A culture hearth is described by geographers and historians as an area where innovations develop, with subsequent diffusion to other areas. Few of the world's culture hearths have exerted their influences on peoples and regions around the globe to the extent that Europe had between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. For more than 500 years Europe and its cultural influences, diversified the world, changing the landscapes and people in an array of methods. From an economic view of trade, and simplistic goods exchange, to the conquering of foreign lands and subjugation of the indigenous populations, European domination for that period encompassed these ideals along with religion, politics and the need for expansion. However, what was it that placed Europe in the position to dominate the other cultures and civilizations of the world? Was it inevitable that Europe would dominate the World by the nineteenth century? "By 1500 C.E. peoples throughout the world had well-organized societies with distinctive cultural traditions."
Abduction of Europe
Europe Simulator
Extent of Silk Route/Silk Road. Red is land route ...(Bentley 2003, 602). What were the decisive factors that brought Europe to the forefront of the four areas that defined this period? Biology, technology, ideology and economy all made instrumental gains during this era, most notably in Europe and in certain areas throughout the world.
Europe and its ensuing influence on economic, political, and cultural development throughout the globe was assisted by a host of mitigating factors, location, demographics, religion, trade, survival and conquest. To change any of these factors may have caused a shift in power and a following rise for another civilization. European domination by the nineteenth century was inevitable, driven by the forces of geographic location, trade relations, ideology and technological advancement, culminating with the drive for expansion around the globe.
The argument proposed by Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel on geographic determinism is well...