History of modern times. Discovery of America and the sea route to India (most important)

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History of modern times. Discovery of America and the sea route to India (most important)

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3. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA AND THE SEA ROUTE TO INDIA

Portugal and Spain were the first among European countries to undertake the search for sea routes to Africa and India. Various segments of the population were interested in opening these routes, but first of all they were nobles, merchants, clergy and kings of these countries. As a result of the war with the Moors and Arabs, which went down in history under the name Reconquista, in Portugal and Spain a special social stratum of small landed nobles, hidalgos, was formed, for whom the war was the only occupation. Numerous militant nobles, left idle after the Reconquista, posed a serious danger to kings and cities, since they could easily be used by large feudal lords in the fight against the unification of the country and the strengthening of royal power. Therefore, the kings of Portugal and Spain sought to captivate the nobles with the idea of discovering and conquering new countries and trade routes. The Portuguese were the first to enter the ocean routes. The sea route to India was laid by the Portuguese gradually at the end of the XNUMXth century, during the last decade.

On May 20, 1498, Portuguese ships under the command of Vasco da Gama, sent by King Manoel, reached the coast of India. With the opening of the sea route to India, Portugal acquired a priority position in the European market and began to master the entire maritime trade of South and East Asia.

Dependence of the colonies on the mother countries

In 1492, the Spanish kings Ferdinand and Isabella sent an expedition of three caravels under the command of Christopher Columbus on a long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in order to open a western route to India and East Asia. At the same time, Columbus was appointed "admiral and viceroy of all the lands that he will open in these seas-oceans." On October 12, 1492, 69 days after leaving the Spanish port of Palos, Columbus' caravels reached San Salvador, one of the islands of the Bahamas group, located off the coast of a new mainland unknown to Europeans. Since then, this day is considered the date of the discovery of America. In total, Columbus made four expeditions to America. He believed that he had reached the shores of Southeast Asia, and called the lands he discovered India, and their inhabitants Indians.

After Columbus, other Spanish conquistadors, in search of gold and slaves, continued to expand Spain's colonial possessions in America, mainly in its central part (Isthmus of Panama, Yucatan, Mexico). Active actions to seize new territories in Mexico, the state of the Aztecs, were carried out by a Spanish detachment led by hidalgo Hernando Cortes.

In the 30s. 200th century another Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, at the head of a detachment of 40 people, undertook the conquest of the "golden kingdom", the state of the Incas in Peru. Later in the early XNUMXs. XNUMXth century Spanish conquistadors conquered Chile, and at the end of the XNUMXth century. - Argentina (or rather, territories, because then these states did not exist).

In the same century, in the 30-40s, the Portuguese conquered Brazil, which was discovered by Cabral in 1500 during his unsuccessful expedition to India (at that time there was no such state yet, native tribes lived there).

Having opened the sea route to India, the Portuguese captured several settlements on the Malabar coast (South India) at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. The Portuguese could not advance further along the coast, because they did not have sufficient forces. Following the Portuguese, the Dutch, French and British rushed to India. The Dutch were engaged exclusively in trade, not interfering at all in the life of the Indians. The Dutch exported spices from India in large quantities, which were very much appreciated in Europe.

Authors: Alekseev V.S., Pushkareva N.V.

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