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The 18th century is known as the 'Age of Revolutions', as the three important revolutions took place in this century. 1. American War of Independence. 2. French Revolution 3. Industrial Revolution. The first two revolutions were the political ones whereas the industrial revolution was based on scientific inventions and discoveries.These three events significantly changed the history of the modern world and out of these three revolutions,the most important one is the industrial revolution as it led to further important events in the world history. Industrial Revolution and its implications: Industrial Revolution took place in England in 18th century and then gradually spread to other European nations..It revolutionized the means of transportation and communication and production increased many fold times. As the production increased, the European nations felt the need for new markets to sell their finished products.The markets were in the undeveloped nations of Asia and Africa.So Europeans started colonizing the nations of Asia and Africa and started exploiting them economically.Gradually they set their imperial rule over the colonies and this process is termed as Imperialism. Imperialism: It means territorial expansion. " The domination of an undeveloped nation by a developed nation by virtue of establishing a colony is known as Imperialism." Imperialism can be divided into 2 types. 1.Traditional Imperialism: The imperialism practiced before the advent of of industrial revolution is called as traditional imperialism.In the beginning Kings and Emperors had the ambition of expanding their territories.But they gave less importance to acquisition of wealth and financial profits while expanding their territories. The source of inspiration was regional pride and display of army.This royal ambitions gave rise to mighty Greek, Roman and Turkish Empires. 2. Modern Imperialism: The imperialism practiced in the post industrial revolution period  is called as modern imperialism.In modern times, the concept of imperialism changed completely.Now the ambition was trade and financial profits.This led to the establishment of mighty British , French and Portuguese Empires. Need for Geographical discoveries: Till the 15th century, Europeans used to import valuable goods like sugar,silk,spices from the Asian countries.However in 1453 AD, Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople which is located in Turkey and they blocked all the trade routes passing through their empire.Constantinople served as the shortest terrestrial route to Asia from Europe as it was blocked ,European trade came to halt. So, Europeans felt the urgent need of discovering alternate sea route to Asia. Important Geographical Discoveries: Portuguese King Leopold motivated the navigators to undertake missions to discover new routes.So courageous and ambitious sailors undertook this task.Instruments such as mariner compass,astrolabe,newly designed maps and directive books proved helpful during their voyage.Earlier,it was assumed that earth was flat and if you start sailing and reach the edges you would get lost in space.But then Copernicus propounded that earth is not flat but round and if you begin from one point and circumnavigate the earth then you would reach the same point again.Based on this assumption sailors started their mission. 1.Christopher Columbus: He was an Italian sailor who set in search of India.But he landed on Bahamas Island in Caribbean which he wrongly believed to be an Indian territory. 2. Amerigo Vespucci: He is regarded as the true discoverer of America.He was an Italian sailor and he followed the same route as taken by Columbus.Because of him,it became clear that it was not the coast of India.This new, previously unknown territory came to be called as 'America' after Amerigo. 3. Vasco da Gama : In 1498 AD, he reached the western coast of India sailing through South African Peninsula. 4.Ferdinand Magellan: He was the most ambitious Portuguese sailor.He set out on a voyage in 1513 AD with the ambition of circumnavigating the earth. Although he was killed at Philippines Island in skirmish before he completed the voyage, his co-sailors completed the circumnavigation.This was the first sea voyage around the globe in the history of the world. Imperial European nations started setting up their colonies in these newly discovered regions.There began a cut throat competition among them for dominating the newly discovered regions and England was the leading nation in the process of colonization.  
8 years ago
KIRAN created new article Imperialism in China.
China which is located in the Asian Continent is the biggest nation in terms of population.China was called as 'Dormant Nation' or a 'Sleeping Nation' as it remained isolated or aloof from the rest of the world till the second half of the 18th century. Reason being that Chinese believed themselves and their culture to be far superior than other cultures of the world.The ancient Chinese society was molded into Confucian philosophy. However this pride was shattered in the coming years and a very powerful and gigantic nation was imperialised. Events in the time period 1644-1911 with respect to China: Manchu rule was held responsible for bringing China under the reign of Europeans.Manchu are an ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name.Hence Manchu's who were in minority ruled Chinese majority, this created a rift and Europeans took advantage of this. Portuguese were the first European traders in China who came via sea route. In 1517, Portuguese alighted at the canton port located on the east coast of China where they were allowed trade concessions.Later on they captured the Macau port.After Portuguese,the traders from Holland, England, Russia, Belgium and France too alighted in China and set up there commercial centers in coastal regions. However Chinese attitude towards these foreign traders was very restrictive.Chinese had announced 8 point regulation according to which whoever wanted to enter China had to bow down before the Chinese emperor and this was very humiliating for Europeans. Initially China was very prosperous nation and had very rich civilization who had invented silk, paper, printing and gun powder. Chinese used to earn huge profits by selling these articles to European nations.However the situation reversed after the Industrial Revolution. Now the European goods started flooding in Chinese markets and stream of gold and silver started reaching European nations.In this way imperialist nations established economic dominance over China. Opium trade : The British merchants used to sell opium brought from India into the Chinese markets.The Chinese government was against this business so European traders started smuggling of opium into China.Chinese exchanged silver to buy opium which led to a stream of silver export to England. First Opium War (1840-1842) : Chinese government officials discovered opium cargo and seized it.This led to the first opium war between England and China.China was defeated and a 'Nanjing Treaty' was imposed on China. According to this treaty 4 ports were now open to England and also Hong Kong Island was acquired by them. Second Opium War (1856-60) : In the year 1856, England and France waged a war against China.China was again defeated and 'Peking Treaty' was imposed on it.Now 6 more ports were open to Europeans. Christian missionaries were given freedom to spread Christianity in China. Permission was given for Opium business. Again Russia attacked China in 1860 and captured amour sea coast and later in 1894 Japan defeated China by waging a war on it. Cutting of Chinese Watermelon : China was being divided under the power sectors of the Imperial nations known as the 'Cutting of Chinese Watermelon. All important services like railways, excise, postal services were now being dominated by the Europeans. Open Door Policy : America feared that China would be completely parceled out to France,Russia,Germany and Britain like the African continent. So in 1899, USA came up with its open-door policy with a view to avoid political division of China and to grab financial advantage.Open door policy consisted of equal rights for all nations to trade in China. Except Russia, all the imperial nations showed their acceptance towards the American decision. Hence China remained undivided due to this policy. But in the following years imperial nations exploited China to very large extent. In this way, a gigantic China was economically dominated and exploited by imperial nations and Chinese pride about their rich culture and superiority was shattered.
8 years ago
Life presents lessons to the sincere seeker, but the fact is that many overlook these priceless warnings & values, because they're too busy, or just plain stupid!! I don't claim to have accumulated a lot of wisdom in all my existence so far( I'm only 33 years of age!!), but whatever I have, I am presenting it in this article....This article is part prose & part poetry... Perseverance "The water that breaks through rocks, & forwards meanders for epochs. Does so only with perseverance & so your efforts should never end... Persist, persist, persist, I say, Through heat,cold, night & day. Sometimes you may not make, Progress but you should remain, Working with patience & perseverance Cos nothing else can bestow deservance.." Wisdom Wisdom is something we should keep accumulating, & keep reviewing. I believe the best way to strengthen our wisdom, is to use it practically. Wisdom from eclectic sources, is the best kind of wisdom, because it can be used in various ways. As far as I'm concerned the best sources of wisdom are books. Whether you want to enlighten yourself about Theology, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology or any other field, the best source would be books. Though the internet is being accepted as a hands on tool for clearing doubts, I don't think all the information it gives out is 'authentic'!!. Wisdom is a thing that's in constant flux, our realities keep changing. Gravity was replaced by Relativity, which was replaced by The String theory, & God only knows what will replace The String theory( maybe 'The G String theory'...Lol..). In all fields of human endeavor, knowledge is growing, & there is so much that we are yet to completely understand... The Satanic Keralite Society I've lived in this society only for the last 17 years, & honestly speaking, it's the most satanic society on the planet. In this society, the definition of 'Rights' is 'Whatever crimes can be committed without getting caught'. Trust me every single person exercises their 'Rights'!!. The worst thing about this society, is that though they know they are depraved, they try to portray the image of the best society on the planet. The literacy rate is pretty high in this society(the highest in all of India), but this literacy is used in the worst way possible. Even young students know that-'if you assault a person at night, you have a better chance of getting away without getting charged for it'!! As far as the rights of mental patients go, the situation is even worse. There is an old colloquial adage that goes-'It is great fun to watch someone else's mother go insane'!! One of the best indicators of how good or bad a society is, is how it treats it's children. There was an article(in a leading newspaper) which stated that the maximum cases of child abuse in India is from Kerala, & nearly 70% of these cases are based on incest. What about women?? There was an article(in a leading newspaper), which stated that women in Kerala are not safe even in their homes...Check out these links.. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/Four-children-sexually-abused-in-Kerala-every-day/articleshow/53259934.cms http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/Many-child-abuse-cases-unreported/article14568992.ece http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/Ahead-of-Human-Rights-Day-KSHRC-raises-concern-over-spurt-in-HR-violation-cases-in-Kerala/articleshow/55898355.cms http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2016/sep/21/Kadakkal-horror-Kerala-Womens-Commission-tells-even-aged-women-are-unsafe-in-their-homes-1522144.html Justice "Oh! Justice thou art the best virtue But hard it is to deliver you!! For the guilty know how to get away, The innocent& ignorant often pay, For crimes that they didn't commit, As the legal system kinda omits, The rules they have to abide by, In delivering their duty day & night!! For the few who try to fight for you, The path is long & pretty skewed..." Forgiveness I'm alright with forgiving my enemies, but I'll never forget their names(I think it's John F. Kennedy who once expressed this idea for the first time!!). Forgiving the hurt caused to you, by people, helps make life easier. Wallowing in the pain makes a waste of time, that can be put to good use. The problem if you forget the people who wronged you, is that they will most likely wrong you again. You must make it a point to avoid giving people who wronged you, to have another shot at doing so. Forgiveness is a gift for the mind & body, as it gives you a better view of life & also reduces stress & it's deleterious effects on the body... Success "Success is both a deceptive friend & enemy as well. For how you handle it & proceed will definitely tell, Whether you can advance on the path of your dreams. Or lose yourself in the feeling of complacence, it seems, You've drawn failure by pretending success is yours forever! Remember success and failure are bound together One carries the other within & pretty soon you'll realise they're imposters.." True love "True love I hope to find you one day. It's hard to find you, donno where you stay! Are you in the eyes of a girl who longs for me? Or in the eyes of friends & relatives who cherish me? I believe only God knows how to love unconditionally Everything else is a game played by the mind temporarily..." Hope you enjoyed reading this article...I hope to write the next part of this article soon enough....  
8 years ago
We will monitor and take necessary action on any system misusages. Just an fyi.. points for liking a reply is discontinued. However I request everyone to stick on to...
8 years ago
usha manohar wrote:never ending...
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