What Changes In Europe Made European Global Expansion Possible

European Union: Will Russia ever join the EU?

Russia as a whole is an unlikely candidate member of the EU (although nothing is impossible in politics). There is a more probable scenario: some parts of Russia joining the EU. It could happen even in the medium-term future. An obvious prerequisite for it is the dissolution of the Russian Federation (not unlike the dissolution of the USSR). Taking into account the deep economic crisis and the fundamental political instability of the Putin's Russia, the dissolution is indeed possible. A possible map of the ex-RussiaI think these are the best candidates for the future EU membership:Kaliningrad Oblast Moscow and its political dependenciesSaint Petersburg  and its political dependenciesAll three are in the European part of Russia near the borders of the EU, they are richer than some current candidates, and they are small enough to join the EU without shifting the balance of power in the union. Kaliningrad Oblast is a Russian exclave which is surrounded by the EU members. It was a German territory, it's closely tied with the EU economically,  and there are already political initiatives for more autonomy of the region.Kaliningrad, Saint Petersburg and the EU St. Petersburg and Moscow are arguably the most pro-West regions in Russia, populated by more educated, wealthy and progressive people in comparison with the rest of the country. After the dissolution of the Russian Federation they could play the same role as Baltic countries after the dissolution of the USSR: the wannabe allies of the NATO and the EU, seeking protection from the Eastern Threat.I think all three regions could join the EU in 10-20 years after the dissolution.

What was the reason why European exploration expand in the 15th century?

The answer is that there was no single reason. 1. That Europeans were in war with each other. There was no single superpower which had taken over and thus could dictate a peace. 2. Europe had the materials needed to build large ships.2a. English oak tree from Poland to the hull. English Oak is one of the world's best wood species to build ships. There are about 10000 species of trees. Of the North American tree species, nobody is as good as English, this, despite many more species of oak. Most of the trees were obtained from Poland because the country was sparsely populated and the trees were older, taller and thicker.2b. Hemp from Russia, for ropes and sails.2c. Pine for masts and rigging, from Sweden and Norway.2d. Tar from Finland. To impregnate oak, pine and hemp for advice. 3. Training of navigators. It's a problem to find a way to the ocean as the waves look alike and there are no road signs. Normally, this problem was solved by sailing along the coast. The dark country must be far out on the right (or left) side of the ship.But to sail from Holland to the Baltic Sea, you must first pass the low coast of Jutland with dangerous reefs far from land.The solution was to measure the speed of the ship and sail for a compass. But this required a special education, which was a whole new invention at the time. 4. The military technical development was that the biggest ship won all matches. But in peace time the big ships were unemployed. It was hard fill them all with commodity and kings were to use the ships in the next war. And it could be difficult to assemble a large trained crew for these ships. One option was mapping. As the big ships demanded better maps of the sea (chart).

What reasons did Europeans have for coming into Africa?

Greed.Europeans explored Africa initially to find a way around it, and after they managed that, they started looking for gold and spices in the interior of Africa. They had known about the Sahara for thousand of years and knew that there wasn’t much interesting in that region; although Solomon had mined gold, so they went in from other directions in later times and didn’t find much of interest for a few hundred years.