ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we trace the emergence of an embryonic world economy centredon Europe, and describe the way in which Europeans became, as RobertReynolds put it (1961: vii), the ‘leaders, drivers, persuaders, shapers, crushers and builders’ of the rest of the world’s economies and societies. It was as a result of these changes that the core areas of Europe forged the template for the economic geography of the modern world. It must be recognized from the outset, however, that pre-industrial economic development was by no means exclusively a European phenomenon. The early trajectories of other parts of the world often eclipsed that of Europe and were sometimes important in influencing events in Europe itself. We begin, therefore, with a brief review that spans the origins and diffusion of the first, crucial ‘revolution’ in the development of agricultural systems, the rise of ancient empires, the establishment of urban systems and the spread of feudalism as the dominant mode of production. Our purpose here is not so much to attempt to provide a thumbnail sketch of early economic history as to point to the emergence and spatial implications of certain fundamental socioeconomic forces.
