Timeline of international trade 1879507 223801623 2008-07-05T21:48:53Z Kozuch 1339567 clean up + reference formating fixes using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] {{Trade route}} The '''history of international trade''' chronicles notable events that have affected the [[trade]] between various countries. In the era before the rise of the [[nation state]], the term 'international' trade cannot be literally applied, but simply means trade over long distances; the sort of movement in goods which would represent international trade in the modern world. == Chronology of events == [[Image:Shivta.JPG|thumb|280px|[[Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev|The desert Cities in the Negev]] were linked to the [[Mediterranean]] end of the ancient [[Incense Route]].]] ===Ancient=== *Records from the [[19th century BC]] attest to the existence of an [[Assyrian]] [[merchant]] [[colony]] at [[Kanesh]] in [[Cappadocia]].<ref>Stearns 2001: 37</ref> *The domestication of [[camel]] allows [[Arabian]] nomads to control long distance trade in [[spice]]s and [[silk]] from the [[Far East]].<ref>Stearns 2001: 41</ref> *The [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]] trade in the [[Red sea]], importing [[spice]]s from the "[[Land of Punt]]" and from [[Arabia]].<ref>Rawlinson 2001: 11-12</ref> *[[India]]n goods are brought in Arabian vessels to Aden.<ref>Rawlinson 2001: 11-12</ref> *The "ships of [[Tarshish]]," a [[Tyrian]] fleet equipped at Ezion Geber, make several trading voyages to the East bringing back [[gold]], [[silver]], [[ivory]] and precious stones.<ref>Rawlinson 2001: 11-12</ref> *[[Tiglath-Pileser III]] attacks [[Gaza]] in order to control trade along the [[Incense Route]].<ref>Edwards 1969: 330</ref> *The Greek [[Ptolemaic dynasty]] exploits trading opportunities with India prior to the Roman involvement.<ref>Young 2001: 19</ref> *The cargo from the India and Egypt trade is shipped to [[Aden]].<ref>Young 2001: 19</ref> [[Image:PeriplusMap.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Roman trade with India]] according to the [[Periplus Maris Erythraei]], [[1st century CE]].]] *The [[Silk Road]] is established after the diplomatic travels of the [[Han Dynasty]] [[China|Chinese]] envoy [[Zhang Qian]] to [[Central Asia]], with Chinese goods making their way to [[India]], [[Parthia|Persia]], and the [[Roman Empire]], and vice versa. *With the establishment of [[Roman Egypt]], the Romans initiate [[Roman trade with India|trade with India]].<ref>Shaw 2003: 426</ref> *The goods from the East African trade are landed at one of the three main Roman ports, Arsinoe, Berenice or Myos Hormos.<ref>O'Leary 2001: 72</ref> *Myos Hormos and Berencie (rose to prominence during the [[1st century BCE]]) appear to have been important ancient trading ports.<ref>Shaw 2003: 426</ref> *[[Gerrha]] controls the Incense trade routes across Arabia to the [[Mediterranean]] and exercises control over the trading of [[aromatics]] to [[Babylon]] in the [[1st century BC]].<ref>Larsen 1983: 56</ref> Additionally, it served as a port of entry for goods shipped from India to the East.<ref>Larsen 1983: 56</ref> *Due to its prominent position in the Incense trade, [[Yemen]] attracts settlers from the [[fertile crescent]].<ref>Glasse 2001: 59</ref> [[Image:GDRT230.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The economy of the [[Qataban|Kingdom of Qataban]] (light blue) was based on the cultivation and trade of spices and aromatics including frankincense and myrrh. These were exported to the Mediterranean, India and [[Abyssinia]] where they were greatly prized by many cultures, using camels on routes through Arabia, and to India by sea.]] *Pre-Islamic Meccans use the old Incense Route to benefit from the heavy Roman demand for luxury goods.<ref>Crone 2004: 10</ref> *In [[Java]] and [[Borneo]], the introduction of Indian culture creats a demand for aromatics. These trading outposts later serve the [[China|Chinese]] and [[Arab]] markets.<ref>Donkin 2003: 59</ref> *Following the demise of the incense trade Yemen takes to the export of [[Coffee]] via the Red Sea port of ''al-Mocha.''<ref>Colburn 2002: 14</ref> ===Middle Ages=== *The [[Abbasids]] use [[Alexandria]], [[Damietta]], [[Aden]] and [[Siraf]] as entry ports to India and China.<ref>Donkin 2003: 91-92</ref> *At the eastern terminus of the [[Silk Road]], the [[Tang Dynasty]] Chinese capital at [[Chang'an]] becomes a major metropolitan center for foreign trade, travel, and residence. This role would be assumed by [[Kaifeng]] and [[Hangzhou]] during the [[Song Dynasty]]. *[[Guangzhou]] was [[China]]'s greatest international seaport during the [[Tang Dynasty]] (618&ndash;907), but its importance was eclipsed by the international seaport of [[Quanzhou]] during the [[Song Dynasty]] (960&ndash;1279). *Merchants arriving from India in the port city of Aden pay tribute in form of [[musk]], [[camphor]], [[ambergris]] and [[sandalwood]] to [[Ibn Ziyad]], the [[sultan]] of Yemen.<ref>Donkin 2003: 91-92</ref> *Indian exports of spices find mention in the works of Ibn Khurdadhbeh (850), al-Ghafiqi ([[1150 AD|1150]]), Ishak bin Imaran (907) and Al Kalkashandi ([[fourteenth century]]).<ref>Donkin 2003: 92</ref> * The [[Hanseatic League]] secures trading privileges and market rights in England for goods from the League's trading cities in [[1157]]. ===Modern=== ====Early Modern==== [[Image:Caminho maritimo para a India.png|thumb|right|200px|This figure illustrates the path of [[Vasco da Gama]] heading for the first time to [[India]] (black) as well as the trips of [[Pêro da Covilhã]] (orange) and [[Afonso de Paiva]] (blue). The path common to both is the green line.]] *Due the [[Ottoman Empire|Turkish]] hold on the [[Levant]] during the second half of the [[fifteenth century]] the traditional [[Spice Route]] shifts from the [[Persian Gulf]] to the Red Sea.<ref>Tarling 1999: 10</ref> *[[Portugal|Portuguese]] diplomat Pero da Covilha ([[1460]] – after [[1526]]) undertakes a mission to explore the trade routes of the Near East and the adjoining regions of Asia and Africa. The exploration commenced from [[Santarem]] ([[1487]]) to [[Barcelona]], [[Naples]], [[Alexandria]], [[Cairo]] and ultimately to India. *Portuguese explorer and adventurer [[Vasco da Gama]] is credited with establishing another sea route from Europe to India. *In the 1530s, the Portuguese ship spices to [[Hormuz]].<ref>Donkin 2003: 170</ref> * Japan introduced a system of foreign trade licenses to prevent smuggling and [[piracy]] in [[1592]]. *The first [[Netherlands|Dutch]] expedition left from [[Amsterdam]] (April [[1595]]) for [[South East Asia]].<ref>Donkin 2003: 169</ref> *A Dutch convoy sailed in [[1598]] and returned one year later with 600, 000 pounds of spices and other [[East India]]n products.<ref>Donkin 2003: 169</ref> *The [[Dutch East India Company]] is formed in [[1602]]. *The first English outpost in the [[East Indies]] is established in Sumatra in [[1685]]. *The [[seventeenth century]] saw military disturbances around the [[Ottawa]] river trade route.<ref>Easterbrook 1988: 75</ref> During the late [[eighteenth century]], the [[France|French]] built military forts at strategic locations along the main trade routes of [[Canada]].<ref>Easterbrook 1988: 127</ref> These forts checked the British advances, served as trading posts which included the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] in [[fur]] trade and acted as communications posts.<ref>Easterbrook 1988: 127</ref> * In [[1799]], The Dutch East India company, formerly the world's largest company goes [[bankrupt]], partly due to the rise of competitive free trade. ===Later modern=== [[Image:Boston tea party.jpg|290px|thumb|[[Monopolist]]ic activity by the company triggered the [[Boston Tea Party]].]] *[[Japan]] is served by the Portuguese from [[Macau|Macao]] and later by the Dutch.<ref>Donkin 2003: 170</ref> *By [[1815]], the first shipment of nutmegs from [[Sumatra]] had arrives in Europe.<ref>Corn 1999: 217</ref> *[[Grenada]] becomes involved in Spice Trade.<ref>Corn 1999: 217</ref> * [[Opium War]] ([[1840]])- Britain invades [[China]] to overturn the Chinese bar on opium imports. *Despite the late entry of [[United States|America]] in the spice trade merchants from [[Salem, Massachusetts]] trade profitably with Sumatra during the early half of the [[nineteenth century]].<ref>Corn 1999: 265</ref> *[[Cobden-Chevalier Treaty|Free trade agreement]] ([[1860]]) finalized between Britain and France under the presidency of [[Napoleon III of France|Napoleon III]], prepared by [[Michel Chevalier]] and [[Richard Cobden]], sparks off successive agreements between other countries in Europe. *The [[Japan]]ese Meiji Restoration ([[1868]])leads the way to Japan opening its borders and quickly industrializing through free trade. Under bilateral treaties restraint of trade imports to Japan were forbidden. *In [[1873]], the Wiener Börse slump signals the start of the continental [[Long Depression]], during which support for protectionism grows. * In [[1946]]. the [[Bretton Woods system]] goes into effect; it had been planned since [[1944]] as an international economic structure to prevent further [[Great depression|depressions]] and wars. It included institutions and rules intended to prevent national [[trade barrier]]s being erected, as the lack of free trade was considered by many to have been a principal cause of the [[second world war|war]]. * In [[1947]], 23 countries agree to the [[General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade]] to rationalize trade among the nations. [[Image:WTOmap currentstatus.png|thumb|right|200px|A world map of WTO participation: {{legend|#007f00|members}} {{legend|#00ff00|members, dually represented with the [[European Communities]]}} {{legend|#e8e800|observer, ongoing accession}} {{legend|#ff7f40|observer}} {{legend|#c0c080|non-member, negotiations pending}} {{legend|#c0c0c0|non-member}}]] * [[European Free Trade Association]] is established in [[1960]]. * The Zangger Committee is formed in [[1971]] to advise on the interpretation of nuclear goods in relation to international trade and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). * [[October 16]], [[1973]]: [[OPEC]] raises the [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] light crude export price, and mandate an export cut the next day, plus an [[Embargo]] on [[oil]] exports to nations allied with [[Israel]] in the course of the [[Yom Kippur War]]. * The [[Nuclear Suppliers Group]] (NSG) was created in [[1974]] to moderate international trade in nuclear related goods, after the explosion of a nuclear device by a non-nuclear weapon State. * [[January 1]], [[1994]]: [[NAFTA]] takes effect. * [[January 1]], [[1995]]: [[World Trade Organization]] is created to facilitate [[free trade]], by mandating mutual [[most favored nation]] trading status between all signatories. == See also == {{Col-begin}} {{Col-1-of-2}} * [[Arms trade]] * [[China trade]] * [[Industrial archaeology]] * [[Fur trade]] {{Col-1-of-2}} * [[Spice trade]] * [[Triangle trade]] * [[Trans-Saharan trade]] * [[Slave trade]] {{Col-end}} ==Notes== {{reflist|3}} ==References== <div class="references-small"> *{{cite book | last = Stearns | first = Peter N. | authorlink = Peter Stearns | coauthors = William L. Langer | title = [[The Encyclopedia of World History|The Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged]] | publisher = [[Houghton Mifflin|Houghton Mifflin Company]] | date = 2001-09-24 | isbn = 0-395-65237-5 }} *{{cite book | last = Rawlinson | first = Hugh George | title = Intercourse Between India and the Western World: From the Earliest Times of the Fall of Rome | publisher = Asian Educational Services | date = 2001 | isbn = 8120615492 }} *{{cite book | last = Shaw | first = Ian | authorlink = Ian Shaw | title = The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt | publisher = Oxford University Press | date = 2003 | isbn = 0192804588}} *{{cite book | last = Donkin | first = Robin A. | title = Between East and West: The Moluccas and the Traffic in Spices Up to the Arrival of Europeans | publisher = Diane Publishing Company | date = 2003 | isbn = 0871692481}} *{{cite book | last = Easterbrook | first = William Thomas | title = Canadian Economic History | publisher = University of Toronto Press | date = 1988 | isbn = 0802066968}} *{{cite book | last = Rawlinson | first = Hugh George | title = Intercourse Between India and the Western World: From the Earliest Times of the Fall of Rome | publisher = Asian Educational Services | date = 2001 | isbn = 8120615492 }} *{{cite book | last = Young | first = Gary Keith | title = Rome's Eastern Trade: International Commerce and Imperial Policy, 31 BC-AD 305 | publisher = Routledge | date = 2001 | isbn = 0415242193}} *{{cite book | last = Corn | first = Charles | title = The Scents of Eden: A History of the Spice Trade | publisher = Kodansha America | date = 1999 | isbn = 1568362498}} *{{cite book | last = Larsen | first = Curtis | title = Life and Land Use on the Bahrain Islands: The Geoarcheology of an Ancient Society | publisher = University of Chicago Press | date = 1983 | isbn = 0226469069}} *{{cite book | last = Crone | first = Patricia |authorlink = Patricia Crone | title = Meccan Trade And The Rise Of Islam | publisher = Gorgias Press LLC | date = 2004 | isbn = 1593331029}} *{{cite book | last = Edwards | first = I. E. S. | authorlink = I. E. S. Edwards | coauthors = et al. | title = The Cambridge Ancient History | publisher = Cambridge University Press | date = 1969 | isbn = 0521227178}} *{{cite book | last = Tarling | first = Nicholas | authorlink = Nicholas Tarling | title = The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia | publisher = Cambridge University Press | date = 1999 | isbn = 0521663695 }} *{{cite book | last = O'Leary | first = De Lacy | title = Arabia Before Muhammad | publisher = Routledge | date = 2001 | isbn = 0415231884}} *{{cite book | last = Colburn | first = Marta | title = The Republic Of Yemen: Development Challenges in the 21st Century | publisher = Progressio | date = 2002 | isbn = 1852872497}} *{{cite book | last = Crone | first = Patricia |authorlink = Patricia Crone | title = Meccan Trade And The Rise Of Islam | publisher = Gorgias Press LLC | date = 2004 | isbn = 1593331029}} *{{cite book | last = Glasse | first = Cyril | title = The New Encyclopedia of Islam | publisher = Rowman Altamira | date = 2001 | isbn = 0759101906}} *{{cite book | last = Corn | first = Charles | title = The Scents of Eden: A History of the Spice Trade | publisher = Kodansha America | date = 1999 | isbn = 1568362498}} *Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering''. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. *Ebrey, Walthall, Palais, (2006). ''East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. *Morton, Scott and Charlton Lewis (2005). ''China: Its History and Culture: Fourth Edition''. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. * Krugman, Paul., [[1996]] ''Pop Internationalism''. Cambridge: MIT Press, * Mill, John Stuart., [[1844]] ''Essays on Some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy'' * Mill, John Stuart., [[1848]] ''Principles of Political Economy with some of their Applications to Social Philosophy'' ([http://www.econlib.org/library/Mill/mlP.html Full text]) * Smith, A. [[1776]], ''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations'' </div> == External links == * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/533716.stm The BBC's illustrated history of free trade] * [http://www.freetrade.org/pubs/freetotrade/chap2.html The Cato institute] says free trade has brought wealth to countries engaging in it for 500 years. * [http://www.maritimeasia.ws/topic/chronology.html A chronology of maritime Asian trade] from [[425 BC]] ([[China|Chinese]] silk trade with Greece by sea.) to [[1700]] * [http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/index.php/2006/01/24/tariffs_and_subsidies_the_literal_cost_o Tariffs and Subsidies - The Literal Cost of High Fructose Corn Syrup] * [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?pubid=739 Dictionary of Traded Goods and Commodities]: a dictionary of trade in Britain, 1550-1820. Part of British History Online, by permission of the University of Wolverhampton. [[Category:International relations]] [[Category:International trade]] [[Category:International economics]] [[Category:Economic history]] [[he:היסטוריה של הסחר הבינלאומי]] [[no:Internasjonal handelshistorie]]