WIKIMEDIACOMMONS

Apaintingby
JohnVanderlyn
SNAPSHOT

October 7, 2015

HowEuropeConqueredtheWorld
TheSpoilsoaSingleMindedFocusonWar
ByPhilipT.Homan

3141

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etween1492and1914,Europeansconquered84percentotheglobe,
establishingcoloniesandspreadingtheirinuenceacrosseveryinhabited
continent.Thiswasnotinevitable.Infact,fordecades,historians,social
scientists,andbiologistshavewondered:WhyandhowdidEuroperisetothetop,even
whensocietiesinAsiaandtheMiddleEastwerefarmoreadvanced?
Sofar,satisfactoryanswershavebeenelusive.Butthisquestionisotheutmost
importancegiventhatEuropespowerdeterminedeverythingfromwhorantheslave
tradetowhogrewrichorremainedmiredinpoverty.
OnemightthinkthereasonsforEuropesdominanceobvious:theEuropeanswerethe
rsttoindustrialize,andtheywereimmunetothediseases,suchassmallpox,that
devastatedindigenouspopulations.Butthelatterreasonalonecannotexplainthe
conquestotheAmericas,sincemanyyoungNativeAmericanwarriorssurvivedthe
epidemics.AnditfailstoexplainEuropescolonizationoIndia,sincetheIndianshad

similarimmunity.Industrializationalsofallsshortasanexplanation:theEuropeanshad
takencontrolomorethan35percentotheplanetevenbeforetheybeganto
industrialize.Ocourse,theleadEuropeanstookindevelopingthetechnologyoguns,
armedships,andforticationswascritical.ButalltheothermajorcivilizationsinAsia
hadthesamegunpowdertechnology,andmanyothemalsofoughtwithguns.
SowhatdidcontributetoEuropessuccess?Mostly,itderivedfromtheincentivesthat
politicalleadersfacedinEuropeincentivesthatdrovethemnotjusttomakewar,but
alsotospendhugesumsonit.Yes,theEuropeanmonarchsbuiltpalaces,buteventhe
hugeChateauatVersaillescostKingLouisXIVlessthantwopercentohistax
revenue.Therestwenttoghtingwars.HeandtheotherkingsinEuropehadbeen
raisedsincechildhoodtopursuegloryonthebattleeld,yettheyborenoneothecosts
involvednoteventheriskolosingtheirthronesafteradefeat.Leaderselsewhere
facedradicallydierentincentives,,whichkeptmanyothemmilitarilyweak.In
China,forexample,emperorswereencouragedtokeeptaxeslowandtoattendto
peopleslivelihoodsratherthantopursuethesortomilitaryglorythatobsessed
Europeankings.

ApaintingSuppressionoftheIndianRevoltbytheEnglish,byVasilyVereshchaginc.1884depictingtheIndian

Forthisandavarietyootherreasons,leadersoutsideoEuropecouldnotmatch
Europesinnovationsinwarfareinnovation.Thehugesumsomoneyshoweredon
ghtinginEuropegavemilitaryleaderstheexibilitytobuynewweaponsand
battleshipsandtryoutnewtactics,fortications,andmethodsosupply.Intheprocess,
theylearnedfromtheirmistakesandimprovedtheirtechnologies.Andbecause

Europeancountriesweresmallandgeographicallyclose,theycouldeasilylearnfrom
theirrivalserrorsandcopytheirimprovements.WhentheSwedishKingGustavus
Adolphusconstructedoneotheearliesttwodeckedgunshipsin1628,forexample,it
sankshortlyaftersettingsail.ButtheSwedishnavyandothernaviesacrossEurope
swiftlylearnedfromthisfailure,andbytheeighteenthcenturytheywerebuilding
warshipswithtwoormoregundecksthatwerenotonlystable,butalsohadalonger
rangeandweremoremaneuverablethanseventeenthcenturywarships.

Withoutasinglemindedfocusonwarandtheextraordinaryabilitytotax,
theremayneverhavebeenanyEuropeanempires.

OutsideoEurope,politicalandmilitaryconditionskeptwarinnovations,particularly
newgunpowdertechnology,frombeingadvancedatthesamerelentlesspace.China,
forinstance,hadfarlesstaxrevenuetospendonthemilitarythantheEuropeansdid.
Inthelateeighteenthcentury,percapitataxeswere15timeshigherinFrancethanin
China,and40timeshigherinEngland,andmuchothetaxmoneyChinadidcollect
wentnottowardnewformsoghtingbuttoaidarchersonhorseback,whowerefar
moreeectivethanmusketeersinghtingthenomadswhohadlongbeenChinas
majorenemy.Whatsmore,ChinawasoftenthedominantpowerinEastAsia,sofewer
rivalsdaredtochallengeit,whichmeantithadlittleincentivetospendheavilyonits
military.Asaresult,therewassimplylessuseforgunpowderweaponsinEastAsia.
Europe,bycontrast,hadnosuchdominantpower.AndoncetheWesternEuropeans
tooktheleadinpushinggunpowdertechnologyforward,itwashardforChinatocatch
up;thecenteroprogresswasacontinentaway.
Europesmilitaryleadcontinuedintothenineteenthcentury.Taxrevenuesroseas
Europeindustrialized,andtheinnovationsfromtheIndustrialRevolutionapplied
scienceandengineeringmadeitpossibleforEuropeanstoimprovetheirtechnology
notjustbywagingwar,butalsobyconductingresearch,whichmagniedwhatthe
Europeanslearnedonthebattleeld.

By1914,Europehadnotonlyachievedglobalmilitarydominance,italsohadpowerful
statesthatcouldraisehugesumsotaxrevenuetofundwars.InFranceandGermany,
realpercapitataxrevenuehadincreased15foldormoreovertheprevioustwo
centuries.Thatenormouscapacitytotaxwentwellbeyondwhatcanbeexplainedby
thehigherpercapitaincomesthatindustrializationbroughttoEurope.Itwastheresult
othesamekindolearningthatadvancedthegunpowdertechnology.Theonly
dierencewasthatherethelearninginvolvedeconomicsratherthanmilitary
technology,andtherewardswenttopoliticalleaderswhosuccessfullybargainedwith
theelitestoboosttaxrevenues.Theleadersthenusedtheaddedtaxrevenuetoexpand
andequiptheirarmiesandnavies.

Amapofworldempiresandcoloniesin1920.

Europesabilitytotaxwasnosmallachievement.Chinacouldnotraiseequivalenttax
revenues,eveninthenineteenthcentury.AndcountriesinsubSaharanAfricatoday
stilllackthebasiccapacitytotax,whichkeepsthemfromprovidingsecurityandother
basicpublicgoodstotheircitizens.

SowhatdidcontributetoEuropessuccess?Mostly,itderivedfromthe
incentivesthatpoliticalleadersfacedinEuropeincentivesthatdrove
themnotjusttomakewar,butalsotospendhugesumsonit.

Europehadyetanotheradvantageaswell:itsentrepreneurswerefreetouse
gunpowdertechnologytomountexpeditionsoconquest,colonization,andmilitarized

trade.Althoughtheyusuallyneededocialpermissiontolaunchavoyage,
entrepreneurswereoftenencouragedbyauthoritieseagertondrichesabroad.And
theyhadnotroubleacquiringweaponsorndingbattlehardenedveteranstotrain
militarynoviceswhojoinedtheirundertakings.Bytheseventeenthcentury,such
privateexpeditionshadspawnedgiganticenterprisesthatraisedhugesumsonEuropes
burgeoningcapitalmarketstonanceventuresabroad,enterprisessuchastheDutch
EastIndiaCompany,whichwasnotonlyaprivatearmoDutchforeignpolicy,butalso
therstbusinesstoissuetradablesharesostock.

AnaldierencebetweenEuropeandtherestotheworldliesinpoliticalhistory.
From221B.C.onward,China,moreoftenthannot,wasuniedinalargeempire.The
Chineseempiresoondevelopedacentralizedbureaucracythatdrewlocalelitesinto
governmentserviceandgavethemastakeintheempiressurvival.Therewardsof
governmentservicehelpedholdtheempiretogether,andaslongastheempirewas

strongandunied,otherEastAsianpowershesitatedtoattackit.Thismeantthat
Chinahadlittleincentivetoseekoutnewenemiesoropportunities.
WesternEurope,bycontrast,experiencednosuchlastingunicationafterthecollapse
otheRomanEmpire.Whatitenduredinsteadwerecenturiesowarfarebybandsof
warriorswhoseleadersresembledmoderndaywarlords.Theincessantghting
groomedleaderswhowerevictoriousinwar.Theconictalsogeneratedenduring
enmitiesbetweenleadersandtheirfollowers,enmitiesthateventuallyhardenedinto
lastingpoliticalborders.ItwassuchillwillandnotEuropesphysicalgeography
thatkeptanysingleleaderfromeverunitingWesternEuropeinthesortodurable
empirethatprevailedforcenturiesinChina.Inthelongrun,thewinnersinWestern
Europewerethemilitaryleaderswholearnedhowtoimposeheavytaxestofundtheir
ghting,andasaresult,Europeendedupwithkingswhospentpharaonicsumson
warfareandwhohad,inthewordsoMachiavelli,noobject,thought,orprofession
butwar.
Withoutasinglemindedfocusonwarandtheextraordinaryabilitytotax,theremay
neverhavebeenanyEuropeanempires.Thewarsandthetaxeslavishedonthemgave
theEuropeansanenormousleadinmilitarytechnology.Thisenabledtheirconquests,
andallowedthemtokeepnativepopulationsundercontrolwithoutstationinglarge
numbersoEuropeantroopsabroad.Withoutsuchadvantages,theEuropeansmight
havegrownrichanywayandperhapsevenindustrializedearlybuttheywouldnot
havedominatedtheworldin1914.