Weave outstanding geographical discoveries in geography. Geographical discoveries

Man is a rational being - Homo sapiens, and the thirst for discovery and the insatiable desire to develop are the “costs” of his genetics. Throughout history, people have explored things. The Age of Great Geographical Discovery seems to be a separate milestone in the development of mankind. Its beginning is associated with the name of the third son of King Joan the First of Portugal - Henry. Enrico was never a sailor, but he was not known as a playmaker either. Although the crowned son did not sail further than Gibraltar, it was he who in the 15th century (1420) invited all the cartographers and shipbuilders known at that time to the court, ordering the construction of unprecedented ships - caravels. The sailing equipment of the ships should have allowed them to sail against the wind.

The first sea expeditions, consisting exclusively of caravels, were sent to the western shores of Africa, to Madeira and the Canary Islands. No, the navigators were not faced with the task of discovering unprecedented lands. They were supposed to replenish the Portuguese treasury with gold, spices, ivory. Portuguese navigators methodically explored the northern and western coasts of Africa. At the end of the 15th century (1484), Diego Cano reached the equator and crossed it.

Travel routes of sailors from the era of great geographical discoveries

A little later (1488), Bartolomeo Diaz was lucky enough to reach the Indian Ocean from the west, rounding the southern part of the African continent. After his return, triumph awaited him. This is the first stage in the development of the sea route to India and the beginning of the Age of Great Geographical Discovery.

Interesting fact. Among the sailors who made this iconic sea voyage with Diaz was brother the notorious Christopher Columbus - Bartolomeo.

Navigators of the Age of Discovery

Age of great geographical discoveries - 15-17 centuries - for this period " sea ​​wolves“Europe managed to tell humanity about hitherto unknown lands and pave waterways to the shores of Africa, discover America and Australia, and explore Asia and Oceania. Who are they, the navigators of the Age of Discovery?

Marco Polo - one of the first travelers of the Age of Discovery

Spanish conquistador Vasco Nunez de Balboa. He had the high title of adelantado. It is he who has the honor of being the founder of the first European city in America. It was the glorious hidalgo who was the first European sailor to set foot on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. He was accompanied by 190 Spaniards and 600 Indians (tribal affiliation unknown), who acted as porters.

Cruising the seas and oceans in search of prey, the conquistadors “along the way” discovered new lands

The Portuguese Vasco da Gama is a representative of an ancient noble family, a mathematician and astronomer. Fate and the will of the powers that be made him one of the most famous navigators of the era of great geographical discoveries. He has the honor of being the discoverer of the sea route to India. The expedition lasted two years (1497-1499), its path lay around the entire African continent. Strictly speaking, Vasco da Gama was simply “appointed” as a navigator who needed to find a sea route to India. King Manuel I of Portugal did everything to make the expedition successful. Subsequently, da Gama held very honorable positions - governor and even viceroy of Portuguese India. It was not in vain that he agreed to the king’s very tempting offer.

Portuguese Vasco da Gama is a navigator who first reached the shores of India.

The Genoese Christopher Columbus is a “favorite” among the navigators of the Age of Discovery and very mysterious person: Different sources give conflicting dates for his birth and death. Presumably – 1451-1506. Several European cities are vying for the title of the navigator’s homeland. There is no exact information about the origin and education of the discoverer and one of the most famous heroes of the Age of Great Geographical Discoveries. However, this did not stop historians from writing hundreds scientific works about his expedition to the West Indies, and biographers created several “legends” for him. In a word, complete mysteries, which abound in the Age of Great Geographical Discoveries. One thing is clear, namely a number of islands in the Caribbean.

Having set off on three caravels in search of India, Christopher Columbus “accidentally” discovered America, calling it the West Indies

A citizen of Castile and Leon, Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) is considered not only the most significant figure of the Age of Discovery, but one of the most famous navigators on the planet. He did the first trip around the world(1519-1522), was both its initiator and commander. Magellan served as the page of the king's wife, Leonora, and was her favorite, which is why he so quickly managed to get funds to organize the expedition, which significantly replenished the royal treasury.

The Spaniard Ferdinand Magellan was the first to travel around the world, inscribing his name in the history of the Age of Discovery

Magellan's expedition was not without losses. Initially, it consisted of 256 (280) people and 5 ships; only one “Victoria” and 18 crew members reached home. A little later, 18 more arrived, captured by the Portuguese. Magellan discovered the strait, which is named after him, and was the first on the planet to cross the Pacific Ocean. An underwater mountain, a spacecraft, a species of penguin, a crater on the moon and an entire galaxy in space are named after him.

The Florentine trader Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) not only took a worthy place among the pioneers of the Age of Discovery - an entire continent was named after him. How did it happen that a simple merchant became a navigator and discoverer? After all, he, in principle, did not discover anything? According to one version of scientists, Amerigo simply asked for an expedition to Alonso de Ojeda (1499). Another version indicates that he participated in Columbus's voyage (1492) to the shores of America. Why Amerigo for a long time considered the discoverer of America? Only because Vespucci was the first to come up with the idea that the unknown islands were not Asia at all, but a completely new and hitherto unknown continent.

Amerigo Vespucci was the first to suggest that the West Indies was not India at all, but an unknown continent. That's why America was named after him

The national hero of Russia and the famous Russian discoverer, Ermak Timofeevich (1525-1584), was not a navigator. He did not find new continents, he discovered and conquered Western Siberia for Russia. He and his Cossack squad walked along the path where the Trans-Siberian Railway runs today. The expedition was created at the request of the Stroganov merchants and by order of Ivan the Terrible. The Great March began in 1581.

Interesting fact. It was John’s gift to Ermak – chain mail – that became the cause of his tragic death. It was found in the Irtysh many years after the death of the Cossack ataman; today it is kept in the Armory Chamber.

The Age of Great Geographical Discoveries has many more names and associated secrets and mysteries.

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Geographical discoveries

People have traveled and made discoveries at all times, but during the history of mankind there was a period when the number of travelers and their discoveries increased sharply - the era of great geographical discoveries.

Great geographical discoveries are a period in human history that began in the 15th century and lasted until the 17th century, during which new lands and sea routes were discovered. Thanks to the brave expeditions of sailors and travelers from many countries, most of the earth's surface, the seas and oceans washing it, were discovered and explored. The most important sea routes were laid that connected the continents with each other.

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The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that the economic development of our country should be based on preliminary analysis historical information, that is, it is necessary to realize the importance of the territories that were conquered by our ancestors.

The purpose of this work is to consider the expeditions and geographical discoveries of domestic researchers and scientists. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set:

· briefly characterize the economic and political situation of the country in a certain period of time;

· indicate the names of Russian travelers and discoverers of the era of great geographical discoveries;

· describe the discoveries of new lands and routes.

Development sites. Discoverers

At the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries, education was completed Russian state, which developed along with world civilization. This was the time of the Great Geographical Discoveries (America was discovered in 1493), the beginning of the era of capitalism in European countries (the first bourgeois revolution in Europe of 1566-1609 began in the Netherlands). The Great Geographical Discoveries are a period in human history that began in the 15th century and lasted until the 17th century, during which Europeans discovered new lands and sea routes to Africa, America, Asia and Oceania in search of new trading partners and sources of goods that were in great demand in Europe. Historians generally associate the "Great Discovery" with the pioneering long sea voyages of Portuguese and Spanish explorers in search of alternative trade routes to the "Indies" for gold, silver and spices. But the development of the Russian state took place under rather unique conditions.

The Russian people contributed to the great geographical discoveries of the 16th - first half of the 17th centuries. significant contribution. Russian travelers and navigators made a number of discoveries (mainly in northeast Asia) that enriched world science. The reason for the increased attention of Russians to geographical discoveries was the further development of commodity-money relations in the country and the associated 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: northeastern (Siberia and Far East) and southeastern (Central Asia, Mongolia, China), along which Russian travelers and sailors moved. Trade and diplomatic trips of Russian people in the 16th-17th centuries were of great educational importance for contemporaries. to the countries of the East, surveying the shortest land routes for communication with the states of Central and Central Asia and China.

In the middle of the 16th century, the Muscovite kingdom conquered the Kazan and Astrakhan Tatar khanates, thus annexing the Volga region to its possessions and opening the way to the Ural Mountains. The colonization of new eastern lands and the further advance of Russia to the east were directly organized by the wealthy merchants the Stroganovs. Tsar Ivan the Terrible granted vast estates in the Urals and tax privileges to Anikei Stroganov, who organized large-scale resettlement of people to these lands. The Stroganovs developed agriculture, hunting, salt making, fishing and mining in the Urals, and also established trade relations with the Siberian peoples. There was a process of development of new territories of Siberia (from the 1580s to the 1640s), the Volga region, and the Wild Field (on the Dnieper, Don, Middle and Lower Volga, and Yaik rivers).

Great geographical discoveries contributed to the transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age.

Conquest of Siberia by Ermak Timofeevich

Great importance in the history of geographical discoveries of this era, there was a survey of the vast expanses of the north and northeast of Asia from the Ural ridge to the coast of the Arctic and Pacific oceans, i.e. all over Siberia.

The process of conquering Siberia included the gradual advance of Russian Cossacks and servicemen to the East until they reached the Pacific Ocean and consolidated their position in Kamchatka. The routes of movement of the Cossacks were predominantly water. Getting acquainted with river systems, they walked by dry route exclusively in places of the watershed, where, having crossed the ridge and arranged new boats, they descended along the tributaries of new rivers. Upon arrival in an area occupied by some tribe of natives, the Cossacks entered into peace negotiations with them with a proposal to submit to the White Tsar and pay tribute, but these negotiations did not always lead to successful results, and then the matter was decided by force of arms.

The annexation of Siberia began in 1581 with the campaign of a detachment of the Cossack ataman Ermak Timofeevich. His detachment, consisting of 840 people, carried away by rumors about the untold riches of the Siberian Khanate, was equipped with funds from the large landowners and salt industrialists of the Urals, the Stroganovs.

On September 1, 1581, the detachment boarded plows and climbed the tributaries of the Kama to the Tagil Pass in the Ural Mountains. With an ax in their hands, the Cossacks made their own way, cleared rubble, felled trees, and cut a clearing. They did not have the time and energy to level the rocky path, as a result of which they could not drag the ships along the ground using rollers. According to the participants of the hike, they dragged the ships up the mountain “on themselves,” in other words, in their arms. At the pass, the Cossacks built an earthen fortification - Kokui-town, where they spent the winter until spring.

The first skirmish between the Cossacks and the Siberian Tatars took place in the area of ​​the modern city of Turinsk ( Sverdlovsk region), where the warriors of Prince Epanchi fired at Ermak's plows with bows. Here Ermak, with the help of arquebuses and cannons, dispersed the cavalry of Murza Epanchi. Then the Cossacks occupied the town of Changi-Tura (Tyumen region) without a fight. On the site of modern Tyumen, many treasures were taken: silver, gold and precious Siberian furs.

November 8, 1582 AD Ataman Ermak Timofeevich occupied Kashlyk, the then capital of the Siberian Khanate. Four days later the Khanty from the river. Demyanka (Uvat district), brought furs and food supplies, mainly fish, as gifts to the conquerors. Ermak greeted them with “kindness and greetings” and released them “with honor.” Local Tatars, who had previously fled from the Russians, followed the Khanty with gifts. Ermak received them just as kindly, allowed them to return to their villages and promised to protect them from enemies, primarily from Kuchum. Then the Khanty from the left bank regions - from the Konda and Tavda rivers - began to appear with furs and food. Ermak imposed an annual obligatory tax on everyone who came to him - yasak.

At the end of 1582, Ermak sent an embassy to Moscow headed by his faithful assistant Ivan the Ring to notify the Tsar about the defeat of Kuchum. Tsar Ivan IV gave the Cossack delegation of Ivan the Ring a gracious welcome, generously presented the envoys - among the gifts was chain mail of excellent work - and sent them back to Ermak.

In the winter of 1584-1585, the temperature in the vicinity of Kashlyk dropped to -47°, and icy winds began to blow. north winds. Deep snow made hunting in the taiga forests impossible. In a hungry time winter time wolves gathered in large packs and appeared near human dwellings. Sagittarius did not survive the Siberian winter. They died without exception, without taking part in the war with Kuchum. Semyon Bolkhovskoy himself, who was appointed the first governor of Siberia, also died. After a hungry winter, the number of Ermak’s detachment fell catastrophically. To save the surviving people, Ermak tried to avoid clashes with the Tatars.

On the night of August 6, 1585, Ermak died along with a small detachment at the mouth of Vagai. Only one Cossack managed to escape, and he brought the sad news to Kashlyk. The Cossacks and servicemen who remained in Kashlyk gathered a circle in which they decided not to spend the winter in Siberia.

At the end of September 1585, 100 servicemen arrived in Kashlyk under the command of Ivan Mansurov, sent to help Ermak. They didn’t find anyone in Kashlyk. When trying to return from Siberia along the path of their predecessors - down the Ob and further “through Kamen” - the service people were forced, due to “freezing of the ice,” to place “a city over the Ob opposite the mouth of the river” of the Irtysh and “spend the winter” in it. Having withstood a siege here “from many Ostyaks,” Ivan Mansurov’s people returned from Siberia in the summer of 1586.

The third detachment, which arrived in the spring of 1586 and consisted of 300 people under the leadership of governors Vasily Sukin and Ivan Myasny, brought with them the “written head Danilo Chulkov” “to conduct business” on the spot. The expedition, judging by its results, was carefully prepared and equipped. To establish the power of the Russian government in Siberia, she had to found the first Siberian government fort and the Russian city of Tyumen.

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China Study. The first voyages of Russian sailors

Distant China attracted close attention from the Russian people. Back in 1525, while in Rome, the Russian ambassador Dmitry Gerasimov informed the writer Pavel Jovius that it was possible to travel from Europe to China by water through the northern seas. Thus, Gerasimov expressed a bold idea about the development of the Northern Route from Europe to Asia. Thanks to Jovius, who published a special book about Muscovy and Gerasimov’s embassy, ​​this idea became widely known in Western Europe and was received with keen interest. It is possible that the organization of the Willoughby and Barents expeditions was prompted by messages from the Russian ambassador. In any case, the search for the Northern Sea Route to the east already in the middle of the 16th century. led to the establishment of direct maritime connections between Western Europe and Russia.

Back in the middle of the 16th century. Mention is made of the voyages of Russian polar sailors from the European part of the country to the Gulf of Ob and to the mouth of the Yenisei. They moved along the coast of the Arctic Ocean on small keel sailing ships- Kochs, well adapted to swimming in the Arctic ice thanks to the ovoid shape of the hull, which reduced the danger of ice compression.

The 16th century is known for the reign of the Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. I would like to draw special attention to the oprichnina policy of the then ruler. State terror agitated the population, “famine and pestilence” reigned in the country, peasants fled from the bankrupt landowners and “fought among the yard.” It can be assumed that it was the runaway peasants who became the “discoverers” of new lands, and only later more status personalities made “discoveries” at the state level.

Most likely, in the 16th century, Russian travel, which resulted in geographical discoveries, experienced a period of “emergence”. The first attempts to travel to other countries and new lands were made. One of the most important and promising was the conquest of Siberia by Ermak. But our ancestors didn’t stop there; they also tried their hand at traveling on water. No great discoveries have yet been made in this industry, but already in the 17th century certain successes were made.

There was sufficient quantity factors stimulating people to further develop new lands, the main one of which is the lack of access to the seas.

Main travel destinations of the 17th century

"Mangazeya move." Penda's hike

Already in the first two decades of the 17th century, there was a fairly regular water connection between Western Siberian cities and Mangazeya along the Ob, Ob Bay and the Arctic Ocean (the so-called “Mangazeya passage”). The same communication was maintained between Arkhangelsk and Mangazeya. According to contemporaries, “many commercial and industrial people travel from Arkhangelsk to Mangazeya throughout the years with all sorts of German (i.e., foreign, Western European) goods and bread.” It was extremely important to establish the fact that the Yenisei flows into the very “Icy Sea” through which Western Europe sailing to Arkhangelsk. This discovery belongs to the Russian to a salesman Kondraty Kurochkin, who was the first to explore the fairway of the lower Yenisei right up to the mouth.

A serious blow to the “Mangazeya move” was dealt by government prohibitions in 1619-1620. use the sea route to Mangazeya, with the goal of preventing foreigners from entering there.

Moving east into the taiga and tundra of Eastern Siberia, the Russians discovered one of the largest rivers in Asia - the Lena. Among the northern expeditions to the Lena, Penda's campaign (before 1630) stands out. Starting his journey with 40 companions from Turukhansk, he walked throughout the entire Lower Tunguska, crossed the portage and reached the Lena. Having descended along the Lena to the central regions of Yakutia, Penda then swam along the same river in the opposite direction almost to the upper reaches. From here, having passed through the Buryat steppes, he came to the Angara (Upper Tunguska), the first of the Russians to sail down the entire Angara, overcoming its famous rapids, after which he went to the Yenisei, and along the Yenisei he returned to his starting point - Turu-Khansk. Penda and his companions made an unprecedented circular journey of several thousand kilometers through difficult terrain.

Petlin's mission

The first reliable evidence of a trip to China is information about the embassy of the Cossack Ivan Petlin in 1618-1619. (Petlin's mission). The trip was made on the initiative of the Tobolsk governor, Prince I. S. Kurakin. The mission of 12 people was led by Tomsk Cossacks teacher Ivan Petlin (who spoke several languages) and A. Madov. The mission was tasked with describing new routes to China, collecting information about it and neighboring countries, and also establishing the sources of the Ob River. In China, Petlin was supposed to announce where the mission was coming from and explore the possibility of establishing further relations with China.

Having left Tomsk on May 9, 1618, together with the ambassadors of the Mongolian “Tsar Altyn,” the mission climbed the Tom Valley, crossed Mountain Shoria, crossed the Abakan ridge, the Western Sayan Mountains and entered Tuva. Then she crossed the upper reaches of the Kemchik (the Yenisei basin), crossed several ridges and came to the slightly salty mountain lake Uureg-Nuur. Turning east and descending into the steppe, three weeks after leaving Tomsk, the mission arrived at the headquarters of the Mongol Khan at the closed Lake Usap.

From here the travelers moved to the southeast, crossed the Khan-Khuhei - the northwestern spur of the Khangai Range - and the Khangai itself - and walked about 800 km along its southern slopes. At the bend of the Kerulen River we turned southeast and crossed the Gobi Desert. Before reaching Kalgan, Petlin saw the Great Wall of China for the first time.

At the end of August, the mission reached Beijing, where it negotiated with representatives of the Ming Dynasty government.

Due to the lack of gifts, Petlin was not received by Emperor Zhu Yijun, but received his official letter addressed to the Russian Tsar with permission for the Russians to again send embassies and trade in China; As for diplomatic relations, it was proposed to conduct them through correspondence. The charter remained untranslated for decades until Spafariy ( Russian diplomat and scientist; known for his scientific works and embassy to China) did not study it in preparation for his embassy. The common expression Chinese letter refers specifically to this document, which was in the embassy order, and the contents of which remained a mystery.

Returning to his homeland, Ivan Petlin presented in Moscow “a drawing and painting about the Chinese region.” His mission was of great importance, and the report on the trip - “Painting to the Chinese state and Lobinsky, and other states, residential and nomadic, and uluses, and the great Ob, and rivers and roads” - became the most valuable, most complete description of China, containing information about the land route from Europe to China through Siberia and Mongolia. Already in the first half of the 17th century, the “Painting” was translated into all European languages. The information collected as a result of Petlin’s trip about the routes to China, about the natural resources and economy of Mongolia and China contributed to expanding the geographical horizons of his contemporaries.

Russian discoveries in the Pacific Ocean. Explorers of Siberia

The conquest of Siberia was accompanied by a very rapid expansion of geographical horizons. Less than 60 years had passed since Ermak's campaign (1581-1584), when the Russians crossed the entire continent of Asia from the Ural Range to the eastern limits of this part of the world: in 1639, the Russians first appeared on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

Moskvitin's campaign (1639-1642)

Ataman Dmitry Kopylov, sent from Tomsk to the Lena, founded a winter hut in 1637 at the confluence of the Map and Aldan. In 1639 he sent the Cossack Ivan Moskvitin. They crossed the ridge and reached the Sea of ​​Okhotsk at the mouth of the river. Uli, west of present-day Okhotsk. In the coming years, people from Moskvitin’s detachment explored the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk to the east to the Tauiskaya Bay, and to the south along the river. Ouds. From the mouth, the Cossacks walked further east, towards the mouth of the Amur. He returned to Yakutsk in 1642.

Dezhnev's campaign (1648)

The Yakut Cossack, a native of Ustyug, Semyon Dezhnev, passed through the Bering Strait for the first time. On June 20, 1648, he left the mouth of the Kolyma to the east. In September, the researcher rounded the Big Stone Nose - now Cape Dezhnev - where he saw Eskimos. Opposite the cape he saw two islands. This refers to the Diomede or Gvozdev Islands located in the Bering Strait, on which the Eskimos lived then, as now. Then storms began, which carried Dezhnev’s boats across the sea until, after October 1, they were thrown south of the mouth of Anadyr; It took 10 weeks to walk from the crash site to this river. In the summer of the following year, Dezhnev built a winter quarters on the middle reaches of the Anadyr - later the Anadyr fort.

"Parcels" by Remezov

Semyon Ulyanovich Remezov - cartographer, historian and ethnographer, can rightfully be considered the first researcher of the Trans-Urals. Traveling on behalf of the Tobolsk authorities to collect rent throughout the central part of the West Siberian Plain and some other areas of the eastern slope of the Urals, i.e. being, as he put it, “on the premises,” he created a scheme for studying these territories, which was later implemented in an expanded form during the work of the Academic detachments of the Great Northern Expedition. At first, the description of the places visited was a secondary matter for Remezov. But since 1696, when he, as part of a military detachment, spent six months (April-September) in the waterless and impassable stone steppe beyond the river. Ishim, this activity became the main one. In the winter of 1696-1697. with two assistants he completed a survey of the Tobol basin. He plotted the main river from its mouth to the top, photographed its large tributaries - the Tura, Tavda, Iset and a number of rivers flowing into them, including the Miass and Pyshma.

The river also received a cartographic image. Irtysh from its confluence with the Ob to the mouth of the river. Tara and its three tributaries. In 1701, Remezov completed the compilation of the “Drawing Book of Siberia”. She played a huge role not only in the history of Russian, but also world cartography.

Discovery of Kamchatka by Atlasov

Information about Kamchatka was first received in the mid-17th century, through the Koryaks. But the honor of discovery and geographical description belongs to Vladimir Atlasov.

In 1696, Luka Morozko was sent from Anadyrsk to the Koryaks on the Opuka River (Opuka flows into the Berengov Sea). He penetrated much further south, precisely to the river. Tigil. At the beginning of 1697, Atlasov set off from Anadyrsk. From the mouth of the Penzhina we walked for two weeks on reindeer along the western shore of Kamchatka, and then turned east, to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, to the Koryaks - Olyutorians, who sit along the river. Olyutore. In February 1697, on Olyutor, Atlasov divided his detachment into two parts: the first went along the eastern bank of Kamchatka to the south, and the second part went with him to the western bank, on the river. Palan (flows into the Sea of ​​Okhotsk), from here to the mouth of the river. Tigil, and finally, on the river. Kamchatka, where he arrived on July 18, 1697. Here they first met the Kamchadals. From here Atlasov walked south along the western shore of Kamchatka and reached the river. Golygina, where the Kuril Islands lived. From the mouth of this river he saw the islands, meaning the northernmost of the Kuril Islands. From Golygina Atlasov across the river. Ichu returned to Anadyrsk, where he arrived on July 2, 1699. This is how Kamchatka was discovered. Atlasov made a geographical description of it.

Hiking E.P. Khabarova and I.V. Poryakova on Amur

Erofey Pavlovich Khabarov continued the work begun by another explorer, V.D. Poyarkov. Khabarov was originally from Veliky Ustyug (according to other sources, from Solvychegodsk). Life in his homeland was difficult, and debts forced Khabarov to go to the distant lands of Siberia. In 1632 he arrived on Lena. For several years he was engaged in the fur trade, and in 1641 he settled on empty land at the mouth of the river. Kirenga is the right tributary of the Lena. Here he started arable land, built a mill and a salt pan. But the Yakut governor P. Golovin took away both the arable land and the salt pan from Khabarov and transferred them to the treasury, and Khabarov himself was imprisoned. Only in 1645 did Khabarov leave prison “naked as a falcon.” In 1649, he arrived in the Ilimsk fort, where the Yakut governor stopped for the winter. Here Khabarov learned about the expedition of V.D. Poyarkov and asked permission to organize his expedition to Dauria, to which he received consent.

In 1649, Khabarov and his detachment climbed up the Lena and Olekma to the mouth of the river. Tungir. In the spring of 1650 they reached the river. Urki, a tributary of the Amur, fell into the possession of the Daurian prince Lavkay. The cities of the Daurs were abandoned by people. Each city had hundreds of houses, and each house housed 50 or more people. The houses were bright, with wide windows covered with oiled paper. Rich grain reserves were stored in the pits. Prince Lavkay himself was found near the walls of the third city, equally empty. It turned out that the Daurs, having heard about the detachment, got scared and fled. From the stories of the Daurs, the Cossacks learned that on the other side of the Amur lies a country richer than Dauria and that the Daurs pay tribute to the Manchu prince Bogdoy. And that prince had large ships with goods sailing along the rivers, and he had an army with cannons and arquebuses.

Khabarov understood that the forces of his detachment were small and he would not be able to capture the region where the population was hostile. Leaving about 50 Cossacks in the town of Lavkaya, in May 1650 Khabarov returned to Yakutsk for help. A report on the campaign and a drawing of Dauria were sent to Moscow. And Khabarov began to assemble a new detachment for a trip to Dauria. In the fall of 1650, he returned to the Amur and found the Cossacks abandoned near the fortified town of Albazin. The prince of this city refused to pay tribute, and the Cossacks tried to take the city by storm. With the help of Khabarov's detachment that arrived in time, the Daurs were defeated. The Cossacks captured many prisoners and large booty.

1. What, in your opinion, are the prerequisites for the Great Geographical Discoveries? 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 15th - mid-17th centuries. 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:

— Spanish-Portuguese period (late 15th – mid-16th century) The most important discoveries during this period were: the discovery of America (Columbus’s first expedition in 1492); discovery of the sea route to India by 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 centuries). This includes: The Russian discovery of all of Northern Asia (from Ermak’s campaign to the voyage of Popov-Dezhnev in 1648), the Dutch Pacific expeditions and the discovery of Australia.

Prerequisites for the Great Geographical Discoveries

The Great Geographical Discoveries were prepared by the entire course of economic development in Europe. At the end of the 15th century. European trade with the countries of the East was in crisis. With the formation of the Ottoman Empire, trade routes in the Mediterranean were cut off. In the 15th century The countries of Western Europe began to feel an acute 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 incur expenses to finance maritime expeditions.

Also an important prerequisite for the Great Geographical Discoveries were the successes of European science and technology. First of all, the development of shipbuilding and navigation technology. In the XIV–XV centuries. a caravel intended for ocean navigation was created - a high-speed vessel with spacious holds, navigation instruments - a compass and an astrolabe - were improved, geographic Maps, the concept of the sphericity of the Earth was established.

Consequences of the Great Geographical Discoveries

Geographical discoveries led to profound changes in the European economy.

1. There was a significant expansion of the scope of world trade (for example: if by 1400 Europeans knew 50 of the 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 world trade of products previously unknown to Europeans: tobacco, cocoa, coffee, tea, rice and especially sugar. Trade volume 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 to India they began to bring up to 7000 tons of spices.)

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 of the Netherlands, England and France in international trade.

4. With the expansion of trade and the emergence of many new goods, new forms of trade organization 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. Transactions 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 initial 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) As a result, prices in Spain increased by 4.5 times, in England - by 4 times, in France by 2.5 times, in Italy and Germany - 2 times. At the same time, prices for agricultural products increased to a much greater extent than industrial goods, and essential goods have become more expensive than luxury goods. This was due to the fall in the value of precious metals as a commodity.

6. Also as a result of discoveries, a system of colonial domination and colonial exploitation emerged. 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 came from trade.

Thus, the Great Geographical Discoveries created the basis for the emergence of a world economy and market, changes in the organization of trade and 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 the 17th century. significant contribution. Russian travelers and navigators made a number of discoveries (mainly in northeast Asia) that enriched world science.

The reason for the increased attention of Russians to geographical discoveries was the further development of commodity-money relations in the country and the associated 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: the northeast (Siberia and the Far East) and the southeast (Central Asia, Mongolia, China), along which Russian travelers and sailors moved.

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

By the middle of the 17th century. The Russians thoroughly studied and described the routes to Central Asia. Detailed and valuable information of this kind was contained in the embassy reports (“item lists”) of Russian ambassadors I.D. Khokhlova (1620–1622), Anisim Gribov (1641–1643 and 1646–1647), etc.

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 ridge to the coast of the Arctic and Pacific oceans, i.e. all over Siberia.

The annexation of Siberia began in 1581 with the campaign of a detachment of the Cossack ataman Ermak Timofeevich. The government-supported campaign of Ermak (1581–1584) led to the fall of the Siberian Khanate and the annexation Western Siberia to the Russian state.

Back in the middle of the 16th century. the voyages 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 connection between Western Siberian cities. Moving east into the taiga and tundra of Eastern Siberia, the Russians discovered one of Asia's largest rivers, the Lena. In 1633, brave sailors Ivan Rebrov and Ilya Perfilyev left the mouth of the Lena to the east at night and 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 servicemen and industrial people (Ivanova and others) moved across the mainland in a northeastern direction, discovering the mentioned rivers from land.

An important discovery in northeast 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 located, descended on the kocha along the Indigirka River and in 1643 reached the “Kovaya River” by sea, i.e. reached the mouth of the Kolyma River. The Lower Kolyma winter hut was established here, from which a few years later the Cossack Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev and the industrialist Fedot Alekseev (known under the name Popov) set out on their famous voyage around the northeastern tip of the Asian continent of Kochi.

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 news, the Kocha of 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 was the first half of the XVIII V. Krasheninnikov reported about it in his work “Description of the Land of Kamchatka”. There is an assumption that part of the ships of Dezhnev’s expedition, which disappeared on the way to the Chukotka nose, reached Alaska, where they founded a Russian settlement. In 1937, during excavation work on the Kenai Peninsula (Alaska), the remains of dwellings dating back three hundred years were discovered, which scientists classified as built by Russian people.

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

The discovery of Dezhnev-Alekseev was reflected on geographical maps of Russia in the 17th century, which indicated free sea passage from Kolyma to Amur. During 1643–1651 The campaigns of the Russian detachments of V. Poyarkov and E. Khabarov to the Amur took place, providing a number of valuable information about this river, which had not been studied by Europeans.

So, over a relatively short period of time historical period(from the 80s of the 16th century to the 40s of the 17th century) Russian people walked through the steppes, taiga, and tundra across all 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: UNITY, 2006

3. Loyberg M.Ya. “History of Economics” – Moscow INFRO – m, 2001

Map of the Great Geographical Discoveries

The Age of Great Geographical Discovery is a period in human history from the end of the 15th to the middle of the 17th centuries.
Conventionally divided into two parts:
Spanish-Portuguese discoveries the end of the 15th century and the entire 16th century, the list of which includes the discovery of America, the opening of the sea route to India, Pacific expeditions, the first circumnavigation of the world
Anglo-Dutch-Russian discoveries the 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 oceans, 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 humanity 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 appearance of the compass and astrolabe
• Advances in cartography
• The conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks, which interrupted the economic and trade ties of Southern Europe with India and China

Geographical knowledge before the era of great geographical discoveries

In the Middle Ages, Iceland and the shores of North America were discovered by the Normans, European travelers Marco Polo, Rubruk, Andre of Longjumeau, Veniamin of Tudela, Afanasy Nikitin, Carpini 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 shores of the Indian Ocean, roads connecting Eastern Europe through Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Iranian Plateau - with India

The beginning of the era of great geographical discoveries

The beginning of the era of 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. Impressions from the travels of singles: Marco Polo, Carpini, Rubruk - did not become public knowledge and contained many exaggerations. Geographers and cartographers used rumors in the production of atlases and maps; discoveries made by chance were forgotten; lands found in the ocean were lost again. The same applied to the art of navigation. The skippers had no maps, instruments, or knowledge of navigation; they were panic-stricken open sea, huddled towards the shores.

In 1415, Prince Henry became Grand Master of the Portuguese Order of Christ, a powerful and wealthy organization. With her funds, Henry 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 navigation school, attracted the best mathematicians and astronomers from the Arabs and Jews, collected information wherever and whenever he could about distant countries and voyages. , seas, winds and currents, bays, reefs, peoples and shores, began to build more advanced and larger ships. The captains went to sea against 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 western 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 Barthalomeu Dias in January 1488

Great geographical discoveries. Briefly

• 1492 - discovery of America by Columbus
• 1498 - Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route to India around Africa
• 1499-1502 - Spanish discoveries in the New World
• 1497 - John Cabot discovers Newfoundland and Labrador
• 1500 - discovery of the mouth of the Amazon by Vicente Pinzon
• 1519-1522 - Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world, discovery of the Strait of Magellan, Mariana, Philippine, Moluccas Islands
• 1513 - discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Vasco Nunez de Balboa
• 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 Spitsbergen by Willem Barents
• 1526-1598 - Spanish discoveries of the Solomon, Caroline, Marquesas, Marshall Islands, New Guinea
• 1577-1580 - second voyage around the world by the Englishman F. Drake, discovery of the Drake Passage
• 1582 - Ermak’s campaign in Siberia
• 1576-1585 - English search for the northwest passage to India and discovery in the North Atlantic
• 1586-1629 - Russian campaigns in Siberia
• 1633-1649 - discovery by Russian explorers of the East Siberian rivers to the Kolyma
• 1638-1648 - discovery of Transbaikalia and Lake Baikal by Russian explorers
• 1639-1640 - exploration by Ivan Moskvin of the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk
• The last quarter of the 16th century - 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 - independent discovery of the northern coast of Australia by the Spaniard Quiros and the Dutchman Janson
• 1612-1632 - British discoveries of the northeastern coast of North America
• 1616 - discovery of Cape Horn by Schouten and Le Mer
• 1642 - Tasman's discovery of the island of Tasmania
• 1643 - Tasman discovers New Zealand
• 1648 - Dezhnev’s discovery of the strait between America and Asia (Bering Strait)
• 1648 - discovery of Kamchatka by Fedor Popov

Ships of the Age of Discovery

Caravel

In the Middle Ages, the sides of ships were sheathed with planks - the top row of boards overlapped the bottom. This lining is durable. but this makes the ships heavier, 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 sheathing ships end-to-end. The boards were riveted to the frames with copper stainless rivets. The joints were glued with resin. This covering was called “caravel”, and the ships began to be called caravels.

Caravels, the main ships of the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, 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 even the largest wave. They, like corks, took off on the 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, and 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 they were wide, which made them very fast. In flutes, the sides were also installed end-to-end, and the masts were made up of several elements. Flutes were much more spacious than caravels. From 1600 to 1660, 15,000 flutes were built and plied the oceans, displacing caravels

Navigators of the Age of Discovery

• Alvise Cadamosto (Portugal, Venice, 1432-1488) – Cape Verde Islands
• Diego Caen (Portugal, 1440 - 1486) – West Coast of Africa
• Barthalomeu Dias (Portugal, 1450-1500) - Cape of Good Hope
• Vasco da Gama (Portugal, 1460-1524) - the route 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
• Ferdinand 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) - Canadian polar seas
• Alvaro Mendaña (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 separating this island from Australia
• Francis Drake's second circumnavigation of the world
• Willem Barents (Netherlands, 1550-1597) - the first polar explorer
• Henry Hudson (England, 1550-1611) - explorer of the North Atlantic
• Willem Schouten (Holland, 1567-1625) - Cape Horn
• Abel Tasman (Holland, 1603-1659) - island of Tasmania, New Zealand
• Willem Janszoon (Holland, 1570-1632) - Australia
• Semyon Dezhnev (Russia, 1605-1673) - Kolyma River, strait between Asia and America

More articles

World revolutions
Revolutions in Russia
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 decomposition of feudalism and the emergence of capitalist relations was preceded by the Great Geographical Discoveries, which played important role in the transition to the bourgeois mode of production.

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.

Within the world known to Europeans (mainly the Mediterranean) there were no necessary sources of gold and silver. At the same time, in the East, according to Europeans, inexhaustible riches were hidden: spices, precious metals, silk fabrics, etc. Mastering the East was becoming very attractive. Travelers were looking for gold. Knowing about the existence of India and China, travelers looked for difficult routes to them and equipped expeditions.

The most important geographical discoveries and their economic studies:

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

The impetus for the search for new sea routes to the East was the obstacles caused by the Turks and Arabs, the trade relations of Europe with the Western East. In this regard, plans began to be developed for India’s achievements by sea around the coast of Africa. The first steps in this direction were taken by Portugal and Spain. Portuguese sailors managed to circumnavigate the southern part of Africa in 1486, and in 1498 Vasco da Gamma reached the shores of India. Due to the fact that Portugal closed the routes along the coast of Africa to 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. Columbus's journey ended with the discovery of a new continent - America.

The first trip around the world, made in 1519-1522, was important. The expedition of F. Magellan, which marked the beginning of the exploration 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 the North. East Asia, by the middle of the 17th century reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

Great geographical discoveries gave impetus to trade, navigation and industry and had enormous economic significance. The results of the discoveries were “the sudden expansion of the world market, the multiplication of goods in circulation, competition between nations in an effort to take possession of Asian treasures, the colonial system...” At the same time, the center of world trade routes moved from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, which had its consequences: the rise of England, Spain, Portugal, Holland and France.

As a result, 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, the so-called price revolution occurred - 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 - by 2 - 2.5 times. This brought gains and wealth to the commercial and industrial layers of the population, and the rapid formation of the bourgeoisie began.

Great geographical discoveries significantly expanded the world market. The quality of goods in circulation has increased sharply. New products previously unknown to Europeans entered trade: tobacco, coffee, tea, cocoa, cotton, corn, etc.

In the form of the colonies, a capacious foreign market sales As a result, a crisis arose in the workshop system, unable to satisfy this increased demand. Medieval craft was forced to give way to capitalist manufacture, which established 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 constituted “one of the main factors 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 seizing colonies with the help of the impoverished nobility, who eagerly indulged in long military expeditions.

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

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, had a large merchant fleet and modern significant trading operations to serve the European market with colonial goods. The cities of Antwerp and Amsterdam were the largest centers international trade, having close ties with the colonies and most European states.

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

Starting from the 16th century, England, in turn, embarked on the path of colonial conquest. England's participation in the Great Geographical Discoveries manifested itself in the organization of a number of expeditions with the aim of reaching India via the north-eastern and north-western routes. As a result, England gained a foothold in North America.

In the 70s of the 16th century, it took possession of Newfoundland, and at the beginning of the 17th century it formed colonies on the territory of the American continent.

Large colonial companies were created in the country, waging a fierce struggle against foreign merchants. The all-powerful and famous East Indian Company, founded in 1600 and which became a springboard for subsequent conquests, acquired particular power. Portugal, unable to withstand competition with Spain, was forced to turn its attention to the conquest of other territories. The Portuguese became masters of the South Seas and the Indian Ocean, using pirate methods: capturing, robbing and exterminating the crews of the ships of Muslim merchants who controlled maritime trade with India. Thus, Portugal completely seized control of sea communications in the Indian Ocean and around Africa. Domination on southern seas was provided by a network of fortified naval bases, which made possible the gradual capture of parts 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 royal power in the colony.

It should be noted that France was the country that “got” a minority of the colonies. The idea of ​​developing the French colonies was seen as a similar fate to the French peasants. France turned out to be one of the countries that did not benefit from the conquest of the colonies: all funds received from the colonies were spent on maintaining the royal court.

Thus, the Great Geographical Discoveries served as changes in the economy and social structure of society in many countries of the world.

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

Great geographical discoveries placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of the peasantry, who were forced to pay for the equipment of the expeditions, as well as those who were ruined as a result of the jump in prices.

Thus, in reasonable countries of the world, the Great Geographical Discoveries caused an ambiguous reaction to economic development.

Conclusion:

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

In addition, the East was perceived as a treasure trove.

Great geographical discoveries consisted of 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, the economies of the Netherlands and England experienced rapid capitalist development, which served to develop the bourgeoisie layer, as well as the development of trade, etc.

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

Any modern man knows that there are six continents on Earth, this number includes North America, South America and Australia. They relate to such a historical phenomenon as the Great Geographical Discoveries. In this article we will briefly look at them!

Nowadays, it is difficult to imagine life without such wonderful places as New Zealand and the Hawaiian Islands. Now almost anyone has the opportunity to visit these parts of the planet for relatively little money. Has this always been the case? Of course not. There was a time when people did not even know about the existence of these places.

Periodization of the Great Geographical Discoveries

If we talk about defining the period of the Great Geographical Discoveries, they occurred at the end of the 15th – mid-17th centuries. Let's see why these discoveries are called “Great”. This name is due to the fact that they had special significance for the destinies of our world in general, and Europe in particular.

Great geographical discoveries were made at their own peril and risk, because travelers did not know what exactly awaited them. The only thing they clearly understood was the importance of their wanderings. There were enough reasons. Let's take a closer look at some of them.

The Age of Discovery is divided into two periods:

• Spanish-Portuguese period (late 15th – mid-16th century) The most famous and, of course, the most important discoveries during this period were: the discovery of America (the first expedition of Christopher Columbus in 1492); discovery of the sea route to India by 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 centuries). It usually includes: The discovery by Russians of all of Northern Asia (from Ermak’s campaign to the voyage of Popov-Dezhnev in 1648), the Dutch Pacific expeditions and the discovery of Australia.

Origins of the Great Geographical Discoveries

There were only three main reasons for the Great Geographical Discoveries. Firstly, they were due economic development Europe. Towards the end of the 15th century. European trade with the countries of the East was experiencing a great crisis. The crisis was due to the fact that a new harsh state appeared in the vast expanses of Asia Minor - the Ottoman Empire.

Therefore, the trade routes of the Mediterranean were completely cut off, because previously they passed through the disappeared Byzantium. In the 15th century In the countries of Western Europe, people needed gold and silver as a means of circulation, and because of the crisis they felt an acute shortage. The impoverished nobility at that time was in search of both gold itself and new trade routes. This nobility made up the bulk of the conquerors, who were also called conquistadors. The state, realizing its precarious position, was forced to make concessions and allocate funds for sea expeditions.

Secondly, an important reason for the Great Geographical Discoveries was Europe's significant advances in science and technology. First of all, the development in the construction of improved ships and also the navigation technology itself. In the XIV–XV centuries. The first caravel was created - a fairly fast ship that had spacious holds.

The importance of the caravel was that it was intended for ocean navigation. From a scientific point of view, at the same time, the hypothesis was approved that the Earth has the shape of a ball, which helped in orientation. Geographical maps were rewritten with new introductions, and the compass and astrolabe were greatly improved. All these discoveries took place along with, for example, the invention of clocks and chronology. For more details, see the article.

Great travelers and their geographical discoveries

Everyone knows that the great Spanish navigator H. Columbus in the 1490s discovered America, which was very important and necessary for Europe at that time. In total, he made four voyages to the “new land”. Moreover, his discoveries include: Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, land from Dominica to the Virgin Islands, as well as Trinidad and the wonderful Bahamas. Columbus really wanted to discover India. Because for a long time in Europe, people believed that there was a lot of gold in fabulous India. By the way, these beliefs were started by the legendary Marco Polo.

But it so happened that Columbus discovered America.

And you will immediately ask: “Why then is America called “America” and not Colombia?! Where is the copyright!” I answer immediately: there are persistent rumors that a certain Amerigo Vespucci, one of the clerks of the house of Medici (who provided money for voyages across the oceans), discovered the continent of the New World a year and a half before Columbus. Everything seems to be ironclad, but unfortunately there is no evidence of this. If anyone knows, write in the comments, otherwise we haven’t figured it out with Newton yet 😉 But the country is named after Columbus - Colombia.

Other funny historical facts You can .

We also cannot forget about Ferdinand Magellan, who discovered the strait, which was later named after him. He became the first European to travel by sea from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. But his most famous trip is around the world. The great Portuguese and Spanish navigator was awarded the title adelantado, translated as “pioneer,” whom the king himself directed to conquer new lands.

But not only the West participated in new discoveries, Russian expeditions were also quite important. The annexation of Siberia was of great importance at that time. It was started in 1581 by the campaign of a detachment of the well-known Cossack ataman Ermak Timofeevich. Ermak's campaign, with the help of government approval, contributed to the annexation of Western Siberia to the Russian state. Actually, from this time on, Siberia and the Far East became colonies of the Muscovite kingdom. These Europeans sailed the seas, died of scurvy and hunger..., and the Russians “without bothering” found another way.

One of the most significant was the discovery in 1648 of the strait between America and Asia, which was made by Semyon Dezhnev together with Fedot Alekseev (Popov).

Russian ambassadors played a significant role in improving maps and routes. The most famous include I.D. Khokhlov and Anisim Gribov. They participated in the description and study of routes to Central Asia.

Consequences of the Great Geographical Discoveries

Geographical discoveries led to certain world changes. Firstly, there was a “price revolution”. The value plummeted due to the influx of gold and silver, which led to an immediate rise in prices. This caused new economic problems. Secondly, world trade expanded significantly and began to strengthen.

This happened thanks to new products such as tobacco, coffee, cocoa, tea, rice, sugar and potatoes, which Europeans had not heard of before. Due to their inclusion in trade, the volume of trade increased greatly. Thirdly, the development of new lands and travel across the ocean contributed to the strengthening and improvement of international relations. The only thing negative consequence this was the beginning of colonization; everything else, in principle, had a positive effect on the world order.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the progress of mankind depends on many reasons, but the most important is the desire to improve living conditions. Thanks to the Great Geographical Discoveries, new lands were developed in a relatively short time, relations between peoples were established, and trade turnover was improved. The era of VGO went down in history as one of major events in the life of humanity.

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© Alexander Chudinov

Editing by Andrey Puchkov

They are always attracted by the horizon line, an endless strip stretching into the distance. Their faithful friends- ribbons of roads leading to the unknown, mysterious and mysterious. They were the first to push the boundaries, opening new lands and the amazing beauty of metrics to humanity. These people are the most famous travelers.

Travelers who made the most important discoveries

Christopher Columbus. He was a red-haired guy with a strong build and slightly above average height. Since childhood, he was smart, practical, and very proud. He had a dream - to go on a journey and find a treasure of gold coins. And he made his dreams come true. He found a treasure - a huge continent - America.

Three quarters of Columbus's life was spent sailing. He traveled on Portuguese ships, managed to live in Lisbon and on British Isles. Stopping briefly in a foreign land, he constantly drew geographical maps and made new travel plans.

It still remains a mystery how he managed to draw up a plan for the shortest route from Europe to India. His calculations were based on the discoveries of the 15th century and the fact that the Earth is spherical.

Having gathered 90 volunteers in 1492-1493, he set off on a journey across the Atlantic Ocean on three ships. He became the discoverer of the central part of the Bahamas archipelago, the Greater and Lesser Antilles. He is responsible for the discovery of the northeastern coast of Cuba.

The second expedition, which lasted from 1493 to 1496, already consisted of 17 ships and 2.5 thousand people. He discovered the islands of Dominica, the Lesser Antilles, and the island of Puerto Rico. After 40 days of sailing, arriving in Castile, he notified the government of the opening of a new route to Asia.

After 3 years, having assembled 6 ships, he led an expedition across the Atlantic. In Haiti, because of an envious denunciation of his successes, Columbus was arrested and shackled. He received release, but kept the shackles all his life, as a symbol of betrayal.

He was the discoverer of America. Until the end of his life, he mistakenly believed that it was connected to Asia by a thin isthmus. He believed that the sea route to India was opened by him, although history later showed the fallacy of his delusions.

Vasco da Gama. He was lucky enough to live during the era of great geographical discoveries. Perhaps that is why he dreamed of traveling and dreamed of becoming a discoverer of uncharted lands.

He was a nobleman. The family was not the most noble, but had ancient roots. As a young man, he became interested in mathematics, navigation and astronomy. Since childhood, he hated secular society, playing the piano and French, which noble nobles tried to “show off” with.

Determination and organizational skills made Vasco da Gama close to Emperor Charles VIII, who, having decided to create an expedition to open a sea route to India, appointed him in charge.

Four new ships, specially built for the journey, were placed at his disposal. Vasco da Gama was equipped with the latest navigational instruments and provided naval artillery.

A year later, the expedition reached the shores of India, stopping in the first city of Calicut (Kozhikode). Despite the cold reception of the natives and even military clashes, the goal was achieved. Vasco da Gama became the discoverer of the sea route to India.

They discovered the mountainous and desert regions of Asia, made bold expeditions to the Far North, they “wrote” history, glorifying the Russian land.

Great Russian travelers

Miklouho-Maclay was born into a noble family, but experienced poverty at the age of 11 when his father died. He was always a rebel. At the age of 15, he was arrested for participating in a student demonstration and imprisoned for three days in the Peter and Paul Fortress. For participating in student unrest, he was expelled from the gymnasium with a further ban on entering any higher institution. Having left for Germany, he received his education there.

The famous naturalist Ernst Haeckel became interested in the 19-year-old boy, inviting him to his expedition to study marine fauna.

In 1869, returning to St. Petersburg, he enlisted the support of the Russian Geographical Society and set off to study New Guinea. It took a year to prepare the expedition. He sailed to the shore of the Coral Sea, and when he set foot on land he had no idea that his descendants would name this place after him.

Having lived for more than a year in New Guinea, he not only discovered new lands, but also taught the natives to grow corn, pumpkins, beans and fruit trees. He studied the life of the natives on the island of Java, the Louisiads and the Solomon Islands. He spent 3 years in Australia.

He died at 42. Doctors diagnosed him with severe deterioration of the body.

Afanasy Nikitin is the first Russian traveler to visit India and Persia. Returning back, he visited Somalia, Turkey and Muscat. His notes “Walking across the Three Seas” became valuable historical and literary aids. He described medieval India simply and truthfully in his notes.

Coming from a peasant family, he proved that even a poor person can travel to India. The main thing is to set a goal.

The world has not revealed all its secrets to man. There are still people who dream of lifting the veil of unknown worlds.

Famous modern travelers

He is 60, but his soul is still full of thirst for new adventures. At the age of 58, he climbed to the top of Everest and conquered 7 of the greatest peaks together with climbers. He is fearless, purposeful, open to the unknown. His name is Fedor Konyukhov.

And may the era of great discoveries be long behind us. It doesn't matter that the Earth has been photographed thousands of times from space. Let travelers and discoverers discover all the places on the globe. He, like a child, believes that there is still a lot of unknown in the world.

He has 40 expeditions and ascents to his credit. He crossed seas and oceans, was in the North and South Poles, made 4 circumnavigations of the world, crossed the Atlantic 15 times. Of these, one time was on a rowing boat. He made most of his travels alone.

Everyone knows his name. His programs had a television audience of millions. He is the one great person, who gave this world the unusual beauty of nature, hidden from view in the bottomless depths. Fedor Konyukhov visited different places on our planet, including the hottest place in Russia, which is located in Kalmykia. The website features Jacques-Yves Cousteau, perhaps the most famous traveler in the world

Even during the war, he continued his experiments and research into the underwater world. He decided to dedicate his first film to sunken ships. And the Germans, who occupied France, allowed him to engage in research and filming.

He dreamed of a ship that would be equipped with modern technology for filming and observation. He was helped by a complete stranger who gave Cousteau a small military minesweeper. After repair work it became the famous ship "Calypso".

The ship's crew included researchers: a journalist, a navigator, a geologist, and a volcanologist. His wife was his assistant and companion. Later, 2 of his sons took part in all expeditions.

Cousteau recognized the best specialist underwater research. He received an offer to head the famous Oceanographic Museum in Monaco. He not only studied the underwater world, but was also involved in activities to protect the marine and ocean habitat.
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