Page 239 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

2016 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

and his contemporary the caliph of Baghdad (786–809 ico (1521), and the Spanish conquistador Francisco
CE) al-Rashid were more than equaled in deed by Pizarro conquered the Inca empire in Peru (1535).
nomadic warlords around the globe. The result was the Columbian Exchange, the greatest
The constant state of flux by the end of the medieval single episode to ever alter the balance of power in
period led to an unprecedented exchange of ideas within world history. Spanish and Portuguese empires began to
major regions. However, land warfare was smaller in dominate global trade in the Indian,Atlantic, and Pacific
scope but more integrated in land and sea operations oceans. Spanish silver became the new global currency,
than during the classical period. Only seafaring advances and flora, fauna, and slave labor exchanges between the
were needed now to complete the sharing of land warfare Americas and the Old World led to wealth that chal-
beliefs and practices between all regions of the globe. lenged the empires of the Turks, Chinese, and Mughals.
Yet, the costs of early modern land warfare for the world’s
Early Modern Period first land and sea global empire proved too great. Despite
(c. 1500–1900 CE) spectacular victories against the Aztecs and Incas and
Ships such as Chinese junks, Portuguese caravels, Arabic against the Turks at sea (Lepanto in 1571), Spain went
dhows, Spanish galleons, and later English, Dutch, and bankrupt four times, losing global preeminence to the
French merchant-war ships began the final transformation Dutch, then French and English empires by 1700. The
of land warfare before the technological onslaught and colonial age had begun with European conquest and col-
mass production of the modern period.Land warfare took onization of the Americas (1500–1700s), Eurasia
the form of combined land and sea operations of Euro- (1700–1900s), and Africa (1800s), despite extensive
pean empires that had overcome the Stone Age New fighting between European powers at home. Land war-
World empires of the Incas and Aztecs before turning fare, combined with sea power, proved key in this final
those resources against the once-mighty medieval empires shift of global power before the modern period.
of Manchu China, Mughal India, and Ottoman Turkey.
Patterns of land warfare involved increasing use of gun- Modern Period
powder weapons in the form of firearms,ship cannon,and (c. 1900–Present)
land artillery,along with a reliance on supremacy at sea as All major forms of warfare during the modern period
a basis for successful land warfare. No region was better are based on technological advances in the distance of
than Europe at handling the succes-
sive revolutions of seafaring, gun-
powder weapons, global trade, and
the industrial age.
Inca and Aztec traders encountered
each other and the Spanish, resulting
in a showdown between Stone Age
and early modern warfare. However,
disease, steel, cavalry, gunpowder,
and ships proved too much when the
Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes
conquered the Aztec empire in Mex-

A wrought iron infantry shield
developed in the 1860s.