II. The union of the corvée system of economy with the capitalist corvée system of economy was undermined by the abolition of serfdom. All the main foundations of this system were undermined: subsistence farming, the isolation and self-sufficient character of the landlord estate,

The countries of Europe, having carried out modernization, received huge advantages in comparison with the rest of the world, which was based on the principles of traditionalism. This advantage also affected the military potential. Therefore, following the era of great geographical discoveries, associated mainly with reconnaissance expeditions, already in the 17th-18th centuries. the colonialist expansion to the East of the most developed countries of Europe began. Traditional civilizations, due to the backwardness of their development, were not able to resist this expansion and turned into easy prey for their stronger opponents.

At the first stage of the colonization of traditional societies, Spain and Portugal were in the lead. They managed to conquer most of South America. In the middle of the XVIII century. Spain and Portugal began to lag behind in economic development and as maritime powers were relegated to the background. Leadership in the colonial conquests passed to England. Beginning in 1757, the trading English East India Company for almost a hundred years captured almost the entire Hindustan. Since 1706, the active colonization of North America by the British began. In parallel, the development of Australia was going on, on the territory of which the British sent criminals convicted to hard labor. The Dutch East India Company took over Indonesia. France established colonial rule in the West Indies, as well as in the New World (Canada).

African continent in the XVII-XVIII centuries. Europeans settled only on the coast and was used mainly as a source of slaves. In the 19th century Europeans moved far into the interior of the continent and by the middle of the 19th century. Africa was almost completely colonized. The exceptions were two countries: Christian Ethiopia, which offered staunch resistance to Italy, and Liberia, created by former slaves, immigrants from the United States.

In Southeast Asia, the French captured most of the territory of Indochina. Only Siam (Thailand) retained relative independence, but a large territory was also taken away from it.

By the middle of the XIX century. The Ottoman Empire was subjected to strong pressure from the developed countries of Europe. The countries of the Levant (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine), which were officially considered part of the Ottoman Empire during this period, became a zone of active penetration of Western powers - France, England, Germany. During the same period, Iran lost not only economic but also political independence. At the end of the XIX century. its territory was divided into spheres of influence between England and Russia. Thus, in the 19th century practically all the countries of the East fell into one form or another of dependence on the most powerful capitalist countries, turning into colonies or semi-colonies. For Western countries, the colonies were a source of raw materials, financial resources, labor, as well as markets. The exploitation of the colonies by the Western metropolises was of the most cruel, predatory nature. At the cost of ruthless exploitation and robbery, the wealth of the western metropolises was created, a relatively high standard of living of their population was maintained.

Initially, European countries did not bring their own political culture and socio-economic relations to the colonies. Faced with the ancient civilizations of the East, which had long developed their own traditions of culture and statehood, the conquerors sought, first of all, their economic subjugation. In territories where statehood did not exist at all, or was at a fairly low level (for example, in North America or Australia), they were forced to create certain state structures, to some extent borrowed from the experience of the metropolitan countries, but with greater national specifics. In North America, for example, power was concentrated in the hands of governors who were appointed by the British government. The governors had advisers, as a rule, from among the colonists, who defended the interests of the local population. Self-government bodies played an important role: an assembly of representatives of the colonies and legislative bodies - legislatures.

In India, the British did not particularly interfere in political life and sought to influence local rulers through economic means of influence (enslaved loans), as well as providing military assistance in internecine struggle.

The economic policy in the various European colonies was largely similar. Spain, Portugal, Holland, France, England initially transferred feudal structures to their colonial possessions. At the same time, plantation farming was widely used. Of course, these were not "slave" plantations of the classical type, as, say, in ancient Rome. They represented a large capitalist economy working for the market, but with the use of crude forms of non-economic coercion and dependence.

Many of the effects of colonization were negative. There was a robbery of national wealth, merciless exploitation of the local population and poor colonists. Trading companies brought stale goods of mass demand to the occupied territories and sold them at high prices. On the contrary, valuable raw materials, gold and silver, were exported from the colonial countries. Under the onslaught of goods from the metropolises, the traditional oriental craft withered, traditional forms of life and value systems were destroyed.

At the same time, Eastern civilizations were increasingly drawn into the new system of world relations and fell under the influence of Western civilization. Gradually there was an assimilation of Western ideas and political institutions, the creation of a capitalist economic infrastructure. Under the influence of these processes, the traditional eastern civilizations are being reformed.

A vivid example of the change in traditional structures under the influence of colonial policy is provided by the history of India. After the liquidation of the East India Trading Company in 1858, India became part of the British Empire. In 1861, a law was passed on the creation of legislative advisory bodies - the Indian Councils, and in 1880 a law on local self-government. Thus, the beginning of a new phenomenon for Indian civilization was laid - the elected bodies of representation. Although it should be noted that only about 1% of the population of India had the right to take part in these elections.

The British made significant financial investments in the Indian economy. The colonial administration, resorting to loans from English bankers, built railways, irrigation facilities, and enterprises. In addition, private capital also grew in India, which played a large role in the development of the cotton and jute industries, in the production of tea, coffee and sugar. The owners of the enterprises were not only the British, but also the Indians. 1/3 of the share capital was in the hands of the national bourgeoisie.

From the 40s. 19th century The British authorities began to actively work on the formation of a national "Indian" intelligentsia in terms of blood and skin color, tastes, morals and mindset. Such an intelligentsia was formed in the colleges and universities of Calcutta, Madras, Bombay and other cities.

In the 19th century the process of modernization also took place in the countries of the East, which did not directly fall into colonial dependence. In the 40s. 19th century reforms began in the Ottoman Empire. The administrative system and the court were transformed, secular schools were created. Non-Muslim communities (Jewish, Greek, Armenian) were officially recognized, and their members received admission to public service. In 1876, a bicameral parliament was created, which somewhat limited the power of the Sultan, the constitution proclaimed the basic rights and freedoms of citizens. However, the democratization of the eastern despotism turned out to be very fragile, and in 1878, after the defeat of Turkey in the war with Russia, a rollback to its original positions occurs. After the coup d'état, despotism again reigned in the empire, the parliament was dissolved, and the democratic rights of citizens were significantly curtailed.

In addition to Turkey, in the Islamic civilization, only two states began to master the European standards of life: Egypt and Iran. The rest of the huge Islamic world until the middle of the XX century. remained subject to the traditional way of life.

China has also made certain efforts to modernize the country. In the 60s. 19th century here, the policy of self-reinforcement gained wide popularity. In China, industrial enterprises, shipyards, arsenals for the rearmament of the army began to be actively created. But this process has not received sufficient impetus. Further attempts to develop in this direction resumed with great interruptions in the 20th century.

Farthest from the countries of the East in the second half of the XIX century. Japan advanced. The peculiarity of Japanese modernization is that in this country the reforms were carried out quite quickly and most consistently. Using the experience of advanced European countries, the Japanese modernized industry, introduced a new system of legal relations, changed the political structure, the education system, expanded civil rights and freedoms.

After the coup d'état of 1868, a series of radical reforms were carried out in Japan, known as the Meiji Restoration. As a result of these reforms, feudalism was ended in Japan. The government abolished feudal allotments and hereditary privileges, princes-daimyo, turning them into officials. who headed the provinces and prefectures. Titles were preserved, but class distinctions were abolished. This means that, with the exception of the highest dignitaries, in terms of class, princes and samurai were equated with other classes.

Land for ransom became the property of the peasants, and this opened the way for the development of capitalism. The prosperous peasantry, exempted from the tax - rent in favor of the princes, got the opportunity to work for the market. Small landowners became impoverished, sold their plots and either turned into farm laborers or went to work in the city.

The state undertook the construction of industrial facilities: shipyards, metallurgical plants, etc. It actively encouraged merchant capital, giving it social and legal guarantees. In 1889, a constitution was adopted in Japan, according to which a constitutional monarchy was established with great rights for the emperor.

As a result of all these reforms, Japan has changed dramatically in a short time. At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. Japanese capitalism turned out to be quite competitive in relation to the capitalism of the largest Western countries, and the Japanese state turned into a powerful power.

Question number 16.

Formation of the colonial system and the world capitalist economy.

In the XVII-XVIII centuries. the boundaries of European civilization were constantly expanding: of course, this is not about geographical expansion, but about the spread of ideas, value systems, socio-economic structures, etc. which the Europeans laid the foundations of the future colonial system. Traditional societies, as a rule, could not oppose this expansion and became easy prey for stronger opponents.

At the initial stage of colonization, Europeans usually did not interfere in the socio-political life of the conquered societies. For the conquerors it was important, first of all, the economic subordination of the colonies. That is why many elements of, for example, the ancient Indian civilization have survived to this day.

The colonial expansion of European countries led to their constant clashes in the struggle for the most profitable and rich lands. Naturally, in this rivalry, victory usually went to the most advanced, modernized countries. And since in this sense absolute leadership by the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. was for England, she also became the main colonial power, displacing in this competition, first Holland, and then France. Spain and Portugal still retained their gigantic possessions in Latin America, but the weakness of these mother countries made inevitable the imminent destruction of their colonial empires.

Almost the entire African continent remained a huge undeveloped space, where Europeans occupied only narrow coastal strips. These were a kind of springboard, for a long time used to capture and export Negro slaves to America, as well as the extraction of minerals and other raw materials.

In the XVII-XVIII centuries. The expansion of Russia (and, accordingly, its authority in international politics) also increased sharply. But unlike the powers of the West, Russia did not occupy distant overseas lands, but annexed territories located near the core of the state. The most ambitious was the advance to the east, to the Pacific Ocean, then, already in the XVIII-XIX centuries, the borders of the empire expanded in the south (Caucasus, Crimea, Central Asia). Russian settlements appeared even in Alaska and in the region of the current US state of California, but in the 19th century. they were abandoned. In the west, the Russian Empire included Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, a significant part of ethnic Poland.

The forms of exploitation in the colonies varied. In Latin America, the Spaniards and the Portuguese made extensive use of slave labor. The slave plantation became the main form of economic activity. However, on the islands of the West Indies (and in a number of other regions), slavery was also resurrected by "advanced" England, Holland and France. And, for example, in Indonesia, the Dutch used the serf system of coercion, forcing local peasants to grow coffee, spices, cane sugar - an extremely valuable commodity in European markets. In an effort to extract marginal profits from the colonies, trading companies brutally exploited European colonists as well (for example, in South Africa, to a lesser extent in Canada). And only in the North American colonies of England, as already mentioned, development immediately went along the capitalist path, and after gaining independence, a new civilizational center began to take shape here, successfully competing with the European one.

The formation of the United States was the first serious blow to the colonial system. An even more powerful blow was dealt to it already at the beginning of the 19th century. former Latin American colonies. But the huge African continent was mastered by the colonialists only to a small extent, so it was too early to talk about the crisis of the colonial system here. Rather, on the contrary: at the end of the 19th century, when all of Africa was captured and divided, this system was waiting for a kind of flowering.

Stages of formation and development of the world economy.

In its formation and development, the world economy has come a long and difficult path. Some researchers attribute its origin to the time of the Roman Empire. Others keep track of the functioning of the world economy since the great geographical discoveries of the 15th-16th centuries, which led to the accelerated development of international trade in jewelry, spices, precious metals, and slaves. But the world economy of this period was limited, remaining the sphere of application only of merchant capital.

The modern world economy arose after the industrial revolution, in the course of the development of capitalism into monopoly capitalism.

The main stages of the development of the world economy

The international division of labor and its international cooperation laid the foundation for the emergence of the world market, which developed on the basis of domestic markets, gradually transcending national boundaries.

domestic market- a form of economic communication in which everything intended for sale comes true by the manufacturer within the country.

national market- the domestic market, part of which is focused on foreign buyers.

international market- part of the national markets, which is directly connected with foreign markets.

World market- the sphere of stable commodity-money relations between countries based on MRI and other factors of production.

The main characteristic features of the world market:

• is a category of commodity production that has gone beyond the national framework in search of marketing its products;
• manifests itself in the interstate movement of goods that are under the influence of internal and external demand and supply;
• optimizes the use of production factors, directing the manufacturer to industries and regions where they can be applied most efficiently;
• eliminates from international exchange goods and manufacturers that do not provide international quality standards at competitive prices.

The emergence of the world economy.

By the end of the XIX century. the development of the world market for goods has led to the intensification of international economic relations and their exit from the framework of international trade in goods. The growth of financial capital and the development of productive forces led to the emergence of a world economy, which is a higher stage in the development of a market economy than the world market and includes, in addition to traditional international trade, the international movement of factors of production and international enterprises arising on this basis.

Regulation of the world economy takes place with the help of measures of both national and interstate economic policy. The economies of individual countries are becoming more open and oriented towards IER.

world economy is a set of national economies of the countries of the world, interconnected by mobile factors of production.

Characteristic features of the modern world economy:

• development of the international movement of factors of production (capital, labor, technology);
• the growth of international forms of production at enterprises located in different countries (multinational companies, joint ventures ...);
• the economic policy of states, which provides support for the international movement of goods and factors of production on a bilateral and multilateral basis;
• the emergence of an open economy within many states and interstate associations.

The countries of the East over the course of three centuries of the New Age (XVI-XIX centuries) experienced a rather painful transition from a dominant position in world history to the status of a subordinate side, in any case, yielding and defending. At the beginning of this period, in the 16th-17th centuries, they were mainly occupied with their own internal problems and did not pay enough attention to the West. Japan, China, India and their immediate neighbors were too far away from Europe and therefore were not very concerned about the first expeditions of Vasco da Gama in 1498-1502. to the west of India and the creation of Affonso d'Albuquerque in 1509-1515, a chain of strongholds from the island of Socotra south of Yemen to the Mallacca Peninsula. other superiority over the "infidels", especially the Ottomans then going from victory to victory.

In Japan, where the consolidation of feudalism was expressed in the final triumph in the XVI century. shogunate, the rigid centralization of power with the suppression of the freedom of peasants and townspeople was initially accompanied by a tendency to external expansion, especially against Kerei at the end of the 16th century. The Portuguese (in 1542) and Spanish (in 1584) merchants who appeared here, which did not arouse much interest, became the object of closer attention when they took up the business at the end of the 16th century. missionary activity and especially the slave trade. The first shogun from the Tokugawa dynasty limited himself to opposing the Portuguese and Spaniards to the Dutch and British who arrived in 1600, concluding more favorable agreements with them. An attempt by the Spaniards in 1611, with the help of the Spanish navy, to expel the Dutch and the British ended in failure. In 1614, Christianity was banned in Japan (although many feudal lords on the island of Kyushu, who imported weapons from Europe, had already adopted it). In 1634, all the Spaniards were expelled from the country, in 1638 - all the Portuguese. An exception was made only for the Dutch, who helped the shogun to suppress the peasant uprising in 1637-1638, but even then, under the condition that their trade was limited to the territory of a small island near Nagasaki, under the supervision of the shogun's officials and with the prohibition of any religious propaganda. Even earlier, in 1636, all Japanese were forbidden under threat of death to leave their homeland and build large ships suitable for long-distance navigation. The era of the “closed state” has come, i.e. isolation of the country from the outside world, which lasted until 1854. During this time, only the Dutch and Chinese merchants appeared in Japan.

Nevertheless, in Japan they secretly followed the course of international events and, collecting information about foreign states, were aware of world affairs. The assertion of Russia on Sakhalin and the Kuriles led to Russian attempts to "open" Japan. All of them were unsuccessful, starting with Bering's expedition in 1739 and ending with Golovnin's expedition in 1809-1813. The shoguns tried to preserve the feudal order as much as possible. In doing so, they considered the country's self-isolation to be the best means. Even shipwrecked Japanese sailors, abandoned by a storm to other countries, were forever deprived of the right to return to their homeland. Basically, this continued until the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

Neighbor of Japan - the largest state in the world China - experienced in the XVI-XVII centuries. a painful turn in their history. The Ming dynasty, which ruled from 1368, actually entrusted the administration to temporary workers, under whom corruption, embezzlement and favoritism flourished. Almost two centuries of opposition struggle (XV-XVI centuries) ended in failure. The Manchus took advantage of the decline of the economy and the feudal reaction that crushed the living thought in the country. Their tribes, which occupied the northeast of China, were tributaries of the Ming dynasty, were at a lower level of development than the Chinese, but their bail princes, having accumulated significant wealth, slaves and great combat experience (they fought each other endlessly), were extremely intensified. Nurkhatsi, the most gifted of the baile, gradually rallied all the Manchus, created a powerful unified army instead of large formations, extremely combat-ready thanks to severe discipline, an indisputable hierarchy of military ranks, blood ties of tribal unity and excellent weapons. Having declared independence in 1616, Nurhatsi in 1618 started a war with China.

The war, during which the Manchus also conquered Korea, Mongolia and Taiwan, lasted until 1683. These 65 years also include the great peasant war of 1628-1645, which overthrew the Ming dynasty, the betrayal of the Ming aristocracy, which actually closed with the Manchus and recognized their power for the sake of suppression, together with them, of the indignation of the lower classes of their own people. The Qing dynasty, which began to rule in 1644, represented the elite of the Manchus (descendants of Nurhaci) and for the first 40 years continued to suppress the resistance of the Chinese by the most bloody methods, turning entire cities into cemeteries (for example, Yangzhou, where, according to eyewitnesses, up to 800 thousand people were slaughtered ).

The Dutch, British, and French tried to take advantage of the ruin of China; by the end of the 17th century, they deployed. a brisk trade in the seaside cities of southern China, where everything was purchased at extremely low prices and sold in Europe at high prices. However, the Qing emperors soon followed the example of Japan and began to restrict the activities of foreigners. In 1724, the preaching of Christianity was banned, and the missionaries were expelled from the country. In 1757, all the ports of China were closed to foreign trade, except for Canton and Macao, captured by the Portuguese. Fearing the strengthening of the cities that became centers of anti-Manchu resistance, the Qing rulers hampered the development of trade and crafts, hindered foreign trade and even the construction of merchant ships. Monopoly companies, under the strict control of the Qing bureaucracy, traded under special permits (merchants from Shanxi - with Russia and Central Asia, Cantonese - with the British East India Company). Merchants were associated with moneylenders and with the top of the bureaucracy. At the same time, the Qings, having largely inherited the old models of the Chinese monarchy, further exacerbated its cruelty, making the most of the principles of Confucianism (submission of a son to his father, subjects to the ruler, etc.) to regulate the life of the Chinese, their subordination and humiliation.

The complex social hierarchy of society was brought to its apogee by the Manchus. In 1727, in accordance with Manchu customs, the institution of slavery was fixed by imperial decree. Even the Bogdykhan's harem was strictly hierarchical, numbering 3 main concubines, 9 concubines of the second category, 27 of the third, 81 of the fourth. Criminal legislation included 2,759 offenses, of which more than 1,000 were punishable by death. The despotic system of power, associated with constant humiliation (torture, beating with sticks, shaving the head and wearing a braid by men as a sign of obedience to the Manchus), contributed to the constant discontent and hidden indignation of the people, which periodically broke out during uprisings. But, basically, indignation accumulated gradually, especially in secret societies, which often included in their members entire communities, covering entire villages, corporations of merchants and artisans. Emerged in the era of Mongol domination in the 13th century, these societies multiplied after the capture of the country by the Manchus. All these societies - "White Lotus", "Triad" (i.e. the society of heaven, earth and man), "Fist in the name of peace and justice" and others - were especially strong in coastal cities, where they were led by merchants. Members of the societies, bound by strict discipline, morality of self-denial, fanatical faith in their cause, played a huge role not only in anti-Manchu speeches, but also in uniting compatriots abroad, strengthening their ties with their homeland and relatives in a foreign land. The emigration of the Chinese, primarily to neighboring countries, played a significant role in the spread of the ideology of Confucianism, the cult of ancestors and other features of the spiritual culture of the Chinese, and in a certain piety of the surrounding peoples before China. Moreover, many of the countries where they left (Burma, Vietnam, Siam, Korea, Mongolia, Tibet, Kashgaria, now called Xinjiang) either periodically joined China, or fell under its protectorate, or were forced to join with it into various kinds of unequal relationships.

China's relations with Russia were peculiar. In 1689, the first Russian-Chinese border and trade treaty was signed in Nerchinsk. According to the Kyakhta Treaty of 1728, i.e. 4 years after the expulsion of Western missionaries from China,

Russia, having strengthened relations with it through territorial concessions, won the right to keep a spiritual Orthodox mission in Beijing, which in fact performed the functions of both a diplomatic and a trade mission. At the end of the XVIII century. a new conflict arose between Russia and China because of the attempts of the Bogdykhan to subjugate the Kalmyks, who migrated to the Volga lands from the Dzungar Khanate, with whom the Manchus fought from the 17th century. The attempt was thwarted by the Russians, after which the Chinese even stopped letting the Kalmyks into Tibet to worship the shrines of Lhasa. After the destruction of the Dzungar Khanate by the armies of the Bogdy Khan in three campaigns of 1755-1757, the Chinese (Upper Manchus) divided it into Inner (southern) and Outer (northern) Mongolia, and interrupted the direct economic ties between the Mongols and Russia that had previously taken place. These ties were restored only more than 100 years later, after the conclusion of the Russian-Chinese treaties of 1860 and 1881. But by that time, the Chinese merchants who had established themselves in Mongolia, relying on the help of the Manchu authorities and the solid financial and commercial support of the British, Japanese and American firms were able to eventually secure their dominance in Mongolia.

The forcible "discovery" of China by the West occurred after the defeat of China in the first "opium" war of 1840-1842. The British took the island of Hong Kong from him, forced him to open for foreign trade, in addition to Canton, 4 more ports and obtained from the Bogdykhan the right of extraterritoriality, freedom of trade and many other concessions. In 1844, the United States and France obtained similar concessions from China in their favor. All this undermined the mutually beneficial Russian-Chinese trade due to the sharp increase in competition from the Western powers. Wishing to oppose Russia to her rivals, the Chinese concluded an agreement with her in 1851, which provided Russian merchants with significant privileges.

The Taiping uprising that shook all of China in 1851-1864. England, France and the USA took advantage of the further strengthening of their positions and for the actual subordination of the Manchu rulers, after the wars of 1856-1858. and 1860, finally convinced of the complete helplessness of their medieval army in the face of the troops of the Western imperialists equipped with the latest technology. In addition, then the threat of the collapse of the state arose with particular acuteness. This was most clearly manifested in western China, where the Dungans and other Muslims created a number of small states by 1864. In 1867, the whole of Kashgaria (Xinjiang) was united under his rule by the Tajik Yakub-bek, a dignitary of the Khan of Kokand. It was especially dangerous that Yakub-bek, focusing on England, concluded a trade agreement with her in 1874 and, at the behest of the British, received the title of emir, weapons and military instructors from the Ottoman sultan. In the state of Yakub-bek (Jety-shaar, i.e. “Seven cities”), Sharia law dominated and “Khojas”, descendants of Turkestan dervishes who led a number of anti-Manchu uprisings from 1758 to 1847, enjoyed great influence. However, after the death of Yakub -bek in 1877, a struggle for power began at the top of Jety-shaar. Taking advantage of it, the Qing government managed to liquidate the Jeti-shaar in 1878.

Nevertheless, China became in fact a semi-colony of the Western powers due to the treacherous behavior of the Manchu officials and the Qing dynasty, who sought salvation from their own people in the servitude of the imperialists. The last official resistance to the West was China's war with France in 1884-1885. Having suffered a defeat in it, China was forced to renounce formal sovereignty over Vietnam, which had become the object of France's colonial desires. The next setback for the Qing was the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. Japan, which after 1868 found a way out of its internal difficulties in external expansion, from 1874 tried to carry out conquests in China and Korea, formally subject to it. By starting the war, the Japanese achieved everything they wanted: they captured Taiwan and the Penghuledao Islands, imposed indemnity on China, made Korea formally independent from China (that is, defenseless against Japanese expansion). This defeat was the reason for the new pressure of the West on China: the Qing government was forced to accept a number of enslaving loans, to provide England, France, Germany, the United States, as well as Russia and Japan, which had joined the "concern of powers", concessions for the construction of railways and "lease » a number of territories. The dominance of the powers, the arbitrariness of foreigners and missionaries, as well as the consequences of the defeats suffered by China, were the main reason for the uprising of 1899-1901, which was jointly suppressed by the troops of the powers that ruled China, as well as Austria-Hungary and Italy that joined them. The semi-colonial status of China was thus finally secured.

Iran was also turned into a semi-colony. In the XVI century. it was a powerful state of the Safavids, which included, in addition to Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, part of Afghanistan and Central Asia. For the possession of the entire Caucasus, Kurdistan and Iraq, there was a fierce struggle between the Safavids and the Ottoman Empire. However, already in the XVI century. the power of the Safavids was undermined as a result of economic decline, as well as constant uprisings of enslaved peoples. The movement of the rebellious Afghans, growing from 1709, led to the capture of the capital of the state - Isfahan. Heading from 1726 the struggle against the Afghans and the Ottomans who invaded in 1723, the Khorasan Turkmen Nadir, from the Afshar tribe, managed not only to expel the conquerors, but also to revive Iran as a great Asian empire, including all of Afghanistan, part of India, Central Asia and Transcaucasia. However, after the death of Nadir Shah in 1747, his empire collapsed. The non-Iranian regions, in the main, went on an independent path of development, and in Iran, engulfed in feudal strife, from 1763 the British and Dutch began to penetrate, having received the rights of extraterritoriality, duty-free trade and the creation of their armed trading posts, and in fact, military fortresses in a number of points in the Persian bay.

The Qajar dynasty, which came to power in 1794, ruled with the most cruel methods, often disfiguring and blinding the population of entire cities, driving into slavery the inhabitants of non-Iranian regions, and also organizing massacres and pogroms in them, as was the case in 1795-1797. in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Subsequently, Iran, mainly on the territory of these countries, waged two wars with Russia (in 1804-1813 and 1826-1828), which ended unsuccessfully for it. At the same time, there was an intensive penetration of the British into Iran, who, by bribing literally everyone, “from the Shah to the camel driver”, concluded a new treaty with Iran in 1801, which further expanded and strengthened their positions in Iran and allowed using this country as an instrument of pressure and on Russia, and on France, and on Afghanistan (which prevented England from "development" of India). And under the 1814 treaty, England directly interfered in Iran's relations with its neighbors, providing it with 150 thousand pounds in the event of a war with Russia or France and obliging it to fight the Afghans in the event of their attack on "British" India.

Later, however, in the struggle between Russia and England for influence on Iran, Russia began to take over. Nevertheless, the British managed to maintain their positions and even impose a new unequal treaty on Iran in 1841. The uprisings of the Babids (adherents of the religious movement of Sayyid Ali Muhammad Baba) in 1844-1852. shocked Iran and even gave rise to a desire for reform among part of the feudal-bourgeois elite, quickly strangled by the Shah's court, the conservative aristocracy and the clergy. These circles later tried to maneuver between England and Russia, but were forced, in general, to retreat, providing both powers with different concessions, decisive positions in the banking system and customs revenues, in the army and various departments. The north of Iran became the sphere of influence of Russia, the south - of England.

The fate of other countries of the East, which became objects of direct colonial expansion and direct subordination to the West, developed differently.

How was the expansion of Europe to the East carried out and what were its stages. The expansion of Europe to the East began with the Portuguese conquests in Africa. Already in 1415, the Portuguese captured Ceuta on the northern coast of Morocco, turning it into the first of their African "fronteiras" (border fortresses). Then they occupied the port of El Ksar Es Segir (in 1458) and Anfu (in 1468), which they completely destroyed, having built their fortress of Casa Branca in its place, later called Casablanca in Spanish. In 1471, they took Arsila and Tangier, in 1505 - Agadir, in 1507 - Safi, in 1514 - Mazagan. Almost the entire coast of Morocco was in the hands of the Portuguese, with the exception of Rabat and Sale. However, already in 1541, the rule of the Portuguese weakened after they surrendered Agadir, and soon also Safi, Azzemmour, Mogador. They lasted the longest in Mazagan (now El Jadida) - until 1769. But basically their influence in Morocco was ended in 1578, when almost the entire Portuguese army at the head died near El Ksar El Kebir. with King Sebastian. However, many fortresses ensured their dominance in Africa, Brazil and Southeast Asia. The ports of Diu, Daman and Goa in India, Macau in China remained the possessions of Portugal until the second half of the 20th century. In the XVI century. they also had many strongholds in Siam and the Moluccas. They founded a number of such fortresses in Ceylon, including Colombo, the future capital of the island.

The Spaniards, following the Portuguese, fared better in the Americas than in Asia and Africa, where they were either overtaken by the Portuguese or met with fierce resistance. The only significant possession of Spain in Asia was the Philippines, discovered in 1521 by Magellan, but conquered in a bitter struggle only in 1565-1572. In the Mediterranean basin, the Spaniards first achieved some success, capturing Melilla in northern Morocco in 1497, and in 1509-1511. a number of cities in Algeria - Oran, Mostaganem, Tenes, Sherchel, Bejaya, as well as Peñon Island in front of the country's capital. The King of Spain was even proclaimed King of Algeria. But all these positions, as well as influence among the "peaceful", i.e. Allied to Spain, the tribes were lost by 1529, when Algeria finally became part of the Ottoman Empire. The exception was Oran, which remained in the hands of the Spaniards until 1792.

The Spaniards were even more active in Tunisia. In 1510, they captured Tripoli, which then belonged to Tunisia, and in 1535, Tunisia itself, which they owned until 1574, i.e. almost 40 years old. However, from here they had to retreat. At that time, the Spaniards, especially in alliance with the Knights of Malta, Genoa and Venice, could still resist the Ottomans at sea, but much less often on land. The Battle of Lepanto in 1571, in which the combined forces of Spain and its allies defeated the Ottoman fleet, and at the same time the failures of the Spanish army led by King Charles V near Algiers in 1541, and also near Tripoli in 1551, are very characteristic . All of Europe was shocked by the defeat of the Hungarian-Czech army in 1526, the death of King Lajos II, who led it, the occupation of the lands of Hungary, the Czech Republic and Croatia by the Ottomans, their campaigns in 1529 and 1532 against Vienna. Subsequently, the Ottoman threat hung over Vienna until 1683, when the Ottomans laid siege to the capital of Austria for the last time, and their vanguard - the Crimean cavalry - even reached the borders of Bavaria. But the decisive defeat inflicted on them by the army of the Polish king Jan Sobessky then led not only to a turning point in the course of the war, but also to the development of confrontation between the Muslim East and the Christian West as a whole.

Habsburg Spain overstrained itself, taking on the unbearable role of world hegemon and striving to fight at the same time and With the Ottomans, and the Gozes in the Netherlands, and the French in Europe, and the Indians in America, and the rebels in the Philippines, as well as the British and Protestants all over the world. The population of the country for the most brilliant, but also the most difficult in the Spanish history of the XVI century. decreased by 1 million (i.e., by 1/9) and continued to lose annually 40 thousand emigrants who left for America. By the end of the century, 150 thousand Spaniards (3% of the active population of that period) were vagabonds, beggars, war invalids, criminals and other marginalized people. Moriscos (baptized Moors) regularly left the country, playing a significant role in the economy, but at the same time being the object of hatred for the clergy and the envy of the mob. Their complete exile in 1609-1614. (with the secret goal of enriching themselves at their expense) finally undermined the material possibilities of the kingdom, for which the burden of being a great power became unbearable. War of the "Spanish Succession" 1701-1714 practically deprived Spain of the status of a great power, although she retained her colonies.

Even before Spain receded into the background as a colonial metropolis, the Dutch, who had just won independence themselves (in 1581 in fact, in 1609 - formally), and the British moved to the fore almost simultaneously. The East India (since 1602) and West India (since 1621) companies of the Dutch launched an intensive colonial expansion around the world. Taking advantage of the weakening of Portugal, annexed to Spain in 1580 (until 1640), the Dutch began to oust the Portuguese from everywhere, by 1609 expelling them (together with the Spaniards) from the Moluccas, and by 1641 having taken possession of Malacca. In 1642 they captured Taiwan, and in 1658 they took Ceylon from the Portuguese. The conquest of Java, begun by the Dutch as early as 1596, continued until the 18th century. In the 17th century Madura, Mauritius, a number of colonies in Africa and America were also captured. Having defeated the English fleet in 1619 in several battles in the Gulf of Thailand and the Sunda Strait, the Dutch temporarily got rid of the British as competitors in Southeast Asia. However, already from the second half of the XVII century. Holland is losing its maritime and commercial hegemony as a result of England's success in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of 1652-1654. and 1672-1674, as well as the great losses of Holland in the wars with France in 1672-1678, 1668-1697, 1702-1713. By that time, France had become a powerful commercial and colonial rival of Holland, which was forced to blockade with England in the face of the threat of French expansion. Therefore, Holland, by that time economically (especially in industrial development) inferior to England, began to give her one position after another. And after the establishment of French domination in Holland in 1795-1813, the Dutch colonies in Africa, America and Ceylon were captured by the British. After the restoration of sovereignty, Holland was forced to “voluntarily” agree to the loss of these colonies, and, according to the London Treaty of 1824, to also give up in favor of England from its possessions in India and Malaya. But she retained her main colony in Asia - Indonesia.

The rivalry of the powers often led to the fact that the colonies, passing from hand to hand, often acquired a complex ethno-cultural appearance. This especially applies to the islands, among which, for example, Ceylon since 1517 was the object of the claims of the Portuguese, since 1658 - a colony of Holland, since 1796 - England. Approximately the same was with Mauritius, from the beginning of the XVI century. belonging to the Portuguese, from 1598 - to the Dutch, from 1715 - to the French, from 1810 - to the British.

England, which began its colonial policy in the struggle against Spain and Portugal, in alliance, and then also in the struggle against Holland, later fiercely competed with France. As a result of this constant centuries-old struggle with continental powers, the British learned a lot and achieved a lot, using, among other things, the contradictions between their competitors in colonial robbery. The British began their expansion to the East as allies of the Dutch in the fight against the Portuguese and Spaniards. They performed independently in America, where they captured the island of Newfoundland in 1583, and in 1607 the first British colony of Virginia was founded. But from 1615, the growth of English trading posts (Surat, Masulinatem, Pulicat, Madras) began in India, where the British managed to obtain a number of trading privileges in the Mughal Empire. For a long time they were limited to economic penetration into the colonies of their weakened competitors - Portugal and Holland. Some of them, primarily in America, were captured in the 18th century. England's main rival was France, which was fought simultaneously in the North of America, in the Caribbean and in India. Almost everywhere the victory went to England, after a 20-year war, which practically eliminated the position of France in India by 1761. In 1757-1764. the British captured Bengal, in 1799 they crushed Mysore, in 1818 they defeated the Marathas. The capture of the Punjab in 1846 completed the conquest of India. Even earlier, in 1786, the British began to expand into Malaya, in 1824 - the first war with Burma. Then Holland recognized the "legitimacy" of the capture by England in 1819 of Singapore.

Despite the serious crisis of British colonialism in the last quarter of the 18th century, when England lost 13 colonies in North America, which later formed the United States, in the 19th century. the colonial empire of Great Britain continued to grow due to the colonization of Australia and New Zealand, new conquests in Africa, and also in Asia, where in 1839 Aden was captured in the south of Yemen, in 1842 - Xianggang (Hong Kong) in southern China, which became one of the bases of British expansion in Asia. In 1878, England received Cyprus from the Ottoman Empire, and in 1882 established control over Egypt, as a result of which it actually became the mistress of the Mediterranean, relying on its bases in Gibraltar (since 1704), Malta (since 1800), Cyprus and the Suez Canal Zone. In 1885, the conquest of Burma was completed, in 1898, under the guise of a "lease", the port of Weihaiwei was taken from China.

Great geographical discoveries of the middle of the XV - the middle of the XVII century. were associated with the process of primitive accumulation of capital in Europe. The development of new trade routes and countries, the plunder of newly discovered lands contributed to the development of this process, marked the beginning of the creation of the colonial system of capitalism, the formation of the world market.

The pioneers of the Great geographical discoveries were in the 15th century. countries of the Iberian Peninsula - Spain and Portugal. Having conquered in the XIII century. their territory from the Arabs, the Portuguese in the XIV-XV centuries. continued wars with the Arabs in North Africa, during which a significant fleet was created.

The first stage of the Portuguese geographical discoveries (1418-1460) is associated with the activities of Prince Enrique the Navigator, a talented organizer of sea expeditions, in which not only nobles, but also merchants participated. Back in the 20-30s of the XV century. the Portuguese discovered the island of Madeira, the Canary and Azores, moved far south along the western coast of Africa. Rounding Cape Bojador, they reached the coast of Guinea (1434) and the Cape Verde Islands, and in 1462 - Sierra Leone. In 1471, they explored the coast of Ghana, where they found rich gold placers. The discovery in 1486 by Bartolomeo Diasem of the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa created a real opportunity for preparing an expedition to India,

Long-distance sea voyages became possible in the second half of the 15th century. as a result of significant advances in science and technology. Until the end of the XVI century. the Portuguese were ahead of other countries not only in the number of discoveries. The knowledge they gained during their travels gave the navigators of many countries valuable new information about sea currents, tides, and the direction of the winds. The mapping of new lands spurred the development of cartography. Portuguese maps were highly accurate and contained data on areas of the world previously unknown to Europeans. Reports on Portuguese sea expeditions and Portuguese navigation manuals were published and republished in many countries. Portuguese cartographers worked in many European countries. At the beginning of the XVI century. the first charts appeared, on which the lines of the tropics and the equator and the scale of latitudes were plotted.

Based on the doctrine of the sphericity of the Earth, the Italian scientist, astronomer and cosmographer Paolo Toscanelli compiled a map of the world on which the shores of Asia were marked on the western coast of the Atlantic Ocean: he believed that it was possible to reach India by sailing west from the shores of Europe, Italian the scientist incorrectly imagined the length of the Earth along the equator, making a mistake of 12 thousand km. Subsequently, they said that this was a great mistake that led to a great discovery.

By the end of the XV century. navigational devices have been significantly improved<компас и астролябия), позволявшие более точно, чем раньше, определять положение корабля в открытом море. Поя-лился новый тип судна — каравелла, которая благодаря системе парусов могла идти и по ветру, и против ветра, достигая скорости 22 км в час. Корабль имел небольшой экипаж (!/ю экипажа гребной галеры) и мог взять на борт достаточно продовольствия и пресной воды для дальнего плавания.

At the end of the XV century. The Spaniards were also looking for new trade routes. In 1492, the Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) arrived at the court of the Spanish kings Ferdinand and Isabella. Little is known about the previous period of Columbus's life. He was born in Genoa in the family of a weaver, in his youth he took part in sea voyages, was an experienced pilot and captain, read a lot, knew astronomy and geography well, Columbus offered the Spanish monarchs his project, approved by Toscanelli, to reach the shores of India, sailing west through Atlantic. Prior to this, Columbus had vainly proposed his plan to the Portuguese king, and then to the English and French monarchs, but was refused. By this time, the Portuguese were already close to opening a route to India through Africa, which predetermined the refusal of the Portuguese king Alphonse V. France and England did not have at that time a sufficient fleet to equip the expedition.

In Spain, the situation was more favorable for the implementation of Columbus's plans. After the conquest of Granada in 1492 and the end of the last war with the Arabs, the economic situation of the Spanish monarchy was very difficult. The treasury was empty, the crown no longer had vacant lands to sell, and revenues from taxes on trade and industry were negligible. A huge number of nobles (hidalgo) were left without a livelihood. Raised by the centuries of the Reconquista, they despised all economic activity - the only source of income for most of them was war. Without losing their desire for quick enrichment, the Spanish hidalgos were ready to rush into new conquest campaigns. The crown was interested in sending this restless noble freemen away from Spain, across the ocean, to unknown lands. In addition, Spanish industry needed markets. Due to its geographical position and the long struggle with the Arabs, Spain in the 15th century. was cut off from the Mediterranean trade, which was controlled by the Italian cities. Expansion at the end of the 15th century. Turkish conquests made it even more difficult for Europe to trade with the East. The route to India around Africa was closed to Spain, since the advance in this direction meant a collision with Portugal,

All these circumstances were decisive for the adoption of the Columbus project by the Spanish court. The idea of ​​overseas expansion was supported by the tops of the Catholic Church. It was also approved by scientists from the University of Salamanca, one of the most famous in Europe. An agreement (surrender) was concluded between the Spanish kings and Columbus, according to which the great navigator was appointed viceroy of the newly discovered lands, received the hereditary rank of admiral, the right to Vio part of the income from the newly discovered possessions and] / in part of the profits from trade.

On August 3, 1492, a flotilla of three caravels sailed from the harbor of Paloe (near Seville), heading southwest. Having passed the Canary Islands, Columbus led the squadron in a northwesterly direction and after a few days of sailing reached the Sargasso Sea, a significant part of which is covered with algae, which created the illusion of the proximity of the earth. The flotilla hit the trade winds and moved quickly forward. For several days the ships wandered among the algae, but the shore was not visible. This gave rise to superstitious fear among the sailors, a mutiny was brewing on the ships. In early October, after two months of sailing under pressure from the crew, Columbus changed course and moved to the southwest. On the night of October 12, 1492, one of the sailors saw the land, and at dawn the flotilla approached one of the Bahamas (the island of Guanahani, called San Salvador by the Spaniards). During this first trip (1492-1493), Columbus discovered the island of Cuba and explored it north coast.

Mistaking Cuba for one of the islands off the coast of Japan, he tried to continue sailing west and discovered the island of Haiti (Hispaniola), where he found more gold than in other places. Off the coast of Haiti, Columbus lost his largest ship and was forced to leave part of the crew in Hispaniola. A fort was built on the island. Having strengthened it with cannons from the lost ship and leaving food and gunpowder supplies to the garrison, Columbus began to prepare for his return voyage. Fortress in Hispaniola - Navidad (Christmas) - #t * la the first Spanish settlement in the New World.

Open lands, their nature, appearance and occupations of their inhabitants

cm did not resemble the rich lands of Southeast Asia described by travelers from many countries. The natives had copper-red skin, straight black hair, they walked naked or wore pieces of cotton cloth on their hips. There were no signs of gold mining on the islands, only some of the inhabitants had gold jewelry. Having captured several natives, Columbus explored the Bahamas in search of gold mines. The Spaniards saw hundreds of unfamiliar plants, fruit trees and flowers. In 1493, Columbus returned to Spain, where he was received with great honor.

The discoveries of Columbus worried the Portuguese. In 1494, through the mediation of the Pope, an agreement was concluded in the city of Tor desillas, according to which Spain was given the right to own lands to the west of the Azores, and Portugal to the east.

Columbus made three more trips to America: in 1493-1496, 1498-1500 and in 1502-1504, during which the Lesser Antilles were discovered, the island of Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Trinidad and others, and the coast of the Central America. Until the end of his days, Columbus believed that he had found the western turbidity in India, hence the name of the lands "Western Indies" came from, which was preserved in official documents until the end of the 16th century. new lands only slightly exceeded the costs of their development. Many doubted that these lands were India, and the number of Columbus's rags grew. Especially great was the discontent of the conquistador nobles in the New World, whom the admiral severely punished for disobedience. In 1500, Columbus was accused of abuse of power and sent to Spain in shackles. However, the appearance in Spain of the famous navigator in chains and under arrest caused indignation among many people belonging to various strata of society, including those close to the queen. Soon Columbus was rehabilitated, all his titles were returned to him.

During the last trip, Columbus made great discoveries: he discovered the coast of the mainland south of Cuba, explored the southwestern shores of the Caribbean Sea for 1500 km. It has been proven that the Atlantic Ocean is separated by land from the "South Sea" and the coast of Asia. Thus, the admiral did not find a passage from the Atlantic to the Indian.

While sailing along the shores of the Yucatan, Columbus encountered more advanced tribes; they made colored fabrics, used bronze utensils, bronze axes, and knew how to melt metals. At that moment, the admiral did not attach importance to these lands, which, as it turned out later, were part of the Mayan state - a country with a high culture, one of the great American civilizations. On the way back, Columbus' ship was caught in a strong storm, Columbus with great difficulty reached the coast of Spain. The situation there was unfavorable. Two weeks after his return, Queen Isabella, who patronized Columbus, died, and he lost all support at court. He did not receive an answer to his letters to King Ferdinand. The great navigator tried in vain to restore his rights to receive income from newly discovered lands. His property in Spain and Hispaniola was described and sold for debts. Columbus died in 1506, forgotten by everyone, in complete poverty. Even the news of his death was published only 27 years later.

The opening of the sea route to India, the colonial seizures of the Portuguese. The tragic fate of Columbus is largely due to the success of the Portuguese. In 1497, an expedition of Vasco da Gama was sent to explore the sea route to India around Africa. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, the Portuguese sailors entered the Indian Ocean and opened the mouth of the Zambezi River. Moving north along the coast of Africa, Vasco da Gama reached the Arab trading cities of Mozambique - Mombasa and Malindi. In May 1498, with the help of an Arab pilot, the squadron reached the Indian port of Kali-kut. The entire voyage to India lasted 10 months. Having bought a large cargo of spices for sale in Europe, the expedition set off on the return journey; it took a whole year, during the journey 2/3 of the crew died.

The success of Vasco da Gama's expedition made a huge impression in Europe. Despite heavy losses, the goal was achieved, huge opportunities for the commercial exploitation of India opened up before the Portuguese. Soon, thanks to their superiority in armaments and naval technology, they managed to oust the Arab merchants from the Indian Ocean and seize all maritime trade. The Portuguese became incomparably more cruel than the Arabs, exploiting the population of the coastal regions of India, and then Malacca and Indonesia. From the Indian princelings, the Portuguese demanded the cessation of all trade relations with the Arabs and the expulsion of the Arab population from their territory. They attacked all ships, both Arab and local, robbed them, brutally exterminated the crews. Albuquerque, who was first a squadron commander and then became Viceroy of India, was especially ferocious. He believed that the Portuguese should fortify themselves along the entire coast of the Indian Ocean and close all exits to the ocean to Arab merchants. The Albuquerque squadron smashed the defenseless cities on the southern coast of Arabia, terrifying with their atrocities. Arab attempts to oust the Portuguese from the Indian Ocean failed. In 1509, their fleet at Diu (the northern coast of India) was defeated.

In India itself, the Portuguese did not capture vast territories, but sought to capture only strongholds on the coast. They widely used the rivalry of local rajas. With some of them, the colonialists entered into alliances, built fortresses on their territory and placed their garrisons there. Gradually, the Portuguese took over all trade relations between individual areas of the Indian Ocean coast. This trade gave huge profits. Moving further east from the coast, they took possession of the transit routes for the trade in spices, which were brought here from the islands of the Sunda and Moluccas archipelagos. In 1511, Malacca was captured by the Portuguese, and in 1521 their trading posts arose in the Moluccas. Trade with India was declared a monopoly of the Portuguese king. Merchants who brought spices to Lisbon received up to 800% of the profit. The government artificially maintained high prices. Every year, only 5-6 ships of spices were allowed to be exported from the huge colonial possessions. If the imported goods turned out to be more than needed to keep prices high, they were destroyed.

Having seized control of trade with India, the Portuguese stubbornly sought a western route to this richest country. At the end of the XV beginning of the XVI century. As part of the Spanish and Portuguese expeditions, the Florentine navigator and astronomer Amerigo Vespucci traveled to the shores of America. During the second trip, the Portuguese squadron passed along the coast of Brazil, considering it an island. In 1501, Vespucci took part in an expedition that explored the coast of Brazil, and came to the conclusion that Columbus discovered not the coast of India, but a new materia, which was named America in honor of Amerigo. In 1515, the first globe with this name appeared in Germany, and then atlases and maps.

Opening of the western route to India. First round-the-world trip. Vespucci's hypothesis was finally confirmed as a result of Magellan's round-the-world trip (1519-1522).

Fernando Magellan (Magaillansh) was a native of the Portuguese nobility. In his early youth, he participated in sea expeditions, while in the service of the Portuguese king. He made several trips to the Moluccas and thought that they lay much closer to the shores of South America. Having no exact information about the extent of the newly discovered continent, he considered it possible to reach them by moving to the west and skirting the newly discovered continent from the south. At that time, it was already known that to the west of the Isthmus of Panama lies the "South Sea", as the Pacific Ocean was called. The Spanish government, which at that time did not receive large incomes from newly discovered lands, reacted with interest to the Magellan project. According to the agreement concluded by the Spanish king with Magellan, he was supposed to sail to the southern tip of the American mainland and open the western route to India. The titles of the ruler and governor of the new lands and a twentieth of all income that would go to the treasury complained to him.

On September 20, 1519, a squadron of five ships left the Spanish harbor of San Lucar, heading west. A month later, the flotilla reached the southern tip of the American mainland and for three weeks moved along the strait, which now bears the name of Magellan. At the end of November 1520, the flotilla entered the Pacific Ocean, where the voyage lasted over three months. The weather was excellent, a fair wind was blowing, and Magellan gave the ocean such a name, not knowing that at other times it can be stormy and formidable. For the entire journey, as Magellan's companion Pigafetta wrote in his diary, the squadron met only two deserted islands. The crews of the ships suffered from hunger and thirst. The sailors ate the skin, soaking it in sea water, drank rotten water, and suffered from scurvy without exception. Most of the crew died during the voyage. Only on March 6, 1521, sailors reached three small islands from the Mariana group, where they were able to stock up on food and fresh water. Continuing his journey west, Magellan reached the Philippine Islands and soon died there in a skirmish with the natives. The remaining two ships under the command of d'Elcano reached the Moluccas and, capturing a cargo of spices, moved west. The squadron arrived at the Spanish port of San Lucar on September 6, 1522. Only 18 returned from a crew of 253 people.

New discoveries aggravated the old contradictions between Spain and Portugal. For a long time, experts on both sides could not accurately determine the boundaries of the Spanish and Portuguese possessions due to the lack of accurate data on the longitude of the newly discovered islands. In 1529, an agreement was reached: Spain renounced its claims to the Moluccas, but retained the rights to the Philippine Islands, which received their name in honor of the heir to the Spanish throne, the future King Philip I. However, for a long time no one dared to repeat the journey of Magellan , and the path across the Pacific Ocean to the shores of Asia was of no practical importance.

Spanish colonization of the Caribbean. The conquest of Mexico and Peru "In 1500-1510. expeditions led by members of the travels of Columbus explored the northern coast of South America, Florida and reached the Gulf of Mexico. By that time, the Spaniards had captured the Greater Antilles: Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Lesser Antilles (Trinidad, Tabago, Barbados, Guadeloupe, etc.), as well as a number of small islands in the Caribbean. The Greater Antilles became the outpost of the Spanish colonization of the Western Hemisphere. The Spanish authorities paid special attention to Cuba, which they called “the key to the New World.” Fortresses, settlements for immigrants from Spain were built on the islands, roads were laid, plantations of cotton, sugar cane, and spices arose. The gold deposits found here were insignificant. To cover the costs of sea expeditions, the Spaniards began the economic development of this area. Enslavement and merciless exploitation of the indigenous population of the Greater Antilles, as well as epidemics brought from the Old World, led to a catastrophic reduction in the population. In order to replenish labor resources, the conquerors began to bring Indians from small islands and from the coast of the mainland to the Antilles, which led to the devastation of entire regions. At the same time, the Spanish government began to attract immigrants from the northern regions of Spain. The resettlement of peasants was especially encouraged, who were given plots of land, they were exempted from taxes for 20 years, they were paid bonuses for the production of spices. However, the labor force was not enough, and from the middle of the XVI century. African slaves began to be imported to the Antilles.

From 1510, a new stage in the conquest of America began - the colonization and development of the interior regions of the continent, the formation of a system of colonial exploitation. In historiography, this stage, which lasted until the middle of the 17th century, is called the conquest (conquest). The beginning of this stage was laid by the invasion of the conquistadors on the Isthmus of Panama and the construction of the first fortifications on the mainland (1510). In 1513, Vasco Nunez Balboa crossed the isthmus in search of the fantastic "country of gold" - Eldorado. Coming to the Pacific coast, he hoisted the banner of the Castilian king on the shore. In 1519, the city of Panama was founded - the first on the American continent. Here detachments of conquistadors began to form, heading deep into the mainland.

In 1517-1518. the detachments of Hernando de Cordoba and Juan Grijalva, who landed on the coast of Yucatan "in search of slaves, encountered the oldest of the pre-Columbian civilizations - the Mayan state. Magnificent cities surrounded by fortress walls, rows of pyramids, and temples richly decorated with carvings with images of the gods appeared before the shocked conquistadors n cult animals.In the temples and palaces of the nobility, the Spaniards found a lot of jewelry, figurines, vessels made of gold and copper, chased gold discs with types of battles and scenes of sacrifice.The walls of the temples were decorated with rich ornaments and frescoes, distinguished by the subtlety of work and richness of colors.

The Indians, who had never seen horses, were intimidated by the very sight of the Spaniards. The rider on the horse seemed to them a huge monster. Firearms were especially feared, to which they could only oppose a bow, arrows and cotton shells.

By the time the Spaniards arrived, the territory of Yucatan was divided among several city-states. Cities were political centers around which agricultural communities united. The rulers of the cities collected payments and taxes, were in charge of military affairs, foreign policy, they also performed the functions of high priests. The Mayan community was the economic, administrative and fiscal unit of society. The cultivated land was divided into plots between families, the rest of the land was used jointly. The main labor force was free communal peasants. Within the community, the process of property stratification and class differentiation has already gone far. Priests, officials, hereditary military leaders stood out. Slave labor was widely used in their economy, debtors, criminals and prisoners of war were turned into slavery. In addition to collecting taxes, rulers and priests used the labor service of community members to build palaces, temples, roads, and irrigation systems.

The Maya are the only peoples of pre-Columbian America who had a written language. Their hieroglyphic writing resembles the writing of Ancient Egypt, Sumer and Akkad. Maya books (codices) were written with paints on long strips of "paper" made from plant fiber, and then placed in cases. The temples had significant libraries. The Maya had their own calendar, they knew how to predict solar and lunar eclipses.

Not only the superiority in arms, but also the internal struggle between the city-states made it easier for the Spaniards to conquer the Mayan state. The Spaniards learned from local residents that precious metals were brought from the country of the Aztecs, which lies north of the Yucatan. In 1519, a Spanish detachment led by Hernan Cortes, a poor young hidalgo who arrived in America in search of wealth and glory, set off to conquer these lands. He hoped to conquer new lands with small forces. His detachment consisted of 400 infantry soldiers, 16 horsemen and 200 Indians, had 10 heavy guns and 3 light guns.

The state of the Aztecs, whose conquest went to Kor-foc, stretched from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Numerous tribes conquered by the Aztecs lived on its territory. The center of the country was the Valley of Mexico. Here ** there was a large agricultural population, a perfect system of artificial irrigation was created by the labor of many people.

K1snia, high yields of cotton1, corn, vegetables were grown, the Ztecs, like other peoples of America, did not tame domestic

Evotnyh, did not know wheel traction, metal tools, the noble system of the Aztecs in many ways resembled the state of _ Aya. The main economic unit was the neighboring community. There was a system of labor conscription of the population in favor of the State Ministry for the construction of palaces, temples, etc. The craft of the Aztecs *has not yet separated from agriculture, they lived in the community as farmers, chshk and artisans, ”a stratum of representatives of the nobility and the inhabitants - caciques, who had large plots of land and used the labor of slaves, stood out. Unlike the Maya, the Aztec state achieved significant centralization, the transition of the hereditary power of the supreme ruler was gradually carried out. However, the lack of internal unity, the internecine struggle for power among the representatives of the highest military nobility and the struggle of the tribes conquered by the Aztecs against the conquerors facilitated the victory of the Spaniards in this unequal struggle. Many conquered tribes moved to their 1st year and participated in the struggle against the Aztec rulers. So, during the last siege of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlane, 1 thousand Spaniards and 100 thousand Indians participated in the battle. Despite this, the siege lasted 225 days. The final conquest of Mexico dragged on for more than two decades. The last Maya stronghold was captured by the Spaniards only in 1697, i.e. 173 years after their invasion of ml Yukatai. Mexico justified the hopes of the conquerors. Rich deposits of gold and silver were found here. Already in the 20s of the XVI century. swayed the development of silver mines. The merciless exploitation of the Indians in the mines, in construction, mass epidemics led to a rapid decline in the population. For 50 years, it has decreased from 4.5 million to 1 million people.

Simultaneously with the conquest of Mexico, the Spanish conquistadors were looking for the fabulous country of Eldorado and on the coast of South America. In 1524, the conquest of the territory of present-day Colombia began, where the port of Saita Marta was founded. From here, the Spanish conquistador X and less Quesada, moving up the Magdalena River, reached the possessions of the Chibcha-Muishha tribes who lived on the Bogotá plateau. Hoe farming, pottery and weaving were developed here.

processing of copper, gold and silver. Chibcha were especially famous as skilled jewelers who made jewelry and dishes from gold, silver, copper and emeralds. Gold disks served as their equivalent in trade with other areas. Having conquered the largest Chibcha Muisca principality, Jimenez Quesada founded in 1536 the city of Santa Fe de Bogotá.

The second stream of colonization was from the Isthmus of Panama south along the Pacific coast of America. The conquerors were attracted by the fabulously rich country of Peru, or Viru, as the Indians called it. Rich Spanish merchants from the Isthmus of Panama took part in the preparation of expeditions to Peru. One of the detachments was led by a semi-literate hidalgo from Extremadura Francisco Pizarro. In 1524, together with his fellow countryman Diego Almagro, he set sail south along the western coast of America and reached Guayaquila Bay (modern Ecuador). Fertile densely populated lands stretched here. The population was engaged in agriculture, bred herds of llamas, which were used as beasts of burden. The meat and milk of llamas were used as food, and durable and warm fabrics were made from their wool. Returning to Spain in 1531, Pizarro signed a capitulation with the king and received the title and rights of adelantado - the leader of the conquistador detachment. The expedition was joined by two of his brothers and 250 hidalgos from Extremadura. In 1532, Pizarro landed on the coast, quickly conquered the backward scattered tribes living there and captured an important stronghold - the city of Tumbes. Before him opened the way to the conquest of the state of the Incas - Tahuantisuyu, the most powerful of the states of the New World, which at the time of the Spanish invasion was experiencing a period of its highest rise. Since ancient times, the territory of Peru was inhabited by the Quechua Indians. In the XIV century. one of the Quechuan tribes - the Incas - was conquered by numerous Indian tribes living on the territory of modern Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. By the beginning of the XVI century. part of the territory of Chile and Argentina was part of the Inca state. From the tribe of conquerors, a military nobility was formed, and the word "Inca" acquired the meaning of a title. The center of the Inca power was the city of Cusco, located high in the mountains. Carrying out their conquests, the Incas sought to assimilate the conquered tribes, resettled them inland, planted the Quechua language, introduced a single religion - the cult of the Sun God. The Temple of the Sun in Cusco was a pantheon of regional gods. Just like the Maya and the Aztecs, the main unit of Inca society was the neighborhood community. Along with family allotments, there were "fields of the Inca" and "scorch of the Sun", which were worked together, and the harvest from them went to the maintenance of rulers and priests. From the communal lands, the fields of the nobility and elders were already distinguished, which were their property and were inherited. The ruler of Tauantisuyu, the Inca, was considered the supreme owner of all lands.

In 1532, when several dozen Spaniards undertook a campaign deep into Peru, a fierce civil war was going on in the state of Tauantisuyu. The tribes of the northern Pacific coast conquered by the Incas supported the conquerors. Almost without resistance, F. Pizarro reached the important center of the Inca state - the city of Cajamarca, located in the highlands of the Andes. Here the Spaniards captured the ruler of Tahuantisuya Atagualpa and imprisoned him. Although the Indians collected a huge ransom and filled the dungeon of the captive leader with gold and silver jewelry, ingots, and vessels, the Spaniards executed Atagualpa and appointed a new ruler. In 1535, Pizarro made a campaign against Cusco, which was conquered as a result of a hard struggle. In the same year, the city of Lima was founded, which became the center of the conquered territory. A direct sea route was established between Lima and Panama. The conquest of the territory of Peru dragged on for more than 40 years. The country was shaken by powerful popular uprisings against the conquerors. In remote mountainous areas, a new Indian state arose, conquered by the Spaniards only in 1572.

Simultaneously with the campaign of Pizarro in Peru in 1535-1537. ade l.stado Diego Almagro began a campaign in Chile, but soon had to return to Cuzco, which was besieged by the rebellious Indians. An internecine struggle began in the ranks of the conquistadors, F. Pizarro, his brothers Hernando and Gonzalo and Diego d Almagro died in it. The conquest of Chile was continued by Pedro Valdivia. The Araucan tribes living in this country put up stubborn resistance, and the conquest of Chile was finally completed only in At the end of the 17th century, the colonization of La Plata began in 1515, the lands along the rivers La Plata and Paraguay were conquered. Detachments of conquistadors, moving from the southeast, entered the territory of Peru. In 1542, two streams of colonization joined here.

If at the first stage of the conquest the conquerors seized the precious metals accumulated in previous times, then from 1530 in Mexico and on the territory of Peru and modern Bolivia (Upper Peru) the richest mines began to be systematically exploited. The richest deposits of precious metals were discovered in the Potosi region. In the middle of the XVI century. the mines of Potosi gave 1/2 of the world's silver production.

Since that time, the nature of colonization has changed. The conquerors refuse from the economic development of the conquered lands. Everything necessary for the Spanish settlers began to be brought from Europe in exchange for the gold and silver of the New World,

Only nobles were sent to the American colonies, whose goal was enrichment. The noble, feudal nature of colonization predetermined the fatal circumstance for Spain that the gold and silver of America fell mainly into the hands of the nobility, accumulated in the form of treasures or spent on supporting Catholic conspiracies in Europe, on the military adventures of the Spanish kings. This new direction of colonial exploitation had a decisive influence on the formation of the Spanish colonial system.

Due to the peculiarities of the historical development of the country (see Chapter 4), Spanish feudalism was characterized by some specific features: the supreme power of the king over the reclaimed lands, the preservation of free peasant communities, the labor conscription of the population in favor of the state. An important role in the economy, along with the labor of feudally dependent peasants, was played by the slave labor of Muslim prisoners. At the time of the conquest of America, the socio-economic and administrative system of Spain turned out to be compatible with those forms of social organization that existed in the early class states of the New World.

The Spaniards preserved the Indian community in Mexico, Peru and in a number of other areas where there was a dense agricultural population. They used various forms of labor service for the community members in favor of the state to attract Indians to work in the mines. The Spaniards retained the internal structure of communities, crop rotations, and a tax system. The crops from the "fields of the Inca" now went to pay taxes to the Spanish king, and from the "fields of the Sun" - to the church tithe.

The former elders remained at the head of the communities<касики, ку-раки), их семьи освобождались от налогов и повинностей, но должны были обеспечить своевременную уплату налогов и рабочую силу для рудников. На службу испанскому королю привлекалась местная знать, которая слилась с испанскими завоевателями. Потомки многих из них были затем отправлены в Испанию.

All newly conquered lands became the property of the crown. Beginning in 1512, laws were passed prohibiting the enslavement of Indians. Formally, they were considered subjects of the Spanish king, had to pay a special tax "tributo" and serve a labor service. From the first years of colonization, a struggle unfolded between the king and the conquistador nobles for power over the Indians, for the right to own land. In the course of this struggle at the end of the 20s of the XVI century. a special form of exploitation of the Indians, the encomienda, arose. It was first introduced in Mexico by E. Cortes. The encomienda did not give the right to own land. Its owner - the encomendero - received the right to exploit the community Indians who lived on the territory of the encomiecda.

It was entrusted to the zhkomendero to contribute to the Christians' mission of the population, to monitor the timely payment of "tributo" and the performance of labor service in the mines, in construction, and in agricultural work. With the creation of the encomienda of the Indi-G*»*, the community was included in the Spanish colonial system, the community's lands were declared its inalienable property. The development of forms of colonial exploitation was accompanied by a strong bureaucratic apparatus of the colonial administration. For the Spanish monarchy, this was a means of fighting j against the separatist tendencies of the colonists. I In the first half of the XVI century. in general terms, there was a system! management of the Spanish colonies in America. Two 1 viceroyalties were created: New Spain (Mexico, Central America, Venezuela and the Caribbean islands) and Viceroy Peru, covering almost the rest of South America, with the exception of Brazil, Viceroys were appointed from the highest Spanish nobility, they went to the colonies for three years, did not have a family with them, buy land and real estate there, and start a business. Activities of Viceroys<м*тролироаал "Совет Индий", решения которого имели слету »люна.

Colonial trade was placed under the control of the "Seville Chamber of Commerce" (1503); she carried out the customs clearance<мотр всех грузов, собирала пошлины, держала под наблюдением миграционные процессы. Все остальные города Испании были лн- * нк"кы права вести торговлю с Америкой минуя Севилью. Главной щраслью хозяйства в испанских колониях была горная промышленность. В связи с этим в обязанность вице-королям вменялось обеспечение королевских рудников рабочей силой, своевременного поступ-нния доходов в казну, в том числе подушной лодэти с индейцев. Нице-короли обладали также полной военной и судебной властью.

The one-sided development of the economy in the Spanish colonies had a detrimental effect on the fate of the indigenous population and the future development of the continent. Until the middle of the XVII century. there was a catastrophic decline in the number of indigenous people. In many areas, by 1650, it had decreased by 10-15 times compared with the youth of the 16th century, primarily due to the diversion of the able-bodied male population to the mines for 9-10 months a year. This forced the decline of traditional forms of agriculture, a decrease in the birth rate. An important reason was the frequent famine and epidemics that mowed down entire areas. Since the middle of the XVI century. the Spaniards began to “settle the Indians in new settlements closer to the mines, introducing a communal structure into them. In addition to government work, the inhabitants of these settlements had to work the land, provide their families with food and pay "tributo". The most severe exploitation was the main reason for the extinction of the indigenous population. The influx of immigrants from the metropolis was insignificant. In the middle and second half of the XVI century. mainly Spanish nobles moved to the colony, peasant emigration to Peru and Mexico was actually prohibited. So, in 1572, there were 120 thousand inhabitants in Potosi, of which only 10 thousand were Spaniards. Gradually, a special group of Spanish settlers formed in America, who were born in the colony, lived there permanently, having almost no ties with the metropolis. They did not mix with the local population and constituted a special group called Creoles.

Under the conditions of colonization, there was a rapid erosion of Indian ethnic groups and tribal communities, the displacement of their languages ​​by Spanish. This was largely facilitated by the resettlement of Indians from different areas in the villages near the mines. Representatives of different tribes spoke different languages, and gradually Spanish became their main language of communication. At the same time, there was an intensive process of mixing of Spanish settlers with the Indian population - miscegenation, the number of mestizos rapidly increased. Already by the middle of the 17th century, in many areas a large mulatto population appeared from the marriages of Europeans with black women. This was typical of the Caribbean coast, Cuba, Haiti, where the plantation economy dominated and where African slaves were constantly imported. Europeans, Indians, mestizos, mulattos, blacks existed as closed racial and ethnic groups, which differed greatly in their social and legal status. The emerging caste system was enshrined in Spanish law. The position of a person in society was primarily determined by ethnic and racial characteristics. Only the Creoles were relatively full-fledged. Mestizos were forbidden to live in communities, own land, carry weapons, engage in certain types of crafts. At the same time, they were exempted from labor service, from paying "tributo" and were in a better legal position than the Indians. This largely explains the fact that in the cities of Spanish America, mestizos and mulattoes made up the majority of the population.

On the coast of the Caribbean Sea and on the islands, where the indigenous people were exterminated at the very beginning of the conquest of America, the Negro and mulatto population prevailed.

Portuguese colonies. The colonial system that developed in the Portuguese possessions was distinguished by significant originality. In 1500, the Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral landed on the coast of Brazil and declared this territory the possession of the Portuguese king. In Brazil, with the exception of certain areas on the coast, there was no settled agricultural population; the few Indian tribes that were at the stage of a tribal system were pushed into the interior of the country. The absence of deposits of precious metals and significant human resources determined the originality of the colonization of Brazil. The second important factor was the significant development of merchant capital. The beginning of the organized colonization of Brazil was laid in 1530, and it took place in the form of economic development of coastal regions. An attempt was made to impose feudal forms of land tenure. The coast was divided into 13 captaincies, the owners of which had full power. However, Portugal did not have a significant surplus population, so settlement of the colony was slow. The absence of peasant settlers and the paucity of the indigenous population made it impossible for the development of feudal forms of economy. The most successful areas developed where a plantation system arose based on the exploitation of blacks from Africa. Starting from the second half of the XVI century. the import of African slaves is growing rapidly. In 1583, 25 thousand white settlers and millions of slaves lived in the entire colony. White settlers lived mainly in the coastal strip in rather closed groups. Here miscegenation has not received a large scale; the influence of Portuguese culture on the local population was very limited. The Portuguese language did not become dominant, a peculiar language of communication between the Indians and the Portuguese arose - "lengua geral", which was based on one of the local dialects and the main grammatical and lexical forms of the Portuguese language. Lengua Geral was spoken by the entire population of Brazil for the next two centuries.

Colonization and the Catholic Church. An important role in the colonization of America was played by the Catholic Church, which, both in Spanish and Portuguese possessions, became the most important link in the colonial apparatus, the exploiter of the indigenous population. The discovery and conquest of America was considered by the papacy as a new crusade, the purpose of which was to be the Christianization of the indigenous population. In this regard, the Spanish kings received the right to manage the affairs of the church in the colony, lead missionary activities, and establish churches and monasteries. The church quickly turned into the largest landowner. The conquistadors were well aware that Christianization was called upon to play a big role in consolidating their dominance over the indigenous population. In the first quarter of the 16th century. representatives of various monastic orders began to arrive in America: the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, and later the Jesuits, who gained great influence on La Plata and in Brazil.

Groups of monks followed the detachments of the conquistadors, creating their own villages - missions; mission centers were churches and houses that served as dwellings for monks. Subsequently, schools for Indian children were created in the missions, and at the same time a small fortified fortress was built, which housed the Spanish garrison. Thus, the missions were both the outposts of Christianization and the border points of the Spanish possessions.

In the first decades of the conquest, Catholic priests, carrying out Christianization, sought to destroy not only local religious beliefs, but also to eradicate the culture of the indigenous population. An example is the Franciscan Bishop Diego de Landa, who ordered the destruction of all the ancient books of the Mayan people, cultural monuments, the very historical memory of the people. Soon, however, Catholic priests began to act in other ways. Having carried out Christianization, spreading Spanish culture and the Spanish language, they began to use elements of the local ancient religion and culture of the conquered Indian peoples. Despite the cruelty and destruction of the conquest, the Indian culture did not die, it survived and changed under the influence of Spanish culture. Gradually, a new culture took shape based on the synthesis of Spanish and Indian elements.

Catholic missionaries were forced to promote this synthesis. They often erected Christian churches on the site of former Indian shrines, used some images and symbols of the former beliefs of the indigenous population * including them in Catholic rites and religious symbols. So, not far from the city of Mexico City, on the site of a destroyed Indian temple, the Church of the Virgin Mary Gwad ate upekay was built, which became a place of pilgrimage for the Indians. The church claimed that the miraculous appearance of the Mother of God took place at this place. Many ichon, special rituals, were dedicated to this event. On these icons, the Virgin Mary was depicted with the face of an Indian - "swarthy Madonna", and in her very cult, echoes of former Indian beliefs were felt.

Geographical discoveries in the Pacific Ocean. In the second half of the 16th - early 17th century. Spanish navigators made a number of Pacific expeditions from the territory of Peru, during which the Solomon Islands were discovered<1567), Южная Полинезия (1595) и Меланезия <1605), Еще во время путешествия Магеллана возникла идея d существовании ""Южного материка"» частью которого были вновь открытые острова Юго-Восточной Азии. Эти предположения высказывались в географических сочинениях начала XVII в., мифический материк был нанесен на карты под названием "Терра инкогнита Аустралиа*1 <неизвестиая южная земля), В 1605 г. из Перу отправилась испанская экспедиция, в ее составе было три корабля. Во время плавания к побережью Юго-Восточной Азии были открыты острова, один из которых А, Кирос, стоявший во главе эскадры, принял за побережье южного материка. Бросив на произвол судьбы своих спутников, Кирос поспешил вернуться в Перу, а затем отправился в Испанию, чтобы сообщить о своем открытии и закрепить за собой права на управление новыми землями и получение доходов. Капитан одного из двух покинутых Киросом кораблей — португалец Торрес — продолжил плавание и вскоре выяснил, что Кирос ошибся и открыл не новый материк, а группу островов (Новые Гебриды) ♦ К югу от них простиралась неизвестная земля — подлинная Австралия. Плывя далее на запад, Торрес прошел через пролив между берегом Новой Гвинеи и Австралии, впоследствии названный его именем. Дойдя до Филиппинских островов, которые были владением Испании, Торрес сообщил испанскому наместнику о своем открытии, это известие было передано в Мадрид. Однако Испания не имела в это время сил и средств для освоения новых земель. Поэтому испанское правительство в течение целого столетия держало в тайне все сведения об открытии Торреса, опасаясь соперничества других держав.

In the middle of the XVII century. exploration of the coast of Australia began the Dutch. In 1642, A. Tasman, sailing from the coast of Indonesia to the east, rounded Australia from the south and passed along the coast of the island, called Tasmania.

Only 150 years after Torres' journey, during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), when the British, who fought against Spain, captured Manila, documents about the discovery of Torres were found in the archives. In 1768, the English navigator D. Cook explored the islands of Oceania, re-discovered the Torres Strait and the east coast of Australia; subsequently, the priority of this discovery was recognized by Torres.

Consequences of the Great geographical discoveries. Great geographical discoveries of the XV-XVII centuries. had a huge impact on world development. It is known that much earlier Europeans visited the coast of America, traveled to the shores of Africa, but only the discovery of Columbus laid the foundation for constant and diverse relations between Europe and America, opened a new stage in world history. A geographical discovery is not only a visit by representatives of any civilized people to a previously unknown part of the earth. The concept of "geographical discovery" includes the establishment of a direct connection between the newly discovered lands and centers of culture of the Old World,

The great geographical discoveries significantly expanded the knowledge of the Europeans about the world, destroyed many prejudices and false ideas about other continents and the peoples inhabiting them.

The expansion of scientific knowledge gave impetus to the rapid development of industry and trade in Europe, the emergence of new forms of the financial system, banking and credit. The main trade routes moved from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean.

The most important consequence of the discovery and colonization of new lands was the "price revolution", which gave a new impetus to the initial accumulation of capital in Europe, accelerated the formation of the capitalist structure in the economy,

However, the consequences of colonization and the conquest of new lands were ambiguous for the peoples of the metropolises and colonies. The result of colonization was not only the development of new lands, it was accompanied by monstrous exploitation of the conquered peoples, doomed to slavery and extinction. During the conquest, many centers of ancient civilizations were destroyed, the natural course of the historical development of entire continents was disrupted, the peoples of the colonized countries were forcibly drawn into the emerging capitalist market and, through their labor, accelerated the process of formation and development of capitalism in Europe.