Part Three: Transformation to Urban Industrial Capitalism

Part 3, The Nineteenth Century in Europe part 2 Dr. Roger van Zwanenberg Part 3, The Nineteenth Century in Europe part 2 Dr. Roger van Zwanenberg

#37 Colonisation Renewed: The Struggle for Global Dominance in the 19th Century

Before 1815, there had been no global world power. Today in the 21st century we have become used to living with a single dominant power. We are so used to this fact that no one questions it. It is possible that ancient China might have decided to become such a power; she had the technical shipbuilding knowledge, but she showed no interest. A world power needed a superior military force, a vibrant economy to support its military might, a navy able to travel across the world, and some purpose that encompassed the world.

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Part 3 Dr. Roger van Zwanenberg Part 3 Dr. Roger van Zwanenberg

#28 War, Revolution and the Struggle for European Domination 1750 to 1815: Conditions for Industrial Transformation in Europe

All progressive movements - such as the Haitian and later the Russian Revolutions - were deeply resented by the established authorities, and in 1815 the British, the Russians and the Ottomans attempted to replace the fallen monarchies. In this blog our aim is to examine the underlying causes which set the French Revolution in action. The sudden turmoil and revolutionary wars which consumed all of Europe after 1793 were a direct consequence of the French Revolution and loosened the ropes which held the feudal system of government in place…

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Part 3 Dr. Roger van Zwanenberg Part 3 Dr. Roger van Zwanenberg

#27 The French Revolution, Napoleon and the Beginnings of Transformation Across Europe

Racism was the ideology that accompanied Colonial invasions over these long 500 years. Racism was also the backbone of ideas that accompanied industrialisation. The ideology provided the perfect explanation for the people who dominated globally; at the same time as they created new inventions technologically. The people involved assumed that they were a superior ‘breed’ of people. The French, Dutch, British and latterly the Americans absorbed racist ideas as the ‘natural’ order. The ideas of race and the racism that sprang from these ideas permeated Nations, so whole peoples assumed their innate superiority.

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