In the later 1400s the Portuguese began direct encounters with the peoples of coastal West and Central Africa. The intense competition between major European powers led to increased exploration, the building of trade networks, and a scramble for colonies -subject territories where Europeans ruled and directly controlled economic production and trade. By the 1700s European land and sea weapons greatly outclassed those of once militarily powerful China, India, Persia, and Ottoman Turkey. The English were building the most maneuverable ships and the best iron cannon by the late 1500s. The Spanish and Portuguese, using artillery, naval cannon, and muskets, could now conquer or control large territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia, whose people lacked guns. Combining Chinese and Arab technologies with local inventions, the Portuguese, Spanish, and other Europeans built better ships to sail the rough Atlantic and learned how to mount weapons on ships, increasing their advantage at sea. They were also motivated by the desire to circumnavigate the Venetian domination of Afro-Asian trade into Europe. The Spanish and Portuguese were pioneers in the new era of overseas expeditions because they had a favorable geographic location facing the Atlantic and North Africa, a maritime tradition of deep sea fishing, an aggressive Christian crusading tradition, and possession of the best ships and navigation techniques in Europe by the 1400s. By 1914 Europeans dominated much of the world politically and economically. Motivated by these three aims, several western European peoples gained control or influence over widening segments of the globe during the Early Modern Era. They also embraced the ideology of mercantilism, which held that governments and large private companies should cooperate to increase the state ’s wealth by increasing the reserves of precious metals. Some kings sought to establish their claims to newly contacted territories so as to strengthen their position in European politics and increase their power at the expense of the landowning nobility. “Glory ” alludes to the competition between monarchies. “God ” refers to the militant crusading and missionary traditions of Christianity, characterized in part by rivalry with Islam and hatred of non-Christian religions. As merchants gained influence in late-medieval western Europe, they convinced their governments to establish a direct connection to the lucrative Asian trade, leading to the first European voyages of discovery in the 1400s. “Gold ” refers to the search for material gain through acquiring and selling Asian spices, African slaves, American metals, and other resources. Leonidas, King of Sparta, arrived at Thermopylae with a small advance guard to hold off a massive Persian assault in 480 BCE.Historians use a standard shorthand, “Gold, God, and Glory, ” to describe the motives generating the overseas exploration, expansion, and conquests that allowed various European countries to rise to world power between 14. Then Xerxes wrote again: ‘Hand over your arms.’ Plutarch records that Xerxes, Persia’s ‘King of Kings’, made a written offer he thought Leonidas could hardly refuse: ‘It is possible for you … by ranging yourself on my side, to be the sole ruler of Greece.’ Leonidas allegedly answered: ‘If you had any knowledge of the noble things of life, you would refrain from coveting others’ possessions but for me to die for Greece is better than to be the sole ruler.’ The invading Persian army was thousands-strong, and the Greek states had yet to mobilise a response. Leonidas famously retorted ‘Come and take them’ (μολὼν λαϐέ/molṑn labé). Leonidas and his ‘300 immortals’ who refused offers to save themselves were eventually slaughtered, but an inspired Greece would win the war. Or so goes the legend that became part of Western civilisation’s creation myth. Throughout history, the most effective combatants, revolutionaries and insurgents have been ‘ devoted actors’ fused together by dedication to non-negotiable ‘ sacred values’ such as God, country or liberty. Military incursions nearly always plan for maximum force at the beginning to ensure victory.
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