1500-1750 CE
- Europe’s economy grew slowly. The huge effects of the IR did not come till after 1760.
- The rise of Mulslim empires in the ME and South Asia.
- Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals
- Confusion in China due to invasions of the Manchu, which led to the Qing Dynasty.
- Europe remained beset by violence within and between states
- 80y war (1568-1648)
- 30y war (1618-48)
- Wars of Spanish and Austrian Successions (18C)
- Small kingdoms lived uneasily in shadow of vast land empires
- More connectivity than ever before: communication, printing, economic greed
- European states competed with each other to monopolise overseas trade and capitalism emerged.
- Joining stock companies, stock markets, proliferation of products.
- ==> The foundations of Europe’s global supremacy were laid during this period, but primacy still laid
with far more powerful actors.
● The Ottoman Empire
○ Sultan Selim I relaunched the aspiration to conquer the whole world.
○ The three most important arenas: ME, Black Sea, Med.
■ ME: interest in trade of the Levant and Red Sea, the holy cities and countering the
Shia Safavid Empire.
● Presented himself as the defender of Sunni Islam, accused him of tyranny,
oppresision, alcoholism.
● Ordered an invasion of Meso.
○ Battle of Chaldiran (1514): Ottomans prevailed over the Safavids.
(better military).
○ Couldn’t subdue them completely, but gained control over the
Levant and northern Mesopotamia.
● Fuelled Ottoman ambitions for further eastern conquests.
○ Selim was succeeded by an even more accomplished conqueror: Suleiman the Magnificent.
■ Took advantage of civil war in Hungary, which controlled Danube trade.
■ Battle of Mohacs: huge Ottoman victory (again better weapons).
■ Failure to take Vienna due to bad weather preventing him from bringing siege
artillery.
○ Huge naval build up
■ Defeated fleets of major Christian alliances - Battles of Preveza and Djerba.
■ => Ottomans had emerged as the leading naval power in the Med.
○ Zenith under Suleiman.
■ Treasury filled
■ Slaves: ‘blood tax’ from Christians in the Balkans.
○ Thinking
■ Sultan’s power based on virtuous circle: maintain justice, then subjects would
flourish and support him.
○ But: in the years after Suleiman’s death showed the limits of Ottoman power.
■ 17C: inflation, effects of currency debasements
■ Regular civil wars, coups, instability caused by the custom of the sutan killing all his
brothers.
, 1500-1750 CE
■ Janissaries exploited the situation to control the succession and undermine the
power of sultans.
○ Decline
■ Failure to conquer the Safavid Empire forced many troops to be kept east.
■ Expansion of Russia made defence of the Black Sea territory difficult.
■ Lagged behind European maritime innovations
■ Turning point: Battle of Levanto (1571): European victory - fleet carried double the
cannon.
■ => Ottomans were unable to contest the growing European mercantile and naval
presence in the east.
■ Returned to besiege Vienna in 1683. This time the HRE and Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth forces destroyed Ottoman forces and lifted the siege.
■ By end C17: alliance of Christian powers drove the borders of the Ottomans back into
the Balkans.
■ Janissaries ousted the sultan in favor of his brother Ahmed III
■ Ahmed III established a new status quo: no longer able to threaten Western Europe,
they continued to be the single largest power in the Med and ME.
● The Safavid Empire
○ Had originated as a small power on the fringes of Meso and Persia when a religious leader
Ismail became king.
○ Imposed Twelver Shiism as the official form of Islam.
○ Continued to model himself on great Persian rulers
■ Shahanshah and ‘khan’
○ Shah was the semi-divine ‘shadow of God upon earth
○ - the spiritual leader of the Sufi order of Safaviyya and representative of the Mahdi
○ Benefited from the decline of the Mongol-Turkish empire (Timur’s)
○ 1514: first major war against the Ottomans; lost.
■ Was a holy war (Shia vs Sunni)
■ With huge territorial stakes: control over the Caucasus and Meso
■ Humiliating terms of Peace of Amasya
○ Shah Abbas I became the nemesis of the Ottomans
■ Profited from the civil war following the death of an emperor to push them out of
Meso.
■ Success due to domestic reforms
● Professional army. Modern European weapons.
■ Ruthless crushing of Georgian rebellion
○ Close diplomatic ties with the Mughal Empire.
■ Provided sanctuary for the Mughal emperor
○ But relations deteriorated: refusal to adopt Twelver Shiism and over desire for trade routes.
○ Wealth: spoils of war, control of trade, imperial silk factories
○ But after the death of Abbas, glory waned:
■ Succession struggle with almost every new shah
■ Neglect of agriculture: led to a reliance on international trade.
● Prioritised trade
■ Silk trade was damaged by Ottoman control of the Levant and growing European
maritime presence.
- Europe’s economy grew slowly. The huge effects of the IR did not come till after 1760.
- The rise of Mulslim empires in the ME and South Asia.
- Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals
- Confusion in China due to invasions of the Manchu, which led to the Qing Dynasty.
- Europe remained beset by violence within and between states
- 80y war (1568-1648)
- 30y war (1618-48)
- Wars of Spanish and Austrian Successions (18C)
- Small kingdoms lived uneasily in shadow of vast land empires
- More connectivity than ever before: communication, printing, economic greed
- European states competed with each other to monopolise overseas trade and capitalism emerged.
- Joining stock companies, stock markets, proliferation of products.
- ==> The foundations of Europe’s global supremacy were laid during this period, but primacy still laid
with far more powerful actors.
● The Ottoman Empire
○ Sultan Selim I relaunched the aspiration to conquer the whole world.
○ The three most important arenas: ME, Black Sea, Med.
■ ME: interest in trade of the Levant and Red Sea, the holy cities and countering the
Shia Safavid Empire.
● Presented himself as the defender of Sunni Islam, accused him of tyranny,
oppresision, alcoholism.
● Ordered an invasion of Meso.
○ Battle of Chaldiran (1514): Ottomans prevailed over the Safavids.
(better military).
○ Couldn’t subdue them completely, but gained control over the
Levant and northern Mesopotamia.
● Fuelled Ottoman ambitions for further eastern conquests.
○ Selim was succeeded by an even more accomplished conqueror: Suleiman the Magnificent.
■ Took advantage of civil war in Hungary, which controlled Danube trade.
■ Battle of Mohacs: huge Ottoman victory (again better weapons).
■ Failure to take Vienna due to bad weather preventing him from bringing siege
artillery.
○ Huge naval build up
■ Defeated fleets of major Christian alliances - Battles of Preveza and Djerba.
■ => Ottomans had emerged as the leading naval power in the Med.
○ Zenith under Suleiman.
■ Treasury filled
■ Slaves: ‘blood tax’ from Christians in the Balkans.
○ Thinking
■ Sultan’s power based on virtuous circle: maintain justice, then subjects would
flourish and support him.
○ But: in the years after Suleiman’s death showed the limits of Ottoman power.
■ 17C: inflation, effects of currency debasements
■ Regular civil wars, coups, instability caused by the custom of the sutan killing all his
brothers.
, 1500-1750 CE
■ Janissaries exploited the situation to control the succession and undermine the
power of sultans.
○ Decline
■ Failure to conquer the Safavid Empire forced many troops to be kept east.
■ Expansion of Russia made defence of the Black Sea territory difficult.
■ Lagged behind European maritime innovations
■ Turning point: Battle of Levanto (1571): European victory - fleet carried double the
cannon.
■ => Ottomans were unable to contest the growing European mercantile and naval
presence in the east.
■ Returned to besiege Vienna in 1683. This time the HRE and Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth forces destroyed Ottoman forces and lifted the siege.
■ By end C17: alliance of Christian powers drove the borders of the Ottomans back into
the Balkans.
■ Janissaries ousted the sultan in favor of his brother Ahmed III
■ Ahmed III established a new status quo: no longer able to threaten Western Europe,
they continued to be the single largest power in the Med and ME.
● The Safavid Empire
○ Had originated as a small power on the fringes of Meso and Persia when a religious leader
Ismail became king.
○ Imposed Twelver Shiism as the official form of Islam.
○ Continued to model himself on great Persian rulers
■ Shahanshah and ‘khan’
○ Shah was the semi-divine ‘shadow of God upon earth
○ - the spiritual leader of the Sufi order of Safaviyya and representative of the Mahdi
○ Benefited from the decline of the Mongol-Turkish empire (Timur’s)
○ 1514: first major war against the Ottomans; lost.
■ Was a holy war (Shia vs Sunni)
■ With huge territorial stakes: control over the Caucasus and Meso
■ Humiliating terms of Peace of Amasya
○ Shah Abbas I became the nemesis of the Ottomans
■ Profited from the civil war following the death of an emperor to push them out of
Meso.
■ Success due to domestic reforms
● Professional army. Modern European weapons.
■ Ruthless crushing of Georgian rebellion
○ Close diplomatic ties with the Mughal Empire.
■ Provided sanctuary for the Mughal emperor
○ But relations deteriorated: refusal to adopt Twelver Shiism and over desire for trade routes.
○ Wealth: spoils of war, control of trade, imperial silk factories
○ But after the death of Abbas, glory waned:
■ Succession struggle with almost every new shah
■ Neglect of agriculture: led to a reliance on international trade.
● Prioritised trade
■ Silk trade was damaged by Ottoman control of the Levant and growing European
maritime presence.
