Early Modern Powers example essay topic

The Creation of a Modern World To completely understand the breakdown of the rise of the Early Modern World, one must realize the interconnectivity between the main powers of the era. To compare and contrast how the early modern powers developed one must look at the political, economical, social, and cultural realms of their societies. The main powers at the time (China, Western Europe, and India) went through various rises and descents in which they were sometimes intertwined, but more so isolated from each other. Although the powers were mostly isolated, they still managed to have certain similarities but were fundamentally different at their core.

Throughout the course of the making of the Early Modern World many instances of parallel development occur that leads one to believe that the groups were connected; thusly a display of how mankind naturally grows and adapts to situations. To set off the story before European expansion; India is the first to rise to power in 2800 B.C. The Indus or Harappa n became a prominent world power and were the first to have a uniform and conformed society before their decline around 2000 B.C. After their fall, India was inhibited by the creation of the caste system and Brahmanism, a religious system where there was emphasis on rebirth and karma. The system held strong beliefs in the concept of material goods. This led to strong opposition from the Jainisms and Buddhists; who accepted some of the aspects but both were against the idea of materialism.

Around this same time China had established their first kingdom, The Shang, founded in 1600 B.C. The Shang was brutally taken over by the Zhou, whose dynasty was highlighted by the life of Confucius. Confucius founded a system of bureaucracy or moreover meritocracy where the people had to demonstrate their loyalty through a hierarchical system. Mo Zi was Confucius' main rival, and he felt as though Confucians beliefs of bureaucracy were unfit and that religion and politics were separate structures. Europe, however, was undergoing the vast domination of the Roman Empire. The Romans had an inane amount of power and created the highways that ended up connecting the majority of Europe and western Asia. The Romans dominated other nations but saw it fit not to impose the Roman way of life upon them.

Rather the Romans left local ideas and customs alone which left a few of them to prosper while Europe suffered through the Dark Ages. Europe was the only power afflicted by the Dark Ages, as the rest of the world prospered nicely during the tumultuous time the Europeans experienced. The medieval aspects of the three powers were characterized by confrontations between each other and a power struggle ensuing. Around 500 A.D. India encountered Islam, a religion from the Middle East, leading to a triple conflict between Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism. Hindu's were eventually considered "protected" by Islamic people, while Buddhists were abhorred and eventually ousted from India. China at this time has rid themselves of Mongol rule and the Ming Dynasty has been set into place.

Although the Mongols despised trade, Ming Hong wu exerted the Chinese upon the rest of the world; establishing trade connections and portraying an image of power and advanced technology. Europe experienced various problems, through population explosions, price-skyrocketing and unstable inheritances from feudal lords. The Renaissance was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal time for the Europeans. Finally Europe expanded; mainly because it had to. Europe was politically unstable, poor, and culturally threatened and expansion was an incredible answer to all their problems. Expansion in Europe was completely beneficial to them and it allowed them to become a power again in the world.

Portugal was the first country to expand, mostly because of their location. The Portuguese offset Muslim spice trade and established ties in the Indian Ocean World; oftentimes using force and extortion. The British began to move in and established forts and colonies all throughout India. The British began to gain political control of India claiming to modify their society because of the "white man's burden". The French arrived later on and were much more kindly to the Indians, allowing them to become citizens if they wished to adhere to the French way of life. China was pretty much left in the dust, as the fall of the Ming Dynasty left them in a stage of rebuilding and they were left with little sea or trade power.

Cultural contact was very beneficial to all the nations that attempted it, but in the long run it created conflict and ended up causing wars or internal problems. But expansion was necessary, and the Early Modern World would not have progressed without it. Therefore, the development was a good thing, as without competition and conflict there can be no positive advances in a society..