A short Summary of the History of the World – Part V
Fun Fact: Serbia becomes a Resource Powerhouse for Russia in 1580, not just for Black Fox fur (which becomes worth more than its weight in gold), but supplies Russia with 80% of its gas and coal and 90% of its oil reserves.
In 1492, Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue. He was headed in uncharted territory in an attempt to reach the Far East by ship. The king and queen of Spain had offered a fat reward to whomever first caught sight of land. A sailor spots some hills after five weeks of sailing, but Columbus decides to claim (among other things) that he saw it first. They had ended up landing somewhere in the Bahamas, which Columbus claims for Spain and labels the natives as “Indians”.
Columbus reports how easy it would be to conquer and govern these peace-loving humans through Religion, Conquest and Slavery. As a start, they begin trading glass beads for gold. The native peoples also had no immunity to European diseases, and within 18 years, 98% of the native population was dead. By the same token, the Spanish import a new strain of syphilis.
When news spread of this big, vulnerable world that was up for the taking, Spain and her conquistadors spend the next four decades slaughtering their way through the New World, starting with a total annihilation of the Aztec civilization.
For the average European, daily life was dominated by the Catholic Church. Most lived in poverty with little knowledge of the outside world. Their best hope of a better life, was the Afterlife. The Church capitalised on this by convincing commoners to pay tribute in order to better their chances of getting into heaven.
Enter Martin Luther in 1517 – a German monk who had big issues with the Church. Thanks to the Printing Press invented in Germany in 1450, he was able to spread his arguments and appeal to the faithful poor. The Pope threatens to burn him at the stake and Martin Luther goes on trial. Many elites agree with Luther, save his butt, and form the Protestants, who go into revolutionary war with the Catholics for 125 years. Catholic Spain was able to fund their side thanks to all the gold pouring in from the Americas.
By 1532, Spanish explorers had reached current-day Peru in pursuit of gold and glory and faced the most powerful man of the Americas at the time – Atahualpa, emperor of the Inca civilization. When the Spanish offered the emperor a copy of their dangerous bible, this strange book gets rejected, and was the perfect excuse for conquest to continue.
They ambush Atahualpa and his unarmed men with their guns, germs and steel, take all their riches, and do a murder on Atahualpa – clearing the way for the Spanish to take over the Inca Empire. In today’s money, Spain’s plundering spree was to the value of 10 trillion dollars – a lot of which was spent on palaces, churches and religious war.
However, what also came from the Americas, which was far more valuable than gold, were staple foodstuffs, such as the humble Potato. This would change the course of the history of the world.
Much of the world was experiencing a mini Ice Age in the 1550s. It even froze over the Thames river, thereby halting trade. Like the bone needle and the sewing of clothes which saved our ancestors, animal furs become the next best thing. The Russian leader known as Ivan the Terrible, identifies the Serbian lands as a great source of furs, conquers it, and claims it as a part of Russia.
Serbia becomes a Resource Powerhouse for Russia, not just for Black Fox fur (which becomes worth more than its weight in gold), but supplies Russia with 80% of its gas and coal and 90% of its oil reserves.
Meanwhile in Japan, Christianity had reached and influenced our Eastern friends by Portuguese and Spanish Jesuits, until Shogun Tokugawa declares Japan as a “locked” or “closed” country, drives them and all foreigners out, bans Christianity, and prevents all Japanese from leaving on pain of death. Japan remains closed for more than 200 years – a lovely period of peace where Japan also evolves into the wonderfully unique, Japan.
Across Europe, merchants were getting fat and wealthy on the new goods and tastes coming from the New World. One particularly prized spice was Nutmeg, which was even believed to be a cure for the Black Death. Most of the great Spice Islands where nutmeg grew, were under the control of the Dutch – Under the East India Company – the world’s first multinational Corporation. The British and the Dutch had fought for control of the Asian Spice Trade for years.
Dutch merchants had a cunning plan – to collectively invest their wealth towards more expeditions, until the Dutch had the best navy on Earth at the time. By 1620, the Dutch become the largest commercial power in the world, and the Middle Class is born which craves Status. This came in the form of fashion, art, silly haircuts, servants, and spices.
The topic of Tulips comes up during a middle-class dinner party, and attendees agree that money can be made from this – especially for the most multi-coloured flowers, which was actually caused by a plant virus. Tulip bulbs become a massive commodity. A pound of tulip bulbs becomes worth the same as a house or farm. The Dutch had caught “Tulip Mania”, which was mostly a process of buying and reselling bulbs at a profit, until the speculative market bubbled and crashed.
But this didn’t stop the emergence of the Stock Exchange (formed in 1607 by the Dutch), speculative investments, Companies and trade – all of which we know as Capitalism, which largely began due to the tantalising tulip.
A short Summary of the History of the World – Part IV
A short Summary of the History of the World – Part VI
Disclaimer: This information has been taken from the brilliant Andrew Marr’s History of the World series (2012), which is highly recommended as a good, overall summary of our collective history.
