Globalization

Before the invention of modern maritime technologies, the world remained largely
separated geographically. Over time, the world has become increasingly globalized, as regions
become connected through trade and ethnic similarities. Major historical events, like the
development of the Silk Roads and the Columbian Exchange, contributed significantly to
increased global connections. Some events may cause a sudden and distinct change in the level
of globalization present throughout the world, whereas other events contribute to globalization
gradually and over an extended period of time. As the world became increasingly more
globalized, distant regions became connected through the sharing of goods, ideas, diseases, and
technologies.
One of the first major contributors to globalization was the formation of the Silk Roads in
the 100th century BCE. Areas of Europe were connected to regions all the way in Eastern Asia,
which allowed for a mixing of many different cultures and created one of the first real examples
of globalization. Through the communication and spread of religion, technology, and culture,
Eurasia became a mixing pot of all that developed separately throughout the regions.
Globalization did not, however, come as the result of a complete blending of the various cultures
that existed in Eurasia, but instead appeared through the widespread diffusion of different aspects
of society, including diseases, religions, technologies, and knowledge. Some of the most
significant things spread throughout Eurasia during this era included the concept of metallurgy,
Buddhism in Eastern Asia, and diseases like smallpox and the plague. As these innovations
spread throughout the region, it also allowed Eurasia an advantage over other regions of the
world that had not yet been exposed to the same technologies and diseases as they had.
The most widely known example of globalization was the Columbian Exchange during
the 15th century. Once established contact had been made between Eurasia and the Americas,
regions of the world became more interconnected, resulting in diffusion of diseases, technology,
and agricultural products into regions they had not yet existed in previously. Ultimately,
globalization has been dependent on the technology allowing humans to interact with one
another. The introduction of new maritime technologies, like the astrolabe and the lateen sail,
were essential to humans being able to explore and venture further than they had before, which
eventually led to the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian exchange directly led to the diffusion
of agricultural products, diseases, technologies, and ideologies across the globe, causing vast
regions of the world to be connected in ways that had never previously existed. Following the
Columbian Exchange, the invention of modern transportation and communication created further
globalization, as separated regions were able to more easily interact with one another. During the
Age of Revolution, globalization was present in the diffusion of revolutionary ideas from areas in
Europe to regions like the Americas and European colonies in Asia. In World War I and World
War II, globalization allowed distant regions to be involved in war efforts and communicate with
one another.
(art showing the connections made across distant regions of the world through globalization)