[yupitsme123]

I have a question on the topic of 1600s history.

Do historians see this as a period of global stagnation or isolation or anything like that? It seems like most of the world's major powers were either stagnating or declining. Spain, Portugal, Venice, the Ottomans, Ming China. Meanwhile Germany was getting ripped apart in the 30 Years War, England in a Civil War, and Japan closed itself off. The Dutch were doing okay I guess.

Then towards the end of the century we see all sorts of new powers emerge.

Am I imagining this?

[AlotOfReading]

You're not imagining it. The period roughly between 1500-1800 is usually called the early modern period (with endless debates over the precise endcaps). Rather than stagnating or isolating though, historians usually consider it one of the most dynamic and volatile periods in European history.

The 17th century in particular is usually divided in two between the thirty years war and the post-westphalian era when nation-states begin to exist.