What made Europe embark on an extraordinary trajectory of growth and become a hub of innovation which made it the commercial and military leader of the world?
Well, historians disagree, to say the least.
But one thing is for certain which all agree on. And that is to find the answer, we must not look at what happened or who did what during an isolated point in time.
Rather, we need to understand the long-term changes and advances that caused the rise of Europe and its arrival at the position it is in today.
A Geography Encouraging Decentralisation
One thing that is striking about Europe in 1500 was its political fragmentation. And unlike in places such as China, Europe’s political disunity was not a temporary affair.
In fact, this is as it had always been. Even the mighty Roman Empire struggled to conquer much further north than the Rhine or the Danube.
What this meant was that compared to their rivals in the East such as the Ottomans or the Chinese, the Europeans were separated into small kingdoms, lordships, clans, and confederations.
And the cause of this was its geography.
It was its geography that favored disunity in the continent, and it was its geography that prevented the unification of the continent.
Unlike its Oriental rivals, Europe had no large plains which made it easy for conquering on horseback as the Mongols had done in Asia. Nor were there large, fertile river zones like the Nile, Euphrates, or the Yangtze which provided food and water to easily conquerable peasant populations living along the rivers.
Instead, Europe was divided by mountain ranges and large forests which made the continent quite inaccessible for large conquering armies aiming to dominate the continent. Also, climate varied considerably across the continent, which made that goal harder still.
But whilst it denied the unification of the continent, it also acted as a barrier to invasion from elsewhere. For example, despite the Mongol horde swiftly conquering much of Asia, it was these same mountains and forests that halted their access to Europe.
A Decentralised Economy
Whilst Europe’s geography encouraged decentralized power in the continent, that decentralized power also greatly helped the development of a free European economy.
Remember how Europe had different climates across the continent which helped prevent its unification?
Well, that same variable climate meant that differentiated products could be created which was suitable for exchange. For example, because of their different climates, an Italian city-state was able to sell grapes that the English could not produce, and in return, the English sent them fish from the Atlantic.
Another advantage Europe possessed was its many navigable rivers that allowed the easy transport of goods, and along with this many pathways were cut through the forests to facilitate trade and commerce.
The decentralized political climate also meant that commerce could never be fully suppressed in Europe. This was a recurring problem that Eastern lands had, but not so much in Europe.
If a king decided to overtax his merchants or suppress trade altogether as often happened in Mughal India or China, he would soon find those merchants would move to another area of Europe which was more pro-business, along with his tax revenues.
Because of this, over time European statesmen learned that it was in their best interests to strike a deal with these merchants and tradesmen. They would give them a law and order, and a decent judicial system. In return, those merchants would give them tax money to spend on their state and military ambitions.
Innovation and Weaponry
Despite its geographic situation, there was still one way to unify Europe: to have superior military technology.
This is what happened with the ‘gunpowder empires’ of the East. In Japan, for example, the feudal warlord Hideyoshi was able to unify the country after getting his hands on cannons and guns which his rivals didn’t have. This technological superiority allowed him to unify Japan.
And it wasn’t at all impossible for a ‘gunpowder empire’ to arise in Europe. Already the French and English had by 1500 amassed enough artillery at home to crush any internal enemy who rebelled against the state.
But even though there were powers with growing military might in Europe, none of them was able to conquer the whole continent, although the Habsburgs would come very close.
So why did this not happen?
The reason this didn’t happen was because of that same decentralization spoken of before. Because of this political decentralization, there was always a continent-wide arms race going on across all European states.
Europe, you see, had a habit of constantly going to war. And for each European polity to guarantee its survival, they strived to become militarily stronger than their neighbors.
This created a competitive economic climate in their bid to create superior military technology.
But this also meant that no single power had complete access to the best military technology. The cannon, for example, was being built in central Europe, Milan, Malaga, Sweden, etc.
Nor could one power easily proliferate the most superior ships, as there were shipbuilding ports all across the Baltic to the Black Sea, all locked in fierce competition.
One might ask at this point; wouldn’t the disunited European armies easily be crushed by the mighty Ottoman and Chinese armies of the East?
And the answer would probably be yes.
In the 16th century, they were still behind compared to their Eastern rivals, but by the later stages of the 17th century, the scales were rapidly tilting on the side of the Europeans.
And this was because of the remarkable success the Europeans had in innovating and creating newer, superior military technology compared to others.
Whilst military weapons such as gunpowder or the cannon had been invented and developed elsewhere, it was the Europeans who innovated and made them better and strove to make more powerful versions.
The Ottomans and the Chinese had created much of this technology, they did not feel the need to improve them as they already had a monopoly over these items at home. There was not much of a threat which forced them to innovate and better those weapons like before. When they were weak, they innovated and improved, but once they had become mighty, they stopped.
However, due to the competitive climate in Europe, improvement was a matter of survival. They improved the grain quality of the gunpowder they used, they changed the materials of the weaponry to make them lighter and more powerful.
In their shipbuilding large strides were taken also. They learned the skills to create large, all-weather ships to combat the rougher waters of the Atlantic, then they discovered that placing those newer cannons they were developing on these vessels created enormous potential power for destruction.
In other words, these new ships and weaponry would soon allow them to travel across the whole world and conquer territories on other continents.
All this innovation allowed the Europeans to soon supersede the Eastern empires, and for the age of colonialism to soon begin.
The Age of Colonialism
With their powerful ships in tow, Europe started venturing outside the constraints of its continental borders.
With these new all-weather ships, they were now able to go out further out into the oceans than ever before. With this newer long-range capability, they were able to put their onboard cannons to good use by taking control of the world’s ocean trade routes and showcasing the might of their cannons by bombarding any coastal settlement that showed any resistance.
The Portuguese and the Spanish were the first to venture out, with the Portuguese soon cornering a good share of the spice trade from the Indies with the help of their seemingly invincible armed vessels. Additionally, they carved out an empire stretching from Aden to Goa, and to Malacca.
The Spanish, in turn, went West into the New World and quickly overcame the comparatively primitive populations of South America in a matter of a few short years with their superior technology.
And as a result of their successes, they sent home silver, furs, sugar, hides, etc.
Soon the Dutch, the English, and the French joined in as the Europeans kicked off their bid for world domination.
New crops such as potatoes and maize, along with various meats gave Europe steady nutrition. And access to the Newfoundland fisheries by the English gave Europe steady access to fish and seafood.
Whale oil and seal oil, found in the Atlantic, brought fuel for illumination.
Moreover, Russia’s eastward expansion also brought eastern goods which were previously inaccessible such as hemp, salts, and grains.
All of this created what is known as the ‘modern world system’ which allowed Europe to connect the world using their new technologies and exploit various opportunities across the globe in a manner never done before.
A Lack of Hindrances Aided the Rise of Europe
What allowed the Europeans to achieve this success was that they simply had fewer hindrances. It was not that there was something special about them, rather it was that the necessary conditions which accumulated and allowed Europe to succeed were not present elsewhere.
Whether this was the free economic market that allowed for the easy trading of goods and services, whether it was the military competition that forced all European states to develop better, more powerful weaponry, or whether it was the political pluralism that brought the benefits of decentralization detailed before; what is certain is that this mix of ingredients did not exist in China, India or in Muslim lands.
And because of this, they appeared to stand still while Europe advanced to the center of the world stage.
Footnotes & Further Reading
Kennedy, Paul M. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500-2000. London: William Collins, 2017.
