PDF German Jewry and the Allure of the Sephardic by John M. Efron in History

Description

Between 1492 and 1914; Europeans conquered 84 percent of the globe. But why did Europe establish global dominance; when for centuries the Chinese; Japanese; Ottomans; and South Asians were far more advanced? In Why Did Europe Conquer the World?; Philip Hoffman demonstrates that conventional explanations―such as geography; epidemic disease; and the Industrial Revolution―fail to provide answers. Arguing instead for the pivotal role of economic and political history; Hoffman shows that if certain variables had been different; Europe would have been eclipsed; and another power could have become master of the world. Hoffman sheds light on the two millennia of economic; political; and historical changes that set European states on a distinctive path of development; military rivalry; and war. This resulted in astonishingly rapid growth in Europe's military sector; and produced an insurmountable lead in gunpowder technology. The consequences determined which states established colonial empires or ran the slave trade; and even which economies were the first to industrialize. Debunking traditional arguments; Why Did Europe Conquer the World? reveals the startling reasons behind Europe's historic global supremacy.