What are geographical discoveries. Great geographical discoveries: causes, events, consequences

Everything that we now know was once discovered by people - pioneers. Some have crossed the ocean for the first time and found new land, someone became the discoverer of space, someone was the first to dive in a bathyscaphe into the world's deepest cavity. Thanks to the ten pioneers below, today we know the world for what it really is.

• Leif Eriksson/Leifur Eiriksson is the first European of Icelandic origin who, according to some scholars, was the first to visit the continent of North America. Around the 11th century, this Scandinavian sailor lost his course and landed on some coast, which he later called "Vinland". Documentary, of course, there is no evidence of exactly which part North America he moored. Some archaeologists claim that they managed to discover Viking settlements in Newfoundland, Canada.

• Sacajawea, or Sacagawea / Sakakawea, Sacajawea is a girl of Indian origin, on whom Maryweather Lewis and his partner William Clark completely relied on during their expedition, the path of which ran through the entire American continent. The girl walked with these researchers more than 6473 kilometers. On top of that, the girl had a newborn baby in her arms. During this journey in 1805, Sacagawea found her lost brother. The girl is mentioned in the movie "Night at the Museum" and "Night at the Museum 2".

• Christopher Columbus / Christopher Columbus - a navigator of Spanish origin who discovered America, but due to the fact that he and his expedition were looking for a sea route to India, Christopher believed that the lands he had discovered were Indian. In 1492, his expedition discovered the Bahamas, Cuba and several other islands. Caribbean. Christopher set sail for the first time at the age of 13.

• Amerigo Vespucci is the man after whom the continent America was named. Although, in fact, Columbus made this discovery, it was American Vespucci who documented the “find”. In 1502, he explored the shores of South America, and it was then that the well-deserved fame and honor came to him.

• James Cook / James Cook - a captain who managed to sail much further into southern waters than any of his contemporaries. Cook owns a proven fact about the falsity of the northern route through the Arctic from Atlantic Ocean to Quiet. It is known that Captain James Cook made 2 round-the-world expeditions, mapped the islands in the Pacific Ocean, as well as Australia, for which he was later eaten by the natives. That's how gratitude is.

• William Beebe is a 20th century naturalist explorer. In 1934, he descended 922 meters on a bathysphere and told people that "the world under water is no less strange than on another planet." Although how does he know how to live on other planets?

• Chuck Yeager is a general in the US Air Force. In 1947, the first one broke the sound barrier. In 1952, Chuck flew at twice the speed of sound. Chuck Yeager, in addition to setting speed records, was a trainer for pilots of such space programs as Apollo, Gemini and Mercury.

• Louise Arne Boyd / Louise Boyd is also known to the world under the nickname "Ice Woman". She got this nickname thanks to her explorations of Greenland. In 1955, she flew over the North Pole and was the first woman to do so in an airplane. She also opened an underwater mountain range in the Arctic Ocean.

• Yuri Gagarin / Yuri Gagarin - April 12, 1961, the first of all people living on our planet, was in space. His first flight lasted as much as 108 minutes. It was a real achievement in astronautics.

• Anousheh Ansari is the first female space tourist. She made her flight in September 2006. To her achievements, one can add the fact that she was the first of all those who have been in orbit to blog on the Internet from space.

GREAT GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES, a literary term for the largest geographical discoveries made by European travelers in the period from the end of the 15th century (when the idea of ​​​​continuous sea ​​route to the countries of the East) until the middle of the 17th century (when some sea routes to these countries were already open, and with respect to others it was established that they, if they exist, cannot be of practical importance). Other dates are found in foreign literature, usually the middle of the 15th - the middle of the 16th centuries. The term "Great geographical discoveries” is conditional, but there are reasons for its use: the most important geographical discoveries have never been made with such intensity and have had such significance for the development of Europe and the whole world as during this period. Since the end of the 20th century, on the eve of and during the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America and the sea route to India, a sharp controversy has unfolded around the role of the Great Geographical Discoveries. In particular, public figures and scientists in a number of Latin American, Asian and African countries refused to "celebrate the beginning of their oppression" and denied the term "discovery" itself, replacing it with a "meeting of cultures" or "concealment" of one culture by another.

Background of the Great geographical discoveries. A number of reasons contributed to the Great geographical discoveries. The growth of cities and the development of commodity-money relations in Europe led to a shortage of precious metals, which necessitated the search for new lands, where they hoped to find gold, silver, as well as spices, ivory (in the southern countries), valuable furs and walrus tusks (in the north). ). The development of the European economy assumed closer trade ties with the East, which was considered the center of all wealth. In the middle of the 15th century, trade routes to the East through Asia Minor and Syria were blocked as a result of Ottoman conquests; there was an urgent need to open direct sea routes for trade without intermediaries. Religious and political reasons also played their role. After the fall of Byzantium, the Ottomans threatened all of Europe, and in search of allies, Christians hoped to find fellow believers in the East. The legend about the Christian state of Prester John, known since the 12th century, was revived, which from the 15th century began to be identified with Christian Ethiopia. The Europeans sought to find this power and conclude a military alliance with it against the Muslims in order to stop the Ottoman offensive, recapture Constantinople and, resuming the Crusades, return the Holy Sepulcher.

Great geographical discoveries became possible thanks to the achievements of European science and technology. High-speed and maneuverable sailing ships- caravels; instruments and tables that made it possible to plot the desired course and determine the location of the vessel (astrolabe, compass, Regiomontanian tables). Geographic maps have become more accurate. An important role was played by the assumption that the Earth was spherical, which had spread towards the end of the 15th century. At the same time, the invention of printing in Europe in the middle of the 15th century made reference literature on navigation and descriptions relatively accessible. latest discoveries, prompting further searches. The successful expansion was facilitated by the naval superiority of the Europeans over the peoples they encountered.

During this period, Spain and Portugal were the most prepared for the Great geographical discoveries, which had convenient ports, a long and rich maritime tradition; their geographical position facilitated voyages in the Atlantic Ocean. Portugal, having completed the Reconquista on its territory in the middle of the 13th century, was ready for significant maritime expansion by the beginning of the 15th century. By the end of the 15th century, with the completion of the Spanish Reconquista and the unification of the country, Spain also prepared for sea voyages, using the captured Canary Islands, which became a convenient base for further expeditions.

Traditionally, the Great geographical discoveries are divided into 2 periods: the end of the 15th - the middle of the 16th century - the period of the most important discoveries, in which Portugal and Spain played the main role; the middle of the 16th - the middle of the 17th centuries - the period of the predominance of the geographical discoveries of England and Holland. At the same time, Russian explorers made outstanding discoveries in Siberia and the Far East.

First period. By the beginning of the 1st period of the Great geographical discoveries, the Portuguese, for several decades moving south along west coast Africa, mastered the wealth of the occupied territories (reached the Gulf of Guinea). An outstanding role in organizing their voyages for 40 years (until 1460) was played by Enrique the Navigator. It is possible that the turn of the coastline to the east at the entrance to the Gulf of Guinea, which was not provided for on the maps of that time, is associated with the emergence of the very idea of ​​a sea route to the countries of the East, which contradicted the views of the ancient geographer Claudius Ptolemy. In the 1460-70s, the advance of the Portuguese to the south was temporarily suspended, since it took time to develop the riches of the coast of the Gulf of Guinea (gold, ivory, etc.); it resumed in the 1480s at a faster pace. In two expeditions in 1482-84 and 1484-86 (or 1487), D. Kahn advanced 2500 km southward, reaching the coast of the Namib Desert (22° south latitude). In 1487-1488, B. Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa and went to Indian Ocean.

In the 1480s, H. Columbus put forward a project for a western route to the countries of the East. In the voyage of 1492-93 under the Spanish flag, he first crossed the Atlantic Ocean in subtropical latitudes and discovered lands beyond the ocean - the Bahamas, the island of Cuba, the island of Haiti. 10/12/1492, when he first landed in the Bahamas, is considered the official date of the discovery of America. Later, Columbus made 3 more voyages (1493-96, 1498-1500, 1502-04), during which the discovery of the Greater Antilles was completed, many Small Antilles, as well as sections of the coast of the mainland near the mouth of the Orinoco River and from the Yucatan Peninsula to the Gulf of Darien. The differences between Spain and Portugal regarding the rights to open lands were settled by the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494. However, other countries, whose interests the treaty ignored, did not want to recognize it, in 1497 England joined the Great Geographical Discoveries: J. Cabot, trying to reach Japan and China, discovered the island of Newfoundland (1497) and the coast of North America (1498).

Further discoveries are connected, first of all, with the Portuguese expeditions in the Indian Ocean basin, the Spanish and Portuguese expansion in Latin America. In the voyage of 1497-99, Vasco da Gama discovered an uninterrupted sea route from Western Europe around South Africa to India (1498). In 150, the Portuguese P. Alvaris Cabral, on his way to India, discovered a section of the coast of Brazil, after which its colonization by the Portuguese began; in the same voyage, the island of Madagascar was discovered. Having established themselves under the viceroys of Almeida and Albuquerque on the east coast of Africa and the west coast of India, having crushed the resistance of Egypt in the naval battle of Diu (1509), the Portuguese captured Malacca in 1511, which became the base for further advancement. In 1512 they reached the Spice Islands (Moluccas), later China and Japan. The Spaniards were more active in the New World: A. de Ojeda and A. Vespucci (1499-1500), V. Yanes Pinson (1499-1500), D. de Lepe (1499-1500), R. de Bastidas (1500-1502) and others traced the coast of South America from the Gulf of Darien to 16° north latitude. In 1509-28, the Spaniards explored the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula and Gulf of Mexico; in 1513, H. Ponce de Leon, in search of the legendary "fountain of youth," discovered the Florida peninsula and the Gulf Stream. A. Alvarez de Pineda in 1519 passed along the entire northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. But already at the beginning of the 16th century, it became obvious that the lands discovered across the ocean were not Asia, but a new, previously unknown, part of the world. But while the wealth of America was not yet discovered, it was perceived as an obstacle on the way to the countries of the East. In 1513, V. Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and went to the Pacific Ocean, which he called the South Sea. In search of a strait leading to this sea, D. Diaz de Solis in 1515-16 explored the Gulf of La Plata. The Spanish expedition of F. Magellan managed to find the strait, whose ships then crossed the Pacific Ocean and reached the Philippines and the Moluccas, realizing the plan of Columbus - to pave the western route to the countries of the East. After the death of Magellan, part of his companions, led by J. S. Elcano, returned to Spain through the Indian and Atlantic oceans, making the first ever circumnavigation of the world (1519-22).

At the same time, a conquest unfolded in America. After the expeditions of F. Hernandez de Cordova and J. Grijalva in 1517-18 explored the way to Mexico, the Aztec power located in its central part was conquered by E. Cortes (1519-21). In the 1520-30s, the Spaniards (Cortez, P. de Alvarado, K. de Olid, etc.) conquered other regions of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, traced the Pacific coast of Central America from the California peninsula to modern Panama. In 1527-29, A. de Saavedra sailed from Mexico to Moluccas and China, he could not go back because of headwinds, but discovered part of the Admiralty, Marshall and Caroline Islands. A. Nunez Caveza de Vaca (1529-36), E. de Soto (1539-42) and F. Vasquez de Coronado (1540-42) explored the southern part of the modern USA. In 1526-35, conquistadors led by F. Pizarro reached the Inca state of Tahuantinsuyu and conquered its central regions. In 1535-37, D. de Almagro made a trip to the south from Peru, he was the first European to cross the Andes and reach 36 ° south latitude. In 1540-53, P. de Valdivia, trying to conquer Chile, moved south to 40 ° south latitude. In 1536-37, G. Jimenez de Quesada, in search of the gold-rich country of Eldorado, discovered and conquered mountainous Colombia, where the highly developed civilization of the Chibcha Muisca was located. The lower and middle reaches of the Orinoco River were explored in 1531-32 by D. de Ordas, and F. de Orellana in 1541-42 crossed South America in its widest part along the Amazon. Other conquistadors, advancing from the Gulf of La Plata, examined the course of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers.

French explorers have been participating in the Great Geographical Discoveries since the 1520s. In search of a passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, J. Verrazzano in 1524 passed along the east coast of North America from 34 to 46 ° north latitude, and in 1534-36 J. Cartier explored the bay and the St. Lawrence River (before the confluence of the river Ottawa). Having received information about the Great Lakes, he decided that we were talking about the Pacific Ocean or about the passage to it. The lakes were discovered by the French in the 1620s and 30s (S. Champlain and others).

Second period. At the beginning of the 2nd period of the Great geographical discoveries, Spain and Portugal, having captured vast territories, began to develop them and lost the initiative to England, and then to Holland. Since the already open sea routes to the countries of the East around Africa and America were controlled by Portugal and Spain (and the latter was also too long and risky), at that time the search for the Northwest Passage and Northeast Passage. In 1553, the English expedition of H. Willoughby and R. Chancellor was sent in search of the Northeast Passage, establishing trade relations with Russia. At the end of the 16th century, an active search for the Northeast Passage was conducted by Holland, which equipped three expeditions in a row (1594, 1595, 1596-97). V. Barents played a key role in them, although he did not officially lead them. However, the Dutch could not advance further than Novaya Zemlya (where the first polar wintering known in history took place in 1596-97), and navigation in this direction was stopped. Looking for Northwest Way Englishmen M. Frobisher, J. Davies, G. Hudson, R. Bylot, W. Buffin, L. Fox and others from the 1570s to the early 1630s discovered many islands, straits, bays in the polar part of North America including Hudson Bay (1610). However, they failed to find either a passage to the Pacific Ocean or special riches. In the 1630s and 1640s, navigators came to the conclusion that the Northwest Passage, if it existed, was of no commercial importance. In general, the search for the North-Eastern and Northwest Passage, although they were not crowned with success (they were discovered only in the 19-20 centuries), contributed to the accumulation of knowledge about the northern seas and lands; rich areas of fishing and whaling were discovered. The English pirate F. Drake made his contribution to the Great geographical discoveries: having completed the second round-the-world voyage after Magellan in 1577-80, he discovered the strait that separates Antarctica from Tierra del Fuego, and a section of the Pacific coast of North America.

The Spaniards in the 2nd half of the 16th - early 17th centuries organized three voyages from Peru across the Pacific Ocean in search of the biblical country of Ophir, as well as the Unknown Southern Land (which, as it was then believed, occupies vast spaces in the hard-to-reach southern latitudes). In 1568, A. Mendanya de Neira discovered the Solomon Islands, but he erroneously determined their longitude, and therefore tried in vain to find them in 1595. During the expedition of 1605-07, which was also looking for them, led by P. Fernandez de Quiros, the New Hebrides archipelago was discovered, and L. Vaes de Torres, who commanded two ships, for the first time passed through the strait between New Guinea and Australia, mistaking the latter for the northeastern ledge Unknown Southern Land. The discovery of Torres was classified and became known only in the 18th century. Important discovery made by members of the expedition of M. Lopez de Legazpi, which marked the beginning of the colonization of the Philippines: in 1565, when returning to Mexico, A. de Urdaneta found that about 40 ° north latitude, unlike southern latitudes, winds and currents favor the crossing Pacific Ocean V eastbound. Thanks to this, regular communications between Asia and America became possible.

At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch ousted the Portuguese from Indonesia. In the voyage of 1605-06, the Dutchman V. Janszon was the first to reach the coast of Australia, mistaking it for the island of New Guinea. In search of convenient routes from southern Africa to the island of Java, H. Brouwer in 1611 discovered the best route that ran south of the previous one. Using it, the Dutch from time to time reached the western coast of Australia and in 1616-36 discovered a significant part of it. In 1642-43, the Dutchman A. Tasman circled Australia without approaching its shores, established that it was not part of the Unknown Southern Land, and discovered the island, later named after him. During the voyage, the South and North Islands (New Zealand) were also discovered. In a voyage of 1644, Tasman traced an unbroken line of the northern coast of Australia for 5,500 km, proving the existence of a new continent. But these lands did not interest the Dutch, and further searches were abandoned.

Simultaneously with the sea expeditions of the countries of Western Europe, Russian explorers penetrated into Siberia at the end of the 16th century, crossed all of North Asia in the first half of the 17th century and reached Sea of ​​Okhotsk tracing the course of all the great Siberian rivers, and Russian sailors bypassed the entire northern coast of Asia. In 1648, the expedition of F. Popov - S. Dezhnev for the first time passed from the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean through the Bering Strait. It was proved that Asia does not connect anywhere with America, but this discovery did not receive wide popularity and was later again made by V. Bering.

Significance of the Great Geographical Discoveries. As a result of the Great geographical discoveries, the Europeans' understanding of the world has significantly expanded. Europeans discovered for themselves two parts of the world, America and Australia, as well as the Pacific Ocean, basically determined the contours of all inhabited continents. As a result of the first trip around the world, it was proved in practice that the Earth has the shape of a ball, it was established that all the continents are washed by a single World Ocean, and many of its currents were discovered. It became obvious that, contrary to the opinion of ancient scientists, there is much more water on the earth's surface than land. At the same time, many inland areas of America, Africa and Australia, as well as the depths of the World Ocean, remained unexplored.

The great geographical discoveries provided extensive new material for the natural sciences, ethnography, and history. Knowing the life of societies with different religions and customs, Europeans were convinced of the diversity of the world. Reflections on the golden age and the uncorrupted faith of the inhabitants of America echoed the ideas of the Renaissance, the Reformation, and social utopia. At the same time, acquiring the experience of communicating with overseas residents, Europeans were more clearly aware of their cultural and historical identity. The information received about distant countries enriched European literature and art.

The great geographical discoveries had a profound impact on the socio-economic processes in Europe, contributed to the initial accumulation of capital. The colonies served as sources of raw materials and markets for European goods. With the movement of the main trade routes from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, some regions fell into decline (Italy, Southern Germany), while others, on the contrary, became noticeably stronger (Spain and Portugal, later England and Holland). The large-scale importation of American precious metals doubled the amount of gold in circulation in Europe and tripled the amount of silver in circulation, contributed to the rapid rise in prices for essentials throughout Europe, ruining some sections of the population and enriching others (see Price Revolution). The expansion of trade links, first between Europe and other parts of the world, then between America, Asia and Africa, led to the formation of a world market. An important part international relations there was a rivalry for control over trade routes, the desire of the intensified powers to acquire their own colonies, the struggle for their redistribution. Thanks to the wealth of the colonies, the mother countries strengthened their positions in Europe. At the same time, the rate of economic development depended on the method of using the imported wealth. As a result, England and Holland began to move forward, while Spain and Portugal fell behind. However, the Great Geographical Discoveries also had a negative meaning for Europeans: mass emigration to the colonies led to an outflow of productive forces from Spain and Portugal. Europeans got acquainted with new agricultural crops (potatoes, corn, tomatoes, tea, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, cotton), which markedly changed their diet. Especially great was the importance of the potato, which, partly replacing bread for the poor, significantly reduced the threat of famine in modern Europe.

Emerged during the Great Geographical Discoveries colonial system as a whole united the world, at the same time dividing it into two main groups of countries: on the one hand, the rapidly growing wealthy metropolises, on the other, the colonies, the impact on which European expansion was rather destructive. Influence of the Great Geographical Discoveries and colonial conquests on the fate of the peoples of Asia, Africa and America was not the same. In Asia, until the 18th century, Europeans established their control only over strategically important points, but their influence gradually went far beyond these territories. The trade monopoly regime established by the Portuguese was based on inciting and maintaining political and religious contradictions, which influenced the situation in Western and South Asia as a whole. The most devastating was the impact of European expansion on Africa, where the slave trade devastated entire areas, increasingly influencing the historical path of the continent's development. In Latin America, the cruelty of the conquistadors and the diseases introduced by Europeans initially led to a marked reduction in the local population. Subsequently, a more reasonable policy led to the emergence of a Latin American society and culture that absorbed both European and Indian features, but processed them into a new whole.

The great geographical discoveries contributed to noticeable changes in the geography of religions. Christianity, as a result of the grandiose activities of European missionaries, spread widely in Asia, Africa, and especially in America. Where the Spaniards and the Portuguese preached, Catholicism was established, where the British and the Dutch were various reformist movements, mainly of the Calvinist persuasion.

Lit .: Peschel O. History of the Age of Discovery. 2nd ed. M., 1884; Atlas of the history of geographical discoveries and research. M., 1959; Hart G. Sea route to India. M., 1959; Svet Ya. M. History of discovery and exploration of Australia and Oceania. M., 1966; Bakless J. America through the eyes of the discoverers. M., 1969; First images of America: The impact of the New World on the Old/Ed. F. Chiappelli. Berk. A. o., 1976. Vol. 1-2; Chaunu R. European expansion in the later Middle Ages. amst. A. o., 1979; Sanz C. Descubrimientos geograficos. Madrid, 1979; Godinho V. M. Os descobrimentose a economia mundial. Lisboa, 1981-1983. Vol. 1-4; Magidovich IP, Magidovich VI Essays on the history of geographical discoveries. M., 1982-1983. T. 1-2; Albuquerque L. de. Navegadores, viajantes e aventureiros portugueses: séculos XV e XVI. Lisboa, 1987. Vol. 1-2; Gil J. Mitos at utopias del descubrimiento. Madrid, 1989. Vol. 1-3; Cortesdo J. Os descobrimentos portugueses. Lisbon, 1990; Three caravels on the horizon. M., 1991; Découvertes et explorateurs: Actes du colloque international, Bordeaux 12-14 juin 1992. R.; Bordeaux, 1994; Implicit understandings: observing, reporting and reflecting on the encounters between Europeans, and other peoples in the early modern era / Ed. S. W. Schwartz. Camb., 1994; El Tratado de Tordesillas su época. Valladolid, 1995; Pagden A. Lords of all the world: Ideologies of empire in Spain, Britain and France. L., 1995; La época de los descubrimientos y las conquistas, 1400-1570 / Ed. J. Perez. Madrid, 1998; Martinez Shaw C., Alfonso Mola M. Europa y los nuevos mundos: siglos XV-XVIII. Madrid, 1999; Parry J H. The age of reconnaissance: discovery, exploration and settlement, 1450-1650. L., 2000; Randles W.G.L. Geography, cartography and nautical science in the Renaissance: the impact of the great discoveries. Aldershot, 2000; Voyages and exploration in the North Atlantic from the Middle Ages to the XVIIth century. Reykjavik, 2001; Kofman A.F. America of Unfulfilled Miracles. M., 2001; Ramsey R. Discoveries that never happened. St. Petersburg, 2002; Soler I. El nudo y la esfera: el navegante como artifice del mundo moderno. Barcelona, ​​2003.

A major role in the disintegration of feudalism and the genesis of capitalism was played by the geographical discoveries of the late 15th to mid-17th centuries, when Europeans began to actively explore “new” regions of the Earth. The discoveries of this period are usually called the Great ones due to 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 century - mid-16th century), which included the discovery of America (the first expedition of Columbus in 1492); Portuguese voyages to India and the shores of East Asia, starting with the expedition of Vasco de Gama; Spanish Pacific expeditions of the 16th century. from Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world to the expedition of Villalovos (1542–1543).

Russian period and Dutch discoveries(mid-16th - mid-17th century). It includes: the discovery by the Russians of all of Northern Asia (from Yermak's campaign to the voyage of Popov-Dezhnev in 1648); English and French discoveries in North America; Dutch Pacific expeditions and the discovery of Australia.

In the second half of the XV century. feudalism in Western Europe was at the stage of decomposition. Rosli big cities trade developed. Money became the universal medium of exchange, the need for which increased sharply. In Europe, the demand for gold increased greatly, which increased the desire for "India - the birthplace of spices", where, according to Europeans, there was a lot of gold, silver, gems and spices. But the way to India became inaccessible for Europeans as a result of the Turkish conquests in Asia Minor and Syria. The monopoly of Italian merchants in the European trade in Oriental goods pumped gold from Europe to the East. The shortage of the precious metal hampered the development of trade and commodity production in Western European countries. Portugal was the first to start looking for southern sea routes to India. Having conquered its territory from the Arabs in the 13th century, continuing the wars with the Arabs in North Africa in the 14th-15th centuries, Portugal created a strong fleet. Already in the 20-30s of the XV century. The Portuguese discovered the island of Madeira and the Azores, moved far south along the West coast of Africa. Discovery in 1486 of the cape Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa created a real opportunity to prepare an expedition to India.

One of the most important reasons for the activity of Portugal, and then Spain in geographical discoveries, was the crisis of the feudal system of economy, expressed in the fragmentation of feudal estates and the ruin of the feudal lords. The Portuguese and Spanish nobles, who scorned all activities except war, were left without work after the victory over the Moors and very soon found themselves in debt to usurers. They dreamed of land holdings across the ocean, but even more of gold and jewels to pay off moneylenders.

Another reason for overseas expansion was the interest of the increased royal power, which dreamed of increasing revenues for the treasury. The urban bourgeoisie and the church were no less interested in the new lands. The bourgeoisie sought to expand the sources of primitive accumulation; church - to expand its influence in pagan countries. The desire for profit was covered by religious fanaticism - a familiar and convenient mask, under which the desire for power and personal gain was hidden.

Opportunities for long journeys were created by advances in science and technology, the development of shipbuilding and navigation. From the beginning of the XVI century. the compass, which, in combination with the astrolabe, played an important role in the development of navigation, is in general use. The ancient idea of ​​the sphericity of the earth was revived. In the XV century. a caravel designed for ocean navigation was created - a high-speed vessel with capacious holds. Of great importance was the improvement of firearms. Until the end of the XV century. ahead of other countries were the Portuguese. The knowledge they gained gave navigators of other countries new information about sea tides, low tides, currents, and wind direction. The mapping of new lands spurred the development of cartography.

From the end of the XV century. The Spaniards began to search for sea trade routes to India. In 1492, the Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506) arrived at the court of the Spanish kings. Columbus proposed to the Spanish monarchs his project - to reach the shores of India, sailing west across the Atlantic. Prior to this, Columbus offered his plan to the kings of other countries, but was refused. France and England did not have the necessary funds and fleet. The Portuguese by this time were already close to opening a route to India around Africa and did not need other people's services. In Spain, there was a more favorable environment for the implementation of Columbus' plans. After the conquest of Granada in 1492 and the end of the last war with the Arabs, the economic situation of the Spanish monarchy was very difficult. The treasury was empty, the crown no longer had vacant lands available for sale, and income from taxes on trade and industry was negligible. A huge number of nobles were left without a livelihood. In addition, Spanish industry needed markets. All these circumstances were decisive for the adoption of the Columbus project by the Spanish court. The idea of ​​an overseas expedition was supported by the top of the Catholic Church. An agreement was concluded between the Spanish king and Columbus, according to which the great navigator was appointed viceroy of the newly discovered lands, received the rank of admiral, the right to 1/10 of the income from new possessions and 1/8 of the profits from trade.

On August 3, 1492, a flotilla of three caravels sailed from the harbor of Paloe, heading southwest. October 12, 1492 the ships approached Bahamas. Later, the island of Cuba was discovered and its northern coast was explored. Mistaking Cuba for one of the islands off the coast of Japan, Columbus continued sailing west and discovered the island of Haiti, which had more gold than the already discovered islands. Columbus lost his largest ship off the coast of Haiti and was forced to leave part of the crew on the island. A fort was built here. The fortress of Navidad became the first Spanish settlement in the New World.

In 1493, Columbus returned to Spain, where he was received with great honor. The discoveries of Columbus worried the Portuguese. In 1494, through the mediation of the Pope, an agreement was concluded, according to which Spain was transferred the right to own lands west of Azores and Portugal to the east.

Columbus made three more trips to America, during which the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Jamaica were discovered, and the coast of Central America was explored. Columbus believed until the end of his days that he had found a western route to India. In 1500, Columbus was accused of abuse of power and sent to Spain in shackles. However, the appearance in Spain of the famous navigator in chains caused outrage. Columbus was soon rehabilitated.

By 1502–1503 refers to the fourth voyage of Columbus to the New World in order to find a way out to the Indian Ocean and travel around the world. During this last journey, Columbus discovered the coast of the mainland south of Cuba, explored the southwestern shores of the Caribbean.

Two weeks after the return of Columbus, Queen Isabella, who patronized him, died. He lost support at court. Columbus died in 1506, forgotten by everyone in complete poverty.

The tragic fate of Columbus is largely due to the success of the Portuguese. In 1497, an expedition of Vasco da Gama was sent to explore the sea route to India around Africa. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, the Portuguese sailors entered the Indian Ocean and in May 1498 reached the Indian port of Calicut. Having bought a large cargo of spices, the expedition set off on the return journey.

The success of Vasco da Gama's expedition made a huge impression in Europe. Huge opportunities opened up before the Portuguese for the commercial exploitation of India. Thanks to their superiority in armaments and naval technology, they managed to oust the Arab merchants from the Indian Ocean and seize all maritime trade with India, and then Malacca and Indonesia. Attempts by the Arabs to oust the Portuguese from the Indian Ocean were unsuccessful.

In India, the Portuguese did not capture vast territories, but sought to capture only strongholds on the coast. Gradually, they captured all trade relations between individual areas of the Indian Ocean coast. This trade gave huge profits. Moving further east along the coast, they took possession transit routes spice trade. Trade with India was declared a monopoly of the Portuguese king.

Having seized control of trade with India, the Portuguese stubbornly sought a western route to this country. At the end of the XV - beginning of the XVI century. As part of the Spanish and Portuguese expeditions, Amerigo Vespucci traveled to the shores of America, who proved that Columbus discovered not the coast of India, but a new mainland, later called America.

Fernando Magellan, a member of the Portuguese expeditions, suggested that India can be reached by moving west and going around again open continent from South. The Spanish government, which at that time did not receive large incomes from newly discovered lands, reacted with interest to the Magellan project. According to the agreement concluded by the Spanish king with Magellan, the navigator had to sail to the southern tip of the American mainland and open the western route to India. He complained about the titles of ruler and governor of new lands and 1/20 of all income that would go to the treasury.

On September 20, 1519, a squadron of five ships headed west. A month later, the flotilla reached the southern tip of the American continent and for three weeks moved along the strait, which now bears the name of Magellan. On March 6, 1521, sailors found themselves near three small islands from the Mariana group. Continuing his journey west, Magellan reached the Philippine Islands, where he died in a skirmish with the natives.

New discoveries aggravated the old contradictions between Spain and Portugal. For a long time, experts from both countries could not accurately determine the boundaries of Spanish and Portuguese possessions due to the lack of accurate data on the longitude of the newly discovered islands. In 1529, under a new agreement, Spain renounced its claims to Philippine Islands. However, for a long time no one dared to repeat the journey of Magellan, and the journey across the Pacific Ocean to the shores of Asia was of no practical importance.

Since 1510, the conquest of America began - the colonization and development of the interior regions of the continent, the formation of a system of colonial exploitation.

In 1517–1518 detachments of Hernan de Cordoba and Juan Grimalva faced the most ancient civilization - the Mayan state. By the time the Spaniards arrived, the territory of Yucatan was divided among several city-states. Not only the superiority in armament, but also the internal struggle between the city-states made it easier for the Spaniards to conquer the Maya. The Spaniards learned from local residents that precious metals were brought from the country of the Aztecs. In 1519, a Spanish detachment headed by Hernan Cortes set out to conquer these lands.

The Aztec state stretched from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. A large agricultural population lived here, a perfect system of artificial irrigation was created by the labor of many generations, high yields of cotton, corn, and vegetables were grown. The economic basis was represented by the neighboring community. The Maya had a system of labor service. The population was used by the state in the construction of palaces, temples, etc. The craft had not yet separated from agriculture; both artisans and farmers lived in the community. A stratum of representatives of the nobility and leaders began to stand out - caciques, who had large plots of land and used the labor of slaves.

Unlike the Maya, the Aztec state achieved significant centralization, gradually making the transition to the hereditary power of the supreme ruler. However, the lack of internal unity, the internecine struggle for power among the representatives of the highest military nobility and the struggle of the conquered tribes against the conquerors facilitated the victory of the Spaniards. Mexico justified the hopes of the conquerors. Rich deposits of gold and silver were found here.

The second stream of colonization went from the Isthmus of Panama to the south of the Pacific coast of America. The conquerors were attracted by the fabulously rich country of Peru. Fertile densely populated lands stretched here. The population was engaged in agriculture, bred herds of llamas. Since ancient times, the territory of Peru was inhabited by the Quechua Indians. In the XIV century. one of the Quechuan tribes - the Incas - conquered numerous Indian tribes. By the beginning of the XVI century. part of the territory of Chile and Argentina was part of the Inca state. From the tribe of conquerors, a military nobility was formed. The center of the Inca empire was the city of Cusco. The basic cell of society among the Incas, as well as among the Mayans and Aztecs, was the neighborhood community. From the communal lands stood out the fields of the nobility and elders, who were in the property. These lands they had the right to inherit.

The conquest of the territory of Peru by the Spaniards lasted more than 40 years. If at the first stage the conquerors seized the precious metals accumulated in previous times, then from 1530 in Mexico and on the territory of Peru, the richest mines began to be systematically exploited. Since then, the nature of colonization has changed. The conquerors abandoned the economic development of new lands. Everything necessary for the Spanish settlers began to be brought from Europe in exchange for the gold and silver of the New World. The noble, feudal nature of colonization predetermined the fact that the gold and silver of America fell mainly into the hands of the nobility. All conquered lands became the property of the crown. Starting in 1512, laws were passed that prohibited the enslavement of Indians. Formally, they were considered subjects of the Spanish king, paid a special tax and worked out labor service.

In the first half of the XVI century. in general terms, there was a system of government of the Spanish colonies in America. Colonial trade was placed under the control of the Seville Chamber of Commerce (1503), which carried out customs inspection of all goods, collected duties, and supervised emigration processes. Mining was the main industry in the Spanish colonies.

The colonial system that developed in the Portuguese colonies was different from the Spanish one. Since 1500, Brazil became the main object of colonization, where there was no settled agricultural population, and the small Indian tribes, who were at the stage of tribal system, were pushed back into the interior of the country. The absence of deposits of precious metals and significant human resources determined the commercial nature of the initial colonization of Brazil.

Since 1500, the economic development of the coastal regions of Brazil began. The coast was divided into 13 captaincies, the owners of which had full power. But Portugal did not have a significant surplus population, so the settlement of the colonies was slow. The absence of peasant settlers and the paucity of the indigenous population made it impossible for the development of feudal forms of economy. The areas where the plantation system arose based on the exploitation of Negro slaves from Africa developed most successfully. Starting from the second half of the XVI century. the import of African slaves is growing rapidly. White settlers lived mainly in the coastal strip in closed groups, engaged in trade and crafts.

In the second half of the 16th - early 17th century. Spanish navigators made a number of Pacific expeditions from the territory of Peru, during which the Solomon Islands, South Polynesia and Australia were discovered. However, Spain did not have the strength and means to develop new lands. Therefore, the Spanish government kept all information about the discovery secret for a whole century, fearing the rivalry of other powers. Only in the middle of the XVII century. exploration of the coast of Australia began the Dutch.

Consequences of the Great geographical discoveries. During the first period of the Great Geographical Discoveries, when the main trade routes moved from mediterranean sea into the Atlantic Ocean, trade was dominated by Portugal and Spain. However, the main producers of industrial goods were the Netherlands, England and France, which made it possible for the bourgeoisie of these countries to get rich quickly, pumping gold and silver from the Pyrenean countries in exchange for manufactured goods. Gradually, they forced out competitors from the sea routes, and then from their overseas colonies. After the defeat of the Invincible Armada (1588), the Spanish-Portuguese power (in those years both Pyrenean powers constituted a single state) was dealt a crushing blow. In particular, in the studies of the Pacific Ocean and the southern seas at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. the initiative passed to the Netherlands, and in the 40s of the XVII century. the bourgeois revolution in England brought that country into the arena of struggle for markets, dominance on the seas, and colonial possessions.

One of the consequences of the Great Geographical Discoveries was the strengthening of new trends in the economic policy of European absolutism, which acquired a pronounced mercantilist character. The ruling dynasties in Spain, France, and England encouraged trade, industry, shipping, and colonial expansion by all available means. Mercantilism was generated by developing capitalism, but it also met the interests of the nobility. National industry and trade provided the means to maintain the feudal state, and thus to maintain the social dominance of the nobles.

The opening of new trade routes and previously unknown countries and continents, the establishment of stable ties between Europe and other parts of the world in a relatively short time allowed European countries to acquire huge resources.

As a result of the Great geographical 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 was brought by trade. The rise of Spain and Portugal as colonial states was relatively short-lived. The wealth received from the colonies was spent unproductively by the feudal nobility, while in England and France the development of industry and trade was encouraged. The positions of England, France and the Netherlands in the colonial markets were strengthened. They were able to use geographical discoveries more effectively to develop capitalism and create their own colonial empires.

The most important consequence of the discovery and colonization of new lands was the “price revolution”, which gave a powerful impetus to the initial accumulation of capital in Europe and accelerated the formation of the capitalist structure in the economy. This "revolution" was expressed in an unusually rapid rise in the course of the 16th century. prices for agricultural and industrial goods. If before the XVI century. prices were basically stable, then for 70 years - from the 30s of the 16th century. and until the end of the century - they increased by 2-4 times. Contemporaries associated such a price movement either with a large influx of precious metals into Europe, or with their leakage. However, the real cause of the "price revolution" was the fall in the value of precious metals as a commodity. It contributed to the enrichment of the industrial bourgeoisie that was emerging in this era and the impoverishment of manufacturing workers. The standard of living of wage workers declined as the rise in prices for agricultural products and consumer goods led to a fall in the real incomes of the population. The “price revolution” contributed to the accelerated enrichment of the prosperous part of the peasantry, the formation of the rural bourgeoisie, since the real wages of agricultural workers decreased, and with the fall in the purchasing power of money, the real amounts of cash rent or rent collected by landowners decreased, while prices for agricultural products grew. At the same time, the feudal lords, who received a fixed monetary rent, suffered seriously. The result of the "revolution of prices" was a general deterioration in the economic situation of the feudal lords and hired workers and the strengthening of the position of the bourgeoisie. Thus, it hastened the formation of the capitalist economy and the fall of the feudal system.

Navigation made it possible to establish stable economic ties between the most remote parts of the world. Colonial possessions were used as the economic periphery of European capital and served as the basis for the expansion of foreign trade, which became world.

The great geographical discoveries created the basis for the emergence of the international division of labor, the world economy and the market. The volume and range of trade has grown. In the struggle for the mastery of new markets, trading companies began to form, regulating the trade of merchants with a certain area of ​​the world. This was not enough for success in the competitive struggle with other countries, and gradually the merchant's capital began to unite in trading corporations. The most powerful of the combined companies were the East India Companies in the Netherlands and England, which managed to monopolize the Indian market.

In the XVI century. Commodity and stock exchanges arose in Antwerp - centers of world trade in goods and securities. Have fallen into disrepair Italian cities, new centers of world trade rose - Lisbon, Seville and especially Antwerp, which became a world trade and financial center.

The last centuries of the feudal period, mainly during the Renaissance, include many important geographical discoveries. In 982 an Icelandic Viking Eiriko Raudi(Ryzhim) discovered Greenland, on the coast of which he developed a settlement. Eirik's son Leif Erickson, nicknamed the Happy, reached, apparently, in 1001 the coast (was nailed by a storm) of North America at 40 degrees N. sh., i.e. in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Philadelphia.

Late 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century. were marked by geographical discoveries made by the famous navigators Columbus, Magellan, Amerigo Vespucci, Vasco da Gama and others.

Christopher Columbus(1452-1506) was born in Genoa. Even in his youth, he determined the goal of his life: to pave the shortest (as he thought) route from Europe to India, moving not as usual, to the east, but to the west. Columbus knew, of course, that the Earth was spherical. In 1485, he settled in Castile, by that time just included in Spain, and obtained consent to equipping a sea expedition. In total, Columbus managed to conduct four expeditions.

The first expedition dates back to 1492-1493, 4 ships and about 90 people took part in it. The ships of Columbus set sail from Cape Palos (near the city of Carkhatena) on August 3, 1492, and after more than two months of navigation, they ended up near the coast of Central America. During the first voyage, Columbus failed to reach the American mainland. His expedition discovered the island of San Salvador and a number of other islands in the Bahamas, the islands of Cuba and Haiti. October 12, 1492 - the day of the discovery of the island of San Salvador and the landing on its coast - is considered the official date of the discovery of America. On March 15, 1493, the ships returned to Europe.

The second expedition, consisting of 17 ships and 1.5 thousand people, took place in 1493-1496. Its participants again failed to set foot on the American mainland. The islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe, a number of other islands of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, the Jardines de la Feina archipelago, the islands of Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Pinos were discovered. Columbus undertook aggressive campaigns deep into the island of Haiti and on June 11, 1496 returned to Spain.

The third expedition (1498-1500), which consisted of 6 ships, was marked by the fact that the coast of South America was reached in the area of ​​the Orinoco River Delta (the territory of modern Venezuela). The islands of Trinidad and Margarita were also discovered.

The fourth, last, expedition took place in 1502-1504, 4 ships took part in it. Columbus still sought to find a western route to India. The shores of Central America (the territory of modern Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) were reached, and the island of Martinique was discovered.

Columbus' discoveries were used to create Spanish colonies in new lands. The local population, called Indians by Columbus, was subjected to ruthless destruction. This was the first consequence of the great geographical discoveries of Columbus.

The name of the new part of the world - America - comes, as you know, on behalf of the navigator Amerigo Vespucci(approx. 1451-1512) - a contemporary of Columbus, a native of Florence. In 1499 - 1504, i.e. during the third and fourth voyages of Columbus, he participated in several Spanish and Portuguese expeditions to the South American region. His letters about these travels, addressed to the Italian poet, the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo Medici and a certain Piero Soderini, were repeatedly republished, and became very widely known. Amerigo Vespucci suggested the discovery of a new continent and called it the New World. In 1507, the Lorraine cartographer Waldseemüller named this continent America in honor of Amerigo Vespucci. The name was recognized and was later extended to North America.

Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama(1469-1524) first laid a sea route from Europe to the countries of South Asia. He, unfortunately, is also known for his cruelty and robbery of the population of the countries he conquered.

In 1497, an expedition of 4 ships under the command of Vasco da Gama set off from Lisbon to India. The ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope, made a stop in the Somali port of Molindi, where they took on board the Arab sailor Ahmed ibn Majid, who knew the Indian Ocean, and reached the city of Calicut (now called Kozhikode) on the coast of South India. In 1499 the expedition returned to Lisbon.

During the second expedition (1500-1502), which already included 20 ships, strongholds were formed on the coast of India, north of the city of Calicut, the city of Calicut was captured, plundered and devastated. For these "merits" in 1524, Vasco da Gama was appointed Viceroy of India. During the third expedition, he died.

Ferdinand Magellan(approx. 1480-1521) - Portuguese and Spanish navigator, whose expedition first circumnavigated the world, made important geographical discoveries, showed that between Asia and America is the largest ocean on Earth, which she called the Pacific.

Magellan's expedition, consisting of 5 ships, set off in September 1519 from Spanish port Sanluccar de Barrameda (in the south of Spain) and in January 1520 reached La Plata Bay on the coast of South America (Buenos Aires is located in this bay). The voyage was accompanied by great difficulties; there was no agreement between the Portuguese and Spanish sailors who were part of the expedition. From there, the ships moved south along the east coast of South America. Their eyes were presented to a huge unknown land - a vast plateau, which they called Patagonia.

After wintering in San Julian Bay (in the southern part of the Atlantic coast of South America), the expedition, which already included 4 ships, moved further south. The expedition managed to make an important geographical discovery - to discover a strait connecting two oceans (the Atlantic and the Great, or Pacific), located between the southern end of the South American mainland and the archipelago Tierra del Fuego which was later named the Strait of Magellan.

Having passed through it, Magellan's expedition, which consisted of only three ships, entered the ocean called the Pacific, and after four months, full of hardships (there was not enough food and fresh water), the voyage reached the Philippine Islands, which turned out to be fatal for Magellan - here he was killed in clash with the locals.

The round-the-world trip was completed by only one ship from the expedition of Magellan - the ship "Victoria", led by Captain Elcano, who also became the head of the expedition after the death of Magellan. The Victoria crossed the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, entered the Mediterranean Sea and returned to the port of Sanluccar de Barrameda. Of the 265 people who were the original members of the Magellan expedition, only 18 people returned.

The expedition of Magellan, in addition to geographical discoveries, the most important of which were mentioned, convincingly confirmed that the Earth has the shape of a ball, proved that most of the Earth's surface is covered with water of the oceans and seas, which together make up a single world ocean.

Geographic discoveries

People 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 dramatically - the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries.

The great geographical discoveries are a period in the history of mankind that began in the 15th century and lasted until the 17th century, during which new lands were discovered and sea ​​routes. Thanks to the brave expeditions of navigators and travelers from many countries, a large part of the earth's surface, seas and oceans washing it was 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 a preliminary analysis of 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. As part of achieving this goal, the following tasks were set:

Briefly describe the economic and political position countries in a certain period of time;

specify the names Russian travelers and pioneers of the era of great geographical discoveries;

· describe the discoveries of new lands and routes.

Places of development. pioneers

At the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century, the formation of Russian state which has evolved along with world civilization. It 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 European bourgeois revolution of 1566-1609 began in the Netherlands). The great geographical discoveries are a period in the history of mankind 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 usually correlate the "Great geographical discoveries" with pioneering distant sea ​​voyages Portuguese and Spanish travelers in search of alternative trade routes to the "India" for gold, silver and spices. But the development of the Russian state took place in rather peculiar conditions.

The Russian people contributed to the great geographical discoveries of the 16th - the first half of the 17th centuries. 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 further development commodity-money relations in the country and the related process of folding 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 ( middle 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.

In the middle of the 16th century, the Moscow 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 Stroganovs. Tsar Ivan the Terrible granted huge possessions in the Urals and tax privileges to Anikey Stroganov, who organized a 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 in Siberia (from the 1580s to 1640s), the Volga region, the Wild Field (on the rivers Dnieper, Don, Middle and Lower Volga, Yaik).

The great geographical discoveries contributed to the transition from the Middle Ages to the New Age.

The conquest of Siberia by Ermak Timofeevich

Of great importance in the history of geographical discoveries of this era was the survey 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 process of conquering Siberia included the gradual advance of the Russian Cossacks and service people to the East until they reached the Pacific Ocean and secured themselves in Kamchatka. The ways of movement of the Cossacks were predominantly water. Getting acquainted with the river systems, they went by dry route only in the places of the watershed, where, having crossed the ridge and having arranged new boats, they descended along the tributaries of new rivers. Upon arrival in the 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 yasak, but these negotiations did not always lead to successful results, and then the matter was decided by arms.

The annexation of Siberia was started in 1581 by a 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 at the expense of large landowners and salt producers of the Urals Stroganovs.

On September 1, 1581, the detachment plunged onto plows and climbed along the tributaries of the Kama to the Tagil Pass in Ural mountains. With an ax in their hands, the Cossacks made their own way, cleared the rubble, felled the trees, cut the clearing. They did not have the time and energy to level the rocky path, as a result of which they could not drag ships along the ground using rollers. According to the participants of the campaign, they dragged the ships uphill "on themselves", in other words, on their hands. On the pass, the Cossacks built an earthen fortification - Kokuy-gorodok, where they wintered until spring.

The first skirmish between the Cossacks and the Siberian Tatars took place in the area modern city Turinsk (Sverdlovsk region), where the soldiers of Prince Yepanchi fired at Yermak's plows with bows. Here Yermak, with the help of squeakers and cannons, dispersed the cavalry of Murza Epanchi. Then the Cossacks occupied the town of Chingi-tura (Tyumen region) without a fight. Many treasures were taken from the site of modern Tyumen: silver, gold and precious Siberian furs.

November 8, 1582 n.st. Ataman Ermak Timofeevich occupied Kashlyk, the then capital of the Siberian Khanate. Four days later, the Khanty from the river. Demyanka (Uvatsky district), brought furs and food supplies, mainly fish, as a gift to the conquerors. Yermak greeted them with "kindness and greetings" and released them "with honor." The local Tatars, who had previously fled from the Russians, reached out for the Khanty with gifts. Yermak 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 began to appear with furs and food - from the rivers Konda and Tavda. Yermak imposed an annual obligatory tax on all those who came to him - yasak.

At the end of 1582, Yermak sent an embassy to Moscow, headed by his faithful assistant Ivan Koltso, to inform the tsar of the defeat of Kuchum. Tsar Ivan IV gave the Cossack delegation of Ivan Koltso a gracious welcome, generously endowed the envoys - among the gifts was chain mail of excellent workmanship - and sent them back to Yermak.

In the winter of 1584-1585, the temperature in the vicinity of Kashlyk dropped to -47 °, icy northern winds began to blow. Deep snow made it impossible to hunt in the taiga forests. In the hungry winter time wolves gathered in large packs and appeared near human dwellings. Streltsy 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 Yermak's detachment was catastrophically reduced. To save the surviving people, Yermak tried to avoid clashes with the Tatars.

On the night of August 6, 1585, Yermak died along with a small detachment at the mouth of the Vagai. Only one Cossack managed to escape, who brought the sad news to Kashlyk. The Cossacks and service people who remained in Kashlyk gathered a circle, on 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 Yermak. They did not find anyone in Qashlyk. When trying to return from Siberia along the path of their predecessors - down the Ob and further "through the Stone" - the service people were forced, because of the "freezing of ice", to put "hail over the Ob against the mouth of the river" of the Irtysh and "winter gray hair" in it. Having withstood the siege "from many Ostyaks", the people of Ivan Mansurov 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 the voivode Vasily Sukin and Ivan Myasnoy, brought with them “a written head of Danila Chulkov” “to start 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 establish the first Siberian government prison and the Russian city of Tyumen.

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China research. The first voyages of Russian sailors

Distant China aroused close attention among 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 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 on Muscovy and Gerasimov's embassy, ​​this idea became widely known in Western Europe and was received with lively interest. It is possible that the organization of the expeditions of Willoughby and Barents was caused by the messages of the Russian ambassador. In any case, the search for the Northern Sea Route to the east was already in the middle of the 16th century. led to the establishment of direct maritime links between Western Europe and Russia.

Even in the middle of the XVI 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 keels. sailing ships- Kochs, well adapted to navigation in the ice of the Arctic due to the egg-shaped hull, which reduced the danger of ice compression.

The 16th century is known for the reign of the Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. Special attention I would like to draw on the oprichnina policy of the then ruler. The state terror agitated the population, "gladness and pestilence" reigned in the country, peasants fled from the ruined landowners and "draged between the yard." It can be assumed that it was the runaway peasants who became the "pioneers" of new lands, and only later more status individuals made "discoveries" at the state level.

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

There were a sufficient number of factors stimulating people to further develop new lands, the main of which was the lack of access to the seas.

Major travel destinations in the 17th century

"Mangazeya move". Campaign of Penda

Already in the first two decades of the 17th century, there was a fairly regular water communication between the West Siberian cities and Mangazeya along the Ob, the Gulf of Ob and the Arctic Ocean (the so-called "Mangazeya way"). The same message was maintained between Arkhangelsk and Mangazeya. According to contemporaries, "from Arkhangelsk to Mangazeya, many merchants and industrial people with all sorts of German (i.e. foreign, Western European) goods and bread go for years." It was extremely important to establish the fact that the Yenisei flows into the very “Cold Sea”, along which people from Western Europe swim to Arkhangelsk. This discovery belongs to the Russian merchant Kondraty Kurochkin, who was the first to explore the fairway of the lower Yenisei up to the mouth.

A serious blow to the "Mangazeya move" was inflicted by government prohibitions of 1619-1620. use the sea route to Mangazeya, aimed at preventing the penetration of foreigners there.

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

Mission Petlin

The first reliable evidence of a journey to China is information about the embassy of the Cossack Ivan Petlin in 1618-1619. (Mission Petlin). The journey was made on the initiative of the Tobolsk voivode, Prince I. S. Kurakin. The mission of 12 people was headed by Tomsk Cossacks teacher Ivan Petlin (who spoke several languages) and A. Madov. The mission was instructed to describe new routes to China, collect information about it and neighboring countries, and also establish the sources of the Ob River. In China, Petlin was supposed to announce where the mission came from and to find out the possibility of establishing further relations with China.

Leaving Tomsk on May 9, 1618, together with the ambassadors of the Mongolian "Altyn-Tsar", the mission climbed the Tom valley, crossed Mountain Shoria, crossed the Abakan Range, the Western Sayan and penetrated into Tuva. Then she crossed the upper reaches of the Kemchik (the Yenisei basin), crossed several ridges and went to the mountain low-salt 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 drainless lake Usap.

From here, the travelers moved to the southeast, crossed the Khan-Khuhei - the northwestern spur of the Khangai Range - and Khangai itself - and walked along its southern slopes for about 800 km. At the bend of the Kerulen River, we turned southeast and crossed the Gobi Desert. Short of 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 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 send embassies again and trade in China; as for diplomatic relations, it was proposed to conduct them by correspondence. The diploma remained untranslated for decades, until Spafariy (a Russian diplomat and scientist; known for his scientific works and embassy to China) began to study it, preparing for his embassy. The common expression “Chinese letter” refers to this particular document, which was in the embassy order, and the content 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 trip report - "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 full description China, containing information about overland route from Europe to China through Siberia and Mongolia. Already in the first half of the 17th century, "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 the expansion of the geographical horizons of contemporaries.

Russian discoveries in the Pacific. Explorers of Siberia

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

Campaign of Moskvitin (1639-1642)

Ataman Dmitry Kopylov, sent from Tomsk to Lena, founded in 1637 at the confluence of Map and Aldan a winter hut. In 1639 he sent the Cossack Ivan Moskvitin. They crossed the ridge and went to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk at the mouth of the river. Uli, west of the current Okhotsk. In the coming years, people from the Moskvitin detachment reconnoitered the coast of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bOkhotsk to the east to the Tauiskaya Bay, and to the south along the river. Oody. From the mouth of the Cossacks went 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 explorer rounded Bolshoi Kamenny Nose - now Cape Dezhnev - where he saw the Eskimos. Against the cape he saw two islands. Here we have in mind the islands of Diomede or Gvozdev lying in the Bering Strait, on which then, as now, the Eskimos lived. Then storms began, which carried Dezhnev's boats across the sea until, after October 1, they were thrown south of the mouth of the Anadyr; from the crash site to this river had to walk 10 weeks. In the summer of the following year, Dezhnev built a winter hut on the middle course of the Anadyr - later the Anadyr prison.

"Parcels" Remezov

Semyon Ulyanovich Remezov - cartographer, historian and ethnographer, can rightly be considered the first explorer of the Trans-Urals. Traveling on behalf of the Tobolsk authorities to collect dues in 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, in "parcels", he created a scheme for the study of these territories, which was later carried out 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 spent half a year as part of a military detachment (April-September) in the waterless and impenetrable stone steppe beyond the river. Ishim, this occupation has become the main one. In the winter of 1696-1697. with two assistants, he carried out a survey of the Tobol basin. He plotted the main river on the drawing from the mouth to the top, photographed it major tributaries- Turu, Tavda, Iset and a number of rivers flowing into them, including Miass and Pyshma.

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

Discovery of Kamchatka by Atlasov

Information about Kamchatka was first obtained in the middle of the 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 Berengovo Sea). He penetrated much further south, namely to the river. Tigil. At the beginning of 1697, Atlasov left Anadyrsk. From the mouth of the Penzhina, two weeks went on reindeer along the western coast of Kamchatka, and then turned east, to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, to the Koryaks - the Olyutors, who sit along the river. Olyutor. In February 1697, on Olyutor, Atlasov divided his detachment into two parts: the first went along east coast Kamchatka to the south, and the second part went with him to the western bank, to 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 coast of Kamchatka and reached the river. Golygina, where the Kurils lived. From the mouth of this river he saw the islands, meaning the northernmost of Kuril Islands. With Golygina Atlasov across the river. Ichu returned to Anadyrsk, where he arrived on July 2, 1699. This is how Kamchatka was discovered. Atlasov made its geographical description.

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 from Veliky Ustyug (according to other sources, from Solvychegodsk). Life was hard at home, and the debts forced Khabarov to go to the distant lands of Siberia. In 1632 he arrived at Lena. For several years he was engaged in fur trade, and in 1641 he settled on empty land at the mouth of the river. Kirenga - 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 from Khabarov both arable land and a salt pan and transferred them to the treasury, and put Khabarov himself in prison. Only in 1645 Khabarov was released from prison "a goal like a falcon." In 1649, he arrived in the Ilimsk jail, 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 with a 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, and fell into the possession of the Daurian prince Lavkay. The cities of the Daurs turned out to be abandoned by people. Each city had hundreds of houses, and each house - for 50 or more people. The houses were bright, with wide windows covered with oiled paper. Rich grain reserves were stored in the pits. Prince Lavkai himself was found near the walls of the third city, which was just as empty. It turned out that the Daurs, having heard about the detachment, were frightened 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 Bogda. And that prince had large ships with goods sailing along the rivers, and he has an army with cannons and squeakers.

Khabarov understood that the forces of his detachment were small and he could not take possession of 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 collect a new detachment for a campaign in Dauria. In the autumn of 1650, he returned to the Amur and found the abandoned Cossacks near the fortified town of Albazin. The prince of this city refused to pay yasak, and the Cossacks tried to take the city by storm. With the help of Khabarov's detachment, who came to the rescue, the Daurs were defeated. The Cossacks captured many prisoners and large booty.