1689 was another big year in the (always violent) development of the 4.5 globe-circling empires whose home-countries lined the mid-Atlantic coast of Europe. The “0.5” there is France, whose aspirations to build a globe-circling empire have not yet been as well fulfilled as those of the “Big Four”, namely Portugal, Spain, England, and the Dutch … Continue reading 1689: War of 4 empires against France (in Europe & N. America). Mughals hire & use a fleet. The Iroquois’s take revenge. →

1688 CE was a huge year in the history of “the big 4 (or 4.5)” of the Western imperialisms– being in order of empire-building Portugal, Spain, England, the Dutch UPs, with France being the 0.5 at the end. These things happened: The Stadtholder of Holland, William III of Orange, invaded England (ostensibly at the invitation … Continue reading 1688: William of Orange invades England, topples King James. France bombards Algiers. Etc. →

These are the three main story-lines of 1687 CE relevant to the continuing development of West European empires. I’ll deal with the Ottoman development first, then French, then English. Ottoman army defeated, Sultan deposed It had been a bad few years for the Ottoman Empire. In 1683 it had reached its greatest extent and since … Continue reading 1687: Ottoman Sultan deposed, French Huguenots expelled, English Anglicans threatened. →

1686 CE was the year in which a confrontation against the Mughal Empire sought by the relatively new head of English East India Company (EIC), Josiah Child, was launched in earnest, with the arrival in India of a fleet of 12 well-armed English Navy ships determined to impose the EIC’s conditions on the Mughals. (It … Continue reading 1686: England’s EIC starts a war. Russia loses terrain to China, wins against Ottomans. →

Two big developments in the history of Western imperialism in 1685 CE. France’s Louis XIV introduced his infamous ‘Code Noir’ to regulate treatment of the enslaved (and exclusion of Jews) from France’s colonies, in the Caribbean and elsewhere. And in England, King Charles II died; his very Catholic (and slave-trading) brother James took over, but … Continue reading 1685: France introduces its ‘Code Noir’. England has a succession crisis. →

1683 CE saw two events occurred, affecting three large land-based empires, that had significance for the power balance far beyond the borders of those empires. In Europe, the Habsburgs beat the Ottomans at Vienna, starting a long slow decline in Ottoman power (and giving the modern world, by some accounts, both the croissant pastry and … Continue reading 1683: Habsburgs beat Ottomans at Vienna. Mainland Chinese take Taiwan. →

The biggest news in West-European imperialism in 1682 CE was the French announcement of the establishment of Louisiana. It was very much bigger than today’s US state of that name (see sketch map at right.) France’s actual ability to hold and control large parts of this land-mass was very limited– see blow. But the establishment … Continue reading 1682: French found ‘Louisiana’. Peter (later ‘Great’) becomes tsar. Etc. →

In 1681 CE there were several notable developments in the continuing growth of West-European colonial networks worldwide. The grant that England’s King Charles II gave to William Penn to found (and own!) his own massive colony in mid-Atlantic North America was possibly not the most momentous. The English East India Company’s appointment of the self-made … Continue reading 1681: Charles II gives Wm. Penn a huge colony amid religio-political unrest in England. Etc. →

The major development in the history of imperialism/anti-imperialism in 1680 CE was almost certainly the large-scale uprising that members of various Indigenous-American Pueblos launched against the Spanish colonizers in the area of today’s New Mexico. In today’s bulletin I will pull together what information I have time for on that uprising, then quickly survey the … Continue reading 1680: Pueblo Uprising vs. Spanish in today’s New Mexico. A census in Barbados. →