Portuguese Empire And Early Modern World Trade System

Portugal was the pioneer of the Discovery.It established a vast commercial empire through Europe, America,Africa and Asia by exploration and expanding at seas. As one of the global expanding European countries in the early modern time, the process that Portugal established the commercial empire was right the process that multilateral global trade connection formed, the trade method of Portugal empire inevitably became the one of the ingredient of ealy modern world trade system. This dissertation will examine the establisment, zenith and decline of Portugal empire; the motives and conditions of exploration of the route to India; the method of trade between Portugal and other civilizations; and lastly the impact of Portugal empire on the early modern world trade system.Portugal national state gradually shaped after the mid-fourteenth century, material lust and religious fever brought about the wish to explorate overseas. Leading Geographical knowledge and navigation technology,and the formation of national state provided the conditions of overcoming geographical obstacles and explorating unknown seas for the Portugueses.In the precess of explorating African coasts, Portugal founded the Atlantic trade system connecting Europe, Africa, and America, on the basis of slave trade erected and developed plantation economy in the New World. Portugal also discovered the sea route to India, entered the established Indian trade circle, engaged and changed the operation ways of Indian ocean trade system by forced and monopoly trade. Then Portugal reached South Chinese Sea, occupied Macao, operate multilateral trade, extended west Pacific trade net, impacted chinese tribute-trade system in south Chinese Sea, opened directly the West--East trade. Thus Portugal built a vast empire which spaned from Europe, America, Africa to Asia, and extended its tentacles into Spanish colonies, connected Mediterranean trade circle, Atlantic trade circle with Indian Ocean trade circle, South Chinese Sea trade circle and Pacific trade circle, became the first country which knited early modern world trade net.The ways which Portugal pursued global trade influenced deeply on early modern world trade system. First, Portugal exploration and overseas trade riched European georgraphic knowledge, imporved cartography, shipbuilding and sailing technology, facilitated the development of early modern world trade. Secondly, the ways of forced and monopoly trade which Portugal empire used in Indian Ocean were succeeded and aggrandized by the later European colonists, and these ways thus spreaded over the world. Lastly, the plantation economy mode which Portugal empire first built at Madras Islands and developed in Braizil was also succeeded by Spanish, Dutch, England and France, impacted the New World economic development mode deeply.