New World bullion and colonial resources enriched Europe at Islam’s expense

Evidence

One of the main reasons for the extent and persistence of this trade was the relative poverty of Europe and the relative wealth of the Islamic lands. In me­ dieval, even in early Ottoman times, this disparity was very clear. It was pri­ marily the bullion and resources of the New World and of other European colonial dependencies that fuelled the series of changes by which Europe was enriched and the world of Islam impoverished. The exhaustion of Europe after 1945 on the one hand, and the immense wealth accruing from oil on the other, for a while restored the earlier relationship, and placed new and powerful eco­ nomic weapons in Muslim hands. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 694 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Fanon held that Europe’s wealth was literally looted from the colonized — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 392; New World bullion and colonial resources reversed the wealth gap between Europe and Islam. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 694

Broader Connections

• New World bullion and colonial resources reversed the wealth gap between Europe and Islam. #expands (0.95) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 694