Expansion and the Spread of the European Culture around the World

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Expansion and the Spread of the European Culture around the World
Europe is the continent that is globally known for its dominance over all other continents in the past. This dominance began in the 15th century, a time that is historically known as the Age of Discovery. This time was one in which Europeans carried out massive forms of overseas exploration as part of their culture, eventually leading to globalization (Diamond and Lincoln 609). Although the events seemed like moments of great discoveries among the Europeans as they got to know new lands, both inhabited and uninhabited, it was the beginning of a nightmare to the natives in the foreign land; who regarded the explorers as invaders. The resultant factor was that the Europeans began to embrace colonialism and mercantilism as part of their policies. This paper explores the different factors that led to the expansion and spread of the European culture all over the world.
According to Jared Diamond in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies which he published in 1997, neither the moral, intrinsic genetic superiority nor European intellectual played a role in the expansion of their culture. Instead, he argues that the differences in technology and power between the Europeans were the main factors that facilitated European supremacy (Diamond and Lincoln 14). Just as the title of his book suggests, the means by which the Europeans conquered the other nations are what mattered and not necessarily their culture. These means were originally the equipment that the agriculture-based societies of Europe used in the everyday endeavors. They included advanced military weapons such as guns which they used to fight the local people in the new lands, defeat them and eventually colonize them.
Other factors were European diseases, called germs, which they used to weaken the native communities and eventually rule them, and steel which represented the advanced means of transport through which the Europeans carried out exploration activities. In summary, Diamond believed that the immunological and technological knowhow among the Europeans was the main reason that enhanced their expansion. By using these means of conquest, Diamond was simply bringing out the geographical advantage that the Europeans had over their subjects, stating that the European geography and environmental ...