Human society can be compared with a living organism that is the constant process of development. Certain external factors determine the directions of this development. The same pattern occurs in human society as well, the changes are determined by several major currents, the value of which is unquestionable due to the involvement of great number of people and even whole nations and dramatic consequences of the currents that can be traced in all spheres of society: economics, politics, and culture. The currents that present special interest for the present work are the Mongols, the Black Death, and maritime trade that determine the development of the Old World in 1000-1450 CE and are among the crucial events whose results can be observed in contemporary world as well.
First of all, the Mongols were the conquerors but due to their invasion there occurred intensification of trade relations, cultural exchange, and even establishment of kinship between the nations. As the legend goes, Chinggis Khan had a tradition of marrying young women from the conquered tribes and had 500 wives. Even if the amorous victories of the conqueror are exaggerated, they still show the integration of the nations on the basis of kinship. A significant influence of the Mongols can be observed in the alteration of political system in China that got a new political hierarchy. The political control was exercised by the conquerors and that gave birth to a segmented ruling system where local authorities had limited jurisdiction. Social surface of Afro-Eurasia was also altered by the Mongols dramatically and the results could be observed even nowadays. The authority of Islamic religion was undermined greatly. In China, there occurred considerable alterations of such important cultural spheres as architecture, medicine, science, etc. that were later introduced to the rest of the world. Thus, the Mongol conquest established connections between the countries of the Old World at the cost of numerous human lives.
As for the Black Death, the nature and causes of the current differ from that of the Mongol conquest but the common feature is that the changes were exercised at the cost of massive casualties. The name “the Black Death” speaks for itself and it illustrates the awful consequences of plague. As the result of it, there occurred a change of attitude of the European population towards religion, the medieval authority was undermined greatly. Thus, after the end of the tragedy, the development of medicine was evident and these ties favored the development of relationship between the European nations. Depopulation of Europe also changed the position of peasants who got the opportunity to get higher profits.
Finally, maritime trade is the last important factor that contributed to the integration of the Old World in the analyzed period. The positive feature of this current is its peaceful nature in comparison with the above mentioned factors. Maritime trade fostered technical development of t he nations that were important for the trade, like innovations that improved technical characteristics of fleet. Due to trade these innovations spread to different regions quickly. Commercial intercourse fostered the introduction of new goods and cultural exchange. India, Italy and other countries relied on maritime trade as the most important source of economic profit. It is known that India exported numerous goods by means of maritime trade, starting from rare animals such as lions and elephants and finishing with luxuries of that time, such as sugar, ivory, etc. The exchange of overseas rarities made a contribution to cultural development as people got acquainted with the foreign culture and enlarged knowledge about foreign cultures. Merchants were explorers as well and the bearers of innovations taken from other nations. Maritime trade of the period have established traditions of commercial partnership that are maintained today.
Drawing a conclusion, it is possible to state that the interrelation of people in the analyzed period fostered the integration of the Old World. The Mongol Conquest, The Black Death, and maritime trade were seemingly different events, but their results were similar, they integrated the countries of the Old World and established cultural, political, and economic relations between them.