POLSCI 160 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Pax Britannica, Ottoman Empire, Mercantilism
17 Oct 2017
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Document Summary
The mercantilist era: period of violent conquest and imperial expansion. Yet, between 1815 and 1914, states cooperated and realized an entire century of relative peace and prosperity. Despite periodic wars and recessions, western europes economy grew 8 fold in that 100 year period. Beginning in 1914, 30 years of economic devastation, recessions. Mercantilism: the use of military power to enrich imperial governments. Height of mercantilism was from the 16th to 18th century. Favor the mother country over both colonies and competing empires. Military and economic power complementary (guns and butter) World emerged as a meaningful unit around 1492 (age of discovery); navigation was the focus. Spain and portugal were the main countries leading expeditions due to their wealth and resources. Pay more for consumption and less for production. Us colonies - received military protection, but lost the economic independence. First spain and portugal battled to control the new world.
