Este foi o 2° ensaio do curso, de um total de 6, que conclui sobre História Mundial desde 1300. Foram 4 meses de estudo, com aulas em língua inglesa e legendas. Descobri o curso através do site coursera.com, e as aulas foram ministradas pelo prof. Jeremy Adelman da Princeton University.
Between 1750 and 1850, however, there were signs of a drastic change. Britain, in particular, showed signs of a leap forward. The industrialization of the West caused the deindustrialization of the rest of the world. England took advantage of the wounds that the other nations infringed themselves. In 16th century weavers southern Netherlands sought refuge and took the secrets of the “new farms”. In 17th century Jewish Marranos took the experience of public and private finance. The Huguenots traders arrived with its international network of religious and family connections.
In 1750, China accounted for one-third, India and the West almost a quarter less than a fifth of the world’s manufacturing output. In 1800, China and India held two thirds of world trade prosperity. China’s population grew 50 % in 16th century declined over the next century, but almost tripled from 1700 to 1820.
James C. Davies (1) suggests that a partial synthesis of these approaches may provide a more comprehensive explanation than either of the two taken alone; major revolutions may be preceded by steady long-term increases in economic development, followed by a sharp reversal just before the outbreak of the revolution.
As evidence for the low rate of expectations prior to major revolutions, Davies cites the poor agricultural harvests of 1788-89 in France that followed the economic advances of the prior decade. The English economy had suffered a reversal prior to 1688, while there was a tightening up of business conditions in America in 1774-75. Tocqueville suggested that the French peasant prior to 1789 enjoyed a considerably higher degree of economic independence than did the remainder of the European peasantry. The English Revolution of the 17th century and the American Revolution preceded by similar economic experiences.
Malthus assumed that the amount of food practically fixed; therefore, unless population diminished, as years went on, wages would fall, because worse soils would be cultivated and there would be increased difficulty in obtaining food. However, the period he had before his eyes was quite exceptional; after the peace, good harvests came and plenty of corn; food grew cheaper, though population advanced at the same rate. So that the theory in this shape was true only of the twenty years from 1795 to 1815. Duverger criticized theories of demographic pressure that reached its apex with Malthus. It demonstrates that China, overpopulated, was peaceful for centuries. Numerous other factors besides overpopulation triggered the French Revolution of 1789. The Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917 erupted in an underpopulated country. One should take into account the aging that increases in proportion to its expansion and pressure decreases.
At the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) which reorganized Europe, the British government insisted on the ban include the minutes of the transatlantic slave trade. In 1825, for the first time in history, the industrial benefit of a country surpassed its agriculture. From 1800 to 1855, the cost price of cotton was divided by five Englishmen, while its production was multiplied by 50.
Pablo Deiros, author of History of Christianity in Latin America (2), explains that the occupation of Spain by the armies of Napoleon, in 1808, began emancipation of Latin American colonies. In 1821, priest Miguel Hidalgo called the people in the famous ‘Grito de Dolores’ that started the Mexican Revolution.
Simon Bolivar witnessed the coronation of Napoleon and noted the weakness of the Spanish before the French invasion. With the support of the British against the French ships, defeated the Spaniards in October 1813, coming on as Caracas Liberator. Then conquered Colombia and the province of Quito, forming the Gran Colombia. Then, he joined the Argentine General San Martin to release the current Bolivia. The wars for independence were more encouraged by the criolla oligarchy to free up the Spanish monopoly control of the search for his own identity by the people. Revolutionary movements in Brazil began in 1817, and promptly repressed. The monarchy established independence in 1822, until the Republic established in 1889.
Works Cited:
- James C. Davies, Toward a Theory of Revolution. February, 1962.
- Pablo Deiros, History of Christianity in Latin America
- Worlds together, worlds apart: a history of the world from the beginnings of humankind to the present / Robert Tignor … [et al.].
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