Studying the connections between the coasts and hinterlands is crucial to understanding histories of the early modern Indian Ocean empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals and Manchus. The Mughal... Show moreStudying the connections between the coasts and hinterlands is crucial to understanding histories of the early modern Indian Ocean empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals and Manchus. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s southern campaigns (1682-1707) were part of the Mughal project of integrating the coasts with the heartland of the empire. This dissertation studies the impact that Aurangzeb’s southern campaigns had on the economy of Coromandel, a major textile producing and exporting region of the erstwhile Indian Ocean where the VOC (Dutch East India Company) had extensive commercial stakes. Instead of causing a decline, Aurangzeb’s southern campaigns transformed Coromandel’s economy by reorienting economic centres. The impact of wars was different across Coromandel. In northern Coromandel, Masulipatnam lost its position of a regional entrepot in the Bay of Bengal, while better food security in southern Coromandel – thanks to good rice harvests in the Kaveri delta – helped the region remain immune to the destabilizing effects of wars and attracted textile weavers from the north. The biggest effect of Aurangzeb’s southern campaigns was the relative rise of the port cities of southern Coromandel. Show less
In this thesis Marcelo Gerona and Silvana Sosa undertake an analysis of the Great Depression (1928-1934) in a sample of three highly interconnected South American countries: Argentina, Brazil and... Show moreIn this thesis Marcelo Gerona and Silvana Sosa undertake an analysis of the Great Depression (1928-1934) in a sample of three highly interconnected South American countries: Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay (ABU). The problem tackled in this work is the relative vulnerabilities of ABU, which contributed to the strong impact of the Great Depression, as well as the nature of the policy responses to the economic emergency. In this context, the hypothesis is that ABU were highly vulnerable to the Great Depression, and among them the smallest country, Uruguay, was the most vulnerable of all. This research is original not only for having assessed jointly these three scarcely analysed countries from a historical-comparative perspective during this uneasy period of time, but also because of the introduction of a new eclectic conception of ‘complex vulnerability’ that involves many paradigms and points of view. Furthermore, the historic research along with a comparative reference to the Financial Crisis of 2008 helps the reader to understand the role of the semi-periphery, in an effort that is appealing for both historians and policymakers worldwide. Show less