1. China
1.1. Had very advanced technology
1.1.1. Invented paper
1.1.1.1. A revolutionary discovery in trade as they now had paper money in comparison to goods.
1.1.1.2. Communication was now easier
1.1.2. Invented Gunpowder
1.2. In 1421 Imperial China set out a massive fleet - Thousands of Ships, Soldiers, resources and advanced technology. They reached East Africa, Indonesia and India in a short span of three years.
1.3. In order to pay for the expensive fleet the emperor raised the taxes of the people
1.4. Leading to riots and protests in China that the emperor could not subdue. Due to the reason that the majority of their soldiers were overseas
1.5. This resulted in China turning inwards as they were losing their own territories.
1.6. Therefore this ended an important opportunity for Chinese expansion
1.6.1. This allowed Russia to expand by extending its authority across Siberia to the Pacific.
1.6.2. It also meant expanding European empires did not face competition in India, East Africa or Indonesia
2. Islamic Empire
2.1. Held a shared world that stretched from the Atlantic to Central Asia and from Iraq to Indonesia.
2.1.1. Islamic Empire consisted of: All of North Africa, All of the Gulf, Indonesia, Southern part of Spain (Andalusia), The Turks
2.2. Islamic scholars focused on the development of knowledge and made revolutionary discoveries for ex. foundations of Anatomy discovered by Ibn Sina
2.2.1. Discovered canon fire which resulted in the downfall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453
2.3. Expeditions brought forth new knowledge as travelers such as Ibn Battuta travelled the world in the 14th century where he travelled from the coast of china all the way to Europe. Resulting in a transfer of knowledge. As Islamic scholars translated the works from greek into Arabic. Studied Mathematics and rethought agriculture
2.4. New Cities were built and new crops were traded with other countries
3. 14th century Europe
3.1. 1. Depopulated by the Black Death
3.2. 2. Famine: The little Ice age caused crops to perish. Therefore no resources for the people
3.3. 3. Division in the papacy caused political crisis
3.4. 5.The Crusades failed against the Islamic empire - the crusades lasted for 500 years
3.5. 4.100 year war between England and France (1337-1453)
3.5.1. In 1453 the Byzantium empire fell to the ottomans because its famous walls could not withstand canon fire. In under 2 months Constantinople was taken over
3.5.1.1. Resulting in the Silk road being closed and boycotted leaving the Europeans Isolated
3.5.1.1.1. Silk Road began in Constaniople and ended inChina. It was ancient network of trade routes.
3.5.1.1.2. This led to Europeans trying to reach the East by sea.
3.5.1.2. This caused the Europeans to unite for the first time in history to fight against a common enemy: Islam.
4. The Three Forms of Imperial Rule
4.1. Colony: Conquered land us ynder complete imperial rule. (government, economy, education, diplomacy,) Local goverments were replaced woth foreign authorities
4.1.1. Exploitation eg Africa : Everything would be extracted from the country and be taken back to the mother country. There would be no investment in education
4.1.2. Settlement eg Austrailia. It was a penal colony where all the prisoners would be sent
4.2. Protectorate
4.2.1. The imperial nation sets the rules and controls the trade however does not replace government eg. UAE
4.2.2. And the Europeans will protect the country against they're enemies
4.3. Chartered Companies
4.3.1. These were the main transporters and controllers of the slave trade
4.3.1.1. For example: The Dutch East India Company, The British East India Company and the French East India Company.
4.3.2. They had their own armies
4.3.3. They controlled the naval ships