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Two developments that turned the silk road into a backwater: — when the portuguese and spanish started blue-water sailing (~1500), they opened alternative, che
by 082349872349872 2y ago
Two developments that turned the silk road into a backwater:
— when the portuguese and spanish started blue-water sailing (~1500), they opened alternative, cheaper, channels for goods which had once passed mostly overland
— when the british industrialised (~1780), textiles went from being an expensive trade good (provided by a decentralised "cottage industry": anyone with a loom and labour could make them) to cheap stuff (provided by centralised factories).
[consider the fates of Old West towns not on the railroad, or Red America towns in "flyover country" not on the freeway: there were some choices to make at the Taklamakan Desert, but otherwise cities of the time were either on the Silk Road, or they were off of it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road#/media/File:SeidenstrasseGMT.JPG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road#/media/File:Seidenst... . These days, instead of places like Palmyra or Bagdad or Samarkand, what's "on it" are no longer cities but strategic points like Suez or Hormuz or Malacca]
EDIT: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2L2U32-BvQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2L2U32-BvQ
- trhway 2y agoDon't forget Suez Canal (1869). Russian officers who took Ottoman city Doğubayazıt in 1854 and 1878 wrote that that Silk Road crossroad city flourishing in 1854 was in decline in 1878 because of the trade through it vanishing due to the Canal. (in Russian) https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Догубаязит#Транзитный_путь https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Догубаязит#Транзитный_путь
- 082349872349872 2y agoTrue, and looks like the portuguese may only have been inspired to sink the initial R&D into disruption because the ottomans, having taken Constantinople, were charging* too much as gatekeepers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_discovery_of_the_sea_route_to_India#/media/File:Silk_route.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_discovery_of_the_se... Lagniappe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_clausum#/media/File:IberianMareClausum.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_clausum#/media/File:Iberi... (can you spot Brazil in this projection?) EDIT: note also how the Treaty of Alcáçovas (1479) drew a line across the Atlantic which is still largely conserved by the sea boundary between USEUCOM and USAFRICOM * EDIT2: could they have charged just enough to make the age of exploration look risky and too expensive, not risky but potentially cheaper?
- amy-petrik-214 2y agoDon't forget when FBI nabbed Dread Pirate Roberts (2013). This single event is said to have instantly annihilated The Silk Road. The feds got a sweet 3 billion+ in bitcoin as of 2021!
- wslh 2y agoThis is an English translation: https://ru-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp&_x_tr_hist=true#%D0%A2%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B7%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%82%D1%8C https://ru-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_...
- Yeul 2y agoIt's actually amazing how even as early as the 16th century Europeans had the superior naval power. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. It wasn't until the battle of Tsushima that the tide shifted.
- Mr_Minderbinder 2y agoThe 16th century is too early to claim superiority, especially considering what the Ottoman navy was able to achieve then. The turning point in the overall military power balance between the Ottoman Empire and Europe occurred in the late 17th century (~1680) in my opinion. The Portuguese lost every naval battle they waged against the Ming in the 16th century. Even towards the middle of the 17th century the Dutch were unable to hold Taiwan against Ming navy remnants.
- redwood 2y agoThere's an alternative take--namely that the silk road has dominated recent imagination but was never very dominant compared with sea routes. At least during the era of Roman-Indian shipping lanes: https://youtu.be/xw4Wb2v-6yk?si=8uAixLGUCt4Yl9sE https://youtu.be/xw4Wb2v-6yk?si=8uAixLGUCt4Yl9sE