ABSTRACT
The expansion of Europe began at the end of the fifteenth century with the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492 and the arrival of Vasco da Gama in Asia in 1498. The rise of Dutch, English, French and other companies formed part of larger developments in world history that had taken place in the sixteenth century: the relocation of the economic and political centre of Europe from the Mediterranean Sea to the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. This process would result, in the eighteenth century, in Britain's world dominion, although in the seventeenth century this was not yet the case. The Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century provided the basis for a new power structure in Asia, for European technical superiority was not limited to textile production alone. European industry was developing in other areas as well: steam engines, steamships and firearms were important instruments in the creation of new power relations.
