Without a doubt, the main development in 1644 CE was the ousting of the Ming Dynasty from Beijing and, after further turmoil there, the installation of the robust and longlasting Qing Dynasty. Other notable events in the continuing story of the rise of “the West” were the uprising that the capable but ageing Powhatan chief … Continue reading 1644: Upheavals in China, a Powhatan rising in Virginia, etc. →

The biggest geopolitical trend in 1645 CE was the push by independent Portugal to start recapturing the extensive portions of Brazil’s coast that had earlier been taken from them by the Dutch. But I retain my interest in the civil war in England which was already a globe-active power and whose colonial projects (including in … Continue reading 1645: Portuguese start to re-take Dutch Brazil, English Parliament founds new army, & more. →

The two major developments of 1646 CE that affected the history of Western imperialism were the Parliamentary victory in the first round of England’s civil war and a series of attempts the Dutch VOC navy made in the Indies to oust the Spanish from the Philippines. We will get to them below. One smaller but … Continue reading 1646: Parliament wins 1st round of English civil war, Dutch challenge Spain in E. Indies, etc →

1647 CE saw continuations of most of the big story-lines we’ve been following for some years now. And (spoiler alert!) 1648 will be a huge year in geopolitics. Here are three smaller but still notable developments of 1647. A battle in Ireland The position of the Confederate movement that had emerged in Ireland earlier in … Continue reading 1647: A battle in Ireland, a debate in Putney, & a planter in Barbados →

In international affairs, the Peace of Westphalia that was concluded among numerous, European-only parties in 1648 CE set the basic rules of inter-state conduct that are still fundamentally in place, covering the entire world of humankind, until today. Already in 1648, four European states had extensive transoceanic empires through which they were able to affect … Continue reading 1648: Peace of Westphalia sets inter-state rules for >370 years. (Etc.) →

The biggest developments of 1649 CE in the continuing development of Western hegemony of the world all centered on Oliver Cromwell. In last year’s bulletin we took his story up to the beheading of King Charles I in January 1649 and Cromwell’s announcement of an anti-monarchical Commonwealth. Throughout the rest of the year he consolidated … Continue reading 1649: Cromwell consolidates at home, colonizes Ireland, revamps English Navy. Etc. →

Lots of shortish news this year, 1650 CE. Throughout the year, the politically and religiously complex Commonwealth vs. monarchist conflict continued to roil England, Scotland, and Ireland (though mainly the latter two of those lands.) I shall note below only what was happening in Scotland and a small event in England. Remember though that these … Continue reading 1650: News from Netherlands, England, Scotland, Ireland, Bengal, West Indies– and Harvard →

The three development of geo-historical significance in 1651 CE were as follows: Conquistadors in Chile negotiate deal with Mapuche indigenes but a naval incident threatens that. Cromwell lures Charles II’s Scottish army into a deadly trap far south of the border. London’s Parliament gets serious about seapower and its link to imperial trade. I will … Continue reading 1651: News from Chile, England, Istanbul, & more →

Without a doubt, the major development of geo-historical impact in 1652 CE was the outbreak of armed conflict between the navies of the two powerful Protestant-European global empires that had emerged over the preceding eight decades, when they displaced to a considerable degree (though not wholly) the two older Catholic-European empires that had preceded them. … Continue reading 1652: Netherlands & England at war →

In 1653 CE, as for more than 200 years prior, the armed merchant ships of West European nations– now, in chronological order, Portugal, Spain, England, and Netherlands– were all roaming the world’s oceans and looting their plunder from non-European nations on every continent except Australia. In many places, now, the fighters aboard those ships had … Continue reading 1653: News from London, ‘New Amsterdam’, Scheveningen, & Kerala →