Western Europe In The 14th Century

Beginning in the 14th century, ending the 19th century, for about 500 years, Europe had control of 84% of all civilization in the world (Hoffman). Europe had controlled much of Asia, much of Africa, and North as well as South America. It is very openly questioned as to how Europe became so powerful, due to the fact that Europe was a small continent. In response, there are many debates that explain how this process happened, however, there were three crucial things that the Europeans had which fueled this sudden surge of power. Newer technology in weaponry brought more power to Europe which led them to conquer large parts of the world as well as a natural resilience to illnesses of the people and geographical luck. All of these factors began …show more content…
Although it might not seem beneficial at first glance, natural resilience unquestionably sparked an edge for the Europeans. Believe it or not, all those horrible outbreaks built up a new population that was naturally immune to contagious illnesses (Jacobs). First, it began with the Black Plague epidemic in Europe during the 14th century (History.com staff). The bubonic plague had killed off a third of the European population and seemed to wipe out the entire continent (History.com staff). The only population left alive was still alive because of a natural immunity to the disease. Over time, the survivors started to reproduce, having children who were also resistant to this disease (Jacobs). This cycle continued for centuries, creating more and more resilient people (Zaarsham). At the time, Europeans started conquering the world, another outbreak had come (Jacobs). Smallpox started killing millions of people. By that time, lots of Europeans had natural immunity because of these past epidemics and cycles. For the time being, Europe was prepared (Jacobs). Although it was bad, it did not come anywhere near the losses of others. Since Asia, Africa, and the Americas did not have past experience, they were not prepared for the outbreak. They were not naturally immune to these diseases, unlike the Europeans. Due to this, excessive population drops occurred. When …show more content…
This location of Europe was ideal for them to build up, and later conquer lots of land. The first advantage that the location brought was trade. Being almost in the center of the world, they could easily trade with Asia, especially China, Africa, and even the Americas (Encyclopedia of Geography). Indeed, convenient trade helped them build up and enhance their economy. Therefore, they had much more capital to spend on to further advance technology such as the rapier sword previously mentioned. Additionally, this area had greater means of transportation than other places. Occupied mostly of peninsulas and islands, there were lots of waterways present in Europe (Encyclopedia of Geography). This gave a more convenient way of exporting goods. Yet again, this helped enhance the economy by reducing transportation costs, which led to lower prices on goods. Furthermore, natural resources were plentiful in Europe which were used to build structures, and further the European expansion. Take the case of Britain, they had many waterways filled with coal (The Industrial Revolution Notes). This coal could be used as fuel for transportation which was much cheaper and more efficient than burning wood (The Industrial Revolution Notes). Again, with lower transportation costs, there was higher revenue which allowed Europe to invest in other causes such as advanced weaponry or