Maritime Empires

Maritime Empires Location

Unlike the empires of the Middle Ages and before, the maritime empires were not landlocked. Ancient and Middle Ages empires typically saw direct land expansion from a central capital or province, like Rome for the Romans or Tenochtitlan for the Aztecs. With the introduction of new technologies for producing powerful navies, the European powers could colonize an island on the other side of the world, or reliably trade wool with places such as India and China. Therefore, maritime empires were located all across the globe.

The map below highlights a region in a specific color, signifying which European power was dominantly in colonial control. Reference the table below to see which color correlates with each European power.

Fig. 2- Maritime Empires Map.

Maritime Empires History

Beyond new naval technologies, what made the Europeans so successful in establishing their maritime empires? How did they afford it? How did maritime empires even function, beyond having ships with wide sails and big cannons? Thankfully, historians have a plethora of written personal records and financial transactions that have helped us understand how Europeans came to dominate the globe.

Funding for Maritime Empires

The first major expedition of the era of the maritime empire was, as was already mentioned, Columbus's voyage to the Americas. Columbus was funded by the King and Queen of Spain, marking the first of many royally funded expeditions. Monarchs, especially the New Monarchs, soon became aware of the vast wealth available through the expansion of maritime influence.

Fig. 3- Flag of the Dutch East India Company.

Other than Monarchial support, joint-stock companies were formed to finance expeditions. To hedge your entire life savings on a single global expedition was expensive and extremely risky. But through joint-stock companies, individual investors could provide support to many different expeditions, leveraging their risk while increasing profitability. Two examples of joint-stock companies are the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, which were very successful during the age of maritime empires.

The Methods of Maritime Empires

The expectations of Monarchs and private investors in supporting the expansion of maritime empires were directly related to Mercantilism. Simply put, they wanted to acquire wealth. Primarily this was done through trade with foreign entities like India or China, but each trade negotiation was backed up by military force.

The European powers almost always had the dominant naval force in their maritime expeditions, meaning they could establish trading posts and colonies, or finalize trade deals in their interests and against the will of the native people. In South America, the Conquistadors Hernan Cortez and Francisco Pizarro respectively toppled the Aztecs and Incan Empires to achieve glory, fame, and profit.

Supporting the expansion of maritime empires was a backbone of religious missionary work. Catholic missionaries traveled the globe, financed by the Catholic Church and other European powers to spread Christianity into new and foreign territories. Along with Christianity came European languages and customs, easing a distant country's transition into the hand of European maritime empires.

The Forced Labor Systems of the Maritime Empires

To fuel their maritime efforts, European powers often extracted natural resources from the lands they colonized abroad. But to extract those resources, they needed a workforce. Many times, the European powers forced the native populations into laboring for them. In the case of the Americas, European powers such as Spain, Portugal, and Britain shipped enslaved Africans overseas to act as a workforce in the Atlantic Slave Trade.

Fig. 4- The Atlantic Triangular Trade.

The Atlantic Slave Trade made up one arm of the Triangular Trade (depicted in the map above), a global trading system that brought extreme wealth to European powers at the expense of the African population and American natural resources (especially in South America). Forced labor systems were implemented elsewhere, within both Africa and Southeast Asia. The competition for wealth between European powers was costly to many foreign lands (although some countries did directly benefit from trade with Europe).

Maritime Empires Significance

The domination of the European maritime empires from 1450 to 1750 did not end abruptly. For decades after, even extending into the late 19th century, the colonies and trading posts established by the maritime empires continued to exploit the surrounding regions for the gain of the European powers.

The maritime empires marked a turning point in World History from land-based empires to empires of global trading networks, where a small European country such as Britain or France could extend its power across the world. The rise of maritime empires marked Europe as the center of commerce and power when moving into the modern period.