Technological Advancements and the Rise of Western Civilization - Essay Example

Teacher 10 January 2008 Technological Advancements and the Rise of Western Civilization Introduction The expansion of Western Civilization began with the Roman Empire and early Greek city-states; despite religious beliefs, military and political might, the precursor to the modern Western world only began to encompass other parts of Western and Central Europe during the 16th century as a result of technological advancements and economic growth. In particular, the creation of more effective weapons, and the advancement of maritime equipment meant that Western Civilizations could be more easily spread to outlying regions, most of which still are marked by Western culture today. The Occident Before it was known as Western Civilization, the culture we are familiar with now was referred to as the 'Occident', as a way of separating it from the 'Orient'. In the 16th century, Western culture was generally defined as those societies which had sprung up from Roman and Greek settlement and, to varying degrees, decided to adopt Christianity and to engage in close trade with one another. The nations participating in these activities included Italy, Greece, England, Scotland, Ireland, Portugal, France, Spain and several other Western European nations (Carrier 79). The Western World in the 16th century was marked by radical religious ideologies, mass revolt, the exploitation of European slave markets and ultimately the unification of the Occident into a tightly-knit economic, political and religious unit. Although during that time the citizens of each individual Western country would not have imagined themselves as part of one rising dominant culture, it was the fact that these European countries were geographically forced to deal with one another than made this early Occident the basis for modern Western Civilization. Ideas, technology, and economic dependence were all established and cultivated from an early point in history, and by the 16th century the existence of any nation-state in Western Europe was always regarded in relevance to international relationships and prominence on the European stage. Because of proximity to natural resources and labor forces, Western Europe was able to not only strengthen its own position in the region but to embrace those fundamental ideals of democracy and Christian morality and from a powerful standpoint, spread them into further reaches of Europe and eventually across the Atlantic Ocean (Ibid 85-95). Technology and Economic Advancement Technological advancements in early Western nations were not only fundamental to the spread of Western culture, but they were the tools by which the slave trade, the primary aspect of Western expansion (Kamen 235-250). Most European countries were involved in the slave trade to some degree, however it was the aggressive tactics of the Portuguese, the Spanish and then the English that fully opened up African countries for slave exploitation and subsequently built their economies and spread their culture. The two major technological advancements for Western Civilization in the 16th century were based on maritime equipment and weaponry. To build a strong economy, based largely on the slave trade, Western European countries needed to update their maritime technologies for better, safer seafaring. Two inventions that helped tremendously with this effort were the mariner's astrolabe and the magnetic compass, both of which were in use for a few hundred years prior to any major Western expansion but that had not been fully adopted by European sailors. The mariner's astrolabe allowed sailors to navigate more accurately by using the stars, sun and moon, while the magnetic compass was a much more reliable version of earlier direction-seeking instruments. With these tools, as well as better ship-building techniques, sailors from Portugal, Spain, England and many other Western nations were suddenly employed in the slave trade to bring workers to their growing countries (Burwash 13-14). Simultaneously, weaponry was being created at a more technically advanced level so that guns and cannons were more powerful and threatening to enemy fleets at sea (Wolf et al 287). Despite the fact that Western Europe was uniting in an economic and religious sense during this time, the countries within the region were often bickering over politics, the finer points of religion and over trade - it was important that countries like England, France and Portugal show no weaknesses to their neighbors for fear that their place within the burgeoning Western economy and culture would be jeopardized. It was through a constant show of strength as well as colonization and religious doctrine that early Western civilization realized its own intentions to become a world power. The Rise of Western Culture A strong economic base was the foundation of Western Culture since its inception in early Greek and Roman Empires; as a natural consequence of this economic strength came the ability of Western countries to provide for their own needs well enough so that many citizens were faced with the free time necessary to pursue arts, literature and politics. In Western Europe, this major change in societal focus from the 14th to 17th centuries became known as the Renaissance; a period during which educational, artistic and intellectual reform was at the forefront of the Western European contemplation (Green and Arnold 153). Because Westerners were focused on the creation of literature and art as well as the fine-tuning of different political systems, they are credited with initiating a spread of ideas throughout the entire world during these few centuries. This also allowed for further unification among the Western European countries as their philosophers, writers and artists often borrowed ideas from one another and established ideological bases for them at home. During the Renaissance there were further advancements in astronomy and various sciences, but also in political ideas and the attitudes of the Western public about their place in the world. One of the most important inventions of the Renaissance was the printing press; with this device it became possible to transfer ideas from one region to another, from one country to another, en mass and with great distribution range. Suddenly Europeans could publish their philosophies so that other people throughout Western Europe might read and implement them, thousands of miles away. The printing press was one of the key factors in the unification of Western thought and ideology because it brought the people closer than they had ever been to one another (Van Horn Melton 275). Conclusion The period known as the Renaissance, from the 14th century to the 17th, took place in Western Europe at a time when technological advancement and economic success were shaping Western Culture. Innovative new ship-building methods, fearsome weapons, the adaptation of magnetic compasses and mariner's astrolabe and the creation of the printing press worked to strengthen Western economies during the slave trade and colonization in particular so that the Western culture might be spread throughout Europe and eventually all corners of the world. Works Cited Burwash, Dorothy. English Merchant Shipping, 1460-1540. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1947. Carrier, James. Occidentalism: Images of the West. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995. Green, V.H.H. Renaissance and Reformation: A Survey of European History between 1450 and 1660. London: Edward Arnold, 1952. Kamen, Henry. Early Modern European Society. London: Routledge, 2000. Van Horn Melton, James. The Rise of the Public in Enlightenment Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Wolf, A. and Dannemann, F. A History of Science, Technology and Philosophy in the 16th & 17th Centuries. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1935. Read More