Modern World - History of Last 250 years

The great divide between traditional and modern world.
  • The rate of population growth
  • Malthusian trap
    • Finite number of stuff produced.
    • Population increases, less food available, population drops.
  • The global Europe.
  • Political revolutions
    • Democracies, nations, liberal.
  • Culture
    • Human mastery over environment.
    • Identity, status.
Traditional V Modern world.
Traditional Modern
Natural energy like wind, animal power. Manmade energy
Rural communities Urban communities
Agricultural Industrial
Income is static. Growth and surplus
Unstable lives Stable lives
Communities stable Communities unstable
Relgion Science
Local identity/culture Mass identity/culture
Weak kingdoms Strong states.
Why the great divide?
  • Sudden or slow?
  • Predetermined?
  • Material or cultural?
  • Technology?
  • why England?

Hindsight Blinds

World of 1760
  • Consolidation of large land empires in eurasia.
  • Discovery of new world
  • East asia
    • Ming dynasty
    • Powerful, but not interested in oceanic expansion.
    • Falls to ching dynasty
  • South asia
    • Mughal empire.
    • Rise of Maratha empire
  • Southwest Asia
    • Ottoman empire.
  • Europe
    • Very fragmented.
    • France, spane, austrian, and english empires.
    • Rise of prussia.
    • Europian Atlantic empires


Commercial revolution
  • Situation in Atlantic World
    • Goods - sugar, coffee, silver, gold
    • Money - silver, gold, trade
    • Honor
    • Knowledge/Discovery
    • Land
    • New markets for goods, specially luxury goods.
    • Religous tolerance.
  • Problems/opportunities
    • Ships
    • Science - for navigating, manufacturing.
    • Fiance - financing of invasions on to atlantic world.
    • Labor - slavery
    • Protection - professional armies and navies.
    • Fiscal - Millitary state.

The fiscal - millitary state

Millitary Revolution
  • Artillery
  • Millitary engineering - Fortifications, Navies etc
  • Professional, drilled armies.
  • Professional staff which worked in planning, supply chain to support wars.
  • Unstable Europe, leads to continuous improvement in millitary technologies.
  • Printing press.
cultural interactions
  • What do they value?
    • Asians more inward, Europeans more outward.
  • What do they fear?
Struggle for India
  • Battle of plasey establishes British empire on Indian subcontinent.
  • British won war for north america.
  • Problem of colonists in North america
    • Land restrictions
    • Trade restrictions
    • Taxes - Army