4.6 Internal and External Challenges to State Power from 1450 to 1750

The global empires of the early modern era appeared invincible at their height, yet beneath the surface they faced constant challenges. Expansion brought wealth and influence, but it also created tensions between rulers and subjects, center and periphery, colonizer and colonized. From 1450 to 1750, both internal revolts and external resistance reshaped the political map. These conflicts revealed the limits of imperial control and the persistence of local autonomy even within global systems of power.