04CH_Getz_History - 4 Gianni Dagli Orti\/The Art Archive at Art Resource NY Political and Economic Revolutions c 16501820 Learning Objectives After

4 Political and Economic Revolutions, c. 1650–1820 Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, students should be able to do the following: • Identify the significant socioeconomic and political transformations of the period from 1650 to 1820. • Explain the features of ideologies like liberalism and free-trade and their significance to bourgeois identity. • Discuss the rise of nationalism in Europe and the Americas and the expansion of empires in Asia. • Connect the ideologies and motivations of the revolutionary and independence movements of the period from 1650 to 1820. Gianni Dagli Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY © 2012 Bridgepoint Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Not for resale. Use of this e-book is subject to the Terms of Service available at

CHAPTER 4 Introduction: The Geopolitical Shape of the World, c. 1650 Introduction: The Geopolitical Shape of the World, c. 1650 T he political organization of the world in 1650 was a product of the major changes of the previous two centuries, and especially the rise and expansion of gunpowder monarchies and empires. Many of the major states discussed in previous chapters continued to expand in this period, dividing the Americas and African coast among them- selves, while others ran up against their limits and began to assume their modern shapes. In Asia, the replacement of Mongol hegemony by a series of successor states was nearing completion. Four great empires covered much of the continent from bases in the north- western forests (Russia), Turkic southwestern Asia (Ottoman), northern India (Mughal), and eastern edges of the continent (China). Three of these—Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and China—were slowly filling in the central Asian grasslands and basins that stretched between them. China, ironically, was once again under the control of a Mongol-descended group, the Manchu-speaking Qing Dynasty, who had finally overcome the Ming Emper- ors just a few years before (1644) and whose control over China gave them a jumping off point for the conquest of parts of northern and central Asia. Meanwhile, the Mughal sul- tans were deeply involved in trying to conquer the southern half of the Indian subconti- nent. Between the Ottoman and Mughal Empires, the Safavi Shahs of Iran were embroiled in desperate fights against not only the Ottoman sultans but also raiders from Central Asia and Portuguese merchant-pirates. Figure 4.1: World political map, c. 1650 On the islands and peninsulae that made up the fringes of this great landmass, power was divided among numerous smaller states, most of which were nevertheless undergoing HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE PACIFIC OCEAN C ATLANTIC OCEAN RUSSIA ENGLAND, IRELAND ITALY FRANCE SPAIN, PORTUGAL POLAND OTTOMAN EMPIRE GOLD COAST, SLAVE COAST, Mozambique CAPE COLONY CANADA ENGLISH N. AMERICA FLORIDA NEW SPAIN SAFAVI EMPIRE MUGHAL EMPIRE Goa Surat Madras Hughli QING EMPIRE Macao Peking ANGOLA BRAZIL British territory Spanish territory French territory Russian territory Italian territory Ottoman Empire territory