A History of the World in 500 Maps

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Military Collectables of WWI - Your guide to collecting the medals, badges, ephemera, uniforms and equipment of the Great War.

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In Australia, the tiny British settlement has grown slowly, and new colonies have been founded on different parts of the coast. The New Zealand coasts are now dotted with small European settlements, leading to clashes with Maori tribes. In the steppes of central Asia, the nomadic horsemen have become a major threat to the settled civilizations of Eurasia. In the East, these “barbarians” have already had an impact on Chinese history by helping break up the unified Zhou kingdom into numerous different states; and in the West, deep raids by the Cimmerians have caused much destruction. East Asia has seen great economic and technological progress over the past two centuries or so. Chinese inventions such as the compass, gunpowder and printing are of key significance to global history. Song Dynasty China is, by a stretch, the wealthiest and most technologically advanced society on earth. The Koreans are also a dynamic and innovative culture, whilst the Japanese experience centuries of on-off civil war, in which Samurai warriors will come to prominence in Japanese society. Islamic expansionOne of the British navy’s main preoccupations, however, is to stamp out the Atlantic Slave Trade. This has been prohibited by Britain and most other European countries since the early 19th century. It remains very much alive, however, in the hands of American and Portuguese slavers. Slavery itself (not just the trade) has recently been abolished in the Caribbean islands ruled by Britain and France. It remains in force in Brazil and other South American countries, as well as in the USA, and will be for decades longer. Africa The unification of China has been paralleled by the rise of the first steppe “empire” in world history. This is a culmination of a long process for the nomadic tribes of central Asia, who have posed an ever-increasing threat to the Chinese – a threat such that the Chinese have built a long series of defensive walls separating their agricultural homeland from the steppes. In North America, Native American tribes still hold sway in most of the continent. Apart from in the east, people of European extraction live in widely scattered, very isolated settlements – trading posts, forts and mission stations – and make only the most minimal impact on their surroundings.

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The only other state which comes near to rivaling it is the British Empire which is in the process of acquiring large slices of India. This turn of events has been made possible by the decline of Mughal power in the sub-continent. The chaotic situation this caused allowed European nations to extend their influence from their small toe-holds on the Indian coast. Inevitably, rivalry set in between the different nationalities, and, thanks to its command of the seas, Britain has emerged as the leading power in India. The Ottoman empire In Central America, Toltec power has vanished, and the Aztec empire is expanding. To the north, farming societies across North America have been experiencing difficulties, though the reasons for these are unclear. The Chinese empire has experienced a run of three of the most remarkable emperors in its history – in fact, in world history. It is the largest state in the world at this date, and by far the most populous. It is almost certainly the wealthiest. The British empireTwo developments stand out in this period as highly significant for the history of world technology. Paper has been invented in Han China. This will make the dissemination of written information much easier and cheaper. The heavy plow probably appears about now in northern Europe. This will be of great importance in opening up the heavy clay lowlands of the region to arable farming, and so be one the keys to future European growth. Albert Herrmann, Ph.D. History & Commercial Atlas of China. Map of “ Chun-ch’iu Period, 722-482 BC”.

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John Nelson. Interactive Historical Atlas of the World since 500BCE. Map of the “Countries of the World 1/1/500 CE.” While western European countries have been extending their reach across the oceans, the Russians have been spreading across Central Asia and into East Asia. They reach the Pacific Ocean about now. This expansion is carried out mostly by thousands of ordinary farmers, but coming up behind them comes the authority of the Russian state. The control this imposes on the region means that, from this time forward, the nomadic steppe peoples of Central Asia will no longer pose a threat to the settled peoples of Europe or East Asia. South Asia

In the Pacific, a variety of different societies are emerging on the numerous islands. The Americas The camel is being domesticated about now, probably in Arabia. This will open up trans-desert trade routes, and will give rise to the nomadic Bedouin lifestyle. In the Spanish-ruled territories in the rest of Central and South America, a scarcely less equal society has grown up. Here, a small colonial elite has divided the land into vast estates, leaving the native population as impoverished serfs tied to the lands. Expanding European influence Note: The information shown in these maps conflicts, even taking the 40-year difference between them.

A History of the World in 500 Maps by Christian Grataloup

The Eastern Turkish confederacy lasted until 734, when it disintegrated into warring groups. Africa The eclipse of the leading Middle Eastern states has allowed new nations to come to the fore, notably the Phoenicians and the Israelites. In their brief flowering as leading powers they make a big mark, playing a central part in the development of the alphabet and the rise of the first great monotheistic religion of world history. Far to the south, the Chavin civilization, the first of a long series of urban cultures in the Andean region of South America, has appeared. South East Asia continues to experience two waves of migration, both originating in southern China a millennia or more before. The people of the western migration are settling down in the mainland parts of the region as the Mon and Khmer peoples, while the eastern migration has continued to settle the coasts and islands, where they will be known as the Malay peoples.

Denis Bellemare. Historical Atlas of Late Antiquity. Maps of “ Northwest Africa in 500 AD” and “ Northeast Africa in 500 AD”. Far to the west, the Ottoman empire is one of the great empires of world history. It has brought peace to much of the Middle East, and also rules a large slice of Europe. Europeans view this great Muslim power with fear – and have good reason to do so.