Page 14 - NS-2 Textbook

SEA POWER AND EARLY WESTERN CIVILIZATION 7

The Battle of Lepanto in 1571 ended Muslim attempts to move farther into Europe and control the Mediterranean Sea.

tured earlier by the Turks and used as slaves to row the the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa in
galleys were freed by the victory. 1488. This proved that a sea route to Asia existed. Vasco
As a result of the Battle of Lepanto, the Turks never da Gama sailed from Portugal to India in 1498, opening
again seriously challenged control of the Mediterranean, a Portuguese trade route to the Indies and China and es-
although Muslim pirates continued to harass merchant- tablishing colonial trading sites. Portugal's leadership
men on these waters for the next 250 years. ,vas brief, though, for it ·was soon ovenvhelmed by
Lepanto was the end of the age of the galley. By the neighboring Spain.
time of Lepanto, the Mediterranean had begun to decline Contributing about $5,000 in royal jewels, Queen Is-
as the center of world maritime activity. It had served for abella financed Christopher Columbus on his first voy-
2,000 years as the cradle of western European civilization age of discovery. It certainly was the most profitable in-
and commerce. Its period of greatest influence was the vestment in history. Columbus landed in America and
age of the galley. But the Turkish hold on the Middle East thus helped put Spain into a position of European lead-
had caused seafaring nations to seek ne'iY routes to Asia. ership. Through sea power, Spain established a huge em-
The Age of Discovery had dawned. Columbus laid claim pire. Millions in gold, silver, and jewels poured into the
to the New World for Spain in 1492. Soon Portuguese, royal treasury. Treasure-laden ships sailed in groups es-
Spanish, English, Italian, French, Dutch, and Swedish corted by warships to protect them against pirates and
seafarers ,vere sailing across the Atlantic to ne,v markets, privateers of rival nations. TI1is ·was an early example of
new wealth, and new conflicts. a Co/lDOY, a method used centuries later in World Wars I
and II to protect merchant shipping.
At the time, national wealth was thought to be mea-
THE AGE OF DISCOVERY
sured by the amount of treasure in the royal vaults. The
The Age of Discovery vvas a new age of sea power. Brave total wealth of the world was considered to be a fixed
explorers in wooden ships sailed the world's oceans and quantity. Thus, to become richer and more powerful, a
founded colonies while seeking religious freedom and nation had to make some other nation poorer through
fortunes for king and cotmhy. The hardships were great, capture of its h·ade and colonies. This mercalltile theory
but the lure of gold and adventure was greater. As be- kept the world in almost continuous conflict well into the
fore, the nations with sea pmver beCan1€ rich and power- 1800s.
ful. Inevitably, rivahies arose and ,vars 'were fought be-
tween opposing great powers.
ENGLAND CHALLENGES SPAIN
The Portuguese were the first to seek a ne,v sea route
to the East Indies and the rest of Asia. Prince Henry the In 1570 Pope Pius V called upon King Philip II of Spain
Navigator hired explorers to try to find a route to the to drive the Muslims from Europe and the Mediter-
East by sailing around Africa. Bartolomeu Dias rotmded ranean. At the same time, the pope asked Philip to