Background and reason of new air route

First, the reasons for opening up new routes

15-/kloc-at the turn of the 6th century, western European countries wanted to explore routes to the east, and after a series of maritime exploration activities, they opened up routes to India, America and other parts of the world. These routes are often called new routes. The opening of the new route is no accident. There are profound economic and social roots and certain religious ideological roots, and the subjective and objective conditions are fully met.

First of all, the embryonic development of European capitalism and the ensuing "gold rush" are the economic and social roots of the new route.

/kloc-after the 0/5th century, the seeds of capitalist relations of production in western European countries have initially appeared and developed. As a means of payment for commodity exchange, money has not only replaced land as the main symbol of social wealth, but also become an important symbol to measure social status and power. /kloc-after the change of the gold standard in the 0/5th century, gold became the only means of payment for domestic and foreign trade, and the demand increased sharply. At that time, Europeans longed for gold, and influenced by Kyle's trip to Europe, westerners decided that their "golden dream" could only be realized in eastern countries such as China. Engels profoundly pointed out: "The gold sought by the Portuguese in the African coast, India and the whole Far East; The word gold is a spell that drives the Spaniards across the Atlantic to America. When white people set foot on the newly discovered coast, gold is the first thing they want. " It can be seen that the opening of new air routes is the need for the further development of capitalism, and the greedy pursuit of gold by Europeans essentially reflects the urgent requirements of capitalism for plundering wealth and accelerating primitive accumulation of capital.

Second, the commercial crisis is the direct cause of the opening of new routes.

As early as15th century ago, there was trade between Europe and Asia. The eastern Mediterranean is a transit point for East-West trade. At that time, oriental spices, silk and so on were very popular in the European market and were necessities of life in the upper class. But after the Arabs and Italians changed hands, the price went up and then up, becoming an expensive luxury. At that time, East-West trade was basically monopolized by Italians and Arab businessmen. More seriously, in 1453, the Ottoman Empire took control of the hub of the Asia-Europe trade route. The normal business order was destroyed by the extortion of Turks, and the traditional East-West trade was almost interrupted. Goods shipped from the east to Europe have decreased sharply and prices have risen rapidly. The upper class in Europe had to buy at high prices, resulting in a serious trade surplus and a large outflow of precious metals. This forced western European countries to take action one after another, trying to find a new route to the east by bypassing the Mediterranean.

Third, carrying forward and spreading the gospel of Christ and the humanistic trend of thought in the Renaissance are the religious and ideological roots of the new route.

Carrying forward and spreading the gospel of Christ all over the world is an important reason why western European nation-states supported Columbus's voyage to the West. Columbus was an ardent Christian. He believes that "everything he does is arranged by God". He has always been permeated with strong religious feelings when exploring new air routes. At that time, the prevailing humanism inspired the enterprising spirit of western Europeans, encouraged them to spread and expand the influence of Christianity overseas, dared to forge ahead, challenge and conquer nature, boldly pursued wealth and realized personal value, especially explored new routes and engaged in adventure activities.

Fourth, with the development of European productive forces, the progress of science and technology and the support of the royal family, the subjective and objective conditions for opening up new air routes have been met.

To carry out large-scale marine exploration activities, there must be certain material conditions to support it. The compass invented by China was widely used in Europe in the14th century after it was spread to the west by Arabs, so that navigation would not be lost. At that time, the shipbuilding technology in Europe had made great progress, and a new type of large ship with many masts and sails appeared, which was light and fast. In addition, the theory of geocircle was popular in Europe at that time, and the technology of drawing maps was very advanced. All these constitute the objective conditions for opening up new air routes. At the same time, the subjective conditions for opening up new routes have also been met. By the end of 15, both Spain and Portugal had completed the process of political unification and centralization, and autocratic dynasties and all social strata were eager to open up new air routes. In order to develop trade, improve the economic situation and expand the territory, the government strongly supported the activities of opening up new air routes, and many feudal nobles became explorers.

Second, the impact of the opening of new routes.

First of all, the opening of the new route has caused a "commercial revolution".

The commercial revolution is manifested in the expansion of the world market, the increase of the types of commodities in circulation and the transfer of commercial routes and trade centers. After the opening of the new air route, the previously isolated areas in the world have communicated with each other, which can be said to be the first step to strengthen the ties between regions in the world. Therefore, the trade between Europe and Africa, America and Asia is developing day by day, and the world market is expanding. The expansion of the world market also means that more and more new products appear in national markets, especially many agricultural products spread from America to Eurasia. With the opening of new routes, the center of world trade has shifted from the Mediterranean coast to the Atlantic coast. Commercial cities such as Venice and Genoa in Italy declined, and cities such as Lisbon and Seville took their place. Ports on both sides of the North Sea came from behind and occupied the central position of maritime trade more and more.

Second, another consequence of the opening of the new route is the "price revolution".

The performance of the price revolution is that silver flows from America to Spain, then from Spain to Genoa, and finally even into the Ottoman Empire. When silver flows eastward, the prices in the areas it passes through rise rapidly and the currency depreciates. Soaring prices have a far-reaching impact on the social development of European countries. The price revolution has promoted the changes of class relations in European countries. First, feudal landlords who collected fixed-currency land rent in the traditional way, their real income decreased due to currency depreciation, and they fell into poverty and bankruptcy; Second, handicraft workshop owners, capitalist farmers and new noble have made huge profits. Not only can they buy labor more cheaply, but they also have a large number of products for sale. It can be seen that the price revolution has effectively accelerated the decline of feudal system and the development of capitalism. But the price revolution played a different role in Spain. /kloc-In the first half of the 6th century, the Habsburg dynasty of Spain pursued the policy of dominating Europe and used huge wealth for military and political activities. In order to pursue a luxurious life, Spanish nobles spent a lot of money, which led to the situation that the gold and silver shipped back from American colonies were quickly transferred to suppliers and creditors in other countries. The colonial activities carried out in Spain can only make wedding clothes for others to a large extent. The wealth it plundered from the colonies did not turn into industrial capital, but only after it flowed into Britain, France and other countries.

Third. The opening of the new air route proves the theory of the earth circle.

Fourth, the opening of new routes has prepared conditions for the formation of the world market.

As a result, the world began to break the isolated and closed state in the past, strengthen ties, and gradually began a new process of integration.

Fifth, the early colonial activities and plunder also began with the opening of new air routes.

The colonial empires led by Spain and Portugal carried out early colonial expansion in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and the Western colonial era began.

Sixth, the opening of new air routes has promoted the development of commodity economy.

Feudalism has accelerated its decline with the opening of new air routes, and capitalism has also accelerated its rise. Together, they promoted the development of commodity economy.