The Modern World: Global History since 1760
Video Lectures
Week 1: 1760-1800
The Study of History
Just figuring out what actually happened can be very difficult, even for very recent events.
The Great Divide
The traditional world, not much changes from generation to generation. But in the modern world, there is much change.
Malthusian Trap: more population with the same amount of stuff means less stuff to go around.
The Traditional and the Modern
- Natural (muscle, wind, water) → Manmade energy
- rural, agricultural → urban, industrial
- static wealth, subsistence → growth, surplus
- unstable lives, stable communities → longer, more secure lives, unstable communities
- faith → science
- local identity/culture → mass identity/culture
- weak kingdoms → strong states
The Great Divide-Why?
Prior to 1700, the most powerful empires were concentrated around Eurasia. The Holy Roman empire is weak by comparison.
Example: around 1700, Europeans were the greatest clock-makers in the world. This translated into an advantage in ocean navigation.
The World of 1760
Lots of slavery. Gunpowder, New World.
The Commercial Revolution
The rise and fall of kingdoms and empires actually has very little effect on the lives of most people is unaffected. The commercial revolution actually changed peoples lives. From tools to jobs and even the food eaten.
Things in the New World
- Sugar
- Coffee
- Tobacco
- Silver & Gold
- Land
- Prestige
- New Markets (the other colonists)
In North America there are primary settler colonies (as opposed to plantation colonies).
For this to work, you need:
- Ships → shipyards
- Science → Royal Academies
- Finance → Companies and banks
- Labor → colonists and slaves
- Protection → armies and navies
Collectively, this became the Mercantile Fiscal-Military State. The king grants trade monopolies to companies. The companies go to banks for finance. The bank earns interest, the company earns profits and the king get taxes and can request loans. This reduces the kings reliance on nobles and landowners for income and gives him more wealth to build stronger armies and navies.
The Military Revolution
In the 1400-1500's the gun came into existence.
In the military revolution we saw the introduction of artillery. And military engineering. The rise of drilled armies - drilled to use the guns effectively. The Prussian army was epitomized this. This also brought about staff-work and logistics. These were people who planned supplies for campaigns.
Europe is so fragmented, and under such constant war that they are constantly developing better war technology and practicing by fighting amongst themselves. And these techniques are distributed by printing press.
Introverts and Extroverts
China and Japan kept Western traders limited to outposts to prevent them from contaminating their respective cultures. The Eastern empires are the more conservative because they are the richest and have the most to lose.
Both the East and West are going through "industrious revolutions" and both have strong central moncarchs. But the the East is more conservative, China has much higher cultural integration and subordination. Europe is doing more science (which they see as discovering "God's laws").
The Fates of India and North America
By the 1760s the British control a few areas in India. The British are powerful allies and advisers. Britain becomes a power and assigns a Governor-General. At the same time, the French and British are fighting for control for North America. The British limited where colonists could settle to avoid getting into wars with native Americans or other European powers.
Week 2: Democratic Revolutions of the Atlantic World
The Diffusion of Authority
Where does authority come from
- Knowledge
- Force
- Money
For instance, in the 1700, the first attempt at an Encyclopedia was made. An attempt to document all human knowledge.
Everything was becoming democratized. Religious knowledge was no longer restricted to the priests, it was disseminated by printing press. The deciding figures in war were no longer nobles Knights, but common artillery men. Even sea captains were not (necessarily) of noble birth. And wealth was increasingly being held by bankers and merchants.
Rousseau: Authority comes from you, the individual.
Democratic Revolutions
It was common for countries or communities to have a "constitution" but not necessarily a written document. They meant that every one had a place and that entitled them to certain privileges. The scheme of custom and tradition.
Then there was "despotism" or "tyranny". This referred to rulers who granted no protection to their subjects. Most people believed they had protection via intermediaries like counsels and parliaments.
It was not entirely uncommon for the King to act on behalf of the countries welfare and the Parliament to act on behalf of the nobles.
In the 1700's very few people are citizens and entitle to the rights that comes with.
These United States
The King was bypassing the colonial councils. It was unclear who the citizens were.
In the revolution, Canada remained loyal because they had recently been freed from French rule (more tyrannical than British) and the West Indies remained loyal because they relied on British soldiers to control the large slave populations.
Americans get great peace terms. The British feared a coming world war with the French and thought they may find reconciliation with the colonists through favorable peace terms.
The Americans decided to form a Union (closer to today's European Union).
Liberty and Common Sense
"Liberty" vs
- dogma
- tyranny
but not necessarily democracy.
"Common Sense" generally refers more to democracy, especially of after the pamphlet published by Thomas Paine.
- Natural nobility
- Wisdom of experience (scientific method)
- Wisdom of the many
But that has an uneasy relationship with philosophy. Just because everyone believes it is so, does not make it so.
The French Revolution
- 1st estate: Clergy
- 2nd estate: Nobles
- 3re estate: others (men of property)
Louise XVI calls the Estates General in 1788 to raise taxes, because the state was bankrupt. A pamphlet is circulated "What is the 3rd Estate". France establishes a constitutional monarchy.
- National Constituent Assembly
- Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (with help from T.Jefferson)
The Declaration of the Rights of Man was influenced by the Declaration of Independence and later influenced the Bill of Rights. The tri-color flag is adopted as the flag of France. Citizens are still men-of-property.
Sounds like a good idea, but it fails and is overthrown in 1792. Why?
- France went from precious-metals to printed money, printed a lot, leading to rapid inflation and then people couldn't buy things like food.
- France nationalized the Catholic church. Priests had to become state officials. Did not make priests happy. This effect every community in France.
- The King (Louise XVI) was very weak.
- France ends up at war with some of its neighbors who see the Constitutional Monarchy as weakness and want to claim territory
This leads to a mob in Paris by people who are not considered citizens.
The French Republic
They throw out the National Constituent Assembly and establish a National Convention with representatives of common people. Then they kill a whole bunch (about 1400) of political prisoners - justified as "necessary" and people have to "take sides".
This leads to "monism", the nation should speak with one voice and cannot tolerate dissent. This philosophy leads to consolidated government. This stands in contrast to pluralism, which encourages the separation of government (federal/state, judicial/executive/legislative).
The "Committee of Public Safety", lead by Robespierre decided who the enemies of the state are. The executions committed under this jurisdiction through 1793 and early 1794 is know as the reign of terror. So the whole country is at war, with itself and outside enemies. In 1794 Robespierre was overthrown and he himself went to the guillotine in July. Some historians cast Robespierre as forerunner to Hitler and Lennin.
This leads to the rise of the Bourgeois Republic from 1794-1799. This was the republic of Napoleon who later replaces it with a Consulate, he was the first Consul.
The World's Revolution
France in the 1700's was the most powerful Atlantic nation. Lingua Franca. Those supporting the French revolution were "Republicans" or "Jacobin", those opposed were "Federalists"
Week 3: Revolutionary Wars (1800-1830)
Lucky Americans
Spain controls most of South America. But it was seen as weak in Europe because of mis-rule under Charles IV.
Slaves take over San Domingue lead by General Toussaint L'Ouverture.
In 1802 Napolean seeks to make peace with Britain and Spain so that his ships can safely cross the Atlantic. He arranges, in secret, to buy back Louisiana for some land in Tuscany. New Orleans is important for shipping. And Bonapart is sending a expeditionary force.
In 1803, after a number of troubles, Napolean decides it isn't worth the effort. Pulls out and sells the land to the US (Louisiana Purchase).
Napoleonic Wars
Napolean declares himself emperor of the newly formed French Empire. Lots of fighting. France doesn't really grow in all of this, but the Austro-Hungarian empire does and so does the Prussian state.
After the defeat of Napolean, the Holy Alliance was formed between Austria-Hungry, Prussia and Russia to oppose revolutionary thinking and uprisings.
The End of Spanish America
Napolean captures Ferdinand VII and inprisions him, installing his brother Joseph as the king of Spain.
In South America you have "Peninsulares", Spaniards that have moved to the Spanish American colonies. They make up less than 1% of the populations. Creoles were people of pure European ancestry, they made up about 20% of the population. 40% of the population had ancestry of both European and native or African ancestry. And finally 40% would be native or African. This leads the colonies to stay loyal to Spain because they need the military to keep populations under control.
This leads to some strange alliances. The elite will decide to take a revolutionary stance, leading the common people to ally with the king and Spanish army.
By 1820, Spanish rule is gone.
New Republics and Empires in the Americas
Through out South and Central America you see a pull between centralist and federalist states. There also tends to be repeating patterns of elites aligning themselves with military powers to maintain control. Between 1829 and 1867 much of Mexicos land is ceded to the US.