The West

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Chapter 14
The West the Changing Balance of Power
Chapter 15
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• Vocabulary
• 1. Chinggis Khan
• 2. Tumens
• 3. Karakorum
• 4. Shamanistic religion
• 5. Golden Horde
• 6. Prester John
• 7. Mamluks
• 8. Kubilai Khan
• 9. Tatu
• 10. Nestorians
• 11. White Lotus Society

11. White Lotus Society 12. Khagan 13.
Khanates 14. Ming Dynasty 15. Zhenghe 16. Black
Death 17. Renaissance 18. Portugal, Castile, and
Aragon 19. Vasco da Gama 20. Henry the
Navigator 21. Ethnocentrism
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• I. Nomadic Peoples
• A. Nomadic peoples served as links between
  peoples rather than barriers to or opponents
  of civilization
• 1. Nomads participated in trade networks,
  spread religious ideas inventions, plants,
  and disease between peoples
• 2. All the great trade routes were pioneered
  by nomads. Often nomadic groups cut off trade
  while at other times they guarded them
• 3. These trade routes were important
  communication links between civilizations.
  Inventions such as paper and gunpowder arrived
  in Europe over trade routes such as these

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• B. Pastoral Nomads
• 1. Pastoral nomads inhabited the large
  grasslands of central Asia, the Sudan and East
  Africa, and highland South America.
• 2. Grassland areas had enough rain to support
  grass but not agriculture thus the lands were
  not permanently settled by sedentary groups
• 3. As pastoral nomads spread they displaced or
  absorbed smaller groups of hunter-gatherers

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C. Nomadic Facts 1. Horses were revered by the
nomads but were not used in warfare until the
invention of the stirrup and bridles 2. Since
nomads were not involved in time-intensive
agriculture, they could spend large amounts of
time in hunting and training with weapons. The
horse gave the nomads a degree of mobility not
seen in armies of the day. Horses also
provided nomadic peoples with the ability to
outrun enemies who were chasing them 3. Another
nomadic group were the Huns. The Huns warred
with China, toppled the Guptas Empire in India,
and smashed into the crumbling late Roman
Empire 4. Much of the movement of these
nomadic peoples was due to drought and
intertribal warfare. These migrations played
an important role in the decline and fall of
numerous empires
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5. The nomad warriors acquired a reputation for
ferocity and savagery. 6. Most of the great
defensive structure were built to keep nomadic
peoples out (Great Wall, Hadrians Wall, Roman
German defenses, etc.) 7. Were organized into
tribes and clans with leaders elected by free
men.
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II. Chinggis (Genghis) Khan born Temujin A.
Grandfather had defeated the Qin Empire B.
Temujin had a growing reputation as fierce
warriormade alliances with other groups
1. Elected khagan (supreme ruler) of Mongol
tribes C. The Mongols at War 1. Highly
organized militaryall cavalry 2. Natural
warriors skilled with bow / horsemanship
3. Organized into Tumens 10,000
warriors 4. Use of scouts, spies, and
informers 5. Use of new weapons
gunpowder projectiles, and
cannon
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D. Conquests 1. Xi-Xia Kingdom of China forced
to become vassal state 2. Conquered Turkic
Khwarazam Empire (Persia) (1219) a.
First Islamic Raid b. Turks added to Mongol
army
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E. Life Under the Mongols 1. Despite reputation
for ruthlessness, Mongols were tolerant
rulers 2. Interested in new ideas, goods, and
tolerated other religions 3. Established
capital at Karakorum 4. Establishment of Pax
Mongolia 5. Legal codeended fighting between
tribes 6. Safe secure trade routes took
commerce to new heights
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F. The Death of Chinggis (Genghis) Khan
(1227) 1. Buried in secret 2. Empire left to
three sons and grandson a. Third son, Ogedei,
elected Khan 3. Mongol expansion continued 4.
Russia Europe became targets of
the Golden Horde, one of the four
Khanates created by
Chinggis death
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III. Mongol Push Into Europe and Beyond A.
Conquering Russia (1200s) 1. Russia was a mix
of small kingdoms based on trading cities such
as Kiev and Novgorod 2. Despite the threat of
Mongol invasion, the Russians refused to unite
or cooperate and were conquered 3. The Mongols
mounted the only successful invasion of Russia
in the winterNapoleon Hitler later
failed 4. Kiev was destroyed but Novgorod was
spared due to submission of Russian Prince,
Alexander Nevsky 5. Mongols dominated Russia
for next 250 years a. Russian princes were
made Mongol vassals and paid tribute b.
Heavy taxes caused peasants to become serfs
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B. Muscovy (Moscow) emerged as dominant Russian
city due to its status as tax collector for the
Mongols and center of Orthodox Church 1.
Moscows rise coincided with a decline in the
power of the Golden Horde 2. Moscow
eventually led a revolt against the Mongols and
broke their control 3. Mongol control
greatly influenced Russias development a.
The power of the nobility over the people was
consolidated b. Russia was isolated
from the West did not experience the
Renaissance or Reformation
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C. Mongol Retreat from Europe 1. Christians
cheered Mongol defeats of Muslims 2. Hungarian
and German armies defeated by Mongols a.
Caused real concern in Western Europefear 3.
The imminent invasion of Europe by the Mongols
never happened due to death of Ogedei and
ensuing power struggle led to their
retreatnever returned D. Attacking Islam 1.
Conquered the Abbasid Caliphate, sacked Baghdad,
and defeated the Seljuk Turks a. This
opened up the Middle East to later conquest by
the Ottoman Turks 2. The Mongols were
defeated by the Mamluk Turks slave dynasty of
Egypt in 1260 with the cooperation of
Christians in the declining Crusader states
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IV. The Mongols in China A. Led by Kubilai Khan
(grandson of Chinggis Khan), the Mongols
turned on the Song 1. Song China was slowly
conqueredvery difficult 2. In 1260 Kubilai
assumed the title of the great khan 3. Kubilai
named his regime in China the Yuan Dynasty 4.
As ruler of China, Kubilai passed laws to ensure
the Mongols and Chinese remained separate
a. He forbade Chinese scholars from learning
Mongol writing b. Mongols were
forbidden to marry ethnic Chinese c. Only
women from nomadic families were selected
as concubines d. Even friendships between
Mongols and Chinese were discouraged
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5. Kubilai was fascinated by Chinese culture
a. He surrounded himself with Chinese advisors
b. He introduced Chinese music and rituals into
his court c. He did refuse to reinstate the
civil service exams 6. A new social structure was
established with the Mongols at the top 7.
Gender Roles a. Mongol women remained aloof
from Chinese culture b. They refused to adopt
footbinding --They retained the right to
move about freely c. Because of the short reign
of the Mongols, they had little influence over
Chinese women
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B. Foreign Cultural Influences 1. Mongol
curiosity brought great numbers of foreigners to
the Mongol court including scholars,
artisans, and office-seekers 2. Muslims
were favoredbrought new knowledge a. Muslims
and Persians brought the sciences to the
Mongolscorrected the Chinese calendar, made
maps, and established hospitals 3. Kubilai
welcomed travelers and emissaries from
Europe including Marco Polo a. Polos
book later helped inspire European
exploration
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C. Scholar-Gentry Resistance 1. Most saw
Mongols as barbarians whose rule endangered
Chinese traditions 2. Kubilais policies
prevented the scholar-gentry from dominating
politics 3. Kubilais favoritism towards
foreigners also offended the scholar-gentry 4.
Mongols raised the social status of artisans and
merchants as commerce boomed
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D. The Fall of Yuan China (Mongols) 1. Mongols
attempted two invasions of Japan and an
invasion of Vietnam that failed a.
Losses tarnished Mongol reputation as
invincible 2. Revolts against Mongol rule
broke out in Southern China 3. Kubilais
successors lacked his skill and left rule to
corrupt Chinese underlings 4. The
scholar-gentry encouraged peasant revolts and
secret sects hoping to overthrow the
dynasty 5. Chaos erupted as Mongol rule
collapsedMing dynasty formed
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E. The Last Great Nomadic Conquests 1. Timur
the Lame or Tamerlane a. Turkic leader
claiming descendency from Chinggis Khan
extremely cruel b. Conquered into India,
Mesopotamia, Persia, and parts of Russia c.
Unlike the Mongols, his reign did not expand
trade nor increase international
interaction d. 1405 he diesempire
disintegratessteppe nomads never challenge
again
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V. Shifts in Power Middle East and Asia A.
Middle East 1. Abbasids destroyed by Mongols
in 1258 2. Social and Cultural Changes
(1300) a. Religious leaders in control b.
Landlords dominate peasants, forcing them into
serfdomas a result, agricultural production
fell c. Economic decline --Tax revenues
decreased --Middle Eastern merchants lost
ground to their European counterparts by
1100, but were still active in world markets
Islamic decline was far from total. Muslim
merchants still sailed the Indian Ocean and the
Ottoman Turks were just beginning to build one of
the worlds most powerful empires.
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3. Groups Lack International Strength a.
Ottomans focused on conquest, not
commercecaused them to lack power outside
of their own borders --Did expand
into the Balkan Peninsula by the
1300s b. The Mongols did not last longtheir
decline opened up opportunities, both
political and economic, for China and
Western Europe
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B. Chinese Expansion 1. Ming dynasty
(1368-1644) replaces the Yuan (Mongols) a.
Expansionist Into Mongolia, Korea, Vietnam,
Tibet b. State sponsors commercial ventures to
India, Middle East, Africa c. Age of
Expansion (1405 1423) --Seven major sea
expeditions by Zheng He (Zhenghe)
--Voyages to India
Africa --Voyages end (1433)
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d. Chinese return to isolation back to
traditioninternal economy was doing wellsaw
little need for outside trade --Still
trade in Asian area Philippines, Malaysia,
and Indonesia --This opened opportunities
for Western traders
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VI. Western Europe Begins to Awaken A. Began
with relative stagnation, 14th, 15th
centuries 1. Aristocracy indulge in ritual
no longer useful militarily 2. Food supplies
insufficient famines were a constant threat
after 1300no agricultural innovation 3. 1348,
Black Death bubonic plague a. Spread along
trade routesthrough nomads, sea
routes b. 30-40 percent of
European population dies
led to labor shortages
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B. Signs of Rebirth 1. Feudal monarchies
became increasingly centralized, they provided
effective governmentcities grow a.
Aristocracy less of a threat 2. Hundred Years
War military innovationlongbows, gunpowder,
cannon, peasant armies
Battles of Crecy Agincourt
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3. Iberia Spain Portugal a. Regional
monarchs were strengthened through
Reconquista driving out the Muslim
occupiers --From 11th cent. military
leaders had been fighting --Regional
monarchies began to from 1400 --Castile and
Aragon allied through marriage in 1469 they
undertook a Christian mission to expel
Muslims and Jews from the Iberian
Peninsula C. European Trade Problems 1. Trade
imbalance a. Demand for Asian luxury products
led to a gold shortage by 1400 2. Trade was
also threatened by Ottoman Empire a. This
provided an impetus to find other ways to
bypass the Muslim-dominated trade routes
Contact with Asia came through the Mongol
Empire!!!!!!!!!
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D. Worldly Shift of the Italian Renaissance 1.
Italy takes the lead in the 14th centuryWHY?
a. Rebirth of classical thought facilitated
by wealth of Italian city-states and contact
with Byzantine Empire 2. Religious art
literature was the focusbecomes secular a.
Personal fame for artists, writers more
important 3. City-states support new
commerce and the arts E. Renaissance
Society and Culture 1. Renaissance mostly a
cultural, not political, movement 2.
Humanism emphasis on the individual and
the human spirit based on the classics
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3. Painters a. Renaissance artists were
patronized by the Church and the wealthy b.
Innovations include use of perspective and
greater emphasis on the human form c. Great
Renaissance artists include Michelangelo,
Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci
The center of Renaissance art was Florence!
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The Annunciation- Botticelli
Example of Perspective
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VII. Exploration and Colonization A. Why did
Europeans Explore? 1. The Crusades 2.
Contact with Mongols 3. Spice trade dominated
by Muslims and Venice 4. Last land route
vanished with fall of Byzantines. 5. Fear of
the Muslims 6. High prices caused Europeans
to seek alternate trade routes 7.
Compass 8. Astrolabe 9. Development of
deep-draft, round-hulled vessels (caravels)
allowed greater amounts of cargo to be
transported and allowed the use of cannon.
China by way of the Muslims
New Technology
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B. 14th century explorers 1. Canary Islands,
Madeiras, possibly the Azores 2. Spanish
expeditions along west African coast C.
Beginnings of Colonization 1. Azores, Madeiras,
and Canaries exploited 2. Prince Henry
of Portugal led the way a. Land grants offered
to colonists 3. Pattern of Development a.
Cash crops for European markets --Sugar,
Cotton, Tobacco --Slaves used
Canary Islands
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Aztecs Incasinternal problems created
opportunities for external intervention (after
1400)
Polynesians migrate to Hawaii!!!
Places Outside the European Asian World During
the Postclassical Era
Maoris settle in New Zealandperhaps as early as
the 8th century.
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Muslim traders and missionaries continued to
be active, but the Mongols introduced a new set
of contacts.
The Mongol decline returned attention to trade in
the Indian Ocean.
Western Europes position was strengthening.
Global Connections 1450 the World
Southeast Asia was increasingly drawn into trade
and missionary activity.
African merchants continued to rely on
interactions with the Middle East.
Global leadership was in question in 1450!