Was Asia prepared for
the "arrival of the West"?
China:
Japan
& Korea:
Southeast
Asia: 1. No
single experience describes the effects of Western contact in this
region. Westerners first arrived as
traders and were accommodated in established trading patterns. 2. When
colonization efforts started, domestic conditions produced differing
responses. The general trend of
anti-imperialism did not arrive until the 20th century. |
Hanseatic League: a commercial alliance
of medieval northern European port cities engaged in foreign trade. In the 14th century the League
had monopolized Baltic Sea trade.
However, by the 16th century internal disagreement among
its members and the advances of Dutch and English maritime ability curtailed
the League’s influence. In 1493, Pope
Alexander VI (r.1492–1503),
split the map of the world into equal parts for Portugal and Spain to share
in its territorial and spiritual appropriation. Vasco da Gama
(ca. 1469-1524) famous
Portuguese navigator who found safe passage around Africa Cape of Good Hope
to arrive in Calicut, India on May 20, 1498.
When negotiations with the Muslim ruler did not go well, da Gama
returned with a war party in 1502,and laid siege to the city to force favourable
trade concessions. He dies during his
last Indian voyage. Portuguese (pursuing spices) captured spice-trading Malacca in 1511. In 1535
Portuguese explorers arrived at the Bay of Tourane (Da Nang). This site
became the primary Western trading port Faifo (Hoi An). Portuguese established
themselves in Macao by 1557. Proceeded to send
tribute to the Chinese Ming (1368-1644) court. Early 17th-century twice-annual runs from
Acapulco to Manila by the "Manila Galleon" filled with
New World silver. |