What was Asia from the western perspective?
Well the way the West has seen the East has differed based upon the power of the western countries. Prior to the 1600s, Western civilization (and sorry America but I’m mainly thinking of Europe here) was quite weak, still struggling to cope after the Roman empire caved in, there certainly weren’t any world powers in that corner of the globe. The Asians had real power and potential; around 1620, the gates of Vienna were threatened by Asian armies. Genghis Khan was the ultimate symbol of Eastern power in these centuries. However, from around 1600 onwards, the West took the initiative, buying slaves from Africa, running trade routes around the world, building up powerful navies – I’m thinking of Holland, France and Britain in particular here. In short, the West got much, much richer and much more able to defend themselves, eventually making Asian countries ‘second-class countries’ for want of a better phrase. Nowadays, it differs from country to country. China is showing a similar sort of
