1. Portugal Empire and Early Modern World Trade System
By Zhao Jing
Abstract: Portugal was the pioneer of the Discovery.It established a vast commercial empire through Europe, America,Africa and Asia by exploration and expanding at seas. As one of the global expanding European countries in the early modern time, the process that Portugal established the commercial empire was right the process that multilateral global trade connection formed, the trade method of Portugal empire inevitably became the one of the ingredient of ealy modern world trade system. This dissertation will examine the establisment, zenith and decline of Portugal empire; the motives and conditions of exploration of the route to India; the method of trade between Portugal and other civilizations; and lastly the impact of Portugal empire on the early modern world trade system.Portugal national state gradually shaped after the mid-fourteenth century, material lust and religious fever brought about the wish to explorate overseas. Leading Geographical knowledge and navigation technology,and the formation of national state provided the conditions of overcoming geographical obstacles and explorating unknown seas for the Portugueses.In the precess of explorating African coasts, Portugal founded the Atlantic trade system connecting Europe, Africa, and America, on the basis of slave trade erected and developed plantation economy in the New World. Portugal also discovered the sea route to India, entered the established Indian trade circle, engaged and changed the operation ways of Indian ocean trade system by forced and monopoly trade. Then Portugal reached South Chinese Sea, occupied Macao, operate multilateral trade, extended west Pacific trade net, impacted chinese tribute-trade system in south Chinese Sea, opened directly the West–East trade. Thus Portugal built a vast empire which spaned from Europe, America, Africa to Asia, and extended its tentacles into Spanish colonies, connected Mediterranean trade circle, Atlantic trade circle with Indian Ocean trade circle, South Chinese Sea trade circle and Pacific trade circle, became the first country which knited early modern world trade net.The ways which Portugal pursued global trade influenced deeply on early modern world trade system. First, Portugal exploration and overseas trade riched European georgraphic knowledge, imporved cartography, shipbuilding and sailing technology, facilitated the development of early modern world trade. Secondly, the ways of forced and monopoly trade which Portugal empire used in Indian Ocean were succeeded and aggrandized by the later European colonists, and these ways thus spreaded over the world. Lastly, the plantation economy mode which Portugal empire first built at Madras Islands and developed in Braizil was also succeeded by Spanish, Dutch, England and France, impacted the New World economic development mode deeply.
Key words:Portugal Empire?? Early Modern World Trade System,Monopoly Trade, Forced Trade, Slave Trade
2. Jerry Bentley's Contribution to the Theory and Practice of Global History
By Chen Guankun
Abstract: Global history is a new developing schools, lots of historians were devoted themselves to the research of the global history, such as William H. McNeill, Philip Curtin, Alfred W. Crosby, Jerry H. Bentley and so on. As the representative historian of the third generation of global history research, Jerry Bentley pay his main attention to the process of cross-cultural exchange and interaction, and he also give huge impetus to the development of global history research.In order to deepen our konwledge and research of global history, we learn and evaluate Bentley??s global history research via his series of books and thesises. This thesis consist of his first global history book named Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times which he pointed out that cross-cultural exchange is the main impetus of development of world history, his thesises which reflect his global history view get further maturity, such as Shapes of World History in Twentieth-Century Scholarship, The New World History, Globalizing History and Historicizing Globalization, Early Modern Europe and the Early Modern World, and the book named Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past which used his periodization to compile the world history.In the first chapter, it will introduce Bentley??s first book of global history which named Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times. In this book, cultural exchange, religion broadcast and long-distant trade are three themes which Bentley researched in pre-modern times, and he also think the cultural exchange is the main impetus of the development of world history.In the second chapter, it will introduce the main global thesises of Bentley, such as Shapes of World History in Twentieth-Century Scholarship, The New World History, Globalizing History and Historicizing Globalization, Early Modern Europe and the Early Modern World and so on. Make a intensive research of these thesises we can find out that Bentley??s global history view is becoming more and more maturity.In the third chapter, it will introduce the world history periodization of Bentley and world history book he compiled according to this periodization. Bentley put cultural interaction which cross-social and cultural boundaries as the basic point to periodize the world history into six parts, then on the basis of this, he published the world history book which named Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past.
Key words: evaluation of global history research?? on global history view practice of compile the world history
3. The Migration of Barbarians and its Effects in The Early Middle Ages
By Wang Bo
Abstract:Europe, the predecessor of most modern countries came about after the demise of the Western Roman Empire, and modern European nations at that time also keep connections with three ancient nations which are Celtic, Germanic, and Slav. There are less and less in the modern distribution of the Celtics, but the later two ones were in modern Western Europe and Eastern Europe??s main national. These people in the course of development produced a number of branches and set up their own countries, but the link between them has not been cut off, and many of the problems they face are very delicate in a modern society . These national exchanges as a whole, was a form of the European prevalence. Looking across Europe, the various branches of national and mutual self-restraint on the one hand, laid the eastern and western Europe the pattern of confrontation with each other, on the other hand, has laid a modern European nation-state the basic outline, and also profoundly affect the formation of the European feudal system.This article is divided into three parts:The first part briefly tell you where the barbarians of Europe situated, as well as the contacts and exchanges between Rome and the barbarians during the expansion to the north of Mediterranean region. At that time Celtic had great forces and the distribution is broad, but Germanic people from the remote inland areas gradually migrate to Europe and spread to every continent;The second part introduces the arrival of the Huns who were forced westward migration of the barbarians in about five hundred years. The Celts were in a serious compression of space, Germanic people occupied the majority of Gaul and the surrounding areas in the formation of a series of small country. In the east, west Slavs kept migration, and by the impact of Byzantine civilization, of which the Balkans became a melting pot of people and civilizations of the regions. In the development and expansion , these peoples made a profound influence on the formation of the European feudal system as a whole, and then Eastern and Western part of Europe took a different path of development.The third part introduces the residue from the Nordic Germanic people, who launched the activities of similar nature of pirates before and after the tenth century,. They are rampant, widespread, and had a great impact in the political and economic development in most countries of the European which made the nation to grapple with more complex issues. With the end of the invasion, the threat for the European continent also gradually disappeared.
Key words:The Early Middle Ages, Barbarians,Migration
4. Coal, Iron, and Transportation:?Analysing the Preconditions for the British Industrialization From A Comparative Perspective
By Fang Lin
Abstract:Why did the Industrial Revolution first take place inEngland? Multiple schools of research into the issue have yielded dramatically divergent views. This paper seeks to shed light on a number of authentic preconditions for the Industrialization inEnglandon the basis of a qualitative analysis of it and a comparison of diversifying industrialization processes in different countries.
Chapter One clarifies the concept of Industrial Revolution and analyzes the theoretical underpinnings of different schools of researchers on this issue before putting forward the author??s own conceptualization. Chapter Two elaborates on the contribution of different departments to industrial development as it relates to the startup of Industrial Revolution with the aim of showcasing the critical role of coke iron making to the Industrial Revolution. Chapter Three summarizes the two superb advantages of England, namely, its rich coal and ironresources and the facility of transportation, something that the Netherlands, Belgium, France,and other Western European countries did not have. Chapter Four shows that coal/iron resources plus the facility of transportation are actually the chief factor affecting industrial revolution in other parts of the world as well, a thesis which finds support from a comparative study of industrial developments in theUnited States,Russia,Japan,China, andIndia. Chapter Five highlights the distribution of coal/iron resources in the world, a configuration lending further weight to the thesis thatEngland??s leading the Industrial Revolution as a result of its superb natural conditions for large machinery operation amidst the preindustrial farming belts.
Key words:Industrial Revolution;England; Comparative Approach; Coal; Iron;Transportation