Introduction to Part 5

Part 5 is called "European Centrality and the Problem of Eurocentrism." The century and half between 1750 and 1914 is referred to as modern and created the concepts of Scientific, French, and Industrial revolutions. It also let grow the ability for societies to take their power over other people. A lot of countries were recognized to be having constant change, others were recognized to not have changed very much at all. Europeans thought that if countries weren't changing in the same direction as them, they were bound to become extinct. This part of the book will show the readers that even though the Europeans are talked about a lot throughout history, the "European moment" was very brief and recent. The rise of the Europeans was possible because the Chinese did not take action with their naval fleet and the European concept grew internationally as they took over the Indian Ocean. Also, although the Europeans growth was known internationally, it was not easy for the Europeans to maintain the dominance they had. It was difficult and caused a lot of battles and rebellions during the process.

Since the Europeans were so advanced compared to other countries, the other countries decided to take their ideas as their own and make their own use of them to either be one step ahead of the Europeans or to just use them for their own benefit. Although the Europeans were the ones that were mostly known internationally as having power, they were not the only ones. Asia, Africa, and the Middle East had their fair share of power, but they did not use it as obnoxiously as the Europeans did.