The center of the Enlightenment is in France. The leader of the French Enlightenment was Voltaire. His thoughts had a great influence on Europe in the18th century, so later people once said, "18th century is Voltaire's century."
The Enlightenment took place in Europe in the18th century, first in Britain, then in France, Germany and Russia, and then in the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries. Compared with other countries, the Enlightenment in France is the most powerful, combative and far-reaching, and it can be called a model of the Enlightenment in Western Europe.
Literally speaking, the Enlightenment is a movement of enlightening ignorance, opposing ignorance and advocating the popularization of culture and education. But in essence, it is a movement to publicize bourgeois political ideology, not just a literary movement. It is the continuation and development of bourgeois anti-feudalism, anti-asceticism and anti-church struggle during the Renaissance, which directly laid the ideological foundation for 1789 French Revolution. Enlightenment thinkers further proved the irrationality of feudal system from humanists, and put forward a set of philosophical theories, political programs and social reform programs, demanding the establishment of a society based on "rationality". They opposed tyranny with political freedom, religious oppression with freedom of belief, destroyed Catholic authority and religious idols with deism and atheism, opposed the view of "divine right of monarch" with the slogan of "natural human rights" and opposed the hierarchical privilege of nobles with "everyone is equal before the law". Enlightenment is not only the continuation and deepening of the anti-feudal and anti-church struggle of the emerging bourgeoisie in the Renaissance, but also the theoretical preparation stage of the bourgeois political revolution. If we compare it with the Renaissance, it will be clearer. First of all, from the aspect of anti-feudalism, the anti-feudalism of the Renaissance mainly opposed the separatist state of feudal lords and demanded the establishment of a unified monarchy in the country in order to develop the capitalist economy under the protection of kingship. In the Enlightenment, the bourgeoisie has completed the process of primitive accumulation of capital, and further demanded to gain political power and establish a capitalist political system. Anti-feudalism in the Renaissance focused on ideology and ethics. The Enlightenment paid attention to the nature of political system and regime.
Secondly, from the aspect of anti-church, the Renaissance mainly exposed the corruption of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, condemned the evil of monasteries against humanity, demanded religious reform, abolished cumbersome religious ceremonies and advocated simpler etiquette. During the Enlightenment, due to the development of materialism and natural science, anti-church was more thorough than during the Renaissance, and it had risen to the height of deism and atheism.
Thirdly, judging from the connotation of humanistic thought, the Renaissance emphasized anti-asceticism, demanded individual liberation, persisted in the world and faced reality. In the enlightenment era of18th century, the focus of humanism shifted to advocating political principles such as "freedom, equality and fraternity". Because the Enlightenment is a political and ideological revolutionary movement, the participants in the Enlightenment are by no means limited to writers. Besides Montesquieu, French Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau, British philosopher Locke, scientist Newton, German aestheticians Lessing and Haider, and Dutch philosopher Spinoza all belong to the ranks of enlightenment thinkers.
Similarly, from the perspective of literary style and method, realism in the enlightenment period is a continuation of realism in the Renaissance period, but it has made new development. Its characteristics are not vivid and rich plots, nor characterization of characters, but more political. Writers consciously integrate their political thoughts into literary works. These enlightenment works have become the spiritual weapons for the bourgeoisie and the feudal class to compete for political power, and they are the "encyclopedia" for spreading the bourgeois world outlook. The language in the works is not poetic, but fluent and eloquent political prose, which is logical, inspiring and combative. Some works, because of their profound and strong philosophical significance, have turned them into fictional philosophical essays. The works of enlightenment writers all have the characteristics of pure rationality.
From 17 to 19, the ideological trend against religious obscurantism and feudal absolutism rose all over Europe. Thinkers in the Enlightenment believed that the reason why society did not progress and people were ignorant was mainly because religious forces dominated and bound the people's spirit. In order to change this situation, we must establish a rational and scientific authority. They believe that human rationality is the measure of everything, and things that do not conform to human rationality have no right to exist. They advocate spreading scientific knowledge to enlighten people's minds and get rid of religious superstitions, thus enhancing human welfare. They opposed feudal autocracy and advocated freedom, equality and democracy. In their view, feudal autocracy stifled free thought, leading to social inequality and cultural and economic backwardness. Therefore, they strongly advocate "natural human rights" and advocate people's participation in politics and equality before the law. The ideas of freedom, equality and democracy advocated by the Enlightenment, especially in the18th century, had a direct and far-reaching impact on the American War of Independence and the French Revolution.
From the end of15th century to the beginning of16th century, Europeans opened air routes to India and America, thus discovering the American continent. This event was once called "geographical discovery" in history. It is not a historical accident for Europeans to open up new air routes, but it has profound social and economic roots.
(1)15th century later, with the rapid development of feudal economy, the commodity-currency relationship began to erode the foundation of feudal natural economy from the inside, disintegrated the feudal system and promoted the germination of capitalism. At that time, the commodity exchange was very extensive and needed a lot of money. At this time, the western European currency has changed from the silver standard to the gold standard. Gold and silver are both means of payment for international trade between European countries, and their status is very high. Therefore, people think that owning gold and silver is everything, and gold can open the way to heaven for the soul. Therefore, all social strata in western Europe, especially businessmen and bourgeoisie, are very keen on pursuing gold and silver, but the gold and silver produced in continental Europe is limited. At that time, a book widely circulated in Europe, The Travels of Marco Polo (Kyle Polo was a merchant in Venice, Italy. When he was young, he went to Central Asia, India and China to do business with his uncle. Yuan Shizu lived in China for seventeen years when he was an official in the China court. After returning home, he took part in the naval battle between Venice and Genoa. Venice was defeated and Kyle Poirot was arrested and imprisoned. In prison, he dictated what he saw and heard in the East, which was recorded and compiled into a book by the pizza writer Rosti Sheng and widely circulated. The book exaggerates the wealth of India, Southeast Asia and China, and further stimulates the enthusiasm of European upper-class elements to seek gold in the East.
(2) There are three roads from east to west: one is land, from Central Asia along the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea to Asia; Two sea routes, that is, from the sea to the Persian Gulf, then through the two river basins to Syria on the east coast of the Mediterranean, or from the sea to the Red Sea, and then from the land to Alexandria, Egypt. /kloc-After the rise of the Ottoman Empire in the mid-5th century, it occupied the Balkans and Asia Minor, and soon occupied Crimea, controlling the traditional trade routes between the East and the West, and extorting and making things difficult for European businessmen traveling to and from the Mediterranean region. Therefore, the goods sent to Europe are small in quantity and expensive, while the European upper class regards Asian luxury goods as necessities and buys them at high prices. This trade caused western Europe to enter supermarkets and a large amount of gold flowed out. So the aristocrats, businessmen and bourgeoisie in western Europe are eager to bypass the eastern Mediterranean and open up another route to India and China, and get a lot of luxury goods directly from Asia.
(3) The development of productivity and the progress of science and technology in Western Europe have created the necessary conditions for discovering new sea routes and made ocean navigation possible. /kloc-in the 0/5th century, a multi-masted clipper suitable for sailing at sea appeared in western Europe. The compass, one of China's four great inventions, was introduced to Europe by Arabs and has been widely used at this time. Europeans use it to determine the geographical location and determine the route. With the development of science and technology, the earth circle theory in ancient Greece has been accepted by more and more intellectuals, among which Toscanelli, an astronomer and geographer in Florence, is the most determined. Based on the assumption that the earth is spherical, he thought that he could reach India and China by sailing westward, and drew a rough map of the world. In a word, the progress of astronomical geography knowledge in15th century and the accumulation of navigation experience all over the world made European navigators dare to stay away from the coast and sail in the ocean they have never been to, which led to the success of new routes.
Walk briskly
By reading Kyle Poirot's Notes on the East, Columbus became interested in the rich East. He believed in the increasingly popular theory of the earth circle at that time and thought that the earth was round. As long as he sailed west from the European coast, he could reach India and get a lot of gold and spices. Magellan traveled around the world with the support of the king of Spain, but he didn't make it back to Spain alive. 1492 At dawn on August 3rd, three sailboats set sail from Barros Port at the southern tip of Spain and headed west. Columbus, who led the fleet, stood at the bow of the flagship "Santa Maria", looking at the boundless sea and lost in thought. At the moment, his mood is very complicated. He is full of hope, but also feels gloomy and a little scared. Because in Christian legend, the sea is surrounded by a bottomless abyss, and when the ship arrives there, it will be swallowed up by the surrounding demons. The rough sea is unpredictable, and the destination of this trip may be to reach Duran peanuts or to be buried at the bottom of the sea. At that time, he didn't realize that this was the first step on the road of human geographical discovery.
The origin and birthplace of Columbus (1451-1506) has always been a controversial issue, but most scholars believe that he was born in Genoa, Italy, where navigation was developed. When he was young, he took part in many sailing activities. By reading Kyle Poirot's Notes on the East and contacting navigators who have been engaged in long-distance navigation, he became interested in the rich East. He believed in the increasingly popular theory of the earth circle at that time and thought that the earth was round. As long as he sailed west from the European coast, he could reach India and get a lot of gold and spices. At that time, European society was undergoing a profound change. After nearly a thousand years of development, social productivity has been significantly improved. With the development of social economy, people's demand for money is also increasing. Due to the scarcity of currency circulating in society, the accumulation of capital is seriously restricted. At that time, the currency used in Europe was mainly gold coins. Gold was an important ornament and a symbol of wealth, so people's desire for it was endless, but the annual gold mining in Europe was very limited. The lack of gold also lies in the imbalance of trade between East and West. With the development of European commodity economy, the demand for oriental luxury goods is increasing. Oriental spices, silk, porcelain and other products are constantly transported to the west, while there is no product to exchange in the west, only gold and silver can be exchanged, resulting in a large outflow of gold and silver. All this has led to the crazy search for gold. Columbus once said: "Gold is a magical thing! Whoever has it can do whatever he wants. With gold, you can send your soul to heaven. " This is the psychological portrayal of Europeans at that time. Engels also pointed out: "The Portuguese are looking for gold on the African coast, India and the whole Far East; The word gold is a spell that drives the Spaniards across the Atlantic to America; Gold is the first thing that white people need when they first set foot on the newly discovered coast. " But where to find gold? Some people pin their hopes on distant overseas and the East. This is not unreasonable, the key is how to go. Italian traveler Kyle Poirot described the East as very rich in his Notes on the East, saying that there is gold and spices everywhere. However, it was not easy to go to the East at that time, and it was difficult to go to the distant East. 1 1 century, European feudal lords organized Crusades in an attempt to plunder the East, resulting in heavy casualties. It is also difficult to take a peaceful approach. At that time, there were three important trade routes in the East: one in the north, passing through Asia Minor, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea to Central Asia; One is in the middle, from the eastern Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf through the two river basins, and then from the sea to the east; There is another one in the south, passing through Alexandria, Egypt, to the Red Sea, and then eastward from the sea. In the north, one was occupied by Turks who hated Europeans, and the Ottoman Empire was at war with the Holy Roman Empire. The other two were controlled by Arab merchants, and the hostility between Islam and Christianity made it impossible for Europeans to pass through here. All communication between the East and the West must go through the hands of Arabs, and the price of goods will increase by 8- 10 times after they are changed hands by Arab merchants. For a long time, European aristocrats and businessmen wanted to bypass the Middle East and find another way to reach China and India. By the end of15th century, Europeans finally had the conditions to realize this wish.
/kloc-By the end of 0/5th century, Europe had formed a relatively strong nation-state, such as Britain, France, Portugal and Spain. Any undertaking can be carried out with the support of the state. At that time, the knowledge of astronomical geography also developed greatly. The theory of the earth circle of ancient Greek geographers is becoming more and more popular. In navigation, European shipbuilding technology has been greatly improved. The compass invented by China has been applied in Europe, so it can sail in the sea without getting lost, which makes it possible to sail for a long distance. At the same time, a number of adventurous navigators and sponsors have emerged in Europe. Columbus is the most typical representative of discovering new routes.
In order to realize his wish, Columbus looked for sponsors everywhere, but he ran into a wall everywhere. Most people don't believe his story, and they don't want to spend money on this adventure. 1486, Columbus came to the Spanish palace with a solid economic foundation, stated his ideas and opinions to the Spanish king, and put forward some conditions. 1On April 7th, 492, the King of Spain signed the Santa Fe Da Agreement with Columbus, and decided to sponsor him, and made him the patriarch and ruler of the land discovered in advance, that is, the prefect of all the islands and continents he personally discovered or acquired in various oceans, and the hereditary governor of the newly discovered land. He has the right to keep one twentieth of the total income from the new land for himself, but the sovereignty of these lands belongs to the king of Spain.
After some preparation, Columbus finally set out from Spain on August 3, 492 at/kloc-0. His fleet consists of three sailboats and 87 sailors. Columbus commanded the fleet to sail westward. He carefully observed every group of seabirds and every piece of aquatic plants he saw on the way, never letting go of a clue. 1492 65438+1October 12 in the early morning, after more than two months of sailing, the long-awaited land, the crew complained. On the verge of rebellion, a sailor on the bow suddenly exclaimed, "Ah! Land! " It turned out that he vaguely saw a piece of land ahead in the moonlight. At dawn, they came to an island. Columbus went ashore immediately. Facing the lush vegetation, he happily declared that it was Spanish land and named it San Salvador Island. San Salvador means savior, and this island is Watling Island in the Bahamas. Columbus thought he had arrived in India, so he called the locals Indians. Columbus did not go west, but continued to sail south, reaching nearby Cuba and Haiti, where he found many islands. But to Columbus' disappointment, there are not as many gold and spices as he imagined, but many animals, plants and customs that they have never seen before. However, land is very important to him.
As the first European colonist in America, Columbus didn't get a lot of gold, but he could still satisfy his desire for wealth in other ways. European colonists did not rob naked at first, but traded unequally. At that time, the production methods of Indians on these islands were still extremely primitive, so all the products brought by Europeans, even waste products, glass fragments and every used playing card, were precious to them. They exchanged these things for Indian valuables in large quantities. The Indians regarded these white people from afar as guests sent by the gods, warmly entertained them, met their various demands, and were not wary of their ambitions. However, it was these people who announced their disaster. After Columbus arrived in Haiti, he set up a stronghold there, brought the advanced weapons of Europe-cannons and muskets to the island, and began the bloody rule and crazy plunder of the local people. To show off his success, Columbus returned with plundered wealth and 65,438+00 Indians. 438+04, on March 65, 1993, he returned to Barros, Spain, and announced to Europeans that he had found a route to India. This caused a sensation in Europe, and Columbus was treated by the king and became a nobleman in Spain.
Soon, the king of Spain decided to send Columbus to sail again. This time, Columbus arrived in Dominica and Haiti. Since then, Columbus has arrived in America twice. However, due to the lack of gold where Columbus went, it did not bring huge income to the Spanish treasury, nor did it make him a rich man. Instead, it was squeezed out by the jealousy of Spanish nobles. 1506 On May 20th, he died at Valladolid Football Club in Spain.
Columbus thought India was where he was going until his death. Later, an Italian adventurer named Americana went to the other side of the American continent and saw the Pacific Ocean, thus confirming that Columbus discovered not India, but a new continent unknown to Europeans in the past. Later, people called it America, America.
When Spain sent people to sail west, the Portuguese were constantly looking for routes to the east. The Portuguese have sailed west for a long time. As early as 1487, Portuguese Diaz, encouraged by the king, organized ships to sail south along the African coast and reached the Cape of Good Hope at the southernmost tip of Africa. Then, Portuguese da Gama (1469- 1524) organized a larger fleet and set off from Lisbon on July 8, 497. First, along the route discovered by Diaz, he reached the Cape of Good Hope in June165438+1October of the same year, and sailed north from there. 1498 arrived in Mozambique in March. Under the guidance of an Arab guide, Dada set up a stronghold here, but it was resisted by the local people, so he hurried back after buying a lot of oriental specialties such as spices, silk and precious stones. The net profit of the goods he brought back this time is 60 times of the total sailing cost. In the later voyage, the Portuguese brought more horses and cannons, defeated organized resistance in various parts of the Indian Ocean, established many commercial and military strongholds, and finally controlled this route to the East.
It was Magellan who really proved that he could travel around the world through adventure. Although the Spanish discovered America, the benefits gained there were far less than those gained by the Portuguese in India, so Spain was determined to continue to sail westward in order to reach India from the west. 1565438+On September 20th, 2009, Portuguese Magellan (1480- 152 1), with the support of the King of Spain, led an expedition fleet consisting of five galleons and 265 sailors, which first sailed west along the known road and then turned south. I stopped on the road for quite a long time because of the cold in winter. Since then, the South American Strait was discovered in the spring, and people later called it strait of magellan. When crossing the Pacific Ocean, Magellan's fleet experienced a serious shortage of food and fresh water. Some people who lost hope once launched a rebellion against Magellan, and the leader of the rebellion was left on a desert island on the way by Magellan. In March, 152 1 finally reached the Philippines. Magellan's fleet was replenished here. Magellan was killed by local natives when he intervened in the civil war on the island. Later, the fleet entered the Indian Ocean along the familiar route, and then returned to Spain along the route discovered by the Portuguese. When the fleet returned to Spain on September 1522, the sailors were surprised to find that the calendar used was one day less. Through this voyage, the theory of the earth circle was confirmed.
After the discovery of the new air route, the world communication was further expanded. However, in the early days, due to the gap between the East and the West in terms of economic development level and weapons, Europeans began large-scale colonial activities, occupying colonies in Africa, Asia and America, oppressing and exploiting local people and conducting slave trade.
Meaning influence
First of all, it caused a commercial revolution. Due to the opening of new air routes, the scope of European trade has expanded unprecedentedly, and the ties between Western Europe and all ethnic groups in the world have been strengthened, and the world market has begun to take shape. The European trade center moved from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic coast, and Italy's commercial status was gradually replaced by Spain, Portugal, Britain and the Netherlands.
Second, it caused a "price revolution". After the opening of the new sea route, Spain and other countries plundered a large amount of gold and silver from the colonies, and the precious metals in Western Europe increased by more than three times, causing the price of gold and silver to fall, the price to rise, and the purchasing power of money to decrease. From the 1930s of 16 to the end of 16, the prices in Spain rose more than four times, and those in Britain, France and other countries rose by two to two and a half times. While paying the devalued currency wages, the bourgeoisie sells goods at high prices and makes huge profits. The fixed-currency land rent collected by feudal landlords was also affected by the price revolution. The price revolution is one of the factors of primitive accumulation, which has helped the growth of capitalism in western Europe.
Third, with the opening of new sea routes, Portugal and Spain first started colonial expansion and plunder.
Fourthly, the correctness of the earth circle theory is proved.
Fifth, it has broken the relative isolation around the world and created conditions for the formation of the world market.
character introduction
Diaz
Bartholmeu Dias, a famous Portuguese navigator (about1450 ——1May 24th, 500) first explored the southernmost Morsel Bay in Africa in the spring of 1488, which laid a solid foundation for another Portuguese navigator, vasco da gama, to open a new route to India.
/kloc-At the end of 0/3, the travel notes of Venetian businessman Kyle Poirot described the East as a paradise of peanuts, wealth and prosperity, which triggered a wave of western gold search in the East. However, the rise of the Ottoman Turkish Empire has controlled the main traffic routes between the East and the West, imposed arbitrary taxes and extortion on cross-border businessmen, and combined with war and piracy, it has seriously hindered the trade between the East and the West. By the15th century, Portugal and Spain had completed the process of political unification and centralization, and they regarded opening up new routes to the East and looking for gold and spices in the East as important sources of income. In this way, the merchants and feudal lords of the two countries became the first colonial navigators in the world.
Diaz was born into a royal family in Portugal. When he was young, he liked exploring the sea. He has been to some countries in West Africa with the ship and accumulated rich sailing experience. Before the 1980s, few people knew where the southernmost tip of the African continent was. In order to understand this, many people set sail by boat ambitiously, but the results were unsuccessful. As an important part of opening up new sea routes, explorers in western Europe are interested in crossing the southernmost tip of Africa to find a route to the East. Therefore, Diaz was entrusted by King Joao II of Portugal to find the southernmost tip of the African continent, thus opening up a new route to the East. After ten months of preparation, Diaz found four familiar companions to embark on this adventure with their brothers, and set off from Lisbon in August 1487, leading two armed ships and a supply ship to sail south along the west coast of Africa to explore the secrets of the southernmost tip of Africa.
Magellan
Magellan (full name Fernando de Magellan, Portuguese: Fern? O demagalo? es； Spanish: ferdinand magellan,1480-15265438+April 27th, 0), a Portuguese, worked for the Spanish government in exploration. 1519-1521year, he led a fleet to sail around the world for the first time and died in a tribal conflict in the Philippines. Although he didn't travel around the world himself, the sailors on his ship sailed west and returned to Europe after his death.
1480, Magellan was born in a shabby knight family in northern Portugal, belonging to the children of the fourth-class nobility. /kloc-entered the palace at the age of 0/0, and/kloc-entered the National Maritime Institute at the age of 0/6. When I was young, I was fascinated by sailing. At the age of 25, he took part in the colonial war against Africa. Later, they competed with Arabs for trading places. He left India for home at the age of 30. However, he ran into a rock on his way home and was trapped on an isolated island. Magellan and his sailors waited a long time to rescue the ship. Knowing this situation, his superiors promoted him to captain and served in the army.
After that, when he participated in the colonial war in Southeast Asia, he learned that there was still a sea to the east of the Spice Islands. In addition, his friend the astrologer Farillo also calculated the location of the spice islands. He guessed that America was to the east of the sea, and firmly believed that the earth was round. So, he has a plan to sail around the world.
Columbus
European medieval navigator Christopher Columbus (Italian: cristoforo colombo, Spanish: Cristóbal Colón,1August 25th or 10/0/October 3rd 10—1May 20th, 506).
Columbus was born in a worker's family in Genoa, Italy. He is a descendant of Jews who believe in Christianity and loves sailing since childhood. At that time, because of the church, most people believed that the sky was round, but Columbus questioned it. He believes that sailing boats disappear from bottom to top precisely because the earth is round. In order to prove his idea, he asked the kings of Spain, Portugal, Britain, France and other countries for help to realize the plan of sailing westward to China and India, but none of them got help. But at the same time, European countries are in great need of spices and gold from Southeast Asia. However, the land route to Asia was blocked by the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and the sea route had to pass through the Cape of Good Hope off the coast of South Africa, so European monarchs began to change their previous ideas. After more than ten years of lobbying, Columbus finally got the support of Spanish Queen Isabella I in 1492.
Dagama
Vasco da gama (1469-1524 65438+February 24th) was a Portuguese explorer and the first person to sail from Europe to India. In Chinese translation, he is referred to as "da gama" or "da gama" for short, and in Macau, his name is translated as "vasco da gama".
As early as the early15th century, the navigator Henry Navigation had taught the relevant geographical knowledge of the African coast in Portugal. /kloc-In the 1960s, the goal of Portuguese navigators gradually turned to bypass the southern tip of Africa and arrived in India, and gained trade opportunities for Indian products (mainly Indian spices, such as black pepper). At that time, land trade routes were expensive and unsafe.
Da Gama was born in the Portuguese port city of Sines. When he was about 65,438+00 years old, he made a long-term sailing plan. At that time, the famous navigator Diaz had returned from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa to explore the nearby Fish River. But you know what? He once explored the sea route from India to Africa, leaving a short sailing record.
Da gama's father (Estêv? O da Gama, a grumpy homosexual, had obtained these nautical records and planned to connect this sea route, but he died before he set off. So da Gama inherited his legacy and set out on July 8, 497 with four ships. Sail from Lisbon, Portugal to the Gold Coast of Africa. These four ships are s? Oh, Gabriel, s? Raphael (led by his brother Paulo da Gama), Beriau and another unnamed supply ship.
1497 12 16 and D 'Gama's fleet crossed the Fish River and entered the waters (East Africa coast) that were still blank in the European navigation records, so D 'Gama called the next exploration area Natal (it was nearly Christmas at that time, Natal means Christmas in Portuguese, which can also be translated as "rebirth". In June+10, 5438, they arrived at the location of Mozambique today. In June 5438+0498, the local area belonged to Arab territory and was also a part of the Indian Ocean maritime trade network.