World's history (part 11): European expansion[edit] Further information:History of Europe, Age of Discovery, Colonialism, 16th century, and 17th century World map byOrtelius, 1570, incorporating new discoveries by Europeans Movable-typeprinting pressarose in mid-15th century. 50 years later, nine million books were in print. During this period, European powers came to dominate most of the world. One theory of why that happened holds that Europe's geographyplayed an important role in its success. The Middle East,IndiaandChinaare all ringed bymountainsandoceansbut, once past these outer barriers, are nearly flat. By contrast, the Pyrenees,Alps,Apennines,Carpathiansand other mountain ranges run through Europe, and the continent is also divided by several seas. This gave Europe some degree of protection from the peril of Central Asianinvaders. Before the era of firearms, these nomads were militarily superior to the agricultural states on the periphery of the Eurasiancontinent and, if they broke out into the plains of northern India or the valleys of China, were all but unstoppable. These invasions were often devastating. The Golden Age of Islam [114]was ended by theMongolsack of Baghdadin 1258. India and China were subject to periodic invasions, andRussiaspent a couple of centuries under theMongol-Tataryoke. Centralandwestern Europe, logistically more distant from theCentral Asianheartland, proved less vulnerable to these threats. Geography contributed to important geopoliticaldifferences. For most of their histories, China, India and the Middle East were each unified under a single dominant power that expanded until it reached the surrounding mountains and deserts. In 1600 the Ottoman Empire[115]controlled almost all the Middle East, theMing Dynastyruled China, [116][117]and theMughal Empireheld sway over India. By contrast, Europe was almost always divided into a number of warring states. Pan-European empires, with the notable exception of the Roman Empire, tended to collapse soon after they arose. Another doubtless important geographic factor in the rise of Europe was the Mediterranean Sea, which, for millennia, had functioned as a maritime superhighway fostering the exchange of goods, people, ideas and inventions. Nearly all the agricultural civilizations have been heavily constrained by theirenvironments. Productivity remained low, and climaticchanges easily instigatedboom-and-bustcyclesthat brought about civilizations'rise and fall. By about 1500, however, there was a qualitative change in world history. Technologicaladvance and thewealthgenerated bytradegradually brought about a widening of possibilities. [118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128]Many have also argued that Europe's institutions allowed it to expand, [129][130]thatproperty rightsandfree-market economics were stronger than elsewhere due to an ideal offreedompeculiar to Europe. In recent years, however, scholars such as Kenneth Pomeranzhave challenged this view, although this revisionist approach to world historyhas been met with criticism for systematically"downplaying"European achievements. [131]Europe's maritime expansion unsurprisingly — given the continent's geography — was largely the work of its Atlantic states: Portugal,Spain,England,France, and theNetherlands. Initially thePortuguese andSpanish Empireswere the predominant conquerors and sources of influence, and their union resulted in theIberian Union,[132]the first global empire, on which the"sun never set". Soon the more northernEnglish,FrenchandDutchbegan to dominate theAtlantic. In a series of wars fought in the 17th and 18th centuries, culminating with the Napoleonic Wars, Britain emerged as the new world power.