Factor that Explains the Rise of Western or European Power - Essay Example

Factor that explains the rise of western or European Power Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Single most factor that Explains the Rise of Western Power Introduction Global dominance over the centuries has moved in a continuum starting with cradle of civilization countries, Greeks, Romans to the current leading economies. The current global economy is dominated by what is known as G7 or what is known as the seven most developed economies.1 They countries control and dictate terms of economic engagement at the global perspective. Apart from Canada, United States and Japan, the rest are found in Europe. The astonishing observation is that, just 200 years ago, India and China dominated the global economy by accounting for two thirds of the worlds output.2 However, by 1850, Western Europe was the most modernised and leading power. There are many propositions towards explaining this phenomenal growth. They include advantages in markets, population, property rights, rationality, state systems and scientific life.3 The question is how these western powers grew rapidly. The objective of this discourse is to outline the single most important factor that explains the rise of western or European power. Single most Important Factor One single most factor that can be attributed to growth and dominance of these western powers is the scientific culture. This enabled them to improve all instruments of production and modernise. The scientific culture of European powers is conceptualised from the Eurocentric theory. The hallmark of this theory is it attempt at explaining what the developed European countries was able to differently that other countries were not able to do. While this theory has received a lot of criticism, it validity is affirmed by the fact that western powers were able to overcome some of the developed nation by then.4 The nexus of what they did differently (exploiting scientific knowledge to modernise and dictate terms of trade) forms the bulk of subsequent discussion. In a nutshell, the source of comparative advantage was the ability to be knowledge driven and be energy intensive so as to gain wealth and power at local and international level making their imperialism cheap and easy.5 Nexus of Scientific Advancement and Rise of European Power There are various factors that emerged as result of scientific advancement. The first and foremost is the enhancement in agriculture.6 For instance, agricultural practices in Britain could produce more food that could feed more people at lower prices. It therefore meant that the British people did not have to spend more of their money purchasing food. Thus, they had the wherewithal to purchase other manufactured commodities. The second is improvement in means of production where people moved from manual to mechanised and thus ushering in industrial revolution. The others were the improvement in energy sector where coal was used to power turbines. The third perspective was the advancement in transportation. This allowed them to move raw materials and finished products from one point to the. Moreover, advancement in transportation empowered the western powers to be able to interact and explore the rest of the world.7 The hallmark of these was an interconnected process that created impetus for growth and ability to dictate trends at the global perspective. Industrial revolution as Means to Dominance The advancement and ability to apply various inventions and innovation in fields like transport, communication and manufacturing led to Industrial revolution and capitalism. This consequently translated to modernisation, improved terms of trade in their favour as they were able to export their products to other destinations. At around late eighteenth century and the early nineteenth century, there was the revolution that led to the transformation of both the economic and social structure that Europe had. This was the industrial revolution. The evolution led to a leap in terms of industrial production. There was the taking over of newer sources of energy over the wind and water sources, which were more labouring. The ascend to global dominance did not start as a magic but on the ability of various sectors to grow concurrently as result of the industrial revolution ripple effect.8 In this perspective, industries can be conceptualized as source of capital accumulation which helps in the process of overcoming low capital formation. Karl Marx observes that “… the real science of modern economy only begins when the theoretical analysis passes from the process of circulation (exchange) to the process of production”.9 The beauty of this wealth creation is that, once these countries met their internal needs, they were able to expand outside their boundaries. The revolution that occurred by then in England and spread across other western countries was not a standalone occurrence. The hallmark of this process is the linkage that these industries offered. Firms do not operate in isolation, but in a connected back and forth model. UNCTAD (1998) summarizes these linkages as backward linkages with suppliers, forward linkages with buyers, linkages with competitors, linkage with technological partners and ability to create spill over effects. The dynamics and contribution of the revolution is meshed and interlocked with contribution starting from individual level, snow balling to local economy and then creating a ripple effect to the national economy. This is based on the fact that various sectors have backward and forward linkages where certain sectors provide raw material for others while other sectors utilize the same as critical inputs. Energy is critical for the growth and development of an economy. With advent of industrial revolution, the energy sector was transformed. These countries were able to invest in fossil fuel which was more convenient than the traditional sources.10 Further, invention by Abraham Derby in 1709 solved the issue of impurities of coal which made iron brittle. By inventing more pure coal known as coke, the production bottleneck of iron was solved. Moreover, draining of water out of the coal mines led to the development of steam engines which by that time revolutionised the transport sector. The basis of saying that it is application of scientific knowledge that allowed countries like Britain to develop is asserted in this fact since steam energy had existed in countries like France and China yet they could not apply it on transportation.11 Industrial Revolution, Self Strengthening and Imperialism This can be described as the hallmark or path towards global dominance. The first was tied first to the consolidation of internal well being.12 These small enterprises are critical in expanding production capability of a country. The emerging new industries by then were able to convert raw materials into finished products thus, contributing to value addition. The important factor is that a country can’t develop without any proper value addition since their products at local and international level fetches low prices. This observation is what development economists have attributed to low level of growth and development in developing countries. Since these western countries and specifically the G7 countries are able to account for over two thirds of world’s wealth, they are able to control global terms of trade. For instance, in the 18th, 19th and 20th c, there were many markets in the commonwealth that gave Britain a ready market for their manufactured products. This is because their products were cheaper as compared to other competing countries.13 In the wars that took place in the eighteenth century, Britain captured a large empire that it colonised. These empires that Britain colonised were once a source of raw materials and labour. Later on, they became integral markets for the finished products that the British industries manufactured. For instance, in 1700s, India was the dominant nation in woven textile, however, by 1860; England had surpassed her.14 The mass production power coupled with the imperialist nature as a result of advancement in weaponry allowed countries like Britain to conquer other states and control means of production. This gave them that required comparative advantage.15 Based on the exponential growth experienced by Britain, other countries like Japan, USA and Germany equally embarked on the mission of self strengthening. In this context they engaged in two activities. The first is the industrial power and secondly, military power. Country like America and Germany were doing this as a strategic measure that would allow the counter Britain power. It is in the process of doing this that new inventions were done.16 Conclusion The principal focus of the expose was to examine single most factors that explains rise of western European power. The paper found out that adoption of scientific driven economy was the single most important factor. This is evident in industrial revolution which transformed how production was carried out. This allowed countries like Britain to acquire wealth and power through a positive balance of trade and thus, being able to dictate terms of trade through imperialism. Other countries like Germany, USA and France followed in the footsteps of Britain through deliberate self strengthening. References BAYLY, CHRISTOPHER, ALAN, The Birth of the Modern World, 1780-1914: global connections and comparisons (John Wiley & Sons, 2004). FRANK, ANDRE GUNDER, ‘Development and Underdevelopment in the New World: Smith and Marx vs. the Weberians’, Theory and Society, 2/4 (1975), 440. MARKS, ROBERT B., The Origins of the Modern World: Fate and Fortune in the rise of the West (Plymouth: Rowan & Littlefield Publisher, 2007). PRASANNAN, PARTHASARATHI, Why Europe grew rich and Asia did not (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011). MCNEIL, JOHN ROBERT AND WILLIAM HARDY MCNEIL, The Human Web: A Birds Eye View of World History (New York: Norton, 2003). Read More