The Influence of Trade Relations on the Development of European Civilization - Essay Example

Impact of trade in 16th century on western European civilization --- Prajakta Kanegaonkar It is rightly said that history and economics go hand in hand. As evident in history economics has been a significant reason why nations have stood against war with each other. In case of Europe it was not only the economic reasons but politics, power games, industrial developments also participated and contributed heavily into the societal construction of the continent. It is said that the industry and commerce in Europe started expanding with the making of ships and cargo carriers. Land routes were tedious, lengthy to travel and not without any serious risk. It created a problem especially when short range commodities such as spices etc. needed to be traded. It also posed a problem on how much load could be carried on foot and with the help of beasts. In this scenario, sea routes seem to be the most godsend opportunity. It made trade and commerce easier and accelerated it. Now it became easy and convenient to put everything in the cargo and travel distances with comfort. [1. Medieval Europe-European Trade] Looking at it does trade and commerce signify only exchange of goods and money? For civilizations which developed on their own for years it gave an opportunity for exchange. This exchange happened at all the levels. All the sections and cross sections of the society or the civilization exchanged with each other. It resulted in cultural exchanges. It resulted in borrowing technologies from each other. It resulted in a competition amongst nations. Wealth in itself does not really create the problem; it is the perception of the wealth that creates the problem. Bu the same logic political ambitions also flourished due the accelerated trade. Historically, the trade was in form of exchanges initially. To protect themselves from the robberies on road, merchants and traders formed unions and also preferred to travel along with the military. The central Europe supplied forest based products. East side of the globe provided with the spices, cloth, silks etc. Woolen garments, salt, wine, fruit was exchanged in return. The value of imports in Europe was higher than the exports that took place. The balance of import and export was heavily tilted at this point of time. [2. Medieval Europe-European Trade] The rulers of the nations were the kings and the queens. There was no established middle class as such. Middle class which became powerful post industrial revolution started taking formation and showing its presence at the beginning of this century. This was an era when Copernicus stated that it is the earth that revolves round the sun and not vice versa. The art of printing and thoughts of revolutionary ideas were germinating. The poor peasant class who worked on the farms and subsisted on agriculture could afford meat once in a while. Increase in trade changed all this. Slowly and steadily however the rich became richer while the gap between rich and poor widened. Peasants lost their lands leading to lawlessness and social disorder. [3. History of world – 16th Century] The start of the century the wealth although not evenly distributed did not at least create a very wide rift. The population was growing due to social steadiness. With the coming of the wealth, the rich class started becoming richer. Number of land owners increased at a faster pace as acquisition of land was in miles and miles. The same working class worked even now but the wages dropped drastically. Women stood all the more a raw deal because as it is they were paid less due to the already existing inequality in the system. [4. 16th Century- The value of money] Acres and acre of land came under commercial cultivation which widened the disparity. This period also saw the slavery coming on the social scene. Although capturing and selling of people was prevalent and established in the European society for a considerable time, slavery took new dimensions now. This century can also be termed as a century that awakened Europe. It awakened Europe not only in terms of trade and commerce but also in terms of political ambitions. The people who served the monarchies found new fierce loyalties to fight for. Race for armaments, power and world spread establishments, colonialism may sound as a product of seventeenth century, but in reality it has its roots in the sixteenth century. Who would have guessed that nations who had landlocked geography would be taking backseat in future and countries which had an access to the oceans would change the curse of events to come. Slavery would be considered as barbaric in own continent but it exists in the minds of the people. Now colonialism came as advanced form slavery, where conquering of lands, civilizations came as natural for money and power. This century also saw an exchange of ideas. Likes of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci left their imprints on this century by way of sculptures, architectures etc. But it also saw inequalities being sown to take a more grave and hideous proportion in the years to come. The society was divided into three estates. The first being the church enjoyed a status which was above all and exemption of taxes. They also picked up the largest share in the revenues (as high as 40%) of the state. The corruption was rampant and the system increasingly drove people away from the church. The second estate was the nobility. These were exempted from the taxes as they pledged their lives for the king and the state. They were self indulgent, ignorant about the people around themselves and bore mark of arrogance. The exemption of the taxes was not uniform in all of the Europe though. Some states did prefer to put the nobility under control but these were handful of examples. By and large nobility did not come under the hammer and also enjoyed a wide range of privileges. People who really suffered were the third estate. This class comprised all the remaining society excluding the handful nobility and church. This class gave rise to the revolutions in the later centuries to come. At the end of the sixteenth century the conditions of the third estate went on to become from bad to worse. The impact of trade and commerce was felt more acutely by this third estate. The names of the estates would pertain to any nation but the picture did not differ across Europe. The Spanish who were the leaders of trade and shipping earlier pulled silver and gold from the colonies they established. However now the European economy was intertwined and interconnected. Declaration of bankruptcy by Spanish government twice, reverberated in the economies all over the Europe including nations such as Britain, Germany and France. It was the Portuguese who established the route to India and other Asian countries who were perceived to be wealthy beyond means. Slowly Dutch replaced the Portuguese and later were replaced by English by founding the East India Company. The Dutch and the Portuguese went further to Indonesia and Southern Asian countries. All these developments changed economic equations drastically in Europe. The concept of colonialism which took roots now changed the scenario completely. [5. History of World – Portuguese trade] The race which was a mere economic, trade and commercial race initially gave way to social and political dynamisms. Socially it led to the downturn of the masses only to resurrect them to the surface and in turn make them leaders through the middle class. Politically the system fuelled by ambitions led the world through a series of wars which in turn gave way to the two great wars. Little would have anybody thought that changing dynamics of trade and commerce would result into changing of the relationships on the continent and in turn would be changing the face of history in the years to come. References: 1. Development of trade in medieval Europe, Retrieved 03 02 2010 Medieval Europe and Early Modern Period, European Trade from http://www.blackstudies.ucsb.edu/antillians/trade2.html 2. Description of Trade and trade goods in Medieval Europe, page 1 Retrieved 03 02 2010 Medieval Europe, European Trade, from http://www.blackstudies.ucsb.edu/antillians/trade2.html 3. Description of social strata and Value of Money, The Sixteenth Century, page 1, Retrieved 03 02 2010 from http://www.lepg.org/sixteen.htm 4. Description of social system, gender status and monetary system The Value of Money, Sixteenth Century, page 1, Retrieved 03 02 2010 from http://www.lepg.org/money.htm 5. [Portugals eastern trade: AD 1508-1595, page 3-4, Retrieved 03 02 2010 from http://www.historyworld.net 6. Description of trade, socio-economic conditions of Medieval Europe page 2-4 Retrieved 03 02 2010 from History of European Trade http://www.historyworld.net Read More