Great geographical discoveries and the emergence of the colonial system. Travels in the New Time. Geographical discoveries Geographical discoveries of the tenth and eleventh centuries

Throughout the history of mankind, numerous geographical discoveries took place, but only those that were made at the end of the 15th and the first half of the 16th century were named the Great. Indeed, never again, neither before nor after this historical moment, have there been discoveries of such magnitude, which were of such tremendous importance for mankind. European navigators discovered entire continents and oceans, vast unexplored lands inhabited by peoples completely unfamiliar to them. The discoveries of that time boggled the imagination and opened up completely new development prospects for the European world, which previously could not even be dreamed of.

Preconditions of the great geographical discoveries

The sailors of that era had not only a great goal, but also the means to achieve it. Progress in navigation led to the appearance in the 15th century. a new type of vessel capable of long ocean voyages. It was a caravel - a fast, maneuverable ship, sailing equipment of which made it possible to move even in a headwind. At the same time, devices appeared that made it possible to navigate on long sea voyages, primarily the astrolabe - a tool for determining geographical coordinates, latitude and longitude. European cartographers learned to make special navigational charts that made it easier to plot courses across the ocean.

The goal of the Europeans was India, which appeared to their imaginations as a country with innumerable riches. India has been known in Europe since antiquity, and the goods brought from there have always been in great demand. However, there were no direct ties with her. Trade was carried out through numerous intermediaries, and the states located on the routes to India hindered the development of its contacts with Europe. The Turkish conquests of the late Middle Ages led to a sharp decline in the very lucrative trade for European merchants. The countries of the East were at that time superior to the West in terms of wealth and the level of economic development, therefore trade with them was the most profitable type of business activity in Europe.

After the Crusades, as a result of which the European population became familiar with the values ​​of everyday Eastern culture, its needs for luxury goods, other household goods and spices increased. Pepper, for example, was then literally worth its weight in gold. The need for gold itself also rose sharply, as the development of trade was accompanied by a rapid expansion of money circulation. All this prompted the search for new trade routes to the East, laid bypassing Turkish and Arab possessions. India became a magical symbol that inspired brave sailors.

Swimming Vasco da Gama

The Portuguese were the first to embark on the path of great discoveries. Portugal, earlier than other states of the Iberian Peninsula, completed the Reconquista and transferred the struggle against the Moors to the territory of North Africa. Throughout the XV century. Portuguese sailors in search of gold, ivory and other exotic goods moved far south along the African coast. The inspiration of these voyages was Prince Enrique, who received the honorary nickname `` Navigator '' for this.

In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias discovered the southern tip of Africa, called the Cape of Good Hope. After this historic discovery, the Portuguese set out on a straight path across the Indian Ocean to the wonderland that beckoned them.

In the years 1497-1499. The squadron under the command of Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) made the first voyage to India and back, thus paving the most important trade route to the East, which was an old dream of European sailors. In the Indian port of Calicut, the Portuguese bought so many spices that the income from their sale was 60 times higher than the cost of organizing the expedition.

The sea route to India was opened and mapped, allowing Western European mariners to make these extremely lucrative voyages on a regular basis.

Discoveries of Christopher Columbus

Meanwhile, Spain was involved in the discovery process. In 1492, her troops crushed the Emirate of Granada, the last Moorish state in Europe. The triumphant completion of the Reconquista made it possible to direct the foreign policy power and energy of the Spanish state to new grandiose achievements.

The problem was that Portugal had achieved the recognition of her exclusive rights to the lands and sea routes discovered by her navigators. A way out of the situation was offered by the advanced science of that time. The Italian scientist Paolo Toscanelli, convinced of the sphericity of the Earth, proved that you can reach India if you sail from Europe not to the east, but in the opposite direction - to the west.

Another Italian, a sailor from Genoa Cristobal Colon, who went down in history under the Spanish name Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), developed on this basis a project for an expedition to find a western route to India. He managed to get his approval from the Spanish royal couple - King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

X. Columbus

After many days of sailing on October 12, 1492, his ships reached about. San Salvador, located off the coast of America. This day is considered the date of the discovery of America, although Columbus himself was convinced that he had reached the shores of India. That is why the inhabitants of the lands discovered by them began to be called Indians.

Until 1504, Columbus made three more voyages, during which he made new discoveries in the Caribbean.

Since the descriptions of the two "Indies" discovered by the Portuguese and the Spaniards differed sharply among themselves, the names of the East (Eastern) and West (Western) Indies were assigned to them. Gradually, the Europeans came to realize that these are not just different countries, but even different continents. At the suggestion of Amerigo Vespucci, the lands discovered in the Western Hemisphere began to be called the New World, and soon the new part of the world was named after the discerning Italian. The name West Indies was fixed only for the islands located between the shores of North and South America. East Indies began to be called not only India proper, but also other countries of Southeast Asia up to Japan.

Discovery of the Pacific Ocean and the first circumnavigation of the world

America, which at first did not bring much income to the Spanish crown, was viewed as an annoying obstacle on the way to rich India, which stimulated further searches. The discovery of a new ocean on the other side of America was of paramount importance.

In 1513, the Spanish conqueror Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and came to the shores of the sea unknown to Europeans, which was first called the South Sea (in contrast to the Caribbean Sea, located north of the Isthmus of Panama). Subsequently, it turned out that this is a whole ocean, which we now know as the Pacific. This is what the organizer of the first circumnavigation of the world Fernand Magellan (1480-1521) called it.

F. Magellan

A Portuguese navigator who entered the Spanish service, he was convinced that if he circled America from the south, it would be possible to reach India by western sea route. In 1519, his ships set sail, and the next year, having overcome the strait named after the leader of the expedition, they entered the Pacific Ocean. Magellan himself died in a clash with the population of one of the islands, later called Philippine. During the voyage, most of his crew also died, but 18 of the 265 crew members, led by Captain H.-S. El Cano on the only surviving ship in 1522 completed the first voyage around the world, thus proving the existence of a single World Ocean connecting all the continents of the Earth.

The discoveries of the sailors of Portugal and Spain gave rise to the problem of delimiting the possessions of these powers. In 1494, the two countries signed an agreement in the Spanish city of Tordesillas, according to which a dividing line was drawn across the Atlantic Ocean, from the North Pole to the South Pole. All newly discovered lands to the east of it were declared the possession of Portugal, to the west - Spain.

After 35 years, a new treaty was signed, delimiting the possessions of the two powers in the Pacific Ocean. This is how the first division of the world took place.

"The existence of such a path can be proved on the basis of the spherical shape of the Earth." It is necessary to “start sailing continuously towards the west” “in order to reach the places where all kinds of spices and precious stones are in the greatest abundance. Do not be surprised that I call the west of the country where the spices grow, while they are usually called the east, because people who sail constantly to the west reach these countries by sailing on the other side of the globe. "

“The Latins should look for this country not only because from there they can get great treasures, gold, silver and all kinds of precious stones and spices, but also for the sake of its learned people, philosophers and skilled astrologers, and also in order to find out how such a vast and populous country is governed and how they wage their wars. "

References:
V.V. Noskov, T.P. Andreevskaya / History from the end of the 15th to the end of the 18th century

The era of the Great Geographical Discoveries is the period of human history from the end of the 15th to the middle of the 17th centuries.
It is conditionally divided into two parts:
Spanish-Portuguese discoveries the end of the 15th century and the entire 16th century, the list of which includes the discovery of America, the discovery of the sea route to India, Pacific expeditions, the first round the world voyage
Anglo-Dutch-Russian discoveries the end of the 16th century to the middle of the 17th century, which includes English and French discoveries in North America, Dutch expeditions to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, Russian discoveries throughout North Asia

A geographic discovery is a visit by a representative of a civilized people to a new part of the earth, previously unknown to cultural mankind, or the establishment of a spatial connection between already known parts of the land

Why did the era of great geographical discoveries come?

• Growth of European cities in the 15th century
• Active development of trade
• Active development of crafts
• Depletion of European mines of precious metals - gold and silver
• The discovery of book printing, which led to the spread of new technical sciences and knowledge of antiquity
• Spreading and improving firearms
• Navigation discoveries, the appearance of the compass and the astrolabe
• Advances in cartography
• The conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks, which interrupted the economic and trade relations of Southern Europe with India and China

Geographical knowledge before the start of the Age of Discovery

In the Middle Ages, the Normans discovered Iceland and the shores of North America, European travelers Marco Polo, Rubruk, André from Longjumeau, Benjamin of Tudel, Athanasius Nikitin, Karpini and others established land connections with the countries of Far Asia and the Middle East, the Arabs explored the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea , shores of the Red Sea, western banks of the Indian Ocean, identified roads connecting Eastern Europe through Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Iranian Highlands - with India

The beginning of the era of great geographical discoveries

The beginning of the era of the great geographical discoveries can be considered the activities of the Portuguese navigators of the 15th century and the inspirer of their achievements, Prince Henry the Navigator (03/04/1394 - 11/13/1460)

At the beginning of the fifteenth century, the geographical science of Christians was in a deplorable state. The knowledge of the great scientists of antiquity has been lost. The impressions of traveling alone: ​​Marco Polo, Carpini, Rubruca - did not become public knowledge and contained many exaggerations. Geographers and cartographers used rumors in the production of atlases and maps; discoveries made by chance were forgotten; the lands found in the ocean were lost again. The same applied to the art of sailing. The skippers did not have maps, instruments, knowledge of navigation, they were terrified of the open sea, huddled to the shores.

In 1415, Prince Henry became Grand Master of the Portuguese Order of Christ, a powerful and wealthy organization. At her expense, on the isthmus of Cape Sagresh, Henry built a citadel, from where until the end of his days he organized sea expeditions to the west and south, created a navigational school, attracted the best mathematicians, astronomers from Arabs and Jews, collected information where and from where he could about distant countries and voyages , seas, winds and currents, bays, reefs, peoples and shores, began to build more advanced and larger ships. The captains went to sea on them, not only inspired to search for new lands, but also well prepared theoretically.

15th century Portuguese discoveries

• Madeira island
• Azores
• the entire western berg of Africa
• mouth of the Congo River
• Cape Verde
• Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost point of Africa, was discovered by the expedition of Bartalomeu Dias in January 1488

Great geographical discoveries. Briefly

• 1492 —
• 1498 - Vasco da Gama opens the sea route to India around Africa
• 1499-1502 - Spanish discoveries in the New World
• 1497 - Discovery of Newfoundland and the Labrador Peninsula by John Cabot
• 1500 - opening of the mouth of the Amazon by Vicente Pinson
• 1519-1522 - the first circumnavigation of the world of Magellan, the discovery of the Strait of Magellan, Mariana, Philippine, Moluccas
• 1513 - Discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Vasco Nunez de Balboa
• 1513 - Discovery of Florida and the Gulf Stream
• 1519-1553 - discoveries and conquests in South America by Cortes, Pizarro, Almagro, Orellana
• 1528-1543 - Spanish discoveries of the interior regions of North America
• 1596 - Discovery of Spitsbergen by Willem Barents
• 1526-1598 - Spanish discoveries of the Solomon, Caroline, Marquesas, Marshall Islands, New Guinea
• 1577-1580 - second circumnavigation of the world by the Englishman F. Drake, opening of the Drake Passage
• 1582 - Ermak's campaign to Siberia
• 1576-1585 - British search for the northwest passage to India and discovery in the North Atlantic
• 1586-1629 - Russian campaigns in Siberia
• 1633-1649 - discovery by Russian explorers of East Siberian rivers up to Kolyma
• 1638-1648 - discovery of Transbaikalia and Lake Baikal by Russian explorers
• 1639-1640 - exploration by Ivan Moskvin of the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk
• The last quarter of the 16th century - the first third of the 17th century - the development of the eastern shores of North America by the British and French
• 1603-1638 - French exploration of the interior of Canada, discovery of the Great Lakes
• 1606 - the discovery of the northern coast of Australia by the Spaniard Kyros the Dutchman Janson independently
• 1612-1632 - British discoveries of the northeastern coast of North America
• 1616 - Cape Horn discovered by Schouten and Le Mer
• 1642 - Tasman discovered the island of Tasmania
• 1643 - Tasman opens New Zealand
• 1648 - the opening of the Dezhnev Strait between America and Asia (Bering Strait)
• 1648 - discovery of Kamchatka by Fedor Popov

Ships of the era of great geographical discoveries

In the Middle Ages, the sides of ships were sheathed with planks, the upper row of planks overlapped the lower one. This sturdy casing. but the ships get heavy from this, and the edges of the plating belts create unnecessary hull resistance. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, the French shipbuilder Julien proposed to sheathe ships end-to-end. The boards were riveted to the frames with copper stainless rivets. The joints were glued with resin. This skin was named "caravel", and the ships began to be called caravels. Caravels - the main ships of the era of the great geographical discoveries were built at all shipyards of the world for another two hundred years after the death of their designer.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the flute was invented in Holland. Fleite in Dutch means to flow, flow. These ships could not be overwhelmed by any of the largest ramparts. They, like traffic jams, took off on a wave. The upper parts of the sides of the flute bent inward, the masts were very high: they were one and a half times longer than the length of the hull, the yards were short, the sails were therefore narrow, easy to maintain, which made it possible to reduce the number of sailors in the crew. And, most importantly, the flutes were four times longer than wide, which made them very fast. In flutes, sides were also installed end-to-end, the masts were made up of several elements. The flutes were much more capacious than the caravels. From 1600 to 1660, 15,000 flutes were built and sailed the oceans, displacing caravels

Navigators of the Age of Discovery

• Alvise Cadamosto (Portugal, Venice, 1432-1488) - Cape Verde Islands
• Diego Can (Portugal, 1440 - 1486) - West African coast
• Bartalomeu Dias (Portugal, 1450-1500) - Cape of Good Hope
• Vasco da Gama (Portugal, 1460-1524) - path to India around Africa
• Pedro Cabral (Portugal, 1467-1526) - Brazil
• Christopher Columbus (Genoa, Spain, 1451-1506) - America
• Nunez de Balboa (Spain, 1475-1519) - Pacific Ocean
• Francisco de Orellana (Spain, 1511-1546) - Amazon River
• Fernando Magellan (Portugal, Spain (1480-1521) - first circumnavigation of the world
• John Cabot (Genoa, England, 1450-1498) - Labrador, Newfoundland
• Jean cartier (France, 1491-1557) east coast of Canada
• Martin Frobisher (England, 1535-1594) - polar seas of Canada
• Alvaro Mendanha (Spain, 1541-1595) - Solomon Islands
• Pedro de Quiros (Spain, 1565-1614) - Tuamotu Archipelago, New Hybrids
• Luis de Torres (Spain, 1560-1614) - the island of New Guinea, the strait that separates this island from Australia
• Francis Drake (England, 1540-1596) - second voyage around the world
• Willem Barents (Netherlands, 1550-1597) - first polar explorer
• Henry Hudson (England, 1550-1611) - explorer of the North Atlantic
• Willem Schouten (Holland, 1567-1625) - Cape Horn
• Abel Tasman (Holland, 1603-1659) - Tasmania Island, New Zealand
• Willem Jansson (Holland, 1570-1632) - Australia
• Semyon Dezhnev (Russia, 1605-1673) - the Kolyma river, the strait between Asia and America

As you probably heard, not so long ago people discovered geographical discovery of new time, there are actually lakes under the more than four kilometers of Antarctic ice! One of these lakes is located directly under the Vostok research station and, of course, this lake was given the appropriate name. According to scientists, the length of this lake is about 231 meters, and its width is about the same as, for example, the area of ​​the whole of Northern Ireland! There is less water in Lake Vostok than in the world's largest lake Baikal. Despite the fact that the lake is at least a million years old, the water did not immediately come into contact with the atmosphere. Although until now contact of the lake with scientists has not happened, because the lake was found thanks to a radar survey from a special satellite. At the moment, ice drilling has been stopped at a distance of about two hundred and forty meters from the lake.

At the moment, the Russian Foundation for Basic Research has announced a competition, the purpose of which is to select the best project that will make it possible to penetrate the lake, breaking through a centuries-old layer of ice strata, and samples of lake water are taken. The difficulty in sampling is that the lake itself, and the water samples taken from it, should not come into any contact with our modern atmosphere. Leading scientists believe that specimens of living organisms hitherto unknown to science can be found in the ancient reservoir, which exist due to the constant flow of atmospheric air from the lower layer of ice into the lake, which came here millions of years ago! Of course, this will be the greatest geographical discovery of modern times! The discovery of the new Lake Vostok took place during the implementation of one large-scale scientific project of drilling an ice well at the site of the Vostok station, which was started back in the distant 70s of the last century. But in the course of this project, there was absolutely another important discovery! It is associated with the restoration of the climatic conditions of our planet, their cyclicity, chemical composition, restoration of the properties of the atmosphere, which it possessed during the educational period of the Antarctic ice, which is already about 450 thousand years old.
I think these discoveries will soon be replaced by others geographical discoveries of modern times, which will be directly related to the study of Lake Vostok. Scientists around the world have no doubt that soon people, thanks to the research carried out in Antarctica, will receive the latest and most accurate data on the climate of our planet, and this, in turn, will lead to even more modern discoveries. They will help us understand many of the challenges of global climate change in our times. The future of such a science as geography is theoretical discoveries, including physical and geographical, which arose as a result of the study of previously uncharacteristic geographic objects for the Earth, for example, landscapes, anthropogenic complexes, economic systems, etc. The future of geography as a science is any theoretical discoveries, including physical and geographical, which may arise in the process of studying geographic objects that were not characteristic of our planet earlier, namely: cultural landscapes, economic systems, anthropogenic complexes, etc. the most common reason for the formation of new geographic features is the result of economic activity. Thus, forest parks and quarries, various landscapes and dumps were formed. It is thanks to the improvement and development of geography as a science that in our modern time, the latest geographical discoveries of a world scale are taking place! Global changes in the world outlook are brought about by the study of such a geographical concept as the ecological potential of landscapes. At the moment, research in this area is just beginning! So, let's hope that the newest geographical discoveries made in the 21st century will change our lives for the better!

Any modern person knows that there are six continents on Earth, this number includes North America, South America and Australia. They refer to such a historical phenomenon as the Great Geographical Discoveries. In this article, we'll take a quick look at them!

Nowadays, it is difficult to imagine life without such wonderful places as New Zealand and the Hawaiian Islands. Now almost everyone has the opportunity to visit these parts of the planet for relatively little money. Has it always been this way? Of course not. There was a time when people did not even know about the existence of these places.

Periodization of the great geographical discoveries

If we talk about determining the period of the Great Geographical Discoveries, then they occurred at the end of the 15th - middle of the 17th century. Let's see why these discoveries are called "Great". This name is due to the fact that they were of particular importance for the fate of our world in general, and Europe in particular.

Great geographical discoveries were made at their own peril and risk, because travelers did not know what exactly awaited them. The only thing that they clearly understood was the importance of their wanderings. There were enough reasons. Let's take a closer look at some of them.

The Age of Discovery is divided into two periods:

• The Spanish-Portuguese period (late 15th - mid-16th century) The most famous and, of course, the most important of the discoveries in this period were: the discovery of America (the first expedition of Christopher Columbus in 1492); the opening of the sea route to India - Vasco da Gamma (1497-1498); F. Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world (1519-1522).
• The period of Russian and Dutch discoveries (mid-16th - mid-17th century). It usually includes: The discovery by the Russians of all of North Asia (from the Ermak campaign to the voyage of Popov-Dezhnev in 1648), the Dutch Pacific expeditions and the discovery of Australia.

The origins of the great geographical discoveries

There were only three main reasons for the Great Geographical Discoveries. First, they were driven by the economic development of Europe. Towards the end of the 15th century. European trade with the countries of the East was going through a great crisis. The crisis was due to the fact that a new harsh state appeared on the vast expanses of Asia Minor - the Ottoman Empire.

Therefore, the trade routes of the Mediterranean were completely cut off, because earlier they passed through the disappeared Byzantium. In the XV century. in the countries of Western Europe, people needed gold and silver as a means of circulation, and because of the crisis they felt an acute shortage of it. The impoverished nobility at that time was in search of both gold itself and new trade routes. This nobility made up the bulk of the conquerors, who were also called conquistadors. The state, realizing its precarious position, was forced to make concessions and allocate funds for sea expeditions.

Secondly, the significant success of Europe in science and technology became an important reason for the Great Geographical Discoveries. First of all, the development in the structure of improved ships and also the very technique of navigation. In the XIV-XV centuries. the first caravel was created - a fairly fast ship that had spacious holds.

The importance of the caravel was that it was intended for ocean navigation. From the point of view of science, at the same time, the hypothesis was approved that the Earth has the shape of a ball, which helped in orientation. Geographic maps were rewritten with new introductions, and the compass and astrolabe were improved a lot. All these discoveries were alongside, for example, the invention of watches and chronology. For more details, see the article.

Great travelers and their geographical discoveries

Everyone knows that the great Spanish navigator H. Columbus in the 1490s discovered for Europe, a very important and necessary America at that time. In total, he made four voyages to the "new land". Moreover, his discoveries include: Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, land from Dominica to the Virgin Islands, as well as Trinidad and the wonderful Bahamas. Columbus just wanted to open India. Since for a long time in Europe, people believed that it was in fabulous India that there was a mass of gold. These beliefs, by the way, were started by the legendary Marco Polo.

But it so happened that Columbus discovered America.

And you immediately ask: “Why then is America called“ America ”and not Colombia ?! Where is the copyright! " I answer immediately: there are persistent rumors that a certain Amerigo Vespucci, one of the clerks of the Medici house (who gave money for sailing in the Oceans), discovered the continent of the New World a year and a half before Columbus. Everything seems to be ironclad, but unfortunately there is no evidence of this. If anyone knows - write in the comments, otherwise Newton and I haven't figured it out yet 😉 But the name of Columbus is the name of the country - Colombia.

You can also find other fun historical facts.

We must also not forget about Fernand Magellan, who discovered the strait, which was later named after him. He became the first European to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. But his most famous journey is around the world. The great Portuguese and Spanish navigator was awarded the title of adelantado, translated as "pioneer", which the king himself sent to the conquest of new lands.

But, not only the West participated in new discoveries, Russian expeditions were also very important. The annexation of Siberia was of great importance at that time. It was started in 1581 by the campaign of a detachment of the well-known Cossack ataman Ermak Timofeevich. Ermak's campaign, with the help of government approval, contributed to the annexation of Western Siberia to the Russian state. Actually, from that time on, Siberia and the Far East became colonies of the Muscovy. These Europeans sailed on the seas, dying of scurvy and hunger ..., and the Russians “without bothering”, found another way.

One of the most significant was the discovery in 1648 of the strait between America and Asia, which was made by Semyon Dezhnev together with Fedot Alekseev (Popov).

Russian ambassadors played a significant role in improving maps and routes. Among the most famous are I.D. Khokhlov and Anisim Gribov. They participated in the description and study of the routes to Central Asia.

The consequences of the great geographical discoveries

Geographical discoveries have led to certain world changes. First, there was a "price revolution". The price plummeted due to the surging flow of gold and silver, which led to an instant rise in prices. This caused new problems in the field of economics. Second, world trade expanded significantly and began to strengthen.

This was due to new products such as tobacco, coffee, cocoa, tea, rice, sugar and potatoes, which Europeans had not heard of before. Due to their inclusion in the turnover, the volume of trade has increased greatly. Thirdly, the development of new lands and travel on the ocean contributed to the strengthening and improvement of international relations. The only negative consequence is the beginning of colonization, everything else, in principle, had a positive effect on the world order.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the progress of mankind depends on many reasons, but the most important is the desire to improve the conditions of existence. Thanks to the great geographical discoveries, in a relatively short time, new lands were developed, relations between peoples were improved and trade was improved. The era of VGO went down in history as one of the most important events in the life of mankind.

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© Alexander Chudinov

Editing Andrey Puchkov

Great geographical discoveries and the beginning of modern times in western Europe.

the period of the 15th -17th centuries, during which the Europeans discovered new lands and sea routes to Africa, America, Asia and Oceania in search of new trading partners and sources of goods that were in great demand in Europe. Historians usually correlate the "Great Geographical Discoveries" with the pioneering long-distance sea voyages of Portuguese and Spanish travelers in search of alternative trade routes in "India" for gold, silver and spices.

The Portuguese began a systematic exploration of the Atlantic coast of Africa in 1418 under the patronage of Prince Henry, eventually circling Africa and entering the Indian Ocean in 1488.

In 1492, in search of a trade route to Asia, the Spanish monarchs approved Christopher Columbus's plan to travel west across the Atlantic in search of the Indies. He landed on an uncharted continent, opening the New World, America to Europeans. In order to prevent a conflict between Spain and Portugal, the Tordesillas Treaty was concluded, according to which the world was divided into two parts, where each of the parties received exclusive rights to the lands they discovered.

In 1498, a Portuguese expedition led by Vasco da Gama was able to reach India, circumnavigating Africa and opening a direct trade route to Asia. The Portuguese soon moved further east, reaching the Spice Islands in 1512 and landing in China a year later.

In 1522, the expedition of Fernand Magellan, a Portuguese in the Spanish service, set off westward, making the world's first round the world. Meanwhile, the Spanish conquistadors explored the American continent, and later some of the islands in the South Pacific.

In 1495, the French and the British and, a little later, the Dutch joined the race to discover new lands, challenging the Iberian monopoly of sea trade routes and exploring new routes, first north, then across the Pacific Ocean around South America, but ultimately following by the Portuguese around Africa to the Indian Ocean; discovering Australia in 1606, New Zealand in 1642, and the Hawaiian Islands in 1778. Meanwhile, from the 1580s to the 1640s, Russian pioneers discovered and conquered almost all of Siberia.

The great geographical discoveries contributed to the transition from the Middle Ages to modern times, along with the Renaissance and the rise of European nation states. Maps of distant lands contributed to the development of a humanistic worldview and expansion of horizons, giving rise to a new era of scientific and intellectual curiosity. The advancement of Europeans to new lands led to the creation and rise of colonial empires, during contacts between the Old and New Worlds, Columbian exchanges took place: plants, animals, foodstuffs, whole peoples (including slaves) moved around the planet, infectious diseases, and also there was a cultural exchange between civilizations, it was one of the most important stages of globalization in ecology, agriculture and culture in history. European discoveries (eng.) Rus. continued after the era of the great geographical discoveries, as a result of which the entire surface of the globe was mapped, and distant civilizations were able to meet each other.

New time (or new history) is a period in the history of mankind, located between the Middle Ages and Modern times.

The concept of "new history" appeared in European historical and philosophical thought during the Renaissance as an element of the three-term division of history proposed by humanists into ancient, middle and new. The criterion for determining the "new time", its "novelty" in comparison with the previous era was, from the point of view of humanists, flourishing during the Renaissance secular science and culture, that is, not a socio-economic, but a spiritual and cultural factor. However, this period is rather contradictory in its content: the High Renaissance, the Reformation and humanism coexisted with a massive surge of irrationalism, the development of demonology, a phenomenon that has received the name of "witch hunt" in the literature.

Not all peoples entered this period at the same time.

One thing is certain: at a given period of time going on the emergence of a new civilization, a new system of relations, a Eurocentric world, a “European miracle” and the expansion of European civilization to other regions of the world.

Periodization.

As a rule, in Soviet historiography, within the framework of the formation theory, its beginning was associated with the English Revolution of the mid-17th century, which began in 1640. Among other events that are taken as the starting point of the New Time, the events associated with the Reformation (1517), the discovery of the New World by the Spaniards in 1492, the fall of Constantinople (1453), or even the beginning of the Great French Revolution (1789) are called.

The situation is even more complicated with determining the end time of a given period. In Soviet historiography, the point of view that the period of modern history ended in 1917, when the socialist revolution took place in Russia, was undividedly dominated. According to the most widespread modern point of view, consideration of events related to modern times should be completed by the First World War (1914-1918).

The discussion on the periodization of modern history continues today.

At the same time, two substages are usually distinguished within the epoch of modern times, their border is the Napoleonic Wars - from the Great French Revolution to the Congress of Vienna.

Not only did Europeans' ideas about Earth have undergone significant changes, but the place of the Earth itself in the Universe has undergone an even more radical revision. In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus's book "On the Conversions of the Celestial Spheres" was published from under the printing press, which proclaimed the rejection of the geocentric system of Ptolemy that had dominated for almost one and a half thousand years.

Technique and production

The development of technology at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries had an even greater impact on the daily life of people. Printing was one of the most important innovations of the time. The invention and implementation of a seemingly simple technology had a revolutionary impact on the speed of replication and dissemination of information, as well as on its accessibility (printed books were much cheaper than handwritten ones). Johannes Gutenberg is considered the inventor of book printing. Around 1440, he built his printing press. It was possible to develop a technology for making stamps (letters) not from wood, but from metal. And it was he who introduced the most important idea - typing text from individual letters instead of making a board - a stamp for the entire page.

With the onset of the New Age, the handicraft production of the Middle Ages was replaced by the manufactory type of production. In manufactories, labor remained manual, but in contrast to medieval workshops, a division of labor was introduced, due to which labor productivity increased significantly.

The development of mining and metallurgy was of great importance.

Also, since the 16th century, fossil coal has been used for heating and in production.

Renaissance.

The Renaissance, or Renaissance (French Renaissance, Italian Rinascimento; from “ri” - “again” or “reborn”) is an era in the history of European culture that replaced the culture of the Middle Ages and preceded the culture of modern times. The approximate chronological framework of the era - the beginning of the XIV - the last quarter of the XVI centuries and in some cases - the first decades of the XVII century (for example, in England and, especially, in Spain).

A distinctive feature of the Renaissance is the secular nature of culture and its anthropocentrism (that is, interest, first of all, in a person and his activities). Interest in ancient culture appears, its “revival” takes place, and this is how the term appeared.

General characteristics.

The growth of the city-republics led to an increase in the influence of estates that did not participate in feudal relations: artisans and artisans, merchants, bankers. All of them were alien to the hierarchical system of values ​​created by the medieval, largely ecclesiastical culture, and its ascetic, humble spirit. This led to the emergence of humanism - a social and philosophical movement that considered a person, his personality, his freedom, his active, creative activity as the highest value and a criterion for assessing social institutions.

In the cities, secular centers of science and art began to arise, the activities of which were outside the control of the church. The new worldview turned to antiquity, seeing in it an example of humanistic, non-ascetic relations. The invention of printing in the middle of the 15th century played a huge role in the spread of ancient heritage and new views throughout Europe.

The renaissance arose in Italy, where its first signs were noticeable back in the 13th and 14th centuries (in the activities of the Pisano, Giotto, Orcagna, etc.), but it was firmly established only from the 20s of the 15th century. In France, Germany and other countries, this movement began much later. By the end of the 15th century, it reached its peak. In the 16th century, a crisis of the ideas of the Renaissance was brewing, which resulted in the emergence of Mannerism and Baroque.

Causes

The most common cause of the bourgeois revolution is the conflict between the new productive forces developing in the depths of the feudal system and feudal production relations (or their remnants, vestiges), as well as feudal institutions, although this conflict is often obscured by political and ideological contradictions.

driving forces

In the early bourgeois revolutions and some revolutions of the 19th century, the driving forces were the bourgeoisie and the peasants oppressed by feudalism, artisans, and the emerging working class. The leader, the hegemon of the masses, was the bourgeoisie, which was then playing a revolutionary role. The bourgeoisie fought against feudal property, but being the owner itself, nowhere did it dare to abolish private ownership of land. The most revolutionary force in the early bourgeois revolutions was the working "lower classes" of the countryside and cities. When they seized the initiative, the bourgeois revolution achieved the most significant successes.

By the beginning of the 17th century. English industry has made great strides. New industries developed. The decisive role passed to the manufacture. Landless peasants became factory workers.

England in the 17th century. found itself at the crossroads of major trade routes. The volume of trade with other countries grew rapidly.

The breakdown of the feudal system in the English countryside began much earlier than in the city. The countryside has long and firmly been connected not only with the domestic, but also with the foreign market. The first manufactories also appeared here.

Capitalism, gaining more and more solid positions in agriculture, industry and trade, changed the structure (structure) of English society. New people come to the fore. A new class was formed - gentry nobles, entrepreneurs, merchants-traders, wealthy farmers who owned significant capital, but were deprived of political power.

Thus, by the beginning of the 17th century. the feudal order in England began to impede the development of industry, trade and agriculture more and more. All land was considered the property of the king. The nobility had to pay a certain amount of money to the royal treasury when the land was inherited or sold. The nobles (they were still called knights in the old way) were considered the holders of the royal land, and not its full owners. An obstacle to the transformation of land from conditional, "by the will of the king" (feudal) property into private (capitalist) property was the royal power of the Stuart dynasty (since 1603). The royal power stood on the side of the old, obsolete feudal order. Royal extortions, arbitrary taxes and fines, numerous constraints and prohibitions prevented the accumulation of capital in the hands of the bourgeoisie and "new nobles", and limited freedom of trade. The peasants, artisans, and factory workers suffered the most from the preservation of the feudal system.

The increase in taxes, the imposition of levies and a clear desire to rule without parliament, a foreign policy that ran counter to the interests of the bourgeoisie and the "new" nobility, provoked an ever louder and more resolute opposition from the opposition. The conflict between absolutism and parliament on the most important issues of domestic and foreign policy was the main prerequisite for the revolution.

Capitalism again acts as an enemy and an active fighter against absolutism. However, in England, the royal power was somewhat stronger than in Holland.

In 1629, King Charles I dissolved parliament in 1629 and began to rule independently, imposing arbitrary extortions and taxes on the population.

1640 Charles I was forced to convene parliament. It was named "Long" because meeting in the fall, it sat for 12 years. The opening day of its sessions (November 3, 1640) is considered the day of the beginning of the English Revolution. The House of Commons consisted of representatives of the "new nobility" and the bourgeoisie, whose goal was to end feudal relations and deal a decisive blow to royal absolutism.

As a result of the revolution, feudal ownership of land was abolished. New classes were given access to state power. Freedom of industrial and commercial enterprise was proclaimed, and the main obstacles to economic growth were removed. As a result, the volume of diversified manufacturing began to increase, which became dominant in the industry of England. In terms of pace and scale, English industry at the end of the XVIII century. ranked first in Europe.

English Revolution of the 17th century. was the most important event in modern history. The revolution decisively put an end to the feudal order and thus opened the way for the development of a new mode of production and new social relations. Thus, the connection of these events with the economic rise of England, the growth of her power in the seas and in the colonies becomes obvious.

Alexander 1 and Nikolay 1.

Alexander 1 ruled 1801-1825, the grandson of Catherine 2 and the son of Paul 1 and Princess Maria Feodorovna, b. 1777. Initially, it was planned that the internal policy of Alexander 1 and foreign policy would develop in accordance with the course outlined by Catherine 2. In the summer of June 24, 1801, an unspoken committee was created under Alexander 1. It included the companions of the young emperor. In fact, the council was the highest (unofficial) advisory body in Russia.

The beginning of the reign of the new emperor was marked by the liberal reforms of Alexander 1. The young ruler tried to give the country a constitution, to change the political system of the country. However, he had many opponents. This led to the creation of the Indispensable Committee on April 5, 1803, whose members had the right to challenge the royal decrees. But, nevertheless, some of the peasants were freed. The decree "On free farmers" was issued on February 20, 1803.

Training was also given serious importance. Education reform Alexander 1 actually led to the creation of the state education system. It was headed by the Ministry of Public Education. Also, the State Council was formed under Alexander 1, which was opened with great solemnity on January 1, 1810.

Further, during public administration reform Alexander 1, the collegiums that had actually ceased to function (established in the era of Peter 1) were replaced by ministries. In total, 8 ministries have been established: of the interior, finance, military and land forces, naval forces, commerce, public education, foreign affairs, and justice. The ministers who governed them were subordinate to the Senate. The ministerial reform of Alexander I was completed by the summer of 1811.

Speransky M.M. had a serious influence on the course of further reforms. He was entrusted with the development state reform. According to the project of this outstanding figure, a constitutional monarchy was to be created in the country. The power of the sovereign was planned to be limited by the parliament (or a body of a similar type), consisting of 2 chambers. However, due to the fact that the foreign policy of Alexander I was quite difficult, and tensions in relations with France were constantly increasing, the reform plan proposed by Speransky was perceived as anti-state. Speransky himself received his resignation in March 1812.

1812 was the hardest year for Russia. But, the victory over Bonaparte significantly increased the authority of the emperor. It is worth noting that the peasant question under Alexander 1 was slowly, but nevertheless, tried to be resolved. But the commissioning of the project was impossible due to many factors.

V domestic policy it is worth noting such features as military settlements under Alexander 1. They are better known under the name "Arakcheevskie". Arakcheev's settlements aroused the discontent of almost the entire population of the country. Also, a ban was introduced on any secret societies. It began operating in 1822. The liberal rule, which Alexander 1 dreamed of, whose short biography simply cannot contain all the facts, turned into harsh police measures of the post-war period.

The beginning of the resolution of the issue of serfdom, and the Arakcheevism, and the greatest victory over Napoleon. These are the results of the reign of Alexander 1.

Nikolay 1. Years of life (1796-1855), years of government (1825-1855).

Nicholas is the third of the five sons of Emperor Paul I, so he could not count on the throne. From an early age he was fond of military affairs, preparing for a military career.

From the very beginning of his reign, Nicholas I declared the need for reforms and created a "committee on December 6, 1826" to prepare the reforms. A large role in the state began to play "His Majesty's Own Chancellery", which was constantly expanding with the creation of many departments.

Nicholas I instructed a special commission under the leadership of M.M. Speransky to develop a new Code of Laws of the Russian Empire. By 1833, two editions were printed: "The Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire", starting with the Cathedral Code of 1649 and up to the last decree of Alexander I, and "The Code of Laws of the Russian Empire". The codification of laws carried out under Nicholas I streamlined Russian legislation, facilitated the conduct of legal practice, but did not bring about changes in the political and social structure of Russia.

Emperor Nicholas I, in his spirit, was an autocrat and an ardent opponent of the introduction of a constitution in the country and liberal reforms. The militarization of the state apparatus under the auspices of the monarch is a characteristic feature of the political regime of Nicholas I. Literature, art, education fell under censorship, and measures were taken to restrict the periodical press.

In social policy, Nicholas I emphasized the strengthening of the estate system. The nobility was acquired only by inheritance. And for service people to create new classes - "bureaucratic", "eminent", "honorable" citizens. In 1845, the emperor issued the "Decree on entitlements" (the indivisibility of noble estates during inheritance).

Serfdom under Nicholas I enjoyed the support of the state, and the tsar signed a manifesto in which he stated that there would be no changes in the position of serfs.

The most important aspects of foreign policy during the reign of Nicholas I were the return to the principles of the Holy Alliance (Russia's struggle against revolutionary movements in Europe) and the Eastern question. Russia under Nicholas I participated in the Caucasian War (1817-1864), the Russian-Persian War (1826-1828), the Russian-Turkish War (1828-1829), as a result of which Russia annexed the eastern part of Armenia , the entire Caucasus, received the eastern coast of the Black Sea. During the reign of Nicholas I, the most memorable was the Crimean War of 1853-1856. Russia was forced to fight against Turkey, England, France. During the siege of Sevastopol, Nicholas I was defeated in the war and lost the right to have a naval base on the Black Sea.

The unsuccessful war showed the backwardness of Russia from the advanced European countries and how unviable the conservative modernization of the empire turned out to be.

Nicholas I died on February 18, 1855. Summing up the results of the reign of Nicholas I, historians call his era the most unfavorable in the history of Russia, since the Time of Troubles.

Peasant reform

And although, abolishing serfdom, the autocracy was forced to go against the wishes of the nobility - its social support, the obvious impossibility of Russia to claim the role of the leading European power within the framework of the previous system was clear to Emperor Alexander II.

1857 - Secret committee to prepare the reform. The nobles were asked to form provincial committees to discuss the conditions for the liberation of the peasants.

On February 19, 1861, Alexander II signed the Manifesto and Regulations on the peasants who emerged from serfdom, prepared by the Main Committee for Peasant Affairs. These documents stated that serfdom was abolished, and the former serfs were granted the rights of “free rural inhabitants”. The peasants for the land allotments allocated to them had to serve labor duty or pay money to the landowner, that is, they were in the position of the so-called "temporarily liable". Upon the conclusion of agreements ("charter letters"), the dependence of the peasants on the landowner was finally eliminated, and the treasury paid the landowners (in interest-bearing securities) the value of their lands, which had been transferred to peasant allotments. After that, the peasants had to pay off their debt to the state for 49 years with annual installments of “redemption payments”. The peasants paid redemption payments and all taxes together, "peacefully." Each peasant was “assigned” to his community and could not leave it without the consent of the “world”.

Administrative reform was started on January 1, 1864 by the signing by Alexander II of the Regulations on provincial and district zemstvo institutions. In accordance with it, the zemstvos were all-estates elective institutions. Elections to them were held once every 3 years on the basis of a property qualification for three curiae - landowning, urban and rural peasant societies. The meetings of the vowels were elected by the executive body - the zemstvo council.

Zemstvos were not allowed to resolve national issues, as well as to contacts with other zemstvos. The decisions of meetings of vowels and zemstvo councils could be canceled by the governor.

In 1870, the City Regulation was issued, which introduced all-estate local government in cities. The public councilors of the city council elected from their midst the mayor and members of the city council. The competence of self-government bodies in cities corresponded to the competence of zemstvo institutions in rural areas.

Judicial reform was started in 1864 and introduced a progressive legal procedure. According to her, the Russian court was based on the principles of lack of estates, equality of parties before the law, transparency, adversarial process, and independence of judges. Two types of courts were introduced - world and general.

Justices of the peace were elected by the district zemstvo assembly and approved by the senate (the highest court). The jurisdiction of the magistrates' courts included the consideration of criminal and civil cases, the damage for which amounted to no more than 500 rubles.

The general courts tried serious civil and criminal cases with the participation of a jury, chosen by lot from local inhabitants of all classes. At the apex of the judicial system was the Senate, which could overturn the decisions of the courts.

A new word in the judicial system of Russia was also the introduction of the institution of the legal profession, which consisted of a person with legal education - "attorneys at law".

Start military reform was laid in 1857 by the abolition of military settlements. In 1874, a new Statute on military service was issued and universal military service was introduced. A 6-year term of active service in the army was established; those who had served were credited for 9 years in the reserve (in the navy, respectively - 7 years and 3 years).

According to the principles university reform In 1863, a new University Charter was issued, according to which professorial corporations received broad self-government. The council of each university elected all administration officials as well as professors to vacant positions.

Reform of public education was an integral part of social transformation. According to the laws of 1864, the sphere of primary and secondary education was democratized. With the expansion of the network of educational institutions, it became possible for children of all classes and religions to receive education, albeit for a fairly high fee.

Reform in the field of printing was held in 1862 and 1865. The Provisional Regulations of 1865 abolished the preliminary censorship of periodicals, leaving the administrative authorities the right to close the publication through the courts. During the years of the reform, the number of printing houses and the titles of literature published by them has sharply increased.

Civil War

Some scholars believe that the chronological framework of the civil war is October 1917 - October 1922. Others believe that it is more correct to call the date of the beginning of the civil war in 1917, and the end - in 1923.

There is also no consensus on the causes of the civil war in Russia. But, among the most important reasons, scientists call:

Dispersal of the Constituent Assembly by the Bolsheviks;

The desire of the Bolsheviks who received power to retain it by any means;

The willingness of all participants to use violence as a way to resolve the conflict;

The signing in March 1918 of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany;

The solution by the Bolsheviks of the most acute agrarian question contrary to the interests of the large landowners;

Nationalization of real estate, banks, means of production;

The activities of food detachments in the villages, which led to an exacerbation of relations between the new government and the peasantry.

Scientists distinguish 3 stages of the civil war. The first stage lasted from October 1917 to November 1918. This was the time when the Bolsheviks came to power. From October 1917, individual armed clashes gradually turned into full-scale hostilities. It is characteristic that the beginning of the civil war in 1917-1922 unfolded against the background of a larger-scale military conflict - the First World War. This was the main reason for the subsequent intervention of the Entente. It should be noted that each of the Entente countries had their own reasons for participating in the intervention. So, Turkey wanted to establish itself in the Transcaucasus, France - to extend its influence to the north of the Black Sea region, Germany - to the Kola Peninsula, Japan was interested in Siberian territories. The goal of England and the United States was both to expand their own spheres of influence and to prevent the rise of Germany.

The second stage dates from November 1918 - March 1920. It was at this time that the decisive events of the civil war took place. In connection with the cessation of hostilities on the fronts of the First World War and the defeat of Germany, the fighting on the territory of Russia gradually lost its intensity. But, at the same time, a turning point came in favor of the Bolsheviks, who controlled most of the country's territory.

The final stage in the chronology of the Civil War lasted from March 1920 to October 1922. Military operations of this period were conducted mainly on the outskirts of Russia (the Soviet-Polish war, military clashes in the Far East).

The end of the civil war was marked by the victory of the Bolsheviks. Historians cite the widespread support of the popular masses as its most important reason. Seriously influenced the development of the situation and the fact that weakened by the First World War, the Entente countries were unable to coordinate their actions and strike at the territory of the former Russian Empire with all their might.

The results of the civil war in Russia were appalling. The country was practically in ruins. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Western Ukraine, Bessarabia and part of Armenia seceded from Russia. The country's production level plummeted

India

Events in India developed in a direction that had been outlined even before the war. In 1917, under pressure from the massive national-political movement of the Indian National Congress, the British government announced “preparing the conditions for the creation of a responsible government in India,” without mentioning the status of the dominion.

the relationship between the authorities and the people was aggravated every now and then. The bloodiest incident occurred in 1919 when troops opened fire on a crowd in Amritsar. The greatest impact was achieved by the nonviolent resistance campaigns led by Congress and religious leader Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948). The protesters have adopted the tactics of disobeying the authorities, without providing them with physical resistance. It turned out to be so effective that it is still used by demonstrators all over the world today.

Internal turmoil

The situation was complicated by the growing mistrust between Hindus and Muslims, which in the 1920s. exploded in a series of armed skirmishes.

In the early 1930s. Muslims for the first time demanded the creation of a separate Islamic state if India were granted independence.

India Government Act 1935, giving local government to Indian authorities. Congress refused to make concessions to the Muslim League, which represented the interests of the Islamic community, and the gulf between them widened.

At midnight on August 14-15, 1947, India and Pakistan became independent states, remaining within the British Commonwealth of Nations, as the old empire was now called.

Southeast Asia

The retreat of the British did not stop there, and Burma and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) soon gained independence. 1957 was followed by the formation in 1963 of the Malay Federation.

In neighboring Vietnam, the communists led a nationwide war against imperialism. The French tried to return Indochina by force of arms, but were utterly defeated at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954), and after their departure, the country was divided into the communist North and the pro-Western South. Subjected to attacks by guerrillas operating with the blessing of the North, South Vietnam began to receive more and more assistance from the United States. Thus began a terrible war that devastated Vietnam and inflicted heavy moral damage on America.

Africa

In Africa, with its backward economy and tribal strife, colonial rule could have lasted much longer.

In 1957, Kwame Nkrumah launched a powerful campaign of Western-style strikes and demonstrations that forced Britain to grant independence to the Gold Coast colony (present-day Ghana). The last imperial illusions of the metropolis were buried in 1956, when, during the Suez crisis, Britain and France tried to seize the Suez Canal, but under pressure from the United States were forced to leave Egypt.

In 1960, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan announced his intention to leave the Black Continent. By 1964, Nigeria, Tanganyika and Zanzibar, Uganda, Kenya, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Nyasaland (Malawi) gained independence. The same wind of change has touched Jamaica and several other island colonies in the Caribbean.

France is losing ground

For France, the process of decolonization was much more painful. In 1956, she reluctantly abandoned her protectorate over Tunisia and Morocco, but Algeria and other colonies remained part of the metropolis. in 1954, an uprising of the local population broke out, it soon grew into a cross between a colonial rebellion and a civil war.

De Gaulle makes concessions

In 1958, a coup brought General de Gaulle to power. De Gaulle reconciled with the independence of Algeria and put an end to French colonial rule over vast territories south of the Sahara.

Reacting to the development of international events, Belgium without any preparation granted freedom to Congo (Zaire) in 1960, because of which this large and densely populated country was immediately engulfed in a bloody and civil war.

And only one colonial power did not want to surrender its positions. Portugal, in which a pro-fascist regime ruled for a long time, tenaciously held on to its African colonies (Guinea, Angola, Mozambique), where the rebel movement was also gaining strength. Only the victorious revolution of 1974 in the metropolis brought independence to the Portuguese colonies.

South Africa

The processes of decolonization in southern Africa, as in Algeria, were complicated by the presence of large communities of white settlers. In Southern Rhodesia (since 1964, simply Rhodesia, since its northern neighbor began to be called Zambia), the ruling white minority, in opposition to London, proclaimed independence. Despite a severe trade embargo, Rhodesia held on firmly until the collapse of the economy pushed it towards new negotiations and transformation into a multinational Zimbabwe (1980).

South Africa was an independent state ruled by a white minority. She also had her own colony - the former German possession of South-West Africa, transferred to it at one time under the mandate of the League of Nations and gained independence under the name of Namibia only in 1990, when radical changes took place in South Africa itself.

Production

Along with the traditional ways of improving production (mechanization, chemicalization, electrification), the newest directions of production are intensively developing, in which six main directions can be distinguished:

1. electronization;
2. complex automation or the introduction of robotics and the creation of flexible production systems, automatic factories;
3. restructuring of the energy sector;
4. production of fundamentally new materials;
5. accelerated development of biotechnology;
6. cosmization and the emergence of the aerospace industry

the transition from ordinary (paper) to machine (computer) information began.

Russia in the 90s.

November 6, 1991 - Boris Yeltsin, by his decree, terminated the activities of the CPSU and the Communist Party of the RSFSR.

1992-1993 - the resignation of the first Russian government and the constitutional crisis.

1993 - dispersal of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation.

1994-1996 - the first Chechen war.

August 31, 1996 - the Khasavyurt agreements are adopted. The withdrawal of federal troops from Chechnya begins.

1999-2000 - the second Chechen war

December 31, 1999 - Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, the first president of the Russian Federation, resigned. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin has been appointed acting president.

The collapse of the USSR

In short, the reasons for the collapse of the USSR are as follows:

The crisis provoked by the planned nature of the economy and led to a shortage of many consumer goods;

Unsuccessful, largely ill-considered, reforms that led to a sharp deterioration in living standards;

Massive public discontent with food supply interruptions;

The growing gap in the standard of living between the citizens of the USSR and the citizens of the countries of the capitalist camp;

Aggravation of national contradictions;

Weakening of the central government;