The Sources of European Predominance, 1400-1850
In 1400, several civilizations across Eurasia and Africa the world stood on a roughly equal footing in terms of their ability to influence or threaten one another. Civilizations in the New World lacked techniques (such as ironmaking) known in the Old World, but were isolated and unthreatened by it. Shortly before 1500, however, one civilization, in Europe, began to make forcible contact with others around the world, exploiting recently developed advances in the technologies of transport and warfare. By 1600 Europeans were in a position to threaten all other civilizations without facing a comparable threat, and by 1850 they or their offshoots in the Americas dominated the world. The following discussion will explore the factors of technology and political organization that made this possible.
The technological basis of European worldwide expansion was the combination of the full-rigged ship and the cannon. In the Middle Ages, until about 1400, European ships belonged to two distinct seafaring traditions. Mediterranean ships used triangular "lateen" sails, suited to light and variable winds. Some Mediterranean ships had two or three masts, each carrying one lateen sail. Northern ships used a square sail, able to stand up to strong winds, but less handy in shifting breezes, and had only one mast and one sail.
In the 14th century, these different ship types began to fuse. First a lateen sail was combined with a square sail on two-masted ships. Sometime in the 15th century, three-masted ships appeared, and small masts and sails were added above the "top" or crow's nest. By 1500, these developments had led to the full-rigged ship, with three or sometimes four masts and up to three sails on each mast (Friel 77-90). These ships could make the most of changing wind conditions, and proved able to cross oceans or even sail around the world.
Europeans learned about gunpo...