The most important geographical discoveries in world history. Great geographical discoveries

One of the important stages in the history of human development is the era of discoverers. Maps with the seas marked on them are refined, ships are improved, and leaders send their sailors to capture new lands.

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Feature of the era

The term “great geographical discoveries” conventionally united historical events starting from the mid-15th century and ending with the mid-17th. Europeans were actively exploring new lands.

The emergence of this era had its own prerequisites: the search for new trade routes and the development of navigation. Until the 15th century, the British already knew North America and Iceland. Many have gone down in history famous travelers, among whom were Afanasy Nikitin, Rubrik and others.

Important! Began a great era geographical discoveries Prince of Portugal Henry the Navigator, this event occurred at the beginning of the 15th century.

First achievements

Geographical science of that time was in serious decline. Lone sailors tried to share their discoveries with the public, but this did not produce results, and there was more fiction in their stories than truth. Data about what and who discovered at sea or on the coastal strip was lost and forgotten; no one had updated the maps for a long time. The skippers were simply afraid to go out to sea, because not everyone had navigation skills.

Henry built a citadel near Cape Sagres, created a school of navigation and sent expeditions, collecting information about the winds at sea, distant peoples and shores. The period of great geographical discoveries began with his activities.

Among the discoveries of Portuguese travelers are:

Madeira Island,
West Coast of Africa,
Cape Verde,
Cape of Good Hope,
Azores,
Congo River.

Why was it necessary to find new lands?

The list of reasons for the advent of the era of navigation includes:

active development of crafts and trade;
the growth of European cities during the 15th and 16th centuries;
depletion of known precious metals mines;
the development of maritime navigation and the appearance of the compass;
interruption of economic ties Southern Europe with China and India after .

Important points

Significant periods that have gone down in history, times when famous travelers made their trips and expeditions:

The Age of Discovery began in 1492, when America was discovered;

1500 - exploration of the mouth of the Amazon;
1513 - Vasco de Balboa discovers Pacific Ocean;
1519-1553 – conquest South America;
1576-1629 – Russian campaigns in Siberia;
1603-1638 - exploration of Canada;
1642-1643 – visit to Tasmania and New Zealand;
1648 – exploration of Kamchatka.

Conquest of South America

Spanish and Portuguese sailors

Simultaneously with the Portuguese sea travel Famous travelers of Spain are beginning to undertake this. , having good knowledge of geography and navigation, suggested that the country's rulers reach India by another route, heading west across the Atlantic Ocean. The one who later discovered many new lands was given three caravels, on which brave sailors left the port on August 3, 1492.

By the beginning of October they arrived at the first island, which became known as San Salvador, and later they discovered Haiti and Cuba. This was Columbus's fruitful voyage, which resulted in the creation of maps. Caribbean Islands. Then there were two more, pointing the way to Central and South America.

Christopher Columbus - a mysterious person

First he visited the island of Cuba, and only then discovered America. Columbus was surprised to meet a civilized people on the island who had a rich culture and grew cotton, tobacco and potatoes. The cities were decorated with large statues and large buildings.

Interesting! Everyone knows the name of Christopher Columbus. However, very little is known about his life and travels.

The birth of this legendary navigator is still debated. Several cities lay claim to being the birthplace of Columbus, but this cannot be determined for certain. He took part in voyages on ships in the Mediterranean Sea, and later went on large expeditions from his native Portugal.

Ferdinand Magellan

Magellan was also from Portugal. Born in 1480. Early on, he was left without parents and tried to survive on his own by working as a messenger. Since childhood, he was attracted by the sea, attracted by the thirst for travel and discovery.

At the age of 25, Ferdinand set sail for the first time. He quickly learned the maritime profession while staying off the coast of India, and soon became a captain. He wanted to return to his homeland, talking about profitable cooperation with the East, but he achieved results only with the coming to power of Charles the First.

Important! The era of great geographical discoveries began in the middle of the 15th century. Magellan warned her advance by committing trip around the world.

In 1493, Magellan leads an expedition west of Spain. He has a goal: to prove that the islands there belong to his country. No one thought that the journey would become around the world, and the navigator would discover many new things along the way. The one who opened the way to the “South Sea” did not return home, but died in the Philippines. His team arrived home only in 1522.

Russian discoverers

Representatives of Russia and their discoveries joined the orderly ranks of famous European navigators. Several outstanding personalities worth knowing about made great contributions to the improvement of the world map.

Thaddeus Bellingshausen

Bellingshausen was the first who dared to lead an expedition to the uncharted shores of Antarctica, and around the world. This event took place in 1812. The navigator set out to prove or disprove the existence of a sixth continent, which was only talked about. The expedition crossed the Indian Ocean, the Pacific, and the Atlantic. Its participants made a great contribution to the development of geography. The expedition under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Bellingshausen lasted 751 days.

Interesting! Previously, attempts were made to reach Antarctica, but they all failed; only famous Russian travelers turned out to be luckier and more persistent.

The navigator Bellingshausen went down in history as the discoverer of many species of animals and more than 20 large islands. The captain was one of the few who managed to find his own path, follow it and not destroy obstacles.

Nikolai Przhevalsky

Among the Russian travelers was the one who discovered most of Central Asia. Nikolai Przhevalsky always dreamed of visiting unknown Asia. This continent attracted him. The navigator led each of the four expeditions that explored Central Asia. Curiosity led to the discovery and study of such mountain systems, like Kun-Lun and the ranges of Northern Tibet. The sources of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, as well as Lob-nora and Kuhu-nora, were explored. Nikolai was the second explorer after Marco Polo to reach Lop Nor.

Przhevalsky, like other travelers of the era of great geographical discoveries, considered himself happy man, because fate gave him the opportunity to explore mysterious countries Asian world. Many species of animals that he described during his travels are named after him.

The first Russian circumnavigation

Ivan Krusenstern and his colleague Yuri Lisyansky firmly inscribed their names in the history of great discoveries in geography. They led the first expedition around globe, which lasted more than three years - from 1803 to 1806. During this period, sailors on two ships crossed the Atlantic, sailed through Cape Horn, after which they arrived in Kamchatka through the waters of the Pacific Ocean. There, researchers studied the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island. Their coastline was clarified, and data on all the waters visited by the expedition was also included on the map. Krusenstern compiled an atlas of the Pacific Ocean.

The expedition under the command of the admiral became the first to cross the equator. This event was celebrated in accordance with traditions.

Exploration of the Eurasian continent

Eurasia is a huge continent, but it is problematic to name the only person who discovered it.

One moment is surprising. If everything is clear with America and Antarctica, the famous names of the great navigators are reliably inscribed in the history of their existence, then the laurels of the man who discovered Europe never went to him, because he simply does not exist.

If we ignore the search for one navigator, we can list many names who contributed to the study of the surrounding world and took part in expeditions on the mainland and its coastal zone. Europeans are accustomed to consider themselves only explorers of Eurasia, but Asian navigators and their discoveries are no less in scale.

Historians know which of the Russian writers traveled around the world, except for the famous navigators. He was Ivan Goncharov, who took part in the expedition on a military sailing ship. His impressions of the trip resulted in a large collection of diaries describing distant countries.

The meaning of cartography

People could hardly move across the sea without good navigation. Previously, their main reference point was the starry sky at night and the sun during the day. Many maps during the period of great geographical discoveries were dependent on the sky. A map has been preserved since the 17th century, on which the scientist plotted all known coastal zones and continents, but Siberia and North America remained unknown, because no one knew how far they were and how far the continents themselves extended.

The most information-rich atlases were those of Gerard van Coelen. Captains and famous travelers crossing the Atlantic were grateful for the details of Iceland, Holland and Labrador being mapped.

Unusual information

Preserved in history Interesting Facts about travelers:

James Cook became the first person to visit all six continents.
Navigators and their discoveries changed the appearance of many lands, for example, James Cook brought sheep to the islands of Tahiti and New Zealand.
Che Guevara, before his revolutionary activities, was an amateur motorcycle rider; he took a 4,000-kilometer tour around South America.
Charles Darwin traveled on a ship where he wrote his greatest work on evolution. But they didn’t want to take the man on board, and it was the shape of the nose. It seemed to the captain that such a person would not be able to cope with a long load. Darwin had to be away from the team and buy his own uniform.

Age of Great Geographical Discoveries 15th - 17th centuries

Great Discoverers

Conclusion

Thanks to the heroism and determination of sailors, people received valuable information about the world. This was the impetus for many changes, contributed to the development of trade and industry, and strengthened relations with other nations. The most important thing is that it has been practically proven that it has a round shape.

In Western Europe and Russian pre-revolutionary literature under the era of V. g. o. usually refers to a hundred-year (approx.) period - from mid. 15 to midday 16th centuries, center the moments of which were: the discovery of the tropics. America by H. Columbus, discovery of continuous sea. ways from the West Europe around South. Africa to India Vasco da Gama, the first expedition around the world by F. Magellan, proved the existence of a single World Ocean, occupying most of the Earth's surface. In Sov. historical-geographical literature under the era of V. g. o. refers to a two-hundred-year (approx.) period - from mid. 15 to midday 17th centuries, since only in the 1st half. 17th century Australia was discovered, sowing. and north-east coast of Asia and it is practically proven that Asia is nowhere connected to America.

Mor. and land expeditions that carried out military warfare were organized by Portugal, Spain (which played a leading role in military warfare in the 15th and 16th centuries), England, France, and Russia. state, Holland. The general reasons for sending expeditions were: the growth of commodity production in European countries, the shortage of precious metals in Europe and the associated search for new lands, where they hoped to find gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, spices and ivory (in the tropics), valuable furs and walrus tusks (in North America and North Asia); searching for new trades. ways from the West. Europe to Africa, India, East. Asia - the desire of Western-European. merchants get rid of bargaining. intermediaries and establish direct communication with Asian countries- suppliers of valuable goods (direct trade with the countries of Asia and Africa was in the hands of Arab, Indian, Malay and Chinese merchants; Turkish conquests in Western Asia and the Balkan Peninsula in the 15th century almost completely closed the trade route to the East through M. Asia and Syria). V. g. o. became possible thanks to advances in science and technology: the creation of enough reliable for ocean navigation sailing ships, improvement of the compass and nautical charts etc.; a major role was played by the increasingly established idea of the spherical shape of the Earth (the idea of the possibility of a western sea route to India through the Atlantic Ocean was also associated with it). Important for geogr.

European discoveries in Asia and Africa had success in the field of geography. knowledge and development of navigation among the Asian peoples themselves.

V. g. o. 15-17 centuries were world-historical events. meanings. The contours of the inhabited continents were established (except for the northern and northwestern coasts of America and the eastern coast of Australia), most of the earth's surface was explored (however, many inland regions of America, central Africa and all of inland Australia still remained unknown ). Thanks to the opening of new trades. routes and new countries, trade acquired a global character, there was a gigantic increase in the goods in circulation - this accelerated the process of the decomposition of feudalism and the emergence of capitalism. relations in the West Europe. The colonial system, which arose after the Great Patriotic War, was one of the levers of the so-called process. initial accumulation; this was facilitated by the so-called "price revolution" In this era of the West. Africa turned into a reserved hunting ground for slaves.

Table. The most important geographical discoveries of the ser. 15 - mid. 17th centuries

Read more about geogr. discoveries by department continents, see articles Australia, Asia, Africa, North America, South America.

Lit.: Atlas of the history of geographical discoveries and research, M., 1959; Baker J., History of Geographical Discovery and Exploration, trans. from English, M, 1950; Bern J., History of Great Travels, trans. from French, vol. 1, L., 1958; Magidovich I.P., History of discovery and research of the North. America, M. 1962; by him, Essays on the history of geographical discoveries, M., 1957; Morison S. E., Christopher Columbus, Navigator, trans. from English, M., 1958; The Voyage of Christopher Columbus. Diaries. Letters. Documents, (translated from Spanish), M., 1956; Hart G., The Sea Route to India, (translated from English), M., 1954; Pigafetta A., The Voyage of Magellan, trans. from Italian, M., 1950; Lebedev D. M., Geography in Russia of the 17th century (pre-Petrine era), M.-L., 1949; by him, Essays on the history of geography in Russia in the 15th and 16th centuries, M., 1956; Discoveries of Russian explorers and polar sailors of the 17th century in northeast Asia. Sat. Doc-tov, M., 1951; Russian sailors in the Arctic and Pacific oceans. Sat. Doc-tov, L.-M., 1952; Sokh E. G., A reference guide to the literature of travel including voyages, geographical descriptions, adventures, shipwrecks and expeditions, v. 1-2, Washington, 1935-38.

I. P. Magidovich. Moscow.

Great geographical discoveries

Soviet historical encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. Ed. E. M. Zhukova. 1973-1982 .

See what "GREAT GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES" are. in other dictionaries:

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The Age of Great Geographical Discovery is a period in human history from the end of the 15th to the middle of the 17th centuries.
Conventionally divided into two parts:
Spanish-Portuguese discoveries the end of the 15th century and the entire 16th century, the list of which includes the discovery of America, the opening of the sea route to India, Pacific expeditions, the first circumnavigation of the world
Anglo-Dutch-Russian discoveries the end of the 16th century to the middle of the 17th century, which includes English and French discoveries in North America, Dutch expeditions to the Indian and Pacific oceans, Russian discoveries throughout North Asia

A geographical discovery is a visit by a representative of a civilized people to a new part of the earth previously unknown to cultural humanity or the establishment of a spatial connection between already known parts of the land.

Why did the era of great geographical discoveries come?

The growth of European cities in the 15th century
Active development of trade
Active development of crafts
Depletion of European mines of precious metals - gold and silver
The discovery of printing, which led to the spread of new technical sciences and knowledge of antiquity
Distribution and improvement of firearms
Discoveries in navigation, the appearance of the compass and astrolabe
Advances in cartography
The conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks, which interrupted the economic and trade ties of Southern Europe with India and China

Geographical knowledge before the era of great geographical discoveries

In the Middle Ages, Iceland and the shores of North America were discovered by the Normans, European travelers Marco Polo, Rubruk, Andre of Longjumeau, Veniamin of Tudela, Afanasy Nikitin, Carpini and others established land connections with the countries of Far Asia and the Middle East, the Arabs explored the southern and eastern shores Mediterranean Sea, shores of the Red Sea, western bergs Indian Ocean, roads connecting Eastern Europe through Central Asia, Caucasus, Iranian Plateau - with India

The beginning of the era of great geographical discoveries

The beginning of the era of great geographical discoveries can be considered the activities of the Portuguese navigators of the 15th century and the inspirer of their achievements, Prince Henry the Navigator (03/04/1394 - 11/13/1460)

At the beginning of the 15th century, the geographical science of Christians was in a deplorable state. The knowledge of the great scientists of antiquity has been lost. Impressions from the travels of singles: Marco Polo, Carpini, Rubruk - did not become public knowledge and contained many exaggerations. Geographers and cartographers used rumors in the production of atlases and maps; discoveries made by chance were forgotten; lands found in the ocean were lost again. The same applied to the art of navigation. The skippers had no maps, instruments, or knowledge of navigation; they were panic-stricken open sea, huddled towards the shores.

In 1415, Prince Henry became Grand Master of the Portuguese Order of Christ, a powerful and wealthy organization. With her funds, Henry built a citadel on the isthmus of Cape Sagres, from where until the end of his days he organized sea expeditions to the west and south, created a navigation school, attracted the best mathematicians and astronomers from the Arabs and Jews, collected information wherever and whenever he could about distant countries and voyages. , seas, winds and currents, bays, reefs, peoples and shores, began to build more advanced and capital ships. The captains went to sea against them, not only inspired to search for new lands, but also well prepared theoretically.

Portuguese discoveries of the 15th century

Madeira Island
Azores
the entire western coast of Africa
mouth of the Congo River
Cape Verde
Cape Good Hope

Cape of Good Hope, extreme southern point Africa was discovered by the expedition of Barthalomeu Dias in January 1488

Great geographical discoveries. Briefly

1492 —
1498 - Vasco da Gama discovers a sea route to India around Africa
1499-1502 - Spanish discoveries in the New World
1497 - John Cabot discovers Newfoundland and Labrador
1500 - discovery of the mouth of the Amazon by Vicente Pinzon
1519-1522 - Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world, discovery of the Strait of Magellan, Mariana, Philippine, Moluccas Islands
1513 - discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Vasco Nunez de Balboa
1513 - Discovery of Florida and the Gulf Stream
1519-1553 - discoveries and conquests in South America by Cortes, Pizarro, Almagro, Orellana
1528-1543 - Spanish discoveries of the interior of North America
1596 - discovery of the island of Spitsbergen by Willem Barents
1526-1598 - Spanish discoveries of the Solomon, Caroline, Marquesas, Marshall Islands, islands New Guinea
1577-1580 - second voyage around the world by the Englishman F. Drake, discovery of the Drake Passage
1582 - Ermak’s campaign in Siberia
1576-1585 - English search for the northwest passage to India and discovery in the North Atlantic
1586-1629 - Russian campaigns in Siberia
1633-1649 - discovery by Russian explorers of the East Siberian rivers to the Kolyma
1638-1648 - discovery of Transbaikalia and Lake Baikal by Russian explorers
1639-1640 - exploration by Ivan Moskvin of the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk
The last quarter of the 16th century - the first third of the 17th century - development by the British and French eastern shores North America
1603-1638 - French exploration of the interior of Canada, discovery of the Great Lakes
1606 - independently discovered by the Spaniard Quiros by the Dutchman Janson northern shore Australia
1612-1632 - discoveries by the British of the north east coast North America
1616 - discovery of Cape Horn by Schouten and Le Mer
1642 - Tasman's discovery of the island of Tasmania
1643 - Tasman discovers New Zealand
1648 - Dezhnev’s discovery of the strait between America and Asia (Bering Strait)
1648 - discovery of Kamchatka by Fyodor Popov

Ships of the Age of Discovery

In the Middle Ages, the sides of ships were sheathed with planks - the top row of boards overlapped the bottom. This lining is durable. but this makes the ships heavier, and the edges of the plating belts create unnecessary resistance to the hull. At the beginning of the 15th century, the French shipbuilder Julien proposed sheathing ships end-to-end. The boards were riveted to the frames with copper stainless rivets. The joints were glued with resin. This covering was called “caravel”, and the ships began to be called caravels. Caravels, the main ships of the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, were built at all shipyards in the world for another two hundred years after the death of their designer.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the flute was invented in Holland. "Fliite" in Dutch means "flowing, flowing." These ships could not be overwhelmed by even the largest wave. They, like corks, took off on the wave. The upper parts of the sides of the flute were bent inward, the masts were very high: one and a half times the length of the hull, the yards were short, and the sails were narrow and easy to maintain, which made it possible to reduce the number of sailors in the crew. And, most importantly, the flutes were four times longer than they were wide, which made them very fast. The sides of flutes were also installed end-to-end, and the masts were made up of several elements. Flutes were much more spacious than caravels. From 1600 to 1660, 15,000 flutes were built and plied the oceans, displacing caravels

Navigators of the Age of Discovery

Alvise Cadamosto (Portugal, Venice, 1432-1488) – Cape Verde Islands
Diego Caen (Portugal, 1440 - 1486) – West Coast of Africa
Barthalomeu Dias (Portugal, 1450-1500) - Cape of Good Hope
Vasco da Gama (Portugal, 1460-1524) - the route to India around Africa
Pedro Cabral (Portugal, 1467-1526) – Brazil
Christopher Columbus (Genoa, Spain, 1451-1506) - America
Nunez de Balboa (Spain, 1475-1519) - Pacific Ocean
Francisco de Orellana (Spain, 1511-1546) - Amazon River
Ferdinand Magellan (Portugal, Spain (1480-1521) - first circumnavigation of the world
John Cabot (Genoa, England, 1450-1498) - Labrador, Newfoundland
Jean Cartier (France, 1491-1557) east coast of Canada
Martin Frobisher (England, 1535-1594) - Canadian polar seas
Alvaro Mendaña (Spain, 1541-1595) – Solomon Islands
Pedro de Quiros (Spain, 1565-1614) - Tuamotu Archipelago, New Hybrids
Luis de Torres (Spain, 1560-1614) - the island of New Guinea, the strait separating this island from Australia
Francis Drake (England, 1540-1596) - second circumnavigation of the world
Willem Barents (Netherlands, 1550-1597) - the first polar explorer
Henry Hudson (England, 1550-1611) - explorer of the North Atlantic
Willem Schouten (Holland, 1567-1625) - Cape Horn
Abel Tasman (Holland, 1603-1659) - Tasmania island, New Zealand
Willem Janszoon (Holland, 1570-1632) - Australia
Semyon Dezhnev (Russia, 1605-1673) - Kolyma River, strait between Asia and America

Great geographical discoveries European travelers late 15th century - mid 17th century were a consequence rapid development productive forces in Europe, growth of trade with the countries of the East, shortage of precious metals in connection with the development of trade and money circulation.

It is known that even in ancient times, Europeans visited the coast of America, traveled along the coast of Africa, etc. However, a geographical discovery is considered not only a visit by representatives of any civilized people to a previously unknown part of the Earth. This concept includes the establishment of a direct connection between the newly discovered lands and the centers of culture of the Old World. Only the discovery of America by H. Columbus laid the foundation for broad connections between the open lands and Europe; the travels of Vasco da Gama to the shores of India and F. Magellan’s trip around the world served the same purpose.

Great geographical discoveries became possible as a result of significant advances in the development of science and technology in Europe. At the end of the 15th century. The doctrine of the sphericity of the Earth became widespread, and knowledge in the field of astronomy and geography expanded. Navigation instruments (compass, astrolabe) were improved, new type sailing ship - caravel.

Portuguese navigators were the first to begin searching for new sea routes to Asia. In the early 60s. 15th century they captured the first strongholds on the coast of Africa, and then, moving south along its western coast, discovered the Cape Verde Islands and the Azores. A tireless organizer long voyages Prince Henry (Enrique), nicknamed the Navigator, became at this time, although he himself rarely set foot on a ship. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias reached the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. The knowledge gained by the Portuguese as a result of their travels gave sailors from other countries valuable information about ebb and flow, the direction of winds and currents, and made it possible to create more accurate maps on which latitudes, lines of the tropics and the equator were plotted. These maps contained information about previously unknown countries. Previously widespread ideas about the impossibility of sailing in equatorial waters were refuted, and the fear of the unknown, characteristic of medieval people, gradually began to recede.

At the same time, the Spaniards also rushed to search for new trade routes. In 1492, after the capture of Granada and the completion of the reconquista, the Spanish King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella accepted the project of the Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) to reach the shores of India, sailing west. Columbus's project had many opponents, but it received the support of scientists at the University of Salaman, the most famous in Spain, and, no less significantly, among the business people of Seville. On August 3, 1492, from Palos - one of the best ports on the Atlantic coast of Spain - Columbus's flotilla set sail, consisting of 3 ships - "Santa Maria", "Pinta" and "Nina", the crews of which numbered 120 people. From the Canary Islands, Columbus headed west. On October 12, 1492, after a month of sailing in the open ocean, the fleet approached a small island from the group of Bahamas, then named San Salvador. Although again open lands were little like the fabulously rich islands of India and China, until the end of his days Columbus was convinced that he had discovered islands off the eastern coast of Asia. During the first voyage, the islands of Cuba, Haiti and a number of smaller ones were discovered. In 1492, Columbus returned to Spain, where he was appointed admiral of all discovered lands and received the right to 1/10 of all income. Subsequently, Columbus made three more voyages to America - in 1493-1496, 1498-1500, 1502-1504, during which part of the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Trinidad, etc. were discovered; part was examined Atlantic coast Central and South America. Although the open lands were very fertile and favorable for life, the Spaniards did not find gold there. Doubts arose that the newly discovered lands were India. The number of Columbus's enemies among the nobles grew, dissatisfied with the fact that he severely punished the expedition members for disobedience. In 1500, Columbus was removed from his post and sent to Spain in chains. He managed to restore his good name and make another trip to America. However, after returning from his last journey, he was deprived of all income and privileges and died in poverty.

Columbus's discoveries forced the Portuguese to hurry up. In 1497, the flotilla of Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) sailed from Lisbon to explore routes around Africa. Having rounded the Cape of Good Hope, he entered the Indian Ocean. Moving north along the coast, the Portuguese reached the Arab trading cities of Mozambique, Mombasa and Malindi. With the help of an Arab pilot, on May 20, 1498, Vasco da Gama's squadron entered the Indian port of Calicut. In August 1499 his ships returned to Portugal. The sea route to the land of fabulous riches was open. From now on, the Portuguese began to equip up to 20 ships annually for trade with India. Thanks to their superiority in weapons and technology, they managed to oust the Arabs from there. The Portuguese attacked their ships, exterminated their crews, and devastated cities on the southern coast of Arabia. In India, they captured strongholds, among which the city of Goa became the main one. The spice trade was declared a royal monopoly; it provided up to 800% of profits. At the beginning of the 16th century. The Portuguese captured Malacca and the Moluccas. In 1499-1500 by the Spaniards and in 1500-1502. The coast of Brazil was discovered by the Portuguese.

In the 16th century Portuguese sailors mastered the sea routes in the Indian Ocean, reached the shores of China, and were the first Europeans to set foot on Japanese soil. Among them was Fernand Pinto, the author of travel diaries, where he was given detailed description again open country. Before this, Europe had only fragmentary and confusing information about Japan from the “Book of Marco Polo,” the famous Venetian traveler of the 14th century, who, however, never reached the Japanese islands. In 1550, their image with its modern name first appeared on a Portuguese navigation map.

In Spain, after the death of Columbus, expeditions continued to be sent to new lands. At the beginning of the 16th century. traveled to the Western Hemisphere Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) - a Florentine merchant who served first with the Spanish and then with the Portuguese king, a famous navigator and geographer. Thanks to his letters, the idea that Columbus discovered not the coast of India, but a new continent, gained popularity. In honor of Vespucci, this continent was named America. In 1515, the first globe with this name appeared, and then atlases and maps. Vespucci's hypothesis was finally confirmed as a result of Magellan's trip around the world (1519-1522). The name of Columbus remained immortalized in the name of one of the Latin American countries - Colombia.

The proposal to reach the Moluccas by rounding the American continent from the south, expressed by Vespucci, interested the Spanish government. In 1513, the Spanish conquistador V. Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean, which gave hope to Spain, which did not receive much benefit from Columbus's discoveries, to find a western route to the shores of India. This task was destined to be completed by the Portuguese nobleman Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480-1521), who had previously visited the Portuguese possessions in Asia. He believed that the coast of India lay much closer to the newly discovered continent than it actually was. On September 20, 1519, a squadron of five ships with 253 crew members, led by Magellan, who had entered the service of the Spanish king, left the Spanish harbor of San Lucar. After months of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Magellan reached the southern tip of America and passed through the Strait (later called the Strait of Magellan), which separated the mainland from Tierra del Fuego. After three weeks of sailing through the strait, the squadron entered the Pacific Ocean, passing off the coast of Chile. On December 1, 1520, land was last seen from ships. Magellan headed north and then northwest. For three months and twenty days, while the ships sailed on the ocean, he was calm, and therefore Magellan called him Quiet. On March 6, 1521, the expedition approached small inhabited islands (Mariana Islands), and after another 10 days it found itself at the Philippine Islands. As a result of Magellan's voyage, the idea of the spherical shape of the Earth was confirmed, it was proved that between Asia and America lies a huge expanse of water - the Pacific Ocean, that most of the globe is occupied by water, not land, that there is a single World Ocean.

On April 27, 1521, Magellan died in a skirmish with the natives on one of the Philippine islands. His companions continued sailing under the command of Juan Sebastian El Cano and reached the Moluccas and Indonesia. Almost a year later, the last of Magellan's ships set off for their native shores, taking on board a large cargo of spices. On September 6, 1522, the ship Victoria returned to Spain; Of the entire crew, only 18 people survived. "Victoria" brought so many spices that their sale made it possible not only to cover all the expenses of the expedition, but also to make a significant profit. For a long time, no one followed Magellan’s example, and only in 1578-1580. The second voyage around the world in history was made by the English pirate Francis Drake, who robbed the Spanish colonies on the Pacific coast of America along the way.

In the 16th century - 1st half of the 17th century. The Spaniards explored the northern and western coasts of South America, penetrated into the interior and, in a bloody struggle, conquered the states (Mayans, Aztecs, Incas) that existed on the territory of Yucatan, present-day Mexico and Peru (see America's most ancient and ancient civilizations). Here the Spanish conquerors, primarily Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro, seized enormous treasures accumulated by the rulers and priests of these states. In search of the fabulous country of El Dorado, the Spaniards explored the basin of the Orinoco and Magdalena rivers, where rich deposits of gold, silver and platinum were also discovered. The Spanish conquistador Jimenez de Quesada conquered what is now Colombia.

In the 2nd half of the 16th century. - early 17th century The Spaniards made a number of Pacific expeditions from the territory of Peru, during which the Solomon Islands (1568), Southern Polynesia (1595), and Melanesia (1605) were discovered.

Long before the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, the idea of the existence of a “Southern Continent”, of which the islands of Southeast Asia were considered a part, arose and during the course of the discoveries gained particular popularity. She spoke out in geographical works, and the mythical continent was even put on maps under the name “Terra Australis Incognita” - “Unknown southern land" In 1605, a Spanish squadron of 3 ships sailed from Peru under the command of P. Quiros, who discovered a number of islands, one of which he mistook for the coast of the mainland. Abandoning two ships to the mercy of fate, Quiros returned to Peru and then sailed to Spain to secure the rights to rule the new lands. But it soon turned out that he was mistaken. The captain of one of the two abandoned ships, the Portuguese L. V. de Torres, continued sailing and found out that Quiros discovered not the mainland, but a group of islands (New Hebrides). Sailing west, Torres passed along south coast New Guinea through the strait later named after him, and discovered Australia lying to the south. There is evidence that on the coast of the new continent back in the 16th century. The Portuguese and the Dutch landed shortly before Torres, but this was not known in Europe. Having reached the Philippine Islands, Torres reported the discovery to the Spanish government. However, fearing competitors and lacking the strength and means to develop the new land, the Spanish administration hid information about this discovery.

In the 1st half of the 17th century. The search for the “Southern Continent” was carried out by the Dutch, who explored a significant part of the coast. In 1642, Abel Janszon Tasman (1603-1659), sailing from the coast of Indonesia to the west, circumnavigated Australia from the south, discovering an island called Tasmania. Only 150 years later, during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), the British captured Manila, the center of Spanish possessions in the Philippines, and found news of the discovery of Torres in the Spanish archive. In 1768, the English navigator D. Cook explored the shores of Oceania and Australia and again passed through the Torres Strait. He subsequently recognized Torres' priority in the discovery of Australia.

In 1497-1498, English sailors reached the northeastern coast of North America and discovered Newfoundland and Labrador. In the 16th-17th centuries. the British and French continued to send expedition after expedition here; many of them sought to find the northwest passage from Atlantic Ocean in Quiet. At the same time, a search was underway for a northeastern route to India - through the Arctic Ocean.

In the 16th-17th centuries. Russian explorers explored the northern coast of the Ob, Yenisei and Lena and mapped the contours north coast Asia. In 1642, Yakutsk was founded, which became the base for expeditions to the Arctic Ocean. In 1648, Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev (c. 1605-1673), together with Fedot Popov, left Kolyma on 6 ships and went around the Chukotka Peninsula, proving that the Asian continent is separated from America by a strait. The outlines of the northeastern coast of Asia were refined and plotted on maps (1667, “Drawing Siberian land"). But Dezhnev’s report on the discovery of the strait lay in the Yakut archive for 80 years and was published only in 1758. In the 18th century. The strait discovered by Dezhnev was named after the Danish navigator in the Russian service, Vitus Bering, who in 1728 opened the strait for the second time. In 1898, in memory of Dezhnev, a cape at the northeastern tip of Asia was named after him.

In the 15th-17th centuries. As a result of bold sea and land expeditions, a significant part of the Earth was discovered and explored. Paths were laid that connected distant countries and continents. Great geographical discoveries marked the beginning of the creation of the colonial system (see Colonialism), contributed to the formation of the world market and played an important role in the formation of the capitalist economic system in Europe. For newly discovered and conquered countries, they brought mass extermination of the population, the imposition of the cruelest forms of exploitation, and the forced introduction of Christianity. The rapid decline of the native American population led to the importation of African slaves and widespread plantation slavery (see Slavery, Slave Trade).

American gold and silver poured into Europe, causing there a frantic rise in prices for all goods, the so-called price revolution. This primarily benefited the owners of factories, capitalists and merchants, since prices rose faster than wages. The “price revolution” contributed to the rapid ruin of artisans and handicraftsmen; in the village, the nobles and wealthy peasants who sold food at the market benefited most from it. All this contributed to the accumulation of capital.

As a result of the Great Geographical Discoveries, Europe's connections with Africa and Asia expanded, and relations with America were established. The center of world trade and economic life moved from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

A major role in the decomposition of feudalism and the genesis of capitalism was played by the geographical discoveries of the late 15th – mid-17th centuries, when Europeans began to actively explore “new” regions of the Earth. The discoveries of this period are usually called Great due to their exceptional significance for the destinies of Europe and the whole world.

The Age of Discovery is divided into two periods:

The Spanish-Portuguese period (late 15th century – mid-16th century), which included the discovery of America (Columbus’s first expedition in 1492); Portuguese voyages to India and the shores of East Asia, starting with the expedition of Vasco de Gama; Spanish Pacific expeditions of the 16th century. from Magellan's first circumnavigation to the Villalovos expedition (1542–1543).

The period of Russian and Dutch discoveries (mid-16th – mid-17th centuries). This includes: the discovery by Russians of all of Northern Asia (from Ermak’s campaign to the Popov-Dezhnev voyage in 1648); English and French discoveries in North America; Dutch Pacific expeditions and the discovery of Australia.

In the second half of the 15th century. feudalism in Western Europe was at the stage of decay. Grew up big cities, trade developed. Money became the universal means of exchange, the need for which increased sharply. In Europe, the demand for gold increased greatly, which increased the desire for “India - the birthplace of spices,” where, according to Europeans, there was a lot of gold, silver, gems and spices. But the route to India became inaccessible to Europeans as a result of Turkish conquests in Asia Minor and Syria. The monopoly of Italian merchants in the European trade in eastern goods pumped gold from Europe to the East. The shortage of precious metal hampered the development of trade and commodity production in Western European countries. Portugal was the first to begin searching for southern sea routes to India. Having won back their territory from the Arabs in the 13th century, continuing the wars with the Arabs in North Africa in the 14th–15th centuries, Portugal created a strong fleet. Already in the 20–30s of the 15th century. The Portuguese discovered the island of Madeira and the Azores and moved far south along the West Coast of Africa. The discovery of the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa in 1486 created a real opportunity to prepare an expedition to India.

One of the most important reasons, which determined the activity of Portugal and then Spain in geographical discoveries, was the crisis of the feudal economic system, expressed in the fragmentation of feudal estates and the ruin of feudal lords. The Portuguese and Spanish nobles, who disdained all activities except war, were left idle after the victory over the Moors and very soon found themselves in debt to moneylenders. They dreamed of land holdings overseas, but even more of gold and jewelry to pay off the moneylenders.

Another reason for overseas expansion was the interest of the strengthened royal power, which dreamed of increasing revenues for the treasury. The urban bourgeoisie and the church were no less interested in the new lands. The bourgeoisie sought to expand the sources of primitive accumulation; the church is to expand its influence into pagan countries. The desire for profit was covered up by religious fanaticism - a familiar and convenient mask under which the desire for power and personal gain was hidden.

Opportunities for long journeys were created by advances in science and technology, the development of shipbuilding and navigation. From the beginning of the 16th century. The compass comes into general use, which, in combination with the astrolabe, played an important role in the development of navigation. The ancient idea of the spherical shape of the earth was revived. In the 15th century a caravel designed for ocean navigation was created - a high-speed vessel with spacious holds. The improvement of firearms was of great importance. Until the end of the 15th century. The Portuguese were ahead of other countries. The knowledge they acquired gave sailors from other countries new information about sea tides, currents, and wind direction. Mapping new lands pushed the development of cartography.

From the end of the 15th century. The Spaniards began searching for sea trade routes to India. In 1492, the Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506) arrived at the court of the Spanish kings. Columbus proposed his project to the Spanish monarchs - to reach the shores of India, sailing west across the Atlantic. Before this, Columbus proposed his plan to the kings of other countries, but was refused. France and England did not have the necessary funds and fleets. The Portuguese by this time were already close to opening the route to India around Africa and did not need the services of others. In Spain, a more favorable situation developed 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 free land to sell, and revenues from taxes on trade and industry were insignificant. A huge number of nobles were left without a livelihood. In addition, Spanish industry needed markets. All these circumstances turned out to be decisive for the Spanish court to accept Columbus’s project. The idea of an overseas expedition was supported by the top of the Catholic Church. An agreement was concluded between the Spanish king and Columbus, according to which the great navigator was appointed viceroy of the newly discovered lands, received the rank of admiral, the right to 1/10 of the income from new possessions and 1/8 of the profits from trade.

On August 3, 1492, a flotilla of three caravels sailed from Paloe harbor, heading southwest. On October 12, 1492, the ships approached Bahamas. Later, the island of Cuba was discovered and its northern coast was explored. Mistaking Cuba for one of the islands off the coast of Japan, Columbus continued his voyage to the west and discovered the island of Haiti, which had more gold than already open islands. Off the coast of Haiti, Columbus lost his largest ship and was forced to leave part of the crew on the island. A fort was built here. The fortress of Navidad became the first Spanish settlement in the New World.

In 1493, Columbus returned to Spain, where he was received with great honor. Columbus's discoveries worried the Portuguese. In 1494, through the mediation of the Pope, an agreement was concluded under which Spain was given the right to own lands to the west of the Azores, and Portugal to the east.

Columbus made three more voyages to America, during which the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica were discovered, and the coast of Central America was explored. Until the end of his days, Columbus believed that he had found the western route to India. In 1500, Columbus was accused of abuse of power and sent to Spain in shackles. However, the appearance of the famous navigator in chains in Spain caused outrage. Columbus was soon rehabilitated.

By 1502–1503 refers to Columbus's fourth voyage to New World with the goal of finding access to the Indian Ocean and traveling around the world. During this last voyage, Columbus discovered the coast of the mainland south of Cuba and explored the southwestern shores of the Caribbean Sea.

Two weeks after Columbus returned, Queen Isabella, who patronized him, died. He lost support at court. Columbus died in 1506, forgotten by everyone in complete poverty.

The tragic fate of Columbus is largely explained by the successes of the Portuguese. In 1497, Vasco da Gama's expedition was sent to explore the sea route to India around Africa. Having rounded the Cape of Good Hope, the Portuguese sailors entered the Indian Ocean and in May 1498 reached the Indian port of Calicut. Having purchased a large cargo of spices, the expedition set off on the return journey.

The success of Vasco da Gama's expedition made a huge impression in Europe. The Portuguese had enormous opportunities for commercial exploitation of India. Thanks to their superiority in weapons and naval technology, they managed to oust Arab merchants from the Indian Ocean and seize into their own hands all maritime trade with India, and then Malacca and Indonesia. Arab attempts to oust the Portuguese from the Indian Ocean were unsuccessful.

In India, the Portuguese did not capture vast territories, but sought to capture only strongholds on the coast. Gradually they captured all trade relations between individual areas of the Indian Ocean coast. This trade brought huge profits. Moving further east along the coast, they took possession of transit routes for the spice trade. Trade with India was declared a monopoly of the Portuguese king.

Having seized control of trade with India, the Portuguese persistently sought a western route to this country. At the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries. As part of the Spanish and Portuguese expeditions, Amerigo Vespucci traveled to the shores of America, who proved that Columbus discovered not the coast of India, but a new continent, later called America.

Ferdinand Magellan, a member of the Portuguese expeditions, suggested that India could be reached by moving west and going around again open continent from South. The Spanish government, which at that time did not receive much income from the newly discovered lands, was interested in Magellan's project. According to the agreement concluded by the Spanish king with Magellan, the navigator was supposed to sail to the southern tip of the American continent and open the western route to India. They complained to him about the titles of ruler and governor of the new lands and 1/20 of all income that would go to the treasury.

On September 20, 1519, a squadron of five ships headed west. A month later, the flotilla reached the southern tip of the American continent and for three weeks moved through the strait, which now bears the name of Magellan. On March 6, 1521, the sailors found themselves at three small islands from the Mariana group. Continuing his journey west, Magellan reached the Philippine Islands, where he died in a skirmish with the natives.

New discoveries led to an exacerbation of previous contradictions between Spain and Portugal. For a long time, experts from both countries could not accurately determine the boundaries of Spanish and Portuguese possessions due to the lack of accurate data on the longitude of the newly discovered islands. In 1529, under a new agreement, Spain renounced its claims to Philippine Islands. However, for a long time no one dared to repeat Magellan’s journey, and the path across the Pacific Ocean to the shores of Asia was of no practical importance.

Since 1510, the conquest of America began - the colonization and development of the internal regions of the continent, the formation of a system of colonial exploitation.

In 1517–1518 The detachments of Hernan de Cordoba and Juan Grimalva encountered the most ancient civilization - the Mayan state. By the time the Spaniards arrived, the territory of Yucatan was divided between several city-states. Not only superior weaponry, but also internal struggles between city-states made it easier for the Spaniards to conquer the Mayans. The Spaniards learned from local residents that precious metals were brought from the country of the Aztecs. In 1519, a Spanish detachment led by Hernan Cortes set out to conquer these lands.

The Aztec state extended from the Gulf Coast to the Pacific Ocean. A large agricultural population lived here; with the work of many generations, a perfect artificial irrigation system was created, and high yields of cotton, corn, and vegetables were grown. The economic basis was the neighboring community. The Mayans had a labor conscription system. The population was used by the state in the construction of palaces, temples, etc. Crafts had not yet been separated from agriculture; both artisans and farmers lived in the community. A layer of representatives of the nobility and leaders, the caciques, began to emerge, who had large tracts of land and used slave labor.

Unlike the Mayans, the Aztec state achieved significant centralization, gradually making the transition to the hereditary power of the supreme ruler. However, the lack of internal unity, the internecine struggle for power among representatives of the highest military nobility and the struggle of conquered tribes against the conquerors made the victory of the Spaniards easier. Mexico lived up to the hopes of its conquerors. Rich deposits of gold and silver were found here.

The second stream of colonization came from the Isthmus of Panama to the south of the Pacific coast of America. The conquerors were attracted by the fabulously rich country of Peru. Fertile, densely populated lands stretched here. The population was engaged in agriculture and raised herds of llamas. Since ancient times, the territory of Peru has been inhabited by Quechua Indians. In the XIV century. One of the Quechuan tribes, the Incas, was conquered by numerous Indian tribes. By the beginning of the 16th century. The Inca state included part of the territory of Chile and Argentina. From the tribe of conquerors a military nobility was formed. The center of the Incan power was the city of Cusco. The main unit of society among the Incas, as well as among the Mayans and Aztecs, was the neighboring community. From the communal lands, the fields of the nobility and elders, which were owned, were allocated. They had the right to transfer these lands by inheritance.

The conquest of Peru by the Spaniards lasted more than 40 years. If at the first stage the conquerors seized precious metals accumulated in previous times, then from 1530 the systematic exploitation of the richest mines began in Mexico and Peru. From this moment on, the nature of colonization changed. The conquerors abandoned the economic development of new lands. Everything necessary for the Spanish settlers began to be brought from Europe in exchange for gold and silver from the New World. The noble, feudal nature of colonization predetermined the fact that the gold and silver of America fell mainly into the hands of the nobility. All 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, paid a special tax and completed their labor service.

In the first half of the 16th century. In general terms, a system of governing the Spanish colonies in America was formed. Colonial trade was placed under the control of the Seville Chamber of Commerce (1503), which carried out customs inspection of all cargo, collected duties, and monitored emigration processes. The main economic sector in the Spanish colonies was mining.

The colonial system that developed in the Portuguese colonies differed from the Spanish one. Since 1500, the main object of colonization was Brazil, where there was no settled agricultural population, and small Indian tribes, who were at the stage of a tribal system, were pushed into the interior of the country. The lack of deposits of precious metals and significant human resources determined the commercial nature of the initial colonization of Brazil.

Since 1500, economic development of the coastal regions of Brazil began. The coast was divided into 13 captains, the owners of which had full power. But Portugal did not have a significant surplus population, so the settlement of the colonies was slow. The absence of peasant settlers and the small number of indigenous people made the development of feudal forms of economy impossible. The areas where the plantation system arose, based on the exploitation of black slaves from Africa, developed most successfully. Starting from the second half of the 16th century. The importation of African slaves is growing rapidly. White settlers lived mainly in the coastal zone in closed groups, engaged in trade and craft.

In the second half of the 16th - early 17th centuries. Spanish navigators made a series of Pacific expeditions from Peru, during which the Solomon Islands, South Polynesia and Australia were discovered. However, Spain did not have the strength and means to develop new lands. Therefore, the Spanish government kept all information about the discovery secret for a whole century, fearing the rivalry of other powers. Only in the middle of the 17th century. The Dutch began exploring the coast of Australia.

Consequences of the Great Geographical Discoveries. During the first period of discovery, when the main trade routes moved from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean, trade was dominated by Portugal and Spain. However, the main producers of industrial goods were the Netherlands, England and France, which made it possible for the bourgeoisie of these countries to quickly get rich by pumping gold and silver from the Iberian countries in exchange for industrial goods. Gradually they ousted competitors from sea routes, and then from their overseas colonies. After the defeat of the Invincible Armada (1588), the Spanish-Portuguese power (in those years both Pyrenean powers constituted a single state) was dealt a crushing blow. Particularly in Pacific research and south seas at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. the initiative passed to the Netherlands, and in the 40s of the 17th century. The bourgeois revolution in England brought this country into the arena of the struggle for markets, dominance of the seas, and colonial possessions.

One of the consequences of the Great Geographical Discoveries was the strengthening of new trends in the economic policy of European absolutism, which acquired a pronounced mercantilist character. The ruling dynasties in Spain, France, and England encouraged trade, industry, shipping, and colonial expansion in every possible way. Mercantilism was generated by developing capitalism, but it also met the interests of the nobility. National industry and trade provided the means to maintain the feudal state, and therefore to maintain the social dominance of the nobles.

The opening of new trade routes and previously unknown countries and continents, the establishment of stable connections between Europe and other parts of the world in a relatively short time allowed European countries to acquire enormous resources.

As a result of the Great Geographical Discoveries, a system of colonial domination and colonial exploitation emerged. Initially, the main method of exploitation of the colonies was open robbery. Subsequently, the tax system became widespread. But the main income from the exploitation of the colonies came from trade. The rise of Spain and Portugal as colonial powers was relatively short-lived. The wealth received from the colonies was spent unproductively by the feudal nobility, while the development of industry and trade was encouraged in England and France. The positions of England, France and the Netherlands in the colonial markets were strengthened. They were able to more effectively use geographical discoveries to develop capitalism and create their own colonial empires.

The most important consequence of the discovery and colonization of new lands was the “price revolution,” which gave a powerful impetus to the initial accumulation of capital in Europe and accelerated the formation of the capitalist structure in the economy. This “revolution” was expressed in an unusually rapid increase during the 16th century. prices for agricultural and industrial goods. If before the 16th century. prices were basically stable, then for 70 years - from the 30s of the 16th century. and by the end of the century they increased 2–4 times. Contemporaries associated such price movements either with a large influx of precious metals into Europe or with their leakage. However, the real cause of the “price revolution” was the fall in the value of precious metals as a commodity. It contributed to the enrichment of the industrial bourgeoisie that was emerging in this era and the impoverishment of manufacturing workers. The standard of living of wage workers declined as rising prices for agricultural products and consumer goods led to a fall in real incomes. The “price revolution” contributed to the accelerated enrichment of the wealthy part of the peasantry and the formation of the rural bourgeoisie, since the real wages of agricultural workers decreased, and with the fall in the purchasing power of money, the real amounts of cash rent or rent collected by landowners decreased, while prices for agricultural products rose. At the same time, the feudal lords who received a fixed cash rent suffered seriously. The result of the “price revolution” was a general deterioration in the economic situation of feudal lords and wage workers and a strengthening of the positions of the bourgeoisie. Thus, it accelerated the formation of a capitalist economy and the fall of the feudal system.

Navigation made it possible to establish stable economic ties between the most remote parts of the world. Colonial possessions were used as the economic periphery of European capital and served as the basis for the expansion of foreign trade, which became global.

The great geographical discoveries created the basis for the emergence of the international division of labor, the world economy and the market. The volume and range of trade has increased. In the struggle to conquer new markets, trading companies began to form that regulated the trade of merchants with a certain region of the world. This turned out to be not enough for success in competition with other countries, and gradually merchant capital began to unite into trading corporations. The most powerful of the combined companies were the East India Companies in the Netherlands and England, which managed to monopolize the Indian market.

In the 16th century Commodity and stock exchanges emerged in Antwerp - centers of world trade in goods and securities. Have fallen into disrepair Italian cities, new centers of world trade rose - Lisbon, Seville and especially Antwerp, which became a world trade and financial center.

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