Page "Fernand Braudel" Paragraph 17

Braudel claimed that there are long-term cycles in the capitalist economy which developed in Europe in the 12th century.

Particular cities, and later nation-states, follow each other sequentially as centers of these cycles: Venice and Genoa in 13th through 15th centuries ( 1250 – 1510 ), Antwerp in 16th century ( 1500 – 1569 ), Amsterdam in 16th through 18th centuries ( 1570 – 1733 ), and London ( and England ) in 18th and 19th centuries ( 1733 – 1896 ).

He used the word " structures " to denote a variety of organized behaviours, attitudes, and conventions, as well as literal structures and infrastructures.

He argued that structures that were built up in Europe during the Middle Ages contributed to the successes of present-day European-based cultures.

He attributed much of this to the long-standing independence of city-states, which, though later subjugated by larger geographic states, were not always completely suppressed — probably for reasons of utility.