The Sources of European Predominance

Sometime in the fifteenth century, triplet-masted ships appeared, and small masts and spans were added above the "top" or crow's nest. By 1500, these developments had take to the full-rigged ship, with three or sometimes four masts and up to three sails on each mast (Friel 77-90). These ships could make the most of changing come up conditions, and proved able to cross oceans or even sail around the world.

Europeans learned about gunpowder in the thirteenth century, and primitive guns appeared non long after 1300. At front they were more a novelty than an effective weapon. However, by the fifteenth century enormous cannon called bombards were developed, capable of battering see city or castle walls far more effectively than traditional siege engines such as catapults. These huge bombards were firm to move; often they were made on the spot for a siege. In particular, they were too heavy and bulky to be mount on board ships.

In the late 15th century, however, gunmakers wor king for the king of France applied the technology of bronze bell-casting to develop a impertinent and more sizeable type of cannon. Though they still weighted up to several tons, they were both lighter and more powerful than the older bombards, and compact enough to be mounted aboard ships. At first they were placed on the bows of oared galleys as a sort of super-ram. Large sailing ships had long had cargo-loading ports on their frown decks, however, and about 150

Phillips, Carla Rahn. Caravel and Galleon. In Robert Gardiner, ed., Cogs, Caravels, and Galleons, advanced York: Chartwell, 2000, pp. 91-114.

However, Europeans quickly took over the world's trade, and the profits it brought. Previously trade in the Indian Ocean had been dominated by Muslim merchants, who grew incredibly wealthy. (The legends of Sindbad the Sailor are a memory of this era.) Within lone(prenominal) a few years around 1500 they were pushed aside by the Portuguese and later the Dutch and English, and the world's trading wealth flowed into European hands. With that wealth, Europeans could build more galleons, or even send armies to nonadjacent parts of the world.

Perdue, Peter C.

Russia, Central Eurasia, China, Japan, 1500-1700: Centralization and Commercialization. 2000. Chapter for Global Connections: A World History (forthcoming).

In the New World, the Aztec and Inca empires collapsed, pillaged by Old World diseases and shocked by Europeans' rehearse of guns and horses, neither of which they had ever imagined. Europeans conquered these regions outright. Empires in the Old World, such as China or Mughul India, were more resilient. Europeans' military advantage on land was not equal to their advantage at sea, and Europeans were greatly outnumbered.

Friel, Ian. The Carrack: The Advent of the Full-Rigged Ship. In Robert Gardiner, ed., Cogs, Caravels, and Galleons, New York: Chartwell, 2000, pp. 77-90.

Ruling classes in Europe were also conservative and suspicious of innovations. Europe, however, was never unite into a single "gunpowder empire." The empire of Charles V came intimately in the first half of the 16th century, but did not quite succeed. Europe stayed disunified - forcing rulers into competition with one another. For a European kingdom to suppress the manufac
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