks, and distributing copies
of the Tipitaka (the Buddhist scriptures). By bringing Mon princesses into the palace
and taking Mon chiefs as brothers, Bayinnaung sought to resolve the longstanding
Burman-Mon rivalry. In the tradition of great Burmese kings, he exchanged missions
with China, Bengal, Sri Lanka, and Portuguese Goa, reflecting his vision of a Burmese
role in a wide diplomatic world. Bayinnaung himself launched ships on commercial
voyages. He promoted commerce by appointing officials to supervise merchant
shipping, by standardizing weights and measures, and by collecting and collating laws
and judicial decisions. His was an exceptional rule because he was able to extend his
overlordship over such a great distance from Pegu, his capital, into areas like Lan Sang,
which had never before been under Burmese control.
By Late 1550s
Bayinnaung's overlordship accepted by most Shan states.
12
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > D. South and Southeast Asia, 1500–1800 > 3. Mainland
Southeast Asia, 1500–1800 > b. Siam (Ayutthaya)
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(See 1376–1557)
b. Siam (Ayutthaya)
Administrative centralization of Siam attributed to efforts of King Trailokanat (r.
1448–88); but most of institutionalized form of government probably resulted from reign
of King Naresuen the Great (r. 1590–1605). Under this king, Siam regained its
independence from Burma and emerged as most powerful kingdom in mainland
Southeast Asia.
1
Development of overseas trade can be dated as early as 1368. By the early modern
period, Siam was a major source for sappanwood and pepper in the Chinese trading
network.
2
Siamese adopted Hinduism along with Theravada Buddhism. Hindu concept of
divine kingship, and accompanying rituals, provided important sources of legitimation.
But in Siamese society, the claim to divinity operated without the internal checks
characteristic of India, for Brahmans had little influence at the court. This may explain
the pronounced aspect of absolutism in Siam. Yet Buddhism was dominant in the
cultural system that emerged in the early modern period, particularly in providing signs
of legitimation (and delegitimation in the face of popular unrest) for rulers. Royal
interaction with sangha (groups of monks) provided especially important occasions for
public statements of rulers' support of Buddhist precepts; nevertheless, Thai rulers
closely controlled the sangha through cultural patronage (their support ranged from
sponsorship of architecture and sculpture to public processions).
3
1538
As a measure of impact of military technology, King Phrachai (r. 1534–46) retained
120 Portuguese to instruct Siamese soldiers in musketry.
1550
4
New fortification style was introduced around the Siamese capital. King Maha
Thammarcha (r. 1569–90) also purchased large supplies of foreign cannon.
Consequently, by the time Naresuen the Great launched campaign to consolidate Siam,
the Siamese royal army was well equipped and trained in the use of firearms.
5
1569
First fall of Ayutthaya to invading Burmese army.
6
By 1579
China created the Siamese Language Department at the Official Translation Office,
perhaps a measure of the importance of Siam as a trading partner.
7
1590
King Naresuen the Great regained independence and utilized political, economic, and
military forces to transform fragmented kingdom into relatively centralized state.
8
Portuguese trading stations were established in the 16th century, and around the
beginning of the 17th century large numbers of Japanese were active in Siam in war and
trade.
9
1602
A Dutch trading post was established at Patani, where the English soon followed, until
their withdrawal from Siam in 1623.
10
R. 1656–88
King Narai most energetic in pursuit of trade with foreigners. His curiosity about Persian
and French cultures made his court known for its openness.
11
1664
By a commercial treaty, the Dutch gained a monopoly of Siamese foreign trade, which
was, however, thwarted by French intrigue; a French embassy and military expedition
(1685) in turn failed to secure the acceptance of Christianity and French influence and
led to
12
1688
A popular revolt that began a period of prolonged civil war. Prompted in part by reaction
against Narai's openness, it became anti-European. European trade languished, but
Chinese and Muslim trade continued at a high level to take up the slack.
13
1690s
By this time a dramatic decline in trade with Muslims and Europeans could be
measured, although the Chinese trade helped to fill the gap.
14
1767
A Burmese invasion destroyed Ayuthia and compelled temporary acceptance of
Burmese rule until
15
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > D. South and Southeast Asia, 1500–1800 > 3. Mainland
Southeast Asia, 1500–1800 > c. Cambodia
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(See 1220)
c. Cambodia
Endemic instability characterized this period in Cambodia. By mid-15th century,
the Thai-oriented administration of Angkor region was overthrown by forces loyal to
Phnom Penh, but by end of the 15th century, conflict developed among the new rulers.
1
A Khmer revival in early 17th century was followed by a Thai overlordship of
Cambodia in the 18th century. From the 17th century, the traditional regions of
dissidence could rely on Vietnamese support, setting in motion a whipsaw between
Vietnam and Siam, with Cambodia in between. As the importance of foreign powers in
Cambodian internal affairs increased, the pattern of increasing intrusion of the
Vietnamese into Cambodian life was symbolized by Vietnamese activities that resulted
in the sealing off of Cambodia from maritime access to the outside world. This occurred
at the time that other Southeast Asian countries, especially Siam, were becoming more
involved in the outside world.
2
Significant social changes occurred during this period: the decline in the importance of a
brahmanical priestly class (which had effectively linked landholdings, control of slaves,
religious practices, education, and the throne) and the increasingly widespread influence
of the Thai on Cambodian life (including the transformation of the Khmer language, i.e.,
the replacement of Angkorean syntax with Thai syntax). The shift of the capital from the
rice-growing hinterlands of northwestern Cambodia to the trade-oriented riverbanks in
the vicinity of Phnom Penh took place during this period. Another important element at
this time was the inability of the king to deliver protection and stability, which
undermined his position in the eyes of his subjects.
3
1560–90
Cambodian troops took advantage of Thai weakness (exacerbated by 1569 Burmese
sacking of Ayudhya) to raid Thai territories.
4
1594
Defeat of Lovek (Khmer) by Ayudhya.
5
1620s
Territorial expansionist activities by the Nguyen overlords of Vietnam cut off Cambodia
from maritime access to the outside world and resulted in the loss of thousands of ethnic
Khmer to Vietnamese rather than Cambodian control.
6
1750s and Early 1760s
Relative calm with respect to invasions from Siam and Vietnam, but internal chaos from
a series of coups and countercoups by rivals in the royal family.
7
1767
A Thai prince and supporters fled to Cambodia when Ayudhya fell to Burmese army.
8
1768
Taksin, new ruler in Siam, invaded Cambodia to defeat potential Thai rival who was
trying to set up a competing Thai kingdom.
9
1770s
Continued Thai pressure on Cambodia while Vietnamese powers were distracted by
internal threats (the Nguyen dealing with a populist rebellion led by the Tay Son
brothers).
1772
10
Thai burned down Phnom Penh.
11
1778
Thai invasion of Cambodia.
12
1779
Thai placed their own protegé, seven-year-old Cambodian prince Eng, on throne under
Thai guardianship.
13
1790
Boy prince Eng was taken to Bangkok to be anointed; returned to Cambodia in 1794.
(See Laos and Cambodia)
14
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > E. East Asia, c. 1500–c. 1800
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
E. East Asia, c. 1500–c. 1800
1. Overview
The early modern period in East Asia involved deliberate isolation from many larger
world patterns, though Vietnam was open to significant contact with other civilizations.
Consolidation of many established patterns in China and Korea contrasted with
important new political and cultural developments in Japan.
1
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > E. East Asia, c. 1500–c. 1800 > 2. China, 1522–1796
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(See 1521)
2. China, 1522–1796
a. The Remainder of the Ming Dynasty
1522–67
The period began with the completion of Ming political forms, sketched earlier (see (See
The Early Ming)). During the later Ming, cultural developments and population
growth seized center stage. During the Jiajing reign of Shizong (b. 1507), Ming armies
fought off the attacks of Altan Khan, prince of the Ordos, and “Japanese pirates,” many
of them not originally from Japan, but so designated in contemporary sources.
1
1572–1629
The Wanli reign of Shenzong (b. 1563) was famed for its cultural achievements as well
as for corruption, in-fighting, and the power of eunuchs at court.
2
1592, 1597–98
Japanese invasions of Korea, sent by Hideyoshi (1536–98), necessitated Chinese
military assistance and were eventually repelled, though not without considerable loss of
life and great expense.
3
In government, Ming continued the trend begun in Song, and exacerbated in Yuan, of
centralizing autocratic power. Taizu abolished the position of prime minister (1380),
eliminating the last impediment to complete autocracy; he also began the practice of
flogging ministers at court. The rise of a new administrative body, the Grand Secretariat,
dated from the early 15th century. The tradition of remonstrating officials remained
4
alive; especially famous in this regard was Hai Rui (1514–87), who risked life and limb
in confronting his master. The Ming military built on the Yuan garrison model and the
native militia system.
In local government, Ming instituted the lijia system for local tax collection and
surveillance. Ming effectively created provincial-level government, and it would
subsequently remain as such. Local governance became increasingly difficult, for as
population grew steadily, the number of counties and prefectures did not keep pace, thus
allowing the number of residents within a given magistrate's jurisdiction to mushroom.
China's population returned to 100 million probably in the early 15th century and
soared to perhaps as high as 200 million a century later. China's major cities of Song and
Yuan did not continue to grow, but middle-level market towns sprouted around the
country.
5
From the start of the Ming, efforts were made to repopulate northern China, sparsely
populated under the Yuan, with migrant farmers so as to develop the economy there.
Land taxes were graduated according to the arable quality of the land, and thus the far
richer south paid an overwhelming percentage of the state's tax revenues. Under Grand
Secretary Zhang Juzheng (1525–82), the rationalizing “single whip” laws simplified
tax collection nationwide. The only major state monopoly was on salt, though by late
Ming the government empowered a group of salt merchants with distribution
responsibilities; they later became fabulously wealthy.
6
In addition, new crops from the Americas were introduced to China via the Philippines,
effectively contributing to the capacity of agriculture to support a larger population.
7
In education, Taizu ordered the creation of a nationwide system, with schools in every
county and prefecture, as a means of nurturing future officials for the state. He
reinstituted civil service examinations at the provincial and national levels (1370–71).
Private academies, which prospered especially in the 16th century, also provided
talented men for recruitment to state service. By the end of Ming, there were far more
men who had passed the examinations than positions for them, a cause of social
disorder. Stipends were kept purposefully low. The continued spread of printing
resulted in greater access to the state bureaucracy and a seeping down of Chinese
cultural traditions to local society.
8
Ming intellectual life was initially dominated by followers of the Cheng-Zhu school of
Neo-Confucianism, such as Xue Xuan (1392–1464). The Xingli daquan (Great
Collection on Nature and Principle), a digest of moral philosophy from the writings of
120 scholars of the Cheng-Zhu school, was published under imperial authority in 1416.
Signs of a divergence from orthodox Cheng-Zhu teachings were evident in the
naturalism and quiescence of Chen Baisha (1428–1500), a popular teacher from southern
China. WANG YANGMING (Wang Shouren, 1472–1529) was the greatest thinker of
his age and an eminent official as well. Although perceived as attacking the Cheng-Zhu
school, he saw himself as developing from it a style of Neo-Confucianism that asserted
9
the importance of extending the individual's “intuitive knowledge.” Influenced by
Buddhist practice, he stressed meditation as the nurturing praxis for the mind to come to
moral judgment, the “unity of knowledge and action,” and the innate capacity of every
man to attain sagehood. Wang's disciples, however, went their own ways. Irreverent
iconoclasm eventually cost one of them, Li Zhi (1527–1602), his life. Wang's teachings
were popular elsewhere in East Asia, especially in Japan.
Less vital than they had been earlier, Buddhism and Daoism remained eclipsed through
the Ming. A number of thinkers, such as Lin Zhao'en (1517–98), taught the “unity of
the three teachings” (namely, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism).
10
In scholarship there was a growing trend toward compiling massive encyclopedias and
compendia. One such project was supervised by the Hanlin Academy in Beijing: Yongle
dadian (The Yongle Encyclopedia), into which entire works were transcribed—an
imposing work of 12,000 manuscript volumes, completed in 1407. Following Tang,
Song, and Yuan precedents, numerous dynastic legal and administrative codes were
compiled.
11
Contacts between Chinese elites (and the late Ming court) and the Jesuits produced a
short-lived but curious bond. Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) won toleration for the Jesuits
by adopting Chinese ways; he lived in Beijing and served the court by, among other
things, preparing a map of the world. Adam Schall von Bell (1591–1666) went to
Beijing (1662), where he was charged (1630) with reforming the dynastic calendar; he
cast astronomic instruments based on the latest Western technology, which was much
appreciated by the Ming court. In addition to works of religious content, the Jesuits
published works on mathematics and other sciences, providing an important conduit for
Western knowledge to penetrate China. The first major Western work on Chinese history
was by the Augustinian monk Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza, Historia de las cosas mas
notables, ritos y costumbres del gran reyno de la China (1585).
12
The Ming is considered the literary apex for vernacular fiction. Such long novels, often
lifeworks, included Xiyou ji (Journey to the West, also known as Monkey), by Wu
Cheng'en (1506?–82?); Shuihu zhuan (Water Margin, also known as All Men Are
Brothers), traditionally attributed to Luo Guanzhong (1330?–1400?); Sanguo zhi yanyi
(Romance of the Three Kingdoms), also attributed to Luo Guanzhong; and Jin ping mei
(Golden Lotus), a 16th-century novel whose author is unknown. During the Ming,
vernacular drama continued to be popular. Tang Xianzu (1550–1616) wrote what is
considered the greatest drama of the era, Peony Pavilion.
13
In art, Ming painting styles generally followed those of the Song. Emperor Xuanzong
(b. 1399, r. 1425–35) was a fine painter in the southern Song fashion. Dong Qichang
(1555–1636) was one of the great calligraphers and painters of the late Ming; he was an
art critic as well. Pottery in the early Ming achieved bold effects by application of
“three color” glazes. The Jingdezhen imperial kiln gained renown for its production of
such pottery. In the late Ming, decoration in overglaze enamels, often in combination
14
with underglaze blue, was used to startling effect, especially in urban areas.
By 1500 a rotary disc cutter was being used to cut jade, highly valued in China since the
13th century B.C.E. By 1593 a modern form of the abacus was in use.
15
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > E. East Asia, c. 1500–c. 1800 > 2. China, 1522–1796 > b.
The Qing Dynasty
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
b. The Qing Dynasty
MANCHU (QING) DYNASTY (1644-1796)
Peasant rebellion and ethnic strife erupted at the end of the Ming dynasty, and an
impoverished central government was no longer able to meet these challenges. A rebel
band under the command of Li Zicheng (1605?–1645) finally captured the capital at
Beijing, and the last Ming emperor committed suicide. Several decades earlier, in
eastern Manchuria, NURHACHI (1559–1626, Taizu) had organized militarily (1615)
under eight banners a group of Tungusic tribes. Later, Mongol and Han Chinese living in
northeastern China were incorporated into each of their own eight banners. In 1616
Nurhachi, who had had considerable contact with the Ming, took the title of emperor of
the Hou Jin (or Later Jin) dynasty, following on the ethnic descent of his own people
from the Jurchens of the 12th and 13th centuries, and took the clan name of Aisin Gioro.
Only later (1634) did his people adopt the name MANCHUS (probably from the
bodhisattva of learning, Manjusri). In 1618 his armies defeated the Ming and seized part
of Liaodong, where he began to set up a government with local Han Chinese assistance.
In the year before his death (1625), Nurhachi moved the capital to Shenyang (Manchu
name, Mukden) and began to build a civil administration patterned closely on the
Chinese model. There in 1636 the Manchus, under Nurhachi's son Abahai (1592–1643),
proclaimed the Qing Dynasty, having already quelled the other northeastern peoples
and attacked south of the Great Wall on several occasions. When Li Zicheng's forces
took Beijing in 1644, a Ming general, Wu Sangui (1612–78), in collaboration with
Manchu prince regent Dorgon (1612–50), allowed the Manchus to cross the Shanhai
Pass into China unhindered rather than surrender to the rebels.
1644–1911
1
The Qing dynasty commenced when Manchu forces entered Beijing, attacked the rebel
forces of Li Zicheng, and defeated them.
2
Whereas earlier conquerers had discriminated against the subject Han populace, the
Manchus worked to establish good relations with the Chinese under their rule. The Qing
carried over the Ming governmental structure in large part, save the addition of the
Grand Council. There was Manchu-Chinese parity in the leadership of each of the six
ministries. Local self-governance was handled through the lijia system taken over from
Ming, with tax-collecting duties added to its functions in Qing. Through a community
compact system, the laws and Confucian values were directly imparted to local people in
periodic lectures.
3
The population surged to more than 300 million by 1750, as high as 400 million by
1850; changes in local administration did not keep pace. Sparsely populated areas such
as Yunnan and Guizhou began to receive larger numbers of Han Chinese.
4
The recruitment system into government service—the civil service examination
system—was carried over from Ming. These were highly competitive exams, held at
three stages (local, provincial, and national or metropolitan). Once a person was
appointed to a post, he usually held it for three years. With the rapid population increase
of the 18th century and the lack of concomitant expansion of government, many
graduates, unable to find employment, became professional scholars and teachers.
5
Military garrisons of the eight Manchu banners were distributed among strategic
provincial cities, though Han Chinese were appointed in the provinces to the command
of Chinese auxiliary troops. Four Chinese were sent as governors to hold the south and
southwest during the Shunzhi reign at the beginning of the dynasty.
6
In agriculture, the development of faster-ripening strains of rice—30-day growing
cycles were achieved in Qing times—made possible larger yields, which in turn meant
more crops and the ability to sustain more people from the same amount of land.
7
1644–61
During the Shunzhi reign of Emperor Shizong (nephew of Dorgon), the Manchus,
together with Han Chinese armies, consolidated Qing control, defeating various itinerant
Ming pretenders and loyalist bands in the south by 1659. Conquest was accompanied by
the imposition of the Manchu-style shaven head with the queue for men. Foot-binding,
at first forbidden (1638, 1645, 1662), was ultimately permitted to Chinese only (1668).
1645–83
8
A Taiwan-based pirate band, claiming continued allegiance to the Ming, was begun by
Zheng Zhilong (1604–61, executed in Beijing), and he was succeeded by his son, Zheng
Chenggong (1624–62), known to Westerners as Koxinga from a rendering of his
Chinese title, Lord of the Imperial Surname. They raided the southeast China coast,
seizing Xiamen (Amoy, 1653) and Chongming Island (1656), attacking as far as Nanjing
(1657), and finally expelling the Dutch from Taiwan after a prolonged battle (1661–62).
In 1663–64, Balthasar Bort with a Dutch fleet helped a Qing army drive Koxinga's son,
Zheng Jing (1642–81), from the Fujian coast back to Taiwan. Ultimately, the Qing sent
an armada to put an end to the Zhengs' attacks on its coast, when Zheng Keshuang
(1670–1707), Zheng Jing's son and the last of the Zhengs to control Taiwan, surrendered
to the Qing. Taiwan was then brought under Chinese imperial administration as an
appendage of Fujian province.
9
1673–81
The Rebellion of the Three Feudatories erupted when Wu Sangui and two other
former Han collaborators with the Manchus, having been awarded healthy satrapies in
the south for their efforts in bringing Manchu rule to China, revolted against the Qing.
After eight years of fighting, the rebels were quelled with the help of other Han generals.
10
1661–1722
The KANGXI REIGN of Emperor Shengzu (b. 1654, personal rule began in form 1667,
in fact 1669) opened an extraordinary period of cultural achievement, possibly
surpassing the best of earlier dynasties. His was the longest reign in Chinese history.
Kangxi acquired many of the habits and capacities of the well-educated Han elite. He
was initially tolerant of Jesuit missionaries and very interested in the technology they
introduced from the West, but later grew weary of their doctrinal squabbles. He was a
patron of the arts and of learning, sponsoring major scholarly enterprises. He also made
six personal tours of his empire to observe local conditions firsthand.
1670
11
A Portuguese embassy under Manoel de Saldanha, like that of Bento Pereyra de Faria
(1678–79), won only confirmation of the status of Macao. The subsequent missions of
A. M. de Souza y Menezas (1726) and F.-X. Assis Pacheco y Sampayo (1742) achieved
no more.
12
1675
A revolt in Chahar was quickly suppressed.
13
1688
Galdan (1632?–97), chief of the Olöt (Eleuth, western Mongol) Dzungars, attacked
Mongolia from Central Asia. Kangxi personally led the defense of the Khalka states of
central Mongolia (1690). After several assaults, Galdan's forces were finally crushed
(1696) near Urga, and Galdan took poison the following year. Qing military colonies
were established in the region.
14
1689
The Treaty of Nerchinsk with Russia was China's first treaty with a European nation.
Earlier, the Russian Poyarkhov explored the Amur River region (1643–46), and
Khabarov built a fort at Albazin (See 1689). Qing forces attacked Fort Albazin
(1685–86), territory the Manchus considered their own. The treaty stipulated Russian
abandonment of Albazin and of military pressure for commercial contacts and continued
peace. L. V. Izmailov established a trading agent and Russian Orthodox church in
Beijing (1720–21).
15
1717
The Olöt seizure of Lhasa under the direction of Galdan's nephew, Tsewang Rabdan
(1697–1727), was learned of too late in Beijing to save a relief column from annihilation
(1718). Well-prepared armies from Gansu and Sichuan drove the Mongols out of Tibet
(1720), enthroned a popular Dalai Lama, and established imperial garrisons there.
1721
16
A revolt in Taiwan led by Zhu Yigui was suppressed.
17
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > E. East Asia, c. 1500–c. 1800 > 3. Korea, 1392–1800
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Political, Social, and Cultural Patterns)
3. Korea, 1392–1800
1392–1910
The YI DYNASTY (or CHOS
N) lasted longer than any other in Korean history. YI
1
S
NGGYE (KING T'AEJO, r. 1392–98) built the dynasty through a combination of
military might and the backing of the literati. The rising sociopolitical importance of this
literati class marked the entire period. Yi S
nggye began with a policy of deference
toward the Ming dynasty in China, both to keep the peace with China and to prop up his
legitimacy at home. Embassies were sent to Beijing at regular intervals each year.
“Japanese pirates” continued to harass the Korean coast from the island of Tsushima.
The hereditary literati class was known as the yangban, or “two orders,” because its
members combined the civil and military functions of state control. During the Yi
2
period, far more families acquired yangban status than under the Kory
aristocracy.
The increased number of potential officials meant that the examination system loomed
ever more important as a means of selecting the best. Likewise, yangban monopolized
the civil service exams and hence access to office. There was a National Confucian
Academy in the capital at Seoul. Examinations were held every three years, but they also
could be taken at many irregular times. In the latter half of the 15th century, NeoConfucian literati began to gain attention in the central government. These were
yangban scholars of a moralistic bent, unlike the primarily scholar-official group of
yangban who had been influential until then. The conflict between the two groups led to
a series of four “literati purges” from 1498 to 1545.
The highest Yi governmental body was originally the State Council. Under it were the
Six Ministries, which, as government became increasingly bureaucratized, grew in
importance. In addition, the Royal Secretariat was responsible for handling documents
of state that passed to and from the throne.
3
Land allocations in the Yi period followed guidelines established by T'aejo. Current and
former officials received lands commensurate with their rank. King Sejo (b. 1417, r.
1455–68) revised this law (1466) to eliminate former officials from allocations. This
system was later changed (1556) to a straight salary system. Improvements in
agricultural techniques led to greater productivity for the peasantry. As early as 1430, a
farmer's manual for Korea was published, Straight Talk on Agricultural Matters.
Peasants were legally forbidden from abandoning the land they worked. Most were selfsufficient tenant farmers. They were responsible for a land tax, a tribute tax, and
military and corvee duties, much like the system in Tang China. There was also a slave
population. Over time, the landed estates of yangban families grew larger, especially
after the state ceased allocating lands to them. This reduced the tax revenues coming into
the central government and brought further misery to the peasantry. Changes were
effected in the various taxes and duties, and Ever Normal Granaries were established
throughout the country. By the middle of the 16th century, these dislocations had caused
many peasants to leave their land and led to the rise of rebel forces. The Japanese
invasions not only decimated the land, they also destroyed many land registers. Taxable
lands in the early 17th century were reduced to a third of the figure prior to the
invasions.
4
A monetary economy developed rather late in Korea. Paper (1401) and coin (1423,
1464) currency were issued but did not circulate widely at the time. Cloth was still the
mainstay of transactions. During the 17th and 18th centuries, rural markets cropped up
in ever larger numbers, with more than 1,000 by the end of this period. Commercial
growth spurred the development of merchant organizations.
5
1400–1418
During the reign of King T'aejong (1367–1422), efforts to reconstitute an aristocracy
were severely crushed as a Chinese bureaucratic structure was regularized. He had
already abolished all private armies, a holdover from the late Kory
centralize military control of the state.
6
era, in an effort to
1418–50
The reign of King Sejong continued this trend with the establishment of the Hall of
Worthies, at which the finest scholars studied ancient Chinese texts and institutions.
1442
7
A gauge for measuring rainfall was invented, roughly two centuries before a similar
invention emerged in the West.
8
1446
On orders of the king, a group of scholars devised an ingenious alphabet for the Korean
9
language, han'g l. This invention was not received happily by many yangban, because
it made learning to read much easier and broke their control over learning solely in the
more difficult literary Chinese language. Sejong persevered, founding an Office for
Publication in Han'g
sutras into Korean.
l. King Sejo later set up a similar office to translate Buddhist
1451
The state-sponsored Kory
sa (History of Kory
) was finished.
10
1457
The military structure was completely reorganized.
11
1469–94
During the reign of King S
ngjong, rural-based Neo-Confucian scholars began to
rise to center stage, rather than remaining influential as a group locally. They were
principally influenced by the works of Zhu Xi (1130–1200) from Song-period China.
12
1471
After a number of earlier efforts, a national code of laws was promulgated. It effectively
standardized the new yangban governing structure.
13
1495
Tongguk t'onggam (Comprehensive Mirror of the Eastern Kingdom (Korea)) was issued,
the first full history of Korea, covering from Tan'gun through the fall of Kory
14
.
1498
The first literati purge, during the reign of King Y nsan'gun (r. 1494–1506, b. 1476),
in which the older yangban elite sought to get rid of many of the Neo-Confucians. A
second purge occurred in 1504.
15
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > E. East Asia, c. 1500–c. 1800 > 4. Japan, 1542–1793
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1493)
4. Japan, 1542–1793
TOKUGAWA SHOGUNS (1603-1867)
1542 or 1543
Portuguese aboard a Chinese vessel landed near the island of Tanegashima, off the
1
southern coast of Ky
sh . They introduced the musket, which soon modified
Japanese warfare. Other Portuguese ships followed and entered into trading relations
with the lords of western Japan.
1549–51
Francis Xavier (1506–52), the famous Jesuit missionary, introduced Christianity into
Japan, proselytizing among the feudal domains of the west and also in Kyoto, but with
little success. On the whole he was well received, and in some cases the feudal lords
even encouraged conversions in the hope of attracting Portuguese trade. But the
doctrinal intolerance of the missionaries soon earned them the bitter enmity of the
Buddhist clergy and led to proscriptions of the new religion in certain fiefs. Xavier left
behind two Jesuits and the Japanese converts who formed the nucleus of the new church.
1568
2
ODA NOBUNAGA (1534–82) seized Kyoto and set up a puppet shogun, Ashikaga
Yoshiaki (1537–97, r. 1568–73). Lord of the provinces of Owari, Mino, and Mikawa
east of Kyoto, Nobunaga had acted in response to a secret appeal from the emperor. This
daring blow gave him all but total control of central Japan.
3
1568–1600
The process of political disintegration had already run its course by the period of
national unification, or Azuchi-Momoyama period, and in these few decades, through
the efforts of three great leaders, the nation was again united as the periphery was
gradually subjugated by the military hegemons of the capital region. This was
unquestionably one of the most dynamic epochs of Japanese history. “Japanese pirates”
were at their height and were active even in Thai and Philippine waters. Korea was
invaded on two separate occasions. Closer contacts with the Asian mainland and with
Europeans resulted in an influx of new intellectual and artistic currents. Buddhism
was in decline and its monasteries were being deprived of their military power, but
militant Christianity was at its peak in Japan, and lay learning was revived after the
years of warfare. New skills and new products from the West profoundly affected the
economy of the land, and in those years of relative peace Japan's wealth and productivity
expanded rapidly. The private-customs barriers that had hampered trade were abolished,
and the old monopolistic guilds (za) for the most part came to end.
4
The artistic and intellectual spirit of the period contrasted sharply with what it had been
in the Ashikaga era. It was a more exuberant, expansive age. Earlier Zen-inspired stress
on refinement and simplicity gave way to shows of great pomp and to ostentatiousness.
Architecture, for example, demonstrated a love of gorgeous design and majestic size.
Castles and palaces rather than monasteries were the typical structures of the day.
5
1570
Nagasaki was opened to foreign trade by the local lord,
mura (sometimes dated 1567
or 1568). This small fishing village soon became Japan's greatest port for foreign
commerce.
6
1571
Nobunaga destroyed the Enryakuji on Mount Hiei, thus eliminating the most powerful
7
of all the monasteries as a military force. In these same years he also waged usually
successful wars against other Buddhist groups, especially the militant cliques of the True
Pure Land sect (Ikk
sect), as in the siege of their central monastery, Ishiyama
honganji, in Osaka (1570–80). Nobunaga's violent opposition to Buddhism as an
organized political force finally broke the temporal power of the monasteries.
1576
Nobunaga set to work on the Azuchi castle on the shores of Lake Biwa. This was the
first great castle of Japan and heralded the beginning of several decades of widespread
castle building. Azuchi was destroyed at the time of Nobunaga's death.
8
1577–82
TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI (1536–98), Nobunaga's brilliant, lowborn general,
conquered much of western Japan from the M
9
ri family in the name of Nobunaga.
1578
The death of Uesugi Kenshin (1530–78), together with the earlier demise of his great
enemy, Takeda Shingen (1521–73), removed two formidable rivals of Nobunaga in
eastern Japan.
10
1578
The conversion of
tomo S
rin (Yoshishige, 1530–87), a powerful lord of Ky
sh , to Christianity gave the foreign religion a greater foothold on that island, where it
had become quite strong since the conversion of some lesser lords of the western littoral,
such as
mura (1562) and Arima (1576). The Christians, who were for the most part
confined to the fiefs with Christian lords, were estimated at 150,000 in 1582.
1582
11
Nobunaga was killed by a discontented general, Akechi Mitsuhide (1526–82).
Hideyoshi returned from his western campaigns and destroyed Mitsuhide. A contest for
power with the remaining members of the Oda family, supported by TOKUGAWA
IEYASU (1542–1616), one of Nobunaga's vassal lords in eastern Japan, brought about
the elimination of the Oda, and an understanding was reached with Ieyasu.
12
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > E. East Asia, c. 1500–c. 1800 > 5. Vietnam, 1527–1802
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1460–97)
5. Vietnam, 1527–1802
The Lê dynasty ceased controlling the country in 1527, though the Lê nominally
continued to reign until 1787. Several smaller states and contending Vietnamese parties
arose, and the country was divided in half for much of the period under consideration.
The 17th and 18th centuries also witnessed the arrival of ever larger numbers of
missionaries and travelers from the newly expanding West. The period ended in a great
rebellion and eventually the founding of an apparently secure regime, only to fall victim
later to foreign powers.
1
1527
After eight kings were successively placed on the Lê throne (1505–27), and six of them
assassinated, Mac Dang Dung, the head of one powerful family (the Mac), seized the
throne and established the Mac dynasty. Other powerful families were unhappy, and all
turned to China to act as mediator. China proposed a division of the land, with Mac
ruling in the north and Lê, with its supporters, ruling in the south. During these years,
the Nguyên, one of the most powerful families, was establishing a firm base in south
central Vietnam, with a capital at Huê. This compromise lasted only a short time. In the
civil wars that followed, the Trinh, another powerful house, actively supported the Lê in
name, with a base at the capital in Thang-long. Throughout the period the population of
Thang-long exceeded 100,000. Both Nguyên and Trinh cloaked their effort in the mantle
of the Lê and sought to destroy the Mac.
1592
2
The Mac were effectively eliminated as a force. Trinh and Nguyên continued their
standoff, with the former still installing puppet Lê kings and running all affairs of
government. From 1599 Trinh family leaders took over the title of prince, which was
then passed on hereditarily. The Nguyên were not amused.
3
The Trinh in the north tried to run an efficient government by periodically examining
officials, though with limited results. The legal codes were made less stringent and tax
laws were made fairer. The examination system was rebuilt, with public schools
preparing students for them at various levels of the society. In the south, the Nguyên ran
an administration similar to that of the north, though after war later broke out with the
Trinh, Nguyên began to fashion a regime more appropriate to the south. Its examination
system was geared to train men in three areas—administration, taxation matters, and
ceremonial issues—a more practically oriented variant of the traditional Chinese model.
Both used Confucianism to strengthen state control, as both sought control over all of
Vietnam; the more Confucian a state one built, the more worthy of control over the
entire land it appeared. Vietnamese Confucian scholars participated in reform efforts in
the hope of stabilizing a bureaucracy that could control the military.
4
1624
With the arrival of Alexandre de Rhodes (1591–1660) and several other Jesuits,
Catholic missionary work began in earnest, although Catholics had been in the country
in the 16th century. In 1627, Alexandre was sent north into Trinh territory to found a
mission. When it closed down (1630), there were nearly 7,000 Vietnamese converts; ten
years later there were said to be 39,000 Christians in Nguyên territory and 82,000 in
Trinh lands. Alexandre lived in Vietnam for many years and learned the language
extremely well; he compiled an early Latin-Vietnamese-Portuguese dictionary and is
considered the pioneer in romanizing the Vietnamese language. This romanization
system, quôc ngu, enabled missionaries to acquire Vietnamese more rapidly. By 1700
there were 45 Vietnamese Catholic priests.
5
1627
Nguyên-Trinh warfare erupted, lasting for several decades and involving huge
campaigns (1648, 1661, 1672) by Trinh forces before a tentative peace agreement was
reached in the late 1670s. The Nguyên continued to gain control over the Meking Delta
region.
6
Domestic troubles were complicated by the arrival of European trading vessels in
significant numbers from the early 17th century, first from Portugal and soon thereafter
7
from Holland. Relations with the West were initially less problematic than elsewhere in
East Asia. From the early 17th century, though, Chinese traders outnumbered other
foreigners in Vietnam; many Chinese families stayed for generations and established
extensive trading networks throughout the region. English and French ships had arrived
by mid-century. At first, the Trinh favored the Dutch while the Nguyen favored the
Portuguese, but this changed over time. By century's end, the French were the most
active in Vietnam. Catholic missionaries (Dominicans) had arrived in Vietnam by the
middle of the 16th century, and Jesuits followed by the early 17th. Both Nguyên and
Trinh tried to use Catholic monks, especially the Jesuits, to acquire Western scientific
information, although the clear success of the missionizing effort also made both
regimes rather apprehensive.
1711
Despite efforts to centralize control over its villages, the Trinh had no choice but to
allow village leaders to allot public lands within their ken. Eventually, local elites were
avoiding taxation, adding to the onus on the poorer or less resourceful. By 1713, only a
third of the populace was being taxed.
8
1730
The Trinh appointed officials to get peasants who had left their lands to return home; by
1740, it was estimated that a third of all villages under Trinh control had been deserted.
Decline of social and public order meant that less land was under proper cultivation and
less food was being produced. Famines ensued and rebellions brewed. Similar
corruption and decay of the economic infrastructure characterized Nguyên lands. This
striking decline of social norms led to serious rethinking of traditional Vietnamese
identity, including sharp words from women writers, such as Hô Xuân Huong. Local
rebellions became endemic, often coalescing around Buddhist temples, with monks
arming their followers. Confucianism, closely associated with the discredited state, was
openly abused. A crisis ensued.
9
1771–1802
The Tây-son Rebellion, led by three brothers surnamed Nguyên from the village of
Tây-son in south central Vietnam, erupted and quickly gained wide popular support. It
first toppled the Nguyên regime in the south in 1778 and then moved on the Trinh in the
10
north. The country was reunited. At first, an effort was made to prop up the Lê house,
but that was eventually abandoned in 1787. Chinese armies invaded in 1788 in an
attempt to seize Hanoi for the Trinh but were defeated by the brilliant general Nguyên
Huê (1752–92), who proceeded to place himself on the throne.
1788–92
The reign of Quang-trung saw an effort to rebuild the economy through agrarian
reforms and the establishment of communal population registers to return the wandering
populace to the land. Tribute relations with China began again. The civil service
examinations were reinstated, but in addition to competence in literary Chinese,
successful candidates also had to demonstrate competence in works written in the
demotic nôm.
11
In an effort to stimulate commerce and trade, a unified currency was instituted during
the 31 years of Tây-son rule. Industry was also encouraged. Initial results were positive
but proved short-lived. There were no strong rulers after the death of Quang-trung. As in
other Southeast Asian societies and unlike elsewhere in East Asia, Vietnamese women
played a considerable role in commerce and trade, including traveling aboard trading
vessels internationally.
12
1788
Rebellious forces under Nguyên Anh (1762–1820) took Saigon with French help.
Successive victories ended with the capture of Huê (1801). He took the throne as Gialong (r. 1802–20) of the Nguyên dynasty.
13
One of the great works of Vietnamese literature, The Tale of Kiêu, was written by
Nguyên Du (1765–1820) at the end of the 18th century. A long poem or novel written in
verse form, it combined Chinese characters and Vietnamese nôm ideographs. (See
Vietnam, 1802–1902)
14
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
F. The Pacific Region, 1513–1798
The term “Pacific” is used here to refer to the “island Pacific,” not the Pacific Rim or the
Pacific Basin. The latter two terms are generally used to describe the larger continental
masses and nations that surround the Pacific Ocean, the Americas in the east and Asia
and Australia in the west.
1
1. The Pacific Islands in Pre-European Times
The Pacific Ocean is the largest single feature of the globe, covering a third of the earth's
surface. It contains some 25,000 islands totaling 1.6 million square kilometers scattered
across about 88 million square kilometers of water. The region, which exhibits
considerable physical and cultural diversity, is conveniently divided into Melanesia
(islands of Solomons, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, and parts of Fiji),
Micronesia (small islands north of the equator), and Polynesia (many islands in the
triangle stretching from Hawaii through New Zealand to Easter Island). The region
contains several distinct types of island formations. Many of the Melanesian islands in
the east are large continental masses with tall, densely forested mountains, deep valleys,
large rivers, and swampy coastal areas. Many of the Polynesian islands are volcanic, with
corrugated mountain ranges divided by deep valleys. The central and northern parts of the
Pacific have low-lying coral islands surrounded by reef and sometimes just a meter or
two above water. The physical geography of the islands helps shape their climate. Thus,
the larger continental islands have warm temperatures, high humidity, and heavy rainfall.
The atolls, with much smaller land masses, are more vulnerable to the elements.
2
The Pacific was the last major habitable area to be settled by humans (See Southeast
Asia). There was once much disagreement among scholars about how and by what route
the Pacific Islands were settled, but recent archaeological, linguistic, and botanical
research has resolved the controversy. It is now accepted that the ancestral homeland of
Pacific Island peoples was in Southeast Asia, which was settled some 2 million years ago.
From there, small numbers of people, probably in several waves, settled the then joint
landmass of Australia and Papua New Guinea, perhaps 35,000 to 40,000 years ago.
3
About 4,000 years ago, they branched out from the New Guinea mainland and reached
island Melanesia, settling New Caledonia and New Hebrides (Vanuatu). By about 3,500
years ago, Fiji was settled. Five hundred years later, Tonga and Samoa were settled. In
Samoa, from where no further migration seems to have taken place for the next 2,000
years, the basic institutions of Polynesian culture took shape. The Marquesas Islands
were settled around 300 C.E., Hawaii and Tahiti around 600 C.E., and New Zealand 750
C.E.
The manner in which the islands were settled once aroused much debate. Andrew Sharp,
a New Zealand scholar, argued that the Polynesians lacked the navigational technology
and skill to embark on purposeful voyages of settlement across vast expanses of empty
seas. Some of the islands were undoubtedly settled accidentally. However, combining
oral and documentary evidence with practical seamanship, David Lewis has shown that
ancient Polynesians had the knowledge and the skill to make a three-way voyage, to
discover an island, return home, and then return to the new island to settle it. For the
Polynesians, Lewis argued, the empty ocean was full of telltale signs (cloud formations,
swell patterns, drift objects, patterns of bird flights), and they read these just as Western
navigators read their charts. Purposeful voyages thus probably served as a major vehicle
for the initial colonization of the islands.
4
Cultural diversity characterized the traditional Pacific, though most Polynesian islands
exhibit linguistic and cultural similarities that are due, in part, to frequent trading and
social contacts. The greatest diversity is found in the larger continental islands of
Melanesia, where over a thousand languages are known to exist, most spoken by just a
few thousand people. Ancestor worship, initiation ceremonies, warfare, and other such
practices were an integral part of the traditional Melanesian world, as was subsistence
agriculture. Melanesian societies were generally small in scale and egalitarian in ethos.
Leadership was exercised by “big men” who achieved positions of power and authority
through personal ability, ambition, adept manipulation of kinship and social networks,
and the accumulation and strategic distribution of wealth. The position of big men was
generally not heritable, though sons of big men, if they were able, had an advantage over
other competitors.
5
Polynesian societies, on the other hand, were larger in scale and more hierarchically
organized. Lineage defined and structured the social system. The lineage that could trace
its roots back through several generations to a common founding ancestor, real or
fictitious, claimed, and was accorded, a higher social standing and seniority. Its head was
often the leading or paramount chief of the entire clan. Chiefs, variously known
throughout Polynesia as ariki or ali'i, were thought to possess mana—moral power and
authority—and had well-defined rights and obligations in relation to their people. They
commanded respect and deference, exercised control over the production and distribution
of the primary resources, and often received the first fruits of the land as symbolic tribute.
6
The chiefs exercised greater power in some Polynesian societies than in others. In Tonga,
7
Tahiti, and Hawaii, for example, their rule extended over large areas and thousands of
people. Here, chiefs formed an exclusive and powerful class and married within that
group. In Marquesas and New Zealand, the system of stratification was less developed.
Micronesian societies exhibited traits found both in Melanesia and Polynesia. The smaller
atolls in the Carolines, for example, were basically egalitarian in character, while high
islands such as Pohnpei and the Marshall Islands had a highly developed system of
chieftainships.
The population of the Pacific Islands at the time of European contact cannot be estimated
with any accuracy. Some estimates place the population of Melanesia at 3.5 million, of
which 3 million were found in New Guinea and 500,000 in the smaller islands of
Melanesia. In Polynesia, the population numbered around half a million, though recent
work suggests a much higher figure. In Hawaii, according to most conventional figures,
the population at contact was around 250,000, but some recent researchers have put the
figure at 700,000 to 800,000. The Micronesian islands probably had 100,000 to 150,000
people. People in the larger islands practiced some form of subsistence agriculture, while
those in the smaller islands and atolls of the central and northern Pacific depended on the
exploitation of marine resources.
8
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > F. The Pacific Region, 1513–1798 > 2. European
Exploration, 1600–1800
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
2. European Exploration, 1600–1800
The first Europeans entered the Pacific Ocean in 1520. Between then and 1779, when
Captain Cook died in Hawaii, hundreds of European explorers traversed the Pacific. In
the 16th and 17th centuries, the main reason for the exploration was the search for the
Terra Australis Incognita, which was believed to contain fabulous wealth. Later,
scientific discovery and the search for alternative trade routes were important factors.
The 16th century of European exploration was dominated by the Spanish and the
Portuguese, the 17th century by the Dutch, and the 18th century by the English and the
French. By the time of Cook's death, the islands had been charted and added to the
world's rapidly growing corpus of geographical knowledge. The romance of the islands
had entered European folklore, and the stage was set for more intensive European
movement into the islands. Some of the main dates of European discovery are listed
below.
1
1513, Sept. 25
Vasco Núñez de Balboa became the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean, from the
isthmus of Panama, and named it the Great South Sea.
2
1520, Nov. 28
Ferdinand Magellan (Fernao de Magalhaes) entered the Pacific and reached the
Philippine Islands in 98 days, making no major discoveries en route. He was killed on
Cebu.
1564–65
3
First Spanish colony on Philippines. Good route discovered, Philippines to Mexico.
4
1567
Alvaro de Mendana (Spanish) set sail from Callao and early in 1568 sighted one of the
islands of Tuvalu and Ontong Java before reaching the Solomon Archipelago.
5
1577–80
Francis Drake became the first English circumnavigator when he crossed the Pacific to
the East Indies.
6
1595
Mendana left Callao in April on his second voyage to colonize the Solomon Islands. In
May, he discovered a group he named Las Marquesas de Mendoza (Marquesas). He
died in the Santa Cruz group in the Solomons on October 18, 1595.
7
1605–6
Pedro Fernández de Quirós, one of Mendana's captains, set sail again from Callao in
December 1605 in search of new lands and unknown southern continents (Terra
Australis Incognita). In April 1606, he sighted La Australia del Espiritu Santo (now
Espiritu Santo) in the New Hebrides.
8
1642–44
Abel Janzoon Tasman (Dutch) sighted Tasmania, which he named Anthony Van
Dieman's Land. He also explored New Zealand and parts of Tonga, Fiji, New Ireland,
and New Britain. He proved that Australia was not part of a great Antarctic continent.
1722
9
Jacob Roggeveen (Dutch), sailing east to west, entered the Pacific in March, discovered
Easter Island and Samoa.
10
1766–67
Captains Wallis and Carteret entered the Pacific in search of the southern continent
and discovered Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands, respectively.
11
1768
Louis Antoine de Bougainville entered the Pacific in January and visited Tahiti;
subsequently, he went to Samoa and Espiritu Santo. His journal contributed greatly to
the cult of the noble savage in France and Europe generally.
12
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > F. The Pacific Region, 1513–1798 > 3. The Philippines,
1500–1800
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
3. The Philippines, 1500–1800
The earliest historical sources on the Philippines show that the archipelago had trade and
diplomatic relations with East and Southeast Asia from at least the 11th century C.E.
Medieval Chinese accounts of the Philippines show a plurality of ethnic groups living
in decentralized societies and trading in forest and ocean products. Ethnolinguistic
diversity in the archipelago was considerable, and modes of living ranged from swidden
agriculture to fishing and wet rice cultivation.
1
Spanish sources from the 16th century depict societies made up of local communities
(barangay) under the leadership of hereditary chieftains (datu) who sprang from a noble
class. Philippine society at this time can be broadly divided into those who had the right
to bring lawsuits and change their political allegiance and those who did not. Within
each stratum there was considerable variation in status. Leadership in warfare,
particularly marine raiding, was a key constituent of political authority. Datus acted as
judges in lawsuits, exercised control over communal property, and received a portion of
the harvest as tribute as well as military support from the nobles who owed them fealty.
The unfree classes included people who had fallen into bondage through debt, those who
inherited the status of bondage, and chattel slaves. Movement between the free and
unfree classes was possible in some areas of the archipelago, but in others social status
was fixed and unchallengeable. Most parts of the archipelago had oral cultures, although
an indigenous script apparently based on Indian models was used for Tagalog in the 16th
century. By the 15th century, entrepôt ports were present in Cebu, Butuan, and Manila.
Internal trading networks were highly developed within the archipelago, especially in
the Visayas, with rice, raw materials, manufactured goods, and slaves exchanged over a
wide area. Commerce and raiding tended to be combined in a distinctive political and
economic matrix, which was based on the seafaring expertise of the region's inhabitants.
2
In the 1400s, Muslim trading states were established in the southern Philippines and in
parts of Luzon, a development connected with the spread of Islam throughout island
Southeast Asia at this time (See The Malay Archipelago and Peninsula). These states
were often alliances of datus, who cooperated for military and economic advantage
under the authority of a sultan. The rights and powers of sultans varied from state to
state, depending in large measure on the charisma of individual leaders and their ability
3
to inspire loyalty, although the more commercially developed polities had relatively
stable ruling classes. Sharif status (claimed descent from the family of the prophet
Muhammad) was a component in political leadership.
Strategic position and naval strength, together with commerce, made the sultanate of
Sulu an important economic and political power. The other major Islamic kingdoms
were Buayan and Magindanao on Mindanao, which rose to prominence in the 16th
century.
4
1521
Ferdinand Magellan became the first European to reach the Philippines. He was killed in
a conflict with local people under the leadership of Lapulapu on April 27.
5
1543
The expedition of Ruy de Villalobos, sent by Charles I of Spain, was driven off by local
resistance. The name Felipinas was given to the areas around Leyte and was later
applied to the whole of the archipelago.
6
1565
Establishment of a permanent Spanish presence in the archipelago under the command
of Miguel de Legazpi.
7
1571
Manila became the center of Spanish power. Much of the area of the modern Philippines
was nominally under Spanish control by 1576, although their actual authority was
severely restricted in many areas, and Mindanao and Sulu remained completely
independent. Spanish expansion was fueled by a desire to take control of the trade routes
from Malacca and Eastern Indonesia and those to China, all of which had their terminus
in Manila.
8
Socially, the Spanish colony was a mix of indigenous people (indios), Spaniards, a small
but influential population of Chinese, and mestizos (those of mixed descent). In later
times mestizos and creoles from the Spanish colonies in Latin America also came to the
9
Philippines. Ethnic segregation was practiced, causing political tension. Socioeconomic
inequalities were considerable. At village level, the Spanish sought to co-opt local
leaders by increasing their privileges, in return for which the leaders took responsibility
for collecting taxes and organizing labor service.
A governor-general was the supreme political authority in the colony. He was officially
subordinate to the Council of the Indies in Spain. The Royal Audencia (est. 1584)
acted as the supreme court and was intended to check abuses of power by the colonial
government. Provincial governors were virtually independent of Manila.
10
Under the Galleon trade system set up in the late 16th century, only China and Mexico
could trade in Manila, isolating the Spanish Philippines from commercial contacts with
the rest of the Pacific region.
11
Augustinian friars accompanied Legazpi (1565) and were followed later by the
Franciscans, Jesuits, Dominicans, and Recollects. The friars became a powerful political
and economic force, exercising considerable influence on the colonial government.
Following a decision in the 1580s, the church did all its proselytizing in vernacular
languages, making priests vital intermediaries between the colonial government and the
people. In the first few centuries of Spanish rule, there was close cooperation between
the church and the colonial administration, partly because the papacy gave the Spanish
crown complete authority over the missionary enterprise in the Philippines. Printing and
education were by-products of the friars' missionary work. A Spanish-Tagalog Christian
tract was the first book printed in the Philippines (1596), and in 1611 the Dominicans
founded the University of Santo Thomas.
12
Revolts among the indigenous people broke out sporadically after the establishment of
Spanish rule, ranging from indio attempts to regain sovereignty, such as the abortive
revolt of Magat Salamat and Augustin de Legazpi in 1587, to expressions of economic
discontent (e.g., the rebellion of Magalat in 1596) to religious movements, like the
revolt in the Kagayan Valley in the 1620s.
13
From the late 16th century, Sulu, Magindanao, Buayan, and the Spanish competed for
dominance of the southern Philippine region. Under the powerful sultan Quadarat,
Magindanao had become the most important commercial, military, and political force in
the region by the mid-17th century.
14
1635
The Spaniards established a fort at Zamboanga on Mindanao to provide a base for
expansion in the southern Philippines. Magindanao and Sulu subsequently fought a
number of wars with Spain, punctuated by peace treaties and trade agreements.
15
1663
Zamboanga fort abandoned. Spain played no part in the southern Philippines for the rest
of the 17th century. In this period the Muslim states consolidated their internal power
and traded with the Dutch.
16
1717
Attempts by Governor Fernando Manuel de Bustamente to reform government
finances.
17
1718
The Spanish reestablished the Zamboanga fort, reopening hostilities with the Muslims.
18
1719
Clerical opposition to Bustamente's reforms led to his murder by friars.
19
1734
Volume of galleon trade increased through pressure from the Manila business
community.
20
1744
Outbreak of the rebellion of Dagohoy the result of religious and political discontents.
The rebellion lasted for several decades.
21
Political competition in the southern Philippines continued in the mid-18th century. The
sultanate of Cotabato dominated Mindanao. In 1751 a major war broke out between
Spain and Sulu. Sulu forces carried out extensive raids in the Visayas and Luzon, which
caused serious problems for the Spanish, whose financial resources were strained by the
unremitting warfare.
22
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IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > G. Africa, 1500–1800
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Historical Trends, 1000–1500)
G. Africa, 1500–1800
1. Overview
The arrival of Europeans and Africa's consequent participation in the new South Atlantic
system were the primary events in African history during this period. The supply of
slaves entering the South Atlantic system first affected West Africa, oscillated between
West and West Central Africa in the 17th through the 19th century, and drew slaves
from Central and East Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. Historians have vigorously
debated the impact of European contact on Africa and the impact of the
transatlantic slave trade on African development. The debate focuses on whether the
transatlantic slave trade built on long-established patterns or involved profoundly
different political and economic forces leading to new patterns of economic dependence.
1
The volume of slave exports from Africa is also highly contested, although most
historians agree on some broad estimates and on the fact that the trans-Saharan and Red
Sea slave trades predated and then continued alongside the transatlantic slave trade. The
exact numbers of slave exports will never be known for certain, but historians generally
agree that roughly 9.5 million slaves were exported along the trans-Saharan and
Red Sea trade routes over 11 centuries, and roughly 9.5 million slaves were
imported into the Americas over four centuries. The similarity of these two figures
masks considerable differences, however. The transatlantic slave trade estimates
imports. When mortality of the Middle Passage is factored in (approximately 25
percent, although it was higher earlier in the trade and lower later), the exports from
Africa rise to around 12 million slaves. More important, the volume of slave exports
across the Sahara and up the Red Sea was relatively stable over 11 centuries, while
more than 70 percent of slave exports across the Atlantic occurred during the 150
years from 1700 to 1850, when the trade was most active. The magnitude of the transatlantic slave trade, therefore, was much higher and its impact more concentrated than
the longer-lasting trans-Saharan and Red Sea trades.
2
The acquisition of slaves was not foremost in the mind of the first Portuguese navigator
as he sailed in 1434 to Cape Bojador, in present-day Mauritania—and successfully
3
returned. Portuguese overseas exploration of sub-Saharan Africa was motivated by a
series of linked objectives. It grew out of the political and economic transformation in
Europe, particularly the consolidation of royal power in Portugal and the realignment of
economic forces favoring trade over agriculture there. It was linked to the developing
sense of European cultural, religious, and political superiority over non-Europeans,
fueled by the Christian-Muslim wars and the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula. It
was part of a general geopolitical strategy to outflank what the Portuguese understood as
a monolithic Muslim world: to assist the besieged Christian monarch of the East, Prester
John (there was indeed a besieged Christian ruler of Abyssinia) and to bypass Muslim
and Jewish merchants' control over the trans-Saharan gold trade, which supplied 70
percent of the Mediterranean demand for gold before the discovery of the New World.
The Portuguese were also interested in the commerce of exotic spices, textiles, and
luxury goods and found themselves excluded from the established trade routes of the
Mediterranean. The trade in slaves dominates the history of this period, but it is
important to bear in mind that the Portuguese and other European merchants were
interested in trade in a wide variety of goods as well as in forming political alliances.
It is also important to remember that Europeans were not yet able to impose their will
on Africans. Indeed, Europeans did not have significant military superiority over
Africans until the widespread use of the repeating rifle in Africa in the 1870s. Moreover,
when Europeans actually sought to impose their will on Africans—as the Portuguese did
in Angola and in Mozambique—they quickly found that they had to adopt African
political and military tactics in order to survive. And finally, Europeans suffered
extremely high mortality in tropical Africa, which undercut any sustained effort to
colonize and control African territory directly, except for the more temperate regions of
South Africa and isolated offshore islands of West Africa, the Bight of Benin, and the
East African coast.
4
Because force did not work, the success of European commerce in Africa depended
upon Africans' willingness to participate. This raises two important questions, which
lie at the heart of historians' efforts to interpret the impact of the slave trade on Africa:
Why did Africans willingly exchange such vast numbers of young men and women of
the most productive and reproductive ages? Why did Africans become the laborers of
choice in the New World plantation economies?
5
The second question must be answered first. Since the 12th century, there had been a
renaissance in the Mediterranean Basin of large-scale agricultural units associated with
sugar production. Sugar was a demanding crop, requiring strict, regimented labor.
Slaves were widely used on these new sugar estates, and they were drawn from a variety
of sources, including religious wars, the slave trade from the Black Sea, and sub-Saharan
Africa. With the fall of Constantinople in 1452, the Black Sea sources of slaves for the
expanding sugar frontier of the Mediterranean dried up, leaving the African slave trade
the largest single source. Moreover, Africans had the misfortune of being part of two
6
great disease environments: the Old World temperate and the Old World tropical.
Africans therefore had childhood immunities to a host of nasty illnesses, which provided
them with a statistically lower rate of mortality than European bonded labor or
Amerindians and which made them simply a better investment—particularly when sugar
plantations spread to the New World in the late 16th century.
The question of why Africans sold so many slaves also points to the intersection of a
variety of processes. Captives had long been a byproduct of conflicts between groups in
Africa. The volume of slaves increased as smaller polities fused into larger ones. The
transatlantic slave trade favored the participation of larger enterprises, like states, as
opposed to individual raiders or kidnappers. When states organized large military
campaigns, these wars yielded more slaves. The demand for slaves unquestionably
encouraged the military expression of political power and led to the development of
warrior aristocracies throughout the regions of the continent engaged in the slave
trade. While rulers might go to war for political reasons, warriors did so for the booty.
Increased warfare and the pace of political consolidation sharpened perceived
differences between groups, helped to crystallize ethnic identities, and heightened
political instability, which in turn fueled more wars. Warfare and enslavement directed
the investment of capital into horses and firearms (the means of destruction), into
defensive walls, and into consumer goods at the expense of investment in the means of
production, like agriculture, crafts, and mining.
7
Slaves were exchanged for an assortment of European and reexported goods from the
Orient, especially Indian cloth. Cheap baubles and shoddy manufactures were included
in this assortment, but so were firearms, metal utensils, hardware, fine cloth, iron bars,
and cowrie shells, which served as a currency in much of West Africa. Moreover, the
barter terms of trade (the composition of the assortment of goods exchanged for a
slave “unit”) consistently moved in favor of African sellers, who demanded and received
a larger volume and greater variety of goods over the course of the slave trade.
Especially where kings controlled the slave trade (in Benin, the kingdom of the Kongo,
and Dahomey, for example) many of these goods flowed outward from the political
center through patronage systems. Rulers' efforts to control the slave trade were also
expressed in the development of bureaucracies designed to regulate external commerce.
8
Rulers were not always successful in regulating the slave trade or in controlling its
potentially dangerous consequences. The kingdom of the Kongo was a well-established
polity in the interior, south of the Zaire River, when the Portuguese first arrived there in
1481. It was held together by military power, kinship, and the judicious redistribution of
scarce goods. The BaKongo king, Alfonso I, initially welcomed the Portuguese, who
came as traders and as missionaries. Alfonso sought to monopolize the new traders and
to insert their new goods into the system of redistribution that tied outlying governors to
the political center. He encouraged his son to convert to Catholicism and to be
consecrated as bishop. He encouraged the court nobility to convert and invited the
9
Portuguese missionaries and craftsmen to settle in the capital. As Portuguese demand for
slaves increased, outlying governors became more interested in dealing directly with the
newcomers. Eventually, the redistributive system collapsed and the Kongo kingdom
plunged into civil war. In this period of chaos, a noblewoman, Beatrice Kimpa Vita,
who was a Catholic, led a millenarian movement that married Christianity and local
BaKongo beliefs in an effort to create a new sense of community, to Africanize Church
teachings, and to expel Portuguese missionaries. The Portuguese and their BaKongo
allies executed her as a heretic in 1706. The Kongo kingdom never regained its former
prominence.
African participation in the slave trade had contradictory consequences for Africa. On
the one hand, it led to political consolidation. On the other, because it fostered warfare,
it created conditions for political dissolution. Similarly, the slave trade favored
commerce, since many imported goods found their way into internal circuits of trade.
Yet the export of millions of human beings reduced the size of the domestic African
market. Warfare also discouraged long-term investment in agriculture, mining, and
industry. Three aspects of the many contradictory consequences merit further discussion.
10
First, Africa's participation in the South Atlantic system clearly led to the export of
many millions of young, productive men and women. However, it also led to the
importation into Africa of New World cultigens, including maize, sweet potato, and
cassava, which have become staples throughout much of tropical Africa. These New
World crops yielded higher caloric returns than indigenous crops per unit of labor, and,
according to some historical demographers, arrested population decline during the slave
trade era. On a continent where land-to-labor ratios have historically been high,
economic development might have been quite different if these cultigens had been
imported and people not exported.
11
Second, although the proportion of male to female slaves exported from Africa to the
New World changed over time and by region, historians estimate that 60 to 70 percent
of those entering the transatlantic slave trade were males. Since warfare, kidnapping,
and other forms of enslavement netted more females than males (because more males
were likely to have been killed while resisting or defending or because they were more
intransigent), what happened to those female slaves not exported overseas? The answer
is that female slaves were retained in Africa because they were more valued than male
slaves. The retention of female slaves in Africa hints at subtle changes in gender roles
and contributed to both polygyny (many wives) and patriarchy (male power).
12
Finally, just as in the case of Beatrice Kimpa Vita, the slave trade contributed to new
forms of resistance against established political rule. In West Africa, many ordinary
Africans increasingly turned to Islam as a means of providing a model for a new and
different community. Beginning around 1660 with Nasir al-Din, a more militant Islam
emerged as a reaction against the old, established political order. Although the early
jihads, or holy wars, actually contributed to the slave trade by producing captives, by the
13
late 18th century Hausa peasants and Fulani herders swelled the forces of Usuman dan
Fodio's militant Islamic movement. Many joined to protest the enslavement of Muslims
by nominally Muslim Hausa aristocracy. Paradoxically, the success of this jihad led to
the creation of the Sokoto Caliphate, one of the most powerful and dynamic polities in
West Africa, which maintained itself through annual military campaigns. These
campaigns yielded a steady supply of slaves to feed the demand for agricultural labor in
the caliphate. (See Overview)
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1455)
2. Regions
a. Sudanic West and Central Africa
17th Century
The nomadic Moors of the western Sahara dominated the region. Two main groups
constituted Moorish society in this era, the Hassani and the Zawaya. The Hassani, the
military clans, ruled the Sahara north of Senegal and achieved political dominance over
rival Moors, thanks to their military strength. The Zawaya, essentially clerical and
commercial clans, occupied the southwestern Sahara and contributed the bulk of Islamic
scholars and clerics. Most of the region's commerce was in the hands of the Zawaya.
1
1591
A Moroccan army under Djudar Pasha defeated the Songhay army. Djudar Pasha's
invasion of Songhay was triggered by the Moroccan desire to spread Islam and to gain
direct access to Sudanese gold and slaves. Equipped with firearms, Djudar Pasha's
invading force of 3,000 to 4,000 troops scored an easy victory over a Songhay cavalry
equipped with lances and an infantry equipped with lances and bows and arrows. This
was the first recorded use of muskets in sub-Saharan Africa. Songhay's defeat
signaled the end of the last great Sudanese Empire. The decline of Songhay ushered in a
period of intense but localized political consolidation and economic development.
1599
2
In an effort to revive the Mali Empire's power, Mansa Mahmud attacked Jenne but was
repulsed by Moroccan forces dispatched from Timbuktu. Mansa Mahmud's defeat
marked the end of Mali's influence in the Middle Niger region; henceforth the kingdom
disintegrated.
3
1618 Onward
The bulk of the Moroccan army returned, leaving garrisons in the important towns of the
Middle Niger region and in Timbuktu. Decades after the Moroccan occupation of
Timbuktu, descendants of the conquering troops began to assert their autonomy. These
descendants, known as the Arma, exerted influence only in the regions neighboring their
garrisons. The Arma became the overlords of Timbuktu, a position they would hold until
the early 19th century. The Arma, however, faced constant revolts from Timbuktu's
inhabitants and from the nomadic tribes of the western desert. Arma authorities
regularly suppreseed uprisings led by local Muslim scholars.
4
c. 1537
The formation of the kingdom of Kaabu, which arose as a consequence of Mali's
westward expansion. Malinke traders had migrated west to obtain gold and salt, paving
the way for Kaabu to become the western seat of the Mali government. By the 16th
century, Kaabu was the dominant power in the Senegambian region.
5
c. 1500–1620
Hausa city-states gained strength in this era, largely because of their strong armies.
Ruling aristocracies controlled these states' political, administrative, and military
personnel. Underpinning the Hausa city-states' economies were productive peasants and
lucrative trade routes. One major route linked Hausaland with the Volta Basin; another
led to the Sahara. In the trans-Saharan trade, the Hausa exchanged slaves, cloth, gold
dust, and kola nuts for horses, camels, and salt. From the 16th to the early 18th century,
Hausa states fought among themselves for supremacy. As Hausa states gained
strength, bitter rivalries developed. Military conflicts between Kano and Katsina erupted
throughout the 16th century, as both states struggled for control over eastern Hausaland.
In the 18th century, the city-state of Gobir clashed with Kebbi, Kano, and Katsina.
6
17th Century
The Mossi were one of several kingdoms to emerge in the political vacuum created by
the fall of Songhay. Its development was hastened by the 17th-century expansion of
Yatenga, a Mossi state that gained new territory by conquest. Mossi officials
superimposed their own political structures throughout much of the Volta Basin,
incorporating many non-Mossi peoples into their empire.
7
c. 1730
The Kano aristocracy had developed formidable military capabilities and become the
most powerful state in Hausaland. In the 17th and 18th centuries, new forms of political
and military offices emerged in Hausaland. City-state bureaucracies greatly expanded,
and officials established specialized government departments to oversee protocol,
internal and external affairs, regional governments, and the treasury. Military rulers
played an especially important role in city-states. In order to maintain security vis-à-vis
their neighbors, these rulers made their forces more efficient and tightened their chains
of command. Significant expansion of central Sudan's economy, by means of slave
labor, occurred during the 17th and 18th centuries. Slavery and the slave trade
underpinned the central Sudanese economy in this era. Besides contributing to land
cultivation and pastoralism, slaves helped maintain the region's system of transport,
trade, craft production, and communications. Their labor as caravan workers was
particularly crucial to the trans-Saharan trade. Slaves also worked as soldiers and civil
servants.
8
18th Century
Height of kingdom of Salum, western Senegal, and development of a military
aristocracy. The kingdom of Salum's strategic location on the Salum River near the
Senegambian coast enabled it to profit from the nearby salt deposits and the European
slave trade. The Salum kingdom's ruling warrior aristocracy came to power through
its control of the coastal slave trade. The kingdom eventually expanded toward the
Gambia.
c. 1710
9
Biton Kulubali and his largely slave army restructured Bambara society through force
and founded the Segu Bambara kingdom, with its capital at Segu. The Bambara state of
Segu expanded in the delta region of the Middle Niger, near trade routes and commercial
centers. Biton Kulubali steadily gained young followers, who swelled the ranks of his
slave army. Following Biton's death in about 1755, the state was racked by civil war. It
was rebuilt by Ngolo Jara in about 1767 and remained an important regional center until
1860.
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1481)
b. Forest West Africa
15th Century Onward
The first state to provide Europeans with a significant supply of slaves from the forests
of eastern Nigeria, Benin owed its rapid development to its centralized kingship and its
location along major West African trade routes. Benin's rulers extended their authority
through military force and consequently maintained a monarchy that lasted through the
19th century. By the beginning of the 16th century, Benin had two hierarchies of power,
centered on palace chiefs and town chiefs. The state earned revenue from its monopoly
over certain commodities, taxation, and judicial fines. Benin was the most important
African state the Portuguese came in contact with up to 1486.
1
1562
John Hawkins initiated the British slave trade by taking a load of 300 slaves from
Sierra Leone.
2
c. 1575
The Fon kingdom of Dahomey arose amid the unstable conditions and rivalries
spawned by the Atlantic slave trade. Located in the southern portion of present-day
Benin, Dahomey developed into a highly centralized state. By absorbing other polities in
its midst, it became a major power by 1700.
1598
3
Dutch established trading stations along the Guinea coast.
4
c. 1606
Dutch, Flemish, and Portuguese traders active in Sierra Leone.
5
1612
French effort to operate a factory on the Gambia River failed.
6
1618
British established post at Bathurst, mouth of the Gambia River.
7
1621
Dutch founded trading stations on Gorée Island and at Arguin.
8
1626
The French established themselves at Saint-Louis at the mouth of the Senegal River.
9
c. 1630–70
The first Asante towns began attracting immigrants in the early 17th century. Each
developed its own political structure but shared certain common traits, including
matrilineal descent. State building progressed steadily, spurred by the abundant human
and natural resources of the region, aided by the use of slave labor. The Akan occupied
and colonized the densely populated region between the eastern Ivory Coast and the
Volta River, also noted for having the most productive gold deposits in the region. In
addition to the trade in gold northward to the grasslands and to the Mediterranean via the
trans-Saharan trade, the arrival of Europeans stimulated increased production of gold for
10
trade along the coast. Africans purchased as slaves or captured in wars of conquest were
used within Akan society as farm laborers, miners, and porters.
In the late 17th century, Asante began to battle neighboring states for supremacy; by the
early 18th century, Asante had become the strongest of the Akan centralized states. Its
empire was based on military exploits and conquest.
11
17th Century
Small states along the Gold Coast emerged, stimulated by the state building of the
Asante to the north and by the commercial opportunities offered by the Europeans. The
growth of this trade led to the formation of several small states along the Gold Coast,
including Adansi, Denkyira, Assin, and Akwamu.
12
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(Horn)
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1434–68)
c. Northeast Africa (Horn)
1500
Christian empire in Ethiopia reached its peak, having no significant rivals in the
region. Emperor granted land or tributary or service rights to deserving individuals in
feudal system based on grants of territory in exchange for loyalty, but feudal aristocratic
class did not develop at this stage. Galla peoples, Cushitic-speaking pastoralists, began
migration into Ethiopia from the south.
1
1500–1650
Growth in trade in Horn of Africa.
2
1504
Funj, cattle-keeping nomads moving north along the Blue Nile, established sultanate
after defeating Nubians. Abdallabi emerged as ruling clan and Sennar became their seat
of government around 1616. The Funj-Abdallabi sultanate encouraged spread of Islam
by scholars who introduced Sufi mysticism.
1520–26
3
Portuguese mission under Rodrigo de Lima to Ethiopia. Francesco Alvares acted as
chaplain, with objectives to establish Christian alliance with Ethiopia (following
earlier mission in 1487). Alvares provided first detailed reports on the strength of the
Ethiopian empire and church.
4
1529–43
Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi led jihad in Ethiopia growing out of wars between
Ethiopia and the neighboring Islamic trading states. Ethiopia came to the brink of defeat,
but the jihad lost momentum after the death of Ahmad in 1543.
5
1541–43
Soldiers from the Portuguese fleet in Massawa fought with Ethiopian army against
Muslim forces. Muslim forces were decisively defeated and Ethiopia began to regain
some lost territory, but empire remained weak until Restoration.
6
1555–1633
Portuguese Jesuit missions to Ethiopia. Conversion of two successive rulers.
Remarkable influence and work of Pedro Paez (d. 1622). Conversion, however, led to
repeated intrigues and wars against the Portuguese.
7
1640
Portuguese expelled from Ethiopia and Catholic missions prohibited.
8
1559
Galla, adopting horses, made renewed push toward Ethiopian plateau in wake of
Muslim invasion.
1572–75
9
Ethiopian emperor Serse-Dingil (d. 1597) took over feudal armies under direct royal
control and defeated Ottoman attempt to conquer Ethiopia.
10
1607–32
Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia incorporated Galla into Ethiopian army and settled
loyal Galla in strategic provinces. In 1622 he sided with the pro-Jesuit factions at the
court and proclaimed himself Catholic, but he was unable to carry the court or country
against the tradition of the Ethiopian church.
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See R. 1344–74)
d. East Africa
1. Swahili Coast
1500
Most of Swahili coast at an economic and cultural peak, though Kilwa was in decline
on eve of Portuguese arrival. All the towns by this stage were Muslim, speaking an early
form of Swahili, while hinterland peoples remained animist.
1
1591
Mombassa fell to Portuguese in alliance with Malindi. Sheik Ahmad of Malindi was
made sheik of Mombassa.
2
1592–96
Portuguese built a factory on Zanzibar and established Fort Jesus and put in place a
garrison of 100 men at Mombassa to secure a foothold on the Swahili coast. Elsewhere,
their presence was minimal, involving only the collection of tribute.
3
1652–1729
Omani Arabs struggled with Portuguese for control of the Swahili coast. Omani raid
led ruling dynasty in Zanzibar to proclaim its independence from Portuguese.
4
1696–98
Omani Arabs besieged Fort Jesus, leading to surrender by the Portuguese in 1698.
5
1729
Portuguese were finally driven out of Mombassa and other Swahili towns by local
forces.
6
1741
Rise of Bas'idi dynasty in Oman set stage for rise of Zanzibar under Omani rule in 19th
century.
7
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(See 1500)
e. West Central Africa
1500–1600
Kongo kingdom dominated subregion south of lower Congo (Zaire) River as far as
Luanda (modern-day Angola). From 1500 Kongo was becoming a conquest state and
trading empire and was sharply influenced by the arrival of the Portuguese. It was
ruled from a central capital by a monarchy and a class of urban nobles who presided
over villagers and slaves. The political structure was centralized; officeholders,
including provincial governors, were appointed by the king.
1
1500–1700
Social and cultural change in Kongo. Trade in north African cloth and European
goods, along with the presence of Portuguese teachers and priests, helped to create a
distinct court culture and enhanced royal power. Diminishing importance of
matrilineality and of the village. Increasing exploitation of villagers led to rebellion
and to Kimpasi cult, aimed at the elimination of suffering. Decline in the status of
rural free women. Among nobles, growth in patrilineal descent patterns. Rapid
expansion of the slave trade led to increased militarization of society and presence
of two classes of slaves, those who were considered exportable and those who could
not be sold.
2
Rund state, which was to become the wider Lunda Empire, emerged between Kasai
and Bushimai Rivers in southern present-day Zaire. Luba Empire had come into
existence somewhat earlier in Shaba between Bushimai and Lualaba Rivers. Luba had a
royal ideology based on sacred kingship and rule by a secret association, the
Bambudye, who promoted state ideology and control. Population clusters in subregion
of poor soils and a long dry season were linked by trade in raffia cloth, palm oil, fish,
3
copper, and salt. Copper crosses were used as standardized currency by 1500 but
declined in size by 1600 and disappeared after 1700.
1506–43
Reign of Alfonso I, who became king after succession dispute. He was a convert to
Christianity under the influence of Portuguese missionaries, and his rule was pivotal
in opening up to Portuguese influence. Increased Portuguese influence engendered
internal crisis. Alfonso made the Catholic Church the official religion and his son
Henrique was consecrated as a bishop in Rome and directed the Christianization of
the country in 1518–36. Revenue from the trade in slaves, ivory, and raffia cloth was
used to attract Portuguese craftsmen, traders, and missionaries. The growing wealth and
Christianization of the nobility widened the gap between nobles and commoners
during Alfonso's rule. The nobility became literate Christians, and the royalty was
strengthened by a slave guard. The Portuguese played an important role in the capital
and in succession disputes in the kingdom. The social structure changed from three
strata (nobles, villagers, and slaves) to two (nobles and laborers/peasants). A
tension emerged and grew between the nobility of Mbanza Kongo, the capital, and
governors of outlying regions. In Angola, the Portuguese placed themselves above the
other strata and there emerged a group of Afro-Portuguese mulatto traders of mixed
culture and language.
4
1514
Slave trade developed in Kongo from this date, under a royal monopoly. Increased
demand for slaves encouraged outlying governors to deal directly with Portuguese
traders, leading to political and military conflicts.
5
1526
Kongo king Alfonso made a failed effort to abolish the slave trade.
1548–83
6
Introduction of maize cultivation in Kongo. Other NEW WORLD PLANTS,
including tobacco and manioc, along with pigs, were introduced in Kongo at about this
time.
7
1560
Smallpox epidemic in Kongo. Along with the slave trade, new DISEASES had a
significant effect on population.
8
1567
Kongo routed by nomadic Jaga warriors from the east during disarray following war
with Tio kingdom.
9
1571–73
Kongo kingdom regained with help of Portuguese troops, but Kongo's regional
dominance was lost as Portuguese traders shifted focus to Loango, north of the Congo
River.
10
1575
Portuguese established colony of Angola as a slaving territory.
11
1576
Paulo Dias founded Luanda in Angola colony and began to trade in slaves.
12
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(See 1497)
f. Southern Africa
1. North of the Limpopo
1500–1700
Expansion of Maravi state system in Chewa-speaking area of the Shire Valley. The
state was centered at Manthimba on the southwest side of Lake Malawi. It integrated
pre-Maravi inhabitants through ritual and appointments, and expanded, around 1575, by
settlement of lineage heads in adjacent territories.
1
1514
By this date, Swahili traders had established bazaars for regional trade in the Mutapa
Empire.
2
1531
Swahili traders were ousted from Sena and Tete but remained in Zambezi region as
agents for Portuguese.
3
1550
Portuguese began trading along the Zambezi River.
4
1575–1684
Portuguese transformed Swahili bazaars in lower Zambezi into feiras, central areas for
Afro-Portuguese commerce, on land granted by local chiefs. The most celebrated feira
was Dambarane.
5
1500–1800
NEW CROPS from Europe and Asia and the Americas entered southern Zambezi,
including rice, yams, various fruit trees, groundnuts, cowpeas, and maize. New crops
contributed to population increase.
6
1600–1700
Chewa-Maravi peoples became most important group in subregion north of Zambezi
River; the Portuguese were forced to cooperate with them in the Zambezi Valley.
7
1624
Jesuit missions established along the Zambezi River.
8
1645
Portuguese began to export slaves from Mozambique to Brazil.
9
1677
Two thousand Portuguese colonialists arrived in Mozambique.
10
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(See 1400–1500)
g. Madagascar
1500
Four Swahili-speaking trading communities had been established in the north,
exporting rice and slaves to East Africa and Arabia.
1
1550
End of immigration of main components of Malagasy population. Aristocratic
Zafikasimambo emerged among the Antemoro, recent immigrants, in the east at
Matitana. This priestly caste monopolized the privilege of slaughtering domestic
animals, reduced freedoms accorded common people, and centralized power to create
the first strong Antemoro kingdom. The Portuguese became the most active slave
buyers in the northwest trading communities. They also traded for cattle, ambergris, and
raffia cloth.
2
1600
Many small independent chiefdoms were scattered across the island.
3
1600–1700
There was increasing contact with Europeans; the focus of the slave trade shifted from
East Africa and Arabia to the Cape of Good Hope and the New World. However, the
4
Portuguese took fewer slaves than the Africans and Arabs did. The Comoro Islands
became the collection point for Madagascar's trade to East Africa and Arabia. The
Dutch and English also began trading in Madagascar.
1600–1800
English were the most active traders of slaves to the New World from the island.
5
1643–74
French established fort in the southeast.
6
1645
English Puritans established short-lived colony at St. Augustine Bay.
7
1647–74
Carmelite mission started in Madagascar. Lazerites and Capuchins also participated.
8
1690
Tsimanatona established Iboina state with Sakalava warriors.
9
1700
By this time much of the west was under the Sakalava Empire and there were
kingdoms in the highlands and in the south.
10
1721
French annexed Mauritius, renaming it Île de France.
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1524–25)
H. Latin America, 1500–1800
COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA, 1500-1750 (MAP)
1. The Spanish Conquest
The conquest and colonization of Spanish America progressed outward from the
earliest colony in Santo Domingo. By 1600, the territory from New Mexico and Florida
in the north to Chile and the Río de la Plata in the south was, with the exception of Brazil,
under the rule of the Crown of Castile.
1
At the time that Spaniards engaged in the exploration, conquest, and colonization of
America, Spain was a multiethnic society in the process of centralization and unification
under the Crown of Castile (See 1479–1516). The crucial element for unity was the
imposition of the Christian faith on the entire population. The Catholic kings
consequently expelled Jews and Muslims unwilling to become Christians. In the
expansion of Christian control, the kings distributed land and people taken from the
Muslim rulers. Using the same method in America, the crown took advantage of the
conquerors' individual initiatives while remaining the source of political legitimacy
and organization in the New World settlements.
2
The triumph of the Spaniards over incredible numerical odds was due to their ability to
exploit the fissures of local societies and to adapt their military training to new
conditions. Spaniards allied with discontented native lords and learned to use native
weaponry. Interpreters and translators provided them with better knowledge of the
societies they intended to dominate. Through warfare and slavery, the Spanish
conquest took a heavy toll on native lives. The cruelty of the conquerors gave rise to the
3
Black Legend, popularized by Protestant European states in their wars against Spain.
Besides the horrors intentionally provoked, contact with the conquerors caused native
inhabitants to suffer epidemics of diseases to which they had not developed
immunological defenses. Also, the introduction of European cattle destroyed the
ecological system on which Indian agriculture was based. The conquerors quickly
subdued those societies where centralized states had been established; in other areas, their
advance was slower and suffered repeated setbacks.
The crown acted swiftly to prevent conquerors from becoming a new feudal aristocracy.
It reserved for itself the power to issue authorizations (capitulaciones) for the exploration,
conquest, and settlement of new territories. It issued laws prohibiting Indian slavery.
Christianizing campaigns also strengthened royal control over conquered territories, since
the Church was directly subordinated to the crown. In their eagerness to convert natives
to Christianity, members of religious orders carefully studied native societies to improve
their methods of uprooting native religions. The crown prohibited non-Castilians from
immigrating to the New World, but many foreigners could obtain legal permission to
travel and settle there. Soon, the original conquerors gave way to a colonial bureaucracy.
4
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Isthmus, 1499–1531
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2. The Caribbean and the Isthmus, 1499–1531
Santo Domingo, called Española, became the first seat of Spanish government in the
Indies. The Indian population rapidly diminished as a result of warfare, overwork,
enslavement, and disease.
1
1499
Discovery of gold mines in Santo Domingo.
2
1501
The crown authorized the African slave trade under its monopoly, giving permission to
Flemish, German, Dutch, Genoan, and Portuguese merchants to engage in it.
3
1502
Nicolás de Ovando assumed governorship of Santo Domingo. He brought 1,500
families to populate the island.
4
1503
Ovando carried out a ruthless campaign to control the Indian population. He distributed
Indians in encomiendas (See Administration), to work essentially as slaves in gold mines
for the Spaniards. The conquerors founded 15 towns on the island.
5
1508–11
Juan Ponce de León conquered Puerto Rico, founded San Juan, and discovered gold.
Juan de Esquivel settled Jamaica. Conquerors organized enslavement expeditions to
the nearby islands. First sugar mills established on Española.
6
1511
Establishment of the audiencia of Santo Domingo (royal tribunal and government), the
first in America.
7
1511–15
Diego Velázquez conquered Cuba. Colonizers founded Baracoa (1512), Bayamo
(1513), Trinidad (1514), Puerto Príncipe (1514), Havana (1514), and Santiago de
Cuba (1515). They quickly defeated Indians and subjected them to such exploitation
that it led to their extermination within a few years. Havana was relocated to the north
coast (1519).
8
1509–13
Alonso de Ojeda, with royal authorization, founded a colony on the east coast of the
Isthmus of Panama. Diego de Nicuesa founded Nombre de Díos on the Isthmus. Ojeda's
settlers later united with those of Nicuesa, under the governorship of Vasco Núñez de
Balboa (1474–1519). Balboa claimed discovery of the Pacific Ocean (South Sea) and
declared it a possession of the Crown of Castile (1513).
9
1513–14
A jurisdiction independent of Española, Castilla del Oro (Darien), was created in the
region of the Isthmus. Pedro Arias de Ávila (1442–1531) was named royal governor
and brought some 1,500 colonists from Spain.
1514–19
10
Ávila dispatched expeditions by land and sea to adjacent areas. He founded Panama as
the seat of government, refounded Nombre de Díos, and cleared a route across the
Isthmus. Balboa continued explorations on the Pacific coast. He clashed with Governor
Ávila, who ordered his execution.
11
1522–23
Under independent authority, Gil González Dávila and Andrés Niño led a combined
land and sea expedition westward from the Isthmus. Dávila conquered the area around
the Gulf of Nicoya and Lake Nicaragua, and Niño sailed to Fonseca Bay. Governor
Ávila then dispatched Francisco Hernández de Córdoba to conquer Nicaragua.
12
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Granada, 1521–1549
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3. Venezuela and Nueva Granada, 1521–1549
1521
Bartolomé de las Casas (1474–1566), who fought against exploitative excesses by
conquerors, failed in his attempt to found a peaceful settlement for Indians at Cumaná.
1
1531–35
Diego de Ordaz explored the region of the Orinoco but left no permanent settlement. In
the western areas, ongoing colonization was established at an early date.
2
1527
Juan de Ampíes (or Ampúes), commissioned by the audiencia de Santo Domingo,
founded Santa Ana de Coro. Emperor Charles V granted this territory to the Welsers, a
great Augsburg banking family to which he was heavily indebted.
3
1529
The Welsers sent out colonists and established an administration. Ambrosio Alfinger
became the first governor of Venezuela. Dreams of El Dorado prompted explorations
through the valley of the Orinoco and into the Andes. The rule of the Welsers was
extremely harsh for the Indians. This brutality, along with protests in Spain against
granting land to foreigners, moved the crown to revoke their concession (1546–56).
Spanish leaders undertook the conquest of Venezuela. An Indian confederation opposed
their advance for ten years, but smallpox epidemics greatly diminished the natives'
resistance. Diego de Losada founded Caracas in 1567.
4
1525
Rodrigo de Bastidas founded Santa Marta, the first permanent settlement in what was
to become Nueva Granada. Pedro de Heredia, acting directly under royal authority,
founded Cartagena in 1533.
5
1535–36
Sebastián de Belalcázar, Pizarro's lieutenant, coming from Quito, founded Cali and
Popayán.
6
1536–38
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (1495–1576), under commission from the government of
Santa Marta, moved up the Magdalena River, reached the plateau of Bogotá, defeated and
sacked Chibcha chiefdoms, and founded Santa Fe de Bogotá (1538).
7
1539
Advancing toward the Bogotá plateau, Belalcázar met Nikolaus Federmann, an agent of
the Welsers. Federmann, Belalcázar, and Jiménez de Quesada disputed over jurisdiction.
The crown resolved the controversy, confirming Belalcázar in the governorship of
Popayán.
8
1549
The audiencia of Nueva Granada was created. It included Santa Marta, Cartagena,
Popayán, and Santa Fe de Bogotá, the latter town becoming the seat of government for
this large area.
9
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1522–1581
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4. Peru and the West Coast, 1522–1581
1522
Continuing exploration southward from Panama, Pascual de Andagoya (c. 1495–1548)
advanced into Biru (Peru), where he learned of the rich and powerful Inca Empire. His
ill health forced him to abandon plans of conquest.
1
1524–28
Francisco Pizarro (1470–1541), under Ávila's authority and in association with Diego
de Almagro (1475–1538) and Hernando de Luque, a priest, undertook the conquest of
Peru. An initial expedition reached the San Juan River and a second the Gulf of
Guayaquil and Tumbes, where they encountered more evidence of the Inca Empire.
2
1528–29
Pizarro went to Spain and concluded a capitulation with the crown by which he obtained
the right of discovery and conquest of Peru for a distance of 200 leagues south of the
Gulf of Guayaquil and the office of adelantado, governor and captain-general. Almagro
was assigned command of the fortress of Tumbes, and Luque was named its bishop.
3
1531
Returning to Panama, accompanied by his brothers Gonzalo (c. 1505–48) and Hernando
and a small group of recruits, Pizarro organized a military expedition and sailed for the
conquest. He consolidated his position at Tumbes and founded San Miguel de Piura,
then gathered more recruits and moved into the interior. He reached Cajamarca, where
the Inca Atahualpa had camped with his retinue.
4
1532, Nov. 16
Pizarro seized Atahualpa by surprise. While prisoner, Atahualpa ordered the
assassination of his rival, his half-brother Huáscar.
5
1533
Despite Atahualpa's having paid an enormous ransom in gold and silver, Pizarro ordered
his execution. Pizarro, with the help of Almagro, advanced toward Cusco, the Inca
capital. Manco, brother of Huáscar, viewed the Spaniards as allies and they installed
him as Inca. Pizarro distributed lands and encomiendas among his troops.
6
1534
Sebastián de Belalcázar (1495–1550) defeated Atahualpa's lieutenants and established
control in the region of Quito. Pedro de Alvarado, governor of Guatemala, came with
an expedition of 500 men to seize Quito. He abandoned his claims in exchange for
monetary compensation.
7
1535, Jan. 18
Pizarro, having left Cusco, founded Lima, which became the capital of the later
viceroyalty of Peru. Almagro led Spanish troops and Inca warriors to conquer Chile. In
Cusco, Pizarro's brothers attacked Manco to obtain more riches. Manco rebelled and
conducted a lengthy but unsuccessful siege of Cusco (1535–36). The Inca leader
retreated to Vilcabamba, a region that became his kingdom.
8
1537–41
Civil war between Pizarro and Almagro. Having failed in his attempt to conquer
Chile, Almagro clashed with Pizarro regarding jurisdiction over the city of Cusco.
Almagro occupied the city but was defeated and executed. Spaniards gained control over
the region surrounding Lake Titicaca (1538) and founded the city of La Plata (today's
Sucre) in 1539. Settlements at Chachapoyas (1538) and León de Huánuco (1539) were
9
built on the northeastern frontier.
1541
Partisans of Almagro assassinated Pizarro and set up Diego de Almagro the Younger,
Almagro's mestizo son, as governor. Cristóbal Vaca de Castro, the royal judge,
deposed him. Almagro died in battle in Chupas (1542).
10
1539
Gonzalo Pizarro, as governor of Quito, led an expedition across the Andes and reached
the upper Amazon.
11
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5. The Río De La Plata
1526–32
Sebastián Cabot, in the service of a group of merchants of Sevilla, set out with an
expedition to reach the Moluccas but was diverted into the Río de la Plata while
searching for a passage to the east. The expedition passed up the Paraná and Paraguay
Rivers and founded a short-lived settlement, which Indians, having suffered punitive
expeditions, destroyed.
1
1535
Pedro de Mendoza established permanent colonization of the area.
2
1536
Mendoza founded Buenos Aires (Santa María de Buenos Aires) on the estuary of the Río
de la Plata. The Indian population became increasingly hostile. Juan de Ayola and
Domingo de Irala led explorations up the Paraná and Paraguay.
3
1537
Abandoning Buenos Aires, Juan Salazar de Espinoza led colonists up to the Paraná and
Paraguay and founded Asunción. Spaniards established strong ties with Guaraní Indians,
adopting many of their customs. Mendoza died on his way to Spain, and colonists elected
Irala as governor.
1542–44
4
The crown named Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca to replace Mendoza. He reached
Asunción with more colonists and encountered opposition from Irala, who again became
governor and was confirmed by the crown.
5
1563
Establishment of governorship of Tucumán, under jurisdiction of the audiencia of
Charcas.
6
1573
Juan de Garay, with colonists from Asunción, founded Santa Fe. Spaniards from the
northwest settled at Córdoba.
7
1580
Garay led an expedition from Asunción and refounded Buenos Aires.
8
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(See 1524–25)
6. New Spain, 1518–1574
a. The Conquest of Mexico
1518–19
Continuing the explorations of Hernández de Córdova and Grijalva, Diego Velázquez and
HERNÁN CORTÉS (1485–1547) organized a military expedition. Cortés assumed the
leadership, and despite the orders of Velázquez followed the coast of Yucatán, subjugated
Tabasco, and reached San Juan de Ulúa. As a token of goodwill, Tabasco natives gave
Cortés several women, among them Malitzin (Doña Marina or Malinche), a Mexica
woman living in servitude, who became his common-law wife. She had a crucial role as
interpreter and Spanish representative in the conquest. Cortés renounced the authority of
Velázquez and, acting as a direct agent of the crown, founded Villa Rica de la Vera
Cruz, where he left a garrison. The soldiers elected Cortés as chief magistrate and sent
representatives to the crown for confirmation.
1
Cortés gained support from the Totonac, who were subjects of the Mexica. He sent
envoys to Moctezuma, ruler of the Mexica (Aztecs), who, uneasy about prophecies
indicating the end of his rule, avoided confrontation with the Spaniards. Cortés defeated
Tlaxcala armies and, knowing their enmity toward the Mexicas, formed an alliance with
them. Cortés entered Tenochtitlán (Nov. 8, 1519) after defeating resistance at Cholula.
Moctezuma received him cordially. Cortés, upon learning of a Mexica attack against
Spaniards at Vera Cruz, imprisoned Moctezuma and forced him to accept the sovereignty
of Charles V.
2
1520
Meanwhile Velázquez, named adelantado, sent an expedition under Pánfilo de Narváez
3
to reduce Cortés to obedience. Cortés placed Pedro de Alvarado (1485–1541) in
command at Tenochtitlán, went to the coast, and won most of Narváez's forces to his side,
whereupon he returned to the city. Alvarado's ruthless attack against Mexica warriors
during religious celebrations prompted them to revolt against the Spaniards and
Moctezuma. Cortés was forced to evacuate Tenochtitlán with heavy losses (June 30).
Moctezuma died or was killed during the evacuation. Cuautehmóc, his nephew, assumed
command of the Mexica and organized war against the invaders. At Otumba, Cortés
defeated the Mexica army (July 7) and reached Tlaxcala, where he had allies and
reorganized his forces. Having received reinforcements, Cortés established his base at
Texcoco and undertook the invasion of Tenochtitlán by land and water.
1521, May 26–Aug. 13
With the help of native allies, enemies of the Mexica, Cortés captured Tenochtitlán and
imprisoned Cuauhtemóc. Spaniards razed the Mexica capital and established Mexico
City, which became the seat of government of the future viceroyalty of New Spain. The
crown named Cortés governor and captain general of New Spain (Oct. 15, 1522). He
distributed Indians in encomiendas to the conquerors.
4
1524
Cortés received 12 Franciscan missionaries, known as the Twelve Apostles, who
organized massive Christianization of native peoples.
5
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b. Expansion to the South
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b. Expansion to the South
1522–24
Cristóbal de Olid subdued Colima and part of Jalisco. Spaniards settled in Michoacán,
territory of the Tarascans, who allied with Cortés. Alvarado subdued Tehuantepec.
1
1523–25
Alvarado conquered the Quiché and Cakchiquel and founded Guatemala City (1524).
He extended the conquest into Salvador and became governor of the general district of
Guatemala. Expeditions from New Spain subdued Chiapas (1523–28).
2
1524–26
Cortés sent Olid to conquer and settle Honduras. Olid rejected Cortés's authority but
failed, and Cortés's lieutenant killed him. Cortés led an expedition to Honduras to
establish his authority and founded Trujillo (1524), thereupon returning to Mexico.
3
1526–36
Internecine strife in Honduras prevailed. Alvarado as governor founded San Pedro and
dispatched an expedition to found Gracias a Dios, but he departed for Spain without
definitively gaining control of the area (1536).
1527–35
4
Adelantado Francisco Montejo failed in his attempt to conquer Yucatán. After eight
years of effort, he was appointed governor of Honduras. He subdued Tabasco (1529–40).
5
1537–44
Governor Montejo conclusively subjugated Higueras, in Honduras, and founded
Comayagua (1537). Alvarado returned and again became governor.
6
1542–44
Establishment of the audiencia of Confines, with jurisdiction over Chiapas, Yucatán
(from 1549 to 1560), and Guatemala.
7
1544
Gaspar and Melchor Pacheco finally conquered and colonized the area. Founding of
Valladolid and Salamanca de Bacalar. The area of Petén remained unconquered until
the close of the 17th century.
8
1546
Led by their native priests, Maya revolted against encomiendas in eastern Yucatán.
9
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c. Expansion to the North and the Pacific Coast
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c. Expansion to the North and the Pacific Coast
1522–27
Cortés subdued the region of the Pánuco River and founded a town. Indian revolt
suppressed by Cortés's lieutenant (1523). The Pánuco district became subject to the
crown, with Nuño de Guzmán as governor (1527).
1
1529–31
Guzmán, as first president of the audiencia of New Spain, conquered Chichimeca areas
to the north and west of Mexico City, including Jalisco and Sinaloa. Guadalajara
founded (c. 1530). This area was called Nueva Galicia, of which Compostela became
the capital (1531).
2
1531–50
In the interior, Spanish expansion was slower. Spanish subdued Querétaro in 1531.
Francisco de Urdiñola founded San Luis de Potosí in 1550.
3
1532–33
In search of a strait and of new lands, Cortés dispatched an expedition that reached
northern Sinaloa and Baja California.
1535
4
Cortés attempted to found a colony in Baja California but failed. Francisco de Ulloa
reached the head of the Gulf of California (1539). Alarcón, cooperating by sea with
Coronado's expedition to New Mexico, reached the same district and traveled up the
Colorado River (1540).
5
1539
Viceroy Mendoza sent the Franciscan Fray Marcos de Niza northward to investigate
reports by Cabeza de Vaca about the legendary Seven Cities of Cíbola. He reached the
Zuñi pueblos of New Mexico and returned with exaggerated reports.
6
1540–42
Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, governor of Nueva Galicia, led an expedition
overland to the new lands, while Hernando de Alarcón went on by sea along the Pacific
coast. Coronado reached the Zuñis, and his lieutenants reached the Moqui pueblos and
the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. Coronado traversed northern Texas, Oklahoma,
and eastern Kansas before his return.
7
1541
Natives of Nueva Galicia rose in revolt against abuses committed by Nuño de Guzmán.
Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza subdued them.
8
1542–43
As part of his project for South Sea discovery, Viceroy Mendoza sent Juan Rodríguez
de Cabrillo to search for a northern strait. Cabrillo and, after his death, the pilot
Bartolomé Ferrelo explored the Pacific coast as far as Oregon.
9
1546
Discovery of rich silver mines in Zacatecas.
10
1548
An audiencia was created to govern Nueva Galicia, Guadalajara becoming the political
and ecclesiastical capital.
11
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d. The Gulf Coast, Florida, and the Carolinas
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d. The Gulf Coast, Florida, and the Carolinas
1521
Juan Ponce de León, under royal patent, failed to colonize Florida.
1
1526
Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón established the colony San Miguel de Guadalupe in the
Carolinas, but it was abandoned on his death.
2
1528
Pánfilo de Narváez landed in Florida with colonists from Spain. After exploration he
tried to reach the Pánuco River, but his expedition was shipwrecked on the coast of
Texas. Most of the colonists died of hunger, disease, or at the hands of the Indians.
3
1536
Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and three companions, after six years of captivity,
escaped and traversed Texas and northern Mexico, reaching Culiacán.
1539–43
4
Hernando de Soto (1499–1542) obtained a patent for the colonization of the Gulf coast.
His expedition landed in Florida, traversed Arkansas and Oklahoma, and discovered the
Mississippi River (1541). De Soto died (1542) and his companions continued to the area
of the Pánuco.
5
1559–61
Viceroy Velasco dispatched an expedition under Tristán de Luna to colonize the region
of the Carolinas (Santa Elena). Luna established a garrison at Pensacola, moved inland,
and founded a settlement, whose inhabitants later moved to Pensacola. Ángel Villafañe
replaced Luna as governor and tried to colonize the Carolinas but failed. The garrison at
Pensacola was abandoned.
6
1562
Jean Ribaut failed to establish a French Huguenot settlement at Port Royal in South
Carolina. Laudonnière founded Fort Caroline, on the St. John River (1564). As a result
of these activities, Philip II ordered the expulsion of the French from Florida.
7
1565
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, as adelantado of Florida, founded St. Augustine, captured
Fort Caroline, and slew the garrison, securing Spanish control of the peninsula of Florida.
8
1565–74
Menéndez de Avilés built presidios and posts across a wide area. He supported the
establishment of missions by Jesuits and later by Franciscans, as far north as Virginia.
9
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and Territorial Changes, 1580–1800
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7. Foreign Encroachments and Territorial Changes, 1580–1800
England, France, and the Netherlands engaged in war against Spain and sought to
dispute Spain's preeminence in the New World by attacking shipping and setting up
colonies in territories controlled by Spain and Portugal (See Portuguese America,
1500–1815).
1
16th Century
French corsairs early on attacked the Spanish fleet off the coast of Europe and at the
Azores and Canaries and soon extended their activities into the Caribbean, attacking
towns and trade. Portuguese repelled French attempts to establish themselves in Brazil.
English privateers, with tacit approval of the British crown, became active in the
Atlantic, Caribbean, and Pacific. Francis Drake raided the Pacific coast during his
voyage around the world (1577–80). After the outbreak of war between Spain and
England, the English made privateering an official activity. Many towns were held for
ransom or sacked, among them Nombre de Dios, Cartagena, Santo Domingo, and
Valparaíso. Coincident with the struggle for independence in the Netherlands, Dutch
freebooters became active.
2
17th Century
England, France, and the Netherlands started settlements in the Guianas. England
colonized Bermuda and the Bahamas. A Dutch armada captured a treasure convoy from
New Spain (1628). An English expedition captured Jamaica and established a colony
(1655). Slaves and their Spanish masters fled to the bush. Slaves formed runaway
(Maroon) communities and attacked English settlements. In the 18th century, the British
and Maroons engaged in wars. English, French, and Dutch buccaneering in the
Caribbean played an important role in disrupting Spanish-American commerce.
3
18th Century
Constant wars in Europe and control of the sea by Great Britain made it difficult for the
Spanish crown to maintain a trade monopoly. British, French, and Dutch merchants
developed extensive illicit commerce. Wars against Spain had as one objective the
obtaining of trade concessions, in which the slave trade was a very important element.
4
1701–13
After the War of the Spanish Succession (See 1701–14), Great Britain obtained the
asiento, or monopoly of slave trade with the Spanish possessions, by the Treaty of
Utrecht (1713) (See 1713, April 11).
5
1728
Montevideo was founded to counter Portuguese Colonia (founded in 1680), where
British and Portuguese carried on illicit trade with the province of the Río de la Plata.
6
1741
A British expedition failed to capture Cartagena, which had been heavily fortified as a
bulwark of colonial defense.
7
1750
The Treaty of Madrid stipulated that Portugal give Colonia to Spain in return for seven
Jesuit reductions (settlements for Christianized Indians) on the east bank of the Uruguay.
The Guaraní of the reductions rebelled against the transfer, unleashing the War of the
Seven Reductions (1752–56), which ended with Portuguese repression. Portuguese
retained Colonia and the treaty was void.
1762
8
When Spain entered the Seven Years' War (See 1756–63) as an ally of France, British
expeditions captured Havana and Manila (1762). Spanish forces captured Colonia and
occupied Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. By the Treaty of Paris (1763) (See 1763, Feb.
10), Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain in exchange for Havana and Manila, and
returned Colonia and Rio Grande do Sul to Portugal. France ceded Louisiana to Spain,
although French colonists opposed establishment of Spanish authority.
9
1771
Dispute between Spain and Great Britain over possession of the Falkland-Malvinas
Islands.
10
1774
Spain established a garrison in the Falklands to defend the Strait of Magellan.
11
1776–77
Spain invaded Colonia and other Portuguese territories. Creation of the Viceroyalty of
Río de la Plata helped to solidify Spanish control in that area.
12
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8. The Spanish Colonial System, 1550–1800
a. Population Development
The native population of the Americas declined drastically owing to the effects of war
and epidemics. Unchecked proliferation of European livestock at the expense of Indian
agriculture destroyed ecological equilibrium. In the Caribbean, depopulation was
aggravated by the enslavement of natives to work in gold placers. Devastating epidemics
spread throughout the islands (1519, 1530), reducing the population from an estimated
500,000 at the eve of the conquest to 22,000 in 1570. Yellow fever became endemic in
the tropical lowlands and coasts of the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean.
1
On the eve of the conquest, Indian population in central Mexico was estimated at 11
million. Severely affected by recurrent epidemics of European diseases (1519–24, 1529,
1545–46, 1558, 1576–79, 1588), the Indian population had no opportunity to recover, and
by 1597 had plunged to 2.5 million. In Peru, the Indian population was an estimated 6
million at the beginning of the conquest. Affected by military mobilization, by the
resettlement policy in new towns, and by deadly epidemics (1545–46, 1558, 1576, 1588),
Indians were reduced to 1.3 million by 1590. Their decline was especially dramatic in the
coastal areas.
2
By 1650 the Indian population had reached its nadir in New Spain (Mexico) with 1.5
million. Recovery began at the end of the 17th century, when Indians numbered about
2 million. By the end of the 18th century, the Indian population had increased to 3.7
million. In Peru, the native population dropped to 1.5 million in 1570. Its recovery, at the
beginning of the 18th century, did not follow a uniform trend. The portion of the
population identified as Indian continually declined throughout the Spanish domains.
Many Indians sought to be counted as mestizos to avoid tribute payment.
3
Early on, African slaves were brought to the New World. The rapid decline of the Indian
population in the Caribbean led to increased slave trade. By 1570 the Caribbean had
56,000 inhabitants of African origin, easily surpassing the Indian and white population.
Most of the slaves were captured in Senegambia, Guinea, and the mouth of the Congo
River. During the 16th century, 75,000 slaves were introduced in Spanish-American
domains. Between 1600 and 1650, slave traders sold 125,000 slaves in the region. The
4
uneven distribution of the sexes and the harsh conditions of slavery made reproduction
and the formation of slave families difficult. Nevertheless, slaves formed unions with
native women, which increased the size of the mixed population. Children of these unions
were born free, since the child's status derived from the mother. Between 1651 and 1760,
slave traders shipped some 344,000 slaves to Spanish dominions. Between 1761 and
1810, in response to the booming plantation economy, 300,000 slaves were imported,
mainly into Cuba and Puerto Rico. However, by that time most of the black population in
Spanish domains was free.
Much of the Spanish population was concentrated in urban settlements. The crown
created the Casa de Contratación to control emigration to the Indies. Heretics, Moors,
Jews, and their descendants were excluded from traveling to Spanish domains. Most
Spanish emigrants came from the territories subject to the Castilian crown,
especially Andalusia and Castile, although a few non-Spanish subjects of the Spanish
king also migrated. Women were scarce at the beginning, but as the crown promoted
family emigration, their numbers increased to a quarter of the total emigration. Some
240,000 Europeans came to America during the 16th century. Between 1601 and 1650,
European emigrants totaled about 194,000. For the 18th century, estimates of Spanish
emigration indicate a minimum of 53,000 individuals, coming mainly from northern areas
of Spain—the Basque country and Catalonia.
5
Predominantly male migration at the beginning of colonization promoted unions between
Spanish men and native women, which led to the growth of the mestizo population.
Some were incorporated into the Spanish group, but illegitimate births were common
among the mixed population. The mestizo rate of growth quickly surpassed that of the
Indian population.
6
Mortality rates began to fall around the end of the 18th century. In 1803, Francisco
Javier de Balmis (1753–1819), a Spanish physician, carried out a general campaign of
vaccination against smallpox, helping to improve health conditions in the colonies. At the
close of the colonial period, the estimated population of the Spanish colonies was
3,276,000 whites, 5,328,000 mestizos, 7,530,000 Indians, and 776,000 blacks. (New
Spain, 1,230,000 whites, 1,860,000 mestizos, 3,700,000 Indians; Guatemala, 280,000
whites, 420,000 mestizos, 880,000 Indians; Peru and Chile, 465,000 whites, 853,000
mestizos, 1,030,000 Indians; Colombia and Venezuela, 642,000 whites, 1,256,000
mestizos, 720,000 Indians; Río de la Plata, 320,000 whites, 742,000 mestizos, 1,200,000
Indians; Cuba and Puerto Rico, 339,000 whites, 197,000 mixed, 389,000 blacks). The
black population in all colonies, excluding Cuba and Puerto Rico, numbered 387,000.
7
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b. Administration
The Crown of Castile incorporated the new territories into its domains. Early on, Queen
Isabella withdrew the authority granted Columbus and the first conquerors and
established direct royal control. The structure of colonial government was fully formed
by the third quarter of the 16th century.
1
After appointment to supervise preparations for the second voyage of Columbus (1493),
Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca effectively became minister of the Indies and laid the
foundations for the expansion of the colonial bureaucracy. The development of trade
between the new lands and the metropolis led to the establishment of the Casa de la
Contratación at Sevilla to control colonial commerce, emigration, and maritime
enterprise (1503). Rodríguez de Fonseca presided over the newly founded Council of
the Indies (Consejo de Indias), which was designed to administer the colonies and
which exercised supreme authority over the Indies and the Casa de Contratación. The
legislation for the Indies promulgated by the crown and the Council of the Indies was
codified in the Recopilación de Leyes … de las Indias (1680). At the beginning of the
17th century, the crown created a Junta de Guerra y Armadas de las Indias to administer
the armed forces and the dispatch of fleets to the Indies, and a Cámara de Indias to
control ecclesiastical affairs and appointments, as adjuncts to the Council of Indies. With
the advent of the Bourbon dynasty (1700), the Council of the Indies declined in
importance. In 1714, the office of Minister of the Indies was created with the
establishment of a Secretaría de Guerra, Marina e Indias (1714). This secretariat
underwent numerous changes, and before the close of the century, a separate Secretariat
of the Indies was formed.
2
Direct royal government in the Indies was instituted with the appointment of Francisco
de Bobadilla as judge and governor of Española and the removal of Columbus
(1499–1500). A tribunal of three royal judges was created in Santo Domingo as a check
on the governor (1511), and this body evolved into the audiencia (governance tribunal)
of Santo Domingo, with authority over the Caribbean (1526).
3
On the mainland, during the first years, conquerors ruled with the titles of adelantado,
governor or captain-general. The institution of adelantado was important during the
4
conquest. By agreement with the crown, the adelantado undertook the conquest of a
specified area at his own expense, and in return the crown assigned him governmental
authority and hereditary privileges. The institution helped to bring new lands under
Spanish dominion, but the crown revoked individual privileges, since they threatened
royal authority. Some conquerors rebelled against royal control, and this contributed to
the decision to fortify the royal bureaucracy in the Indies.
The Viceroyalty of New Spain was created in 1535, with its capital at Mexico City, and
included the Caribbean, Venezuela, the Philippine Islands, and all territories north of
Panama. The New Laws created the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1542, with an audiencia at
Lima, and included all Spanish territories in South America except Venezuela.
Audiencias, each with its specific area, were created in Guatemala (1542); Nueva Galicia
(1548); Nueva Granada (1549); Charcas, or Upper Peru (1556); Quito (1563); and the
Philippine Islands (1583–93). American-born Spaniards (creoles) gained access to
government through direct royal appointment and through purchase of public offices.
5
The viceroys as direct representatives of the sovereign possessed wide civil and military
authority. They were presidents of the audiencias of their capitals. The audiencias,
comprising a president, oidores (judges), a fiscal (crown prosecutor), and lesser
officials, exercised supreme authority within their districts, and the audiencias not
directly under viceroys exercised governmental authority. The viceregal audiencia acted
as an advisory council to the viceroy and in this function exercised legislative power.
The audiencias dealt with judicial affairs and appeals going directly before the Council
of the Indies, and they had authority to correspond directly with the crown. The status of
audiencias varied according to the rank of the presiding officer, that is, viceroy,
president and captain-general, or president. The presidents of the audiencias of Santo
Domingo, Guatemala, and Nueva Granada had military authority and became presidents
and captains-general. As such they were practically independent from the viceroys.
Guadalajara, Quito, and Charcas remained as presidencies. In the absence of the viceroy
or president and captain-general, the audiencia assumed the powers of government.
Major administrative areas were divided into gobiernos, corregimientos, and alcaldías
mayores, with the gobiernos, in general, the most important and frequently consisting of
more than one province.
6
In accord with medieval Castilian traditions, the municipalities at first enjoyed a large
measure of self-government under their cabildos (town councils), composed of regidores
(councilmen) and alcaldes (mayors), the former elected by the householders and the
latter by the councilmen. Before the close of the 16th century, the election of councilmen
gave way to royal appointment, hereditary tenure, and purchase of positions. Cabildos
abiertos (open town meetings) of all householders were at times held to discuss
important matters. The municipal government exercised executive, legislative, and
judicial authority within its district, although frequently under the control of royal
officials.
7
The Spanish organized the Indian population in towns, called reducciones in Peru and
congregaciones in Mexico, with municipal governments following the Castilian model.
In many cases, traditional chiefs (kurakas or caciques) managed to preserve their
authority in the new structure, occupying positions as mayors and councilmen. Indian
mayors were responsible for the allocation of services and labor required from Indians
by local entrepreneurs and public projects. Local Spanish officials had jurisdiction over
the native towns in their districts. They supervised the fulfillment of compulsory labor
for mining and public works. Protectors of the Indians were created for general and local
districts to guard the interests of the native population. The repartimiento-encomienda,
which developed early on, was an institution of great political, social, and economic
importance. In the earlier period this institution involved the assignment of specified
towns to conquerors and colonists. Indians from the encomienda gave tribute, labor, and
service to the encomendero, who was obligated to provide them with protection and
indoctrination in Christianity. The encomenderos' increasing control over the Indian
population moved the crown to regulate the system. Fixed quotas of tribute were
established, and royal officials (corregidores) took charge of the distribution of Indian
labor and services. With the publication of the New Laws (1542–43), the crown assumed
control of the many towns and encomiendas. Before the end of the century, the
encomienda was essentially reduced to the right to enjoy the revenues from specified
towns. It was abolished formally at the end of the 18th century.
8
Fiscal administration was directly under the crown through the Casa de Contratación
and accountants called contadores, factores, tesoreros, and veedores in the New World
jurisdictions. With the establishment of the intendants, those officials assumed
administration of fiscal affairs. The Castilian institutions of the residencia, visita, and
pesquisa, set up to assess the performance of officials and the situation of the regions,
were implemented in the colonies. The principal sources of crown revenues were the
quinto, or one-fifth of the products of the subsoil (gold, silver, precious stones); the
almojarifazgo (customs imposts); the alcabala (sales tax); the tributes of the natives; the
media anata (emoluments) of civil and ecclesiastical offices; and the sale of the Cruzada
(papal bulls sold by the crown to subsidize ecclesiastical expenses).
9
The Bourbon kings implemented sweeping administrative reforms (See 1713, April 11)
to improve the economic efficiency of their dominions. Thus they elevated Nueva
Granada, Panama, Venezuela, and Quito into the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada
(1717–39). They ordered inspections to obtain data to undertake further reform in Cuba
and Louisiana (1763), New Spain (1765), and Peru (1777). From 1713 on, the Bourbon
kings began to name mostly Spaniards to the audiencias, which caused creoles to
protest. José de Gálvez, who acted as minister of the Indies, was the main architect of
the change. The Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata (1776) and the captaincies-general of
Venezuela (1773), Cuba (1777), and Chile (1778) were created. Audiencias were
established in Buenos Aires (1783), Caracas (1786), and Cusco (1789). Under Philip VI,
a system of intendants was established throughout the Indies (1769–90), which reduced
10
the viceroys' powers. At the end of the colonial era, the crown established tribute
obligations for mestizos and other people of color previously exempted.
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System, 1550–1800 > c. The Church and the Missions
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c. The Church and the Missions
Pope Alexander VI in the bull Inter caeterea (May 4, 1493) assigned dominion over the
Indies and exclusive authority to convert the natives to the Spanish crown. His bull
Eximiae devotionis (Nov. 16, 1501) granted the kings the titles and the first fruits of the
Church in the Indies. Julius II in the bull Universalis ecclesiae (July 28, 1508) conceded
them universal patronage. The crown exercised the patronage of the Indies (real
patronato de Indias) through the Council of the Indies and later through that body and the
Cámara de Indias.
1
The religious orders early obtained broad powers in the colonies. Mainly the
Franciscans—but also the Dominicans and the Augustinians—carried out a massive
campaign to Christianize the natives, especially in New Spain. The organization of the
Church with bishops from the secular clergy diminished the influence of these orders and
enhanced the power of the crown. The orders, however, remained important in extending
Spanish control in outlying areas. Dominicans and Franciscans were active in Guatemala.
Capuchins established themselves in the area of the lower Orinoco. Toward the end of
the 17th century, Jesuits undertook the establishment of missions in Pimería Alta
(Arizona) and in Lower California. In the south, they expanded into the territory of
Araucanía (Chile) and developed an important mission system in Paraguay. Jesuits
obtained complete authority to convert and organize the Guaraní east of Asunción.
Portuguese slave raids forced the Jesuits to move their missions to the south. The Jesuits
established a complete governmental organization under the rule of a father superior, and
Indians received some military training to defend themselves from enslavement.
Commercial agriculture of yerba mate helped to support the missions. The expulsion of
the Jesuits (1767) led to the decline of the missions.
2
The Church enjoyed the ecclesiastical exemption (fuero), operating its own courts
with jurisdiction over all cases involving the clergy and spiritual affairs. The Church
also had extensive wealth. By the close of the colonial period, the Church probably
controlled half of the productive real estate of the Indies. During the Habsburg
dynasty (1516–1700), the power of archbishops could rival that of high civil authorities,
and quarrels over jurisdiction were frequent. At the end of the colonial period there were
seven archbishoprics and some 35 dioceses.
3
The Spanish Inquisition, operating under the Council of the Inquisition, was introduced
and tribunals were established in Mexico City (1569), Lima (1571), and Cartagena
(1610). These tribunals were in charge of repressing people who practiced religions other
than Catholicism (Protestants, Jews, Moors) as well as those who used sorcery and
witchcraft, uttered blasphemies, lived in bigamy, or practiced sodomy. In the 17th century
the Inquisition brought to trial New Christians accused of practicing the Jewish religion.
It condemned a few to execution and many to exile and prison. Indians were exempted
from the Inquisition, but the bishops judged their religious infractions, generally
understood as regression to idolatry. Campaigns against idolatrous practices were
especially important in Peru (1610–60), where Jesuits encouraged the formation of a
special tribunal to deal with such cases. Slaves were subjected to the Inquisition,
generally accused of witchcraft against their masters and of blasphemy.
4
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d. Economic Conditions
The crown fostered gold and silver mining in its colonies. Rich silver deposits were
first discovered in Peru, where POTOSÍ became the most important mining center from
1540 to 1585. During the early years of silver extraction, wage labor predominated, but
with the organization of the mita (forced labor) in 1574 by Viceroy Toledo, workers
were recruited on a compulsory basis. Indian communities also had to provide a fixed
allocation of workers to Huancavelica to extract mercury, an essential element for silver
amalgamation. Forced recruitment mainly affected provinces in the southern highlands.
After 1590, Peruvian silver production decreased, partly owing to irregular mercury
production. Only at the beginning of the 18th century did Peruvian silver mining show
signs of recovery, encouraged by improvements in mercury production in Huancavelica.
From the 1770s on, the steady supply of mercury propelled a silver boom in Peru.
1
Between 1590 and 1630, Mexico's mines became the most productive, with important
mines in the districts of Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Pachuca, Taxco, and San Luis de
Potosí. Mestizo and Indian workers went to the mines as free laborers attracted by higher
wages, though eventually many became trapped in their place of employment by debts,
and a system of debt peonage developed. From 1640 to 1680, mining production
contracted, recovering in the last decades of the 17th century with the return to smelting
techniques to offset mercury shortages. In the 18th century, silver production increased
decisively, owing to the steady influx of mercury from the Almadén and Idrija mines in
Spain.
2
Agricultural and pastoral landholdings developed. In New Spain, Spanish-creole sectors
and religious corporations increased their estates (haciendas) during the second half of
the 16th century in vast areas, especially in the Bajío region. As a result, white
landowners controlled Indian crops such as maize and pulque (alcoholic drink made from
maguey), which led to profiteering and price speculation highly beneficial to the elite. In
Peru, great landowners made more limited advances, and middle-size haciendas
predominated. Throughout the Spanish domains—especially in the Caribbean and coastal
areas—sugar plantations and mills evolved on the basis of slave labor, while haciendas
used forced Indian labor (mita in Peru and repartimiento in New Spain) and resorted to
debt peonage to retain workers. Between 1590 and 1620, the crown ordered legalization
3
of illegal occupation of land through a procedure called composiciones de tierras, which
allowed the consolidation of haciendas.
Mestizo and Indian peasants also participated in the commercial economy, producing
foodstuffs for the market and working in haciendas, mines, and transport as wage
laborers. Indian villages were the main source of temporary and low-cost labor for all
Spanish-creole enterprises.
4
During the 16th century, silk production developed in Mexico, Puebla, and Oaxaca for
the internal market and export to Peru, but it was soon replaced by Chinese silk in the
Peruvian market. Cochineal and indigo were important export commodities in Yucatán
and Guatemala. In Peru, New Spain, and Nueva Granada, textile factories (obrajes)
produced cheap textiles for the internal market. Muleteers' convoys provided transport
connecting the diverse economic areas of the viceroyalties.
5
Overseas trade was under direct crown control, and Seville, seat of the Casa de
Contratación, had the monopoly of the American trade during the 16th century. An
influential merchant class developed in Sevilla with connections to the designated trading
ports in the colonies: Vera Cruz, Cartagena, and Porto Bello, which alone were
allowed to trade directly with Spain. They imposed restrictions on intercolonial trade and
limited trade with the Philippines for the colonies. Naval warfare and attacks by corsairs
led to the creation of a system of convoyed fleets for the protection of gold and silver
shipments, one each year for New Spain and one for Peru (1543–61). For the return trip,
the fleets united at Havana and sailed together for Spain. Market fairs were held
annually at Porto Bello and Jalapa (Mexico). Peru had the greatest trade volume and
value between 1540 and 1585, but New Spain surpassed them between 1590 and 1620.
After 1620, transatlantic trade suffered a contraction owing to the decline of mineral
production. Recovery began about 1660 in Mexico. In the 1670s, because of peace
treaties, privateering subsided. A new contraband trade developed that was mutually
advantageous to Spanish merchants and to British, Dutch, Portuguese, and French
smugglers trading manufactures and slaves.
6
Wholesalers dominated merchant guilds (Tribunal del Consulado) organized in the main
capitals of the Spanish colonies (Mexico, 1592; Lima, 1613). Big merchants based in the
colonies carried out a vigorous intercolonial trade despite restrictions. Chinese textiles
reached Acapulco via the Philippines and were reexported to Peru in exchange for silver,
mercury, and wines. In Central America, Santiago de Guatemala became a significant
commercial entrepôt, exporting cacao, cochineal, indigo, and livestock to New Spain in
exchange for silver, Mexican textiles, Chinese silk, and mules. Venezuela and
Guayaquil exported cacao to New Spain in return for silver. Havana and Guayaquil
became the most important shipbuilding centers, followed by Realejo, Maracaibo, and
Cartagena. After 1640, trade with Asia decreased and interregional commerce lost vigor.
7
Under the Bourbon dynasty new policies, known as the Bourbon Reforms (See
Administration), were introduced. The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) > (See 1713, April 11)
8
granted Great Britain the monopoly of the slave trade with the colonies and the right to
send one vessel each year to Porto Bello to trade. The Casa de la Contratación was
transferred to Cádiz in 1717. Monopolistic chartered companies were established in
Honduras (1714), Caracas (1728), Havana (1740), and Santo Domingo (1757). In 1763,
Charles III abolished the system of fleets and authorized eight other Spanish ports,
besides Seville and Cádiz, to trade with the Indies. He also permitted intercolonial trade
between New Spain and Peru and between Guatemala and Nueva Granada (1764–82), but
internal custom houses were established and state monopolies of certain goods reinforced.
The Casa de Contratación was abolished in 1790. Under the Bourbons, areas previously
marginal in the colonial system were transformed into dynamic economies (Buenos
Aires, Venezuela, Chile), while Peru and Upper Peru declined.
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e. Social and Cultural Evolution
The upper crust of society was composed of the high colonial officers, both civil and
ecclesiastical, and wealthy Spanish and creole merchants. Mine owners, despite their
economic importance, rarely achieved a high social standing. Creoles, descendants of
Spaniards but born in American domains, resented the preference for Peninsulars in
appointments to higher and lesser office, but both groups belonged to the República de
Españoles (Commonwealth of the Spanish) and were connected through kinship,
marriage, and business. Several universities were open to colonial male students: the
Royal University of Mexico (1551), San Marcos de Lima (1551), St. Thomas de
Aquinas in Santo Domingo (1558). Women could follow religious careers, but
professing required a costly dowry only the wealthy could afford. Nuns belonged to the
elite and were far more highly regarded than married women. Very few Indian or mestizo
women reached the status of nun. Lower-class women worked as retailers, street vendors,
servants. Marriage was under the jurisdiction of the Church. Divorce was allowed, but
wives had to show proof of continuous mistreatment and cruelty to qualify. Authorities
created special houses (casas de recogidas) to shelter fallen women and virtuous women
without means of support.
1
The population of the viceregal capitals and other cities included a high level of slaves,
who worked as domestic servants and in artisanal trades to support their masters. Urban
Indians lived in segregated neighborhoods near the downtown areas of Lima and Mexico
City.
2
Several individuals attained distinction through their religious piety and cultural pursuits.
The first Spanish-American saints belong to this era: St. Rosa de Lima (1586–1617), St.
Mariana de Jesús (1618–45), St. Felipe de Jesús (1572–97), martyr of the conversion
of Japan, St. Martín de Porres (1579–1639), a mulatto. The Church became the main
patron of the arts and architecture. The famous Gothic cathedral of Santo Domingo
(1514–40) was planned by Alonso Rodríguez. Francisco Becerra, a Spanish architect
working in Lima, Quito, and Cusco, planned the cathedral of Puebla (1576–1626), which
was inaugurated in 1649 by Bishop Juan de Palafox. Becerra also began to build the
cathedral of Lima in 1569. The cathedral of Mexico was initiated in 1573, according to
Claudio de Arciniega's design. Although consecrated in 1667, it was completed only in
3
1813 by Valencian sculptor Manuel Tolsá. The cathedral of Cusco was consecrated in
1654. Local schools of painting developed in Mexico, Quito, Cusco, and Lima. Many
Spanish-American authors gained widespread recognition, among them Inca Garcilaso
de la Vega (1539–1616), Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (1580–1639), Sor Juana Inés de la
Cruz (1651–95), and Pedro de Peralta y Barnuevo (1663–1700).
Despite the importance of cities as political and cultural centers, rural areas were
predominant. Indians constituted the República de Indios (Commonwealth of Indians)
and were supposed to live separated from Spaniards to avoid abuse. The Indian kurakas,
or caciques, formed the upper crust of the population. Many Indians chose to dissociate
themselves from Indian communities to avoid forced labor and tribute and migrated to
other rural or urban areas, becoming forasteros. The Mestizo population, distributed in
urban and rural areas, became peasants, squatters, wage laborers, servants, and
artisans and were exempted from tribute. Spanish authorities and rural parish priests
frequently owned haciendas and textile mills in Indian towns, compelling Indians to labor
for them. Clerics often denounced Indian religious practices as pagan or idolatrous.
Despite campaigns of repression, native beliefs survived and mixed with Christian
beliefs.
4
In plantation areas, slaves frequently rebelled against their bondage, fleeing to liberated
zones where they created free settlements. Colonial authorities tried to prevent the spread
of marronage, sending raids against maroon villages or making treaties with them. Some
slaves managed to obtain freedom by manumission or by self-purchase, becoming free
people of color. Free and slave blacks re-created their African religious beliefs and
influenced popular culture, especially in the Caribbean, circum-Caribbean, and coastal
areas of Mexico and the Pacific.
5
The Bourbon campaign to reform colonial government by prohibiting office purchases
adversely affected the position of upper-class creoles, who saw themselves displaced in
favor of Peninsular bureaucrats. The institution of intendant diminished the power of the
viceroys but did not increase the influence of elite creoles.
6
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f. Insurrections
During the 18th century, social groups and regions affected by the redefinition of colonial
exactions on their labor force and resources, and by centralization under the Bourbon
reforms, organized insurrectionary movements to resist or modify the terms of colonial
control. In most cases these movements legitimized themselves as defending the
traditional colonial system against the reforms; elsewhere, as in Paraguay, the renewal of
old grievances fueled rebellion against Spanish authorities. Total confrontation with the
colonial system, as in the cases of Chiapas and central Peru, was a rare occurrence. Class
alliances were fragile, and this contributed to the failure of these movements to break the
hold of the colonial state.
1
1712, June–Nov. Maya Rebellion in Chiapas
Maya villagers faced increased fiscal and labor demands and forced sales, and their
authorities lost ground to Spanish officials and curates in the struggle over control of
villages and religious brotherhoods. In the village of Cancuc, María de la Candelaria, a
young Maya woman, claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary, prompting a circle of notable
Maya to organize a shrine to worship the Virgin. Maya pilgrims converged on the new
sacred place, but curates disputed the authenticity of the miracle and labeled it idolatrous.
Confrontation escalated and Maya from 21 towns gathered at Cancuc to pay allegiance to
the Virgin Mary, openly renounced God and the king, and took up arms. They captured
the village church, killed friars, plundered mestizo and Spanish estates, and massacred
white and mestizo children in Ocosingo. Rebel leader Sebastián Gómez de la Gloria
ordained priests and organized an independent religion of the Virgin Mary. Ethnic
solidarity crumbled when Maya allies disputed concentration of power in the Cancuc
leadership. Spanish authorities sent an army from Guatemala City and subdued the rebels.
Almost 100 rebels were sentenced to death and many suffered physical punishment,
forced labor, and exile. In the aftermath of the rebellion, measures limiting the labor draft
and Indian services were adopted.
2
1721–35
The Comuneros of Paraguay. Colonists in Paraguay resented the Jesuit missions where
Indians could avoid the colonists' labor demands. Dissatisfied with Governor Diego de
los Reyes y Balmaceda's pro-Jesuit policy, the local elite sought his dismissal. The
Audiencia of Charcas sent José de Antequera y Castro to make inquiries in Asunción.
Antequera made himself governor of Paraguay and, with the support of the colonists,
expelled Governor Reyes and later the Jesuits. The viceroy of Peru, Marqués de
Castellfuerte, ordered military action against the colonists, forcing them to readmit the
Jesuits. Antequera left for Lima, where he tried to defend himself against charges of
treason. In Asunción, Fernando Mompó de Zayas proclaimed the right of the people to
elect their own representatives. His propaganda attracted poor colonists, traditionally
excluded from political life in the city, who called themselves comuneros and elected a
Junta Gubernativa to run the province. Antequera was executed in Lima. A new
governor, Manuel Agustín Ruyloba, arrived and tried to eject comuneros from the city
and its institutions, but he was assassinated when comuneros marched on Asunción to
expel the Jesuits once again. Comuneros dominated the countryside, occupying estates
and confiscating wealthy landowners' properties. As a result, the upper classes felt
increasingly alienated from the movement. The viceroy of Peru ordered the governor of
Buenos Aires to invade Paraguay and squelch the insurrection. Asunción landowners
joined the occupying forces and defeated the rebels. Three comunero leaders were
executed, while others suffered exile, physical punishment, and prison.
3
1742
Juan Santos Atahualpa, who proclaimed himself descendant of the Incas, led tropical
lowland communities opposed to the presence of Franciscan missions as well as some
Indian and mestizo peasants from the highlands in a campaign to oust colonists and friars
from the eastern lowlands of central Peru. Several viceroys sent military expeditions in
1742, 1743, 1746, and 1759, and all failed against the guerrilla force organized by the
rebels. The Spaniards established a system of forts to prevent an expansion of the
movement into the highlands, which could have jeopardized mining production. In the
neighboring districts, Indians were exempted from the mita (forced labor) in order to
remove a grievance that could generate support for the jungle rebels. The rebels
attempted to set up a permanent base in the highlands in 1752 but failed on account of
weak local backing. Juan Santos Atahualpa kept control of the lowland area, however,
and was never captured.
4
1780–82
The Great Rebellion of Túpac Amaru and the Kataris. New fiscal and commercial
policies created broad sources of tension in the viceroyalty of Peru. Peasants felt
particularly aggrieved by forced sales of goods (repartimiento de mercancías). José
Gabriel Condorcanqui, kuraka of Tinta, Surinama, and Tungasuca, took the name
Túpac Amaru II and led a rebellion against the abusive administration of certain local
authorities. He ordered the execution of Corregidor Antonio de Arriaga in Nov. 1780.
The revolt initially earned some support from the creole upper class in Cusco, who
resented the recent policies, but the rank and file of the rebel army were Indian peasants
who attacked landed property without regard to the owners' birthplaces. Creole sympathy,
already limited, quickly evaporated. Túpac Amaru attempted to march against Cusco,
whose defense was organized by local militias and Indian regiments led by kurakas loyal
to the crown. A civil war broke out in the Indian ranks between loyalists and rebels.
Túpac Amaru, his wife, Micaela Bastidas, and his family were imprisoned after his defeat
at the hands of loyalist kuraka Mateo Pumacahua. Diego Cristóbal and Mariano Túpac
Amaru took over as leaders of the rebellion, while Túpac Amaru and his family were
executed in Cusco. In Chayanta, kuraka Tomás Katari denounced those who usurped
his position and led a movement to reduce tributes. Local Spanish authorities imprisoned
him, and when an Indian multitude attempted his rescue, his captors killed him,
unleashing a full-scale rebellion. During the same period, a nonnoble Aymara Indian,
Julián Apaza, taking the name Túpac Katari, gathered an Indian army to lay siege to La
Paz, which was temporarily broken by royal troops. Andrés Túpac Amaru joined Túpac
Katari in a renewed siege of La Paz, but promises of amnesty and internal dissension
gradually dispersed their followers. Local elites, wary of the rebels' anti-creole sentiment,
supported the repressive forces. The joint efforts of the colonial army, loyal kurakas, and
creoles managed to crush the uprising. Rebel leaders were imprisoned and executed, and
the properties of rebel kurakas were confiscated. These measures ruined the Indian
nobility and severely reduced their hold on the Indian population, favoring Indian
authorities directly named by the colonial state.
5
1781
Comuneros of Nueva Granada. The reorganization of state monopolies for rum,
anisette, and tobacco to increase royal revenues adversely affected farmers in Socorro, a
town of predominantly white and mestizo cultivators. Under the leadership of two
creoles, Juan Francisco de Berbeo and José Antonio Galán, they refused to pay taxes
and expelled the Spanish authorities. The rebels marched to Bogotá and negotiated a
6
treaty that rescinded the new fiscal program and gave creoles greater access to office.
However, former rebel allies split after the agreement, which redressed the grievances of
only one faction. Indians and landless workers wanted either to protect their holdings or
to secure access to land, and slaves expected to gain their freedom. José Antonio Galán
emerged as a leader of this more radical group, while the creole comunero leadership
collaborated with the colonial authorities to capture him and defeat his followers. Galán
was executed and many of his followers imprisoned. (See Latin America, 1806–1914)
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1500–1815
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9. Portuguese America, 1500–1815
In the era of colonial expansion, Portugal's main orientation was to maintain and exploit
trade posts in Africa and India, where slave trade and commerce in exotic goods
produced high profits. Attention shifted to Brazil only because of French and Dutch
attempts to gain territories there.
1
Although no Black Legend has been popularized about Portuguese colonization, the
extermination and enslavement of the native population equaled the exploits of Spanish
conquerors. Native peoples in Brazil were organized mainly in tribes with no centralized
structures and were engaged in constant warfare. The Portuguese intervened in these
conflicts to escalate them as a means of obtaining Indian slaves. Indian enslavement
continued practically unchecked throughout the colonial period, and a demographic
catastrophe of unknown dimensions occurred, aggravated by warfare and disease.
2
1500–1521
Under Manuel the Fortunate (1495–1521), Portuguese merchants established some
trading posts, bartering tools and metal artifacts for Brazil wood gathered by natives.
3
1521–30
John III (1521–57) undertook systematic colonization to counter French activities in
Portuguese possessions. The king promoted private investment in colonization.
4
1530–32
Martin Affonso de Souza as captain-major of a colonizing expedition founded São
Vicente and introduced sugarcane cultivation.
5
1532–36
The crown established the donatários, a system of feudal hereditary captaincies with
nearly sovereign authority, but they did little to advance colonization. A more
centralized administration with a governor-general at its head was established.
Sugarcane cultivation expanded and Indian enslavement assumed wider proportions.
Although African slaves were also used, their price was high in comparison to that of
Indian slaves.
6
1549
Thomé de Souza, the first governor-general, founded São Salvador (Bahia) as seat of
the government and established a colony. São Paulo was founded shortly after
midcentury.
7
Jesuits undertook the conversion of the natives and established mission villages in
Bahia.
8
1551
The bishopric of Bahia, subordinate to the archbishop of Lisbon, was erected.
9
1555
With the intention of creating an “Antarctic France,” Nicolás Durand de Villegagnon
founded a colony on the Bay of Rio de Janeiro.
10
1565–67
Mem de Sá (1558–72) led Portuguese to destroy the French colony and founded the city
of Rio de Janeiro. He promoted enslavement of unfriendly Indians.
1570
11
The crown issued decrees against enslavement of Indians, which colonists disregarded.
Expansion of sugar mills led to an increase in the African slave trade and to further
Indian enslavement, affecting even Indian cultures allied with the Portuguese.
12
1587
Dutch privateers attacked Recife. Attacks repeated in 1595, 1604, 1616, and 1623.
13
1594
French attacked Paraíba. Portuguese built a fort, which became the city of Natal.
14
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10. The Portuguese Colonial System
Population. At the beginning of Portuguese colonization, a large group of mestiços
emerged as a result of intermixture between Portuguese men and Indian women. The
heavy influx of African slaves from the mid-16th century on resulted in new racially
mixed groups, children of African and Indian parents and of African and white parents. In
1583 the population was estimated at 25,000 whites and mestiços, 18,000 subjugated
Indians, and 14,000 slaves. In the mid-17th century, considerable immigration occurred.
Population was estimated at 150,000 to 200,000, three-quarters of whom were Indians,
blacks, and mestiços or mulattos. In 1818 the population was estimated at 843,000
whites, 1,887,000 blacks, 628,000 mestiços, and 259,400 Indians. The bulk of the
population was concentrated in São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, and Bahia.
Originally the crown permitted any person of Catholic faith to enter Brazil, but after 1591
aliens were excluded.
1
Portuguese colonial administration was not clearly differentiated from that of the
metropolis prior to the union of the crowns of Portugal and Spain. The Mesa da
Conciência e Ordens, with ecclesiastical and financial powers, was created in 1532. Upon
the establishment of a more centralized government in Brazil, a commissioner of finances
and a chief justice were appointed for the colony (1548). Corregidores, with judicial and
military functions, were in charge of local administration. Municipal organization was
patterned on that of Portugal. The fundamental code was the Ordenanças Manuelinas
(1521).
2
During the period of the union of the thrones of Spain and Portugal (1581–1640), Spanish
administrative forms were introduced. The Casa da Índia was established (1591). The
inspector of finance was created (1604), a supreme court was established in Bahia (1609),
and the title of viceroy was introduced (1640). Under Philip III (1598–1621), the
Ordenanças Philipinas, which permitted greater local autonomy, superseded the
Ordenanças Manuelinas.
3
By the close of the 18th century, the structure of royal government was fully formed. The
Overseas Council (Conselho de Ultramar), created in 1642, exercised general religious
and military authority over Brazil. Pará, Maranhão, Pernambuco, Bahia, São Paulo,
4
Minas Gerais, Goiás, Mato Grosso, and Rio de Janeiro were captaincies-general,
provinces of the first rank, under captains-general usually appointed by the crown. The
viceroy, who was also captain-general of Rio de Janeiro, possessed legal authority over
the captains-general in certain matters, but the latter frequently received instructions from
the crown, with which they could correspond directly. A tendency toward local autonomy
existed. Two superior judicial districts existed, with high courts at Bahia and Rio de
Janeiro (founded in 1757), respectively. Appeals from these courts went directly to
Lisbon. The municipalities, with their councils (senados de câmara), enjoyed a certain
degree of self-government.
Economy. Restrictions were placed upon industry and agriculture that competed with
Portuguese enterprises, and a government monopoly, which produced important crown
revenues, existed for the exploitation of Brazil wood, mining of diamonds, and other
activities. Customs duties were levied and a royal fifth (quinto) was collected on all gold
mined. The mining of gold and diamonds and the production of sugar, cotton, and hides
were the chief industries. Slavery, first Indian, then predominantly African, was the main
form of labor in Brazil. Portugal controlled Angola and Portuguese traders supplied
slaves to the Brazilian planters.
5
Commerce was a Portuguese monopoly until 1808 and trade was restricted to Lisbon and
Oporto and carried out through convoyed fleets. In 1649 a monopolistic Commercial
Company of Brazil was organized. In 1682, the also monopolistic Maranhão Company
was formed. Both companies aroused opposition and were abolished in the first decades
of the 18th century. During the Pombaline period, two more monopolistic companies
were formed, but both were abolished after his fall. Pombal abolished the system of
convoyed fleets.
6
The Church. The papal bull of Julius III conceded to the crown the right to nominate
bishops, collect tithes, dispense church revenues, and receive appeals from ecclesiastical
tribunals. The bishopric of Bahia was erected in 1551. In 1676 Innocent XI created the
archbishopric of Brazil, with Bahia as the metropolitan seat, at the same time erecting
the bishoprics of Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco. The Jesuits, until their expulsion by
the crown (1759), played an important role through conversion of the natives, extension
of the Portuguese influence, and establishment of schools and colleges (1554). They had
frequent clashes with the colonists, who abhorred the Jesuit campaign against Indian
slavery. Jesuits, however, did not oppose African slavery and owned many slave
plantations in Brazil. The Inquisition of Lisbon was in charge of religious infractions,
but no tribunal was established in Brazil, all the cases being reviewed by visitadores
(inspectors).
7
Society and culture. Sugar mill owners (senhores de engenho) and sugarcane growers
occupied the highest social and economic positions, along with high royal officers and
Portuguese merchants. Marriage and kinship ties solidified their social position. This elite
minority sent its children to Portugal for higher education since, in Brazil, there was no
8
university-level instruction during the colonial period. Jesuits controlled most of the
institutions of secondary education, with ten colleges and four seminaries. The most
distinguished Brazilian-born scholar was the Jesuit Antônio Vieira (1608–97), a constant
defender of the Indians, whose sermons achieved fame throughout the Iberian dominions.
There was a significant population of New Christians (Jews recently converted to
Christianity or their children) engaged in commerce, artisanal trades, and sugarcane
growing, but Jewish collaboration with Dutch invaders weakened the New Christians'
position and inquisitorial inspections frequently harassed them. Wealth from the gold
rush and sugar commerce allowed the development of highly elaborate religious
architecture and arts in the main cities. The most distinguished artist of this era was the
mulatto architect and sculptor Antônio Francisco Lisboa (c. 1730–1814), called
Aleijadinho.
The rural sector of society was predominant. Indians and African slaves occupied the
lowest social position. Often, slaves fled to remote areas to form maroon communities.
Slaveholders hired professional slave-catchers (capitães de mato) to recapture their
slaves. Slaves could also obtain freedom by self-purchase or by manumission. People of
mixed background (called mulatos, mamelucos, caboclos), although free, were subjected
to discriminatory laws and customs. They lived as squatters, sharecroppers, artisans,
wage laborers. Black slaves introduced customs and beliefs from different African
societies, which played a major role in the formation of popular religiosity and culture in
Brazil. (See Latin America, 1806–1914)
9
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I. North America, 1500–1789
1. Overview
For nearly 300 years before the founding of the American republic, North America had
experienced a series of socioeconomic, cultural, and political transformations. In
relatively rapid succession, European exploration, settlement, and colonial expansion
culminated in an era of reform, revolution, and the birth of the United States and, later,
the Dominion of Canada. The exploration and settlement of North America had roots in
the transformation of European society from a relatively stable world of feudal
agriculture to the dynamic world of commerical capitalism. During the early 16th
century, European monarchs gave trading rights to commercial capitalists, encouraged
their involvement in international trade, and facilitated European expansion overseas.
Although Spain “discovered” the New World and soon controlled vast stretches of land in
the Caribbean and South America, the Netherlands, France, and England later gained
increasing access to North America.
1
European expansion and settlement in North America ushered in a new set of social and
cultural interactions among diverse peoples from Africa, America, and Europe. While
these interactions were salutary for Europeans, especially elite white men, they were
quite destructive, even devastating, for the indigenous peoples (See North American
Chiefdoms) and for Africans. Under the onslaught of European weaponry, diseases, and
declining access to arable land, the Native American population in New England, for
example, declined from nearly 120,000 in 1570 to about 12,000 in 1670 and continued to
drop in subsequent decades. For their part, although the first Africans to arrive in North
America occupied a status much like that of European indentured servants, they soon
experienced treatment that foreshadowed their transition to a status of slaves for life.
Thus, when the new nation embarked upon its political career with the Declaration of
Independence in 1776, it did so with huge gaps between its democratic promise and its
reality as an elite, slaveholding, white male republic. Progress toward government by, for,
and of the people would take years to achieve in North America. While Canada would
remain within the British colonial empire, its future was profoundly shaped by
developments in the new republic south of the border.
2
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2. Exploration and Settlement, 1500–1719
EARLY SETTLEMENTS ON THE CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA (MAP)
a. The French in North America
1508
Fishing expedition of Thomas Aubert of Dieppe resulted in first recorded case of
Amerindian taken to France for official display.
1
1524
Giovanni de Verrazano, sent out by Francis I, probably explored the coast from Cape
Fear to Newfoundland.
2
1534–41
Voyages of Jacques Cartier. On the first voyage he sighted the Labrador coast, passed
through the Straits of Belle Isle, and explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence. He returned to
France with Taignoagny and Domagaya, the sons of Donnacona, the chief or “lord of
Canada.” With Taignoagny and Domagaya serving as guides, on his second trip
(1535–36) Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence, stopped at the site of Quebec, and
proceeded to the La Chine Rapids and the site of Montreal. Several members of this
3
voyage contracted scurvy and died, but others recovered when they took an Indian cure
for the disease. On the third trip (1541), unsuccessful attempts were made to establish a
settlement at Quebec, and therewith the French efforts to colonize the St. Lawrence
Valley came to an end until the 17th century.
In the southeast and the southwest, the presence of the Spaniards hampered the activities
of the French.
4
1542
Cartier departed for France and left Roberval in charge. Most of the 200 members of his
party were released convicts, primarily men, from the French jail.
5
1562
Admiral Coligny, as part of his plan to attack Spain, sent Jean Ribaut to establish a
colony in Florida. A colony on Port Royal Sound failed, but in 1564 Ribaut and Rene de
Laudonniere established Fort Caroline on St. John's River.
6
1598
Marquis de La Roche attempted to found a colony on Sable Island. The survivors were
rescued five years later.
7
1600
Pontgrave, Chauvin, and De Monts, with a grant of the fur-trade monopoly, made
another unsuccessful attempt to colonize, this time at Tadoussac on the lower St.
Lawrence.
8
1603
Pontgrave, accompanied by Samuel de Champlain, explored the St. Lawrence as far as
La Chine Rapids. Champlain also explored the Acadian coast. Champlain followed the
New England coast as far as Cape Cod and returned to France in 1607.
9
1608, July 3
Champlain, acting as lieutenant for De Monts, founded the settlement of Quebec. In the
following year, accompanied by a party of Algonquin and Huron Indians, he ascended
the Richelieu River to the lake that now bears his name.
10
1610
Poutrincourt reestablished Port Royal.
11
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b. The English in North America
1. Exploration
Following the voyages of the Cabots (See 1497, May 2–Aug. 6), the English showed
little interest in the New World until the second half of the 16th century.
1
1562
John Hawkins, having taken a cargo of slaves in Africa, disposed of them in Espanola.
The Spaniards made efforts to stop a second slave-trading voyage (1564–65), and on his
third voyage (1567–68) Hawkins was driven by a storm into the harbor of Vera Cruz,
where his fleet was largely destroyed.
2
1572–80
Francis Drake, nephew of Hawkins, carried out reprisals on Spanish commerce. Sailing
in 1577, he became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe.
3
1576–78
After unsuccessful efforts by explorers of the Muscovy Company to find a northeast
passage to China, English efforts were concentrated on the search for a northwest
passage. Martin Frobisher sailed from England in June 1576, explored the Labrador
coast, crossed Hudson Strait, coasted along Baffin Land, and entered the inlet known as
Frobisher Bay. In 1577–78 he made a second voyage (See 1576).
1568
4
Sir Humphrey Gilbert took possession of Newfoundland in the name of Elizabeth but
lost his life on the return voyage.
5
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c. Dutch and Swedish Settlements
1602
The United East India Company was chartered by the states-general of Holland.
1
1609
The company employed Henry Hudson, an Englishman, to search for the northwest
passage. He sighted land at Newfoundland, explored the New England coast, rounded
Cape Cod, proceeded south to Virginia, probably entered Chesapeake Bay, entered
Delaware Bay, and exploree the Hudson River to Albany. Friendly relations with
Iroquois Indians.
2
1612
Dutch merchants sent Christianson and Block to Manhattan Island to engage in fur
trade. A post was established in 1613.
3
1614
Fort Nassau, later Fort Orange, built near present Albany. Exploration by Adrian Block
of Long Island Sound, Connecticut coast, Narragansett Bay, and Cape Cod. As a result
the New Netherland Company was formed and given monopoly of trade between the
40th and 45th parallels. Fur trade carried on and the coast explored.
1621
4
The Dutch West India Company was chartered and given a monopoly of trade in Africa
and America.
5
1626
Peter Minuit became director-general of the company. He purchased Manhattan Island
from the Indians for $24 and founded the settlement of New Amsterdam. Meanwhile the
attention of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was called to the Delaware country. In 1637,
the New Sweden Company was organized, chiefly as a result of the encouragement of
two Dutchmen, Samuel Blommaert and Minuit.
6
1629
Under the urging of Killiaen Van Rensslaer, a wealthy Amsterdam jeweler, the Dutch
government established the patroon system, which provided huge estates to wealthy
Dutchmen in exchange for settling 50 tenants on the land within a four-year period.
7
1638
Two Swedish vessels arrived on the Delaware and Fort Christina was established. This
intrusion of the Swedes angered Peter Stuyvesant of New Netherland, who urged the
West India Company to occupy New Sweden, which was done in 1655.
8
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3. Colonial History, 1641–1737
a. New England
1641
The Body of Liberties, a code of 100 laws, was established by the general court of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1
1643, May 19
The New England Confederation was formed by Connecticut (Hartford, Windsor, and
Wethersfield), New Haven, Plymouth, and Massachusetts Bay for purposes of defense.
2
1646
In Massachusetts, John Eliot began his missionary work among the Indians, translating
the Bible into Massachusetts dialect, 1661–63.
3
1647
Christian and civil authorities intensified attacks on persons claiming to possess
supernatural powers as healers and prophets. Over the next decade and a half,
Massachusetts and Connecticut officials hanged 14 people, mainly women, for
witchcraft.
1662
4
Charter of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, kept throughout the colonial
period and the constitution of the state until 1842.
5
1662
Puritan ministers initiated the “halfway covenant.” This policy allowed children of all
baptized Puritans to become active members of the church and helped to concentrate
power in the hands of certain established families.
6
1664
Union of Connecticut and New Haven, because of the latter's fear of annexation to
New York.
7
1675–76
KING PHILIP'S WAR in New England. Displaced by European settlements and
ravaged by disease, the population of New England's Native Americans dropped
drastically, from 120,000 in 1570 to 12,000 in 1670. Metacom (called Philip by the
Europeans), son of Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags, believed only armed
resistance could stop the European advance. In 1675, Metacom formed a military league
comprising most of the Indians from Maine to Connecticut. Full-scale war ensued. Bitter
fighting continued into 1676. Chief Canonchet of the Narragansetts was shot (April
1676).
8
1680
New Hampshire was separated from Massachusetts by royal charter.
9
1684
ANNULMENT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS CHARTER. The independent course
of Massachusetts had long irritated the crown. In 1679 Edward Randolph arrived in
Boston as collector of the customs, bearing instructions for the colony to relinquish
10
jurisdiction over New Hampshire, which authorities transformed into a royal colony.
Friction continued, as did Randolph's complaints against the colony, until legal action in
1684 annulled the charter.
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b. New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
1664
Grant of New Netherland, from the Connecticut to the Delaware, to the king's brother,
James, duke of York. The grant included the eastern part of Maine and islands south
and west of Cape Cod. The region between the Hudson and the Delaware was granted by
the duke of York to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret.
1
1664, Aug. 27
SURRENDER OF NEW AMSTERDAM to the English. Name of the colony changed
to New York. On Sept. 24 surrender of Fort Orange, whose name was changed to
Albany.
2
1676
Line of demarcation between East and West New Jersey. Settlement of Quakers in
West New Jersey (1677–81).
3
1681, March 4
CHARTER OF PENNSYLVANIA signed, granting to William Penn the region
between the 40th and 43rd parallels, extending 5° west from the Delaware River. These
limits brought the colony into conflict with New York on the north and Maryland on the
south. The dispute with Maryland was finally adjusted when in 1767 two surveyors,
Mason and Dixon, ran the present boundary between the two states. The form of
government of the colony was to be determined by the proprietor. The first body of
colonists, primarily Quakers, arrived in 1681 and a frame of government was provided
4
for the governance of the colony. The government guaranteed political liberty and
religious freedom.
1682–83
Penn arrived in the colony and Philadelphia was laid out (1682). Penn entered into a
treaty with the Indians (1783) which had the effect of keeping the colony free from
Indian wars.
5
1688
A group of Germantown Quakers issued the first notable antislavery document in
British America.
6
1702
New Jersey reunited as a royal province.
7
1715–50
SETTLEMENT OF THE PIEDMONT, partly by newcomers and old settlers, who
crossed the fall line into the areas, and partly by German, Swiss, and Scotch-Irish
entering at the port of Philadelphia and pushing southward through the valleys,
especially the Shenandoah. German immigration, which began with the founding of
Germantown, Pennsylvania (1683), increased greatly after 1710.
8
1720–26
William Burnet, governor of New York, began efforts to counteract French attempts to
hem in the English colonies in the west. He prohibited trade between the Iroquois and
the French. In 1722 he established a trading post at Oswego and carried on negotiations
at Albany with the Six Nations. A treaty with the Senecas, Cayugas, and Onondagas
(1726) added their lands to those of the Mohawks and Oneidas, which were already
under English protection. The intensification of the fur trade heightened intra-Indian
rivalry, enabling Europeans to extend their control farther west and deeper into the
9
interior of Indian lands.
1732
Benjamin Franklin (1706–90), journalist as well as statesman, published Poor
Richard's Almanac.
10
1735
Trial in New York of John Peter Zenger, printer of a paper, for libel. The court
contended that it should decide the libelous nature of the statements made and that the
jury should determine the fact of publication. Zenger's lawyer, Andrew Hamilton,
argued that the jury must decide whether or not the publication was libelous. He
won his suit, thereby materially safeguarding the freedom of the press.
11
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c. Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland
1640–1710
Lure of America and dreams of becoming landholders drew settlers, many as indentured
servants, to the colonies. During the 17th century, 75 to 85 percent of the people who
came to the Chesapeake area came as indentured servants. Since life expectancy
remained precarious until the 1640s, landowners often willed property to their wife
rather than to their oldest son.
1
1647
Margaret Brent, a single woman and large landholder, acted as attorney for Lord
Baltimore; she saved the colony from mutinous soldiers and from a Protestant revolt
against the Catholic government.
2
1652
Parliament assumed control of Maryland and suspended the governor.
3
1659
Virginia proclaimed Charles II king of England, Scotland, and Ireland and restored the
royal governor, Sir William Berkeley.
1660
4
Virginia sanctioned slavery in colonial law. Laws on slavery soon proliferated.
Among other things such laws stipulated that the child's status as free or slave
followed the condition of the mother and declared that baptism did not make a
person free. After Bacon's Rebellion (1676), such laws became more restrictive. Slave
statutes banned interracial marriage, punished white women who bore black children,
and seized the property of free blacks and stripped them of their rights. Courts later
declared that a master could not be charged for murder if a slave died of injuries
received during punishment for insubordination.
5
1661
Charles Calvert became governor of Maryland. In 1675, upon the death of his father,
Cecilius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, Charles succeeded as proprietor and third
Lord Baltimore.
6
1676
Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia. Led by Nathaniel Bacon, this revolt set discontented
freemen against the colony's elite. Those in rebellion believed Governor Berkeley's
policy toward the Indians was too lax. The rebels wanted the Indians killed or
removed and an end to rule by the wealthy. Bacon led his followers on an
unauthorized attack of a village of friendly Indians. Soon middling and poor farmers,
indentured servants, and even slaves joined the rebel army. Jamestown was burned,
but the rebellion collapsed with the death of Bacon. After the rebellion, the elite tried to
ensure that the interracial alliance found in Bacon's rebellion would not recur. In
particular, elites made a conscious decision to enact laws that would create a free white
society and an enslaved black one.
7
1693
College of William and Mary founded in Virginia.
8
1750
By midcentury, as life expectancy increased and stable families emerged, landholders
increasingly left their property to older sons instead of wives.
9
1756
Blacks made up about 40 percent of Virginia's population of over 293,400 and about 30
percent of Maryland's 140,000.
10
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d. The Southern Colonies
1663
Grant of Carolina by the king to eight proprietors, including the earl of Clarendon. The
grant included land between 31° and 36° north latitude.
1
1667
Grant of the Bahamas to the Carolina proprietors.
2
1669
Adoption of the Fundamental Constitutions, drawn up for Carolina by John Locke,
which provided for an archaic feudal regime totally unsuited to the needs of a frontier
colony.
3
1708
In Carolina, for the first time in any colony, blacks outnumbered whites.
4
1715
Defeat of the Yamassees and allied Indian tribes in Carolina. They were driven into
Spanish Florida.
5
1719–29
REORGANIZATION OF THE CAROLINAS. Popular discontent and disputes over
the disposition of Yamassee land led the Board of Trade to replace the proprietors and
establish royal governments in both North and South Carolina.
6
1722
Slaves had increased to nearly 65 percent of South Carolina's population of 18,350.
African slaves made the cultivation of rice in the colony profitable by introducing the
“mortar and pestle” technique for removing rice grains from husks. In the Stono
Rebellion (1739), some 20 miles west of Charleston, slaves launched a full-scale effort
to gain their freedom. Before the uprising was put down, 30 whites and 44 blacks had
lost their lives.
7
1733
FOUNDING OF GEORGIA, the last of the 13 English colonies on the continent.
James Oglethorpe became interested in the settlement of the region. An advocate of a
strong policy against the Spanish and a humanitarian interested in improving the
condition of imprisoned debtors, he conceived the idea of a buffer colony between the
English and the rival French and Spanish settlements. In 1732 he secured a charter
granting to him and his associates the region between the Savannah and the Altamaha
Rivers from sea to sea.
8
1735
Slavery in Georgia was banned. However, in 1749, after rice culture spread to the
colony, the ban was rescinded.
9
1750
The population of Charles Town, the region's major urban center, rose to nearly 10,000,
representing an increase of more than 500 percent between 1700 and 1740.
10
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4. Wars of England with France and Spain, 1651–1763
1651–73
The British Navigation Laws. These applied mercantilist doctrine to colonial trade.
The Act of 1651, designed to strike a blow at Dutch shipping, required that colonial
products be shipped to England in ships of Great Britain or the plantations. This law was
reenacted in 1660, with the additional provision that certain enumerated articles of
colonial production could be shipped only to England. The Staple Act of 1663 required
that articles of European production destined for the colonies must be shipped first to
England. The Act of 1673 imposed intercolonial duties on sugar, tobacco, and other
products.
1
1670
The Hudson's Bay Company incorporated and given a monopoly of the trade in
Hudson's Bay Basin.
2
1689–97
KING WILLIAM'S WAR, with France. This was the American phase of the general
war against Louis XIV known as the War of the League of Augsburg (see (See
1688–97)). The French were aided by the Indians of Canada and Maine, while the
Iroquois supported the English.
3
1696–98
A Board of Commissioners for Trade and Plantations was organized (1696) and a
navigation act of the same year was designed to prevent further evasion of earlier
4
regulations. Since the war with France had interrupted the usual trade, the New
Englanders had taken up manufacturing. The Woolens Act (1698) forbade the colonists
to ship wool or woolen products from one colony to another.
1702–13
QUEEN ANNE'S WAR, the American phase of the War of the Spanish Succession
(See 1701–14). In 1702 the English plundered and burned St. Augustine in Florida,
while in 1704 the French and Indians surprised Deerfield in the Connecticut Valley. In
1707 the English organized an expedition against Acadia. Acadia became the British
province of Nova Scotia (1710) and the name of Port Royal was changed to Annapolis
Royal. By the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), Great Britain secured recognition of its claims
in the Hudson's Bay country and the possession of Newfoundland and Acadia. The
claim of the British to the Iroquois country was also admitted, and St. Christopher was
ceded to Britain. The French were excluded from fishing on the Acadian coast but were
allowed to retain Cape Breton Island. The asiento (license) gave the English the
exclusive right for 30 years of bringing African slaves into the Spanish possessions.
5
1733
The Molasses Act. In response to pleas from the West Indian planters, Parliament
enacted the Molasses Act, which placed prohibitive duties on sugar and molasses
imported into the colonies from other than British possessions. In 1732 Parliament had
stopped the importation of hats from the colonies and had restricted their manufacture.
6
1739
WAR BETWEEN SPAIN AND ENGLAND (War of Jenkins' Ear, (See 1739–48).
Dissatisfied with the provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht with respect to trade with
Spanish possessions, British merchants had resorted to extensive smuggling, which, in
turn, had led to the seizure of British ships and the rough treatment of British sailors by
the Spaniards. The loss of Jenkins' ear was merely one of many similar episodes.
7
1743–48
KING GEORGE'S WAR, the American phase of the War of the Austrian Succession
8
in Europe (See 1740–48). The outstanding event in the war in America was the capture
of Louisburg (1745). In the interior, an abortive attempt of the northern colonies to
conquer Canada spurred the French and Indians to attack the frontier as far south as New
York (1746–48).
1748
The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (See 1748, Oct. 18), based upon European rather than
colonial considerations, restored all the conquests of the war. In America the treaty was
merely a truce, for Nova Scotia, the Ohio Valley, and the Cherokee country continued to
be areas of conflict. In order to strengthen the British hold on Nova Scotia, Lord Halifax
sent out 2,500 settlers in 1749 and founded the town of Halifax. In the Ohio Valley,
traders from Virginia and Pennsylvania pushed westward as far as the Indian villages on
the Mississippi. Virginia frontiersmen made a settlement at Draper's Meadow on the
Greenbrier River in 1748.
9
1749
The Ohio Company, organized by a group of Virginians and a number of prominent
Englishmen. The company obtained a grant of 500,000 acres on the upper Ohio and sent
out Christopher Gist (1750) to explore the region as far as the falls of the Ohio.
10
1753
Marquis Duquesne sent an expedition of 1,500 men to occupy the Ohio country. In the
same year Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia sent out George Washington, a
young surveyor, to demand the withdrawal of the French. He proceeded to Fort Le
Boeuf but was told that Dinwiddie's letter would be forwarded to Duquesne. It was quite
clear that the French would not leave peacefully.
11
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5. Reform, Resistance, and Revolution, 1763–1789
UNITED STATES DURING THE REVOLUTION (MAP)
1763–75
Expansion beyond the mountains. About 200,000 Indians lived in the region west of the
Appalachian Mountains and stood as a barrier to the swift occupation by European
settlers. Nonetheless, European settlers increasingly moved into the region. The
Watauga settlement in eastern Tennessee was made in 1769 and was augmented by the
arrival of Virginians and North Carolinians under James Robertson and John Sevier
(1770–71). Richard Henderson, of North Carolina, together with his associates
organized the Transylvania Company, purchased land from the Cherokees, and
established the Transylvania settlement in Kentucky in 1775. Daniel Boone was
Henderson's agent and cleared the wilderness road to Kentucky. The settlement of
Kentucky (1775–77) was facilitated by the peace forced on the Indians as a result of
Lord Dunmore's War (1774).
1
1763–75
The Preliminaries of the American Revolution. By 1761 the British government was
thoroughly aroused by the systematic evasion of the Molasses Act of 1733 through
colonial smuggling and by the illicit trade that the colonies had carried on with the
enemy during the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. British
officials felt that the trade prolonged French resistance. To prevent smuggling, the
2
British resorted to writs of assistance, general search warrants that made possible the
search of all premises where smuggled goods might be found. This aroused the
opposition of merchants, who alleged that the writs were illegal. In 1761, when Boston
customs officers applied for the writs, the merchants contested their use. James Otis
argued cogently against their legality before the Massachusetts Supreme Court.
Although the court decided they were legal, the argument of Otis did much to shape
public opinion.
1763–65
George Grenville in power in England. The acquisition of the vast territory from France
in America necessitated increased revenues for defense and Indian administration. The
ministry decided to enforce the navigation laws, tax the colonies directly, and use that
revenue to maintain an army in North America. Powers of the admirality courts were
enlarged, and colonial governors were instructed to enforce the trade law. The decision
to station a peacetime army of about 10,000 soldiers in North America generated
resentment from above and below. Colonial elites feared the army would undermine
their “liberty,” while workers feared competition from soldiers for low-wage work in the
port cities.
3
1764
Decreeing of the Sugar Act, with the avowed purpose of raising revenue in the colonies
and reforming the old colonial system, both economically and administratively.
4
The Colonial Currency Act prevented colonies from paying their debts in England in
depreciated currency and forbade issues of unsound money. This edict created a shortage
of money in the colonies at a time when the Sugar Act injured the West Indian trade of
the colonies, which had previously supplied the necessary specie.
5
1765
Disregarding colonial protests against the two previous measures, Grenville pushed
through Parliament the Stamp Act, providing for stamps on commercial and legal
documents, pamphlets, newspapers, almanacs, playing cards, and dice.
6
The Quartering Act was passed, providing that in the event of insufficiency of barracks
in the colonies, British troops might be quartered in public hostelries.
7
May 29
Patrick Henry introduced into the Virginia House of Burgesses a series of resolutions
boldly challenging the position of the British government.
8
June
The Massachusetts general court sent an invitation to colonial assemblies to send
delegates to meet in New York and consider the Stamp Act. Meanwhile the arrival of
the stamp officers led to riots in various cities, including Boston, where the house of
Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson was sacked.
9
Oct. 7
Stamp Act Congress at New York. Twenty-eight delegates from nine colonies drew up
memorials to the king and Parliament and adopted a Declaration of Rights and
Liberties (Oct. 19). Americans rallied to the cry “Liberty, Property, and No Stamps” and
forced most stamp distributors to resign by November. A multiclass alliance of
merchants, intellectuals, and workers also organized the Sons of Liberty to coordinate
resistance to the measure.
10
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Table of Contents
Page 5
V. The Modern Period, 1789–1914
A. Global and Comparative Dimensions
1. European Global Domination, 1800–1914
a. Developments in Major Empires
b. Intensified Imperial Competition
c. Major Land-Based Empires
d. Spread of Modern Industrialism
e. Development of Modern Political Systems
f. Cultural Patterns
2. Intensifications of Global International and Economic Relations, 1860–1914
a. International Agreements
b. The Redefinition of the World Economy
c. International Diplomacy
3. Technological Developments, 1800–1914
a. Energy and Power Sources
b. Materials and Construction
c. Machines and Industrial Techniques
d. Agricultural Production and Food Technology
e. Transportation and Communication
4. Polar Explorations
a. Early Explorations
b. Early Modern European Expeditions
c. 19th-Century Explorations
d. 20th-Century Explorations
B. The French Revolution and Europe, 1789–1914
1. Overview
2. The French Revolution, 1789–1799
a. Causes of the Revolution
b. The National Assembly
c. The Legislative Assembly
d. The National Convention: The Revolution's Most Radical Phase
e. The Directory
3. The Napoleonic Period, 1799–1815
a. The Consulate
b. The First Empire
4. Western and Central Europe, 1815–1848
a. Social, Cultural, and Economic Trends
b. European Diplomacy
c. The British Isles
d. The Low Countries
e. France
f. The Iberian Peninsula
g. The Italian States
h. Switzerland
i. Central Europe
j. Scandinavia
5. Revolutions in Europe, 1848–1852
a. France
b. Hungary
c. Austria and Bohemia
d. Italy
e. Switzerland
f. Germany
6. European Diplomacy, 1848–1914
7. Western and Central Europe, 1848–1914
a. Social, Cultural, and Economic Trends
b. Britain
c. The Low Countries
d. France
e. The Iberian Peninsula
f. Italy and the Papacy
g. Switzerland
h. Central Europe
i. Scandinavia
8. Eastern Europe and the Balkans, 1762–1914
a. Russia
b. Poland
c. The Balkans
C. The Middle East and North Africa, 1792–1914
1. Overview
2. The Middle East and Egypt, 1796–1914
a. The Ottoman Empire
b. Iran
c. Afghanistan
d. Arabia
e. Egypt
3. North Africa, 1792–1914
a. Morocco
b. Algeria
c. Tunisia
d. Libya
D. South and Southeast Asia, 1753–1914
1. India, 1800–1914
2. Southeast Asia, 1753–1914
a. Mainland Southeast Asia
b. Peninsular and Island Southeast Asia
E. East Asia, 1793–1914
1. China, 1796–1914
2. Korea, 1800–1910
3. Japan, 1793–1914
4. Vietnam, 1802–1902
F. The Pacific Region, c. 800–1914
1. The Pacific Islands, 1794–1914
2. The Philippines, 1800–1913
3. Australia, 1788–1914
4. New Zealand, c. 800–1913
G. Africa, 1795–1917
1. Overview
2. European Exploration, 1795–1895
3. Regions
a. Sudanic West and Central Africa
b. Forest West Africa
c. Northeast Africa (Horn)
d. East Africa
e. West Central Africa
f. Southern Africa
g. Madagascar
H. North America, 1789–1914
1. The United States, 1789–1877
a. Overview
b. The Early National Period
c. The Civil War
d. Reconstruction
2. The United States, 1878–1914
a. Overview
b. New Political, Social, and Diplomatic Issues
3. British North America, 1789–1914
a. Overview
b. The Dominion of Canada, 1789–1877
c. Newfoundland, 1855–1878
d. Canada, 1878–1914
e. Newfoundland, 1878–1914
I. Latin America, 1806–1914
1. Periodization
2. The Wars of Independence, 1806–1872
a. Causes
b. The Río De La Plata
c. Paraguay
d. The Banda Oriental (Uruguay)
e. Chile
f. Peru and Upper Peru (Peru and Bolivia)
g. Venezuela, Nueva Granada, and Quito (Gran Colombia)
h. New Spain (Mexico)
i. Guatemala and Central America
j. Brazil
3. Latin America, 1820–1914
a. Overview
b. South America
c. Central America
d. Mexico
e. The Caribbean
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See The Spread of Diseases)
V. The Modern Period, 1789–1914
A. Global and Comparative Dimensions
Global relationships changed significantly during the 19th century. Western European
states and world-views came to dominate and frequently to control directly most of the
rest of the world. In this way, the transformation of western European societies in the
previous centuries extended to much of the rest of the world. The new patterns of global
relationships can be seen in two very broad areas: (1) the West's power over the rest of
the world in military, economic, and political spheres, and to some extent the cultural
spheres as well, and (2) the intensification of international and interstate relationships in
diplomatic and political terms by the beginning of the 20th century.
1
1. European Global Domination, 1800–1914
The changing relationships involved in the growing global dominance of Western
societies can be seen in three important developments: (1) Western imperialist expansion,
(2) the spread of industrialism, and (3) the development of modern state systems in all of
the major regions of the globe.
2
a. Developments in Major Empires
During the 19th century, major European empires expanded (especially the British,
French, and Russian empires, along with the new United States) while older empires,
both European and non-European, experienced significant losses.
1800–70
3
BRITISH EMPIRE. Following the conflicts of the Napoleonic era, the British Empire
emerged as the strongest global imperial force, with different manifestations.
SETTLEMENT COLONIES were consolidated in Canada, Australia, and New
Zealand, and they received increasing rights of self-rule within the British imperial
system. These rights were defined for Canada following a major rebellion in 1837 by the
Union Act (1840) and the British North America Act (1867), for Australia by the
Australia Colonies Government Act (1850), and for New Zealand by the Constitution
of 1852. As they emerged as virtually independent commonwealths in the 20th century,
they, along with the United States, were basically parts of the extended European world.
INDIRECT CONTROL through commercial and naval domination was the basis for
British imperial authority in many parts of the world. The Ottoman Empire was
protected by British policies from Russian, Austrian, and French expansion as well as
from internal challengers like Muhammad Ali in Egypt (See 1831–41) (who had
revolted and invaded Syria in 1831), and British commercial interests expanded in the
region. Britain similarly became the dominant force within Iran, ruled in the 19th century
by the Qajar dynasty. British domination of foreign trade in China was confirmed by
British victory in the First British War of 1841–42 (often called the Opium War) (See
1841–42) and the Treaty of Nanking (1842). British naval power similarly ensured
British domination in coastal regions of the Indian Ocean and Africa. DIRECT
IMPERIAL RULE emerged as an important style of domination in INDIA by the
middle of the 19th century, when control by the East India Company was formally
replaced by making India a Crown colony. Direct imperial rule was, however, only one of
many different forms of British world power in the 19th century.
4
1800–70
FRENCH EMPIRE. France had lost much of its global empire in the world wars of the
18th century and the final defeats in the Napoleonic era. In the first half of the 19th
century, France reemerged as a major global force, both through its growing economic
power and its military forces. It was Britain's major rival for influence in the
Mediterranean region and had expanding commercial and cultural influences in the
Middle East. France also developed settlements, trade stations, and military posts in
Senegal and elsewhere along the coasts of West Africa and Central Africa. In the Indian
Ocean basin and Asia, France gradually expanded in control in Madagascar and other
island areas and, by 1874, gained full control of Indochina. Direct French rule in North
Africa began in 1830 with the French invasion of Algeria, where European settlement
was encouraged.
1800–70
5
OTHER OVERSEAS EMPIRES. The other major European overseas empires
remained relatively stable or declined. The DUTCH consolidated their control in the
islands of Southeast Asia, where they developed a system of direct colonial rule by the
end of the century. The Portuguese Empire in Africa expanded inland from coastal
trading settlements, especially after the formal suppression of the slave trade in 1836
transformed the nature of commerce in Angola and Mozambique. The commercial ports
of Goa in India and Macao in China remained under Portuguese control, but Brazil was
lost in the Latin American wars of independence. These wars also brought an end to most
of the SPANISH EMPIRE in the Americas, and Spain was only a minor global force by
the middle of the century.
6
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
b. Intensified Imperial Competition
Late in the 19th century, the expanding empires engaged in major competitions for
influence and control throughout the world. This global struggle was part of the partition
and disintegration of some older major empires, like those of the Ottomans and the
Chinese. In AFRICA the competition resulted in the direct European military occupation
and control of virtually the entire continent by 1914. In North Africa, Egypt was
occupied by Great Britain (1882), French protectorates were proclaimed in Tunisia
(1881) and Morocco (1912), and Italy claimed control of Libya (1911) (See 1911–12). In
Africa by 1914, older European empires maintained small but expanded enclaves, the
Spanish in Morocco, Río de Oro, and Río Muni, and the Portuguese in Guinea, Angola,
and Mozambique. The BRITISH and the FRENCH empires gained the largest share,
with a number of French colonies established in West Africa and Equatorial Africa as
well as Madagascar, and British control established in Nigeria, southern and eastern
Africa, and, through a nominally joint control with Egypt, in Sudan. By the end of the
19th century, new Western imperial powers also had important colonies in Africa. The
German Empire won control of Togo and Cameroons in West Africa and established
colonial control in Tanganyika and Southwest Africa. Italy gained control over Eritrea
and much of Somaliland in East Africa, and King Leopold of Belgium took control of
the Congo River basin with the creation of the CONGO FREE STATE in 1885 (See
1885, April). In addition, Liberia was created in 1822 as a colony for freed slaves
returning from the United States, and although it was nominally independent, it remained
an economic colony of the United States. By 1914, Ethiopia was the only noncolonial
area, and it would be conquered and briefly controlled by Italy in the 1930s.
1
1800–1914
EMERGING AMERICAN EMPIRE. In the Western Hemisphere, the new United
States began major continental expansion. Vast territories were gained by treaty and
purchase arrangements with European powers and subsequent military conquest of
indigenous peoples in those areas. This was the method of acquisition of the Louisiana
2
territories from France (1803), Florida from Spain (1810–19), Oregon from Great
Britain (1846), and Alaska from Russia (1867), whereas Texas, California, and the rest
of the southwestern region were gained as a result of the U.S. victory in a war with
Mexico (1846–48). This expansion was temporarily interrupted by the American Civil
War (1861–65), but in the second half of the 19th century, the United States began
important overseas expansion. Some of this involved extension of the American
economic and political sphere of influence, as in the beginning of relations with Japan
initiated by Matthew Perry in 1854, and growing American interests in China. The
growing domination by the United States of many independent states in Latin America
led to temporary military occupations in support of U.S. economic interests in many
places, like Nicaragua (1912). The U.S. also gained direct control of overseas territories,
including Hawaii (1898) and the Virgin Islands (1917), and, as a result of the SPANISHAMERICAN WAR (1898), the U.S. established control in the Philippines, Puerto
Rico, and Guam. By the end of World War I, the United States had emerged as one of the
major global empires as well as a powerful economic force.
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Domination, 1800–1914 > c. Major Land-Based Empires
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c. Major Land-Based Empires
During the 19th century, several European land-based empires emerged as great powers,
while large empires in Asia lost territories and influence. However, all of these empires
came to an end during World War I, either emerging in significantly different forms or
disappearing as political entities.
1
RUSSIAN EMPIRE. In the final years of the Napoleonic era, Russia began a major era
of expansion, winning control of areas in the Caucasus in a war with Persia (1804–13)
and of Finland in a war with Sweden (1808–9), as well as building forts in Alaska in
North America. Expansion in Europe was limited, but the establishment of independent
states in former Ottoman territories, especially Serbia (1817) (See 1815–17) and
Bulgaria (1878) represented expansion of Russian influence. Complete control in the
Caucasus was gained with the conquests of Daghistan (1859), Circassia (1864), and
Kars (1878) (See 1875–78). The largest expansions were in the east (See 1848–49), with
the conquests and annexations of Kazakhistan by 1854, Uzbekistan (1856–76), and
Turkmenistan (1868–85). Expansion in the Pacific northeastern territories was
completed with the ceding by China of territories north of the Amur River in the
Treaties of Aigun (1858) and Peking (1860) (See 1858–60). By World War I, the
Russian Empire was the largest in the world, but during that war the tsarist system of rule
was overthrown in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Baltic and eastern European areas
were lost, but imperial control of all of the Asian territories was maintained, although in a
form called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
2
PRUSSIAN EMPIRE. The steady expansion of Prussia during the 19th century is a
major dynamic of European history, but Prussia did not emerge as a major global power
until after the UNIFICATION OF GERMANY under Prussia led by Otto von
Bismarck and the Hohenzollern dynasty and the formal establishment of the German
Empire under William I in 1871. The new empire actively sought territorial expansion
and spheres of influence. By 1914, Germany had gained control in Africa of Togo and
Cameroons(1884), Tanganyika (1885), and Southwest Africa (1890); had won
concessions in China and economic influence in the Middle East; and was one of the
major global naval powers. Its defeat in World War I brought an end to this empire, and it
was replaced by a purely European state of considerably reduced size.
3
AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE. During the 19th century, the Habsburg Empire did
not expand significantly, although its influence grew in southeastern Europe as Ottoman
power declined, and it gained control of Bosnia in 1878. The Habsburg rulers faced
serious internal challenges in their multinational empire, and the imperial system was
reorganized as a dual monarchy of Austria and Hungary. Although this did not resolve
the challenges posed by growing nationalist movements, it allowed the empire to survive
major defeats by France and Prussia, and revolutionary threats, especially in 1848. It was
not until the defeat in World War I that the empire disappeared and was replaced by a
cluster of small, nationally defined states.
4
DECLINING ASIAN EMPIRES. The older major land-based Asian empires
experienced serious losses during the 19th century. The Mughal Empire in India came to
a formal end with the establishment of direct British colonial rule in 1858.
5
The OTTOMAN EMPIRE undertook major modernizing structural reforms throughout
the century, beginning with the attempt to establish a “New System” by Selim III at the
end of the 18th century, and reaching a culmination in the regime established by the
Young Turk Revolution in 1908 (See 1908, July). Despite significant changes, the
Ottoman Empire experienced a steady loss of territories to major European states and to
nationalist movements supported by various European powers. Nationalist revolts led to
the establishment of independent Serbia (1817) and Greece (1830), and international
agreements in 1878, 1908, and 1913 resulted in the loss of all of the rest of the Ottoman
territories in the Balkans except for a small area along the Sea of Marmara. European
conquests between 1830 and 1912 took all Ottoman territories in North Africa, along with
Cyprus (Britain, 1878). The Ottomans joined the losing alliance in World War I, and the
empire formally came to an end with the peace settlement, which split the new Republic
of Turkey from the Arab territories (See Nov. 1).
6
The CHINESE EMPIRE experienced a steady loss of control within its domain as the
European powers and the United States established spheres of influence. The empire lost
control of Taiwan (1874) and Korea (1885) to Japan and territories in the Pacific
northeast to Russia in 1858–60. The Chinese defeat in the SINO-JAPANESE WAR
(1894–95) showed the weakness of the empire in the face of foreign power. The empire
also experienced a series of major revolts, which weakened its internal power as well.
The Boxer Revolt (1899–1901) showed strong opposition to foreign influence and
reform efforts, but it was crushed by a combined military force of foreign troops. The
empire came to a formal end with the CHINESE REVOLUTION (1911–13), which
forced the abdication of the emperor and the establishment of the Chinese Republic.
7
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Domination, 1800–1914 > d. Spread of Modern Industrialism
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d. Spread of Modern Industrialism
The transformation of societies as a result of the INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION began
in England in the 18th century. The industrialization of society spread from Great Britain
to most of western Europe in the first half of the 19th century and then to the rest of
Europe and, in differing ways, to much of the rest of the world by 1914. Industrialization
developed along with increasing urbanization, growing commercial ties, and
improvements in means of transportation and communication.
1
The IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY was a key to the process of industrialization and
reflects its spread and development in the 19th century. Although ironworking originated
in ancient times, 18th century improvements in production processes of cast iron and
wrought iron made iron a more important product for growing modern industries, and it
became a key to modern industrialization. In 1820, world output of pig iron was about 1
million tons, whereas in 1910, it was almost 65 million tons. The industry was
transformed by new production processes that created steel for many different uses. The
BESSEMER PROCESS (1856) for steel production, developed by Henry Bessemer,
was a key step in this process, followed by the development of open hearth furnaces by
William and Frederick Siemens (1864–68) in Britain and the construction of the first
furnaces for continuous steel production by Benjamin Talbot in Pennsylvania (1899). The
modern iron and steel industry primarily developed in Great Britain, and the British
industry dominated the world markets for many years, with British output of pig iron
exceeding all of the rest of the world's until 1871. However, as global industrialization
occurred, British production of pig iron was surpassed by the United States in 1890,
Germany in 1904, and the Soviet Union in 1931. The greatcoal and iron ore resources of
the United States allowed the American iron and steel industry to become the world's
largest by the early 20th century. However, important steel industries had also begun to
emerge by that time in Japan and China, and in India under the leadership of the TATA
FAMILY.
2
TRANSPORTATION and COMMUNICATION developments were important aspects
of the global processes of industrialization. RAILROADS made bulk transportation
cheaper and easier, and railroad construction played an important role in industrialization.
The first railroads were built in Great Britain in the first quarter of the 19th century, and
3
the first railroad was built in France in 1828. By 1850, rail networks had been
established across western Europe and in the eastern United States. The first railroads
were built in India in the 1850s, and in China and Japan in the 1870s. Great
transcontinental projects were developed late in the 19th century, beginning with the
completion in 1869 of the Union Pacific–Central Pacific line crossing the United States,
and in 1885 with the Canadian Pacific Line extending across the Rocky Mountains to
the Pacific in Canada. Construction of the TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILROAD began in
1891, and the line from Moscow to Vladivostok was completed in 1916, making it the
longest rail line in the world. Other major continental rail schemes were planned but only
partially completed. The Berlin–Baghdad Railroad was an important scheme for the
expansion of German economic influence in the Ottoman Empire, and much of it had
been constructed by 1914. British imperial aspirations in Africa were expressed in the
1889 slogan “Cape-to-Cairo,” which suggested that a band of colonial possessions be
linked by a great railroad system.
CANALS were also important in the transportation systems of emerging industrial
societies; in fact, the construction of two major canals transformed the patterns of global
maritime movements. The SUEZ CANAL, linking the Mediterranean Sea and the Red
Sea (and ultimately the Indian Ocean) was completed in 1869 and reduced the need for
west-east shipping to go around the African continent. It changed military and
commercial shipping patterns and made Egypt a major global strategic location. The
PANAMA CANAL was opened in 1914 and transformed strategic and commercial
shipping in the Western Hemisphere. It joined the Atlantic and Pacific shipping routes in
Central America, eliminating the need to go around South America (or through the Arctic
regions).
4
URBANIZATION accompanied the industrialization of societies, and the proportion of
populations living in cities grew as societies were transformed. At the end of the 18th
century, throughout the world the overwhelming majority of all populations lived outside
of cities. In Great Britain, the proportion of the population living in urban areas was 25
percent in 1831, became more than 50 percent in 1851, and had reached 77 percent by
1901. In Prussia, and then Germany, the transition period was longer, beginning with 26
percent in 1816 and becoming more than 50 percent in 1900, whereas France's
population was still slightly below 50 percent urban at the end of the 19th century. In the
later industrial powers, populations of both Japan and the United States became more
than half urban around 1920, whereas Russia's population remained more rural, only 13
percent urban in 1900.
5
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e. Development of Modern Political Systems
During the 19th century, outside Europe's colonies, states and political systems were
increasingly organized along the lines of nation-states with constitutions rather than as
dynastic sovereign monarchies. The limitation of monarchical power through instituting
constitutional monarchies was an important part of this process. Another important
development was the establishment of republics, with recognition of the need for consent
or participation by the people, as an alternative to monarchies. The development of
nationalist consciousness, the demand for and writing of constitutions as definitions of
new state systems, and the creation of republics were interacting parts of the
transformation of the political context in the Western world, and the spread of these
ideals throughout the world in the 19th century represented important aspects of the
expansion of the West.
1
1789–1917
REVOLUTIONARY TRANSFORMATIONS. The 19th century was marked by major
efforts to transform political systems and societies. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
(See 1792, Sept. 21–1795, Aug. 22), beginning in 1789, was a major starting point,
bringing an end to the old dynastic political system in France and inspiring revolutions
elsewhere. Throughout the century, major episodes of revolution, often beginning in
France, influenced the development of political systems, inducing even conservative
forces to establish constitutional regimes that either established republics or set limits on
the powers of monarchs. REVOLUTIONS OF 1830 AND 1848 (See Revolutions in
Europe, 1848–1852) were especially important times of political change. Major systemdefining revolutions and constitutional reforms transformed the nature of the AustroHungarian Empire in 1848–49 and 1867 and the Russian Empire in 1864, 1905–6, and
finally in 1917. Outside of Europe, such changes took place in the Ottoman Empire in
1839, 1876, and 1908; in Japan in 1868 and 1889; and in China in 1911.
2
1776–1914
NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS. Many of the states of the modern
world were created as a result of revolutions and movements of national liberation
opposing control by large multinational states. These movements exhibited an awareness
of identity as a nation rather than simply being revolts against rule by foreigners. The
AMERICAN REVOLUTION (1776–83) (See 1775–83) ended British control in
thirteen North American colonies and resulted in the creation of the United States. The
new nation consciously identified its political system as a republic, in contrast to the
British monarchy, and defined its political system after achieving independence in a
constitution written by a representative constituent assembly. The American experience
was an important beginning for the combination of nationalism and constitutionalism, and
it contrasted with other late-18th-century revolts against foreign rule, which reflected
essential premodern styles. The revolt of Tupac Amarú in Peru (1780–82) (See
1780–82) was a revolt (by Native American forces, in contrast to later revolts in South
America) against forced labor and Spanish rule. Similarly, the independence of Egypt
from Ottoman rule proclaimed by Ali Bey al-Kabir (r. 1768–73) was an act of a military
commander rather than a nationalist. However, by the early 19th century, a growing
proportion of major revolts represented combinations of nationalism and
constitutionalism.
3
LATIN AMERICAN WARS OF INDEPENDENCE (See Causes) combined efforts to
define independent political life in republican constitutions with growing nationalist
sensitivities. In MEXICO, a peasant revolt led by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and, after
his death in 1811, by José Maria Morelos, led to a declaration of independence in 1813
and promulgation of a constitution in 1814. Attempts to establish an imperial or
constitutional monarchy in 1822–23 under Agustin de Iturbide and Archduke
Maximilian of Austria, with the aid of French troops in 1863–67, were unsuccessful.
Mexico was ruled by a series of presidents who sometimes assumed dictatorial powers
under a succession of republican constitutions. The war with the United States in the
1840s and French intervention in the 1860s helped to strengthen Mexican nationalist
sentiments. The climax of these developments was the Mexican Revolution, which
began in 1911 and overthrew a presidential dictator. The revolutionary constitution of
1917 provided a nationalist and socially radical foundation for 20th-century Mexican
politics. Similar combinations of nationalism, constitutionalism, and republicanism
provided the basis for the rest of the countries in Latin America that gained their
independence from Spain and Portugal in the 19th century. By World War I, all
independent countries in the Western Hemisphere were constitutional republics with
varying degrees of nationalist identity.
4
EUROPEAN NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENTS. In the multinational states
of Europe, many movements of national liberation developed. Some were successful in
5
creating independent states, and most of these state systems were defined by modern
constitutions, but they were more frequently constructed as constitutional monarchies
than as republics. A major factor in the break with the earlier dynastic state systems was
the disruption caused by the French Revolution and NAPOLEON's conquests. In the
conquered territories, Napoleon created new political systems, which, even if they did not
last, overturned political institutions and traditions. In addition, local responses to the
French conquerors gave strong impetus to the development of nationalist sentiments.
Resistance to the French invasion of SPAIN strengthened a sense of national identity.
Leaders of the resistance convened a Cortes, or assembly, in 1810 in Cádiz, and
promulgated the Constitution of 1812, which affirmed the right of the people to
determine the laws within a constitutionally limited monarchy. Although it was never
fully implemented, its radical idealism meant that constitutionalism would be a major
issue throughout modern Spanish history, and it influenced the drafting of constitutions
elsewhere, especially in Latin America. During the 19th century, a sequence of
constitutions and conflicts defined the evolution of the Spanish political system, which
remained basically a constitutional monarchy, with a brief republican period (1873–74)
(See 1873–74). Napoleon's conquests in ITALY resulted in the establishment of shortlived republics in a number of areas. After the defeat of Napoleon, the kingdom of
Sardinia played a leading role in developing the constitutional political system of the
emerging unified Italy. The unification of Italy was completed as a constitutional
monarchy in 1870. PRUSSIA provided a similar basis for the unification of Germany in
1871, with the important development of a constitutional monarchy with strong powers
reserved for the emperor. The conservative German constitution provided a model for
conservative constitutionalists elsewhere and had some influence in the articulation of the
Meiji Constitution of 1889 in Japan. BELGIUM provided another important nationalist,
constitutional experience. In the Napoleonic peace settlement, Belgium was included in
the kingdom of the Netherlands, but a nationalist revolt in 1830 led to Belgium's
independence and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy whose structure
influenced constitutionalists in the Middle East later in the century. OTTOMAN
territories in the Balkans also experienced nationalist revolts. Serbia began a successful
revolt in 1804 and gradually expanded its territories and independence throughout the
century, becoming an internationally recognized constitutional monarchy in 1882.
Greece had a successful war for independence (1821–29) and emerged as a constitutional
monarchy as well.
GLOBAL CONSTITUTIONAL MOVEMENTS. In major states outside of Europe,
there were significant efforts to create constitutional regimes. In the OTTOMAN
EMPIRE, constitutionalists succeeded in getting the promulgation of a constitution in
1876, although it was quickly suspended by the sultan, Abdul Hamid II, and was not
fully put into force until the Young Turk Revolution 1908. In PERSIA, nationalists and
liberals combined to force the shah to promulgate a constitution in 1906. In JAPAN, the
Meiji Constitution of 1889 defined the political framework for the modernization efforts
6
of the Japanese Empire. In CHINA, reform efforts were weak, and it was only with the
revolution of 1911 and the establishment of the Chinese Republic that China promulgated
a constitution.
Constitutions, revolutions, and republics throughout the globe by the time of World
War I showed the spread of European political models in the 19th century.
7
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f. Cultural Patterns
European cultural influence spread less rapidly than its diplomatic, economic, and
political influence. Christian missions fanned out to Asia and Africa in the late 19th
century, from both western Europe and the United States. Only small minorities of Asians
converted, but in some Pacific islands the impact was greater. A larger minority of
Africans began to be attracted to Christianity by 1900.
1
The influence of European secular culture was in many ways greater. European
nationalism helped shape nationalist movements in Latin America, in the Arab lands and
Turkey, and in India. European sports, like English soccer football, began to spread
widely around 1900, as did new cultural technologies such as filmmaking. European
science gained attention from intellectuals in various parts of Asia and Latin America,
although Europe and the United States essentially shared innovation in science and
technology (See Technological Developments, 1800–1914). Contacts with other parts
of the world also affected European culture; visual artists, particularly, gained
inspiration from African and East Asian artistic traditions.
2
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Global International and Economic Relations, 1860–1914
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2. Intensifications of Global International and Economic Relations,
1860–1914
The period was characterized by the domination of global international relations by
European powers. By the same token, world diplomacy took on new meaning, as
clashes in various parts of the world led to negotiations and alliances, sometimes
including non-European powers as well. International conferences, dominated by the
European great powers, periodically tried to resolve disputes in the Balkans, Africa, the
Middle East, and elsewhere; conference diplomacy on a world scale was another
important diplomatic innovation. European negotiations also formulated some new
international agreements concerning the conduct of war, international law, and global
facilities such as postal service. Finally, the intensification of global relations also
included growing international commerce, dominated by Europe and the United States
but with growing impact on local economies almost everywhere.
1
a. International Agreements
During the second half of the 19th century, not only governments but also private
organizations formed a growing number of international arrangements. Most of these
centered on pacts among European countries, but North America and to some extent
other areas were drawn in.
2
1851
International commercial exhibit at London's new Crystal Palace, the first of a regular
series of international exhibitions stretching into the 20th century. Major subsequent
world's fairs, to 1914: Paris, 1855; Philadelphia, 1876; Sydney, 1879–80; New Orleans,
1884; Antwerp, 1885; Paris, 1889; Chicago, 1893; Budapest, 1896; Brussels, 1897;
Paris, 1900; St. Louis, 1904.
3
The International Statistical Congress began meeting to standardize statistical practices
of the European governments.
4
1863
An informal committee met to prepare rights for neutral parties to aid the wounded
during wars. The RED CROSS was created as a voluntary, noncombatant organization
to assist the wounded. The International Committee of the Red Cross was established in
Geneva. The 1864 GENEVA CONVENTION was drafted to establish rules for the
treatment of prisoners of war.
5
1864
Karl Marx organized the International Workingman's Association in London. It
collapsed amid internal divisions in 1876.
6
1865
International Telegraphic Union.
7
1873
International Meteorological Organization.
8
1874
Universal Postal Union set up regulations for international postal delivery.
9
1889
The Second International, a loose federation of unions and socialist parties from
Europe and North America, was formed in Paris.
10
1896
The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, reviving the classical Greek
Olympic tradition on a potentially worldwide basis. It was held every four years until
World War I, with participation from Europe, North America, and British Dominions.
11
1899 and 1907
Hague Conferences set up Permanent Court of Arbitration (See 1899, May 18–July 29).
12
1904
Fédération Internationale de Football Associations—an international body to coordinate
soccer (association) football.
13
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b. The Redefinition of the World Economy
Throughout most of the 19th century, the amount and importance of international
trade increased steadily. The lead of Great Britain and then other parts of western Europe
and the United States in industrialization heightened the economic imbalance in
international trade. Western nations dominated complex manufacturing, shipping, and the
great commercial companies; many other areas traded at considerable disadvantage.
Western insistence on opening all regions to their trade led to the Opium War with China
and the intimidation of Japan.
1
During the first half of the 19th century, British industrial (particularly textile) exports
flooded markets in parts of Europe, Latin America, and India. The result was massive
deindustrialization of traditional textile producers. Tens of thousands of women
weavers and spinners were displaced in Latin America. Hundreds of thousands lost work
in India.
2
Western entrepreneurs and skilled workers set up some pilot factories in different parts
of the world. In 1843 British textile machinery was imported to Russia. Westerners also
set up steamship services on rivers (1820, Volga River) and railroads (1838, Cuba,
Havana to Guines; 1851, Russia, St. Petersburg to Moscow) in Russia, Latin America,
and elsewhere. These developments did not lead to more general industrialization.
3
Western industrialization also spurred the production of commercial crops and products
in other parts of the world. Brazil expanded sugar and coffee production, importing steam
engines for processing (1815, first steam-driven sugar mill in Brazil). Nomadic herders in
eastern Turkey were pressed by British and French agents to increase production of raw
wool. Economic reforms in Egypt included rapid expansion of cotton production,
encouraged by Britain. The spread of cotton plantations and ginning in the American
South was part of this process.
4
New shipping technology developed around the mid-19th century. The first transatlantic
steamer (the Savannah, 1818) sailed from Liverpool to Boston but ran out of coal,
finishing by sail; the first full Atlantic steam crossing was achieved by the British-built
Dutch Curaçao, 1827. In 1840, regular transatlantic steamship service began with the
Cunard line (founded by Samuel Cunard, 1787–1865) and its four steamships. In 1848,
5
10 million tons of goods were handled by oceanic sailing ships, and only 750,000 tons in
steamships. Expansion from 1850 was rapid, with many Western nations establishing
steamship lines. The Suez Canal, and later, the Panama Canal, furthered this trend.
Underwater telegraph cables connected England and Europe, 1851; England and the
United States, 1866; England and India, 1870; England and Australia, 1871.
Communication time was cut from several weeks to literally minutes. In 1891, the first
underwater long-distance telephone cable linked England and France.
6
Growing international economic links triggered the first modern economic depression,
in 1856–57. Induced by several bank failures in the United States, rather than by bad
harvests (the traditional cause), the brief but sharp slump spread throughout western
Europe. Depressions in the mid-1870s and thereafter had international ramifications,
particularly among the industrial nations.
7
After 1870 the global impact of the industrial West increased. A growing number of areas
and a growing portion of the economies of these areas were pressed to provide low-cost
exports, while importing from Europe and the United States more advanced equipment
(including rail lines and rolling stock) and certain luxury goods (such as French fashions).
In Latin America, the expansion of coffee production, cultivation of hemp and
manufacture of rope in the Yucatán (Mexico), the growth of Peruvian guano output for
fertilizer, the spread of foreign-owned copper mines in Chile, and the development (often
foreign owned) of tropical fruit production in Central America are all examples of this
expansion. Established sectors like sugar and tobacco also grew. More land and more
workers were involved in this commercial export sector. On the other side of this
equation, by 1910, 57 percent of Mexican importsinvolved Western-made equipment.
Western appetites for Middle Eastern rugs caused the expansion of this traditional
industry in the Ottoman Empire, involving thousands of new workers. By the 1890s some
factories were established to make cheap carpets, with a mixture of Western and Ottoman
ownership. The expansion of Japanese silk production, with low-paid women workers, fit
Japan into the export economy while providing earnings to purchase equipment. By the
1890s Africa was beginning to be drawn into the network, with expansion of mines in
South Africa and the Belgian Congo. But the main impact on African agriculture came
after 1914.
8
Western companies also began to set up manufacturing branches in various parts of
the world. Some French textile firms had branch operations in Rhode Island and Latin
America by the 1830s. Again, the pattern expanded after 1870. Singer sewing machine
company, of the United States, set up factories in many countries, including Russia.
German electrical and chemical producers, American agricultural equipment producers,
and other companies did the same. Operations of this sort, going beyond trade to actual
manufacture, constituted the origins of the modern multinational corporation.
9
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
c. International Diplomacy
European conflicts over spheres of influence in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East and
efforts by non-European states to maintain at least some degree of independence were the
central ingredients in international relations between 1870 and 1914.
1
1869
OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL reoriented imperial strategic thinking and gave
added importance to the Ottoman Empire in international diplomacy.
2
1871
Conference of London redefined Russian rights in the Black Sea.
3
1875–78
Insurrections in Bosnia and Bulgaria (See July–1876, May) led to Ottoman intervention
and diplomatic tensions involving Russia and Austria. Negotiations between these two
powers were supplemented by international conferences. In Dec. 1876, the
Constantinople Conference featured British efforts to negotiate a Balkan settlement, but
the Ottoman leaders rejected all proposals. Russia declared war on the Ottomans in 1877,
which roused British opposition (eager to protect the region from any great-power
dominance that might threaten its route to India) and German attempts to prevent a more
general conflagration. This led to Bismarck's arranging of the Berlin Congress (June
13–July 13, 1878) (See July 13), the first great international settlement conference in
the new imperialist age. The conference rearranged control of the Balkans, granted
Russia territory in Central Asia, gave France the green light to take over Tunisia, and
4
granted Cyprus to Britain. Most European powers gained, in sum, at the expense of the
Ottoman Empire.
1882, July 11
Bombardment of Alexandria, Egypt, by the British fleet.
5
Sept. 13
Defeat of the Egyptians by the British in the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir. British occupation
of Egypt (See 1882, Sept).
6
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Science and Technology)
3. Technological Developments, 1800–1914
Major technological innovations originated in Europe and North America. Although
industrialization owed much to new inventions, the early stages (to the 1840s) were
fueled more by the tinkerings of inventors and craftspeople than by scientists. The late
19th century witnessed the marriage of science and industry that continues to this day.
The development of technology, no longer strictly the realm of independent inventors,
was guided and financed by companies searching for new products, resulting in the
burgeoning chemical and petrochemical industries. At the same time, technology
became a part of everyday life, made the world a smaller place, and became a more
important force in shaping European and world events.
1
The major achievements in technology included:
2
a. Energy and Power Sources
1800
The galvanic cell, or Voltaic pile, of Alessandro Volta (1745–1827) was the first
electric battery (converting chemical energy into electrical energy).
3
1802
Richard Trevithick (1771–1833) built the first high-pressure steam engine, although
the American Oliver Evans (1755–1819) had patented one in the United States in 1797.
Other advances in steam engine technology included the compound engine (adding a
high-pressure cylinder to the original Watt engine) by William McNaught (1813–81) in
1845.
4
1806
First gas lighting of cotton mills. Improvements made in production and distribution of
gas as heat source (Bunsen burner, 1855) and for illumination (Welsbach gas mantle,
1885).
5
1827
Benoit Fourneyron (1802–67) developed the water turbine.
6
1832
The first mechanical generation of electricity by Hippolyte Pixii. Major improvements
in electric generators followed: the improved armature (1856) designed by Werner
von Siemens (1816–92); and the ring armature (1870) of Zénobe T. Gramme
(1826–1901), which represented the first practical dynamo.
7
1854
Abraham Gesner (1797–1864) manufactured kerosene.
8
1859
William M. J. Rankine (1820–72) published the first comprehensive manual of the
steam engine. The steam engine stimulated theoretical studies in thermodynamics by
Clapeyron, Clausius, Joule, Lord Kelvin, and Gibbs.
9
1859
Edwin L. Drake (1819–80) drilled the first oil well in Titusville, Pa., opening up the
Pennsylvania oil field and starting the large-scale commercial exploitation of petroleum.
First oil pipeline (two-inch diameter, six miles long) constructed 1865 in Pennsylvania.
10
1876
Nicholas August Otto (1832–91) built the first practical gas engine, working upon the
so-called Otto cycle, which is now almost universally employed for all internal
combustion engines. Otto's work was based upon previous engines of Étienne Lenoir
(1822–1900) and Alphonse Beau de Rochas (1815–91). The Otto cycle was employed
in the gasoline engine patented (1885) by Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900).
11
1882
The Pearl Street (New York City) electric generating station, a pioneer central power
station designed by Thomas A. Edison (1847–1931), commenced operations a few
months after Edison dynamos had been installed at Holborn Viaduct Station in England.
12
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b. Materials and Construction
1800
Pioneer suspension bridge, hung by iron chains, built by James Finley (c. 1762–1828)
in Pennsylvania; wire suspension employed by Marc Seguin (1786–1875) in bridge
near Lyons (1825). An American, Ithiel Town (1784–1844), patented his truss bridge
(1820).
1
1817–25
Building of the Erie Canal, the first great American civil engineering work.
2
1818
The Institute of Civil Engineers (London), the first professional engineering society,
founded.
3
Marc Isambard Brunel (1769–1849) patented the cast iron tunnel shield; Thomas
Cochrane (1830) used this shield to construct foundations on marshy ground.
4
1824
Joseph Aspdin (1779–1855) patented Portland cement, a hydraulic cement
(impervious to water) as durable as that employed by the Romans.
1827
5
Gay-Lussac tower introduced in manufacture of sulfuric acid, largely replacing John
Roebuck's lead-chamber process (1746). Herman Frasch (1851–1914) developed
process (1891) for mining sulfur (by superheated water and pumping to the surface).
6
1836
Galvanized iron introduced by Sorel in France. Galvanized fencing and barbed wire (c.
1880) helped to fence off large tracts of cattle land in the American West during the
latter part of the 19th century.
7
1839
Charles Goodyear (1800–60) vulcanized rubber. Although introduced into Europe in
1615, rubber had not been commercially successful until a solvent for the latex was
found (1765); bonding of rubber to cloth to produce raincoats (macintoshes) had been
developed (1824) by Charles Macintosh (1766–1843).
8
1855
John A. Roebling (1806–69) completed wire cable bridge at Niagara, N.Y.; Roebling
utilized this same method for the Brooklyn Bridge (completed by his son, W. A.
Roebling, in 1883), and it became standard construction technique for all great
suspension bridges.
9
1856
Henry Bessemer (1813–98) perfected the technique (Bessemer process) for converting
pig iron into steel by directing an air blast upon the molten metal.
10
1856
Mauve, first of the aniline (coal-tar) dyes, discovered by William H. Perkin
(1838–1907). Beginning of the synthetic dye industry, which was to develop greatly in
Germany.
11
1861
Ernest Solvay (1838–1922) patented the Solvay ammonia process for the manufacture
of soda.
12
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c. Machines and Industrial Techniques
1800
Eli Whitney (1765–1825) was credited with the introduction of interchangeable parts
for manufacturing muskets. The work of Simeon North (1765–1852) on uniform parts
was, in fact, more decisive. Although it had European precedents, the system of
interchangeable parts became known as “the American system” because it was most
fully exploited in the United States and became the foundation of the mass production
characteristic of American industry at a later date.
1
1801
Joseph M. Jacquard (1752–1834) invented a loom for figured silk fabrics, later
introduced into the making of worsteds. William Horrocks (1776–1849) developed the
power loom (1813), improved (1822) by Richard Roberts (1789–1864). Machine
combing of wool (1845) and ring spinning frame (1830) developed; the Brussels power
loom invented by Erastus B. Bigelow (1814–79) of Massachusetts for the weaving of
carpets (1845); and the loom invented by J. H. Northrop of Massachusetts (1892), which
was almost completely automatic.
2
1810
Friedrich Koenig's (1774–1833) power-driven press in use, followed by the flatbed
press (1811). Other developments leading to mass production of printed matter,
especially newspapers, were the rotary press of Robert Hoe (1846) and the web printing
press, allowing for printing on a continuous roll (web) of paper by a rotary press,
invented (1865) by William A. Bullock. In 1885 the Linotype of Ottmar Mergenthaler
(1854–99) replaced Monotype.
3
1823–43
Charles Babbage (1792–1871) attempted to build calculating machines (following the
lead of Thomas de Colmar, who built the first practical calculating machine in 1820);
Babbage's machines were never completed, being too advanced for the technology of the
time, but his theories formed a basis for later work in this field.
4
1830
Joseph Whitworth (1803–87) developed the standard screw gauge and a machine to
measure one-millionth of an inch, for standards. Made possible more precise machine
tools for planing, gear cutting, and milling.
5
1837 Ff
Rapid development of armament, keeping pace with improvements in metallurgy,
machines, and explosives: Henri J. Paixhans's (1783–1854) shell-gun, adopted by
France, 1837; rifled, breech-loading artillery used by Piedmont, 1845; the French '75, the
first quick-firing artillery piece, firing both shrapnel and high explosive, 1898; the cast
steel breech-loading Prussian artillery manufactured by the Krupps beginning in 1849.
Small arms included the Colt revolver (1835), the Dreyse needle-gun (1841), the Minié
bullet (1849), the Winchester repeating rifle (1860), the Gatling machine gun (1861), the
French chassepot (1866), and the Maxim gun (1884). The self-propelled torpedo was
invented by Robert Whitehead (1823–1905) in 1864; smokeless powder appeared in
1884.
6
1839
Steam hammer invented by James Nasmyth (1808–90). Also developments in drogforging and die stamping at this time.
1846
7
Elias Howe (1819–67) invented the lockstitch sewing machine; in 1851 Isaac M.
Singer (1811–75) invented the first practical domestic sewing machine. This became the
first major consumer appliance, soon followed by the carpet sweeper of M. R. Bissell
(1876), and the vacuum cleaner (I. W. McGaffey, 1869; J. Thurman, 1899).
8
1849–54
Exploiting the increasing accuracy of machine tools, Samuel Colt (1814–62) and Elisha
Root (1808–65) developed a practical system for manufacturing interchangeable parts,
especially in connection with Colt's revolver.
9
1855
Development of turret lathe by American machine tool makers. First true universal
milling machine designed (1862) by Joseph R. Brown (1810–76). Other machine tool
improvements included Mushet's tool steel, increasing the cutting speed (high-speed tool
steel, 1898, by Taylor and White), gearbox mechanisms for better control, multiplespindle lathes (1890), and tungsten carbide tools (1926).
10
1873
First use of electricity to drive machinery, Vienna. Quickly adopted, usually with the
motor incorporated into the machine rather than separate.
11
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d. Agricultural Production and Food Technology
1801
Franz K. Achard (1753–1821) built the first sugar-beet factory (Silesia). Sugar-beet
cultivation and beet-sugar industry developed primarily in France and Germany.
1
1810
Nicolas Appert (c. 1750–1840) described system for food preservation by canning,
using glass jars. Tin cans introduced 1811.
2
1834
Cyrus H. McCormick (1809–84) patented his reaper and began commercial
manufacture c. 1840. Obed Hussey (1792–1860) invented a similar reaper
simultaneously and independently.
3
1837
John Deere (1804–86) introduced the steel plow. In 1819 Jethro Wood (1774–1834)
had developed a cast iron plow; and John Lane had introduced a steel-blade plowshare in
1833. James Oliver's (1823–1908) chilled plow of 1855 was improved by the Marsh
brothers (1857). Mechanical power was applied to plowing with the introduction of
cable plowing (1850); by 1858 John Fowler had introduced the steam plow.
1850–80
4
Improvements in farm implements included the revolving disc harrow (1847), binder
(1850), corn planter (1853), two-horse straddle-row cultivator (1856), combine harvester
(1860), combine seed drill (1867), and sheaf-binding harvester (1878).
5
1860
Gail Borden (1801–74) opened the first factory for the production of evaporated milk.
6
1861
After Louis Pasteur's work on microorganisms, pasteurization was introduced as a
means of preserving beer, wine, and milk.
7
1865 Ff
Development of mechanical refrigeration for preservation of food products, especially
Thaddeus Lowe's (1832–1913) compression ice machine (1865) and Linde's ammonia
compression refrigerator (1873).
8
1869 Ff
Transcontinental railway aided development of meat-packing industry in Chicago.
9
1877
Gustav de Laval (1845–1913) invented the centrifugal cream separator.
1880 Ff
10
Application of chemical fertilizers increased food production. J. B. Lawes
manufactured superphosphates (1842); Chilean sodium nitrate beds exploited from c.
1870 until methods of fixing atmospheric nitrogen were developed after 1900 by Fritz
Haber (1868–1934); use of potash as an inorganic fertilizer from Strassfurt deposits.
11
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e. Transportation and Communication
1802
Richard Trevithick (1771–1833) patented a steam carriage; earlier attempts to use
steam power for transport purposes had been made by Nicolas Cugnot in France (1769),
William Murdock in England (1785), and Oliver Evans in the United States. In 1804
Trevithick designed and built a locomotive to run on rails.
1
1807
Robert Fulton (1765–1815) sailed the Clermont from New York to Albany. This was
by no means the first steamboat: the Marquis Claude de Jouffroy d'Abbans (1751–1832)
had built a paddle-wheel steamer in France (1783); John Fitch (1743–98) had launched a
steamboat on the Delaware (1787), and James Rumsey (1743–92) one on the Potomac
(1787); John Stevens (1749–1838) had designed a successful screw-propeller steamboat
(1802). However, Fulton's boat was the first steamboat to represent a commercial
success. By 1819 steam augmented sail on the first transatlantic steamship crossing,
achieved by the Savannah.
2
1814
George Stephenson (1781–1848) built his first locomotive, and in 1829 his Rocket,
designed with the aid of his son Robert (1803–59), won a competition with locomotives
of other design and thereby set the pattern for future locomotive developments.
3
1825
Opening of the Stockton-Darlington Railway, the first successful railroad system,
4
using a steam engine built by Stephenson. In 1829 the first railroads were opened in the
United States (Pennsylvania) and France (Lyons–St. Étienne), both employing Englishbuilt locomotives. The first American locomotive was built (1830) by Peter Cooper
(1791–1883).
1837
Charles Wheatstone (1802–75) and William F. Cooke (1806–79) patented the
telegraph, which was also independently invented by the American Samuel F. B.
Morse (1791–1872), whose telegraphic code was universally adopted. By 1866, Cyrus
W. Field (1819–92) succeeded in laying a transatlantic cable, after two previous
failures and after overcoming tremendous financial and technical difficulties.
5
1839
Louis J. M. Daguerre (1787–1851) evolved the daguerreotype photographic process,
based on the work of Joseph Nicéphore Niepce (1765–1833). Although William H. F.
Talbot (1800–77) produced paper positives (1841), the first fully practical medium for
photography was the wet collodion plate process (1851) of Frederick S. Archer
(1813–57).
6
1860
Construction began on the London underground railway system, which was electrified
in 1905. Construction began on the Paris métro in 1898, and on the New York City
subway in 1900.
7
1864
George M. Pullman (1831–97) built the first sleeping car, specially constructed for
that purpose.
1867
8
Ernest Michaux invented the velocipede, the first bicycle to put cranks and pedals
directly on the front wheel; the “safety” bicycle with geared chain drive to the rear wheel
was introduced in 1885.
9
1869
Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads met to complete the first transcontinental
line in America. The Trans-Siberian Railway was begun in 1891.
10
1869
Opening of the Suez Canal, the work of the French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps
(1805–94).
11
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4. Polar Explorations
THE ARCTIC REGIONS (MAP)
TERRITORAL CLAIMS IN THE ANTARCTIC, 1965 (MAP)
a. Early Explorations
Scandinavian: c. 870: Ottar, a Norseman, sailed along the northern Norwegian coast;
875–900: Iceland was colonized; 982–85: Eric the Red founded colony in Greenland;
1194: Spitsbergen discovered.
1
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b. Early Modern European Expeditions
1553–54
Sir Hugh Willoughby and Richard Chancellor travel to Kola Peninsula.
1
1576
Sir Martin Frobisher sought the Northwest Passage in northern Canada.
2
1585–87
John Davis sought the Northwest Passage in northern Canada.
3
1594–97
Three voyages of Willem Barents and Cornelis Nay in northern Russia, exploring
islands and routes in region of Barents Sea.
4
1607–11
Voyages of HENRY HUDSON, searching for Northwest Passage and exploring
northern Canada.
1610–48
5
Russian Cossacks conquered Siberia and explored north coasts and major Arctic rivers.
6
1670
Hudson's Bay Company was granted royal charter for trade in North America and
began explorations of Arctic areas.
7
1728–41
Voyages of VITRUS BERING to explore north Pacific basin and Bering Strait regions.
8
1732–43
Russian government survey of the whole Siberian coast.
9
1738–39
Pierre Bouvet sighted land south of Capetown in an expedition to prove or disprove the
existence of an Antarctic continent.
10
1772–75
CAPT. JAMES COOK's second voyage of Pacific exploration circumnavigated
Antarctica for the first time, farthest southern penetration to that time.
11
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c. 19th-Century Explorations
1806
William Scoresby reached a record north and wrote the influential Account of the Arctic
Regions.
1
1818
Twin expedition of John Ross and Edward Parry to Baffin Bay.
2
1819–26
John Franklin's land explorations of northern Canada.
3
1820–23
Baron Wrangel's explorations of Siberia.
4
1821–23
Edward Parry's second expedition.
5
1824
Parry's third expedition, seeking a northern sea passage around North America.
6
1827
Parry set record north, departing from Spitsbergen.
7
1829–33
John Ross and his nephew, James Clark Ross, explored northern Canada, and James
Ross located north magnetic pole in 1831.
8
1841–43
JAMES CLARK ROSS explored Antarctic coasts and islands, claiming large areas for
Great Britain, and set a record south that lasted for 60 years.
9
1845–48
The expedition of SIR JOHN FRANKLIN completed the discovery of the full
Northwest Passage, but all members of the expedition perished.
10
1848–59
Franklin Relief Expeditions finally discovered the fate of the Franklin group and also
discovered and mapped significant portions of regions in North America.
11
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d. 20th-Century Explorations
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d. 20th-Century Explorations
1902–4
ROBERT F. SCOTT led a major Antarctic expedition, accomplishing significant
discoveries and a record south.
1
1903–6
Roald Amundsen first sailed the complete Northwest Passage.
2
1907–9
Expeditions by F. A. Cook and Robert E. Peary each claimed to have reached the
NORTH POLE, although it is possible that neither actually accomplished this.
3
1907–9
Ernest Shackleton led an Antarctic expedition that surpassed Scott's records and
reached the south magnetic pole.
4
1910–12
ROALD AMUNDSEN discovered the South Pole, on which he placed the Norwegian
flag in 1911.
5
1910–13
Scott's last expedition reached the South Pole in 1912, but the whole party died in a
blizzard.
6
1917
Danish–U.S. treaty strengthened Danish claims to Greenland by ceding Virgin Islands
to the United States in settlement of U.S. claims resulting from Peary's expeditions.
7
1918–25
Amundsen and H. Sverdrup navigated the Northeast Passage and spent an extended
period in planned drift over the North Pole.
8
1924
Greenland became a Danish crown colony following Danish agreements with Norway
and Great Britain.
9
1925
Spitsbergen came under the sovereignty of Norway.
10
1926
Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett were the first to fly over the North Pole.
11
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B. The French Revolution and Europe, 1789–1914
1. Overview
Periodization. Basic trends in Europe's modern history began in the 1780s with the first
phase of the Industrial Revolution in Britain and with the political and social
revolution of 1789 in France. The advent of World War I in 1914 drew this tumultuous
modern period to a close.
1
During the years 1789–1815, Europe was dominated by the French Revolution and
related reform movements elsewhere, culminating in several revolutionary wars and the
Napoleonic Wars. During the next period, 1815–48, efforts to return to more conservative
politics were progressively undermined by the political movements and doctrines tossed
up by the French Revolution (liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, and early socialism)
and by social unrest provoked by increasing commercialization and the beginning phases
of industrialization. This period culminated in the widespread revolutions of 1848–49.
These revolutions produced important changes, but their failures also altered European
politics, as both conservatives and liberals began to develop new tactics. Between 1850
and 1914, European industrialization advanced, with a growing array of social and
cultural, as well as economic, effects. Debates about constitutional structure began to be
resolved, but pressures for new government policies to address social issues increased.
Diplomacy and war assumed more importance than they had during 1815–48, as
governments put their new industrially produced weaponry to use and sought in
diplomacy a reduction of political disputes.
2
Regional as well as purely national differences marked Europe during the 19th century.
Russia and eastern Europe participated widely in cultural trends and diplomatic
engagements, but their political forms and above all their social and economic structures
differed markedly from those of western Europe. By 1850, Russia had experienced little
significant liberal pressure, while its social structure, predominantly rural, featured
divisions between aristocrats and serfs. Russia's early industrialization and growing
political turmoil from the 1880s onward thus resembled patterns in western Europe
almost a century before, rather than contemporaneous developments. The Balkans
formed another region with distinct economic and political issues, while in western
3
Europe, Spain, southern Italy, and Ireland participated only partially in many general
trends.
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(See 1787)
2. The French Revolution, 1789–1799
The period of the French Revolution and French Empire can be divided into several
subperiods based on political regime and relationship to the rest of Europe. (1) Estates
General and Constituent Assembly, May 1789–Sept. 1791. Formative period, leading
toward constitutional monarchy. (2) Legislative Assembly, Oct. 1791–Sept. 1792. New
lower-class unrest; beginnings of foreign wars. (3) National Convention, Sept.
1792–Oct. 1795. Most radical phase of revolution: end of monarchy, new constitutional
measures, and growing impact outside France. (4) Directory, Oct. 1795–Nov. 1799.
Undid the most radical measures; consolidation efforts. (5) Consulate, Dec. 1799–May
1804. Napoleon's coup led to one-man rule though nominally republican forms. New
wars. (6) Empire, May 1804–June 1815. Napoleon installed new regime, consolidated
some revolutionary gains, concentrated on wars. Major period of change in other parts of
Europe.
1
a. Causes of the Revolution
(1) Intellectual currents of the Enlightenment proposed governments based on contracts
or constitutions rather than divine authority. Such ideas were discussed in the salons
organized by women in Paris and by the philosophes (reform-minded intellectuals)
surrounding Diderot's encyclopedia. (2) Economic developments expanded a middle class
that, although often involved in the royal bureaucracy, had little access to formal politics.
This middle class was concerned with obstructions to economic development and
commerce, such as the guild system, internal tariffs, and the lack of common weights and
measures and adequate roles for professionals. (3) A social contest had developed
between the emerging middle class (especially the bureaucracy) and the old aristocracy.
The aristocracy had many privileges, including exemption from many of the taxes levied
against the middle classes. After 1750 the aristocracy discouraged middle-class entry and
increased its own monopoly over upper church offices (the aristocratic resurgence,
probably a response to population growth, which angered the middle class). At the same
2
time, these aristocratic landowners attempted to collect their full manorial rights from a
peasantry already heavily burdened by taxes. Although most peasants were free, many
had little land, and surviving manorial dues were galling. (4) A financial crisis within the
government resulted from an increasing deficit. This deficit was the result of costly wars
of territorial aggression in the 17th and 18th centuries and was worsened by the policy of
selling offices, with tax-exempt status, to raise additional revenues. When the king and
his advisers tried to levy new taxes through parlement, they were forced to call the
Estates General. (5) Revolution was triggered by efforts by the aristocracy to wring
concessions from the king (Assembly of Notables, 1787), and bad harvests and
unemployment (1787–88) helped stir urban and rural rioters.
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b. The National Assembly
1789, May 5
Estates General met at Versailles with double representation of the third estate
(representing the middle class): nobles 300, clergy 300, commons 600. Necker, the
king's financial adviser, announced that voting would be by order, not by head, thus
eliminating the third estate's advantage. Acting on a motion by Abbé Sieyès (author of
What Is the Third Estate?), the third estate assumed the title of the National Assembly
(June 17) and invited other orders to join them.
1
June 20
Tennis Court Oath. The king suspended meetings of the Estates General for three days
and closed the hall. Members met at a neighboring tennis court and took an oath not to
separate until they had given the realm a constitution.
2
June 23
The king ordered each estate to meet separately, but deputies refused. Most of the clergy
and many of the nobles joined the assembly—prompting the king to order the rumps of
the first and second estates to join the assembly (June 27). He dismissed Necker (July
11) and concentrated troops near Paris, which led to the attack on the Bastille.
3
July 14
STORMING OF THE BASTILLE. A mob in Paris attacked the prison although most
prisoners had already been removed. Aided by deserters from the French Royal Guard
(incorporated into the Parisian National Guard in Aug.), they captured and killed the
4
governor, Jordan de Launay. Louis ordered troops out of Paris, and the Parisian electors
formed a commune, with Lafayette commanding the National Guard and Bailly elected
mayor. Adoption of tricolor: blue and red for Paris, and white for France. Necker was
recalled (July 17). Beginning of emigration of nobles (émigrés).
Rising of the peasants against the manorial lords in Dauphiné, Provence, Burgundy,
and throughout France. This grande peur (great fear) was not systematically spread from
Paris but occurred sporadically as a series of mass movements with numerous centers.
Riots, provisional governments, guards in the provincial cities.
5
Aug. 4
Surrender of feudal rights by representatives of the nobility. The radical nature of this
act was undermined by provisions for the gradual elimination of these rights and
compensation for the owners (in most cases it was never paid): abolition of titles,
prohibition of the sale of offices, dissolution of the guilds, and so on.
6
Aug. 27
DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND CITIZEN, based on English
and American precedents, guaranteed to citizens the rights of liberty, equality, security,
and property. This provision limited explicit protection to males in every phase of the
Revolution and resulted in Marie-Olympe de Gouges's publishing of her Declaration of
the Rights of Women (1791). These declarations stated that the aim of society was
public happiness.
7
Oct. 5–6
MARCH TO VERSAILLES. Popular riots in Paris, caused by hunger and rumors of an
intended reaction against the Revolution, resulted in a march of a band, consisting
mostly of women, to Versailles. Lafayette rescued the royal family, but the band forced
the king's return to Paris.
8
The political clubs had existed since early 1789 but were growing in power. The
Jacobins, enjoying a wide democratic base and led by Maximilien Robespierre,
became a growing power in the state. The Cordeliers, more radical than the Jacobins,
were led by Georges Jacques Danton, Jean Paul Marat, Camille Desmoulins, and
Jacques Hébert. The Feuillants, moderate monarchists including Lafayette and Bailly,
had separated from the Jacobins.
9
As the assembly debated a new constitution for a liberal monarchy (adopted in 1791), it
tried to address the fiscal crisis by declaring church lands public property and issuing
assignats (government notes) on their value. Because assignats were frequently
overissued, recurrent inflation resulted. On July 12, 1790, Civil Constitution of the
Clergy placed bishops and priests as well as church income under government control.
Fewer than half of all priests declared loyalty to the government, and in 1791 the pope
denounced it, setting up a long battle between revolutionaries and much of the Catholic
Church.
10
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c. The Legislative Assembly
1791, Oct. 1–1792, Sept. 21
The legislative assembly, with 745 members, represented primarily the middle class.
Parties: (1) The Right became weaker almost daily; (2) the Left comprised the majority
and consisted of (a) the Plain, an unorganized group of moderate republicans and
monarchists, which was swayed by (b) the Girondists, who advocated the establishment
of a form of a federal republic and included the brilliant orators Guadet, Vergniaud, and
Brissot; and (c) the Mountain, which drew its strength from the Jacobin and Cordelier
clubs. Although the divisions between the last two did not attain their clearest form until
the Convention, their beginnings were evident in the assembly.
1
The poor harvest of 1791 and rising grain prices, worsened by distribution problems
and increased demands as the result of the war, caused growing unrest and riots in Paris.
Abolition of religious orders and elimination of the tithe also led to problems in
administering poor relief.
2
1792, March 20–25
Guillotine accepted as form of execution. First used on April 25, the guillotine
symbolized the leveling between classes during the Revolution by eliminating the
previous distinction between the execution of elites (beheading) and commoners
(hanging). The guillotine was often portrayed as a “feminine” form of execution, and
bourgeois males were expected to demonstrate superiority by embracing death without
displaying emotion at their executions.
3
1792–97
WAR OF THE FIRST COALITION. The French interpreted the Declaration of Pillnitz
as a bald threat of interference and issued ultimatums against Leopold II and Francis II.
4
1792, April 20
France declared war against Austria. The French suffered reverses, and allied armies
captured Verdun (Sept. 1). The Prussians were finally defeated at the Battle of Valmy
(Sept. 20), which gave heart to the revolutionary armies.
5
Aug. 10
Popular demonstrations and the storming of the Tuileries led to the suspension of
functions of the monarchy. The assembly voted to enact all legislation vetoed by the
king, who was confined to the Temple (old house of the Knights Templar). The assembly
also voted to call a convention elected by universal male suffrage to enact a new
constitution. In the meantime, the government was controlled by the Provisional
Executive Council (headed by Danton) and the Paris Commune.
6
Sept. 2–7
September Massacres occurred at Paris as the result of news of the siege of Verdun.
Suspects were taken from the prisons and executed by the mob after being tried by hastily
improvised tribunals. Similar scenes were enacted at Versailles, Lyons, Rheims, Meaux,
and Orléans.
7
Sept. 9–16
Suspension of free trade on grain. Provisions provided for requisitioning for the army
and civil authorities. Amnesty was given to individuals arrested for agitation over grain.
8
Sept. 20
Divorce was legalized, and the state assumed responsibility for recording marriages,
births, and deaths, which was formerly done by the church. The Battle of Valmy gave a
first victory to revolutionary armies over the Prussians.
9
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d. The National Convention: The Revolution's Most Radical Phase
1792, Sept. 21–1795, Aug. 22
THE NATIONAL CONVENTION, longest lived of the revolutionary assemblies. It
was elected by male suffrage and composed entirely of republicans (749 members, of
whom 486 were new men). Parties: The Plain had a majority but was dominated by the
Girondists and then by the Mountain. The Girondists now formed the Right, and the
Mountain, under Robespierre, Danton, and others, formed the Left.
1
Sept. 21
Monarchy abolished.
2
Sept. 22
Republic proclaimed. (First day of Year I of Republican calendar.) On Sept. 25 the
Republic was declared “one and indivisible.”
3
Oct. 2
Committee of General Security was formed, with undefined police powers.
4
Nov. 6
Allies in retreat following a French victory by Gen. Dumouriez at Jemappes.
5
Nov. 19
The Decree of Fraternity offered French assistance to people who wished to overthrow
their governments. Other countries, including England, feared risings. Irish nationalists
sought French aid as a result of this declaration.
6
Dec. 4
Convention declared the death penalty for anyone advocating monarchy.
7
Dec. 8
Convention repealed suspension on free trade in grain but outlawed grain exports. Nov.
and Dec. also saw instances of price fixing and demonstrations among peasants in the
Beauce region.
8
Dec. 10
Louis XVI tried before the Convention. Girondists suggested a referendum to the
people (Dec. 27), but on Jan. 14, 1793, the Convention decided there would be no
referendum and found Louis guilty. Louis sentenced to death by a slim majority (Jan.
20) and executed on Jan. 21.
9
Dec. 16
The death penalty to be administered for threatening the unity and integrity of the
Republic.
10
As a result of a struggle between the Girondists and the Mountain, all power in the
Convention centered in three institutions: (1) the Committee of General Security; (2)
the Paris Commune, reorganized on basis of male suffrage and acting through its
committee led by Chaumette and Hébert; and (3) the Committee of Public Safety. The
latter was composed of 9 (later 12) members (including Robespierre, Danton, and St.
Just) with dictatorial power.
11
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e. The Directory
1795, Aug. 22
The Directory was established by the Constitution of Year III. Citizenship was
extended to all males of at least 21 years of age who were on the civic lists of a canton
and either paid direct taxes or had served in the army. All citizens could vote (no
distinction between active and passive citizens). The constitution provided for a
bicameral legislature (Council of Five Hundred and Council of the Ancients), with
deputies each serving a three-year term, and a five-member executive branch (the
Directory) chosen by the legislature. Freedom of the Press was confirmed by the
constitution, but it could be restricted by the Directory for a year. Political clubs,
collective petitioning, and popular societies were suppressed (Aug. 23).
1
The 1795 harvest was poor; it was preceded and followed by bad winters. Famine
conditions existed in many parts of France. Nov. and Dec. saw strikes among Parisian
workers, especially in the printing trades. The Directory followed a repressive policy
toward workers.
2
1796, March 18
Assignats replaced with mandats territoriaux in an effort to stabilize the currency. The
mandats depreciated almost immediately. The government withdrew them and returned
to metallic currency in Feb. 1797, but only after decreeing a forced loan on the rich
(poorly implemented).
3
THE WAR OF THE FIRST COALITION proceeded on two fronts.
4
French armies under Jourdan and Moreau separately invaded S. Germany, forcing
Baden, Württemberg, and Bavaria to conclude truces (Aug.). Archduke Charles, leading
Austrian forces, defeated Jourdan at Amberg (Aug.) and Würzburg (Sept. 3). In doing
so, Charles successfully stopped the attempt to unite the two French armies on German
soil and forced Moreau to retreat across the Rhine. The German campaigns were
5
inconclusive.
1796–97
BONAPARTE'S ITALIAN CAMPAIGN. Napoleon Bonaparte split the Austrian and
Piedmontese armies—defeating the Austrians at Millesimo (April 13) and the
Piedmontese at Mondovi (April 21). Victor Amadeus was compelled to conclude a
separate peace with France. Napoleon then defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Lodi.
6
1796, May 10
Battle of Lodi. Napoleon entered Milan and conquered all of Lombardy as far as
Mantua. Mantua surrendered after being besieged by the French, following Lodi.
7
1797, Feb. 2
Napoleon advanced toward Rome, but the pope concluded the Treaty of Tolentino
with him (Feb. 19). Napoleon then crossed the Alps to meet Archduke Charles, but
uprisings in Venetia and Tyrol forced him to open negotiations leading to the
preliminary peace of Leoben.
8
April 18
Preliminary peace of Leoben: Austria took over Venetia, and France organized the
Cisalpine Republic in northwestern Italy.
9
Sept. 4
The Fructidor Coup was established by emergency legislation forced through the
councils with the support of the military. Paris occupied as the Triumvirs (directors
Barras, La-Révellière-Lépeaux, and Reubell) instigated the Directorial Terror, pushing
the Revolution left again. Deported members of the opposition included Carnot and
Barthélemy.
10
Sept
The press freedoms were suspended according to the constitution. Right-wing
newspapers were closed, and a stamp tax on the press was introduced (Sept. 30 and Oct.
4).
11
Sept. 30
Bankruptcy of the Two-Thirds repudiated two-thirds of the national debt.
12
Oct. 17
Treaty of Campo Formio between Austria and France concluded Austria's involvement
in the War of the First Coalition. It allowed Austria to annex Venetian territories and
secured French support for Austria's efforts to gain control of Salzburg and Bavarian
territory around it. Austria ceded Belgium to France and secretly agreed to support
French annexation of the left bank of the Rhine from Basel to Andernach.
13
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3. The Napoleonic Period, 1799–1815
THE HOUSE OF BONAPARTE
NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 1812 (MAP)
a. The Consulate
1799, Nov. 9 (18 Brumaire)
The Coup d'État of Brumaire. Sieyès and Roger-Ducos resigned from the Directory,
and Barras then resigned under duress. The Directory could not function with only two
members and was disbanded. Sieyès and Roger-Ducos, supported by Napoleon and his
brother Lucien Bonaparte (president of the Council of 500), convinced the councils to
name Sieyès, Roger-Ducos, and Napoleon as provisional consuls and establish a
commission to draft a new constitution.
1
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b. The First Empire
1804, May 18
Napoleon I was proclaimed emperor of the French by the Senate and Tribunate; his rule
was consecrated at Paris by Pope Pius VII on Dec. 2 and ratified by plebiscite (3,572,329
in favor, 2,569 opposed). The imperial office was made hereditary by male line, with the
emperor having the right to adopt the children of his brothers; if without heir, the crown
would pass to his brothers. Napoleon immediately established a court and began the
development of a new nobility, with many of the privileges of the old, but based on
achievement instead of birth. Napoleon really revived the absolute monarchy but made it
more modern and efficient. However, Napoleon concentrated his efforts on expanding
and consolidating his empire through warfare and foreign policy.
1
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4. Western and Central Europe, 1815–1848
EUROPE IN 1815 (MAP)
a. Social, Cultural, and Economic Trends
1. Economic and Social Changes
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. This was one of the most important changes in
the history of humanity, altering patterns of life and thought. It meant a shift from an
agrarian, handicraft, labor-intensive economy to one dominated by machine manufacture,
the factory system, division of labor, a freer flow of capital, and the growth of cities. Yet
industrialization did not affect all of Europe at the same time. This process began in the
mid-18th century in England and gradually spread to the Continent. Significant
industrialization could be found in Belgium and France by the 1820s, and in Germany
and Catalonia by the 1830s.
1
The long-term origins of industrialization had been building for centuries (See Economic
and Social Changes). Chief among newer factors was a population explosion during the
18th century. This was due especially to a decline in mortality, the result of a cyclical
decline in epidemic diseases, and, above all, the introduction of new foodstuffs from
the Americas—particularly the potato. At the same time, partly due to new foods,
sexual activity increased; rapid growth occurred in illegitimate births. From c. 1780
onward, premarital sexual intercourse increased particularly in the growing
propertyless classes, both rural and urban, where traditional family and community
constraints declined in force. Sexual expression became more important, though
probably more for men than for women. In all, the nations of western Europe witnessed a
population increase from 50 to 100 percent between 1730 and 1800. English population,
for example, rose from approximately 5 million in 1700 to over 9 million at the end of the
2
century. The resulting population pressure forced many people off the land and created a
labor force for the new cities and factories. Population growth began to decrease slowly
in the early 19th century as birth rates began to decline, especially among the middle
classes.
The short-term causes of industrialization also included a number of inventions in key
industries, accompanied by changes in finance, which spurred further change. The
first series of inventions resulted mainly from the tinkerings of craftworkers and inventors
and required very little capital. John Kay's flying shuttle (1733), James Hargreave's
spinning jenny (1768), Richard Arkwright's water frame spinning machine (1769), and
Eli Whitney's cotton gin (1793) all revolutionized the cotton industry by allowing for
increased production and profits, while decreasing the costs of production. Finally, with
the substitution of water power and later steam power (developed by James Watt in the
1770s) for human energy, these inventions made it more economical to group workers
together around large machines than to send out work to individual workers. This spelled
the end of the putting-out system and the rise of the factory system. This series of
changes, especially the invention of the steam engine, spurred similar developments in
the iron industry (the production of quality wrought iron by the 1780s) and in
transportation (growth of the railroad) and communication (See Technological
Developments, 1800–1914).
3
As industrialization developed, investment became more important. In Britain, wealthy
merchants and landlords provided most of the investment capital, but banking remained a
risky venture. This changed with the laws of incorporation and limited liability (passed
in 1844 in Britain, and in France, Germany, and the United States in the 1860s).
Incorporation allowed companies to be treated as individuals before the law, giving them
a juridical existence long after the founders had either died or sold their shares. Limited
liability protected investors and thereby promoted investment, establishing a system
whereby investors were liable for the corporation's debts only in proportion to the number
of shares they owned.
4
Because this first phase of industrialization was gradual, the social transformation that
accompanied it developed alongside an older social structure. Thus, those who felt the
most severe hardships from industrialization, at least psychologically, were the
artisans, craftworkers, and rural laborers who saw the value of their work decline. It
was these groups that took the fore in the social and political revolutions that swept
Europe in 1848 (See Revolutions in Europe, 1848–1852).
5
Industrialization created two new social groups: the middle classes (or bourgeoisie) and
the working classes (or proletariat). Similarly, each developed in a new setting: the city.
Both groups were diverse. The middle classes ranged from shopkeepers to bankers and
factory owners, but they shared common beliefs in the virtue of work, thrift, ambition,
and caution. The working classes of the first half of the 19th century can be broken down
into three categories: artisans, factory workers, and female domestic servants (the
6
latter grew in proportion as they became a status symbol in middle-class households).
Industrial cities, most unplanned, dirty, and unsafe, made conditions difficult for
workers, but many devised strategies that made survival possible. For example, in
factories, wives and children became economic assets so many factory workers married,
or entered conjugal relationships, at a younger age than artisans, and had more children
on average. Workers also developed a popular culture that suited their new conditions. At
the same time, middle-class leaders began holding their children apart from work and
moved their wives from shops to household domesticity. Adult women's economic roles
began to decline as their cultural prestige, as mothers and moralizing agents, increased.
Overall, however, poor living and working conditions remained the rule, exacerbated in
the 1840s (the hungry forties), and they contributed to discontent.
Although these developments signified major changes in European life, it is important to
remember that up to 1848 Europe remained overwhelmingly rural, and artisans retained
an important position in the working classes. Change was more dramatic after 1850,
when aspects of the new industrial society that had developed alongside the older
agricultural society became more widespread. (See Economic and Social Changes)
Approximate Population, in Thousands, 1700–1846
1700
1750
1800
1846
United Kingdom
8,635
France (boundaries of 1819–46)
23,600 24,600 27,800 35,400
Spain
7,250
8,600
10,480 12,650
Portugal
1,739
2,662
3,420 3,940
Italy (boundaries of 1910)
11,500 13,150 16,900 21,200
Belgium
1,610
2,150
2,960 4,350
Holland
1,100
1,460
1,795 2,505
Norway
587
705
1,050 1,325
Sweden
1,640
1,790
2,340 3,340
Denmark
665
745
845
Prussia (boundaries of 1846)
5,100
6,420
8,880 15,300
—
—
Russia (without Finland)
10,012 14,997 27,220
31,000
1,400
—
7
Population of Europe, in Thousands, 1850–1910
1850
1865
1880
1910
United Kingdom
27,201 29,925 34,623 44,915
France
35,630 38,020 37,450 39,528
Spain
—
Portugal
—
Italy
—
15,920 16,859 19,540
—
4,551 5,958
24,950 28,211 34,377
Belgium
4,426 4,984 5,520 7,422
Netherlands
3,001 3,510 4,049 5,904
Norway
1,392 1,690 1,909 2,353
Sweden
3,462 4,092 4,572 5,499
Denmark
1,422 1,694 1,969 2,702
Germany (boundaries of 1871)
35,310 39,545 45,093 64,568
Austria
17,629 19,650 22,075 28,427
Hungary
—
Switzerland
—
—
15,697 20,793
2,630 2,839 3,735
Russia in Europe (without Finland) 60,000 74,800 85,200 142,500
Finland
1,629 1,835 2,047 3,093
Bulgaria
—
—
2,008 4,317
Romania
—
4,133 4,546 6,966
Serbia
—
1,186 1,724 2,916
Greece
—
1,395 1,702 2,600
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Nov. 20)
b. European Diplomacy
THE CONGRESS SYSTEM, masterminded by Prince Metternich, rested on the Peace
of Paris, the Holy Alliance, and a renewal of the Quadruple Alliance (Nov. 20, 1815)
between Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Each member agreed to supply
60,000 men should a violation of the Treaty of Paris be attempted. This alliance, signed
for a 20-year term, was renewed in 1834. The Quadruple Alliance also established the
main tenet of the Congress System—government by conference.
1
1818, Sept
The first congress under this system, Aix-la-Chapelle, settled the question of the French
indemnity payments and the withdrawal of the allied troops in France. The Quintuple
Alliance, including the four powers of the Quadruple Alliance and France, was
established, and questions of slave trade and the status of Jews were raised. This congress
was followed by two more:
2
1820–21
Congresses at Troppau and Laibach were called to consider the revolutions in Spain
and Italy (See 1820) (See 1820, July 2). Metternich induced the three eastern powers to
accept the Troppau Protocol, which directed against revolutions that might upset the
peace. England refused to sign the protocol, marking the growing distinction between
British laissez-faire liberalism and the German conservatism. This division was stressed
further at the Congress of Verona.
1822, Oct
3
The Congress of Verona considered the Spanish and Greek situations. Canning, who
replaced Castlereagh after the latter's suicide on the eve of the meeting, refused to
cooperate with the conservative powers.
4
1831, Nov. 15
Treaty ratified the London Protocol of Jan. 21, which recognized Belgian independence
and placed Leopold I on the throne (See 1831, June 4). It also recognized an independent
Greek state, as stipulated in an earlier conference protocol (1829–30) (See 1831, June 4).
Belgium was also declared neutral in 1831.
5
1834–39
The Carlist War in Spain (See 1834–39) threatened to depose Queen Isabella and the
constitutionalists. A Quadruple Alliance of Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal defeated
the Carlists in 1839.
6
1841, July 13
Convention of the Straits. This convention closed the Straits (the link between the Black
Sea and the Mediterranean) to warships, provided that the Ottoman Empire remained at
peace. It thus benefited British naval power at the expense of Russian power because the
latter lacked access to the Mediterranean from the south. (See European Diplomacy,
1848–1914)
7
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1811, Feb. 5)
c. The British Isles
THE HOUSE OF SAXE-COBURG-WINDSOR (1837-)
Monarchs: George III (r. 1760–1820); George IV (r. 1820–30), who served as prince
regent from Feb. 5, 1811; William IV (r. 1830–37); and Victoria (r. 1837–1901).
1
Prime ministers: Tories: Lord Liverpool (1812–27), Canning (1827), Lord Goderich
(1827–28), and the duke of Wellington (1828–30); Whigs: Earl Grey (1830–34), Lord
Melbourne (1834); Tories: Sir Robert Peel, a liberal Tory, laid out a liberal Tory course
in the Tamworth Manifesto (1834–35); Melbourne (1835–41); and Peel (1841–46).
2
1. England, Scotland, and Wales
Romanticism developed in England during and after the French Revolution and
included authors such as Wordsworth (1770–1850), Coleridge (1772–1834), Percy
Bysshe (1792–1822) and Mary (1797–1851) Shelley; and painters such as Joseph Turner
(1778–1851) and John Constable (1776–1837). Leading novelists included Walter Scott
(1771–1832) and Jane Austen (1775–1817).
3
Economic depression followed the Napoleonic Wars. Government demands for
merchandise fell without a compensatory expansion of continental markets. Prices fell
and unemployment rose. Military demobilization and industrialization aggravated the
latter.
4
1815
Corn Laws outlawed the import of grain until domestic grain reached the “famine price”
of 80 shillings per quarter. This law resulted in higher food prices for the working
classes.
5
1816, March
Abolition of the 10 percent income tax was countered by raising duties on many
articles and thus raising prices. Deflation of currency (May 1821) may have helped
counter these increases to a limited extent.
6
1817
David Ricardo published his Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. Drawing on
Malthus's Essay on the Principle of Population (1789), which argued that population
would increase geometrically while food would only increase arithmetically, Ricardo
argued that such population growth could only result in a large supply of labor and keep
wages at a subsistence level.
7
1812–20
Luddism. Northern England was wracked by numerous incidents of machine breakings
perpetrated by the apparently fictional Captain Ludd and the Luddites (1812–20). The
Luddites drew their strength from traditional crafts, particularly cropping and framework
knitting. Participants disguised themselves and called one another by code names to
avoid identification. The government mobilized troops and planted spies within the
movement.
8
The unsatisfactory nature of economic reforms and continuing economic hardship led to
radical activity on two fronts. Master artisans such as Francis Place and reformers
such as the factory owner Robert Owen sought parliamentary reform and advanced
their ideas in radical journals and tracts such as his New View of Society (1817), which
called upon factory owners to provide for the well-being of workers through moral and
practical education in regulated factory towns. Radicals also appealed to workers in
mass meetings, with speakers such as Henry Hunt and William Cobbett.
9
1816, Dec. 2
At Spa Fields one such mass meeting turned into a riot.
10
1819, Aug. 16
Peterloo Massacre. Local magistrates ordered the cavalry to arrest Hunt as he addressed
a crowd at St. Peter's Fields. The cavalry charged the crowd, killing 11. The Tories,
under Lord Liverpool, extended the act of 1798 against seditious meetings and
temporarily suspended the writ of habeas corpus.
11
Dec
The Six Acts following Peterloo ensured speedy trials for misdemeanors, imposed a
newspaper stamp tax (and thus required all newspapers to be registered with the
government), extended the right of search and seizure, forbade training in the use of
arms, and curtailed the right of public meeting. These acts gained passing acceptance
after the discovery of the Cato Street conspiracy.
12
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1810)
d. The Low Countries
1. The Kingdom of the Netherlands, 1814–1830
1814, June 21
Protocol of the Eight Articles, concluded between William, prince of Orange, and the
allied powers, created a unified kingdom of the Netherlands, which incorporated
Belgium and Holland. This kingdom was to serve as a buffer against France. The prince
of Orange became King WILLIAM I (r. 1815–40) on March 16, 1815.
1
1815, April
A Dutch-Belgian commission began to work on a constitution that would appeal to the
Dutch tradition of republicanism and the Belgian desire for a constitutional monarchy.
The result was a bicameral legislature consisting of a Chamber of Notables, appointed
by the monarch, and a States General, indirectly elected by urban administrations and
electoral colleges.
2
Problems of providing unity: (1) Different languages, French and Flemish in the south
and Dutch in the north, split the country; (2) religious differences caused division
between the Calvinist Dutch (William I was a Calvinist) and the Catholic Belgians; (3)
economic and social problems differed in their origins. The Dutch economy was based
on a declining trading network, which resulted in pauperization in urban areas. The
Belgians were beginning to industrialize and thus experienced pauperization in the
countryside. Domestic manufacturing in textiles declined. But mines and metallurgical
factories had developed around Liège. A British industrialist, William Cokerill,
employed 2,000 workers in machine building as early as 1812.
3
1819, Sept. 15
The government decreed that, after a transitional period, Dutch would be the only
language used in the law courts.
4
Economic policies, sometimes considered mercantilist, sought to combine the interests
of trade and industry. Belgian goods were to be sent on Dutch ships to the colonies,
where they would be traded for products to be sold by Dutch merchants in Europe.
5
1822
A compromise tariff set the average import duty at 10 percent, and the establishment of
the Société Générale, a bank for industrial and government credit, furthered heavy
industry by providing necessary financing (1822).
6
Schools were thought to be the ideal place from which to unify the nation. The
government concentrated on establishing and controlling primary schools. The primary
system succeeded in lowering illiteracy and, because instruction was in Dutch,
reinforcing the national language. The rapidly developing bourgeoisie in the south
resisted change within the secondary school system because of the emerging humanist
and anticlerical attitudes of the government.
7
1825
A royal decree closed all “Latin schools,” including the petits séminaires and other
church schools. Bishops were also required to admit to the grands séminaires only
students who had completed their secondary education at a public school. Facing
opposition from the south and declining enrollments, the government repealed all
legislation regulating secondary education but maintained the primary system in May
1830.
8
1828, July
The two Belgian parties (the Clericals and Liberals) united after a concordat with the
pope gave the king the right to veto elections of bishops and the government introduced
a restrictive press law. The two parties called for freedom of press, instruction, and
worship, and for ministerial responsibility.
9
1829–30
A hard winter worsened an economic situation in the south already difficult because
overproduction had resulted in rising unemployment and bankruptcies.
10
1830, Aug. 25
THE BELGIAN REVOLUTION began when workers, spurred on by revolution in
France, rioted and attacked the homes of government officials in Belgium. The liberal
bourgeoisie, following violent fighting between workers and troops (Sept. 23–26),
established a provisional government.
11
Oct. 4
Belgium declared independence.
12
Oct. 27
The Dutch bombarded Antwerp, which led to a conference of powers in London.
These powers ordered an armistice.
13
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Nov. 20)
e. France
THE HOUSE OF BOURBON-ORLEANS (1700-)
1. The Restoration Monarchy
Monarchs: Louis XVIII (r. 1814–24) and Charles X (r. 1824–30).
1
1814, June 4
The Charter recognized the principles of liberty, equality, property, and freedom of
religion, although Catholicism was declared the state religion. The government consisted
of a hereditary monarch, a Chamber of Notables nominated by the king, and an elected
Chamber of Deputies. Suffrage was extended to men at least 30 years old who paid 300
francs in taxes. These qualifications gave substantial voting power to the upper middle
classes and large landowners.
2
1815, Aug 14, 21
Parliamentary elections yielded a large majority of ultraroyalists, who passed a series of
reactionary legislation.
Oct. 29
3
Law of public security permitted the government to arrest individuals suspected of
plotting against the state's security.
4
Nov. 9
A law against seditious speeches and writings strengthened the gag on the press
established on Aug. 8. An amnesty law exiled individuals arrested for their involvement
in Napoleon's One Hundred Days.
5
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(See June 7)
f. The Iberian Peninsula
1. Spain
THE SPANISH BOURBONS (1814-)
Monarchs: Ferdinand VII (r. 1814–33) and Isabella II (r. 1833–68).
1
1814–33
Ferdinand VII was restored to the throne following the Peninsular War. He had
guaranteed the liberals that he would govern on the basis of the constitution of 1812, but,
encouraged by conservative deputies known as the Persians, he repudiated the
constitution (May 4) and arrested the liberal leaders (May 10).
2
Economic hardship occurred as a result of the loss of the American colonies, and
postwar depression plagued the government. The government also suffered from a very
unstable fiscal base, which left it skirting bankruptcy.
3
Liberal suppression and the arbitrary nature of the king's rule led to growing
dissatisfaction evidenced in the development of secret societies, such as the Masons, and
clubs. Popular radicalism also began to develop in response to unemployment, a yellow
fever epidemic, and flooding, which increased the hardships of the poor.
4
1820
The army, confident of support from the liberal and radical camps, began the revolution
with a mutiny of the troops under Col. Rafael Riego. The liberals seized control of the
5
government while the army held the king. The liberals adopted a policy of broad
economic and political reforms begun by the Cortes, a bicameral legislature. They
reinstated the constitution of 1812, decreed the conversion of uncultivated and Crown
lands into private property, and incorporated into the state the assets of the monasteries
and convents dissolved by the Cortes. They also banned emigration, believing that
economic progress could be achieved only by keeping people in the country. Dissension
between liberals and radicals, as well as within the liberal party, weakened the
government, which proved unable to withstand the French military intervention after the
Congress of Verona (See 1822, Oct).
1823, Aug. 31
The Battle of Cádiz ended the revolution and reinstalled Ferdinand as king. Ferdinand
revoked the constitution and all legislation enacted under the short-lived liberal
government.
6
1823–33
Financial and economic policies provided for some cautious economic advances. The
government introduced tariffs to protect Spanish agriculture and industry in 1825 and
established a primitive version of a stock exchange in Madrid. It also staged an industrial
exhibition in 1828 and sought to provide enlightened education for its subjects.
7
1833, June 30
Ferdinand set aside the Salic Law to assure the succession of his infant daughter
Isabella. The king died on Sept. 29.
8
1833–68
Isabella II, represented by her mother, Maria Christina, who turned to the liberals for
support and granted the Estatuto Real.
1834, April 10
9
The Estatuto Real divided Spain into 49 administrative provinces and provided the
Cortes with financial power, but retained for the government the right of dissolution and
control of the ministry. The constitution split the liberals into the Moderados, liberals
who had been amnestied and helped to design the constitution, and the Progresistas,
liberals whose amnesty occurred after the constitution and demanded a restoration of the
charter of 1812.
10
1834–39
The Carlist War. Don Carlos, Ferdinand's brother, claimed the throne and, supported
by the conservatives, the church, and the north, led a revolt. The Carlists were defeated
with the help of the Quadruple Alliance of Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal (See
1834–39).
11
1840, Oct
The Revolt of Gen. Baldomero Espartero forced Maria Christina to abdicate and flee.
Espartero controlled the government until he was defeated by a coalition of Moderados
and Progresistas (June 1843). Isabella declared of age at age 13.
12
Economic and political liberalism dictated government policy during the war. The
government created a ministry of development (Ministerio de Fomento) and sold the
uncultivated and Crown lands as had been planned during the Revolution of 1820. The
government also declared labor free and abolished the guilds.
13
Working-class and urban unrest were stimulated by liberal policies in Catalonia and
the destruction of guilds. In Barcelona, working-class radicalism centered on a group of
journalists and artisans who met in Soler's clock shop. Their frustration was worsened by
the textiles mechanization in the 1830s and 1840s, which resulted in periodic layoffs and
piecework disputes.
14
The Barcelona Commission of Factories, which had previously adopted a radical
stance, began to demand state protection for their industries but resisted efforts to
provide protection for the workers.
15
Industrial and agricultural development proceeded throughout the 1830s and 1840s.
Spain increased its production of foodstuffs, especially wheat and wine. It also provided
the industrializing nations of France and Britain with metal ores such as copper,
mercury, lead, and iron. As a result, the mining industry expanded, especially after the
mining law of 1839. The government helped encourage industry in its ports by
prohibiting the importation of ships in 1837. Industry remained hampered by transport
16
difficulties, although railway development did begin with a special government
dispensation in 1829.
1845, May 25
A new constitution virtually reestablished the statute of 1834.
17
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1814, April 20)
g. The Italian States
After 1814, the Congress of Vienna placed Italy under effective Austrian control in
exchange for the latter's loss of Belgian territory to Holland. Lombardy and Venetia
were annexed to Austria, and nine new or revived states were created: kingdom of
Sardinia (Piedmont), Modena, Parma, Lucca, Tuscany, Papal States, kingdom of Naples,
republic of San Marino, and Monaco.
1
Restoration in Italian government. (1) Habsburg Italy (Lombardy and Venetia):
Francis I appointed his brother, Archduke Rainier, as viceroy and established two
congregations as consultive bodies to the absolute control of the viceroy. In many ways,
the government followed the Napoleonic legacy. It confirmed the sale of church lands
and the imperial nomination of bishops. It also retained the majority of the civil servants
in place during the Napoleonic period. (2) The kingdom of the Two Sicilies (as of Dec.
8, 1816): Ferdinand united the kingdom of Naples and Sicily into the kingdom of Two
Sicilies, and he became Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. He maintained an absolutist
government under the direction of his leading minister, Luigi de' Medici. Medici
attempted to combine absolute government with fair taxes and good administration. His
policies were hampered by pressure applied by France and Great Britain, which resulted
in a decrease in tariffs by 10 percent for goods carried on French, British, and Spanish
ships. (3) Papal States: Pope Pius VII returned after a long exile and restored the
Company of Jesus. Under his secretary, Cardinal Consalvi, he managed to recreate a
strong administration and establish a bureaucracy on the French model. Pius was
assisted by general Catholic revival and ultramontanism but also met with resistance
from laymen who were excluded from the government. (4) Modena: Francis IV of
Modena, under Austrian suasion, abolished Napoleon's legislation and purged the civil
service. (5) Piedmont: Victor Emmanuel I of Piedmont restored, as much as possible,
the previous Piedmontese regime, including religious intolerance, return of the Jesuits,
customs barriers, and the restoration of guilds. (6) Parma: Maria Louisa of Parma and
the infanta Maria Louisa of Bourbon-Parma owed their thrones to Austria and heeded
the wishes of Metternich.
2
1816–18
Famine. This famine was worsened by the restoration of guilds in Piedmont and the
establishment of interior and exterior tariffs. Italy also suffered because its people,
especially in the south, depended heavily on subsistence agriculture, and so, when crops
failed, had little money to purchase from abroad or supplement their harvest. An
outbreak of typhus swept through Italy during the famine.
3
Agricultural development. Traditional agriculture dominated the Italian economy. The
rising rural population forced families onto marginally productive land, and these
families turned to cottage industry to supplement their incomes. Nonetheless, certain
crops and regions, particularly the Po Valley, did experience growth. The development
of raw silk farms helped fuel the silk industry in France.
4
Industry. Little industrialization occurred in Italy until after 1848, although the
numerous fast-moving streams provided sites for some factories, and cottage industry
expanded. Since the government did not encourage the development of the railroads,
Italy did not generate capital-intensive industries.
5
Urban development. Little urban growth took place. Urban society was characterized
by a sharp economic disparity between a small number of wealthy families and a large
number of petty traders, artisans, and the poor. Living conditions within cities were bad
for the majority.
6
Secret societies. The Carbonari (charcoal burners), who supported a republican form
of government, grew rapidly in the early 19th century. They were the first post-1815
group to channel the liberal and nationalist sentiment that had grown during Napoleon's
conquests and the reorganization of Italy. The Carbonari borrowed Masonic rituals. The
growing concern over pauperization and falling prices combined with the rising tide of
nationalism to result in a number of Italian revolutions.
7
1818–26
Fall in prices. Prices on agricultural produce fell after the famine as a result of an influx
of wheat from Russia, more advanced agricultural techniques abroad, and the freedom of
trade created as a result of the end of the Continental System. This fall in agricultural
prices led to a rise in pauperism and forced marginal peasants either to emigrate or to
supplement their incomes through cottage industry.
1820, July 2
8
The Neapolitan Revolution. Encouraged by the news from Spain, the Carbonari in the
army led a revolt under Gen. Guglielmo Pepe. This revolt involved moderate landlords
and members of a middle class concerned, among other things, with the lot of the poor.
Ferdinand promised a constitution (July 15) but was restored to his former position as a
result of Austrian intervention under the Troppau Protocol (See 1820–21).
9
July 15–16
Sicilian Revolution. Spurred by the Neapolitan Revolution, economic crisis, and
resentment toward conscription and administrative reforms, craftsmen and workers rose
in Palermo and demonstrated a violence toward the army not experienced in Naples. The
moderates in Naples as well as the newly restored government united in a harsh
repression of the Sicilian Revolution.
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1813)
h. Switzerland
1815, March 20, 29
The Congress of Vienna laid down the principle of the perpetual neutrality of
Switzerland. A constitutional convention drew up a new federal pact, which established
a Diet with restricted powers and required the vote of two-thirds of the cantons to ratify
any act. Thus, the Swiss cantons maintained their autonomy within the new Swiss
government.
1
The Political Institute, established as a law school in 1806, became a major rallying
point for liberals within Zürich. These liberals criticized the government and gained
support from newspapers within the city. They advocated a constitutional form of
government and drew support from a number of newspapers.
2
1816–17
Economic hardship hurt Swiss industry because it could not compete, initially, with
England. The Swiss, however, benefited from their general policy of free trade, which
enabled them to purchase relatively cheap grain from Italy and the Ukraine.
3
Industry. The Swiss had a long tradition of cottage industry in textiles, which had
flourished under the continental blockade. Unable to compete with England, they
worked to obtain the necessary technology to mechanize their industry. They were also
able to muster the necessary capital because of the strength of their other industry,
watchmaking, which provided abundant capital and low interest rates by the early 19th
century.
4
1823
Swiss cantons restricted the press under pressure from the foreign powers.
5
1828–48
The “Era of Regeneration” was marked by liberal revisions in the constitutions of
several cantons.
6
1830, Nov. 22
Snell's Küsnacht Memorial was accepted at a public meeting in Zürich by acclamation.
It reiterated basic liberal freedoms and established an electoral system that gave the
countryside two-thirds of the votes and the city one-third. This meeting led the leaders in
Zürich to establish the Constitution of 1831 based on Snell's principles. Zürich also
began construction designed to make traffic through the city much easier and to destroy
the visual distinction between city and countryside. This new construction helped to fuel
a growth in the building industry.
7
1832, March 17
The Siebener Concordat. The liberal cantons joined together to guarantee their new
constitutions. This act was followed by an effort to revise the federal pact in the
direction of a stronger central government. The conservative cantons responded by
concluding an alliance (League of Sarnen) to maintain the Pact of 1815.
8
1834, Jan. 20
The struggle over the federal pact became a religious quarrel when the liberal cantons
adopted the Articles of Baden, which supported freedom of worship and secular
education.
Social change. The development of industry in Switzerland corresponded to a renewed
development in agriculture. Textile mills were located not in huge cities, but in smaller
communities where abundant labor could be obtained from the surrounding countryside.
9
10
1839
Economic hardships developed as the result of the failure of harvests and a crisis within
the cotton trade. These hardships seem to have provided the spark for escalation of the
clashes between conservatives and liberals and, in Zürich, led to a bloody battle in the
streets between peasants supporting the conservatives and the Zürich military and
liberals. The conflict brought down the Zürich liberal government.
11
1845, Dec. 11
THE SONDERBUND. The seven Catholic cantons—Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz,
Unterwalden, Zug, Freiburg, and Valais—replied to organized armed bands of the liberal
cantons by concluding a league (the Sonderbund) for the purpose of protecting their
interests. This league would clash with the liberals in the ensuing struggle for a new
constitution in 1847 and 1848. (See Switzerland)
12
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1790–92)
i. Central Europe
CENTRAL EUROPE, 1815-1866 (MAP)
1. Germany
1815
The “Metternich System” dominated Germany and Austria during the first half of the
century. Metternich and Austria were challenged for control in Germany by Prussia,
though this challenge would become especially apparent in the second half of the
century. The Germanic Confederation created by the Congress of Vienna had as its
object the continued internal and external peace of Germany and the independence of the
38 member states. A Diet sat at Frankfurt-on-the-Main, organized into two assemblies
and presided over by Austrian representatives. It was a diplomatic Diet, and as such the
representatives were instructed by their respective countries.
1
Prussia, the major hope for liberals and potential counter to conservative Austrian
control of central Europe, suffered from financial difficulties and the continued strength
of the Junkers (Prussian landowners who controlled large amounts of the eastern
territories).
2
Land reforms. The gradual emancipation of the serfs, which began in Prussia during the
Napoleonic era, continued, but it benefited the large landholders (Junkers) far more than
it did the serfs.
3
Agricultural change. The development of a number of societies devoted to agricultural
4
progress and the expansion of the amount of land under cultivation resulted in the
production of a larger number of vegetables and other products to balance out grain
production. Unlike grain, which required heavy cultivation in the spring and fall but
little work during the summer, the vegetables demanded constant attention. As a result,
women became engaged in farming year round.
Bourgeois and working women. Bourgeois women's lives focused on their homes and
social causes often associated with church. These women employed servants, many of
whom were single women, from farm laborers' or poor artisans' families. These poorer
women had few choices; although they could attend mandatory schools in Prussia, they
had no formalized instruction preparing them for a trade. They worked as servants, farm
laborers, and occasionally as factory help, until they married; then they might work in
home industries such as clothing production and cigar making.
5
Economic development began to accelerate in the 1830s and 1840s with the creation of
railroads. Major firms in heavy industry and machine building were established by
innovative manufacturers like Alfred Krupp (factory built in Essen, 1826). The demand
for metals transformed the metal-making and coal industries and encouraged their
concentration in a few especially rich fields. Despite such development, urbanization
and industrialization moved at a slow pace before midcentury.
6
Artisans continued to maintain some guild practices such as insurance and burial
benefits despite the gradual elimination of guilds in much of Germany. Since guild
membership was no longer required to produce crafts, many journeymen set up their
own shops. Artisans and other members of the working class remained unorganized for
the most part because of repressive legislation.
7
1815–19
The Burschenschaften. Universities became the centers of the liberal movements as
students organized in liberal societies. One such society, the Blacks, followed the lead of
Karl Follen and advocated a unified Germany and liberal government but supported
violence, if necessary, to reach these ends.
8
1816
An edict qualified the right of ownership of land. All those eligible to own land had to
have the resources to support a team of animals to work the land. The gradual outcome
of land reforms and demographic growth was the continued fragmentation of peasant
landholdings and the impoverishment of German agricultural workers who then became
involved in cottage industry.
9
1817, Oct. 18
Wartburg Festival. Students burned papers listing reactionary leaders. Growing
concern among conservatives mounted when Karl Sand, an unstable follower of Karl
Follen, stabbed to death August von Kotzebue, a reactionary journalist and lecturer.
Some liberals supported Sand's actions, but Metternich and Frederick William of Prussia
agreed to the Carlsbad Decrees.
10
1818
Tariff reforms by Prussia abolished internal tariffs but maintained external tariffs. They
were followed by the introduction of a class tax (1820), which established different rates
of taxes for four classes of individuals. These two acts helped restore the finances of the
Prussian government.
11
1819
Carlsbad Decrees, sanctioned by the Diet of the Germanic Confederation on Sept. 20,
established strict censorship, demanded sovereign control of the universities, and
organized an inquisition into secret societies.
12
Prussia also reinforced the legal position of the Junkers through a number of
governmental reforms in the 1820s, which secured the Junkers' control of local and
Prussian elections.
13
1830
The July Revolution in Paris (See 1830) led to several outbreaks in Germany directed
largely against the bureaucracy. Rulers were forced to abdicate in Brunswick, Saxony,
and Hesse-Cassel, and new constitutions were adopted in all of these states and in
Hanover. In 1832, 25,000 attended the Hambach Festival and toasted Lafayette. They
demanded a republic and German unity and resolved to adopt both peaceful methods and
armed revolt.
1831
14
A cholera epidemic, spreading west from Russia, struck Germany.
15
1832
Amalie Sieveking founded the Women's Association for the Care of the Poor and
the Sick. This organization sent bourgeois women into the homes of workers and lowermiddle-class families to instill their own values of cleanliness and virtue on the lower
classes. Bourgeois women became especially concerned about the conditions of the poor
through such associations and through church organizations such as the RhenishWestphalian Association of Deaconesses, which, in 1836, began training Protestant
nurses.
16
June 28
Metternich, disturbed by renewed liberal and radical activity, orchestrated the Germanic
Confederation's adoption of the Six Articles, which reasserted absolute sovereign
authority and the sovereign's obligation to defend that right. In July the Diet also enacted
additional repressive measures, including the prohibition of all public meetings and
surveillance of suspicious political characters.
17
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1814, Jan. 14) (See 1814, Jan)
j. Scandinavia
Regions. Scandinavia consists of the five geographical regions of Denmark, Norway,
Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. Following the Napoleonic Wars, these five regions were
controlled by three different governments. Sweden controlled Norway, but it had
relinquished Finland to the Russians (1809). Denmark controlled Iceland. Denmark
also controlled Schleswig-Holstein despite continued efforts within the latter to gain
independence and join the Germanic Confederation.
1
Economics. All five of the Scandinavian countries remained largely agricultural during
the first half of the 19th century; however, their products and their means of produce
varied. Finland concentrated on the production of grains for the European market.
Norway continued to face difficulties with backward farming methods. At the turn of the
century, much of Norwegian land was farmed without crop rotation, and Norway did not
represent a major exporter of foodstuffs. However, following the repeal of the British
Navigation Acts in 1840, Norway became a major exporter of timber for British industry.
Denmark managed to maintain steady growth in agriculture. Industry, however,
remained limited because it produced primarily for a home market. Sweden experienced
growth both in agriculture, which it encouraged through government reforms, and in its
only major industry, iron production. The latter suffered from a lack of coal and poor
transportation.
2
Scandinavianism. The early part of the 19th century saw both the growth of nationalism
and the development of a sense of collective nationalism among the Scandinavian
countries. Scandinavianism, or an interest in cooperation among Scandinavian countries,
first developed in academia. Students from the various universities began to participate
in steamship trips together. Whereas the Finnish students suffered suspensions as the
result of their activities, Denmark and Sweden were marked by growing cooperation. In
1828, a Danish steamboat first entered the Swedish harbor of Malmö and, in 1839,
scientists from throughout Scandinavia met in Gothenburg. (See Scandinavia)
3
1. Sweden and Norway
THE HOUSE OF BERNADOTTE (1818-)
Swedish Monarchs: Charles XIII (r. 1809–18), Charles XIV John (Bernadotte, (See
1810) (r. 1818–44), and Oscar I (r. 1844–59).
4
1814, Jan. 14
Treaty of Kiel. Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden. Sweden sold the island of
Guadeloupe to France and thus eliminated its national debt. However, an unfavorable
balance of trade resulted in inflation, followed by a reaction and deflation. As a result,
agricultural prices first rose and then fell sharply, hurting farmers.
5
May 17
Norwegian constitution adopted. The constitution established a Storting, or legislative
assembly, which met as a body in the Lagting. The Lagting then elected one-third of its
members to the Oedlsting, thus dividing the Storting into two houses. The Lagting was
elected by men who owned a house or farm, had 300 dollars, or rented a farm for at least
five years. The constitution also guaranteed certain rights.
6
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1847–48)
5. Revolutions in Europe, 1848–1852
Causes. Between 1848 and 1852, revolutions rocked most of western and central Europe
with exceptions such as the Netherlands, Belgium, and Britain. The immediate cause
was the economic hardship of 1846 and 1847. This hardship stemmed from the failure of
the potato and wheat crops throughout much of Europe. The consequent rise in food
prices drove demand for other products down and thus hurt the emerging industrial
sectors as well. In addition, cholera spread through Europe in 1848 and 1849. Early
industrialization strengthened the middle classes, who embraced liberalism and
nationalism. Industrial developments also threatened the livelihoods of the many
craftworkers who became instrumental in the early phases of the revolutions.
Industrialization and economic hardships were not sufficient causes, however. Britain
and Belgium, the most advanced industrial nations, avoided revolution by adopting
liberal forms of government in the years preceding 1848 and expanding the franchise to
include many of the industrialists and other members of the middle classes. The third
factor, therefore, was a state that continued to resist liberal and nationalist reforms.
1
Chronology. Unrest actually began in Italy and Switzerland, but historians usually
consider the Parisian revolution first, because it sent the widest signals. The revolutions
then moved to Austria-Hungary, Italy, and finally north through Germany.
2
a. France
1847–48
The banquets. A series of political banquets (See 1847–48) planned by Liberals and
Republicans throughout France aimed at gaining support for opposition parties. The
government let these banquets proceed until Feb. 22, 1848, when it stopped one
3
scheduled in Paris that was to be preceded by a public procession. Students and workers
gathered to march despite the prohibition. The police dispersed the marchers, but the
workers and students began erecting barricades throughout Paris. The National Guard
joined the cause, and the revolutionaries controlled Paris by Feb. 24. They chose a red
banner as their flag—a banner that came to represent the left wing of the Second
Republic.
1848, Feb. 23
The king appeased the middle class by replacing conservative prime minister Guizot
with Molé, but revolutionaries in Paris continued to mount the barricades.
4
Feb. 24
Faced with continued activity in Paris, Louis-Philippe replaced Molé with Thiers,
abdicated in favor of his grandson the comte de Paris, and fled Paris. The comte's
mother, Hélène Louis of Mecklenburg-Shwerin, was dissuaded from showing herself
and her children to the people and instead went before the Chamber of Deputies. Many
of the rioters had entered the chamber and called for the comte to be dethroned. As a
result, a provisional government was chosen and a republic proclaimed. The romantic
poet Alphonse-Louis-Marie de Lamartine dominated the right wing of the
government, and Louis Blanc, a socialist, dominated the left wing.
5
Workers' demands. The economic hardships of the 1840s had left many people without
employment. Workers and the socialists demanded that workers be guaranteed the right
to work, the right to a minimum wage, and the right to be provided for in the case of
illness and old age.
6
Feb. 25
The government recognized the right to work, the right to a living wage, and the right
of workers to organize.
7
Feb. 26
National Workshops were decreed to provide work or relief to all the unemployed.
8
Feb. 27
Following abortive attempts to overthrow the provisional government and place a Paris
commune in its stead, the government attempted to appease demands that they adopt the
red flag as an indicator of their commitment to democracy by declaring the tricolor of
the Revolution of 1789 the national flag and ascribing to the belief in liberty, equality,
and fraternity.
9
Feb. 28
The Luxembourg Commission was established by the provisional government under
the direction of Albert (a worker) and Blanc to develop a permanent plan for the
organization of labor. The Luxembourg Commission had little authority and suffered
from a lack of staffing and funding. It managed to produce a “General Survey of
Works,” which never received a first reading within the government. The failure of the
commission to gain any real attention from the government resulted in the resignation of
Albert and Blanc (May 8), who had represented the workers' concerns in the provisional
government.
10
Women. The year 1848 saw the proliferation of women's political newspapers. These
newspapers generally connected women's rights with workers' rights by focusing on the
many women in France who worked. Both women and workers failed to gain their
objectives in a revolution dominated not by democrats and socialists but by liberals.
11
April 23
The elections to the national (or constituent) assembly, which was to give France a
new constitution, were a victory for the moderate Republicans (Lamartine) with some
500 seats; the left wing (Louis Blanc) had fewer than 100; the Legitimists (seeking the
return of the Bourbon line) had about 100; the Orléanists (supporters of the fallen
dynasty of Louis-Philippe), about 200.
12
Social legislation. The provisional government had abolished sweated labor (March 2)
and reduced workers' hours to 10 per day in Paris and 11 per day in the provinces. It also
set up free labor exchanges in town halls and stopped work projects in prisons and
barracks because the latter were considered to be in competition with workers.
13
Perhaps the biggest piece of social legislation was also the most flawed—the National
Workshops were inundated with the unemployed, who were attracted by the promise of
14
2 francs per day when they worked and 1½ francs when they did not. They were
organized along military lines and put to work two days per week. The strict discipline
and hard, often pointless labor, inflicted in the workshops led to worker demonstrations,
including a riot on May 15. Not only artisans but also some factory workers participated,
marking a change in the social base for urban political protest in France.
June 21
The government abolished the workshops. As a result, many workers in Paris
participated in the June Days Rebellion.
15
June 23–26
THE JUNE DAYS REBELLION. The workers set up barricades while Gen. Louis
Cavaignac, in charge of the army, became dictator pro tempore. Cavaignac waited until
he had mustered all of his troops in Paris, including reinforcements from the National
Guard from outside Paris, to march on the barricades rather than take each barricade
down as it was being erected. Cavaignac's strategy inflicted heavy casualties but also
cleared the streets of Paris.
16
Reaction followed the June Days. The government repealed the limitations on working
hours, adopted legislation regulating the press, suppressed secret societies, and dictated
rigid control for clubs and political associations.
17
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(See 1844)
b. Hungary
1848, Feb. 29
The news of the French revolution reached Pressburg and instilled a financial panic
among merchants, who recalled the failure of the Bank of Vienna in 1789 and 1830. Pesti
Hirlap reported that shops were refusing to accept bank notes, and on March 5, a crowd
tried to exchange their bank notes for silver at the state bank in Buda.
1
March 3
Kossuth, in a speech in the Diet, denounced the Vienna system and called for a
constitution for Hungary that would establish authority in the representatives of the
people.
2
March 15
The youth of Budapest met in Pest to demonstrate in support of the twelve points drafted
by radicals. The points included a responsible government, freedom of the press, and
equality before the law as well as national claims for a Hungarian national bank, a
national army, and the formation of a national guard. The twelve points were accepted by
the municipal council, which established the Committee of Public Order. Separately,
Croats organized a national committee demanding a government autonomous from
Hungary.
3
March
The Pressburg Diet responded to the Hungarian revolutionaries at Pest with moderate
reforms. The Diet abolished forced labor but maintained many other manorial rights.
Count Batthyány established a government that included both Kossuth and Széchenyi.
4
Austrian challenge. Austria notified Batthyány that it wanted to maintain control of
Hungary's finances. The Committee of Public Order called a meeting and demanded that,
if Vienna refused to ratify the March Laws, it would form a provisional government in
Pest. Vienna recognized the Hungarian government at once.
5
The Committee of Public Order mirrored the feelings of the middle classes and
peasants. The middle classes had armed themselves in preparation for the continuation of
the revolution, and the peasants had freed themselves of manorial obligations without
waiting for resolution from Vienna. Vienna, having been defeated in Italy and struggling
to maintain control in Bohemia, conceded to Hungarian demands.
6
Sept
Vienna attempted to regain control of Hungary. The emperor revoked his acceptance of
the March Laws. The Vienna government attempted to establish a puppet government
under Baron Nicholas Vay. Gen. Count Lamberg, at Pressburg, was given full powers to
dissolve the Hungarian Assembly, but he was killed by a popular uprising (Sept. 28)
before he could read the act of dissolution.
7
War between Hungarian nationalists and portions of the Hungarian army under Kossuth,
and the Viennese army, started with the escalation of Austrian troops crossing the Drave
on Sept. 1.
8
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(See 1842–44)
c. Austria and Bohemia
1848, March 11
Prague meeting drew up Twelve Articles of St. Wenceslas, demanding Czech-German
equality in education and government service.
1
March 13–14
Students in Vienna marched to the Landhaus to present a petition after hearing Kossuth's
speech read aloud. The crowd reached the Hofburg where the Diet sat and, when the
guards would allow only the delegates in, began to spread throughout the streets and
squares surrounding the Hofburg. Alarmed by their large numbers, the authorities fired
on the crowd in an effort to clear the area. Meanwhile, workers had been prevented from
entering the city. They burned several factories and looted shops in protest.
2
March 15
the emperor summoned the Diet to begin consideration of a constitution.
3
April 8
Czechs obliged Vienna to promise a Bohemian constitutional assembly. Revolutionary
movements also took place in Galicia, Moravia, and elsewhere.
4
April 25
The new government, under Pillersdorf, published a new constitution. The new
constitution provided for a bicameral legislature with a Senate composed of both life
members and members elected by the great landowners and a Chamber of Deputies
elected by voters who met a high property qualification, thus limiting the vote so that
workers would not be directly represented. Women could not vote.
5
May 9
A new electoral law, passed in response to demonstrations, enabled the lower middle
class and the peasants to vote but excluded workmen who were paid by the day or the
week, domestic servants, those receiving public assistance, and all women.
6
May 14
The government dissolved the Central Committee, formed by students and members of
the National Guard during March.
7
May 15
The Storm Petition (Sturmpetition). Students, workers, and the members of the
National Guard marched to the Hofburg and demanded that the government establish
universal adult male suffrage, that the army be called up only at the request of the
National Guard, and that parliament consist of a single chamber. The government
promised to revise the constitution. The emperor and his family fled to Innsbruck.
8
May 26
The government retrenched and ordered the dissolution of the University Legion, and
the troops ordered the National Guard to stand down. As a result, barricades went up
throughout Vienna, and the workers and National Guard came to the students' aid. A
committee of safety controlled Vienna during the following months.
9
June
The first Pan-Slav Congress (composed, however, almost entirely of Czech delegates)
met at Prague under the presidency of Francis Palácky, the eminent Bohemian historian
and national leader. It proclaimed the solidarity of the Slavic peoples (as against the
Germans), but stressed also the equality of all peoples, and proposed a European
congress to deal with outstanding international problems.
10
June 12
The Princess Windischgrätz, wife of the commander of the forces at Prague, was
accidentally shot and killed during a student demonstration. Prince Alfred
Windischgrätz, who favored strong repressive measures, seized this opportunity to
bring up reinforcements.
11
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(See 1846–47)
d. Italy
Italy's revolutions, which began to take shape before the Paris rising, proceeded against
two interrelated problems: (1) Austrian dominance in northern Italy, and (2) the demand
for liberal, political reform. Because Italians viewed the conservative government as
linked to Austrian influence, the middle classes found support for the revolution among
nobles as well as among the working class. The latter suffered from the devastating
harvests of 1846–47 and the increases in prices that accompanied them.
1
1846, June 15
THE ELECTION OF PIUS IX increased liberal activity because of his liberalism.
Liberals organized banquets and demonstrations and demanded the organization of a
civic guard, which they saw as the first step toward armed resistance against the
Austrians.
2
Piedmont. Charles Albert, influenced by liberal nobles such as Camillo di Cavour,
eased press censorship and revised the police system (1847). He then expanded his army
(Jan. 1848) and, on Feb. 13, 1848, yielded to liberal demands—he promised to create a
civic guard, gave the government a two-chamber parliament, and lowered the price of
salt.
3
March 4
Constitution (Statute) promulgated, the basis for the later constitution of the kingdom of
Italy. The king also appointed Cesare Balbo as prime minister, and Balbo began
preparing for war against Austria.
4
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1845, Dec. 11)
e. Switzerland
RADICALISM had spread in Switzerland on the heels of the conservative limitations of
the press. Radical exiles who fled their own countries often set up print shops in
Switzerland and even imported radical literature. The Swiss cantons were divided by the
Sonderbund (See 1845, Dec. 11), which reinforced the religious distinctions between the
Catholics and the Protestants and proved to be the catalyst for the revolution.
1
1846, Oct. 7
Revolutionaries in Geneva installed a new government. They had gained control
following a bloody revolution within the city under the leadership of James Fazy. The
revolutionaries established barricades and, with the assistance of Catholics from the
countryside, overthrew the government. The revolutionary government gave the canton a
new constitution (1847), which included liberal demands such as freedom of education
and election of members to the State Council.
2
1847, Jan
Diplomats from the conservative powers of Austria, Russia, and Prussia left Berne.
3
July 20
The Federal Diet dissolved the Sonderbund after a radical victory in St. Gall gave the
Diet the necessary majority. This move resulted in a protracted struggle between Catholic
and radical cantons.
4
Nov. 4
The Diet declared war on the Sonderbund, with Gen. Dufour in command of the army.
In less than a month, the Catholic forces had been defeated, and the Swiss Diet could
establish a government on the basis of liberal and radical ideas.
5
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1847, Feb. 13)
f. Germany
Germany faced many of the same problems that Austria and France did. Economic
hardship and rising prices had hurt the urban poor and working classes while manorial
dues continued to hamper economic growth in the east. Political disunity came under
repeated attack with the growing wave of German nationalism, which focused on the
German-speaking peoples and sought to unify them in a single country.
1
Industrial and agrarian unrest. In March and April 1848, artisans and workers
employed on the railroads and waterways began to resort to violence in an effort to gain
their demands. Workers and crowds in cities broke machines, refused to allow
steamships to take on cargo once carried by local boatmen, and attacked and destroyed
the Taunus Railroad (April 5). Artisans such as printers organized strikes and demanded
higher pay. Especially in the south, the peasantry rose against manorial dues by looting
and burning, which especially targeted ownership records.
2
Southern Germany. Spurred by the rising in Paris, demonstrations and assemblies in
Baden, from late February onward, drew up liberal demands, to which the duke
conceded. In Bavaria, the liberals forced the king to abdicate in favor of Maximilian II.
Baden, Württemberg, and Saxony all included liberal ministers in their governments in
an effort to appease the rising tide of revolution. The southern constitutional
governments met in Heidelberg and decided to call a national meeting of liberal
notables. This decision laid the groundwork for the Frankfurt Parliament.
3
1848, March 6
In an effort to avoid revolution, Frederick William IV promised to call the Prussian
Landtag at intervals and revised the press law (March 8).
March 10
4
Street demonstrations began in Berlin, which led to a skirmish between the
demonstrators and the army in an effort to drive the crowd from the palace square. The
artisans and students who made up the crowd erected barricades. Following the street
fighting, the king decided to grant concessions.
5
March 17–21
Frederick William declared in favor of a federal Reich. The army, patrolling the
palace gardens in anticipation of the announcement, fired on the crowd, which forced
Frederick William to withdraw the troops. On March 19, the Civic Guard, instead of the
army, began policing Berlin, and the government made an effort to restore order in
Prussia. Prussian municipalities were authorized to substitute direct taxation, from which
the workers were exempt, for duties on cereals, and the city governments established
work projects. Censorship was abolished and a United Landtag called (Vorparlament).
6
March 31
A preliminary parliament opened at Frankfurt-on-the-Main. This parliament, faced
with the difficulty of deciding between the radical and liberal programs, chose the latter
by refusing to place the radical program on the agenda. The parliament then laid the
groundwork for the election of a national assembly. Although the preliminary parliament
claimed to support universal male suffrage, the final resolution gave the vote to every
“independent” male over age 30. The inclusion of the criterion of independence gave the
states a means of excluding the working class.
7
April 7
The Diet of the Confederation sanctioned the resolutions of the preliminary
parliament.
8
April 15
Prussia, in an effort to encourage economic recovery, passed a bank law, which created
issuing banks backed by the public treasury.
9
May 18
Frankfurt Parliament convened. Its delegates, selected under limited suffrage, largely
represented the German middle classes.
10
May 22
Prussian National Assembly convened. The assembly was supposed to cooperate with
the government in creating a constitution, but the majority of the delegates took their
task to be that of a constituent assembly. The Prussian National Assembly had a stronger
left than did the Frankfurt Parliament. The government under Rudolf Camphausen
fashioned its own draft of the constitution along the Belgian model. The assembly
countered with its own draft, with democratic leanings.
11
June 2–4
The Assembly of Delegates of the North German Handicraft and Industrial Class
meeting in Hamburg called for an artisans' conference to meet in Frankfurt. A committee
met to prepare the address that declared the workers' disagreement with industrial
freedom and their ability to attempt to solve the social problems.
12
June 11–14
Printers convened in Mainz and drafted a petition for presentation to the Frankfurt
Parliament. The petition demanded regulations of economic concerns such as wages, use
of machinery, and employment.
13
June 28
Archduke John of Austria was appointed provisional executive head, but no real
government was set up. Long debates ensued over a rising against Denmark in
Schleswig (March 24).
14
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1841, July 13)
6. European Diplomacy, 1848–1914
The period was marked by the unification of Italy and Germany, constant friction over
the Balkans, and a policy of alliances that ultimately involved most of the European
powers in one group or another. The effect of technical and industrial advance on warfare
resulted in growing anxiety for security on all sides, and consequently to alignments for
the event of war, which, in fact, tended to make war more likely. At the same time the
expansion of European powers in Africa and Asia greatly extended the field of possible
friction.
1
1849, June 17
Russian troops entered Hungary and ended revolutionary action by Aug. 13. Minor
conflict resulted from Constantinople's refusal to extradite the leader, Lajos Kossuth.
2
1850
The Don Pacifico affair. Don Pacifico was a Moorish Jew, but a British subject. He held
large claims against the Greek government, which he pressed with vigor until an antiSemitic mob burned his house in Athens (Dec. 1849). The British responded with an
embargo on all Greek vessels in the Piraeus and finally seized them (Jan. 1850). After
abortive mediation by the French, the Greeks were eventually forced to comply (April
26).
April 19
3
Britain and the United States signed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty regulating their relations
with regard to Central America.
4
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Economic and Social Changes)
7. Western and Central Europe, 1848–1914
EUROPE IN 1871 (MAP)
a. Social, Cultural, and Economic Trends
1. Economic and Social Changes
THE CONTINUED IMPACT OF INDUSTRIALIZATION. As the problems of
industrialization grew, Europe witnessed a concerted effort at state building. In nations
like Germany, state building meant actual unification and the attempt at centralization in
order to enhance economic productivity. In Britain, however, state building was geared
more toward solving the social problems resulting from industrialization and
urbanization. In all cases, governments became more involved in the daily lives of their
citizens through obligatory primary education, military conscription, broad taxation, and
social legislation. The result was an increase in state power (despite varying forms of
government) and the further erosion of traditional ties to locality and region.
1
The mid-19th century also witnessed the rise of consumerism. Besides being emotional
centers, families became centers of consumption. Furthermore, as industry began to look
for wider markets, advertising developed. Industry no longer simply catered to a
demand, it helped create that demand. This was most visible in the development of
department stores designed to promote consumption. From the 1870s onward the rise
of kleptomania reflected the growing psychological importance of consumerism.
Society became more involved in the purchasing of goods than in the actual
manufacturing of them.
2
With the increase in state administrations and the development of a service sector, the
3
European social structure grew to include new white collar workers. These workers
held an ambiguous position in society; they balked at inclusion with the working classes
and had educations that made them similar to the middle classes, yet they could not
easily afford the lifestyle of the middle classes. In politics, as part of the lower middle
class, they frequently played the role of wild card, opting for socialism in some
instances, liberalism in others, and nationalism in still other cases. As such, they
increased the ambiguities of class conflict.
The latter half of the 19th century also witnessed slower population increases than those
of the beginning of the century. In France, where birthrates had begun to fall in the 18th
century, depopulation was a major concern, especially after France's defeat in the
Franco-Prussian War. By 1870, partly due to the increased availability of birth control
devices (condoms, diaphragms), birthrates began to drop more widely in Europe among
the working classes, as they had earlier among the middle classes. This, along with
fewer restrictions on marriage, also contributed to a drop in the rate of illegitimacy,
which had exploded between 1750 and 1850.
4
Emigration continued to reflect population growth, but now it issued more from
southern and eastern Europe than from western Europe. The slowing of population
growth and the radical decline in birthrates was matched, from 1880 onward, with a
rapid decline of infant mortality. This DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION produced
the modern demographic regime, with low birth and child death rates, larger families
among the poor than among the middle classes, and a pronounced growth of the
percentage of the elderly in the population as a whole.
5
Victorian attitudes toward sexuality loosened gradually from the 1870s onward. Sexual
respectability was still vitally important for middle-class women, but some men became
more open in their use of prostitutes and indulgence of the sexual double standard.
Quietly, many middle-class married couples increased their use of artificial birth
control devices and accepted sexuality as pleasure, not merely the basis for
procreation. At the same time definitions of homosexuality became more rigorous from
the 1870s onward. Medical and legal writings called new attention to homosexuality as a
problem, prompting an unusual belief that people were either homosexual or “normal,”
with no intermediate behavior; many homosexuals came to share this belief, which
heightened their group identity. Famous trials and imprisonments, like those of the Irish
writer Oscar Wilde between 1895 and 1898, reflected and furthered anxieties,
particularly about male homosexuality.
6
Finally, by the end of the century, western Europe had become firmly industrial. Only
southern and parts of eastern Europe lagged behind. Urbanization proceeded at an
amazing pace; Paris's population increased from 2 million to 3 million between 1850 and
1914. For Berlin, the increase was from half a million to 2 million in a similar time
period. Also, conditions began slowly to improve in the cities. Various reforms reduced
the unsanitary conditions.
7
THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. More than the first, this new spurt of
industrialization, falling roughly into two periods (1850–70 and 1890–1914), centered
on new technology. No longer content to rely on the tinkerings of inventors, industry
began hiring engineers and chemists. Scientific research was applied to production,
transportation, and communication. Technological advances (See Science and Learning)
included new forms of energy (the internal combustion engine, the development of the
electrical industry) and the creation of the chemical and petrochemical industries (the
invention of synthetic dyes and chemical fertilizers).
8
One of the results of the second industrial revolution was the accelerated decline of
artisans and the increase in the number of semiskilled factory workers. The latter became
the majority of the working classes. Additionally, as machines made even more inroads
into production, women and children lost their places in the factories. This, more than
middle-class reforms, explains the increasing disappearance of women and children in
industry.
9
With the depressions of 1873 and the 1890s, European industry also sought new ways
to survive economic cycles of boom and bust. The depressions differed from previous
cycles: they resulted from speculative investment and overproduction rather than
harvest failures. The second industrial revolution thus saw the creation of big business
(like the Krupps works in Germany). Using the techniques of vertical organization and
horizontal integration, European industrialists formed cartels designed to control pricing
and production. Industrialists also attempted new methods of scientific management,
designed to streamline the production process and maximize profits. Boards of directors
and professional managers and financiers replaced factory owners. In many nations this
contributed to the development of a new upper class, consisting of industrialists,
financiers, and aristocrats.
10
Besides cartels, industrialists tried to protect themselves by turning away from laissezfaire economics. They supported government regulation as a means of protecting
industry. Thus, they sought government aid in the forms of tariffs, labor controls, and
imperialism (which secured raw materials and new markets).
11
Government regulation did not always work in their favor, however. As suffrage was
extended to include workers, governments became more responsive to their concerns.
This was especially true with the advent of large industrial unions and the rise of
socialist parties. Whereas early unions were organized around crafts and controlled by
artisans, the persistent decline of artisans and the rise of big industrial complexes
convinced working-class activists that only unions organized to include all the workers
in one industry could counter the power of the industrialists. Such unions gradually
acquired official recognition and had won important victories by the 1890s.
12
Feeling endangered by working-class radicalism, the middle classes, which had slowly
acquired more power as the century wore on, began to address what they labeled the
social question in earnest after 1870. Some of this concern was also generated by real
13
fears of national degeneration; many English men and boys were rejected for service in
the Boer War, for example, because malnutrition had caused them to be physically unfit
for military service. The result was a series of social insurance laws, although not all of
Europe embraced this solution.
By 1914, then, Europe was an industrial society wherein big businessmen shared power
with the aristocracy in a new upper class, while the working classes, having become
more militant, were still viewed as a very real threat to the existing social order. The
question remained of how to integrate workers in a manner that did not significantly
alter middle-class comforts. (See Economic and Social Changes)
14
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
b. Britain
DESCENDANTS OF QUEEN VICTORIA
Monarchs: Queen Victoria (r. 1837–1901), Edward VII (r. 1901–10), and George V (r.
1910–36).
1
Prime ministers: Lord John Russell (1846–52, Whig), Lord Derby (1852, ConservativePeelite), Aberdeen coalition government (1852–55), Palmerston (1855–58), DerbyDisraeli coalition (1858–59), Palmerston until his death (1859–65), Lord Russell
(1865–66), Derby (1866–68), Disraeli (1868), Gladstone (1868–74), Disraeli (1874–80),
Gladstone (1880–85), Salisbury (1885–86), Gladstone (1886), Salisbury (1886–92),
Gladstone (1892–94), Lord Rosebery (1894–95), and Conservatives, Lord Salisbury
(1895–1902), Arthur J. Balfour (1902–5), Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1905–8,
Liberal), and Herbert H. Asquith (1908–16, Liberal).
2
1. England, Scotland, and Wales
Economics. British textile, coal, and iron industries continued to grow but not as rapidly
as those of Germany and the U.S. Britain's role as the leading industrial nation became
superseded by its role as shipper and financier in the latter part of the 19th century.
Britain also allowed agriculture to decline rapidly, especially after the Great
Depression between 1873 and 1879, in which agricultural prices plummeted under
increasing competition from abroad and good harvests.
1848
3
The Public Health Act stipulated an annual death rate of 23 per 1,000 was
unacceptable, but, despite improvements, Britain's death rate remained close to that
figure in many cities.
4
1850
The Factory Act, along with another act in 1853, established a 64-hour workweek for
all steam-powered factories and mandated that these factories close at 2:00 P.M. on
Saturdays.
5
1850s
Henry Mayhew (1812–87), a journalist for The Morning Chronicle, wrote a series of
articles entitled “Labour and the Poor” (1849–50), which appeared in the Chronicle and
later under the title London Labour and the London Poor.
6
1851
The Great Exhibition in London. The exhibition displayed the most modern machinery
and inventions in the glass and iron Crystal Palace. Conceived of by Prince Albert and
Henry Cole (a civil servant), the exhibition spotlighted British superiority and
ingenuity. The instigation of shilling days helped to calm middle-class fears about the
participation of the working class, who, much to the former's surprise, behaved in an
orderly fashion.
7
Formation of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE). The ASE is perhaps the
earliest example of the new model unionism of the 1850s and 1860s. The new unions of
skilled workers, including organizations for typographers, compositors, boilermakers,
spinners, and weavers, were well organized, national or amalgamated, and funded by
dues collected and managed locally. The unions practiced a policy of cautious
bargaining and struck only as a last resort. Many workers began to accept labor as a
commodity, exchanging less control over their skills in return for shorter hours and
higher pay (instrumentalism).
8
1852
The ASE strike was followed by a three-month lockout. The engineers returned to
work on the employers' terms but demonstrated both strength and persistence.
9
1853–54
Cholera epidemic in Britain. John Snow, a British doctor, demonstrated that the
outbreak could be linked to the water supply.
10
1853
Vaccination of infants made compulsory. The law bolstered the 1840 Vaccination Act,
and further acts in 1858, 1867, and 1871 stipulated various fines and terms of
imprisonment for parents who failed to immunize their children.
11
1854–61
The temperance movement. An act of 1854 forbade the opening of public houses
between 2:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. on Sundays except to travelers. An act in 1864 closed
the London public houses between 1:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M. These acts indicated the
growing strength of temperance organizations. In 1861, the Temperance Lifeboat
movement, dedicated to saving people from the ruin of drunkenness, began in
Staffordshire.
12
1855
The Nuisances Removal and Disease Prevention Act allowed local authorities to
obtain court orders for the removal of public health dangers at the expense of the
property owners involved, if those owners refused to cooperate.
13
1854–55
THE CRIMEAN WAR (See 1853–56) caused great hardship for British troops because
of inadequate hospital care and lack of supplies due to poor preparation. Florence
Nightingale and a group of other women became nurses at the front but were unable to
14
make up for the poor planning on the part of the military. As a result, more men died of
illness than died in battle.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1847)
c. The Low Countries
1. Belgium
Monarchs: Leopold I (r. 1831–65), Leopold II (r. 1865–1909), and Albert I (r.
1909–34).
1
1850 Ff
Doctrinaire liberalism gained control in the government under Charles Rogier.
François Laurent became the major theorist and argued that progress toward
individualism was directed by God. L'Économiste belge served as the major periodical
for the movement.
2
1850
An education bill increased the number of state grammar and secondary schools, but
allowed priests to offer religious instruction in these schools. Nonetheless, the bill met
increasing opposition from the Catholics, and priests generally refused to offer such
instruction.
3
National Bank founded.
4
1852
Walther Frère-Orban adopted a strategy of free trade implemented through a series of
bilateral trade treaties and by reducing duties on a number of items.
5
The Rogier cabinet resigned as a result of domestic crisis and the growing hostility of
Napoleon III. Leopold I proved unable to establish a stable conservative government.
The doctrinaire Liberals returned in 1857.
6
1854
L'Affranchissement established. Along with Les Solidaires (1857), it combined
atheism with socialist ideas. Atheist organizations provided groundwork for socialism in
Belgium throughout the 19th century.
7
1860, July 21
Frère-Orban abolished cities' rights to impose duties on wares brought into towns and
established the Crédit communal, which provided state loans to municipalities on
favorable terms.
8
1870, Aug. 9, 11
Treaties concluded among Britain, Prussia, and France guaranteed Belgian neutrality
during the Franco-Prussian War.
9
1879, July 1
An education act secularized primary education. No public support was to be given to
“free” or Catholic schools. The measure passed with Liberal support but estranged the
Clericals.
10
1880, June
Clericals won a majority in the elections and replaced the Liberals in power until World
War I.
1884, Sept. 10
11
A new education law gave public support for church schools in Catholic districts.
12
1885
The Workers' Party founded. It soon replaced the Liberals as the primary opposition
to the Clericals.
13
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Nov. 2)
d. France
1. The Second Empire
1852, Jan 1
Louis-Napoleon (Napoleon III) became emperor by decree of the Senate and by
plebiscite.
1
Jan. 14–15
The constitution of 1852 was signed. It concentrated power in Louis-Napoleon's hands.
Louis-Napoleon steered France through moderate economic reforms. He sought mass
support by providing for universal male suffrage and confiscating Orléanist estates. He
utilized some of the money from these estates for charitable causes. However, his reign
was plagued by rumors of assassination plans and attempts on his life.
2
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1846, Oct. 10)
e. The Iberian Peninsula
1. Spain
1851, March 16
A concordat with the papacy recognized the Catholic religion as the sole authorized
faith and gave the church sweeping control of education and censorship. The papacy
recognized the abolition of ecclesiastical jurisdictions and the sale of confiscated church
lands.
1
1852
A constitutional reform virtually eliminated the powers of the Cortes, established the
dictatorship in law, and gave a camarilla financial oligarchy, or complete power.
2
1854
Revolution began in the wake of the introduction of the self-acting mule (spinning
machine) and of widespread unrest because of economic hardship culminating in a
general strike (1854) among textile workers. Hostility toward workers' organizations
increased, and they were suppressed after the revolution. Wheat prices rose due to the
loss of supplies from Russia during the Crimean War and a famine in Galicia. Gen.
Leopoldo O'Donnell overthrew the government, and the Cortes adopted a number of
liberal reforms including a law confiscating church lands. Isabella threatened to
abdicate, and Gen. Baldomero Espartero resigned (July 15, 1856) in favor of
O'Donnell, who reestablished the constitution of 1845. O'Donnell was dismissed, and
3
two years of reaction followed. The revolution failed in some respects but did lay the
groundwork for economic reforms such as railway expansion.
1856–63
O'Donnell returned to power and governed with the support of the Liberal Union, a
party organized by him during the revolution.
4
1856
The Economist, a liberal periodical stressing laissez-faire economics, began publication.
5
1857
Father Claret came to Madrid to serve as the queen's confessor. He became the center
of the political Catholic movement, seeking to counter rising anticlericalism.
6
1859
A budget created a base for financing public works by extending the disentailing laws.
7
1859–66
Foreign policy concentrated on maintaining and extending the empire. Spanish troops
captured Tetuán in their successful campaign against the Moors in Morocco (1860).
Santo Domingo was annexed but was relinquished after an insurrection on the island
(1865). Spain joined France and Britain in intervention in Mexico (1861) and engaged
in a dispute over the Chincha Islands with Peru (1864–65). War with Chile
(1865–66) (See 1866).
1863, Sept. 8
8
Progressives boycotted politics (the retraimiento) as the government failed to
incorporate them.
9
1868, June 22
In the mutiny of San Gil, artillery sergeants shot their officers in protest against
exclusiveness of the officer corps and in response to democratic propaganda. O'Donnell
ordered the death of 60 sergeants in the aftermath. The mutiny marked the disintegration
of the government, which, after the death of O'Donnell, collapsed in revolution.
10
Sept. 18
Revolution was declared by Adm. Juan Topete, followed by a manifesto by the liberal
generals.
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Aug. 28)
f. Italy and the Papacy
1. The Unification of Italy
THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY 1860-70 (MAP)
1848, March 4
King Victor Emmanuel published the new Piedmontese constitution, which provided
for a Senate of life members appointed by the king, a Chamber of Deputies elected by
limited, direct male suffrage (leaving power in the hands of the nobility and middle
class), and a responsible ministry.
1
1850, March
On the advice of Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, a leading liberal and founder with
Cesare Balbo of the periodical Il Risorgimento, Piedmontese premier Massimo d'Azeglio
appointed Giuseppe Siccardi as keeper of the seals. Under Siccardi, laws abolished
ecclesiastical courts, eliminated the right of asylum, limited the number of holidays, and
restricted religious bodies' right to acquire real property.
April 12
2
Pope Pius IX returned to Rome after his exile during the revolutions of 1848. Pius chose
to strengthen both the Catholic Church and papal control of it rather than accept
opportunities for nationalist leadership.
3
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1848, Sept. 12)
g. Switzerland
Economic development. The Swiss federal government sought to standardize currencies
and weights and measures, expand and regulate postal and telegraph systems, and
encourage technological development. While attempting to assure greater federal control,
the government continued to face difficulties because the federal system in Switzerland
allowed each canton significant independence, including the creation of its own
constitution.
1
1848
The canton of Glarus restricted men to a 13-hour workday, or 10-hour night shifts, and
tried but failed to establish an intercantonal regulatory agreement.
2
1849
The role of the Swiss as mercenary soldiers in Europe ended as the Federal Assembly
forbade recruiting in Switzerland on behalf of foreign powers and military capitulations
in accordance with the new constitution.
3
1852
Following a review by English engineers, the Bund lost most of its authority over railway
building. The railways became privately owned, and the miles of track grew substantially.
May
4
The state took control of secondary education in the canton of Ticino. The state
abolished several religious institutions responsible for teaching and expelled the monks.
5
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See March 28)
h. Central Europe
1. Germany
1849–50
After the failed 1848 revolution, Frederick William of Prussia and adviser Radowitz
pushed for more German unity with loose ties to the Habsburg monarchy. A Prussian
Union scheme (May 26, 1849) won agreement from several North German states, and a
National Assembly at Erfurt (Oct. 19) was confirmed. Austrian opposition grew,
however, and war threatened.
1
1850, Nov. 29
Olmütz Proclamation. The Prussian president, Manteuffel, and the Austrian prime
minister, Schwarzenberg, agreed to joint action in Hesse and Schleswig (dispute between
Elector and Parliament) and called for a conference to determine future action among
German states. Liberals considered the proclamation a humiliating surrender of Prussian
power, but most conservatives, including Otto von Bismarck, accepted it. It set the stage
for the growing animosity between Austrians and Prussians over the gro deutsch and
kleindeutsch question. The Prussian Union was abandoned and the old Germanic
Confederation restored at a conference in Dresden.
Dec.–1851, March
2
A Dresden conference on German affairs. Revival of conservatism around the
newspaper Kreuzzeitung (founded in 1848).
3
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Scandinavia)
(See 1845)
i. Scandinavia
Relations among Scandinavian countries played a major role in this period. A
declaration of neutrality by Denmark, Sweden, and Norway (1853) opened all but
seven ports to the warships of any belligerent. This act helped to secure the countries'
positions within Europe by gaining French and British support against German claims on
territories.
1
Economics. Sweden was perhaps the most advanced of the countries; its enclosure
movement had created a large number of medium-size farms and encouraged more
modern agricultural techniques. In Denmark, land reclamation in Jutland boosted the
agricultural economy. Danish industry also was encouraged by such reclamation as well
as trade outside Europe through organizations such as the East Asiatic Company.
Norway also adopted modern agriculture as more and more land was turned into pasture
for dairy cattle. The milk industry was supported not only by the increase in pasturage
but also by the development of railways, which made transport of such products much
easier. Norway also increased its exports of fish, wood, and metals as well as
introducing some processing for these products prior toshipping. Iceland was
constrained by Danish control, which Icelanders felt drained them of their profits.
However, they increased exports of fish and other products from the sea, which in turn
helped to boost their economy. Finland suffered the greatest hardships during this
period as it continued to depend primarily on grain production and timber. Free trade
with Russia between 1859 and 1885 did help to stimulate iron and cotton industries, but
the reintroduction of tariffs made sustained growth in this area difficult.
2
Society. With the exception of Finland, all these countries suffered from a labor shortage
due to emigration. (Between 1870 and 1914, 1.5 million Swedes emigrated.) This
emigration helped to remove excess labor, which in turn meant that wages were high and
rising. The scarcity of labor also helped Scandinavia to avoid the problems of urban
centers such as London and Paris because the demand for housing did not increase
dramatically and the agricultural nature of the countries meant that urban growth was not
as rapid. Finland, although it remained primarily agricultural, suffered from rural
3
overpopulation, which depressed wages and led to hardship. (See The Scandinavian
States)
1. Sweden and Norway
Revolutions of 1848 elsewhere resulted in King Oscar refusing to continue his support
of liberal causes. Franchise reform was delayed until the 1860s.
4
1848
Norwegian road building, under the direction of Christian Vilhelm Bergh, began.
Bergh managed to create roads in the mountainous terrain that maintained a constant
grade.
5
1848–50
THRANE MOVEMENT. Joseph Thrane edited Drammens Adresse, a newspaper in
which he demanded universal male suffrage and social reforms.
6
1849, May 5
Arbeiderforeningens Blad was founded by Thrane. This newspaper helped establish
numerous labor associations, which gathered 30,000 signatures on a petition to the king.
The government imprisoned Thrane until 1858.
7
1850
Johan Sverdrup was returned to the Storting by the Thrane movement. Sverdrup
became a leading reformer in his “battle of the fifties.” He backed an amendment that
helped eliminate class favoritism in the army draft system and stopped plans to
combine the Norwegian and Swedish regiments in a union army. He supported an
amendment that increased the ratio of rural to urban representatives from three out
of four to four out of five. Sverdrup failed to pass legislation for a jury system because
he lost the support of Søren Jaabaek, who was leading the farmer group in the Storting.
8
Women's emancipation. In 1854, a law gave women equal rights to inheritance. It was
followed by an 1863 law that eliminated all vestiges of unmarried women's status as
minors. The new realist school in the novel, committed to depicting life devoid of any
embellishment, was anticipated by the Norwegian Camilla Collett's The County
Governor's Daughters. This novel depicted the problems that middle-class women faced
because of the pressure placed on them to make good marriages.
9
1859
Karl XV ascended to the throne. Complete religious freedom established.
10
1860
Stadholder controversy. Karl XV had promised to abolish the position of stadholder in
Norway. However, the Swedes denied this demand and argued that the Norwegians were
bound to the Swedes under the Act of Union (See Nov. 4). As a result, the Swedes
claimed the right to amend the Norwegian constitution and act in Norway's best interest.
Karl XV supported the Committee on Revision for the Norwegian constitution.
Norwegian nationalism grew in this period; musical and historical collections were
gathered, the Young Norway Party was formed by Henrik Wergeland.
11
1865–66
Riksdag reform. Engineered by Louis De Geer, prime minister, the reforms replaced
the Four Estates with an annual two-chamber legislature elected by a common vote. The
Second Chamber represented the common people, and thus suffrage was extended to
all males at least 25 years of age who owned at least 1,000 riksdalers in real estate,
rented farmland valued at 6,000 riksdalers, or had taxable income of at least 800
riksdalers per year. Each eligible voter could serve in the chamber, if elected, and had
only one vote. The First Chamber had a more elaborate voting structure, which
included all men who could vote for town and provincial councils but also had a system
of plural voting for numerous enterprises. Women involved in those enterprises could
vote. Karl XV supported these reforms because he recognized the great impetus for
change within Sweden and because De Geer threatened to resign otherwise.
1870s
12
Wave of strikes. Trade unions had continued to organize in Sweden after the abolition
of guilds in 1846. These organizations engaged in a number of strikes during the 1870s
but to little avail. The paternalism of the employers resulted in scant progress for
workers.
13
1872
Oscar II ascended to the throne.
14
1879
The problems of trade unions were emphasized by the strike at Sundsvall. Employers
in Sundsvall planned to reduce wages in the sawmills. The workers demanded a
restoration of their wages, and, when employers refused, they gathered in a nearby field
to protest. The governor ordered them to return to work, but they refused. At this point,
Oscar II deployed cannon and the military and telegrammed the governor. The workers
returned without bloodshed, but their leaders were imprisoned as a result of the strike.
15
Taxation and tariff reform. Under Oscar II, Sweden reorganized its tax system. Taxes
on land became less onerous under a compromise between conservatives and large
landowners (1873), and numerous obsolete or cumbersome duties were removed
between 1878 and 1911. Sweden enjoyed most-favored-nation status with France
(1865), but it began to favor protectionism during the late 19th century. The Farmer's
Party split, with the new party demanding protection and the old party continuing to
support free trade. After a protracted struggle in the Riksdag, the government provided
protection for grain and manufacturing interests in the last decade of the 19th century.
16
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1801, March 24)
8. Eastern Europe and the Balkans, 1762–1914
a. Russia
Population. With a population of 36 million in 1796, Russia experienced enormous
growth during the 19th century, reaching 125 million by 1897. The vast majority of
these people were peasants, but urban areas also grew, especially with industrialization.
1
Society and economics. As Russia's market economy grew in the first half of the
century, with rapid expansion of grain exports to western Europe, the gentry found its
indebtedness increasing. This fact made many hostile to economic and social reforms,
creating a situation in which reforms were often limited or highly qualified.
Industrialization did nothing to ease these tensions.
2
Culture. The period 1820–80 is considered the golden age of Russian literature,
producing artists such as Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, and Pushkin. As in politics, however,
Russian culture retained a tension between Western art forms and ideas and a desire to
establish distinctive Russian themes. For many this debate meant little—approximately
45 percent of Russians were illiterate in 1917, despite big literacy gains.
3
Tsars: Alexander I (r. 1801–25), Nicholas I (r. 1825–55), Alexander II (r. 1855–81),
Alexander III (r. 1881–94), and Nicholas II (r. 1894–1917).
4
1801
Alexander I began his reign by granting an amnesty to political prisoners and exiles,
abolishing torture, repealing the prohibition of foreign books, and so on. With a group of
intimate friends (the Informal Committee: Czartoryski, Kochubei, Novosiltsov,
Stroganov), Alexander discussed various reforms and the project of a constitution for
Russia. Though the constitution was not introduced, the central government was
reorganized, and modern ministries replaced the old “colleges.”
5
The right to own estates was extended from the gentry to all free Russians.
6
1803
A law was passed regulating the liberation of the peasant serfs of owners who desired
to make the change. This was the first move of the government toward the abolition of
serfdom. Further reforms were postponed because of the many wars in which Alexander
became involved.
7
1804
Kharkov and Kazan Universities were founded.
8
1804–13
War with Persia (See 1804–13) resulted from Russian annexation of the kingdom of
Georgia. The Russians were victorious, and Persia recognized the annexation, besides
ceding to Russia Deghastan and Shemakha.
9
1805–12
Russian expansion in North America. Forts were built in Alaska (occupied by Russian
pioneers in the late 18th century) and even in northern California.
10
1805–7
WAR OF THE THIRD COALITION (See 1805) against France. This ended in
Russia's defeat and the conclusion of the Treaty of Tilsit, by which Alexander and
Napoleon became allies.
1806–12
11
War with the Ottoman Empire (See 1806–12). This was hurriedly concluded in 1812
by the Treaty of Bucharest, which gave Russia not only Bessarabia, but rather
extensive rights in the Danubian Principalities.
12
1808–9
War with Sweden, through which Russia acquired Finland. Finland was organized as
an autonomous grand duchy, with the Russian tsar as grand duke. Constitutional
government was guaranteed to the Finns by a special act.
13
After these wars, Alexander resumed his reform schemes, with Michael Speransky as
his chief counselor.
14
1809
An attempt to introduce civil service examinations failed.
15
1810
A council of state was established to draft new laws and watch over the legality of
administration. The ministries were also reorganized, and a regular system of state
budgets was introduced. Speransky presented a plan for a constitution, but it too
remained unrealized. Opposition of the conservatives and personal disagreement with
the tsar led to Speransky's downfall and temporary exile (1812).
16
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(See 1794, March 24)
b. Poland
Poland in the 19th century is difficult to characterize, since it was split among three
countries that developed differently. For the most important general social and economic
trends, refer to the sections on Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Culturally, the overriding
theme during this century remained, however, the reestablishment of an independent
Poland and the best means of attaining that end.
1
1800
Foundation of the Warsaw Society of the Friends of Science, which mixed national
preservation with Enlightenment thought. Its most important work was the Dictionary of
the Polish Language, published in 1806.
2
1807
Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia created the DUCHY OF WARSAW, a
constitutional state based on the French model, including the introduction of the
Napoleonic Code. The Saxon prince, Frederick Augustus, became the duke.
3
1809
Polish-Austrian War. The duchy of Warsaw gained new territory in the Treaty of
Schönbrunn.
1815
4
The Congress of Vienna (See Sept. 15–1815, June 9) accepted limited Polish autonomy
through the creation of the grand duchy of Posen (Poznan), under Prussian leadership;
the Congress Kingdom of Poland, in permanent union with the Russian Empire; and
the Free State of Cracow. Nationalist hopes remained pinned on the kingdom of
Poland, where a constitution provided for a Sejm (parliament), a separate administration
and army, and official use of the Polish language. Gen. Josef Zaionczek (Zajaczek) was
made viceroy, and Grand Duke Constantine became commander of the Polish army.
5
1816
University of Warsaw established.
6
1817
The first secret society, Panta Kojna (Everything in Common), was founded at the
University of Warsaw. It was followed in 1820 by the more active Union of Free Poles.
Students also founded secret societies at Wilno University, but, as in Warsaw, they did
not last long.
7
Independent of student activity, military officers also formed secret patriotic societies
such as the National Freemasonry Society in 1819, and the Patriotic Society in 1821.
8
1819
Russian tsar Alexander introduced censorship into the Congress Kingdom as his rule
became more autocratic in Poland. He refused to call the Sejm between 1820 and 1825.
9
1822
The publication of Adam Mickiewicz's (1798–1855) first volume of poems marked the
dawn of Polish romanticism. Mickiewicz's epics Konrad Wallenrod (1828) and Pan
Tadeusz (1834) made him the movement's leader. Other romantic poets and dramatists
included Count Alexander Fredro (1793–1876, comedies), Juljusz Slowacki
(1809–49), and Zygmunt Krasinski (1812–59). After the November Insurrection, many
of the brightest stars of Polish romanticism acquired fame in France, especially the
10
musician Frédéric Chopin.
1823
The Prussian Settlement Decree, abolishing serfdom (See 1815), was extended to
Poles in the grand duchy of Posen. In 1836, however, a royal decree restricted the earlier
terms of the settlement to favor the landlords of Posen, retaining a system of large
estates as elsewhere in Prussia.
11
1824
Polish and Russian revolutionaries reached a general agreement, but the Decembrist
Revolt (See Dec. 26) of the following year was conducted without Polish support.
Nevertheless, the Russian investigation unearthed this connection. The Polish
government insisted that the suspects be tried by the Sejm, according to Polish law. In a
mark of independence, all conspirators were acquitted of conspiracy and given short
prison terms for membership in secret societies in 1828.
12
1828
Ksawery Lubecki, minister of finance, established the Bank of Poland, part of a state
effort to increase industrial development (textiles, mining, ironworks).
13
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
c. The Balkans
THE BALKANS, 1878-1914 (MAP)
1. The Balkan States
The 19th century saw the creation of most Balkan states. The first national revolutions
were not the product of European ideology, the revival of national consciousness among
intellectuals, or the rise of an Orthodox merchant class, however, these all played an
important role. The immediate cause was the breakdown of Ottoman central authority. In
the face of increased brigandage, local governments organized and armed themselves,
shifting loyalties and military balances. Moreover, despite general warfare in Europe,
Balkan leaders always believed in the possibility of foreign intervention. After
independence or autonomy was achieved, these states had to establish the trappings of the
modern state. In most cases, divisions arose between advocates of Western-style
parliament and partisans of autocratic rule.
1
The Balkans remained overwhelmingly rural; industrial development was slow. Faced
with the cost of administration, many Balkan states ran high foreign debts. They were not
alone, for as capitalism grew, so did peasant indebtedness. This contributed to a growing
chasm between town and country, which would color future developments.
2
Each of the Balkan nations experienced cultural revival; nationalist goals were often
tied to linguistic and cultural development. Governments fostered this through the
creation of educational systems, yet the bulk of the Balkan population remained illiterate
throughout the 19th century.
3
By the end of the century, the map of the Balkan Peninsula showed a number of new
nations. The result was not simply national development, however. The creation of
4
national identities directly countered the Ottoman millet system, which had allowed
various ethnic communities to rely on their own local leaders. The creation of new
nations alongside areas of mixed ethnicity like Macedonia resulted in increased
antagonisms and instability.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Overview)
C. The Middle East and North Africa, 1792–1914
1. Overview
The start of the 19th century marks the conventional beginning of modern Middle Eastern
and North African history. The region entered a new course of development under the
overpowering shadow of Europe, which increasingly shaped its domestic and
international affairs.
1
By 1914 large parts of the region, including Egypt, Cyprus, Aden, and all of North
Africa, had been occupied by European imperial powers, primarily Britain and France;
the states of the Persian Gulf had accepted one form or another of British protection;
and Iran and Afghanistan were subject to extensive Russian and British interference in
their internal affairs. European powers had also helped the Balkan lands shake off
Ottoman rule, which was virtually terminated in Europe after a presence of some 500
years.
2
The looming European threat spurred a dramatic process of modernization initiated by
regional rulers (primarily in Istanbul and Cairo) in the beginning of the 19th century.
Modeling their efforts on Western methods and institutions, they proceeded to
reorganize their armies and centralize their administrations, and then expanded into
new spheres of social and economic reform that created European-inspired legal codes,
land tenure systems, municipal institutions, secular schools, and public health measures.
With the aid of European capital they also promoted improvements in infrastructure
(irrigation works, roads, railways, telegraph lines, and steam navigation). Governments
grew bigger and assumed new social functions, although the ambitious rush to develop
led, by the mid-1870s, to the bankruptcy of the treasuries of the Ottoman Empire, Egypt,
and Tunisia, all of which had defaulted on large loans taken from European bankers.
European financial and political controls established in the aftermath restricted both
the expenditures and sovereignty of regional governments.
3
Government efforts to modernize were part of a broader opening up of the region to
4
Western influences. Newspapers, modern schools (most of them private and communal),
translated works, and direct contact with Europeans introduced segments of the public to
new modes of thought. European dress and architecture spread, especially in the cities.
Slavery was abolished, a feminist movement began to emerge, ideas of nationalism and
constitutional government took root, and Islamic religious institutions came under attack.
By 1914 the encounter with Western civilization had provoked serious soul-searching
and questions about the future direction of society. Thinkers tried to explain why a onceflourishing Islamic civilization had become inferior to Europe and how the region could
rejuvenate itself. Between those who advocated opposition to Western ways and
supporters of wholesale imitation of them, a group of thinkers emerged who sought ways
for the region to modernize without being untrue to its own traditions. Many of them
were associated with the movement of Islamic reform, which supported modernization
in the framework of a reformed Islam more suited to the needs of society.
5
Dramatic transformations occurred also in the demographic and economic spheres. The
region's population increased during the period between two and three times, from
roughly 28 million to about 66 million (in the Middle East from 21 to 54 million, in North
Africa from 7 to 12 million). Improvements in public health and the disappearance of
the plague brought the beginnings of sustained population growth in both city and
countryside (the rural population remained at 75–80 percent).
6
This demographic revolution was accompanied by economic expansion. The region's
foreign trade grew several times as Europeans purchased larger quantities of its
agricultural products and found in it ready markets for their mass-produced finished
goods. The Middle East and North Africa became incorporated into the Europeandominated world economy, with a number of mixed results: the colonial pattern of
exchange undermined the region's self-sufficiency; there was a large-scale shift to cash
crops in some areas (such as cotton in Egypt and silk in Lebanon); many local textile
workers unable to compete with cheap European imports were thrown out of business;
coastal cities like Beirut and Alexandria, the new contact points with Europe, grew
rapidly while the interior cities declined in economic importance; and local non-Muslim
merchants backed by European favors benefited from the new opportunities at the
expense of Muslim traders.
7
Agriculture, which remained the main sector of the economy, also experienced marked
growth. Improved security and irrigation, investments by landowners, and increased
demand all helped to expand the cultivated area and agricultural output. Through new
laws, large tracts of state land were converted into freehold and came mostly into the
possession of a class of wealthy urban landowners. Much capital went into land but not
into modern industry, which was still barely existent in 1914. Manufacturing remained
organized around artisanal workshops even as the traditional guild system was
disappearing, its functions taken over by government and the market. Overall, income
and wealth increased, but the benefits were very unevenly distributed. (See The Middle
8
East and North Africa, 1914–1945)
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1807–8)
2. The Middle East and Egypt, 1796–1914
a. The Ottoman Empire
1. Beginnings of Modernizing Reform
1808–39
SULTAN MAHMUD II. In Nov. 1808, just months after his accession, Mahmud faced a
revolt by the Janissaries, who forced him to abandon plans to create a new army, and in
addition killed his reform-minded grand vezir, Mustafa Bayrakdar Pasha. This
experience, and the unhappy fate of his predecessor Selim III, prompted the sultan to
prepare cautiously for the eventual destruction of the Janissaries. A set of decisive
actions he took marked the true beginnings of modernization in the empire. In addition
to creating a new army and restoring central control in many provinces, he began the
reorganization of the state based on European ideas of the rule of law, conciliar
bureaucracy, and equality of the subjects.
1
1812–20
Reassertion of Istanbul's control in the Balkans and Anatolia. Mahmud used political
pressures and military expeditions to remove rebellious governors and local notables
from their hold over large parts of Anatolia and the Balkans, which were brought under
his direct rule. In western Anatolia the central government eliminated several of the
rural notables known as valley lords (derebeys) who ruled over autonomous hereditary
principalities, including the Janikli family in the area of Trabzon (1812–13), the Chapano
lu family around Ankara and Amasya (1814), and the Karaosmano lu family in the
area of Aydin (1816). The last of the valley lords was subjugated in 1866 when a military
2
expedition removed the Kuchuk Alio
lu chiefs in the area of Adana.
1813
Reassertion of Istanbul's control over the province of Aleppo, after a crackdown on
the local Janissary corps and the execution of many of its leaders.
3
1815–17
The Serbian revolt. In April 1815, two years after the Ottomans suppressed the uprising
of Karageorge, a second revolt broke out under the leadership of Milosh Obrenovich. In
1817, Sultan Mahmud conceded a degree of autonomy to the Serbs (See 1817),
recognizing Milosh as the prince of Serbia and allowing the Serbs to have their own
national assembly and army. The Ottomans continued to maintain their governor in
Belgrade as well as their garrisons.
4
1821
First appearance of cholera in the empire. Numerous subsequent epidemics hit the
region well into the 20th century (7 between 1821 and 1850). The estimated mortality in
various cities was 1–4 percent, with higher rates of 6–10 percent among the poor
segments of the population. Mecca suffered the highest recorded mortality rates, with
cholera epidemics wiping out as many as 10–15 percent of the Muslim pilgrims (the city
had 23 epidemics between 1831 and 1912). The bubonic plague disappeared in most
parts of the region by the 1840s, and cholera took its place as the leading scourge.
5
1821–23
War with Iran, provoked by border incidents. The Iranians pushed successfully into
Anatolia, but agreed to peace after an epidemic ravaged their troops. The Treaty of
Erzurum (July 28, 1823) reaffirmed the Treaty of 1746 with minor boundary changes in
favor of Iran. Provisions were made for the release of the confiscated property of Iranian
merchants in Istanbul and for the entry of Iranian traders and pilgrims into Ottoman
lands.
6
1821–30
THE GREEK WAR OF INDEPENDENCE (See 1821–31). A revolt against Ottoman
rule in the Morea in March 1821 spread quickly to the Greek mainland and islands, and a
Greek assembly declared independence. The Ottomans solicited the assistance of
Muhammad Ali of Egypt, whose disciplined troops subdued Crete before moving into
the Morea in 1825 and defeating the rebels there. When the Ottomans resisted European
demands for an armistice, a combined British and French squadron destroyed the
Ottoman and Egyptian fleets at Navarino (Oct. 20, 1827) in a naval battle that turned
the tide in favor of the Greek rebels. The Ottomans refused to settle on European terms,
and war ensued with Russia (April 1828) in which the Ottomans were soundly defeated.
They agreed to a European scheme to establish Greece as an autonomous tributary state
ruled by a hereditary prince invested by the sultan (1829), but in 1830 they were forced to
accept full Greek independence.
7
1822, Jan. 24
Death of Ali Pasha of Janina, the powerful ruler of Albania and parts of Greece for over
three decades, after Ottoman forces occupied his lands and put him to death.
8
Aug. 13
A major earthquake in northern Syria caused extensive damage and loss of life,
especially in Aleppo. In 1872 another severe earthquake in that region devastated Antioch
(Antakya).
9
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(See 1796)
b. Iran
THE QAJAR DYNASTY IN IRAN (1796-1925)
1796–97
AGHA MUHAMMAD SHAH, FOUNDER OF THE QAJAR DYNASTY. The
Qajars, originally Turkish tribal chiefs in Safavid service, consolidated their rule in
Iran in the last two decades of the 18th century. The able and brutal Qajar leader Agha
Muhammad took advantage of the political chaos to expand his control of the country. In
1796, after crushing the Zand dynasty and taking Khurasan from its Afshar ruler, he was
crowned shah in his capital of Tehran.
1
The Qajars, who ruled Iran until 1924, headed a weakly centralized regime in which
strong provincial tribes and an increasingly independent religious establishment set
limits on the power of the state. Growing European intrusion also debilitated the
government. In the 19th century Iran did not experience the level of modernizing reform
of the Ottoman Empire or Egypt. The population grew from about 6 million in 1800 to
around 12 million in 1920, but close to 90 percent of it remained rural, with a strong
nomadic and tribal element (estimated at over a quarter of the population).
2
1797–1834
FATH ALI SHAH. The shah deferred to the Shi’ite clergy in order to enlist their
support for the Qajar regime. He contributed state money to them and established many
mosques and madrasas. At the beginning of Fath Ali's reign, the Qajar bureaucracy was
only rudimentary. He created many additional administrative positions, such as
3
controller general. Fath Ali Shah had five prime ministers during his reign. Their duties
varied according to their abilities and the trust they elicited from the ruler. Always
threatened by court intrigue and potentially fatal royal disfavor, no high-level
governmental appointee ever felt safe. Fath Ali's many sons were appointed as
governors of major provinces. Abbas Mirza (d. 1833), the heir apparent, maintained his
own provincial army as the governor of Azerbaijan and later Khurasan.
Fath Ali Shah organized the army into two sections, one of which was based on a
European military model and was directed by French, British, and Russian officers. By
1813 the nizam-i jadid (new army) included 12,000 regular cavalry and 12,000 regular
infantry. Despite this addition, the Qajar army remained dependent on tribal levies and
the ghulams (military slaves), usually of Christian origin, who formed the shah's
personal guard.
4
1799
Mirza Baba, naqqash-bashi (head painter) at the Qajar court, painted one of many lifesize portraits of Fath Ali Shah. Mirza Baba mastered oils, miniature illumination, and
lacquer, and many of his paintings were designed as presents for European rulers.
5
1804–13
War with Russia (See 1804–13). Following its annexation of Georgia in 1801, Russia
pushed outward to extend its control in the Caucasus to the Aras River. After nine years
of hostilities the Treaty of Gulistan (Oct. 12, 1813) confirmed Iran's loss of Georgia
and districts of Azerbaijan, including Baku and Qarabagh. Russia remained dissatisfied,
and war resumed in 1826.
6
1809–11
Appointment of Hajji Mirza Abu al-Hasan Khan as the first Qajar ambassador to Great
Britain. He became the object of the satirical work Adventures of Hajji Baba in England
by James Morier.
1812
7
Opening of a printing press. The press in Iran remained much less developed than that
of the Ottoman Empire or Egypt.
8
c. 1813
Completion of the Masjid-i Shah in Tehran. Situated in the heart of the city, the royal
mosque is a notable example of the Qajar royal building program, in which members of
guilds (asnaf) provided the skilled labor for the construction of major architectural
projects. In the building trade, as in other crafts, a system of guilds with their inner
hierarchy of apprentices and masters was in place.
9
1826
Death of Sheik Ahmad ibn Zayn al-Din al-Ahsa'i, founder of the Shaykhi School of
Shi’ism. The doctrines of the Shaykhi school were regarded as heterodox by the
majority of the Shi’ite religious learned. They attempted to reconcile reason and
religion in order to explain difficult aspects of Shi’ite beliefs. They posited that the
hidden twelfth imam, whose return is awaited by all Shi’ite Muslims, was not literally
hidden on earth, but existed in an intermediary world of archetypes called Hurqalya.
Later members of the Shaykhi School argued that one perfect Shi’ite Muslim might act
as an intercessor between this world and the hidden twelfth imam. The Shaykhis retained
a minority following in Iran and Iraq, but influenced the later Babi movement.
10
1826–28
Second war with Russia (See 1804–13). The Russians succeeded in gaining the coveted
frontier along the Aras River. Under the Treaty of Turkmanchay (Feb. 22, 1828) Iran
lost the areas of Erivan and Nakhchevan, and provided for a Russian diplomatic and
commercial presence in Iran.
11
1829
Death of Mirza Abd al-Vahhab Isfahani. A bureaucrat with a flair for poetry and
calligraphy, Mirza rose through the administrative ranks. In 1809 he was appointed
munshi al-mamalik (head of the royal chancery). By 1821, he had control of Iran's
foreign affairs. Although never named prime minister, in practice he had a similar
12
influence over Fath Ali Shah in Qajar state affairs until his death.
1834–48
MUHAMMAD SHAH. After two previous humiliating Qajar losses to the Russian
army, Muhammad Shah sought to modernize his military forces. To this end, he
utilized European officers as commanders of special brigades, set up a foundry for
casting brass cannon, and produced gunpowder.
13
Under the influence of his prime minister, Hajji Mirza Aghasi, the shah displayed Sufi
mystical tendencies and thus jeopardized the traditional role of the Qajar rulers as
patrons of the Shi’ite clergy. The situation strained relations between the government
and the clergy, some of whom articulated the idea that the Qajars were not legitimate
political authorities.
14
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(See 1793–1800)
c. Afghanistan
THE BARAKZAY DYNASTY IN AFGHANISTAN (1747-1929)
1800–3
MAHMUD SHAH (FIRST REIGN). He assumed power during a period of
instability, when the Afghan territories were fragmented among various family
members supported by tribal factions. Affairs of state were directed by the powerful
prime minister Fath Khan of the Afghan Barakzay clan.
1
1803–9
SHOJA SHAH (FIRST REIGN). He came to power after he ousted his brother
Mahmud.
2
1809, June 17
A treaty of friendship between the Afghans and the British was signed. Shoja Shah met
at Peshawar with the British representative, Mountstuart Elphinstone, to negotiate a joint
defense against the threat of a combined invasion of India by Napoleon and Alexander
I of Russia.
3
1809–18
MAHMUD SHAH (SECOND REIGN). He was returned to power with the help of
Fath Khan, who became immensely powerful. Their efforts to consolidate the state
collapsed in 1818 with the assassination of Fath Khan by the ruler's jealous son
Kamran. This precipitated a badal (vendetta) between Afghan clan factions in which the
brother of the murdered prime minister, Dost Muhammad, drove Mahmud Shah out of
Kabul. Mahmud withdrew to Herat, which he ruled until his death in 1829. His son
Kamran continued to rule there until 1842, when the area fell to Iran.
4
1819
The Sikhs captured Kashmir.
5
1826–39
DOST MUHAMMAD, FOUNDER OF THE BARAKZAY (OR
MUHAMMADZAY) DYNASTY. The collapse of the ruling Sadozay family brought to
power the Barakzay clan of the Durranis, whose power had increased since the late 18th
century and was to remain dominant into the 20th century.
6
The chief aim of Dost Muhammad was the reunification of the country, a task for
which he needed both a stronger Afghan economy and an army reformed according to
European example. He turned formerly tax-exempt land grants held by local Durrani
clans into prime sources of state revenue through violent confiscation and the
appointment of special tax agents. Tax collection in the provinces was overseen by his
sons. Dost Muhammad was determined to increase the size of his standing army to
lessen his dependence on unruly clan support.
7
1834
Capture of Peshawar by the Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh. The loss of Peshawar and the
fertile land near the Indus River weakened the economy of Afghanistan by severing a
lucrative source of revenue. With the loss of its Indian territories, the Afghan kingdom
became a more compact territory whose difficult mountainous terrain and plateaus
made it easier to defend against military threats from Iran, Russia, and Britain.
8
1836
Dost Muhammad took the title emir al-mu'minin (commander of the faithful) in
preparation for his holy war against the Sikhs. His attempt to recapture Peshawar failed.
9
1837
Official mission of the Russian diplomat Ivan Vitkevich to Kabul, part of the Russian
competition with Britain over influence in Afghanistan.
10
1839–42
FIRST BRITISH-AFGHAN WAR (See 1839–42). With the aim of overthrowing Dost
Muhammad and reinstalling the Sadozay ruler Shah Shoja, the British launched an illfated invasion of Afghanistan. A British-Indian army took Qandahar and Kabul,
installed Shah Shoja as a British puppet (Aug. 1839), and deported Dost Muhammad
(1840). But Afghan resistance culminated in an uprising in Kabul in Jan. 1842 and a
retreat of the British troops that ended in their virtual destruction. Shah Shoja was
assassinated, and Dost Muhammad returned to power in Kabul.
11
1843–63
DOST MUHAMMAD (SECOND REIGN). The restored Barakzay ruler
reconsolidated the Afghan state by recapturing Qandahar and then taking Herat from
Iran (1863).
12
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(See 1799–1800)
d. Arabia
SAUDI ARABIA: THE WAHHABI DYNASTY (1735-)
1801
The Wahhabis sacked the Shi’ite holy city of Karbala in Iraq, burial place of Imam
Husayn, the Prophet's grandson. Their plunder of the shrine and massacre of the
population created outrage among Muslims everywhere.
1
1803
The WAHHABIS CAPTURED MECCA, challenging directly the Ottoman sultan's
claim to the guardianship of the holy cities. The emir of Mecca fled.
2
1803–14
Sa’ud ibn Abd al-Aziz ruled as Saudi emir after the assassination of his father (Oct.
1803). He continued his father's militant policies of expansion.
1804
3
The Wahhabis captured Medina. They destroyed the mausolea and monumental tombs
in the cemeteries, which they considered to be polytheistic, and desecrated the Prophet's
tomb.
4
1806–56
Sa’id ibn Sultan ruled Oman and Muscat.
5
1809–16
Ahmad al-Mutawakkil ruled as imam of Yemen after seizing power from his father, Ali
al-Mansur.
6
1810
The Wahhabis established control over Qatar and Bahrain.
7
1812–59
Jabir ibn Abdallah ruled as sheik of Kuwait.
8
1816–35
Abdallah al-Mahdi ruled as imam of Yemen.
9
1818
END OF THE FIRST WAHHABI STATE. An Egyptian expedition ordered by the
Ottoman sultan recaptured Medina (1812) and Mecca (1813), reinstated the annual
pilgrimage halted by the Wahhabis, returned Hashimite control to the Hijaz, and
destroyed the Saudi capital of Dar’iyya (1818). The Saudi emir Abdallah was
beheaded. Egypt continued to hold the Hijaz and the coastlands of Yemen until 1840.
10
1820
Treaty between Britain and the Arab tribal peoples of the Persian Gulf, in which the
latter pledged to cease all piracy and slave traffic. The agreement marked the formal
beginning of British-Indian responsibility for policing the Persian Gulf.
11
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e. Egypt
RULERS OF EGYPT (1811-1953)
Egypt remained nominally a province of the Ottoman Empire until Britain declared it a
protectorate in 1914, but from 1805 it followed an increasingly independent course of
development as a separate country. Muhammad Ali and the succeeding rulers detached
themselves steadily from Ottoman control, which was reduced to a mere formality after
the British occupation in 1882. During the period Egypt underwent profound changes,
the result of local initiatives and European penetration. Its population remained
predominantly rural, but expanded from about 3.5 million to 12 million.
1
1805–48
MUHAMMAD ALI PASHA. An officer of Albanian origin from the Macedonian port
of Kavalla (b. c. 1770), Muhammad Ali (Mehmet Ali) arrived in Egypt in March 1801 as
the second in command of a regiment of Albanian troops sent by the Ottoman
government to fight the French. In 1803 he became commander of the unit, which he
then employed to undermine the governors sent from Istanbul and the Mamluks who
sought to regain their control. He won this contest for power and in July 1805 the
Ottoman government recognized his authority by granting him a one-year appointment
as governor, although its hope of replacing him after that with its own appointees was
frustrated by the autonomous power base he built for himself and his family. He
established a dynasty that lasted until 1953. Driven primarily by a ruthless desire to
consolidate his hold on his adopted country, Muhammad Ali introduced many
innovative reforms that laid the foundation for the modern Egyptian state.
1807, March–Sept
2
The British occupation of Alexandria was an abortive effort to restore Mamluk rule
and thus forestall a second French invasion. Muhammad Ali made a provisional truce
with the Mamluks, resuming his expeditions against them once the external danger was
over.
3
1811, March 1
MASSACRE OF MAMLUK LEADERS in the Cairo citadel. Invited to an official
ceremony by Muhammad Ali, 24 beys and 40 of their subordinates were treacherously
killed. This act, and the destruction of the last body of Mamluks in Upper Egypt in the
following months, put a final end to Mamluk power and established Muhammad Ali as
the undisputed ruler of Egypt.
4
1811–18
The Arabian campaigns. At the request of the Ottoman sultan, Muhammad Ali sent a
large expedition against the Saudi-Wahhabi state, which was in control of the Hijaz as
well as much of central and eastern Arabia. The Egyptian force captured Medina (1812)
and Mecca (1813), restored the rule of the Hashimite family in the Hijaz, and after a
truce advanced into central Arabia and destroyed the Saudi state (1818). The campaign
was very costly in treasure and human life, but gave Muhammad Ali a hold on the Hijaz
until 1840, along with control over the Red Sea and Arabian trade.
5
1811–16
Establishment of state agricultural monopolies over grain, rice, sugar, and cash crops.
The government purchased the products at a fixed price well below free market level and
sold them at its own price while prohibiting private transactions. The system allowed
Muhammad Ali to appropriate a larger share of the rural surplus.
1812–14
6
CONFISCATION OF THE TAX FARMS (iltizams) by the state, which thereby
reasserted its control over a great part of the cultivated land and the tax income from it at
the expense of the powerful tax farmers. Muhammad Ali followed a similar policy with
endowed (waqf) agricultural land, much of which he confiscated.
7
1813
The first student mission was sent to Europe, as part of a government program for the
training of Egyptians in technical and professional skills. The European-trained
Egyptians (a total of some 900 by 1919) provided a cadre of teachers and administrators
who promoted the development of modern institutions in the country.
8
1816
The first textile factory was established in Cairo, with machines and skilled workers
imported from Europe. It was part of Muhammad Ali's ambitious policy of import
substitution and was followed by a string of plants for the manufacture of textiles and
military equipment as well as the processing of agricultural produce. The factories
employed some 30,000 workers. From the late 1830s many factories were abandoned
because of the financial burdens of reequipping them, and Egypt actually grew more
dependent than ever on foreign imports.
9
1818–73
Improvement of the port of Alexandria. The construction of the Mahmudiyya Canal
linking Alexandria with the Nile (beginning in 1818) greatly facilitated communications
between the port and the interior. The port itself, which was in a bad state of neglect,
was deepened and provided with facilities that made it by far the best port in the
eastern Mediterranean. Alexandria grew from a small fishing town of about 15,000
people to the second largest city in Egypt (over 200,000).
10
1820
DISCOVERY OF LONG-STAPLE COTTON in a Cairo garden. The new type of
cotton (known as Jumel or Mako) was soon introduced by the authorities on an extensive
scale, primarily in Lower Egypt, becoming a major cash crop that found ready markets
11
in European industrial centers. By 1914 cotton occupied some 23 percent of the cropped
area and accounted for about half of agricultural production and 90 percent of Egypt's
exports. Its cultivation, however, required considerably more labor than did cereal crops
and initially involved large-scale coercion of the Egyptian peasantry.
1820–22
Conquests in the Sudan (See 1821). Egyptian military expeditions captured most of
northern and central Sudan (the Sennar and Kordofan regions), with the aim of using
them as sources of gold as well as slaves for a new army. The thousands of slaves
brought to Egypt for military training could not adjust and died, and the gold deposits
proved a disappointment. However, Egypt gained control of the trade with the Sudan.
The capital of the Egyptian administration was Khartum, founded in 1823.
12
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(See 1790–92)
3. North Africa, 1792–1914
a. Morocco
1792–1822
MAWLAY SULAYMAN. The Moroccan ruler inherited a decentralized state with a
population of 3 million to 4 million inhabitants. Four years of civil war with his brothers
and a number of local rebellions weakened his control, as did the shortage of
government funds. During the last decade of his rule he became openly hostile to
maraboutism, or Muslim saint worship, arguing that the practice deviated from the true
faith. By his attack on popular religious practices he sought to curb the growing power
of Sufi orders in the country.
1
1801, June 14
Treaty of peace and commerce with Britain. It built on the progressive development
of relations between the two countries during the 18th century, when Britain came to
rely on Morocco for food supplies for its troops in Gibraltar in exchange for British
arms. The British obtained capitulatory rights, immunity from all taxes, and full
jurisdiction for their consuls in legal cases involving their nationals.
2
1802–4
Berber revolts in various regions. The government launched campaigns to assert its
authority over the largely autonomous tribal territories. A major revolt of Berber
tribes broke out in the Middle Atlas in 1811, continuing until 1820.
3
1815
Death of Ahmad al-Tijani, founder of the Tijaniyya Sufi order. He arrived from
Algeria in 1789 and was welcomed by Mawlay Sulayman. He lived in luxury and
promised his followers both wealth in this world and salvation in the next. His order won
many adherents and spread throughout North Africa.
4
1818
European pressure contributed to the definite ending of Moroccan piracy.
5
1820–22
REBELLION IN FEZ. Various groups, including the ulama, called for an end to
Mawlay Sulayman's rule and were joined by the Wazzani Berbers. Sulayman died before
completely crushing the uprising.
6
1822–59
MAWLAY ABD AL-RAHMAN. At the time of his accession the state was an unstable,
fragmented collection of cities and tribes. The army, badly provisioned and organized,
consisted of a few slave contingents and tribal troops who were paid only when they
fought. The administrative machinery was minimal, and the ruler's income was limited
to what he could collect in the lands subject to government authority. The Middle and
High Atlas, the Rif, and the southern oases remained largely under local tribal control.
7
1823
Death of al-Arabi al-Darqawi (b. 1760), founder of the Darqawiyya Sufi order. The
movement, which became one of the leading orders in Morocco, exalted poverty and
stressed asceticism. It won widespread support among the rural inhabitants and the
urban lower classes; its popularity was increased by its use of musical instruments in its
rituals. In both Algeria and Morocco the Darqawiyya became involved in political
activities and protest movements.
8
c. 1830
Beginning of penetration of European goods into the Moroccan market. Cheaper
European cloth as well as leather products, pottery, candles, tea, and sugar were
imported in growing amounts during the 19th century. Some local craftsmen were put
out of business, and the country became increasingly dependent on foreign goods.
9
1830–32
Moroccan troops entered western Algeria in the wake of the French invasion (See 1830,
July 5), looting Tlemcen before returning in 1832 under French military threat. Morocco
also gave aid to the Algerian rebel leader Abd al-Qadir, a policy that strained FrenchMoroccan relations.
10
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(See 1799, March 26)
b. Algeria
1803–8
Rebellion against the Ottomans in Oran and Kabylia was led by Abd al-Qadir ibn alSharif, head (muqaddam) of the Darqawiyya Sufi order. The founder of the order, alArabi al-Darqawi (d. 1823), condemned the uprising. He had stressed asceticism, but the
Darqawiyya continued to be linked with religious political movements and became one
of the most important Sufi groups in Algeria. The revolt was crushed by the Ottomans,
and its leader fled to Morocco.
1
1807–12
Conflict between Algeria and Tunisia. The Tunisian ruler Hamuda Bey (1782–1814)
besieged the Algerian city of Constantine, but was unsuccessful. Tunisia ceased to pay
tribute to Algeria, and peace was finally agreed upon, with Ottoman mediation, in 1821.
2
1810–15
Kabyle Berber tribal uprising in Oran was prompted by the taxation demanded by the
Turks. The revolt was renewed for similar reasons in 1824.
3
1811
Decline of privateering. No slaves, potential sources of ransom and labor, were
4
captured in 1811. Only four European ships had been captured in 1801 and one in 1803.
After the 1818 Aix-la-Chapelle Congress on the suppression of piracy, the pressure on
Algiers had its effects, bringing an end to corsair threats. The loss of revenue meant
increased taxes for the local population and resulted in a series of uprisings throughout
the country, many of which were organized by Sufi brotherhoods.
1812–15
Conflict with the United States. Dey Hajji Ali Pasha (r. 1809–15) declared war on the
United States when, in July 1812, the country could not pay its annual tribute. On March
3, 1815, the United States authorized naval operations against Algiers and captured two
of its ships at sea. The Americans dictated the terms of the treaty when they arrived at
Algiers and found the city without its fleet (June 30, 1815). On Dec. 22, 1816, the
United States signed a treaty of peace that confirmed that of the previous year, but
added two additional provisions for the immediate release of American prisoners and the
end of all tribute previously paid to Algiers. The agreement put an end to the Barbary
Wars, the assault on U.S. shipping in the Mediterranean that had begun in 1801.
5
1816, Aug. 27
The British and Dutch naval bombardment of Algiers destroyed 33 ships in the harbor
and resulted in negotiations for a treaty, signed on Sept. 24, 1816, which released all
Christian prisoners and temporarily abolished the slavery of pirate captives.
6
1818–30
Husayn Dey. The last ruler of Algiers managed to maintain calm in his capital but ruled
during a time of relentless rural unrest. He had a series of catastrophic conflicts with
European representatives, and his expulsion of the British consul led to the
bombardment of Algiers in 1824.
1820
7
Tijaniyya Sufi uprising in Oran against the Turkish bey. Opposition, prompted by
increased taxation and government encroachment on local autonomy, continued
sporadically until 1828. The order had been founded in Algeria in 1782 by Ahmad alTijani (d. 1815).
8
1827, April 29
The fly-whisk incident. Negotiations dragged on over the French grain debt to Algeria
incurred by Napoleon (1793–8). In heated discussion, the French consul was struck by
Husayn Dey with a fly swatter. The French began a naval blockade in June and utilized
the incident as provocation for the eventual occupation of Algiers.
9
1830, July 5
FRENCH OCCUPATION OF ALGIERS. Algiers was captured by a French force of
37,000 troops, and the last dey capitulated. The invasion put an end to the rule of the
deys of Algeria who had reigned as virtually autonomous representatives of the Ottoman
Empire since 1711. The French established a governor-general as head of their
administration in July 1834. Subjugation of the interior continued until 1890. The French
occupation lasted until 1962.
10
c. 1830
Three madrasas (Islamic religious colleges) existed at the time of the French invasion.
They were located in the cities of Algiers, Constantine, and Tlemcen. Under colonial
rule they continued to train students but were carefully controlled by French authorities.
11
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(See 1799, March 26)
c. Tunisia
1800
At the turn of the century Tunisia was ruled by the Husaynid dynasty, supported by a
Turkish military caste. The estimated population of the country was no more than 1
million, two-thirds of whom were sedentary and the rest tribal nomads. The economy,
although largely agrarian, still derived two-fifths of its income from corsair raiding
activity.
1
1807–12
War with Algeria. In an effort to end his country's payment of tribute to Algeria, the
Tunisian ruler Hamuda Bey (r.1782–1814) besieged Constantine in 1807, but was driven
out. After several unsuccessful Algerian counterattacks (1807–12) a peace treaty
brokered by the Ottomans was signed in 1821.
2
1811, Sept
Revolt of the Turkish army contingent (jund). Hamuda Bey used this opportunity to
lessen his military dependence on Anatolian recruits and began to draw on members of
the Zwawa Berber tribe. The Turkish troops revolted again in 1816 and 1829, forcing
rulers to continue attempts to reorganize the composition of the military.
1814–24
3
MAHMUD BEY. He came to power after assassinating his cousin Uthman Bey and
ending his short and ineffective rule (Sept.–Nov. 1814). Together with the chief minister
Muhammad ibn Zarruq (d. 1822), Mahmud Bey launched a policy of increased taxation
that had a negative effect on agricultural production.
4
1818–20
Bubonic plague, which reduced the population by an estimated one-quarter. Short
outbreaks of the disease were almost yearly occurrences throughout North Africa before
1818, but the 1818–20 epidemic was especially severe. There were no further serious
instances of the plague after 1822.
5
1819
Mahmud Bey designated olive oil a taxable state monopoly. It was sold to the
government at fixed prices and then resold for profit to European exporters.
6
Sept. 21
Anglo-French naval demonstration. A squadron was sent to notify Mahmud Bey of the
European protocol adopted at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818 demanding the end of piracy.
Mahmud Bey was forced to agree in writing that he would cease to support corsair
activity.
7
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(See 1799, March 26)
d. Libya
1795–1832
YUSUF PASHA QARAMANLI. Coming to power in the wake of a disruptive civil
war, Yusuf Pasha restored order and revived the economy of his country, whose
population was estimated at about half a million people. For the first 20 years or so of
his reign he drew large revenues from piracy, a state monopoly on the exportation of
agricultural produce and livestock, and the trans-Saharan trade, especially in slaves.
He reorganized and expanded the army, and built an impressive fleet. But the sharp
decline of piracy by the 1820s caused severe financial hardships that led to an erosion
of his authority and a rebellion that forced his downfall.
1
1795–1805
Expansion of Tripoli's naval power. Yusuf Pasha built a fleet that by 1805 included 24
warships in addition to other vessels. Most of the ships were European and American
merchant vessels captured by the pirates and converted to military uses. With this
maritime power the pasha's piratical activities drew in large revenues in the form of
captured property, protection money, and ransom payments for captives.
2
1801–5
War with the United States (See 1805). The conflict began in May 1801 when Yusuf
Pasha Qaramanli, in an attempt to extort more tribute, permitted his corsairs to attack
American merchant vessels. In 1803 the American frigate Philadelphia was captured
3
and its crew imprisoned. President Jefferson permitted the organization of a naval
expedition that, together with mercenary troops, captured the city of Darna in April
1805. The peace treaty signed on June 10, 1805, allowed the United States to ransom
200 prisoners, but avoided the payment of increased tribute.
1806–11
Yusuf Pasha mounted expeditions against tribes in Cyrenaica and the Fezzan,
bringing the two areas under his direct control.
4
1825
Yusuf Pasha began borrowing large sums from European merchants to help cover his
deficits due to the decline of piracy. The mounting financial crisis in the following years
led him also to debase the currency several times, to confiscate property, and to impose
new taxes. European pressures on him to repay his debts combined with a rebellion by
discontented groups at home led to his abdication in 1832 in favor of his son Ali.
5
1832–35
ALI PASHA QARAMANLI. The last ruler of the dynasty faced a continuing civil war
at home, with the British and French supporting the two rival parties and the Tunisian
government scheming to annex Tripoli. The Ottoman government, which wanted to
maintain Qaramanli rule, decided finally to forestall possible outside intervention by
taking control of the country.
6
1835, May 28
RESTORATION OF DIRECT OTTOMAN CONTROL OVER LIBYA. An
Ottoman force landed in Tripoli and put an end to the long rule (since 1711) of the
Qaramanli family. The move was designed to contain the French penetration of North
Africa as well as Tunisian designs on Libya. Tripolitania was organized into a province
(vilayet) under a governor appointed by the Ottomans, while Cyrenaica formed a
separate subprovince responsible directly to Istanbul. Ottoman sovereignty over Libya
lasted until the Italian occupation, but effective Ottoman control was strongest in the
coastal areas and major towns, with the Fezzan and the interior of Cyrenaica enjoying
7
a great measure of autonomy under tribal and Sanusi authorities. The Ottomans
introduced their program of Tanzimat reforms into Libya, setting the foundations for
the modernization of the country.
1837
CREATION OF THE SANUSIYYA SUFI ORDER, by Muhammad ibn Ali alSanusi (1787–1859), an Algerian educated in North Africa and Mecca. He advocated a
return to the lifestyle of the Prophet Muhammad and emphasized asceticism and
austerity in worship. His movement had the most appeal for the bedouin in Cyrenaica
where the main lodge was established in 1843. Under al-Sanusi and his son Muhammad
al-Mahdi (1845–1902) the order established a network of over 140 lodges scattered
throughout the Libyan desert oases and beyond. These became centers of religious
missionary activity and teaching as well as of agricultural settlement and trade. The
order acquired political authority among the tribesmen by providing services and
mediating disputes. The Ottoman government cultivated the support of the order,
granting it in 1856 exemption from taxes on its property and recognizing the right of its
leaders to tax members.
8
1842–47
Implementation of the Ottoman urbanization policy. Forts were constructed at al-Marj
(1842), Bu Nujaym (1844–46), and Gharyan and Murzuq (1847). Each outpost fostered
settlement and the growth of village populations, particularly in the northern provinces.
Trade was encouraged by the foundation of numerous trading posts and by the
establishment of a route for commerce between the Jabal al-Gharb and Tripoli.
9
1857
Abolition of slavery. The slave trade had traditionally formed the most lucrative part of
Libya's export economy. Slaves were brought to Tripoli from sub-Saharan Africa by
caravan routes. The trade increased with the abolition of slavery in Algeria and Tunisia
a decade earlier. Despite the official ban, slaves continued to be covertly sold to
markets in Istanbul and Egypt until the 1890s, when the slave trade in the Middle East
was finally suppressed.
10
1857–1900
Ottoman educational reform. In Tripoli a modern secondary school was established,
and by 1868 Turkish and French were the languages of instruction. Six of these modern
secondary schools (rushdiyya) were eventually established. A separate secondary
school for girls was founded in Tripoli by 1900, along with a training school for village
primary-level schoolteachers. A military academy in Tripoli was established during the
governorship of Ahmed Resim Pasha (1881–96); it prepared students in history,
engineering, mathematics, and French for further study at the Military College in
Istanbul.
11
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(See 1796)
D. South and Southeast Asia, 1753–1914
ASIA IN 1900 (MAP)
1. India, 1800–1914
In this period of high empire, Indians and British alike participated in shaping a
new understanding of Indian society. As amateur ethnographers, British administrators
collected and catalogued data about their colony that, taken together and utilized to
support imperial rule, constituted a new sociology of knowledge. In the late 19th
century, shaped by the pseudoscience of social Darwinism, the cataloguing of the
peoples of India became a way to explain existing social hierarchies (sometimes by
measuring the width of noses!) and to place the British at the top of such pyramids. For
their part, Indian informants to the British Raj fulfilled their own needs as they described
and explained local society and classical texts (as these began to be translated by
Orientalist scholars). Many Indians profited by these early interactions with the British.
Indirectly, they shaped British understanding of Indian society to fit their own
perspectives and situated their caste groups in high-status positions; more directly, they
gained control of land, forged lucrative trading relationships, or secured roles for
themselves in government advisory groups and, later, representative councils.
1
Profound changes in local society underlay these interactions. Some were introduced
by the British as they imposed their own notions of proper governance, founded on a
land revenue–based state, sedentary society, guarantees of property rights, and the “rule
of law.” But many more changes emerged from processes that had been set in motion as
the Mughal Empire declined and aspects of rule passed into the hands of regional rulers
and local elites (especially the benefits accruing to those who collected and forwarded
the land revenue, and to those who undertook responsibility for cultural patronage).
2
Mechanisms of local self-rule—an important locus of power in a society in which
constituent communities held much responsibility for self-regulation—enabled local
power holders to advance visions of what Indian society should be that were very
different from those held by British administrators.
These conflicting visions were fitted together by the British understanding that local
communities (whether defined as caste groups, local villages, or urban neighborhoods)
would work through “natural leaders,” maintaining order within their boundaries and
representing their interests to colonial rulers. In this setup, local religious activity,
domestic relationships, and cultural practices could generally be left alone; only when
local practices egregiously offended the colonial state's definitions of morality did
3
the British intervene (for instance, regarding sat , the immolation of a Hindu widow
on her husband's funeral pyre). This understanding was a peculiar reformulation of a
process under way in western Europe at much the same time, in which “public”
life—composed of interactions between an emerging civil society and the state's
institutions—was becoming increasingly distinguished from “private” life—in which
bourgeois households conducted their domestic affairs as they saw fit. In British India,
the state simultaneously created legal structures to deal with individuals and with
groups, and a unique form of “civil society” grew up in which “representatives”
interacted with the state—but no one was considered a citizen.
In British India, the first nationalist movement under imperialism emerged between the
1880s and the achievement of independence in 1947. At first a matter of elite petitions
for increased employment and political participation, the movement quickened into a
popular campaign with the partition of Bengal in 1905 and a series of experiments with
political festivals in western India, beginning at the turn of the century. From this point
on, the nationalist movement reflected an uneasy amalgam of indigenous reformulations
of imagined communities and Western-influenced political campaigns targeted at
imperial institutions.
4
At the turn of the century, British censuses counted about 238 million people; these
numbers remained stagnant, because of famine and disease, for three decades. From
1921 to 1941, however, the growth rate increased from 1.1 to 1.4 percent annually,
setting a trajectory that made dramatic population increase one of the greatest
problems to be faced by the postcolonial states of the subcontinent when they achieved
independence.
5
1800s
Local communities in India took over more and more self-regulation and cultural
patronage as an expression of localized political ideologies. Changing relationships
between communities and the colonial state (or still independent successor states) led to
heightened competition among contenders for local control.
6
1798–1805
LORD MORNINGTON (later marquis of Wellesley) served as governor-general. He
developed the system of subsidiary alliances by which Britain supplied troops and
protection in exchange for territory or monetary grants and was allowed control of the
state's foreign affairs but pledged nonintervention in internal government and secured
exclusion of every other foreign power from the state's service. The fourth AngloMysore War (Tipu d. 1799) led to a protectorate over Mysore: various annexations
extended British control over nearly all southern India. The Maratha leaders, angered
by the Treaty of Bassein (1802), which made the Peshwa a subsidiary ally, opened
hostilities. Costly but successful warfare (defeat of Sindhia and Bhonsle at Assaye, Sept.
23, 1803) led to alarm at home, Wellesley's recall, and temporary abandonment of his
policy.
7
1805
Lord Cornwallis again became governor-general (d. Oct.), succeeded by Sir George
Barlow (1805–7) and Lord Minto (1807–13).
8
1809
Treaty of Amritsar fixed the river Sutlej as northwestern boundary of the
company's territories, checking the advance of a Sikh confederacy under Ranjit Singh
(d. 1839).
9
1808–10
To curb French expansion in Asia, Minto made treaties with Sind, Persia, and
Afghanistan, and captured the French islands in the Indian Ocean and Java, which was
under French control (Bourbon was later restored to France and Java to the Dutch).
10
1810–13
Unrest in Banaras typified the character of change and channels of contention that
developed under colonial rule. In 1810 residents of Banaras led a successful protest
against the imposition of a house tax which spread to other north Indian cities. In the two
years following, conflict among various Hindu communities contending for dominance
under the British led to an expansion of the conflict into a Hindu-Muslim riot over
processions and sacred space. Those jailed as leaders of the riot (Muslims, Brahmans,
and other high-caste Hindus) paradoxically then united in the following year in a jail
protest against treatment of prisoners that would force them to lose caste.
11
1813–23
LORD MOIRA (later marquis of Hastings) served as governor-general, followed by
John Adam (acting) and Lord Amherst (1823–28).
12
1813
Parliament renewed the company's charter for another 20 years, but under pressure of
free trade interests, abolished its monopoly of trade with India and extended the
sovereignty of the British Crown over the East India Company's possessions.
Missionaries were for the first time allowed to evangelize in the company's territories.
13
1814–16
Border dispute with Nepal provoked a hard-fought war. The British acquired the
Kumaun Division and made permanent peace with Nepal, which retained its complete
independence.
14
1816–18
The marauding Pindari tribes, after raiding British territory, were suppressed and
broken up by Hastings; hostile Maratha leaders were also defeated, leaving only Nepal,
the Sikh state, and Afghanistan independent of direct or indirect British control.
15
(However, indirect control—under which Indian princes retained internal control while
ceding external control to the EIC—accounted for more than one-third of the land mass.)
Pacification of the Pindaris followed a pattern also used to domesticate the Thags and
large landlords: all three were deprived of their military roles, but in return were
rewarded with landholdings as they became sedentarized.
In Bengal, the introduction by the British of printing (Wilkins, 1778) stimulated a
growing volume of publishing in English, Bengali, Persian, Sanskrit, and Hindustani,
and made possible the establishment of schools imparting both modern English-language
and vernacular learning. In the field of higher education, the combined efforts of British
officials and private British and Indian philanthropists led to the founding of the Hindu
College (Calcutta, 1816), the Elphinstone Institution (Bombay, origins 1827), the Delhi
College (1827), and the Madras University High School (1841), the nuclei of the later
universities. Newspapers made their appearance in the 1780s in Calcutta, Madras, and
Bombay (government controls imposed sporadically, and licensing required, 1823–35).
16
These developments, and the discoveries by British Orientalists active in the Asiatic
Society (founded in 1784 by William Jones), the College of Fort William (founded in
1800 by Wellesley), and the Serampore Baptist Mission (founded in 1800 by William
Carey) stimulated an intellectual renaissance among Bengali Hindu scholars.
Rammohun Roy published Vedic texts in five languages, condemned idolatry and sat
17
as corrupt practices, espoused Christian ethics but ridiculed Christian theology, and
established the Brahmo Samaj (1828–30), open to all monotheists. An opposing
movement, led by Radhakanta Deb, organized the Dharma Sabha (1830), sponsoring
educational change but defending social and religious customary practices. Bengali
prose developed rapidly as a literary medium beginning at this time.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Southeast Asia, 1500–1800)
(See 1753)
2. Southeast Asia, 1753–1914
The conquest and subsequent political domination of Southeast Asia by Western
colonial powers were the most outstanding features of this era. In the first half of the
period, political entities continued to evolve according to indigenous understandings of
power relationships and political centers. Between 1870 and 1910, however, the
European colonial powers redrew the map of Southeast Asia, establishing boundaries
that would ultimately result in the nation-states that constitute modern Southeast Asia.
Even Siam, the only remaining independent Southeast Asian kingdom, was strongly
influenced in its actions by the presence of British and French colonial powers in its
adjoining territories.
1
As they redrew the map of the area, the colonial powers profoundly altered local
underpinnings of political centers. Rather than being built on relationships among power
holders in the area, the new boundaries connected particular power centers with
particular European colonial states. Europeans thus created new political frameworks on
which they imposed modern bureaucratic systems. Over the decades of their colonial
rule they introduced, enlarged, and perfected the apparatus necessary for such systems:
transportation systems, including railroads; government departments of all sorts; and
modern fiscal and tax systems (including the standardization of currency systems,
banking systems, insurance firms, and all-purpose service institutions, i.e., agency
houses). In addition, the European colonial powers introduced changes in the education
systems that were to have long-range and significant implications for future social and
political developments.
2
The expansion of European political power conjoined imperial economic exploitation of
the region; significant economic changes resulted from the new political economy
wherein colonial powers ruled directly. After 1870, export industries increased rapidly
until they came to dominate the economies of Southeast Asia. Population steadily and
rapidly increased and was accompanied by significant migrations into and within the
area. Statistics show spectacular growth: Burma's population more than doubled, Java's
increased at a rate of almost 1.9 percent per annum, and Siam and parts of French
3
Indochina grew at around 2 percent per annum. A considerable proportion of the growth
came from immigration, especially by Chinese and Indian trading groups. The economic
changes were based on capitalist, world-market-driven forces. Creation of “national”
economic structures served to forge three types of economic linkages: to the world
economy in general, to the economies of the various metropolitan powers, and also
among the different parts of the new colonies themselves.
Within this context, a number of indigenous reformulations sought to provide
ideological and cultural stability. In Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, Buddhist reform and
non-Buddhist solutions were formulated in response to the cultural crisis posed by
intrusion of the West. In Indonesia, debate between those espousing revivalist versus
modernist reconstructions of Islam prompted social and intellectual changes as well as
resistance movements and new political parties. Much of this ferment focused on a new
emphasis regarding ethnic identity, in which definitions of community reflected the
complex interaction of religious movements, immigration patterns, and the attempt to
impose Western sociological assumptions. (See Southeast Asia)
4
a. Mainland Southeast Asia
1. Burma
The modern Burmese state was built upon the conquests of Alaungpaya (1752–60), who
founded Burma's last dynasty, the Konbaung (1752–1885). His successors managed to
repulse invasions by the Chinese (1766–69) but were unable to maintain themselves in
Siam (1771).
5
1782–1819
Bodawpaya, king. Conquest of Arakan (1784) and further encroachments on Indian
territory. Peace with Siam (1793).
6
1819–37
Bagyidaw, king. He continued the advance toward India, seizing Manipur and Assam
(1822) and invading Kachar (1824). This policy of expansion soon brought him into
conflict with the British East India Company because interests and perceptions were in
conflict as to the standards of interstate relations.
7
1824–26
FIRST BURMESE WAR. Despite vigorous resistance the Burmese were unable to
withstand the force of a modern army. The British, under Sir Archibald Campbell, took
Rangoon, and then Syriam, Tavoy, Mergui, Martaban, and Pegu. An attempt by the
Burmese to recapture Rangoon failed (1825). The British advanced up the Irrawaddy
and at the same time overran Arakan. On Feb. 24, 1826, by the Treaty of Yandabu
(near Ava) the British secured Assam, Arakan, and the Tenasserim coast, as well as an
indemnity, the conclusion of a commercial treaty, and the right to send a resident to Ava
(discontinued, 1837). Humiliation of defeat and terms of peace led to palace revolution
and Bagyidaw's loss of throne to his brother, Tharawaddi Min, king (1837–46).
8
1846–52
Pagan Min. Under his reign the friction with the British continued. The Burmese rulers
continued to treat the British with contempt and to hamper the development of British
trade. Lapse of Anglo-Burmese diplomatic contacts.
9
1852–53
SECOND BURMESE WAR. Rangoon was again taken by the British. Pegu was also
occupied and annexed (Jan. 20, 1853). A revolution in the capital led to the deposition of
the king and the elevation of Mindon Min.
10
1853–78
Mindon Min, attempted to introduce administrative reforms, but the pressure of the
looming power of British India made it difficult to introduce a program to revitalize and
strengthen the state. He accepted the British gains without concluding a formal treaty
and attempted, throughout his reign, to maintain friendly relations with his neighbor,
British-controlled “Lower Burma,” a designation the British created after announcing
this territorial annexation. They were unable to gain official Burmese recognition of this
status. British Burma consisted of Arakan, Pegu, and Tenasserim.
1857
11
Mandalay, built by the king, became the capital of the country.
12
1862
Conclusion of a commercial treaty with Great Britain. The customs duty was fixed at
5 percent, and the British were given the right to trade throughout the country.
13
1878–85
THIBAW became king, following a bloody succession conflict. Unsuccessfully, he
attempted to open diplomatic relations with the British on terms of equality as a ruler of
a sovereign nation. At the same time he established contact with French interests and
negotiated with them for the organization of a royal bank and for the construction of a
railroad from Mandalay to the Indian frontier. The British felt threatened by the Burmese
king's approaches to its European rivals. This resulted in the Third Burmese War.
14
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
b. Peninsular and Island Southeast Asia
1. British Malaya
1795
The British took Malacca to hold for the Dutch, who were under French domination at
the time.
1
1800
The British secured Province Wellesley from the sultan of Kedah.
2
1802
Malacca was restored to the Dutch under terms of the Treaty of Amiens.
3
1811
The British retook Malacca, which was used as a base for the expedition against Java.
4
1818
The Dutch recovered Malacca, under terms of the Treaty of Vienna.
1819
5
FOUNDING OF SINGAPORE by Sir Stamford Raffles. Practically abandoned for
centuries, the city was soon to become the strategic and commercial center of the region,
completely overshadowing Malacca. The founding of the city of Singapore signaled a
larger development: the new towns created throughout island Southeast Asia focused on
export, not local consumption. In addition to trade, these new urban centers served as
important communications and administrative centers for the surrounding countryside
(from which they extracted goods for export). To facilitate this type of extractive trade,
port cities emerged to funnel tin, rubber, rice, and other primary products into world
markets. At the close of the 19th century, Singapore may have been the most polyglot
city in Asia: residing there were more than 164,000 Chinese, 23,000 Malays from the
peninsular states, more than 12,000 Javanese and Sumatrans, as well as at least 1,000
Arabs.
6
1824, March 17
The Dutch ceded Malacca to Britain, in return for Bengkulen in Sumatra.
7
1826
British treaty with Siam. Under terms of this agreement the sultanates of Perak and
Selangor were recognized as independent, while Siamese control of Kedah was
acknowledged. At the same time Perak ceded to Britain Pangkor Island and the
Sembilan Islands for use as bases in the fight against piracy.
8
1850 Ff
Steady influx of Chinese laborers into the peninsula. These were employed chiefly in
the tin mines, though many also turned to piracy on the coast. Their presence created
disturbance in many states and ultimately provoked British interference.
9
1867, April 1
End of the rule of the British East India Company. The Straits Settlements
thenceforth had the status of a Crown colony.
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1796)
E. East Asia, 1793–1914
1. China, 1796–1914
THE MANCHU (QING) DYNASTY (1796-1912)
This period embraces China's last imperial dynasty from its initial decline to its end,
when it was overthrown by a revolution made in the name of republicanism, though it
never took form as such. In addition to the systemic problems of the dynastic form of
government, China was subject to natural and secular changes—principally, the
disastrous changing course of the Yellow River and the debilitating impact of mass
opium addiction—that enervated the Qing dynasty. China's population continued to
grow in these years, topping 400 million by the middle of the 19th century. The presence
of the Western powers, and later of Japan, and pressing demands on the court
exacerbated the Qing's problems. Traditionally, Marxist and many non-Marxist
historians dated the beginning of “modern Chinese history” to the Opium War of
1839–42, because the British defeat of the Chinese and the subsequent demands on the
Qing government effectively transformed the nature of the Chinese economy. That view
has not been seriously defended outside of the People's Republic of China for some time.
A more important event signaling the decline of the Qing, and hence of the dynastic
system, would be the White Lotus Rebellion, which begins this section.
1
1796–1820
The JIAQING REIGN of Emperor Renzong marked the turning point from the high
Qing period into decline. Jiaqing did not actually begin to run the government until the
death of the retired Qianlong emperor in 1799. China was faced with threats to the social
order from within and without. Little in the way of open pressure was brought to bear on
2
the court.
1796–1804
The WHITE LOTUS REBELLION, led by a millenarian Buddhist sect that believed in
the return of the Buddha, erupted out of social and economic discontent in the north. It
spread across the impoverished three provinces of Hubei, Shaanxi, and Sichuan, before
being suppressed by Manchu forces. The fact that it took the armies of the empire eight
years to put it down proved to be a harbinger of the declining effectiveness of the State's
standing armies; the Qing was saved only by the use of Chinese recruits, the “green
standards.”
3
c. 1800–1830s
The Western powers had been coming to China for some time; they were allowed to
trade only through the strictly limited Canton system. Whereas customers in the West
wanted ever greater quantities of tea, silk, and Chinese porcelains, the Chinese wanted
nothing the West had to offer, except silver. From about 1800, though, Indian-grown
opium found a hungry market in China, despite the fact that it was illegal, and it reversed
the silver flow until Chinese coffers were drained. Eventually, this problem would come
to a head.
4
1805
Christian literature was proscribed, and a Catholic priest was strangled for being in
China without permission (1815).
5
1807
Robert Morrison (1782–1834), the first Protestant missionary to China, translator of the
Bible into Chinese, and author of the first Chinese-English dictionary, arrived in
Guangzhou. He lived there under the aegis of the British East India Company.
1813
6
A millenarian religious group, the Tianli Sect, rose in rebellion and invaded the imperial
palaces in Beijing, before being suppressed.
7
1816
British ambassador Lord Amherst (1773–1857) was sent away from Beijing without
being received, just as British forces were fighting against Nepal, a Chinese tributary.
8
1820
Li Ruzhen's (c. 1763–c. 1830) satirical novel Flowers in the Mirror was completed (first
printed in 1828). In it gender roles were reversed, with men binding their feet, applying
makeup, and serving women. The novel was in part intended as a critique of the great
difficulty many well-educated men were having in finding employment as officials.
9
1821–50
The DAOGUANG REIGN of Emperor Xuanzong marked a tumultuous time in Chinese
history, which included a disastrous war and the early beginnings of the greatest
rebellion in China's entire history.
10
1821
The illicit trade in opium, 5,000 chests annually (despite imperial prohibitions of 1800
and 1813), was transferred to Lintin Island near Guangzhou.
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1785)
2. Korea, 1800–1910
The long Yi dynasty came to a spiraling end, as Korea in the 19th century fell victim to
foreign pressure, domestic rebellion, and Japanese colonial aspirations. The Manchus in
China were in no position themselves to assist their vassal Korean state. With the decline
and fall of the Chos
1
n state, yangban society, too, came to a crushing demise.
1800
King Ch
ten years.
ngjo died and was succeeded by Sunjo (b. 1790, r. 1800–34), a lad of but
2
1812
The Hong Ky
ng-nae Rebellion broke out, led by a disaffected “fallen” yangban.
3
This was one indication of the trouble brewing in the Chos
n social order, with the
increase of popular uprisings, and local rebellions becoming major affairs.
1834–49
The reign of King H
4
njong.
1849–63
The reign of King Ch'
5
lchong.
1857
Ch'oe Han-gi (1803–75), a sirhak scholar, completed his Chigu ch nyo (Descriptions
of the Nations of the World), based on Chinese works of the time. It introduced the
countries of the West to Koreans and suggested Korea might want to open its doors to
interchange with them. Other sirhak scholars—such as Pak Kyu-su (1807–76) and O Ky
ng-s
6
k (1831–79)—proposed similar ideas.
1860
The Tonghak (Eastern Learning) movement began to attract followers under the
leadership of Ch'oe Che-u (1824–64). It was a syncretic religion, combining elements
from Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, and, inadvertently, Catholicism to oppose all
Western creeds. Its social thrust was against yangban decadence and in favor of
improving conditions for the poor masses of Korean farmers; it was also decidedly
antiforeign and primarily rural. As the government continued to be unable to prevent
foreign humiliation at Korea's expense, it exacerbated antipathy for the government and
increased the Tonghak's popularity. Ch'oe was arrested (1863) and executed (1864).
7
1860
Ch'oe Han-gi finished writing his Inj
ng (Personnel Administration), in which he
claimed that the path back to good government was through the appointment of talented
men regardless of class background, and that Korea had to abandon its seclusion policy
and open up to the outside world.
8
1862
The Chinju Uprising erupted, led by a “fallen” yangban, and killed a number of
particularly rapacious local officials.
These reigns marked the beginning of “in-law” government, a period in which control
over the throne passed between certain in-law factions. It marked a low point in official
9
10
venality and corruption, which spread to local government as well. In the end, the
peasantry suffered most harshly, and the fiscal security of the state was undermined.
Yangban-dominated society was beginning to come apart at the seams. Many yangban
lineages had become “fallen,” meaning they could no longer sustain their families'
prerogatives. Members of the chungin class, a hereditary rank below yangban who had
formerly held various technical positions, were on the rise. The number of slaves
markedly declined, many having been freed in exchange for military service; the
government freed its slaves in 1801; slavery was abolished in 1894.
Despite persecutions (in 1801, 1839, and at other times), Catholicism continued to
attract followers. Its belief that all men and women were equal in the eyes of a supreme
deity was an implicit critique of the rigid yangban-dominated social order. Executions
11
accompanied the repressions; for example, the first Korean priest, Kim Tae-g n
(1822–46), who had trained in a seminary in Macao, was caught and executed. Under
Ch'
lchong, the repressions were eased.
Like other religious and intellectual movements, the sirhak movement of the 19th
century continued its social thrust from the 17th and 18th centuries (See 1785), using
practical scholarship as a means of trying to improve the political, economic, and social
12
problems of the day. Ch ng Yag-yong (1762–1836) synthesized earlier sirhak
scholarship. In the Sunjo reign, major compilations of encyclopedic proportions were
published on agriculture and other economic and political institutions. Others maintained
the strict evidential principles of scholarly methodology characteristic of the
contemporaneous kaozheng movement in Qing China.
1864–1907
During his reign, King Kojong (1852–1919), who ascended the throne at age 12,
13
scarcely ruled outright. His father, H ngs n Taew
n'gun, or the TAEW
N'GUN (1820–98), became regent, ruled directly until 1873, and remained a dominant
figure in the political world until his death. He was hostile to foreign influence in Korea,
particularly toward Christianity.
While in power, the Taew
n'gun instituted a series of reforms aimed at reviving the
Yi state. Corrupt officials were ousted, and others were appointed solely on the basis of
merit; he eased the fiscal burdens on the peasantry, and he closed most of the private
academies that owned tax-free agricultural estates.
Although it originated in the early 18th century, the p'ansori, literary “one-man operas,”
came into their own in this period. The librettos came from vernacular Korean novels.
The most important figure in this movement was Sin Chae-hyo (1812–84). In addition to
14
15
novels written in the vernacular, there was an increasing quantity of literature written in
Chinese, by yangban and commoner alike. Painting witnessed a new development in
expressionism, edging out an earlier move toward naturalism; the most famous painter of
the late 19th century was Chang S
ng-
p.
1865
A group of scholars updated the Chos
Taej
n t'ongp'y
16
n state's code of administrative law with the
n (Comprehensive National Code).
1866
Responding to revived anti-Catholic activities, a French expedition under Adm. Pierre
Roze occupied and sacked Kanghwa at the mouth of the Han River but was ultimately
unable to continue to the capital, Seoul. After some reverses at the hands of Korean
forces, it was obliged to withdraw. It became known as the “French Disturbance of
1866.”
17
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(See 1787–93)
3. Japan, 1793–1914
JAPANESE EMPERORS (1867-)
1793
Lt. Adam Laxman (b. 1776), envoy of Catherine the Great of Russia, arrived at
Hakodate but failed to establish friendly relations.
1
1793–1837
The personal rule of IENARI as shogun was characterized by increasing extravagance,
inefficiency, and signs of the breakdown of seclusion and the collapse of military rule.
During this period lived Ninomiya Sontoku (1787–1856), a famous peasant philosopher
and agrarian reformer; Kaiho Seiry
(1755–1817), a political economist, reformer,
and itinerant teacher; Takizawa Bakin (1767–1848), an extremely popular author of
fiction with a moral bent; Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), And
Hiroshige
(1797–1858), and Kitagawa Utamaro (1754–1806), three of the finest ukiyo-e
woodblock artists.
1795
2
Capt. William Broughton (1762–1821), a British explorer, visited Hokkaid
parts of the Japanese coast.
, charting
3
1797–1809
U.S. ships traded with Japan nearly every year, on behalf of the Dutch.
4
1798
The Kojiki den, a commentary on the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Things, 712), was
completed after 35 years of work by Motoori Norinaga (1730–1801), one of the finest
scholars of the National Learning, or Nativist, school. This achievement marked a
significant event in the revival of Shinto and the imperial cause. An earlier figure of
considerable importance in this movement was Kamo Mabuchi (1679–1769), who
5
worked principally on the Man'y
sh
(Collection of 10,000 Leaves, 759); a later
figure of less intellectual depth but greater popular appeal was Hirata Atsutane
(1776–1843). All relentlessly attacked Confucianism as alien to things Japanese.
1804, Oct.–1805, April
A Russian ambassador, Capt. Nikolai Rezanov (1764–1807), representing the RussianAmerican Company, reached Nagasaki but after six months failed to obtain a treaty. In
1806–7, his subordinates raided Sakhalin.
6
1814
Kurozumi Munetada (1780–1850) founded the Kurozumi sect, the first of the modern
popular Shinto sects that stressed patriotism and occasionally faith healing. This and 12
similar sects founded over the course of the next century counted in excess of 17 million
adherents.
1817–37
7
A sign of economic problems to come, the bakufu (shogunal government) devalued the
currency on 19 separate occasions, but did not adequately contain the growing state
deficit. Problems were exacerbated by a string of crop failures in the 1820s.
8
1825
Aizawa Seishisai (Yasushi, 1781–1863) of Mito domain completed his Shinron (New
Proposals, not published until 1857). He suggested that greater defensive measures be
adopted by the feudal domains in preparation for the coming aggressive forces from the
West; he felt that even more pernicious than Western force of arms were its Christian
religion, its corruptive culture, and its economic incursions. British whaling vessels had
landed in Mito the previous year.
9
1830–44
Although the Tenp
reign period witnessed great reform efforts, it also saw severe
famines in the mid-1830s and massive social disorders as countless peasants fled rural
poverty for the cities. It was an extremely rich era culturally. Planner of the reforms
(effected, 1841–43) was Mizuno Tadakuni (1794–1851). He abolished the guild
system, domainal monopolies, and other institutions, moving toward centralizing Edo
power with respect to the domains. The reforms ultimately failed.
10
1837
Following several years of local famine, inadequate state response, and small-scale
11
risings,
saka witnessed a mass rebellion led by
shio Heihachir
(1793–1837),
a former policeman. He and his followers were angry at the corrupt officialdom and the
venal merchants whom they saw as responsible for poverty. The uprising was quelled.
The U.S. vessel Morrison, with merchants and missionaries from Macao, visited Naha in
the Ry ky
(Chinese, Liuqiu) Islands, was bombarded at Edo and Kagoshima, and
failed to open relations. This was but one of numerous efforts by Westerners to establish
more extensive contact with Japan before 1854. One reason for these efforts was that
since about 1820 the northern Pacific whaling industry had greatly developed, and more
humane treatment of crews of whalers wrecked in Japanese waters was sought,
particularly by the United States.
12
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(See 1788)
4. Vietnam, 1802–1902
During the early 19th century, the Vietnamese ruler built a Chinese-style court;
internally he was called emperor, though in tributary relations with China he was called
king. Before long, though, as elsewhere in East Asia, the Western powers exerted
increasing pressure to secure rights to trade and proselytize on Vietnamese soil. Vietnam
was the only country in East Asia to become a colony of a Western power—France—by
century's end, leading to a partition of the country.
1
1802–20
The reign of Emperor GIA-LONG (born Nguyên Anh in 1762) began after his
rebellious forces took Saigon with French help, won a number of victories, and finally
captured Huê (1801). He established the Nguyên dynasty—with its capital at
Huê—which would last, in name, until 1945. He had been supported in his struggles by
the French missionary Pierre Pigneau de Béhaine (1741–99), bishop of Adran. He
moved to build a centralized monarchy on the Chinese model, with a Confucian
bureaucracy, and he instituted sanctions against Buddhist and Daoist religious practices.
Two regional rulers, one in Hanoi and the mighty Lê Van Duyêt (1763–1832) in Saigon,
exercised considerable local authority, but their power was withdrawn under Gia-long's
successor. The population of the country was roughly 8 million. Administrative sites,
aside from those that were major cities or ports, did not become centers for trade;
commerce was conducted, as before, at river confluences. The all-important commerce
with China tended to be dominated by Chinese émigré merchants, numbering some
40,000 at this time. Land registers were updated annually beginning in 1807 as a part of
Gia-long's reforms, but there were still many poor peasants and many with no land to
till. Corvée requirements also fell with a heavy burden on the peasantry. Gia-long also
enacted a law code (1812) patterned closely after that of Qing China.
2
Both Gia-long and his successor sought Western technology to build their military
capacity as well as to modernize other sectors of the economy. Yet, for all his efforts, the
Gia-long reign witnessed roughly 100 uprisings—caused by the devastations of natural
disasters and the government's inability to respond.
3
Catholic missions had been active in the country since the early 17th century (See 1624)
and with considerable success. The French, excluded from India by the British, focused
their attention ever more on Vietnam. Gia-long, while interested in Western technology,
was not open to giving either the French or the British free rein in his country.
4
1820–41
The reign of Emperor MING-MANH (b. 1791) witnessed a continuation of many of
the trends set in motion by his father, Gia-long. The power of the government was
further centralized, and, as if by exchange, local administrative autonomy grew stronger,
especially with the emergence of the van than class, a middle-level local stratum of
intellectuals who were charged with local administration. Unlike the seemingly similar
locally resident yangban of Yi dynasty Korea, the van than never became wealthy
landlords. The state's inability to address problems of the poor masses also continued to
plague it. There were over 200 uprisings during Ming-manh's reign. Despite these
problems, he furthered use of Chinese-style civil service examinations as the means of
bureaucratic recruitment. He fashioned his court in the Confucian Chinese model, and he
took measures against Christianity, proscribing it as heterodox, for he suspected that
Christians supported rebellious provincial lords. There were some 300,000 Vietnamese
converts to Catholicism. Following an uprising in 1833 in which Christians had been
involved, he began serious repression, including the execution of missionaries and
converts. He was openly derisive of Buddhism as well, and Buddhist-oriented popular
religions were frequently responsible for local insurrections. He refused so much as to
meet with a British envoy (1822). With the dissolution of the British East India
Company's monopoly of trade with China (1834) and the Opium War (1839–1842) (See
1841–42), commercial relations of the Western powers within East Asia changed.
5
1840
Ming-manh sent missions to London and Paris to try to reach some measure of
compromise with the powers supporting Christianity, but missionary animus crushed
these efforts.
6
1841–47
During the short reign of Emperor THIÊU-TRI, the sanctions against Christians
continued, as did the will of the ruler not to meet with foreign missions. The party of
former missionary Karl Gutzlaff (1803–51) in 1847 was a complete failure. On several
occasions during these years, U.S. and particularly French naval commanders intervened
militarily on behalf of Catholic missionaries. In 1847 the French bombarded Danang
(Tourane).
7
1848–83
The reign of Emperor TU-DUC (b. 1830) witnessed the exacerbation of problems with
the Western powers and domestic troubles as well. Despite all of these problems, the
deeply Confucian Tu-duc encouraged cultural development to an unprecedented extent,
making his reign a high point of literary culture in Vietnamese history. He also
relentlessly suppressed Christianity, sanctioning thousands of executions primarily of
Vietnamese converts and of 25 Western priests.
8
1858, Aug
A joint French-Spanish expedition under Adm. Rigault de Genouilly, attempting to end
the Nguyên court's intransigence, bombarded Danang on the coast. Unable to proceed by
land to the capital at Huê, the expedition turned south and occupied Saigon in early
1859. Britain registered no objections.
9
1862, June 5
The Treaty of Saigon was signed, following French fighting and pressure along the
Vietnamese coast. It stipulated that Vietnam would relinquish to the French control over
the three southern provinces of “Cochin China,” as the French and other Westerners
came to call the southern part of Vietnam, and pay an indemnity of 20 million francs
over ten years. Long associated by Westerners with the whole of Vietnam, the name
Annam became associated henceforth with central Vietnam; and Tonkin (or Tongking)
became associated with the north (taken over by the French, 1884). Free exercise of the
Catholic religion was to be allowed, and three ports in the central and northern parts of
the country were to be opened to French trade. Tu-duc had little choice but to go along
10
with the French; he was fighting to suppress rebellion in the north. There was much
popular resistance to the French incursions, such as the “righteous army” of peasants
organized by Truong Dinh (1820–64) in the Mekong delta area. Although they and
similar forces raided and irritated the French, their efforts failed to sustain an effective
movement.
1863–68
Adm. Pierre de la Grandière served as governor of Cochin China. He organized a
governmental system through “admirals,” but most of the actual governing was done
through Vietnamese officials.
11
1863, Aug. 11
King Norodom (b. 1836, r. 1836–1904) of Cambodia accepted a French protectorate.
12
1867
The French occupied the three western provinces of Cochin China, after an insurrection.
13
1868
French explorations were carried out along the Mekong River as far as the Chinese
province of Yunnan. It was hoped that this would prove a useful route into southwestern
China, but the river was shown to be unnavigable along its upper reaches, and the
French therefore began to turn their attention to the Red River of Tonkin. The Mekong
delta was to become the site of massive public works projects under the French, with
irrigation canals dug and large tracts of land reclaimed for rice agriculture; immense rice
plantations emerged, and rice exports grew tenfold between 1860 and 1900.
14
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(See 1792–93)
F. The Pacific Region, c. 800–1914
1. The Pacific Islands, 1794–1914
By the end of the 18th century, the era of European discovery was effectively over,
though some significant expeditions, such as the one led by American Charles Wilkes
(1838–41), made some further contributions. The 19th century saw the beginning of
trade and large trading companies in the islands, the advent of Christian missions, and,
most important, the annexation of the islands by European powers. By 1900, all the
Pacific islands had come under some form of European control, the sole exception being
Tonga, which managed to retain its sovereignty under British supervision. New tools and
ideas introduced by European traders brought about profound social and economic
change in the island communities and helped destabilize traditional political structures.
Large-scale indentured labor migration in the islands was an important legacy of
colonial rule. Among the more tragic consequences of increasing contact with the
outside world were the introduction of new diseases, depopulation, and large-scale land
alienation. As the 19th century ended, the islands had become deeply enmeshed in
European political and economic concerns.
1
1794, Feb. 25
Kamehameha and other chiefs place island of Hawaii under protection of British
Crown.
2
1797, March 6
The London Missionary Society, a nondenominational body comprising
Congregationalists, Calvinistic Methodists, Anglicans, and Presbyterians, reached Tahiti
on the ship Duff. It established a major station there and subsequently sent missionaries
3
to Tonga and the Marquesas Islands. Rev. John Williams, who arrived in Tahiti in
1817, spearheaded the society's drive in the Pacific.
1801
Pork trade began between Tahiti and the British convict colony of New South
Wales, with the active backing of the latter's Governor King. It encouraged colonial
entrepreneurs to pursue commercial opportunities in the South Seas and enabled the
Pomares of Tahiti to use their new connection to enhance their power.
4
1804
The discovery of sandalwood in Fiji precipitated a rush in 1807 that was over by 1810.
A similar short-lived rush in Hawaii began in 1811. A longer-lasting and more
significant trade began in Melanesia after the discovery of sandalwood at Eromanga
(New Hebrides) in 1829. The trade introduced new tools, which altered the fabric of
island society and economy.
5
1810
Kamehameha I (the Great) achieved the unification of the Hawaiian Islands. Similar
efforts on the part of the Pomares of Tahiti and Cakobau of Fiji met with less success.
6
1814
The Church Missionary Society established a station in New Zealand and subsequently
in the Pacific islands.
7
1820
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions sent its first
missionaries abroad, to Hawaii. Also, the Wesleyan Missionary Society sent its
representatives to New Zealand and Tonga.
8
1828
The Dutch annexed western New Guinea.
9
1840
The British claimed sovereignty over New Zealand with the Treaty of Waitangi.
10
1842
The French, led by Dupetit-Thouars, annexed the Marquesas and declared Tahiti
and the Society Islands a French protectorate. In 1844, they took Gambier Islands in
the Tuamotus, claiming a protectorate over the entire group, which was formally
annexed in 1881.
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1785)
2. The Philippines, 1800–1913
In the course of the 19th century, corruption in the church and bureaucracy and ethnic
discrimination increased social and political discontent in the Spanish colony. A
fledgling export economy developed, most notably in sugar, which strengthened ties to
the outside world and weakened links with Spain. The number of Chinese in the country
grew, and their economic role increased. Most significant, an elite of “Filipinos”
emerged, a mixed group of mestizos, indios, and Spaniards born in the archipelago who
saw themselves as representatives of a distinct Philippine nation. They spearheaded the
movement for overthrow of the Spanish government. Muslim power in the south was
still considerable in the first half of the 19th century. Sulu in particular enjoyed the fruits
of a large regional market for slaves, which led to conflict with the Spanish and British
who sought to halt the slave trade. However, by the 1880s the power of Sulu and the
Muslim states of Mindanao had weakened. Partly out of fear of the encroachments of
other imperial powers, Spain mounted a push into the Muslim areas and was able to
establish its suzerainty over the region, even though it could not exercise real
administrative control. With the Philippine revolution and the American takeover,
Mindanao and Sulu were effectively incorporated into the Philippine state.
1
1820
Mexican independence led to a decline in trade, and the Royal Philippine Company
became bankrupt. Large numbers of Spaniards and mestizos moved to the Philippines
after the independence wars in Latin America. The Spaniards took privileged positions
in the bureaucracy, which grew rapidly. Ethnic inequalities intensified.
1823
2
The Mexican mestizo Andres Novales led a revolt in the King's Own Regiment. The
uprising, which resulted from tensions between mestizos and Spaniards in the
bureaucracy and the military, deepened ethnic divisions and contributed to the
development of Philippine nationalism.
3
1826
A royal decree stated that friars should control most Philippine parishes. Indio and
mestizo priests were demoted to curate rank.
4
1834
Manila was opened to international commerce.
5
1839
Removal of residence and work restrictions on the Chinese led to an increase in the
Chinese population.
6
1841
Apolinario de la Cruz led a major popular uprising against the Spanish after they
refused to acknowledge a religious order he had founded.
7
1844
The Spanish government outlawed private trading by provincial governors. This gave
the Chinese new commercial opportunities, and they became an important economic
presence in the colony.
8
1847
The mercenary Oyanguren annexed Davao Gulf on Mindanao for Spain.
9
1851
Spain attacked Sulu, destroyed the capital at Jolo, and forced the sultan to make
concessions, which the Spanish interpreted as an acceptance of Spain's control over
Sulu.
10
1859
Establishment of Ateneo de Manila, a school open to all ethnic groups. Such schools
contributed to the emergence of an indigenous intellectual elite known as the ilustrados,
who were instrumental in the formation of Philippine national consciousness.
11
1861
The government decreed that all parishes in the archdiocese of Manila be given to friars,
displacing Filipino clerics. The struggle over religious appointments intensified, adding
to Filipino resentment of the friars, who occupied 817 out of 967 parishes by 1898.
12
Rivalry between Buayan and Magindanao allowed the Spanish to acquire more territory
in Mindanao, including Cotabato.
13
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1792–93)
3. Australia, 1788–1914
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND (MAP)
The 19th century in Australia was characterized by European settlement and political
and economic development in European terms. British settlement saw the steady
dispossession of some 200 Aboriginal groups: by 1914 only a few desert people
remained in control of their country. Between 1788 and 1836, the British government or
government-assisted expeditions settled all the sites to become state capitals at
federation in 1901, in the east with convicts, in Western and South Australia with free
settlers. Despite severe depressions in the 1840s and 1890s, white expansion was
confident and prosperous. Stimulated by exports, chiefly gold and wool, by 1901 white
Australians enjoyed the world's highest wage levels and living standards and were
proclaiming an egalitarian society and an outpost of white civilization in the Pacific.
1
The later 19th century saw many patterns emerge in Australia similar to those in western
Europe and the United States, such as the development of a strong working-class
movement. Gender distinctions, including insistence on the domestic responsibilities of
respectable women and condemnation of those who seemed to deviate from the
respectability model, also followed trends similar to those in Europe. The Australian
economy developed industrial centers for the national market along with the potent
commercial export economy in agriculture and mining.
2
The Dutch, who discovered and explored the western and parts of the northern and
southern coasts of Australia (1613–42), called the land New Holland. Capt. James
Cook, who discovered and explored the east coast during his first voyage (1768–71),
called that part New South Wales. In 1786 the British government decided to use a site
Cook had named in New South Wales, Botany Bay, to transport convicts who crowded
the British prisons after it became impossible to send them to America. The plan was to
set up a convict colony that would support itself, although probably strategic
3
considerations also influenced the choice of site.
1788, Jan. 26
Capt. Arthur Philip arrived at Port Jackson (Sydney), with the FIRST CONVICT
TRANSPORTS and convoy, 11 ships with 717 convicts, of whom about 520 were men.
In the following month 15 convicts and escorts were sent to organize another settlement
on Norfolk Island (till 1814). Philip remained governor until 1792, during the most
critical period of the colony and under difficult conditions: scarcity of food; uncertainty
of supplies; laziness, incompetence, and quarrelsomeness of many convicts; prevalence
of vice of every kind. The colony was protected by the New South Wales Corps, raised
in England and itself an unimpressive and insubordinate body. The governor enjoyed
absolute power and alone formulated policy. The convicts were supplied from
government stores, but on expiration of their terms the more deserving were given 30 to
50 acres of land. Time-expired soldiers were given grants of 80 to 100 acres. The
officers were more richly endowed, and some of them, like John Macarthur, soon
became wealthy and influential.
4
1792–95
Francis Grose and then William Paterson acted as vice governors. As members of the
New South Wales Corps, they provided richly for their comrades. The officers were
given the service of convicts and were allowed to establish a monopoly of cargoes
brought to the settlement. Importation of rum was permitted, and rum soon became
currency, much to the detriment of the settlement.
5
1793, Jan. 16
Arrival of the first free settlers (11 in all), who received free passage, tools, convict
service, and land grants.
6
1795–1800
John Hunter, governor. A mild, well-intentioned administrator, he was soon at
loggerheads with the officers of the corps, through whose influence at home he was
ultimately recalled.
7
1797, May 16
The first merino sheep were imported, leading eventually to the creation of the
Australian wool industry.
8
1800–6
Philip King, governor. His main ambition was to break the power of the officers,
wherefore he forbade their trading and prohibited the importation of spirits. Neither
policy proved much of a success, and so King, like his predecessor, was in constant
conflict with the officers, of whom Macarthur was the leader.
9
1803–4
Settlement of Tasmania, carried through by the governor for fear that the French might
seize it. Settlements were established near present-day Hobart and near Launceston. In
1810–14 the convicts on Norfolk Island were transferred to Tasmania. From the outset
the settlers had much trouble with Aborigines and bushrangers (escaped convicts turned
bandits and freebooters).
10
1804
Insurrection of the Irish convicts, who had been sent in large numbers after the
suppression of the revolution in Ireland in 1798. The rising was put down with ruthless
vigor.
11
1806–9
William Bligh, governor. He was appointed in the hope that, as a well-known
disciplinarian, he would be able to end the domination of the officer clique and stop the
disastrous liquor traffic. But his drastic methods and fiery temperament resulted merely
in rebellion.
12
1808, Jan. 26
Rum Rebellion. The officers, outraged by the arrest of Macarthur, induced the
commander, Maj. George Johnston, to arrest Bligh as unfit for office and to hold him
captive until the arrival of a new governor (1809). Though the home government
condemned this action, it removed Bligh.
13
1821
COL. LACHLAN MACQUARIE, governor. His appointment marked the end of rule
by the naval commanders. Macquarie took his Highland regiment to Australia and
obliged the members of the New South Wales Corps to enlist in the regular force or
return home, which about one-half of them did. The new governor devoted himself to
the systematic buildup of Sydney, road construction, establishment of orphanages, and
unrelenting war on the vice prevalent throughout the colony. Civil courts were
established (1814) and a bank opened (1817). In 1816 the home government removed all
restrictions on free emigration to Australia, thus preparing the way for a change in the
character of the colony. But by 1810 there were already 3,000 free settlers, endowed
with large blocks of land. These freemen objected violently to Macquarie's efforts to
secure social equality for the emancipists (pardoned convicts or those who had served
their time) and to discourage free immigration. As a result, Macquarie, like earlier
governors, was engaged in constant struggle, though on a different basis.
14
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
4. New Zealand, c. 800–1913
Archaeological evidence dates the earliest human occupation of New Zealand to around
the 9th century C.E. (See The Pacific Islands in Pre-European Times). According to
Maori tradition, the ancestors of the Maori people migrated by sea to Aotearoa (New
Zealand) from Hawaiki, thought to be in the eastern Pacific. Maori artifacts and
language show affinities with those of Eastern Polynesia. Many Maori genealogies trace
tribal descent from ancestral canoes, each of which is associated with a particular area
of the country. The Maori had a sophisticated Neolithic culture based on agriculture,
fishing, and the hunting of birds. Maori society adapted successfully to New Zealand
where the climate was much colder and vegetable food less abundant than in their area
of origin. Maori people lived throughout the country but were concentrated in the North
Island. Demographers estimate the Maori population was around 100,000 in 1769.
1
Concepts of prestige (mana) and the rules of sacred propriety (tapu) have always been
fundamental to Maori religious and political life, reflected in sophisticated carving and
oral literature. Land and ancestors were and still remain vital elements in Maori
culture. Intertribal relations were intensely competitive and, in response to warfare,
defensive engineering was highly developed.
2
1642
The first contact between Maoris and Europeans occurred when the Dutch explorer
Abel Tasman (See 1642–44) landed briefly in the South Island and gave the country the
name Nieuw Zeeland. Tasman's stay was extremely short and had little impact beyond
making the existence of the country known to Europeans.
3
1769, 1773, and 1777
CAPT. JAMES COOK led expeditions to New Zealand (See 1768–71). These
4
expeditions transmitted information about the country's geography, flora, fauna, and
culture back to Europe. Starting with Cook's expeditions, European diseases, plants,
and animals entered New Zealand, bringing about important changes in the Maori
population and the landscape.
In the 1790s Euro-American whalers and sealers began to establish permanent stations
in New Zealand. Trade in products such as timber and flax, particularly with Australia,
brought the Maori into increasing contact with the world economy.
5
1814–1913
In the first half of the 19th century the Maori remained the dominant culture in New
Zealand. Quickly adapting imported technology to their own ends, the Maori exploited
the new opportunities brought by contact with foreigners. At the same time, disease, the
capitalist economy, and new ideologies transformed Maori society and politics.
Relations with Europeans varied from place to place, largely in accordance with tribal
political needs. A treaty between Maori leaders and Britain in 1840 established British
authority over the country, initiating a rapid growth in immigration from Britain. Despite
active political and military resistance by the Maori, Europeans had taken control of
most of the country by 1870. Maori population and landholdings both declined, although
charismatic leaders helped to maintain communal cohesion. After 1852 New Zealand
became a self-governing British colony, and in the late 19th century its politics came to
be characterized by a populist form of social democracy. Economic expansion, based on
gold and agriculture, was stimulated by ambitious programs of government borrowing
and public works in the last quarter of the 19th century. In the 1890s, New Zealand
carried out a series of social reforms, including women's suffrage, social welfare
measures, and government-controlled industrial arbitration.
6
1814
Beginning with Samuel Marsden, English missionaries attempted to convert the Maori
population to Christianity. Marsden established the first Church of England mission in
the Bay of Islands. The missionaries also gave the Maori language a written form. In
1815 the first Maori-English dictionary was compiled, and more standardized and
accurate orthography was developed in 1820. Literacy spread quickly among the Maori.
1820s
7
Western technology, such as clothing, guns, and metal implements, and food plants like
the potato became pervasive among the Maori. Disease and intertribal wars prosecuted
by chiefs such as Hongi and Te Rauparaha disrupted Maori society.
8
1830s
Maori people were significant participants in the growing commerce with the
outside world, marketing flax to Australia in the period prior to 1831 and exporting
large quantities of grain and legumes to New South Wales in the 1830s. Another
transformation occurring at this time was the growing number of European residents,
many of whom purchased land from the Maori. However, the Maori remained the key
political force in New Zealand until the middle of the 19th century.
9
1833
First record of the Papahurihia millennial movement, a Maori response to the influx of
Christian ideas resulting from increased missionary activity, including the translation of
Christian writings. It was the first of many prophetic movements fusing Maori belief and
Christianity in the postcontact period.
10
James Busby became British resident, the first official representative of the British
government in New Zealand.
11
1835
A group of Northern Maori chiefs asserted their political sovereignty by drawing up a
declaration of independence, later recognized by the British government.
12
1837
Busby reported to the British Crown that New Zealand was in a state of anarchy.
Although a distorted picture of the situation, this prompted the British government to
intervene more deeply in the country. Opinion differed among the British in New
Zealand; some wanted to safeguard Maori rights, whereas others wished to open the
country for settlement. Both groups, however, called for intervention by Britain.
13
1838
Founding of the New Zealand Company in Britain, which proposed sending
immigrants to set up a colonial society founded on a strong middle class.
14
1839
William Hobson was sent by the British government to negotiate with the Maori,
paving the way for annexation of New Zealand.
15
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Overview)
G. Africa, 1795–1917
THE PARTITION OF AFRICA, 1914 (MAP)
1. Overview
Given the importance of the transatlantic slave trade for African history during the
period 1500–1800, it would seem logical that the abolition of the slave trade, first
declared by the Danes in 1792, but enacted by Britain in 1807, would be a major
watershed. Indeed it was, but such was the resiliency of African historical process that it
took many decades before the abolition of the European slave trade was felt in Africa.
1
The abolition of the European slave trade did not mean the end of slave exports.
Britain embarked on aggressive diplomacy to bring the other European nations into the
accord. However, as long as there was demand for slaves in the Americas and in the
emerging French Indian Ocean plantation islands, African suppliers and European and
American carriers would bring slaves to the buyers. Thus, the end of the transatlantic
slave trade occurred when Cuba and Brazil began to enforce the prohibition on slave
imports in the 1860s. Disguised slave exports persisted well into the 20th century.
2
However, Britain's prohibition of the slave trade to its nationals in 1807 did signal an
important change in the organization and nature of the international economy.
Increasingly throughout the 19th century, industrial capitalism shaped the demand
and supply of goods and service on a world scale. European industries and the mass
markets they fed required massive inputs of tropical raw materials, including vegetable
oils and cotton. Europeans now wanted Africans to remain in Africa, cultivate the
tropical commodities they needed, and consume the products of their industries.
3
European prohibition on the slave trade confronted African political economies in which
warfare and enslavement had become deeply embedded. It was not easy to retool the
engines of state enterprise. The crisis African states faced was, however, eased by the
gradual decline in demand for African slaves in the Americas and by the coincident
expansion of demand for slave labor in Africa itself. Slavery was a very old
institution in Africa, and it had always been a means of increasing the size of domestic
groups. In the face of demand for African agricultural commodities, Africans
increasingly turned to slave labor to augment the scale of production. By reducing the
price of African slaves, the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade paradoxically
encouraged the expansion of slavery in Africa.
4
The African slave market had traditionally favored females. Female slaves added
significantly to the reproductive potential of African households, and most African
farming systems relied heavily on female labor. It is not at all clear whether this gender
division of labor shaped African preferences for female slaves or whether the presence
of female slaves encouraged female farming. Politically ambitious men in matrilineal
societies, such as the Yao of East Africa, used female slaves as a means of attracting
male followers and as a means of developing junior patrilineages in order to gain control
over their own offspring. Female slaves further encouraged the development of
patriarchy and polygyny. Since most Africans at this time lived in rural settings,
additional agricultural labor was always desirable.
5
Between 1800 and 1914, Africans were drawn into a rapidly changing international
economy. The new international economy intersected with ongoing processes of change
in Africa. The result was a speeding up of conflict and change in Africa, leading
increasingly to conflicts between African groups and between Africans and Europeans
as Europeans scrambled to claim African territories as colonies. These processes
occurred unevenly throughout the continent. By 1914 most of Africa was under
European colonial control.
6
In southern Africa, the 19th century opened as Africans pursued their own state-building
activities. This was most pronounced among the Nguni-speaking Bantu of southeastern
Africa. Increased international commercial activity at Delagoa Bay intersected with
human and livestock population growth and led to ecological crisis. In the foothills of
the Draksenburg Mountains, Dingiswayo of the Mthwethwa introduced significant
organizational innovations that yielded a powerful military machine. Under his
successor, Shaka, the Zulu kingdom became a major polity in the region. Its military
campaigns unleashed reverberating cycles of warfare, political consolidation, and
political dissolution (known as the Mfecane), which reached as far north as Tanzania.
White Afrikaner pioneers, called the Trekboers, entered this area in the 1830s after
fleeing from British-controlled areas of South Africa. The better armed Afrikaners
became only one more state-building group in this region, whose history over the course
of the 19th century was characterized by conflicting but fluid frontiers.
7
The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1887 profoundly changed both white
and black southern African societies and drew them all into an economy dominated by
mining enterprises and the need to secure cheap labor. Providing labor for the mines or
food for miners initially offered Africans new economic opportunities and introduced a
brief period of prosperity. Africans, however, increasingly sought the independence of
agriculture in preference to the discipline of the mines. White South Africans and their
governments sought to limit Africans' choices and to force them to provide cheap
agricul-tural or mining labor. The South African War (1899–1902) eventually yielded a
unified South Africa firmly dedicated to white political and economic superiority.
8
East Africa was drawn increasingly into a world in which the European economic
system was becoming dominant. Deeper patterns of Indian Ocean commerce persisted,
but demand expanded for slaves and ivory, both essentially predatory activities. Slaves
were being drawn to supply demand in the Americas, in the Indian Ocean plantations,
the trans-Saharan and Red Sea trade, and in the Swahili slave economies of the coast.
Africans and Arab plantation owners began to acquire slaves as agricultural labor in
order to service international demand for cloves as well as regional demand for food for
the slave and ivory caravans. Long-distance caravans organized by African merchants
from the interior and by Swahili merchants from the coast crisscrossed East Africa,
pushing ever deeper the frontiers of international commerce. These trends coincided
with the waves of warfare and state building flowing from the South African Mfecane,
yielding increasing cycles of predation and enslavement. In the waning days of the
century, rinderpest, jiggers, smallpox, and other epidemics profoundly destabilized
African societies. Human and animal populations declined. Rinderpest alone contributed
to the loss of up to 90 percent of all large livestock. For cattle-keeping societies, this loss
was catastrophic.
9
In the interlacustrine region, the 19th century witnessed the consolidation of larger
state systems at the expense of the smaller polities. Buganda emerged preeminent in the
region of Lake Victoria, developed a centralized bureaucracy, and began a process of
colonization of the outlying regions. The cattle-keeping Tutsi warrior aristocracies
emerged successfully in Burundi and Rwanda, structuring the region's economies
through their loans of cattle and dependents. In the Sudan, Egyptian forces were trying
to impose their authority over the fluid slave-catching frontier, which funneled large
numbers of slaves down the river and into the agricultural regions of Egypt. From 1881
to 1885, the Egyptian forces confronted the state-building endeavors of the Mahdi. IntraEuropean competition for control over the region led to a serious diplomatic crisis in
Europe.
10
In West Africa the century opened as the militant Muslim forces were about to embark
on the jihad that led to the founding of the Sokoto Caliphate. The waves of Islamic
expectancy and militancy reached outward and led to the founding of the Hamdullahi
Caliphate in Masina and the Umarian state farther west. Under several of these religious
11
polities, Islamic education and piety made significant advances. The Sokoto Caliphate
emerged as one of the strongest states in West Africa.
State building and consolidation were not limited to the interior. In the 19th century, the
Asante strengthened a powerful empire in the forest region of what is now Ghana and
centralized state power through elaborate bureaucracies of state officials. As in the
theocratic states of the interior, the forest states were also based upon warfare, conquest,
tribute, and the resettlement of captured population.
12
Perhaps the most striking change to occur in West Africa was the rapid expansion of
international commerce in bulk vegetable commodities, especially palm oil and peanuts.
For example, the peanut exports from the Gambia rose from a mere 47 tons in 1835 to
over 11,000 tons in 1851. Similar patterns of expansion occurred throughout the coastal
zones of West Africa and demonstrated how rapidly Africans responded to economic
incentives. This has been called the West African peasant revolution, and it introduced
significant changes in the region's political economy. European merchants established
mutually beneficial commercial relations with African middlemen and African
producers. Until midcentury, the barter terms of trade favored African commodity
producers, who benefited both from rising commodity prices and falling prices for
manufactured goods. By midcentury, commodity prices began to fall, and by the onset of
the European depression of 1867, the international commerce of West Africa was in
turmoil. European and African merchants competed for diminishing shares of the
market, which led to bankruptcies, fraud, and commercial conflicts. European merchants
petitioned home governments for protection. The pace of European colonialism
increased, and by the 1870s, the scramble was on.
13
Until the 1870s, Europeans had neither wanted nor were able to impose themselves on
Africans. However, medical and technological innovations—including the discovery
that quinine provided prophylaxis against malaria, and the invention of the repeating
rifle—provided the means for Europeans to defeat Africans in battle and to survive
afterward. This window of military superiority closed rather quickly. In 1896, the
African army of Menelik II was armed with modern repeating rifles and resoundingly
defeated the invading Italian army at the Battle of Adua (Adowa). The Battle of Adua
marked the end of the “scramble phase” of European colonialism.
14
By then, however, Europeans had laid claim to all of Africa except for Liberia, which
since 1847 had been an internationally recognized republic under the rule of returned
African-American freed slaves, and Ethiopia. Europeans' actual control over the land
and peoples of Africa was much more doubtful. Indeed, Europeans and their African
allies fought widespread resistance movements in the decades immediately following
conquest. Some of these primary resistance movements drew on well-established
forms of organization, such as polities. Others, including the Chimurenga in Southern
Rhodesia and Maji Maji in Tanganyika, forged new organizations and networks.
Resistance organized by polities was more easily suppressed, since Europeans usually
15
maintained decisive military superiority, and there was usually someone who could
surrender. Resistance by acephalous societies proved remarkably difficult to suppress,
since each community had to be defeated in turn.
Other forms of resistance, including migration, tax evasion, disobedience, and
disrespect, were much less obvious and much more difficult to control. Such forms of
resistance continued throughout the colonial period. Even more difficult for colonial
officials to understand and to control were the ways in which Africans turned to
Christianity and to Western education as means of resisting the power of colonial rule.
16
The missionary enterprise was an intimate part of European cultural imperialism.
Christianity provided Africans with a means of creating a new sense of community.
Since the BaKongo prophetess Beatrice Kimpa Vita of the late 17th century, Africans
had sought to Africanize European cultural institutions such as the church. Church
practices could be shaped to address African concerns more directly. Breakaway
African churches, which predated colonialism but proliferated under European colonial
rule, demonstrated how Africans used Western cultural institutions to resist European
domination. Africans also turned to Islam in increasing numbers during the colonial
period. African Muslims joined Sufi brotherhoods as a means of simultaneously
creating new communities and maintaining cultural and political distance from European
institutions.
17
Even European-dominated mission enterprises provided Africans with new
opportunities. Particularly in central, eastern, and southern Africa, mission stations
formally linked to European churches became sanctuaries to which runaway slaves and
oppressed women could flee. Equally important, missions became the primary medium
for the expansion of Western literacy and thus provided the training for a generation of
African nationalists. (See Overview)
18
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1792–93)
2. European Exploration, 1795–1895
1795–97, 1805–6
MUNGO PARK explored the Gambia and reached the Niger at Segu, finally
establishing the fact that the great river flowed east. During his second voyage, Park
drowned in the Niger near the Hausa state of Yauri.
1
1798–99
The Portuguese Francisco de Lacerda traveled from Tete on the Zambezi northward to
Lake Mweru.
2
1802
Pieter Jan Truter and William Somerville explored Bechuanaland and penetrated the
interior almost as far as Lake Ngami.
3
1802–11
The Angolan of color Pedro Baptista and A. José crossed the continent from Angola
to Tete on the Zambezi.
1815
4
France abolished the slave trade. Other countries (notably Spain and Portugal)
followed suit.
5
1818
Gaspard Mollien discovered the sources of the Gambia and the Senegal rivers.
6
1821–25
Walter Oudney, Dixon Denham, and Hugh Clapperton journeyed from Tripoli across
the desert to Lake Chad and thence westward to the Niger, proving that the river had no
connection with the lake.
7
1825–26
Alexander G. Laing crossed the desert from Tripoli to Tuat and thence to Timbuktu,
the first 19th-century European to visit that city. Laing was killed on his return across
the desert.
8
1825–27
Clapperton led another Niger expedition from the coast to the interior. All members of
the party become ill with malaria and dysentery. Richard Lander accompanied the
expedition. Clapperton died in Sokoto in 1827.
9
1827–28
René Caillié reached Timbuktu from Guinea and proceeded thence to Fez.
1830–34
10
Richard and John Lander explored the lower Niger from Bussa to the sea. Richard
Lander died along the Niger River.
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1776)
3. Regions
a. Sudanic West and Central Africa
1804
The career of Usuman dan Fodio (b. 1754) began in the late 18th century, when he
traveled throughout the Hausa kingdom of Gobir as an itinerant Muslim teacher. He
attracted many followers, among whom were newly won converts as well as Hausa
farmers and Fulani pastoralists who nursed grievances against the entrenched Hausa
leadership. In 1804, dan Fodio withdrew his allegiance to the Hausa ruler and launched
a major jihad. Following the model of the Prophet, Usuman dan Fodio led his
followers on a hijra, a flight from unbelief, to a rural outpost on the border of Gobir. At
first the jihad was designed merely to protect the Islamic community that had grown up
around dan Fodio, and was restricted to Gobir, Kebbi, and Zamfara. Later it developed
into a war of conquest, spilling over into Kano, Zaria, Nupe, and Borno. Dan Fodio's
success in spreading Islam constituted one of the most important Muslim revival
movements of the 19th century.
1
1808
Sheik Muhammad b. Amin b. Muhammad al-Kanami came to power by leading a
resistance movement against Usuman dan Fodio's forces in Borno. In a series of
important letters, al-Kanami challenged the legality of the jihad against Borno, since
Borno was also a Muslim polity. Although Borno lost some of its western provinces to
the Sokoto Caliphate, Sheik Muhammad al-Kanami's efforts eventually led to a
rejuvenation of Borno's political institutions and a revival of Islam. After having turned
back the jihad, al-Kanami gained an enormous following and ousted the ruling Borno
dynasty in favor of his own.
2
1812
Following the success of his jihad, Usuman dan Fodio established the Sokoto
Caliphate, a powerful Muslim empire.
3
1810 or 1818
Seku Ahmadu, also known as Ahmadu Lobbo, a former student of Usuman dan Fodio,
opposed the mixture of traditional beliefs and Islam so commonly tolerated among West
African leaders. In either 1810 or 1818 (the exact date is uncertain), he led a jihad
against the Muslim chiefs in Masina; later the jihad expanded to include the Bambara.
Seku Ahmadu established an austere Muslim empire ruled from the newly built city of
Hamdallahi.
4
1817
Following dan Fodio's death, his son, Muhammad Bello, succeeded. Bello ruled from
1817 to 1837, during which time the caliphate's power was consolidated. Fulani loyalists
under nominal allegiance to dan Fodio and Bello then launched successive military
campaigns to expand the state's borders. The walled city of Sokoto became the capital
of the eastern half of dan Fodio's empire. Ribats, fortified posts, were erected in newly
conquered territory. The Sokoto Caliphate became one of the most dynamic political,
religious, and economic regions in Africa. Part of its prosperity came from the
relocation of captured slaves to the core areas of Hausaland, where they contributed
to agricultural, craft, trading, and herding activities. Indigo-dyed Hausa cloth fed
demand as far west as Senegal and deep into the Saharan desert. Under the Sokoto
Caliphate, Arabic became the language of diplomacy, and the aristocracy developed
distinctive vernacular poetry. Each year, the Sokoto Caliphate launched new military
campaigns to expand the empire or to reclaim territory lost to rebellion.
5
1848
Having returned from the pilgrimage, where he was introduced into the Tijanyyia
brotherhood and became the Tijanyyia leader of West Africa, al-hajj Umar Tal (b.
1794) launched a jihad. In 1848, Umar Tal, originally from Futa Toro, established an
6
Islamic state in Duinguiray. In 1852–53, he launched a jihad against the Bambara of
Kaarta; by 1854, he had established control over the Bambara and Malinke societies of
the upper Niger and Senegal basins. Facing increasing pressure from French colonial
expansion along the Senegal River Valley, in 1860 he launched a jihad against the Segu
Bambara. By 1862, Umar Tal had conquered Masina and established a large empire. At
its peak, the Umarian Empire stretched from the lower Senegal in the west to Timbuktu
in the east, and from Guemou in the north to Duinguiray in the south. Unlike earlier
jihads, that of Umar Tal occurred during the French conquest of West Africa. The
Umarian Empire was not stable and suffered from endemic resistance and civil wars.
1855
The French built a fort at Medine to fight against al-hajj Umar.
7
1856–58
N'Diambour, Sinn, and Salum submitted to the French.
8
1859
French control over Senegal was expanded.
9
1862
Al-hajj Umar conquered Masina and occupied Hamdallahi in 1862. During the conquest
of Masina, the empire was under the leadership of the original Seku Ahmadu's grandson,
who shared his grandfather's name. Umar was killed shortly thereafter during
widespread revolts against the Umarian conquest.
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1799)
b. Forest West Africa
1792
Although only a marginal carrier, Denmark prohibited the slave trade to its nationals,
the first European nation to do so.
1
1806
The Asante defeated the Fante at Abora, near Cape Coast.
2
1807
By passing the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807, Britain became the
first major slave-trading nation to prohibit the trade. The British government
authorized its navy to begin suppressing the human trade and to pursue a diplomatic
offense to force other European carriers to abolish the trade. Although the slave trade
continued into the 1880s, the volume of slaves exported overseas declined. In its place,
the industrializing countries of Europe sought tropical commodities, such as
vegetable oils and cotton, to feed their mills. Shifting European demand from slaves to
agricultural produce induced a peasant revolution in West Africa, as Africans increased
agricultural production.
1808–15
3
Six thousand slaves were captured at sea by the British Anti-Slavery Squadron and
released in Sierra Leone.
4
c. 1810
The Yoruba kingdom was subject to civil wars. Oyo was sacked. Illorin became an
independent kingdom.
5
1811
An Asante campaign against the Fante failed.
6
1814
In 1814 the Church Missionary Society (CMS) established a school at Freetown in
order to train freed slaves as teachers and missionaries. In 1827 the school was moved to
Fourah Bay, east of Freetown. It eventually broadened its focus beyond missionary
training and offered a general curriculum in higher education.
7
1815 Ff
The British used the court of admiralty in Freetown to “liberate” slaves captured on the
high seas. Shortly after the passage of the antislave trade act, the British Anti-Slavery
Squadron began patrolling the West African coast to intercept ships illegally carrying
slaves. Intercepted ships were brought to Freetown in Sierra Leone. There a court of
vice-admiralty prosecuted crews and freed slaves. Despite the British patrols, the slave
trade was not eradicated.
8
1816
Building of Bathurst, Gambia, began.
9
1817
A jihad was launched in Ilorin, and a Fulani emirate linked to the Sokoto Caliphate
was established. The jihad in Ilorin, formerly a dependency of the Oyo Empire, also
coincided with expansion of civil wars in Yorubaland, which led to the destruction
of Oyo. Decades of turmoil and fighting fed the slave trade.
10
1821
British possessions in Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, and the Gambia were joined as the
British West Africa Settlements.
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1800)
c. Northeast Africa (Horn)
1. Ethiopia
1800–55
Ethiopian “Zamana Mesafent” (“era of the princes”) was marked by a breakdown of
central power and the emergence of regionally based feudalism. During this period the
imperial monarchy survived in form but was without substantial authority. There was
rivalry among regional feudal lords to become the most powerful in order to dominate
the emperor. The Ethiopian Church was also riven by factions. The feudal lords were
supported by in-kind payments and corvée labor of the peasantry, who were further
undermined by the constant state of war among the regional princes.
1
c. 1800–20
Galla kingdom of Enarea was founded.
2
1838
Protestant missionaries were expelled from Tigre.
3
c. 1842
Lazarist missionaries arrived in Tigre and Eritrea.
4
c. 1847
Theodore, the future emperor, organized rebels and overran Gondar.
5
1855–68
The modern period in Ethiopia began with the reign of Tewodros II, who
consolidated and recreated the Ethiopian Empire. Tewodros established a national army
and appointed salaried governors and judges after defeating feudal lords. Initially he
was allied with the church, but he attempted to reform it. Excess church land (beyond
that needed to support essential clergy) was redistributed, and Tewodros permitted the
introduction of an Amharic Bible by Protestant missionaries.
6
1866
The Gondar region rebelled against Tewodros, who imprisoned several British officers.
7
1867
A British punitive expedition, involving 68,000 men under Sir Robert Napier, was sent
to release British prisoners held by Tewodros.
8
1868
British forces freed British prisoners, and Tewodros committed suicide. The British
expedition demonstrated the power of modern weaponry.
1872, Jan
9
Yohannes IV achieved the Ethiopian throne. He was more successful than Tewodros in
bringing about unification by following a conciliatory policy toward both the nobility
and the clergy. He supported modernization of the military with imported firearms
and a British adviser.
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1800)
d. East Africa
1. Swahili Coast and Hinterland
1800
Nyamwezi people from the Tanganyikan interior established a long-distance caravan
trade to the Swahili coast, trading ivory for beads and cloth. Omani authority on the
Swahili coast was significant only in Mombassa, Zanzibar, and Kilwa; other towns were
dominated by local rulers.
1
1800–45
Increased long-distance trade initiated change in interior societies, with rise of
wealthy traders known as “BIG MEN” who used their wealth to attract followers.
Regional cultural practices developed, and there was intermarriage among groups.
Coastal towns became bigger and more ethnically mixed. Plantation and domestic
slavery grew at the coast. Slave concubinage led to a cultural mix of African and Arab.
Trade led to the spread of Islam and the Kiswahili language in the interior.
2
1806–56
Sayyid Sa’id bin Sultan ascended to the Omani throne.
1814
3
Adballah ben Ahmad al-Mazrui, governor of Mombassa, declared Mombassa
independent.
4
1814–40
Sayyid Sa’id moved to reestablish Omani dominance of Swahili towns, displacing
the Mazruis (1822–37) in Lamu, Pemba, and Mombassa.
5
c. 1818
Cloves were introduced into Zanzibar.
6
1822
Hamid ben Ahmad al-Busaidi, sent by Sayyid Sa’id, compelled Barawam Lamu, Pate,
and Pemba to acknowledge Omani suzerainty.
7
1827
Sayyid Sa’id visited his domains in East Africa.
8
1830–80
EXPANSION OF IVORY AND SLAVE TRADE drew East Africa into the
capitalist world economic system before the dawn of colonial rule. By the 1870s, most
of the East African interior was integrated into the international trade network through
Zanzibar. Swahili-Arab traders began to trade in the interior for ivory and slaves.
Slaves were sought for foreign trade and for clove and other plantations on islands and
the coast, while cloth, copper, beads, and guns were traded in the interior. Ivory trade
thrived with the Nyamwezi in the central region, while wars encouraged slave trade in
the southern region. Interior peoples, especially the Nyamwezi, Kamba, and Shambaa,
took an active role in long-distance trade as porters to the coast. Ivory and slave trades
also stimulated interregional trade in the interior, especially of iron and salt. The
slave trade caused great disruption among interior peoples but brought wealth to
9
groups acting as raiders and traders. Villages became more compact for defense
purposes. Swahili-Arab traders influenced styles of dress and introduced imported
goods. Guns were common by 1860. Rectangular building styles spread inward from
the coast. Trade led to a mixing of ethnic groups at the coast and at interior trading
centers. Involvement in trade also led to the emergence of “big men” who amassed
followers on the basis of new wealth, unconnected to traditional sources of authority
such as religion. Coastal trade also influenced a shift in the interior to societies based
more on military power than on religious authority.
1840
Sayyid Sa’id moved the Omani capital to Zanzibar and began to reorient the Swahili
trading economy toward exports.
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1800)
e. West Central Africa
1800
Around this time, Swahili-Arab traders in slaves and ivory established trading posts in
northeastern present-day Zambia and southeastern present-day Zaire. These posts came
to take on a military character and supplanted local chiefs in the eastern Lunda
Empire.
1
1800–73
Consolidation and expansion of the Lunda Empire under a succession of rulers: Yavo
ya Mbanyi in the early part of the century, Naweji ya Ditende (c. 1821–c. 1853), and
Muteba ya Chikombe (c. 1857–73). The empire was ruled through a combination of
traditional leaders and an appointed bureaucracy. It was knitted together by an ideology
of unity and a balanced administrative structure. The empire was also strengthened by a
location suited to agriculture and by the copper and salt trade. Wealth was also based on
the slave trade for export and for domestic slave labor.
2
1819–21
Cotton cultivation was introduced into Angola.
1822
3
Popular uprising and mutiny in Luanda.
4
1834
Angola ignored antislavery prohibitions.
5
1838
The governor of Angola was removed for trafficking in slaves.
6
1839
King Denis, chief of the left bank of the Gabon River, accepted the French treaty.
7
1840
As part of the new Portuguese expansion into Angola, merchants founded the port of
Mocamedes to tap into the ivory trade of the southern highlands.
8
1842
King Louis, chief of the right bank of the Gabon River, accepted the French treaty.
9
1844
Holy Ghost Fathers started missionary work in Gabon. Protestants opened a mission
station at Bimbia.
10
1845
Baptist missions opened at Douala.
11
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(See 1800)
f. Southern Africa
1. North of the Limpopo
c. 1800–50
Exports of slaves from Mozambique to South America rose to over 15,000 per year. In
some years, 25,000 slaves were exported.
1
1800–40
Lozi state, composed of pastoralist people on the Zambezi floodplain, emerged. The
Lozi king acted as the owner of cattle, which he redistributed in return for other goods,
generating a kind of internal trade.
2
1827–29
A Portuguese garrison was established in Lundazi District, Zambia.
3
1840–64
The Lozi of the Zambezi floodplain (Zambia) were conquered and ruled by Kololo
cattle-raiding migrants from Botswana, displaced by the social disruption known as
Mfecane, who successfully adopted the Lozi canoe-based tributary system. The Kololo
also entered the Angolan slave trade with captives generated by cattle raids, beginning in
1850. Soon thereafter they also entered the ivory trade, which brought about tensions
4
leading to the kingdom's disintegration in the 1860s.
c. 1840
Ndebele trekked to Matabeleland and defeated the Kalanga and the Rozwi. Kololo
migrated across the Zambezi to the Tonga Plateau. The Ngoni incursions began,
destabilizing wide swaths of the Central and East African interior.
5
1850–65
Export of slaves from Mozambique declined and then ended.
6
1859
London Missionary Society mission founded in Inyati, Southern Rhodesia.
7
1861–64
Failure of the UMCA (University Mission to Central Africa) mission to Shire
Highlands, Nyasaland.
8
1862
J. S. Moffat joined the mission at Inyati.
9
c. 1873
Four hundred white and black pupils attended schools in Mozambique.
10
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(See 1778–1800)
g. Madagascar
1800–10
Andrianampoinimerina (Nampoina), having come to power in 1783, conquered
neighboring kingdoms and reunified Imerina through strength of imported arms by
1806. Nampoina consolidated power and the authority of the king as owner of land. He
inaugurated a system of corvée labor for public works. Wars generated slaves for export
and internal use.
1
1803
A French force established itself at Tamatave.
2
1810–28
Rule of Radama I, son of Nampoina, in Imerina.
3
1811
The British occupied Seychelles, Madagascar, and Île de France.
1817
4
Radama I began campaigns of conquest and reforms to modernize the army with
European advisers. The army reached a strength of 15,000 with modern arms, enabling
the conquest of much of Madagascar. This conquest ended the country's isolation,
leading to importation of more European goods and ideologies. Under British pressure,
Radama agreed to a treaty to prohibit the slave trade.
5
1820
The London Missionary Society (LMS) established a mission station at Tamatave.
6
1822, Feb. 22
Radama I declared sovereignty over all Madagascar.
7
1826
LMS opened 30 schools throughout Madagascar.
8
1827
Having adopted phonetic Roman orthography for Malagasy, there was a rapid spread of
literacy. Radama I also encouraged the spread of European building and crafts in the
capital.
9
1828, July 27
Radama I died, succeeded by his wife, Ranavalona, with support of a consortium of
chiefs and the Europeanized ruling class. Britain terminated the treaty of protection.
Unsuccessful uprising of Sakalava against Merina.
1830–40
10
Reaction against Western involvement in Madagascar led to persecution of Christians
in Imerina.
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
H. North America, 1789–1914
1. The United States, 1789–1877
a. Overview
The period between the new Constitution and Reconstruction is perhaps the most
significant phase of American history. This period not only witnessed the gradual growth
of respect for American sovereignty abroad, but also entailed dramatic economic,
population, and territorial growth at home, including early industrialization,
immigration, and urbanization. Even in rural areas, growing commercialization
entailed new motivations and anxieties as well as increased production for the market.
Commercialization even affected family roles and values, with growing emphasis in the
rising middle class on the home as moral haven. In some sectors the per family birthrate
began to drop.
1
Closely intertwined with these demographic, economic, and territorial changes were farreaching cultural and political transformations: the rise of political parties, universal
suffrage for white men, and a plethora of new religious and social movements. Although
the nation deepened its economic, social, and political independence during the period, it
moved only slowly toward cultural independence from the elite traditions of Europe. At
the same time, the removal of Native Americans from western lands to make way for
white settlers and the rapid spread of slavery into the Deep South signaled increasing
fragmentation along regional, class, and racial lines. These growing socioeconomic,
political, and cultural conflicts would culminate in the eruption of the brutal Civil War,
followed by the equally painful period of Reconstruction.
2
Following the establishment of the new constitutional order, the U.S. population
increased from 3.9 million in 1790 to 9.6 million in 1820. The Louisiana Purchase in
1803 added the nearly 2 million people who occupied the nine new states and three
territories west of the Appalachian Mountains. The nation's urban population increased
from less than 550,000 in 1820 to 1.8 million in 1840. By 1870, when the U.S. population
reached nearly 40 million, about 25 percent of the total lived in cities, as the urban
population grew more rapidly than the population as a whole.
3
The U.S. population had not only expanded. It had become more ethnically diverse. The
4
Mexican-American War (1846–48) resulted in the acquisition of California and New
Mexico, including present-day Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The Mexican-American
population would grow over time. Nearly 2 million Irish immigrants entered the U.S.
during the two decades before the Civil War. German immigrants added another million,
supplemented by 750,000 immigrants from Canada and Great Britain. Understandably,
immigration played a major role in the nation's population growth. It was during the early
19th century that the U.S. became one of the first countries to undergo the demographic
transition—a sharp decline in the number of births in both urban and rural areas. Among
the many factors accounting for the falling birthrate were various methods of birth
control.
The War of 1812 strengthened the nation's claim to sovereignty and expanded its role in
the market economy. The financing of banks, transportation, and especially
manufacturing enterprises escalated. Although the earlier outwork system (which
employed manufacturing workers in their homes) persisted in some industries, American
manufacturers turned increasingly toward the factory system as the primary mode of
organizing production. By using new technology and reducing the labor requirements of
production, early industrialists undermined the independence of craftworkers and opened
the way for the widespread use of common waged labor. Although some master
craftworkers benefited from such changes by becoming employers, by 1840 an estimated
50 percent of the nation's free workers labored for wages and found it difficult to acquire
property, maintain skills, and move up in the socioeconomic system.
5
These demographic and economic changes effected a series of political and cultural
transformations. As early as the presidential election of 1796, Federalists and
Democratic-Republicans (known as Republicans) had adopted party labels in their quest
for public office. The rise of Republicans in the election of 1800 signaled the
development of a more democratic polity, which culminated in the establishment of
universal white male suffrage during the 1820s and the triumph of the Democratic Party
with the election of Andrew Jackson in 1828. New cultural and social movements both
reflected and reinforced these changes. The advent of the Second Great Awakening, for
example, transformed much of the country into fervent defenders of evangelical
Protestantism. Emphasizing piety over theology and education, evangelical Baptist,
Methodist, and Presbyterian denominations rapidly expanded. On the one hand, by
promoting the virtues of hard work, thrift, discipline, and temperance, the Second Great
Awakening reinforced the beliefs and practices of the expanding middle class. On the
other hand, its stress on human will and the capacity of people to change their lives
helped to stimulate a plethora of reform movements designed to alleviate inequality and
democratize American society. The rise of utopian communities like Brook Farm, the
Shakers, and the Oneidas; the women's suffrage movement; workingmen's parties; and
the abolitionist movement all aimed to reverse diverse forms of inequality and suffering
that had increased under the impact of early industrialization.
6
As the U.S. deepened its socioeconomic and political independence, it also experienced a
cultural renaissance during the 1840s and 1850s. With the exceptions of Washington
Irving (1783–1859) and James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851), few American artists were
known outside the United States before the 1830s; thereafter, however, writers
increasingly responded to Ralph Waldo Emerson's (1803–82) call for a declaration of
cultural independence from what he called the “courtly muse” of the old western
European world. Henry David Thoreau (1817–62), Walt Whitman (1819–92), Nathaniel
Hawthorne (1804–64), Herman Melville (1819–91), and others reflected the slow growth
of independence in American letters. In short, the impact of republican institutions, the
expansion of evangelical Protestantism, the gradual emergence of cultural independence,
and rising participation in the market economy all helped to define American nationhood
during the period from the establishment of the Constitution through the mid-19th
century.
7
As in earlier periods, however, America remained divided along regional, cultural, and
class lines. The westward movement of white settlers continued to remove Native
Americans from the land; southerners expanded their dependence on slave labor with the
rise of cotton culture in the Deep South; women remained disfranchised and subordinate
to white men; growing numbers of Americans found themselves in the ranks of landless
wage laborers; and, as Irish and German immigrants entered the country in growing
numbers, significant ethnic and religious differences divided white Americans. Although
the nation repeatedly worked out compromises (1820, 1850) and saved the nation, the
increasing politicization of slavery, sectionalism, and class interests fractured the nation
by the 1860s. The U.S. entered nearly five years of brutal military conflict. The Civil War
and the era of Reconstruction that followed would liberate some 4 million slaves and
define African Americans as part of the body politic, but it was only a partial victory.
Region, class, and race would continue to undermine the democratic promise of America.
Even as the North and South reunited through the medium of urban industrialization, the
fall of Republican governments in the South, the rise of the coercive sharecropping
system, and the emergence of white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan reinforced
earlier forms of inequality and opened new challenges to America's democratic
institutions.
8
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b. The Early National Period
THE UNITED STATES DURING THE CONFEDERATION PERIOD (MAP)
THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES (MAP)
1789, March 4
First Congress met at New York.
1
April 30
WASHINGTON INAUGURATED AS PRESIDENT. Creation by Congress of three
executive departments: state, war, and treasury. The Judiciary Act of 1789 provided for
a system of federal district and circuit courts. The first ten amendments to the
Constitution, the so-called Bill of Rights, were adopted by the Congress and sent to the
states.
2
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
c. The Civil War
THE CIVIL WAR 1860-1865 (MAP)
1861, March
The Morrill tariff marked the beginning of successive tariff increases, which by 1864
reached duties of 47 percent.
1
MILITARY EVENTS. The Confederates, having seized Federal funds and property in
the South, bombarded Fort Sumter on April 12–13, just as a relief expedition of the
Federalists approached.
2
March 13
Great Britain recognized the Confederate states as belligerents.
3
April 15
Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to serve for three months and summoned Congress
to meet on July 4. On May 3 he appealed for 42,000 men to serve for three years or for
the duration of the war. General expectancy of a short conflict. The North had immense
advantages: 23 states with a population of almost 23 million against 11 states with a
white population of 5 million; the North possessed financial strength, manufacturing
facilities, and extensive railway communications. The South was largely dependent on
4
cotton growing and badly hampered by the blockade of the Confederate ports (proclaimed
on April 19); from the beginning the South was on the defensive. However, the South
was not without some advantages: Confederate soldiers were fighting on home terrain,
slave labor freed a larger proportion of men to fight, and the martial tradition of the
slaveholding class gave the South a military edge.
Within the first two weeks of war, women spearheaded the establishment of nearly
20,000 organizations to help supply troops with clothing, food, medicine, and
spiritual support. Northern women eventually coordinated their efforts through a central
body, the Sanitary Commission. Superintendent of nurses for the Union army, Dorothea
Dix (1802–87) assured officials that she would recruit only women over age 30 and
“plain in appearance.”
5
May 23
Gen. Benjamin Butler declared as contraband three slaves who escaped to his lines
in Virginia and refused to return them to their master. By Aug., 1,000 contrabands
had joined Butler's camp.
6
July 21
FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. By July there were some 30,000 troops in and
around Washington, under command of Gen. Winfield Scott. At Bull Run the federal
army was routed. The effect of the battle was to open the eyes of the federalists and to
introduce a period of more extensive and systematic preparation.
7
Aug
Lincoln signed the First Confiscation Act, authorizing the seizure of all property,
including slaves, used to support the Confederacy. Also in August, an income tax of 3
percent was levied on all income in excess of $800.
Nov. 1
8
Gen. George B. McClellan (1826–85) was appointed to succeed Scott in command of
the federal forces. McClellan's policy was one of cautious, careful preparation and
reliance on numbers. He spent the winter training some 200,000 men (the Army of the
Potomac) for a march on the Confederate capital, Richmond.
9
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d. Reconstruction
1865, March
Congress created the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Known
as the Freedmen's Bureau, the agency assisted the former slaves and helped them adjust
to freedom. Although helpful, the bureau often placed planters' interests above those of
the freed people, such as when they coerced blacks to accept unfair labor contracts.
1
May 29
Pres. Johnson issued a proclamation of amnesty, granting pardon to all ordinary
persons who had participated in the rebellion who would take an oath of allegiance.
2
Dec
Joint Committee of Fifteen on Reconstruction was appointed by Congress.
3
Dec. 18
Ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery.
4
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2. The United States, 1878–1914
a. Overview
Between the end of Reconstruction and the advent of World War I, America nearly
completed its transition from a predominantly agrarian society to a predominantly urban
industrial nation. Immigration, urban growth, and the expansion of industrial capitalism
proceeded apace. The number of Americans living in cities reached nearly 50 percent,
fueled by the arrival of nearly 17 million immigrants, mostly from southern, central, and
eastern Europe. The Asian and Hispanic populations also increased. The birthrate
continued to drop, falling from 39.9 live births per 1,000 people in 1880 to 32.3 by
1900. The nation witnessed the increasing decline of the agricultural sector, the
emergence of a progressive movement to reform the worst abuses of industrialism, and
the intensification of racism at home and abroad (as the nation expanded beyond its
continental boundaries and became an imperial nation with significant overseas
possessions). Despite the heightening of nationalistic fervor as the U.S. became a major
world power, class, race, and regional differences continued to define the American
experience.
1
The unequal impact of industrialism underlay the emergence of a variety of new social
movements. In rapid succession, white workers embarked upon a series of organizing
drives: the Knights of Labor in the late 1870s and 1880s, the American Federation of
Labor during the 1890s, the Socialist Party of America in the early 1900s, and the
Industrial Workers of the World after 1905. Native Americans continued to resist the
encroachment of white settlers upon their land, as reflected in the persistence of Indian
wars through the 1890s. African Americans, European immigrants, Hispanic Americans,
and Asian Americans all intensified their separate institutional and community-building
activities, designed to fight the impact of racial, class, and ethnic discrimination on their
lives. Likewise, in an effort to arrest the deterioration of their livelihood, farmers
launched an aggressive campaign to gain control over state and national economic policy.
Their movement gained its greatest expression in the formation of the Populist Party in
1892. For a brief moment, it appeared that farmers would succeed in bridging not only
regional differences between the South and the West, but racial and ethnic ones as well.
The movement produced some of the most dramatic examples of black-white cooperation
2
in American history.
Under the impact of these diverse social movements, the political system itself underwent
significant change. Whereas the period from the fall of Reconstruction through the 1890s
represented what some analysts call the “politics of equilibrium,” characterized by little
disagreement on major issues, the 1890s ushered in a new era of political conflict.
Following the decline of the Populist revolt and the triumph of the Republican Party in
the election of 1896, the nation experienced a resurgence of reform. Between 1900 and
World War I, the Progressive movement sought to control the most exploitative features
of industrial capitalism—especially its abuse of men, women, and children. Despite
heroic efforts to right outstanding wrongs of the industrial system, failure to address the
issue of racial injustice was undoubtedly the movement's greatest shortcoming.
3
During the late 19th and early 20th century, the system of Jim Crow was consolidated in
the South, and its de facto counterpart proceeded apace in the North and the West.
Although some whites joined blacks in the formation of the NAACP (1909) and the
National Urban League (1910), racial justice represented a low priority for most white
Americans. Perhaps it was inevitable that America would stop short of developing a more
equitable multiracial society. It was during this period that America completed its
continental expansion from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Following the Spanish-American
War, the United States also took its place as a new empire with its own colonial claims
over peoples of color in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
4
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b. New Political, Social, and Diplomatic Issues
1878, Feb
The Bland-Allison Act. In 1873 Congress had omitted the standard silver dollar from the
list of authorized domestic coins to be minted in the future, commonly referred to as the
Crime of 1873. The silver producers were supported by the farmers, who believed the
free coinage of silver would bring an upturn in the price of farm products. In 1877, the
Bland-Allison Act was passed over the veto of Hayes and authorized the secretary of the
treasury to purchase from 2 million to 4 million dollars' worth of silver bullion monthly
for coinage.
1
1879
The U.S. Geological Survey was founded, consolidating under one office the several
surveys that had been gathering valuable information on western North America for over
a decade. Under the directorship of John W. Powell (1834–1902) after 1881, the survey
grew into a powerful agency for the progress of science in the United States.
2
Frank W. Woolworth established his five-and-ten-cent store at Lancaster, Pa. By 1900,
the company's volume of business reached over $5 million and continued to rise, reaching
$15 million in 1910.
3
Jan. 1
Resumption of specie payment. The success of the policy was greatly aided by the
unusual demand abroad for American agricultural products, which brought gold into the
country in large quantity.
4
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(See 1763, Oct. 7) (See 1783–87)
3. British North America, 1789–1914
CANADA, FORMED 1867 (MAP)
a. Overview
The period between the American Revolution and the 1880s witnessed major
transformations in Canadian society. The country made the transition from a political
economy shaped by British mercantilism to a new system of free trade, industrialization,
and urbanization. During this period, the nation also attracted large numbers of new
immigrants, moved into the western territories, and gradually brought disparate provinces
into a larger national union. Significant class, regional, and racial factors nonetheless
shaped the nation's history, but they did not erupt into a bloody civil war (between
Europeans, as in the United States) partly because they were legally defined and
institutionalized from the outset.
1
Canada's European population increased from an estimated 250,000 in 1791 to over 1.6
million in 1845. By the 1870s, the nation's population had increased to nearly 4 million.
Although French-speaking Canadians outnumbered other nationality groups during the
early years, by the 1840s English-speaking Canadians surpassed their French-speaking
counterparts in numbers. With the repeal of the British Corn Laws (See 1846, June 26)
during the 1840s and the rise of free trade policies thereafter, the Canadian economy
experienced the beginnings of a fundamental reorientation toward industrialism. New
manufacturing establishments slowly emerged, cities expanded, and improvements in
transportation and communication proceeded apace. By the 1860s and 1870s, new urban
industrial elites increasingly displaced an earlier commercial elite with close ties to
agricultural production. Nonetheless, for most of this period the old commercial elite
2
dominated the economy, society, and politics of the nation. They controlled the provincial
governments and made policies that reinforced their control of the nation's resources.
White workers, women, African Canadians, and Native Americans found it difficult to
reverse patterns of inequality that subordinated them within the Canadian political
economy. Moreover, the cleavage between French- and English-speaking Canadians
persisted.
Despite social fragmentation, Canada experienced significant strides toward
independence and sovereignty. Although it was divided between Upper Canada and
Lower Canada and remained closely anchored to the British Empire following the
American Revolution, it gained an expanding measure of autonomy during the 19th
century. In 1840, the Union Act brought the two Canadas together in one legislature, and,
following the American Civil War, the British North American Act created the Dominion
of Canada. Consisting of four provinces—Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New
Brunswick—the nation moved toward even greater control over its domestic and foreign
affairs.
3
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b. The Dominion of Canada, 1789–1877
1791, June 10
PASSAGE OF THE CANADA ACT through the British Parliament. It went into effect
on Dec. 26. Canada was divided at the Ottawa River into Upper Canada (chiefly
English) and Lower Canada (predominantly French). Each part had a governor, a
Legislative Council appointed by him, and an elected Assembly. Colonial laws could be
disallowed by the home government within two years of passage. One-seventh of all
land granted was to be reserved for the maintenance of the Protestant clergy. All rights
of the Catholic Church were reaffirmed.
1
EXPLORATION OF THE WEST. In 1789 a Spanish expedition from Mexico took
possession of the northwest coast, but in 1790 Spain abandoned claims to the region
(treaty of Oct. 28). In 1792 Capt. George Vancouver explored the Pacific coast and
circumnavigated Vancouver Island. In 1793 Alexander Mackenzie reached the coast
after the first overland journey from the east. Meanwhile (1785–95) David Thompson
had traversed much of the territory along the coast of Hudson Bay north to Fort
Churchill, as well as the regions about Lake Winnipeg and along the Saskatchewan and
Athabasca Rivers. Jay's Treaty between the United States and Great Britain (Nov. 19,
1794) provided for a boundary commission to determine the frontier west of the Lake of
the Woods.
2
By 1810 much of the southern half of present-day Canada had been trekked by various
explorers and traders. In 1811 Lord Selkirk bought from the Hudson's Bay Company
116,000 square miles for settlement in Manitoba, Minnesota, and North Dakota. Scottish
settlers arrived there on the Red River in 1812. In 1815 an attack was launched on the
colony by agents of the rival Northwest Company; colonists were driven out in 1815 and
1816. An investigation in 1817 upheld the claims of Lord Selkirk, and the colony was
reestablished.
3
1791
Estimated population of Canada: French descent, 140,000; British, 110,000; 50,000
Indians in the settled sections of British North America; and a small number of African
Canadians. Nearly 50 percent of the 3,000 black loyalists in Nova Scotia responded to
their lowly position by emigrating to the African colony of Sierra Leone.
4
Despite the support of Indians like Joseph Brant during the American Revolution,
Britain offended them by ceding large tracts of Indian land to the U.S.
5
1796
The arrival of Jamaican maroons augmented Nova Scotia's small black population.
6
1804
The Alien Act was passed, permitting banishment of anyone found guilty of disturbing
the peace in Upper Canada.
7
1807
Napoleon closed off Baltic Sea sources of timber supplies and helped to stimulate the
growth of the Canadian timber industry.
8
1809
An opposition political group called the Society of Loyal Electors was formed on
Prince Edward Island. A similar group known as the Parti Canadien (later Parti
Patriot) formed in Lower Canada at about the same time. They were considered the
earliest manifestations of political parties in Canada.
Painter William Berczy (1744–1813) produced his masterpiece of early Canadian
painting, The Woolsey Family.
9
10
1812, June 18
UNITED STATES DECLARED WAR ON GREAT BRITAIN. Among the causes of
conflict were the continued trouble with the Indians, supposedly instigated and equipped
11
by the British in Canada, and the American desire to conquer Canada. A triple attack
was planned: on Montreal; on the region opposite Niagara; and on the region opposite
Detroit. On the Montreal front and at Niagara, the offensive failed to materialize. At
Detroit a short advance was made, followed by retreat. The British, under Gen. Isaac
Brock, secured the surrender of Detroit (Aug. 16, 1812). Brock then turned to Niagara
and fought the successful engagement of Queenston Heights (Oct. 13), in which he was
killed.
Canada's small black population was reinforced by the arrival of 2,000 ex-slaves from
the United States. By 1860, an estimated 30,000 additional slaves entered Canada via
the Underground Railroad.
12
1813
The Americans captured York (Toronto) on April 27, but abandoned it soon afterward
(May 2). In Ohio the Americans were vigorously attacked by the British, supported by
the Indians (Tecumseh). On Sept. 10 Lt. Oliver Hazard Perry, with an improvised
fleet, won the naval Battle of Lake Erie and forced the British to abandon Detroit. The
Americans, under Gen. William Henry Harrison, crossed into Ontario and fought the
successful engagement on the Thames River (Oct. 5), but were unable to follow up the
advantage. The campaign against Montreal was begun on Oct. 17, but the Americans
were defeated in the Battle of Crysler's Farm on Nov. 11, and the advance was
abandoned. On Dec. 10 an American force burned Newark; in retaliation, the British
and Canadians, after taking Fort Niagara (Dec. 18), burned Buffalo (Dec. 29–31).
13
1814, July 5
The Americans, advancing from Niagara, took Fort Erie and won the engagement at
Chippewa Plains. They advanced to Queenston, but then fell back again.
14
July 25
Sixteen thousand British troops had been sent to Canada, and an invasion was begun by
way of Lake Champlain.
Sept. 11
15
An American naval force under Lt. (later Captain) Thomas Macdonough won the
Battle of Plattsburg and forced the retirement of the British.
16
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c. Newfoundland, 1855–1878
1855
Responsible government was granted. The bicameral legislature comprised the
Legislative Council (15 members), which was appointed by the governor-in-council, and
the House of Assembly (36 members), which was elective. A responsible cabinet was
instituted.
1
1864
Copper was discovered in the north, and mining operations were begun.
2
1873
Direct steam communication with England and America was established.
3
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d. Canada, 1878–1914
As in the United States, this period represented the triumph of industrialism in Canadian
society. The nation had taken significant steps toward national unification in 1867, but
1885 is considered the crucial watershed in Canadian history during this period. The year
1885 marked the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the nation's first
transcontinental transportation network. Like the United States, Canada was now linked
by a single rail system from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Moreover, in 1885, Canadian
forces defeated the Métis (a multiracial ethnic group) and its Indian allies and opened the
way for the unrestricted European occupation of the Canadian west. In the wake of the
Métis war, Canada also embarked upon a public debate about its national identity, which
revealed deep cleavages between English-speaking (mainly Ontario) and Frenchspeaking (mainly Quebec) Canada. At the same time, this period witnessed the growth of
the labor movement, rising demands for women's suffrage, and growing animosities and
restrictions against the small Chinese population. Thus, by the eve of World War I,
Canada continued to wrestle with significant class, cultural, and regional divisions.
1
1878, Oct. 5
Marquess of Lorne, governor-general (1878–83).
2
Oct
General elections were held on the tariff issue. Conservatives were victorious in support
of protection; Macdonald became premier (Oct. 17), and the protective tariff was
instituted.
3
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e. Newfoundland, 1878–1914
1880
The government loaned $1 million to create a railway from St. John's to Hall's Bay; it
was completed to Harbour Grace (1884); after financial difficulties, construction was
taken over by Mr. R. G. Reid (1893) and built to Port-aux-Basques.
1
1888
The Bait Act took effect, after considerable controversy and the protests of the French
government. It prohibited capture in Newfoundland waters of bait fish for exportation or
sale, except under special license. French retaliations followed until a modus vivendi was
enacted (1890). The issue was finally settled in the Anglo-French convention of 1904.
2
1894–96
Bank failures, insolvency, and severe financial depression. Canadian banks replaced
former government institutions. A delegation was sent to Ottawa to discuss union with
Canada. Canada objected to assuming all of Newfoundland's $16 million in debt, and
negotiations were broken off.
3
1900
Resignation of Sir James Winter; succeeded by Mr. (later Sir) Robert Bond.
1906, Oct
4
Modus vivendi with the United States followed difficulties with fishing rights under the
Treaty of 1818. The dispute was referred to the Hague tribunal, and an award (Sept.
1910) allowed Great Britain (Newfoundland) the right to make regulations subject to the
Treaty of 1818 and defined the “three-mile limit” in bays to be from a line across the bay
at a point where a distance of ten miles was not exceeded.
5
1909
Resignation of premier Sir Robert Bond; succeeded by Sir Edward P. Morris.
6
1914, Aug. 4
Declaration of war by Great Britain. Newfoundland, like the other members of the
empire, supported the mother country and sent troops. (See Newfoundland)
7
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(See 1781) (See The Portuguese Colonial System)
I. Latin America, 1806–1914
LATIN AMERICAN STATES AFTER THE REVOLUTIONS (MAP)
1. Periodization
Latin American history in the 19th century can be divided into several general periods,
despite the great diversity of the major regions and nations. Wars of independence
dominated the decades between 1806 and 1825. The following quarter-century saw the
insecurities of new nations and the rise of political forms like caudillismo (strongman
rule) in response; manufacturing imports from British industry and political turmoil
weakened local economies. Midcentury decades saw some political and economic
stabilization and signs of greater cultural vitality as Latin American novelists and other
intellectuals began to emerge. The rise of the export economy and some new foreign
interference, particularly from the United States, marked the decades around 1900.
1
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(See 1781)
2. The Wars of Independence, 1806–1872
a. Causes
Political, economic, and social factors inherent in the Spanish colonial system were the
fundamental causes that led to the separation of the American colonies from the mother
country. The Bourbon reforms prompted widespread discontent in Spanish America.
Though export-oriented areas thrived with free trade policies, Spanish American
entrepreneurs were excluded from transatlantic trade and shipping, which the Spaniards
controlled. The opening of colonial markets to European manufactures affected local
industries in certain areas. Popular sectors throughout Spanish America viewed new
fiscal exactions as endangering their living standards. Sales taxes and the enforcement of
state monopolies affected many ordinary traders and consumers. Tribute and forced sales
of goods angered Indian and mestizo peasants.
1
The Bourbon reforms (See Administration) curtailed the ecclesiastical fuero, an
institution that placed the clergy outside the control of civil authorities. In areas where the
church had grown influential, this measure caused resentment, especially in the lower
clergy. In contrast to the weakening of the church, the Bourbon reforms reinforced the
military fuero, which placed Spaniards and creoles, and even people of color who served
in the army, outside civilian jurisdiction. The army created an avenue of social
recognition for creoles and nonwhite people, and allowed them to develop military skills
that later proved useful in the struggle for independence. The creole aristocracy, however,
felt threatened by policies that allowed nonwhites to achieve privileges previously
reserved for the elite. The participation of popular sectors, most of them of nonwhite
background, in the independence conflicts provoked “caste war” fears, since the elites,
considering themselves white, framed any assault on their privileges as a racial attack.
2
The French Revolution of 1789 influenced the creole elite intellectuals of the Spanish
colonies, but the slaves in the French colony of St. Domingue (Haiti) made a deeper
impact on the creole elite when they destroyed the slave system and achieved
independence (1804) through a violent social revolution. Slaveholders of the Americas
learned from this defeat of French colonialism that they should avoid those conditions
3
that might aid slaves in their struggle for freedom. To preserve slavery, creole
aristocracies of Cuba and Puerto Rico remained loyal to the colonial state. The
American Revolution was also a source of ideas for creole thinkers favoring
independence. Many saw federalism as the most appropriate system for the new
American republics, where unequal regional resources and political power became an
immediate source of civil strife. The United States also provided an example of the
coexistence of slavery with a republican state, an attractive model, given the economic
benefits that sectors of the Spanish American elites derived from slavery.
Crucial for the growth and timing of the independence movements were the political
developments in the metropolis. Napoleon invaded Spain and established his brother
Joseph on the throne (See 1808, March). The American colonies refused to recognize him
and proclaimed allegiance to the deposed Ferdinand VII. The Constitution of Cádiz
(1812), issued by Spanish Liberals opposing absolutism, provided for a constitutional
monarchy and the election of deputies throughout the Spanish domains. Such measures
encouraged the formation of juntas in the American cities, which tried to govern in the
name of the deposed king. The restoration of Ferdinand VII and his determination to
restore the old system propelled the creole movement toward separatism.
4
The Wars of Independence passed through two phases; between 1809 and 1816,
movements for separation failed everywhere except in the area of the Río de la Plata;
between 1816 and 1825, independence was achieved.
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b. The Río De La Plata
The period of independence in the region of Río de la Plata opened with a British
attempt to gain possession of a portion of the area.
1
1806
A British fleet occupied Buenos Aires. The viceroy fled, and Santiago Liniers, at the
head of the colonial militia, organized the unified war effort of Spaniards and creoles,
who defeated the British. Upon his return, a cabildo abierto deposed the viceroy and
elected Liniers, an act that the Crown approved.
2
1806–7
The British government dispatched an expedition to conquer Buenos Aires. After taking
Montevideo, they advanced on Buenos Aires, where the militia organized by local
merchants defeated them. The British agreed to retreat from the Río de la Plata and
Montevideo. Urban militia allowed the creole elite to control plebeian mobilization
through military organization. Military chiefs gained wider influence in the political
arena.
3
1809–10
In view of the apparent success of Napoleon, a provisional junta of the provinces of the
Río de la Plata was established in the name of Ferdinand VII (May 25, 1810). Direct
Spanish authority was never restored. The junta included Mariano Moreno
(1778–1811), a creole lawyer, and Cornelio Saavedra, a merchant from Upper Peru.
4
1810–11
The provisional junta rejected royal authority, suppressed Indian tribute, and sought to
extend control over the Banda Oriental and Paraguay. An expedition sent to liberate
Upper Peru was defeated, and Paraguay refused to adhere to the provinces of the Río de
la Plata. Moreno and his followers opposed the predominance of militia chiefs. The junta
forced Moreno from office, and a triumvirate was installed, with Bernardino Rivadavia
(1780–1845), an extreme liberal, as secretary. The triumvirate dissolved the junta and
reorganized the urban militia.
5
1812
The triumvirate prohibited slave trade and dissolved the provincial juntas, weakening its
popularity in the interior and littoral provinces. Army officers formed the Logia
Lautaro, a Masonic lodge, which removed the triumvirate and Rivadavia from power.
The conflict between centralists (unitarios) and federalists (federales) intensified. José
Gervasio Artigas, leader of the Banda Oriental, pressed for the prompt establishment of
a federal system.
6
1812–13
An expedition to invade Upper Peru failed. An assembly abolished Indian forced labor
and gave freedom to all children of slave mothers. It suppressed titles of nobility and
disentailed properties, excepting those belonging to the Church.
7
1814
Royalist military buildup in Montevideo and new defeats in Upper Peru induced
pessimism about independence among the leaders of Buenos Aires, who started to
consider a reconciliation with Spain. The king, however, refused to accept any
compromise with the new leaders.
8
Buenos Aires forbade foreign merchants to trade freely with the other riverine provinces,
creating further enmity toward the main port. Liberal policies hurt Buenos Aires
merchants unable to restrain the growing role of the British in provincial trade. Support
for federalism also grew within Buenos Aires, since it would allow the province to keep
the revenues from foreign trade for itself.
9
1815
Gen. Alvear (1789–1852) became dictator, while Artigas ruled in the Banda Oriental,
and the provinces of Santa Fe and Córdoba announced their own independence. GEN.
JOSÉ DE SAN MARTÍN (1778–1850) departed for Mendoza to organize an army to
liberate Chile and later move by sea to attack royalists in Peru. He became one of the
greatest military figures of the independence wars.
10
1816, July 9
Congress of Tucumán declared the independence of the United Provinces and elected
Juan Martín Pueyrredón, a member of the Logia Lautaro, as supreme chief. In his
eagerness to destroy federalism, he allowed the Portuguese invasion of the Banda
Oriental (See 1811). Federalists, however, prevailed in the littoral provinces.
11
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c. Paraguay
1811
A cabildo abierto summoned in Asunción by the intendant swore allegiance to Ferdinand
VII. Paraguayans defeated Buenos Aires forces, which attempted to incorporate Paraguay
into the United Provinces. Fulgencio Yegros, a military chief, led proindependence
creoles to depose Spanish authorities. A congress of delegates created a governing junta,
which included Yegros, as chief, and Dr. José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia
(1766–1840), a creole lawyer of the cabildo.
1
Aug. 14
PARAGUAY PROCLAIMED INDEPENDENCE FROM SPAIN. Dr. Francia
withdrew from the junta, condemning the excessive influence of the military in
government, but the junta and the cabildo called him back. Francia signed a treaty with
Buenos Aires, which agreed to the principles of federation and free trade. Thus, Francia
obtained a tacit recognition of Paraguay's independence and lower taxes for Paraguayan
trade. Again, he retreated from the government to create a following for himself among
small landowners, ranchers, and farmers, and a network of informers.
2
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d. The Banda Oriental (Uruguay)
1811
Montevideo creoles, eager to avoid subordination to Buenos Aires, refused to support the
May revolution in that city. In the countryside, however, masses of small landowners,
dissatisfied with the expansion of the great estates, rose against Spain. José Gervasio
Artigas (1764–1850), a man from the estanciero (rancher) class, emerged as leader and
proclaimed allegiance to the junta of Buenos Aires. He formed a coalition of ranchers and
gauchos, and attracted to his army Guaraní Indians led by Andrés Guacarí (Andresito).
Royalists encouraged the Portuguese military, which invaded the Banda Oriental to
incorporate it into the Portuguese Empire. Artigas withdrew his troops. Spontaneously,
civilians, fleeing from royalist reprisals and Portuguese brutality, joined him en masse
and marched into exile. This exodus of the “Orientales” (later Uruguayans) left the
Banda Oriental virtually depopulated. When Portugal was forced to withdraw from the
Banda Oriental, these exiles returned and, allied with Buenos Aires forces, expelled
royalists from Montevideo. Buenos Aires leaders, unable to impose centralism upon the
Banda Oriental, withdrew.
1
1815
Artigas ruled the Banda Oriental. Across the Río de la Plata, the provinces of Santa Fe,
Entre Ríos, Corrientes, and Córdoba recognized him as the Protector de los Pueblos
Libres in their struggle against Buenos Aires centralism. Through the Reglamento
Provisorio, Artigas promoted free trade and distribution of confiscated properties to poor
nonwhite and white people. This measure alarmed the landlords.
1816
2
The Portuguese invaded the Banda Oriental, with the approval of Pueyrredón, Buenos
Aires's centralist leader, who sought to destroy federalism.
3
1817–20
Montevideo surrendered to the Portuguese army, while Artigas organized guerrilla
resistance in the countryside. The Portuguese tried to ally the Banda Oriental elite with
the Portuguese Empire, but limited compensation for war damages and the granting of
lands to Portuguese created hostility.
4
1820
The defeat of Artigas and his troops at Tacuarembó ended the period known as the
Patria Vieja. Artigas marched into exile in Paraguay. In later years Artigas acquired
greater stature as the founding father of Uruguay and as a man of advanced political
vision.
5
1821
A pro-Portuguese congress voted the incorporation of the Banda Oriental into the
Portuguese Empire as the Estado Cisplatino. In 1824, the cabildo of Montevideo swore
the allegiance of the Estado Cisplatino to the constitution of the newly proclaimed empire
of Brazil.
6
1825
Fructuoso Rivera (c. 1788–1854), a caudillo who briefly supported Brazilian rule,
recruited an army of anti-Brazilian patriots. Revolution against Brazil began in April with
the landing of the expedition of 33 Orientales headed by Antonio Lavalleja, a caudillo
and Artigas's follower. Lavalleja and Rivera became allies, attracting the allegiance of
hundreds of cowboys and ranchers. Lavalleja sought the support of the Buenos Aires
government, proclaiming the incorporation of the Banda Oriental into the United
Provinces of the Río de la Plata. War between Argentina and Brazil ensued.
1827
7
A liberation army composed of Argentine and Banda Oriental soldiers defeated the
Brazilian army at Ituzaingó. Rivera occupied Brazilian territory in Rio Grande do Sul,
forcing Brazilian forces to withdraw from the Banda Oriental in exchange for the land he
had occupied.
8
1828
Lavalleja governed independently while negotiations with British mediation led Buenos
Aires and the empire to recognize the independence of the Banda Oriental.
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1806–1872 > e. Chile
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e. Chile
1810
Upon the apparent triumph of Napoleon in Spain, a junta assumed authority in the name
of Ferdinand VII and deposed the captain general. The junta was led by Juan Martínez
de Rozas, a creole official, who promoted liberal reforms. A general congress convened
at Santiago.
1
1811–12
Measures to open commerce provoked opposition from creole merchants and most of the
landed elite. José Miguel Carrera (1785–1821), a member of a landed military family
allied to the antiroyalist deputies, led troops and urban crowds to expel conservatives
from the congress. He formed an executive junta that abolished the slave trade and freed
all children born from slave mothers subsequent to the decree. The creole ruling class
divided into factions organized around powerful landed aristocratic families. Gen.
Bernardo O'Higgins (1778–1842), although not pro-aristocratic, objected to Carrera's
bid for popular support.
2
1812
The junta promulgated the Reglamento Constitucional, which recognized Ferdinand VII
while asserting that no orders or laws issued outside Chile should be enforced there. It
proclaimed civil rights for all Chileans, freedom of the press, and the subordination of the
executive to the congress. These measures caused deep discontent in the aristocracy.
Royalist Chileans joined the army sent by the viceroy of Peru to subdue Carrera.
1814
3
The royal government was established in Santiago. O'Higgins agreed on an armistice with
Spanish chiefs, but Viceroy Abascal repudiated the treaty and sent a new expedition,
which defeated the proindependence army at Rancagua, sealing the end of the period
known as the Patria Vieja.
4
1814–17
The retaliatory policy followed by the royalist government alienated creoles. O'Higgins
moved to Mendoza to collaborate with Gen. San Martín (See 1815) in preparing the
liberation of Chile and Peru. Manuel Rodríguez, who had served Carrera, organized
guerrillas in the countryside.
5
1817
San Martín, at the head of the patriot army, crossed the Andes and defeated a Spanish
army at Chacabuco (Feb. 12). O'Higgins was made supreme director.
6
1818, Feb. 12
THE INDEPENDENCE OF CHILE WAS PROCLAIMED. San Martín's troops
defeated a royalist army from Peru at Maipú, thus securing the independence of Chile.
San Martín started to organize an army to liberate Peru.
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f. Peru and Upper Peru (Peru and Bolivia)
1809
The inhabitants of Chuquisaca and La Paz, declaring loyalty to Ferdinand VII,
established juntas in their cities and deposed Spanish authorities. Royal troops soon
crushed the movements. Viceroy José de Abascal y Sousa (1809–16), with the support
of the Limeño aristocracy, made the Viceroyalty of Peru the stronghold of royalism in
South America.
1
1810
Buenos Aires's declaration of independence gained widespread support in Upper Peru,
whose population initially welcomed a Buenos Aires military expedition, led by Gen.
Juan José Castelli. His attempts to suppress Indian tribute, however, antagonized the
upper classes. His troops sacked Indian towns and behaved as an occupying force.
Royalists defeated Castelli's army and retook control of Upper Peru (1811). They sought
Indian support, giving weapons to the kurakas to distribute among Indian peasants.
2
1813
In Cuzco, kuraka Mateo Pumacahua mobilized a large Indian army on behalf of creole
patriots imprisoned in Cuzco. The royalist army defeated and executed him (1815).
3
1813–15
Two Buenos Aires expeditions invaded Upper Peru but disintegrated as soldiers
plundered the countryside and royalists defeated them. Disenchanted with the Buenos
Aires–led independence movement, Upper Peru patriots sought to develop their own
4
independence forces, while Buenos Aires military leaders altered their strategy for
liberating Peru.
1816–24
Royalists eradicated guerrillas from the countryside, and reestablished their dominance
in Upper Peru.
5
1820
After completing preparations in Chile, San Martín transported his forces to Peru by
sea. Marquis de Torre Tagle, who approved of San Martín's conservatism, promoted
aristocratic support for him and proclaimed independence in Trujillo. The viceroy
abandoned Lima, and San Martín entered the capital.
6
1821, July 28
San Martín proclaimed the INDEPENDENCE OF PERU and assumed the title of
protector of Peru. Peruvian Liberals opposed San Martín's monarchical plans.
7
1822
After meeting Simón Bolívar (1783–1830) in Guayaquil, San Martín resigned and
withdrew his troops.
8
1823
After struggles among the proponents of independence in Lima, a new government was
established and invited Simón Bolívar to Peru. Antonio José de Sucre (1795–1830),
his closest lieutenant, moved to Lima with Colombian troops, and Bolívar followed,
being proclaimed dictator.
1824
9
Bolívar and Sucre led their troops into the highlands, where they defeated the royalist
army at Junín (Aug. 24) and at Ayacucho (Dec. 9), which secured the independence of
the new republics of South America. The Spanish leaders agreed to withdraw their
armies from Peru. Sucre led his troops to liberate Upper Peru and convened a congress
at Chuquisaca.
10
1825, Aug. 6
Anxious to preserve their autonomy from the hegemonic pretensions of Buenos Aires,
Upper Peru patriots resorted to Sucre's protection to proclaim the INDEPENDENCE of
the new republic of Bolívar (BOLIVIA).
11
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g. Venezuela, Nueva Granada, and Quito (Gran Colombia)
1808
In Bogotá, a junta convened to govern in the name of Ferdinand VII. Cartagena and
other cities of Nueva Granada also formed juntas (1810). The captain general of Caracas
blocked attempts by the cabildo to establish a junta.
1
1809
In Quito, a revolt installed a junta in the name of Ferdinand VII, with the support of the
Quiteño elite. An army, sent by the viceroy of Peru, suppressed the movement.
2
1810
In Caracas, an extraordinary cabildo created a junta to govern in the name of Ferdinand
VII and deposed the captain general. Conservatives in the junta forbade the entry of
Francisco de Miranda (1750–1816), veteran proindependence conspirator, but the
revolutionaries imposed him. The junta decreed free trade and abolition of the slave
trade.
3
1811, July 5
A national congress with representatives from the landed class proclaimed
VENEZUELAN INDEPENDENCE. It promulgated a constitution restricting the
franchise to landowners and included federalist measures to attract provincial support.
Pardos revolted for full citizenship rights. Violence from the lower classes alarmed the
creole landowners, many of whom withdrew from the independence movement. Miranda
was given command of the revolutionary forces, and Bolívar became one of his
4
lieutenants. SIMÓN BOLÍVAR, born in Caracas of a creole cacao planter family, was a
resolute republican. He was the greatest figure of the independence movement.
In Bogotá, the republic of Cundinamarca was inaugurated. The other provinces,
refusing to join it, formed the Federation of the United Provinces of Nueva Granada.
Popayán, Pasto, Santa Marta, and Panama remained loyal to Spain. Proindependence
provinces favoring federalism waged war against proindependence provinces endorsing
centralism.
5
1812
A royalist army invaded patriot territory. Miranda capitulated. Royalists sent him as a
prisoner to Spain, where he died in 1816. Spaniards seized Bolívar's properties but
permitted him to go to Nueva Granada.
6
1813
Bolívar launched the Campaña Admirable (Admirable Campaign). He entered Caracas
in Aug. to inaugurate the second Venezuelan republic and assumed dictatorial powers.
He proclaimed war to the death against Spaniards who did not support independence and
promised amnesty to royalist creoles. Poorer Venezuelans remained aloof since they
distrusted the creole landed elite and slaveholders. José Tomás Boves, a peninsular
merchant and smuggler, organized a guerrilla war on behalf of the Crown, promising
confiscated properties to the men who enlisted in his army. Llaneros enthusiastically
followed Boves, angered by a law approved by the antiroyalist government of Caracas,
which prevented llaneros from freely hunting on the plains. The war between patriots
and royalists was waged with great violence; the killing of prisoners and the massacre of
civilians became common practices on both sides.
7
1814
Boves's royalist army defeated the revolutionary forces at La Puerta, where Boves died
but destroyed Bolívar's control of Venezuela. Bolívar escaped to Nueva Granada.
1815
8
Royalists took Cartagena. Bolívar abandoned Nueva Granada and went to Jamaica
where he issued his “Letter from Jamaica.” In Haiti, he gained support from Pres.
Alexandre Pétion, to whom he promised to abolish slavery in the future republic.
9
1816
Royalists took Bogotá, and executed many patriot leaders. Peasants were subjected to
forced labor, and Nueva Granada became a supply center for royalist reconquest.
10
In Venezuela, llaneros remained restless under royalist control, since their major
demands had not been met. José Antonio Páez, a llanero chief based in the region of
Apure, started to operate against the royalists.
11
1817
Bolívar returned to the Orinoco region and sought popular support for the creole
independence movement promoting pardo soldiers and promising freedom to slaves in
the patriot army. He issued a decree ordering the distribution of confiscated properties
among the patriot troops as payment for their services.
12
1819
Once Francisco de Paula Santander (1792–1840) had organized patriot military
support in Nueva Granada, Bolívar led a patriot army across the Andes and defeated the
royalist forces at Boyacá River (Aug. 9). Patriots occupied Bogotá (Aug. 10). In this
campaign, Bolívar definitively liberated Nueva Granada.
13
Dec. 17
The congress of Angostura approved the fundamental law creating Gran Colombia, a
republic based on the union of Venezuela and Nueva Granada. Bolívar was made
president and military dictator.
14
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1806–1872 > h. New Spain (Mexico)
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h. New Spain (Mexico)
1808
Following the intervention of Napoleon in Spain, creole elements sought a greater role in
the government. With support of the viceroy, a general junta was convened. The
audiencia, controlled by Spaniards, dismissed the pro-creole viceroy. Four viceroys
governed between 1808 and 1813.
1
1810
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753–1811), a creole priest, initiated a separatist revolt in
the town of Dolores, in the Province of Guanajuato. He had limited creole support, but
his call galvanized hundreds of peasants and mineworkers who had suffered oppressive
conditions in the Bajío region. Although Hidalgo tried to restrict attacks to Spaniards
and Spanish properties, his followers destroyed estates indiscriminately, unleashing
general rural violence. Massacres committed against wealthy Spaniards and creoles in
Guanajuato deeply unsettled the upper class. The rebels threatened Mexico City, but
peasants of the region refused to join them. A Spanish army defeated Hidalgo's troops.
2
1811
A new defeat of revolutionary forces at the bridge of Calderón, near Guadalajara (Jan.
17), allowed Spanish authorities to capture Hidalgo. The Inquisition tried him and
delivered him to the secular courts for execution (July 31).
1812
3
José María Morelos (1765–1815), a mestizo priest, continued the revolt.
4
1813
A congress convened at Chilpancingo (Sept. 14) made Morelos executive chief and
declared independence (Nov. 6).
5
1814, Oct. 22
The constitution of Apatzingan was promulgated, establishing male suffrage and
abolishing the caste system and slavery, but preserving the prerogatives of the Church.
Agustín de Iturbide (1783–1824), a creole in Spanish service, forced Morelos to
retreat. Morelos was captured and executed (Dec. 22, 1815), and the revolutionary
congress was dissolved.
6
1816–21
Viceroy Juan Ruiz de Apodaca instituted a conciliatory policy and secured the
surrender of most of the revolutionary leaders. Only a few guerrilla leaders, among them
Vicente Guerrero (1783–1831), continued resistance.
7
1820
The liberal revolution in Spain (See 1820) threatened the position of the clergy and the
upper classes. Conservative creoles and Spaniards decided to secede from Spain to avert
reforms. Agustín de Iturbide became their leader and with Guerrero formulated the
Plan de Iguala.
8
Feb. 24
This proclaimed the INDEPENDENCE OF MEXICO. According to the plan, Mexico
would be a constitutional monarchy under Ferdinand VII or other European prince,
creoles and Peninsulars were declared equal, and the Catholic religion and church
properties were to be maintained. Viceroy Apodaca was dismissed. Iturbide assumed
9
authority and created an army.
Aug. 24
A newly arrived viceroy accepted the plan of Iguala by the Convention of Córdoba. A
regency under Iturbide was formed, pending choice of a sovereign. A constituent
congress was convened. The Spanish government refused to accept the Convention of
Córdoba.
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i. Guatemala and Central America
1811–18
In the captaincy general of Guatemala (Guatemala, San Salvador, Honduras,
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Chiapas), liberals campaigned for free trade, a more
representative government, and the dissolution of fueros and monopolies. The captain
general repressed them and subdued other rebellions in the provinces of San Salvador,
Honduras, and Nicaragua (1811–12). Central American liberals were mainly creole
professionals allied to the leading creole families.
1
1821, Sept. 15
Influenced by the launching of the Plan de Iguala in Mexico, a junta of liberals and
moderates convened in Guatemala City to declare independence, with the captain general
as leader.
2
1822
Union with Mexico under Iturbide was discussed in every province. Guatemala and
Chiapas decided to join independent Mexico. El Salvador rejected union either with
Mexico or Guatemala. Some cities in Honduras and Nicaragua accepted union with
Guatemala, but refused to submit to Mexico. Others claimed total autonomy. Costa Rica
agreed to separation from Spain and sought union with Colombia. Conservatives were
prone to annexation to Mexico, whereas liberals rejected it and favored an independent
republican federation.
3
Iturbide, as emperor of Mexico, sent a Mexican army to advance the annexationist cause.
4
1823
After military invasion, El Salvador and Costa Rica republicans capitulated.
5
June 24
Upon learning of the abdication of Agustín I, a Central American congress decided to
form the United Provinces of Central America, independent from Mexico and
integrated by Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.
6
August 20
Mexico recognized the new political entity.
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(See The Portuguese Colonial System)
j. Brazil
1808
As a result of the war in Europe, the king of Portugal, John VI, transferred his court to
Brazil, leaving Portugal to be governed by a British-dominated regency. He established
his capital in Rio de Janeiro and decreed free trade for Brazilian ports. This caused
discontent among Portuguese merchants, who were unable to compete with the British.
1
1817
In Pernambuco, a military revolt supported by some planters, merchants, and
bureaucrats proclaimed a republic. An army was sent from Bahia, and the rebels
surrendered.
2
1820
The Portuguese overthrew the regency in Lisbon and provisionally adopted the Spanish
constitution of 1812. The Cortes summoned the king to return and invited Brazil to send
representatives to a constituent assembly.
3
1821
Several military conspiracies in Brazil favored liberal measures and constitutional
monarchy. A dispute erupted over the demand for the immediate return of the king to
4
Portugal. A Portuguese faction formed by merchants with Portugal-based interests
favored the return as a means to revive monopolies, whereas the “Brazilian” faction,
which included Brazilian planters and bureaucrats as well as Brazil-based Portuguese
merchants, opposed the departure of John VI. Brazilian deputies in Lisbon rejected
attempts by the Cortes to reduce Brazil to colonial status. The king decided to return and
leave his son, Pedro, in Brazil as prince regent. José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva
(1763–1838) was elected president of the São Paulo provisional junta and was named
chief of the first “Brazilian” cabinet.
1822
Brazilian radicals and liberals gave their allegiance to Prince Pedro (1798–1834), who
declared (Jan. 9) his determination to remain in Brazil (“Fico”—I will stay). He soon
convoked a Brazilian constituent assembly. José Bonifácio drew support from large
landholders, slaveholders, and merchants in Rio to oppose the principle of popular
representation for the assembly, a condition radicals tried to reverse, proposing direct
popular elections.
5
Sept. 7
The Grito de Ypiranga (Cry of Ypiranga). While in São Paolo Dom Pedro received
dispatches from Portugal, which, although offering concessions, returned Brazil to
dependent status. He therefore proclaimed Brazilian independence.
6
Oct. 12
The Senate proclaimed Dom Pedro constitutional emperor of Brazil. He pledged
acceptance of the constitution to be formulated by the assembly and was crowned Pedro
I (Dec. 1). Portuguese garrisons and some Brazilians in the northern provinces opposed
separation, but the Brazilian navy subdued them. (See Brazil)
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3. Latin America, 1820–1914
a. Overview
Spanish colonies emerged from the independence wars divided into republics that briefly
cooperated to form broader political units. In Brazil the monarchy held the country
together despite strong autonomist and prorepublican movements. By 1850, the countries
of Spanish-speaking America had 22.5 million inhabitants, and Brazil had 7.2 million.
Most of the population lived in the countryside. As a result of immigration and economic
expansion, population grew rapidly in the final decades of the century. In 1900, 44
million people lived in Spanish America, and 18 million in Brazil. This period also
witnessed a gradual increase in the size of urban centers, but most of the population still
lived in the countryside.
1
Great Britain asserted dominance over the new nations through its commercial agents
and a powerful navy, which proved useful in obtaining better trade conditions for British
merchants. Export economies developed in the new countries in response to the
international market. The resultant expansion of the commercial economy was
particularly intense after 1870. The export sector contributed to labor exploitation by
encouraging regulations binding laborers to their masters, the expansion of debt peonage,
and the use of Chinese indentured servants. Slavery was in decay in most countries by
the mid-19th century, but it remained the bedrock of a vigorous export economy in Brazil
and Cuba until the 1880s. In the last decades of the 19th century, commercial growth
and the first phase of industrialization led to the expansion of cities and the formation
of a working class, in some cases from immigrant backgrounds. An incipient labor
movement soon confronted repressive measures against its attempts to improve the lot of
workers.
2
Following independence, elites split into liberal and conservative factions, which
clashed over issues such as federalism, free trade, and the status of the church.
Liberal measures expropriating church and communal Indian lands encouraged land
concentration and, hence, the consolidation of a large landholding class. Territories
seized from nomadic Indian tribes also favored latifundia. In some Spanish-American
countries, the caudillos (civil or military leaders) emerged as the main power brokers.
3
Popular sectors, systematically excluded from political participation, found in the
caudillos a channel to pressure the elites. In other countries, less disruptive forms of
political bossism developed to keep the masses under control. With the consolidation of
national states and the emergence of the cities and urban classes, the caudillos' role
diminished somewhat, giving way to the formation of political parties.
Literature in the 19th century, especially novels and essays, frequently served as a
vehicle to promote cohesive national identities. Leading writers such as Domingo F.
Sarmiento (Argentina), Andrés Bello (Chile), and José de Alencar (Brazil) were
prominent political figures who self-consciously used their writings to outline a particular
vision of the national “destiny.” Novels such as Alencar's Iracema (1865) and Amalia
(1851) by Argentine writer José Mármol used the romantic genre to allow their characters
to form amorous alliances across class, ethnic, and regional lines. Influenced by the
romantic canon, intellectuals in the postindependence decades sometimes idealized the
indigenous population as the repository of the national essence.
4
Social Darwinism, however, soon emerged as a major intellectual trend. Cultural elites
began to portray Indians and other nonwhite groups as unfit for citizenship in civilized
political entities, thus “justifying” the ongoing exclusion of the majority from the formal
political system. Among elites the dominant tendency was to imitate European styles,
including urban architecture, and to foster exclusive institutions that mimicked European
high culture. Artists and intellectuals began to seek an alternative to Europeanization in
rural popular culture, which some considered a more authentic source of national identity.
Meanwhile, waves of immigration from Spain, Italy, and Portugal expanded the ranks of
urban popular movements. New forms of association (unions, leagues, mutual-aid
societies) and open cultural institutions offered alternatives to political exclusion. Labor
activism introduced new ideologies such as anarchism and socialism. (See Cultural
Developments)
5
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b. South America
1. Argentina
After independence, the city of Buenos Aires was dominant because of its commercial
role, but its place in the broader political system was disputed. Urban elites wanted to
make it the national capital and form a central government with control over the
provinces. Powerful rural landowners of Buenos Aires Province, in contrast, sought to
subject the city to their interests and a federalist framework.
1
1819
The fragmentation of the territory controlled by Buenos Aires created a general crisis in
the region. Gen. Martín Rodríguez installed a governing junta.
2
1821–23
Gen. Rodríguez became governor of Buenos Aires and named an extreme liberal,
Bernardino Rivadavia, as minister. Liberal policies helped British merchants gain
preeminence in the Río de la Plata trade. Native merchants shifted investments and
formed a new class of big ranchers (estancieros).
3
Liberals enforced antivagrancy laws to compel peasants and gauchos (free horsemen) to
seek fixed employment. Gen. Martínez undertook a campaign against Indians to open
new lands for ranching.
4
1825
Treaty with Great Britain to suppress slave trade. Buenos Aires organized a war against
Brazil for the liberation of the Banda Oriental.
5
1826
Rivadavia was elected president of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. He
made the city of Buenos Aires the national capital, separating it from its province.
Ranchers opposed this and united under the federalist banner against Rivadavia's
unitarian policies.
6
1827
Forces from Buenos Aires and the Banda Oriental defeated Brazil at Ituzaingó (Feb.
20), but negotiations with Brazil ended in failure. Rivadavia was forced to resign and
was exiled. The congress returned the city of Buenos to its province. Manuel Dorrego,
federalist leader in Buenos Aires, became its governor. JUAN MANUEL DE ROSAS
(1793–1877), a wealthy rancher, was named chief of the Buenos Aires militias.
Facundo Quiroga, caudillo of La Rioja, mobilized militias from the interior provinces
against the congress. The congress dissolved itself, and the Confederación del Río de la
Plata (Argentine Confederation) was established.
7
1828
Brazil and Buenos Aires accepted the independence of the Banda Oriental. Unitarians
led by Gen. Juan Lavalle protested the accord by occupying Buenos Aires and
executing Dorrego, provoking antagonism toward the unitarians.
8
1829
Rosas, with peasant support, vanquished Lavalle at Puente de Márquez. Federalists
seized the city of Buenos Aires; Rosas was elected governor of Buenos Aires Province.
1831
9
Federalists strengthened Buenos Aires's influence in the provinces. Rosas courted
support from the urban black population, but he reopened the slave trade.
10
1833
Rosas led the “Expedition of the Desert” against various Indian cultures of the Pampas.
The elite supported this campaign because big ranchers expected to grab Indian lands.
11
In the city of Buenos Aires, Encarnación Ezcurra, Rosas's wife, mobilized plebeian
support against Rosas's opponents, patronizing a paramilitary band popularly known as
the Mazorca.
12
An English army occupied the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands.
13
1835–36
The legislature of Buenos Aires, with the assent of the provinces, made Rosas dictator.
The ultraconservative Rosas, despite his populist veneer, supported the big ranchers who
massively increased their landholdings and secured tight control over the gauchos. The
ranching economy offered women few opportunities and led to their migration to the
cities to work as domestic servants.
14
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c. Central America
1. Overview
The United Provinces of Central America (1823–38) consisted of five autonomous
states with their own state assemblies and executives. Guatemala City was the seat of the
central government. The constitution outlawed slavery but denied full political rights to
Indians and ladinos (mestizos). Principal exports were cochineal (a dye stuff), logwood,
and indigo.
1
1825–26
National elections held. The Conservative Party supported the church and the
preeminence of the Guatemalan elite. The Liberal Party, seeking to end church influence
and merchants' monopolies, imposed its candidate, Manuel José Arce, on the central
government. Arce deposed the Liberals and named Conservative Mariano Aycinena as
the new governor of Guatemala, winning Conservative support.
2
1826–29
In El Salvador, Liberals revolted against the pro-Arce Conservative government, and a
three-year civil war ensued, involving Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
Francisco Morazán (1792–1842) from Honduras emerged as the victorious Liberal
leader.
1830
3
Morazán became confederation president. He decreed confiscation of church lands and
abolition of fueros. The federal capital was moved to El Salvador. The British consul
wielded great influence.
4
1831–37
Poll tax for ladino and Indian peasants caused such opposition that it was temporarily
suspended (1833). Cochineal production increased demand for land and labor in
Guatemala. Colonization projects, the new judicial system, and anticlerical measures
outraged rural masses.
5
1837–38
A peasant revolt, supported by rural priests, challenged Liberals. Rafael Carrera
(1814–1865), a mestizo officer, led the revolt that defeated Morazán. Congress dissolved
the Central American Confederation.
6
1842–52
Morazán tried to reconstitute the confederation but was defeated and executed. Attempts
at cooperation among the Central American states failed.
7
1850
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. U.S. fear of a British-controlled canal across the isthmus led to
an accord by which both nations pledged not to occupy any part of Central America.
Belize and the Bay Islands were excluded.
8
1862–72
Central American states formed the United Army of Central America to expel William
Walker's forces from Nicaragua.
1906
9
After the war of Nicaragua against El Salvador and Honduras, a Central American court
of justice was established to resolve regional conflicts. (See Overview)
10
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Mexico
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d. Mexico
The wars of independence left the Mexican economy in ruins. Elites were deeply divided
between conservatives aiming to preserve the colonial order and liberals trying to reduce
the power of the church. Caudillos emerged to claim power for themselves, creating
further disturbances in the countryside, where many peasants joined irregular armies.
1
1822
Gen. ANTONIO LÓPEZ DE SANTA ANNA (1794–1876) rebelled against the
emperor Agustín I (Agustín Iturbide) and declared himself in favor of the republic.
2
1823
Iturbide was forced into exile. A junta of three generals, including liberal Guadalupe
Victoria, was formed. Conservative Lucas Alamán (1792–1853) was named foreign
minister.
3
1824
A constitution maintained military and ecclesiastical fueros, and Catholicism remained
the official religion. Guadalupe Victoria won the presidency.
4
1828
Santa Anna imposed Vicente Guerrero as president.
5
1829, Sept
A law abolished slavery, provoking protests from Texas colonizers.
6
1830
Vice president Gen. Anastasio Bustamante (1780–1853) seized power and named
conservative Alamán as chief minister. He raised tariffs to protect the textile industry.
Guerrero rebelled but was defeated.
7
1832
Santa Anna rose up against the government. Alamán and Bustamante were exiled.
8
1833, April 1
Santa Anna was named president. His government was dominated by the liberal
federalist minister of education, José María Luis Mora (1794–1850). Legislation
disentailed some church property; the military lost the fuero.
9
1834
Conservatives called upon Santa Anna to restore “religion and fueros.” Liberals were
expelled from Congress.
10
1835
Federalist constitution was suspended, moving Yucatán to secede and Texans to revolt
against the central government. Santa Anna led his troops against rebels.
1836, April 21
11
Texans defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto (See 1836), forcing him to accept Texas's
independence. Centralists staged a comeback with Bustamante as president.
12
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e. The Caribbean
1. Cuba
During the wars of independence, Cuba and Puerto Rico remained loyal to Spain. Slave
labor and fertile soil allowed the sugar economy to flourish, especially after the
destruction of slavery in Haiti. In 1827, Cuba had 707,400 inhabitants. The slave
population in Cuba increased dramatically between 1790 and 1860. After 1860, slave
trade declined, and colonial authorities actively promoted white immigration. Sugar
planters, monopolizing land in western Cuba, and tobacco manufacturers formed a
powerful elite. In the east, hacendados and free farmers of color predominated.
1
1868–78
The TEN YEARS' WAR. Following the liberal revolution in Spain (1868), eastern small
slave owners and farmers unleashed a war for independence with the Grito de Yara.
Sugar planters of the west supported Spain. Massive participation of slaves in rebel ranks
prompted Spain to pass the Moret Law of 1870 that freed children of slave mothers and
slaves over age 60. The war ended with the convention of El Zanjón (Feb. 10, 1878), by
which Spain promised amnesty and freedom to slaves and Asian indentured workers who
had fought the war on both sides.
2
1879–86
In the east, Antonio Maceo (1845–96) led slaves in a guerrilla war (Guerra Chiquita).
Slaves resorted to legal and illegal measures to gain freedom. Spanish authorities tried to
ensure a gradual process of emancipation. The Patronato Law of 1880 regulated
emancipation by creating a transitional status for slaves. Spanish authorities abolished
slavery in 1886.
3
1895–98
WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. JOSÉ MARTÍ (1853–95) united Cubans to fight for
independence. A war without quarter devastated the island. About 10 percent of the
population died. The U.S. entered the conflict, alleging Spain's destruction of the Maine,
a warship stationed in Havana Harbor, thus initiating the Spanish-American War (See
1898). Spain was quickly defeated, and by the Treaty of Paris (Dec. 10) withdrew from
Cuba and ceded Puerto Rico and the Philippines to the U.S. Many Cubans viewed U.S.
intervention with distrust.
4
1899–1902
U.S. occupation of Cuba. U.S. entrepreneurs secured most of the repair and renovation
projects in the aftermath of the war. Despite peace and economic recovery, there was
extensive discontent with U.S. control of Cuba. The U.S. introduced the Platt
Amendment (Feb. 12, 1901) by which the U.S. had the right to dictate all of Cuba's
international agreements, to intervene in domestic political affairs, and to establish a
military base at Guantánamo Bay. Cuba had 1,573,000 inhabitants in 1900.
5
1903–6
Tomás Estrada Palma, a pro-U.S. candidate, was elected president. U.S. forces
withdrew. U.S. investors greatly augmented their ownership of land, industries, and
services in Cuba. Popular unrest continued, fueled by electoral fraud. Liberals deposed
Estrada Palma.
6
1906–8
Second U.S. military intervention. Charles Magoon became provisional governor of
Cuba. He broadened the franchise and held elections.
1908–13
7
José Miguel Gómez, a liberal, assumed the presidency. U.S. forces withdrew. Power of
foreign investors and local bourgeoisie increased. The Morúa Law prohibited political
associations based on color or race. Black Cubans tried to resist, but their movement met
harsh repression in the eastern provinces (1912). U.S. racism reinforced local prejudices.
8
1913–17
Conservative Mario García Menocal became president. Liberals revolted against his
reelection in 1917. The U.S. intervened on behalf of García Menocal. (See Cuba)
9
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
Table of Contents
Page 6
VI. The World Wars and the Interwar Period, 1914–1945
A. Global and Comparative Dimensions
1. Emerging Global Relationships
a. Developing Global Institutions and Structures
b. Globally Competing Ideologies
2. Nationalist Options
a. Globalization of Culture
3. International Relations
a. The Post–World War I Era
b. The Era of the Great Depression
4. Science
a. Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy
b. Chemistry, Biology, Geology
5. Technological Developments
a. Energy and Materials
b. Materials and Construction
c. Machines and Industrial Techniques
d. Agricultural Production and Food Technology
e. Transportation and Communication
B. World War I, 1914–1918
1. The Western Front, 1914–1915
2. The Eastern Front, 1914–1915
3. The War at Sea, 1914–1915
4. The Balkan Situation, 1914–1915
5. The Intervention of Italy, 1915
6. The Middle East, 1914–1918
7. The Western Front, 1916–1917
8. The Eastern Front, 1916–1917
9. The Italian Front, 1916
10. The Balkan Front, 1916–1917
a. Greece
b. Romania
11. The War at Sea, 1916–1917
12. The War in the Air, 1914–1918
13. The War in the Colonies, 1914–1918
14. Peace Negotiations, 1916–1917, and the Intervention of the United States, 1917
15. The Settlements in Eastern Europe, 1917–1918
16. The End of the Habsburg Monarchy
17. Operations in the West, 1918
18. The Peace Settlements
a. The Treaty of Versailles
b. The Treaty of Saint-Germain
c. The Treaty of Neuilly
d. The Treaty of Trianon
e. The Treaty of Sèvres
Military Summary
The Western Front, 1914–1915
The Eastern Front, 1914–1915
The War at Sea, 1914–1915
The Balkans, 1915–1916
The Italian Front, 1914
The Western Front, 1916–1917
The Eastern Front, 1916–1917
The Italian Front, 1916–1917
The Balkan Front, 1916–1917
The War at Sea, 1916–1918
The Western Front, 1918
C. Europe, 1919–1945
1. Economic and Social Changes
2. Intellectual and Religious Trends
3. Culture and Popular Culture
4. European Diplomacy and the Depression, 1919–1939
5. The British Isles
a. Great Britain
b. Ireland
6. The Low Countries
a. Belgium
b. The Netherlands
7. France
8. The Iberian Peninsula
a. Spain
b. Portugal
9. Italy and the Papacy
10. Switzerland
11. Germany
12. Austria
13. Czechoslovakia
14. Hungary
15. The Scandinavian States
a. Overview
b. Denmark
c. Norway
d. Sweden
e. Finland
f. Iceland
16. Russia (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)
17. The Baltic States
a. Overview
b. Lithuania
c. Latvia
d. Estonia
18. Poland
19. The Balkan States
a. Yugoslavia
b. Albania
c. Greece
d. Bulgaria
e. Romania
D. North America, 1915–1945
1. The United States
2. The Dominion of Canada
3. Newfoundland
E. Latin America and the Caribbean, 1914–1945
1. Overview
a. Regional Diplomacy
b. Cultural Developments
2. South America
a. Argentina
b. Chile
c. Paraguay
d. Uruguay
e. Bolivia
f. Peru
g. Ecuador
h. Colombia
i. Venezuela
j. Brazil
3. Central America
a. Overview
b. Panama
c. Guatemala
d. El Salvador
e. Nicaragua
f. Costa Rica
g. Honduras
4. Mexico
5. The West Indies
a. Cuba
b. Puerto Rico
c. The Virgin Islands
d. The Dominican Republic
e. Haiti
F. The Middle East and North Africa, 1914–1945
1. Overview
2. The Middle East
a. The Ottoman Empire and Turkey
b. Iran (Persia)
c. Afghanistan
d. Egypt
e. Syria
f. Lebanon
g. Palestine
h. Transjordan
i. Iraq
j. States of the Arabian Peninsula
3. North Africa
a. Morocco
b. Algeria
c. Tunisia
d. Libya
G. South and Southeast Asia, 1914–1945
1. India
2. Southeast Asia
a. Mainland Southeast Asia
b. Peninsular and Island Southeast Asia
H. East Asia, 1902–1945
1. Overview
2. China, 1914–1945
3. Mongolian People's Republic, 1911–1926
4. Korea, 1910–1945
5. Japan, 1914–1945
6. Vietnam, 1902–1945
I. The Pacific Region, 1914–1945
1. The Pacific Islands
2. The Philippines
3. Australia
4. New Zealand
J. Africa, 1914–1945
1. Overview
2. Regions
a. Sudanic West and Central Africa
b. Forest West Africa
c. Northeast Africa (Horn)
d. East Africa
e. West Central Africa
f. Southern Africa
g. Madagascar
K. World War II, 1939–1945
1. The Campaigns in Poland and Finland, 1939–1940
2. The Invasion of Denmark and Norway, 1940
3. The Conquest of the Low Countries and the Fall of France, 1940
4. The Battle of Britain, 1940
5. The Balkan Campaigns, 1940–1941
6. The Campaigns in the Soviet Union, 1941–1944
7. Defense of the Western Hemisphere, 1939–1945
8. Naval Warfare and Blockade, 1939–1944
9. The Campaigns in the Middle East and Africa, 1939–1943
10. The Invasion of Italy, 1943–1944
11. The Liberation of France and Belgium, 1944
12. The Battle of Germany, 1945
13. The War in Asia, 1939–1941
14. The War in the Pacific, 1941–1945
15. The Organization of Peace
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1914, June 28)
VI. The World Wars and the Interwar Period, 1914–1945
A. Global and Comparative Dimensions
Two world wars and a worldwide economic depression of great magnitude provide the
global background and foundation for developments in the first half of the 20th century.
The globalization of political, economic, and cultural life intensified in a context of the
continuing relative domination by the West. However, the core of the West itself spread
beyond Western Europe and increasingly, Western Europe became a less central part of
the modern industrialized world. By midcentury, world affairs came to be dominated by
the two great superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union. The changing
dynamics of world relationships can be seen in two different areas: (1) the emergence of
significant patterns of global connections in political, ideological, economic, and
sociocultural structures; and (2) the further intensification of international and interstate
relationships on a global scale.
1
1. Emerging Global Relationships
Important changing patterns of global connections developed in three areas in the first
half of the 20th century: (1) the development of global structures of interstate, economic,
and sociocultural relationships; (2) the emergence of globally competing sociopolitical
ideologies for shaping the nature of societies in the modern era; and (3) significant
experiences with global dimensions in economic life, social transformation, and culture.
2
a. Developing Global Institutions and Structures
From the beginning of World War I to the end of World War II, many different types of
global relationships developed. Three important types of structures emerged: (1)
political organizations and relationships among states; (2) multinational economic and
3
business structures; and (3) nongovernmental organizations for cultural, religious, and
humanitarian purposes. In all of these areas, foundations had been laid before 1914, but
during the era of the two world wars and the “interwar period” there was a significant
development of global institutions and relationships in many different areas.
1. 1914–1946. Interstate Institutions
At the beginning of the 20th century, relations among the major states primarily
represented alliances based on treaties and agreements reflecting relatively temporary
arrangements among blocks of powers rather than continuing international institutional
structures. Few permanent interstate organizations existed. However, the destructiveness
of World War I led to major efforts to create permanent international organizations for
the regulation of interstate relations or conflict resolution, as well as for the coordination
of international services.
4
World War I negotiations. In 1914, there was no permanent organization for
assembling the prospective antagonists. The existing International Court of Justice in
The Hague had neither jurisdiction nor power. During the war, occasional efforts at
mediation were made, but the war came to an end with a series of armistice agreements
that were negotiated often on a bilateral and temporary basis. The major agreements
were the armistices between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire (at Mudros, Oct. 1918),
Austria-Hungary (Nov. 3, 1918), and Germany (Nov. 11, 1918). The PEACE
CONFERENCE AT VERSAILLES (See 1919, Jan. 18) began in January 1919 and
defined the main lines of international relations for the world war settlement. The
Treaty of Versailles (signed June 1918) defined the conditions of the peace settlement.
5
The LEAGUE OF NATIONS (See April 28) was created by the Treaty of Versailles to
deter war and provide an administrative structure for managing international relations
and conflict resolution. The League came into being with a permanent secretariat in
Geneva in 1920 (Sir Eric Drummond, first secretary-general). In the context of the
operation of the League, a number of interstate organizations for coordinating important
services were created, including the International Labor Organization (ILO), created
in 1919 as a part of the League of Nations to improve global labor conditions, and the
International Commission for Air Navigation, created in 1919 to assist in
international civil aviation.
6
The Permanent Court of International Justice was created in 1921 in accord with the
League's Covenant and established in The Hague as a continuation of the Permanent
Court of Arbitration.
7
Existing international institutions like the Universal Postal Union, the International
Institute of Agriculture, and the International Meteorological Organization worked
in collaboration with the League of Nations in the continuing process of coordinating
important international services.
8
MULTINATIONAL CONFERENCES continued to be an important instrument for
international relations. These enabled major powers to act without the constraints
imposed by League of Nations procedures. One major theme for such conferences was
arms control and the possible renunciation of war. Some of the most important of these
were:
9
Washington Conference (1921–22), which defined Great Power relations in the Pacific
basin and in China, as well as set limits on naval armaments.
10
Locarno Conference and Treaties (1925) provided for border guarantees in Europe
(See Oct. 5–16).
11
KELLOGG-BRIAND PACT, signed in Paris in 1928, involved renunciation of war but
made no provision for sanctions.
12
London Naval Conference (1930) (See 1930, Jan. 21–April 22) dealt with submarine
warfare and other naval armament agreements signed by Great Britain, the U.S., Japan,
France, and Italy.
13
Disarmament Conference in Geneva (1932) was attended by 60 states and produced
no effective agreements. By the mid-1930s, such major conferences were effectively
replaced by the Great Power negotiations that were part of the buildup to World War II.
14
Other major conferences were held on a variety of subjects. Many were held in the
context of European powers' working out the economic implications of the Versailles
Treaty and German war reparations. Others defined international cooperation in many
nonpolitical areas. Important examples of these are the Madrid Conference (1932) of the
International Telecommunication Union, which merged the Telegraph Convention
(1865) and the Radiotelegraph Convention (1906), and the Havana Conference (1928),
creating the Pan American Convention on Air Navigation.
15
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Emerging Global Relationships > b. Globally Competing Ideologies
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b. Globally Competing Ideologies
The first half of the 20th century was a time when major modern comprehensive
ideologies were developed as the basis for sociopolitical identities and political systems.
In the social, economic, and political transformations framed by the two world wars and
the Great Depression, world visions and broad programmatic perspectives were an
important part of the global scene. The most comprehensive statements of the emerging
ideologies were made by movements and thinkers in more industrialized societies. These
helped to shape the options defining transformations taking place outside of Europe and
North America. Two important lines of experience shaped the developing global
competition of ideologies in the first half of the 20th century: (1) the definition and
conflict of explicitly modern ideologies in the Western world, and (2) the evolution of
options for guiding transformations in the emerging nationalist context of societies
dominated by the major powers.
1
1. Western Ideological Competitions
At the beginning of the 20th century in Europe, comprehensive ideological positions
defining the basic nature of society tended to be politically marginal. The nationalist
unifications of Italy and Germany had avoided becoming ideologically liberal, and Great
Britain and France maintained a practical adherence to parliamentary liberalism.
Democratic liberalism, in an explicitly capitalist format, as it was emerging in the U.S.,
was also pragmatic in orientation. World War I destroyed the stability of the politically
evolutionary acceptance of change, and following the war, the alternatives were more
sharply defined in ideologically programmatic terms.
2
a. Democratic Liberalism
The victorious powers in World War I were committed to differing forms of democratic
3
liberalism. The World War I settlement reflected this ideological position. The global
terms were set by the U.S. president WOODROW WILSON, in an ideological liberal
internationalism committed to the self-determination of peoples, democratic political
systems, relatively capitalist market economies, and peaceful resolution of international
conflicts by public negotiation. The League of Nations was the manifestation of this
ideology. Although Great Britain and France were less committed to the international
aspects, they maintained their own democratic parliamentary systems and supported
efforts to create and maintain them elsewhere in Europe. Germany was reconstituted in
the Weimar Republic, and in the other new states established in Central and Eastern
Europe, parliamentary systems were established. Significant economic difficulties in all
of the democracies and growing political divisions among the parties led to increasing
pressures for more authoritarian leaders, and in a number of countries dictators came to
power. In the continuing democracies, the Depression forced major changes involving
significant government intervention in the economy. Democratic socialism became a
major force in Britain and France, and the New Deal of President Franklin Roosevelt,
beginning in 1933 in the U.S., was a major transformation of the economy of the U.S.
The economies of the liberal democracies were increasingly mixed economies,
combining aspects of capitalism and socialism in an emerging democratic welfare state
system. During World War II, the Axis powers represented the authoritarian alternative
to liberal democracy. When they were defeated, the Allied powers established
constitutional democratic systems in Italy, Japan, and the parts of Germany under
occupation by American, British, and French forces. In the Western world, after major
setbacks during the interwar period, liberal democracy, in modified capitalist and socialist
economic systems, emerged after World War II as the dominant sociopolitical ideology.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
2. Nationalist Options
In the areas dominated by the major powers and empires, the first half of the 20th
century was a time when nationalist movements began to be important throughout the
world. In the 19th century, nationalist movements had been most effective and active in
Europe. The advocacy of the right of self-determination which was part of the World
War I settlement created a number of new nationally identified states in Europe but
maintained imperial control in much of the rest of the world.
1
MIDDLE EAST. Movements for assertion of national identities had developed in the
late 19th century in Egypt and Persia (Iran), and among Turks in the Ottoman Empire.
In the Arab lands of southwest Asia and French North Africa, there was little Arab
nationalism until World War I. Following World War I, major nationalist movements
developed in Turkey under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (See 1919, May 19), in Persia
under Reza Shah Pahlevi, and in Egypt under the Wafd Party of Sa'd Zaghloul. In
French North Africa, the Destour Party and then the Neo-Destour Party in Tunisia and
less well structured efforts elsewhere presented nationalist programs, as did intellectuals
in the states that had been created as League of Nations mandates in the Middle
East—Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine. All of these nationalist movements
tended to express their goals in terms of Wilsonian liberal democracy. They sought
self-determination, recognized popular sovereignty, and tried to create independent
parliamentary political systems. All also advocated programs of rapid modernization
following explicitly Western European models. Fascism and communism had limited
appeal or support. The real conflict was between nationalist aspirations and imperialist
power. Only in the new Turkish republic under Atatürk, and, to a lesser extent, in Persia
(Iran), were nationalists able to achieve effective political independence and implement
modernization programs of their own rather than an imposed definition.
2
AFRICA. The interwar period was from some perspectives the heyday of European
imperialism in Africa. Major concepts of imperial governance like Indirect Rule were
developed by the British, and there was little expectation that imperial rule would end
before a long period of time had elapsed. The units of imperial control had been created
by the processes of European imperial expansion and had little relationship to the ethnic
and cultural identities of the subject peoples. In the interwar period there were, however,
3
small groups of educated Africans who began to call for independence and did so in
nationalist terms, calling for the independence of the existing imperialist-created state. In
the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan a Graduates Congress was formed in 1938 and advocated
nationalist aims, presenting a list of demands to the British in 1942. In Kenya during the
1920s there was the Kikuyu Central Association, which sought the return of land taken
by British settlers, but its leaders, like the later nationalist Jomo Kenyatta, were not
actively nationalist in the interwar era. In general terms, educated Africans in all
colonies expressed desires for self-determination and effective political participation, but
effective nationalist movements did not emerge until after World War II.
PAN-AFRICAN movements did not have much support in Africa itself, but in the U.S.,
African-American organizations supported various types of Pan-Africanism and possible
return to Africa. The most important advocates of these ideas were W.E.B. DuBois early
in the century, and Marcus Garvey in the Universal Negro Improvement Association in
the 1920s. A religious form of American black nationalism was formulated by Elijah
Muhammad in the organization of the Nation of Islam in the 1930s.
4
SOUTH ASIA. In India, there was a well-established nationalist movement by the
beginning of the 20th century. The Indian National Congress had been founded in 1885
with the goal of securing for Indians a greater role in their government. In the interwar
period, especially under the dramatic nonviolent leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the
nationalist movement gained great strength. The Muslim League, founded in 1906,
originally worked closely with Congress to secure Indian self-government. During the
interwar period, Indian Muslim feelings of identity and fear of Hindu domination in an
independent India led the Muslim League to advocate establishing an independent
Muslim state in South Asia to be called Pakistan. Following World War II in 1947,
when British India became independent it was partitioned into Pakistan and the Republic
of India.
5
EAST ASIA. In the colonial areas of East Asia there were some beginnings of modern
nationalism. In the Philippines, the period of rule by the U.S. began with a bloody war
of Philippine resistance (1898–1901) and ended with the establishment of
commonwealth status in the late 1930s and the Japanese conquest during World War II.
Nationalist resistance to French rule in Indochina, Dutch rule in Indonesia, and British
control in various southeast Asia lands began to be expressed in the interwar era but with
only limited success until World War II, when the defeat of the imperial powers by
Japan inspired local nationalists.
6
Japan's role. Japan had an important international role in the development of nationalist
movements during the first half of the 20th century. The success of the program of rapid
modernization set in motion by the Meiji Revolution in the 19th century inspired
reformist nationalists like Atatürk in Turkey. Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese
War of 1905 had a major impact in showing that European imperial powers could be
defeated. In World War II, the Japanese conquest of the French, British, Dutch, and
7
American possessions in East and Southeast Asia opened the way for wartime puppet
states to set precendents for later demands for independence. In addition, the expansion
of Japan's own imperial strength aroused the fears of Japan's historic rivals, China and
Korea, and provided a negative impulse for the development of nationalism in China
under the Kuomintang led by Jiang Jieshi. In Korea, following its annexation by Japan
in 1910, nationalist resistance took a number of forms, including the establishment of a
Korean provisional government in exile whose president in 1919 was Syngman Rhee,
who became the first president of South Korea in the republic created by the U.S.
following World War II.
Nationalist ideologies in the first half of the 20th century tended to be based on the
Wilsonian liberal democratic vision of the world. It was not until the time of the Cold
War following World War II that more Communist-style perspectives became important
in developing nationalist movements and visions.
8
a. Globalization of Culture
The period between the two world wars was a time when many aspects of human life
and experience became more global in style or mode of operation. The Great Depression
showed the global nature of important economic aspects of life, but this was also part of
many aspects of social and cultural life. These tendencies could be seen in sports,
entertainment, and literature.
9
1. Sports
The organizational and social context of sports became significantly globalized in the
first half of the 20th century. The sports involved the establishment of significant
international organizations both of athletes and of competitions. The International
Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) (founded 1913) became a major global
institution by mid-20th century. THE MODERN OLYMPIC GAMES became major
global events in the interwar era. The Berlin Olympics of 1936 were an attempt by
Hitler to glorify the new racist Nazi state but this failed when an African-American
athlete, Jesse Owens, won four gold medals. The Olympics were extended to include
winter games in 1924. The London Olympics of 1948 were a celebration of the Allied
victory in World War II as well as an athletic event.
10
Major individual sports also became globalized, with the world's most widely viewed
sport of SOCCER, or Association Football, reflecting the broader history. Following
World War I, association football became a major feature of social recreational life,
especially in Europe and Latin America. The first World Cup competition was held in
11
1930 and was won by Uruguay. International competitions were interrupted by World
War II but quickly resumed following the war.
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3. International Relations
The era between the two world wars was a period of complex interrelations among states
and involved a variety of other institutions. The major dividing point in the two decades
is the beginning of the Great Depression, which can be dated from the collapse of the
New York stock market in 1929. The interwar period may be divided chronologically
into two phases: (1) the postwar period of adjustment and building, and (2) the era of the
Great Depression.
1
a. The Post–World War I Era
The main lines of development of international relations during the 1920s were to
implement the Versailles Treaty, to organize international relations among the major
powers in the changing global context, and to adjust to the globalization of many
different types of activities.
2
1919
Creation of the International Labor Organization and the International Commission
for Air Navigation as a part of the development of the League of Nations organizational
structures. Creation of the International Federation of Red Cross Societies, joining the
various national societies into a single world federation. The formation of the Third
International (Comintern) by Lenin.
1919, Nov. 19
3
U.S. Senate refused to ratify the Versailles Treaty (See July 10–1920, March 19) and
the defensive treaties among the U.S., Great Britain, and France. This significantly
weakened the whole structure of the international peace structure established at Paris.
4
1919–24
Conflicts over borders of peace settlement (See 1919–22). Numerous disputes in
Eastern Europe took place, contesting control of Vilna (between Poland, Lithuania, and
Russia), Teschen (Poland and Czechoslovakia), Bergenland (between Austria and
Hungary), Fiume (between Italy and Yugoslavia), and Upper Silesia (between Germany
and Poland). In the Middle East, there was a Turco-Greek War (1919–22) for the
control of Western Anatolia, which the new Turkish nationalist movement won, driving
Greek forces completely out of Anatolia.
5
1920
Creation of the International Chamber of Commerce.
6
Olympic Games resumed, after eight-year break, in Antwerp. Finnish distance runner
Paavo Nurmi was major star.
7
1920, Jan. 10
Official birth of the League of Nations. The assembly met for the first time Nov. 15.
8
April 19–26
The San Remo Conference of the Allied powers to discuss territorial arrangements and
to assign League of Nations Class A Mandates.
9
June 19–22
Conference of Hythe and Boulogne to discuss the Middle Eastern situation and
reparations issues.
10
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b. The Era of the Great Depression
During the 1930s, the major themes of global history were the continuing efforts to
resolve the problem of war, first in terms of continuing the effort to find ways of
eliminating war, and then in terms of limiting actual prospects of the major war that was
clearly looming; and the efforts to cope with the economic conditions of the global
depression.
1
1930, Jan. 21–April 22
LONDON NAVAL CONFERENCE. It led to a treaty signed by Great Britain, the U.S.,
France, Italy, and Japan, regulating submarine warfare and limiting the tonnage and gun
caliber of submarines. The limitation of aircraft carriers, provided for by the Washington
Treaty, was extended. Great Britain, the U.S., and Japan agreed to scrap certain warships
by 1933 and allocated tonnage in other categories. Increased tonnage was allowable
under specified conditions. The agreements were to operate until 1936.
2
Nov. 6–Dec. 9
Final meeting of the Preparatory Commission on Disarmament. It adopted by a
majority vote a draft convention to be discussed at a disarmament conference called by
the League Council for February 1932. German and Russian representatives did not
approve, and Swedish and American delegates had strong reservations. The major
problems involved clauses preserving obligations from previous treaties, especially those
barring German equality in armament.
3
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(See 1911)
4. Science
Science and technology became increasingly international but major developments were
concentrated in Europe and the U.S. Throughout the interwar years, physics remained
the center of most scientific activity, illuminating a universe that lacked any absolute
reality. In 1919 Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937) showed that the atom could be split.
By 1944 seven subatomic particles had been identified. Although few nonscientists
understood the revolution in physics, the implications of the new theories and
discoveries, as presented by newspapers and popular writers, were disturbing to millions
of men and women in the 1920s and 1930s.
1
The major benchmarks in scientific inquiry follow.
2
a. Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy
1915
Einstein announced his general theory of relativity, which explained the advance of
Mercury's perihelion and predicted the subsequently observed bending of light rays near
the sun.
3
1918
Harlow Shapley (1885–1972), from an extensive study of the distribution of globular
clusters and cepheid variable stars, increased the estimated size of our galaxy about ten
times. He envisioned the galaxy as a flattened lens-shaped system of stars in which the
solar system occupied a position far from the center.
1919
4
Rutherford found that the collision of alpha particles with nitrogen atoms resulted in
the disintegration of the nitrogen and the production of hydrogen nuclei (protons) and an
isotope of oxygen. He was the first person to achieve artificial transmutation of an
element.
5
1919
Arthur S. Eddington (1882–1944) and others, by studying data obtained during a total
solar eclipse, verified Einstein's prediction of the bending of light rays by the
gravitational field of large masses.
6
1919–29
Edwin P. Hubble (1889–1953) detected cepheid variable stars in the Andromeda
Nebula, a discovery that allowed him to determine the distances between galaxies.
7
1924
Louis-Victor de Broglie (1892–1987) determined from theoretical considerations that
the electron, which had been considered a particle, should behave as a wave under
certain circumstances. Experimental confirmation was obtained in 1927 by Clinton
Davisson (1881–1958) and Lester H. Germer (1896–1971).
8
1925
Wolfgang Pauli (1900–1958) announced the exclusion principle (in any atom no two
electrons have identical sets of quantum numbers). This principle was an important aid
in determining the electron structure of the heavier elements.
1925–26
9
Werner Karl Heisenberg (1901–76) and Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961)
independently, and in different ways, laid the theoretical foundations of the new
quantum mechanics, which, though violating classical notions of causality,
successfully predicts the behavior of atomic particles.
10
1927
George Lemaître (1894–1966), in order to explain the red shift in the spectra from
distant galaxies, introduced the concept of the expanding universe. Eddington pursued
research in this subject from 1930.
11
1928
Paul A. Dirac (1902–84), by combining quantum mechanics and relativity theory,
devised a relativistic theory of the electron.
12
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b. Chemistry, Biology, Geology
1915
Alfred Wegener (1880–1930) gave the classic expression of the controversial theory of
continental drift in Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane.
1
1921
Hans Spemann (1869–1941) postulated an organizer principle that was responsible for
the formative interaction between neighboring embryonic regions. He stimulated
contemporary embryologists to search for the inductive chemical molecule.
2
1927
Hermann J. Muller (1890–1967) announced that he had successfully induced mutations
in fruit flies with x-rays. This provided a useful experimental tool, yet in retrospect gave
warning to the generations of the 1940s and 1950s of a danger in the release of atomic
energy.
3
1929
Alexander Fleming (1881–1955) announced that the common mold Penicillium had an
inhibitory effect on certain pathogenic bacteria. It was not until 1943 under the pressures
of World War II, however, that the first antibiotic, penicillin, was successfully developed.
1930
4
Ronald A. Fisher (1890–1962) established in The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection
that superior genes have a significant selective advantage, thus testifying that Darwinian
evolution was compatible with genetics.
5
1941
George W. Beadle (1903–89) and Edward L. Tatum (1909–75) described an
experimental assay that evaluated the exact relationships between specific mutant genes
in mold and particular stages in the metabolic process.
6
1944
Ostwald T. Avery (1877–1955) and collaborators announced they had transmuted one
type of pneumococcus bacteria into a second type by the transfer of DNA molecules. (See
Science and Technology)
7
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(See 1913)
5. Technological Developments
The major achievements in technology follow.
1
a. Energy and Materials
1921
Tetraethyl lead, gasoline antiknock additive, produced by Thomas Midgley
(1889–1994).
2
1930–35
Development of first commercially practicable catalytic cracking system for petroleum
by Eugene J. Houdry (1892–1962).
3
1930–37
Development of gas turbine unit for jet propulsion in aircraft by Frank Whittle.
4
1942
DAWN OF THE NUCLEAR AGE. The first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
achieved at Stagg Field, Chicago, by Enrico Fermi (1901–54). The first full-scale use of
nuclear fuel to produce electricity occurred at Calder Hall (England) in 1956.
5
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b. Materials and Construction
1928
The first steel-frame, glass-curtain-wall building completed. By 1960 this technique was
practically universal for high buildings; developed particularly by L. Mies van der Rohe
(1886–1969).
1
1941
Shell molding, a revolutionary process producing more accurate castings cheaply,
invented by Johannes Croning. Powder metallurgy, although known since Wollaston's
work at the beginning of the 19th century, achieved extensive application in mid-20th
century.
2
1945
Industrial development of silicones proceeded apace for a wide variety of applications,
including lubricants for exceedingly high and low temperatures; binding of fiberglass;
water-repellent agents; etc.
3
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c. Machines and Industrial Techniques
1914
Conveyer-belt mass production employed in the U.S. most dramatically in Henry Ford's
assembly line for Model T Ford automobile, which became the symbol for American
industrial technique.
1
1915
Development of tank in warfare by British (Sir Ernest Swinton).
2
1920
J. C. Shaw developed a sensing device, controlled by a servomechanism, for a milling
machine. Hydraulic trace of J. W. Anderson (1927) allowed the reproduction of complex
shapes. Machine tools further supplemented by electrolytic and ultrasonic machines, and
cutting machines guided by an electron beam. Development of laser (light amplification
by simulated emission of radiation) by Theodore N. Maiman (1960); laser also used for
precision cutting.
3
1920 Ff
Managerial techniques improved through development of “scientific management,”
whose principles were first enunciated by Frederick W. Taylor (1856–1915) in the first
decade of the century. Taylor concentrated on time-motion studies. Other proponents of
4
“rationalized” production were Frank Gilbreth and Charles Bedaux. Quality control
developed 1926 ff.
1923
First mill for hot continuous wide strip rolling of steel, based on work of John B. Tytus.
5
1938
Ladislao J. and George Biro patented the ballpoint pen.
6
1941–45
Development of rockets and missiles during World War II.
7
1944
Harvard IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator, the first automatic generalpurpose digital computer, completed, ENIAC (electronic numerical integrator and
calculator), the first electronic digital computer, built in 1946. Development of specialpurpose computers and data processors (1950 ff.), including programmed teaching
machines.
8
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d. Agricultural Production and Food Technology
1917
Clarence Birdseye (1886–1956) began development of method for quick freezing of
foods in small containers; placed on market in 1929.
1
1939
Paul Muller synthesized DDT for use as an insecticide. Othmar Zeidler had prepared
DDT in 1874, but its insecticidal qualities had not been suspected.
2
1940 Ff
Development of artificial insemination to improve livestock breeding.
3
1945 Ff
Unit packaging of foodstuffs improved by development of plastic packaging films.
Trend toward prepared “convenience” foods for household use.
4
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e. Transportation and Communication
1920
Frank Conrad (1874–1941) of the Westinghouse Co. began broadcasting radio
programs in Pittsburgh, marking the beginning of radio as a mass communication
medium.
1
1922
Herbert T. Kalmus developed Technicolor, the first commercially successful color
process for motion pictures.
2
1926
Sound Motion Pictures. Although Edison had attempted to put together his phonograph
and motion picture inventions for sound movies as early as 1904, it was 1923 before de
Forest successfully demonstrated his phonofilm system for recording sound on the
motion picture film. The first motion picture with sound accompaniment was publicly
shown in 1926, the first talking picture in 1927.
3
1926 Ff
John L. Baird (1888–1946) successfully demonstrated television in England. His
mechanical system of television, similar to that of C.F. Jenkins in the U.S., was based on
Paul von Nipkov's rotating disk (1886) but had technical limitations; modern electronic
4
television developed from the cathode-ray tube (1897) of Ferdinand Braun and A.A.
Campbell-Swinton's proposals (1911) for use of a cathode ray to scan an image. The
crucial invention was the Iconoscope of the Russian American Vladimir Zworykin
(1889–1982), the device that transmits television images quickly and effectively. Philo
Farnsworth of the U.S. contributed the image dissector tube (1927). General
broadcasting of television began in England in 1936, in the U.S. in 1941, but languished
until after World War II. Peter C. Goldmark of Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)
demonstrated (1940) a sequential method of color television, which gave way to a
compatible electronic system developed by RCA in the 1950s.
1932
Edwin H. Land (1909–91) invented the first practical synthetic light-polarizing material
(polaroid glass), found useful in sunglasses, cameras, and scientific optical instruments.
In 1947 he invented the Polaroid Land camera, which developed the film inside the
camera and produced a photograph print within one minute; in 1962 he introduced color
film for his camera.
5
1933
Fluorescent lamps introduced for floodlighting and advertising. Developments leading
up to this included experiments by George Stokes (1852) and Alexandre Becquerel
(1859) to excite fluorescent materials by ultraviolet rays or in a discharge tube; Peter
Cooper-Hewitt's invention of the mercury vapor lamp (1901); the introduction of the
Neon lamp by Georges Claude and the work on cathodes by D.M. Moore and Wehnelt
in the 1900s; and J. Risler's application of powder to the outside of tubular discharge
lamps (1923). Subsequent developments have included increased cathode life and
improved fluorescent powders.
6
1933
Edwin H. Armstrong (1890–1954), pioneer radio inventor (regenerative, that is,
feedback, circuit, 1912, and superheterodyne circuit, 1918), perfected frequency
modulation (FM), providing static-free radio reception.
1937
7
Chester Carlson patented a new dry photographic process (Xerography) based upon
principles of photoconductivity and electrostatics.
8
1939
Igor Sikorsky (1889–1972) flew the first helicopter of his design. The first helicopter
capable of flight was the work of Ellehammer of Denmark (1912), based on C. Renard's
articulated rotor blade (1904) and G. A. Crocco's cyclic pitch control (1906). Juan de la
Cierva invented the autogiro (1922), differing from the helicopter in that its rotor
autorotated and the engine drove a normal propeller. Further development work was
done (1934–36) by Louis Breguet and Heinrich Focke.
9
1939
First test flight of a turbo-jet airplane (Heinkel) with an engine designed by Hans von
Ohain. Simultaneous and parallel work on jet airplanes in Britain, based on turbo-jet
engine designed by Frank Whittle (1930). In 1958 jet-powered transatlantic airline
service was inaugurated by BOAC and Pan-American Airways. In 1962 the British and
French governments announced plans to cooperate on the production of a jet-propelled
supersonic transport plane (the Concorde), and the U.S. government proposed American
production of a supersonic commercial plane the following year. The first plane to
exceed the speed of sound in level flight was the American rocket-propelled Bell X-1,
which reached Mach 1.06 (approximately 750 m.p.h.) on October 14, 1947.
10
1940–45
Development of radar (“radio-detection-and-ranging”) stimulated by World War II, for
detection of aircraft, blind-bombing techniques, and naval search equipment. Based on
Heinrich Hertz's demonstration (1887) that radio waves are reflected similarly to light
rays, the technique was first applied by Edward Appleton in Britain (1924) and G. Breit
and M. A. Tuve in the U.S. (1925) for investigating ionization in the upper atmosphere.
Robert A. Watson-Watt showed the possibilities of employing radio waves to detect
aircraft (1935); J.T. Randall and H.A.H. Boot developed the cavity magnetron for highpower microwave transmission. Simultaneously, radar development had been going on
in Germany and the U.S., including the development of equipment by Robert H. Page of
the Naval Laboratory. After 1940 Britain and the U.S. cooperated in radar development,
11
much of the work being done at the Radiation Laboratory in Cambridge, Mass.
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(See Aug. 6)
B. World War I, 1914–1918
Declarations of War
1914
July 28
Austria on Serbia
Aug. 1
Germany on Russia
Aug. 3
Germany on France
Aug. 4
Germany on Belgium
Great Britain on Germany
Aug. 5
Montenegro on Austria
Aug. 6
Austria on Russia
Serbia on Germany
Aug. 8
Montenegro on Germany
Aug. 12
France on Austria
Great Britain on Austria
Aug. 23
Japan on Germany
Aug. 25
Japan on Austria
Aug. 28
Austria on Belgium
Nov. 4
Russia on Turkey
Serbia on Turkey
Nov. 5
Great Britain on Turkey
France on Turkey
1915
May 23
Italy on Austria
1
June 3
San Marino on Austria
Aug. 21
Italy on Turkey
Oct. 14
Bulgaria on Serbia
Oct. 15
Great Britain on Bulgaria
Montenegro on Bulgaria
Oct. 16
France on Bulgaria
Oct. 19
Russia on Bulgaria
Italy on Bulgaria
1916
March 9 Germany on Portugal
March 15 Austria on Portugal
Aug. 27
Romania on Austria
Aug. 28
Italy on Germany
Germany on Romania
Aug. 30
Turkey on Romania
Sept. 1
Bulgaria on Romania
1917
April 6
U.S. on Germany
April 7
Panama on Germany
Cuba on Germany
April 13 Bolivia severs relations with Germany
April 23 Turkey severs relations with U.S.
June 27
Greece on Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, and Turkey
July 22
Siam on Germany and Austria
Aug. 4
Liberia on Germany
Aug. 14
China on Germany and Austria
Oct. 6
Peru severs relations with Germany
Oct. 7
Uruguay severs relations with Germany
Oct. 26
Brazil on Germany
Dec. 7
U.S. on Austria
Dec. 8
Ecuador severs relations with Germany
Dec. 10
Panama on Austria
Dec. 16
Cuba on Austria
1918
April 23 Guatemala on Germany
May 8
Nicaragua on Germany and Austria
May 23
Costa Rica on Germany
July 12
Haiti on Germany
July 19
Honduras on Germany
1. The Western Front, 1914–1915
THE WESTERN FRONT IN WORLD WAR I (MAP)
GERMAN STRATEGY was based on the Schlieffen Plan, which provided for the
concentration of the main German forces on the French front, the passage through
Belgium, and a huge wheeling movement to encircle Paris. This plan required a massing
of forces on the German right flank, but even before the outbreak of war the German
chief of the general staff, Gen. Helmuth von Moltke (1906–Sept. 14, 1914), had
transferred some divisions from the right to the left (Lorraine) wing in order to block an
invasion of south Germany. The Germans concentrated about 1.5 million men organized
in seven armies. On the eastern (Russian) frontier, German forces were relatively few in
number and were intended merely to delay the invaders until a decisive victory could be
won in the west.
2
The French plan of campaign (Plan 17) had been drawn up in 1913by Gen. Joseph
Joffre (chief of general staff, July 28, 1911–Dec. 12, 1916) under the influence and
teaching of Gen. Ferdinand Foch. The plan ignored the danger of a great German
advance through Belgium and depended entirely on a vigorous French offensive on the
right wing and center. The French reckoned on a Russian advance in the east with about
800,000 men on the 18th day of mobilization. Britain was expected to contribute about
150,000 men.
3
1914, Aug. 4
In the night the Germans crossed the frontier of Belgium, forcing Belgian troops back
to Brussels and Antwerp.
4
The French offensive (five armies) developed in the region between Mézières and
Belfort, Joffre hoping for a breakthrough on either side of Metz.
5
Aug. 14–25
Battle of the Frontiers. French forces met with failure in their invasion of Lorraine.
6
Aug. 23
Battle of Mons. First contact between Germans and British resulted in the latter's
retreat.
7
A German advance forced the French and British to fall back to the Marne River. The
French government moved to Bordeaux (Sept. 3–Dec. 1914). Joffre hastily formed a
sixth army on his left, to outflank the German fifth army. Meanwhile Moltke, believing a
decision had already been reached by August 25, detailed six corps from the second and
third armies to serve on the Russian front.
8
Aug. 30
Kluck gave up his advance to the west of Paris in order to keep contact with Bülow's
second army. By September 4 Kluck realized the danger threatening him from the sixth
French army before Paris. On the same day Moltke ordered Kluck and Bülow to turn
southwest to meet this danger. In the course of the operation a gap was allowed to open
between the first and second German armies.
9
Sept. 5–12
BATTLE OF THE MARNE. The opposing armies tried to outflank each other,
resulting in a German withdrawal west of Verdun and a cautious British and French
advance.
Oct. 10–Nov. 10
10
THE RACE FOR THE SEA. The Germans failed to push through to the Channel
ports.
11
By the end of 1914 the line on the western front had become fairly well fixed and the
war had become a war of position, confined largely to trench warfare. All but a tip of
Belgium was in the hands of the Germans. The Belgian government was established at
Le Havre, while the occupied area was governed successively by Gen. Colmar von der
Goltz (to Nov. 1914), Gen. Moritz von Bissing (to April 1917), and Gen. Ludwig von
Falkenhausen (to the end of the war). The Germans also retained about one-tenth of the
territory of France (21,000 square kilometers), including many of the most valuable coal
and iron mines and several important industrial areas. The line, which in the course of
the next three years did not vary by more than ten miles, left to the Allies Verdun,
Rheims, and Soissons and thence turned northward between Noyon (Ger.), Montdidier
(Fr.), Peronne (Ger.), Albert (Fr.), Bapaume (Ger.), Arras (Fr.), Lens, La Bassée
(Ger.), Armentières, Ypres (Brit.), Passchendaele, Dixmude (Ger.), Nieuport (Brit.),
Ostend (Ger.).
12
The operations in France in 1915 were devoid of broader interest. The commanders on
both sides persisted in the belief that a decision was to be won in this area, and
consequently devoted as many men and guns as possible to renewed efforts to break
through the opponents' line. None of these “offensives” had a notable effect. All were
characterized by appalling loss of life.
13
April 22–May 25
SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES.
14
May 9–June 18
SECOND BATTLE OF ARTOIS. After an unprecedented bombardment, the French
succeeded in breaking through on a six-mile front north of Arras and facing Douai.
15
The western front was unusually quiet during most of the summer, the Allies using this
period for preparation of a “great offensive” for the autumn.
16
Sept. 22–Nov. 6
SECOND BATTLE OF CHAMPAGNE. After many weeks of desperate fighting the
French offensive revealed little gain.
17
Sept. 25–Oct. 15
THIRD BATTLE OF ARTOIS. The failure of the great offensive of the French and
British, which Joffre had hoped would work like a pair of pincers to force the German
withdrawal from northern France, left the situation in the west substantially where it had
been a year previously. (See The Western Front, 1916–1917)
18
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2. The Eastern Front, 1914–1915
THE EASTERN FRONT IN WORLD WAR I (MAP)
The Russian plan of campaign (Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaievich, commander in
chief, Aug. 3, 1914–Sept. 5, 1915) was concerned primarily with Austria; large forces
were therefore concentrated on the Galician frontier. The Austrians (Archduke
Frederick, commander in chief, Gen. Conrad von Hötzendorff, chief of staff,
1912–17, commander in chief, 1917–July 16, 1918) on their part had drawn plans that
depended on German support through an advance on the Narev River. Pressure
elsewhere prevented the Germans from keeping this engagement, but the Austrians,
unable to abandon eastern Galicia, with its valuable oil wells, decided to advance from
Lemberg toward Lublin and Cholm to cut the railways to Warsaw.
1
1914, Aug. 26–Sept. 2
The Austrians won a great victory over the Russians (Battle of Zamosc-Komarov), but
at once the Russians, with much larger forces, began to drive back the Austrian right
wing.
2
Sept. 13
The Russians took Lemberg, obliging the Austrians to abandon eastern Galicia. At the
same time the Russians launched an attack upon the passes of the Carpathians leading
into northern Hungary (Sept. 24).
3
On the Serbian front the Austrians were able to concentrate fewer forces than originally
intended. They bombarded Belgrade (July 29) and crossed the Drina River (Aug. 13) to
begin the invasion of Serbia. After months of advances and reverses, the Austrians
captured Belgrade (Dec. 2).
4
The decisive battles on the eastern front in 1914, however, were won by the Germans. In
response to French appeals for action against the Germans, the Russians formed two
armies to invade East Prussia from the east and the south. Russian successes led to the
appointment of Gen. Erich von Ludendorff, who had distinguished himself at Liège
and was recognized as an outstanding staff officer, as junior officer and chief of staff to
Gen. (later Field Marshal) Paul von Hindenburg, a retired officer of no great
distinction.
5
Aug. 23
Hindenburg and Ludendorff arrived at Marienburg. The essence of this joint plan was to
concentrate the German army against the second Russian army (Gen. Alexander
Samsonov), which was beginning the invasion of East Prussia from the southeast.
Throughout these and later operations the Germans were aided greatly by the
interception of unciphered Russian messages, and by the unreadiness of Rennenkampf
(leader of the first Russian army) to do much to relieve Samsonov.
6
Aug. 26–30
BATTLE OF TANNENBERG. The Germans completely defeated Samsonov's army.
The Germans then turned on the first Russian army (Gen. Paul Rennenkampf), which
was obliged to fall back.
7
Sept. 6–15
BATTLE OF THE MASURIAN LAKES. The Germans advanced to the lower
Niemen River and occupied the gouvernement of Suvalki.
8
Early in October most of the German troops on this front had to be withdrawn for
operations farther south, so that the Russians were able to invade East Prussia for the
second time.
9
Meanwhile it was necessary for the Germans to do something to relieve the Austrians.
Hindenburg was made commander in chief of the German armies in the east (Sept.
10
18). The plan, as worked out by the German and Austrian staffs, was for a great
combined attack on Poland. The Austrians took the offensive in Galicia (Oct. 4),
relieved Przemysl, and forced the Russians to withdraw from the Carpathians.
Meanwhile the Germans (Mackensen), advancing on the Austrian left, pushed on
toward the Vistula.
Oct. 9–20
BATTLES OF WARSAW AND IVANGOROD. Russian forces pushed back Austrian
advances.
11
To relieve the pressure in the south, Hindenburg and Ludendorff planned a great
offensive, which, it was hoped, would knock the Russians out before the onset of winter.
They appealed to the high command for the transfer of large forces from the west, but
the demand was rejected by Gen. Erich von Falkenhayn (minister for war, 1906–Jan.
21, 1915; chief of the general staff, Sept. 14, 1914–Aug. 29, 1916), whose attention at
this time was concentrated on the drive for the Channel ports.
12
Nov. 16–25
THE BATTLES OF LODZ AND LOWICZ. After initial setbacks, Lodz fell to the
Germans (Dec. 6).
13
On the Galician front the Austrians attempted an offensive to coincide with the German
advance.
14
Dec. 5–17
BATTLE OF LIMANOVA. The Austrians failed to break the Russian position before
Cracow. Throughout the winter the Russians were within 30 miles of the city.
15
In Serbia the Austrians met with even less success as the Serbs forced them out of
Serbia (Dec. 3–6).
16
During the winter months the fighting on the Russian front was inconclusive.
17
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3. The War at Sea, 1914–1915
The British Grand Fleet (Adm. Sir John Jellicoe, commander, Aug. 4, 1914–Nov. 29,
1916) consisted of 20 dreadnoughts and a corresponding number of battle cruisers,
cruisers, destroyers, and other craft. The fleet was based on Scapa Flow, Cromarty, and
Rosyth, with Harwich as base for destroyers and submarines. A second fleet, consisting
largely of pre-dreadnought types, guarded the Channel. The Germans had a High Seas
Fleet of 13 dreadnoughts, based in the North Sea ports. The Germans remained in port,
despite the efforts of Adm. Alfred von Tirpitz to bring about a more active policy.
1
1914
The Germans devoted their attention to mine-laying and submarine work. After an
attempted German submarine raid on Scapa Flow (Oct. 18), the Grand Fleet was
withdrawn from that base and concentrated, for a time, on the west coast of Scotland.
2
Apart from occasional sinkings, the war in the North Sea was restricted to raids.
3
The largest naval battles occurred between German ships in foreign stations and the
Allied fleets assigned to hunt them down (Nov. 1: naval action off Coronel; Dec. 8:
Battle of the Falkland Islands).
4
From the very beginning of the war the question of neutral shipping had arisen. Both
the British and French governments issued new and more rigorous interpretations of
contraband (Aug. 20, 25, 1914), adding greatly to the list of contraband goods. To this
the U.S. government replied (Oct. 22) that it would insist on the observance of the
existing rules of international law. Nevertheless the British continued to revise the list of
contraband and to modify the Declaration of London of 1909. On Nov. 2 they declared
the North Sea a military zone, and on Jan. 30, 1915, the British admiralty ordered British
merchant ships to fly neutral ensigns or none in the vicinity of the British Isles.
5
1915, Feb. 4
The German government announced that a submarine blockade of Great Britain would
begin on Feb. 18. To this the London government replied with an order in council
(March 11) ordering the seizure of all goods presumably destined for the enemy. Cotton
was declared contraband on March 18.
6
May 7
LUSITANIA SUNK off the coast of Ireland, with a loss of 1,198 lives, including 139
Americans.
7
The sinking of the Lusitania brought the U.S. and Germany to the verge of war and
created much greater tension than had developed between the Americans and Allied
governments over questions of contraband and blockade. In a speech on May 9
President Wilson publicly denounced the sinking, but the note of protest to Berlin (May
13) was somewhat milder in tone, demanding reparations and abstinence from such
practices in the future.
8
June 8
William J. Bryan resigned as U.S. secretary of state because of unwillingness to follow
the president in his policy. Bryan was succeeded by Robert Lansing.
9
On the very next day a much stronger note was dispatched to Berlin, without eliciting a
disavowal or assurance for the future. A third note was sent on July 21.
10
Sept. 1
The German government gave assurances that no liners would be sunk in the future
without warning and without some provision for the safety of noncombatants, provided
the ship made no effort to offer resistance or to escape. This resulted from a second
period of acute tension after the sinking of the Arabic (Aug. 19), which claimed two
American lives. The German ambassador at Washington, Count Johann von
Bernstorff, had finally convinced his government of the real danger of war. These
assurances were reasonably well observed during the remainder of the year, and so the
first phase of the submarine crisis came to an end. (See The War at Sea, 1916–1917)
11
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4. The Balkan Situation, 1914–1915
The three Balkan states, Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania, all exhausted by the Balkan
Wars of 1912–13 (See June 29–July 30), proclaimed neutrality at the beginning of the
European conflict. The Russians entertained high hopes of securing the aid of Romania,
which would have been an important factor in the Galician campaign. On various
occasions (July 30, Sept. 16) they attempted to bait the Bucharest government with
promises of Transylvania, but so long as King Carol lived (d. Oct. 10, 1914) there was
no hope of Romanian intervention, since the king strongly regretted Romania's failure to
side with its Austrian and German allies. King Ferdinand felt morally less bound, but
the prime minister, Ion Bratianu (premier and foreign minister, Jan. 14, 1914–Feb. 6,
1918) was determined to drive a hard bargain.
1
1914, Dec. 6
Bratianu rejected Allied suggestions that Romania guarantee Greece against Bulgarian
attack or make concessions in the Dobrudja to secure Bulgarian support.
2
1915, Jan. 25
Bratianu refused to join Greece in support of Serbia.
3
May 3
The Romanians asked not only for Transylvania, but also for part of Bukovina and the
Banat.
4
July
The Russians were prepared to concede most of these demands, but Bratianu was then
unwilling to act unless the Allies had 500,000 men in the Balkans and the Russians
200,000 in Bessarabia (Nov. 1915).
5
The POSITION OF BULGARIA became crucial after the entry of Turkey into the war
in Nov. 1914.
6
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5. The Intervention of Italy, 1915
THE ITALIAN FRONT IN WORLD WAR I (MAP)
On the plea that the Austrian action against Serbia was an offensive action and therefore
incompatible with the terms of the Triple Alliance, the Italian government in July 1914
refused to join the Central powers and declared neutrality (Aug. 3). But almost from the
outset the Italian government maintained that under Art. VII of the Triple Alliance, Italy
was entitled to some compensation to counterbalance the Austrian gains in the Balkans.
These claims were advanced the more persistently when the foreign ministry was given to
Baron Sidney Sonnino (Nov. 3), following the sudden demise of Marquis Antonio di
San Giuliano (Oct. 16).
1
The necessity of making some concession to Italy in order to keep it neutral was fully
recognized in Berlin, but the Austrian foreign minister (Baron Leopold von Berchtold)
refused to entertain suggestions of territorial cessions.
2
1914, Dec. 20
Prince Bernhard von Bülow, former German chancellor, arrived in Rome on a special
mission. He admitted the Italian claim to the Trentino, and the German government made
every effort to persuade the Austrians to give in (mission of Count Betho von Wedel to
Vienna, Jan. 16, 1915).
3
1915, Jan. 13
Count Stephen Burian appointed Austro-Hungarian foreign minister to replace
Berchtold. Burian finally agreed to the cession of territory (March 9) but was willing to
4
cede the Trentino only after the conclusion of peace. This was not enough to satisfy the
Italians, who were already negotiating with the Entente powers. Sonnino demanded of
Austria the immediate cession of the South Tyrol, the district of Gorizia and Gradisca,
the establishment of Trieste and its neighborhood as a free state, the cession to Italy of
the Curzolari Islands off the Dalmation coast, and full sovereignty over the island of
Saseno and over Valona on the Albanian coast (Italian occupation of Saseno, Oct. 30,
1914; “provisional” occupation of Valona, Dec. 26, 1914). These demands were
exorbitant, from the Austrian point of view, but the Germans finally (May 10) induced
their allies to agree to substantially all the Italians were holding out for. As it turned out,
the Austrians yielded too late.
April 26
Britain, France, Russia, and Italy concluded the secret Treaty of London. Antonio
Salandra, the Italian prime minister, had envisaged Italian intervention on the Entente
side almost since the beginning of war, but the noninterventionists, led by Giovanni
Giolitti, were too strong to make that at first a practicable policy. During the winter,
however, the interventionist movement gathered strength (Mussolini broke with the
Socialist Party and became an active proponent of intervention). The western powers,
meeting with failure on the western front, were ready to offer much. Negotiations were
embarked upon in Feb. 1915 but were delayed by the opposition of the Russian foreign
minister, Sazonov, to the assignment of the Dalmatian coast to Italy, in view of Serbian
aspirations in that region. Under the terms of the treaty as finally concluded, a military
convention was to be drawn up to protect Italy against the full force of Austrian attack.
The political clauses promised Italy the South Tyrol and Trentino, Gorizia, Gradisca,
Trieste, Istria, the most important Dalmatian Islands and the southern part of the
province of Dalmatia, Saseno and Valona, and full sovereignty over the Dodecanese
Islands (occupied since 1912). Moreover, in the event of the partition of Turkey, Italy
was to have the province of Adalia; and in the event of Britain and France enlarging their
empires by the addition of German colonies, Italy was to receive extensions of its
territory in Libya, Eritrea, and Somaliland. Italy was further to receive a loan, and
ultimately part of the war indemnity. The Entente powers were to support Italy in
preventing the Holy See from taking diplomatic steps for the conclusion of peace. Italy
was to commence hostilities within a month of the signature of the treaty.
5
May 3
The Italian government denounced the Triple Alliance.
6
May 10
Conclusion of a naval convention among Britain, France, and Italy.
7
May 23
Italy mobilized and declared war on Austro-Hungary. Germany at once severed
diplomatic relations (May 24), but for various financial reasons Italy did not declare war
on Germany until Aug. 28, 1916.
8
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6. The Middle East, 1914–1918
THE MIDDLE EASTERN THEATER OF WAR, 1914-18 (MAP)
1914, Aug. 2
Conclusion of a secret Ottoman-German alliance by top-ranking officials, including
prime minister Said Halim and minister of war Enver Pasha. A majority within the
Ottoman cabinet, however, favored neutrality and delayed the empire's entry into the war.
1
Aug. 10–11
Arrival of the German warships Goeben and Breslau at the Dardanelles after a long
chase through the Mediterranean by the British navy. The Ottoman government allowed
the ships into Istanbul and later purchased them.
2
Oct. 29–30
BOMBARDMENT OF RUSSIAN PORTS in the Black Sea by Ottoman warships.
The OTTOMANS thereby ENTERED THE WAR on the side of the Central powers.
Nov. 1
3
Declaration of neutrality by the Iranian government.
4
Nov. 2
RUSSIA DECLARED WAR ON THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. Great Britain and
France followed on Nov. 5. The British immediately annexed Cyprus.
5
Nov. 7
Proclamation of a jihad (holy war) against the Entente by the Ottoman sultan in his
capacity as caliph. The announcement had no material effect on the course of the war.
6
Nov. 22
British occupation of Basra in Iraq.
7
Dec. 17
Beginning of the Ottoman offensive in the Caucasus against the Russians.
8
Dec. 18
Imposition of a British protectorate over Egypt, which was officially detached from
the Ottoman Empire. The British also deposed the khedive, Abbas Hilmi II, and
replaced him with his uncle, Husayn Kamil, who assumed the title of sultan.
9
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(See Sept. 5)
8. The Eastern Front, 1916–1917
1916, June 4
The great BRUSILOV OFFENSIVE, initiated somewhat prematurely in order to meet
the Italian appeals to distract the Austrians in the Trentino. Brusilov (appointed to the
command of the Russian southern front, April 4) had planned the offensive for June 15, to
coincide with Joffre's great offensive on the Somme. But the Brusilov offensive was
meant to be followed by an even larger operation farther north. After heavy fighting and
initial gains, the Russians failed to reach either Kovel or Lemberg. Their losses were
about a million men, and the whole operation left the army demoralized and discontented.
1
The situation in the east was dominated, in 1917, by the developments of the Russian
Revolution (See 1917, March 8). The provisional government (Paul Miliukov, foreign
minister, March 15–May 16, 1917) was strongly in favor of prosecution of the war in the
hope of realizing the national aspirations. The same was true of Alexander Kerensky
(minister of war, May 16, prime minister, July 20), who hoped to combat disruptive
tendencies and galvanize the country by a new military effort.
2
1917, July 1
Brusilov began a great offensive on the Galician front.
3
Aug. 1
Brusilov was succeeded by Gen. Lavr Kornilov.
4
Sept. 8–14
Kornilov marched on Petrograd as leader of a counterrevolutionary movement, which
failed.
5
Nov. 7 (Oct. 25 Old Style)
BOLSHEVIK COUP D'ÉTAT IN RUSSIA.
6
Nov. 28
The new Bolshevik regime offered the Germans an armistice and peace.
7
Dec. 15
ARMISTICE CONCLUDED ON THE EASTERN FRONT. (See The Settlements in
Eastern Europe, 1917–1918)
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(See 1915)
9. The Italian Front, 1916
The Austrian chief of staff, Conrad von Hötzendorff, had for some time been urging
upon the German high command the desirability of massing troops in the Trentino for an
attack upon the Italian rear and flank, but Falkenhayn had flatly refused to contribute
forces that he needed for the operations at Verdun. The Austrians decided to make the try
alone. As many troops as possible were withdrawn from the Russian front and prepared
for an advance on the Asiago plateau.
1
1916, May 15–June 3
The Austrian offensive in the Trentino. After initial setbacks, the Italians recovered
lost territory, but at a cost of 150,000 men.
2
During the first part of 1917 the Italian effort continued to center on the Isonzo (tenth
battle (May 12–June 8) and eleventh, and last, battle (Aug. 17–Sept. 12)). As result of
two years of operations the Italians had advanced only about ten miles, or halfway to
Trieste.
3
In part the Italian failure was due to inadequate artillery and ammunition. Gen. Luigi
Cadorna had urged Britain and France to send supplies and men in large numbers, so
that a knockout blow might be delivered against war-weary Austria. Foch and Lloyd
George favored this plan, but Haig had his way and proceeded to the offensive in
Flanders.
4
Meanwhile Ludendorff decided to follow the annihilation of Serbia and Romania with a
similar assault on Italy. Six divisions of German troops were sent to reinforce the nine
Austrian divisions on the Isonzo front. It was decided to attack on the Upper Isonzo, near
Caporetto, in the hope of breaking through and advancing as far as the Tagliamento
River.
5
Oct. 24–Dec. 26
THE CAPORETTO CAMPAIGN. After a complete rout of the Italians on the first day,
Italian forces, bolstered by British and French troops, held firm at the Piave River. The
Italians had lost almost 300,000 men taken prisoner and even more than that in deserters.
6
Nov. 7
Cadorna was replaced by Gen. Armando Diaz, who devoted himself to establishing a
defensive position and above all to restoring the morale of the troops.
7
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(See Feb. 24)
10. The Balkan Front, 1916–1917
a. Greece
Throughout the summer and autumn of 1916 the Greek situation continued to be most
unsatisfactory from the Entente viewpoint.
1
1916, May 26
A Bulgarian-German force occupied Fort Rupel in Greek Macedonia, this action
enhancing the suspicion that King Constantine was secretly bound to the Central powers.
2
June 6–22
The “pacific blockade” of Greece by the Entente powers. France and Britain sent
Greece an ultimatum (June 21) demanding demobilization of the Greek army and the
institution of responsible government. The Greek government yielded. The Skouloudis
ministry resigned and a Zaimis cabinet was organized. The army was put on a peace
footing (June 27) and new elections were arranged for.
3
July 25
The reconstituted Serbian army, which had been shipped from Corfu to Saloniki, came
into action on that front. Russian troops from France and an Italian contingent also
arrived (July 30, Aug. 11).
4
Aug. 30
A Venizelist, pro-Ally movement, fostered by Gen. Sarrail, took place at Saloniki.
5
Sept. 29
Venizelos and Adm. Paul Condouriotis established a provisional government in Crete.
Venizelos then (Oct. 9) went to Saloniki, where the provisional government declared
war on Germany and Bulgaria (Nov. 23).
6
Oct. 10
The Entente powers, incensed by the surrender of the Greek forces at Kavalla,
submitted an ultimatum to Athens demanding the surrender of the Greek fleet. The
Athens government (Lambros ministry, Oct. 10–May 3, 1917) yielded (Oct. 11),
whereupon the Entente powers demanded (Nov. 19) the dismissal of the representatives
of the Central powers at Athens and the surrender of war materiel. These demands were
rejected (Nov. 30), and in consequence French and British landing parties debarked at
Piraeus. They withdrew again on Dec. 1 after conflicts with the Greeks.
7
Dec. 8
Blockade of Greece. The Allies demanded (Dec. 14) the complete withdrawal of Greek
forces from Thessaly. The Athens government once more gave in (Dec. 15), but on Dec.
19 the British government decided to recognize the provisional government of Venizelos.
8
The Macedonian front was quiet during the winter of 1916–17.
9
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b. Romania
Since the spring of 1916 the Russian government had been redoubling its efforts to bring
Romania into the war. The success of the Brusilov offensive and the readiness of the
Russian government and its allies to recognize the Romanian claims to the Bukovina and
Banat as well as to Transylvania resulted in the conclusion of a political and military
agreement (Aug. 18).
1
1916, Aug. 27
ROMANIA DECLARED WAR ON AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. Germany declared war
on Romania, and Italy finally declared war on Germany (Aug. 28). Turkey and Bulgaria
declared war on Romania a few days later (Aug. 30, Sept. 1, respectively).
2
Dec. 1–5
The Romanian government was hastily moved to Jassy, and the capital, Bucharest, fell
into the hands of the enemy (Dec. 6).
3
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(See Sept. 1)
11. The War at Sea, 1916–1917
The second half of 1915 and the first half of 1916 were not marked by any striking events
of naval warfare. The Germans continued their efforts to reduce British preponderance by
submarine and mine destruction, and at the same time extended their operations against
merchant shipping.
1
1916, Feb. 21
The German government notified the U.S. government that thenceforth armed
merchantmen would be treated as cruisers. The “extended” submarine campaign began
March 1.
2
March 24
The Sussex sunk by torpedo in the English Channel with the loss of American lives.
Acrimonious debate between Washington and Berlin, culminating in an American
ultimatum. The Germans agreed to give up unrestricted submarine warfare for the time
being (May 10).
3
Meanwhile (Jan. 1916) Adm. Reinhardt Scheer had succeeded Adm. Hugo von Pohl in
the command of the German High Seas Fleet. The famous minister of the navy, Adm.
von Tirpitz, resigned (March 14) in protest against the emperor's unwillingness to make
full use of German sea power. He was succeeded by Adm. Eduard von Capelle.
4
May 31–June 1
BATTLE OF JUTLAND (SKAGERRAK).
5
The German high command reckoned confidently on winning the war through the
destruction of the British food supply. The prospects were indeed excellent. Already in
the last months of 1916 German submarines had destroyed 300,000 tons of shipping a
month. By the beginning of 1917 the Germans had about 120 submarines, the number
being increased to 134 by Oct. 1917.
6
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12. The War in the Air, 1914–1918
Although only France had done much before the war to develop the military use of the
airplane, throughout the war the British and the Germans were the main antagonists.
1
1914, Aug. 30
The First German airplane raid on Paris.
2
Sept. 22, Oct. 8, Nov. 21
British airplanes raided the German flying-fields at Düsseldorf, Köln, and
Friedrichshafen.
3
Dec. 21
The first German air raid on England (Dover).
4
On the western front, and on other fronts to a lesser extent, the airplane was used for
reconnaissance, but almost immediately (Sept. 1914) experiments were made by the
British in wireless communication between airplanes and artillery, in aerial photography,
and in bomb-dropping. There was not much aerial combat until the middle of 1915.
5
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13. The War in the Colonies, 1914–1918
Most of the German colonies were seized by the British and French during the first
months of the war (See Overview).
1
1914, Aug. 8
The British opened hostilities in German East Africa by bombarding the coast towns of
Bagamoyo and Dar-es-Salaam. Indian forces were then brought to East Africa for the
campaign. But the German commander (Gen. Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck) defeated a
greatly superior landing force in the Battle of Tanga (Nov. 2–5, 1914). The campaign
remained desultory until in Nov. 1915 the British secured naval control of Lake
Tanganyika, and landing forces took Tanga (July 7, 1916) and Bagamoyo (Aug. 15,
1916). Gen. Jan Smuts, with a force of Afrikaners and Portuguese, now began to push
the operations. Dar-es-Salaam fell (Sept. 4), then Lindi (Sept. 16) and Tabora (Sept.
19). Lettow-Vorbeck and his troops were obliged to fall back to the southeast corner of
the colony. The campaign was resumed in 1917, when the Germans defeated their
enemies at Mahiwa Oct. 15–18, 1917) and began the invasion of Portuguese East Africa.
Lettow-Vorbeck advanced almost to the mouth of the Zambezi but then fell back to Lake
Nyasa. On Nov. 2, 1918, he began the invasion of Rhodesia. The armistice went into
effect on Nov. 14, 1918, at which time the Germans were still in the field.
2
Aug. 23
Japan declared war on Germany and began to land forces in Shantung for an attack on
the German position at Tsingtao. The Japanese were joined by a British detachment. The
bombardment of Tsingtao was begun in October, and was accompanied by an attack
from the land side. On Nov. 7 the fortress was obliged to capitulate. During this same
period the Japanese naval forces occupied a number of the German islands (Marshall
3
Islands, Marianas, Palau, Carolines).
Aug. 26
Togoland defense force capitulated to an Anglo-French force. The colony was divided
between the British and the French in agreements of Aug. 26, 1914, and Dec. 27, 1916.
4
Aug. 30
A New Zealand expeditionary force occupied Samoa.
5
Sept. 11
An Australian force landed on the Bismarck Archipelago. German forces in New
Guinea surrendered to Australians (Sept. 21).
6
Sept. 7
A British force from Nigeria invaded the Cameroons and took Duala (Sept. 27). The
French invaded the colony from the south and east. The Germans were obliged to fall
back and ultimately crossed into Spanish territory (Feb. 9, 1916).
7
Sept. 19
A British force landed at Lüderitz Bay, German Southwest Africa. The Union of South
Africa decided to prosecute the war in the German colony, and Gen. Louis Botha
crossed the Orange River, taking Swakopmund (Jan. 14, 1915). He defeated the German
forces at Riet and Treckkopje (April 26, 1915), took Windhoek (May 12, 1915), and
finally forced the 3,500 German and colonial troops to capitulate at Otawi (July 9, 1915).
8
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14. Peace Negotiations, 1916–1917, and the Intervention of the United
States, 1917
From the very outbreak of the war, President Wilson appears to have believed that
ultimately the opportunity would present itself for the U.S. government to step in as
mediator.
1
1916, Jan.–Feb
The president's close friend and intimate adviser Col. Edward M. House visited Europe
and consulted with leading statesmen. His conferences with Sir Edward Grey resulted in
the so-called House memorandum of Feb. 22, which stated that the president was ready,
whenever Britain and France thought the time opportune, to propose a peace conference.
If the proposal were accepted by the Allies but rejected by Germany, the U.S. would
probably enter the war on the Allied side. The terms on which the U.S. would mediate
would include the restoration of Belgium and Serbia, the retrocession of Alsace-Lorraine
to France, the acquisition of Constantinople by Russia, and the transfer of the Italianspeaking parts of Austria to Italy. Poland was to be independent. Germany would retain
some colonies and perhaps be given more.
2
Public opinion in the U.S. was still distinctly divided, but sentiment for peace was
prevalent except in the eastern states, where there was some feeling for intervention on
the Allied side (influence of British propaganda, etc.). The president was re-elected (Nov.
7, 1916) very largely on a platform of peace, but he applied himself almost at once to the
resumption of his mediatory efforts.
3
Dec. 12
The German government appealed to the U.S. to inform the Entente governments that
the Central powers were prepared to negotiate peace. Failure of the Germans to
mention any specific terms, and the fact that all the advantages were on their side, made it
relatively easy for the Allied governments to reject the German advances (Dec. 30).
4
Dec. 18
President Wilson transmitted his own proposals to the warring powers. He suggested
that the belligerents state their terms for peace and for arrangements to guarantee the
world against renewal of conflict. The German, Austrian, and Turkish governments
replied (Dec. 26) in an appreciative way, but reiterated their opinion that the best method
would be to call a meeting for exchange of views. No definite terms were mentioned. The
Allied powers in their reply (Jan. 10, 1917) named specific terms. These included the
restoration of Belgium, Serbia, and Montenegro; the evacuation of French, Russian, and
Romanian territory, with just reparation; the reorganization of Europe on the basis of
nationalities; the restoration of territory previously taken from the Allies; the liberation of
Italians, Slavs, Romanians, and Czechoslovaks from foreign rule; the freeing of subject
nationalities under Turkish rule; and the expulsion of the Turks from Europe.
5
The far-reaching nature of the Allied terms, at a moment when the military situation was
by no means in their favor, estranged even Wilson, who still stuck by the idea of “peace
without victory” (speech to the Senate, Jan. 22). The first step, however, was to elicit
from the Germans a concrete statement of aims. These were confidentially communicated
to the president on Jan. 29: restitution of the part of Alsace occupied by the German
forces; acquisition of a strategic and economic zone between Germany and Poland on the
one hand and Russia on the other; return of colonies and the granting to Germany of
colonial territory in accord with its population and economic needs; restoration of
occupied France; renunciation of economic obstacles to normal commerce; compensation
for German enterprises and civilians damaged by the war; freedom of the seas, and so on.
6
Though this program was anything but hopeful, the president and the German
ambassador, Count Johann von Bernstorff, continued to negotiate. But these
discussions were cut short by the decision of the Germans to begin unrestricted
submarine warfare.
7
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(See Dec. 15) (See 1917, Jan)
15. The Settlements in Eastern Europe, 1917–1918
While discussion of peace among the western powers led to an impasse, the winter of
1917–18 produced a settlement in the east.
1
1916, Nov. 5
The Germans, in occupation of Poland, announced the formation of an independent
Polish state. The object of this move, inspired by the military men, was to win over the
Poles and induce them to enlist on the German side. This hope was sadly disappointed.
2
1917, March 30
The Russian provisional government recognized the independence of Poland.
3
April 5
The British government adhered to the principle of an independent and united Poland.
4
Sept. 12
The Central powers granted a constitution to what was formerly Russian Poland and
appointed a regency council (Oct. 15).
Nov. 7
5
The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia (See Nov. 7). Lenin and his followers, who
regarded the war as a capitalist and imperialist venture, were in favor of a peace without
annexations or indemnities, and were determined to make peace, which the Russian
people yearned for. The old Russian Empire, indeed, was already dissolving.
6
Nov. 20
The Ukrainians proclaimed the Ukrainian People's Republic.
7
Nov. 21
The Bolshevik government, having invited all belligerents (Nov. 8) to make peace on the
basis of no annexations and no indemnities, and having elicited no reply, opened
separate discussions with the Central powers.
8
Nov. 28
The local Diet proclaimed the independence of Estonia.
9
Dec. 3
Opening of peace conference at Brest-Litovsk. Germany (Kühlmann), Austria
(Czernin), and their allies negotiated an armistice with Russia (represented by Leon
Trotsky).
10
Dec. 6
Finland proclaimed its independence.
11
Dec. 23
Proclamation of the Moldavian (Bessarabian) Republic.
12
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16. The End of the Habsburg Monarchy
By the summer of 1918 the Habsburg Monarchy was already in full process of
dissolution. Disorders were common in the larger centers, parliamentary government had
had to be given up, and desertions from the army had reached a large scale. In Russia, in
France, and in Italy there had been formed Czech, Polish, and Yugoslav legions that
were fighting for the Allies, while national councils of these subject nationalities were
springing up not only in the provincial capitals but also in Paris and London.
1
1918, April 10
Meeting of the Congress of Oppressed Austrian Nationalities in Rome. Here the
Czech, southern Slav (Yugoslav), Polish, and Romanian representatives proclaimed the
right of self-determination, denounced the Habsburg government as an obstacle to free
development of the nations, and recognized the need for fighting against it.
2
April 21
The Italian government recognized the Czechoslovak National Council as a de facto
government.
3
May 29
Secretary Lansing declared the sympathy of the U.S. for the Czechoslovaks and
Yugoslavs.
June 3
4
Allied declarations were made supporting the national aspirations of Poles,
Czechoslovaks, and Yugoslavs.
5
June 15–24
Battle of the Piave. The Austrians crossed the river but were unable to maintain their
position. They withdrew again after losing some 100,000 men. From this time on there
was steady demoralization of the army.
6
June 30
Italy and France officially recognized the independence of Czechoslovakia. Britain
followed suit on Aug. 13, and the U.S. on Sept.3.
7
In view of the rapid disintegration of the monarchy, the Austrians made a last bid for
military victory.
8
Sept. 15
The Austrian government appealed to President Wilson to call an informal conference to
discuss peace. This plea was rejected by Wilson.
9
Oct. 4
The Austrians joined the Germans in appealing for an armistice (See Oct. 4).
10
Oct. 16
Emperor Charles proclaimed the reorganization of the non-Hungarian part of the
monarchy as a federal state, with complete self-government for the subject
nationalities. This move was patently belated.
Oct. 24–Nov. 4
11
BATTLE OF VITTORIO VENETO. Diaz attacked the Austrian front all the way
from the Trentino to the Adriatic. The Austrians held out for a week on the Monte
Grappa, but on the lower Piave they collapsed completely. The Italians advanced to
Vittorio Veneto (Oct. 30), by which time the Austrian armies were in a state of
dissolution, several hundred thousand men being captured and the remainder streaming
back toward home. The Italians took Trieste (Nov. 3) and Fiume (Nov. 5).
12
Oct. 27
Count Julius Andrássy (succeeded Burian as Austrian foreign minister, Oct. 25)
notified Wilson that Austria was willing to recognize the rights of the subject
nationalities and to make a separate peace.
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(See July 31–Nov. 10) (See Aug. 1)
17. Operations in the West, 1918
The tremendous gains made by the Germans in the east did not serve to improve the
situation with respect to the Western powers. On the contrary, it was generally felt that
the terms imposed on Russia and Romania were irrefutable proof of Germany's
expansionist aims. In the West the demands for peace died away and the allied
governments were able to take a stronger line than ever.
1
1917, Nov. 27
The Supreme War Council had been established, consisting of the leading statesmen,
with their military advisers (first Sir Henry Wilson, Foch, Cadorna, and Bliss). Even this
new board was unable to establish harmony.
2
The Germans, now disillusioned about the submarine campaign, fully cognizant of the
war-weariness of their allies, and feeling acutely the pinch of the blockade, decided to
stake everything on a decision in the west, which it was hoped could be reached before
the Americans arrived in great force. Ludendorff planned a series of crushing blows to
be delivered against the British on a 60-mile front south of Arras, by which he hoped to
break through, roll up the opposing forces, and drive them westward to the sea.
3
The British expected an attack but not along the southern part of their front, so that the
fifth army (Gen. Sir Hubert Gough) was left holding an extensive front with relatively
few forces.
4
1918, Jan. 5
Lloyd George, in an address to the Trades Unions Congress, formulated the British
war aims. These included the restoration of Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro, and the
occupied parts of France, Italy, and Romania. In addition, a “reconsideration” of the great
5
wrong done to France in 1871; the establishment of an independent Poland “comprising
all those genuinely Polish elements who desire to form part of it”; genuine selfgovernment of the nationalities in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy; satisfaction of the
Italian national claims, and of Romanian aspirations; and “recognition of the separate
national conditions” of Arabia, Armenia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine. Lloyd
George envisaged further some future organization to limit armaments and prevent war.
Jan. 8
In an address to Congress President Wilson outlined a peace program consisting of
Fourteen Points, as follows: (1) Open covenants openly arrived at. (2) Absolute freedom
of navigation alike in peace and war, except as the seas might be closed by international
action to enforce international covenants. (3) The removal, so far as possible, of all
economic barriers. (4) Adequate guaranties that armaments would be reduced to the
lowest point consistent with domestic safety. (5) An impartial adjustment of all colonial
claims on the principle that the interests of the population must have equal weight with
the claims of the government. (6) The evacuation of Russian territory and the free
determination of its own political and national policy. (7) Evacuation and restoration of
Belgium. (8) Evacuation and restoration of French territory and righting of the wrong
done to France in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine. (9) Readjustment of the frontiers of Italy
along clearly recognizable lines of nationality. (10) Opportunity for autonomous
development for the peoples of Austria-Hungary. (11) Evacuation and restoration of
Romanian, Serbian, and Montenegrin territory, together with access to the sea for Serbia.
(12) The Turkish parts of the Ottoman Empire to be given a secure sovereignty, but the
other nationalities to be given an opportunity for autonomous development, and the
Dardanelles to be permanently opened to the ships of all nations under international
guaranties. (13) An independent Poland, to include territories indisputably Polish, with
free and secure access to the sea. (14) A general association of nations to be formed to
afford mutual guaranties of political independence and territorial integrity to great and
small states alike.
6
The Allied war aims could be realized only through military victory, and prospects for
this were not very good at a time when the Germans were able to transfer troops from the
east to the west and when the American forces were not yet numerous enough to make
much difference. Some efforts had been made, however, to establish greater coordination
of effort among the Allies.
7
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(See Aug. 1)
18. The Peace Settlements
TERRITORIAL CHANGES FOLLOWING WORLD WAR I (MAP)
a. The Treaty of Versailles
1919, Jan. 18
The peace conference was formally opened at Paris, with 70 delegates representing 27 of
the victorious powers. The Germans were excluded until the terms were ready for
submission. The German request for a peace on the basis of Wilson's Fourteen Points
(See Jan. 8) had been granted by the Allied note of Nov. 5, 1918, with two reservations,
but the Fourteen Points receded into the background as the conflict of views and
interests developed at the conference. President Wilson, received with the wildest
enthusiasm when he arrived in Europe in mid-December, represented the new idealism
in international relations and was intent primarily on securing the adoption of a plan for
a League of Nations, to be included in the peace treaty. Lloyd George, the chief
representative of Great Britain and the empire, was disposed to make a moderate peace,
but was deeply committed by promises made in the general election recently held, to the
effect that the war criminals would be brought to justice and that Germany would be
made to pay for the war. Clemenceau, in turn, was frankly the exponent of the old
diplomacy, being intent on the interests of France, and on provisions for the security of
France. Both Britain and France were bound further by their agreements with Italy, by
commitments in the Near East, and so on. The Italian prime minister, Vittorio Orlando,
played a secondary role, but the foreign minister, Sidney Sonnino, stood forth as an
unbending champion of Italian claims against Austria and against the new Yugoslav
1
state.
The plenary sessions of the conference were of little significance, for the decisions
rested from the start with the Supreme Council, the Big Ten, composed of President
Wilson and the prime ministers and foreign ministers of the five chief powers (Wilson,
Lansing, Lloyd George, Balfour, Clemenceau, Pichon, Orlando, Sonnino, Saionji,
Makino). Russia was not represented, though the Russian situation was of vital import.
The wars of the counterrevolution were in full swing and the fate of the new states on
Russia's western frontiers depended on the outcome. Clemenceau having refused to
invite delegates of the warring parties to Paris, a conference was arranged for at the
Prinkipo Islands. The Bolshevik government was apparently anxious for some kind of
adjustment, but Kolchak and Denikin, the two leading generals of the
counterrevolution, refused to enter into discussion, and the whole project fell flat. Public
opinion in both France and Britain was violently anti-Bolshevik, and it seems hardly
likely that an agreement could have been reached.
2
Jan. 25
The conference unanimously adopted a resolution for the creation of a League of
Nations. A committee was appointed to draft a constitution, and other committees were
organized to deal with reparations and various territorial questions.
3
Feb
In the middle of the month President Wilson returned for a time to the U.S. and Lloyd
George to London.
4
March 25
After the return of Wilson and Lloyd George to Paris, the statesmen devoted themselves
to the working out of the German treaty. The Council of Ten was replaced by the
Council of Four, for the expedition of business.
5
April 28
The Covenant of the League of Nations (See 1914–1946. Interstate Institutions)
(worked out by a committee consisting of Wilson, House, Cecil, Smuts, Bourgeois, and
6
Venizelos) was presented in final form. The League was to consist of the signatory states
and others admitted by two-thirds vote. The members were to afford each other mutual
protection against aggression, to submit disputes to arbitration or inquiry, and to abstain
from war until three months after a ruling. All treaties between members which were
incompatible with these obligations were declared abrogated; all subsequent treaties
were to be registered with the League. The League was to devote itself to problems of
disarmament, labor legislation, health, international administration, and so on.
The drafting of the peace terms was marked by violent conflict among the members of
the Council of Four. Clemenceau insisted on the separation of the left bank of the
Rhine from Germany, and desired also the annexation of the Saar Basin to France.
These demands were opposed by Wilson and Lloyd George, and French security was
finally arranged for otherwise, Wilson having ordered preparations for his return home
(April 7). Other disputes arose from the demands of Britain and France that Germany be
required to meet the costs of the war, a proposition to which Wilson objected. The
Polish claims, supported by France, also caused friction, as did the Japanese
pretensions in Shantung and the Italian claims in Dalmatia, neither of which Wilson
was prepared to recognize. All these questions were finally settled by compromise in
order to keep the conference together (the Italian delegates left the conference on April
23 and did not return until May 6).
7
May 7
The treaty was submitted to the German delegation, which had arrived on April 29.
The Germans (Count Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau, chief of the delegation)
protested vigorously that the terms were not in keeping with the conditions on which
Germany had laid down its arms and that many of the clauses were impossible to fulfill.
Nevertheless the victorious powers made only slight modifications in the draft, and the
Germans, after an acute domestic crisis, decided that they were unable to resist and that
their only possible course was to sign.
8
June 21
The German fleet (ten battleships, nine armored cruisers, eight smaller cruisers, 50
torpedo boats, 102 submarines, totaling about 500,000 tons) was scuttled by the crews
under the command of Adm. Ludwig von Reuter, at Scapa Flow, where the fleet had
been interned. This act of defiance made the victors more determined to enforce the
terms of the treaty draft.
9
June 28
SIGNATURE OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES at Versailles. The treaty
provided for the League of Nations and for the following territorial cessions by
Germany (see TERRITORIAL CHANGES FOLLOWING WORLD WAR I (MAP)):
Alsace-Lorraine to France; Moresnet, Eupen, and Malmédy to Belgium, with a
plebiscite in Malmédy after cession; the Saar area to be under international
administration for 15 years, after which a plebiscite was to be held, France exploiting the
coal mines in the meanwhile; northern and central Schleswig to decide their allegiance
by plebiscite; in the east, Germany to cede the larger part of Posen and West Prussia to
Poland; a plebiscite to be held in Upper Silesia; Danzig to be a free city within the
Polish customs union; plebiscites to be held in parts of East Prussia to decide whether
they should go to Poland or remain with Germany; Memel ceded to the Allies; and the
German colonies to be ceded to the Allies, to be organized as mandates under
supervision of the League. Germany, in Article 231, accepted sole responsibility for
causing the war. It was henceforth to keep an army of not more than 100,000 men, was
to have no large guns and only a limited number of smaller ones. The navy was limited
to six warships and a corresponding number of other craft; Germany was to have no
submarines or military aircraft; the fortifications of Heligoland were to be
dismantled; the Allies were to occupy the Rhineland for 15 years, and longer if
necessary, and a belt 30 miles wide on the right bank of the Rhine was to be
demilitarized. The Kiel Canal was opened to the warships and merchant shipping of all
nations, and the German rivers were internationalized. The former emperor and other
offenders were to be tried. The Germans were required to pay for all civilian damage
caused during the war, the final bill to be presented by May 1, 1921; in the interval
Germany was to pay $5 billion, the rest to be paid in 30 years. Germany was to hand
over all merchant ships of more than 1,600 tons, half of those between 800 and 1,600
tons, and a quarter of its fishing fleet. It was to build 200,000 tons of shipping for the
victors annually for five years. Large quantities of coal were to be delivered to France,
Belgium, and Italy for ten years. Germany was to bear the cost of the armies of
occupation. It bound itself further to agree to the sale of German property in Allied
countries.
10
July 7
The German government ratified the treaty, as did France (Oct. 13), Great Britain
(Oct. 15), Italy (Oct. 15), and Japan (Oct. 30). The U.S. government never ratified it, the
Senate having first proposed amendments, which failed of the necessary votes. The U.S.
government also refused to ratify the treaty of alliance signed with Great Britain and
11
France (June 28) (See July 10–1920, March 19) providing for assistance in case of
attack by Germany. This treaty thus also failed of effect. (See European Diplomacy and
the Depression, 1919–1939)
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b. The Treaty of Saint-Germain
1919, Sept. 10
Austria signed the treaty that had been submitted on July 20. This merely registered the
breakup of the Habsburg monarchy, at the same time penalizing the new Austrian
Republic as the representative of the old regime. Austria recognized the independence of
Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, and Hungary, these states being obliged to give
guaranties of protection of minorities. Eastern Galicia, the Trentino, South Tyrol,
Trieste, and Istria were ceded by Austria. The army was limited to 30,000 men, and
Austria, like Germany, was to pay reparations for 30 years. The union of Austria with
Germany was forbidden, except with consent of the Council of the League. (See
Czechoslovakia)
1
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c. The Treaty of Neuilly
1919, Nov. 27
The Bulgarians signed the treaty of peace, which deprived them of a seaboard on the
Aegean and gave them only an economic outlet. Bulgaria recognized the independence
of Yugoslavia. It agreed to pay reparations of $445 million. Its army was reduced to
20,000 men, and it was obliged to surrender most of its war materiel. (See Bulgaria)
1
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d. The Treaty of Trianon
1919, March 21
The Hungarian government headed by Count Károlyi was overthrown by a Bolshevik
coup, headed by Alexander Garbai and Béla Kun. This government became involved in
war with most of Hungary's neighbors when it became known that territory was to be
assigned to them. Ultimately the Romanians invaded and took Budapest (Aug. 4) just
after the Bolsheviks had been overthrown (Aug. 1). The monarchists then regained
control and appointed Adm. Miklos Horthy as regent (March 1, 1920). The Romanians
were finally induced to withdraw (Nov. 14, 1919), under pressure from the Allies, but
only after they had carried away most of what was movable.
1
1920, June 4
The Hungarians signed the treaty of Trianon, by which the old Hungary was shorn of
almost three-quarters of its territory and two-thirds of its inhabitants. Czechoslovakia was
given Slovakia, Austria received western Hungary, Yugoslavia took Croatia-Slavonia
and part of the Banat of Temesvar, and Romania received the rest of the Banat,
Transylvania, and part of the Hungarian plain. Hungary agreed to pay reparations, to
keep an army of only 35,000 men, to assume part of the old Austro-Hungarian debt, to
hand over war criminals, and soon. (See Hungary)
2
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e. The Treaty of Sèvres
In the settlement of the Turkish question the Allies were much hampered by the downfall
of the tsarist regime in Russia, the withdrawal of Russian claims to Constantinople, and
the publication by the Bolsheviks of the secret treaties revealing the Allied plan of
partition. President Wilson in particular opposed the former program, while American
opinion showed little interest in assuming responsibility for either the Straits area or
Armenia. The question dragged on through 1919, while in Turkey a nationalist movement
under Mustafa Kemal (See 1919, May 19) was building up a strong opposition to the
Allied plans.
1
1919, May 15
The Greeks, with the support of the Allies, landed troops at Smyrna, acting as agents
for Allied interests. The Italians also landed troops in southwestern Anatolia.
2
1920, April 18
At a conference of the Allied prime ministers at San Remo the main lines of the Turkish
treaty were agreed upon.
3
Aug. 10
The feeble and helpless government of the sultan, protected by an international force of
occupation at Constantinople, signed the Treaty of Sèvres. By this treaty the sultan's
government renounced all claims to non-Turkish territory. The kingdom of the Hijaz
was recognized as independent. Syria became a mandate of France, and Mesopotamia
(with Mosul), as well as Palestine, became British mandates. Smyrna and its hinterland
4
were to be administered by Greece for five years, after which a plebiscite was to be held.
The Dodecanese and Rhodes went to Italy, while Thrace and the remainder of the
Turkish islands in the Aegean were assigned to Greece. Armenia was recognized as
independent. The Straits were to be internationalized and the adjoining territory
demilitarized. Istanbul and the strip of territory to the Chatalja lines remained Turkish,
as did the remainder of Anatolia. This treaty was not recognized by the Turkish
nationalists, who, under Mustafa Kemal's leadership, continued to build up a military
force in Anatolia and to organize a government in defiance of the sultan and the
victorious Allied powers. As a result of nationalist successes the Treaty of Sèvres was
ultimately replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne. (See The Ottoman Empire and Turkey)
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Military Summary
The Western Front, 1914–1915
1914
Aug. 4
The Germans crossed into Belgium. Armies one and two were obliged to pass through a
narrow strip between the Netherlands and the Ardennes, heavily guarded by the
fortifications of Liège. The Germans got past the forts in a night attack (Aug. 5–6), which
were then reduced by heavy artillery (Aug. 6–17). The Belgians fell back on Brussels and
then Antwerp, destroying the bridges on the Meuse.
1
Aug. 20
Gen. Kluck entered Brussels after the battle of Tirlement (Aug. 18–19).
2
Aug. 14–15
Battle of the Frontiers (Lorraine). The French invasion was checked almost at once and
the French armies driven out of Lorraine with heavy losses. The third and fourth armies
were also driven back from Luxembourg. Germans captured Namur (Aug. 25), Longwy
(Aug. 27), Malmédy (Aug. 30), Soissons (Sept. 1), Laon (Sept. 2), Rheims (Sept. 3), and
Maubeuge (Sept. 7).
Aug. 23
3
Battle of Mons. First contact between Germans and British. The latter were obliged to
fall back with the French fifth army. Further delaying action fought by the British (Gen.
Horace Smith-Dorrien) at Le Cateau (Aug. 26).
4
Sept. 5–12
Battle of the Marne. The opposing armies tried to outflank each other (battle of the
Ourcq). Strongly urged by Gen. Joseph Gallieni (military governor of Paris), Joffre
(commander in chief of the French armies) decided to order a general counteroffensive
(Sept. 5) in the hope of breaking in on the right and rear of Bülow's second army. Sept.
6–9, no decision. Kluck's efforts to outflank the French increased the gap between the
German first and second armies, but the British and French failed to take full advantage
of this. On Sept. 9, Kluck and Bülow began to fall back (oral instruction of Col. Hentsch,
from German headquarters). The whole German line began to withdraw west of Verdun.
The British and French advanced cautiously.
5
Sept. 15–Oct. 10
All efforts to dislodge the Germans from north of the Aisne River ended in failure: battle
of the Aisne (Sept. 15–18), battle of Picardy (Sept. 22–26), battle of Artois (Sept. 27–Oct.
10).
6
Sept. 22–25
Repeated German assaults at Verdun. Germans captured St. Mihiel.
7
Oct. 1–9
Germans forced the Belgian army and a small British force to evacuate Antwerp.
Oct. 10–Nov. 10
8
The Race for the Sea. The Germans captured Ghent (Oct. 11), Bruges (Oct. 14), and
Ostend (Oct. 15), but failed to reach the Channel ports as the Belgians flooded the district
of the Yser (battle of the Yser, Oct. 18–Nov. 30). The Germans also captured Lille (Oct.
12), but failed to take Ypres (first battle of Ypres, Oct. 30–Nov. 24).
9
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The Eastern Front, 1914–1915
1914
Aug. 17–21
Battle of the Tser and the Jadar. Serbian forces repulsed an Austrian invasion.
1
Aug. 19–20
Battle of Gumbinnen. The first Russian army defeated Gen. Friedrich von Prittwitz's
eighth German army, resulting in a German retreat to the Vistula. On learning of this, the
German high command dismissed Prittwitz.
2
Aug. 26–30
Battle of Tannenberg. German forces led by Gen. Hermann von François surrounded
Gen. Samsonov's Russian forces from the west and defeated them. The Germans took
over 100,000 prisoners. Samsonov, in desperation, shot himself.
3
Aug. 26–Sept. 2
Battle of Zamosc-Komarov. Under Gen. Moritz von Auffenberg-Komarow, the
Austrians won a great victory over the Russians (Gen. Alexei Brusilov).
Sept. 6–15
4
Battle of the Masurian Lakes. The Germans (Gen., later Field Marshal, August von
Mackensen) drove the enemy into the difficult lake country and succeeded in capturing
125,000 men. Completely demoralized, the Russians fell back, while the Germans
advanced to the lower Niemen River and occupied the gouvernement of Suvalki.
5
Sept. 8–17
Battle of the Drina. Austrian forces again crossed the Drina into Serbia as the Serbs
invaded Syrmia. The Serbs captured Zemlin (Zemun) on Sept. 10, but were unable to
continue the advance into Austrian territory. The two opponents fought a long series of
desultory engagements on the heights along the river. The Serbs were ultimately forced
to retreat and surrender Belgrade (Dec. 2).
6
Sept. 8–12
Battle of Lemberg. Austria abandoned eastern Galicia. The Russians also captured
Czernowitz in the Bukovina (Sept. 15) and Jaroslav (Sept. 21). At the same time the
Russians invested the key fortress of Przemysl (Sept. 16) and launched an attack upon
the passes of the Carpathians leading into northern Hungary (Sept. 24).
7
Oct. 9–20
Battles of Warsaw and Ivangorod. Mackensen advanced as far as Warsaw (Oct. 12),
but was obliged to fall back when the Russians counterattacked farther east. The
Austrians retreated to Cracow, while the Russians commenced the second investment of
Przemysl (Nov. 10) and renewed the invasion of northern Hungary (Nov. 15). Heavy
fighting also continued around Cracow (Nov. 16–Dec. 2).
8
Nov. 16–25
Battles of Lodz and Lowicz. For a time the Russians, having brought up
reinforcements, threatened to surround the Germans, but in early December the Germans
were themselves strengthened by the arrival of new divisions from the western front.
Lodz fell to the Germans on Dec. 6.
9
Dec. 3–6
Battle of Kolubara. The Austrians were forced to recross the Serbian frontier as Serbs
recaptured Belgrade (Dec. 15), ending the second invasion of Serbia.
10
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The War at Sea, 1914–1915
1914
Aug. 28
British cruisers, supported by battle cruisers (Adm. Sir David Beatty), raided
Heligoland Bight. The German cruisers came out and drove the British fleet off, but
Beatty was able to sink three enemy ships.
1
Aug.
When the war broke out, there were eight German cruisers on foreign stations, mostly on
the China station. When Japan declared war (See Aug. 23), the German commander,
Adm. Maximilian von Spee, left for the South American coast with the cruisers
Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Nürnberg. He bombarded Papeete (Sept. 22) and destroyed
the British cable station at Fanning Island. At Easter Island (Oct. 12–18) Spee was
joined by the cruisers Dresden (from the West Indies) and Leipzig (from the California
coast). Together they proceeded to the Chilean coast. Meanwhile Adm. Sir Christopher
Cradock, with three old ships, had been ordered to hunt down Spee.
2
Sept. 10–Nov. 9
The Emden (Capt. Karl von Müller) left the China station for the Indian Ocean,
bombarding Madras (Sept. 22) and capturing several ships before being sunk at Cocos
Island.
Sept. 22
3
The U.9 sank three old cruisers, Hogue, Cressy, and Aboukir.
4
Oct. 18
After an attempted German submarine raid on Scapa Flow, the Grand Fleet was
withdrawn from that base and concentrated, for a time, on the west coast of Scotland.
5
Nov. 1
Naval action off Coronel. Spee destroyed two of Cradock's ships (the Monmouth and the
Good Hope; the Glasgow escaped). To meet the danger from the German squadron, all
available Allied warships were assembled off the southeast coast of South America.
Three battle cruisers were hastily dispatched from the Grand Fleet to the South Atlantic.
6
Nov. 3
Adm. Franz von Hipper raided Yarmouth.
7
Dec. 8
Battle of the Falkland Islands. Spee made the fatal decision to attack the Falklands on
his way homeward. The British squadron (Adm. Sir Frederick Sturdee) came upon the
Germans unexpectedly and sank four of their five ships (Scharnhorst, Gneisenau,
Leipzig, and Nürnberg). A total of 1,800 men died, including Spee and his two sons. The
Dresden, having escaped from the Falklands, engaged in commerce-destroying until
cornered at Juan Fernandez, where the ship was blown up by its own crew (March 1,
1915).
8
Dec. 16
German forces bombarded Scarborough and Hartlepool.
9
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The Balkans, 1915–1916
1915
Oct. 6
Beginning of the great Austro-German campaign in Serbia. Belgrade fell (Oct. 9) and
Semendria (Oct. 11).
1
Oct. 22
The Bulgarians (Gen. Jekov) took Üskub (Skoplje), and then (Oct. 28) Pirot. Nish fell
(Nov. 5). A British and French attempt from Saloniki to block the Bulgar advance on the
Strumitsa (Nov. 3–5) and on the Cerna (Nov. 12) was brushed aside. The Allies were
again repulsed on the lower Vardar (Dec. 4–10) and forced to retreat to Greek territory.
2
Nov. 16
The Bulgarians took Prilep, then Pristina (Nov. 23), Prizrend (Nov. 29), and Monastir
(i.e., Bitolje, Dec. 2). The Serbs were now in full flight into Albania, the Bulgars
pursuing them and taking Dibra and Okhrid (Dec. 8), and ultimately Elbasan (Feb. 2,
1916).
3
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The Italian Front, 1914
1914–1915
Dec. 20
Durazzo occupied by the Italians.
1
1915, June 29–Dec. 10
The first four battles of the Isonzo. The Austrians (commander Archduke Eugene)
held the two important bridgeheads at Gorizia and Tolmino. The Italians (Gen. Luigi
Cadorna, commander in chief, May 23, 1915–Nov. 7, 1917) tried to force the passage,
but their total advance never exceeded 10 or 12 miles. The Isonzo battles were the first
(June 29–July 7); second (July 18–Aug. 10); third (Oct. 18–Nov. 3); and fourth (Nov.
10–Dec. 10).
2
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1916–1917
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
The Western Front, 1916–1917
1916
Feb. 21
Battle of Verdun. The Germans concentrated 1,400 guns on a short front of eight miles
on the right bank of the Meuse. After a devastating bombardment they took Fort
Douaumont (Feb. 25). French reinforcements were rushed to this sector, but the defense
was hampered by the bottlemouth of the salient.
1
March 6–April 10
Renewal of the attack, this time on both sides of the salient. Gen. Robert Nivelle replaced
Gen. Pétain, and the French began a series of vigorous counterattacks (May).
2
June 2
The Germans finally took Fort Vaux, and before the end of the month the works of
Thiaumont (June 23). Heavy attacks continued until July 11, when the Germans went
over to the defensive. The French losses have been estimated at about 350,000, the
German at somewhat less.
3
July 1–Nov. 18
Battle of the Somme. After a long and intensive bombardment the British advanced on a
front of 15 miles toward Bapaume, while the French objective was Péronne. Though the
Germans were outnumbered at least six to one at first, the British had but little success.
The heavily laden infantry was unable to move fast enough to keep up with an
4
extraordinarily rigid time schedule. British losses on one day were 60,000, heavier than in
this or any other war.
Oct. 24–Dec. 18.
The French (Gen. Charles Mangin) counterattacked at Verdun and recaptured Forts
Douaumont and Vaux (Nov. 2).
5
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1916–1917
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
The Eastern Front, 1916–1917
1916
March 19–April 30
The Russians fought the inconclusive Battle of Lake Naroch, intended only to relieve
pressure at Verdun.
1
June 4
The great Brusilov offensive. The objective in the south was Kovel, an important railway
center, but the advance extended over a front of 300 miles. The Austrians, taken by
surprise, fell back, leaving many prisoners in Russian hands. The Russians took Lutsk
(June 8) and Czernowitz (June 18). Heavy fighting continued about Kovel, Tarnopol, and
Baranovici (battles of the Strypa, June 11–30; Baranovici, July 2–9; Kovel, July
28–Aug. 17) until September. The Russians advanced from 25 to 125 kilometers in the
region from Pinsk south to Czernowitz and took half a million prisoners, but the offensive
was stopped by the arrival of 15 divisions of Germans from the western front. The
Russians had failed to take either Kovel or Lemberg.
2
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1916–1917
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
The Italian Front, 1916–1917
1916
Feb. 15–March 17
The fifth battle of the Isonzo, which, like the previous engagements, led to no
substantial change.
1
May 15–June 3
The Austrian offensive in the Trentino. The Italians were taken by surprise and yielded
Asiago and Arsiero (May 31). But the Austrians lacked sufficient forces to break
through, the more so as the Italians hastily brought up reserves from the Isonzo front. The
Italian lines held, and by June 17 a counteroffensive was launched. When this came to a
close (July 7), most of the territory had been recovered.
2
Aug. 6–17
Sixth battle of the Isonzo. The Italians finally took Gorizia (Aug. 9).
3
Sept. 14–18
Seventh battle of the Isonzo.
4
Oct. 9–12
Eighth battle of the Isonzo.
5
Oct. 31–Nov. 4
Ninth battle of the Isonzo.
6
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1916–1917
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
The Balkan Front, 1916–1917
1916
Aug. 2–21
Battle of Doiran. The Allies began to advance against the Bulgarians on the Saloniki
front.
1
Aug. 17–19
Battle of Florina. The Bulgars and Germans counterattacked and pushed back the
Saloniki forces. They took Seres (Aug. 19), Drama, and Kavalla (Sept. 18), where the
fourth Greek army corps voluntarily surrendered.
2
Aug. 28
The Romanians began the invasion of Transylvania and took Kronstadt (Brasov) and
Hermannstadt (Sibiu).
3
Sept. 27–29
Austro-German forces, hastily assembled in Transylvania and commanded by
Falkenhayn, counterattacked and surrounded the Romanians at Hermannstadt (battle of
Sibiu).
Sept. 26–Nov. 23
4
A Bulgarian-German force under Gen. August von Mackensen began operations in
Dobrudja. Silistria was taken (Sept. 10), then Constantza (Oct. 22) and Cernavoda
(Oct. 25).
5
Oct. 5–Dec. 11
The Allied forces under Sarrail began a great offensive in Macedonia (first battle of
Monastir). Monastir (Bitolje) was taken (Nov. 19), and the Allies pushed forward as far
as Lake Okhrid.
6
Oct. 7–9
Battle of Kronstadt (Brasov). The Austro-German forces retook the city and advanced
to the Carpathian passes.
7
Nov. 10–14
Falkenhayn forced the Vulcan Pass into Romania and began the invasion of
Wallachia.
8
Nov. 23
Mackensen's troops crossed the Danube at Sistova and advanced toward Bucharest, as
did Falkenhayn coming from Craiova.
9
Dec. 1–5
A Romanian counterattack on the Arges River failed (battle of Argesul).
10
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1916–1918
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
The War at Sea, 1916–1918
1916
April 24–25
A German squadron raided and bombarded Yarmouth and Lowestoft. Submarines also
appeared off the Scottish naval bases.
1
May 31–June 1
Battle of Jutland. On May 30, Adm. Franz von Hipper with the German battle cruiser
squadron had been sent to show himself off the Norwegian coast. On May 31, he came
into contact with Adm. Sir David Beatty and the British battle cruisers, running
southeast before the Grand Fleet. Though decidedly outnumbered, Hipper and the
Germans, through superior marksmanship, sank two of Beatty's ships. Beatty, sighting the
German High Seas Fleet (Scheer) in battle order, turned north to join Jellicoe and the
Grand Fleet. The German Fleet, having been drawn in, met the Grand Fleet just before
6:00 P.M. Jellicoe tried to deploy across Scheer's line of retreat, but Scheer turned about
suddenly and made away to the south and then to the east, coming up on the flank of the
British, in pursuit. Scheer turned right, launching a torpedo attack, which obliged Jellicoe
to fall back. Scheer then sent Hipper and the battle cruisers to attack while the High Seas
Fleet effected its escape. Night fell, leaving the two fleets steaming southwest about six
miles apart. But at 9:00 P.M. Scheer turned east and made for Horns Reef, forcing his way
through the tail end of Jellicoe's forces, still steaming south. The German fleet reached
Horns Reef in safety at 3:30 in the morning. Each fleet lost six ships in the Jutland
engagement, but the British ships lost totaled twice the tonnage of the Germans. Scheer
had to yield to the superiority of the British in capital ships, but in battle cruiser warfare
the Germans were completely victorious.
Aug. 19, Oct. 26–27
2
German raids on the English coast. At the same time German light cruisers slipped
through the blockade and ravaged commerce in the Atlantic. The German submarine
Deutschland made a trip to the U.S. and back (July 10, 1916, at Norfolk, Va.).
3
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
The Western Front, 1918
1918
March 21–April 5
The great March offensive. After cleverly concealed preparations, the Germans began
with a bombardment of 6,000 guns and a heavy gas attack. They advanced from St.
Quentin in a thick fog, which recurred for several days. The Germans captured
Péronne, Ham, Bapaume, Chauny, Noyon, and even Montdidier, before being
checked.
1
April 9–29
Battles of the Lys. The second great German blow, delivered south of Ypres on a short
front. The Germans opened up a wide breach in the British front, but a lack of reserves
made it impossible for them to take full advantage of the situation. The Germans
stormed Messines Ridge and took Armentières.
2
May 27–June 6
(Third) Battle of the Aisne. Ludendorff, in order to draw the French reserves from
Flanders preparatory to the main offensive there, arranged an attack upon the French
between Soissons and Rheims, along the strong and therefore weakly held Chemin des
Dames. The French were taken by surprise and driven back 13 miles on the first day.
The Germans took Soissons (May 29) and on May 30 reached the Marne River, only 37
miles from Paris. The new salient was 40 miles deep.
June 4
3
American forces at Château-Thierry (second division), collaborating with the French,
managed to break the German advance.
4
June 9–14
Battle of the Matz. The Germans advanced about six miles, but the move had been
hastily prepared and the French were able to contain it.
5
July 15–Aug. 7
(Second) Battle of the Marne. Ludendorff threw his weary troops into yet another
attack. East of Rheims no progress was made, and west of the city, though the Germans
crossed the Marne, they made but little progress against strong French and American
forces. On July 18, Foch ordered a counterattack, in which nine American divisions
took part. The Germans were forced back over the Marne to the Vesle River, while the
French retook Soissons (Aug. 2).
6
Aug. 8–11
Battle of Amiens. The British attacked with 450 tanks. They advanced about eight miles
the first day, after which the German lines tightened.
7
Aug. 21–Sept. 3
Second battles of the Somme and of Arras. The British and French gradually extended
their attacks. They took Roye (Aug. 27), Bapaume (Aug. 28), Noyon (Aug. 28), and
Péronne (Aug. 31), and obliged the Germans to fall back to the Hindenburg Line.
8
Sept. 12–13
American forces, attacking on both sides of the St. Mihiel salient, pinched out that area,
capturing some 15,000 of the enemy.
Sept. 26–Oct. 15
9
Battles of the Argonne and of Ypres (Sept. 28–Oct. 2). Foch's plan was to execute a
pincer movement with an American thrust north through the Argonne and a British
thrust eastward toward Cambrai and farther north toward Lille. If successful, this would
have cut the main lateral German railway and forced a general withdrawal. But at both
ends the advance was much slower than expected. By mid-October. the Americans had
gotten through part of the Argonne, while the British had taken St. Quentin, Lens, and
Armentières (Oct. 1–2).
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Economic and Social Changes)
C. Europe, 1919–1945
1. Economic and Social Changes
Three events define this period in European history: World War I, the Depression, and
World War II. The impact of the First World War was truly revolutionary. The total
number of casualties, including killed, wounded, and missing, is figured at 37.5 million.
The greatest burden of war dead and wounded, about 6 million, was suffered by
Germany. France's losses were 5.5 million, but with a population less than two-thirds
that of Germany, France suffered proportionally more. An outbreak of influenza in the
autumn of 1918 compounded the death toll as it swept through populations already
weakened by the nutritional privations of total war.
1
Economically, Europe was in ruins. Governments had borrowed heavily to fund the war,
and had responded to this debt after the war by printing more money. The result was
inflation, felt most disastrously in Germany. Yet the victors, especially France,
depended upon German reparations to revive their economies. Germany's inability to
pay led first to confrontation, as in the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr,
and later to peaceful settlements, like the Dawes and Young plans. Wartime disruption
helped cause a sharp recession in 1920–21, and some longer-term trends toward
agricultural overproduction. For most nations, prosperity returned only in the mid-1920s.
Ongoing economic uncertainty prompted many families to continue trends toward lower
birth rates.
2
The catastrophic toll of the war also resulted in a new, looser code of morality,
especially in a growing urban environment. A new generation, decimated by war, felt
betrayed by their elders and rejected the more austere standards of conduct they had
been taught as children. In the age of jazz and the flapper this was most notable in
changing attitudes toward sexuality. While in France contraception became illegal
because of population concerns, women like Marie Stopes in England actively
supported contraception and a more open attitude toward sex. In Berlin, Mangus
Hirshfeld opened the Institute for Sexual Science in 1919, an institution designed to
further the study of sexuality and promote understanding, including gay rights. Sexuality
3
became the subject of great popular interest, reflected in prescriptive literature, but this
also fueled the impression among conservatives and rural populations that this was a
degenerate age.
The devastation of the war also produced a strong pacifist movement, questioning duty
to the state. Many argued that there was no suitable reason ever to reproduce the amount
of bloodletting witnessed during World War I, “the war to end all wars.” Though the
League of Nations was unable to develop this into a concrete system to avoid war, this
sentiment helps explain the policy of appeasement Western Europe followed in the face
of Nazi aggression.
4
On the political stage, the revolutionary dream of national unity firstintroduced by the
French Revolution became reality in Eastern Europe. The creation of new nation states
heralded the end of multinational empires, though one was to reemerge in the Soviet
Union. Throughout the 1920s democracy also triumphed. Not only did working-class
men gain suffrage, but in most nations women too acquired the vote. France and Italy
were notable exceptions.
5
Government also became “big government” during the war and afterward. The
demands of total war necessitated government involvement in all walks of life.
Governments established minimum and maximum wages and prices, curtailed
production in industries not deemed necessary to the war effort, and introduced rationing
when necessary. Administrations grew as liberal notions of free trade gave way to
planned economies. Since morale on the home front was as important as in the trenches,
governments also attempted to influence behavior through extensive propaganda
campaigns. With the problems of demobilization and continued economic hardships,
governments did not readily decrease their activities with the war's end. Indeed,
administrations continued to grow as various states instituted the early trappings of the
welfare state, such as unemployment insurance, housing allotments, and accident
insurance for workers.
6
The success of the Communist Revolution in Russia also entered a new element into
European politics. For many in Eastern Europe it justified early shifts to right-wing
governments and the end of democracy. In Western Europe the impact of the Russian
Revolution was a split in the Socialist parties, as Communists formed their own parties,
allied closely to the Third International, and revisionists gained control of the Socialist
parties. Throughout Europe the “specter of world Communism” was also the force
behind domestic policies, such as social and land reforms, designed to integrate workers
and peasants into noncommunist political and economic systems.
7
The next defining event in interwar Europe was the world depression that followed the
U.S. stock market crash of 1929. Europe did not feel the full brunt until the early thirties,
but when it did, whole economies were devastated. Peasants were unable to acquire
credit or obtain loans as world market prices plummeted. Unemployment reached
disastrous proportions throughout Europe, making insecurity a reality for millions.
8
While factory workers suffered most, the growing white-collar and professional sectors
also experienced massive loss of jobs. Many were now willing to support radical
attempts to deal with the crisis by both democratic leaders and dictators.
The responses to the Depression differed significantly. In Britain, for example, the
government followed orthodox economic theory by balancing its budget, but
unemployed workers did receive enough welfare simply to survive. In Scandinavia,
however, a cooperative tradition and strong Socialist influence in government since
the end of the war generated a reformist socialism that responded to economic crisis with
deficit spending and vast public works programs. In nations with weak democratic
traditions, however, the response to economic crisis was dictatorship. This was a result
not so much of the economic solutions proffered by various totalitarian leaders, but of
the general fear that economic insecurity generated, a fear of disorder and revolution that
only force could prevent. Millions surrendered civil liberties for such security.
9
The rise of fascism (See March 23), which depended on an aggressive foreign policy
and the glory of conquest, led to expansionist policies that resulted first in the
disappearance of countries like Albania, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, and eventually in
the outbreak of World War II in 1939. As in World War I, the demands of modern
warfare dictated total war. As men were conscripted into the armed services, women
were conscripted into the workforce. In England, the Women's Power Committee was
able to win equal insurance and benefits for women workers in 1943, but the government
consistently fought demands for equal pay. Rationing once again became a fact of life as
governments planned every aspect of the economy. Civil liberties were curtailed in the
name of security, and governments launched more extensive propaganda campaigns to
retain popular support.
10
Occupied nations responded differently to the Nazis. In the western portions of the
Soviet Union, for example, the invading Germans were first greeted as liberators. In
Western Europe, resistance developed quickly to Nazi occupation, growing in intensity
with the influx of Communists after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. The
combination of various political beliefs among resistance fighters sometimes led to
violence within resistance movements and set the tone for postwar political battles. In all
occupied nations, industry was retooled for the German war effort, while forced labor
led many into slave conditions in German factories. The Nazis also transported their
racist policies into occupied areas, forcing Jews, Gypsies, and others into ghettos and
later into concentration camps. (See Economic and Social Changes)
11
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Religious Trends
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1912)
2. Intellectual and Religious Trends
The most important development in thought after World War I was the rejection of the
rational. While a few philosophers had moved in this direction in the last years of the
19th century, the barbarism of world war convinced many that the previous century's
faith in reason and progress was misplaced. This revolt went in two directions. On the
Continent, existentialism rose to prominence. Although it truly came into its own after
World War II, the interwar years witnessed its birth in the works of Martin Heidegger
(1889–1976), Karl Jaspers (1883–1969), and the early works of Jean-Paul Sartre
(1905–80). Existentialists held that human beings simply existed in an absurd world
without a supreme being, left to define themselves only through their actions. Any sense
of hope could come only by “engaging” in life and thereby finding meaning in it.
1
Logical empiricism found more supporters in England, though its main proponent was
the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951). Wittgenstein argued in
1922 that philosophy is only the logical clarification of thoughts, and therefore its study
is the study of language, which expresses thoughts. Gone were the days when primary
philosophical topics were God, freedom, and morality; the new scope of philosophy was
greatly reduced to only those things that could be proved. To talk of anything else was a
waste of time.
2
Still others turned to religion. But unlike the theologians of the late 19th century, who
attempted to merge religion with science by portraying Christ primarily as the greatest
moral teacher, theologians of interwar Europe stressed the frailty of humankind and the
“supernatural” aspects of God. Building on the works of Søren Kierkegaard (1813–55),
leading scholars like Karl Barth (1886–1968), Gabriel Marcel (1887–1973), Jacques
Maritain (1882–1973), C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), and W. H. Auden (1907–73) saw in
religion and God's grace the answers to a world of terror and anxiety.
3
Others seeking security in an insecure world turned to political philosophies. The two
most important in interwar Europe were communism and fascism. While communism
was not new to the 20th century, the existence of a Communist society did propose
changes in the philosophy as well as an example for other nations. Joseph Stalin
4
(1879–1953) produced the most important change with his concept of socialism in one
country. Despite the argument that socialism was a stage of development that must
occur in all of the industrial world and that Soviet Russia must await the revolution
while promoting it through such organizations as Comintern, Stalin argued that
socialism could be developed in a single nation, a belief built on a strong base of
Russian nationalism. That philosophy was a prime component in the great pace of
Russian industrialization in the thirties.
Fascism can be difficult to define because its proponents often tried to make it
everything to everybody. As presented by Adolf Hitler (1889–1945), Benito Mussolini
(1883–1945), and Italo Balbo (1896–1940), it embodied a rejection of socialism and
class warfare, presenting the nation as the most important unifying element that
transcended all differences. At the same time, it promoted a corporatist notion of
capitalism and a planned economy. It drew on the threat of world communism, on the
economic problems recurring throughout the period, and on the war experiences of its
adherents, expounding a brotherhood akin to that found in the trenches. It fed on fear
and resentment to promote a picture of social order and national grandeur.
5
In the realm of economics, John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) published his General
Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money in 1936. This work explained how and why
an economy might fail to maintain a level activity required for full employment. Though
dealing primarily with short-run phenomena, “Keynesian economics” became crucial in
the development of theories of economic growth.
6
Other important events in the development of interwar thought included:
7
1916
Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923), in his Trattato di Soziologia Generale, provided a
comprehensive mathematical analysis of economic and sociological problems, based on
the distinction between the fundamental motivations of human natures (residues) and
their outward appearance or rationalization (derivations).
8
1918–22
Oswald Spengler (1880–1936), in Der Untergang des Abendlandes, produced a cyclical
interpretation of history and forecast the eclipse of Western civilization as inevitable.
1929
9
Marc Bloch (1886–1944) and Lucien Febvre (1878–1956) founded the journal Annales
d'histoire économique et sociale, which became an influential international forum for the
new social history, a new form of history turning away from political narrative to focus
upon economic structures, social institutions, and mentalities in a historical context.
10
1934–54
A Study of History (ten volumes), by Arnold J. Toynbee (1889–1975), constituted an
exhaustive reexamination of human development in the light of an idealist philosophy of
history. (See Religious and Philosophical Thought)
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Culture and Popular Culture)
3. Culture and Popular Culture
Literature articulated the general intellectual climate of pessimism, relativism, and
alienation. While 19th-century novelists had adopted the more general stance in their
novels of all-knowing narrators, 20th-century authors tended to take on the narrower
viewpoint of a single individual. This was notable in the works of Marcel Proust
(1871–1922), George Orwell (1903–50), Franz Kafka (1883–1924), James Joyce
(1882–1941), and Virginia Woolf (1882–1941). The two latter authors also became
famous for a style of writing known as stream of consciousness, a technique that
demonstrated the impact of psychology on the arts.
1
As with the postwar generation in general, interwar artists rejected the rules and forms
handed down from their elders. In architecture, Walter Gropius (1883–1969), founder of
Bauhaus, broke with the past in his designs of clean and light buildings of glass and iron.
Le Corbusier (1887–1965) epitomized the new turn to functionalism in his designs. In
art, modern painters rejected French impressionism, becoming more abstract and
nonrepresentational. Like the early 19th-century romantics, they wanted to portray
unseen, inner worlds of emotion and imagination. This can be seen in the art of Henri
Matisse (1869–1945), Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), and Wassily Kandinsky
(1866–1944).
2
As abstract painters arranged lines and color but did not draw identifiable objects, so
modern composers arranged sounds without creating recognizable harmonies. Such
composers were led by the Viennese composer Arnold Schönberg (1874–1951).
3
In popular culture, the long-declining traditional arts and amusements of people in
villages and small towns almost vanished, replaced by standardized, commercial
entertainment. In the cities, the prosperity of the late 1920s and the growth of leisure
among the working class, resulting from the legalization of the eight-hour day, brought a
growth in the leisure industry. Cabarets and music halls did a brisk business, centers of
society's loosening sense of morality. Playing to crowded rooms, the American
Josephine Baker (1906–75) brought an exotic African eroticism to Parisian music halls
in 1925.
4
For many, leisure also found outlets in the development of radio and cinema. Charlie
Chaplin (1889–1978) became a world icon, the king of the “silver screen.” The great
appeal of cinema was its ability to offer people a temporary escape from the hard realities
of everyday life. While the U.S. dominated the industry during the First World War,
destroying young German studios in the early 1920s, the advent of “talkies” resuscitated
national film industries in the 1930s, particularly in France.
5
Radio became possible with the transatlantic “wireless” communication of Guglielmo
Marconi (1874–1937) in 1901 and the development of the vacuum tube in 1904, which
permitted the transmission of speech and music. But only in 1920 were the first major
public broadcasts of special events made in Great Britain and the U.S. On June 16, 1920,
Lord Northcliffe, the Briton who had pioneered in journalism with the inexpensive, masscirculation Daily Mail, sponsored a broadcast of the soprano Nellie Melba, which was
heard simultaneously all over Europe. Every major country quickly established national
broadcasting networks. The typical pattern was direct control of the medium by the
government. By the late 1930s, more than three out of every four households in both
democratic Great Britain and dictatorial Germany had at least one cheap, mass-produced
radio, a powerful tool for political propaganda. (See Culture and Popular Culture)
6
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See July 7)
4. European Diplomacy and the Depression, 1919–1939
European diplomacy between the two world wars involved the following major
problems: (1) the attempt to establish collective security by means of new international
bodies, the League of Nations, and the World Court, without creating any form of
superstate; (2) the unwillingness of the non-European powers, the U.S., Japan, and the
British Dominions in particular, to assume responsibility for anything outside their
respective spheres of interests; (3) the competition between French efforts to maintain
the position of leadership on the continent of Europe established by the peace
settlements, and German endeavors to evade or revise the terms imposed in 1919; (4) the
attempts to attain security and prosperity by neomercantilist ideas imposed as emergency
measures.
1
The era between the wars can be divided chronologically into three phases: (1) the
period of settlement (from the peace treaties to the Dawes Plan, 1924); (2) the period of
fulfillment (1924 to the evacuation of the Rhineland, 1930); (3) the period of repudiation
and revision (1930–39).
2
1919, June 28
Conclusion of defensive treaties among France, Britain, and the U.S. Britain and the
U.S. were to come to France's assistance in case of aggression by Germany. The U.S.
Senate refused to ratify this agreement and also rejected the Versailles treaty (Nov. 19),
thus knocking out one of the keystones in the international peace structure established at
Paris.
3
1919–22
The Vilna dispute, between Poland and Lithuania. Polish forces took the town from the
4
Bolsheviks (April 4, 1919). The Curzon line (Dec. 8) established a boundary depriving
Poland of the city, which was retaken by the Bolsheviks (June 15, 1920). The
Lithuanians took it when the Russians evacuated (Aug. 24), but were driven out by
Polish freebooters under Gen. Lucien Zeligowski (Oct. 9). By decision of the League a
plebiscite was to be held to decide the fate of the city, but this was later abandoned
(March 3, 1921). A plebiscite (Jan. 8, 1922) held by Zeligowski decided for Poland, and
the Vilna Diet voted for union. On April 18 it was incorporated with Poland, though
Lithuania refused to recognize this disposition of the question.
1919–20
The Teschen conflict between Poland and Czechoslovakia. The Czechs had occupied
the disputed area (Jan. 1919) and serious clashes took place (May). The supreme council
decided for a plebiscite (Sept. 27), but disorders continued (March, May 1920) until the
conference of ambassadors divided the territory (July 28). (In these and other Eastern
European disputes, France, eager for stable powers on Germany's eastern borders, took
the lead in organizing ambassadorial negotiations.)
5
1919–20
The Polish-Russian War, resulting from the effort made by the Poles to push their
frontier east to the frontier of 1772. The Poles, in agreement with the Ukrainian leader
Gen. Simon Petliura, attempted to wrest Ukraine from the Bolsheviks. They quickly
overran the country, taking Kiev (May 7), but the Bolsheviks launched an energetic
counterattack and drove the Poles out of Kiev (June 11) and Vilna (July 15). By Aug. 14
the Russians were on the outskirts of Warsaw. But the Poles, vigorously aided by the
French (Gen. Maxime Weygand) made a stand and were soon able to turn the tables.
The Bolsheviks were forced to fall back and abandon their Polish conquests. The
preliminary treaty of Riga (Oct. 12) was followed by the definitive Treaty of Riga
(March 18, 1921), which defined the frontier between the two countries.
6
1919–21
The Burgenland dispute between Austria and Hungary. The strip of territory had been
assigned to Austria by the peace treaties, it being only 15 miles from Vienna. The
population, too, was predominantly German. But Hungarian irregulars were in
occupation and refused to evacuate (Aug. 1921). Through Italian mediation a plebiscite
7
was arranged for. This was held (Dec. 1921) and gave Austria most of the area, though
Ödenburg went to Hungary.
1919–22
The Greek invasion of Anatolia (See 1919–22).
8
1919–24
The Fiume question. President Wilson had rejected the Italian claim to the town and the
coast south of it (April 14, 1919), whereupon the Italians had withdrawn from the peace
conference. A compromise, suggested by André Tardieu, which would have created a
buffer state of Fiume (May 30), was rejected by Yugoslavia. Gabriele d'Annunzio led a
filibustering expedition that occupied the town and set up a visionary government (Sept.
12). The matter was finally left to Italy and Yugoslavia to settle (March 6, 1920). The
Treaty of Rapallo (Nov. 12) made Fiume an independent city and gave Italy Zara and a
number of Dalmatian islands. But a Fascist coup (March 3, 1922) overthrew the local
government, and government troops took control (March 17). By a treaty of Jan. 27,
1924, Yugoslavia abandoned claims to Fiume but received Porto Barros in return.
9
1919–22
The Upper Silesian question. The peace treaties had provided for a plebiscite in this
valuable area. It was held on March 20, 1921 (See March 20), and returned 717,122
votes for Germany, as against 483,154 for Poland. But an armed rising under the Polish
commissioner Adalbert Korfanty (May 4, 1922) was acquiesced in by the French
commander acting for the League. In Aug. 1922, the council of ambassadors referred the
matter to the League, and the League council accepted a scheme of partition by which a
majority of the population and more than half of the territory were awarded to Germany,
while Poland was given the principal mining and industrial districts.
1919, July 29
10
Italy signed a treaty with Greece supporting Greek claims in Thrace and Eprius,
Greece to support an Italian protectorate over Albania and Italian claims in Anatolia.
Italy was to keep Rhodes for 15 years, and the Dodecanese Islands were to be ceded to
Greece. Italy denounced these treaties on Oct. 8, 1922.
11
1920, Jan. 23
The Dutch government refused to surrender the former emperor William, though it
later agreed to intern him.
12
Feb.–March
The plebiscites in North Schleswig gave the northernmost zone to Denmark and the
remainder to Germany.
13
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1910–12)
5. The British Isles
a. Great Britain
Monarchs: George V (r. 1910–36); Edward VIII (r. 1936); George VI (r. 1936–52).
1
Prime Ministers: Herbert H. Asquith (1908–15, Liberal); Herbert H. Asquith (1915–16,
coalition); David Lloyd George (1916–19, coalition); David Lloyd George (1919–22,
coalition); Andrew Bonar Law (1922–23, Conservative); Stanley Baldwin (1923–24,
Conservative); J. Ramsay MacDonald (1924, Labour); Stanley Baldwin (1924–29,
Conservative); J. Ramsay MacDonald (1929–31, Labour); J. Ramsay MacDonald
(1931–35, National); Stanley Baldwin (1935–37, National); Neville Chamberlain
(1937–40, National); Winston Churchill (1940–45, coalition).
2
Impact of World War I. The most significant results of Britain's wartime experience
were the expansion of state planning and disillusionment. Beginning with the Defense
of the Realm Act (1914) and continued through the creation of the War Committee
(1915), British leaders recognized that only central control could lead to victory. This
was especially true of the economic sector, where the creation of the ministries of
munitions (July 2, 1915) and blockade (Feb. 23, 1916) aided government management of
shipbuilding, food production and distribution, and the supply of wool and cotton. War
socialism placed munitions, coal, iron, steel, and railroads under state control. This also
brought trade unions into government planning activities. Such control was also
extended over manpower with the compulsory military service bill (Jan. 6, 1916) and
the creation of a ministry of labour (1916). Finally, the government became increasingly
involved in influencing public opinion, including the distribution of newsreels and
propaganda films that contributed to the later popularity of commercial cinema.
Gradually, the nation became accustomed to such extensive state planning, shaping the
course of interwar Britain.
3
Disillusionment was evident primarily in cultural life, as in the plays of Noel Coward
(1899–1973), the novels of Aldous Huxley (1894–1963), and the poetry of T. S. Eliot
(1888–1965). Disillusionment bred a search for new styles, witnessed in the stream-ofconsciousness works of Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) and James Joyce (1882–1941).
4
Another impact of the war was a loosening of moral standards, personified by the
flapper, and seen in the spread of jazz, the popularity of commercialized sports and
movies, and an increase in sexual freedom. Increased wages and shorter work hours
after the war allowed a greater number of Britons to spend more time in leisure
activities, in which cinemas, pubs, and dance halls came to share top billing. In the
1930s intellectual attention turned more to social concerns, as the condition of England
became a theme to such authors as J. B. Priestley (1894–1984) and George Orwell
(1903–50).
Popular authors throughout the interwar years included Thomas Hardy (1840–1928),
Joseph Conrad (1857–1924), Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930), James M. Barrie
(1860–1937), Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), H. G. Wells (1866–1946), Hugh
Walpole (1884–1941), D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930), and Katherine Mansfield
(1888–1923). The greatest popular success was reserved for the authors of thrillers,
especially John Buchan (1875–1940), and detective stories, like Agatha Christie
(1890–1975).
5
Great Britain's losses in the First World War were almost 1 million killed and over 2
million wounded. The total expense exceeded £8 billion, and the burden of domestic and
foreign debt was ten times what it had been in 1914. Britain was faced with the problem
of returning soldiers to industry and introducing social reforms loudly demanded by the
laboring classes, and confronted at the same time by increased competition in foreign
trade. In Ireland, India, Egypt, and Palestine it faced almost insoluble problems. Even
the self-governing dominions demonstrated enhanced national feeling and reluctance to
be committed to any share in future European wars.
6
Economics. As women were forced out of wartime employment to make way for
demobilized soldiers (rapid demobilization between 1919 and 1920), immediate
economic disaster was averted by the economic boom of 1919–20. The government
responded by returning to prewar laissez-faire policies, resulting in inflation, strikes, and
wage increases. But Britain had lost its position in the world economy and could not
maintain this boom, which failed in late 1921. The recession was triggered by a decrease
in government expenditures, increased taxes, and the overproduction of primary
products. The old specter of class war loomed on the horizon as trade unions threatened
a general strike. The government responded with the Emergency Powers Act (1920),
restoring its wartime emergency authority. In addition, the government subsidized the
building of more than 200,000 houses, making housing another social service of the
government. Such assistance was continued by subsequent governments, and by 1928
houses built with public funding made up 40 percent of the total housing construction.
7
Aside from the economy, Britain's other pressing problem in the immediate postwar
years was a solution to the Irish question (See 1914, Aug. 8). The result in domestic
politics was a Unionist defection from Lloyd George's government, causing its collapse
(Oct. 19, 1922), and a weak Conservative government (general election, Nov. 15, 1922),
8
bolstered by a split between the Liberal followers of Asquith and Lloyd George. The
Labour Party became for the first time His Majesty's Opposition. The interwar years
were dominated by the insecurity of three-party contests.
1918
Reforms of 1918. The Representation of Peoples Act widened suffrage by abolishing
practically all property qualifications for men and by enfranchising women over 30
who met minimum property qualifications. The enfranchisement of this latter group
was accepted as recognition of the contribution made by women defense workers.
9
An Education Act made elementary education compulsory between the ages of 5 and
14. Children who left school at 14 were supposed to attend continuation schools for 320
hours a year until they were 18. Those who continued their regular schooling until they
were 16 were under no further obligation. Furthermore, child labor was sharply limited,
halting a large number of children from leaving school at age 12 and becoming
unemployed because of lack of skills.
10
The Labour Party adopted a new constitution designed to recruit more members,
admitting local Labour parties (constituency parties), which individuals could join
without first becoming affiliated with a trade union or a socialist group.
11
Dec. 14
The Khaki election. The coalition government won a huge majority on a platform
promising punishment of the German “war criminals,” full payment by the defeated
powers of the costs of war, and the prevention of dumping of foreign goods in Great
Britain. These promises greatly hampered Lloyd George's freedom of action at the Paris
peace conference (See 1919, Jan. 18).
12
1919
Parliament passed the Arbitration Act, calling for unions and employers to submit to
court decisions. The only important application of this act occurred a year later when the
Transport and General Workers Union (dockers), led by Ernest Bevin, won a favorable
court settlement.
Nov. 28
13
Lady Astor became the first woman elected to the House of Commons.
14
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1914)
b. Ireland
1914, Aug. 8
Press censorship decreed, remaining in effect until 1922.
1
1916, April 21
Sir Roger Casement landed on the Irish coast from a German submarine to start a
rebellion.
2
April 24–29
The EASTER REBELLION, led by Patrick H. Pearse and the Irish Republican
Brotherhood, despite the failure of German aid. After a week of fighting the British
suppressed the insurrection (May 1). Several of the leaders were tried and executed (May
3). Casement was hanged on Aug. 3.
3
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Aug)
6. The Low Countries
a. Belgium
Monarchs: Albert I (r. 1909–34), Leopold III (r. 1934–44).
1
1914
The government fled the German invasion and went into exile in Le Havre (Oct. 14).
Faced with the prospect of starvation, since the Germans refused to supply civilians in
occupied areas, Belgians established the Comité national de secours et d'alimentation,
which, although neutral, became a center for patriotism.
2
Hoping to win support, Germany courted the Flemings by establishing a Flemish
university at Ghent (1916) and promising administrative separation of the Flemish
and Walloon provinces (creation of the Council of Flanders in 1917). The German
policy of systematic massive deportation (120,000 men and boys) roused much
resistance, however, sparking riots in Antwerp that killed 200 on Nov. 30, 1916. The
deportations ceased in 1917.
3
While German efforts were largely unsuccessful, Flemish separatism caused greater
concerns in the Belgian army. Unrest among Flemish soldiers aroused fear of mutiny in
1917 and 1918 (formation of Flemish study circles and their abolition, an open letter to
King Albert listing grievances and cautiously defending Flemish activists in the
occupied territories, and a demand by some Flemish leaders for self-government after
the war). But such fears proved unfounded.
4
Of all the countries involved in the First World War, Belgium suffered most. The total
damage was estimated at over $7 billion, but the country showed extraordinary
recuperative power and soon returned to a peace basis. Politically the country was ruled
by the Catholic and Socialist Parties. One of the major questions at issue was the
demand of the Flemish for recognition of their language.
5
1918, Nov. 21
Roman Catholics, liberals, and Socialists formed a new government of national
solidarity after the German evacuation. This was followed the next day by King Albert's
promise of radical reforms: universal male suffrage, equal rights for language groups,
the foundation of a Flemish university at Ghent, and the repeal of Belgium's obligatory
neutrality.
6
1919
The first commissions paritaires were established by the government to quell a wave of
strikes. These commissions were consultative bodies representing employers and
workers on the national level. By 1923 there were 23 of them. They helped in
negotiations and advised the government, but acquired legislative authority only in 1945.
7
April 7
A total of 160,000 women signed a petition demanding suffrage.
8
May 9
A new electoral law introduced universal manhood suffrage and gave the franchise to
certain classes of women.
9
May 30
By agreement with Great Britain, later confirmed by the League of Nations, Belgium
was given the mandate over part of German East Africa (Ruanda and Urundi).
June 28
10
By the Treaty of Versailles, Belgium acquired the German districts of Eupen,
Malmédy, and Moresnet.
11
Nov. 17
Belgian claims to Limburg and part of the Scheldt river were thwarted as Belgium and
the Netherlands reached agreement on the River Scheldt.
12
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1913, Aug. 25)
b. The Netherlands
Monarchs: Wilhelmina (1890–1948).
1
Though the Netherlands took no part in the First World War, the nation suffered
considerably through interference with trade. Toward the end of the war the government
was obliged to submit to stringent regulations by the Allies and to permit the
requisitioning of Dutch shipping. The Dutch merchant fleet was seized by the Allies on
March 20, 1918.
2
1917, Dec
The revised constitution granting universal manhood suffrage and proportional
representation was promulgated. Financial equality between state and private schools was
also established.
3
1918, Sept
The Ministry of Labor was created.
4
Oct.–Nov
A wave of strikes led many to fear a social revolution, a fear the Socialists fostered. This
generated massive support for the monarchy and the government, and a great loss in
prestige for the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP).
5
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1913, Aug)
7. France
THE GERMAN ADVANCE IN FRANCE, 1940 (MAP)
The Third Republic: Presidents: Raymond Poincaré (1913–20), Paul Deschanel
(1920), Alexandre Millerand (1920–24), Gaston Doumergue (1924–31), Paul Doumer
(1931–32), Albert Lebrun (1932–40).
1
Leading Premiers: Georges Clemenceau (1917–20), Raymond Poincaré (1922–24),
Aristide Briand (1925–26), Raymond Poincaré (1926–29), Léon Blum (1936–37),
Edouard Daladier (1938–40).
2
The French State (Vichy): Head of State: Marshal Philippe Pétain (1940–44).
3
Leading Premiers: François Darlan (1941–42), Pierre Laval (1942–44).
4
1914, Sept. 3
Fearing that Paris might fall to the advancing German armies, the French
government moved to Bordeaux. This temporary withdrawal made it more difficult for
the civilian ministers to control the army commanders, and the French general staff
displayed a spirit of independence that sometimes verged on insubordination.
5
Although French political parties relaxed their feuds in a union sacrée, discontent and
division brought down successive cabinets.
6
In the spring of 1917 the inability of both sides to win a decision on the battlefield and
the victory of the revolution in Russia led to widespread defeatism and pacifism. These
sentiments became more widespread after the disastrous Nivelle offensive.
7
1917, Nov. 16
Formation of the great ministry of Georges Clemenceau, in which the prime minister
was also minister of war, while Stephen Pichon was given the foreign office.
Clemenceau's policy was one of victory sans phrase. He set out at once to hunt down the
preachers of disaffection (Malvy, Humbert, Bolo Pasha, Caillaux) and to organize the
country for victory.
8
Under the leadership of Clemenceau (second ministry, Nov. 1917–Jan. 1920), France
survived the final year of the war. Clemenceau took a leading part in shaping the peace
that followed.
9
WAR LOSSES. The acquisition of Alsace-Lorraine and of mandates in Africa and Syria
did not compensate victorious France for its losses in the war, which had been fought
largely on French soil. The 1,385,000 French soldiers known to be dead; 700,000
seriously wounded; 2,344,000 other wounded; and 446,000 prisoners or missing meant a
loss of manpower proportionately greater than that suffered by any other belligerent. Of
Frenchmen who in 1914 were aged 20–32, more than half were killed. This heightened
French concerns over depopulation. In 1920 a statute strictly prohibited artificial
contraception and abortion and even punished advocacy of these practices. A growing
number of pronatalist advocates also opposed the employment of married women.
Even as the percentage of French women employed fell slowly from 1921 to 1936,
however, the proportion of women in the French labor force remained among the highest
in the Western world. Meanwhile, in the 1920s large firms began active campaigns to
recruit foreign labor as France replaced the United States as a leading recipient of
immigration.
10
Property damage in the war zone in the north and east of France included 300,000
houses destroyed, and as many more damaged; 6,000 public buildings and 20,000
workshops and factories destroyed or badly damaged; 1,360,000 head of livestock killed
or confiscated; thousands of acres of farm land and forest ravaged by shell fire. These
figures explain the intensity of the postwar demand for security and reparation.
11
Public finance became another problem in postwar France. The wartime governments
had preferred to borrow to finance the war. While an income tax had been instituted in
1916, revenue remained low. When peace returned, financial crisis followed: the
depreciation of the franc reached 50 percent one year after the victory. The crisis in
public finance thus gave the postwar era the appearance of financial crisis, despite the
general health of the overall economy.
12
On the whole, as one historian notes, “the war's effect on France's social and economic
structure was to shake it up without producing really revolutionary or fundamental
changes … on the one hand, an increased stability approaching stagnation; on the other
hand, a growth in stresses and tensions within this rigidified social and economic
13
structure.”
1919
The end of the war brought various social concerns to the fore as railway and other
transport workers went on strike (Jan.) and the acquittal of Raoul Villain, the man who
assassinated Jean Jaurès (Aug. 1914), sparked massive demonstrations (March). The
government responded with the long-awaited law making the eight-hour workday
obligatory (April 23), but worker dissatisfaction continued to manifest itself in strikes
through May and June.
14
Feb.–April
The Chamber and Senate passed two remunerative bills, one on the damages caused by
the war and the other on veterans' pensions, thinking that German reparations would
cover the costs.
15
July 4
The government announced its intention to complete demobilization by Oct. 30. Over 3
million men were returned to their homes.
16
July 12
A new electoral law introduced the scrutin de liste and a measure of proportional
representation. The effect of this was to make it more difficult than ever for any one
party to secure a majority.
17
Nov. 16
Elections. The coalition that had governed under Clemenceau split into a Right Bloc
National (Clemenceau, Millerand, Poincaré, Briand) and a Cartel des Gauches, led by
Herriot. The Royalists, Socialists, and Communists were not included in either group.
The elections gave a majority to the Bloc National, which was also victorious in the
senatorial elections of Jan. 1920.
18
These elections registered a great victory of the Right (loosely composed of royalist
reactionaries, more compromising conservatives, and radical nationalists), but on the
whole they remained unable to work efficiently in the realm of mass politics. Their
electoral resurgences were due often to continued splits on the Left, those times when
the Radicals chose to work with conservatives rather than accept Socialist economic and
social programs.
19
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1914, Aug. 7)
8. The Iberian Peninsula
a. Spain
Though Spain was spared the horrors of the First World War, the effects of the conflict
made themselves felt. The demands of the combatants for iron, munitions, and other
goods led to a striking development of Spanish industry, centering in Catalonia. The
growth of industry in turn resulted in increased tension between the semifeudal upper
classes, supported by the Church and the army, and the new forces of socialism and
anarchism. The volatility of this mixture was exacerbated by the uneven economic and
social development of Spain and subsequent strong regionalist sentiment. The movement
for autonomy for Catalonia, which had survived the centralizing policies of the 19th
century, flared up anew, and the government was throughout confronted with the
additional problem of Morocco, where constant native risings required a great military
effort and the expenditure of much money. Politically the prewar system extended
through the First World War and immediate postwar periods, with repeated changes of
ministry and the rotation of Liberals and Conservatives in power.
1
1917
The crisis of 1917 resulted from the waning economic benefits of the war and a rise in
the cost of living. It began in May with military unrest that became more general social
unrest by the end of July with strikes in Valencia, Bilboa, and Santiago. The result was a
period of insecurity between 1917 and 1923.
2
June
The Junta of Defense of the Infantry forced the government to suspend constitutional
guarantees.
3
July 5
The Catalan deputies and senators in the cortes demanded the convocation of a
constituent assembly to consider home rule for Catalonia.
4
Aug. 13
A general strike was called to protest economic, social, and political conditions.
5
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(See 1912, Jan)
b. Portugal
1914, Nov. 23
The Portuguese national assembly voted to join Great Britain and France in the war
against Germany, but action in accord with this vote was delayed by a coup.
1
1915, Jan. 28–May 14
The insurrection and dictatorship of Gen. Pimenta de Castro, representing a proGerman faction in the army. This coup had the support of President Arriaga. He in turn
was overthrown by a democratic revolt on May 14.
2
1915–17
Bernardino Machado became president on the resignation of President Arriaga.
3
1916, March 9
GERMANY DECLARED WAR ON PORTUGAL after the seizure of German ships in
the harbor of Lisbon. The Portuguese organized an expeditionary force, which arrived in
France on Feb. 3, 1917, and took over a small sector of the front.
1917, Dec. 5
4
Gen. Sidonio P
es led another pro-German uprising, arrested and deported the
president, and made himself president-dictator.
5
1918, Dec. 14
P
es was assassinated by a radical, whereupon the democratic regime was
reestablished. The situation in the country continued to be utterly confused. In a land that
was still 65 percent illiterate the democratic system did not function well. One cabinet
relieved another, the average duration of governments being about four months.
Insurrections and coups were hardly less numerous. The financial condition of the
country, long parlous, went from bad to worse. Multiplication of offices, widespread
political corruption, and appalling inefficiency characterized the decade from 1918 to
1928.
6
1919, Jan. 19–Feb. 14
A royalist uprising in the north assumed substantial proportions but was ultimately
suppressed.
7
May 6
The Allied supreme council assigned to Portugal the mandate for part of German East
Africa, known as the Kionga Triangle.
8
Aug. 5
Antonio José de Almeida became president.
9
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(See Aug. 3)
9. Italy and the Papacy
When World War I commenced in Aug. 1914, the Italian cabinet, headed by Antonio
Salandra, chose neutrality despite Italy's membership in the Triple Alliance. After
weighing offers from both camps, the Italian government turned against the Central
Powers and joined the Allies on May 23, 1915 (See May 23).
1
1914, Sept. 3
BENEDICT XV (Giacomo della Chiesa) was elected pope on the death of Pius X (Aug.
20). During the war he appealed to the belligerents for peace, submitting outline
proposals on Aug. 1, 1917.
2
1916, Dec. 12
The Salandra cabinet resigned and was succeeded by a new ministry led by Paolo
Boselli.
3
1917, Oct. 29
The Boselli cabinet fell as a result of the Caporetto disaster (See Oct. 24–Dec. 26). A
new cabinet under Vittorio Orlando took office and remained in power until June 1919.
4
Italy had entered the war primarily to gain territory and wrest control of the Adriatic
from Austria-Hungary. Its military achievement proved far below Allied expectations
and as a result Italy was given but little say at the peace conference. President Wilson
took a hostile stand toward the provisions of the Treaty of London (See April 26), and
Italy, in return for 600,000 lives lost, received only 9,000 square miles of territory with a
5
population of 1.6 million. None of the former German colonies was assigned to Italy as a
mandate. The war, then, left Italy loaded with debt, suffering from high costs of living,
and generally restless and discontented. The governments enjoyed no prestige. The
political situation was complicated by a rapid spread of Communism and by the
emergence of an organized clerical party. Efforts of the government to meet the situation
by social legislation had little success.
By the end of the war Italian economic bifurcation was becoming more evident as
modern industry grew in the north. Industrial wealth centered in the triangle between
Turin, Genoa, and Milan, where union activity was especially strong. Workers were split
among a socialist union, a Catholic union (which appealed to the peasantry as well), and
an anarcho-syndicalist union. As for the peasantry, still the majority of the Italian
population, they were disappointed after vague promises of land redistribution during the
war were ignored by the government.
6
1919, Jan. 19
Formation of the Partito Popolare, a Catholic party.
7
March 23
Formation of the first Fascio di Combattimento by Benito Mussolini (b. 1883), former
socialist and editor of Avanti, who had turned violently interventionist and nationalist.
8
April 24
The Italian delegation left the Paris peace conference after the public appeal of President
Wilson against the Italian territorial claims on the Adriatic. The Italian delegation
returned on May 5.
9
June 19
The Orlando cabinet resigned. A new ministry was formed by Francesco Nitti, with
Tommaso Tittoni at the foreign office.
Sept. 2
10
A new electoral law introduced universal suffrage and the French system of scrutin de
liste (election by departmental lists) and proportional representation.
11
Sept. 12
Gabriele d'Annunzio, eminent writer, ardent nationalist, and world war hero, seized
Fiume with a band of volunteers (See 1919–24).
12
Oct. 5–8
The Socialist Congress at Bologna voted for adherence to the Third International.
13
Nov. 11
The pope definitely lifted the prohibition against participation by Catholics in Italian
political life.
14
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(See March 11)
10. Switzerland
1914, Aug. 1
The Swiss Confederation mobilized its forces in view of the international crisis and
remained on a war footing throughout the conflict. On Aug. 4 the government announced
its neutrality, and its readiness to defend it no doubt had something to do with respect for
Swiss territory on both sides. The war resulted in ever-increasing authority of the federal
as against the cantonal governments (the federal council was given exceptional powers on
Aug. 3, 1914). Switzerland suffered much from food shortages and was obliged to
establish highly centralized control of economic activity. The demands of the
combatants and the need for food resulted in a striking development of Swiss industry,
with a corresponding growth of industrial labor and a spread of socialist and radical
thought.
1
1915
The all-Swiss Metalworkers' Association merged with the Watchmakers'
Association. By 1919 membership in the Swiss Metalworkers' and Watchmakers'
Association (SMUV) was over 84,000.
2
1918, Nov. 11
A general strike began in Zurich. The causes resembled those in most of Europe at this
time: demobilized workers faced unemployment, food prices and rents had doubled
during the war, and workers' wages had only slightly increased. The strikers capitulated
after three days of demonstrations. Of the nine demands put forth by the strikers, one
3
became law by 1919: proportional voting was introduced in the election of the
Nationalrat.
Dec. 8
Switzerland broke off relations with Soviet Russia, which was suspected of subversive
propaganda.
4
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(See Jan) (See July 7)
11. Germany
Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, chancellor since 1909, remained in office until July
1917, but German policies were increasingly influenced by the military leaders.
1
1917, Jan. 8
The German government decided to resume unrestricted submarine warfare.
Bethmann-Hollweg opposed but was unable to prevent this decision (See 1917, Jan. 8).
2
By 1917 growing unrest led to certain important promises by the government.
3
April 7
Emperor William II, as king of Prussia, announced in an Easter message the end of the
famous three-class system of voting in Prussia. The introduction of a system of equal,
direct, and secret suffrage was announced somewhat later (July 11).
4
July 14
Bethmann-Hollweg, having lost the support of the Conservatives, National Liberals,
and Center, and having long since become objectionable to the military, was allowed to
retire.
July 14–Oct. 30
5
Chancellorship of George Michaelis, an almost unknown official, who was the
appointee of the high command and served chiefly as a cloak for the power of
Ludendorff.
6
July 19
Under the leadership of Matthias Erzberger and his Catholic Center Party, the
Reichstag passed a resolution in favor of a peace of understanding, without
annexations (212 Centrists, Majority Socialists, and National Liberals against 126
Conservatives, National Liberals, and Independent Socialists). The new chancellor
declared that his aims were attainable within the limits of the resolution as “he
understood it.”
7
Oct. 28
Mutiny of sailors at Kiel, caused by orders from the admiralty to go to sea and fight the
British. “Further than Heligoland we will not go.”
8
Oct. 29
Emperor William II, alarmed at demands in the Reichstag for his abdication, left Berlin
for army headquarters at Spa.
9
Nov. 4, 5
The revolt at Kiel spread to other seaports. Councils of workers and soldiers formed.
10
Nov. 7
Revolt at Munich, led by Kurt Eisner, an Independent Socialist, led to the
proclamation of a republic in Bavaria (Nov. 8).
Nov. 9
11
ABDICATION OF THE EMPEROR announced in Berlin by Prince Max (the
chancellor since Oct. 4). REPUBLIC PROCLAIMED. Government turned over to
Majority Socialists, led by Friedrich Ebert and Philipp Scheidemann. The emperor
fled to Holland in his special train. His abdication was not signed until Nov. 28, by
which time all other German rulers had abdicated.
12
Nov. 10
A joint ministry of Independent and Majority Socialists took control in Berlin.
Struggle between the extreme Left, or Spartacist, group, led by Karl Liebknecht and
Rosa Luxemburg, who favored a Communist regime, and the Social Democrats
(Majority Socialists), who wanted a gradual and not a violent abandonment of
capitalism.
13
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(See 1913) (See 1919, Sept. 10)
12. Austria
The strain of war intensified the divisions and weaknesses of the Habsburg Empire and
prepared the way for its dissolution.
1
1916, Oct. 21
The Austrian prime minister, Count Karl Stürgkh, was assassinated. His place was
taken (Oct. 28) by Ernst von Körber.
2
Nov. 21
The old emperor, Francis Joseph, died, and was succeeded by his grandnephew,
Charles, emperor to Nov. 11, 1918.
3
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(See 1913) (See 1919, Sept. 10)
13. Czechoslovakia
The new state, with a population of about 15 million, inherited the most valuable part of
the old Austro-Hungarian monarchy, with most of the industrial areas. Levels of
urbanization and the social structure, particularly in the Czech lands, were more similar to
those of the industrialized Western European countries than to those of most other
countries in the region. The literacy rate was also very high. Again, this tended to be
particularly true of the Czech lands, causing some friction among regions of the country.
Its political life after the war was dominated by the ethnic problem and the resulting
multiplication of political parties.
1
However, Czechoslovakia earned a reputation as the most democratic nation in the
region. Because of the strength of Czechoslovak democracy, for example, the
Czechoslovak Communist Party, which was founded in 1921, was allowed to develop
fully as a mass-based party, differing significantly from those parties based on the Soviet
model.
2
The state of the economy also promoted stability. Since Czechoslovakia had coal and iron
mines and modern brewing and textile industries, its economy was better balanced
between industry and agriculture than that of any other country in this area. This too,
however, varied regionally. Attempts to industrialize Slovakia failed, partly as a result of
the world depression. Even with recovery in the mid-1930s, Slovakia's level of
development remained far below that of Bohemia and Moravia.
3
1918, Oct. 14
The Czechoslovak national council in Paris organized a provisional government, with
Thomas Garrigue Masaryk as president and Eduard Bene
Oct. 28
as foreign minister.
4
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, by the national council.
5
Oct. 30
The Slovak national council voted for union with the Czechs.
6
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(See 1913) (See 1920, June 4)
14. Hungary
Hungary, left a country of some 8 million population by the peace settlements, was
predominantly agricultural, socially still organized on a semifeudal basis. Much of the
political history after 1918 had to do with the successful efforts of the landholding classes
to secure and retain control, and with the agitation for revision of the peace treaties and
the restoration of the monarchy. Conservatives effectively cast the blame for postwar
misery on Communists and Jews. The bulk of the middle class and the peasantry was
favorably inclined toward conservative-nationalist rule, and there was a growing mass of
disillusioned working people who isolated themselves from public life and wanted order
and consolidation. Furthermore, antiquated political arrangements effectively kept the
lower classes from exerting much influence.
1
Hungary was economically devastated by the war. Agricultural production dropped by
two-thirds, and industrial output was down to one-fifth of its prewar level. The crown was
also one-third its prewar value. Of the 3.8 million men mobilized for the war, 660,000
were killed and 745,000 were wounded seriously. Like the other successor states,
Hungary compounded these economic problems by following a postwar policy of
economic isolation rather than attempting to rebuild the more profitable economic union
that existed under the Habsburg Empire. By the 1930s Hungary was hard-hit by
permanent unemployment and a marketing crisis that made fascism appealing.
2
1918, Oct. 17
The Hungarian Parliament, in reply to Emperor Charles's declaration of reorganization
of the monarchy, declared complete independence from Austria, except for the personal
union.
Oct. 31
3
REVOLUTION IN HUNGARY. Count Mihaly Károlyi, grand seigneur of liberal,
republican, and pacifist views, made prime minister in the hope of securing satisfactory
peace terms and maintaining the unity of the monarchy.
4
Nov. 16
The national council proclaimed Hungary a republic.
5
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(See Scandinavia)
15. The Scandinavian States
a. Overview
The Scandinavian states were all able to preserve neutrality during World War I, though
they were obliged to accept various Allied regulations and restrictions made necessary by
the Allied blockade of Germany. After 1918 they all took an active part in the
development of collective security, in which obviously they had a great interest. For the
rest they all became thoroughly democratic states and leaders in social reform. In politics
the situation in most cases was rather unstable, due to the relative strength of
conservative, liberal, agrarian, and social democratic parties and the difficulty of
establishing majority government. In foreign policy efforts were made consistently to
develop a program of close cooperation and solidarity, which became all the more
necessary after the resurgence of Germany as a powerful military state.
1
1914, Dec. 18–19
Meeting of the kings of the three Scandinavian states at Malmö was the first such effort
at collaboration. They discussed various problems of the war, neutrality, and so on.
2
1926, Jan. 14, 15, 30
Agreements were made among Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland providing for
the pacific settlement of all disputes. These countries began to suffer severely from the
world economic crisis in 1931.
3
1931, Sept. 6
Prime ministers of the Scandinavian states met for discussion of economic problems.
4
1932, Feb. 7
As a result, the Oslo convention came into force, by which the Scandinavian states
joined with the Netherlands and Belgium in a scheme of economic cooperation, albeit on
a modest scale.
5
1938, April 5–6
The four Scandinavian foreign ministers met for a discussion of the defense problem. In
view of the unwillingness of Denmark to challenge Germany, the specific question of
armament and defense had to be left to the individual governments.
6
July 1
The Oslo mutual trade agreements came to an end. Nevertheless, relations among the
so-called Oslo powers continued to be cordial and even close.
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(See 1914–15)
b. Denmark
1912–47
CHRISTIAN X, king.
1
1915, June
A new constitution was adopted, instituting universal suffrage and more popular
representation in the Landsting. The new electoral laws made it difficult to form
governments, however, and a rapid succession of ministries followed.
2
1916, Aug. 4
Sale of the Danish West Indies to the United States. The transaction was approved by a
Danish plebiscite on Dec. 14.
3
1918, Feb
Protesting the rising cost of living, the unemployed, led by the syndicalist trade unions,
staged an attack on the stock exchange in Copenhagen.
April 22
4
Elections. Under the new system the Conservatives secured 23 seats, the Left (Liberals)
45, the Radicals 33, and the Socialists 39. The government was formed by a coalition of
Radicals and Socialists.
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(See 1909, Aug. 4)
c. Norway
1905–57
HAAKON VII, king. Norway, much more dependent on trade and fishing than either
Denmark or Sweden, alone among the Scandinavian powers revealed a tendency toward
expansion overseas.
1
1919
The government established the 8-hour workday and the 48-hour week.
2
Sept. 25
The Allied supreme council awarded Norway sovereignty over Spitsbergen, which was
thereupon annexed (Feb. 9, 1920).
3
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(See 1909, Aug. 4)
d. Sweden
1907–50
GUSTAVUS V, king.
1
1917, Dec. 29
The Aaland Islands, following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, voted to join
Sweden, but later (June 24, 1921) the League of Nations council assigned them to
Finland, with the proviso that they should be demilitarized.
2
1918, Nov. 13
Worker demonstrations in Stockholm demanded a general strike, establishment of a
socialist republic, and organization of workers' and soldiers' councils. The government
moved quickly to introduce sweeping suffrage reform. By 1919 tax restrictions, property
restrictions, and gender restrictions were all abandoned, except for people on poor relief,
and the voting age was set at 23.
3
1920, March 4
Sweden joined the League of Nations.
4
March 10
Hjalmar Branting formed the first purely Socialist cabinet. From 1920 to 1926 the
Socialists formed three governments that ruled for all but approximately two and a half
years. These Socialist cabinets enacted a large body of social reform legislation for both
workers and peasants, and greatly reduced the military establishment. After the downfall
of the Socialist government in June 1926, there followed a number of Liberal and
Conservative governments.
5
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(See 1910, June 30)
e. Finland
1917, March 21
The Russian provisional government recognized Finland as an independent state within
the proposed Russian federation.
1
Dec. 6
FINNS PROCLAIMED THEIR COMPLETE INDEPENDENCE of Russia, and this
was recognized by the Soviet government (Jan. 2, 1918) as well as by Sweden (Jan. 4),
France, and Germany (Jan. 6).
2
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f. Iceland
1918, Nov. 30
By the Act of Union, Iceland was recognized as a sovereign state, united with Denmark
only in the person of the ruler. But until 1944 certain affairs were to be handled jointly.
1
1920
A Supreme Court was established. By World War II Iceland controlled most of its own
affairs: a postal system, a banking and money system, tariff laws, and a penal system.
Denmark retained control over foreign relations and protected fishing rights in Icelandic
waters.
2
1923
The Althing passed the Cultivation of Soil Act, granting subsidies for agricultural
improvements. With the aid of modern equipment, this revitalized Icelandic agriculture.
3
1937
The Althing proclaimed that it would not seek a renewal of the treaty binding Iceland
with Denmark.
4
1940, May 10
A British garrison was accepted under protest to prevent a German invasion.
5
1941, May 17
The Althing announced that Iceland would separate from Denmark.
6
July
After an agreement, American forces replaced British forces in Iceland.
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(See 1914, Aug. 1)
16. Russia (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)
THE GERMAN ATTACK ON SOVIET RUSSIA, 1941-43 (MAP)
On Germany's declaration of war (Aug. 1, 1914), the opposition parties in Russia
declared their readiness to put aside domestic quarrels and support the government. Since
the government failed to respond, political discontent developed rapidly.
1
1915, May
The Russian defeat in Galicia deeply stirred public opinion (See May 2), and the
government was openly accused of inefficiency in failing to supply the armies.
2
June 25
The tsar was obliged to dismiss Gen. Vladimir Sukhomlinov, the minister of war
(tried and convicted by the provisional government in 1917), and to admit representatives
of the duma and other public bodies (the Union of Zemstvos and Municipalities, the War
Industry Committee, and others) to direct participation in the work of army supply and
the mobilization of industry. Tsar Nicholas refused, however, to comply with the demand
of the progressive bloc in the duma for an entirely new ministry that would enjoy the
confidence of the country and be committed to a more liberal policy.
Sept. 5
3
The situation was aggravated when the tsar dismissed the popular commander-in-chief
Grand Duke Nicholas and assumed the command himself. The tsar's absence from the
capital opened the way for domination by Empress Alexandra, known to be bitterly
hostile to the duma and under the influence of Gregory Rasputin.
4
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17. The Baltic States
a. Overview
The development of the three Baltic states after World War I was more or less along a
common line. All were previously part of Russia; they were, during the war, occupied by
the Germans, who ruled them through puppet regimes; after Germany's collapse, efforts
were made by the Bolsheviks to recover these territories, which gave access to the Baltic.
Through German and Allied aid, and by their own efforts, the Baltic forces drove out the
Bolsheviks and established independent governments. In all three states there was a
German minority of landed wealth and influence, against which agrarian legislation,
involving the breakup of large estates, was directed. The democratic systems set up after
the war gave rise to considerable confusion, with much party wrangling among Social
Democrats, Agrarians, and others. Communism was an ever-present force, against which
all the governments took vigorous measures. But after the victory of National Socialism
in Germany, the Baltic states hastened to improve their relations with Soviet Russia in
order to forestall German intervention on behalf of the German minorities. To present a
common defense the Baltic states also signed the TREATIES OF THE BALTIC
ENTENTE (Sept. 12, 1934).
1
By 1939 all three of the Baltic states had gone over to some form of dictatorship, not
from deference to the German system, but rather to forge a stronger regime for ultimate
resistance to Germany.
2
1940, July 21
Incorporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into the Soviet Union after Moscow,
with German aid, had in 1939 secured military bases in those countries (treaties of Sept.
29, Estonia; Oct. 4, Latvia; Oct. 10, Lithuania). Ultimatums of June 15, 16, 1940, charged
hostile activities; Russia had occupied the Baltics militarily and had arranged for proSoviet administrations to request admittance to the Soviet Union.
3
Most political and military leaders were deported soon after annexation. The discovery of
the bodies of some of those arrested and executed was well publicized by the Germans
and contributed to the level of mass support for them during the first months of their
occupation, and to atrocities against the Jews, accused of backing Soviet rule.
4
In all three republics, German invasion (June 1941) was accompanied by Baltic revolt.
Provisional governments were set up in all three states but were soon closed by the
Germans. Thousands in each state were recruited into police battalions, while the
Germans formed SS legions in Latvia and Estonia. The Germans fostered cooperation
with vague promises about the future of the Baltics. The Jewish population was herded
into ghettoes and massacred. In July 1944 Jewish resistance in the remnant of the Vilna
ghetto launched a revolt, but the ghetto was destroyed. The Balts who resisted the
Germans did so as Baltic nationalists, not Soviet resisters; partisans were sometimes
responsible for atrocities against Communists. In the summer of 1944 the Balts attempted
to restore their national governments. By then the Red Army was pouring into the Baltic
states, and these provisional governments lasted for only a few days. Hundreds of
thousands of Balts fled with the Germans or across the Baltic to Sweden. Their places
were taken by Russian-speaking immigrants and demobilized military personnel, securing
the place of the Baltic states in the postwar Soviet Union.
5
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b. Lithuania
1917, Sept. 18–22
A Lithuanian conference at Vilna led to the establishment of a national council and a
demand for independence from Russia (Dec. 11). The movement was encouraged by the
Germans.
1
1918, Feb. 16
A FORMAL DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE resulted. The new state was at
once invaded by the Bolsheviks.
2
March 3
The treaty of Brest-Litovsk (See March 3), however, obliged Russia to recognize
Lithuanian independence. The Germans also recognized the new state (March 23) and
drew it into alliance with Germany (May 14).
3
June 4
Duke William of Urach as king was elected by the Lithuanian government. But when
German power collapsed in November, this election was rescinded.
Nov. 11
4
Augustinas Voldemaras formed a national government, the first of many short-lived
cabinets. The Germans were obliged to withdraw, whereupon the Bolsheviks again
invaded the country.
5
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c. Latvia
1917, Oct. 29
Formation of the Latvian national council, following the Soviet seizure of power in
Russia. Since German forces remained in the country, the national council was unable to
assert its authority or build up an effective national army. For more than a year German
efforts to organize a Baltic duchy continued.
1
1918, March 3
According to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (See March 3) the Bolsheviks were obliged to
accept loss of the Baltic states.
2
Nov. 17
A people's council was set up by the Latvians after the defeat of Germany, with Karlis
Ulmanis as prime minister.
3
Nov. 18
The council proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Latvia.
4
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d. Estonia
1917, Nov. 28
The Estonians, taking advantage of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, proclaimed
their independence, but the Soviet government at once undertook the reconquest of this
strategically important area. To block the Russian advance, the Germans occupied the
country (Dec.).
1
1918, Feb. 24
The independence of Estonia was again proclaimed, under German protection. A
provisional government was formed by Konstantin Päts, who was to play a prominent
role throughout the entire postwar period.
2
March 3
By the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (See March 3), Russia was obliged to recognize
Estonian independence.
3
Nov. 11
The Germans began the withdrawal from the country, following the end of World War I.
They ceded complete power to Päts.
Nov. 22
4
The Russians began a second invasion of the country. The Estonians put up a valiant
resistance and were supported by a British fleet.
5
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(See 1914)
18. Poland
During World War I Poland was a pawn in the conflict between Russia and the Central
powers. The Russian government made appealing promises in order to hold the loyalty of
the Poles.
1
1914, Aug. 14
Russia promised that Poland should be restored as an autonomous kingdom. This
policy secured the support of an important faction of Polish nationalists, led by Roman
Dmowski, who, on Nov. 25, formed the Polish National Committee at Warsaw.
2
Aug. 16
On the other hand, Gen. Joseph Pilsudski (a Russian Pole by birth and several times
convicted and imprisoned in Russia for radical, revolutionary activity) founded the
Supreme National Committee at Kraków, under Austrian protection. The Austrian
government permitted the formation of Polish legions to fight against Russia. In the
course of 1915 most of Poland was conquered by the Germans and Austrians, who for a
time divided the administration of the territory between them. Ultimately, however, the
German high command took almost complete control of the country.
3
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(See 1912) (See July 28) (See 1914, Aug. 5)
19. The Balkan States
a. Yugoslavia
The history of the new state, composed of Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, and
Dalmatia, was marked chiefly by the efforts of the Serbs to establish a centralized Serb
state and by the vigorous resistance of the Croats and Slovenes (Roman Catholic and
much more Westernized than the Serbs) to secure some type of autonomy.
1
1917, July 20
The PACT OF CORFU, signed by Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, and Montenegrin
representatives, declared that the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes formed a single nation, to
be organized under the Serbian dynasty.
2
1918, Oct. 29
The Croatian diet announced secession of Croatia and Dalmatia from the AustroHungarian Empire and handed over supreme authority in the new state to the national
council. The council then proclaimed the desire for union with Serbia and Montenegro
without specifying further conditions.
3
Nov. 26
A national assembly in Montenegro proclaimed union with Serbia and declared King
Nicholas, who had resisted previous efforts at union, deposed (d. March 1, 1921, in
exile).
4
Dec. 1
Prince Alexander of Serbia accepted the regency of the new state and THE
KINGDOM OF THE SERBS, CROATS, AND SLOVENES FORMALLY
PROCLAIMED.
5
The new state had numerous economic and social problems resulting mainly from the
union of different systems. The old manorial system was abolished and one in four
peasant families obtained land, but the holdings remained small. The Serbs represented
39 percent of the population, the Croats 24 percent, the Slovenes 8.5 percent, and the rest
was an amalgam of Germans, Magyars, Albanians, Macedonians, and Bosnian Muslims.
Finally, Yugoslavia had to contend with border disputes with six neighboring states,
including Italy (See 1919–24).
6
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(See 1913, July 29)
b. Albania
The major concern of Albanian patriots during World War I was to retain independence
and the borders agreed upon before the war (1912 proclamation of independence and
provisional government, recognized by Treaty of London, May 30, 1913). In this effort
they were aided by Albanian Americans, who underwrote lobbyists in the major capitals
of Europe. The newly independent Albania was invaded and overrun by most of its
neighbors during the war.
1
1918, Dec. 25
A national assembly elected Turkhan Pasha president. The government had to deal
with the incursions of the Yugoslavs in the north and the Italians on the coast.
2
1920, Aug. 2
Italy agreed to evacuate Valona while retaining the island of Saseno. The Italians left
on Sept. 2. But Greece and Yugoslavia maintained troops in Albania until 1922.
3
Dec. 17
Albania was admitted to the League of Nations.
4
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(See Sept. 7)
c. Greece
Greece entered the war only in June 1917 after a virtual civil war between the prime
minister, Eleftherios Venizelos, and King Constantine I. The latter went into exile
without formally abdicating and was replaced by his son, ALEXANDER I. The
subsequent purge of the Greek military, administration, and judiciary of Constantine's
supporters set the stage for the instability of interwar Greece.
1
1920, June 22
Beginning of the Greek offensive in Anatolia (See 1919–22).
2
Aug. 10
The TREATY OF SÈVRES: Greece obtained Smyrna, the Dodecanese (except Rhodes),
eastern Thrace, Imbros, and Tenedos.
3
Oct. 25
Death of King Alexander. Regency of Queen Olga.
4
Nov. 14
Defeat of the Venizelists in the election, due to dissatisfaction with the Anatolian
adventure. Venizelos resigned.
5
Dec. 5
A plebiscite, held despite Allied warnings, showed an almost unanimous vote for King
Constantine. The Allies thereupon withdrew all support from Greece.
6
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(See 1915, Oct. 14) (See 1919, Nov. 27)
d. Bulgaria
Defeated in World War I, Bulgaria not only failed to recover any of the territory lost in
the Second Balkan War, but was also deprived of some further areas on the Serbian
frontier and of all access to the Aegean. The country was flooded with thousands of
refugees from Thrace and Macedonia, whom the government, loaded with debt and
heavy reparations payments, was unable to settle. They formed a huge mobile element,
easy converts to the revolutionary program of the Macedonian committees or to
Bolshevik agitators. The drastic policy of nationalization pursued by the Yugoslav and
Greek governments in Macedonia stimulated the unrest in Bulgaria, which the
government was unable to control. Raids of revolutionary bands across the frontiers
became the order of the day, creating a state of chronic tension between Bulgaria and its
neighbors.
1
1918, Oct. 4
Abdication of Tsar Ferdinand.
2
1918–43
BORIS III, son of Ferdinand, tsar.
3
1919, Aug. 17
The Peasant Party won a great victory in the elections.
4
Oct. 6
Alexander Stamboliski, leader of the Peasant Party, became premier.
5
The Communist Party, formed in 1919, not only did not join the government (despite
winning 18 percent of the vote) but soon clashed with the Agrarians. Communist leaders
were very active in labor agitation and in the organization of strikes, the most important
of which was the general strike of Dec. 1919. Stamboliski opposed these actions by
forming the Orange Guard, composed mainly of peasants armed with clubs, which was
used to break up demonstrations. After the arrest of the leaders, the strikes collapsed.
6
Nov. 27
Bulgaria signed the Treaty of Neuilly (See 1919, Nov. 27).
7
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(See 1916, Aug. 27)
e. Romania
1914–27
FERDINAND I.
1
1916, Aug. 27
Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary, but the Romanian armies were decisively
defeated before the end of the year.
2
1918, May 7
Treaty of Bucharest (See May 7).
3
Nov. 10
Romania reentered the war, and Romanian forces occupied Transylvania.
4
Dec. 2
A government, headed by Julius Maniu, Transylvanian peasant leader, was soon (Dec.
14) obliged to give way to a cabinet under Ion Bratianu, leader of the Liberal Party,
representing the industrial, commercial, and professional classes of the old kingdom.
5
Romania's main problems after the war were economic recovery and internal
consolidation of the state, primarily by the unification of legislation throughout the
country. To alleviate economic problems land reform was partially introduced in Dec.
1918, when a decree was issued expropriating a considerable part of the great landed
estates. Reform became more definite in 1921; almost 7 million acres were divided
among nearly 1.5 million families, and the remainder of over 4 million acres of grassland
and forest became village property to be used by the peasants on payment of a tax. As in
the rest of the Balkans, reform was not enough to end rural poverty, and peasants actually
cut back commercial production in favor of local subsistence. Urban conditions were also
difficult, sparking frequent strikes culminating in a countrywide general strike in 1920.
6
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(See Oct. 15)
D. North America, 1915–1945
1. The United States
The two world wars and the Great Depression completed the urban industrial
transformation of America. The changes of this era accelerated the rise of the United
States as a world power; heightened the process of democratization; and increased the
role of the state in shaping the economy, culture, and society. After World War I
isolationismdefined most American foreign policy, but the nation's international
economic role continued to expand; periodic intervention in Central America and the
Caribbean also continued (See 1912), (See 1914, June 26). During this period the rise of
new forms of mass culture—e.g., movies, radios, and automobiles—would also help to
transform American attitudes and values. New sexual attitudes, including growing
belief in the centrality of sex for marriage, accompanied rising consumerism. This
development joined growing acceptance of artificial birth control devices for married
couples (particularly middle class) and also new sexual suggestiveness in advertisements
and movies. With radio and movies, more standardized cultural fare became available.
Following the introduction of sound to feature-length films in 1927, for example, movie
attendance increased by nearly 30 million people over the next three years. The cultural
differences among Americans would appear less apparent than in previous years.
1
Still, by the end of World War II, the dynamics of class, race, and region continued to
shape definitions of American nationality. Participation in two world wars expanded the
federal bureaucracy, which gained expression in a number of wartime agencies: the
National War Labor Board (World Wars I and II), the Selective Service system (World
Wars I and II), and the War Industries Board (World War I), to name only a few. Under
the leadership of Democratic president Franklin D. Roosevelt, a variety of New Deal
social welfare programs reinforced the growing role of the state in the political economy.
The Social Security Act, the National Labor Relations Act, and the Works Progress
Administration were among the many measures that signaled the changing role of the
state in American society. Supporting these developments was the rise of a new political
coalition of urban workers, ethnic groups, blacks, and women. These constituents of the
so-called New Deal Coalition demanded relief and security from the vagaries of
2
industrial capitalism. Significantly, FDR appointed the first woman to hold a cabinetlevel position, Francis Perkins, secretary of labor.
The rise of the welfare state was by no means unproblematic. Corporate elites dominated
the development of American society during this period. Following a brief recession
during the early 1920s, the industrial sector (except for coal, textiles, and a few other socalled sick industries) soon recovered and prospered. Corporate mergers accelerated, and
by the stock market crash of 1929 the number of such combinations had exceeded the
record set during the late 19th century. As industry recovered during the mid-1920s,
however, agriculture con-tinued to face the destructive impact of competition with
European products. New Deal programs had limited impact on the fortunes of American
farmers. The Agricultural Adjustment Act, for example, encouraged the concentration of
agricultural production in the hands of large landowners, hastened the demise of the
small farmer, and reinforced the movement of African Americans from the Jim Crow
South to the urban North and West.
3
Despite the passage of New Deal labor legislation, industrial workers faced stiff
resistance to their quest for equal rights. In 1936, it took a 44-day sit-down strike to
produce victory for the CIO's United Automobile Workers. While large companies like
General Motors and U.S. Steel negotiated contracts with their workers, others like the
so-called Little Steel companies held out and refused to recognize the union until 1941.
Women and ethnic and racial minorities also faced persistent patterns of inequality.
Even during the acute labor shortages of World War II, for example, employers were
reluctant to train women for available skilled jobs. Only when African Americans
launched the March on Washington movement (1941) did they gain access to heretofore
racially restricted defense industry jobs. Indeed, Native, Hispanic, African, and Asian
Americans faced special problems, which culminated in the internment of Japanese
Americans during World War II. Racism not only challenged America's domestic
tranquility, but questioned its growing claims as leader of the free world. Along with
new forms of repression unleashed by the cold war, fear of Communism, and the threat
of nuclear annihilation, racism and questions of social justice would emerge as key
issues of the post–World War II years.
4
1915
The Birth of a Nation heralded as a modern cinematic triumph, although it inflamed
racial hatreds by portraying African Americans as inferior and black men as threats to
white womanhood. The Ku Klux Klan was revived in Georgia during the same year
and flourished as a national movement during the early postwar years, as membership
rose to over 2 million and covered urban as well as rural America.
5
1915–17
The Woman's Peace Party formed following the international women's congress at The
Hague. At the same time women escalated their demands for suffrage, which they
received in 1920 with passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.
6
1916
Alice Paul spearheaded the formation of the militant National Woman's Party and
advocated a constitutional amendment to enfranchise women in one stroke.
7
Under the leadership of the Jamaican Marcus M. Garvey, the Universal Negro
Improvement Association established a Harlem chapter and spread rapidly among the
African-American population. Emphasizing race pride and “Africa for Africans,” the
organization struck a responsive chord among black Americans in the racial
environment of wartime and especially postwar America.
8
1916–18
With the assistance of Harriet Stanton Blatch, the Food Administration launched an
extensive consumer education program and became one of the most successful wartime
regulatory agencies.
9
1917
The AFL argued for a no-strike rule for the duration of the war. In exchange for its
loyalty, it received federal support for its collective bargaining efforts.
10
Thirty-nine black men, women, and children lost their lives in an outbreak of racial
violence in East St. Louis, Illinois.
11
April 6. WAR DECLARED ON GERMANY (See April 6). Diplomatic relations with
Austria-Hungary were terminated on April 8, but war was declared on Dec. 7.
Diplomatic relations with Turkey were severed on April 20, but war was never formally
declared on either Turkey or Bulgaria.
12
May 18
Selective Service Act passed providing for the registration of those between 21 and 31
years of age, inclusive. On June 5 local draft boards registered 9,586,508 men. The U.S.
ended its traditional dependence on volunteer units for defense and used conscripts
almost exclusively. Seventy-two percent of the nation's armed forces were draftees: 13
percent black, 18 percent immigrant, and the remainder American-born. Nearly 400,000
African Americans served in the war.
13
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Aug. 4)
2. The Dominion of Canada
As in the U.S., the interwar years accelerated the urban industrial transformation of
Canadian society. Mobilization of resources to address the demands of World War I, the
Great Depression, and World War II all increased the role of the government in Canadian
life. In 1931 Canada broke its ties to imperial Great Britain and gained an independent
place in the new commonwealth. The emergence of Canada as a significant world power
during these years, however, was fraught with difficulties. Before the nation could
consolidate its position as an independent actor in world affairs, it came increasingly
under the influence of the U.S. As early as the 1920s, American companies like Ford,
Chrysler, and General Motors dominated the Canadian automobile industry, which
produced the second largest number of cars during the period and became a major
exporter. The depression and two world wars also revealed the persistence of deep
regional, class, and cultural divisions within the nation. During both world wars, AngloCanadians imposed conscription policies, which French Canadians fiercely resisted.
Despite the enfranchisement of women and the increasing democratization of the
Canadian polity during the period, women remained subordinated to men in the political
economy; workers faced hostile opposition to their efforts to organize until government
recognition of their right to collective bargaining occurred in 1944; and ethnic and racial
groups faced stiff patterns of antagonism, including the rise of Canadian chapters of the
American-based Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s and the removal of Japanese Canadians
from the west coast to designated inland areas during World War II.
1
1914
Nationalization of the Canadian Northern Railway forced by fear of imminent failure
and a collapse of national credit. The Grand Trunk Railway was nationalized in 1920.
The government operated about 23,000 miles of railway representing a capital investment
of $1,652,000,000, known as Canadian National Railways. Gradual coordination of
lines occurred. Sir Henry Thornton appointed in 1922 as the nonpolitical head of the
2
system.
Aug. 4
Entrance of Great Britain into the First World War. Message of Canada to the mother
country: “If unhappily war should ensue, the Canadian people will be united…to
maintain the honor of the empire” (Aug. 2). Special session of Parliament called (Aug.
18) and a war budget voted. Thirty thousand volunteers embarked for England by the end
of September.
3
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(See 1914, Aug. 4)
3. Newfoundland
1917
Resignation of Premier Sir Edward Morris, who was succeeded by Sir William F.
Lloyd.
1
1919, May 23
Michael P. Cashin, premier. Elections (Nov. 1) resulted in the overthrow of the Cashin
ministry, and Sir Richard A. Squires became premier.
2
1923
William R. Warren, premier.
3
Dec. 26
Grave charges of misappropriation of funds brought against Sir Richard Squires and
others (later acquitted) by Premier Warren. Warren was defeated in the assembly
following the arrest of Squires (April 22, 1924), and he resigned. He was succeeded by
Walter Munroe.
4
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
E. Latin America and the Caribbean, 1914–1945
SOUTH AMERICA IN 1930 (MAP)
1. Overview
Though most Latin American nations, at the suggestion of the U.S. government, either
declared war on Germany or broke off diplomatic relations, they played no part militarily
in World War I. Nevertheless, the war period was important for the entire region because
the demand for raw materials made a phenomenal expansion of trade possible. Except
for the slump of 1920–21, this expansion continued from 1916 to 1929. It was
accompanied by large capital investments, especially by the U.S. after the war, and by
the emergence of local industries in the more developed countries. In spite of this growth,
Latin America's dependence on exports came increasingly under attack during these
years. The liberal export model of development had already led to major crises in
Mexico, and by the 1920s growing numbers of nationalists throughout the region were
questioning the social and economic costs of the export boom. Nationalists believed that
too many of the benefits of economic progress had gone into foreign hands, and that it
was time to reassert national control over the wealth and resources of the region.
1
The population of Latin America more than doubled from the turn of the century to
1940, reaching a total of 126 million. The influx of European immigrants and, after 1930,
the growing wave of internal migrants expanded the political and economic weight of the
cities. Emerging urban middle classes struggled against the great landholders and
oligarchic elites for control of national governments. At the same time, the efforts of the
rural workers, or campesinos (on coffee, sugar, and other plantations), were reinforced by
those of workers from the oil fields, mines, and factories. These groups demanded social
2
legislation to protect their interests, and sought to organize the lower classes (in many
instances in alliance with the middle classes, at least for a time). Left-wing political
parties, drawing their support from these dissatisfied groups, became an important
political force in the region. These parties were often very nationalistic, and in some
cases began to support the cause of women's suffrage. Between 1914 and 1945 women
gained the vote in eight Latin American countries. These basic social issues fermented
throughout the continent, the world depression after 1929 further stimulating unrest.
Among the Latin American states and between Latin America and the U.S. cooperation
along various lines increased, interrupted by moments of profound distrust between Latin
America and its neighbor to the north. Despite Nazi propaganda campaigns prior to and
during World War II, most Latin American nations severed diplomatic relations with the
Axis powers. With the exception of Argentina, Latin American nations contributed to the
Allied war effort. (See Overview)
3
a. Regional Diplomacy
1915, May 24
The first Pan-American financial conference met in Washington.
4
May 25
Conclusion of an arbitration treaty among Argentina, Brazil, and Chile (the ABC
powers).
5
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Overview)
b. Cultural Developments
Latin American society and culture flourished in the early 20th century. Writers, poets,
artists, architects, and other intellectuals regularly used their modes of expression as
vehicles for critically examining their societies. Mexican poets Enrique González Rubio
(1871–1952) and Ramón López Velarde are early examples of this. Peruvian essayist
Francisco García Calderón argued that Latin American art was a key arena in which the
region might find its ancient heritage and express its independence from the colonial
powers. Latin American novels as well, such as Mariano Azuela's (1873–1952) The
Underdogs (1916), were harshly critical of the social problems and inequities that
pervaded the region. These critiques also reflected a new “cultural” nationalism that
was growing in the region, as evidenced by the novels of Venezuelan Rómulo Gallegos
(1884–1969). The quality of the literature and poetry from the region was shown when
Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957) won the 1945 Nobel Prize in literature.
1
Latin American art took on a distinctive flavor in the early 20th century. Mexican visual
artists such as José Clemente Orozco (1883–1949), Diego Rivera (1886–1957), and
Frida Kahlo (1907–54), along with Brazilian Cándido Portinari, received worldwide
acclaim for their distinctive syntheses of European and indigenous techniques. In Brazil,
novelist Oswald de Andrade and painter Tarsila do Amaral led a modernist movement
beginning in the early 1920s which rejected 19th-century European doctrines and sought
inspiration in Brazil's “primitive” Indian past. Along with their contemporaries in other
arts, they produced work that was very critical of their societies. Composers like Mexican
Carlos Chávez (1899–1978), Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959), and the
Argentine-born Alberto Williams (1862–1952) and Alberto Ginastera (1916–83)
likewise integrated a variety of artistic traditions to produce world-renowned music.
2
This period also saw the rise, for the first time, of urban working-class culture in Latin
America. As an emerging group, urban workers sought new forms of entertainment and
expression in Latin American cities. Dances such as the tango and samba, along with the
increasingly important role that Carnaval played in many Latin American nations,
became forums for these groups to express their views and opposition to entrenched elites
in a relatively nonconfrontational way. Soccer as well became an important arena for the
3
working classes to express their loyalties and antagonisms. (See Cultural Developments)
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1914)
2. South America
a. Argentina
1916–22
HIPÓLITO YRIGOYEN, leader of the Argentine Radicals, was elected president
after an electoral reform (1912) granted the secret ballot and suffrage to all males over
18 years of age. Yrigoyen introduced modest social reforms (factory acts, regulation of
hours, pensions, etc.), but eventually gave up efforts to win over the labor movement and
turned to repression to control workers. Large landowners retained their dominance, and
the patronage and corruption of earlier regimes persisted. Yrigoyen refused to give up
neutrality during the First World War, although diplomatic relations with Germany were
strained after the sinking of Argentine ships by German submarines (1917). Argentine
supplied huge quantities of wheat and meat to the Allies.
1
1918
Entrance of middle-class immigrants' children into universities fueled La Reforma, a
movement for student participation in university governance and curricular reform. It
began with student strikes in Córdoba and soon spread to campuses in Buenos Aires and
La Plata. Yrigoyen supported the movement, which also inspired student political
activity elsewhere in Latin America.
2
1919, Jan
SEMANA TRÁGICA (the Tragic Week). Police and the army opened fire first on
3
striking workers and then on the funeral for those killed in the massacre. Perhaps
thousands were killed in the worker riots that followed. In the aftermath, the “Patriotic
League,” an anti-Communist, anti-Semitic nativist organization, aided in the
identification and persecution of surviving strikers and supporters.
1920
Argentina became an original member of the League of Nations, but withdrew from
the assembly in 1921 on rejection of an Argentine resolution that all sovereign states be
admitted to the League.
4
1922–28
MARCELO ALVEAR, Radical candidate, elected president. His attempts at fiscal
austerity caused a split in the Radical Party (1924). His presidency also witnessed a
growing wave of conflicts between the federal government in Buenos Aires and antiRadical governments in the provinces.
5
1928
Yrigoyen was again elected to the presidency.
6
1930, Sept. 6
General José Uriburu forced Yrigoyen from office. Yrigoyen's assumption of wide
personal powers had aroused much criticism, while the distress created by the world
depression had provoked a demand for further relief measures. With Uriburu the
landowning and big business and other conservative groups returned to power. This
began the period (1930–43) known alternatively as either the “Conservative
Restoration” or the “Infamous Decade.” Modeling themselves on the fascistic style of
Mussolini's Italy, Uriburu and his followers used fraud and severe repression to decimate
the radical Left. Although the Radical Party initially boycotted elections during the
Infamous Decade, in 1936 they struck a deal with the conservatives (the Concordancia)
for some power sharing.
7
1932–37
Agustín Justo was elected president. The regime maintained a system of fraud and
intimidation to ensure conservative victories in the elections. Political and social unrest
continued and culminated in an unsuccessful radical revolt in the northeastern
provinces (1933–34).
8
1932, Nov. 17
Carlos Saavedra Lamas, the foreign minister, published a proposed South American
antiwar pact, which had already been accepted by several states. Argentina also
resumed full membership in the League of Nations (1933).
9
1933
The government launched a program of national economic recovery, which achieved
some success. Part of this was the Roca-Runciman treaty with Great Britain, which
was designed to safeguard Argentina's export markets by guaranteeing the purchase of
British goods and ensuring the profitability of British firms in Argentina.
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1916)
b. Chile
Chile remained neutral in the First World War despite violation of its neutrality by
both German and British warships. The war demand for Chilean nitrate in large
quantities generated a brief boom, but the discovery of the Haber process for fixing
nitrogen from the air in 1914 spelled the end for this industry. In the meantime, however,
Chilean copper was emerging as an immensely important industry. U.S. firms
dominated this extremely profitable enterprise. From an investment of merely $15 million
in 1912, American investments in Chilean copper totaled almost $500 million by the late
1920s.
1
1919, Aug
Increasingly militant organized labor staged a demonstration of 100,000 people in
Santiago, protesting inflation, declining wages, and government repression.
2
1920, Jan. 10
Chile became a member of the League of Nations.
3
1920–21
Chile suffered severely from the general world slump and the cessation of the demand for
nitrate. The lower classes demanded a more democratic regime and extensive social
legislation.
4
1920–24
ARTURO ALESSANDRI (1869–1950) elected president after a disputed election.
Candidate of the Liberal Alliance Party, he advocated wide political and social reforms.
His election represented a victory for the middle classes, supported by labor elements.
But during his term, Alessandri, impeded by the elite-dominated parliamentary system,
was unable to make much progress. At the same time many military officers, seeing the
ineffectiveness of repression, began to pressure the government for social reforms. They
did gain child labor laws, recognition for unions, and increases in army salaries. When in
1924 the government began to return to more traditional ways, the military forced
Alessandri from office.
5
1925, Jan. 23
After control by a military junta under Gen. Luis Altamirano, in a climate of increasing
labor militancy and widespread strikes, a coup d'état engineered by pro-reform officers
and led by Maj. Carlos Ibánez (1877–1960) resulted in the recall of Alessandri. At this
point military leaders believed they needed to co-opt labor movements to maintain order.
6
June
In a reversal of his earlier stances, Alessandri cracked down on striking nitrate
workers. This initiated a period of severe government repression of labor movements.
7
Sept. 18
New constitution, providing a stronger executive, broader suffrage, separation of Church
and State, provincial autonomy, etc.
8
Oct. 1
Alessandri resigned, in view of the continued disorder and uncertainty.
9
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VI. The World Wars and the Interwar Period, 1914–1945 > E. Latin America and the Caribbean,
1914–1945 > 2. South America > c. Paraguay
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1908–12)
c. Paraguay
1912–16
The presidency of Edward Schaerer saw economic development and relative political
stability. Industry, ranching, and agriculture expanded, transportation and
communications were improved, and foreign capital was invested. Paraguay remained
neutral during the First World War, and in 1920 it became an original member of
the League of Nations.
1
1916–19
Manuel Franco, president.
2
1919–20
On Franco’s death, José Montero, the vice president, succeeded.
3
1920–21
Manuel Gondra, president. He was forced to resign by a revolutionary group.
1924–28
4
After the short presidencies of Eusebio Ayala (1921–23), Eligio Ayala (1923–24), and
Luis Riart (1924), Eligio Ayala was elected president. Representing the Liberal
groups, he inaugurated a policy of social legislation.
5
1928–31
José Gugiari, president.
6
1928–30
During Gugiari's administration, the dispute with Bolivia over the Chaco territory
came to a head. Despite earlier agreements (1913, 1915), claims on the potentially oilrich territory were still unsettled. In Dec. 1928, the forces of the two states clashed and
war seemed inevitable. Diplomatic relations were severed and Paraguay appealed to the
League of Nations, but the Pan-American conference at once offered to mediate. Direct
negotiations were agreed to, but skirmishes in the contested area continued until a
temporary arrangement (return to status quo ante) was arrived at (April 2, 1930).
7
1932–35
THE CHACO WAR. The League of Nations and the Pan-American Union both called
upon the two parties to desist from hostilities and accept neutral arbitration, but to no
avail. Standard Oil of New Jersey and Royal Dutch Shell, supporting Bolivia and
Paraguay respectively, fueled the conflict because of a belief in rich oil deposits in the
region. The Paraguayans, after a series of major campaigns, occupied the larger part of
the Chaco but failed in their attempts to invade Bolivian territory. During the war the
relations between Paraguay and Chile became badly strained because of the service
of Chilean officers with the Bolivian army and employment of Chilean workmen by
Bolivia.
8
1935
At the suggestion of the League of Nations, some 20 nations lifted the embargo on arms
in favor of Bolivia, while retaining it against Paraguay. Thereupon Paraguay
announced withdrawal from the League.
9
June 14
Paraguay and Bolivia concluded a truce, at the instigation of the U.S. and five South
American governments. A peace conference at Buenos Aires met in July. A definitive
peace treaty was not signed until July 21, 1938 (approved by plebiscite on Aug. 10).
The treaty provided for arbitration of boundaries between American states. The
territorial award assigned the greater part of the Chaco to Paraguay, but provided
Bolivia with an outlet to the sea by way of the Paraguay River.
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1903–7)
d. Uruguay
In the first decades of the 20th century, Uruguay enjoyed comparative stability and
affluence. Massive waves of immigration in the late 19th century and increased trade
with Britain brought a great deal of prosperity. After 1910 JOSÉ BATLLE Y
ORDÓÑEZ (1856–1929) created a two-party system to prevent factionalism. The
majority party, the Colorados (representing the middle and working classes), fought the
Blancos (a mainly rural party) in subsequent elections.
1
1907–11
Claudio Williams administration.
2
1911–15
José Batlle y Ordóñez administration.
3
1915–19
Feliciano Viera administration.
4
1919–23
During the administration of Baltasar Brum, as in those of his three predecessors and
his successors, many social and administrative reforms were initiated and the internal
development of the country was rapid. Immigration and urbanization continued
throughout the period.
5
1917
On the entry of the U.S. into the First World War, Uruguay expressed solidarity and later
severed relations with Germany.
6
1919, March 1
A new constitution curtailed the powers of the president, created the National Council
of Administration (nine members elected by popular vote and endowed with important
functions), and disestablished the Roman Catholic Church. The council was designed
to assuage Blanco opposition to continued Colorado rule and prevent them from seeking
nonelectoral means of gaining power.
7
1920
Uruguay joined the League of Nations.
8
1923–27
José Serrato, president.
9
1927–31
Juan Compisteguy, like Serrato before him, continued and accelerated the policy of
social reform until Uruguay began to feel the pinch of the Great Depression.
1931–38
10
GABRIEL TERRA (1873–1942), president. He represented the more advanced wing of
the Liberal Party, and soon found himself in conflict with the National Council of
Administration concerning the division of executive authority. This period began
Uruguay's experiment with state-subsidized import substitution industrialization, funded
mainly with revenues from livestock exports.
11
1932
National women's suffrage recognized.
12
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VI. The World Wars and the Interwar Period, 1914–1945 > E. Latin America and the Caribbean,
1914–1945 > 2. South America > e. Bolivia
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1909–17)
e. Bolivia
1913–17
Ismael Montes president, for his second term in office. Increasingly, tin was outstripping
silver and other products as Bolivia's main export.
1
1917, April 13
Bolivia severed relations with Germany but did not declare war.
2
1917–20
José Gutiérrez Guerra, president.
3
1920, Jan. 10
Bolivia became an original member of the League of Nations.
4
March 16
In the Tacna-Arica dispute, Bolivia took the stand that neither Chile nor Peru was
entitled to the provinces. The Bolivian government appealed to the League of Nations
(Nov. 1) for access to the Pacific, but the effort failed.
5
July 11
A coup d'état led to the overthrow of Gutiérrez Guerra.
6
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1914–1945 > 2. South America > f. Peru
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1904–12)
f. Peru
1914, Feb. 4
A military revolt led to the overthrow of President Guillermo Billinghurst.
1
1914–15
Col. Oscar Benavides served as provisional president.
2
1915–19
José Pardo, president.
3
1917, Oct. 5
Peru severed relations with Germany, after attacks on Peruvian ships.
4
1919, Jan
Workers led a three-day general strike, winning an eight-hour-day law for Peru's urban
workers.
5
July 4
A coup d'état led to the resignation and imprisonment of President Pardo.
6
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1914–1945 > 2. South America > g. Ecuador
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1912–16)
g. Ecuador
1916–20
Alfredo Baquerizo Moreno, president.
1
1917, Dec. 7
Ecuador severed relations with Germany because of the submarine campaign, but did
not follow most other Latin American states in joining the League of Nations at the
conclusion of the war. During the war and the immediate postwar period much progress
was made in education, social legislation, and above all sanitation (work of the
American Col. William Gorgas at Guayaquil, long a center of bubonic plague).
2
1920–24
José Luis Tamayo, president.
3
1924–25
Gonzalo Córdova succeeded Tamayo. He was driven from office by a military revolt
led by Gen. Francisco Gómez de la Torre (July 9, 1925).
1926–31
4
ISIDRO AYORA, president.
5
1929, March 28
A new constitution ended the military regime set up in 1925, but paved the way for
endless disputes between the executive and the legislature. Ayora had elaborate social
and labor laws enacted, including female suffrage, and adopted many financial reforms.
6
1931, Aug. 25
Ayora resigned. Col. Luis Alba became provisional president but was forced to flee
after a coup d'état (October). There followed a period of utter confusion, marked by
conflict between the executive and legislature and between the conservative and liberal
groups. After the suppression of a revolt (Aug. 1932), Martínez Mera became
president, only to be replaced in Dec. 1933 by José M. Velasco Ibarra.
7
1932–34
The Leticia dispute between Peru and Colombia (See 1932–34) gave Ecuador an
opportunity to assert claims to portions of the Amazon Basin.
8
1934, Sept. 28
Partly motivated by these aspirations, Ecuador entered the League of Nations.
9
1935, Aug. 20
President Ibarra was overthrown by a military junta after he attempted to assume
dictatorial powers. He was replaced by Antonio Pons, who, in turn, was forced to
resign.
Sept. 26
10
A military dictatorship under Federico Páez was set up, to prevent the election of a
Conservative (the dominant Liberal Party was split by dissensions).
11
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1914–1945 > 2. South America > h. Colombia
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1918)
h. Colombia
1914–18
José V. Concha, president. He represented the conservative groups (whose rule became
known as the Regeneración) that had been in power since 1884 and continued to rule
the country until 1930. Even the conservative administrations of Colombia were obliged
to initiate a measure of social legislation to meet growing pressure from the lower
classes. Colombia remained neutral during the First World War, but joined the
League of Nations (Feb. 16, 1920).
1
1918–21
Marco Fidel Suárez, president.
2
1919, Aug. 15
Signature of a contract with the Tropical Oil Company for exploitation of the
Colombian oil fields, one of the most important sources of national wealth.
3
1921, April 20
The U.S. Senate finally ratified the Thomson-Urrutia Treaty (concluded 1914) (See
April 20) with certain modifications, thus ending the long dispute with regard to
Panama. The Colombian Congress ratified it on Dec. 22.
4
1922–26
Pedro Nel Ospina, president.
5
1922, March 24
An award by the Swiss federal council ended a long-standing boundary dispute with
Venezuela in favor of Colombia. A boundary treaty with Peru settled the frontier on that
side.
6
1924
Banana workers struck against the United Fruit Company (UFCO) in the Santa
Marta region on the Caribbean coast. UFCO, which had set up plantations in Colombia
beginning in 1901, employed over 30,000 Colombian workers (most under miserable
conditions) at this time. Poorly organized, the workers were ignored by the company,
which claimed that they were not really employees of UFCO but contracted labor.
7
1926–30
Miguel Abadia Méndez, president. During his administration the growing social
tension found an outlet in a number of major strikes, in the course of which many were
killed by the police and government forces.
8
1927
Colombian elites, centralizing their power around coffee, founded the National
Federation of Coffee Producers (FNC). This association combined the power of small
producers into one group that could prioritize spending, control prices, and support
certain projects.
1928, Dec
9
UFCO banana workers, better organized after their 1924 failure, struck again. On Dec. 6,
the military, in cooperation with UFCO, opened fire on workers and villagers
gathered in the town square at Ciénaga. Perhaps thousands were slaughtered in the
attack. After the massacre the government arrested numerous left-wing leaders and
suppressed the unions. This incident would become an important symbol in the 1930s as
the depression generated more and more support for labor militancy.
10
1930–34
The election of ENRIQUE OLAYA HERRERA (1881–1937), a moderate liberal,
brought to an end the long domination of the conservative groups. The world
depression brought with it a rapid decline in coffee prices, and necessitated heavy
borrowing.
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1908)
i. Venezuela
1909–35
Dictatorship of JUAN VICENTE GÓMEZ (1857–1935), who served during this period
as either president or chief of the army. Gómez pursued a policy of nepotism and took
care to have a congress entirely subservient to him. The period was marked by striking
material progress: administrative reforms were adopted, finances stabilized (national
debt liquidated, 1930), schools built, and commerce and industry encouraged. At the
center of this development was the opening of the Venezuelan oil fields in 1918, which
soon made the country a leading oil producer. Oil quickly supplanted coffee and other
agricultural products as the main source of Venezuelan wealth. It also allowed new oilbased elites to challenge the old agricultural oligarchy for political power. At the same
time, the oil and industrial development led to the creation of new working and middle
classes. Oil workers organized the Syndicalist Labor Federation of Venezuela in 1928,
which found support among many student groups. The latter became active opponents of
the dictatorship.
1
1920, March 3
Venezuela maintained neutrality during the First World War, but joined the League of
Nations.
1928
2
The government arrested a group of radical students, leading to numerous worker and
student demonstrations and to an abortive general strike. The incident became an
important symbol for future radicals and moderates.
3
1929, 1931
Revolts led by Gen. Arévalo Cedeño were put down, as were other opposition
movements directed against the Gómez regime.
4
1935, Dec. 18
Death of President Gómez ended the dictatorship. Gen. Eleazar López Contreras
became provisional president and succeeded in suppressing the strikes and movements
that broke out after the death of the strongman.
5
1936, April 25–1941
Gen. Eleazar López Contreras was elected president.
6
1936, July 16
A new constitution provided that the president's term should be limited to five years,
with no eligibility for reelection.
7
1937, Jan
Elections were held for about one-third of the seats in Congress. These turned out to be a
decisive victory for the Left parties, whereupon (Feb. 4) the government arrested many of
the leaders of the Left (including newly elected congressmen) on the charge of
Communism. Most of these leaders were exiled, and most of the leftist organizations
(including the Federation of Students) were dissolved. The president then undertook to
suppress the Left, but at the same time embarked on a far-reaching program of social
reform designed to meet the needs and demands of the lower classes and to check the
spread of support for leftist movements.
8
1940–45
The Second World War greatly increased demand for Venezuelan petroleum, causing a
boom in oil-industry profits and revenues. (See Venezuela)
9
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1911–14)
j. Brazil
1914–18
Wenceslau Braz Pereira Gomes, president. The temporary unavailability of
manufactured imports during World War I expanded the demand for domestic industrial
goods, mainly produced in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Large textile factories, mainly
employing women and children, opened in both cities, coexisting alongside smaller
plants and workshops. The war also spurred a shift from Britain to the U.S. as the major
source of Brazilian imports and financing.
1
1915, May 25
Agreement with Argentina and Chile (ABC treaty) providing for arbitration of
disputes.
2
1917, 1919
Faced with rising prices for basic goods, Brazilian workers, including women textile
operatives, declared general strikes in the major industrial centers. The agro-export
oligarchies, which also had interests in Brazil's burgeoning manufacturing industries,
generally refused to recognize the unions and called upon the military to crush the
strikes. Socialist and anarchist leaders were exiled as result of the strikes, and the
oligarchic power holders refused to give in to demands for greater representation.
3
1917, Oct. 26
BRAZIL DECLARED WAR ON GERMANY. Relations had been severed on April
11 after the sinking of Brazilian ships. During the war Brazilian warships cooperated
with the Allies, and Brazil furnished large stocks of food and raw materials.
4
1918
Rodrigues Alves, president. He died (1919) before assuming office.
5
1919–22
Epitácio Pessôa succeeded Alves as president. He was the only civilian from Brazil's
declining northeast to serve as president during the First Republic.
6
1920, Jan. 10
Brazil joined the League of Nations as an original member.
7
1922
The Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) was founded.
8
1922–26
Artur da Silva Bernardes, president. During this time political and economic power
was beginning to shift to the new industrialists of São Paulo and their allies. These
emerging leaders began to form economic associations to promote their interests.
1922–24
9
Young nationalist military officers, known as tenentes since many held the rank of
lieutenant, revolted on several occasions against the government, calling for social
reform and a stronger central state. These movements were all defeated, but left an
important legacy for reformist movements in the 1930s.
10
1924, July
Formidable tenente revolt in São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, led by Gen. Isidoro
Lopes. After suppression of the insurrection, which involved aerial bombing of
neighborhoods in São Paulo, the government undertook certain economic reforms.
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1906)
3. Central America
a. Overview
After the declaration of war on Germany by the U.S., the states of Central America
severed relations with Germany and ultimately declared war, mostly in 1918 (Panama,
April 7, 1917; Costa Rica, March 23, 1918; Nicaragua, May 8, 1918; Honduras, July
19, 1918; Guatemala, April 23, 1918). After the war almost all of them became
members of the League of Nations (El Salvador joined in 1924, the others in 1920).
1
In the political sphere most of these states continued in unstable conditions, with
numerous insurrections and regime changes. Common to all of them was the growing
class consciousness of the laborers on banana, coffee, and sugar plantations which came
to constitute an ever more formidable challenge to the ruling groups. Despite
representative machinery, the governments in many states were essentially dictatorships.
During the 1920s the U.S. government intervened frequently (including several
prolonged occupations of Nicaragua, Cuba, and Haiti) to protect American interests
and property. This policy, among other things, aroused much hostility toward the United
States throughout Latin America, and was later replaced by the Good Neighbor Policy
(1930s), which eschewed intervention.
2
1918, March 10
The Central American Court was dissolved after denunciation by Nicaragua and failure
of the members to renew arrangements.
1921–22
3
The PACT OF UNION among Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador,
signed at San José (Jan. 19, 1921). The agreement set up an indissoluble and perpetual
union, to be called the Federation of Central America. A provisional federal council
was organized (June 17), and Vicente Martínez of Guatemala became president. On Oct.
10 the federal constitution was completed, but once again the project of union was to be
frustrated. On Dec. 8 a revolution broke out in Guatemala, directed against the
government's policy of federation. With the success of this uprising the whole scheme fell
through and the federation was dissolved (Jan. 29, 1922). In the ensuing years there was
chronic trouble over borders between the different states, with occasional danger of war.
4
1922, Dec. 4–1923, Feb. 7
A Central American conference met in Washington at the insistence of the U.S.
government, which hoped to terminate the dangerous friction between Nicaragua and
Honduras. A general treaty of neutrality was drawn up, provision was made for the
creation of a Central American Court of Justice, and measures to limit armaments and to
further economic development were envisaged. The majority of the states ratified the
treaties by 1926, but little was done to put them into effect. (See Defense of the Western
Hemisphere, 1939–1945)
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(See Sept. 2)
b. Panama
1914
After more than ten years, and the deaths of over 5,000 workers, the Panama Canal was
opened. Construction of the canal radically altered both the ethnic makeup of Panama
(introducing thousands of Caribbean immigrants into the population) and the economy of
the country. Panamanian elites, backed by the presence of thousands of U.S. troops in the
Canal Zone, based their newfound prosperity on the international commerce associated
with the canal. On numerous occasions they invited U.S. troops into the country to put
down popular protests that called for improved social and economic conditions.
1
1921
A boundary dispute with Costa Rica, inherited from the period of Colombian
sovereignty, threatened to provoke war when Panamanian troops occupied disputed
territory and armed clashes ensued (Feb.–March). The U.S. government induced Panama
to evacuate the area involved, which was then occupied by Costa Rica (Aug.)
2
April 20
By the THOMSON-URRUTIA TREATY (See 1921, April 20), Colombia recognized
the independence of Panama. The boundaries, hitherto disputed, were adjusted,
diplomatic relations established, and various accords signed (1924–25).
3
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1898–1920)
c. Guatemala
1920, April 8
MANUEL ESTRADA CABRERA, president since 1898, was deposed by the
assembly because of his opposition to the scheme of Central American federation.
1
1920–21
Carlos Herrera, president. He was overthrown by a revolution (Dec. 5, 1921) led by
Gen. José Orellana, who rejected the Central American federation scheme.
2
1922–26
Orellana, president.
3
1926–30
Lázaro Chacón, president.
4
1930
Bautillo Palma, president. He was overthrown (Dec. 16) by Gen. Manuel Orellana,
who was not recognized by the U.S. and who soon resigned.
5
1930–31
José M. Andrade, president.
6
1931–44
GEN. JORGE UBICO (1878–1946) made himself president-dictator. He established
close contact with the dictators of Honduras and El Salvador for the suppression of all
opposition. Posing as a friend of the Indians, Ubico also oversaw the end of stateimposed forms of debt peonage in the country. In actual fact, however, the government
then used vagrancy laws as a means of recruiting laborers for the coffee economy. This
period also saw major railroad, land, and port concessions granted to a small number of
foreign interests, with the United Fruit Company in the lead.
7
1935, June
By “plebiscite” Ubico's term was extended until 1943, and subsequently (1941) a
constitutional convention extended it to 1949, but he was expelled in 1944.
8
1941, Dec. 8
Guatemala declared war on Japan, “thus expressing the solidarity of the Guatemalan
government and people with the United States.” On Dec. 11 Guatemala also declared
war on Germany and Italy.
9
1944, June
Ubico was forced to resign after a student and then general strike elicited strong
support for the opposition from progressive military officers and urban middle-class
groups. He was followed by a brief right-wing regime, however, pushing dissident
groups to arm in preparation for revolutionary struggle.
Oct
10
A coalition of urban middle-class groups, junior army officers, and working-class
activists united to launch the DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION OF 1944. JACOBO
ARBENZ GUZMAN (1913–71), Francisco Arana, and Jorge Toriello established a
military-civilian junta, which called for free elections in December.
11
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1914–1945 > 3. Central America > d. El Salvador
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1871–1914)
d. El Salvador
1914
Alfonso Quiñones Molina became president. He represented the Meléndez-Quiñones
family, which would control the presidency through several members until 1927, ruling
under a state of siege after 1917.
1
1922
Several thousand women marching in San Salvador on behalf of opposition politicians
were attacked and many killed by soldiers.
2
1923
Signing of a loan agreement between U.S. banks and El Salvador. The agreement,
which gave the U.S. control of customs in the event of default on loans, accelerated the
emergence of the U.S. as the dominant investor in El Salvador.
3
1927
Pío Romero Bosque, president.
4
1929
Founding of the Communist Party of El Salvador (PCES).
5
1931
Amid high rural unemployment and a growing rural protest movement led by the founder
of El Salvador's Communist Party, Agustín Farabundo Martí, the populist engineer
Arturo Araujo was elected president.
6
Dec. 2
A coup d'état enabled Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (1883–1966) to make
himself president.
7
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(See 1912)
e. Nicaragua
1912
Liberal revolts against the conservative regime of Adolfo Díaz were on the point of
victory when U.S. troops were sent to Nicaragua to help put them down. After the entry
of American Marines, the U.S. would essentially rule the country until 1925 through a
series of puppet dictators.
1
1914, Aug. 5
Conclusion of the Bryan-Chamorro treaty with the United States by U.S. puppet
Adolfo Díaz, giving the U.S. the right to construct a canal across Nicaragua and lease
sites for naval bases. The treaty signified a concession for continued U.S. support of the
Conservative regime. Costa Rica and El Salvador at once protested against what they
claimed was an infringement of their sovereignty.
2
1916, April 13
The treaty was ratified by the U.S., with the inclusion of a declaration that its provisions
were not intended to affect the rights of other states.
3
1916–21
EMILIANO CHAMORRO (1871–1966), president.
4
1917, March 2
El Salvador submitted the question of the Bryan-Chamorro treaty to the Central
American Court of Justice, which declared the treaty to be a violation of the treaties of
1907. Nicaragua and the U.S. refused to abide by the ruling, and in the process helped to
undermine the authority of the court.
5
1917–24
An American financial commission, in collaboration with the collector-general of
customs, stabilized Nicaraguan finances, increasing U.S. control of the economy.
6
1921–23
Diego Chamorro, president.
7
1923–25
Martínez Bartolo, president.
8
1925, Aug. 3
Carlos Solórzano elected president. Like his predecessors he was a Conservative, but
the new vice president, Juan Sacasa (1874–1946), was a Liberal. After the U.S.supervised elections, the Marines were withdrawn for a brief time.
9
Oct. 25
A revolt, led by Emiliano Chamorro, forced Sacasa and other Liberals out of the
government.
1926, Jan. 14
10
Solórzano resigned and Chamorro became president. The U.S. refused him
recognition.
11
May 2
When a Liberal insurrection was started by GEN. AUGUSTO CÉSAR SANDINO
(1895–1934), the U.S. government hastily landed forces. Dedicated to freeing the
country of foreign domination and improving the lot of Nicaraguan peasants, Sandino
would fight a war against U.S. Marines and the National Guard for the next eight
years. A brief armistice was effected by the U.S. (Sept. 23); Chamorro then resigned.
12
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1885–89)
f. Costa Rica
1917, Jan. 27
President Alfredo González Flores was overthrown by a military coup led by
Federico Tinoco. The U.S. refused recognition to the new regime.
1
1919, May 6
Tinoco was deposed by the Flores party. U.S. Marines were landed (June 4) to protect
American interests.
2
Dec. 9
Election of Julio Acosta as president; the U.S. government granted recognition (1920).
3
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1876–83)
g. Honduras
1916, March
Francisco Bertrand became president following a successful revolution.
1
1919, Aug
Insurrection of Rafael López Gutiérrez, a Liberal. President Bertrand was obliged to
flee, and U.S. Marines were landed (Sept 11). Through American mediation a civil war
was avoided.
2
1920–23
Gutiérrez became president. The elections of 1923 proved to be indecisive, however.
3
1924, Feb. 1
Gutiérrez then established a dictatorship. The Conservatives, under TIBURCIO
CARÍAS ANDINO (1876–1960), rose in revolt and marched on the capital. The U.S.
severed relations with Gutiérrez and landed more troops. Gutiérrez was killed (March
10).
March 31
4
The insurgents occupied the capital. Through U.S. mediation (mission of Sumner
Welles) agreement was reached between Honduras and its neighbors, depriving insurgent
bands of their bases (pact of Amapala, May 3). Vicente Tosta became provisional
president, and he suppressed an attempt at further revolution by Gregorio Ferrara
(Aug.–Oct.). A new constitution was then framed.
5
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1884–1910)
4. Mexico
The REVOLUTION that convulsed Mexico, beginning with the insurrection against
Díaz in 1910, brought the country to total civil war by 1914. During the 34-year rule of
Porfirio Díaz the country had gone through enormous economic changes, benefiting
members of the elites and a small emergent middle class, but at the same time creating
massive unrest in the countryside. The development of the railways, mines, commercial
agriculture, and small-scale manufacturing transformed Mexico into a modern economy,
but large numbers of subsistence peasant villages and other peripheral cultures lost their
autonomy to centralized powers as well as access to their lands. During the late
Porfiriato, unrest mounted and rural rebellions increased in frequency. By 1910 a
number of factors—the depression that had begun in 1907, explosive misery and
instability in the countryside, the decay and corruption of the regime, a weakened
military, and discontent among affluent but disenfranchised middle-class and elite
groups—came together to produce a massive social revolution.
1
In regions such as Morelos, where plantation agriculture had made great advances during
the Porfiriato, campesinos under EMILIANO ZAPATA (1879–1919) remained
rebellious for more than a decade, demanding a return of usurped land. In Chihuahua,
where Porfirian progress had turned the frontier into a commercialized region, cross-class
coalitions under leaders such as FRANCISCO (PANCHO) VILLA (1877–1923) also
struggled for almost a decade against Porfirian and other centralizing forces. These
groups represented the most radical elements of the revolution. They sought to recreate
Mexican society in a way that empowered the lowest classes. By Dec. 1914, with Villa
and Zapata in control of Mexico City, their victory seemed possible.
2
At the same time, members of the middle classes, foreigners, and the elites that had
grown rich during the Porfiriato reacted decisively against the radical revolution. In 1914,
more moderate leaders, such as VENUSTIANO CARRANZA (1859–1920) and
ALVARO OBREGÓN (1880–1928), organized coalitions of old Porfirian interests and
middle-class and urban working-class groups to stem the tide of the revolution. With the
help of an infusion of American arms, these groups took control of the revolution by
1916, and proceeded to place all reforms within a very restrictive context.
3
1910–11
Liberal FRANCISCO I. MADERO (1873–1913), after being defrauded of the
presidency in the 1910 election, led a broad insurrectionary movement that overthrew
Porfirio Díaz (May 25, 1911) and installed Madero as provisional president.
4
1911, Nov. 6
Madero elected president. Scion of a wealthy landed family, Madero soon alienated his
more radical supporters with his indifference to demands for land reform. At the same
time, Madero's political reforms antagonized Porfirian military officers and the U.S.
ambassador, Henry Lane Wilson.
5
Nov. 28
Emiliano Zapata issued the PLAN DE AYALA, which proclaimed that all lands,
waters, and woods seized by hacendados, political bosses, and others during the
Porfiriato due to “tyranny and venal justice” would be returned by his revolutionary
government; he then proceeded to implement that plan in the areas under his control.
6
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1913–17)
5. The West Indies
a. Cuba
1917, April 7
Cuba declared war on Germany. The war period was one of great prosperity for the
sugar industry, large quantities being shipped to the U.S. But after the war the market
collapsed, with serious results for Cuba.
1
1920, March 8
Cuba joined the League of Nations.
2
Nov. 1
Dr. Alfredo Zayas, candidate of the coalition National League, elected, but his opponent,
José Gómez (Liberal), launched accusations of fraud. To prevent conflict the U.S.
government sent Gen. Enoch Crowder, who arranged for new elections (March 15,
1921), which resulted in another victory for Zayas.
3
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1901, May 27, Dec. 2)
b. Puerto Rico
1915
Santiago Iglesias founded the Puerto Rican Socialist Party (PS). As part of a growing
militant labor movement, based in both the urban and the rural sectors, Iglesias led
strikes, helped found labor unions, and struggled against the invasion of U.S. goods and
capital.
1
1917, March 2
The JONES ACT, making Puerto Rico a territory and granting U.S. citizenship to its
inhabitants. Voting was made compulsory. Proportional representation was established by
means of a “limited vote” for certain senators and representatives. It was further provided
that U.S. internal revenue collections on the island should be paid into the Puerto Rican
treasury. (Subsequently permission was accorded the island to collect U.S. income tax for
the benefit of the local treasury.) With such assistance, the budget of the insular
government increased from about $2 million in 1901 to $11 million in 1924. More than
half of these funds were derived from what would normally be federal taxation. At the
same time, however, the island continued to be run by appointed governors from the
mainland United States with little experience or knowledge of Puerto Rico.
2
May
The U.S. having declared war on Germany, the selective draft was extended to Puerto
Rico by request of the insular government. Some 18,000 men were inducted into service.
3
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c. The Virgin Islands
1916, Aug. 4
AMERICAN-DANISH TREATY, by which Denmark agreed to cede the Danish West
Indies (about 100 islands with a total area of 132 square miles) to the United States for
$25 million. The treaty was ratified on Jan. 17, 1917, and formal possession was taken on
March 31 of the same year. Danish laws were allowed to remain in effect.
1
The population (c. 26,000 in 1917) suffered much from economic distress. The sugar
industry of St. Croix had been in a process of concentration and many small sugar mills
had been abandoned. Ultimately all grinding was done in three large “centrals.” Many
laborers were thereby thrown out of employment. The loss of free port status, which had
existed under Danish rule, reduced the trade of the islands, especially of St. Thomas. The
American Prohibition law (1919) further destroyed the market for sugar products, though
bay rum continued to be manufactured. The main achievement of the U.S. administration
was the development of education.
2
1931, Feb
After a succession of governors from the U.S. Navy, the U.S. established a civil
government for the islands, making St. Thomas the capital. Paul M. Pearson became the
first civil governor.
3
March
The depression became so pronounced in the islands that President Hoover referred to
them as “an effective poorhouse,” with 90 percent of the population dependent upon the
bounty of the U.S.
4
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1899–1916)
d. The Dominican Republic
1914, June 26
Fearing for the safety of U.S.-owned sugar estates, the U.S. government intervened in
Dominican struggles to restore order.
1
1916, May
Further outbreaks resulted in further intervention.
2
Nov. 29
U.S. MARINES INVADED AND OCCUPIED THE COUNTRY. Immediately the
American occupying force took over banks and customs houses and broke up small-scale
peasant holdings to protect and expand U.S.-owned enterprises. U.S. administrators
devastated traditional landholders by imposing modern landownership regulations in the
country. This generated opposition in the republic as well as in the U.S., and made the
Americans anxious for an early withdrawal of the occupying force.
3
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(See 1915, July 3)
e. Haiti
1914, Dec. 17
Fearing German designs on Haiti, and wanting to protect American commercial
interests there, U.S. Marines landed at Port-au-Prince and seized $500,000 in gold coin
from the National Bank. These actions marked the beginning of a 20-year period during
which American troops would occupy Haiti (permanent occupation began in July 1915).
The country had been in a state of constant unrest for several years, following upon a
century of economic and environmental decline due in part to the inefficiency of Haiti's
peasant-based agriculture. Unrest was intensified by the tensions between Haiti's small
(10 percent) mulatto population, which held most of the power and wealth, and the large
black population, which lived in extreme poverty. During the occupation the U.S.
controlled Haitian customs and the police.
1
1915–22
Philippe Dartiguenave, president.
2
1915, Sept. 16
Due to a fear that Haitian instability would make the nation an easy target for outside
powers, the U.S. Marines occupied Haiti (to stay there until 1934). The U.S. also took
over the financial administration of the country and the customs houses in order to
ensure timely payment of the Haitian foreign debt. Over the next three decades the U.S.
would come to control most aspects of Haitian political life, from the organization of the
3
military to the choice of political leaders.
1918, June 19
A new constitution was introduced.
4
July 12
Haiti declared war on Germany.
5
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(See Overview)
F. The Middle East and North Africa, 1914–1945
THE MIDDLE EAST BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS (MAP)
1. Overview
Between the two world wars, several forces—both internal and external—combined to
produce unprecedented change in the societies, cultures, economies, and political
systems of the Middle East and North Africa. The most disruptive of these forces was
European imperialism, which reached its zenith during these decades. Britain and
France (together with Italy in Libya and Spain in part of Morocco) possessed extensive
colonial dominions and wielded considerable influence even in countries that they did
not rule directly. Only central Arabia escaped formal European administration and/or
occupation for the entire length of the interwar period. But European domination did not
go entirely unchallenged. In several countries, nationalist movements emerged for the
first time and forced the Europeans to cede a degree of power to native elites or even to
grant nominal independence.
1
The most far-reaching consequence of European intervention was the destruction of the
Ottoman Empire after World War I. In lands that had formerly been unified, the
Europeans laid the foundation for an entirely novel system of states that, in spite of its
artificiality, persisted into the late 20th century with few modifications. The ruling elites
of these states were generally drawn from great landowning families. They modeled
their regimes on the Western democracies and created Western political institutions
such as constitutions, parliaments, and political parties. In reality, power was
concentrated in the hands of the elites. Democratic institutions were subject to constant
manipulation, whether from the elites or from the European powers. The abuses of the
2
political system bred disillusionment, which expressed itself in the rise of Fascist
organizations, Muslim political movements, and pan-Arab ideologies during the
1930s. At the same time, a new generation composed of young professionals,
bureaucrats, and junior army officers began to appear on the political scene. These men
grew increasingly disenchanted with the political establishment but were not yet prepared
to challenge the ruling elites.
In economic affairs, the interwar period was marked by economic stagnation. The Great
Depression was a devastating blow to the region, but many areas partly recovered during
the boom generated by World War II. Within the world economy, the Middle East and
North Africa essentially maintained their roles as suppliers of raw materials to and
importers of finished goods from industrialized countries. As in the 19th century,
Europeans occupied critical positions in the economy through their banks, commercial
houses, and insurance firms. Overall, the region's economy continued to be dominated
by agriculture. Though several countries founded modern industries, development in
this sector proceeded slowly (except in Turkey). Outside Turkey and Iran, no regimes
engaged in economic planning. The oil industry, operated by foreign firms, was still
moving through the developmental phase. The few oil fields in production supplied a
negligible proportion of total world output.
3
The modes of transportation and communication underwent a revolution during the
interwar period. Automobiles made their first appearance but remained the exclusive
possession of the well-to-do. More important was the spread of trucking, which gradually
replaced camels for the hauling of goods. Rail networks were still growing and received
heavy investment, but generally remained inadequate except in Turkey and Egypt. Air
service, provided mostly by foreign firms, became available for the first time for both
passenger and commercial traffic. In communications, radio and film quickly established
themselves as popular sources of news and entertainment.
4
The population of the region was expanding rapidly, over 1.5 percent per year. The
increases resulted from a high fertility rate coupled with improvements in hygiene, diet,
and medical care. In 1914 the total number of inhabitants stood at about 66 million (54
million for the Middle East and 12 million for North Africa). These figures reached
approximately 101 million by the end of World War II (81 and 20 million, respectively).
Most of the population still lived in the countryside (over three-quarters in most places),
but the proportion of urban dwellers was rising fast. Pastoralists were rapidly
disappearing, usually settling down as farmers.
5
The educational system steadily expanded under government supervision. Yet illiteracy
remained rampant, for education was largely restricted to a privileged minority. Through
the educational system, as well as the various media, the elites gained exposure to
Western ideas, attitudes, and tastes, which they eagerly adopted. They actively sought
(most radically in Turkey) to secularize their societies, particularly in law and education.
Another sign of Western influence was the emergence of a fledgling feminist movement,
6
which demanded modest reforms in the legal and educational systems.
All the new ideas and social reforms were bitterly opposed by members of the religious
establishment. In this respect, the men of religion expressed the views of the great
majority, who professed an unshakable devotion to religion and custom. Traditional
attitudes held out even as the forces of modernity inexorably reshaped the societies of the
region. (See Overview)
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(See 1913–14) (See Nov. 13) (See Nov) (See Aug. 10)
2. The Middle East
a. The Ottoman Empire and Turkey
1914
Production of the first Turkish film, a documentary entitled The Demise of the Russian
Monument in Ayestefanis.
1
Sept. 9
Abolition of the Capitulations by the Ottoman government.
2
Oct. 29
OTTOMAN ENTRY INTO THE FIRST WORLD WAR as one of the Central
powers. The huge military effort placed a great strain on Ottoman society and the
economy. Large-scale conscription affected some 3 million men (more than half of
whom may have deserted). The general population had to contend with rampant inflation
and the shock of a 2500 percent increase in the cost of living between 1914 and 1918.
Trade and communications were disrupted, and consumers faced widespread
shortages of basic goods. Some areas of the empire experienced disastrous famines,
such as the one that struck Syria and Lebanon in 1915–16 and claimed an estimated
100,000 victims.
3
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(See 1914, May 20)
b. Iran (Persia)
1919
Arrival of the Iranian delegation at the Paris peace conference. The Iranian
representatives sought the termination of the Capitulations, war reparations, and the
cancellation of the 1907 Agreement. In addition, they demanded that the western border
of Iran be fixed at the Euphrates River in the west and that it extend to the Oxus River in
the northeast. At British insistence, the delegation was not officially recognized in
Paris.
1
Aug. 9
Anglo-Iranian agreement, amounting in reality to the establishment of a British
protectorate. The British promised to guarantee Iran's independence and territorial
integrity, and offered material and technical aid to the government.
2
Within Iran, opposition to the treaty quickly mounted. The national assembly (Majlis)
never approved it, and in 1921 the government officially repudiated it.
3
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(See 1911)
c. Afghanistan
1919, Feb. 20
Murder of AMIR HABIBULLAH, which touched off a struggle for the succession.
His brother, Nasrullah, was proclaimed emir by conservative factions that had opposed
Habibullah's modernization program and his acquiescence to British foreign policy in the
region. But the emir's third son, AMANULLAH, won the backing of the army and soon
emerged as the new ruler.
1
1919–29
EMIR (KING) AMANULLAH. The emir, who assumed the title of king in June 1926,
embarked on a modernization program that became the central theme of his reign. He
introduced a series of reforms that tried, often with little effect, to reshape the
government, the national infrastructure, and the legal system. The reckless pace of these
reforms led ultimately to his undoing.
2
1919, May–Aug
The Third Afghan War. Afghan troops invaded the Indian frontier but were soon driven
back. An armistice was signed at the end of May. In the Treaty of Rawalpindi (Aug. 8),
the British formally recognized the sovereignty of the Afghan state, but also terminated
their annual subsidies to the Afghan treasury.
3
1921
Enactment of a new family code, which banned child marriage and marriages between
close relatives (on the grounds that they were contrary to the teachings of Islam). The
new law also put a cap on wedding expenses, including the value of the dowry.
4
Feb. 28
Soviet-Afghan Treaty of mutual recognition. The two countries signed a nonaggression
pact on Aug. 31, 1926. To the Afghan government, the Soviets represented a
counterweight to the pressure from British India.
5
March 1
Signing of a Turkish-Afghan treaty of friendship, as Amanullah tried to cast himself as a
pan-Islamic leader. A similar treaty with Iran followed on June 22.
6
Nov. 22
Anglo-Afghan Treaty, by which Afghanistan secured full and formal independence.
7
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(See Dec. 19)
d. Egypt
1917–36
SULTAN (KING) AHMAD FU’AD. He succeeded his father, HUSAYN KAMIL, who
died on Oct. 9, 1917. In March 1922, Fu’ad assumed the title of king. His reign was
marked by the unceasing ambition to acquire real as well as nominal power. He used
his constitutional authority to manipulate the political system and undermine popularly
elected governments. Nor was he averse to cooperating with the British in order to further
his own political aims. His boldest move was the dismissal of the Sidqi government
(1933), after which he attempted for over a year (until Nov. 1934) to rule through palace
officials and cronies.
1
1917
Death of Shibli Shumayyil (b. 1860), an author of Syrian Christian background. He
became a vocal champion within the Arab world for science and the scientific outlook,
and believed that societies organized on scientific principles would eventually supersede
those based on religion.
2
1918, Oct. 17
Death of Malak Hifni Nasif (b. 1886), the first outspoken female writer on women's
issues. Her ideas resembled the reforms first proposed by Qasim Amin, but her thought
was generally more conservative. Among her chief demands were compulsory primary
education for women, the opening of higher education to women who wished to pursue
3
their studies, the retention of the veil, and a ban on marriages in which members of the
prospective couple had not met each other beforehand.
Nov. 13
A delegation (wafd) led by SA‘D ZAGHLUL requested permission to leave for London
to begin negotiations on the postwar status of Egypt.
4
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(See 1913–14)
e. Syria
1919, July 2
The General Syrian Congress in Damascus passed a resolution affirming its opposition
to a French mandate in Syria.
1
Oct. 9
Appointment of Gen. Henri Gouraud, an official in the French administration of
Morocco, as French high commissioner for Syria. The ideas for early French policy in
Syria were drawn largely from French experience in Morocco, where conditions were
quite different. This led to misunderstandings.
2
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(See 1913–14)
f. Lebanon
1918, Oct. 7
French landing in Beirut following the Ottoman evacuation of Lebanon. British forces
entered the city the next day and formally imposed a military administration under French
supervision.
1
1919, Nov. 10
The French government under Clemenceau announced its support for a separate
Lebanese state.
2
Nov. 21
Arrival in Beirut of Gen. Henri Gouraud, the high commissioner for the French
mandate.
3
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(See 1913–14)
g. Palestine
1917, Nov. 2
Publication of the BALFOUR DECLARATION by Britain. The document later
became the foundation of British policy in Palestine and the basis of Zionist claims for
settling in the territory. The text stated that the British government would support “the
establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their
best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of that object, it being clearly understood
that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing
non-Jewish communities in Palestine.”
1
Dec. 9
Entry of British troops into Jerusalem. Palestine was immediately placed under a British
military administration.
2
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(See 1913–14)
h. Transjordan
1920
The best available estimates have put the population at around a quarter of a million
inhabitants, 90 percent of whom were Muslim. Nearly half the people were nomads, and
there were no large towns.
1
Nov. 11
Arrival of the Hashemite emir ABDALLAH at the city of Ma‘an. ABDALLAH had
previously been promised the throne of Iraq, but it went to his brother Faysal after the
latter was driven from Syria by the French. The territories that would later compose
Transjordan were remnants of Faysal's Syrian kingdom which lay outside the French
mandate for Syria and the British mandate for Palestine.
2
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(See 1913–14)
i. Iraq
1920, May 5
The League of Nations mandate for Iraq was formally accepted by Britain. The newly
created country, made up of the former Ottoman provinces of Baghdad, Mosul, and
Basra, had a population of around 3 million, about 80 percent of whom spoke Arabic as
their first language (some 15 percent were primarily Kurdish speakers). About 90 percent
of Iraqis were Muslims, the majority of them (60 percent) Shi’ites. Four-fifths of the
population was rural, and Baghdad ranked as the largest urban center, with some 200,000
residents.
1
June
Anti-British revolt in northern and central Iraq, which lasted most of the summer.
2
Oct. 1
Arrival of Sir Percy Cox as British high commissioner in Iraq.
3
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(See 1914, May)
j. States of the Arabian Peninsula
1914. Nov. 3
Kuwaiti independence under British protection.
1
1915, Dec. 26
Treaty between IBN SA‘UD and the colonial government of India. The Indian
government recognized Najd and several territories along the Persian Gulf as the
independent possessions of Ibn Sa‘ud.
2
1916, Nov. 3
British treaty with Qatar, making it a veiled protectorate.
3
1918, Dec
Surrender of the Ottoman garrison in Yemen, which had successfully repelled all
British attacks and reached within 20 miles of Aden. Several members of the former
Ottoman bureaucracy agreed to stay in Yemen and work for IMAM YAHYA, who was
maneuvering to become ruler of the northern half of Yemen.
1919
4
After being rebuffed in negotiations by Imam Yahya, the British awarded the region of
Tihama, including the city of al-Hudayda, to the tribal ruler of Asir.
5
1920
Treaty of Sib, mediated by Great Britain. The sultan of Oman relinquished the right to
intervene in tribal affairs in the Omani interior.
6
Aug
Saudi conquest of Asir.
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(See 1914, Sept. 11)
3. North Africa
a. Morocco
1914
Publication of decree that divided all lands into alienable and inalienable property.
The first category comprised private holdings and all public lands. The second consisted
chiefly of collectively owned tribal lands.
1
In 1919 a related decree was issued by which the French sought to reclassify a large
part of the collective tribal lands. An office was created to determine what portion of
these lands was needed by the tribes. The remainder was turned over to the state, which
in practice sold large plots to European settlers. By these methods and others, the amount
of land held by the French rose to 675,000 hectares by 1932, most of it lying in fertile
plains.
2
Sept. 11
Decree by Resident-General Lyautey empowering local Berber village councils to
function as courts and to use their customary law as the official legal code. The
French tried to present this policy as a defense of local traditions, but both measures were
in fact innovations. In the short term, the French sought to avert possible Berber
insurrections as French troops were being moved to fight the Germans. Looking further
ahead, the French authorities hoped to foster a separate Berber identity within Morocco
and thus create divisions within the local population.
3
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(See 1914)
b. Algeria
1919, Feb. 4
Extension of French citizenship to all Muslim veterans of World War I in Algeria.
Under the previous law, French citizenship was unobtainable without conversion to
Christianity. Yet this proposal affected few Algerians directly and became moot anyway
when the French government, under heavy pressure from the colonists, later withdrew
the offer.
1
1926
Founding in France of the Étoile Nord-Africaine by Messali al-Hajj. The purpose of
this organization was to coordinate the political activities of Algerian workers residing in
France. It quickly assumed a nationalist character and opposed all forms of union with
France.
2
1931
Creation of the Association of Ulama under the guidance of Abd al-Hamid ibn Badis, a
modernist (salafi) religious leader whose ideas owed much to the thought of Muhammad
Abduh. The program of the organization had two main goals: the reform of Islam,
namely the purging of Sufi doctrines, which were held to be superstitious corruptions of
the pure faith; and the cultivation of the Arabic language in schools and the general
promotion of Arabic culture throughout the country.
3
1934, Aug. 3–5
Violent Muslim attacks on Jews in Constantine caused widespread damage to Jewish
property and the loss of 23 Jewish lives.
4
1936, June
An Islamic congress in Algiers. Following the electoral victory of Leon Blum's Popular
Front in France, Algerian activists believed they could wrest key concessions from the
new government. Among their demands were universal male suffrage irrespective of
religion, the complete administrative absorption of Algeria into France, permission for
Muslims in matters concerning personal status to live by Muslim law, and the abolition of
all legal restrictions on Muslims. On the whole, the program of the congress represented
the last attempt by Muslim leaders to take seriously French promises of full
assimilation and equality.
5
Dec
Defeat of the Blum-Viollette Bill in the French Chamber of Deputies. The bill would
have conferred full French citizenship on a minority of Muslim Algerians, namely former
officers in the French army and university graduates. Conservative and colonial
opposition to the legislation kept the matter from ever being debated by French deputies.
6
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(See 1912)
c. Tunisia
1919, Sept. 12
A Franco-Italian agreement ceded several oases in southeastern Tunisia to Libya. In
addition, all Italians residing in Tunisia received the same legal status as Frenchmen.
1
1920, June 4
Creation of the DESTOUR PARTY (Tunisian Liberal Constitutional Party), which was
dominated by the landed and religious elites. The party called not for independence but
for a reform of the colonial government to permit greater Tunisian participation. The
bey, MUHAMMAD AL-NASIR, threw his support behind the party's program in April
1922.
2
1921, Nov. 8
Grant of French citizenship to all French residents of Tunisia who had at least one
parent who had been born in the country. The government simultaneously bestowed
citizenship on all children of Tunisian-born Europeans. French authorities considered
this ruling necessary because of the legal fiction by which the Tunisian government
formally—if not actually—exercised internal sovereignty. Under the previous
arrangement, Tunisian-born Europeans had been viewed only as Tunisian citizens.
Following British protests, the law was modified (May 24, 1923) to allow the children
in question to choose the European nationality they preferred.
3
1922, July 13
Administrative reforms in response to the demands of Tunisian nationalists for greater
participation in the government. The French created a network of councils composed of
both Frenchmen and Tunisians, but the jurisdiction of these bodies extended only to
economic matters.
4
1924, Oct. 12
Organization of the Confédération Générale des Travailleurs Tunisiens by political
activist Muhammad Ali, who was arrested soon afterward.
5
1926, Jan
Restrictions on political activity and the press.
6
1932, Dec
Controversy over the burial of Muslim apostates. The mufti of Bizerte declared that
Tunisians who had obtained French citizenship—and by doing so had necessarily
renounced Islam—were not allowed to be buried in Muslim cemeteries. Most prominent
religious officials concurred with this ruling. As a result of the widespread furor, the
colonial government had to set aside special cemeteries for the Christian converts.
7
1934
Death of Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi (b. 1909), one of the most notable Romantic poets in
the Arab world. Poetry in this style was characterized by a desire to innovate and break
with classical and neoclassical expression. The Romantic poets often looked to the
cultural scene in Europe for inspiration and guidance. Other leading poets of this school
outside Tunisia were, to name only a few, Ahmad Zaki Abu Shadi (1892–1955),
Khalil Mutran (1872–1949), Abd al-Rahman Shukri (1886–1958), and Abbas
Mahmud al-Aqqad (1889–1964). Romanticism flourished in Arabic poetry throughout
the interwar period.
8
March 2
Establishment of the NEO-DESTOUR PARTY, of which HABIB BOURGUIBA
became the leader. Membership in the party appealed to those who had grown up in
Tunisia but received an advanced education in France, giving them an appreciation of
and ambivalence toward both cultures.
The party was outlawed only six months after its appearance. The colonial regime jailed
Bourguiba and did not release him until 1936.
9
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1912–14)
d. Libya
1918, Nov. 18
Proclamation of the Tripolitanian Republic by an alliance of tribal leaders and ulama.
The new government had a highly provisional character, which became evident in
negotiations with the Italians. The Tripolitanian delegation expressed its willingness to
drop the demand for independence in exchange for internal autonomy and full legal
equality for its people with Italians.
1
1919, June 1
Fundamental Law of Tripolitania. The Italians promised to grant Italian nationality and
full civil and political equality to Libyans.
2
Aug
Dissolution of the Tripolitanian Republic.
3
Sept. 12
A Franco-Italian agreement transferred several oases in southeastern Tunisia to Libya.
4
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(See 1914, May 21)
G. South and Southeast Asia, 1914–1945
1. India
The period encompassing the two world wars marked more than the worldwide conflict
between Fascism and democracy or socialism/Communism. This was also the period in
which imperial powers were profoundly challenged by colonized areas demanding to
become nation-states in their own right. British India, as the first locus of a full-blown
nationalist movement, created a model—the Indian National Congress—soon to be
followed across the colonized world, from Southeast Asia to Africa.
1
Nationalist ideology arose from a complex set of interactions in British India, producing
a number of side effects that still loom large in postcolonial South Asia. The general
process involved the identification of “imagined communities” and mobilization of
public support around these ideological constructions. The dominant pattern involved an
all-India, nationalistic definition of community—in which M. K. Gandhi played a key
role—which, because of the symbolic vocabulary used, was evocatively Hindu and north
Indian in nature. The Indian National Congress, while not the only actor on this
nationalist stage, managed to remain the key organization in directing resistance to the
British through nationalism.
2
In part prompted by these same processes, and in part as a reaction to the vocabulary
invoked by congress, other definitions of community also emerged. Many Indian
Muslims, for instance, regardless of the stark differences among them, were led by these
developments to define a separate but overlapping identification for themselves.
Similarly, in south India, a regional movement grew up around the Tamil language
which collapsed into one community identity a range of cultural, religious, and linguistic
markers. In most of these movements, proto-class distinctions were deliberately
downplayed in favor of other shared characteristics; in the west and the south, however,
the domination of the nationalist movement by Brahmans led to “non-Brahman”
movements essentially focused on lower-class or caste interests.
3
It is possible to argue that these “imagined communities” emerged especially in response
to government institutional changes, in which the identification and, especially, the
4
counting of people as part of one community or another became increasingly important
as constitutional changes allowed for more democratic participation in governance. But
equally important were movements aimed at religious reform which, for the first time,
emphasized individual action as the basis for identity; the passionate activism attached
to devotionalism was extended to various movements in defense of other forms of
community as well.
Events in the larger world helped to shape both the demands by Indians for greater
autonomy and British reactions to these demands. Indeed, the interests of the British
Indian government were often at odds with those of the British government at home.
Moreover, the question of Indian support for British war efforts was much more
straightforward during World War I than it was by the time of World War II, when little
progress seemed to have been made toward self-rule, and the impact of the world
depression had underscored the disadvantages of India's links to the larger world. Rapid
population growth from 1921 (1.1–1.4 percent annually) exacerbated social and
economic tensions.
5
1914, Aug. 4
Britain at war with Germany, making India automatically a combatant. Indian leaders
responded loyally, and during the first two years of the war the political situation in
India was comparatively quiet. The imperial legislative council voted a gift of £100
million toward Britain's war effort. British India and the Indian states provided about 1.2
million troops (combatants and laborers), who took part in the campaigns in Europe,
Mesopotamia, Palestine, Egypt, and East Africa. During the second half of the war
unrest became more and more prevalent, with rising prices and heavy taxation adding to
popular discontent.
6
1915
Madan Malaviya, Sir Sundar Lal, and Annie Besant, the Theosophist leader, founded
the Benares Hindu University. Besant organized the Home Rule League outside the
Indian National Congress. The return from imprisonment (since 1908) of Tilak, and the
deaths of Gokhale and Pherozeshah Mehta opened the way for a reunion of the
moderate and extremist groups in congress. Meanwhile the Muslim leaders Abul Kalam
Azad and Mohammed Ali were interned for opposing Muslim participation in the war
against the Ottoman Empire.
7
1916–21
Baron Chelmsford, viceroy. He was met at once with a demand for increased selfgovernment made by 19 Indian elected members of the imperial legislative council. This
was elaborated in the scheme, approved in December by the Indian National Congress
and the All-India Muslim League meeting simultaneously at Lucknow, calling for
dominion status, extension of the franchise, 80 percent of legislative councilors to be
elected rather than government-appointed, and half the members of executive councils to
be responsible to the legislatures. The efforts of Tilak and M. A. Jinnah produced the
Lucknow Pact between the congress and the league, recognizing separate electorates for
the Muslim minority, giving them more seats in the legislatures than their numbers
required (“weightage”), and allowing three-fourths of the Hindu or Muslim legislators to
veto any measure affecting their communal interests.
8
1917
Tilak and Besant carried on a vigorous agitation for home rule. To forestall serious
trouble, and embarrassed by the revelation of maladministration of the Indian forces in
Mesopotamia, the British government, through the new secretary of state for India,
Edwin Montagu, made an important policy change in August.
9
Aug. 20
The British government announced a policy of developing self-governing institutions
in India, with a view to introducing responsible government. Montagu visited India in
1918 and together with Lord Chelmsford worked out a report (April 22, 1918) for
limited self-government, presented to Parliament in July, which was denounced by the
congress as “disappointing and unsatisfactory” and similarly condemned by the Muslim
League. The moderate members of the congress seceded and formed the National
Liberal Federation (Nov. 1918), pledged to cooperate with reforms.
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Southeast Asia, 1753–1914)
(See 1906)
2. Southeast Asia
The period between the two world wars saw significant social change, including the
emergence of nationalism throughout the region. The course of events during World War
II significantly heightened these changes because they strengthened the demands for
independence.
1
Peasant rebellions punctuated the period. Seldom if ever “nationalist” in their ideology,
they nevertheless responded to the increasing interference of Western colonial rule in
peasant welfare and social values via administrative, economic, and social changes. Such
peasant uprisings continued a historical pattern that had preceded the colonial era.
Common characteristics among peasant revolts included a rural and agrarian setting;
highly localized frames of reference; a leadership characterized by emphasis on return to
“traditional” values; and, often, strong religious overtones. Representing resistance to
changing times and seldom espousing far-reaching aims, these movements therefore
differed in character and intent from urban-based nationalism, which they often
paralleled. Eventually, however, they were absorbed into the urban-based nationalist
movements.
2
The emergence of nationalism during this period owed much to the hastened process of
urbanization. Part of this process related to the establishment of new urban centers: these
developed primarily in response to demands of alien trade and commerce but also as
important communication and administrative centers for the surrounding countryside.
Part of the process also related to the emergence of new elites: as traditional elites were
displaced by colonial changes, new urban elites grew up to serve the administrative and
commercial needs of the colonial powers. Because of their exposure to Western
education, members of this elite had aims and ideas that owed a great deal to Western
ideas and organizational forms. Social change thus resulted, as well, in new social
security networks and new interest groups: the formation of “voluntary associations”
proved especially significant in influencing the patterns of nationalist activities.
Beginning with recreational gatherings, especially football clubs, these voluntary
associations soon expanded to include cultural and intellectual societies focused on self-
3
improvement and ranged from debating clubs to literary circles, study groups, religious
reform societies, and language improvement associations.
This period witnessed an increase in the importance of what had been a persistent feature
of Southeast Asian society because of the needs of the colonial powers: since many of
the commercial and trading functions were in the hands of foreigners, the diaspora of
Chinese and Indians into Southeast Asia grew rapidly. This pattern became more
pronounced because the indigenous “middle class” (the new bourgeoisie in most of
Southeast Asia) concentrated on roles as bureaucrats and government servants, while
commercial and trading activities remained the exclusive domain of nonindigenous
immigrants. Since most Chinese lived in towns, they represented a majority of the
population in most of the urban centers of Southeast Asia.
4
In the early decades of the 20th century the Chinese were politicized by events in
mainland China which strengthened a sense of internal Chinese cohesion and
distinctiveness and prevented further assimilation into the indigenous Southeast Asian
cultures. This in turn prompted suspicion and hostility on the part of the indigenous
Southeast Asian populations, with long-term ramifications for developments in the
region in the face of nationalist demands for independence. (See Overview)
5
a. Mainland Southeast Asia
1. Burma
1918
Tentative scheme of reform by the British in the process of separating Burma from India.
Local self-government was to be strengthened.
6
1920
The Young Men's Buddhist Association split reflected the generational divide between
conservatism and activism. Younger members renamed the organization the General
Council of Burmese Associations, making explicit their nationalist and political
purposes. First activities focused on student strikes regarding the proposed rulers of the
University of Rangoon; soon the GCBA began encouraging the organization of villagelevel nationalist organizations (wunthanu athin, “own race societies”) to boycott
government officials and refuse to pay taxes and rent.
7
1923
Dyarchy (British system created in India to divide governance responsibilities between
colonial administration and indigenous representatives) introduced. Legislative Council
with 80 elected members (of 103 total) was created, with communal constituencies that
reinforced Burma's awareness of ethnic identities (categories included Indians, Karens,
Anglo-Indians, British). Working the institutions introduced under dyarchy underscored
the very different interests of urban and rural participants.
8
1928–34
The impact of world depression led to a fall in rice prices by one-half, while peasants'
costs (land rents, payments on indebtedness, taxes, and prices of imported necessities)
remained steady or declined only slightly. Almost 20 percent of the mortgages on
agricultural land were foreclosed between 1928 and 1934.
9
1930, May
Anti-Indian riots began in Rangoon as a response to world economic pressures; these
spread to the countryside in the year following. General anticolonial disorder followed.
10
Dec
Peasant revolt, led by Hsaya San in Tharrawaddy District. Hsaya San was a former
monk practitioner of indigenous medicine and a GCBA organizer. His arguments gave
voice to peasant grievances (which he had surveyed in the countryside in the late 1920s),
as he asserted that colonial rule had destroyed rural life through taxation, increased
crime, and led to rising rice prices, land alienation, Indian immigration, unemployment,
and the denigration of Buddhism. Although this kind of insurgency had no hope of
ultimate success, it provided martyrs and an example of anticolonial activism much
romanticized by later resisters.
11
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(See 1914, May 12)
b. Peninsular and Island Southeast Asia
1. The Malayan Archipelago
1915
Peasant rebellion in Pasir Puteh district of Kelantan, although localized, panicked the
British into thinking that the revolt was potentially widespread. The protest targeted the
substitution by the British of a fixed land rent for an earlier tax on crop production. The
uprising was led by To' Janggut (or Haji Mat Hassan), an elderly landowner and peddler
who had the support of the territorial chief.
1
1920s and 1930s
Despite attempts by the British to isolate Malays in a stable village society, a nascent
Malay nationalism began to appear, appealing first to religious, racial, and linguistic
loyalties.
2
Three new elite groups fostered this nationalism. Those active in the Islamic-educated
religious reform movement brought anticolonial ideas back from Egypt. They joined a
Malay-educated intelligentsia (made up primarily of peasants who had been educated to
become teachers, journalists, engineers, and the like) who espoused radical, secular
ideals. In using a town-based vernacular press to put forward a Greater Indonesia
ideology around Malay language and identity, these two elements of the new elite
joined with a third group: those drawn from the traditional elite who had become
English-educated in order to serve in the bureaucracy. This third group reacted
3
especially to the local-born activists among the Chinese and Indian communities who
were agitating for a greater share in governance and public life.
1927
Periodic gatherings of (traditional Malay) rulers, begun as a token of the devolution of
authority from the British to the states, became by the late 1930s occasions on which
local rulers would take nationalistic positions—e.g., to encourage Javanese immigration
and limit Chinese influx; to strengthen Malay landowning rights, etc.
4
1930
Malayan Communist Party founded, almost wholly Chinese in composition (but with
links to Indonesia and Vietnam).
5
1930s
Impact of economic depression began to undermine the concept of a plural society in
Malaya, pitting economic and political interests of one group against another. (For
example, Chinese and Indian workers, thrown out of mine and estate employment,
sought to become agriculturalists, previously a niche occupied solely by Malays.)
6
1938
Kesatuan Melayu Muda (Young Malay Union) formed by radicals as a new political
organization with pan-Indonesian aims. Malay Associations were also organized within
each state as organizations loyal to local rulers, conservative in outlook, and even
supportive of British colonial rule; these served as a bulwark against more outspoken
resistance to Western imperialism, and were the only organizations that had any mass
support. The growth of a genuine Malay nationalism after the war drew on the ideology,
structure, and leadership of the Malay Associations movement.
1941, Dec. 7
7
The Japanese attacked Malaya (See 1941, Dec. 7).
8
1942, Feb
Singapore fell to the Japanese. As the tide of war turned against them, the Japanese tried
to enlist local leadership in support of their activities. They released persons like the
Malay radical Ibrahim Yacob who had been imprisoned under the European colonial
regimes.
9
1943, July
Four northern Malay states (Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu) were handed over
to Thailand as a reward for its support of the Japanese.
10
1945, Sept
The British resumed control. (See Malaysia and Singapore)
11
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H. East Asia, 1902–1945
1. Overview
During the interwar years, the population of the nations in the region continued to rise.
Always the most populous, China topped 400 million, while Japan (the second most
populous) exceeded 55 million by the early 1920s. An industrial economy was emerging
in China's cities, especially Shanghai with its many foreign concerns, as well as in Japan
under the influence of World War I. Japan continued to penetrate the entire East Asian
region, with the exception of Vietnam, prior to the 1940s. By the end of the interwar
period, Japan would be at war with China and Vietnam, while continuing to maintain an
increasingly brutal colonial policy over Korea.
1
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(See 1914, May 1)
2. China, 1914–1945
1914, May 1
Having convened a session of 66 men drawn from his cabinet and other provincial posts,
Yuan Shikai (1859–1916) had the provisional constitution replaced with a
“constitutional compact,” which afforded Yuan nearly complete powers.
1
July
Sun Zhongshan (Sun Yat-sen, 1866–1925) changed the name of his party, the
Guomindang (Nationalist Party), to Gemingdang (Revolutionary Party) in Tokyo; its first
manifesto came out in September. In 1919 it reverted to its original name.
2
Aug. 23
The Japanese declaration of war against Germany was followed by violation of China's
neutrality (Sept. 2) and the capture of the German concession area of Qingdao in
Shandong province (Nov. 7).
3
By 1914, under the government of Yuan Shikai, the total investment of the foreign
powers in China soared to U.S.$1.61 billion. Yuan encouraged the development of a
strong judiciary, as China's best hope against the continuation of extraterritoriality,
pushed for agricultural development, and tried to crush the opium trade.
4
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3. Mongolian People's Republic, 1911–1926
1911
During the Chinese Revolution of 1911, northern Mongol princes, with the support of
tsarist Russia, proclaimed an autonomous Outer Mongolia, with Bogdo Gegen, the Living
Buddha, as the khan, thus ending the suzerainty of China over Outer Mongolia. But
Chinese troops reoccupied Mongolia during 1919–20 after the Russian Revolution.
1
1921
The First Congress of the Mongolian People's Party (Communist, renamed as the
Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party in 1924) was held in Kyakhta on March 1, and
the basic task of the Party program was national liberation and the establishment of an
independent state. The Mongolian People's Army defeated Chinese occupying forces in
March. Mongolian and Soviet troops overcame the Urgen White Guard bands, and a
permanent People's Government of Mongolia was formed in July 1921. Serfdom and the
institution of hereditary feudal rulers were abolished in 1922.
2
1924
After the death of the Living Buddha in May, the People's Revolutionary Party and the
People's Government adopted a resolution to abolish the monarchy and introduce the
republican system in June. The first Grand People's Hural legally proclaimed the
Mongolian People's Republic and approved its constitution in November.
1925, Oct
3
The Fourth Party Congress adopted the second Party program, which centered on the
social and political consolidation of the revolution as the basic task. Beginning in 1929,
large landholdings of feudal lords were confiscated and those of monasteries in 1938.
4
1926, Sept
Enactment of a law on separation of the Church and the State. (See The Republic of
Mongolia (The Mongolian People's Republic), 1945–2000)
5
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(See Aug. 22)
4. Korea, 1910–1945
1910, Aug. 22
KOREA WAS FORMALLY ANNEXED BY JAPAN, when the Treaty of Annexation
was signed by Prime Minister Yi Wan-yong (1858–1926). Emperor Sunjong (1874–1926,
r. 1907–10) proclaimed (Aug. 29) the end of the Yi dynasty. For the next 35 years,
Koreans lived under often brutal Japanese colonial domination. Ultimately, the
independence movement against Japan aroused Korea's national identity but at a heavy
price. Over the course of the period 1910–40, Korea's population rose from 15 million to
over 24 million.
1
Oct.–1916
The first governor-general of the Korean colony was Gen. Terauchi Masatake
2
(1852–1919). The colonial regime was known as the Government-General of Ch
sen
(Korea), which had tight, centralized authority over every aspect of life in Korea. The
governor-general effectively had complete power, civil and military. Terauchi's period as
governor-general, along with that of his successor, was dubbed “the period of military
rule.” The bureaucracy in 1910 employed some 10,000 officials; by 1937, it encompassed
87,552 officials (over 60 percent of them Japanese). The number of police in the employ
of the governor-general rose from 6,222 in 1910 to 20,771 in 1922, and to over 60,000 by
1941; about half were Koreans. The stated policy of the regime was to assimilate the
Koreans into the Japanese empire, eventually; in fact, Koreans fell victim to sharp
discrimination.
Under Terauchi, a land survey bureau was set up to rationalize the land distribution and
land-tax systems. The state remained the largest landowner in the colony, holding nearly
3
40 percent of it in 1930. The Oriental Development Company, a semipublic corporation
set up by the colonial authorities and much hated by nationalist Koreans, held 269,500
acres of land by itself. The land survey (1910–18) ultimately firmed up the existing state
of affairs. Japan also constructed extensively on preexisting Korean telecommunications
and rail lines.
Despite great antipathy for their new overlords, Koreans were prevented, by arrests and
police intimidation, from voicing opposition. Guerrillas were active in the countryside,
although already in the period between 1907 and 1910, 17,600 guerrillas had been killed.
The new regime disbanded all Korean publications, political groups, and meetings of any
sort.
4
The government-general sharply reduced the number of private schools and moved to
develop a nationwide system of education to accompany assimilation to Japanese ways.
In 1910 there were 110,800 Korean students in public schools; by 1941 there were
1,776,078 enrolled. Few Koreans received higher education, although some studied in
Japan (3,171 by 1912) or the U.S. Japanese became the national language, and Japanese
language acquisition soared, so much so that it virtually became a work of nationalism to
try to preserve the Korean language. Chu Si-gyong (1876–1914) and his students
continued their work standardizing vernacular grammar and spelling; the Korean
Language Research Society was founded in 1921. Such writers as Yi In-jik (1862–1916)
and Yi Hae-jo (1869–1927) began to write in new literary forms. Yi Kwang-su's (b.
5
1892) novel Muj
ng (The Heartless, 1917) was extremely popular.
Dec
A conspiracy to assassinate Terauchi, implicating An My
ng-g
n (brother of An
6
Chung-g
n, 1879–1910, who had assassinated It
Hirobumi, 1841–1909), was
uncovered, and 600 people were arrested; 105 of them were indicted the following year,
including such vital leaders of the Sinminhoe (New People's Association, a moderate
group founded in 1907 by An Ch'ang-ho, 1878–1938) as Yun Ch'i-ho (1865–1945), Yang
Ki-t'ak (1871–1938), and Yi S ng-hun (1864–1930). It was known thereafter as the
“Case of the One Hundred Five.” Despite a show trial, it was clear that the Japanese
used the incident to destroy the Sinminhoe.
From 1910, the Japanese Daiichi Bank became the Bank of Korea in the colony,
becoming also its central bank. Together with the Japanese Shokusan Bank, it controlled
much of Korean finance.
7
The number of Korean expatriates living in Manchuria rose to 109,000 from some 65,000
in 1894. By 1912 this number reached 169,000. Some among them organized (1911) the
8
Military School of the New Rising to prepare young Koreans to fight against Japan;
others later (1914) founded the Government of the Korean Restoration Army. Neither got
far. Thousands of Koreans also moved to the Maritime Province in the Russian Far East.
Many also lived in the U.S. and Hawaii, where Yi S
ng-man (Syngman Rhee,
1875–1965) founded the Korean National Association (1909).
The Company Law was enacted, by which any corporation, public or private, needed
prior approval by the government-general.
9
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(See Aug. 23)
5. Japan, 1914–1945
1914–18
During the years of World War I, the Japanese manufactured and sent to Europe large
quantities of munitions (especially to Russia). At the same time, Japanese merchants took
advantage of the conflict to supplant German commerce in East Asia. Heavy industry in
particular grew in the postwar years, with considerable investment from the zaibatsu
conglomerates, which increasingly dominated the economy. In the 1920s they set the
stage through planning with greater efficiency for the rapid expansion of the 1930s,
following the government's shift in financial policy.
Domestically, the Taish
period (1912–26) is usually considered an era of opening to
1
2
liberal and Western trends in many areas of society and the arts, the so-called Taish
democracy. This is usually to distinguish it from the political authoritarianism of the
preceding Meiji era and from the militarism and the crackdown on domestic liberalism of
the subsequent Sh
wa era. Western influence was felt in the visual and literary arts,
both in theme and technique.
1914, Aug
Japan declared war on Germany. Within a three-month period, German possessions in
Shandong and the Pacific were in Japanese hands.
Nov. 7
3
Jiaozhou surrendered to the Japanese after a two-month siege.
4
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(See 1897–1902)
6. Vietnam, 1902–1945
This period began with the entirety of Vietnam under French colonial control.
Resistance movements led by the van than class in the mountains had been mollified by
the French colonial administration's willingness to allow van than local control and
village autonomy, creating a sort of feudal system. Aside from guerrilla leaders like De
Tham (d. 1913), insurgency in the Red River delta came to an end. In Cochinchina to
the south, the rice plantation economy grew rapidly and produced widespread tenancy
among the farming populace. Both systems were typical of colonial regimes in the 20th
century.
1
Following World War I, foreign investment in Vietnam mushroomed. As a result, coal
mines in the north, rubber plantations in central and south Vietnam, and the rapid
increase of production for rice farmers in the south spawned a working class, as well as a
landlord class, rice exporters in Saigon, and a modern intelligentsia.
2
1902
Japan's conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, together with its victories over China
(1894–95) and Russia (1904–5), was extremely impressive to many Vietnamese in that
an East Asian state had successfully modernized, become technologically sophisticated,
and forged equal ties with Western states.
3
1903
A knowledge of French became a necessity for entrance into the traditional civil service
in Annam and Tonkin.
4
1904
Phan Boi Chau (1867–1940), influenced by the reformist movements of late Qing
China, especially that of Kang Youwei (1858–1927), founded the Viêt Nam Duy Tan
Hoi (Vietnam Restoration Party) with the aim of building a constitutional monarchy in
Vietnam. The next year he traveled to Japan, where he met Liang Qichao (1873–1929),
and wrote The History of the Demise of Vietnam. He began the Eastern Travel
movement to get Vietnamese students to come and study in Japan, there to be trained to
promote reform back home.
5
1905
Phan Chu Trinh (1871–1926), having earlier passed the civil service examinations and
awaiting bureaucratic appointment, became disaffected by the system and began
traveling primarily in southern Vietnam, calling for the revival of the country. The next
year (1906), he went to Japan and met Phan Boi Chau, but they differed on many things,
tactics among them: Chau was readier to adopt revolutionary means, while Trinh's
thinking was more in the enlightenment reformist vein. Also, Chau still wanted to use
the monarchy as a symbol of the united anti-French movement, while Trinh was a
republican much taken with aspects of French culture. Trinh then returned to Vietnam
and proposed an educational system based on the vernacular, quôc ngu, which was
effected when the Tonkin Free School opened that year. The school was shut down by
the colonial authorities the same year. For his participation in an antitax movement of
Vietnamese farmers (1908), Trinh was transported to a penal colony on Poulo Condore
Island. He was later released (1910).
6
1909
When Japan signed a treaty with France, Phan Boi Chau was expelled from Japan, and
he took refuge in Thailand. From that point, he showed sympathy for the populist
thought of Sun Zhongshan (Sun Yat-sen, 1866–1925).
7
1912
After the success of the 1911 revolution in China, Phan Boi Chau traveled to
Guangdong (China), where he met the Chinese revolutionary leader Hu Hanmin
8
(1886–1936) and founded the Viêt Nam Quang Phuc Hoi (Vietnam Restoration
Society), with the intent of creating a republic in his native land. Japan was rapidly
discrediting itself as a model, after seizing Taiwan (1895) and Korea (1910) as colonies.
The Chinese revolution seemed the next best hope for Vietnamese radicals. With help
from the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chau planned for an armed revolution in
Vietnam. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1914 by the governor of Guangdong, and
when released in 1917 he worked out of Shanghai and Hong Kong, still planning to rise
in revolt.
1914–18
During World War I, some 100,000 Vietnamese troops and workers were sent to France.
Through contacts with Europeans and their writings, some acquired a taste for current
ideas of national autonomy, revolutionary struggle, and the like.
9
1915
By this time, all three sectors of Vietnam had daily newspapers written in the romanized
quôc ngu script.
10
1918
The University of Hanoi, founded by Vietnamese, was permitted by the French.
11
1919
The Confucian examination system, traditionally used as the means for entrance into
the civil service, was finally abolished throughout the entire country.
12
1925, June
The Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League was secretly founded by HÔ CHI
MINH (1890–1969) in Guangzhou (Canton). Through it, the basis was laid in many
areas for the founding of the Indochina Communist Party (1930). The Youth League
issued a propaganda organ, Thanh nien (Youth), weekly for nearly two years and had a
13
political training institute in Guangzhou. Hô had been in France prior to World War I
and had participated in the founding of the French Communist Party (1920); in 1923 he
traveled to Moscow and took part in the Fifth Congress of the Communist International
(Comintern, 1924) before returning to Guangzhou in 1925.
The young Bao Dai (b. 1914) acceded to the Nguyên throne. He “reigned” until 1945.
14
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1906)
I. The Pacific Region, 1914–1945
1. The Pacific Islands
THE PACIFIC THEATER OF WAR, 1941-45 (MAP)
Until 1939 this was a fairly quiet period in the islands, though in some of the major
islands, there were protests over aspects of colonial rule. In 1914, Apolosi Nawaii formed
the Viti Company to circumvent the European intermediaries and trading companies. In
the 1920s, the nationalist Mau movement in Western Samoa reacted against New
Zealand paternalism and advocated independence for the island; in 1929, the murder of
District Officer William Bell on Malaita in the Solomons led to official campaigns of
pacification. In the 1920s and 1930s, a series of laws was passed in Papua designed to
“preserve white standards”; industrial and political protests by Indo-Fijians were
carried out against the European-dominated colonial order in the 1920s.
1
1914
In the early months of World War I, British ships with Australian and New Zealand
forces conquered the German island colonies south of the equator, while in Oct. 1914
the Japanese took possession of those north of the equator (Marianas, Carolines, and
Marshalls). Australia captured German New Guinea. At the war's end, Japan, Australia,
and New Zealand favored outright annexation of these territories, but because of
American objections, these were finally classified as class C mandates to be governed as
an integral part of the administering power.
1918–19
2
The influenza epidemic wrought havoc in several islands, killing 21 percent of the
Samoan population and 6 percent of the indigenous Fijian population. Discontent at New
Zealand's handling of the epidemic in Samoa increased resentment against colonial rule
and helped the Mau movement.
3
1919, May 7
The Supreme Council of the Allied Powers assigned German New Guinea and the
neighboring German islands (Bismarck Archipelago) to Australia; German Samoa
(Western Samoa) became a New Zealand possession. The rich phosphate island of Nauru
was given to the British Empire, and by agreement the administration was divided among
Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. Japan received the German islands north of
the equator as a mandate. These arrangements were confirmed by the League of Nations
on Dec. 17, 1920.
4
1922, Feb. 6
The naval treaty (See 1921, Nov. 12–1922, Feb. 6) among the five great powers
included an agreement to maintain the status quo with regard to fortifications and naval
bases in the Pacific (the American and Alaskan coasts excluded).
5
April
The Japanese government established civil administration in the mandated islands (over
1,400 of them, with a total area of only 836 square miles, scattered over an immense area
of water). The capital was set up at Korror Island (Palau group) with six branches in the
major island groups. Indigenous people were involved in subsidiary government
positions. The Japanese approached their task of colonial administration seriously and
attempted a large-scale program of social and economic development. Economically, the
development of the sugar industry, under the leadership of Matsue Haruji, in the
Marianas was the most important. This development brought a considerable influx of
Japanese immigrants. By 1935 there were 50,000 Japanese in Micronesia, 40,000 in the
Marianas.
6
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1913, Aug. 21)
2. The Philippines
In this period profound social and economic changes occurred, against a background of
American control and constant agitation for independence. The Philippines became more
urbanized, and the educated section of the population grew, following the promotion of
English-language education by the administration. A large number of Filipinos joined
the bureaucracy. National consciousness spread, crossing regional and class lines.
1
Free trade with the U.S. produced export-led economic growth, but led to dependence on
the American market. At the same time, socioeconomic disparities increased, and the
political and economic power of the oligarchic Filipino elite was consolidated.
2
1916
A council of state was created, consisting of the governor-general, the presidents of
both houses of the legislature, and the heads of executive departments. The U.S. Senate
passed the Jones Act, which promised independence to the Philippines once there was a
stable government. It replaced the Philippine Commission with a 24-member elected
senate.
3
1919
Quezon and other Filipino notables led an independence mission to Washington.
1921
4
The Wood-Forbes mission sent by the U.S. government opposed immediate
independence for the Philippines, and advocated increased powers for the governor. The
appointment of the conservative Francis Wood as governor-general increased tensions
between nationalist Filipinos and the U.S. government.
5
1922
Manuel Quezon replaced Sergio Osmena as leader after a power struggle within the
Nacionalista Party.
6
1923
Quezon attacked Wood for interference in the elected government. Filipinos on the
council of state resigned in protest at Wood's behavior, and the legislature
unsuccessfully called for his replacement.
7
1924
Filipino leaders appealed to the U.S. for independence, but this was rejected by President
Coolidge. Further requests for independence were made in 1925 and 1926.
8
1930
Establishment of the Philippine Communist Party, which was outlawed two years later.
9
1931
The Os-Rox mission to Washington led by Sergio Osmena and Manuel Roxas
proposed that independence be accompanied by the preservation of free trade with the
U.S. for ten years and a restriction on Filipino immigration to the United States. Support
for Philippine independence increased in the U.S. during the 1920s because free trade
with the Philippines was considered unfavorable to American economic interests.
1933, Jan 13
10
The U.S. Congress passed the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Bill, advocating independence after
12 years of transitional government, retention of U.S. military bases, and restrictions on
immigration and on Philippine sugar and coconut exports. The Philippine legislature
rejected the bill because of the restrictions on exports and immigration, the ill-defined
nature of the powers of the U.S. high commissioner, and the retention of U.S. military
bases.
11
1934, March 24
The U.S. government adopted the Tydings-McDuffie Act, which proposed gradual
introduction of tariffs on Philippine exports to the U.S. in the period leading up to
independence. This was reluctantly accepted by the Philippine legislature.
12
July 30
A commission of 202 members was elected to draft a constitution. Suffrage was to be
given to literates over 21 (which meant that only 14 percent of the population was
eligible to vote in 1940). The constitution was approved on May 14, 1935.
13
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1914, Sept. 5)
3. Australia
The two world wars were Australia's largest national enterprises, and were fought at great
cost in lives and suffering. The interwar period (1918–39) was stagnant economically,
troughing in the Great Depression of 1929–32, when perhaps a third of Australian men
were out of work. Confidence in Australia's long-term prosperity was not shaken. The
economy industrialized further, but depended heavily on agriculture and mining, with 35
percent of the nation's export income up to 1950 generated by sheep grazing.
1
The outbreak of World War I revealed all Australian parties united in loyalty to the
mother country and in readiness to contribute to its defense. During the war Australia sent
331,000 men overseas, who took a prominent part in the Dardanelles campaign, the
Palestine campaign, and the fighting in France (after 1916). In May 1918 the five
Australian divisions in France were organized as an Australian army corps, under the
command of Sir John Monash, an Australian. The war was financed chiefly by
borrowing and was accompanied, in Australia as elsewhere, by a great extension of
government control, economic as well as political. Rising prices together with a decline
in real wages led to much labor unrest and a very extensive strike in Aug.–Sept. 1917.
The failure of this strike resulted in stricter organization of the trade unions and greater
concentration on economic rather than political aims. In the military field the Australian
government took advantage of the opportunity to seize the German island colonies south
of the equator.
2
1915
Construction of major steel mill by BHP, Australia's largest company for decades.
April 25
3
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landed on Gallipoli Peninsula,
Turkey. The place was soon called Anzac Cove, and the day Anzac Day. In the 1920s,
April 25 was made a public holiday, and many Australians consider it Australia's most
important national day. Anzac Cove was evacuated in Dec. 1915, and the Anzacs
transferred to France or Egypt.
4
Oct. 27
William M. Hughes as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party. Hughes became
the embodiment of Australian and British patriotism, and, after a visit to England in the
summer of 1916, he began to advocate conscription of men for service overseas. The
suggestion roused much opposition.
5
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(See 1913)
4. New Zealand
In the aftermath of World War I, government investment and tariff protection
strengthened agriculture, which came to dominate the economy. An economic regime
founded on the export of wool, meat, and dairy produce to Britain emerged. Partly as a
result of this dependency, the global economic crisis in the 1930s affected New Zealand
severely. In response to the depression, the Labour government of 1935 established one
of the most comprehensive welfare programs in the non-Communist world.
1
Despite continuing alienation of land, the Maori population began to increase, and there
were modest improvements in Maori health and socioeconomic position. A number of
Maori leaders joined the government or were active in other areas of national politics.
New Zealand's political ties to Britain remained strong, reflected in the large numbers of
New Zealand troops participating in World War I. New Zealand continued to practice
petty imperialism in the South Pacific through the period, violently suppressing the
independence movement in Samoa in the 1920s. New Zealand sent 117,000 men
overseas in World War I, most of whom were volunteers. New Zealand troops fought in
Turkey, Palestine, and France, often in company with Australians. Casualties were very
high. Participation in World War II was also extensive.
2
1914
New Zealand annexed Samoa from Germany (See 1914).
3
1915
New Zealand and Australian troops (ANZACs) participated in the ill-fated Gallipoli
campaign. This became a symbol of emergent nationalism.
4
1916
The Maori prophet Rua Kenana was arrested for sedition. Formation of New Zealand
Labour Party by socialists and trade unionists. Heated political debate took place
over the issue of conscription, which was opposed by the Waikato tribes and by the
Labour Party.
5
1918
Foundation of Ratana church by the Maori prophet Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana. This
fusion of Maori and Christian beliefs appealed to many Maori in the lower
socioeconomic stratum. Samoa was given to New Zealand as a trust territory of the
League of Nations.
6
1919
The conservative Reform government won a resounding victory in the general election.
The subsequent elections in the 1920s were all characterized by competition among the
three parties of Reform, Liberal (later United), and Labour. Women gained the right to
stand for Parliament.
7
Throughout the 1920s the government provided assistance to farmers through credit and
price controls. The establishment of a dairy board (1923) helped in the marketing of
dairy products.
8
1925
Election of a Reform Party government under Gordon Coates. The government
engaged in a program of public works construction, and borrowed heavily overseas.
9
1928
The United Party, formed out of the remains of the Liberals, won the election. Its leader,
Joseph Ward, promised extensive borrowing for public works.
10
1929
New Zealand troops attempted to suppress the nationalistic Mau movement in Samoa,
killing a number of its leaders.
11
New Zealand suffered severely from the depression, being essentially a producer of
primary materials. The unemployed were compelled to do laboring work in return for
government compensation.
12
1931
A coalition government was formed from the Reform and United Parties. Prime
Minister Coates reduced civil service salaries and introduced legislation to allow the
arbitration court to cut wages.
13
1932
Riots involving unemployed people occurred in each of the four main cities.
14
The first Ratana member of Parliament was elected, beginning the Ratana dominance
over the Maori seats. Ratana established a political alliance with the Labour Party. The
government made arbitration in industrial negotiations voluntary, but kept conciliation
compulsory, so that unions could be forced to accept employers' terms. This weakened
union power. Tariffs on New Zealand exports to Britain worsened the economic
situation.
15
1935, Nov. 27
ELECTION OF THE FIRST LABOUR GOVERNMENT under Michael Joseph
Savage. Savage became one of the best-loved prime ministers in New Zealand history.
16
Expansion of social welfare provisions and state support for savings and loans,
including mortgages for home purchases. Government controls in banking and internal
transportation increased.
17
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(See Overview)
J. Africa, 1914–1945
AFRICA IN 1939 (MAP)
1. Overview
The 30 years between World War I and the end of World War II represented
simultaneously the high-water mark of colonialism in Africa and its dissolution.
Even though formal decolonization did not begin until 1956, the roots of African
independence were planted during this period.
1
Looking back at the period from military conquest to 1914, European colonial officials
could point to significant but limited accomplishments. Colonial regimes had defeated
their African political opponents, suppressed the armed resistance movements, installed
rudimentary administrations, and constructed railways and harbors. Despite the promises
of tropical bounty awaiting colonial entrepreneurs, metropolitan countries could point to
few clear economic advantages their colonies provided. Nor did Africans unequivocally
embrace European cultural institutions, including missionary Christianity. Islam seemed
to be making more progress in northeastern and West Africa than Christianity. The
outbreak of World War I arrested the development of colonial administrations even as
African manpower, mineral, and agricultural resources became crucial to metropolitan
war economies. The war made clear just how important colonies actually were.
2
Military campaigns took place where Germany had colonies (See The War in the
Colonies, 1914–1918): in Togo, Cameroon, Southwest Africa, and East Africa. The
Germans in Togo and Cameroon were quickly defeated. The Germans in Southwest
Africa surrendered to a British imperial army commanded by the South African general
3
Smuts. Fighting in East Africa was longer and bloodier, although relatively few
European troops were killed in the fighting. Many more were incapacitated and slain by
disease.
Few Africans actually fought. Most Africans in East Africa were recruited into the
carrier corps. Without adequate roads, it fell upon Africans to carry the vast military and
logistical arsenal for the troops. Officially, the British reported that 44,991 recruits in the
carrier corps died, compared with 3,500 imperial troops who died from battlefield
wounds and 6,500 from disease. The mortality rate for Africans in the carrier corps was
roughly 2 percent per month; an additional 15 percent were incapacitated by disease and
poor nutrition each month. At least one historian of East Africa estimated that between
200,000 and 300,000 Africans died directly or indirectly because of the military
campaigns in East Africa as their crops and herds were requisitioned and as their male
kinsmen were forcibly recruited. Knowing what was in store for them, it is not surprising
that as European military recruiters approached their villages, Africans raced off to the
bush to hide.
4
Fighting was limited in West Africa, but recruitment was widespread, especially by the
French. All able-bodied men were liable for recruitment into the French military service.
In 1915 and 1916, recruitment revolts broke out in many French West African
colonies. The black Senegalese representative to the French National Assembly, Blaise
Diagne, helped recruit Africans for the war effort, but only in exchange for symbolic
gains (he rode in the same railway car as the governor-general) and legal ones (specific
voting and religious rights were clarified). Although the Germans were defeated and the
recruitment revolts suppressed, the experience unleashed significant social, political, and
cultural changes.
5
For those who survived, the experience of World War I was important and lasting.
Africans saw that Europeans were not invincible. Recruitment brought Africans from a
great number of different ethnic groups and backgrounds together; they turned to
English, French, Portuguese, Lingala, and Swahili as common languages. Africans
participated in new organizations, which provided models for future nationalist
mobilization. Moreover, the defeat of Germany and the subsequent mandating of
German colonies to European victors provided opportunities for Africans with
Western literacy to fill administrative positions left vacant. And finally, the politics
surrounding the Treaty of Versailles introduced two important ideas into the language of
emergent African nationalism. The first was derived from President Woodrow Wilson's
Fourteen Points and spoke of “self-determination.” Although the idea was not intended
for colonized Africans, Africans and Pan-Africanists would use it as a lever against
colonial rule. The second came from the League of Nations mandate terms, which
provided for “trusteeship,” not colonial dominion. Africans would see this term as
providing them with important political and economic rights, as well as underscoring the
temporary nature of the colonial rule.
6
The role of African manpower and natural resources during the war demonstrated the
importance of African colonies. During the interwar years, most European colonies
embarked on ambitious economic development programs, which were fueled by
rapidly rising commodity prices. During this period, the de facto division of African
colonies into four main economic clusters became clear: colonies where African
peasants were predominant (mostly West Africa), colonies where agricultural concession
companies predominated (mostly Central Africa), colonies where mining capital
dominated (mostly southern Africa), and colonies of white settlement (mostly East,
Central, and southern Africa). Several colonies shared two or more of these economic
orientations, but the impact of colonialism on African societies was shaped more by
these broad economic orientations than by differences in colonial administrative policy.
7
The practical differences between direct rule, where European colonial officials ruled
over administrative districts, and indirect rule, where “indigenous authorities” were
empowered to rule with European officials gently modernizing “traditions,” have been
exaggerated. Direct rule has been associated with the French and indirect rule with the
British, although all colonial powers employed both methods and all relied on African
collaboration in order to administer as cheaply as possible.
8
There were, nonetheless, important outcomes to these different styles of colonial rule.
Elevated to the level of formal colonial policy by Frederick Lugard and applied
vigorously to Nigeria, indirect rule heightened ethnic differences, since indigenous
authorities were to emerge from identifiable communities. If, as in the case of the Igbo,
there were no identifiable indigenous rulers, the British simply appointed willing
collaborators and gave them a “warrant” to rule. Customs were invented to demonstrate
the age-old practices of these indigenous authorities. Empowering indigenous authorities
led to significant abuses of power, as chiefs used their positions to accumulate wealth
and power. Because even those practicing direct administration needed African
collaborators, the French, Belgians, and Portuguese appointed provincial chiefs to assist
them. Provincial chiefs also used their positions to enhance their power to accumulate
wealth. The invention of tradition in colonial Africa helped undergird the power of
African chiefs to determine access to agricultural resources and to increase the power of
older men over both women and younger men.
9
Younger men and women often resisted the power of chiefs and elderly men. Young
men migrated to cities, to the mines, and to other agricultural regions. Many went in
search of an independent income in order to establish their own households. If women
could not escape their “arranged” first marriages, divorce and subsequent marriages,
especially among Muslims, often provided women with more choice regarding their
spouses. Some women also fled to the emerging urban centers and became prostitutes.
Others fled to the mission communities, where marriage among Christian converts
occasionally provided greater choice.
10
Some women responded collectively to what they considered the erosion of their
11
customary rights. In 1929, Igbo women in southeastern Nigeria rose up against the
appointed warrant chiefs and against British colonial officials in protest against the
erosion of women's secret societies (the British banned all secret societies, although
many were indeed the “indigenous authorities”) and the proposed tax on women's
property. The women of Aba (See 1929) used well-established techniques to express
their anger, including bawdy songs and dances. When they sang and danced before the
British headquarters, officials panicked, troops were brought in, and many African
women were martyred. In response to these events, the British held an inquiry and
appointed anthropologists to study Nigerian societies more thoroughly.
Among the most significant social and cultural changes to occur during this period were
the development of African nationalism and Pan-Africanism, the expansion of
Western education, and the growth of cities. Pan-Africanism was a movement born in
the African diaspora of the New World. As a political movement, it was a coalition of a
wide variety of African-American and later African nationalist groups. They shared a
vision of a great African homeland, but little else. Nonetheless, Pan-Africanist political
agitation influenced a variety of nationalist groups in colonial Africa, ranging from
youth associations, protonationalist associations (such as the South African Native
Peoples Congress), labor unions, and literary self-help societies, which drew from PanAfricanist rhetorical models for the empowerment of colonized African peoples. These
groups sought gradual, political reforms within the context of colonialism. Others, such
as the influential Négritude movement formed in Paris by French-speaking African and
Afro-Caribbean intellectuals, sought cultural recognition and presented only vague
political goals.
12
Collective action by railway workers and dock workers, who engaged in a series of
strikes in the 1920s and 1930s, had an important impact in the continent. Influenced by
the Comintern (See 1919, March 2) and by metropolitan socialist parties, African
workers began to understand and exercise their power. Strikes along the major rail
arteries and at the harbors had the potential to strangle colonial economies. So too did
the African cocoa planters of Ghana, whose supply holdups in 1937 caused a crisis in
the Gold Coast economy and led to colonial reassessment of commodity markets. In
response, the British colonies established commodity marketing boards, which acted as
sole buyers of commodities, in an effort to even out the wide fluctuations in commodity
prices. Although intended to serve the interests of producers, these commodity boards
evolved into powerful bureaucracies controlling vast sums of money. Other Africans
turned to African independent churches as a means of expressing their religious and
nationalist sentiments. Cities expanded dramatically during this period; the urban areas
provided fertile ground for the establishment of new forms of community.
13
The expansion of African nationalism coincided with the consolidation of white settler
domination in South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Kenya, Angola, and Mozambique. In
the 1920s and 1930s white settlers exerted increasing control over the affairs of their
14
colonies through the grant of “responsible government” to British settlers. British
settlers used their power to impose harsh economic and political restrictions on Africans,
which in turn only fueled African nationalist sentiments. In the Portuguese colonies,
changes in metropolitan politics were felt as a second colonial occupation under a much
more interventionist colonial development policy.
The Great Depression profoundly affected world commodity markets and African
social life. The continent's role as a producer of primary agricultural and mineral
resources made Africans especially vulnerable to economic deceleration. Misery stalked
the cities and rural villages alike. In the late 1930s, mobilization for another war
stimulated African commodity markets and ushered in a sustained period of economic
growth. As before, Africa continued to produce agricultural and mineral resources that
were largely processed in Europe. The only exception was in South Africa, where
manufacturing and secondary processing helped create a wide industrial base.
15
In contrast with World War I, when fighting occurred in many parts of sub-Saharan
Africa, fighting during World War II was limited to the Horn of Africa. Most Africans
participated in the war effort through their agricultural and mining labor. Africans were
also recruited for the war overseas. In West Africa, Charles de Gaulle rewarded Africans
for their support of the Free French by introducing a series of political reforms agreed
upon at the 1944 Brazzaville meeting. In British West Africa, efforts were made to
introduce constitutional changes permitting greater representation of Africans in the
legislative councils. However, colonial governments controlled by white settlers
imposed ever harsher laws to prevent the expression of African political grievances and
to hinder African economic progress. (See Overview)
16
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(See 1915)
2. Regions
a. Sudanic West and Central Africa
1913–14
The drought in the sahel devastated local communities. Thousands died in the middle
Niger region; those who survived saw their livestock herds largely destroyed. French
colonial policies stirred up resentment during the drought, and contributed to armed
unrest beginning in 1915.
1
1914–16
World War I military movements in Togo and Cameroon. In Aug. 1914 the Germans
administering Togo retreated northward from the coast in the face of advancing French
and British troops. Shortly thereafter the Germans surrendered, leaving France and
Britain in control of Togo. The military conflict in Cameroon was more prolonged,
lasting from 1914 to 1916. The Germans finally fled Cameroon for Spanish Guinea in
Feb. 1916. In March 1916 the French and British agreed to the partition of Cameroon
for administrative purposes.
2
1915–17
French efforts to recruit Africans for service during World War I led to rebellions in
French West Africa. In order to avoid conscription, many Africans fled toward the
Gambia, Portuguese Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Gold Coast. Elsewhere,
armed rebellions broke out. In 1915 the Bambara staged an anticonscription revolt;
3
another rebellion occurred in the western Volta region. In 1916 Africans staged a
popular revolt in northern Dahomey. The French suppressed the revolts by force.
However, with the assistance of Blaise Diagne, the Senegalese African member of the
French National Assembly, larger numbers of Africans joined the French armed forces.
1916–17
The Tuareg living in Air (in present-day Niger) retained their independence up until the
First World War. In 1916 the Tuareg chief Kawsen ag Muhammad and his followers
rebelled against the French presence in their territory, laying siege to the French fort at
Agades. Bitter reprisals followed. Although the French captured and executed Kawsen
in 1919, instability in the region continued into the early 1930s.
4
1917
Returning African soldiers formed local sections of the League for the Rights of
Man to protest colonialism. The League for the Rights of Man was particularly active
in Guinea and Gabon, where French West African ex-soldiers pressed for the
establishment of a new dispensation. Demobilized African soldiers would play a leading
role in anticolonial movements in the years to come.
5
1919
The French reorganized the West African colonies, creating the colony of Upper Volta.
6
1920
Lycée Faidherbe, a secondary school, founded in St.-Louis, Senegal.
7
1921
Katsina Training College founded.
8
1924
Polo introduced into Katsina, becoming the sport of the Northern elite.
9
1925
Africans elected members of the conseils administratives in the French colonies of
Soudan, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Dahomey.
10
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Forest West Africa
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(See 1914, Jan. 1)
b. Forest West Africa
1901–14
Development of indirect rule as British colonial policy. Sir Frederick Lugard
developed indirect rule in Northern Nigeria while serving as British high commissioner
there from 1901 to 1906. Lugard believed that the British could best govern Africa
through indigenous authorities. Under Lugard's system, British authorities delegated to
African chiefs the responsibilities of law enforcement, labor recruitment, and tax
collection. In principle, British colonial officials sought to modernize “traditional”
African political institutions by gradually modifying their practices. In practice, indirect
rule led to conflict over traditions and favored Africans loyal to the colonial rulers.
Indirect rule was continued in Northern Nigeria following Lugard's departure, and was
eventually adopted in other British colonies in West Africa, such as Southern Nigeria,
the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia. In one form or another, indirect rule was
adapted throughout British-controlled Africa. Variations of this policy were applied by
all European colonial powers as a way of reducing the costs of administration.
1
1905–39
EXPORTS FROM AFRICA INCREASED BY APPROXIMATELY FIVE TIMES
IN VALUE AND VOLUME. Among the most important export crops in forest West
Africa were coffee, cocoa, and peanuts. The Ivory Coast successfully produced and
exported forest-grown coffee. The Gold Coast became one of the leading suppliers of
cocoa, producing almost half the world's supply by 1925. Revenue from cocoa exports
made the Gold Coast the wealthiest colony in tropical Africa.
2
1909
The coal discovered at Udi in eastern Nigeria in 1909 proved to be the only deposit of its
kind in West Africa. The British colonial government built a railway to link the coal
works to export facilities at Port Harcourt on the coast.
3
1911–13
In 1911 both colonial officials and the British Cotton Growing Association expected the
Nigeria railway to boost dramatically the profitability of cotton cultivation in central
Hausaland. But Hausa farmers found peanut cultivation more attractive. Their
decision to concentrate on peanuts—which were edible and easier to grow than
cotton—took the British by surprise and demonstrated how quickly Africans responded
to economic opportunities and how little colonial powers actually controlled Africans'
economic lives. Nigerian peanut exports rose from under 2,000 tons before 1911 to
almost 20,000 tons in 1913.
4
1914, Jan
Lugard, who was recalled to Nigeria in 1912, managed the amalgamation of the
colonies of Northern and Southern Nigeria and the Nigerian Protectorates into one
colony, Nigeria. Lugard became governor-general.
5
1918–21
Massive outbreak of influenza with very high mortality.
6
1919
Following the First World War, Germany's African colonies became mandates of the
League of Nations. In May 1919 Togo was declared a mandate and transferred to the
French for administrative purposes. France obtained the portion of Cameroon that had
been ceded to the Germans in 1911; the rest was transferred to Britain.
7
1920s–1930s
Expansion of the African Christian independent churches. Throughout sub-Saharan
Africa, Africans flocked to breakaway, often ecstatic Christian movements. Yoruba
Anglicans began to form independent prayer groups as early as 1918. These prayer
groups, known as aladura, proliferated in the 1920s and 1930s. The aladura groups
sought to adapt Christianity to African traditional beliefs and practices. They conducted
their own healing sessions and baptisms, built their own churches, and developed their
own liturgies. They helped spread Christianity into areas untouched by European
missionaries, who strongly disapproved of their activities. First Church of the Lord
(Aladura) founded at Ogere, Western Nigeria, c. 1930.
8
1920
National Congress of British West Africa founded in Accra.
9
1921
Gold Coast cocoa holdup. When the price for Gold Coast cocoa dropped sharply in
1920, African farmers suddenly found themselves in debt and unable to obtain credit.
They reacted by staging a “holdup” in 1921. Their refusal to deliver their produce to
market led to an eventual rise in the cocoa price and an end to the boycott. The holdup
strategy thus provided a way for African farmers to defend their interests in a collective
manner. In the Gold Coast, withholding cocoa provided a defense against international
market forces and the collusion among expatriate cocoa exporters.
10
Establishment of a legislative council in Nigeria with some elected members.
11
1922
Achimoto College founded near Accra.
12
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Northeast Africa (Horn)
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(See 1900–14)
c. Northeast Africa (Horn)
1914
The early 20th century witnessed a boom in commodity production, especially coffee,
in Ethiopia. The boom was spurred in part by the development of railways, reaching
Addis Ababa in 1916. Drought in Sudan, and the failure of the Nile flood, led to famine.
The famine was offset by grain imported from India.
1
1914–22
Partial British authority in southern Sudan led to ethnic conflict between those under
that authority and those not under it.
2
1915–18
Good rains brought about high agricultural production for export in Sudan.
3
1916
Tafari (later Haile Selassie; 1891–1975) joined a conspiracy that put Menelik's daughter
Zawditu on the throne, with Tafari as regent.
1919–20
4
Inauguration of Gezira Scheme in Sudan for tenant farmer production of cotton under
large-scale irrigation. Initially excellent results were followed by a rapid fall in
production.
5
1920–30
Rise in exports, especially coffee, equal to contemporaneous rise in imports.
6
1921–22
Opposition to British rule became widespread in southern Sudan under Prophet
Ariandhit, leading the British to impose more effective administration there from 1922.
7
1925
Completion of Sennar Dam for the Gezira Scheme, leading to an increase in acreage
under cultivation to 700,000 by 1931.
8
1928–30
Ras Tafari took control following a coup d'état in 1928. He was crowned negus by
Empress Zawditu and gained land and power. Zawditu and the conservative leaders
resented Ras Tafari's prominence. Zawditu's husband, Ras Gugsa, led a rebellion in
1929. Following Zawditu's death, on April 3, 1930, Haile Selassie was crowned
emperor. Thereafter he led a campaign to defeat rebels using air power.
9
1929–30
Tafari obtained airplanes and training for Ethiopian pilots from France, increasing
central authority. A program of road building and the importation of trucks improved
communication between the capital and the provinces.
10
1930–31
Collapse of cotton price and production in Gezira Scheme aggravated the effects of the
Great Depression in Sudan.
11
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Africa
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1909, Jan)
d. East Africa
1914–18
World War I led to fighting between German and British forces, using African troops
and porters, in Tanganyika (German East Africa). War proved disastrous for East
Africans, who were forced to supply food, soldiers, and porters to the armies. Ten
percent of the soldiers and 20 percent of the porters died, mostly from disease and
malnutrition, totaling 100,000 deaths. War resulted in famine and disease throughout
the region; cattle disease depleted the stored wealth of stock.
1
1917, Oct
The British defeated the German commander Lettow-Vorbeck at Mahiva; the
Germans withdrew to Mozambique.
2
1918
Resident Natives Ordinance in the Kenya colony forced African tenants to work for
white landlords at least six months each year.
3
1918–19
Just as the British occupation of Teso and Lango was completed, serious famine and
rinderpest epidemic broke out in Uganda.
4
1920
Native Registration Ordinance enacted to ensure tighter labor and tax controls over
Africans, who were now required to carry a pass (kipande). Wages declined as the
postwar boom ended.
5
Jan
The British mandate over German East Africa went into effect. The name of the
territory was changed to Tanganyika.
6
July
British East Africa was renamed Kenya and made into a crown colony.
7
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Central Africa
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(See 1914)
e. West Central Africa
1912
Discovery of diamonds in Lunda area of Angola. Mining of diamonds in Angola began
in 1916, and first exports in 1920.
1
1914–18
Troops of the Belgian Congo assisted the French and the British in coordinating the war
against Germany.
2
1916
Holy Ghost Fathers replaced German Pallottine Fathers in Cameroon. Seventh Day
Adventists began work in the Belgian Congo.
3
1917
Female slavery prohibited by the French in Cameroon.
4
1920
Extensive reorganization of local government in the Belgian Congo.
5
Bwiti cult began in Gabon; Kiyoka cult started in Angola.
6
1921
Simon Kimbangu, a BaKongo peasant and catechist, declared that he was an emissary
of God, chosen to lead his people from under the yoke of Belgian colonialism. He was
arrested that year, but his movement persisted in rural areas for more than 30 years
despite concerted persecution.
7
1922, July
Two hundred forty-four followers of Simon Kimbangu were deported from the Huri
district.
8
1923
Many Kimbanguist churches opened in the Belgian Congo.
Slavery abolished in Cameroon.
9
10
1925
Kimbanguists banned in Kasai. Watchtower movement (Kitawala) introduced by
Romo Nyirenda Mnyasa into Katanga.
11
The University of Louvain established medical and agricultural institutes in the
Belgian Congo.
12
1926, May 28
A Military coup in Portugal led to the Estado Novo, and the accession to power of
Antonio Salazar in 1928. Estado Novo revived colonial development policies,
especially with respect to cotton, forcing many peasants in Angola and Mozambique to
convert to cotton production instead of food crops, at great cost to their living standards.
13
1929
Electric lighting introduced into Douala.
14
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Southern Africa
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1914)
f. Southern Africa
1. North of the Limpopo
1915, Jan
John Chilembwe, an American-trained pastor, led a brief uprising against colonial rule
in Nyasaland (Malawi), sparked by forced conscription into World War I and by
complaints of labor tenants.
1
1917–19
Widespread rebellion in Zambezi region of Mozambique, over wartime labor
demands; not finally pacified in Barwe area until 1919.
2
1920–30
Growth of religious and cultural movements in Southern Rhodesian mining
compounds, including Watchtower movement, called Kitawala, and Beni dance
associations. Beni dance associations were a syncretic mix of African dance and
European marching bands.
3
1923
White settlers in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) gained self-governing status.
4
1925, April
White women in Southern Rhodesia granted suffrage.
5
1927
African workers called a strike in Southern Rhodesia.
6
1930
Land Apportionment Act in Southern Rhodesia reserved half of the land, and most of
the good farming land, for whites, and confirmed the status of African reserves, while
requiring African tenants to work for white landlords.
7
Makape “cleansing” cult emerged in Nyasaland.
8
c. 1930
Welfare societies or self-help groups established amongst Africans in Northern
Rhodesian mines.
9
1933
Tshekedi Khama, regent of Bamangwato, deposed by the British for exceeding his
powers. Tshekedi subsequently reinstated.
10
Native authorities in Nyasaland instructed on model of indirect rule.
11
1935, May
Strike by African mineworkers on Copperbelt of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia),
sparked by changes in poll tax administration which worked to the detriment of urban
areas.
12
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VI. The World Wars and the Interwar Period, 1914–1945 > J. Africa, 1914–1945 > 2. Regions > g.
Madagascar
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1905)
g. Madagascar
1914–18
Forty-one thousand Malagasy served in European war; war stimulated the demand
for labor and production of rice, other foods, and graphite.
1
1914–30
The economy depended largely on the export of rice, hides, and meat.
2
1929–35
The depression led to the collapse of commodity prices and forced government aid to
settler agriculture. Weakened settler agriculture was an encouragement of Malagasy
production.
3
1935–39
Successful commodity production in rural areas and organization of workers led to
beginnings of modern nationalist movement. (See Madagascar)
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Sept. 3) (See Sept. 3)
K. World War II, 1939–1945
1. The Campaigns in Poland and Finland, 1939–1940
1939, Sept. 1
POLAND WAS INVADED by German forces estimated at 1 million men. Headed by
mechanized divisions and supported by overwhelming air power, the German thrusts
disorganized and defeated the poorly equipped Polish armies. Though the latter had a
numerical strength of 600,000 men, they were unable to mobilize effectively or concert
their resistance.
1
Sept. 17
In accordance with the secret protocol of the Soviet-Nazi nonaggression pact (See Aug.
23), Russian troops invaded Poland from the east, meeting the advancing Germans near
Brest-Litovsk two days later.
2
Sept. 27
After heroic resistance and destructive bombing, Warsaw surrendered and Polish
organized opposition came to an end. The Blitzkrieg had lasted less than four weeks and
the outcome had been determined in the first ten days.
Sept. 29
3
The German and Russian governments divided Poland. Germany annexed outright the
Free City of Danzig (population 415,000) and 32,000 square miles between East Prussia
and Silesia. In addition an area of 39,000 square miles, known as the Gouvernement
Général, remained under German protection. The total German gains were estimated at
72,866 square miles, with a population of 22,140,000. The Russians occupied 77,620
square miles of eastern Poland, with a population of 13,199,000. Lithuania and Slovakia
received small cessions of Polish territory.
4
Nov. 30–1940, March 12
RUSSO-FINNISH WAR. Russian armies attacked on three fronts: below Petsamo on
the Arctic Sea, in central Finland, and on the Karelian Isthmus.
5
Dec. 14
Russia was expelled from the League of Nations (See Nov. 30) for acts of aggression
against Finland.
6
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VI. The World Wars and the Interwar Period, 1914–1945 > K. World War II, 1939–1945 > 2. The
Invasion of Denmark and Norway, 1940
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
2. The Invasion of Denmark and Norway, 1940
1940, Feb. 16
British naval forces entered Norwegian waters to rescue 299 prisoners of war from the
German ship Altmark. The Norwegian government protested (See 1940, Feb. 16).
1
April 8
The French and British governments announced that Norwegian waters had been mined
to prevent the passage of German ships.
2
April 9
German sea and airborne forces descended on Norway. Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim,
Stavanger, and Narvik were rapidly invaded. At the same time German forces entered and
occupied Denmark without more than pro forma resistance.
3
April 9
A German destroyer squadron landed at Narvik and held the town even after destruction
of the German ships by the British (April 13). On May 28 a British force recovered the
town but was withdrawn on June 10 in view of the German attack in the west.
April 11
4
Rallying from the surprise attack, Norwegian forces offered growing resistance. Three
German cruisers and four troopships were lost in the invasion.
5
April 16–19
Anglo-French expeditionary forces landed in southern Norway, but were compelled to
withdraw after two weeks (May 3).
6
April 30
The Germans, reinforced steadily, captured Dombas, a key rail center, and Norwegian
resistance was broken, though military operations were carried on until June 10.
7
Sept. 25
The German reich-commissar for Norway set aside the legal administration, dissolved all
political parties except the Nasjonal-Samling, and entrusted the government to 13
commissars.
8
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Conquest of the Low Countries and the Fall of France, 1940
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3. The Conquest of the Low Countries and the Fall of France, 1940
1940, May 10
German armies, without warning, invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, and
Luxembourg.
1
The French and British governments dispatched expeditionary forces into Belgium to
cooperate with the Belgian army in its resistance. The Germans captured Fort Eben
Emael, a key Belgian defense position.
2
May 12
The Germans crossed the Meuse at Sedan.
3
May 13
Rotterdam surrendered to the Germans after part of the city had been blasted by an
exterminating air attack. The Netherlands army capitulated on May 14.
4
May 17–21
German mechanized divisions drove deep into northern France, racing down the
Somme Valley to the English Channel at Abbeville. The British and Belgian forces in
Flanders were thus separated from the main French armies. Gen. Maxime Weygand
replaced Gen. Gustave Gamelin as French commander in chief, but he was unable to
arrest the French collapse. The fall of Brussels and Namur forced the British and
Belgian armies back upon Ostend and Dunkirk.
5
May 26
Boulogne fell to the Germans. The Belgian armies, disorganized and short of supplies
after 16 days of fighting, could not sustain further attacks, and Leopold III ordered them
to capitulate.
6
May 28
Exposed by the capitulation of the Belgians, the British expeditionary force of some
250,000 had to be withdrawn, chiefly from the beaches of Dunkirk.
7
June 4
By heroic efforts some 200,000 British and 140,000 French troops were rescued, but
were forced to abandon almost all equipment. British losses including prisoners totaled
30,000.
8
June 5
Having secured their right wing, the German invaders launched a wide attack against the
French on an arc from Sedan to Abbeville.
9
June 10
ITALY DECLARED WAR AGAINST FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN. Italian
forces invaded southern France.
10
June 13
Paris was evacuated before the continued German advance.
June 15
11
The French fortress of Verdun was captured.
12
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of Britain, 1940
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
4. The Battle of Britain, 1940
1940, June
The fall of France and the loss of war materiel in the evacuation from Dunkirk led the
British prime minister, Winston Churchill, to appeal to the U.S. government for military
supplies. These were released by the War Department (June 3), and three weeks later a
first shipment, including 500,000 rifles, 80,000 machine guns, 900 75-mm field guns,
and 130 million rounds of ammunition, reached Britain.
1
July
On the fall of France the Germans occupied islands in the English Channel and
intensified their air attacks on British cities, communications, and shipping.
2
Aug. 8
German bombers opened an offensive designed to destroy British air strength by
blasting the airfields and vital industries.
3
Aug. 15
One thousand German planes ranged as far north as Scotland. Croydon airfield was
bombed. The British retaliated with heavy raids on Berlin, Düsseldorf, Essen, and other
German cities.
Aug. 17
4
The German government proclaimed a total blockade of the waters around Great
Britain.
5
Sept. 2
An important defense agreement was concluded between Great Britain and the
United States. Fifty American destroyers were transferred to Britain to combat the air
and submarine menace. In exchange the U.S. received a 99-year lease of naval and air
bases in Newfoundland, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia, Trinidad,
and British Guiana.
6
Sept. 11
The British bombed Continental ports, including Antwerp, Ostend, Calais, and
Dunkirk, to frustrate German invasion preparations.
7
Sept. 16
Improved British defense measures inflicted heavy losses on German air raiders, 185
invading planes crashing in one day.
8
Sept. 27
A GERMAN-ITALIAN-JAPANESE PACT was concluded at Berlin providing for a
ten-year military and economic alliance. The three contracting powers further promised
each other mutual assistance in the event that any one of them became involved in war
with a power not then a belligerent.
9
Oct. 10
Resuming the air assault with full intensity, the German Luftwaffe raided London
heavily. Some Italian air squadrons joined in the attack. But shorter days, stormy
weather, and improved defenses diminished the effectiveness of the air arm.
10
Nov. 10
In a supreme effort at crushing British industrial resources and demoralizing the
population, the Germans blasted the industrial city of Coventry with destructive effect.
Thereafter the air attacks became more sporadic. The British had survived the worst of
the aerial Blitzkrieg, and after November the winter weather made any attempt at
invasion less likely. German losses in aircraft had been heavy: an official estimate
placed them at 2,375 German to 800 British planes destroyed in the period Aug. 8–Oct.
31. But many British cities had been severely shattered and burned, and 14,000 civilians
had been killed in London alone. British losses at sea had also been heavy. On Nov. 5
Churchill declared that the submarine boat had become a greater menace than the
bombing plane.
11
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5. The Balkan Campaigns, 1940–1941
1940, June
The fall of France and the desperate position of Great Britain in the summer of 1940
caused a shift in the European balance. In the Balkans Romania, which had won territory
from all its neighbors in the 20th century, was particularly menaced. By September the
Romanian government had ceded territory to the Soviet Union, Hungary, and Bulgaria,
yielding to threats and Axis pressure. In all, Romania lost about 40,000 square miles and
a population of 5 million (See 1940, June 26).
1
Oct. 4
Hitler and Mussolini conferred at the Brenner Pass. The failure to break British
resistance and increasing activity in the Balkan and Mediterranean areas forecast a shift
in Axis strategy. Hitler also conferred with the French vice premier, Pierre Laval (Oct.
22), with Gen. Francisco Franco of Spain (Oct. 23), with Marshal Henri-Philippe
Pétain, head of the Vichy French government (Oct. 24), and again with Mussolini, in
Florence (Oct. 28).
2
Oct. 8
German troops entered Romania to “protect” the oil fields.
3
Oct. 28
Greece rejected a demand of the Italian government for the use of Greek bases.
Thereupon the Italians invaded Greece from Albania.
4
Oct. 30
British reinforcements were landed on Crete and other Greek islands. The Russian
government delivered 134 fighter planes to Greece in accord with existing agreements.
5
Nov. 12
Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet commissar for foreign affairs, conferred with Hitler in
Berlin. Soviet troops were massed on the Romanian border.
6
Nov. 13
British bombing planes destroyed or damaged half of the Italian fleet anchored in the
inner harbor at Taranto. At the same time Churchill announced the addition of five
35,000-ton battleships to the British navy.
7
Nov. 20
Hungary joined the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo pact.
8
Nov. 23
Romania joined the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo pact.
9
Dec. 3
The Greeks broke through the Italian defenses in Albania, captured Porto Edda, and
claimed a total of 28,000 prisoners. Agyrokastron was likewise captured five days later,
and the Greeks overran one-fourth of Albania. The Germans dispatched 50,000 troops to
reinforce the Italian armies. Combined with temporary successes of the British against
the Italians in Africa, the Greek victories marked a blow to Axis prestige.
10
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Campaigns in the Soviet Union, 1941–1944
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6. The Campaigns in the Soviet Union, 1941–1944
1941, June 22
GERMAN ARMIES INVADED THE SOVIET UNION, opening hostilities on a front
of 2,000 miles, from the White to the Black Sea. The German invaders, with their allies,
the Italians, Romanians, Hungarians, and Finns, were estimated at over 3 million men.
The Russians were credited with 2 million men under arms, and an indefinite reserve.
Churchill promised that Great Britain would extend all possible aid to the Russians. The
German invasion of the Soviet Union, combined with conquests in Poland, Hungary,
Czechoslovakia, and the Balkans, brought millions more Jews under Germany's
influence. The Nazis already practiced extermination against “Bolsheviks,” and special
“intervention squads” (Einsatzgruppen) accompanied German attack forces with orders
to liquidate Communist Party officials and Jews.
1
June 29
The Germans reached Grodno, Brest-Litovsk, and Vilna.
2
July 1–2
Riga, capital of Latvia, was occupied by German troops, and the Russian retreat
continued with heavy losses, especially around Bialystok.
3
July 13
A pact promising mutual aid was concluded between Great Britain and Russia.
4
July 16
The Germans captured Smolensk.
5
Aug. 1
Britain severed relations with Finland, which the Germans were using as a base for
their invasion of Russia.
6
Aug. 19
The Germans claimed all Ukrainian territory west of the Dnieper except Odessa.
7
Aug. 25–29
British and Soviet forces invaded Iran (See 1941, Aug. 25).
8
Sept. 4
The Germans commenced the investment of Leningrad, a state of partial siege that was
not ended until Jan. 1943.
9
Sept. 19
Kiev and Poltava were stormed by the Axis forces, which continued their victorious
advance to Orel (Oct. 8), Bryansk (Oct. 12), Viazma (Oct. 13), Odessa (Oct. 16),
Tanganrog (Oct. 19), and Kharkov (Oct. 24). By the end of October the Germans had
entered the Crimea on the southern end of the vast front and had commenced the siege
of Moscow in the north. The Soviet government transferred its headquarters to
Kuibyshev.
Oct. 1
10
The FIRST SOVIET PROTOCOL, signed at Moscow, provided that Great Britain and
the U.S. would supply materials essential to the Russian war effort for nine months.
Purchase of American supplies was speeded by extending the Soviet government a credit
of $1 billion (Oct. 30). This was supplemented (June 11, 1942) by a master lend-lease
agreement whereby the U.S. promised to supply the Soviet Union with such materials
and services as the president might authorize. In return the Soviet government pledged
that such articles or information would not be transferred to a third party without the
consent of the president. The arrangement was to continue until a date agreed upon by
the two governments and materials unconsumed were to be returned to the U.S. at the
end of the emergency.
11
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7. Defense of the Western Hemisphere, 1939–1945
1939, Oct. 2
A Pan-American conference at Panama declared that the waters surrounding the
Western Hemisphere for a distance of 300 miles from shore and as far north as Canada
constituted “sea safety zones” and must be kept free from hostile acts by non-American
belligerent nations. The conference also issued a general declaration of neutrality of the
American republics.
1
Nov. 4
President Roosevelt signed an amendment to the Neutrality Act which repealed the
embargo on the sale of arms and placed exports to belligerent nations on a cash-andcarry basis.
2
Dec. 13
Three British cruisers attacked the German battleship Graf Spee and drove it into the
harbor of Montevideo. When forced to leave harbor, it was scuttled by the German crew
(Dec. 17). In the name of the American republics the president of Panama protested to
Great Britain, France, and Germany at this and other belligerent acts committed in
American waters.
3
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Warfare and Blockade, 1939–1944
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8. Naval Warfare and Blockade, 1939–1944
The gross tonnage of the merchant fleets of the leading nations in 1939 reflected the
overwhelming advantage that Great Britain and its subsequent allies enjoyed on the sea.
The ships of Norway, the Netherlands, and Belgium, most of which escaped when these
countries were overrun by the Germans in 1940, took service with the British and helped
to build up the pool of United Nations shipping.
Merchant tonnage, 1939
Great Britain 21,001,925
Japan
United States 11,470,177
Germany 4,482,662
Norway
Italy
4,833,813
5,629,845
3,424,804
Netherlands 2,969,578
France
2,933,933
Belgium
408,418
Total
43,617,844
13,537,311
In 1939 the world tonnage for merchant ships of 100 tons or over was 68,509,432. More
than half of this was destroyed, largely by submarine or air attack, in the course of the
next five years. Yet, so energetic was the shipbuilding program, carried out largely in
American yards immune to air attack, that by May 1945, Britain and the U.S., through the
war shipping administration, disposed of over 4,000 ships with a deadweight tonnage
of 43 million. The Germans, Italians, and Japanese, on the other hand, found it
increasingly difficult to make good their losses, and by 1945 their fleets, merchant and
naval, had been almost completely eliminated.
1939, Sept. 3
1
The British government proclaimed a naval blockade of Germany.
2
Nov. 21
The British tightened the blockade on German imports and announced that German
exports likewise would be halted.
3
Dec. 1
From this date neutral shippers were advised to obtain a “navicert” or certificate from
British consular officials. These navicerts enabled a cargo to be passed through the
patrols established by the British government in concert with its allies. Italy, the
Netherlands, Belgium, and Japan protested against the British blockade measures.
4
Dec. 8
The U.S. Department of State questioned the British practice of seizing German goods on
neutral vessels, and challenged (Dec. 14) the diversion of U.S. ships to British and French
control bases. The State Department also protested (Dec. 27) against the British
examination of neutral mail in the search for contraband.
5
Dec. 17
The German battleship Graf Spee was blown up by order of the commander.
6
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Campaigns in the Middle East and Africa, 1939–1943
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9. The Campaigns in the Middle East and Africa, 1939–1943
1939, Sept. 3
Egypt severed diplomatic relations with Germany, but remained neutral.
1
Oct. 19
Turkey signed a treaty of alliance with Britain and France. The Turkish government
promised to enter the war when Italy did, but remained neutral even after the Italian
declaration of war. Turkish diplomats spent much of the war struggling to keep Turkey
out of the fighting.
2
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Invasion of Italy, 1943–1944
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10. The Invasion of Italy, 1943–1944
1943, July 10
U.S., British, and Canadian forces invaded Sicily under the command of Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower. Over 2,000 vessels were employed to convoy 160,000 men, and landings
were effected along the southern coast. The Americans seized Gela; the British Eighth
Army and Canadian troops, disembarking at Cape Passaro, drove along the east shore.
1
July 14
Port Augusta was captured.
2
July 19
Allied bombing planes wrecked Naples, and, after repeated warnings, attacked railway
terminals and military objectives in Rome (July 20).
3
July 22
Half of Sicily was occupied, the Allied front stretching from Catania to Mazzara.
Palermo fell on July 24.
4
July 25
BENITO MUSSOLINI WAS FORCED TO RESIGN with his cabinet, and his place
was taken by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, who opened negotiations for an armistice.
5
Aug. 18
Resistance in Sicily collapsed with the fall of Messina. The campaign had cost the
Allied armies an estimated 22,000 casualties, the Axis forces 167,000. At a loss of 274
planes, the Allied airmen accounted for 1,691 enemy aircraft.
6
Sept. 3
British and American forces crossed the Straits of Messina and landed in southern
Italy.
7
Sept. 3
An armistice was signed at Algiers, ending hostilities between the Anglo-American
forces and those of the Badoglio regime. It was announced (Sept. 8) that the Italian
surrender was unconditional. The actual terms were not disclosed.
8
Sept. 15
Ex-premier Mussolini, who had been held prisoner near Rome, was rescued by German
troops (Sept. 12), who seized the leading cities, including Rome.
9
Oct. 1
After landing near Salerno (Sept. 9), American troops entered Naples. Thereafter,
however, winter weather, the mountainous countryside, and stubborn German resistance
stopped the Allied advance on a line south of Cassino.
10
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Liberation of France and Belgium, 1944
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11. The Liberation of France and Belgium, 1944
1944, June 6
INVASION OF NORMANDY. For many months careful and elaborate plans had been
matured by the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) for
invading France. Command of this greatest amphibious operation in history was
entrusted to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. The British Isles provided the chief base for
the concentration of men and war materiel, and the plan of campaign to follow the
invasion date (D-Day) was rehearsed in exhaustive detail. Air control was to be
maintained by the U.S. Eighth and Ninth Air Forces and the British Royal Air Force,
with a combined strength of over 10,000 planes. An American naval task force and a
British naval task force were assembled to support the assault, and the invasion was
planned to proceed under cover of an intense and accurately directed bombardment by
800 guns on 80 warships. To convey the troops and supplies across the channel, 4,000
other ships were used, and the lack of port facilities for disembarkation was overcome
by a dramatic improvisation in engineering. Artificial harbors were to be constructed
on an exposed coast by sinking lines of blockships and concrete caissons to form
breakwaters, with floating pierheads and pontoon causeways to serve as wharves and
docks.
1
June 6
U.S. and British forces succeeded in landing on the Normandy coast between St.
Marcouf and the Orne River. Within a week a strip of beach 60 miles long had been
occupied and the artificial harbors constructed.
June 18
2
An unusually severe gale with high waves delayed landing operations for three days and
wrecked the major causeways of one artificial harbor. It was abandoned and traffic
diverted to a British-built harbor that was less exposed and had suffered less severely.
3
June 27
The capture of Cherbourg placed a major port in Allied control. During the first
hundred days following D-Day 2.2 million men, 450,000 vehicles, and 4 million tons of
stores were landed. This extraordinary achievement was rendered possible by perfecting
the services of supply, on the basis of experience gained in the First World War and in
the amphibious landings in Africa and Italy. The enormous output of Allied factories and
shipyards, which made it possible to duplicate all wrecked or damaged equipment, was
also an important factor.
4
July 9
British and Canadian troops captured Caen. Allied tanks broke through German
defenses near St. Lô and fanned out, disorganizing enemy resistance. Persistent bombing
of all bridges and railways severely crippled the German attempts to bring up adequate
forces to halt Allied drives.
5
Aug. 15
In another amphibious operation the Allies effected successful landings on the French
Mediterranean coast between Marseilles and Nice.
6
Aug. 24
The citizens of Paris rioted against German forces of occupation as Allied armed
divisions crossed the Seine and approached the capital. French Forces of the Interior
(FFI), which had been organized for underground resistance and supplied with arms,
rose against the retreating Germans.
Aug. 25
7
Paris liberated.
8
Sept. 2
Allied forces, which had penetrated into Belgium, liberated Brussels.
9
Sept. 12
The American First Army crossed the German frontier near Eupen, and American
armored forces entered Germany north of Trier. The Germans, however, manning their
Westwall defenses, offered firm resistance, and the Allied advance was halted. An
Allied attempt to outflank the Westwall through the flat Dutch territory to the north
(Sept. 17–26) failed, and survivors of an Allied airborne division that was dropped at
Arnhem had to be withdrawn.
10
Sept. 15
The American Seventh and the French First Armies, sweeping up the Rhone Valley from
beachheads won (Aug. 15) on the Riviera, joined the American Third Army at Dijon.
The American, British, and French forces were then reorganized in liberated France for a
projected assault on Germany.
11
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12. The Battle of Germany, 1945
THE ROLE OF AIR POWER. In 20th-century warfare the assembly line became as
important as the battle line and consequently an equally vital target for attack. The
strategy of blockade adopted by the Allied governments was designed primarily to starve
not the German population but German industrial and military machines, chiefly by
cutting off fuel and essential raw materials. This aim could best be achieved by
supplementing the naval blockade with a systematic bombing of German factories,
power plants, and transportation centers.
1
At the commencement of the Second World War, in 1939, the Germans possessed the
strongest air force in the world. By the close of 1943, however, their bombing squadrons
were depleted, though they still had a peak force of 3,000 first-line fighters. In 1944 the
Allied air offensive was sharply intensified and German air strength declined decisively.
Over 1,000 Luftwaffe planes were destroyed in January and February, and vital machine
plants in Essen and Schweinfurt were crippled. Gen. Henry H. Arnold, commanding
general of the U.S. Army air forces, later characterized the week of Feb. 20–26, 1944, as
“probably the most decisive of the war” because of the shattering damage inflicted upon
German installations in six days of favorable flying weather. By the end of hostilities the
Germans had received 315 tons of explosive in retaliation for every ton of aerial bombs
they had launched against Britain. Their loss in planes, by Jan. 1, 1945, had passed
50,000, in comparison with a total loss of 17,790 suffered by the U.S. air forces on all
fronts. During the last four months of fighting, Allied air squadrons roamed Germany
almost at will, destroying communications, obliterating plants and stores, and wrecking
many of the remaining German aircraft on the ground, where they lay helpless for lack
of fuel and repairs.
2
1945
The military collapse of Germany was consummated in four months by simultaneous
drives launched by Soviet armies in the east and south and by American, French, and
British imperial forces in the west. Concentration camps were liberated during the Allied
invasion.
3
Jan. 12
Opening a powerful drive into Poland, the Russians took Warsaw (Jan. 17), swept into
Tarnow, Cracow, and Lodz two days later (Jan. 19), and forced the Germans to
abandon the whole Vistula defense line. By Feb. 20 Russian mechanized units,
spearheads of the encroaching Soviet host that numbered 215 divisions, were within 30
miles of Berlin.
4
Feb. 4–12
Yalta Conference. While President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill, and Marshal
Stalin met at Yalta in the Crimea to plan the final defeat and occupation of Germany, the
U.S. Third Army crossed the German frontier at ten points. British and Canadian
divisions opened an offensive southeast of Nijmegen (Feb. 8).
5
Feb. 22
The Third Army continued its progress, crossing the Roer River. American advance
forces drove toward the Ruhr Valley (Feb. 23) and entered Trier (March 2) and Köln
(March 5). Supreme Headquarters announced that 954,377 German prisoners had been
taken since D-Day (June 6, 1944).
6
March 7
The U.S. First Army crossed the Rhine at Remagen, and the German defense system
on the east bank collapsed. By April 11 the U.S. Ninth Army had reached the Elbe
River; eight days later the Russians fought their way into Berlin (April 20); and
advance units of the American and Soviet armies met on the Elbe at Torgau (April
25).
7
April 28
German resistance in northern Italy broke as American and British forces swept into
the Po Valley (See Aug. 12).
8
May 1
BATTLE OF BERLIN. Soviet forces continued to shell Berlin and fight their way into
the capital. A German radio announcement from Hamburg declared that Adolf Hitler
had died defending the Reichschancellery, and that Adm. Karl Doenitz had succeeded
him.
One million German and Italian soldiers in Italy and Austria laid down their arms.
9
10
May 4
The dissolution of the German National Socialist regime continued, with local
military commanders making their own offers of capitulation. German divisions in
northwestern Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark surrendered.
11
May 7
A group of German army leaders sent envoys to Reims, where they signed terms of
surrender.
12
May 8
President Truman for the United States and Prime Minister Churchill for Great Britain
proclaimed the end of the war in Europe (V-E Day).
13
May 9
Marshal Stalin announced the end of the war to the Russian people. German army
chiefs completed the formula of surrender in Berlin.
14
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13. The War in Asia, 1939–1941
1939
Economic penetration and military intervention enabled the Japanese to bring a
widening area of China under their control after 1931, and especially after 1937. They
forced the Chinese Nationalists to establish a new capital at Chongqing (See Nov. 20).
At the same time, the outbreak of war in Europe compelled the British, French, and
Soviet governments to concentrate their forces in that quarter, and left the United States
the only great power in a position to oppose Japanese expansion.
1
Dec. 31
Russia and Japan reached an accord concerning the renewal of fishing rights and the
settlement of debt claims between Russia and Manchukuo.
2
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14. The War in the Pacific, 1941–1945
1941, Dec. 7
The JAPANESE SEA AND AIR FORCES LAUNCHED A SURPRISE ATTACK
ON THE UNITED STATES BASE AT PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII, ON THE
PHILIPPINES, and against British forces in Hong Kong and Malaya. The U.S. forces
were caught unprepared. At Hawaii five battleships and three cruisers were sunk or
seriously damaged, three battleships less severely damaged, many smaller vessels sunk or
crippled, and 177 aircraft destroyed. The casualties included 2,343 dead, 876 missing,
and 1,272 injured.
1
Dec. 8
THE UNITED STATES DECLARED WAR ON JAPAN. Japanese air and naval
forces attacked Guam and Wake Island. Resistance on Guam ended on Dec. 13 and on
Wake Island on Dec. 20. Great Britain declared war on Japan.
2
Dec. 10
The British battleship Prince of Wales and the battle cruiser Repulse, which had been
dispatched to Singapore, were sunk by Japanese aircraft off the Malay coast.
3
Dec. 11
GERMANY AND ITALY DECLARED WAR ON THE UNITED STATES.
Dec. 21
4
A ten-year treaty of alliance was signed at Bangkok between Japan and Thailand.
The Thai government agreed to aid Japan and declared war (Jan. 25, 1942) against Great
Britain and the U.S.
5
Dec. 25
British forces at Hong Kong surrendered to the Japanese.
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Organization of Peace
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15. The Organization of Peace
The League of Nations, formed at Versailles in 1919, failed to curb powerful aggressors
or to protect its weaker members from attack. It was never a well-balanced, truly
supranational league, and proved itself unfit to deal with economic problems or to
enforce its decisions. When the Second World War opened in 1939, the League of
Nations had lost almost all its prestige and influence.
1
The international anarchy, repudiation of treaties, acts of aggression, and final
outbreak of a general war that marked the 1930s brought home to peaceful nations the
need for an organization better adapted to adjust international tensions and disputes.
2
Three projects for international federation took form in the war years 1939–45. In
Europe, Germany, Italy, and their satellite states forged an anti-Comintern,
antidemocratic bloc that Adolf Hitler called his “New Order.” In Asia and the East
Indies the Japanese extended their power over a widening area, which they termed a
“Coprosperity Sphere” and in which they promulgated the doctrine of Asia for the
Asians. Both the German and the Japanese hegemony had contracted and finally
collapsed in defeat by the summer of 1945.
3
The third international federation formed in the war years came to be known as the
United Nations Organization. It was based ideologically upon the foundations of the
Atlantic Charter (See Aug. 14); structurally upon the wartime solidarity of the “Big
Three,” Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States; and financially upon the credits
($43 billion) made available by the lend-lease policy of the U.S. government to nations
that opposed the Axis. The victory of the United Nations, achieved in large measure
through the effective mobilization of world resources, left their leaders in a position to
write the peace treaties.
4
1942, Jan. 1
Declaration by the United Nations at Washington to cooperate, on the basis of the
Atlantic Charter, in employing their full forces against Germany, Italy, and Japan. The
declaration was signed by the U.S., Great Britain, Soviet Russia, and 23 other nations at
war. Subsequently 19 other nations adhered.
5
1943, Oct. 19–Nov. 1
Moscow conference of British, U.S., and Soviet foreign ministers, who agreed (China
adhering) to establish an international organization for peace and security, to set up a
European advisory commission on terms of German surrender, to separate Austria from
Germany, and to destroy the Italian Fascist regime.
6
Nov. 9
The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was
established at Washington. This international body was to aid countries subjugated by
the Axis powers.
7
Nov. 22–26
Cairo conferences (Roosevelt, Churchill, Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek) and Cairo
Declaration on postwar treatment of Japan (Manchuria to be returned to China; Korea
to be independent).
8
Nov. 28–Dec. 1
Tehran Conference (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin): discussion of landing in France and
of cooperation in the peace settlements. Agreement to set up a European Advisory
Commission to study European problems.
9
Dec. 4–6
Second Cairo Conference: futile efforts of Roosevelt and Churchill to induce Turkey
(President Inönü) to enter the war.
10
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Table of Contents
Page 7
VII. The Contemporary Period, 1945–2000
A. General and Comparative Dimensions
1. Changing Global Patterns
a. Changing Structures of Global Power
b. Globalization of Material Life
c. Globalization and Special Identities
2. International Relations
a. Rise of the Cold War and End of Empires
b. New Global Relationships
B. Europe, 1945–2000
1. Economic and Social Changes
2. Religious and Philosophical Thought
3. Culture and Popular Culture
4. Science and Technology
5. Diplomatic Relations and European Pacts
6. Western Europe, 1945–2000
a. Britain
b. Ireland (Eire)
c. The Low Countries
d. France
e. The Iberian Peninsula
f. The Italian Region
g. Switzerland
h. Germany
i. Austria
j. The Scandinavian States
7. Eastern Europe, 1945–2000
a. Poland
b. Czech Republic and Slovakia (Czechoslovakia)
c. Hungary
d. Yugoslavia and Successor States
e. Albania
f. Greece
g. Bulgaria
h. Romania
i. Russia (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Successor States)
C. North America, 1946–2000
1. The United States, 1946–2000
2. Canada, 1946–2000
D. Latin America, 1945–2000
1. Overview
a. Cultural Developments
b. Regional Diplomacy
2. South America, 1945–2000
a. Argentina
b. Chile
c. Paraguay
d. Uruguay
e. Bolivia
f. Peru
g. Ecuador
h. Colombia
i. Venezuela
j. Brazil
k. Surinam
3. Central America, 1945–2000
a. Panama
b. Guatemala
c. El Salvador
d. Nicaragua
e. Costa Rica
f. Honduras
4. Mexico, 1946–2000
a. Cuba
b. Puerto Rico
c. The Dominican Republic
d. Haiti
e. British Caribbean Territories and Guyana (British Guiana)
E. The Middle East and North Africa, 1945–2000
1. Overview
2. Military, Diplomatic, and Social Developments
3. The Middle East and Egypt, 1943–2000
a. Turkey
b. Cyprus
c. Iran
d. Afghanistan
e. Syria
f. Lebanon
g. Palestine and Israel
h. Jordan
i. Iraq
j. Saudi Arabia
k. North and South Yemen
1. The Gulf States
m. Egypt
4. North Africa, 1945–2000
a. Morocco
b. Algeria
c. Tunisia
d. Libya
F. South and Southeast Asia, 1945–2000
1. South Asia, 1945–2000
a. Overview
b. British India, to Independence and Partition
c. The Republic of India
d. Pakistan
e. Bangladesh
f. Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
g. Maldives
h. Nepal
2. Southeast Asia, 1941–2000
a. Overview
b. Mainland Southeast Asia
c. The Malay Archipelago and Peninsular Malaysia
G. East Asia, 1945–2000
1. China, 1945–2000
a. The Civil War
b. The People's Republic of China (PRC)
c. The Republic of China (Taiwan, Nationalist China)
2. The Republic of Mongolia (The Mongolian People's Republic), 1945–2000
3. Korea (North and South), 1945–2000
4. Japan, 1946–2000
5. Vietnam, 1945–2000
H. The Pacific Region, 1944–2000
1. The Islands, 1946–2000
2. The Philippines, 1945–2000
3. Australia, 1944–2000
4. New Zealand, 1945–2000
I. Africa, 1941–2000
1. Overview
2. Regions
a. West Africa
b. Northeast Africa (Horn)
c. East Africa
d. West Central Africa
e. Southern Africa
f. Madagascar
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1941–45)
VII. The Contemporary Period, 1945–2000
A. General and Comparative Dimensions
In the second half of the 20th century, the rivalry of two superpowers, the United States
and the Soviet Union, dominated world political affairs. Within this political
framework, the globalization of virtually all aspects of human life continued. Yet the
intensification of global interactions resulted in neither a peaceful “one world” society
nor a world filled with identical technological dictatorships. Instead, local anarchies and
assertions of special identities coexisted with global communications and economic
networks and new transnational and regional structures. The major global dynamics of
the second half of the 20th century can be seen in two broad dimensions: the evolution
of global relationships in political, economic, social, and cultural structures, and in
scientific and environmental interactions; and the intensification and diversification of
concrete international relationships of institutions and movements.
1
1. Changing Global Patterns
Global relationships evolved in a number of important ways in the second half of the
20th century. The developments were reflected in three important areas: the changing
nature of global power structures and conflicts; the impact of globalization on
economics, science, and technology, and responses to the environment; and the
emerging complex relationships among global, regional, and local aspects of culture and
society. By the 1990s, there was considerable awareness of many different possibilities
for the formation of “new world orders.”
2
a. Changing Structures of Global Power
The basic nature of global power structures, and even the nature of the most important
3
conflicts, changed significantly during the second half of the 20th century. Such changes
were clearly visible in 1) the transformation of imperialisms and the development of
nationalisms; 2) the evolution of the cold war and the basic framework for world
politics; 3) the development of international institutions for conflict management and
resolution.
1. Imperialisms and Nationalisms
At the end of World War II, a number of major European states still controlled
significant overseas empires. In the postwar years, the main transformation was the
decline of the older empires and the emergence of two superpowers that replaced
them as the major world powers. During the war, Allied promises and Axis conquests
had raised hopes of national independence in many areas. After the war, growing
nationalism and European weakness, sometimes furthered by cold war rivalries for
Asian and African allegiances, led to decolonization.
4
1945–54
Reestablished empires and new states. In the immediate postwar era, the major
empires attempted to reestablish control in many areas but also granted independence to
particular states. The empires faced movements of armed opposition and growing
political nationalism.
5
Armed opposition to empires. In many of the areas that had been conquered by the
Axis powers during World War II, there was armed nationalist opposition to attempts to
reestablish European imperial control. In INDOCHINA, the Viet Minh, originally a
movement of resistance to Japanese control, declared Vietnamese independence in
1945 (See 1945, Sept. 2). However, the French attempted the reconquest of its
Indochinese colonies; in the long first Indochina war, the French ultimately lost and
withdrew after their defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. In INDONESIA, the Dutch
attempted to reestablish control after the Japanese defeat, in opposition to the
independence declared in 1945 by nationalists led by Sukarno (See 1945, Aug. 17).
After a costly war, Indonesian independence was recognized in 1949. In SYRIA and
LEBANON, French attempts in 1945 to reverse wartime agreements giving
independence to the two countries were met with nationalist opposition. Under pressure
from the United States, Great Britain, and the United Nations, French troops were
withdrawn in 1946.
6
Negotiated independence in the immediate postwar era. The imperial powers and
local leaders in a number of countries were able to negotiate arrangements for
7
independence. In SOUTH ASIA negotiations led to independence for Ceylon (now Sri
Lanka) from the British in 1947, and for Burma in 1948. INDIA was partitioned and, in
1947, became the independent states of Pakistan and India. Britain also withdrew from
PALESTINE, where a United Nations–defined partition resulted in the establishment of
Israel in 1948 and in the emergence of a Palestinian nationalist movement seeking to
create an Arab Palestinian state. Both partitions resulted in bloody conflicts, but Great
Britain was not involved directly in either postindependence war. However, Jewish
guerrilla warfare during and immediately after World War II had put added pressure on
the British to withdraw from Palestine. JORDAN received formal independence from its
mandate status in 1946, although it maintained a special treaty relationship with Britain
until the 1950s. The Philippines were proclaimed independent in 1946, shortly after
their reconquest by the United States from Japan. Former Italian colonies were special
cases. After considerable disagreement among the major powers, the United Nations
established the independent Kingdom of LIBYA in 1951, and voted in 1950 to affirm
the independence of SOMALIA under the trusteeship of Great Britain and Italy. Eritrea
was included in the newly liberated Ethiopia with some autonomy, which was later lost
in the 1950s.
1954–69
Victory of nationalism. In the 1950s and 1960s, the classic struggles between
nationalism and imperialism reached a climax. By the end of the 1960s virtually every
major colony in the large European overseas empires had gained its independence, and
only smaller dependencies remained. This was achieved both through costly wars of
nationalist revolution and continuing negotiations. The end of the European empires
was often overshadowed by the tensions of the cold war, which threatened nuclear
global destruction rather than costly local conflicts. Nevertheless, the end of the old
empires marked a major transition, and the newly independent states became important
members of the emerging THIRD WORLD, between the communist world and the
West.
8
Wars of nationalist liberation. In a number of countries, independence came only after
a fierce fight. In contrast to the nationalist wars of the late 1940s, these later wars did not
build on structures developed as a result of World War II so much as they were the
products of distinctive local developments involving imperial policies and nationalism.
In ALGERIA, there was a large French settler community, and the French claimed that
Algeria was part of France, not a colony. The Algerian war for independence (See
1954–62) began in 1954, under the leadership of the Front de libération nationale
(FLN). The war involved counterrevolutions by conservative French Algerians and a
transformation of the French political system itself. Finally, in 1962, after perhaps more
than one million war deaths, Algeria became independent under an FLN government.
9
The British faced three major colonial conflicts in the 1950s. In CYPRUS, Greek
Cypriot nationalists sought union with Greece and engaged in sometimes violent
opposition to both the British and Turkish Cypriots. After negotiations that included
Greece and Turkey, Cyprus became independent in 1960. In KENYA, local Kenyan
resistance, especially to British settlers, led to the violent Mau Mau uprising, which
was suppressed in 1955 (See 1952–59). However, the uprising increased pressures for
negotiations, and Kenya achieved independence in 1963. In MALAYA, the British
reestablished control at the end of the war, but a communist revolt began in 1948
among some Chinese Malayans. This conflict was costly, but it encouraged the British
and the Malayan nationalists to move toward agreement on independence. The
suppression of the revolt by 1955 was followed by Malayan independence in 1957 (See
Aug. 31) and the formation in 1963 of the Federation of Malasia which included
Singapore, Sarawak, and North Borneo, as well as Malaya.
10
The achievement of independence in the PORTUGUESE COLONIES involved wars
of national independence following the revolution of 1974 in Portugal itself. In
ANGOLA, a number of nationalist groups with essentially regional identities emerged
by the 1960s. In 1961 a multisided conflict began in which three major groups fought
against the Portuguese and each other. Negotiations after the 1974 revolution resulted in
the proclamation of Angolan independence in 1975. Agreement among the liberation
movements was brief, and the Movimento Popular de Liberataçâo de Angola
(MPLA) formed a regime that received much international recognition. A
postindependence civil war followed, which continued into the 1990s. In
MOZAMBIQUE, the Frente de Libertaçâo de Mozambique (FRELIMO) began a
revolution in 1964 against the Portuguese that resulted in independence in 1975. In the
small Portuguese colony of Guinea-Bissau, a remarkable, ideologically radical
movement led by AMALCAR CABRAL, who was murdered in 1973, began a guerrilla
war in 1963. By 1973, the movement controlled much of the territory and declared
independence, which was recognized by the Portuguese after the 1974 revolution.
11
In SOUTHWEST AFRICA (NAMIBIA) a long war of national liberation was begun
by the South-West African Peoples' Organization (SWAPO) in 1966. The Republic
of South Africa received a League of Nations mandate granting control over the former
German colony at the end of World War I, and it continued to control the area in
defiance of the United Nations after World War II. SWAPO received considerable
international support, but Namibia became independent only in 1990, after almost 24
years of nationalist guerrilla warfare.
12
Negotiated independence. During the 1950s and 1960s an extraordinary transformation
took place, especially in Africa. In the 1950s, a few countries were the harbingers of a
flood of new countries to come. Sudan (1956); Ghana, the former Gold Coast (1957);
and Malaysia (1957) received independence from Great Britain. France agreed to the
independence of Morocco and Tunisia in 1956. In 1958, GUINEA, under the
13
leadership of Sékou Touré, voted to become independent rather than to be a member of
the French Community. Then, 1960 was a year of independence in Africa. Thirteen
former French colonies became independent members of the French Community;
Nigeria, Togo, and Somalia received independence from Great Britain, and the Belgian
Congo (Zaire) became independent and almost immediately was plunged into civil war.
By 1969, another 15 African states had become independent, including Southern
Rhodesia, whose white regime made a unilateral declaration of independence that
received little international recognition. In the Caribbean region, four dependencies had
become independent by 1969; elsewhere there were also the new island states of Malta
(1964), the Maldives (1965), and Mauritius (1968).
Newly independent states became a significant feature in global affairs. In 1945, 51
states had signed the Charter of the United Nations. Then, between 1954 and 1969, 53
newly independent states also became members of the United Nations. This reflected the
triumph of nationalism and the end of the age of the European overseas empires.
14
1970–90s
Changing nature of new states. In the final decades of the 20th century, the status of
the remnants of the European overseas empires was defined, with a number of newly
independent ministates being established. However, additional new states emerged as
nationalist movements developed in response to other types of multinational and
multiethnic structures, such as the Soviet Union. By the 1990s, a new process of national
state formation had replaced decolonization as the major source of new state structures.
15
The remnants of overseas empires. In the 1970s and 1980s, most of the last small
colonial holdings of European powers gained independence. Island groups in the
PACIFIC BASIN that had come under imperial control in the 19th century had their
political status defined. Some had been colonies; the former German colonies had been
League of Nations mandates and United Nations trusteeships placed under the control
of various powers. Among the first to gain permanent status were Hawaii, which
became the fiftieth state of the United States, and Western New Guinea, which became
a part of Indonesia in 1963. Independence was gained by Western Samoa, a New
Zealand trusteeship, in 1962, and by Nauru, an Australian trusteeship, in 1968. Between
1970 and 1990, eight additional independent Pacific basin states were established. East
Timor was annexed by Indonesia in 1976, following the Portuguese withdrawal, but a
guerrilla movement fighting for independence emerged. In the 1990s, some island
groups remained under the control of the United States, France, Australia, and New
Zealand. In the PERSIAN GULF region, Kuwait had already become independent in
1961, and Britain formally withdrew from Bahrain, Qatar, and the small states that
joined together in the United Arab Emirates in 1971. In the CARIBBEAN, nine new
16
independent states emerged from British and Dutch control, though some islands, like
the Caymans, opted for continued colonial status qualified by local autonomy. Between
1970 and 1990, 34 more new states joined the United Nations.
Postcolonial new states. In the final decades of the 20th century, SEPARATIST
MOVEMENTS had little success in many areas, but the establishment of independent
Bangladesh in the former East Pakistan, as a result of a civil war in 1971, was an
important exception. Before the late 1980s, there had been a number of civil wars in
newly independent states in which regions attempted to secede. In AFRICA, the newly
independent nations maintained their imperially defined boundaries, despite their often
arbitrary nature. As a result, there were regional factions that wished to break away from
countries they did not feel themselves to be a part of. Regions that attempted to secede in
unsuccessful wars included Katanga in Congo (1960–63), Biafra in Nigeria (1967–70),
and southern Sudan (1955–72, 1981–90s). The only successful African secessionist
movement was in ERITREA, where the Eritrean liberation movement fought against a
series of different Ethiopian regimes and finally succeeded when a dictatorial Marxist
regime collapsed in 1991; a referendum confirmed its independence in 1993. Elsewhere,
KURDS failed to create an independent state from the Kurdish areas of Iraq, Turkey,
and Iran, although a short-lived Kurdish republic was created by the Soviet Union in
northern Iran (1945–46) and an autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq received
international protection after the Persian Gulf War of 1990–91. TAMIL separatists in
Sri Lanka began a revolt in 1983 that continued into the 1990s, and Philippine
Muslims fought for autonomy or independence in some southern islands throughout
much of the second half of the 20th century.
17
REDEFINED STATES. In the early 1990s, there was another burst of new states. Most
of this activity was the result of a redefining of the political status of ethnic and national
groups in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European empire,
and of the new ways in which existing political identities were recognized. From 1990 to
the end of 1993, 28 states were admitted to the United Nations. Eighteen new members
were former republics of the Soviet Union, four had been part of Yugoslavia, and two
new states emerged out of the former Czechoslovakia. The other new members were
two Pacific island groups, North and South Korea, and the two African states whose
wars of liberation were finally successful, Namibia and Eritrea. In addition, four old
European ministates that had been dependent on larger neighbors for representation
(Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, and San Marino) became independent members of
the United Nations. The new states reflected the end of centralized, multinational
empires of the old style, even the continental empire of Russia, and the emergence of a
new era of smaller ethnic states and larger unions of states of a Common Market or
confederation type. At the same time, larger structures of international coordination were
being built. Not only the European Common Market but also the Confederation of
Independent States, loosely linking most former states in the Soviet Union, and the
North American Free Trade Association (1993), suggested new regional coordination.
18
The domination of global affairs by European empires or by the two great superpowers
had come to an end by the 1990s.
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
b. Globalization of Material Life
During the second half of the century, many important aspects of individual and societal
life developed patterns of global interaction. This was visible in a number of important
areas: in the evolution of state and private economic structures; in developments in
science and technology; and in response to the changing physical environment.
1
1. Evolution of International Economic Structures
Major changes took place in the international structures of economic life. These were
visible in the institutions regulating international finance and international trade and in
the further development of nongovernmental multinational economic institutions.
2
International finance: The Bretton Woods system (1945–71). A conference of the
Allied powers was held near the end of World War II in Bretton Woods, New
Hampshire. At that meeting, the major institutions for the management of the
international monetary and financial order were agreed on, and the result was the
creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1945 and the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank), which began operation
in 1946. The Bretton Woods system involved the easy convertibility of the major
currencies, with the foundation being the U.S. DOLLAR and the guarantee by the U.S.
government that dollars could be exchanged for gold at a rate of $35 per ounce. The U.S.
dollar became the major medium of international financial exchange. A large U.S.
balance-of-payments deficit resulting from transfers of funds to support reconstruction
and development in programs like the Marshall Plan (1947) and direct U.S. investment
overseas provided the liquidity necessary for rapid global economic development and
growth. However, by the 1960s this system began to have difficulties: dollar holdings
outside of the United States began to exceed the total value of U.S. gold reserves,
creating a destabilizing dollar overhang; in 1971, for the first time in the century, the
value of U.S. imports exceeded that of its nonmonetary exports; while the U.S. economy
was still clearly the world's largest, other major economies had developed as powerful
3
rivals or partners. In an effort to supplement the role of the dollar, a new reserve asset
called special drawing rights (SDR) was developed in 1969, but a major change in the
international system was required.
International finance: Post–Bretton Woods. A series of measures significantly
changed the international monetary system. The United States ended its commitment to
exchange gold for dollars in 1971, and the Smithsonian Agreement (1971) began the
process of international monetary reform. In 1973, the United States ended fixed
exchange rates between the dollar and other major currencies; the most important feature
of the post–Bretton Woods system was flexible exchange rates among all major
currencies. Instability of currency values was lessened by the efforts of major
governments to coordinate their economic policies. This was aided by the meetings of
financial policy leaders from the GROUP OF SEVEN (G-7), the seven largest Western
economies (the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, and Canada).
These meetings began in 1976 and became annual events that ranged over a host of
international issues, including currency. In this new system gold had a less important
role, and SDRs, defined as a weighted mixture of major currency values, became by the
1980s an important unit of accounting; the system as a whole was more volatile and
more openly related to politics as well as economics. By the 1990s, JAPAN emerged as
a major international financial center, with nine of the world's ten largest banks in terms
of assets; in 1987 it had surpassed the United States as the world's major creditor. The
post–Bretton Woods system was not as centralized as the earlier system, but global
interactions were of increasing importance to all levels of economic life throughout the
world.
4
Both the IMF and the World Bank also played recurrent roles in providing investment
aid to developing (not yet fully industrial) nations. In return for investment capital, both
organizations typically tried to require more stringent national fiscal policies, including
less government expenditure, which posed potential political problems for the nations
involved—as in parts of Latin America and Africa in the 1980s and 1990s (See
1970s–The Present).
5
International trade regulation, 1945–93. At the end of World War II, the Allied
powers were anxious to avoid the trade wars and protectionism that had been an
important part of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Following the war, the UN
Economic and Social Council convened a committee to draft a charter for a proposed
International Trade Organization. That organization was not created, however; instead,
the preliminary GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE (GATT)
was adopted by 23 states and became the basic instrument for regulating international
trade in the second half of the 20th century. With a secretariat in Geneva, the GATT
supervised eight “rounds” of multilateral trade negotiations to reduce tariffs and
encourage international trade. The first were held in Geneva (1947); Annency, France
(1949), Torquay, England (1951–52); and Geneva (1955–56). The Dillon Round
6
(1961–62) was named for U.S. secretary of the treasury Douglas Dillon, and the
Kennedy Round (1963–67) for President John F. Kennedy. The Kennedy Round
involved across-the-board industrial tariff reductions, and in 1965 the signatories added
a new section to the agreement addressing positive encouragements for the international
trade of less-developed countries. The TOKYO ROUND (1973–79) dealt with a major
restructuring of trade in response to the transformation of the international monetary
system with the end of the Bretton Woods arrangements in 1971, and a comprehensive
set of agreements was approved. The eighth round, the URUGUAY ROUND, began in
1986 and dealt with many new areas. Negotiations were suspended in 1990 as a result of
disagreements relating to agricultural subsidies in the European Community.
Discussions were resumed in 1991, and a major new pact was completed in 1993 that
was signed by officials from 125 states at a meeting in Morocco in 1994. The agreement
represented a significant further liberalization of global trade regulations. It also
established the WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION as the successor to GATT, with
increased powers to mediate trade disputes and enforce adherence to existing
agreements.
GATT began in 1947 with 23 members, and by 1994 its membership had grown to 117.
At that time, reflecting the end of the cold war, Russia was seeking formal membership
along with China, whose membership had been suspended in 1950. GATT negotiations
had transformed the conditions of international trade. They had succeeded, for example,
in reducing average tariffs on industrial goods from about 40 percent in the years
following World War II to about 5 percent of their market value in the 1990s. The
globalization of trade regulation helped the world economies to avoid a repeat of the
economic crises of the era between the two world wars. This was accomplished in the
context of a profound expansion of international trade and of its importance in the life of
every society.
7
Multinational corporations. In the second half of the 20th century, private corporations
became an increasingly important part of global economic life. Following the lead of
older commercial trading companies and the relatively small number of large
internationally active companies in the first part of the century, companies of all sizes
began to participate in international investments and enterprises after World War II.
8
1945–71
Era of American predominance. Following the war, multinational corporations based
in the United States tended to dominate global international business. This reflected the
importance of the U.S. dollar and the strength of the U.S. economy in the era of the
Bretton Woods system in international finance. American corporations were a major
mechanism for the circulation of dollars in the global economy, and they made
9
significant investments in many different countries, especially in Europe. The book
value of direct foreign investments by U.S. companies rose from $7.2 billion in 1946 to
almost $71 billion in 1969. Much of the U.S. international investment in this period was
made by large, already internationally established corporations like Ford, General
Motors, and Standard Oil (New Jersey), and in such industries as the auto industry,
oil, and chemicals, where a few large companies dominated the market. The
international nature of much of the corporate activity was in finance and management
rather than in actual production. Multinational corporations would buy or establish
subsidiaries or establish production facilities in other countries, and these
organizations would then operate as they might have in the “home country” of the
corporation.
By the late 1960s, this situation was changing. Growing numbers of smaller U.S.
companies were establishing overseas facilities, and investment by European companies
in the United States increased. In 1969, the merger of British Petroleum (BP) with
Standard Oil (Ohio) and the takeover of Wyandotte Chemicals by the German
chemical giant BASF signaled the beginning of an era of major foreign corporate
involvement in the U.S. economy. As the Bretton Woods system came to an end in the
early 1970s, the world of multinational corporations was also changing significantly,
with many new participants becoming involved in the global economy.
10
Transformation of the petroleum industry. The evolution of the petroleum industry in
the second half of the 20th century illustrates the changing nature of the global world of
business. In the first half of the century, the industry was dominated by a cartel of seven
large oil companies that set global prices and production levels while competing actively
among themselves. These companies were among the largest multinational corporations,
and direct foreign investment in petroleum industries was a major part of global
business. Following World War II, this domination continued. When one member of the
cartel, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), half owned by the British
government, was nationalized by the Iranian government in 1951, the cartel was able
to respond successfully through sanctions and a boycott. It reestablished control over
Iranian oil through a consortium arrangement in 1953, and AIOC was reorganized as
British Petroleum. The real challenge came with the creation of the
ORGANIZATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES (OPEC) in
1960, whose initial goal was to limit the ability of the major companies to reduce oil
prices. By 1970, OPEC members began to work together to coordinate production and
thus control supply and, ultimately, prices. For a short period (1971–73), prices were set
by consultation between OPEC and the oil companies. The Arab-Israeli War of 1973
and changing market conditions were the occasion for an Arab oil embargo on sales to
allies of Israel and a significant increase in oil prices. By the end of the crisis, basic
prices were no longer set by the companies. In terms of investment, in 1960 more than
40 percent of U.S. direct foreign investment was in petroleum industries, but this was
reduced to 14 percent by 1990. These changes coincided with a significant restructuring
11
of the international oil industry. In the first half of the century, oil companies had been
granted concessions by governments to explore for and produce petroleum.
Governments were paid royalties on a per-barrel basis. After World War II, there was a
change to profit-sharing arrangements in the 1950s and then to the gradual assumption
of ownership of production facilities by the governments of the producing countries. In
SAUDI ARABIA, the original exploration and production concession was granted to
Standard Oil of California (SOCAL) in 1933. SOCAL's concession became the basis
for Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO), a consortium of four major American
oil companies, which developed the Saudi oil industry. In 1950, ARAMCO agreed to the
shift from per-barrel royalties to profit sharing. In the early 1970s, participation was
accepted by ARAMCO; the Saudi government acquired 25 percent of ARAMCO in
1973, 60 percent in 1974, and became the full owner in the early 1980s. The major oil
companies maintained close relations with the Saudi-owned company and became global
distributors for its products. This evolution of control occurred in most other oilexporting countries as well. It reflected the broader trends of the final decades of the
century, with a clear globalization of activity but a decentralization of control. The old
cartel of oil companies was replaced by an organization of governments that had less
control over the dynamics of the world markets but was operating in a more globalized
economic situation.
1971–93
New world of multinational corporations. In the final decades of the century, the
nature of multinational business operations changed in significant ways.
INTERNATIONAL INTEGRATION OF PRODUCTION reflected the globalization
of economic enterprise. Increasingly, multinational corporations developed diversified
production facilities in which parts were made in many different places and then
assembled, rather than setting up comprehensive production facilities in different
countries. In the multinational automobile industry, for example, by 1980 cars like
General Motors' J-car were built of parts produced in many different countries, and by
the 1990s virtually no automobile could be said to have been completely produced
within one country. This integration was seen in many different types of multinational
operations; as major fast-food companies like McDonald's became global in operation
by the 1980s, French-fried potatoes were prepared and frozen in one country and
shipped to another for consumption. The GLOBAL SPREAD OF
MULTINATIONAL OWNERSHIP was another important feature of the changing
nature of multination business operations. The business world went from being
dominated by a few large companies in the United States and Western Europe involved
in a small number of industries to a global distribution of companies large and small in
virtually every industry. By the 1980s there were more than 10,000 significantly
12
multinational corporations, including important firms from developing countries, such as
India, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Brazil, as well as the older industrial states.
This is reflected in the automobile industry, where U.S. companies produced more than
two-thirds of the world's motor vehicles in 1950 but barely one-fifth in 1980. In the
1950s, Britain was the second largest producer; it was displaced by West Germany in the
1960s; and Japan became the second largest producer in the 1970s and passed the
United States in production in the 1980s. Other countries—such as South Korea, Brazil,
and Mexico—became important producers in the 1980s. By the 1990s, ownership of
production was also more diversified, as was seen in many different countries. More
than 10 percent of the production capacity in North America was owned by non-U.S.
corporations, and an important factor in the revitalization of the British auto industry
was the establishment of production facilities in Britain by Japanese companies like
Toyota, Nissan, and Honda. In Iran, an auto industry was developing around Iran
Khodro, a joint venture with the French company Peugeot, and a second joint venture
was established with Daewoo, the third largest automaker in South Korea.
The NORMALIZATION OF GLOBALIZED ECONOMIC ENTERPRISE was
firmly established by the 1990s. Significant foreign participation in or ownership of
local enterprises around the world became an accepted fact. Complex interconnections
on both very large and very small scales created global economic networks that became
a normal part of local and multinational business enterprise. In a typical situation, Kirin
Brewery, a Japanese corporation, became the parent company of a Coca-Cola Bottling
Group in a small northeastern state in the United States. Multinational corporations had
a growing impact on daily life, as can be seen in the expansion of consumer food
companies. Soft drink firms became highly visible participants in the expansion of
multinational business enterprise in the second half of the century. COCA-COLA was
an early multinational corporation, and its soft drink products could be found in many
countries even before World War II. By 1994, with the establishment of a bottling plant
in Albania, Coca-Cola was made in 197 countries. By the 1990s, the rivalry between
Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola was strong in Russia and Vietnam as well as in most of the
rest of the world. Fast-food chains had a significant impact on world eating habits by
standardizing products and expectations and providing new concepts of service.
McDonald's became an economic power, encouraging some countries to reorganize
agricultural production to provide potatoes and meat for the chain. By 1994, McDonald's
had more than 4,700 overseas stores in 71 countries (having doubled its total in about
five years). The Kellogg Company, a U.S. producer of breakfast cereals, opened a plant
in Latvia in 1994 and began an effort to transform the concept of breakfast in the former
communist world.
13
The diversity of multinational economic affairs was reflected in the changing topics of
debate in the GATT rounds. Important debates in the final Uruguay Round involved not
only the usual discussions of tariffs on industrial and agricultural products, but also talks
on opening domestic markets to foreign legal services, accounting, and computer
14
software concerns. U.S. officials were disappointed that there was no agreement on
opening audiovisual markets, especially in television programming and videocassettes,
since entertainment had become the second largest U.S. export industry in terms of
dollar value. The world of multinational business was global in nature and had become
an important factor in the daily life of every society, reflecting the complex,
interconnected nature of human life at the end of the 20th century.
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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VII. The Contemporary Period, 1945–2000 > A. General and Comparative Dimensions > 1. Changing
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
c. Globalization and Special Identities
During the second half of the 20th century, a complex relationship developed between
two major historical dynamics. One was the intensification of the globalization of all
aspects of human life and the other was the continuing affirmation of special human
identities. By the 1990s, globalization had not resulted in the emergence of either a
single, global society or a network of fundamentally similar societies. Instead, special
identities coexisted with global communications and economic networks and new
transnational and regional structures. These developments are clearly visible in two major
areas: 1) the development of ethnic and national identities, and 2) the evolution of
identities based on particular ideologies and religions.
1
ETHNIC AND NATIONAL IDENTITIES. The emergence of nationalist opposition to
the old empires in the period following World War II was an important factor in the
nature of nationalist identities. Old ethnic and special cultural identities were associated
with particular languages or historical traditions. However, the state boundaries that had
been created by the imperial powers often did not match the regional boundaries of those
old identities. When NATIONALISM developed, it did so within the framework of the
imperially created political units, and it was those states that became nationally
independent; existing state identities were the basis for the most effective nationalist
movements. Movements for broader unity had only limited success. ARAB
NATIONALISM developed in the first half of the 20th century as a broad regional
sentiment, but nationalist movements in the Arab world were identified with the
individual imperially created states, such as Algeria, Syria, and Palestine. The formation
of the Arab League in 1945 was an important manifestation of Arab unity, but it was a
coordinating organization of sovereign states. During the 1950s, enthusiasm for
substantive Arab unity was encouraged by Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and
resulted in the creation of the United Arab Republic (UAR), joining Egypt and Syria.
However, the UAR only lasted for three years (1958–61), and other projects for Arab
political unity remained unimplemented. PAN-AFRICAN NATIONALISM had roots in
movements in the first half of the 20th century, and as many African states became
independent, there was a hope of greater African unity. When the British colony of the
Gold Coast became independent as Ghana, under the leadership of KWAME
2
NKRUMAH in 1957, it assumed a leading role in African unity. Nkrumah was host to
two pan-African congresses in 1958, but when the Organization of African Unity
(OAU) was formally created in 1963, its charter affirmed the independence and territorial
integrity of the individual member states. The OAU was effective in mediating disputes
between African nations, and it coordinated expression of African views in international
bodies, but the pan-African vision of a unified Africa was not realized. In the period
from 1945 until the early 1970s, state-based identities remained the most effective, even
when the states had been arbitrarily created by imperial and political settlements. Along
with broader unification efforts, separatist movements also generally failed, as was the
case in Congo (Kinshasa) (1960–64), Nigeria (1967–70), and among the Kurds in the
Middle East. States created by partitions that were assumed to be temporary following
World War II were still in existence at the beginning of the 1970s: the two Germanies,
the two Koreas, and the two states in Vietnam.
1970–93
Ethnic revival and nationalism. In the early 1970s, increasing attention began to be
given to cultural-linguistic sources of identity, and ethnic groups in new forms emerged
as important elements in individual societies and on the global scene in general. The
development of groups like the Black Panthers in the United States during the 1960s
was an early signal of the change. Movements affirming black identity in the U.S. were
not necessarily separatist or nationalist, but they strongly affirmed a distinctive ethnocultural identity in the face of pressures for uniformity in modern society. In countries
where there was a strongly established “national” identity, there was a rise in the
importance of local ethnic traditions. In Great Britain, Welsh nationalism succeeded in
achieving parity for Welsh with English in governmental matters in Wales in 1967. The
Scottish National Party had been organized in the interwar period but remained
unimportant until the 1960s. By the 1990s, the party had become a small but important
part of the British political scene, regularly electing members to Parliament. In Canada,
there was a major revival of French-Canadian separatism in Quebec. In many
countries, activist—and sometimes violent—movements of ethnic identity gained
strength after the early 1970s. A number of cultural-linguistic groups began to have more
success asserting their identity in political ways. In 1971 the Bengali eastern part of
Pakistan seceded and formed the new state of Bangladesh, and Vietnam was reunited by
the communist victory in 1975. In the late 1980s a major political reorganization of
countries based on historic cultural identity began as the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia
broke up into their constituent republics, and the reunification of Germany also took
place. By the 1990s, throughout the world there were active movements affirming their
cultural and linguistic identity in many different ways. These included continuing
separatist movements among the Tamils in Sri Lanka, the Basques in Spain, on Timor in
3
Indonesia, and among many groups in the former Soviet Union, such as the Abkhazians
in Georgia. Tensions between Hutu and Tutsi peoples in Rwanda resulted in 1994 in one
of the bloodiest of these conflicts. Other groups affirmed their special identity in other
ways—by reviving older customs or seeking cultural autonomy—as was seen among
some Native Americans in the Western Hemisphere, the Swedish-speaking minority in
Finland, and in the continuing definition of the relationship between the Flanders and
Wallonia in Belgium. By the 1990s it was clear that the social and technological
globalization of the second half of the 20th century had not dissolved cultural-linguistic
boundaries between peoples. Instead, through new media for communication and
interaction, the conditions of the new, globalized world societies seemed to encourage
affirmations of special identity and made such affirmations more effective.
IDEOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITIES. Some of the major global conflicts
in the 20th century were drawn along lines of ideology and worldview. The competition
between the world visions of Wilson and Lenin and the rise of fascism in the interwar era
are part of this. In the era of the cold war, the conflict had a major ideological dimension
as a conflict between communism and democratic capitalism. The main ideologies of the
20th century were global in their scope and vision. As nationalism developed, it reflected
the different ideological frameworks; nationalism emerged in democratic, liberal forms or
in Marxist, radical forms in the era following World War II.
4
1945–70s
Global political ideologies. In the era of the active cold war, the framework for
ideological competition was the conflict between Marxist radicalism and Western
liberalism. Movements asserting distinctive national identities expressed their nationalism
in terms of these conflicts. As the Third World emerged by the 1960s, the Nonaligned
movement developed, at the core of which was a group of nationalists strongly
influenced by Marxist political radicalism. The new and most visible Third World leaders
of the 1960s were Nasser in Egypt, Sekou Touré of Guinea, Nkrumah of Ghana, Fidel
Castro of Cuba, and Sukarno of Indonesia, all of whom developed and advocated an
ideologically radical nationalism. Their more conservative rivals, like Muhammad Reza
Pahlavi in Iran, Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, and Houphouët-Boigny in the
Ivory Coast, also expressed their visions in terms of politically ideological nationalisms.
Leninism, Wilsonianism, Maoism, radical nationalism, and conservative nationalism all
shared the character of being political ideologies of modernization. They were not
clearly identified with existing religious traditions and accepted many of the modern
assumptions about progress, modern science, and rationalism that were the basic
characteristics of Western European thought as it emerged from the 18th century. By the
early 1970s, the cold war entered the full détente stage, making the Soviet-U.S. rivalry
less acute in the Third World, and important new ideological changes took place in many
5
areas. The student demonstrations in Paris in 1968 (See May–June), the antiwar
movement in the U. S., and other demonstrations in the late 1960s reflected the growing
disillusionment with all of the major ideologies. The New Left rejected much of Sovietdefined Marxism; radical nationalisms in the Third World had created repressive states;
modernization and economic “progress” was beginning to be recognized as disastrous for
the environment; leaders like the Shah of Iran and Marcos of the Philippines, who
received support from democratic liberalism, were creating oppressive dictatorships.
There was a gradual shift in worldview to a less ideological pragmatism and also to
activist approaches more explicitly tied to the major religious traditions.
1970s–93
Global religious revival. In many areas of the world, changing conditions and attitudes
supported a revival of religions. Some of this took the simple form of increased
adherence to existing rules and greater sensitivity to the message of religion in the
modern context. The ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH was an early leader in this
revival of religious activism. The great Ecumenical Council, VATICAN II (1962–65)
(See 1962, Oct. 11), issued many important documents defining the Roman Catholic
Church and its role in the modern world. Vatican II had a worldwide impact and was
especially important in the development of political ideology in Latin America. A 1967
papal encyclical, Populorum progressio, and a major conference of the Latin American
bishops in 1968 in Medellin, Colombia, clearly defined a position of opposition to social
injustice and oppression. Building on this foundation, a movement of LIBERATION
THEOLOGY developed that presented a clearly defined theological position in the
writings of people like Gustavo Gutierrez and advocated and worked for significant
social change. This brought some Catholic leaders into open conflict with social and
political conservatives, and in the civil war in El Salvador, Archbishop Oscar Romero
was murdered in 1980. Priests like Ernesto Cardenal in Nicaragua were active in
developing new structures, such as “base communities,” and participated in the
Sandinista revolutionary movement.
6
Movements of religious activism and revival developed in virtually all major religious
traditions. Many of these took a form that is frequently referred to as fundamentalism,
calling for a return to traditional beliefs and moral codes. Fundamentalists were not
always literally traditional—for example, many were less tolerant than their religions had
previously been—and they often used new methods of propaganda. Protestant
fundamentalism became more assertive in the United States in the 1980s, and also
spread rapidly in Latin America; after 1989 there was also growing missionary activity in
Russia. In the ISLAMIC WORLD, many revival movements developed. Some, like the
Muslim Brotherhood (See 1928) in Egypt and the Jamaat-i Islami in South Asia,
already had a long history. Others emerged as important forces in the 1970s, and by the
7
1990s, explicitly Islamic organizations were either the largest opposition group or an
important part of the government in virtually every country where the majority of the
population was Muslim. The ISLAMIC REVOLUTION IN IRAN (See 1978–79) in
1978–79 overthrew the Shah and established a republic that became the most visible
Islamic government in the world. An Islamic movement also came to power in Sudan
through a military coup in 1989. In Algeria the Islamic party was about to win the
parliamentary elections of 1991–92 when a military coup prevented the completion of the
elections. A HINDU religious revival became an important part of Indian history by the
1980s. In the early 1990s, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which supported an actively
Hindu program, emerged as the largest opposition group in the Parliament. In 1992,
Hindu extremists destroyed a mosque in Ayodhya, and hundreds of people were killed in
the subsequent Hindu-Muslim rioting. Also in India, the SIKHS experienced a revival. In
its militant form, the revival involved the demand for an independent Sikh state in the
Punjab. The formation of Akali dal in 1980, an organization advocating Sikh
independence, began an era of conflict. BUDDHISM experienced revivals in a number of
areas as well. In the conflicts in Southeast Asia, Buddhist priests were sometimes
involved, and with the disintegration of the communist world, some areas, such as
Mongolia and Laos, experienced a revival of interest in Buddhism. In Japan, Soka
Gakkai, a major Buddhist organization, grew significantly as did Buddhist groups in
North America.
At the same time that some aspects of the religious revival emphasized distinctive
identities, globalization of religious organizations also occurred. The Roman Catholic
Church had long been a global organization, but its most rapid expansion has been
outside of the West. In 1974, less than 15 percent of the world's Roman Catholics were in
Asia and Africa, but by 1994, more than 25 percent of the estimated membership in the
Church was on those two continents. Among the other Christian churches, the formation
of the World Council of Churches in 1948 created a global organization that continued
to be a voice throughout the rest of the century. The global nature of religious life, as well
as the continuing importance of the distinctive traditions, was emphasized by the
convening of the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1993. This was
held on the centennial of a similar parliament convened during the Chicago World's Fair
in 1893, emphasizing that the processes of globalization were long-standing in religion.
The parliament was basically a gathering of representatives of different traditions rather
than a convention of believers sharing a common creed, reflecting the complex
interactions between the processes of globalization and maintenance of distinctive
identities in the 20th century.
8
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1947, Feb. 10)
2. International Relations
International relations in the 50 years following World War II were dominated by the
cold war between the two superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States. The
half century was a time of increasing globalization in all areas of life, so international
relations also reflected those transformations in social and religious life, changes in the
networks of economic relations, the rise of nationalism and decline of the old empires,
and many other developments. The period can be divided into two eras, with the
beginning of the 1970s marking a time of transition in the cold war, a change in the
global economic system, and a shift from the old empires to newly transformed
nationalisms.
1
a. Rise of the Cold War and End of Empires
The main lines of development in the period following World War II involved the
organization of international institutions to manage global affairs, the U.S.-Soviet rivalry,
the rise of nationalism, and the growing globalization of human life.
2
1945, April 25–June 26
SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE. Drafted the Charter for the United Nations
Organization, an international body that would be the successor to the League of
Nations as the main organization for international relations on a global scale.
July 17–Aug. 2
3
POTSDAM CONFERENCE. The leaders of the United States, Great Britain, and the
Soviet Union, Harry S. Truman, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, met to discuss
postwar arrangements in Europe. These involved the disarmament and occupation of
Germany and trials of war criminals.
4
Sept. 2
FORMAL SURRENDER OF JAPAN with the signing of terms on the U.S.S. Missouri
in Tokyo Bay. The Japanese home islands were placed under U.S. military occupation,
but the emperor remained as the head of state. Korea was placed under Soviet and U.S.
occupation, pending the establishment of a democratic government. The Kurile Islands
and the southern part of Sakhalin Island were ceded to the Soviet Union.
5
Oct. 24
United Nations formally came into existence when the twenty-ninth member government
ratified the Charter. New York City was chosen as the site for the permanent seat of the
organization.
6
Dec. 27
The International Monetary Fund was established (See Evolution of International
Economic Structures).
7
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
b. New Global Relationships
By the 1970s, the continuing processes of globalization had taken many complex forms.
At the same time that the networks of relationships in all areas of life were increasingly
determined by global contexts, several older international structures were breaking down.
The clearly structured world of the Bretton Woods system was replaced by a more
global but anarchic international monetary system (See Evolution of International
Economic Structures); the old bipolar world of the early cold war was rapidly being
replaced by a polycentric world order. These trends were visible in culture and society
as well.
1
1971
Bangladesh became an independent state in place of East Pakistan after postelection
fighting brought the Pakistan army into conflict first with Bengali followers of Mujibur
Rahman (May) and then with invading Indian armed forces (Dec.).
2
U.S.-Chinese relations transformed. Informal contacts like the visit of the U.S. table
tennis team to China (“Ping-Pong diplomacy”) were combined with the U.S.
announcement that it was lifting the embargo on trade with China (June). In October, the
United States supported the admission of the People's Republic of China to the United
Nations, and in November it was announced that U.S. president Richard Nixon would
visit China.
3
Petroleum industry changes. Representatives of the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) met with major oil companies to discuss oil prices
(Jan.–Feb.). Algeria took control of 51 percent of French oil companies' operations in
Algeria.
4
West German chancellor Willy Brandt received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in
lessening East-West tension.
5
June
International Court of Justice declared that South Africa's administration of Namibia
was illegal and should be surrendered to the UN.
6
Oct
The changing context of global politics was revealed in the state visits of the Ethiopian
emperor Haile Selassie to China, where he was welcomed by Mao Zedong, and of Soviet
premier Kosygin to Morocco, where he was welcomed by King Hasan II.
7
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Economic and Social Changes)
B. Europe, 1945–2000
1. Economic and Social Changes
As in 1918, Europe after the Second World War was in ruins. Estimates of the dead
range as high as 50 million, although national tolls varied greatly, from 20 million
Russians to 460,000 British and Commonwealth subjects. Overall, the losses in Central
and Eastern Europe far outnumbered those in Western Europe. As for the survivors,
roads and major cities were clogged with displaced persons, resulting in great
migrational flows. Throughout the Continent material costs were also staggering: cities
had been reduced to rubble, transportation networks had been destroyed, and farms and
coal mines were wastelands. Finally, the war left a divided Europe in its wake. The
course of reconstruction and the features of the postwar economy and society thus
differed between Western and Eastern Europe.
1
Despite such destruction, Western Europe experienced virtually unprecedented
prosperity within 15 years; by 1963 it was producing more than two and a half times as
much as it had before the war. Economic growth rates soared for almost two decades,
particularly in Germany, France, and Italy, and standards of living reached
unprecedented levels. France, for example, attained an 8 percent annual growth rate by
the end of the 1950s, continued at a somewhat slower rate during the 1960s, and rose
again, to 7 percent, in the early 1970s. Meanwhile real wages in France experienced a
sixfold increase between 1950 and 1980. The base of this growth was consumer
goods—cars, radios, televisions, and the like—prompting many to label this period in
European history the consumer society. Much of this economic growth developed out
of the European Recovery Program, or the Marshall Plan. The plan, announced by the
United States in June 1947, provided billions of dollars to European nations to help them
rebuild their economies. By 1959, the United States had spent more than $74 billion in
aid. This represented both a desire to avoid the errors of post–World War I Europe and
an acceptance of Keynesian economics (See Intellectual and Religious Trends).
Governments became more active in economic planning, and a number of key industries
were nationalized. Moreover, as a precondition to receiving U.S. aid, Western European
nations began to coordinate their economic activities for maximum effectiveness. This
2
led to the establishment of the Organization of European Economic Cooperation, the
first step toward European unity.
Not all of Europe benefited from the Marshall Plan, however. The nations of Eastern
Europe, those under Soviet domination, followed Stalin's lead and refused U.S. aid.
Instead the Soviet Union and its allies founded COMECON (Council for Mutual
Economic Assistance) in 1949 (See 1949, Jan. 25). Designed to align socialist
economies, in reality the satellite economies of Eastern Europe were all geared to the
reconstruction of the Soviet Union first, and then of their own country. In keeping with
socialist thought, Eastern Europe witnessed mass nationalizations of private industry.
Agriculture was also collectivized, with the exception of Poland. While a measure of
prosperity did rise in Eastern Europe, unlike in Western Europe, it was not built on
consumer goods. The economies of the Soviet Union and its allies remained
predominantly geared for heavy industry and defense.
3
The devastation of two world wars within 30 years brought forth new ideas about the
state, especially about its relations with other states and with its citizenry. The end of the
war ushered in a new push toward European unity, especially in Western Europe. The
first steps were taken with the OEEC and the Council of Europe, but such attempts at
attaining European federalism via a direct political approach foundered. The economic
approach was more successful. Under the auspices of the French politicians Jean Monnet
(1888–1979) and Robert Schuman (1886–1963), six European nations (France, West
Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) began to integrate their
economies through the European Coal and Steel Community, founded in 1951, and,
with the Treaties of Rome signed in 1957, through the European Economic
Community (See March 25). The goal of the Common Market, as it became known,
was just that, the creation of a single free-trade area, with free movement of goods,
capital, and workers. This goal was attained in 1992, after the Common Market had
grown to 12 member states.
4
The rise of European unity brought with it a decline in the power of individual states to
control the hearts and minds of their citizens. Nationalism, seen as a major cause of
destruction in European history, began to wane. Indeed, most Europeans gave up their
old dreams of glory and empire as a wave of decolonization swept through Asia and
Africa. Instead, what bound citizens to their state was the vast array of services the new
welfare states provided for their citizens in need. These services ranged from old-age
pensions and unemployment insurance to free health services and low-income housing.
In demanding such services, citizens came to accept not only larger government
bureaucracies, which also provided many white-collar jobs, but also the fact that
government was a much larger presence in their lives. In a short time, Europeans came
to expect the government to provide services deemed necessary to daily living, making it
difficult in the 1980s for those governments forced to implement austerity plans and for
the citizens of Eastern Europe, who had come to expect a greater range of social services
5
from their now-defunct communist states.
In all of Europe these economic and political changes accompanied social change. In
Western Europe the class structure changed significantly as the importance of the
nobility declined due to high taxes, and the peasantry virtually disappeared with
further urban migration and new, commercial practices among the remaining farmers.
The middle classes grew more diversified, open, and democratic as bureaucracies
developed, and education, rather than property, became the basis of social and economic
position. Thus, while businesses and governments became more complex, allowing
middle-class managers to rise to positions of importance, the middle class lost the ability
to pass these positions on to their children like capital. Meanwhile the traditional
manufacturing working classes ceased to expand, due to technological change.
Instead, the number of workers in service and white-collar positions grew rapidly,
creating a large segment of the working class that had many similarities to members of
the middle classes. Overall, Western European society became more mobile and more
democratic as rigid social divisions softened.
6
There were limits on mobility, however. Education, the key to mobility, fell short of the
egalitarian ideal. Although the number of university students had risen sharply to 24
percent of the 20 to 24 age group in Western Europe in 1978, up from less than 4 percent
in 1950, children from the lower strata continued to be underrepresented in higher
education. In France the proportion of university students from working-class families
actually fell from 13 percent in 1974 to 9 percent in 1979. A similar division could be
found in secondary education. Despite increasing enrollments, in most countries
secondary education remained sharply divided into vocational and academic tracks.
Immigrants were another group for whom mobility was difficult. In the 1950s and
1960s, at the height of economic prosperity, Western European nations welcomed
immigrants (from Turkey, North Africa, Pakistan, the West Indies), but this came to an
end in the 1970s. The children of these immigrants, not immigrants themselves, often
faced the prospect of poverty, underemployment, discrimination, police harassment, and
inadequate housing and schooling. They also became the object of a renewed
xenophobic, anti-immigrant movement on the far Right.
7
In Eastern Europe, the social structure was altered by communist policy. The nobility
lost its influence and property, as did all property owners, while most peasants became
either collectivized agricultural workers or industrial workers. Officially, the middle
class ceased to exist. Yet even in the presumably classless society, social distinctions
developed. Instead of property, the distinguishing factor became relation to the party.
Party members became the new elite, while government bureaucrats became a quasimiddle class.
8
Europeans also experienced alterations in their family life. From 1945 to the early 1960s
Europe experienced a baby boom, with populations growing by 1 percent to 1.5 percent
per year in many countries. These rates dropped sharply in the 1960s, however, and most
9
countries experienced zero population growth. On the other side of the aging spectrum,
Europeans were urged to think of their later years as a “third age,” in which they
expected to be healthy and to engage in a host of activities they had been too busy to
enjoy during their working years. This became possible as life expectancies rose and the
old-age pensions provided a measure of security. But rising numbers of elderly citizens
burdened the welfare state.
Women became more central to the economy, as both consumers and workers.
Whereas it used to be that working-class women left the workforce after childbirth,
taking only work they could do at home, women in postwar Europe remained in the
workforce. This was due mainly to the fact that women were marrying and having all
their children earlier than their mothers and grandmothers had. By the late 1960s the age
at marriage for European women had dropped to 23. At the same time, women were
having 80 percent of their children before they were 30. This helps to account for
growing feminist dissatisfaction by the late 1960s and 1970s; women found that their
traditional role as mother no longer absorbed the energy of a lifetime, yet new roles in
the male-dominated world outside the family were slow to open. Nevertheless, even for
middle-class wives, work outside the home became more common.
10
These economic and social developments in Western and Eastern Europe brought, for
the most part, a period of stability and prosperity that lasted throughout much of the
1950s and 1960s. By the late 1960s new forms of protest began to emerge, however.
Older protest movements, such as trade unionism, had periodically mounted large (and
usually short) strikes to win concessions from business and government, and left-wing
parties led demonstrations, but none of these forms of protest did much to disturb a
Western Europe remarkable for its political stability and rapid economic recovery. Class
divisions ceased to be a major source of protest. Disaffection grew, however, in the
late 1960s, blossoming into student protests, feminist demonstrations, and, in the
1970s, terrorism. Student movements called into question the structure of authority and
the materialism of advanced industrial societies. Feminism rejected conventional
assumptions about gender. By the 1970s an environmentalist movement had gathered
considerable strength in several countries, as had a surprising new wave of regional and
ethnic activism, which disputed the authority of central governments and in some cases
even long-standing assumptions about the immutability of existing nation-states. Racial
and ethnic conflict also gave rise to riots, racial attacks, antiracist demonstrations, and
divisive debate over citizenship rights and immigration, especially in the 1980s.
11
While none of these developments led to the kind of general political crisis that toppled
regimes in the interwar years, they signaled the end of a period of postwar complacency.
This was followed shortly by economic crises in 1973 and 1979 caused by European
dependence on foreign, especially Arab, oil. Most Western European nations suffered
from a combination of economic stagnation and rapid inflation dubbed “stagflation.”
Unemployment rose while productivity and living standards declined. Governments
12
responded at first by borrowing, to maintain the vast systems of social services
implemented after the war, but in the 1980s they turned increasingly to austerity
measures. It is important to note, however, that the welfare measures implemented after
the war were effective, by and large, in preventing the mass suffering that might have
occurred earlier in similar circumstances. After a brief economic upswing in the mid1980s, Europe continued to deal with sluggish national economies and their social
implications.
In Eastern Europe, protest came earlier, and while it had economic and social
undercurrents, it remained primarily political in nature. The overriding focus of
discontent was Soviet domination. To be sure, not all nations experienced Soviet-brand
communism similarly. After its 1956 uprising, Hungary, for example, experimented with
an economy based more on consumer goods. Poland, too, took a separate path, with little
collectivized agriculture and a strong Roman Catholic presence. Yet discontent emerged
regularly. In Poland, the Soviet-supported government faced popular demonstrations in
the 1950s and, more seriously, in the 1980s. Troops were called on to quell protests in
Hungary in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968. Despite such protest, real change came
only after the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union in 1985 (See 1985, March
10). His policies of glasnost and perestroika led to far-reaching economic, social, and
political reforms. By 1989 these policies had given the satellite nations of Eastern
Europe enough security to break their bonds with the Soviet Union. One by one, they
toppled their communist-led governments and instituted democratic reforms. Most of
these revolutionary transformations were peaceful; Romania was the notable exception.
This period of “revolution” came to an end in 1992 with the collapse of the Soviet
Union.
13
Europe clearly entered a new and uncertain period in 1989. East and West Germany
were unified, but many former East Germans lost their jobs. The other nations of Eastern
Europe sought economic aid in building market economies. Meanwhile, old national and
ethnic rivalries long suppressed by the communists resurfaced; these caused the most
damage in the former Yugoslavia. In Western Europe, economic problems muted the
promise of 1992, when the 12 member nations of the Common Market became one freetrade zone and curtailed their ability to help the struggling states in the East. Finally,
immigration became a problem as unemployment spurred discontent among European
nationals who competed for jobs with the descendents of immigrants who had first
arrived in Europe in the 1950s, when governments had eagerly accepted this needed
influx of labor.
14
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1934–54)
2. Religious and Philosophical Thought
In the realm of religious thought, secularism continued to make great strides as divorce
and contraception, for example, became more commonplace. But the churches did not
stand still in this period. Pope John XXIII (1881–1963) convened Vatican II (1962–65),
the world Catholic council that updated the Church. Later popes, while remaining
traditionalists in matters like priestly celibacy, the ordination of women, and birth control,
continued to campaign for social justice. In the Protestant churches, two theological
movements emerged. Under the leadership of the Swiss theologian Karl Barth
(1886–1968), some Protestants dismissed the notion that reason could save the soul,
arguing instead for the primacy of revelation and the powerlessness of humans without
God's grace. Others, following the British theologian John Robinson, built on 19thcentury liberalism to argue that the Bible must be interpreted in a modern context.
Robinson believed modern Christians had to extract the inner meanings from the old
biblical myths and apply them to each situation of modern life, a stark difference from
Barth's fundamentalism.
1
For many, however, the notion that God was dead was as true after World War II as it had
been after World War I. Indeed, philosophical thought in postwar Europe continued along
trends established in the interwar period that highlighted the absurdity and
meaninglessness of life. The philosophical school that best expressed this view was
existentialism, led by French philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–80), Simone de
Beauvoir (1908–86), and Albert Camus (1913–60). These theorists argued that there
were no absolutes or eternal truths for humankind. In the 1960s a new school of thought,
known as structuralism, rose to challenge this view (See Nov. 3). Major figures,
including anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss (b. 1908) and literary critic Roland
Barthes (1915–80), grounded their theories on structural linguistics and the science of
signs to assert that human consciousness was the helpless victim of objective structures
implied in the laws of language syntax. In the late 1960s and early 1970s other
intellectuals, such as Jacques Derrida (b. 1930) and Michel Foucault (1926–84)
challenged the linguistic stability and systematic function of structuralism. Their
emphasis on textual analysis and relativist positions was instrumental in the formation of
2
poststructuralism and deconstruction in the post-1968 intellectual community.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Culture and Popular Culture)
3. Culture and Popular Culture
In the fine arts, it was difficult to discern any great changes from trends established in the
interwar period. Private expression continued to underpin the work of most artists; artists
were freed from learned convention to explore all avenues of self-expression. In painting,
as in architecture, the postwar period witnessed the continued development of the main
ideas of the interwar period. In the 1960s some artists created pop art, using bits of
comic strips and commercial art to bridge the gap between commercial mass culture and
fine art. In literature, while the traditional novel continued to thrive, the “new novel” of
French writers like Alain Robbe-Grillet (b. 1922) and Natalie Sarraute challenged this
form by concentrating on concrete details without plot or character development. Film
also became an important medium as directors like Jean-Luc Godard (b. 1930), François
Truffaut (1932–84), Michelangelo Antonioni (b. 1912), and Bernardo Bertolucci (b.
1940) made Paris and Rome centers of experimental filmmaking. The works of Ingmar
Bergman (b. 1918) and Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1946–82) also provided dark
commentary on modern life. In music, the application of computers and electronic
instruments like the Moog synthesizer aided composers in their search for new sounds.
And in architecture, major figures like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969), a
Bauhaus disciple, carried on functionalism, while Paris and Barcelona remained at the
forefront of modern architecture with a variety of new buildings in the “international
style,” plus a new interest in Barcelona's earlier Modernista movement.
1
In the realm of popular culture, the most striking feature was the spread of a worldwide
culture, influenced heavily by the Americans. This was made possible by the availability
of cheap transistor radios, television, films, and recordings, and by inexpensive travel
opportunities. Popular culture was thus the product of a society where such technologies
were commonplace, a society based on prosperity and consumption. The new culture
glorified youth, and film stars like Marilyn Monroe (1926–62) and James Dean
(1931–55) became international symbols. Perhaps the most famous purveyor of this
culture was the Beatles, a popular British rock and roll band. The band members clearly
represented the new international, youthful culture of carefree, good-humored hedonism.
This youth culture flourished easily in Western Europe, but even Soviet youth clamored
2
for blue jeans and Western music.
Popular culture changed in certain other respects. The new hedonism among young
people; greater freedom from adult supervision, including more public opportunities for
young women; and the development of the birth control pill in 1960 produced new sexual
behavior and a more open sexual culture. Representations of sexuality in European
films and television, the advent of stores that sold sexual items, and new behaviors,
including increased premarital intercourse, signaled this growing change. While rates of
illegitimate births increased for a time, public acceptance of birth control for young
people stabilized that trend by the 1970s.
3
Leisure time increased greatly in Europe, with many groups gaining as much as five
weeks in annual vacation time. Those in the north made massive annual migrations to
Italy, Spain, and southern France. New vacation organizations developed, and many
Europeans bought summer homes. Club Med was founded in 1950 by Gerard Blitz, and
its resorts ultimately spread around the world, providing a European atmosphere for
vacationers. At the same time, television watching became the most common leisure
pastime. Consumeristic values led to a heightened interest in material possessions, such
as household appliances, motor scooters, and automobiles. Shopping patterns changed,
away from community-based stores and toward supermarkets and other glossy settings.
Most Western European countries permitted television advertising by the 1970s, another
consumeristic change.
4
European manners became less stiff. Parent-child relations became less formal. Divorce
rates varied, rising in Britain to approximately one in every three marriages and generally
increasing. With growing numbers of women working, use of daycare centers for
children, usually government-sponsored, grew rapidly. While a minority maintained
important religious attachments, church attendance overall continued to decline in
Europe. Only in Eastern Europe, particularly after the fall of communism, were there
signs of new interest in Christianity.
5
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Science and Technology)
4. Science and Technology
The most important development in these two arenas was their continuing merger after
World War II. During the war, scientific research and technical expertise were both
directed at solving practical military problems. After the war, this cooperation between
pure science and applied technology continued, giving rise to what many called “big
science.” The war had demonstrated the effectiveness of directed research, a trend
continued after the war. This required a great deal of organization, however, and became
very expensive. Indeed, scientific research became the province of large, well-defined
bureaucratic organizations, and funding could be maintained only by governments and
corporations. By 1960, for example, when governments in Western Europe created the
European Council for Nuclear Research to build an accelerator outside of Geneva, the
cost was $30 million. The cost of research resulted in a “brain drain” in Europe, as many
scientists emigrated to the United States, where both the government and large
corporations spent vast sums of money. European nations responded to this challenge,
however, by pooling their energies, as in the Franco-British collaboration on the
Concorde, the supersonic passenger airliner, and Airbus, the airline manufacturing
consortium created by Great Britain, France, West Germany, and Spain among others.
1
Much of what was accomplished in technology built on what had existed before World
War II; jets, radar, and electronic computers were all developed before the war and were
adapted to more consumer-centered uses afterward. Microwave technology, for example,
was perfected for military purposes during the war, but generated endless applications
afterward in the telecommunications industry. This continued after the cold war as well,
as technology developed for the space race between the United States and the Soviet
Union gave rise to the use of French Arianne rockets to launch commercial satellites.
2
At the same time, the vigorous environmental movement began to question the results of
rapid technological change. In 1969, for example, millions of fish died in the Rhine
River two years after the disappearance of two 50-pound canisters containing the
insecticide Thiodan. Concerns over such environmental tragedies developed into
political movements, especially in Germany, where the Green Party gained enough
power to win a considerable number of votes in elections in the early 1990s. Disasters
3
like the 1986 meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine tempered
society's belief in the potential benefits of modern technology.
Some of the major scientific and technological developments that have occurred since
1945 follow.
4
1947
The word automation was coined by John Deibold and D. S. Harder, to define “a selfpowered, self-guiding and correcting mechanism,” and it was later extended to include
all elements of production—“automated factory”—and office and clerical procedures.
5
1950s
The basic-oxygen process for the manufacture of steel was developed in Austria.
6
1953
Francis H. C. Crick (b. 1916) and James D. Watson (b. 1928) offered a model for the
structure of DNA that accounted for gene replication and posited a biochemical code
that could transmit a great variety of genetic information. Electronic computers with
feedback mechanisms (servomechanisms) made possible the new field of cybernetics,
defined by Norbert Wiener (1953) as “the study of control and communication in the
animal and the machine.”
7
1961
The first manned spaceship circled the earth April 12 in 89.1 minutes, at an altitude of
187.7 miles. Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin (1934–68), made the orbit in the space
vehicle Vostok I, and astronaut (cosmonaut) Gherman Titov orbited the earth 17 times
less than four months later.
1962
8
Neil Bartlett (b. 1932) announced that he had combined xenon with platinum and
fluorine to form xenon-platinum hexafluoride; other compounds of xenon and radon
were found, thus destroying the notion that the noble gases are all nonreacting.
9
July 10
Telstar I was launched. The new satellite was used to transmit the first live transatlantic
telecasts between the United States and Great Britain.
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1947, Feb. 10)
5. Diplomatic Relations and European Pacts
1946, Sept. 6
U.S. Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, in a speech in Stuttgart, announced a more
lenient American policy toward Germany and called for a unified German economy.
1
1947, March 4
An Anglo-French treaty of alliance was signed at Dunkirk.
2
March 10–April 24
The council of foreign ministers, meeting in Moscow, failed in its effort to draft peace
treaties for Germany and Austria.
3
July 12–15
The MARSHALL PLAN (See June 5), a program for European recovery proposed by
U.S. secretary of state George Marshall, was discussed by delegates of 16 European
nations meeting in Paris. A committee was set up to draft a European Recovery
Program. The Soviet Union and its satellites refused to participate in a program of
European reconstruction.
4
Oct. 5
The COMMUNIST INFORMATION BUREAU (Cominform) was established by the
Communist parties of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary,
Poland, France, Italy, and Czechoslovakia. With headquarters in Belgrade, the bureau
was to coordinate the activities of European Communist parties.
5
Oct. 29
Ratification of the customs union among Belgium, the Netherlands, and
Luxembourg.
6
Nov. 25–Dec. 16
A conference of the Big Four foreign ministers in London again failed to agree on
solution of the German problem.
7
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Nov. 11)
6. Western Europe, 1945–2000
EUROPE, 2000 (MAP)
a. Britain
Monarchs: George VI (r. 1936–52); Elizabeth II (r. 1952– ).
1
Prime ministers: Clement Atlee (1945–51, Labour); Winston Churchill (1951–55,
Conservative); Anthony Eden (1955–57, Conservative); Harold Macmillan (1957–63,
Conservative); Sir Alec Douglas-Home (1963–64, Conservative); Harold Wilson
(1964–70, Labour); Edward Heath (1970–74, Conservative); Harold Wilson (1974–76,
Labour); James Callaghan (1976–79, Labour); Margaret Thatcher (1979–90,
Conservative); John Major (1990–97, Conservative); Tony Blair (1997– , Labour).
2
1945, May 7
Germans surrendered unconditionally to representatives of the U.S., USSR, France,
and Great Britain in Reims, France. Britain lost a total of 398,000 military personnel
over the course of World War II.
3
May 23
Prime Minister Winston Churchill resigned in the face of the collapse of the wartime
coalition, established in 1940, of the Conservative and Labour Parties.
4
July 5
In an unexpected victory in the first general parliamentary elections in ten years, the
British Labour Party won 388 seats out of 640.
5
July 26
A new Labour cabinet, with Clement R. Atlee as prime minister, was formed. Atlee
replaced Churchill for the later sessions of the Potsdam Conference (See July 17–Aug.
2). The new government immediately embarked on an ambitious program of
socialization. A brief period of postwar optimism was followed by an extended regime of
economic austerity, due chiefly to the profound disruption of Britain's economy caused
by the war. To facilitate the reconversion to peacetime production, demobilization of
manpower and industry was carried out only gradually.
6
Oct. 15
The House of Commons voted to extend the government's wartime emergency powers
for five years, to make up for the cessation of lend-lease, which came as a deep shock to
Britain's economy.
7
Dec. 6
The United States granted a loan of $3.75 billion to Great Britain. Canada subsequently
provided a loan of $1.25 billion. However, both these loans were exhausted by the end of
1947 due to high prices on the American market.
8
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See June 16)
b. Ireland (Eire)
1945, June 4
Elections in Northern Ireland favored continued Irish partition.
1
June 25
President Douglas Hyde retired and Seán T. O'Kelly became second president of Eire.
2
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c. The Low Countries
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1944, Sept. 2)
c. The Low Countries
1. Belgium
1944, Sept. 2
Brussels was liberated from German occupation by the 2nd British Army.
1
Belgium, after its liberation, was governed by coalitions of the main political parties, with
Prince Charles as regent. Its major domestic issue was the return of King Leopold
(deposed in 1945), which the Catholics favored and the Socialists opposed. On July 17,
1945, parliament passed a bill making Leopold's return dependent on parliamentary
approval.
2
1946, Feb. 17
A general election gave the Catholic Christian Socialists the largest number of votes,
but continued disagreement over the future of the monarchy prevented the formation of a
coalition cabinet.
3
1947, March 19
Paul-Henri Spaak was able to form a coalition government of Catholics and Socialists,
thus assuring greater stability in the handling of pressing economic problems.
Nov. 1
4
A customs union with Holland and Luxembourg (Benelux) became effective.
5
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d. France
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Oct. 23)
d. France
Postwar provisional government: Gen. C. de Gaulle (1945–46), F. Gouin (1946), G.
Bidault (1946–47).
1
Fourth Republic presidents: V. Auriol (1947–53), R. Coty (1953–58).
2
Fifth Republic presidents: Gen. C. de Gaulle (1958–69), G. Pompidou (1969–74), A.
Poher (1974, April–May, interim), V. Giscard d'Estaing (1974–81), F. Mitterrand
(1981–95), J. Chirac (1995– ).
3
1944, Aug. 23–24
German forces in Paris were compelled to capitulate as Allied armies approached and
armed citizens liberated the city. The administration was turned over to Charles de
Gaulle with the approval of the Allied commanders.
4
Through the 1940s and beyond, the issue of collaboration remained a central question
in French political life. French society was divided on the degree to which those who
had collaborated with the Nazis should be punished. Communists favored harsh
sentences; Catholic groups advocated forgiveness in the name of national reconstruction;
prominent existentialists and socialists took a more moderate approach.
5
The épuration, or purge, of persons known or suspected to have collaborated with the
Germans began during the war itself but intensified in the immediate postwar period.
Some nine thousand summary executions were carried out by the population, threequarters of them before the Allied landing or during the fighting, the remainder
occurring as a result of popular impatience with the slowness of the court system. An
additional 767 executions were carried out in the years following the war by state
authorities, after prosecution and conviction of the accused.
6
Sept. 27
The first phase of nationalizations designed to restore prewar levels of production in the
transport, fuel, and heavy-machinery sectors of the economy began when de Gaulle's
government took over the coal fields of the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments.
7
Oct. 4
The French state seized control of Renault automobile factories.
8
Nov. 7
A consultative National Assembly, summoned by de Gaulle, held its first session.
Municipal and departmental elections for the 89 départements were set for February
1945, and the franchise was extended to all citizens, male or female, older than 21.
9
Dec. 10
A Franco-Soviet treaty of alliance and mutual security was negotiated. It was to run
for 20 years.
10
Dec. 18
Nationalization of the French merchant fleet.
11
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1944, May 3)
e. The Iberian Peninsula
1. Spain
Heads of state: Gen. Francisco Franco (1939–75), King Juan Carlos de Borbon
(1975– ).
1
Prime ministers (post-Franco): Carlos Arias Navarro (1975–76), Adolfo Suarez
(1976–81), Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo (1981), Felipe Gonzalez (1981– ), José Maria Aznar
(1996– ).
2
After the defeat of the Axis powers in World War II, Gen. Francisco Franco began
moving away from the fascist ideology that had underpinned his regime during its first
years in power. Still, policies of economic autarchy were not abandoned until the later
1950s, the political system remained strictly authoritarian, and civil liberties were not
fully restored until after the caudillo's death in 1975. The transition to democracy in
Spain that took place thereafter was distinct from that of other European nations in that it
was a gradual process, with figures from the former regime remaining in positions of
military and civilian authority through the 1980s.
3
1945, March 22
Don Juan, the Bourbon claimant to the Spanish throne, called for the resignation of Gen.
Franco and the restoration of the monarchy.
4
May 8
Spain broke off diplomatic relations with Germany.
5
May 12
Falangist officials attended a requiem mass for Adolf Hitler. Spain continued to give
refuge to large numbers of Germans, despite Allied demands for their repatriation.
6
June 20
The San Francisco (Calif.) Conference on the United Nations Charter excluded Spain
from membership in the UN. A similar exclusion was contained in the report on the
Potsdam Conference (Aug. 2).
7
July 20
Gen. Franco made changes in his cabinet, filling several government posts with reputedly
royalist sympathizers, and stated that the monarchy would be restored at a future date.
8
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See June 4)
f. The Italian Region
1. Italy
Presidents: Enrico de Nicola (1946–48); Luigi Einaudi (1948–55); Giovanni Gronchi
(1955–62); Antonio Segni (1962–64); Guiseppe Saragat (1964–71); Giovanni Leone
(1971–78); Alessandro Pertini (1978–85); Francesco Cossiga (1985–92); Oscar Luigi
Scalfaro (1992– ).
1
1945, Nov. 30
The leader of the Christian Democrats, Alcide de Gasperi, formed a new government
supported by all major parties.
2
1946, Jan. 1
With the transfer of Bolzano province by the Allies, the whole country, except for
Venezia Giulia (claimed by both Italy and Yugoslavia), was under Italian sovereignty.
3
May 9
KING VICTOR EMMANUEL III ABDICATED. His son proclaimed himself King
Umberto II.
June 2
4
Elections to the Constituent Assembly gave 207 seats (out of 556) to the Christian
Democrats, 115 to the Socialists, and 104 to the Communists. At the same time, a
referendum rejected the monarchy, 12,717,923 votes to 10,719,284, thus making ITALY
A REPUBLIC.
5
June 11
The prime minister, Alcide de Gasperi, was made temporary head of state.
6
June 13
King Umberto, while refusing to accept the popular verdict against the monarchy, left
the country to prevent the outbreak of violence.
7
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(See 1940, Nov. 19)
g. Switzerland
1946, April 2
Switzerland announced its decision to stay outside the United Nations, so as not to
endanger its traditional neutrality.
1
1947, Oct. 28
General elections brought no important changes in the lineup of parties. The Progressive
Democrats received 51 seats, the Social Democrats 48, the Catholic Conservatives 44,
and the Labor Party (Communist) 7 of the total 194 seats in the Parliament (Federal
Assembly).
2
1950s
Spread of self-service stores, displacing older shops; growing consumerism.
3
1950, Feb
Switzerland embarked on a five-year plan of military preparedness and announced that
it would fight to defend its neutrality.
Sept
4
The executive Federal Council (Bundesrat) expelled all Communists from
government service.
5
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h. Germany
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(See July 20)
h. Germany
Chancellors (Federal Republic): Konrad Adenauer (1949–63, Christian Democrat);
Ludwig Erhard (1963–66, Christian Democrat); Kurt Kiesinger (1966–69, Christian
Democrat–Christian Social Union); Willy Brandt (1969–74, Social Democrat); Helmut
Schmidt (1974–82, Social Democrat); Helmut Kohl (1984–98, Christian Democrat);
Gerhard Schroeder (1998–, Social Democrat). The end of World War II brought profound
changes to Germany. The fighting itself left the country in ruins, the outbreak of cold war
hostilities led to partitioning in 1949, and in East and West Germany the dismantling of
traditional structures of power by occupation forces produced very different cultural
shifts as well as contrasting economic trajectories. After four decades of development
along separate paths under divided statehood, Germany unified in 1989. One country
again, Germany began to face a series of new challenges that tested not only its economic
strength, but also the nation's cultural integrity and social cohesiveness.
1
1945, April 30
ADOLF HITLER COMMITTED SUICIDE IN BERLIN as Soviet forces captured the
city.
2
May 8
Terms of unconditional surrender, signed at Reims on the previous day, became
effective and ended the Second World War in Europe. Surrender terms were also
signed in Berlin between German and Soviet commanders.
3
With the total defeat of the Hitler regime, no German government remained. Instead,
supreme authority was vested in an Allied Control Council of Great Britain, France,
the United States, and the Soviet Union. Each of these powers administered its own
4
occupation zone, with the Soviet Union holding the region east of the Elbe. The former
capital, Berlin, was likewise divided into four sectors. Future policy toward Germany
had been outlined at the Potsdam Conference, though its implementation varied in the
different occupation zones. The victors' most immediate measures were concerned with
the liquidation of the Nazi system, the transformation of Germany's economy to
peacetime production, and the transfer of administrative functions into German hands. On
Nov. 20 the trial of major Nazi leaders opened at Nuremberg before an inter-Allied
tribunal. In addition, thousands of lesser Nazis were removed from office and held for
trial. Also on Nov. 20, the Control Council approved the transfer of 6,500,000 Germans
from Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the German region beyond the
Oder-Neisse line, which had been handed to Poland at the Potsdam Conference, pending
a peace settlement. In the months that followed, Germany's industrial power was
drastically reduced by the dismantling of the war plants and the removal of equipment
for reparations purposes. At the same time, large stores of food were imported to maintain
a minimum ration. In all occupation zones, political parties were authorized by the end
of 1945. In the Soviet zone administrative authority was vested in the provincial councils,
which immediately initiated far-reaching land reforms. In the three Western zones,
German self-government was initiated on local and provincial levels.
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i. Austria
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(See 1945, April 13)
i. Austria
1945, April 25
A provisional government was set up with Karl Renner of the Socialist Party as
chancellor.
1
May 14
THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA was reestablished.
2
Aug. 8
The division of Austria and Vienna into four occupation zones was completed. The
Allied Council for Austria assumed authority over matters affecting the whole of
Austria.
3
Nov. 25
The first general election since 1930 gave the People's Party a majority over the
Socialists and Communists.
Dec. 18
4
Leopold Figl (People's Party) formed a coalition cabinet with the Socialists.
5
Dec. 20
KARL RENNER was unanimously elected PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC by the
National Assembly.
6
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j. The Scandinavian States
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(See 1939, June 17)
(See Sept)
j. The Scandinavian States
A chief concern of the Scandinavian countries during the postwar period was with
military security. Negotiations among Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in 1948–49 on a
joint defense pact broke down when Denmark and Norway (together with Iceland)
decided to join the North Atlantic Treaty, while Sweden was determined to do nothing
that might impair its traditional neutrality. Finland likewise tried to maintain a middle
course, constrained by Soviet overtures for more cordial relations.
1
In economic and cultural matters, however, the Scandinavian states drew ever closer
together. On Feb. 12, 1953, all of them except Finland organized the Nordic Council,
which Finland joined two years later. The council consisted of members of the various
parliaments, meeting annually for discussion of common problems and general
consultation; committees were set up to deal with economic, social, financial, and cultural
matters. In 1967 the council set up the Nordic Cultural Foundation, and in 1969 it
endorsed plans for a Nordic Economic Union. Various foundations were established for
scientific and other purposes.
2
1. Denmark
1945, May 5
Vilhelm Buhl, a Social Democrat, formed the first postwar cabinet.
Oct. 30
3
General elections for the first time gave 18 of the 148 seats in the lower house to the
Communist Party. The Social Democrats lost an equal number but still emerged as the
strongest party. Since no coalition was possible, Knud Kristensen formed a Liberal
Party minority government.
4
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(See 1944, Aug. 1)
7. Eastern Europe, 1945–2000
a. Poland
1945, April 21
The Soviet government and a Polish provisional government set up in Moscow agreed
on a 20-year treaty of mutual aid.
1
June 12
The British and French, who favored the Polish government in exile in London,
persuaded the USSR to agree to a tripartite commission that would aid in the
organization of a Polish government.
2
At the Yalta Conference, Poland's eastern territories were reduced approximately to the
“Curzon line” of 1919, while its western border, pending a final peace settlement, was
extended to the Oder-Neisse line in eastern Germany. The leadership of postwar Poland
was claimed by two rival groups, the Soviet-sponsored provisional government at
Lublin, and the Polish government in exile in London.
3
June 28
After lengthy negotiations, a government of national unity was formed, under Socialist
premier Eduard Osobka-Morawski of the Lublin administration. It was recognized by
the Western powers, though its leanings turned out to be decidedly pro-Soviet. For this
reason, many Polish citizens who, as displaced persons or members of Poland's armed
forces, were still in Western Europe refused to be repatriated.
4
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b. Czech Republic and Slovakia (Czechoslovakia)
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(See 1945, May 9)
b. Czech Republic and Slovakia (Czechoslovakia)
1945, April 5
Klement Gottwald, vice prime minister of Czechoslovakia and a leader of the
Czechoslovak Communist Party, declared that the new Czechoslovak state would be
based on the equality of Czechs and Slovaks.
1
May 10
The new government moved to Prague. In a sweeping political purge, many
collaborators were tried and executed. Former president Emil Hácha died in prison;
Konrad Henlein committed suicide.
2
June 6
Edvard Bene , president of Czechoslovakia, declared that the German and
Hungarian minorities had to be expelled from his country.
3
June 29
Czechoslovakia ceded Ruthenia to the Soviet Union.
Aug. 3
4
All Germans and Hungarians in Czechoslovakia were deprived of their citizenship
and subesquently expelled from the country.
5
Oct. 14
A provisional National Assembly was elected by indirect suffrage.
6
Oct. 18
The government embarked on a far-reaching program of industrial nationalization and
agricultural reform.
7
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c. Hungary
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(See Dec. 21)
c. Hungary
1945, Nov. 3
The first general election gave an absolute majority to the anticommunist Smallholders'
Party, whose leader, Zoltan Tildy, formed a coalition cabinet. The Communists gained
the Interior and Justice Ministries and thus controlled the secret police.
1
The economic situation of the country was desperate as a result of the war, with serious
food shortages and an unprecedented currency inflation. Large-scale Soviet requisitions
further aggravated the situation.
2
1946
About 150,000 ethnic Germans were expelled; another 100,000 were expelled in 1947.
3
Feb. 1
A republic was proclaimed with Zoltan Tildy as president. Ferenc Nagy of the
Smallholders' Party became premier on Feb. 4.
4
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d. Yugoslavia and Successor States
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(See 1944, Oct. 20)
d. Yugoslavia and Successor States
1945, May
As the war ended, Yugoslavia was still theoretically a monarchy. The actual power,
however, was wielded by Marshal Tito and his National Liberation Movement.
1
Nov. 11
Elections for a constituent assembly gave a substantial majority to Tito's
Communist-dominated National Front.
2
Nov. 29
The assembly proclaimed a FEDERAL PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA.
3
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e. Albania
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(See Oct)
e. Albania
1945, Nov. 10
The Communist-dominated government of Premier Enver Hoxha was recognized by
the Soviet Union and the Western powers. It was upheld in general elections, which
returned the single list of official candidates (Dec. 2).
1
1946, Jan. 11
The constituent assembly proclaimed the PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA. Its
domestic and foreign policy followed closely the communist, pro-Soviet line taken by
other Russian satellites. Relations with the West, and notably Great Britain, rapidly
deteriorated.
2
May–Oct
Two naval incidents in the Corfu Channel, caused by Albanian coastal batteries and
mines and resulting in the loss of British lives, further increased British-Albanian
tension.
3
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f. Greece
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(See 1943)
f. Greece
1944, Dec. 25
British prime minister Winston Churchill and his foreign secretary, Anthony Eden,
arrived in Athens to arrange a settlement in the civil war that had developed between
Greek factions. A regency government was proclaimed, and Archbishop Damaskinos
sworn in as regent after his appointment (Dec. 30) by the Greek king, George II.
1
1945, Jan. 11
The Greek civil war ended with a truce between the British forces and the leftist factions
opposing British intervention.
2
The war left Greece a legacy of economic ruin, starvation, and domestic strife. The end of
the civil war did not bring political stability. The regent, Archbishop Damaskinos,
supported by British occupation authorities, appointed six different ministries during
1945, none of which was able to bridge the gap between moderates and left-wing
resistance groups.
3
1946, March 31
The first general election won an overwhelming majority for the royalist Popular
Party. The National Liberation Front (Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo, EAM) and other
leftist groups refused to participate in the voting.
4
April 18
Populist leader Panyoti Tsaldaris formed a cabinet.
5
May–1949, Oct
Several thousand communists, supported by Greece's communist neighbors, engaged in
extensive guerrilla activities that soon developed into a regular civil war.
6
Sept. 1
A plebiscite decided 69 percent in favor of the monarchy, and King George II
returned to Athens (Sept. 28).
7
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g. Bulgaria
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(See 1943, Aug. 29)
g. Bulgaria
1945, Nov. 18
The first general election gave overwhelming support to the single list of the
Fatherland Front, a wartime coalition of major parties, by this time under Communist
control.
1
1946
In a sweeping purge, more than 1,500 high-ranking men and ten times as many minor
figures in the old regime were killed.
2
March 31
Premier Kimon Gueorguiev formed a Communist-dominated government.
3
Sept. 8
A referendum decided against the monarchy.
Sept. 15
4
Bulgaria was proclaimed a PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC. Young Tsar Simeon II went into
exile.
5
Oct. 27
General elections for a constituent assembly, carried on with considerable
governmental interference, resulted in a Communist majority.
6
Nov. 21
Veteran Communist Georgi Dimitrov returned from Moscow to become premier.
7
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h. Romania
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(See 1944, Aug. 23–24)
h. Romania
1945, March 2
King Michael asked Petru Groza, leader of the left-wing Plowman's Front, to form a
government. Based largely on the National Democratic Front, from the start the new
government showed its Communist, pro-Russia leanings.
1
1946, Jan. 7
As a result of British and American pressure, representatives of the opposition parties
were included in the government, although the important posts continued to be in
Communist hands.
2
May 17
Gen. Ion Antonescu, wartime premier, was condemned to death.
3
Nov. 19
The general election, preceded by a campaign of violence against the opposition,
resulted in a majority for the Communist government.
4
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i. Russia (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Successor States)
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(See June 29)
i. Russia (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Successor States)
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION, 2000 (MAP)
1. Soviet Union
1944, Feb. 1
An amendment to the constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics granted
separate commissariats for defense and for foreign affairs to each of the constituent
republics. Each could thus maintain its own army (which would form, however, a
component element in the army of the USSR) and conduct its own negotiations with
foreign countries, and conclude treaties with them.
1
1946, Feb. 10
The first general elections since 1937 for the Supreme Soviet returned the official list of
approved candidates.
2
March 15
The fourth five-year plan, designed to increase industrial output by more than 50 percent
over prewar levels, was adopted by the Supreme Soviet. Much of the necessary industrial
equipment was collected from Soviet-occupied regions in Eastern and Central Europe.
3
March 19
In a series of governmental changes, President Michael Kalinin resigned because of ill
health and was succeeded by the former trade union leader Nikolai Shvernik. A Council
of Ministers (with Joseph Stalin as chairman and Foreign Minister V. M. Molotov as
deputy chairman) replaced the former Council of People's Commissars.
4
June 28
The Ministry of State Control announced widespread dismissals in industry for
incompetence and dishonesty. This was followed in August by a similar purge of
agricultural offenders.
5
Nov. 18
Marshal Koniev replaced Marshal G. K. Zhukov as commander-in-chief of the Soviet
armed forces.
6
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(See Nov.–1946, March)
C. North America, 1946–2000
1. The United States, 1946–2000
The post–World War II era brought a plethora of changes to American life. The country
claimed leadership of the “free world” and entered a sustained period of cold war with
the Soviet Union and its allies. In order to combat the spread of communism, the
government embarked upon an unprecedented period of peacetime military expansion.
Federal support for the development of advanced military technology played a role in
research development that undermined the old blue-collar sector of the economy. The
increasing application of computer technology helped to transform the nation from a
predominantly goods-producing society to a mainly service-producing one. The postwar
baby boom (See 1943), increasing suburbanization, and the continuing spread of
American consumer culture all reflected as well as reinforced these trends. Following
the end of the Vietnam War, the economy deteriorated, unemployment increased, and
Republicans returned to power with a firm determination to end the New Deal social
welfare order. By the early 1990s, with the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe,
the nation sought to craft new policies for a post–cold war world.
1
The cold war not only influenced American foreign policy and the economy, but also
helped to transform domestic social and political relations as well. The nation's
aggressive posture toward communism abroad was accompanied by equally vigorous
attacks on suspected Communists at home. Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy's investigations,
the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and wiretaps on the phones of civil rights leaders such as
Martin Luther King, Jr., all reflected the destructive impact of the cold war at home and
abroad.
2
Beginning with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and culminating in the March on
Washington for “freedom and jobs” in 1963, civil rights emerged as the most pressing
domestic issue facing the nation. By the late 1960s, the U.S. had moved to dismantle the
system of Jim Crow, to enfranchise African Americans, and to address the “unfinished
revolution” of full citizenship rights for African Americans. Women, Hispanics, Native
Americans, and eventually gay rights and environmental activists accelerated their
3
assault against various forms of injustice and inequality, including racial, ethnic, gender,
and sexual-preference barriers. Until the late 1960s, the Democratic Party remained
committed to the New Deal welfare state and helped push provisions for social services
beyond the limits established during the 1930s. During the 1970s and1980s, however,
the U.S. undertook a dramatic reordering of its national priorities.
Following the election of 1968 and the nation's defeat in and retreat from Vietnam, the
U.S. entered a prolonged crisis of economic and political restructuring. This period also
signaled the end of American dominance in the world economy. The U.S. experienced
the painful transition from a creditor to a debtor nation, with the world's largest foreign
debt and a rising foreign trade deficit that peaked at $171 billion in 1987. The nation's
increasing dependence on Middle Eastern oil played a major role in the eruption of the
Persian Gulf War in 1990. Beginning with Republican president Richard M. Nixon in
1968, and accelerating with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, the nation turned
away from its commitment to social welfare spending and undercut measures for
translating civil rights laws into social practice. Dubbed “Reaganomics,” this movement
caused the federal government to disband the Office of Economic Opportunity (1971),
weakened support for affirmative action in Bakke v. University of California–Davis
(1978), and enacted a vigorous policy of tax cuts with the Economic Recovery Tax Act
of 1981 and the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Under the Republican administrations,
numerous groups—labor unions, women, racial and ethnic minorities, and
environmentalists—experienced the impact of increasingly conservative policies.
4
Despite strong reactions against social programs and grassroots social movements,
however, the U.S. continued to witness vigorous forms of activism during the period.
The environmental movement and the gay rights movement (with intensified motivation
after the outbreak of AIDS) represented important centers of activism. At the same time,
African Americans increasingly channeled their efforts into the electoral arena. Civil
rights activist Jesse Jackson mounted important challenges to the established Democratic
Party with his “Rainbow Coalition” in the elections of 1984 and 1988. With the
presidential election of Democrat William “Bill” Clinton in 1992, the nation seemed
prepared to reassess the desirability of Reaganomics. Yet Clinton's first year in office
revealed the nation's deep resistance to social change, including the lifting of bans on
gays in the military. The conservative tide of the Reagan years would turn only slowly.
5
The postwar economy. Both founded in 1944, two institutions—the International
Bank of Reconstruction and Development, or World Bank, and the International
Monetary Fund—fueled the nation's postwar economic growth. Along with the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades (GATT), a multinational trade agreement,
these economic arrangements represented what became known as the Bretton Woods
system of postwar economic development.
6
1946–60
The baby boom generation. During these years the nation's birth rate soared. The 20
percent population growth rate in the 1950s resulted particularly from an increase in
middle-class birth rates. The boom peaked in 1957. Because of their numbers, the
children, called “baby boomers,” greatly influenced U.S. public, private, and cultural
behaviors. Dr. Benjamin Spock published his best-selling Baby and Child Care (1946)
and influenced a generation of baby boom mothers. Technological changes continued to
transform American life and promote the expansion of consumerism. Consumer credit
rose from $8.4 billion in 1946 to $45 billion in 1958. At the same time, the emergence of
the first McDonald's restaurant in San Bernardino, Calif. (1954) and the Holiday Inn
motel chain in Memphis, Tenn. (1952), signaled the rise of the fast food, vacation, and
recreation industries. Although fewer than 7,000 television sets existed in the entire
nation in 1947, by 1955, 66 percent of American families owned one.
7
1946, March
Winston Churchill delivered his “iron curtain” speech in Fulton, Mo., which helped
set the tone for the cold war.
8
April–May
The U.S. labor movement could claim a greater membership than at any other time in
its history; nearly 40 percent of the labor force was unionized. A second wave of
strikes hit the soft-coal mines and the railroads. Before the strikes were settled, the
government had taken control of the railroads (May 17) and the coal mines (May 20).
Pres. Harry Truman angered labor leaders by threatening to draft striking
workers into the armed forces. Congress passed the Employment Act to initiate
federal fiscal planning on a permanent basis, to ensure economic growth as well as to
curb inflation.
9
June 25
The Senate passed a measure extending Selective Service until March 31, 1947. Prior to
this, public pressure had brought about the hasty demobilization of close to 9 million
men.
10
July 1–25
Scientists at Bikini in the Pacific demonstrated the effect of an atomic explosion in
experiments detonated on warships and under water.
11
July 15
Pres. Truman signed a bill extending a credit of $3.75 billion to Great Britain.
12
Sept. 20
Secretary of Commerce Henry A. Wallace was asked to resign following his criticism
of the government's increasingly firm policy toward the Soviet Union.
13
Nov. 9
Following a futile battle with Congress to maintain price and wage controls, Pres.
Truman removed virtually all controls except those on rent and some foods.
14
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(See 1945, June 11)
2. Canada, 1946–2000
The cold war shaped Canadian history no less than it did U.S. history. Located between
two superpowers, both with nuclear capabilities, Canada supported the U.S. and became a
major architect of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Through its treaty agreements
as well as through trade arrangements, the nation became increasingly linked to the
political economy of the U.S. Most of its trade went to the U.S., while American
businesses expanded their investments in the Canadian economy. Foreign corporations
(mostly U.S. companies) owned most of the nation's petroleum and discouraged
Canadian-controlled research and development projects; this ensured Canada's exclusion
from the microchip computer revolution that transformed American technology and
industries during the period. Although some Canadian policy makers soon complained of
the growing dependence of the Canadian economy on foreign companies, the pattern
persisted and placed Canada in an increasingly precarious position in the world market.
When the Middle Eastern oil crisis struck Western countries in the 1970s and 1980s, the
Canadian economy was particularly hard hit.
1
Despite heavy dependence on the U.S. for economic development and defense, Canada
experienced unprecedented economic growth and prosperity until the early 1970s.
Production and consumption rose, as the nation's population not only increased but
continued to urbanize, and then suburbanize, in growing numbers. A variety of forces
fueled the development of Canadian cities, suburbs, and consumer culture: the baby
boom, relatively low rates of unemployment, and an overall rise in the standard of living.
Yet, as in earlier eras, the country's prosperity was unequally distributed. Inequality
persisted between the troubled agricultural sector (and the maritime provinces) and the
vibrant urban economies of Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. French-speaking Quebec
only slowly gained parity with English-speaking Canada. And the problems of Native
Americans, African Canadians, women, and homosexuals received little attention until
these groups organized and exerted increasing pressure on the Canadian government. By
the late 1980s and early 1990s, Canada was also attracting increasing numbers of new
immigrants from Europe (especially Italy), Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Although
French-speaking Quebec voted to remain in the Dominion in 1980, the new wave of
2
immigrants challenged the nation's ability to maintain an increasingly multiracial as well
as multicultural nation.
1946, April 12
Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander succeeded the earl of Athlone as governorgeneral.
3
July 1
The proclamation of the Canadian Citizenship Act clarified the definition of Canadian
citizenship but retained the status of British subjects for Canadians. It went into effect on
Jan. 1, 1947.
4
July 15
A royal commission investigating the activities of a Soviet spy ring in Canada reported
the disclosure of important secret information by Canadian officials and the existence of a
Communist fifth column in Canada, directed by Soviet agents. Among the Canadians
involved was the one parliamentary delegate of the Labour-Progressive (Communist)
Party.
5
Aug. 3
An Anglo-Canadian wheat agreement provided for British purchases of large amounts
of Canadian wheat at prices considerably below the world market.
6
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Overview)
D. Latin America, 1945–2000
1. Overview
In the years since World War II, Latin America has undergone major cultural, economic,
and political changes. Industrialization and urbanization have transformed the region.
Long-standing conflicts over land use and control were supplemented by the struggle
for industrial development, the desire for regional self-sufficiency and integration, and
the fight against imperial domination. New political movements, ranging from the
extreme Right to the extreme Left, reflected Latin America's changing international and
internal situation.
1
Beginning in the 1950s, hyperurbanization produced megalopolises in cities such as
São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Mexico City. Declining economic opportunities and
land scarcity in the countryside have driven ever larger numbers of campesinos into
urban areas, looking for work. By the 1980s these cities, surrounded by countless
squatter settlements, were among the largest in the world. Rapid population growth
was simultaneously felt in rural areas, where inhabitants continued to struggle against
the onslaught of commercial agriculture and environmental destruction.
2
In some regions the urban middle and working classes have also expanded rapidly.
Import substitution industrialization and public employment supported the expansion
of these classes in the years after 1945. As these groups grew, so did demands for social
welfare and health programs, expanded educational opportunities, and growth in the role
that the state played in regulating the economy and society. Before the crises and
privatizations of the late 1980s, the state in nations such as Brazil, Mexico, and
Argentina was heavily involved in commerce and society, and often the state owned
important national industries. In other less-developed countries, where a small number
of people were able to maintain control of the political apparatus, right-wing repressive
tactics were often maintained.
3
The nationalist and populist politics that dominated the 1940s and 1950s gave way to a
more socialist-oriented politics in some areas by the 1960s and 1970s. This trend
produced the socialist revolutions in Cuba (1959) and Nicaragua (1979), and the
4
election of a socialist president in Chile (1970). However, harsh authoritarian regimes
and extremely reactionary governments dominated much of the region. Many
movements identified with the Left were ruthlessly suppressed. During this time, Latin
American militaries, often with U.S. support, played a growing role in politics,
occasionally as social reformers (as in Peru in 1968), but most often as representatives of
the Right.
By the late 1980s both military interventions in politics and the power of the Left
were in steep decline. Years of brutal dictatorships and the horrors of Argentina's “dirty
war” and Augusto Pinochet's Chile had helped to bring Latin America's militaries into
deep disregard, while the obvious failures of Fidel Castro's Cuba and the decline of
socialism abroad forced the region's leaders to look elsewhere for solutions to their
problems. The new, mostly civilian governments of the region are currently resorting to
neoliberalism and considering the policies of the newly industrializing nations of the
Far East for answers to their problems with staggering debt and economic stagnation.
5
Larger political movements have also reflected certain profound changes in the internal
power relationships in Latin American society. The role of women has changed
radically in Latin America over the past 50 years. From simply receiving the vote to
demanding (and finding) expanded roles in politics, business, and other fields, feminist
movements have had some startling successes in the region. Native, mestizo, and black
movements have also made great strides in their demands for representation and for
ethnic and racial equality. The Catholic Church in the region has recently taken up the
cause of the poor and dispossessed, highlighted by conferences in 1968 and 1979
wherein the church abandoned its traditional noninterventionist stance and openly
advocated action to empower the poor and change the plight of the dispossessed.
Religious life, meanwhile, has become more diverse, with evangelical Protestant sects
attracting numerous converts from poor urban neighborhoods. African-influenced
religions, such as Santería (Cuba), Vodun (Haiti), and Candomblê (Brazil) have also
thrived in the rapidly expanding cities.
6
a. Cultural Developments
In the years since World War II, Latin American art, literature, and film have assumed a
prominent international status. Many Latin American artists of the postwar era have
used their work to engage in social and political struggles. Poets such as Nobel
Prize–winner Pablo Neruda (1904–73), whose most famous work, Canto General
(1950), explores the history of Latin America from the point of view of the workers and
peasants, examined issues and social groups that had been all but ignored. Cuban poet
Nicolás Guillen, too, used traditions drawn from Afro-Cuban folk culture to attack
imperial domination in Latin America.
7
Over the past 50 years, the novel and short story have emerged as the two dominant art
forms of the region. In the 1940s, the Argentine Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) rose to
international prominence with works such as Ficciones (1944), which used magic and
fantasy as its primary vehicle. The Mexican Nobel laureate (1990) Octavio Paz
published his major work, The Labyrinth of Solitude (1950), in the immediate postwar
period. During the same years, writers such as Miguel A. Asturias, who wrote Men of
Maize (1949), were developing the school of magical realism in Latin America. These
authors blended myth, fantasy, and native imagery to produce works that might be
understood from the perspective of Indian cultures or as rejections of the “logic” of
Western literary narratives.
8
The boom in Latin American fiction began in the 1960s. During this decade, the
Mexican Carlos Fuentes (The Death of Artemio Cruz, 1962), the Peruvian Mario
Vargas Llosa (Conversations in the Cathedral, 1970), and the Colombian Gabriel
García Márquez (One Hundred Years of Solitude, 1967) gained international
prominence. García Márquez (b. 1928), perhaps the most prominent Latin American
author, used magical realism to retell some of the most tragic events in Colombian
history, mixing fantasy with reality, making the two part of everyday life. García
Márquez was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1982.
9
In the postwar period, the Latin American film industry also grew significantly, but it
was not until the 1960s that Latin American filmmakers emerged as major artists.
Cinema Nôvo in Brazil produced a wealth of films exploring poverty in the region,
focusing particularly on the favelas (urban slums) of Brazil's cities. During the 1960s the
Cuban film industry, led by figures such as Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (Memories of
Underdevelopment, 1968) launched a concerted assault against the dominance of
Hollywood in the region. Elsewhere in Latin America, efforts at independent filmmaking
have been frustrated by the lack of public and private funding.
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
b. Regional Diplomacy
1945, Feb
Latin American and American leaders met in Mexico City for the Chapultepec
Conference to discuss postwar cooperation. The U.S. indicated that European recovery
had top priority and that, although it intended to protect its own producers, it wanted an
open door for investment and trade in the region. The Latin Americans opposed the U.S.
position.
1
1947, Sept. 2
The Inter-American Mutual Assistance Treaty was adopted by the Inter-American
conference meeting at Rio. It provided for mutual assistance against aggression.
2
1948, April 30
The Ninth Pan-American Conference, at Bogotá, established the Organization of
American States (OAS) as a regional grouping under the UN. The Inter-American
Conference became the supreme authority of the OAS, and the Pan-American Union its
secretariat.
3
Dec. 13
The OAS charter went into effect upon ratification by Colombia, the 14th state.
4
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1944, Jan 27)
2. South America, 1945–2000
a. Argentina
1945, Oct. 9
With the country polarized over Juan Perón's labor concessions and advocacy of the poor,
the military (supported by big business, the landed elites, as well as Socialists and
Radicals) mounted a coup. Perón was jailed.
1
Oct. 17
A rally of more than a quarter of a million workers in Buenos Aires, supported by the
General Confederation of Labor (CGT), forced the release of Perón. He then formed
the Labor Party and vowed to run for president. During this time EVA DUARTE DE
PERÓN (1919–52), Perón's wife, grew to national prominence for her activism and
advocacy for the lower classes.
2
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1938–41)
b. Chile
1946, Sept. 4
Gabriel González Videla was elected president by a leftist bloc to succeed Don Juan A.
Ríos (1942–46). His cabinet included Socialists and Communists, who later dropped out
as the regime moved to the Right.
1
1947, Oct
Communist-led strikes brought the arrest of 200 Communists and a break in
diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.
2
1948, Sept 2
The Communist Party was outlawed, but strikes and disorders continued.
3
1949
Women were granted the vote.
4
March
Parliamentary elections gave the government coalition a majority.
5
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1939, April 30–1940)
c. Paraguay
1946, July 26
Gen. Higenio Morinigo formed a two-party cabinet, thus ending a six-year dictatorship.
1
1947, March–Aug
Civil war between the government and left-wing forces under former president Rafael
Franco ended with the latter's defeat.
2
1948–49
The retirement of Pres. Morinigo ushered in a procession of presidents: Manuel
Frutos (June 6, 1948), Natalicio González (Aug. 5, 1948), Raimundo Rolón (Jan. 30,
1949), Molás López (Feb. 27, 1949), and Federico Chávez (Sept. 12, 1949).
3
1954, May 4
A revolution led to the installation of a government junta headed by ALFREDO
STROESSNER (b. 1912).
1956
4
Stroessner introduced an austerity program in the style of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), driving down wages and provoking unrest. All opposition and the strikes
that followed were repressed.
5
1961
Paraguayan women were granted the vote.
6
1963, Feb. 10
Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, president since 1955, met only token opposition in his bid for
reelection. Stroessner, a champion of foreign interests, organized the political life of the
nation around his Colorado Party; opposition meant possible torture, exile, and murder.
7
Aug. 15
Stroessner was sworn in for a third term as president.
8
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1942, Feb. 23)
d. Uruguay
1946, Nov. 24
Tomás Barreta was elected president. He died on Aug. 2, 1947 and was succeeded by
V.P. Luiz B. Berres, fellow Liberal Colorado. Pres. Berres promoted import substitution
industrialization (with the help of U.S. loans), expanding the industrial workforce from
about 50,000 to over 140,000.
1
1950, Nov. 26
Andres Martínez Trueba was elected president to succeed Berres.
2
1952, March 1
A nine-man federal council replaced the presidency, from which Trueba had resigned.
The new system called for elections every four years. The two-party system, based
largely on political clubs and patronage networks, continued to dominate politics.
3
1955
Beginning of an economic downturn. Landowners and business leaders criticized the
inflated bureaucracy and economic controls; organized workers increasingly supported
the Left.
4
1959, March 1
The defeated Colorados, after 93 uninterrupted years in office, handed over the
executive to the Nationalist (Blanco) Party. The Blancos moved to support large
landholders and the private sector in an IMF-approved plan.
5
1963, March 1
Blanco Daniel Fernández Crespo became president of the nine-man national council.
The economy continued having serious problems, leading to massive capital flight.
6
1964
Founding of the National Labor Convention (CNT), drawn from various trade union
groups.
7
1966, Nov. 27
The election of Gen. Oscar Diego Gestido as president signified the resurgence of the
conservative wing of the Colorado Party. Diego Gestido was inaugurated on March 1,
1967, at which time a constitutional amendment marked the abandonment of the council
system and the return to the presidency.
8
1967, Nov
Devaluation of the currency.
9
Dec. 6
Death of Pres. Gestido, who was succeeded by V.P. Jorge Pacheco Areco. The new
administration took a hard line in the face of economic crisis.
10
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1945, May 10)
e. Bolivia
1946, July 21
Amid economic crisis caused by falling tin prices, Pres. Gualberto Villarroel was killed
and his regime overthrown by rebellious workers, soldiers, and students. The
provisional government was recognized by Argentina and the U.S.
1
Nov
Delegates to the fourth annual meeting of the Union Federation of Mine Workers of
Bolivia (FSTMB) signed a Trotskyist declaration that proclaimed their desire for
revolution through an alliance with the National Revolutionary Movement (MNR) and
the peasants.
2
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(See 1942, Jan. 24)
f. Peru
1945, June 10
José Luis Bustamente was elected president, supported by Liberals and Apristas.
1
1948, Oct. 29
Pres. Bustamente's government was overthrown and replaced by a military junta under
Gen. Manuel Odría (1897–1974). The APRA (American Popular Revolutionary
Alliance) and the Communist Party were outlawed.
2
1950, July 2
Using a populist style reminiscent of Juan Perón of Argentina and running unopposed,
Gen. Odría was elected president.
3
1951, Aug. 13
Peru asked the U.S., Argentina, Brazil, and Chile to investigate border incidents with
Ecuador. Fighting had begun on Aug. 11 over the long-standing issue of access to certain
Amazon tributaries.
1955
4
Peruvian women were granted the vote.
5
1956, June 17
Manuel Prado Ugarteche was elected president for a second term.
6
1958–62
As the land problem became more acute, members of Indian sierra communities
organized and initiated land invasions on highland haciendas. In the region of La
Convención valley, the seizures developed into a full-scale insurrection under Hugo
Blanco before being brutally repressed.
7
1962, July 18
A military junta overthrew and imprisoned Pres. Prado. It also closed Congress and
suspended constitutional guarantees. The U.S. suspended diplomatic relations and on July
19–20 halted all aid.
8
Aug. 17
The U.S. resumed diplomatic relations with Peru.
9
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(See 1942, Jan. 29)
g. Ecuador
1946, Aug. 11
PRES. JOSÉ VELASCO IBARRA (1893–1979) was reelected by the assembly.
1
1947, Aug. 23
Col. Mancheno, in a successful revolt, ousted Pres. Velasco Ibarra, only to be overthrown
himself on Sept. 3 by a Conservative counterrevolution. Carlos Arosemena became
acting president.
2
1948, June 6
In the first popular elections since 1940, Galo Plaza Lasso was elected president.
3
1949, Aug. 5
An earthquake in central Ecuador killed more than 4,000 people.
4
1952, June 1
Voters gave the Liberal candidate, Velasco Ibarra, an upset victory over the
Conservative candidate in the presidential vote.
5
1961, Nov. 6–9
The government resigned as a result of riots and military unrest. Carlos Arosemena was
installed as president.
6
1963, July 11–12
A military junta, headed by Capt. Ramón Castro Jijón, overthrew the government,
outlawed the Communist Party, and promised to wipe out pro-Castro guerrilla bands.
7
1966, March 29
The military junta was overthrown and a civilian government established under
Clemente Yerovi Indaburu.
8
Oct. 16
A constituent assembly named Otto Arosemena Gómez as president pro tem.
9
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Nov. 26)
h. Colombia
1946, May 4
Conservative leader Mariano Ospina Pérez became president. He organized the new
political police, used by the Conservatives to terrorize and murder Liberals.
1
1948, April 9
The assassination of left-wing Liberal JORGE ELIÉCER GAITÁN (1903–48), who
was expected to win the 1950 presidential elections, touched off a major upheaval
(known as the Bogatazo), interrupting the Ninth Pan-American Conference in
Bogotá. Thousands died in the insurrection, which saw widespread rioting in the cities,
occupation of foreign-owned oil installations, and hacienda takeovers by peasants in the
highlands. Elite Liberals and Conservatives, frightened by the violence, initially decided
to join together in a group called the National Union to protect their interests. This
alliance soon broke down, and in the ensuing months a reign of terror that would last until
the 1960s (known as LA VIOLENCIA) was instituted against the Liberals and all other
opposition groups. As many as 300,000 died in the violence. Terrorist actions by the
political police were widespread. Clashes between peasants and landlords increased in
frequency, and well-organized guerrilla movements emerged in the countryside in
support of oppressed groups. As shown in the writings of Gabriel García Márquez (One
Hundred Years of Solitude, 1967), La Violencia profoundly affected the tenor of
Colombian political and social life.
1949, June 5
2
Congressional elections gave the Liberals a reduced majority.
3
Nov. 27
Following a violent campaign costing over 1,000 lives, the Conservative Laureano
Gómez was elected president. The Liberals boycotted the election.
4
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1937, Jan)
i. Venezuela
1945
Venezuela ranked third among the nations of the world in petroleum production when
World War II commenced, but wealth remained concentrated in too few hands. A
majority of the people remained impoverished, while a high birthrate caused a rapid rise
in population.
1
Oct. 18
Pres. Isaias Medina was overthrown by a revolt of army officers, and RÓMULO
BETANCOURT was made provisional president on Oct. 22.
2
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1943)
j. Brazil
1945, Oct. 29
The general demand for a more liberal government led to the forced resignation of Pres.
Getúlio Vargas after almost 15 years of dictatorship. He was succeeded by Chief Justice
José Linhares. Despite his resignation, Vargas retained a large popular following and
easily won election as a senator.
1
Dec. 2
With the endorsement of ex-president Vargas, conservative Gen. Eurico Dutra of the
Social Democratic Party (PSD) was elected president. The new government pledged
cooperation with the U.S. abroad and the elimination of “extremist ideologies” at home.
2
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k. Surinam
1975, May
Riots by Hindustanis protested the impending independence from the Netherlands.
Hindustanis, then the largest ethnic group in a population of 348,000, feared political
dominance by proindependence black creoles. After the riots, a majority of the
Hindustanis emigrated from Surinam.
1
Nov. 8
Surinam, under the leadership of Prime Minister Henk Arron, was granted
independence. Creole groups achieved a majority in Parliament, but the constitution
(Nov. 21) guaranteed ethnic representation in the army. The Surinamese economy
depended heavily on bauxite exports, which accounted for 92 percent of foreign
exchange earnings.
2
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1945–2000
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(See 1941, Oct. 9)
3. Central America, 1945–2000
a. Panama
1945
Panamanian women received the vote.
1
1948, Feb. 15
In response to widespread protests in Panama, the U.S. announced the final withdrawal
of troops from its wartime bases.
2
May 9
Presidential elections produced a close and contested decision between former president
Arnulfo Arias and the Liberal Domingo Díaz Arosemena. The latter finally won and on
Oct. 1 succeeded Enrique Jiménez as president of Panama.
3
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1945–2000 > b. Guatemala
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(See Dec. 17–19)
b. Guatemala
1945
Guatemalan women gained the vote.
1
1950, Nov. 10–12
COL. JACOBO ARBENZ GUZMÁN (1913–71), a consistent supporter of Arévalo's
liberal program, was elected president.
2
1952, June 17
Pres. Arbenz signed a land reform bill. Arbenz reiterated his commitment to capitalism,
but the reform was supported by a variety of labor and left-wing organizations active
in the subsequently formed peasant leagues. Under the reform, holdings of over 223
acres were to be expropriated and given to the landless, paid for with 25-year bonds.
3
1953, Feb. 25
The United Fruit Company (UFCO) was told of a plan to expropriate 225,000 of its
550,000 acres in holdings, only 15 percent of which were under cultivation. The UFCO
immediately began a public relations campaign in the U.S. to portray Arbenz as a
Communist.
4
Oct. 14
The U.S. State Department declared that Guatemala, “openly playing the Communist
game,” could expect no U.S. help or cooperation. UFCO executives requested CIA
help in overthrowing the Arbenz regime.
5
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1945–2000 > c. El Salvador
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(See 1944, April 19)
c. El Salvador
1948, Dec. 14
Pres. Salvador Castañeda was forced to resign. A provisional government restored full
constitutional liberties and called for free elections.
1
1950, March 26–28
In the first free elections since 1931, Maj. Oscar Osorio was elected president. Osorio
introduced a constitution that allowed urban unions but banned rural organizing.
2
1956, Sept. 14
Gen. José María Lemus became president.
3
1961, Jan. 26
After a three-month junta was overthrown on Jan. 25, the new five-member MilitaryCivilian Directorate took control amid a rash of urban violence that left 96 dead.
4
Feb. 15
U.S. president John F. Kennedy recognized the junta, which could then receive aid from
5
the Alliance for Progress. Aid seemed crucial to dealing with the explosive social
problems stemming from El Salvador's massive population growth and booming coffee
industry. The population was 2.5 million by 1961. Along with the “fifty families” (the
country's economic elite), the government sought to promote foreign-sponsored light
industry. With the creation of the Central American Common Market (CACM),
Salvadoran officials saw a solution to social problems, but these enterprises did little to
alleviate population and unemployment pressures. Meanwhile, mechanization
increased in cotton, cattle, and coffee, driving peasants off the land.
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1945–2000 > d. Nicaragua
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(See 1944)
d. Nicaragua
1947, Feb 2
Leonardo Argüello was elected president to succeed Anastasio Somoza. The new
president was removed (May 27) when he showed signs of independence; in September,
Somoza made Victor Román Reyes president. Under Reyes the new labor code went
unenforced, and strikes were completely forbidden.
1
1950, March 25
Gen. Somoza resumed the presidency. During subsequent years the Somoza
“kleptocracy” dominated the economy. The Somozas appeased elites by splitting profits
from economic ventures and foreign aid with a small number of families.
2
1955
Nicaraguan women were given the vote.
3
1956, Sept. 29
Pres. Somoza died of gunshot wounds inflicted on Sept. 22. He was succeeded by his
son Luis, elected to serve until May 1957, and then reelected for a six-year term. Luis,
with the help of his brother ANASTASIO SOMOZA DEBAYLE (1925–80), known as
Tachito, who controlled the National Guard, continued the graft and terror initiated by his
4
father. The cotton boom drew large capital investments, driving peasants off their land.
Among the only sources of opposition allowed was the mildly critical paper La Prensa,
published by conservative Pedro Joaquín Chamorro.
1961
Carlos Fonseca, Silvio Mayorga, and Tomás Borge founded the FRENTE
SANDINISTA DE LIBERACIÓN NACIONAL (FSLN), composed largely of students,
which sought to overthrow the Somozas through guerrilla warfare. The Sandinistas were
almost wiped out by the late 1960s.
5
1963, Feb. 3
René Schick Gutiérrez, the candidate selected by retiring president Somoza, defeated
Diego Chamorro in the presidential election.
6
1966, Aug. 3
Lorenzo Guerrero was elected president.
7
1967, April 13
Luis Somoza died. His massive holdings reflected the expansion of cattle ranches,
which bred cattle for U.S. markets. Peasants who had lost their land to cotton were now
driven off by large-scale cattle ranching. Deforestation occurred, 60 percent of the
peasants were left landless, and urban slums swelled.
8
Feb
Gen. Anastasio Somoza Debayle was elected president, prolonging the Somoza dynasty.
9
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1945–2000 > e. Costa Rica
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(See 1936–40)
e. Costa Rica
1944–48
A National Republican-Vanguardia Alliance under Pres. Teodoro Picado ruled
Costa Rica. The “Calderonista” coalition government introduced social security, high
income taxes, an eight-hour workday, and a social welfare system.
1
1948, Feb. 8
Otilio Ulate Blanco of the National Union Party was elected president. When the
government declared the election invalid because of irregularities, JOSÉ (PEPE)
FERRER FIGUERES's (1906–90) anti-Communist Army of National Liberation
openly revolted, with U.S. military and economic assistance.
2
April 17
The U.S. put its military forces in the Panama Canal zone on alert, allegedly prepared to
rid Costa Rica of Communist influence in the government. In the aftermath, the
overpowered populist government negotiated a surrender with Figueres's forces.
May 8
3
Figueres headed a military junta that embarked on a program of political and economic
reforms. Although he had promoted rightist ideology during his opposition, much of
Figueres's programs were clearly populist. He dismantled the army, introduced new
taxes, nationalized the banking system, and called a constituent assembly.
4
Dec. 10
Costa Rica was invaded from Nicaragua by Costa Rican exiles. Charges of Nicaraguan
complicity were examined by a commission of the Organization of American States and
dismissed.
5
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1945–2000 > f. Honduras
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(See 1939, Dec. 23)
f. Honduras
1948, Oct. 10
Pres. Tiburcio Carías, after 15 years of dictatorship, supported the election of
Nationalist candidate Juan Manuel Gálvez.
1
1954, April 30
In response to United Fruit's refusal to pay dock workers for overtime, 50,000 laborers
under the leadership of banana workers launched a 69-day strike that paralyzed the
nation. They gained the right to unionize and wage concessions. However, strike leaders
were arrested, and the banana companies began to mechanize, thereby laying off workers.
2
In the aftermath of the strike, the Honduran government signed a treaty with the U.S. that
allowed for U.S. military exercises on Honduran soil.
3
Dec. 5
Control of the country was taken over by acting president Julio Lozano Días.
4
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(See 1942, May 22)
4. Mexico, 1946–2000
1946, July 7
MIGUEL ALEMÁN (1900–83) WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT. Even more
conservative than Avila Camacho, he embarked on an extensive program to develop
industry and infrastructure. Foreign capital was welcomed, though under government
control. Alemán's presidency initiated a period of rapid economic growth. He used all
government resources, including the military, to promote the economy and to suppress
dissent. Relations with the U.S. were cordial, and the first exchange of presidential visits
took place in 1947.
1
1946–52
Using the power of the Mexican state, Alemán solidified the monopolization of the
political process by the PRI (Party of the Institutionalized Revolution). Amid
rampant corruption, Alemán continued the tradition of lip service to the Revolution of
1910 while supporting capital projects and working against labor and peasant
groups. Workers' movements were co-opted or crushed. Leftist union leaders were
replaced with corrupt party loyalists, known as charros. The ejido (agrarian cooperative)
program and rural education were ignored in favor of middle-class and upper-class
interests.
2
1947, Sept. 30
A final settlement was made by the Mexican government for the 1938 expropriation of
U.S. oil properties.
3
1952, July 6
The PRI candidate, Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, was elected president. Distancing himself
from the Alemán regime's corruption, Ruiz Cortines ordered all public officials to
publicize their finances and fired a number of notoriously corrupt officials. Otherwise,
he continued Alemán's policy of encouraging foreign investment and capital-driven
growth.
4
1953
Thirty-six years after the constitution declared universal male suffrage, Mexican women
received the vote.
5
Rubén Jaramillo, veteran Zapatista, member of the Communist Party, and ordained
minister, rose in armed revolt against the government. His combination of Marxism and
Christianity eventually became a powerful social force.
6
1958
The national population reached 32 million, having doubled in the previous 25 years.
Mexico's cities were also growing at 5 to 10 percent per year, with the population of
Mexico City reaching 4.5 million.
7
July 6
Adolfo López Mateos, candidate for the PRI and minister of labor and social security,
was elected president.
8
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Cuba
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(See 1944, May 31)
a. Cuba
1948, June 1
In an economy prospering from high sugar prices, Carlos Prío Socorras was elected
president. Prío was a member of Grau San Martín's Auténtico Party and an antiCommunist.
1
1952, March 10
With elections approaching and victory for the opposition likely, Gen. Fulgencio Batista
overthrew Prío Socorras and assumed power. During the next seven years, Batista
allowed U.S. influence to pervade the entire Cuban economy, including public utilities,
petroleum, sugar, and tourism. Famous for its African-Cuban music and freewheeling
nightlife, Havana became the tourism capital of the Americas.
2
1953, July 26
FIDEL CASTRO RUZ (b. 1926), a student activist, led an abortive attack on the
Moncada garrison in Santiago. Castro's eloquent defense of his actions at his trial
brought him national prestige. He was imprisoned but allowed to go into exile in Mexico
in 1955.
1954, Oct. 30
3
On the eve of presidential elections, Gen. Batista's only rival for the presidency, Ramón
Grau San Martin, withdrew, charging that the election was rigged.
4
1956, Nov. 24
Castro and 81 followers, including his brother Raúl and ERNESTO “CHE”
GUEVARA, sailed for Cuba from Mexico to renew the struggle. After a difficult
landing, Castro and a handful of survivors barely made it to the Sierra Maestra in Oriente.
5
1957, May 20
Castro appealed to the U.S. to stop sending arms to Batista. He led many raids in
Oriente Province, gaining sympathy from peasants. Guerrilla actions and strikes had
paralyzed the region's economy by the end of 1957. Repression only generated more
support for his 26th of July Movement.
6
1958, March 17
Castro issued a manifesto calling for “total war” against the Batista regime.
7
April
Castro's call for a general strike failed, largely because of the lukewarm support of the
Communist Popular Socialist Party (PSP) for Castro. After the strike, Communist leader
Carlos Rafael Rodríguez went to Oriente to try to repair relations with Castro.
8
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Puerto Rico
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(See 1941–46)
b. Puerto Rico
1948, Nov. 2
Popular Party candidate Luis Muñoz Marín (1898–1980) became the first elected
governor of Puerto Rico. He would win repeated elections until he left power in 1964.
Muñoz Marín oversaw OPERATION BOOTSTRAP, begun in 1948, which was
designed to industrialize and urbanize the island by utilizing low wages and tax
concessions to promote investment. For the next 20 years, the economy boomed.
Operation Bootstrap promoted out-migration to the mainland (particularly New York) to
provide labor for U.S. industry. After 1945, over a million Puerto Ricans, including many
women, immigrated to the U.S.
1
1950, July 3
An act of the U.S. Congress permitted Puerto Rico to draft its own constitution.
2
Nov. 1
The attempt on U.S. president Harry Truman's life by two Puerto Ricans led to the
arrest of large numbers of Communists and nationalists on the island. Support for the
nationalists dwindled.
3
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The Dominican Republic
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(See 1941, Dec. 8)
c. The Dominican Republic
1947, May 16
Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, who had controlled the country since 1930, was reelected as
president. His reign of corruption and terror, which included seven different intelligence
agencies and required all citizens to carry passes, continued unabated.
1
1947–50
The Dominican Republic accused its neighbors, notably Cuba and Guatemala, of
abetting subversive activities directed against Trujillo. The OAS council considered the
matter and condemned the Dominican Republic, as well as Cuba and Guatemala, for
engaging in conspiracies and attempted invasions.
2
1952
A bilateral agreement with Haiti was signed, providing 20,000 Haitian laborers per
year for work on state-owned Dominican sugar estates. Because of the U.S. market,
Dominican sugar was booming at this time, but workers were forced to live in slavelike
conditions.
1960, Feb
3
Weary of the brutal Trujillo regime and preparing for the Bay of Pigs invasion, U.S.
president Dwight D. Eisenhower approved Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) plans
to start aiding opponents of the regime.
4
Aug. 3
Trujillo supporter V.P. Joaquín Balaguer (b. 1907) was sworn in as president,
succeeding Hector Trujillo Molina, who resigned on Aug. 2. Popular unrest continued,
and the OAS maintained sanctions in August and September.
5
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(See 1937, Oct)
d. Haiti
1946, Jan. 11
A military group under Col. Paul Magliore ousted Pres. Elie Lescot, took over the
government, and installed Dumarsais Estimé as president. Estimé replaced mulatto
civil servants with blacks and initiated reforms for urban and rural workers.
1
1948, Feb. 11
Pres. Estimé was overthrown by a military junta under Col. Paul Magliore.
2
1950
Electoral suffrage was extended to women.
3
1956, Dec. 12
His regime weakened by a general strike, Magliore gave up the presidency.
4
1957, Feb. 7
The legislature elected Franck Sylvain as provisional president.
5
April 2
Accused of trying to fix upcoming elections, provisional president Sylvain resigned, and
a provisional executive council took over.
6
May 26
Following a flare-up of civil war between the executive council and the forces of army
Chief of Staff León Cantave, Daniel Fignolé took over as provisional president.
7
June 14
The army, led by Brig. Gen. Antonio Kebreau, ousted provisional president Fignolé and
proclaimed a state of emergency.
8
Sept. 22
The presidential election resulted in victory for FRANÇOIS DUVALIER (1907–71).
9
Oct. 22
Amid a crisis with the U.S. over the fatal beating of an American by police, Duvalier
became president, and the military junta resigned. Duvalier, known as “Papa Doc,”
would rule the country until his death in 1971. He mixed mystic populist symbols, such
as vodun (voodoo), with brutal repression. Duvalier expelled all mulattos from the civil
service and made the army and police responsible only to him. To secure control he
created the Tonton Macoutes, the most feared repressive arm of his regime. His
“kleptocracy” enriched a small number of favorites while it impoverished the rest of the
nation. Human rights were ignored, but at the same time Duvalier tried to maintain
relations with the U.S. in order to ensure continued aid.
10
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British Caribbean Territories and Guyana (British Guiana)
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e. British Caribbean Territories and Guyana (British Guiana)
1953, Oct. 6
Britain dispatched troops and warships to Guiana to handle a suspected attempt to set up
a Communist regime there.
1
1956, Feb. 23
Delegates from Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados, the Windward Islands, and
the Leeward Islands came to a preliminary agreement for a Caribbean federation.
2
1957, Aug. 12
Cheddi Jagan's (b. 1918) left-wing party won 9 of the 14 elective seats in the Guiana
legislative council. On Aug. 16, Gov. Patrick Renison invited Jagan to participate in, but
not to form, a new cabinet.
3
1958, Jan. 3
The Federation of the West Indies came into being. The 77,000-square-mile
federation, with a population of 3 million, was composed of ten units: Trinidad, Tobago,
Jamaica, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla,
Dominica, and Antigua.
1960, March 31
4
The British colonial office announced that if a new constitution was accepted for British
Guiana, it would go into effect in Aug. 1961. Two years after the general election, full
independence would be considered.
5
Aug. 21
The People's Progressive Party in Guiana, headed by Cheddi Jagan, won 20 of the 35
seats in the legislative council.
6
Sept. 19
Jamaica voted to withdraw from the West Indies Federation.
7
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Overview)
E. The Middle East and North Africa, 1945–2000
1. Overview
The postwar period saw the end of foreign rule and the achievement of independence
by all countries in the region. The old colonial masters, Britain and France, lost their
position of dominance, to be replaced by the U.S. and the USSR, whose competition for
allies and resources embroiled the area in the cold war. From the 1970s, and especially
after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the U.S. emerged as the supreme foreign
power.
1
Much domestic turbulence accompanied independence. Military coups in the Arab
world during the 1950s and 1960s brought down the old ruling elites based on great
landowners and installed new regimes in which military officers and senior bureaucrats
predominated. The new political order embraced radical ideologies, notably panArabism and socialism, and implemented populist programs such as land reform. By
the 1970s these ideologies had lost their appeal, giving way to a certain economic
liberalization as well as pragmatism in foreign policy. There was, however, no
democratization of the region's regimes, most of which developed into highly
authoritarian structures intolerant of opposition.
2
A number of major wars, both within and between states, shook the region, causing
immense loss of life and treasure. The Arab-Israeli conflict emerged as a seemingly
permanent condition after 1948, when the Arab states and the Palestinians vowed to
destroy the newly created state of Israel and put an Arab Palestinian state in its place.
After four bloody wars failed to dislodge the Israelis (who actually gained territory),
fatigue and realism prompted three historic breakthroughs: the Egyptian-Israeli
peace treaty (1979), the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles (1993), and the
Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty (1994).
3
Several other major conflicts convulsed the region during this period: the Algerian War
for independence (1954–62), the civil war in North Yemen (1962–70), the Turkish
invasion of Cyprus (1974), the civil war in Lebanon (beginning in 1975), Morocco's
long war in the Western Sahara (beginning in 1976), the Soviet invasion of
4
Afghanistan (1979), the long Iran-Iraq War (1980–88), and the Iraqi invasion of
Kuwait (1990). Other conflicts involved separatists, the most notable of whom were
Kurdish nationalists, who staged revolts throughout the postwar period against regimes
in Iraq, Iran, and Turkey.
Alongside this turmoil, the Middle East experienced rapid demographic and economic
growth. The region's population grew at an astonishing rate, accelerating from about 2
percent per year (1945–60) to almost 3 percent per year (1960–93). The total population
rose from about 101 million in 1945 (61 million in the Middle East and 20 million in
North Africa) to about 314 million (255 million and 59 million, respectively). The
proportion of urban people climbed from one-quarter to about one-half, the product of
massive rural-urban migration, primarily to the capital cities. This population
explosion undermined development plans and prompted the first family-planning
programs.
5
From the 1950s onward, the region was swept up in an economic boom. The standard of
living improved everywhere. The economy was becoming more diversified and less
dependent on agriculture. Though agricultural production expanded, it represented a
diminishing share of total output. Industry made considerable advances despite only
a modest level of development by world standards. Most states took an active
(sometimes exclusive) role in directing their national economies. Their bureaucracies
and public sectors swelled to unprecedented dimensions, especially as a high
proportion of their budgets went into the military and internal security forces, which
expanded tremendously.
6
The region's oil industry gained world importance, and especially when oil prices
soared in the 1970s, an immense amount of wealth flowed into the oil states from the
West. The oil boom set in motion several regional trends: large-scale investment in
development schemes; a massive migration of workers to the oil states; a growing gap
between rich and poor countries; increasing dependence of the oil states on the West for
goods, expertise, and investment opportunities; and economic liberalization in the poorer
states as a way of sharing in the boom.
7
The position of women changed with the great socioeconomic transformations of the
period. Women entered the educational system and the workforce in unprecedented
numbers. Several countries passed laws to reduce social inequalities and to provide
women with a greater measure of security within the family. The feminist cause gained
some ground, although conservative elements insisted on keeping women in more
traditional social roles.
8
The cultural scene was also transformed, especially by the expansion of education and
the spread of the mass media. The number of schools and students increased
dramatically at all levels, and illiteracy rates declined (from about 75 percent to 40
percent). Radio and then television became commonplace and, together with the
cinema, formed the prime sources of popular entertainment as well as exposure to the
9
wider world. The output of novels and poetry increased, and two regional writers, S. Y.
Agnon of Israel and Najib Mahfuz of Egypt, won Nobel Prizes for their literary
accomplishments.
A remarkable phenomenon amid these changes was the emergence of militant Islamic
opposition movements throughout the region. The programs of the various
“fundamentalist” groups differed in methods and demands, but all shared a rejection of
secular government and the desire to impose an Islamic identity on state and society.
Although only in Iran was a government overthrown by Muslim opposition, movements
everywhere won wide appeal among the disaffected. Their clashes with the authorities,
often violent, intensified a long-standing, bitter debate over the nature and future of
Muslim societies. The rise of fundamentalism also triggered bitter cultural disputes
among intellectuals in countries such as Egypt between the fundamentalists and the
defenders of more pluralist traditions and secular outlooks.
10
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2. Military, Diplomatic, and Social Developments
1945–90
Steep rise in average life expectancy throughout the region, from about 35 years to
nearly 60 years. Most of these gains came from a reduction in mortality rates, which
declined as people improved their diets, acquired better medical care, raised their
standard of living, and became more educated.
1
1945–70
Emigration of approximately 1 million North Africans (almost entirely from Morocco,
Algeria, and Tunisia) to France. Most worked in semiskilled or unskilled occupations
such as construction, mining, and the service sector.
2
1945, March 22
Proclamation of the covenant of the ARAB LEAGUE (Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon,
Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen). The league soon founded committees to oppose Israel
and to support North African independence movements. It added North African states,
including Sudan, in the 1950s and 1960s.
3
1947–49
The uprooting of 700,000 Palestinians (of a prewar population of 1.3 million) from the
territory that became the state of Israel. All Arabs who fled during the war of 1948 were
later barred by Israeli authorities from returning to their homes. The refugees
eventually settled in Jordan (400,000, mainly in the West Bank), the Gaza Strip
(150,000), and Syria and Lebanon (150,000). The other 600,000 Palestinians who did
4
not relocate were distributed among Israel (150,000), the Gaza Strip (50,000), and the
West Bank (400,000).
1947, March 12
Announcement of the Truman Doctrine by the U.S., which pledged to provide
economic and military assistance to Greece and Turkey to help these countries resist
Soviet pressures and encroachments. The U.S. thereby replaced Britain, which was
facing financial difficulties, as the chief source of foreign aid to these countries.
5
1948, May 15
ARAB ATTACK ON ISRAEL, which had proclaimed its independence on the
previous day. Five Arab armies engaged Israeli forces: Egyptian troops (about 10,000)
from the south moved into the Negev desert, the Arab Legion of Transjordan (about
4,500) into the West Bank, Iraqis (about 3,000) alongside the Arab Legion, and token
forces from Syria and Lebanon into the north. The Israelis had an estimated strength
of 62,500: the Hagana at 55,000, the Palmach (regular troops) at 3,000, and the Irgun at
around 4,000.
6
Of the Arab armies, only the Arab Legion, which captured the West Bank and
eastern Jerusalem, achieved any significant successes. The Syrians turned away after
inconsequential border skirmishes. The Egyptians performed badly and held on to only
the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops overall were more disciplined and better supplied and,
unlike the Arabs, had the additional advantage of fighting under a unified command. The
combat was fierce, and casualty rates were high. Israeli forces suffered over 6,000 dead.
The Arabs lost over 2,000 men from the regular armies, together with an unknown
number of Palestinian irregulars.
7
By the end of the war, Israel held 80 percent of the territory from the original
Palestine mandate. In contrast to international wishes expressed in the UN plan of
1947, no Arab Palestinian state had come into existence. All land not held by Israel was
either in the possession of Jordan (the West Bank) or under Egyptian administration (the
Gaza Strip). Hostilities came to an end through a series of armistices, which disengaged
the combatants without terminating the technical state of war between them. Israel first
concluded a cease-fire with Egypt (Feb. 24, 1949), then with Lebanon (March 23,
1949), Jordan (April 3, 1949), and Syria (July 20, 1949). Yet the peace was fragile.
Incidents along the borders were frequent, mainly caused by the activities of Palestinian
guerrillas, who received encouragement from the Arab countries that hosted them. Even
the most explicit terms of the armistices were not always observed. The most flagrant
8
case was the Jordanian refusal to admit Israelis into east Jerusalem for visits to the
Jewish holy places.
Sept
Creation by the Arab League of the Government of All Palestine, based in Gaza. It
was set up ostensibly to govern the Palestinian territory still under Arab control. In
reality, its chief purpose was to thwart the Jordanian absorption of the West Bank,
occupied by the Arab Legion.
9
Sept. 17
Assassination of UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte by Zionist terrorists.
10
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(See 1944)
3. The Middle East and Egypt, 1943–2000
a. Turkey
1945, May 19
Pres. Ismet Inönü announced the switch to a multiparty state and relaxed the
restrictions on party formation. Between 1946 and 1950, 27 new political parties came
into being. Only two of them had any real significance: the Democratic Party (1946)
and the Nation Party (1948).
1
June 11
Land reform measures. The state began to parcel out unowned land and unused state and
community land to peasants. In addition, the new laws called for the expropriation of all
private holdings over 500 donums (123.5 hectares), though the ceiling was raised to
5,000 donums in 1950. By 1960, the program had dispensed some 1.7 million hectares of
arable land and 1.5 million of pasture land to 360,000 families. Despite the effort to
redistribute land, the position of the great landowners remained strong. Even in 1960,
only 15 percent of all landowners still owned about half the land. Great estates were
most common in eastern Anatolia.
2
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b. Cyprus
1945
Agitation among Greek Cypriots for Enosis, union with Greece. The ethnic Turks on the
island, who constituted about 20 percent of the population, adamantly opposed it.
1
1946, Aug
Cyprus began to play an important role as a way station for Jews immigrating to
Palestine.
2
1948, May
British submission of the Winster Constitution, which granted greater autonomy to
Cyprus. It was rejected outright by the Greek Cypriot community under the leadership of
the Greek Orthodox Church.
3
1950, Jan. 15
Greek Orthodox officials conducted a referendum on Cyprus's future in which 95.7
percent of the Greek Cypriot electorate voted for Enosis. The Greek government made
the absorption of Cyprus an official national policy (Feb. 11, 1951).
4
Oct. 18
Election of Michael Mouskos, bishop of Citium, as Archbishop MAKARIOS III. He
5
quickly became the central figure in the struggle for Cypriot independence. After his
election as the first president of Cyprus (1961), he pursued pragmatic policies that
aimed to preserve the binational character of the Cypriot state and peaceful relations
among the island's communities.
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(See 1942, Jan 29)
c. Iran
1945
Founding of the Fada'iyan-i Islam by Navvab Safavi. It became the first religious
organization to advocate the creation of an Islamic state. The movement involved itself
in political violence, including the assassinations of writer Ahmad Kasravi (1946) and
the shah's minister of court, Abd al-Husayn Hazhir (1949). It gradually faded from the
scene in the 1950s, especially after the arrest and execution of Safavi (1956).
1
Oct
Outbreak of a revolt in Azerbaijan. The insurrection was organized by the Democratic
Party of Azerbaijan, founded in Sept. 1945 and led by Ja`far Pishavari, who became
prime minister in Dec.
2
The Azeri government proposed radical reforms, including land and labor reforms, and
made Azeri the official language of government and education. The young regime
rapidly collapsed after the return of Iranian troops to Azerbaijan (Dec. 1946).
3
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(See 1933, Nov. 8)
d. Afghanistan
1946
Official opening of the University of Kabul. The various schools associated with it were
not grouped into a single campus until 1964.
1
May
Resignation of Prime Minister Hashim Khan, who was succeeded by his brother,
Mahmud Shah Khan.
2
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(See 1945, Feb)
e. Syria
1945, May
Fighting between French and Syrian forces. The French demanded a treaty giving
them autonomy within Syria and guaranteeing their economic and military interests. They
further announced that they would not withdraw their troops until the Syrians agreed to
these terms. Anti-French demonstrations immediately broke out, and Syrian police
skirmished with French units. The French backed down and dropped their demands after
the diplomatic intercession of Britain.
1
1946
Death of Shakib Arslan, one of the most prominent Syrian political activists during the
Mandate. Permanently at odds with French authorities, he spent most of his political
career as an exile in Europe. He was the ultimate representative of the older generation
of Syrian politicians who received their education in Ottoman schools and remained
nostalgic for the Ottoman Empire. Apart from his anti-French activities, he was best
known as an ardent spokesman for the pan-Islamic political movement.
2
Official formation of the BA`TH PARTY, whose program espoused Arab unity and
socialism. The leading figures in the early years were Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din
al-Bitar. By the mid-1950s the party had become a major contender on the political
scene.
3
Aug
SYRIAN INDEPENDENCE and the withdrawal of all Allied troops.
4
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(See 1945, May 17)
f. Lebanon
1943–64
MINISTERIAL INSTABILITY. Thirty-five cabinets held power during this span of
only 21 years.
1
1946, March 10
INDEPENDENCE was proclaimed, and the last French troops departed from Lebanese
soil.
2
1948, May 27
Reelection of Bishara al-Khuri as president.
3
1949
Execution of Antun al-Sa’ada, the Greek Orthodox radical, for fomenting a rebellion to
overthrow the Lebanese state.
4
Formation of the Progressive Socialist Party by KAMAL JANBULAT, a Druze
chieftain. The party espoused leftist ideology, but functioned essentially as a Druze
organization.
5
1952, Sept. 23
Election of KAMIL SHAM’UN (Camille Chamoun) as president. He replaced
outgoing president Khuri, who resigned (Sept. 18) in the face of a general strike.
6
1953
Women won the right to vote. Lebanon became the first Arab country to grant women
this privilege.
7
1958, July 15–19
LANDING OF U.S. MARINES. The National Front, a broad antigovernment
coalition that wished to unseat Pres. Sham’un, fared badly in earlier parliamentary
elections. Frustrated at the polls, they resorted to street violence and strikes. The
Lebanese Army, under the command of FU’AD SHIHAB, refused to intercede.
Sham’un thereupon turned to the U.S. for help. The American government immediately
dispatched 10,000 marines as an application of the so-called Eisenhower Doctrine. The
crisis was defused by the selection (July 31) of Shihab as the new president. Rashid
Karami, a Sunni Muslim leader of the National Front, was installed as prime minister.
No changes were made in the sectarian structure of the national political system.
8
1964, Aug. 18
Election of Charles Hilu as president.
9
1969, Nov
THE CAIRO AGREEMENT. After meeting with PLO officials in Cairo, the
Lebanese government pledged not to harass Palestinian guerrillas operating out of
southern Lebanon. In return, the Palestinians were to keep out of Lebanese affairs. The
settlement was an uneasy compromise between Christian politicians, who wanted strict
controls on the Palestinians, and Muslim representatives, who fully backed the guerrilla
activities. The problem became even more acute with the influx of additional
Palestinian refugees after the Jordanian expulsion of the PLO (Sept. 1970). The number
10
of Palestinians living in Lebanon at this time stood roughly at 300,000.
1970, Aug. 17
Election of Sulayman Faranjiyya as president.
11
1972, July 8
Assassination in Beirut of Ghassan Kanafani, renowned Palestinian author and
journalist, and leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
12
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(See 1942, May)
g. Palestine and Israel
1946, May 1
Report of the Anglo-American Commission. The committee called for the admission of
100,000 Jewish refugees and the creation of a single Arab-Jewish state under the
trusteeship of the UN.
1
July 22
Zionist terrorists blew up the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, which housed British
headquarters.
2
Oct. 4
U.S. president Harry S. Truman announced American support for the partition of
Palestine. The American position doomed all attempts to construct a binational state.
3
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(See 1931–32)
h. Jordan
1946, March 22
A treaty between Britain and Transjordan ensured the continued dependence of
Transjordan on Britain. The terms of the pact guaranteed British command of the Arab
Legion and the maintenance of bases for British forces. In return, the British agreed to
pay financial subsidies to the Transjordanian government.
1
May 25
Proclamation of the kingdom of Transjordan. It was renamed THE HASHEMITE
KINGDOM OF JORDAN on June 2, 1949.
2
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(See June 1–2)
i. Iraq
1945–46
An attempt at political liberalization. The government tolerated the formation of
opposition parties, the most notable of which were the Istiqlal Party and the National
Democratic Party. Both parties were left-wing organizations whose constituencies,
confined to urban and educated classes, left them with a narrow base of support. Labor
unrest and, above all, the wariness and insecurity of the political establishment led
ultimately to the failure of the liberalization policy.
1
1948, Jan
Widespread popular demonstrations, known as the wathba (uprising). The protests
were sparked by the announcement of the Portsmouth Treaty with Britain (Jan. 15), a
renegotiated version of the 1930 treaty. The British agreed to remove their troops from
Iraq and gave up sovereignty over their two air bases in Iraq, but they still retained a
voice in Iraqi military planning and remained as the sole supplier of training and
equipment to the Iraqi army. Together with Britain's role in the escalating Palestine crisis,
the treaty roused nationalist opposition in Iraq and failed to win popular approval. The
political crisis was compounded by economic difficulties in the wake of a bad harvest,
bread shortages, and accelerating inflation. In the end, the cabinet fell, and the treaty
was never ratified.
1949
2
Failure of negotiations to unify Iraq and Syria. The attempt was largely inspired by the
ambitions of the regent, Abd al-Ilah. An attempt to revive the project in 1953 came to
nothing.
3
1950
Establishment of the Development Board, made possible by the recent increase in oil
revenues. Most projects were devoted to agricultural improvements. Communications
and transportation were of secondary priority, and industry received the least amount of
funding.
4
1950–52
New agreements with the Iraq Petroleum Company. The first (1950) substantially
raised Iraqi royalties, and the second (1952) gave Iraq half the profits.
5
1951
Flight of nearly the entire Jewish community (over 130,000) to Israel. The emigrés
were forced to leave their assets behind (estimated at over $150 million).
6
1952
Formation of THE BA`TH PARTY, which was committed to the cause of panArabism. Before 1958 the party attracted only a handful of political activists.
7
Nov. 23
Appointment of a military government and the outlawing of all political parties. A
series of strikes and riots earlier in the year had led to the breakdown of order. The
military regime organized new elections and stepped down on Jan. 22, 1953.
8
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(See 1944)
j. Saudi Arabia
1953, Nov. 9
Death of ABD AL-AZIZ IBN SA`UD. His oldest son, Sa`ud, ascended the throne.
1
Creation of a full-fledged cabinet. Before World War II, there had been only two
government ministers, one for foreign affairs and the other for finance. Posts for defense
(1944) and the interior (1952) later appeared, and in 1953 the number of ministers was
expanded to ten. Princes from the royal family assumed nearly all the positions,
confirming Saudi dominance over the central government.
2
1958–64
STRUGGLE FOR POWER between KING SA`UD and his brother, FAYSAL. The
latter held effective power for most of this period (1958–60 and 1962–64) as the prime
minister. The rivalry centered on the future direction of the Saudi government. Sa`ud
believed that a loose confederation of tribes, as in the past, was the best system. Faysal,
on the other hand, argued that the Saudi government had to be radically reorganized into
a modern state, which would be better able to manage the economy and society in an era
of abundant oil wealth.
1964–86
3
Expansion of the armed forces. The army grew from 12,000 to 40,000 and was
complemented by the National Guard, primarily recruited from among tribesmen and
standing at around 23,000 in 1982. The government also built a highly trained air force
whose membership reached 14,000.
4
1964–89
Expansion of the educational system. The total number of students increased from a
little over 200,000 to about 2.2 million.
5
1964, Nov
ABDICATION OF SA`UD. After a palace revolution, his brother, FAYSAL, became
the new Saudi king. Faysal embarked on policies that transformed the Saudi
government into a modern state. One of the peculiar features of the Saudi state was the
overwhelming presence of the Saudi royal family, which numbered some 20,000
individuals by the 1980s. Saudi princes and their relatives filled the central and
provincial governments, the upper echelons of the bureaucracy, and the armed forces.
6
1975, March 25
ASSASSINATION OF KING FAYSAL by his nephew. He was succeeded by his half
brother KHALID IBN ABD AL-AZIZ.
7
1979, Nov. 20
Occupation of the Great Mosque in Mecca by religious militants and Utayba
tribesmen. The protesters wanted an Islamic state on the Iranian model and objected to
the loose and ostentatious lifestyle of the royal family. Rioting broke out concurrently in
the Province of Hasa, which held a large portion of Saudi oil reserves and a substantial
population of Shi’ites. These disturbances were quelled with little violence. In Mecca,
security forces besieged the Great Mosque for over two weeks before the surviving
insurgents finally surrendered (Dec. 5).
1982
8
Death of King Khalid, who was succeeded by his half brother FAHD.
9
1987, July 30
Death in Mecca of over 400 Muslim pilgrims, most of them Iranian. The pilgrims lost
their lives in political demonstrations that degenerated into violent clashes with Saudi
security forces.
10
1989, Dec. 23
An agreement between Saudi Arabia and Oman formally fixed the border between
the two countries. The settlement followed armed clashes along the border in October.
11
1993, Aug. 20
A royal decree established a consultative council, the first legislative institution in the
history of the Saudi kingdom. The 60-seat council, whose members were appointed by
the king, was granted no real power and could not pass legislation.
12
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(See 1944)
k. North and South Yemen
1948
ASSASSINATION OF THE IMAM YAHYA in North Yemen, as part of an attempted
coup. The insurgents failed to seize power after about a month of fighting. Afterward,
the shaken government, led by Yahya's son AHMAD, promulgated a constitution.
1
1950
Founding of the Aden Association. The leaders of this movement called for a transition
to self-government within the Aden Colony. The leadership was drawn mainly from the
prosperous merchant class of the port of Aden, which was flourishing because of greatly
increased commercial traffic.
2
1952
Founding of the South Arabian League, consisting of notables from South Yemen who
desired a greater measure of autonomy from the British.
1955
3
Attempted coup in North Yemen. A coalition of opposition factions drawn from
sections of the military, the sayyids (descendants of the prophet Muhammad), and
radical dissidents tried to take power. Their defeat was largely a result of a military
alliance between the tribes and the imam.
4
1956
Creation of the Aden Trades Union Congress. This organization had its roots among
the middle and working classes of the colony of Aden. Its program demanded the
independence of South Yemen and its unification with North Yemen.
5
1959
Introduction of a legislative council in Aden. Membership was dominated by the great
merchant families.
6
Creation of an 11-state federation of local tribal rulers in the western portion of South
Yemen. Aden itself joined the union (1962), which was named the Protectorate of
Southern Arabia.
7
1959–60
Suppression of tribal rebellion among northern tribes in North Yemen. Several leaders
were executed, permanently antagonizing the vanquished tribes.
8
1962
Appearance in South Yemen of the People's Socialist Party, which drew its strength
from trade union activism. In 1965, this party lost its leading role among workers to the
Organization for the Liberation of the Occupied South.
Sept
9
CIVIL WAR and the end of the Imamate. Imam Ahmad died (Sept. 18), and several
days later (Sept. 26) a MILITARY COUP took place. The leaders, who had belonged to
the Free Officers' Association, overthrew Ahmad's successor, Imam Muhammad alBadr, and announced the establishment of a republic.
10
The civil war was fought by two main factions, both of which received outside
assistance. The republican side consisted primarily of army officers, intellectuals,
townsmen, and the majority of the Shafi‘i population. Arrayed against them were the
royalists: the Hamid al-Din family under Imam Muhammad al-Badr, a large number of
sayyids, and most of the Zaydi tribes. Royalist forces were able to rely on large amounts
of Saudi financial assistance and the expertise of military advisers sent from Jordan.
The republicans countered with Egyptian troops, which first arrived in Nov. 1964 (later
peaking at 60,000). The war lasted over six years during which the royalists held the
advantage, particularly after the Egyptian withdrawal (completed in Dec. 1967). But
the tide turned at the very end when San`a, the capital, survived a protracted siege
(1968) from royalist tribes. The republican government then negotiated a settlement
with tribal leaders (1970).
11
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(See 1944)
1. The Gulf States
1946
Beginning of oil exports from Kuwait. Qatar followed in 1949, Abu Dhabi in 1962,
and Dubayy in 1969.
1
1950
Death of Sheik Ahmad, ruler of Kuwait. His cousin, Sheik Abdallah, succeeded him as
emir.
2
1955
Establishment of the Muscat and Oman Field Force, an expanded version
(approximately 400 men) of the existing military unit in Oman.
3
1959
The sultan of Oman suppressed a tribal uprising in Jabal al-Akhdar and for the first
time enjoyed direct rule over the district.
1960
4
Ahmad ibn Ali became ruler of Qatar. His government began a broad program of
modernization under the direction of Prime Minister Khalifa ibn Ahmad.
5
1961–85
Growth in the Kuwaiti population from 250,000 to about 1.7 million. In 1985, native
Kuwaitis made up approximately 43 percent of the population (but only one-seventh of
them qualified for full political rights as male descendants of Kuwaitis who resided in the
country prior to 1920). The next largest group was the Palestinians, at about 25 percent
of the total.
6
1961, June 19
INDEPENDENCE OF KUWAIT. The government published a constitution in 1962
providing for a national legislature and a council of ministers, but the effective
functioning of this system soon broke down due to persistent conflicts between the
legislature and the council.
7
June 25
Iraq asserted that Kuwait was historically part of the Ottoman province of Basra and
that it therefore ought to be ceded to Iraq. In accordance with a Kuwaiti-British defense
pact, British troops arrived in Kuwait to deter a possible Iraqi attack. The Iraqi
government finally relinquished its claims and recognized Kuwaiti independence on Oct.
4, 1963.
8
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(See 1945, Feb. 24)
m. Egypt
1946
Reform of religious endowments (waqfs). Though charitable (khayri) endowments
dedicated to public causes could still be funded in perpetuity, private (ahli) endowments
that served as family trusts had to be designated for a specific period. After the revolution
of 1952, private endowments were abolished altogether. In 1957, all waqfs came under
state administration.
1
Jan
Failure of negotiations between Britain and Egypt to revise the Treaty of 1936. In
response, violent street demonstrations organized by students shook Cairo over the next
two months.
2
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(See 1940, Nov. 9)
4. North Africa, 1945–2000
a. Morocco
1946
Erik Labonne became French resident-general, replacing Gen. Gabriel Puaux.
Labonne's conciliatory policies attracted little support from the Moroccan leadership.
Consequently, Labonne lost his position to Gen. Alphonse Juin the next year.
1
1951
Formation of the National Front, combining the Maghrib Unity and Islah Parties in
Spanish Morocco, and the Istiqlal and Democratic Parties in the French zone.
2
1952, Dec. 7–8
Rioting in Casablanca (38 dead) in protest over the murder of Tunisian labor activist
Ferhat Hached.
3
1953, Aug
French authorities deposed King Muhammad Ben Yusuf and installed Muhammad
Ben Arafa as the new monarch. The former king was exiled to Madagascar. Over the
next two years, French authorities had to contend with a campaign of urban guerrilla
warfare. In Casablanca alone, attacks took the lives of 406 Moroccans and Europeans up
4
to the autumn of 1955.
1955
Founding of the Union Marocaine du Travail, the first Moroccan trade union, by the
labor activists Tayyib Bouazza and Mahjoub Ben Seddiq.
5
Aug
At the conference of Aix-les-Bains, French officials and Moroccan representatives
concluded an agreement that paved the way for Moroccan independence. The French
promised to remove Ben Arafa as king before withdrawing. Muhammad Ben Yusuf
(Muhammad V) officially returned to the throne on Oct. 29, 1955.
6
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(See 1945, May 8)
b. Algeria
1945, Aug
Muslim Algerians received the right to elect 13 members to the French constituent
assembly (the same number of seats granted to the colonists).
1
1946, June
Formation of the Mouvement pour le Triomphe des Libertés Democratiques (MTLD)
under the leadership of Messali al-Hajj. Before the war for independence, Hajj's party
had been the most extreme Muslim party that the colonial regime tolerated. It split up in
1955 over the question of violent resistance, which Messali originally denounced. He
then formed a new party, the Mouvement National Algérien (MNA).
2
1947, Sept. 20
The Algerian Statute, passed in France by the first National Assembly of the Fourth
Republic. The act provided for an Algerian assembly in which power was unequally
distributed between the colonists (60 seats for 60,000 electors) and Muslims (60 seats
for 1.3 million electors). The Algerian administration remained under the control of the
governor-general, who was responsible to the French ministry of the interior and not to
the Algerian assembly.
3
Unhappiness with the Algerian Statute, combined with the rigging of elections for the
Algerian assembly, once and for all turned the Muslim political parties away from
compromise and toward a policy of armed struggle.
4
1954, Oct
Formation of the FRONT DE LIBÉRATION NATIONALE (FLN), which became the
leading party in the armed struggle against the French authorities.
5
1954–62
THE ALGERIAN WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE (See 1954–69) started (Oct. 31,
1954) with a series of raids organized by the FLN. The war exacted a heavy toll in
casualties. The Algerian government later estimated that over 1 million Algerians
perished during the conflict. French authorities listed their own casualties at 26,000. The
Algerian countryside was particularly scarred by the war. The French uprooted about
one-third of the rural population (2.3 million peasants) and transferred them to
“regroupment villages” where they lived under close supervision.
6
1956, June 13
Rejection by Ferhat Abbas of a French offer for a cease-fire unless France conceded
Algerian sovereignty and independence beforehand.
7
Oct. 22
French operatives kidnapped Ben Bella, Ait Ahmad, Muhammad Khidar, and
Muhammad Boudiaf, four of the most important leaders in the FLN. They had boarded
a plane in Rabat that, in midflight, was forced to land in Algiers, where they were
arrested.
8
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(See 1943, May 14)
c. Tunisia
1946, Jan
Founding of the Union Générale des Travailleurs Tunisiens (UGTT), under the
direction of FERHAT HACHED. It was the first major trade union in Tunisian history.
Membership soon reached over 150,000 workers.
1
1951, Oct
Tunisian prime minister Muhammad Shanniq traveled to Paris to demand independence
tempered by close economic, cultural, and military ties with France. The French
officially rejected his proposal on Dec. 15.
2
1952
Formation of Tunisian guerrilla bands in the mountains. In response, the settlers
organized the Red Hand, their own terrorist organization, which attacked Tunisian
political leaders. The most famous victim of the settlers was Ferhat Hached
(assassinated on Dec. 12, 1954), leader of the UGTT.
Jan. 18
3
Arrest of neo-Destour leaders, including Habib Bourguiba, after extensive rioting
(Jan. 15). The French resident-general had provoked demonstrations by ordering al-Amin
Bey to dismiss the Tunisian government. When the bey refused, French authorities
arrested Prime Minister Shanniq (March 25).
4
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(See 1942, Jan 8)
d. Libya
1947, March
Formation of the Libyan Liberation Committee in Cairo under the leadership of
Bashir al-Sa`dawi. The organization proposed a union between Tripolitania and
Cyrenaica under Sanusi rule.
1
1949, May 17
Defeat of the Bevin-Sforza Plan in the UN. The British-Italian scheme would have split
Libya into three trusteeships: Cyrenaica for the British, Tripolitania for the Italians, and
Fezzan for the French. The UN instead adopted a resolution calling for Libyan
independence by 1952 (Nov. 21, 1949).
2
1950, Dec. 2
The Libyan National Assembly recognized IDRIS as king of Libya.
3
1952, Jan. 1
Official INDEPENDENCE OF LIBYA. The country emerged as a federal monarchy
dominated by a clique of conservative notables. It essentially retained the administrative
divisions (Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, and Fezzan) inherited from the colonial period.
4
1953, Feb
Libya became a member of the Arab League.
5
1955, Nov
Granting of the first oil concessions. The first strike was at Bir Zelten in 1959. The oil
industry was primarily developed during 1961–69 as foreign firms, especially
independent companies, moved into the country to conduct intensive exploration.
6
1962, June
Libyan entry into OPEC.
7
1967, June 15
The government requested that the U.S. and Britain withdraw their remaining forces at
the earliest possible date.
8
1969, Sept 1
MILITARY COUP against the monarchy. The plot was organized by a group of army
officers directed by MU`AMMAR AL-QADHAFI. One of the first acts of the new
regime was to abolish the monarchy. In its place emerged the Libyan Arab Republic.
Effective authority was vested in a Revolutionary Command Council headed by
Qadhafi, who officially became prime minister on Jan. 16, 1970.
9
1970, March 28
Completion of the British military withdrawal, as demanded by the Libyan
government. The U.S. pulled out the last of its troops less than three months later (June
11).
10
July 21
Confiscation of all Italian and Jewish property.
11
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(See Dec. 27)
F. South and Southeast Asia, 1945–2000
INDIA AND PAKISTAN, 1970 (MAP)
INDIA, PAKISTAN, AND BANGLADESH, 2000 (MAP)
1. South Asia, 1945–2000
a. Overview
This period witnessed the independence of South Asia from direct imperial control
and the struggle by the resulting nation-states of the subcontinent to create viable civil
societies and to find appropriate places in a world becoming increasingly interdependent
economically, geopolitically, and culturally. Britain's withdrawal marked not only
independence but also partition, as it handed over power in 1947 to the new, separate
nation-states of India and Pakistan. (Sri Lanka and Maldives achieved independence
later.) This decision to divide the subcontinent conceded the impossibility of devising a
federal system sufficiently loose in nature to reassure Muslim activists who felt their
voices and interests would be brushed aside by the nationalist Congress Party, which was
often incapable of recognizing the extent to which it conflated the terms Hindu and
nationalist in its rhetoric and policies. The new states' boundary lines did not bode well
for the future, however, as they demarcated a “moth-eaten” Pakistan (as Mohammed Ali
Jinnah put it) carved out of two distinct pieces of territory in the east and west, with India
1
in between. (Significantly, the dividing line in the east followed virtually the identical
line drawn during the partition of Bengal in 1905 ( (See Southeast Asia, 1753–1914))—a
boundary protested at the time as “unnatural.”)
Although at first the two nations mainly strove to find appropriate roles in a world
sharply bifurcated by the cold war, more recent events have underscored their continuing
struggle to resolve a much larger conundrum that has long affected the region: how to
create shared understandings on which to build a civil society and how to determine the
role of the state within it, in a way that makes room for the diverse groups that make up
pluralistic societies. In part, this conundrum resulted from the legacy of imperialism,
particularly the British Indian state's predilection to deal with groups rather than
individuals. (The tension between the nation's need to deal directly with individuals, a
basic foundation stone of national integration, and the state's desire to prove to different
groups its ability to protect group interests, is the most pronounced characteristic of
contemporary society in South Asia.) The conundrum also reflected a fundamental
challenge faced by all modern nation-states: the need to create viable political systems
that do not depend on cultural and ethnic homogeneity to succeed. Dealing with this
problem has been exacerbated in postcolonial states by the accompanying need to create
economic development strategies that minimize dependence on the industrialized world
while achieving as much financial self-sufficiency as possible. These issues influenced
the debate concerning the formation of an independent, postcolonial society and the role
the state should play in directing it.
2
Certainly the implications of demographic growth have complicated these attempts to
gain self-sufficiency; from a population base in 1941 of 389 million, numbers had
increased by 1961 to 439.2 million in India and an additional 93.8 million in Pakistan.
But the population growth rate for the region, after peaking in 1971–81 (at a decade rate
of 26.4 percent) seems to be slowly decreasing now; for the decade 1981–91, the rate of
growth has been 25.2 percent.
3
The position of women in independent India, if measured by standards such as literacy
rates, has improved. The female workforce in the independent sector, for instance, has
also been organized to exercise some political clout (through SEWA, the Self-Employed
Women's Association). But issues such as the spate of dowry deaths (the murder of
young wives for their dowries) in urban areas—especially in Delhi in the late 1980s and
early 1990s—serve as symbols for the continuing disadvantages experienced by women
in middle-class and extended family contexts.
4
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b. British India, to Independence and Partition
From independence into the 1970s, Pandit Nehru's vision of a secular Indian state with
strong central planning processes still left room for the influence of business leaders who
dominated and shaped the relationship among the state, communities, and individuals.
But the increasing acrimony among those making demands on the state (especially
communities invoking regional, religious, or ethnic identities, such as the Kashmiris or
the Sikhs); Congress's growing reliance on ethnic, religious, and class-defined
communities of “vote banks”; and the shift toward economic liberalization policies
(which downplayed central planning and opened up new opportunities for Indian
entrepreneurs as well as multinational corporations) have created in the 1980s and 1990s
an increasingly unstable and doubt-riven civil society. For instance, the number of deaths
in communal (religious) riots in the 1980s quadrupled those of the 1970s. Although
supporters of partition had asserted that a shared Islamic identity would unite Pakistan,
from its earliest days the state has been unable to resolve the tension between the attempt
to use Islam to integrate very different regional cultures and the need to accede
countering identities constructed around regional and ethnic identities. The fact that
Pakistan began with a truncated institutional infrastructure (since most of the integrative
institutions, such as the civil service and communication networks, went to India) has
exacerbated the problem, at times leading the military to intervene in governance in order
to maintain stability and efficiency.
1
1945, June 29
The All-India Congress failed to agree on a common list of ministers for the new
government, and the deadlock between Muslim leaders and Congress leaders
continued.
Sept. 19
2
The new British Labour government proposed to discuss with Indian representatives the
offer for Indian autonomy made in 1942.
3
Sept. 20–23
The All-India Congress, meeting in Bombay, declared this plan to be unsatisfactory and
called on Great Britain to “quit India.”
4
Dec. 27
Elections to the central legislative assembly gave the largest number of seats to the
Congress Party and the Muslim League.
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c. The Republic of India
1947, Aug. 15
The Dominion of India was inaugurated in Delhi, with Pandit Tawaherlal Nehru as
prime minister and Lord Mountbatten as governor-general. Most of the Indian states
(princely and chiefly), notably excepting Hyderabad, Kashmir, and Junagadh, acceded to
the new dominion for defense, external affairs, and communications, while retaining their
internal sovereignties.
1
Oct. 26
The government of India admitted Kashmir into the Indian Union, thus precipitating a
crisis with Pakistan, since Kashmir contained a majority of Muslims.
2
Nov. 9
The Indian government assumed control over the administration of the state of
Junagadh.
3
Dec. 30
After vain attempts to solve the conflict over Kashmir, the dispute was referred to the
UN. Sporadic fighting continued in Kashmir between Indian and Muslim forces.
4
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d. Pakistan
Many of the issues facing independent India loomed large for the new state of Pakistan as
well. The legacy of a state that often preferred to deal with groups rather than individuals
became exacerbated in Pakistan, where the need to explain the place of Islam in the state
tempted policy makers to talk about the 'umma (community) rather than citizenry. This
tension further confused the newly forged relationship of the five separate regional
cultures (ranging from the Balochi and Sindhi-based communities in the west to that of
the Bengalis in the east) that existed just beneath the surface of this new nation. In
addition, Pakistan inherited considerably less of the infrastructure of a working state than
did India; it therefore faced much larger problems in terms of communication networks
and national integration, intensified by the fact that its two very distinct wings were
separated by an often-hostile India.
1
The continuing power of large landlords also made the formation of economic policy and
central planning much more problematic in Pakistan. No significant shift in the
distribution of resources was achieved in Pakistan, nor did an overarching vision of
socioeconomic change guide the use of development aid. Stagnant economic policies and
irresolute ideological vision made the state vulnerable to control by the military, which
aimed simply for efficient government and political stability. This, in turn, made the
development of an independent civil society much more difficult to achieve.
2
1947, Aug. 15
The Dominion of Pakistan was inaugurated, with Liaqat Ali Khan as prime minister
and Mohammed Ali Jinnah as governor-general. Pakistan, the Islamic provinces of
India, consisted of West Pakistan (formerly the western part of Punjab with Sind, the
Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), and other muslim-majority areas) on the northwest
side of India, and East Pakistan (formerly the eastern part of Bengal). The East wing had
only 15 percent of the territory, but 55 percent of the population.
3
1948, Sept. 11
Mohammed Ali Jinnah died and was succeeded by Khwaja Nazimuddin as governorgeneral.
4
1949, June 4
The Awami League was formed in Dhaka.
5
1950, April 8
The Delhi Pact between India and Pakistan substantially reduced friction between the
two dominions.
6
June–Dec
Pakistan supported the UN cause in the Korean War, profiting economically from the
sudden demand for its raw materials brought on by the war.
7
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e. Bangladesh
Bangladesh, literally meaning “land of the Bangla (Bengali) speakers,” was born out of
the civil war in Pakistan in 1971–72 (See 1971, March 1). Pakistan's very creation had
been rooted in its claim to serve as a homeland for Muslim South Asians, but it proved
unable to incorporate Muslim Bengalis into the polity. The major sources of conflict
included language—Bangla bore little resemblance to the ideological, conceptual
frameworks created for Urdu and Punjabi, the main languages used in the West
wing—and rather different cultural understandings of the practice of Islam. Muslim
reformists had acquired significant influence in the West wing, whereas the East still
revolved around certain shared Bengali assumptions about devotionalism and related
emphases on saints and goddesses. As the Muslim League of Pakistan and the state itself
(dominated especially by Urdu-speaking, reformist Muhajirs) pushed the Urdu language
and strove for a purist definition of Islam as the basis of the Pakistani state, Bengali
speakers turned to their own language and regional identity as the foundation for a
separate nation.
1
These cultural and linguistic conflicts were aggravated by severe economic inequality
between East and West Pakistan. Development policies, framed by leaders in the West
wing, generally favored the West. Moreover, although significant support for the state of
Pakistan resulted from exports cultivated in the East, almost none of these remittances
were devoted to economic development of that wing.
2
As a result of the civil war, in which India intervened decisively on the side of
Bangladesh, the new state faced overwhelming needs in rebuilding itself and creating a
new infrastructure to support an independent nation-state.
3
1971, March 26
Declaration of Bangladeshi independence, in direct response to a fierce army
crackdown on the previous day. Large numbers of Bengalis were massacred. Mujibur
Rahman was arrested and taken to West Pakistan. Many of his colleagues fled to India
and established a government in exile. Millions of refugees flooded into India.
4
Dec. 4
India invaded in support of the Mukti Bahini (“freedom fighters”) and other irregular
Bengali groups operating inside East Pakistan (See March 31). The successful campaign
led Pakistan's military and civilian authorities to surrender on Dec. 16.
5
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f. Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
After gaining independence from Great Britain in 1948, Sri Lanka experienced
escalating ethnic conflict between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamil minority. The
antagonism dated to the struggle to choose a national language. Two propositions were
considered: “Sinhala only” or “parity of status for Sinhala and Tamil.” As the majority
language (nearly 70 percent of Sri Lankans speak Sinhala), Sinhala could also be used to
stand in for a range of related identities that emphasize the uniqueness of Sinhalese
Buddhist culture—particularly to differentiate it from Tamil Hindu culture with its
uncomfortably close connections to South India, which loomed large above the island.
1
Language thus became interpreted as a test of national loyalty. Nevertheless, Tamils
rejected the victory of the “Sinhala only” proposition in the general election of 1956;
they feared that that policy would place them in a disadvantageous position with respect
to employment and higher education. Although the extent of protections for the use of
Tamil has varied from 1956 to the present, the contentiousness of the debate has only
escalated.
2
By 1975, the language question had evolved to include the complex issue of national and
territorial rights; a powerful Tamil secessionist movement had emerged. Both sides in
the developing civil war have grown increasingly intransigent, and the conflict has
drawn in Sri Lanka's large neighbor to the north (it is likely that Rajiv Gandhi's
assassination ( (See 1991, May 21)) was directly connected to this conflict).
3
1946, May 15
Ceylon was granted a new constitution, which gave it almost complete self-government
in domestic affairs.
1947, Sept. 26
4
The first cabinet under the new constitution took office, with Stephen Senanayaki as
prime minister. The new Parliament opened on Nov. 24. A series of agreements with the
U.K. (Nov. 11) further reduced British influence in Ceylon.
5
1948, Feb. 4
CEYLON BECAME A SELF-GOVERNING DOMINION in the British
Commonwealth, the first non-European colony to achieve this status.
6
1950, Nov. 7
Ceylon was the second to sign an agreement with the U.S., providing assistance under
the Point Four Program.
7
1952, May 24
Despite vigorous Marxist efforts to win control, the Conservative government won a
majority in parliamentary elections.
8
1956, April 12
After the neutralist People's United Front was victorious in parliamentary elections,
Sirimavo Bandaranaike was appointed to head a leftist coalition cabinet made up of
Democratic Socialists. Trotsky-Marxists, and orthodox Buddhists.
9
June 15
Parliament approved the Sinhalese Language Bill to make Sinhalese the sole official
language of Ceylon, despite rioting by the Tamil-speaking minority. The Senate, on July
6, approved the language bill. Language became the basis of nationalism; Sinhala
nationalism became equated with Sri Lankan nationalism, which Tamils rejected.
10
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g. Maldives
1953–54
The islands, a British protectorate, temporarily replaced the sultanate with a republican
form of government.
1
1954–68
The sultanate was restored.
2
1960
The islands were granted local self-government.
3
1965, July 26
The British government accorded the islands complete independence, on condition of
retaining an air base on Gan Island until 1986.
4
Sept. 21
Maldives was admitted to the UN.
5
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1945–2000 > h. Nepal
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h. Nepal
1994, Nov. 15
Nepalese parliamentary elections were won by the Communist Party, defeating the ruling
party, which had lately faced charges of corruption.
1
1995, Sept. 10
The Nepalese Parliament passes a no-confidence vote, ousting the ruling Communist
Party.
2
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Asia, 1941–2000
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Southeast Asia)
2. Southeast Asia, 1941–2000
SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1970 (MAP)
SOUTHEAST ASIA, 2000 (MAP)
a. Overview
In Southeast Asia, the struggle for independence from the European colonial powers
held center stage during the period immediately following World War II. Most of these
struggles were completed by 1954, except for those of Malaysia (1957), Singapore
(1965), and Brunei (which did not occur until 1984, largely because of the lack of strong
internal pressure for independence). During the period 1954–67, the Western powers and
many Southeast Asians experienced fears of Communism that were directly related to the
worldwide implications of the cold war. These concerns led to fresh intrusions by the
West into Southeast Asian life and politics. During 1965–75, American involvement in
the Vietnam War (Second Indochina War) dramatically affected mainland Southeast
Asia. After the Americans withdrew, the Communists triumphed in Vietnam, Cambodia,
and Laos. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was formed (Aug. 6,
1967) by the non-Communist Southeast Asian countries (Malaysia, the Philippines,
Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore) to deal with the threat of further Communist
encroachments, especially in the face of China's increasing power. Informal neocolonial
influences, in the form of multinational involvement in local economies, continued in this
period. One of the most significant ongoing tensions during this recent phase of Southeast
1
Asian history concerns the place of immigrant groups, primarily Chinese, who dominate
economic activities in many Southeast Asian countries.
In the 1950s and 1960s, all the governments in the region, excepting that of Laos,
launched ambitious industrialization programs to lessen their dependencies on the
export of primary commodities and the import of manufactured goods. By the 1970s, the
initial focus on import substitution industries shifted to export-oriented
industrialization in the ASEAN countries, with Singapore leading the way.
2
In Thailand, economic growth has been consistently high. In Malaysia, the economy has
prospered, in large measure because of the abundance of natural resources and the ability
to take advantage of foreign investments to advance industrialization. In Indonesia, oil
export earnings and political stability have provided for stable, unprecedented, and, by
world standards, remarkable economic growth; but the benefits have not been equally
shared. The lower classes' exclusion from these economic advances and the uneven levels
of development on Java and the outer islands have led to labor unrest.
3
Burma (Myanmar) experienced a slower rate of economic expansion than the ASEAN
states. The structure of its economy has changed little because, after 1962, the
government followed a strict policy of autarky in order to maintain economic
independence and increase equality among all classes. Laos remained one of the world's
poorest countries, but in the early 1990s it instituted reforms to establish a more marketdriven economy in an effort to attract potential foreign investors. Cambodia's economic
development was devastated by the chaos the nation experienced until a new political
structure was introduced in 1993.
4
Demographically, at the end of World War II, the population in Southeast Asia just
surpassed 150 million. By 1990, well over 400 million people lived in the region. From
1950 to the 1980s, the population doubled in the urban centers, and one out of four people
resided in a city.
5
The reactions of leaders to the population explosion varied. Indonesia's Sukarno initially
boasted that his country would welcome a population of 250 million. After 1970,
resultant economic problems changed this attitude; although Indonesia's family-planning
program gained much international acclaim, by 1992 some 2.5 million new job seekers
every year joined a labor force that already suffered from serious rates of unemployment
and underemployment. In the early 1980s, the Malaysian leader Mahatir announced an
ultimate target population of 70 million people in the hope of expanding the internal
economic market and also for political reasons—as he wanted to capitalize on the fact
that the Malays were reproducing faster than other Malaysian ethnic groups. At the time,
the Malaysian population had reached 15 million, and by 1992 it stood at about 18.5
million. Although the Burman (Myanmar) government introduced population control
programs, they floundered because of the government's contradictory and confusing
policies. Because of its unique situation, Singapore adopted the most draconian state
intervention in family planning, and in the 1980s fertility actually fell below replacement
6
levels. After 1970, Thailand was unambiguously committed to population control, which
did reduce birthrates by the late 1980s. Throughout Southeast Asia, fertility fell
substantially after 1960; but because of declining mortality rates, Southeast Asia still
faced the problems of rising population rates in the 1990s.
On Dec. 15, 1995 the Association of Southeast Asian Nations signed a nuclear-free-zone
pact for their region, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand, and Vietnam.
7
1996, Nov. 25
The Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders endorsed a declaration to
eliminate tariffs on computers and other high-technology products by the year 2000.
8
1997, Nov. 24–25
APEC convened in Vancouver, Canada, to discuss the economic turmoil brewing in
Southeast Asia.
9
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(See 1942, March 8)
b. Mainland Southeast Asia
1. Myanmar (Burma)
1946, Dec. 20
The British government invited a Burmese delegation to meet in London and discuss the
early achievement of self-government for Burma.
1
1947, Jan. 28
An agreement between British and Burmese leaders called for a constituent assembly.
2
April 9
Election of constituent assembly. The Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League
(AFPFL), founded in World War II in opposition to cooperation with the Japanese, was
headed by U Aung San and received an overwhelming majority.
3
June 17
The constituent assembly unanimously adopted a resolution calling for an “independent
sovereign republic to be known as the Union of Burma.”
July 19
4
U Aung San and several members of his provisional government were assassinated by
political opponents under the direction of former premier U Saw.
5
U Aung San had been the single political figure capable of bridging differences between
the various warring political factions: he had the allegiance of the army, the trust of the
Communists, and the support of the various ethnolinguistic communities, who in the
preindependence “excluded areas” had remained relatively unaffected by colonial
Burma's nationalist politics and modern economy. The assassins were tried and executed
(May 8, 1948).
6
July, 20
Thakin Nu, vice president of the AFPFL, formed a new government.
7
Sept. 24–25
The new constitution was adopted by the constituent assembly, and Sao Shwe Thaik,
the sawbwa (ruler) of Yawnghwe (one of the largest of the Shan states), was elected
provisional president.
8
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Asia, 1941–2000 > c. The Malay Archipelago and Peninsular Malaysia
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(See 1943, July)
c. The Malay Archipelago and Peninsular Malaysia
1. Malaysia and Singapore
The Malay States had come under British rule or control in the 19th and early 20th
centuries (See 1914, May 12). Singapore, founded in 1819, was a British crown colony
and one of Britain's most important naval bases. As elsewhere in the region, the
development of a nationalist movement was greatly accelerated by World War II (See
1954–69). In order to gain independence, an alliance was formed between the leaders of
two groups: the Western-educated Malay leadership, drawn from the traditional elite
and its fringes, and the leaders of a small group of Western-educated Chinese, who
were primarily wealthy, Malaya-born businesspeople. An agreement was made between
these two factions that, until the late 1960s, seemed to serve both of their interests: in
exchange for the initial acceptance of Malay domination of political and administrative
authority after independence, there would be noninterference in Chinese domination of
economic activities.
1
By the late 1960s, racial riots erupted, stemming from tensions created by the Malays'
lack of access to economic power; the Chinese had in fact accrued political power over
time and now dominated both spheres.
2
1955, July 27
The first national elections in Malaya resulted in victory for the Alliance Party.
1956, Feb. 8
3
A British-Malayan agreement was signed in London, transferring to Malaya control of
internal security and defense.
4
1957, Aug. 3
In preparation for Malayan independence, a conference of rulers elected Sir Abdul
Rahman, ruler of the Negri Sembilan state, to be the first supreme head of the federation
for a five-year term.
5
Aug. 15
The federal legislative council ratified the constitution of the federation of Malaya.
6
Aug. 31
The British protectorate ended, and Malaya became an independent member of the
Commonwealth.
7
Oct. 7
Malaya became a member of the Colombo Plan (See Nov. 28).
8
Oct. 12
A British-Malayan treaty of mutual assistance and external defense was signed.
9
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(See Aug.–Sept)
G. East Asia, 1945–2000
1. China, 1945–2000
a. The Civil War
The immediate postwar years witnessed various efforts to keep the Guomindang (GMD)
and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from returning to the bloody civil war that had
preceded the anti-Japanese united front. Within a year, however, those efforts had gone
for naught, and the second civil war broke out. The Communists' victory came with
stunning rapidity, and by 1949 there were two Chinas.
1
1945, Aug. 26–Oct. 10
Negotiations between JIANG JIESHI (Chiang Kai-shek) (1888–1975) and MAO
ZEDONG (Mao Tse-tung) (1893–1976) failed to settle their differences, and before the
end of October, heavy fighting was in progress between Nationalists and Communists in
northern China. Each side aimed at the control of Manchuria, which was being evacuated
by Soviet forces.
2
Nov
Jiang sent a large force north of the Great Wall against the Communist forces in
Manchuria. Late in the month, Patrick Hurley, U.S. ambassador to China, resigned.
Dec. 14
3
The U.S. sent Gen. George Marshall (1880–1959) as mediator.
4
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b. The People's Republic of China (PRC)
1950
The unification of the country, together with a program of reconstruction and deflation,
brought considerable economic improvement to the PRC. Although some changes were
introduced in agriculture as land reform went into effect, no radical innovations were set
in motion, other than overall state planning in industry. Landlords were publicly
condemned in mass denunciations; many perished. Land was redistributed to those who
had had the least; private property in land disappeared. A new marriage law accorded
women equal rights in marriage and divorce, and enabled women of any marital status to
hold land in their own names. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) carried on
continued warfare against anti-Communist guerrillas. Party membership topped 5 million.
1
Feb. 14
Mao Zedong traveled to Moscow, his first trip beyond China's borders, and signed the 30year Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union. It
was followed by a series of economic agreements for joint exploitation of Chinese
resources.
2
May 2
Communist forces completed the occupation of Hainan Island.
Oct
3
Chinese Communist “volunteers” intervened in the Korean War (See Nov. 1) on the
North Korean side. Ultimately, over 700,000 Chinese troops would be involved. Over the
course of the war, China suffered between 700,000 and 900,000 casualties.
4
Nov. 10
Following a Chinese invasion, Tibet appealed to the UN to bring about a peaceful
settlement of Chinese-Tibetan relations.
5
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(See Dec. 8)
c. The Republic of China (Taiwan, Nationalist China)
1950
The Nationalist government in Taiwan at last began to introduce some of the reforms it
had promised while still in control of the mainland. It had wiped out a major sector of the
local elite in the repressions of 1947. Some 2 million GMD leaders, their families, and
their supporters had flocked to Taiwan in 1948–49 and soon dominated politics
completely.
1
March 1
Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek) resumed the presidency.
2
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(See 1925, Oct)
2. The Republic of Mongolia (The Mongolian People's Republic),
1945–2000
Alliance with the Soviet Union. The Mongolian People's Republic entered into formal
alliance with the Soviet Union with the signing of a ten-year assistance treaty in 1936 and
its renewal in 1946. It supported the Soviet Union in its ideological conflict with China in
the 1960s. A 20-year treaty of friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance was signed
in 1964, and an agreement eliciting Soviet economic aid was completed in 1970.
1
1945
Independence of Mongolia. A national plebiscite on Oct. 20 voted for independence,
and China thereafter recognized the Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) as an
independent state. On Feb. 14, 1950, China and the Soviet Union signed a treaty that
guaranteed the MPR's independence. A new boundary agreement with China was signed
in 1987.
2
1960
A new constitution stated that the construction of socialism was the country's basic task.
3
1961, Oct. 27
Admission to UN membership.
4
1980s–1990s
Some reforms were initiated to parallel glasnost and perestroika in the Soviet Union in
the late 1980s. In July 1990, the first multiparty elections were held, in which the
Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) won 85 percent of the vote. Economic
reforms moved toward privatization and market economy in the 1990s. Trade with China
increased by over 40 percent in the early 1990s.
5
1991, Nov
The Grand People's Hural voted to change the country's name from the Mongolian
People's Republic to the Republic of Mongolia. It has been a multiparty democracy since
July 1990.
6
1998, April 23
Discord over proposed market reforms spread within Mongolia's ruling coalition. As a
result, Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj was suddenly given the position of prime minister.
However, further parliamentary disagreement led to his resignation on July 24.
7
Oct. 2
A political crisis spread following the murder of cabinet member and potential prime
minister Sanjaasuregiyn Zorig.
8
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1945–2000
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(See 1943, Dec)
3. Korea (North and South), 1945–2000
1945
Japan's defeat in World War II led to the dismantling of its colonial regime in Korea.
Koreans quickly began imagining what their new liberty would entail, and the issue of
earlier collaboration with the Japanese loomed large. In the last days of the war, the
Japanese turned to Song Chin-u (1890–1945) to form a transition regime and keep order
until the Allies arrived; he turned them down. On Aug. 15, the Japanese asked Y
1
Un-
hy
ng (1886–1947), and he accepted with the proviso that all political prisoners be
freed, that food be provided for the next three months, and that there be no Japanese
interference of any kind. Y
next set up the Committee for the Preparation of
Korean Independence, and soon numerous “people's committees” emerged
nationwide, 145 of them by late August. By the end of the year, every village throughout
the country had one. A representative council met (Sept. 6) in Seoul to create the Korean
People's Republic (KPR), which was leftist-controlled but not necessarily a Communist
front. SYNGMAN RHEE (YI S
NG-MAN) (1875–1965) became chairman. Famed
for his fidelity to the cause of Korean independence, Rhee, upon his return to Korea in the
fall of 1945, attacked both the Soviets and the KPR for willingness to cooperate with
Korean Communists.
Sept. 14
A platform of the KPR called for confiscation of all lands owned by the Japanese and
collaborators for redistribution and the nationalization of major industries. All Koreans
were to get the vote.
2
Having arrived on Sept. 8, the U.S. forces under the command of Gen. John Hodge
refused to recognize the KPR and soon banned it. In its stead, they established the U.S.
Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK), using the much-hated colonial
bureaucratic structure.
3
Sept. 16
The Korean Democratic Party was founded by Kim S ng-su (1891–1955) and Song
Chin-u; it was a moderate-to-conservative group that sharply criticized the KPR.
4
Dec. 27
The Moscow Conference, held by Great Britain, the U.S., and the Soviet Union, called
for a provisional Korean democratic government under a five-year trusteeship of the
three powers and of China. A joint Soviet-U.S. commission subsequently attempted to
put this agreement into force but failed because of basic differences between the two
parties concerning the definition of democracy. Korea thus remained divided into a
largely agricultural south and a largely industrial north, with disastrous consequences to
its economy.
5
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(See Aug. 28–Sept. 2)
4. Japan, 1946–2000
With the formal surrender of Japan at the end of World War II, supreme authority passed
into the hands of Gen. Douglas MacArthur as supreme commander for the Allied
powers (SCAP). Though aided by an Allied control council and subject to the general
directions of the 11-nation Far Eastern Commission with headquarters in Washington,
D.C., MacArthur pursued an independent policy. To facilitate his task, Japan's
governmental structure was left intact and put under the direction of Prime Minister
1
Shidehara Kij r
(1872–1951) and a nonpartisan cabinet. The most immediate task
of the occupation authorities was to rid Japan of its imperialist customs, institutions, and
mind-set. In a series of decrees, Gen. MacArthur restored civil liberties, liberated political
prisoners, liberalized the educational curriculum, granted the franchise to all adults,
encouraged the formation of labor unions and the abolition of older land tenure systems,
and ended the compulsory adherence to state Shinto. The climax of these moves to break
with the past came on Jan. 1, 1946, when Emperor Hirohito, in a New Year's message,
disclaimed the divinity that was traditionally accredited to him by the Japanese people.
Among the most important initiatives of the occupation was land reform. Absentee
landlordism was eliminated, as were large landholdings. The amount of land worked by
tenants dropped from 46 percent to 10 percent; rents were regulated. Japan thus rapidly
changed to a country of small farmers who owned their own land.
2
1946, April 10
The first general election favored the moderate parties. Communist returns were
negligible. A new government under Yoshida Shigeru (1878–1967) took office on May
16.
3
A series of purges, initiated by SCAP, was directed against all “active exponents” of
aggressive nationalism, including intellectuals and businessmen, and ultimately involved
more than 1.5 million people. In addition, an international military tribunal in Tokyo
4
began the trials of major war criminals, while separate British and Australian tribunals
were set up in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, respectively.
Nov. 3
A new constitution provided for an elected upper house, transferred sovereignty from the
emperor to the people, safeguarded individual rights and equal rights for women, and
introduced a broad measure of local self-government. It also renounced war for all time
and became effective on May 3, 1947.
5
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(See Aug. 2)
5. Vietnam, 1945–2000
1945, Sept. 2
With U.S. support, HÔ CHI MINH (1890–1969) proclaimed an independent
Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi.
1
The surrender of Japanese forces was taken north of the 16th parallel by the Chinese and
south of it by the British. In the north the Viêt Minh, under Nationalist Chinese auspices,
continued to operate with Chinese support, in spite of usually tacit French desires to the
contrary. The British in the south supported the Free French, with some 20,000 French
civilians still in Saigon concerned that French imperial glory not be completely undone.
With British help, the French militarily recaptured Saigon (Sept. 23) and by Jan. 1946
had retaken much of Cochin China. The British withdrew in Jan. 1946, the Chinese in the
spring.
2
Nov
To gain wider support domestically from the educated elite and also internationally
(especially from the Nationalists in China), the Viêt Minh claimed to disband the
Indochinese Communist Party. Elections were held, and many non-Communist
nationalists were brought into the government under the banner of the Lien Viêt popular
front group.
3
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(See 1944, Feb. 2)
H. The Pacific Region, 1944–2000
1. The Islands, 1946–2000
The postwar years brought a period of significant change to the islands. They saw the
dismantling of colonial rule through peaceful negotiation, except in Vanuatu; by the
1990s, only France and the U.S. remained “colonial powers” in the Pacific. They saw
generally successful attempts at regional cooperation among independent island states,
but they also witnessed the steadily growing dependence of the small, resource-poor,
isolated islands on metropolitan countries. At the close of the 20th century, real political
or economic independence appears to be a vanishing dream for most island
communities.
1
1946, July 1, 25
The U.S., under Operation Crossroads, carried out the first of its atomic tests at Bikini
Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
2
1947
Former (Japanese) mandated territories of the Marianas and the Marshall and Caroline
Islands were given by the UN to the U.S. as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
(TTPI). The TTPI was designated a strategic trusteeship, which meant (1) that its
political status could not be altered without the agreement of the governing power; (2)
its affairs were to be supervised by the UN Security Council, where the U.S. (not the
Trusteeship Council) had veto powers; and (3) the U.S. could close off any part of it for
strategic purposes. Initially under the U.S. Navy, the administration of the TTPI was
assumed by the Department of the Interior in 1951.
3
The creation of the South Pacific Commission (SPC) resulted at the signing of the
Canberra Agreement by six colonial powers: Australia, France, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S. The first regional body of its kind, the SPC was intended
primarily to secure Western political and military interests in the postwar Pacific.
4
1949
The territories of Papua and New Guinea were merged into one administrative unit by
Australia.
5
1954, March 1
The U.S. exploded its first hydrogen bomb, code-named Bravo, at Bikini Atoll, with
long-term environmental and political consequences.
6
1958
An independence referendum in the French territories was ordered by Pres. Charles de
Gaulle. It returned majority support for the continuing presence of France in the islands.
7
1959
The Hawaiian Islands, a territory of the U.S. since the turn of the century, became the
50th state of the U.S.A.
8
1962, Nov. 4
The U.S. carried out its last nuclear test (Tightrope) in the Pacific.
Western Samoa became the first Pacific island to gain independence.
9
10
1963
The first South Pacific Games were held at Backhurst Park in Suva.
11
Dutch New Guinea (Iriyan Jaya) became a part of Indonesia.
12
Anthony Solomon, a Harvard economics professor appointed by Pres. John F. Kennedy
to carry out a survey of political, social, and economic problems in Micronesia,
recommended an “integrated plan of action” to increase the islands' dependence on the
U.S.
13
1964
The Cook Islands gained self-government from New Zealand; a constitutional
conference in London moved Fiji further along the path of internal self-government.
14
1966, March
The University of Papua New Guinea opened and rapidly became the center for
debating national issues by an emerging Papua New Guinean elite.
15
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1942, Jan. 2)
2. The Philippines, 1945–2000
The history of the postindependence Philippines has been characterized by complex
social, economic, and political problems. Population increases led to internal migration,
most notably to Manila and to Mindanao, creating serious urban problems in the former
and exacerbating tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in the latter. In addition,
many Filipinos left the country to work overseas during this period.
1
Initial economic growth gave way to stagnation in the 1980s. Rural poverty has been a
persistent problem; all attempts at land reform have proved ineffective. Bureaucratic
inefficiency, political corruption, and the dominance of the elite in almost all areas of
national life contributed to popular discontent. Guerrilla insurgencies, involving leftist
groups and also Muslim separatists, have continued with varying intensity from the time
of independence to the 1990s. Political life has been volatile, marked by a long period of
dictatorship under Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s and 1980s. Military interference in
politics has been a further complicating factor. Relations with the U.S. have also been
problematic, especially over the question of military bases: nationalistic Filipinos often
categorized the relationship as neocolonial.
2
1945
The commonwealth government was officially restored under Osmena. Manila was
liberated in March. The war had seriously damaged the Philippine economy, and
disillusionment with the elites who had collaborated with the Japanese was prevalent.
Antagonism between landlords and tenants also increased during the war.
1946, April 23
3
Manuel Roxas became president, against the background of the Hukbalahap (Huk)
insurrection, a Marxist guerrilla movement that had been active during the war and
sought redress of social inequalities.
4
The Bell Trade Relations Act gave the Philippines free trade access to U.S. markets
until 1954. This measure was designed to help economic recovery after the war.
5
July 4
The Philippines was formally declared an independent republic.
6
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1940–45)
3. Australia, 1944–2000
Large-scale immigration—until the 1970s chiefly from Europe, thereafter increasingly
from Asia—transformed British Australia. New and old migrants shared expectations of
material prosperity, but after the very prosperous 1950s and 1960s, living standards
declined. In the 1990s, the challenges of multiculturalism, unemployment, environmental
degradation, and an aging population have raised for Australians new questions about
their future. U.S. investments in Australia have increased and, during the cold war
alliance with the U.S., reduced traditional ties with Britain. Agricultural and mineral
exports to Japan increasingly defined Australia as a major supplier of the Pacific Rim.
1
1944, Dec
The Liberal Party was formed, with R.G. Menzies as leader.
2
1945, July 5
Prime Minister John Curtin died, after holding office since Oct. 1941. Joseph B.
Chifley was elected leader of the Federal Labour Party and became prime minister on
July 12.
3
Sept. 23–Dec. 12
A strike of coal workers in New South Wales seriously crippled Australian industry
before it was settled by arbitration. To counteract absenteeism and strikes, and to improve
coal production in general, Parliament, in Aug. 1946, adopted the Coal Industry Act,
setting up a coal board with wide powers of control over every aspect of the coal
4
industry.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1939, Sept. 3)
4. New Zealand, 1945–2000
New Zealand enjoyed relative prosperity and security in the decades following World
War II, bolstered by high prices for its agricultural exports and shielded by economic
protectionism. The political landscape was dominated by the National Party (See 1937,
May 12). Socially, the country tended to be conservative, with the nuclear family being
the main unit of social identification for most Pakeha people. A fondness for sport and
other outdoor activities was a distinctive feature of the country's culture. In the 1970s the
economy began to falter, as the world market for agricultural products declined and
Britain consumed less of New Zealand's exports. Social and political movements, in
particular feminism, questioned the existing order. Immigration, from the Pacific islands
and later from East Asia, contributed to social diversification. Maori, whose population
had grown considerably since the 1950s and had become urbanized, displayed greater
cultural and political assertiveness. From the middle 1980s, economic problems led
governments to dismantle the earlier protectionist and interventionist economic structure
in a bid to make the country more internationally competitive. Social welfare programs
and the civil service also underwent radical changes. Maori social and economic
problems, in particular the question of redressing historical injustices in the alienation of
land and other resources, were also major issues in national politics during the 1980s and
1990s. In foreign policy, New Zealand's ties to Britain weakened after World War II,
leading at first to closer links with the U.S. and later to an attempt to strengthen New
Zealand's identification with the South Pacific. New Zealand's opposition to nuclear
weapons led to conflict with the U.S. and France.
1
1945
The Maori Social and Economic Advancement Act established tribal executives and
committees.
2
The Bank of New Zealand was nationalized, along with other enterprises. Selfgovernment was granted to Samoa.
3
1946
The government began to provide universal child subsidies.
4
Nov. 26
Labour was reelected under Fraser.
5
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See Overview)
I. Africa, 1941–2000
AFRICA, 2000 (MAP)
1. Overview
World War II reinforced the importance of colonies to metropolitan economies. Even
more than during the previous world war, Africa's reserves of essential
minerals—including uranium, magnesium, cobalt, gold, and copper—as well as its
agricultural resources, made the colonies crucial to the war effort. The war raised
world commodity prices, and Africans actively participated in the expanding colonial
economies. After the war, metropolitan governments coveted the huge cash reserves
controlled by the colonial commodity marketing boards, which were drawn on for
postwar reconstruction in Europe.
1
World War II also spawned the new geopolitical realities of the cold war. Both the
U.S. and the Soviet Union employed anticolonial rhetoric even as they sought to create
informal empires of their own. The Atlantic Charter of 1941 underscored the Allies'
commitment to national self-determination. Like Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points
following World War I, the Atlantic Charter was not intended for colonial Africans.
However, the Chinese revolution, the Malaysian peasant rebellion, and the independence
of India provided Africans with important examples of anticolonial and liberation
movements.
2
After the war, the British and the French, if not yet the Belgians and the Portuguese,
began to think of the eventual decolonization of Africa. Their time horizon was long.
Few officials thought of independence for any but the most “advanced” colonies in less
3
than 50 years. As a result, European governments made some important concessions to
Africans in terms of representation in the advisory legislative councils, but planning for
decolonization was lackadaisical. Central to the European timetable for decolonization
was the recognition that colonial powers had not nurtured a managerial middle class
prepared to run a modern nation-state. Until the 1940s and 1950s, only a tiny handful of
institutions of higher education existed on the African continent. Up to the end of World
War II, most primary education and nearly all secondary education was in the hands of
missionaries. Whenever they could afford it, Africans sent their children to universities
in Europe and the U.S. Thus, the first tangible step on the route of gradual independence
was to establish universities in Africa and expand primary education.
Planned decolonization hinged on the assumption that European colonial powers would
determine the pace of change in Africa; it took no account of the actions of Africans.
Instead, the Africans determined the pace of decolonization in Africa. By 1948,
waves of strikes by dockworkers, railway workers, and miners swept through Africa.
Protests by African veterans and soldiers, who had served the mother country faithfully
during the war, shocked colonial administrations. Kwame Nkrumah, a student activist
and later an organizer for the Pan-African Congress who had spent half of his life in the
U.S. and England, returned home as a political organizer for the United Gold Coast
Convention, a moderate nationalist party. In 1949, he led his followers to form a mass
political party, Convention People’s Party, which agitated for immediate selfgovernment (although not yet for independence). Mass political parties had also
emerged in the postwar period in French West Africa, following the Brazzaville reforms,
and in Nigeria, following the Richards Constitution. Mass political parties were slower
to emerge in East and Central Africa.
4
Not all African protest and resistance to colonial rule took the form of strikes and
mobilization through political parties. The Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya, which broke
out in 1952 and persisted until 1956, reflected the specific outcomes of the economic
and political deprivation of Africans within a white settler colony. With economic and
political avenues barred to them, Kikuyu took to the forests and launched a peasant
revolution informed by ethnic nationalism. The British responded ambivalently at first,
then with crushing force. More than 50,000 British troops were needed to contain the
small bands of African freedom fighters. The scale of British military involvement
worried British strategic planners, who began to understand the high costs of protecting
the interests of a handful of white settlers.
5
White settlers were not quiescent during this time of emergent African nationalism. In
1948, the whites of South Africa staged a counterrevolution by electing to power the
Afrikaner-dominated Nationalist Party, with a mandate to establish apartheid as a
political and economic strategy. The Nationalist victory in South Africa stood in sharp
contrast to the postwar imperial policy of gradual implementation of majority rule. The
Nationalist victory, however, strengthened the resolve of white settlers in East and
6
Central Africa, in the Belgian Congo, and in Portuguese Africa. Indeed, white
immigration to settler colonies actually increased during the years immediately
following the war.
Black South Africans responded to the Nationalist victory by reviving the African
National Congress (ANC). Already in 1944, a number of young intellectuals, including
Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, and Anton Lemebede formed the youth
wing of the ANC in an effort to promote more direct action. In 1949, this group had
seized control of the ANC and launched it firmly in the direction of civil disobedience,
noncooperation, and strikes. The ANC's main tactic was nonviolent direct action, and by
1952 its campaigns had resulted in over 8,000 arrests. By 1955, the leaders were either
under arrest and facing a long treason trial, or in exile.
7
In 1956, Sudan, which had been increasing the numbers of Sudanese in the colonial
administration, became independent. In 1957, Nkrumah led Ghana to independence (See
1957, March 6). Precisely because Ghana's independence was based on mass political
mobilization, it became a model for nationalists across the continent.
8
The 25 years from 1955 to 1980 witnessed the rapid end of European empires in Africa.
Only Namibia remained a “trust territory” of South Africa and would become
independent only in 1990. Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique became
independent in 1975, following 20-year guerrilla wars. Zimbabwe became independent
in 1980 in the face of guerrilla advances, the crumbling of white regimes in neighboring
colonies, and the economic collapse of Ian Smith's white settler regime, which had
unilaterally declared itself independent of Britain in 1965 in an attempt to implement a
South African model.
9
Most African nations became independent in the 1960s. Despite the persistence of the
recalcitrant white settler colonies still remaining, this was a decade of great enthusiasm
and promise. Africans were freed from the shackles of nearly a century of colonialism.
They believed that their economies and their cultures would blossom. World commodity
prices continued to favor African producers of primary products in the early 1960s. But
by the end of the decade, world demand was slowing, and by the 1970s, commodity
prices began a gradual descent. The rapid escalation of oil prices drained the little cash
reserves remaining in African economies.
10
Independence also ushered in a flourishing of arts and culture. Most dramatic were
changes in African music. Of all the arts, music was the most “democratic,” since it was
the cheapest and most easily available. The revolution in consumer electronics largely
coincided with the independence decades of the 1960s and 1970s and provided African
musicians with unique opportunities. Since World War II, West Africa had been the site
of important musical innovations involving syntheses of traditional African
instruments and idioms with Western ensemble structures and beats. West African
Highlife originated in the Gold Coast out of a marriage between local African music and
American and British big band sounds. Highlife spread rapidly through the
11
mushrooming cities of the continent. In the 1950s, Nigerian juju music emerged out of
a local response to rock 'n' roll. Wide varieties of traditional, history-telling (the art of
the West African griot), neotraditional, and modern African music can be heard from the
windows or courtyards of houses everywhere.
Besides cassette recordings, national radio broadcasting has contributed to the
diffusion of both traditional and new forms of African music. Many countries also have
annual cultural festivals, which promote both neotraditional and innovative music and
dance. Nightlife is often lively in urban Africa, with nightclubs providing opportunities
for aspiring musicians.
12
In the nearly complete absence of public transportation in most of Africa, privately
owned taxis and vans are the premier form of urban transportation. Elaborate
decorations of these taxis are an important popular art form. The exterior walls of shops
and kiosks became the canvases of popular representational art, also providing
inexpensive commercial advertising. Urban and rural Africans are also consumers of
neotraditional African arts. Craftworkers produce objects using traditional tools and
techniques, but such art is often used in new ways. Instead of functioning primarily
within religious ceremonies, this neotraditional African sculpture is used more widely as
decoration. Larger even than the market for neotraditional sculpture is the demand for
cloth and clothing. African tailors use locally produced or imported textiles to meet a
nearly inexhaustible demand for fashion. Often based on local traditions, these tailors
produce couture for the rapidly changing fashion worlds of urban Africa. Weavers, using
traditional looms and machine-made yarns, produce cloth for ordinary use and festive
occasions. Particularly when incomes are low, cloth provides an inexpensive luxury.
13
The period after World War II also witnessed the flowering of African literature. Most
African literature is written in European languages, and the literature in these
languages has become widely known throughout Africa and abroad. Written in French,
Camara Laye's The Dark Child (1953) fit within the wider négritude traditions
celebrating traditional Africa. Some years later, Ousmane Sembene's The Black Docker
(1956) and his more widely acclaimed God's Bits of Wood (1960) challenged the
romanticism of négritude by depicting the gritty world of urban work. God's Bits of
Wood is a historical novel set against the 1947–48 railway strike along the DakarBamako rail line. Sembene also turned to filmmaking as a means of capturing the bitter
satires of modern urban life. His early film, Barom Sarett, won a prize at the Tours Film
Festival in 1961. Filmmaking in former French West Africa remains a vital form of
artistic creativity, and Burkinabe (Burkina Faso) filmmakers are among the avant-garde.
14
A somewhat analogous pattern is discernible among West African anglophone writers.
Written on the eve of independence, Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1957)
reflected on colonialism's rupture of traditional Igbo society. Very quickly, however, the
glow of independence faded in the face of the very real difficulties of the 1960s and
1970s. Achebe's satirical A Man of the People (1967) showed politics to be a means of
15
accumulation of personal wealth and a tool for personal vendettas. The Ghanaian Ayi
Kwei Armah's hero in The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born (1968) represented the
impotent rage of independent Africans thrust into a world of sudden, deep decay.
South African writers, particularly black writers, could not escape the realities of
apartheid. The poet Dennis Brutus wrote lyrical verse juxtaposed with themes of
apartheid's oppressiveness. Peter Abrahams and Alex La Guma reflect the thematic
shifts over the late 1940s to the 1960s as apartheid more deeply penetrated daily life.
Abrahams's Mine Boy (1946) dramatized the harsh world of the South African mines,
but closed with an optimistic expectation of nonracial worker solidarity. In the mid1950s, Abrahams's A Wreath for Udomo (1956) extolled revolutionary struggles. By the
time of Alex La Guma's A Walk in the Night (1962), a deep despair had set in. La
Guma's South Africa was an urban world of vagabonds, beggars, prostitutes, and
delinquents. Even white South Africans could not escape the negative realities of
apartheid. Nadine Gordimer's July's People (1981) captured the very real dependency of
privileged white society upon impoverished black South Africa.
16
In this world of Europhone literature, the Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o, who had
produced major novels in English in the 1970s, made a dramatic anti-neocolonial
gesture in the 1980s by writing in Kikuyu, his native language. Claiming that writing in
Kikuyu reached a wider audience in Kenya than writing in English, Ngugi wrote both a
play and a novel in Kikuyu. Literature in Swahili and in Hausa, for example, have deep
precolonial roots. Particularly after independence, significant efforts have been made to
produce phonetic alphabets for many African languages. A considerable literature in
African languages—including newspapers, magazines, poetry, and school
primers—now exists. Plays and local television shows are often produced in local
languages as well as in the national European language. Aspiring novelists, however,
will continue to grapple with the choice about the language in which they write and the
audience they wish to address. In independent Africa, language has a politics of its own.
17
Independent Africans emerged into a world where managed political economies were
favored and most initiated ambitious economic development programs designed to
modernize their economies as rapidly as possible. Declining world commodity prices
played havoc with these plans. Economic mismanagement and ill-advised international
loans led to profound balance-of-payments problems. Even for oil-rich Nigeria,
mismanagement, corruption, and overly ambitious and poorly designed economic and
social development led to the squandering of national wealth. Through much of the West
African Sahel, ecological crises in the late 1960s and early 1970s yielded a massive
refugee problem, devastated the livestock economies, and added to the general economic
woes of the new states.
18
Newly independent African states also proved remarkably prone to political instability.
Between 1966 and 1970, waves of military coups and the emergence of one-party
political systems firmly ended the early experiments in political democracy. Political
19
instability in Africa owed much to the legacy of the colonial period. Under colonial rule,
Africans had few opportunities for training in democratic political processes; they had
limited opportunities to pursue higher education; and few had well-developed
commitments to the idea of a “nation.”
Other factors contributed to Africa's political and economic troubles. Many African
politicians saw state institutions as a means for accumulation of personal wealth, which
had been closed to most of them under colonial rule. It is not surprising, then, that the
military emerged as the most stable “national” institution during this period. Military
regimes are rarely noted for their commitment to democratic processes.
20
The Nigerian Civil War of 1967–70 (See 1967–70) represented the prominence of the
military in the independence period, the legacy of the ethnic politics of the colonial era,
and the remarkable efforts to forge a new federal community in the aftermath of the war.
Nigeria, the most populous country of sub-Saharan Africa, came to independence in
1960, administrated by an awkward system of federal and regional governments. The
three regional governments reflected the most important ethnic groups: the Hausa in the
north, the Yoruba in the west, and the Igbo in the southeast. The system was unstable,
and federal leadership weak and corrupt. In 1966, a coup instituted a military regime,
which appeared to be dominated by Igbo officers. Another coup sought to balance the
ethnic composition of the military regime and to divide the three regions into 12 states.
These actions infuriated the Igbo of the eastern region, who began a movement for
secession. The region's leader, Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, was motivated
to secede by the presence of offshore oil reserves in the eastern region. The secessionists
called their new state Biafra. When war broke out in May 1967, it pitted two factions of
the best-trained military in Africa against each other.
21
The war lasted for two and a half years, perhaps longer than militarily justified because
of the role of various competing international groups, including international aid
charities, supporting one or the other side. By 1970, about 1 million Biafrans had died,
and the Biafran secession was over. The reintegration of the Igbo back into the federal
fold of Nigeria was the one shining success of this story. Although Nigeria survived this
secession intact, its future as a unified country remains doubtful in the context of
growing religious intolerance, persistent economic decline, and the military's refusal to
yield to popular democratic sentiments.
22
Civil wars and attendant ecological crises stalked the continent in the decade of the
1980s and continue into the 1990s. Old enmities, fostered by colonial policies, were
fueled by mendacious African rulers of independent states. Regional aspirations of
neighboring countries and rival superpowers seeking narrowly conceived geopolitical
advantages fed civil wars in Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan, Somalia, Angola, Mozambique,
Chad, Liberia, and the Western Sahara. Civil wars yielded both refugees and declining
agricultural and livestock production, thus creating a huge need for international
humanitarian assistance and contributing to the crisis of state power.
23
The 1980s and 1990s witnessed the sustained crisis of inadequate state institutions in
Africa, most of which were inherited from the colonial era. Africans voraciously sought
higher education, but universities in Africa were badly overcrowded and underfunded.
Yet investment in human capital remains crucial for Africa's future.
24
Despite significant advances in public health since independence, poverty and
inequality have been on the rise. Increased public health has contributed to long-term
decline in African infant mortality rates. Contrary to widely accepted assumptions,
African birthrates have not declined as rapidly as expected, thus contributing to severe
food shortages and poverty. As African populations have increased, inequalities
between classes and between sexes have grown. The gaps in income between urban
and rural areas and between high-level government employees and successful
entrepreneurs, and the mass of poorly educated, underemployed urban dwellers has
increased over the past two decades. Especially in rural areas of Central and southern
Africa where male migration is prevalent, women, children, and the elderly have borne
the brunt of increased labor and declining standards of living. Women, who have had
fewer educational and employment options than men, have been doubly burdened by
having to support larger surviving families and increased labor obligations. In regions
where clitoridectomy (female circumcision) is practiced, women have significantly
increased medical problems.
25
To further complicate the current situation of poverty and inequality, an epidemic of
AIDS swept through East and Central Africa. There was intense speculation concerning
the origins of the virus, and much more research will be required before any definite
conclusion can emerge. AIDS was identified in Africa only in the early 1980s, where it
was commonly referred to as “slim” because of the general wasting away of the infected
person. Spread largely by heterosexual intercourse, AIDS has spread unevenly
throughout the continent, even in the most seriously affected regions. HIV-1 was
concentrated in Central, eastern, and southern Africa; HIV-2 was limited to West Africa.
It was largely an urban disease. In Lusaka, Zambia, one in four male and female adults
had been infected by the 1990s. However, in certain rural areas, including the Rakai
District of southwestern Uganda, even higher rates of infection have been documented.
Unlike most other diseases on the continent, which affect mostly the very young or the
very old, AIDS struck sexually active young and middle-aged adults. There is no doubt
that AIDS will have a significant impact on the human capital of the continent. In the
Rakai District, the epidemic left a large pool of orphaned children to the care of aged
grandparents and eventually to the state. Although AIDS has been found in all
socioeconomic groups, the AIDS infection rate among the Rwandan elite and middle
class has been disproportionately high. Most African nations have mounted energetic
public health campaigns to combat the spread of the infection. Nonetheless, the impact
of AIDS on Africa will be felt for generations to come.
26
Despite this bleak situation, Africans have engaged in exciting experiments in political
27
and economic liberalization. The end of white minority rule in Namibia in 1990 and
the transition to majority rule in South Africa held out great promise for equity and
opportunity for all Africans. The end of the civil wars in Ethiopia (leading to the creation
of the new state of Eritrea) and the promised end of civil wars in Mozambique and in
Angola were hopeful signs that Africans might turn to political processes to resolve their
grievances and that new investment might flow not to the military, but to economic and
social development.
Despite the anemic world economy of the early 1990s, Africans engaged in shedding
state-managed policies, and expensive state enterprises embarked on economic
liberalization programs. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund devised
programs called “structural adjustment,” which promised long-term benefits but called
for devastating cuts in social spending in the short term. A poor economic performer for
the past two decades, Ghana emerged as an example of the economic benefits of such
programs. On the other hand, studies of Africa's informal economies showed them to be
robust, dynamic sectors. Urban areas, which had grown dramatically since
independence, have been crucibles for new, informal, smaller-scale enterprises catering
to local and regional demand. These informal economies were often many times
larger than the formal sectors. Despite the problems caused by lack of services, urban
areas also have been sites for experimentation in new forms of community, providing
opportunities for changing economic, social, and political processes.
28
The final years of the 20th century saw additional gains for democracy in several
regions, but also a proliferation of civil wars in a number of nations. Concerns about
poverty and disease continued, particularly in the regions of the AIDS epidemic. United
Nations efforts, often in combination with the Organization for African Unity (OAU),
persisted, with mixed results.
29
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
(See 1941)
2. Regions
The following entries are organized by broad region until around 1960. After 1960,
entries are organized country by country for each region.
1
a. West Africa
1944
Toward the end of World War II, the Free French administration under Charles de Gaulle
agreed to implement a series of major reforms in its West African colonies. These
reforms, announced at the 1944 conference at Brazzaville, were largely designed to
recognize African support for the Free French during World War II. The accords
granted Africans representation in the French National Assembly and outlined a
program of economic, social, and legal reforms. The French never intended the
Brazzaville Accords to lead to colonial self-government; rather, the reforms were
designed to strengthen the relationship between France and its West African colonies and
to reward Africans for siding with the Free French.
2
1945
The Richards Constitution for Nigeria led to the development of political parties.
Named after the current governor, the new constitution brought northern Nigeria into the
central government, extended Nigerian representation in the legislative and executive
councils, and established three subregions with their own representative bodies. African
nationalists criticized the constitution because it had been imposed without their
consultation and provided for only indirect elections. New African political groups began
3
to coalesce in the late 1940s, including the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon,
and the Northern People's Congress.
1946
Election of African representation at the French constituent assembly resulted from
the Brazzaville Accords. The most important political reform resulting from the
Brazzaville conference was the agreement that the colonies should be represented in the
constituent assembly charged with drawing up the constitution of the French Fourth
Republic. The first constituent assembly was held in April 1946, but the liberal reforms it
proposed for the colonies went down to defeat. The second constituent assembly framed a
new French constitution and placed the colonies within the framework of a unitary
republic. Africans participated in both constituent assemblies.
4
The enactment of the première loi Lamine Gueye, named after the first Senegalese deputy
to the French National Assembly, offered French citizenship to all African subjects
within the context of the Fourth Republic. In 1946, forced labor and the hated indigénat,
a summary code of administrative justice exercised arbitrarily by colonial officials, were
abolished.
5
March
New constitution for the Gold Coast, which became the first British colony to have
an African majority in its legislature.
6
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(Horn)
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(See 1942, Jan)
b. Northeast Africa (Horn)
1941–52
Restoration and rebuilding of central powers of the Ethiopian Empire under Haile
Selassie. The emperor continued to hold most power, but some bureaucratic reform
occurred. Britain remained in control of the Horn outside Ethiopia.
1
1945
Senior civil servants in Sudan formed a moderate nationalist group, the Umma Party.
2
1946
Formation of the nationalist, modernist Somali Youth League.
3
1948
Umma dominated the national legislature established by British in Sudan; most members
of this legislature came from northern areas.
4
1949, Nov
The UN placed Somalia in a ten-year trusteeship under Italy.
5
1950
University College was founded in Addis Ababa. In British Somaliland, clan leaders
were made into “local authorities.”
6
Dec
The UN placed Eritrea in federation with Ethiopia, with limited autonomy, under the
Ethiopian Empire.
7
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(See 1940)
c. East Africa
1944–49
Britain created multiracial legislative councils in Kenya (1944), Tanganyika and
Uganda (1945), Northern Rhodesia (1948), and Nyasaland (1949). They had the
opposite of their intended effect, spurring African nationalism as Africans rejected the
colonial concept of multiracialism.
1
1945–56
Waves of strikes and urban protest in East and Central Africa, including Mombassa,
Dar, Zanzibar, Southern Rhodesia, and Copperbelt (1956).
2
1946
Jomo Kenyatta returned to Kenya after an absence of 15 years.
3
1947
The Groundnut Scheme, a colonial development project designed to introduce largescale mechanized agriculture, began at Kingwa, Tanganyika.
4
The Zanzibar Legislative Council was reformed and included two Africans, two
Indians, three Arabs, and one European.
5
1949–60
Beginning of university education in region. The pace of university construction was
still too slow. Makerere University was founded in 1949. By 1960, many more
Africans from the region were seeking higher education abroad.
6
1949
The Groundnut Scheme harvest proved to be very disappointing. Similar big
development projects were being funded throughout the continent, but results were
rarely positive.
7
The Zanzibar Legislative Council demanded elections as a step toward selfgovernment.
8
1951
The Matthew Commission reported on constitutional developments in Tanganyika. A
legislative council was proposed, to include seven African, seven Asian, and seven
European members.
9
1952–59
The Mau Mau rebellion broke out on Sept. 11, 1952, and a state of emergency in
Kenya was declared in 1953. Rebellion was sparked by discontent among the Kikuyu
over land lost to Europeans and was heightened by general discontent over government
regulation of peasant farming and urban nationalist aspirations. In 1953, Jomo Kenyatta
and five others were convicted of “managing” the Mau Mau, but the conviction was
overturned by the Kenya Supreme Court. Then the East African Court of Appeals upheld
the conviction. Political associations were prohibited during the state of emergency.
Thousands of Africans died in the rebellion and the British military campaign to crush it.
10
1953
Julius Nyrere was elected president of the Tanganyika African Association.
11
1954
The Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) was established and became a mass
party representing urban and rural grievances.
12
A state of emergency was declared in Buganda.
13
1955
The kabaka (traditional ruler) of Buganda returned from abroad.
14
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(See Dec)
d. West Central Africa
1945–57
Rapid economic growth in Congo was especially stimulated by the mining of copper
and other minerals.
1
1948
Colonato, a form of state encouragement for “progressive” African farmers, was
introduced in Angola.
2
1949
The University of Louvanium was established by decree. The first students were
admitted to only a preuniversity course in 1954.
3
1949–50
Beginning of the Movement of Young Intellectuals in Angola, founded by Viriato da
Cruz. This group proclaimed the importance of Angolan culture.
1949–57
4
Belgium began to plan for gradual decolonization of Congo through ten-year plans for
economic development, aided by the commodity boom. The first plan was introduced in
1949. The pace of reform, however, remained very slow, and was overtaken by
emerging nationalist movements.
5
1950
The Nationalist Alliance de Bakongo (ABAKO) was founded.
6
Sixty percent of the doctors in the Cameroon were Africans. The Portuguese program of
assimilating “Westernized” Africans into Portuguese citizenship proved a failure. Out of
a population of 3 million, only 30,000 fit the Portuguese category of assimilado, which
entitled them to escape the harsh labor and legal regime for Africans.
7
1951, Dec
Municipal elections were held in the Belgian Congo; Joseph Kasavubu's ABAKO
won in Kinshasa.
8
1953
The Kitawala Movement, originally based on an Africanized version of the apocalyptic
doctrine of the American Watch Tower movement, spread in the lower Congo.
9
1954
A university was established at Elisabethville.
10
1954–55
A wave of strikes broke out in Cameroon.
1955
11
Oil was discovered near Luanda.
12
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(See 1935–39)
e. Southern Africa
1. North of the Limpopo
1945–60
Economic development led to large-scale urbanization and wage labor in Zambia and
Rhodesia, leading to the development of a stable urban population of workers and
families, accompanied by the rise of bureaucratic and professional elites.
1
1947
African trade unions were first formed in Northern Rhodesia.
2
1948
Seretse Khama married Ruth Williams in London, but the Ngwato people refused to
accept him as their chief because of his marriage to an Englishwoman.
3
Constitutional reforms in Northern Rhodesia extended appointments on the legislative
council to five years.
4
1950
Out of a population of about 5 million, only 4,353 assimilados lived in Mozambique.
5
1950–56
Successful organization by Copperbelt miners in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) led to a
wave of strikes in 1956.
6
1951
Six white members of the Southwest Africa House of Assembly took seats in the
South African Parliament.
7
1953
Increased political activity in opposition to the proposed federation of Central Africa
between Nyasaland and the two Rhodesias. Rev. Michael Scott preached nonviolent
opposition to the federation.
8
1954
Rhodesian University College was founded.
9
1955
Africans were admitted to the legislative council in Nyasaland.
10
1956
A state of emergency was declared in Northern Rhodesia, following miners' strikes.
11
Pres. Craveiro Lopes of Portugal visited Mozambique. Its administrative districts were
reorganized.
12
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(See 1935–39)
f. Madagascar
1943–45
Wartime impositions, including conscription and forced labor, and the 1944 forced sale
of the rice crop, led to widespread discontent with French rule.
1
1956
Several political parties emerged to campaign for independence.
2
1958, Aug
Madagascar voted in favor of the de Gaulle proposal for autonomy within the
French sphere.
3
1960, June 26
Full independence was gained under the leadership of Philibert Tsiranana and his
Parti Social Démocrat (PSD).
1971–74
4
A revolt of Antandroy peasants led to strikes and demonstrations, followed by the
installation of a military government under Gen. Gabriel Ramanatsoa, who was
initially popular with the Left.
5
1975, Feb
Ramanatsoa was forced from power after violent anti-Merina riots against the
political and ethnic elite and spreading popular revolt; he was replaced by the
Conseil Suprême Révolutionnaire (CSR) led by Capt. Didier Ratsiraka. The CSR
pursued a radical Socialist line, including widespread nationalization of industry. These
policies led to economic stagnation, loss of foreign investment, and food shortages.
6
1982
By this time Madagascar was heavily reliant on aid from the Soviet bloc and China,
and was importing 350,000 metric tons of rice per year, which consumed 20 percent of
the country's foreign exchange. Pres. Ratsiraka was returned to office in fraudulent
elections, and the government signed a structural adjustment agreement with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF).
7
1983–89
Austerity measures introduced by the IMF agreement led to a resumption of foreign aid
and the return of market policies for agriculture. Incomes fell sharply. Poverty and
banditry in the countryside led to rapid urbanization.
8
1987
Drought in the south resulted in famine, killing 47,500 and resulting in 200,000
refugees.
1993, Feb. 10
9
Albert Zafy led the opposition to electoral victory over Pres. Didier Ratsiraka in
multiparty elections.
10
1999, April 19–23
An interisland conference was held in Madagascar with the Comoros and other
surrounding islands in attendance.
11
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I. Roman Emperors
27 B.C.–14 Augustus (Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus)
C.E.
14–37 Tiberius (Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar)
37–41 Caligula (Gaius Claudius Nero Caesar Germanicus)
41–54 Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar Drusus)
54–68 Nero (Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus Claudius Drusus)
68–69 Galba (Servius Sulpicius Galba)
69 Otho (Marcus Salvius Otho)
69 Vitellius (Aulus Vitellius Germanicus)
69–79 Vespasian (Titus Flavius Vespasianus)
79–81 Titus (Titus Flavius Vespasianus)
81–96 Domitian (Titus Flavius Domitianus)
96–98 Nerva (Marcus Cocceius Nerva)
98–117 Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus)
117–38 Hadrian (Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus)
138–61 Antoninus Pius (Titus Aurelius Fulvius Boionius Arrius Antoninus Pius)
161 (146)–80 Marcus Aurelius (Marcus Annius Aurelius Verus)
161–69 Lucius Aurelius Verus (Lucius Ceionius Commodus Verus)
180 (177)–92 Commodus (Lucius Aelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Commodus)
193 Pertinax (Publius Helvius Pertinax)
193 Didius Julian (Marcus Didius Salvius Julianus Severus)
193–211 Septimius Severus (Lucius Septimius Severus)
211 (198)–17 Caracalla (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Bassianus Caracallus)
209–11 Geta (Publius Septimius Geta)
217–18 Macrinus (Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus)
218–22
Elagabalus (Marcus Varius Avitus Bassianus Aurelius Antoninus
Heliogabalus)
222–35
Alexander Severus (Marcus Alexianus Bassianus Aurelius Severus
Alexander)
235–38 Maximin (Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus “Thrax”)
238 Gordian I (Marcus Antonius Gordianus)
238 Gordian II
238 Pupienus (Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus)
238 Balbinus (Decimus Caelius Balbinus)
238–44 Gordian III (Marcus Antonius Gordianus)
244–49 Philipp “Arabs” (Marcus Julius Philippus “Arabs”)
249–51 Decius (Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius)
251 Hostilian (Gaius Valens Hostilianus Messius Quintus)
251–53 Gallus (Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus)
253 Aemilian (Marcus Julius Aemilius Aemilianus)
253–59 Valerian (Gaius Publius Licinius Valerianus)
259 (253)–68 Gallienus (Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus)
268–70 Claudius II (Marcus Aurelius Claudius Gothicus)
270 Quintillus (Marcus Aurelius Claudius Quintillus)
270–75 Aurelian (Lucius Domitius Aurelianus)
275–76 Tacitus (Marcus Claudius Tacitus)
276 Florian (Marcus Annius Florianus)
276–82 Probus (Marcus Aurelius Probus)
282–83 Carus (Marcus Aurelius Carus)
283–84 Numerian (Marcus Aurelius Numerius Numerianus)
283–85 Carinus (Marcus Aurelius Carinus)
284–305 Diocletian (Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocles Jovius)
286–305 Maximian (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus Herculius)
305
Constantius I (Flavius Valerius Constantius Chlorus)
(293)–306
305
Galerius (Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus)
(293)–311
306–7 Severus (Flavius Valerius Severus)
306–8 Maximian (second reign)
306–12 Maxentius (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius)
308–13 Maximinus Daia (Galerius Valerius Maximinus Daia)
311 (307)–24 Licinius (Gaius Flavius Valerius Licinianus Licinius)
311 (306)–37 Constantine I, the Great (Flavius Valerius Constantinus)
337–40 Constantine II (Flavius Valerius Claudius Constantinus)
337–61 Constantius II (Flavius Valerius Julius Constantius)
337–50 Constans (Flavius Valerius Julius Constans)
361–63 Julian, the Apostate (Flavius Claudius Julianus)
363–64 Jovian (Flavius Jovianus)
364–75 Valentinian I (Flavius Valentinianus, in the West)
364–78 Valens (in the East)
375 (367)–83 Gratian (Flavius Graatianus Augustus, in the West)
375–92 Valentinian II (Flavius Valentinianus, in the West)
379–95
Theodosius, the Great (Flavius Theodosius, in the East, and, after 392, in
the West)
383–88 Maximus (Magnus Clemens Maximus)
392–94 Eugenius
395
Arcadius (in the East)
(383)–408
395
Honorius (Flavius Honorius, in the West)
(393)–423
421 Constantius III
423–25 Johannes
408 (402)–50 Theodosius II (in the East)
425–55 Valentinian III (Flavius Placidius Valentinianus, in the West)
450–57 Marcian (Marcianus, in the East)
455 Petronius (Flavius Ancius Petronius Maximus, in the West)
455–56 Avitus (Flavius Maecilius Eparchus Avitus, in the West)
457–61 Majorian (Julius Valerius Maioranus, in the West)
457–74 Leo I (Leo Thrax, Magnus, in the East)
461–65 Severus (Libius Severianus Severus, in the West)
467–72 Anthemius (Procopius Anthemius, in the West)
472 Olybrius (Anicius Olybrius, in the West)
473 Glycerius (in the West)
473–75 Julius Nepos (in the West)
473–74 Leo II (in the East)
474–91 Zeno (in the East)
475–76 Romulus Augustulus (Flavius Momyllus Romulus Augustus, in the West)
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II. Byzantine Emperors
474–91 Zeno
475–76 Basiliscus
491–518 Anastasius I
518–27 Justin I (Flavius Justinus)
527 (518)–65 Justinian the Great (Flavius Justinianus)
565–78 Justin II (Flavius Justinus)
578 (574)–82 Tiberius II (Flavius Constantinus Tiberius)
582–602 Maurice (Maurikios)
602–10 Phocas I
610–41 Heraclius I
641 Constantine III (Constantinus)
641 Heracleon (Heracleonas)
641–68 Constans II
668–85 Constantine IV (Pogonatus)
685–95 Justinian II (Rhinotmetus)
695–98 Leontius
698–705 Tiberius II (Apsimar)
705–11 Justinian II (restored)
711–13 Philippicus
713–15 Anastasius II
715–17 Theodosius III
717–41 Leo III (the Isaurican
741–75 Constantine V (Kopronymos)
775–80 Leo IV
780–97 Constantine VI (Porphyrogenetos)
797–802 Irene (empress)
802–11 Nicephorus I
811 Stauracius (Staurakios)
811–13 Michael I (Rhangabé)
813–20 Leo V (the Armenian)
820–29 Michael II (Balbus)
829 (820)–42 Theophilus I
842–67 Michael III
867 (866)–86 Basil I (the Macedonian)
886–912 Leo VI (the Wise)
912–13 Alexander II
912–59 Constantine VII (Porphyrogenetos)
920–44 Romanus I (Lekcapenus)
959–63 Romanus II
963 (976)–1025 Basil II (Bulgaroktonos)
963–69 Nicephorus II (Phocas)
969–76 John I (Tzimisces)
1025 (976)–28 Constantine VIII
1028–50 Zoë (empress)
1028–34 Romanus III (Argyropulos)
1034–41 Michael IV (the Paphlagonian)
1041–42 Michael V (Kalaphates)
1042–55 Constantine IX (Monomachus)
1055–56 Theodora (empress)
1056–57 Michael VI (Stratioticos)
1057–59 Isaac I (Komnenos)
1059–67 Constantine X (Dukas)
1068–71 Romanus IV (Diogenes)
1071–78 Michael VII (Parapinakes)
1078–81 Nicephorus III (Botaniates)
1081–1118 Alexius I (Comnenus)
1118–43 John II (Comnenus)
1143–80 Manuel I (Comnenus)
1180–83 Alexius II (Comnenus)
1183–85 Andronicus I (Comnenus)
1185–95 Isaac II (Angelus)
1195–1203 Alexius III (Angelus)
1203–4 Isaac II (restored)
1203–4 Alexius IV
1204 Alexius V (Dukas)
Latin Emperors
1204–5 Baldwin I
1205–16 Henry
1216–17 Peter of Courtenay
1217–19 Yolande
1219–28 Robert of Courtenay
1228–61 Baldwin II
1231–37 John of Brienne (co-emperor)
Nicaean Emperors
1204–22 Theodore I (Lascaris)
1222–54 John III (Dukas Vatatzes)
1254–58 Theodore II (Lascaris)
1258–61 John IV (Lascaris)
1259–61 (1282) Michael VIII (Paleologos)
The Paleologi
1261 (1259)–82 Michael VIII
1282–1328 Andronicus II (the Elder)
1295–1320 Michael IX (co-emperor)
1328–41 Andronicus III (the Younger)
1341–47 John V (Paleologos)
1347 (1341)–54 John VI (Kantakuzenos)
1355–76 John V (restored)
1376–79 Andronicus IV
1379–91 John V (restored)
1390 John VII
1391–1425 Manuel II
1425–48 John VIII
1448–53 Constantine XI
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III. Caliphs, to 1256
622 (570)–32 MUHAMMAD IBN ABDALLAH
The Orthodox Caliphate
632–34 Abu Bakr
634–44 Umar ibn al-Khattab
644–56 Uthman ibn Affan
656–61 Ali ibn Abi Talib
The Umayyad Caliphate
661–80 Mu’awiya I (Mu’awiya ibn Abi Sufyan)
680–82 Yazid I
683 Mu’awiya II
684–85 Marwan I
685–705 Abd al-Malik
705–15 Walid I
715–17 Sulaiman
717–20 Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz
720–24 Yazid II
724–43 Hisham
743–44 Walid II
744 Yazid III
744 Ibrahim
744–50 Marwan II
The Abbasid Caliphate
750–54 Abu al Abbas al-Saffah
754–75 Al-Mansur
775–85 Al-Mahdi
785–86 Al-Hadi
786–809 Harun Al-Rashid
809–13 Al-Amin
813–33 Al-Ma’mun (Mamun the Great)
833–42 Al-Mu’tasim
842–47 Al-Wathiq
847–61 Al-Mutawakkil
861–62 Al-Muntasir
862–66 Al-Musta’in
866–69 Al-Mu’tazz
869–70 Al-Muqtadi
870–92 Al-Mu’tamid
892–902 Al-Mu’tadid
902–8 Al-Muqtafi
908–32 Al-Muqtadir
932–34 Al-Qahir
934–40 Al-Radi
940–44 Al-Muttaqi
944–46 Al-Mustaqfi
946–74 Al-Muti
974–91 Al-Ta’i
991–1031 Al-Qadir
1031–75 Al-Qa’im
1075–94 Al-Muqtadi
1094–1118 Al-Mustazhir
1118–35 Al-Mustarshid
1135–36 Al-Rashid
1136–60 Al-Muqtafi
1160–70 Al-Mustanjid
1170–80 Al-Mustadi
1180–1225 Al-Nasir
1225–26 Al-Zahir
1226–42 Al-Mustansir
1242–56 Al-Musta’sim
The Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba
756–88 Abd ar-Rahman I
788–96 Hisham I
796–822 Al-Hakam I
822–52 Abd ar-Rahman II
852–86 Muhammad I
886–88 Al Mundhir
888–912 Abdallah
912–61 Abd ar-Rahman III
961–76 Al-Hakam II al Mustansir
976–1009 Hisham II al Muayyad
1009–10 Muhammad II al-Mahdi
1009–10 Sulaiman al-Mustain
1010–13 Hisham II (restored)
1013–16 Sulaiman (restored)
1016–18 Ali ben Hammud
1018 Abd ar-Rahman IV
1018–21 Al-Qasim
1021–22 Yahya
1022–23 Al-Qasim (restored)
1023–24 Abd ar-Rahman V
1024–25 Muhammad III
1025–27 Yahya (restored)
1027–31 Hisham III
The Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt
909–34 Al-Mahdi
934–45 Al-Qaim
945–52 Al-Mansur
952–75 Al-Muizz
975–96 Al-Aziz
996–1021 Al-Hakim
1021–36 Az-Zahir
1036–94 Al-Mustansir
1094–1101 Al-Mustadi
1101–30 Al-Amir
1130–49 Al-Hafiz
1149–54 Az-Zafir
1154–60 Al-Faiz
1160–71 Al-Adid
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IV. Roman Popes
33–?67 *Peter
?67–?76 *Linus
?76–?88 *Anacletus I
?88–?97 *Clement I
?97–?105 *Evaristus
?105–?15 *Alexander I
?115–?25 *Sixtus I
?125–?36 *Telesphorus
?136–?40 *Hyginus
?140–?55 *Pius I
?155–?66 *Anicetus
?166–?75 *Soter
?175–89 *Eleuterus
189–99 *Victor I
199–217 *Zephyrinus
217–22 *Calixtus I
222–30 *Urban I
222–35 Hippolytus
230–35 *Pontian
235–36 *Anterus
236–50 *Fabian
250–51 (Vacancy)
251–53 *Cornelius
251–?58 Novatian
253–54 *Lucius I
254–57 *Stephen I
257–58 *Sixtus II
258–60 (Vacancy)
260–68 *Dionysius
269–74 *Felix I
275–83 *Eutychian
283–96 *Caius
296–304 *Marcellinus
304–8 (Vacancy)
308–9 *Marcellus I
309–10 *Eusebius
311–14 *Miltiades
314–35 *Sylvester I
335–36 *Marcus
337–52 *Julius I
352–66 *Liberius
353–65 Felix II
366–83 Damasus I
366–67 Ursinus
384–99 *Siricius
399–401 *Anastasius I
401–17 *Innocent I
417–18 *Zosimus
418–22 *Boniface I
418–19 Eulalius
422–32 *Celestine I
432–40 *Sixtus III
440–61 *Leo I
461–68 *Hilarius
468–83 *Simplicius
483–92 *Felix III
492–96 *Gelasius I
496–98 *Anastasius II
498–514 *Symmachus
498–505 Laurentius
514–23 *Hormisdas
523–26 *John I
526–30 *Felix IV
530–32 Boniface II
530 Dioscurus
533–35 John II
535–36 *Agapetus I
536–37 *Silverius
537–55 Vigilius
556–61 Pelagius I
561–74 John III
575–79 Benedict I
579–90 Pelagius II
590–604 *Gregory I
604–6 Sabinian
607 Boniface III
608–15 *Boniface IV
615–18 *Deusdedit
619–25 Boniface V
625–38 Honorius I
638–40 (Vacancy)
640 Severinus
640–42 John IV
642–49 Theodore I
649–55 *Martin I
655–57 *Eugene I
657–72 *Vitalian
672–76 Adeodatus
676–78 Donus
678–81 *Agatho
681–83 *Leo II
684–85 *Benedict II
685–86 John V
686–87 Conon
687 Theodore II
687–92 Paschal I
687–701 *Sergius I
701–5 John VI
705–7 John VII
708 Sisinnius
708–15 Constantine
715–31 *Gregory II
731–41 *Gregory III
741–52 *Zacharias
752–57 Stephen II
757–67 *Paul I
767 Constantine
767 Philip
767–72 Stephen III
772–95 Adrian I
795–816 *Leo III
816–17 Stephen IV
817–24 Paschal I
824–27 Eugene II
827 Valentine
827–44 Gregory IV
844 John VIII
844–47 Sergius II
847–55 *Leo IV
855–58 Benedict III
855 Anastasius III
858–67 *Nicholas I
867–72 Adrian II
872–82 John VIII
882–84 Marinus I
884–85 Adrian III
885–91 Stephen V
891–96 Formosus
896 Boniface VI
896–97 Stephen VI
897 Romanus
897 Theodore II
898–900 John IX
900–903 Benedict IV
903 Leo V
903–4 Christopher
904–11 Sergius III
911–13 Anastasius III
913–14 Lando
914–28 John X
928–29 Leo VI
929–31 Stephen VII
931–35 John XI
936–39 Leo VII
939–42 Stephen IX (VIII)
942–46 Marinus II
946–55 Agapetus II
955–63 John XII
963–64 Leo VIII
964 Benedict V
965–72 John XIII
973–74 Benedict VI
974–83 Benedict VII
983–84 John XIV
984–85 Boniface VII
985–96 John XV
996–99 Gregory V
996–98 John XVI
999–1003 Sylvester II
1003 John XVII
1003–9 John XVIII
1009–12 Sergius IV
1012–24 Benedict VIII
1012 Gregory VI
1024–33 John XIX
1033–45 Benedict IX
1045 Sylvester III
1045–46 Gregory VI (John Gratian Pierleoni)
1046–47 Clement II (Suitgar, Count of Morsleben)
1048 Damasus II (Count Poppo)
1049–54 *Leo IX (Bruno, Count of Toul)
1055–57 Victor II (Gebhard, Count of