There were a number of significant-ish developments in world history in 1635 CE, of which I’ll spend some time looking at four: The Dutch campaign to “pacify” the area around their fort on Taiwan by genociding the neighbors The expulsion by the Massachusetts Bay Colony of Roger Williams, a settler who’d argued the colonists should … Continue reading 1635: Dutch genocide on Taiwan; English colonist in America expresses misgivings; & more →

The three most notable developments of 1636 CE all took place in Asia. They were: The adoption by the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan of the policy of Sakoku (鎖国, “closed country”); the announcement by Hong Taiji, leader of northern China’s “Later Jin” movement of a new imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty; and the arrival in … Continue reading 1636: Eyes on Asia →

1637 CE saw three significant developments in the history of empires, and two noteworthy but less significant ones. The significant developments were: The bursting of the tulip investment bubble in Amsterdam (and what it tells us about the origins of finance capitalism) English colonists in Connecticut genocided the indigenous Pequots at Mystic River A Chinese … Continue reading 1637: Dutch tulip bubble bursts, English settlers do genocide in Connecticut, & more… →

Here are the headlines of what was happening in (mainly) West-European imperialisms in 1638 CE: 1. Dutch VOC activities in Mauritius, Sri Lanka In 1507 a Portuguese squadron made the first European contact with Mauritius, a small island group in the Indian Ocean east of today’s Sri Lanka and established a small and short-lived base … Continue reading 1638: Dutch in Indian Ocean, & globally; Safavid setbacks; Sweden in America… & more →

In 1639 CE, without a doubt, the three main developments in Western imperialism were as noted in the headline, so more on each of these below. Three smaller incidents were: A bunch of Catholic lay leaders in France established something called the Société de Notre-Dame de Montréal pour la conversion des Sauvages de la Nouvelle-France. … Continue reading 1639: Dutch beat Spain in key sea-battle. English in Madras (Chennai). Massacre in Luzon. →

1640 CE was a huge year in the continuing evolution of Western imperialism. Most of today’s bulletin will deal with the two items noted in the headline. But first, a few very short takes: In February, Ottoman Sultan Murad IV died and was succeeded by his 25-year-old younger brother Ibrahim. Murad had had all his … Continue reading 1640: Portugal secedes from Spain; England & Scotland head into civil turmoil. Etc. →

Yes, 1640 CE was a big year for inter-imperial change and there will be more to come. So today I will try to sort out the two big threads of 1641, which are: (1) The Portuguese-Spanish-Dutch thread, and (2) The English-Scottish-Irish thread. Fall-out from Portugal’s secession from Spain It was on December 1, 1640 that … Continue reading 1641: Four empires try to reset their balance after 1640 →

In 1642 CE, the main developments of geopolitical impact were the civil wars in both ultra-large China and tiny England. The significance of the latter was magnified because by then, England already had a globe-girdling empire with non-trivial positions in India, North America, and the Caribbean; and the outcome of the struggle for power “back … Continue reading 1642: England in civil war; Irish declare independence; News from China, etc. →

Here were my earlier two communiques in this project: 1, 2. Well, I am now speedily closing in on having completed 25% (125 years/days) of this 500 year/day project! That will happen on May 5. I raced right through the “100 year” mark. I’ll confess that at the time I was trying to pull together … Continue reading Project 500 Years: Communique #3 →

In 1643 CE I’ll look at England’s continuing King vs. Parliament civil war, and its many repercussions including on Ireland, the Anglo colonies in North America, and the East India Company (EIC.) The other significant story is an attempt the Dutch swashbucklers made to take a chunk of Chile from Spain. I’ll come to those … Continue reading 1643: English civil war continues, has wide effects. Dutch poke Spain in Chile. France, China, etc. →