Published September 2012
| Published
Journal Article
Open
Why Was It Europeans Who Conquered the World?
- Creators
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Hoffman, Philip T.
Chicago
Abstract
By the 1700s Europeans dominated the gunpowder technology, which was surprising, because it had originated in China and been used with expertise throughout Eurasia. To account for their dominance, historians have invoked competition, but it cannot explain why they pushed this technology further than anyone else. The answer lies with a simple tournament model of military competition that allows for learning by doing. Political incentives and military conditions then explain why the rest of Eurasia fell behind Europeans in developing the gunpowder technology. The consequences were huge, from colonialism to the slave trade and even the Industrial Revolution.
Additional Information
© 2012 The Economic History Association. Published online: 22 August 2012.Attached Files
Published - S0022050712000319a.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 34525
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20120927-144805927
- Created
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2012-09-27Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field