Britain, once known as the Empire of the Rising Sun, but also known as the "Churning Stick", has so far abounded the mess left over from the world. So in this series, we're going to start by looking at how the UK is stirring up Asia from start to finish.
As early as the 13th century, Marco Polo returned to Europe with a large number of exotic goods, including spices, from China and Central Asia and Southeast Asia, which led to a strong interest in Asia.
In the early 15th century, Portuguese ships sailed to Asia and established settlements in the Philippines in 1565; The British explorer Ferencis. Drake bypassed South America around the same time and reached the so-called Spice Islands, now the Maluku Archipelago of Indonesia.
However, due to the outbreak of war between Britain and Spain, the British navigation activities to Asia were also greatly hindered.
During the reign of Elizabeth I, Britain did not have much contact with Asia, and its understanding of Asia was relatively vague. Compared with Asia itself, the British are more familiar with the goods produced in Asia.
At that time, due to political and economic reasons, the Market for British wool products in Europe shrank sharply, so when the British saw that portugal's "business" in Asia was doing well, they couldn't help but be envious and decided to start imitating the Portuguese and opening up new markets in Asia.
However, Portugal was still very strong at the time, and in order to avoid conflict with it, Britain was ready to open a "northeast sea route" and plan to bypass the northern siberian seas to Asia.
Although the "Northeast Passage" was frozen for almost half a year, it was not suitable for shipping, but the British searched for what they needed in Russia and Turkey, because there were Asian goods shipped overland from Persia.
Later, more and more British merchants came to the port of Levant in Turkey, and in 1581, the "Turkish Company" was established, and as the company's trade with Asia became more and more frequent, the British tentacles began to gradually penetrate into Asia.
At the same time, as the scope of the adventure grew, British navigation technology also advanced rapidly. In the 1570s, the British improved the large schooners, greatly increasing their speed and ease of maneuvering, and also equipping them with heavy artillery that had previously been equipped only with paddle-powered paddle schooners.
In addition, British sailors gradually mastered the technology needed for ocean voyages, and were no longer weaker than the Spaniards and Portuguese, so the "combat effectiveness" of British merchant ships continued to increase, and they began to appear blatantly in the seas infested with pirates and enemy ships.
Between 1577 and 1580, Drake sailed the galleon Fleck around the world, marking the peak of British navigational technology.
Because the tentacles of British merchant ships became wider and wider, it was natural to have more conflicts of interest with Spain, the "maritime overlord" at that time, and the relations between the two countries gradually deteriorated, and in 1585, the Anglo-Spanish War broke out.
It was this war that seriously hampered the expansion of British power into Asia.
Although Portugal was an important commercial partner of the British at the time and had been a major supplier of Asian goods to the British, it had become an enemy of the British because of its merger with Spain in 1580.
And Britain, which has been preparing for many years and whose wings have become increasingly plump, has finally rubbed its fists and begun to show its sharp fangs.
In 1591, John. Lancaster led LinkedIn's first ocean-going fleet on a long journey, bypassing the Cape of Good Hope, to the Malay Peninsula and attacked Portuguese merchant ships, looting a large amount of goods.
Lancaster's successful "gold rush" in Asia stimulated the whole country of England and led to the establishment of the British East India Company in 1599.
Queen Elizabeth I also issued a charter for the East India Company, which raised £30,000 as "venture capital" to officially begin its "conquest journey" of Asia, with the goal of opening up direct trade between Britain and Asia via the Cape of Good Hope.
And the company also gained a monopoly on trade between britain and all Asian and Pacific countries, which was beneficial to both sides. For the East India Company, this monopoly was a huge privilege that could be made huge profits by excluding competitors; For the British government and the royal family, as long as they dealt with the East India Company, it was naturally more convenient to collect fees and taxes.
After the east india company was founded, it purchased 4 boats with the 30,000 pounds raised. In 1961, the four ships were loaded with cargo and sailed to Asia under lancaster's command.
In 1602, the fleet finally reached the Spice Islands and established the first permanent settlement in Banten. The English exchanged their goods for various spices with the natives, and in 1603 the fleet returned to England and sold spices brought back from Asia, from which they made a huge profit.
The first business was a huge success, leaving the company's investors smiling and eager to fund the start of the second voyage.
This time, the company's fleet reached the island of Java. This time, however, things didn't go as smoothly as they thought. It turned out that the goods brought by the British this time were mainly cashmere fabrics, but these things are very expensive, more importantly, the weather on Java island is very hot, and the locals are not interested in cashmere fabrics, so the British goods have been seriously unsalable.
At the same time, conflicts began to erupt between the Portuguese and dutch as the business of the East India Company also affected the interests of the Portuguese and dutch in the region. In particular, the situation of the Dutch and the British is very similar, they are considered to be the rising stars of "developing Asia", attach great importance to Asia, and their strength has surpassed that of Portugal and Spain, which are getting weaker, so the contradiction with the British is also very sharp, and the conflict between the two sides is even more severe.
As a result, because the goods were slow to sell, coupled with the constant conflicts with the Portuguese and the Dutch, and even the local Javanese and the British had conflicts, the East India Company lost a lot of money on this second voyage, which can be described as a heavy loss.
Then, in 1608, the East India Company's third ocean voyage went to India first. The reason for choosing to go to India first was because of the profound lessons of the second ocean voyage, so the British believed that a new trading point needed to be opened in Asia, first exchanging their cashmere fabrics for goods favored by the Javanese, and then transporting them there in exchange for spices.
Their newly chosen destination was the Gujarat region of western India, where in the past many Asian merchants, as well as Portuguese and Spaniards, first went to Gujarat, where they bought cotton textiles and then shipped them to Java and the Maluku Islands in exchange for spices.
When the fleet landed at Surat, the main port of the Gujarat region, the fleet commander William Wilhelm. Hawkins continued on his way, meeting with The Then King of India, Han gill. Through his good offices, Hangill allowed the British to set up trading posts in Surat.
The East India Company's third ocean voyage was a great success, and it finally found the "business code" of success and began to constantly open up new trade points.
In 1611, the East India Company opened a new trading post in Mersullipdham on the east coast of India. Through these trading posts in India, the East India Company acquired Indian cotton and cotton textiles, either directly back to England, or first resold to Southeast Asia for spices, and finally shipped back to England to sell, thus making a good profit.
In 1613, the East India Company opened up the Japanese market, at that time, Japan was not yet closed to the country, and the local silver was abundant, and the Japanese were very willing to use silver directly to buy goods from other places from the British, which made the Return on the British more impressive.
In 1622, the British assisted Persia in successfully capturing the Strait of Hormuz, which was controlled by the Portuguese, at the outlet of the Persian Gulf, and thus obtained trade privileges in Persia. Persia was rich in silk and trade with Persia allowed the East India Company to open up a new and great source of wealth.
At the same time, the East India Company also began to operate a silk business with China, although the British could not enter China at that time, but many Chinese merchants would go to the East India Company to sell Chinese goods at trading points in other countries, the main one of which was Chinese silk.
By the early 1820s, the East India Company had established hundreds of trading positions in what is now India, Indonesia, Japan, Brunei, Burma, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, iran and other countries. The "commercial map" of the East India Company in Asia has finally taken shape, and the British have basically gained a foothold in Asia.
Okay, so here today, like friends kindly ask you to like and follow the video, the next issue we will present you with the second episode of "Britain into Asia", blessings to everyone.