Trade route is a route along which goods are transported from one area to another. In early times, trade routes brought the luxuries of Asia and the Middle East into Western Europe. Later, these routes enabled countries to exchange raw materials and manufactured goods. Commerce gave rise to great cities along the routes. Trade routes have increased contacts between peoples. They also have resulted in an exchange of ideas and ways of doing things. Trade with Muslims of the Middle East brought new goods and new knowledge to Europe during the Middle Ages. The famous travels of the Italian trader Marco Polo revealed knowledge of China and the Mongol Empire.
Early trade routes
existed among primitive peoples. They expanded greatly as people became more civilized. Early Sumerian traders traveled by caravan throughout western Asia to the Mediterranean Sea. The Phoenicians traded by water routes that connected Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor, Italy, and what are now the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Rich commerce flowed from eastern Asia to Europe by three major routes. The northern route was called the Silk Road. It cut from China across central Asia either to the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea or to the Black Sea and from there to Byzantium (now Istanbul). But much of the silk commerce traveled by the middle route. This route passed through the Persian Gulf and Euphrates Valley and ended either on the Black Sea coast or in such Syrian cities as Damascus. The southern route was a water route. It led from China around the southern tip of India, up the Red Sea, and overland to the Nile and northern Egypt. Merchants used it to carry spices and pearls from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka); cotton, spices, precious stones, and drugs from India; and cinnamon and incense from Arabia.
Merchants of the Roman Empire carried on a vast amount of trade throughout the then-known world. After the fall of the West Roman Empire, Roman roads were completed and extended. They crossed the Alps and branched out into Spain, France, and Germany. Water transportation also played a large part in European trading. Early traders shipped goods on the Seine, Rhine, and Danube rivers in western Europe and on the Volga and Don in eastern Europe. Through such seaports as Bordeaux and Nantes on the Atlantic Ocean, they exchanged the wine, grain, and honey of France for metals from Britain, and oil and lead from Spain.
Medieval routes.
Cities trading with the eastern Mediterranean, such as Venice and Genoa, built powerful commercial empires. Ships brought goods from eastern Asia. Then Italian fleets carried the products to ports in Spain, England, and Flanders (a region in and near what is now Belgium). Other goods crossed overland through Italy and across the Alps to France and to German cities along the Rhine and Danube. Merchants of the Hanseatic League bought these goods in Flanders or Germany and carried them to England, the Baltic countries, Poland, and Russia.
The search for new routes
led to an age of exploration. During the 1400’s, European nations began to search for new routes to eastern Asia. They wanted to avoid the expensive tolls and the many hazards of the long journey from Asia. In addition, Italian city-states had a trade monopoly. This situation resulted in high prices and low profits to northern European merchants. The voyages of European explorers opened Europeans’ eyes to a whole new world. Many new all-water trade routes were established. Nations set up trading companies to govern and control trade. The Portuguese first developed trade between India and the East Indies and Europe. The Spanish, Dutch, French, and English followed. Their commercial empires led to colonial empires.
Today’s trade routes
are almost numberless and cover the entire world. Highways and networks of railroads cover continents. Airplanes connect distant points on the globe. Ships carry goods on the world’s oceans and waterways.
