From the mid-15th century until the mid-16th century a combination of factors prompted men to endeavor new routes; and it was new routes rather than new territories that occupied the imaginations of kings, commoners, scholars and seamen alike. During this time period mercantilism the economic theory that trade generates wealth and is stimulated by the accumulation of profitable balances that promoted governmental regulation of a nation's economy for the purpose of augmenting state power at the expense of rival national powers. Europe’s balance of power was constantly changing due to the exploration across the world and a rivalry for power , the balance of power within Europe was constantly shifting throughout the Age of Exploration, which …show more content…
Power in Europe was measured using an economic theory called mercantilism (”World History: Medieval and Early Modern Times.”). Mercantilism is an economic theory that was in application from the 16th to the 18th century that says that a nations power is measured by its economic strength or capacity, and because of this the balance of power was shifting during the Age of Exploration because nations were gaining great economic strength because of trade and colonization. Mercantilism meant that in order to become a strong, powerful nation you would need to develop your country economically and find a massive source of wealth, the Age of Exploration opened up several opportunities to become a wealthy nation that allowed for fluctuations in the balance of power in Europe. These opportunities also led to conflicts and rivalries between nations that created further changes to the balance of power (”World History: Medieval and Early Modern Times.”). examples of these rivalries are: Portugal and Spain, which Spain won and allowed it to gain power and the rivalry between the Dutch vs France, that created a conflict for each other colonies, territories and trade that let both nation to gain and lose some power. An additional reason for changes in the balance of power was a country’s aspirations for expansion. Portugal were early explorers that had greater ambitions than other nations and rose to power as they explored Africa, Spain soon joined them as both countries were fascinated with new, modern sailing and navigation techniques and felt that they needed to use it so they began exploring the world, which led to the establishment of trade ports and a large source of income. Italy, Germany and Russia were nations that did not participate in explorations for various reasons, mostly being the had a monopoly on trade in or around Europe, these nations were soon overshadowed by