The Modern World, Part One: Global History from 1760 to 1910 -- Week 4 Video Lecture Summary
Video 1: The Great Divergence -- Why?
The term Great Divergence was coined by the historian David Pomerance. Across Eurasia, the East diverged from the West.
If we look at per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product), there wasn't much GDP growth difference between the West and Asia in 1500-1820. However, in 1820-1870, Western GDP really grows whereas in Asia it declines slightly. In terms of total GDP, the two regions weren't very different in the initial period. However, in the later period, the difference is really stark: Europe is producing much more.
In 1500, Asia was the biggest producer in the world, producing over 60% of the world's products whereas Europe produces 17%. As time goes on, this balance flips (by 1913) and Europe overtakes Asian production.
The similarities between Asia and the West in 1700-1750
- Basic scientific discoveries (gunpowder, higher mathematics)
- Manufactured goods (ceramics)
- Population centers
- Financial capacity
- Growth constraints + Malthusian trap. Famine, deforestation on both ends of Eurasia.
The differences between Asia and the West in 1700-1750
- Europe has access to extra resources
- Superior trading networks
- The New World
- Technology
- Machines that use fossil fuels (but how did these come about? See next video).
Video 2: Engines, Electricity, Evolution
The industrial revolution.
Steam engines
Matthew Bolton was a key figure in the invention of the steam engine. Steam engines were needed to pump water out of coal mines, which were needed because of mass woodburning deforestation. Then the cyclical action of the steam engine was applied to the creation of cotton yarn. At that period, India was the biggest manufacturer of textiles globally, and England instilled protectionist legislation on the importation of Indian textiles to protect English wool textiles. This resulted in English people trying to create cotton textiles in England (which necessitated the development of steam engines).
These inventors are amateur but talented tinkerers and mechanics, rather than scientists or professional engineers.
Electricity
Volta invented the first battery and created energy.
Gauss helped understand magnetism.
Faraday developed an electrical generator.
These are pure scientists trying to figure out how the world works ("God's laws"). Electricity was increasingly better understood by different scientists building on the works of their forerunners.
Evolution
Darwin of course is the papa of evolution. He graduated from Cambridge where he ran with a scientific crowd. He made a 5-year voyage on the Beagle, a navy ship, as a captain's companion and naturalist. He made scientific observation notes on wildlife; he found fossils; observed plant and animal life on the Galapagos. Darwin made contributions to the understanding of geology, but especially biology, developing his ideas on the origin of species.
What enables all these inventors, scientists, and discoverers to make their discoveries?
Funding:
- Engines were funded by private enterprises
- Royal societies/institutions and universities funded electricity research
- The navy + private aristocratic sponsors helped Darwin
A major factor contributing to all of these discoveries is the scientific community. This community exchanges knowledge and promotes interesting projects. There are also laboratories for controlled experiments --> better, more precise know-how.
Scientific discoveries were recognized, appreciated, and rewarded financially and with prestige. This is its own reward, but also previous work was a good motivator. Companies also have motives to promote discoveries.
Video 3: Harnessing the New Forces (The Industrial Revolution)
The transportation revolution
The fastest it was possible to move before the TR was around 10 miles/hour via land or sea, powered by wind or animals. For long distances, transport relied on waterways (because wagons were small and necessitated lots of animal power; ships were bigger).
Railroads change this, allowing to transport cargo on land over 30-50 miles much more cheaply. Railroads are really excited: nobody over the course of history has ever traveled this fast (overland).
Steamships are another factor that changes transportation. Steamships can steam upstream rivers, which was very difficult in the past.
The communications revolution
Steamships and trains help. Also, electricity and the telegraph helps. Cables are laid across oceans and around continents. Rather than weeks or months for transmissions, messages now take minutes or seconds. In the late 1800s, phones also came into use, with operators connecting calls.
Machines also come into use, with machines producing machines, all of this relying on fossil fuels rather than natural powers. Machines have 1000, 2000 horsepower.
Industries start cropping up around port cities and mining centers. For instance, cotton mills and textile industries spring up close to mines, with the mines supplying coal to the textile industries.
Video 4: The New Situation
Many inventors strove to invent machines that facilitated industrial processes. They were enabled by universities and institutions. Different countries harbor different institutions that they can then harness towards greater growth.
The market revolution
To create a product, the following problems need to be solved: the raw material, transportation to the factory, and then transportation of the product from the factory. Now, because of the transportation revolution, it's possible to bring raw materials from afar rather cheaply, and also bring people to the factory. The production itself is made more efficient thanks to steam engines and other innovations. Cotton textile production is one example.
Because of the low cost of British textile production, India begins importing textiles from England. Instead of exporting textiles, India begins increasing raw material production: cotton and wheat. They export these materials and also ship them within India via railroads, for which the Brits provide finance and Indians labor. They also finance additional infrastructure: ports, railroad infrastructures, and other public improvements. These are built by governments together with private financiers. Cities need new infrastructure as well to support the new industrial developments. Insurance is used to cover the risks involved in urban development.
Clothing styles become more standardized as factories are able to produce reproductions of styles shown in magazines.
There was a lot of excitement about scientists discovering laws of god and physics. There was a lot of missionary zeal as well, which saw missionaries going out to less advanced parts of the world and trying to convert them, at times offering medical or educational services as well. Livingstone is a significant example.
A middle class emerges in England. Charles Dickens writes about and for this middle class. Depicts their struggles.
Queen Victoria reigned at this time: 1837-1901. During the reign the values of order, stability and family were dominant. Advertisements from this period capitalize on these values.
A working class emerged too comprised of factory workers. There were lots of safety and health issues.
There are also intensified debates about slavery. Slavery offends the working class and the church. However, there are slavery protectors too: cotton production in the Southern US relies on slaves.
There is lots of migration to city centers. Millions of people seek new labor opportunities. Communal lands are being turned into private property or land dedicated to particular crops. Many farmers get kicked off their land. Subsistence farmers find more lucrative opportunities elsewhere.
England is no longer self-sufficient in terms of food and relies on food imports.
Scenes of cities in this era can be very bleak, with dense population and skies blackened by factory smoke.
Video 5: The Islamic World Adapts
In the traditional European world, the hierarchy comprises of the king and his soldiers, then nobles (and the church) who acted in an intermediary role, and then everyone else. The revolutions meant that more and more common people acted in intermediary roles and influenced government.
In the Islamic world, there's a ruler on top with its military, then there are learned religious scholars, and then everyone else. Relative to Europe, the role of the rulers are minimal because the culture is much more religious so religion plays a bigger role than government. Society is rather stable because of the continued dominance of religion.
Islam is divided into two: Sunni and Shia. Sufism is also strong in the 1800s. It is about finding joy and exaltation in the practices of Islam and contains ecstatic rituals. The Sufis have powerful brotherhood missionaries that spread the religion around the world. Another denomination of Islam is Wahabbism, which is a more fundamentalism Islam that is concerned with adhering to scriptures. It gains momentum in the 1700s and 1800s
The Ottoman Empire is a dynasty that controls most of the Arabian peninsula (=Southeast Asia = modern-day Saudi Arabia region) between 1830-1870. But the Wahabbist movement increases in power and takes control of the holy places of Islam: Medina and Mecca.
Egypt is the wealthiest part of the Arabian peninsula and it sees a revival under a ruthless ruler named Muhammad Ali. He develops a strong military with European capabilities and commercial capabilities based on cotton export. Egypt controls both sides of the Red Sea and further. They have a good fighting chance against the Ottoman Empire.
Europe doesn't want the Ottoman Empire to fall. This is because they see the OE as a buffer against the expansion of the Russian Empire. Europe intervenes to preserve the Ottoman Empire, helping it fight against the Egyptians. In the 1850s-60s Egypt is a robust power. The Egyptians collaborate with the French and British on the Suez canal so that the Mediterranean became linked with the red sea, thus facilitating shipping between Europe, India, and Asia. Super important event in world globalization! The Ottoman Empire is determined to enact liberal reforms to keep up with the times: Tanzimat. By the 1870s under Sultan Abdul Hamid there's a constitution, civil rights are extended and more people are included in decision-making in the State.
As often happens, military elites seize control themselves in an attempt to create their own Empire, and this is what happens here. The Safavid dynasty collapses and is replaced by the Qajars, who now rule what is modern-day Iran. They fight with forces from Russia and British-ruled India and manage to survive.
In the period between1830-1870 in Africa, Africa is dominated by African rulers. Of course, they interacted with the outside world via the slave trade. Islam is penetrating into the heart of Africa. There's a Portuguese outpost in Africa that moves hundreds of thousands of slaves into the Muslim world. There's also a British outpost at the tip of the continent. Dutch people settle deeper inland, and there's also a French outpost. It is only after 1870, with the invention of steamships, Europeans are able to penetrate deeper into the continent because they can travel upriver.
Video 6: Breaking Open China and Japan
(How very violent). After establishing relationships with the Mediterranean, the Middle East and India, Europe turns its gaze to China and Japan (and Southeast Asia) -- the Pacific world. In North America, settlers are inching towards the Pacific Coast. They wanted to make sure they control the Pacific Coast as more people become interested in that region. They manage to secure their claims from Oregon to Mexico, creating settlements in San Francisco, with people flocking to the reason during the Gold Rush.
The British considered settling in the American West Coast in 1840 but decided against it. The Sandwich Islands -- Hawaii -- were smack in the middle of steamship trade routes. This made them valuable for stopover purposes.
There were two ocean routes to get from India to the Pacific World In 1860: through the Strait of Malacca and through the Sunda Straits. The Dutch have many holdings in the East Indies, and in the 1870s they go to war against Islamic Rebels in the islands. The French and Spanish also control some of the island territories that surrounded these passageways.
Tobacco was originally grown in colonial North America. People start smoking tobacco mixed with opium in China. China has tea to offer the British, and in return the British can offer silver. Soon they run out of silver. Instead, they strive to expand the Chinese opium market. The Chinese authorities resist and a series of raids between the 1840s-60s ensues. The British take advantage of their naval superiority and "embarrass and humiliate" the Chinese powers into letting them trade with them. They don't try to claim land, just to "punish" the Chinese for resisting their trade overtures.
The French, British and Russians are strong in various parts of China. Their presence isn't overwhelming but it is present. The trading ports are situated along the Eastern coast of China and also along the Yangtze valley (river) and also the Yellow River Valley -- Tientsin.
To protect themselves, foreigners demand "extraterritoriality" meaning, not to be subject to Chinese laws but rather to the laws of their state of origin. Soon, citizens of these areas are also under the foreign laws and also the foreigners' Chinese friends come under these laws. At first, the Qing empire regarded the foreign presence as a nuisance, but in the 1860s a British and French expedition loots, pillages and burns down the imperial Summer Palace. The foreign presences received a treaty and now the Chinese must adapt to these presences.
In 1853, Americans ("the Barbarians") come to Japan. They had tried to keep foreigners isolated to one part of Japan -- Nagasake -- but the American Captain Matthew Perry disregarded this and docked in Tokyo. The Japanese decide not to fight but rather learn from the Americans.
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