Why Did The Muslim World?

    Around the years of 632-750 C.E., Islamic followers created an empire that reached across North Africa into Europe and dominated the Middle East. Due to several aspects leading up to expansion such as war, geography, and establishing an organized impressionable government, the Islamic empire grew rapidly.

Technologically, European exploration was pushed forward through the development of new technology such as the astrolabe, which was an instrument used for triangulation, location of celestial bodies, and finding the local time when given longitude as well as latitude. In addition, Europeans improved the compass, maritime maps, and the design of ships. The caravel, a small ship developed by the Portuguese, was used to navigate around the African and European coasts due to its maneuverability and fast speed. Politically, many rulers were drawn to exploration because of the discovery, pursuit for wealth (gold), and a way to harm the Islamic empires. For example, Prince Henry of Portugal organized expeditions to the African coast in the 15th century. In addition, Spain tried to make their naval force and

The early Islamic empire expanded in several different ways, such as winning wars, signing peace treaties with enemies, and giving gifts to soldiers and nobles. In document A it states “by Allah’s help, some 70,000 of them (the Greeks) were put to death” infuring that they had killed off the Greeks army and they had won the war. With the wining of the war they could expand into the land of their enemies. They also signed treaties with their enemies so they won’t revolt against them. This helped them expand without anyone trying to prevent them outside the people they are attacking. Another thing that helped them expand is that they gave money to soldiers and nobles as a gift. In source C it says they gave nobles money “

Europe expanded across the Atlantic Ocean because they were geographically at an advantage. They had access to this new land the for the other places to get to it would either take too long or they would physically have to go through the European’s land to get there. They had this advantage and took it

12.  In what ways was the Ottoman Empire important for Europe in the early modern era?

While taking the class of Early Modern European History there was two states that really stuck out and peaked my interest the most. They were the Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe. If you compare and contrast both the Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe during the 16th Century through the 18th Century, you will see that there are a number of similarities as well as differences when you look at the expansion of the states. You will also see many of these contrasts as well when you look in terms of each states military and commerce. Although the Ottoman Empire existed before the 16th century and continued to exist past the 18th century and in great decline until the early 20th century, when looking at the state as a whole the time

European nations in the 15th century began exploring new lands with three motives: religion, wealth, and glory. It was made possible by advances in naval fleet building and navigation, first pioneered by the Portuguese. Europeans began to be involved in extensive exploration, coming in contact with Africa, Americas and their prime target Asia. The main targets of the pioneering Portugese and Spanish was to find and alternate trade route for the Indies trade and also promote Christianity to the new lands. As the century unfolded, the search for newer territories to colonize and shortern routes to the exotic land of spices and silk became the initial driving force for the intensive early exploration by the Europeans .

Western Europe and the Islamic Empires may have had many differences, but they also had many similarities. The Western Europeans got a revival of learning from the Islamic Empires. The Muslims had libraries filled with works of Greek writers and philosophers. They shared these works in libraries in Spain. This allowed scholars to translate the work into Latin, so Western Europeans could understand it. These works allowed Europeans to acquire a huge body of knowledge. They had more information on science and mathematics, thanks to the

The Ottoman and Habsburg Empires were two well recognized empires of the 1400’s. They were conquerors with fairly large imperial goals. Though both of them were strong and formidable, they both had their own share of weaknesses. The Ottoman Empire was more than capable of holding their own on land, but when it came to the waters, the Habsburg held the upper hand. This come from the Habsburg looking to the seas for expansion. This is how they became advantageous across the sea.

Islam spread so quickly because they had strict religious rules, trade, the military and mercy to muslims and other races.

The Ottoman Empire’s geographic regions made it impossible for the Empire to keep up the neutrality. The empire controlled the Dardanelle and Bosporus Straits—an important route for transportation between Britain and Russia—and Constantinople, a center for German spy networks aiming to destabilize the British Empire, as well as Mesopotamia where they captured British oil fields (Crouse.) In fact even before World War I, the European nations, such as Russia and Great Britain were already seeking to overturn these territories for their own benefits (Steel.) No matter what decision

Ottoman Turkey never developed extensive industry, though the lands it controlled had extensive natural resources. There were no universities or technical schools that could teach either the basic skills or the theoretical knowledge needed for an industrial revolution and a modern economy. Banks could not develop because of the Muslim prohibition on interest. Turkish guns and ships and railroads had to be purchased from France, Germany and Britain, who vied with each other for the lucrative trade. The Ottoman Empire did not produce much that could pay for these purchases and eventually went bankrupt, forcing its rulers to conclude disadvantageous terms with its European creditors.

An even better idea was trade. The idea is talk to a lot of merchants and get them on your side. Then build a lot of roads across the desert and spread the news about paradise (Document B). This will happen fast because all of those camels I mentioned.

Trade was the first motive for European exploration. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Italians and Muslims had control of the Mediterranean. Because of this, countries such as Portugal lacked access to Asian trade routes, since they lacked the resources to break through “the Italian dominated trade of the Mediterranean” (Arnold 4) Such countries were forced to explore and expand in order to find new routes around the world to reach Asia, causing them to search for goods and trade beyond their borders, acquiring land and resources along the way, which in turn expanded European trade and economy. Another factor was Europe's search for new trade. European merchants discovered that they could no longer sell their merchandise in Asia and Africa, as many of their products were deemed inferior to their African and Asian counterparts. They attempted to sell “crude woollen cloth in Asian markets accustomed to fine silks and calicoes” (Arnold 3) The Europeans needed a new market, motivating them to send explorers such as

In AoE III, a player can choose to play from a selection of seven European civilizations that were prominent at periods of time during the Age of Exploration through the Industrial Revolution. While general mechanics of the game are the same from civilization to civilization, their strengths and weaknesses are rooted in historical fact. Take the French for example. Historically, the French originally came to the New World as independent trappers and merchants who spread across the wilderness (unlike other settlers who largely came as colonialists on behalf of their respective crowns). They appropriately have the strongest settler units in the game, uniquely titled Coureur des Bois or “runners in the woods”. They are more expensive than settlers of other civilization, but they collect resources faster and are more resistant early attacks. As the French age through in the game, their military strengths reflect the rise in military prominence the French historically experienced initially under Kings Louis XII and XIV and later under Napoleon Bonaparte, which were both supported by a backbone of heavy cavalry of gendarmes and cuirassiers. Similarly, among a few of the other playable civilizations, the Dutch have the unique ability to build banks to generate coin without having to mine for it, the British have the strongest navy, and the Portuguese get a new town center with every age. The Ottomans, who are also a playable civilization in AoE III, may seem like an odd addition to a game based primarily in the New World, but its presence is one of the many ways Age of Empires subtly engages its player in thinking more broadly about history. At the time when many Western European nations sought to exploit trade in Asia (and ended up in the New World), they wanted to tap into what was the Ottoman’s market. Istanbul was the cultural and economic capital that