Compare And Contrast European Empires

The early modern era was a time when empires thrived across the globe. The Western Europeans were not the only ones to construct successful empires either. The Russian, Chinese, Mughal, and Ottoman empires added to this phenomenon. Although these empires share many similarities, they also have their differences. During the time, 1450 CE -1750 CE, European empires in the Americas and their Russian, Chinese, Mughal, and Ottoman counterparts are similar in that they all thrived and united diverse peoples and different in that European empires developed something entirely new, an interacting Atlantic World, while the other empires continued older patterns of historical development. European empires in the Americas as well as Russian, Chinese,

Firstly, European empires in the Americas as well as Russian, Chinese, Mughal, and Ottoman empires are different in their development because Europe interacted and depended on other regions. The Atlantic Ocean connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Strayer states how “these two ‘old worlds’ were joined, increasingly creating a single biological regime, a ‘new world’ of global dimensions.” The reason for this difference is that Europe constructed their empires across the Atlantic Ocean in the Americas, or the New World, unlike their Russian, Chinese, Mughal, and Ottoman counterparts. This resulted in an advantage for the Europeans because they had access to new resources and ideas. This was accomplished through the Columbian Exchange, which is the network of migration and trade within the Atlantic Ocean. Next, European empires in the Americas as well as Russian, Chinese, Mughal, and Ottoman empires are different in their development because Europe had a greater impact on the native peoples that they integrated into their growing empires. When the Europeans arrived in the Americas, they brought a very tiny weapon with them. They brought disease. Small pox, measles, and malaria and just a few of the old world diseases that devastated native populations. In fact, “Native Americans died in appalling numbers, in many cases up to 90 percent of the population.” The diseases were at its worst in the Aztec and Inca Empires since the people lived close together. However, in the old world, disease related deaths were not nearly as prevalent as in the Americas. The reason for this difference is that the Native Americans had no domesticated animals (except llamas), which resulted in no acquired immunities to old world diseases.