The West and the Changing World Balance

1
The West and the Changing World Balance

• AP World History
• Uvalde High School

2
Fall of the Mongols

• Mongol decline created a power vacuum in Asia
• Rise of the Ottoman Empire
• Founded by in 1281
• Conquer Balkan peninsula by 1350
• Rise of the Ming Dynasty
• Founded by a rebel leader in 1368
• Drove the Mongols back into central Asia
• Launched state-sponsored trading expeditions

3
Zheng He (Cheng Ho)

• Muslim eunuch from Western China
• Treasure ship voyages of Zheng He (1405-1433)
• Made seven voyages into the Indian Ocean
• 1st fleet to India had 62 ships 28,000 men
• Exact tribute from Asian and African rulers

4
Zheng He vs. Columbus
5
Rise of the West

• Late Middle Ages
• Strengthening of feudal monarchy
• Reconquista
• Hundred Years War
• New military technology and organization
• Growth of cities and manufacturing
• Increased iron production
• New intellectual ideas

6
Western imitation and problems

• Pax Mongolica provided access to Asian knowledge
  and technology
• Compass, gunpowder, moveable-type printing
• After the Crusades, Western elites became used to
  Asian luxury products
• Rise of the Ottoman Empire
• Creates fear of new Muslim surge
• Muslims regain control of Asian trade
• Europe begins exploring for alternate routes to
  Asia

7
Italian Renaissance

• Begins in the early 14th century
• Francesco Petrarch and humanism
• Why Italy?
• More contact with Roman tradition
• Led the West in banking and trade
• Wealthy cities could support cultural activities
• Contact with foreign scholars
• Competition between city-states

8
Leonardo da Vinci
9
Leonardo da Vinci and Science
10
Michelangelo
11
School of Athens
Plato (da Vinci) and Aristotle
Averroes and Pythagoras