explain in simple terms

470 Chapter 22 . Trans 471 Chapter 22 Commercial Rivalries and the Seven Years' War conflict in that it took place in several distinct geographic theaters-Europe, India. the Caribbean, and North America- Exploration and imperial expansion led to conflicts not only and involved Asian and indigenous American peoples as well between Europeans and Asians but also among Europeans as Europeans. Sometimes called "the great war for empire," themselves. Mariners competed vigorously for trade in Asia the Seven Years' War had deep implications for global affairs and the Americas, and their efforts to establish markets-and because it laid the foundation for 150 years of British imperial sometimes monopolies as well-led frequently to clashes with hegemony in the world. their counterparts from different lands. In Europe the war pitted Britain and Prussia against France, Austria, and Russia. In India, British and French Competition and Conflict Indeed, throughout the seven- forces each allied with local rulers and engaged in a contest teenth and early eighteenth centuries, commercial and politi- for dominance in the Indian Ocean. In the Caribbean, cal rivalries led to running wars between ships representing Spanish forces joined with the French in an effort to limit different states. Dutch vessels were most numerous in the In- British expansion in the Western Hemisphere. In North dian Ocean, and they enabled the VOC to dominate the spice America-where the Seven Years' War merged with a conflict trade. Dutch forces expelled most Portuguese merchants from already under way known as the French and Indian War southeast Asia and prevented English mariners from estab- (1754-1763)-British and French armies made separate alli- lishing secure footholds there. By the early eighteenth century, ances with indigenous peoples in an effort to outmaneuver trade in Indian cotton and tea from Ceylon had begun to over- each other. shadow the spice trade, and English and French merchants working from trading posts in India became the dominant British Dominance British forces fought little in Europe, carriers in the Indian Ocean. Fierce competition again gener- where their Prussian allies held off massive armies seeking to ated violence: in 1746 French forces seized the English trading surround and crush the expansive Prussian state. Elsewhere, post at Madras, one of the three principal centers of British however, British armies and navies fought often and handily PACIFIC OCEAN operations in India. overcame their enemies. They ousted French merchants Commercial competition led to conflict also in the from India and took control of French colonies in Canada, Duchy of Muscovy in 1462 Russian expansion to 1795 Caribbean and the Americas. English pirates and privateers although they allowed French authorities to retain most of GOBI Russian expansion to 1584 _ Bering's exploration of 1741 preyed on Spanish shipping from Mexico, often seizing vessels their Caribbean possessions. They allowed Spanish forces to Russian expansion to 1689 - Russian voyages to the carrying cargoes of silver. English and French forces con- retain Cuba but took Florida from the Spanish empire. De- Russian expansion to 1762 Hawaiian Islands and California tantly skirmished and fought over sugar islands in the Carib- spite these victories, Britain couldn't rest easy; powerful bean while also contesting territorial claims in North America. states continuously challenged British ambitions. Yet victory HIMALAYAS INDIA CHINA Almost all conflicts between European states in the eighteenth in the Seven Years' War placed Britain in a position to dom- ory century spilled over into the Caribbean and the Americas. inate world trade for the foreseeable future, and "the great war for empire" paved the way for the establishment of the The Seven Years' War Commercial rivalries combined British empire in the nineteenth century. The war also sug- MAP 22.5 Russian expansion, 1462-1795. with political differences and came to a head in the Seven gested how close together earlier global exchanges had tianity Observe how vast the empire became after it added the territory of Siberia. Years' War (1756-1763). The Seven Years' War was a global brought the peoples of the world . How did Russians exert their control over such a huge and unforgiving territory? slaves, and others who had little status in their own societies. the region's harsh terrain, Russian migrants gradually fil- Furthermore, once indigenous peoples converted to Christi- tered into Siberia and thoroughly altered its demographic pelts, anity, they were exempt from obligations to provide fur complexion. Small agricultural settlements grew up near tributes, so the Russian government demonstrated less zeal in many trading posts, particularly in the fertile Amur River its religious mission than did the Spanish monarchs, who CONCLUSION valley. Siberian landowners offered working conditions that the Americas, the Pacific Islands, and (to a lesser extent) Siberia, epi- made the spread of Roman Catholic Christianity a prime goal were much lighter than those of Russia proper, so disgrun- demics sparked by unfamiliar disease pathogens ravaged indigenous be ind of imperial expansion. Although they managed to attract a tled peasants sometimes fled to settlements east of the Ural Global commercial and biological exchanges and encounters arose populations, while massive migrations of human communities trans- few Siberian converts, Orthodox missionaries mostly served Mountains. Over time, Siberian trading posts with their gar- from the efforts of European mariners to explore the world's waters and formed the social and cultural landscape of the Americas. At the same the needs of Russian merchants, adventurers, and explorers risons developed into Russian towns with Russian-speaking establish sea lanes that would support long-distance trade. Their search time, in most of the Eastern Hemisphere, transplanted crops and ani- in Siberia. For their part, the indigenous peoples of Siberia populations attending Russian Orthodox churches. By 1763 for sea routes to Asia accidentally led them to the Western Hemisphere mal species led to improved nutrition and marked population growth. continued to practice their inherited religions guided by some 420,000 Russians lived in Siberia, nearly double the and the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. The geographic knowledge Europeans did not achieve global dominance in early modern times. shamans. number of indigenous inhabitants. In the nineteenth century, that they accumulated enabled them to link the world's regions into an However, their voyages of exploration and consequent development of large numbers of additional migrants moved east to mine ever more finely articulated network of trade. But commercial exchange transoceanic trading networks meant that European peoples now The Russian Occupation of Siberia The settlers who Siberian gold, silver, copper, and iron. By this time, the was not the only result of this global network. Food crops, animal played a more prominent role in world affairs than any of their ances- established a Russian presence in Siberia included adventur- Russian state was well on the way toward consolidating its stocks, disease pathogens, and human migrants also traveled the sea tors. In addition, their efforts helped foster the development of an in- lanes and dramatically influenced societies throughout the world, In creasingly interdependent world