8.2: Overseas Expansion in the 17th and 18th Centuries

The development of early capitalism was intimately connected with overseas expansion. The original impulse behind oversea expansion was primarily commercial, focused on the search for commodities and profit. By the 18th Century, it would become a major political focus of all of the European powers. In other words, European elites actively sought to trade with, as well as conquer and control, overseas territories both for profit and for their own political "glory" and aggrandizement. The result was dramatic. By 1800, roughly 35% of the globe was directly or indirectly controlled by European powers. How did that happen?

The first part of the answer is simple: military technology and organization. During and after the Renaissance period, the evolution of gunpowder warfare resulted in highly-trained soldiers with the most advanced military technology in the world. As European powers expanded, they built fortresses in the modern style and defended them with cannons, muskets, and warships that often outmatched the encountered military forces and technology. For example, in the case of China, Japan, and the Philippines, local rulers learned that the easiest way to deal with European piracy was to cut off trade with European merchants until restitution had been paid, not engage in warfare.

European states also benefited from the relative political fragmentation of parts of the non-European world. There were powerful kingdoms and empires in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia that defied European attempts at hegemony, but much of the world was controlled by smaller states. A prime example is India, which was divided up into dozens of small kingdoms, along with a few larger ones. (The Mughal Empire that ruled much of the subcontinent early in the period of British expansion was in decline by the early eighteenth century). When the British and French began taking control of Indian territory, it was against the resistance of small Indian kingdoms, not an overall Indian state.

Meanwhile, this period saw the consolidation of European holdings in the New World and the beginning of empires in places like India. However, it did not include major land holdings in Africa, the Middle East, or East Asia. In places with powerful states like China, the Ottoman Empire, and Japan, even the relative superiority of European arms was not sufficient to seize territory. Likewise, not only were African states able to successfully fight off Europeans as well, but African diseases made it impossible for large numbers of Europeans to colonize or occupy much African territory. As the Slave Trade burgeoned, Europeans did launch slave raids, but most slaves had been captured by African slavers who enjoyed enormous profits from the exchange.

Likewise, European states and the supported corporations worked diligently to establish monopolies on trade with various parts of the world. It's important to note: "monopolies" in this case only meant monopolies in trade going to and from Europe. These included enormous, established, and powerful networks of trade between Africa, India, South Asia, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, and the Pacific, all of which were dominated by non-European merchants. To cite one example, the Indian Ocean had served as an oceanic crossroads of trade between Africa and Asia for thousands of years. Europeans broke into those markets primarily by securing control of goods that made their way back to Europe rather than seizing control of intra-Asian or African trade routes.

1700 AD: An illustrative map of the world in the early colonial period. Major European Powers' spheres of influence are denoted by color. (See the map key.) To see a full-screen version, click here.

Source: Wikipedia