Geographical discoveries 14-16 centuries. Significance of the great geographical discoveries

Mankind gradually mastered the surface of the globe. This cost him great sacrifices, but neither the harsh nature, nor the warlike tribes, nor the diseases could no longer reverse this process.

Great Silk Road

Until the II century BC. the path from Europe to Asia ended at the spurs of the Tien Shan, which hid the civilization of China. Everything changed with the visit of the Chinese Ambassador Zhang Qian to Central Asia, who was amazed at the unprecedented wealth of these lands in his country.

Gradually, small segments of trade roads were united into a gigantic highway 12,000 kilometers long, linking East and West. However, the Great Silk Road should not be considered as a single route.

When approaching Dunhua, a city on the outskirts of the Great Chinese wall- the path forked, bordering the Takla-Makan desert from the server and the south. The northern road went to the valley of the Ili River, and the southern one led to Bactria (northern Afghanistan). Here south road again diverged into two directions: one went to India, the other to the West - to Iraq and Syria.

The Great Silk Road is not a journey of people, but of goods that, before reaching the buyer, passed through many hands. Silk, due to its lightness, high cost and huge demand, was an ideal commodity for transportation over long distances. At the end point of the Silk Road - Rome - the price of this fabric was three times higher than the cost of gold.

Empires appeared and disappeared, establishing their control over the transit of rich caravans, but the arteries of the Great Silk Road continued to feed the markets of the largest continent.

In the middle of the 14th century, along with goods, death flowed along the Great Silk Road. An epidemic of bubonic plague from the depths of the Gobi, covering the road with corpses, reached Europe by caravan routes.

The Cambridge Encyclopedia sums up a terrible result: about 60 million people, or 25% of the world's population - such is the number of victims of a deadly epidemic, such is the price of trade relations between Europe and Asia.

Greenland

The most remarkable thing in this story is that the largest island on the planet was discovered by a fugitive criminal - Eirik, nicknamed Red. The Norwegian Viking was tired of the Icelandic exile and in 982 he sailed with his fellow tribesmen to the west. Eirik called the discovered land Greenland (“Green Country”), not at all from the riot of vegetation: he believed that if the island had a good name, then people would be drawn there.

Eirik managed to persuade some of the Icelanders to move to the "Green Country". In 985, a flotilla of 25 ships set off for the coast of Greenland. Entire families sailed, with belongings, utensils and even cattle.

It was the triumph of Red Eirik: from a hunted outcast, he turned into the owner of vast possessions.

The first settlers of Greenland found abandoned dwellings on its east coast. Most likely, they belonged to the indigenous population of the island - the ancestors of the modern Inuit, who, for unknown reasons, left their habitats.

The arrangement of life was not easy for the Vikings. In order to have the necessary minimum, they had to enter into trade relations with Europe: bread and Construction Materials, and whalebone and skins of marine animals were sent in return.

However, by the end of the 14th century, the colonies fell into decay - almost all of their population died out. Perhaps the reason for this was the Little Ice Age, which created unbearable conditions for life on the island.

Greenland eventually became a springboard for the further advance of the Vikings to the west. Already after the death of Eirik the Red, his sons dared to sail to the ends of the Earth and reached the shores of America.

The last written record of the Greenland Vikings dates back to 1408. It tells about a wedding in the Hwalsi church. The ruins of this church have survived to this day as a monument to the dedication of the first European conquerors of the impregnable North.

West coast of Africa

From the beginning of the 15th century, Portuguese navigators intensified their exploration of the western coast of Africa. In the midst of the Reconquista, the kings of Portugal needed new sources of fame and fortune.

But there was another reason - Turkish dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean, which blocked the traditional merchant routes to Asia.

In order to understand the complexity and significance of the expeditions undertaken by the Portuguese along the western African coast it should be remembered that not a single European had crossed the equator by that time.

Moreover, Europe continued to live with the ideas of Ptolemaic geography, according to which the inhabited world ended in an ocean washing the western outskirts of Africa. In 1482, Diogo Can overcame the equator and reached the mouth of the Congo River, refuting Ptolemy's hypothesis about the impassability of the tropics along the way.

On the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, Portuguese sailors found what they went to so long way- large deposits of gold. The news of the found gold spread quickly and already Spanish, British, Dutch businessmen are sailing here to organize mines in the hope of making fabulous profits.

In 1442 black men and women were brought to Lisbon. This was the delivery of the first batch of African slaves. From now on, “black gold” is becoming the most popular commodity, first on the European and later on the American market.

At the same time, a new phenomenon for mankind arises in the Cape Verde Islands (Cape Verde) - a mixture of Europeans and Africans. This is how Creoles appeared. According to historians, this is due to a banal reason - the almost complete absence of white women in the Portuguese colonies.

America

Instead of answering many questions, the discovery of America seems to have puzzled Europeans even more: the inhabited world here did not end up, but continued further west into the frightening unknown. Nevertheless, the pioneers too self-confidently began to master the alien environment, irrevocably violating the natural and cultural balance of both continents.

Thanks to the "Columbian Exchange" (Alfred Crosby's term), animals, cultivated plants, technologies and diseases migrated to the west in a much larger volume, radically changing the face of the New World. One disease, malaria, was destined to affect geopolitical map North America.

Malaria has been introduced into New World along with African slaves, but since the latter had immunity to infection, it was mainly Europeans who died from the disease. The distribution zone of disease carriers - malarial mosquitoes - is humid tropics. As a result, it formed a conditional geographical line, above which mosquitoes did not breed.

To the south of this line were the slave-owning states, and to the north the territories free from slaves, where European settlers mainly went. Today, this line almost coincides with the so-called Mason-Dixon line, which separates the state of Pennsylvania from the states of West Virginia and Maryland located to the south.

The development of the vast territories of the New World allowed Europe to cope with the problem of overpopulation that threatened it in the future. However, the expansion of Europeans on both American continents led to the largest humanitarian and demographic catastrophe in the history of mankind.

The Indian Reservation Removal Act, which appeared in the United States in 1867, was only a formal step towards the preservation of the natives. Indians were often sent to places completely unsuitable for farming. A number of Indian organizations claim that from 1500 to 1900 indigenous people America decreased from 15 million to 237 thousand people.

Antarctica

Antarctica, like an alluring and at the same time repulsive forbidden fruit, slowly and gradually let sailors close to it. Dirk Geeritz reaches 64°S in 1559. latitude, James Cook in 1773 - 67 ° 5′ S. sh. Trapped among icebergs near Tierra del Fuego, the English navigator declares that there is no Southern Continent.

For almost half a century, Cook's skepticism discouraged the search for a sixth continent. But in 1820, Bellingshausen and Lazarev managed to reach 69°21′ S. sh. - now such a treasured land is at a distance of a cannon shot. Only the Norwegian expedition of Carsten Borchgrevink in 1895 made the first recorded landing on the Southern Continent.

According to the "Treaty on Antarctica", signed in 1959, only 7 states declare claims to certain sectors of the continent - Great Britain, Norway, France, Chile, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. But everyone's territorial appetites are different.

If France claims a narrow strip of land - Adélie Land, which occupies 432,000 km², then Australia counts on almost half the area of Antarctica. At the same time, Chile, New Zealand, Great Britain and Argentina dispute almost the same territory.

Each of the countries is trying to look into the future of the southern mainland. The British, for example, seriously intend to develop the Antarctic shelf rich in hydrocarbons. It is possible that Antarctica may be populated in the near future. Already today due to global warming tundra begins to form on the most distant parts of the land from the pole, and in 100 years scientists predict the appearance of trees here.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES, finding new geographical objects or geographical patterns. In the early stages of the development of geography, discoveries associated with new geographical objects predominated. A particularly important role was played by... encyclopedic Dictionary

Geographic discoveries- (exploration), search and exploration of unknown lands. At the time of the discoverers of travel (expedition) in the main. carried out by sea, less often by land. Phoenician merchants (Phoenicians) often committed pestilence. sailing to the shores of Spain, Brittany and, ... ... The World History

Geographical discovery is the discovery of new geographical objects or geographical patterns Contents 1 Introduction 2 Periodization of geographical discoveries ... Wikipedia

Geographic discoveries- Russians finding new geographical. objects as a result of land or sea travel and expeditions. Even before the formation of Dr. Russian gos wa east. the Slavs were known. some wounds of Byzantium, adjacent to the Black Cape. In the 9th-11th century, thanks before ... ... Russian humanitarian encyclopedic dictionary

Cantino Planisphere (1502), the oldest surviving Portuguese navigational chart, showing the results of the expeditions of Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus and other explorers. It also depicts a meridian, section ... Wikipedia

The complex of the most significant discoveries on land and sea, made during almost the entire written history of mankind. Traditionally, the Great Geographical Discoveries are identified only with discoveries in the so-called era of the Great Geographical ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Discoveries of the conquest of Europeans at the beginning of the 15th - the middle of the 17th century. in Africa, Asia, America and Oceania. The term "geographical discoveries" in relation to the complex of overseas expeditions of Europeans in the 15th-17th centuries. rather conditional, because it covers two different ... ... Geographic Encyclopedia

Great geographical discoveries- GREAT GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES, designation of the complex of the most significant discoveries on land and sea, made during almost the entire written history of mankind. Traditionally, the Great geographical discoveries are identified only with discoveries ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

In zap. European and Russian prerevolutionary lit re under the era of V. g. usually understood as a centenary (approx.) period from ser. 15 to ser. 16th century, center. moments to the horn were: the discovery of tropical. America by H. Columbus, the discovery of a continuous sea. way from Zap. Europe… … Soviet historical encyclopedia

The set of the most important geographical discoveries made by European travelers in the 15th-17th centuries. Development of trade and industry in countries Western Europe, formation capitalist relations called at 15 - beg. 16th century yearning for... ... Geographic Encyclopedia

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Geographical Discoveries, Durham, Sylvia. Why did people seek to unknown distances? Where did the ancient Greeks go? What countries did Alexander the Great conquer? What was Ptolemy's mistake? When was the giraffe first seen in China?
Geographical Discoveries, Sylvia Durham. Why did people seek to unknown distances? Where did the ancient Greeks go? What countries did Alexander the Great conquer? What was Ptolemy's mistake? Who invented the "solar sector"? When in…

This term is used in relation to the most important geographical discoveries made by European travelers between the 15th and 17th centuries. Geographical discoveries are the search and discovery of new lands, previously not known to people. These are the reasons that prompted people to make great geographical discoveries, starting from the end of the 15th century.

First, at the end of XV - early XVI centuries in Europe, commodity production began to grow at a rapid pace, which led to an increase in demand for raw materials. But since there was not enough raw material in Europe, it became necessary to import it from other countries.

Secondly, the existing trade routes through the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the Great Silk Road that connected Asia with Europe, became extremely dangerous. Control over these routes passed to the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). The task facing the Europeans of opening new maritime trade routes has become a historical necessity. The modern ships and armament that existed by that time made it possible to fully realize the plan. Great importance also had the invention of the astrolabe, which began to be used in navigation along with the compass. During this period, the Italian scientist P. Toscanelli, based on the fact that the Earth is round, created a map of the world. On it, the shores of the Asian continent went to the western part Atlantic Ocean. P. Toscanelli believed that, having sailed from Europe to the west, one could get to India.

The beginning of the great geographical discoveries.

The initiators of the great geographical discoveries were sea travelers from Portugal and Spain. To implement such a grandiose idea, fearless sailors were needed. One of these travelers was the Genoese Admiral Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). He planned to pave the way to India across the Atlantic Ocean.

Columbus managed to conclude an agreement with the royal family of Spain to equip an expedition to find the shortest sea route to India. The king took over financial support expeditions. On August 6, 1492, Columbus went to sea on three caravels, leading the expedition.

Discovery of America.

On October 12, 1492, the Columbus expedition landed on one of the Caribbean islands. Columbus named this island San Salvador (now the territory of the state of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas). Thus, the search for the shortest sea route to India led to the discovery of America. This happened as a result of the mistakes of scientists of the 15th century, in particular Toscanelli, who compiled a map of the world. The fact is that when determining the length of the equator, P. Toscanelli made a mistake in calculating 12 kilometers. Subsequently, scientists called this mistake "the great mistake that led to the great discovery."

However, Columbus himself did not understand that in 1492 he sailed not to India, but to America. He believed that he had arrived in India. Therefore, he called the indigenous population of America Indians. Columbus subsequently equipped expeditions to India (actually to America) four more times. As a result of these expeditions, a lot of new lands were discovered, on which the Spanish flag was raised. These territories became the property of Spain. Columbus was appointed viceroy of these lands. The fact that the new continent is not called Colombia, but America, is associated with the name of the Italian navigator and astronomer Amerigo Vespucci (1454 - 1512). In 1499 - 1501, as part of a Portuguese expedition, he explored the coast of Brazil and came to the conclusion that discovered by Columbus land is not India, but a new part of the world. Subsequently, he named the continent named after him the New World. In 1507, the cartographer M. Waldseemüller proposed to name the new part of the world discovered by Columbus in honor of Amerigo Vespucci - America. This name suits everyone. The first globe on which the New World was called "America" was created in Germany, in 1515. Subsequently, on other maps, the lands discovered by Columbus began to be called "America".

subsequent discoveries.

Marine Ferdinand Magellan. the route across the Atlantic Ocean leading to India was opened in 1498. The Portuguese sea traveler Vasco da Gama, who sailed from the coast of Spain. In 1519, another Portuguese, Ferdinand Magellan, who also began his sea voyage from the coast of Spain, rounded the American continent, opened a new sea route to India. This round-the-world trip ended in 1522 and finally proved that the Earth is round and its most of covered with water. And the JI.B. de Torres discovered Australia in 1605.

Significance of the great geographical discoveries. Great geographical discoveries played important role in the development of many sciences. Geography, history, ethnography, and oceanology were replenished with new information and conclusions. Thanks to these discoveries, new trade sea routes were laid. The main sea trade routes that ran through the Mediterranean now crossed into the Atlantic Ocean. These factors contributed to the formation of world trade in the future.
Thus, thanks to the Great geographical discoveries, the foundation of a global civilization was laid.

Admiral (from the Arabic "amiralbahr" - "lord of the sea") - military rank in the navies.
An astrolabe is an astronomical instrument used to determine geographic latitudes and longitudes, as well as the rising and setting of stars.
Vice-assistant, deputy ex officio.
Discovery is a search, an achievement that introduces fundamental changes in the level of knowledge.

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1. What are the prerequisites for the Great geographical discoveries in your opinion. What are their main consequences? What is the degree of participation of Russian travelers and researchers

geographical discovery Russian explorer

At the end of the XV - the middle of the XVII century. Great geographical discoveries took place. They are called great because of their exceptional significance for the destinies of Europe and the whole world.

The Age of Discovery is divided into two periods:

— The Spanish-Portuguese period (end of the 15th – mid-16th century) The most important of the discoveries during this period were: the discovery of America (the first expedition of Columbus in 1492); the opening of the sea route to India - Vasco da Gamma (1497-1498); F. Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world (1519–1522).

- The period of Russian and Dutch discoveries (mid-16th - mid-17th century). These include: The discovery by the Russians of all of North Asia (from Yermak's campaign to the voyage of Popov-Dezhnev in 1648), the Dutch Pacific expeditions and the discovery of Australia.

Background of the Great geographical discoveries

The great geographical discoveries were prepared by the entire course of the economic development of Europe. At the end of the XV century. European trade with the countries of the East was in crisis. With the formation of the Ottoman Empire, the trade routes of the Mediterranean were cut off. In the XV century. the countries of Western Europe began to feel the shortage of gold and silver as a means of circulation. The impoverished nobility, which made up the bulk of the conquistadors (conquerors), rushed to search for new trade routes and gold. The state, in need of money, was forced to go to the cost of financing sea expeditions.

The success of European science and technology was also an important prerequisite for the Great Geographical Discoveries. First of all, the development of shipbuilding and navigation technology. In the XIV-XV centuries. a caravel designed for ocean navigation was created - a high-speed vessel with capacious holds, navigational instruments - a compass and an astrolabe - were improved, geographical maps were refined, the concept of the Earth's sphericity was established.

Consequences of the Great Geographical Discoveries

Geographical discoveries led to profound changes in the economy of Europe.

1. There was a significant expansion of the scope of world trade (for example: if by 1400 Europeans knew 50 out of 510 million

Earth's surface, then by 1500 the surveyed area reached 110 million, and by 1600 - 310 million.)

2. The commercial development of new lands led to the inclusion in the world trade of products previously unknown to Europeans: tobacco, cocoa, coffee, tea, rice, and especially sugar. The volume of trade has increased significantly. (for example: if the Venetians annually delivered more than 200 tons of pepper to Europe, then after the opening of the sea route, up to 7000 tons of spices were brought to India.)

3. Great geographical discoveries led to the movement of trade routes to the oceans - the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific. Spain and Portugal were at the center of world trade routes. New trade routes along the Atlantic Ocean increased the importance in the international trade of the Netherlands, England and France.

4. With the expansion of trade, the emergence of many new products, new forms of organization of trade arose. In Europe, a permanent market appeared - the stock exchange. At first it was a special area for transactions, and in 1531 the stock exchange building was erected. Operations with securities were carried out on the stock exchange.

5. One of the consequences of the Great geographical discoveries was the “price revolution” caused by the influx of gold and silver into Europe, which gave a powerful impetus to the primitive accumulation of capital in Europe (for example: during the 16th century.

the influx of gold from America to Europe more than doubled, silver more than tripled) Germany - 2 times. However, product prices Agriculture grew up in much more than industrial goods, and essential goods have risen in price more than luxury goods. This was due to the fall in the value of precious metals as a commodity.

6. Also, as a result of the discoveries, a system of colonial domination and colonial exploitation appeared. Initially, the main method of exploitation of the colonies was open robbery. Subsequently, the tax system became widespread. But the main income from the exploitation of the colonies was brought by trade.

Thus, the Great geographical discoveries created the basis for the emergence of the world economy and market, changes in the organization of trade, industry, and the rise of agriculture in European countries.

Participation of Russian travelers and researchers

The Russian people contributed to the great geographical discoveries of the first half of XVII in. significant contribution. Russian travelers and navigators made a number of discoveries (mainly in the northeast of Asia) that enriched world science.

The reason for the increased attention of Russians to geographical discoveries was the further development commodity-money relations in the country and the related process of the formation of the all-Russian market, as well as the gradual inclusion of Russia in the world market. During this period, two main directions were clearly outlined - northeast (Siberia and the Far East) and southeast (Central Asia, Mongolia, China), along which Russian travelers and sailors moved.

Of great educational importance for contemporaries were the trade and diplomatic trips of Russian people in the 16th-17th centuries. to the countries of the East, a survey of the shortest land routes for communication with the states of Central and Central Asia and with China.

By the middle of the XVII century. Russians have thoroughly studied and described the paths to Central Asia. Detailed and valuable information of this kind was contained in the embassy reports (“article lists”) of the Russian ambassadors I.D. Khokhlova (1620–1622), Anisim Gribov (1641–1643 and 1646–1647) and others.

Of great importance in the history of geographical discoveries of that era was the exploration of the vast expanses of the north and northeast of Asia from the Ural Range to the coast of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans, i.e. throughout Siberia.

The annexation of Siberia was started in 1581 by a campaign of a detachment of the Cossack ataman Ermak Timofeevich. Yermak's campaign supported by the government (1581–1584) led to the fall Siberian Khanate and accession Western Siberia to the Russian state.

Even in the middle of the XVI century. Sailings of Russian polar sailors from the European part of the country to the mouth of the Yenisei are mentioned. They moved along the coast of the Arctic Ocean. Used by Russian sailors of the 16th-17th centuries. compass ("womb") and maps. In the first two decades of the 17th century there was already a fairly regular water communication West Siberian cities. Moving east into the taiga and tundra Eastern Siberia, the Russians discovered one of the largest rivers in Asia - the Lena. In 1633, brave seafarers Ivan Rebrov and Ilya Perfilyev went east from the mouth of the Lena at night, who reached the river by sea.

Yana, and in 1636, the same Rebrov made a new sea voyage and reached the mouth of the Indigirka.

Almost simultaneously, detachments of Russian service and industrial people (Ivanova and others) moved along the mainland in a northeast direction, discovering the mentioned rivers from land.

An important discovery in the northeast of Asia ended in the early 40s of the 17th century. Expedition of Mikhail Stadukhin. The detachment of the Cossack foreman and merchant Stadukhin, in which Semyon Dezhnev was, descended on a koch along the Indigirka, in 1643 reached the “Kov River” by sea, i.e. reached the mouth of the Kolyma River. Here the Nizhne-Kolyma winter hut was laid, from which, a few years later, Cossack Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev and industrial man Fedot Alekseev (known by the surname Popov) set out on their famous voyage around the northeastern tip of the Asian mainland.

An outstanding event of this era was the discovery in 1648 of the strait between America and Asia, made by Dezhnev and Fedot Alekseev (Popov).

According to later reports, Kocha Fedot Alekseev and his companions reached Kamchatka, where the Russians lived for a long time among the Itelmens. The memory of this fact was preserved among the local population of Kamchatka, and the Russian scientist of the first half of the 18th century. Krasheninnikov reported about him in his work "Description of the Land of Kamchatka". There is an assumption that part of the ships of the Dezhnev expedition, which disappeared on the way to the Chukchi nose, reached Alaska, where they founded a Russian "settlement. In 1937, during earthworks on the Kenai Peninsula (Alaska), the remains of 300-year-old dwellings were discovered, which were classified by scientists as those built by Russian people.

In addition, Dezhnev and his companions are credited with discovering the Diomede Islands, where the Eskimos lived, and exploring the Anadyr River basin.

The discovery of Dezhnev - Alekseev is reflected on geographical maps Russia XVII century, which marked the free passage from the Kolyma to the Amur. During 1643–1651 Russian detachments of V. Poyarkov and E. Khabarov made campaigns on the Amur, which delivered a number of valuable information about this river not studied by Europeans.

So, over a relatively short historical period (from the 80s of the 16th century to the 40s of the 17th century), Russian people traveled through the steppes, taiga, tundra through the whole of Siberia, sailed through the seas of the Arctic and made a number of outstanding geographical discoveries.

Bibliography

1. "History of Economics" edited by O.D. Kuznetsova, I.N. Shapkina. - Moscow INFRO - m, 2005

2. History of the World Economy, edited by G.B. Polyak, A.I. Markova - M: UNITI, 2006

3.Loiberg M.Ya. "History of Economics" - Moscow INFRO - m, 2001

Map of the Great Geographical Discoveries

The era of the great geographical discoveries is the period of human history from the end of the 15th to the middle of the 17th centuries.
Conditionally divided into two parts:
Spanish-Portuguese discoveries the end of the 15th century and the entire 16th century, which include the discovery of America, the discovery of a sea route to India, Pacific expeditions, the first circumnavigation
Anglo-Dutch-Russian discoveries end of the 16th century to the middle of the 17th century, which includes English and French discoveries in North America, Dutch expeditions to the Indian and Pacific Ocean s, Russian discoveries throughout North Asia

A geographical discovery is a visit by a representative of a civilized people to a new part of the earth previously unknown to cultural mankind or the establishment of a spatial connection between already known parts of the land.

The growth of European cities in the 15th century
Active development of trade
Active development of crafts
Depletion of European mines of precious metals - gold and silver
The discovery of printing, which led to the spread of new technical sciences and knowledge of antiquity
Distribution and improvement of firearms
Discoveries in navigation, the advent of the compass and the astrolabe
Advances in cartography
The conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks, which interrupted the economic and trade relations of Southern Europe with India and China

Geographic knowledge before the beginning of the Age of Discovery

In the Middle Ages, Normans discovered Iceland and the shores of North America, European travelers Marco Polo, Rubruk, Andre from Longjumeau, Veniamin Tudelsky, Afanasy Nikitin, Karpini and others established land connections with the countries of Far Asia and the Middle East, the Arabs explored the southern and eastern shores mediterranean sea, the shores of the Red Sea, the western bergs of the Indian Ocean, the roads connecting Eastern Europe through Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Iranian Highlands - with India

Beginning of the Age of Discovery

The beginning of the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries can be considered the activities of the Portuguese navigators of the 15th century and the inspirer of their achievements, Prince Henry the Navigator (03/04/1394 - 11/13/1460)

At the beginning of the fifteenth century geographical science Christians were in a deplorable state.

The knowledge of the great scientists of antiquity has been lost. The impressions from traveling alone: Marco Polo, Carpini, Rubruk - did not become public and contained many exaggerations. Geographers and cartographers in the manufacture of atlases and maps used rumors; discoveries made by chance were forgotten; lands found in the ocean were lost again. The same applied to the art of navigation. The skippers did not have maps, instruments, navigation knowledge, they were terribly afraid of the open sea, huddled close to the shores.

In 1415, Prince Henry became Grand Master of the Portuguese Order of Christ, a powerful and wealthy organization. With its funds, Heinrich built a citadel on the isthmus of Cape Sagres, from where until the end of his days he organized sea expeditions to the west and south, created a navigator school, attracted the best mathematicians, astronomers from Arabs and Jews, collected information wherever and from where he could about distant countries and navigation, seas, winds and currents, bays, reefs, peoples and shores, began to build more advanced and larger ships. The captains went out to sea for them, not only inspired to search for new lands, but also well prepared theoretically.

Portuguese discoveries of the 15th century

Madeira island
Azores
the entire west coast of Africa
mouth of the Congo River
Cape Verde
Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost point of Africa, was discovered by the expedition of Bartalomeu Dias in January 1488

Great geographical discoveries. Briefly

1492 Columbus discovers America
1498 Vasco da Gama discovers a sea route to India around Africa
1499-1502 - Spanish discoveries in the New World
1497 John Cabot discovers Newfoundland and the Labrador Peninsula
1500 - discovery of the mouth of the Amazon by Vicente Pinson
1519-1522 - the first circumnavigation of Magellan, the discovery of the Strait of Magellan, Mariana, Philippine, Moluccas
1513 - Vasco Nunez de Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean
1513 - Discovery of Florida and the Gulf Stream
1519-1553 - discoveries and conquests in South America by Cortes, Pizarro, Almagro, Orellana
1528-1543 - Spanish discoveries of the interior of North America
1596 - discovery of the island of Svalbard by Willem Barents
1526-1598 - Spanish discoveries of the Solomon, Caroline, Marquesas, Marshall Islands, islands New Guinea
1577-1580 - the second round-the-world voyage of the Englishman F. Drake, the discovery of the Drake Strait
1582 - Yermak's campaign in Siberia
1576-1585 - British search for a northwestern passage to India and discovery in the North Atlantic
1586-1629 - Russian campaigns in Siberia
1633-1649 - the discovery by Russian explorers of the East Siberian rivers to the Kolyma
1638-1648 - discovery by Russian explorers of Transbaikalia and Lake Baikal
1639-1640 - Ivan Moskvin's exploration of the coast of the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk
The last quarter of the 16th - the first third of the 17th century - the development of the eastern shores of North America by the British and French
1603-1638 - French exploration of the interior of Canada, discovery of the Great Lakes
1606 - independently discovered by the Spaniard Kyros, the Dutchman Janson north coast australia
1612-1632 - British discoveries of the northeast coast of North America
1616 - discovery of Cape Horn by Schouten and Le Mer
1642 Tasman discovers the island of Tasmania
1643 Tasman discovers New Zealand
1648 - opening of the Dezhnev Strait between America and Asia (Bering Strait)
1648 - Fyodor Popov discovers Kamchatka

Ships of the Age of Discovery

Caravel

In the Middle Ages, the sides of the ships were sheathed with planks, with the top row of boards overlapping the bottom. This is a durable upholstery. but the ships become heavier from this, and the edges of the plating belts create unnecessary resistance to the hull. At the beginning of the 15th century, the French shipbuilder Julien proposed to sheathe ships end-to-end. The boards were riveted to the frames with copper stainless rivets. The joints were glued with resin. This sheathing was called "caravel", and the ships began to be called caravels.

Caravels, the main ships of the Age of Discovery, were built at all shipyards in the world for another two hundred years after the death of their designer.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the flute was invented in Holland.

"Fliite" in Dutch means "flowing, flowing". These ships could not be overwhelmed by any of the largest shafts. They, like corks, took off on a wave. The upper parts of the sides of the flute were bent inward, the masts were very high: one and a half times the length of the hull, the yards were short, the sails were narrow and easy to maintain, which made it possible to reduce the number of sailors in the crew. And, most importantly, the flutes were four times longer than wide, which made them very fast. In flutes, the sides were also installed end-to-end, the masts were made up of several elements. Flutes were much more capacious than caravels. From 1600 to 1660, 15,000 flutes were built and plowed the oceans, replacing caravels

Mariners of the Age of Discovery

Alvise Cadamosto (Portugal, Venice, 1432-1488) - Cape Verde Islands
Diego Can (Portugal, 1440 - 1486) - West coast of Africa
Bartalomeu Dias (Portugal, 1450-1500) - Cape of Good Hope
Vasco da Gama (Portugal, 1460-1524) - the way to India around Africa
Pedro Cabral (Portugal, 1467-1526) - Brazil
Christopher Columbus (Genoa, Spain, 1451-1506) - America
Nunez de Balboa (Spain, 1475-1519) - Pacific Ocean
Francisco de Orellana (Spain, 1511-1546) - Amazon River
Fernando Magellan (Portugal, Spain (1480-1521) - first circumnavigation of the world
John Cabot (Genoa, England, 1450-1498) - Labrador, Newfoundland
Jean Cartier (France, 1491-1557) east coast of Canada
Martin Frobisher (England, 1535-1594) - polar seas of Canada
Alvaro Mendanya (Spain, 1541-1595) - Solomon Islands
Pedro de Quiros (Spain, 1565-1614) - Tuamotu archipelago, New Hybrids
Luis de Torres (Spain, 1560-1614) - the island of New Guinea, the strait that separates this island from Australia
Francis Drake - second circumnavigation of the world
Willem Barents (Netherlands, 1550-1597) - the first polar navigator
Henry Hudson (England, 1550-1611), explorer of the North Atlantic
Willem Schouten (Holland, 1567-1625) - Cape Horn
Abel Tasman (Holland, 1603-1659) - Tasmania, New Zealand
Willem Janszon (Holland, 1570-1632) - Australia
Semyon Dezhnev (Russia, 1605-1673) - the Kolyma River, the strait between Asia and America

world revolutions
Revolutions in Russia
The main events of Russian history

1. Introduction………………………………………………………….3

2. The most important geographical discoveries and their consequences……………………………………………………..

3. Conclusion……………………………………………………..

4. Bibliography…………………………………………

Introduction:

The period of the disintegration of feudalism and the emergence of capitalist relations was preceded by the Great Geographical Discoveries, which played an important role in the transition to the bourgeois mode of production.

The great geographical discoveries were caused by the development of the productive forces of society, the growth of commodity-money relations and the need for gold and silver for the further circulation of funds, since money gradually became precisely the means of circulation.

As part of known by Europeans In the world (mainly the Mediterranean), there were no necessary sources of gold and silver. At the same time, according to the Europeans, inexhaustible riches were hidden in the East: spices, precious metals, silk fabrics, etc. The mastery of the East became very attractive. Travelers were looking for gold. Knowing about the existence of India and China, travelers were looking for them difficult paths equipped expeditions.

The most important geographical discoveries and their economic research:

Equipment for expensive and complex expeditions was only possible for powerful centralized monarchies. The implementation of these voyages could not have been possible without sufficient progress in shipbuilding and navigation. By the middle of the 15th century, large sea vessels were being built in Western Europe, which could make long voyages. The compass and geographical maps came into use.

The impetus for the search for new sea routes to the East was the obstacles created by the Turks and Arabs, the trade relations between Europe and the Near East. In this regard, they began to develop plans for reaching India by sea around the coast of Africa. The first steps in this direction were taken by Portugal and Spain. In 1486, Portuguese navigators managed to go around the southern part of Africa, and in 1498 Vasco da Gamma reached the shores of India. In view of the fact that Portugal closed the paths along the coast of Africa by another state, the idea of the Genoese sailor Christopher Columbus to send an expedition to the open ocean in a westerly direction received support in Spain. The journey of Columbus ended with the discovery of a new continent - America.

The first trip around the world, made in 1519-1522, was of great importance. F. Magellan's expedition, which marked the beginning of the development of the Pacific Ocean.

Major geographical discoveries were made in the 16th century by English and French navigators in North America, as well as by Russian travelers in North America. East Asia, by the middle of the XVII century, came to the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

The great geographical discoveries gave impetus to trade, navigation and industry and were of great economic importance. The results of the discoveries were "a sudden expansion of the world market, the multiplication of circulating goods, rivalry between nations in an effort to master Asian treasures, the colonial system ..." At the same time, the center of world trade routes moved from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean, which had its consequences: the rise of England, Spain, Portugal, Holland and France.

As a result, from the colonies to Europe poured a large number of gold and silver. Thus, the amount of silver in Europe during the 16th century increased by more than 3 times, the amount of gold - by more than 2 times. In this regard, there was a so-called price revolution - a sharp increase in prices for agricultural and industrial products. In Spain during the 16th century, prices increased more than four times, in England, Holland and France - 2-2.5 times. This brought gain and wealth to the commercial and industrial sections of the population, and the rapid formation of the bourgeoisie began.

The great geographical discoveries greatly expanded the world market. The quality of commodities in circulation has risen sharply. New products, previously unknown to Europeans, entered the trade turnover: tobacco, coffee, tea, cocoa, cotton, corn, etc.

In the face of the colonies for European industry, a capacious external market was formed. As a result, a crisis of the guild system arose, unable to satisfy this increased demand. Medieval handicraft was forced to give way to capitalist manufactory, which put aside guild restrictions and significantly increased the scale of production thanks to the applied division of labor. This resulted in the concentration of commercial and industrial capital and the formation of a bourgeois class.

Thus, the great geographical discoveries were "one of the main moments that contributed to the transition of the feudal mode of production to the capitalist one."

During the Great geographical discoveries, Spain and Portugal became the most enriched, earlier than others, they began to seize the colonies with the help of the impoverished nobility, who willingly played enough in long military expeditions.

thanks to the active foreign policy Spain in the 16th century captured vast colonial possessions. However, they remained a backward feudal country, in a clash with capitalist rivals - Holland and England, Spain was forced to give way to a leading place in Europe.

The great geographical discoveries contributed to the transformation of the Netherlands (which included modern Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and northern France) into the most economically developed part of Europe. Being a relatively small country, the Netherlands at the beginning of the 16th century already had a developed industry, a large merchant fleet and significant modern trading operations serving the European market with colonial goods. The cities of Antwerp and Amsterdam were major centers international trade, having close ties with the colonies and most European states.

The trading power of Holland was undeniable. A huge merchant fleet allowed the country to carry out a wide intermediary trade and become a "world carrier".

Beginning in the 16th century, England, in turn, embarked on the path colonial conquests. The participation of England in the Great geographical discoveries was shown in the organization of a number of expeditions with the aim of reaching India by the northeast and northwest routes. As a result, England gained a foothold in North America.

In the 70s years XVI century, she took possession of Newfoundland, and at the beginning of the 17th century she formed colonies on the territory of the American continent.

Large colonial companies were created in the country, leading a fierce struggle against foreign merchants. The almighty and famous East India Company, founded in 1600 and becoming a springboard for subsequent conquests, acquired special power. Portugal, unable to withstand the competition with Spain, was forced to turn its eyes to the conquest of other territories. The Portuguese became the masters of the South Seas and the Indian Ocean, using piracy methods: capturing, robbing and destroying the crews of the ships of Muslim merchants who controlled maritime trade with India. Thus, Portugal completely took over the maritime communications in the Indian Ocean and around Africa. dominance on south seas was provided by a network of fortified naval bases, which made possible the gradual capture of part of India. Revenues from the Portuguese colonial empire in India and Brazil went primarily to the treasury. The nobility and officials enriched themselves as representatives of the royal power in the colony.

It should be noted that France was the country that "got" a smaller part of the colonies. The idea of developing French colonies was seen as a similar fate for French peasants. France turned out to be one of the countries that did not benefit from the conquest of the colonies: all the funds received from the colonies went to the maintenance of the royal court.

Thus, the Great geographical discoveries served as changes in the economy and social structure societies in many countries of the world.

Thus, the price revolution was a new factor in the primitive accumulation of capital. It strengthened the economic role of the bourgeoisie and their elements from the nobility and serfdom, who, to one degree or another, turned out to be associated with new modes of production.

The great geographical discoveries laid a heavy burden on the shoulders of the peasantry, who had to pay for the equipment of the expeditions, and who were also ruined as a result of the price hike.

Thus, in the reasonable countries of the world, the Great geographical discoveries caused an ambiguous reaction of economic development.

Conclusion:

So, for the great geographical discoveries there were serious historical and economic prerequisites: for further development European countries they needed precious metals: gold and silver, they had the equipment necessary for traveling: the fleet was sufficiently developed.

In addition, the East was perceived as a treasury.

Great geographical discoveries included the discovery of America, the exploration of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, the discovery of a sea route to India around Africa, as well as the discoveries of Russian, Spanish, French and other travelers.

As a result of the great geographical discoveries in the economy of the Netherlands and England, rapid capitalist development, which served to develop a layer of the bourgeoisie, as well as the development of trade, etc.

Earth: shape, size, mass, volume, circumference and diameter

Great geographical discoveries of European travelers of the late 15th century. - the middle of the 17th century. were the result of the rapid development of productive forces in Europe, the growth of trade with the countries of the East, the shortage of precious metals in connection with the development of trade and money circulation.

It is known that even in ancient times, Europeans visited the coast of America, traveled along the coast of Africa, etc. However, a geographical discovery is considered not only a visit by representatives of any civilized people to a previously unknown part of the Earth. This concept includes the establishment of a direct connection between the newly discovered lands and the centers of culture of the Old World. Only the discovery of America by H. Columbus laid the foundation for broad ties between the open lands and Europe, the same goal was served by the travels of Vasco da Gama to the shores of India, the round-the-world trip of F. Magellan.

The great geographical discoveries became possible as a result of significant advances in the development of science and technology in Europe. At the end of the 15th century the doctrine of the sphericity of the Earth became widespread, knowledge in the field of astronomy and geography expanded. Navigational instruments were improved (compass, astrolabe), a new type of sailing vessel appeared - a caravel.

The Portuguese navigators were the first to start looking for new sea routes to Asia. In the early 60s. 15th c. they captured the first strongholds on the coast of Africa, and then, moving south along its western coast, they discovered the Cape Verde Islands, the Azores. At that time, Prince Henry (Enrique), nicknamed the Navigator, became an indefatigable organizer of long-distance voyages, although he himself rarely set foot on a ship. In 1488 Bartolomeu Dias reached the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. The knowledge gained by the Portuguese as a result of travel gave sailors of other countries valuable information about the ebb and flow, the direction of winds and currents, and made it possible to create more accurate maps, on which latitudes, lines of the tropics and the equator were plotted. These maps contained information about previously unknown countries. Previously widespread ideas about the impossibility of sailing in equatorial waters were refuted, and the fear of the unknown, characteristic of people of the Middle Ages, gradually began to recede.

At the same time, the Spaniards rushed in search of new trade routes. In 1492, after the capture of Granada and the completion of the reconquista, the Spanish king Ferdinand and Queen Isabella accepted the project of the Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) to reach the shores of India, sailing to the west. The Columbus project had many opponents, but it received the support of scientists from the University of Salaman, the most famous in Spain, and, no less significant, among business people Seville. On August 3, 1492, Columbus's flotilla sailed from Palos, one of the best ports on the Atlantic coast of Spain, consisting of 3 ships - Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina, the crews of which numbered 120 people. From the Canary Islands, Columbus headed west. October 12, 1492, after a month's voyage to open ocean, the fleet approached a small island from the group of the Bahamas, then named San Salvador. Although the newly discovered lands bore little resemblance to the fabulously rich islands of India and China, Columbus was convinced to the end of his days that he had discovered islands off the east coast of Asia. During the first trip, the islands of Cuba, Haiti and a number of smaller ones were discovered. In 1492, Columbus returned to Spain, where he was appointed admiral of all open lands and received the right to 1/10 of all income. Subsequently, Columbus made three more trips to America - in 1493-1496, 1498-1500, 1502-1504, during which part of the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Trinidad and others were discovered; part of the Atlantic coast of Central and South America was surveyed. Although the open lands were very fertile and favorable for life, the Spaniards did not find gold there. Doubts arose that the newly discovered lands were India. The number of enemies of Columbus among the nobles grew, dissatisfied topics that he severely punished the expedition members for disobedience. In 1500, Columbus was removed from his post and sent in chains to Spain. He managed to restore his good name and make another trip to America. However, after returning from his last journey, he was deprived of all income and privileges and died in poverty.

The discoveries of Columbus forced the Portuguese to hurry. In 1497, the flotilla of Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) sailed from Lisbon to explore routes around Africa. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, he entered the Indian Ocean. Moving north along the coast, the Portuguese reached the Arab trading cities of Mozambique, Mombasa and Malindi. With the help of an Arab pilot, on May 20, 1498, Vasco da Gama's squadron entered the Indian port of Calicut. In August 1499, his ships returned to Portugal. The sea route to the country of fabulous riches was opened. From now on, the Portuguese began to annually equip up to 20 ships for trade with India. Thanks to superiority in weapons and technology, they managed to oust the Arabs from there. The Portuguese attacked their ships, destroyed the crews, devastated the cities on the southern coast of Arabia. In India, they captured strongholds, among which the city of Goa became the main one. The spice trade was declared a royal monopoly, it gave up to 800% profit. At the beginning of the 16th century The Portuguese captured Malacca and the Moluccas. In 1499-1500. Spaniards and in 1500-1502. The Portuguese discovered the coast of Brazil.

In the 16th century Portuguese navigators mastered the sea routes in the Indian Ocean, reached the shores of China, and were the first Europeans to set foot on the land of Japan. Among them was Fernand Pinto, the author of travel diaries, where detailed description again open country. Prior to this, Europe had only fragmentary and confusing information about Japan from the Book of Marco Polo, the famous Venetian traveler of the 14th century, who, however, never reached the Japanese Islands. In 1550, their image from modern name first appeared on a Portuguese navigation chart.

In Spain, after the death of Columbus, sending expeditions to new lands continued. At the beginning of the 16th century traveled to western hemisphere Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) - a Florentine merchant who was in the service first of the Spanish and then of the Portuguese king, famous navigator and geographer. Thanks to his letters, the idea that Columbus discovered not the coast of India, but new mainland. In honor of Vespucci, this continent was named America. In 1515, the first globe with this name appeared, and then atlases and maps. Vespucci's hypothesis was finally confirmed as a result of Magellan's trip around the world (1519-1522). The name of Columbus remained immortalized in the name of one of Latin American countries- Columbia.

The proposal to reach the Moluccas by rounding the American mainland from the south, expressed by Vespucci, interested the Spanish government. In 1513, the Spanish conquistador V. Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and went to the Pacific Ocean, which gave hope to Spain, which did not receive much benefit from the discoveries of Columbus, to find a western route to the shores of India. This task was destined to be fulfilled by the Portuguese nobleman Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480-1521), who had previously been in the Portuguese possessions in Asia. He believed that the coast of India lay much closer to the newly discovered continent than it really was. On September 20, 1519, a squadron of five ships with 253 crew members, led by Magellan, who entered the service of the Spanish king, left the Spanish harbor of San Lucar. After And months of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Magellan reached the southern tip of America and passed through the strait (later called Magellanic), which separated the mainland from Tierra del Fuego. After three weeks of sailing through the strait, the squadron entered the Pacific Ocean, passing off the coast of Chile. On December 1, 1520, land was seen for the last time from ships. Magellan headed north and then northwest. For three months and twenty days, while the ships sailed across the ocean, he was calm, and therefore Magellan called him the Pacific. On March 6, 1521, the expedition approached the small inhabited islands (Marian Islands), after another 10 days it ended up near the Philippine Islands. As a result of the voyage of Magellan, the idea of the sphericity of the Earth was confirmed, it was proved that between Asia and America there is a huge body of water - the Pacific Ocean, that most of the globe is occupied by water, and not by land, that there is a single World Ocean.

April 27, 1521 Magellan died in a skirmish with the natives on one of the Philippine Islands. His companions continued sailing under the command of Juan Sebastian El Cano and reached the Moluccas and Indonesia. Almost a year later, the last of Magellan's ships set off for his native shores, taking on board a large cargo of spices. September 6, 1522 the ship "Victoria" returned to Spain; Of the entire crew, only 18 survived. "Victoria" brought so many spices that their sale made it possible not only to cover all the expenses of the expedition, but also to make a significant profit. For a long time no one followed the example of Magellan, and only in 1578-1580. made the second circumnavigation of the world in history English pirate Francis Drake, who robbed the Spanish colonies on the Pacific coast of America along the way.

In the 16th century - 1st half of the 17th century. the Spaniards explored the northern and western coasts of South America, penetrated into the interior and, in a bloody struggle, conquered the states (Maya, Aztecs, Incas) that existed in the Yucatan, present-day Mexico and Peru (see America's ancient and ancient civilizations). Here the Spanish conquerors, primarily Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro, seized the huge treasures accumulated by the rulers and priests of these states. In search of the fabulous country of Eldorado, the Spaniards explored the basin of the Orinoco and Magdalena rivers, where rich deposits of gold, silver and platinum were also discovered. Spanish conquistador Jiménez de Quesada conquered what is now Colombia.

In the 2nd half of the 16th century. - the beginning of the 17th century. the Spaniards made a number of Pacific expeditions from the territory of Peru, during which the Solomon Islands (1568), South Polynesia (1595), Melanesia (1605) were discovered.

Long before the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, the idea of the existence of a “Southern Continent” arose, and during the course of the discoveries, the idea of the existence of the “Southern Continent”, of which the islands were considered part South-East Asia. She expressed herself in geographical writings, and the mythical continent was even mapped under the name "Terra australis incognita" - "Unknown southern land". In 1605, a Spanish squadron of 3 ships sailed from Peru under the command of P. Quiroz, who discovered a number of islands, one of which he mistook for the coast of the mainland. Leaving two ships to the mercy of fate, Quiros returned to Peru, and then sailed to Spain to secure the rights to rule new lands. But it soon turned out that he was wrong. The captain of one of the two abandoned ships, the Portuguese L. V. de Torres, continued sailing and found out that Kyros had discovered not the mainland, but a group of islands (New Hebrides). Sailing west, Torres passed along the southern coast of New Guinea through the strait, later named after him, and discovered Australia lying to the south. There is evidence that on the coast of the new mainland as early as the 16th century. the Portuguese landed and, shortly before Torres, the Dutch, but this was not known in Europe. Having reached the Philippine Islands, Torres reported the discovery to the Spanish government. However, fearing competitors and not having the strength and means to develop new land, the Spanish administration withheld information about this discovery.

In the 1st half of the 17th century. the search for the "Southern Continent" was conducted by the Dutch, who explored a significant part of the coast. In 1642, Abel Janszon Tasman (1603-1659), sailing from the coast of Indonesia to the west, bypassed Australia from the south, discovering an island called Tasmania. Only 150 years later, during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), the British captured Manila, the center of Spanish possessions in the Philippines, and found news of the discovery of Torres in the Spanish archive. In 1768, the English navigator D. Cook explored the shores of Oceania and Australia and again passed through the Torres Strait. He subsequently acknowledged Torres' priority in opening up Australia.

In 1497-1498, English navigators reached the northeast coast of North America and discovered Newfoundland and Labrador. In the 16-17 centuries. the British and French continued to send expedition after expedition here; many of them sought to find northwest passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. At the same time, searches were underway for a northeastern route to India - through the Arctic Ocean.

In the 16-17 centuries. Russian explorers explored the northern coast of the Ob, Yenisei and Lena and mapped the contours of the northern coast of Asia. In 1642, Yakutsk was founded, which became the base for expeditions to the Arctic Ocean. In 1648, Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev (c. 1605-1673), together with Fedot Popov, left the Kolyma on 6 ships and bypassed the Chukotka peninsula, proving that the Asian continent was separated from America by a strait. The outlines of the northeastern coast of Asia were refined and mapped (1667, "Drawing of the Siberian Land"). But Dezhnev's report on the opening of the strait lay in the Yakut archive for 80 years and was published only in 1758. In the 18th century. the strait discovered by Dezhnev was named after the Danish navigator in the Russian service, Vitus Bering, who in 1728 rediscovered the strait. In 1898, in memory of Dezhnev, a cape in the northeastern tip of Asia was named after him.

In the 15th-17th centuries. as a result of bold sea and land expeditions, a significant part of the Earth was discovered and explored. Paths were laid that connected distant countries and continents. The great geographical discoveries marked the beginning of the creation of the colonial system (see Colonialism), contributed to the formation of the world market and played an important role in the formation of the capitalist economic system in Europe. For the newly discovered and conquered countries, they brought mass extermination of the population, the planting of the most cruel forms of exploitation, the forcible introduction of Christianity. The rapid decline in the indigenous population of the Americas led to the importation of African slaves and widespread plantation slavery (see Slavery, Slave Trade).

America's gold and silver poured into Europe, causing there a frenzied rise in the prices of all commodities, the so-called price revolution. This primarily benefited the owners of manufactories, capitalists and merchants, since prices rose faster than wage. The “price revolution” contributed to the rapid ruin of artisans and handicraftsmen; in the countryside, nobles and wealthy peasants who sold food on the market benefited the most from it. All this contributed to the accumulation of capital.

As a result of the Great geographical discoveries, Europe's ties with Africa and Asia expanded, and relations with America were established. World Trade Center and economic life moved from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean.