In Western history, most hub countries emerged and developed in regions near a river or sea. Given this common feature, German geographer Karl Ritter (1779-1859) proposed a theory of civilization that argues a progression from a potamic stage, thalassic stage, and oceanic stage.

The Mediterranean Sea is surrounded by many peninsulas and is peppered with islands. It has almost no tidal current and climate conditions are relatively favorable. Therefore, marine transportation is preferred to land transportation. This explains why the Mediterranean Sea served as a stage for transmission, trade, piracy, and naval battles of earlier civilizations. For this reason, it could be said that the history of the west began on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Minoan civilization (2000-1450 BC), which emerged from the island of Crete in the Aegean Sea, located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and the Greek Mycenaean civilization (1600-1100 BC) were both influenced by Egypt and the Mesopotamian civilization. Crete and Mycenae interacted with these two large civilizations via the sea. These two civilizations had to import daily supplies and grain and were located strategically in the maritime channel. These characteristics enabled them to advance to the open seas.

In this way, King Minos used his vessel to sweep out pirates and maintain maritime order. For several centuries, the Greeks served as the bridge for trade between the east and the west. Expanding further, their maritime trade activities grew to encompass Spain, England, Etruria, and the Baltic Sea.

Meanwhile, the Phoenicians in the Middle East built commercial cities along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and colonized areas all over th e Mediterranean Sea between BC 1100 and 750. The Phoenicians had a long history in shipbuilding, constructing commercial and naval vessels as early as 700 BC. They came to possess the first sea power and naval power in history.

In the 8th Century, the Viking civilization appeared as dominant forces in northern and southern Europe. After mainly engaging in commercial activities in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea coasts from the 8th century, the Vikings invaded the Seine valley and advanced to the eastern waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

Their bold advancement was possible because of the design of their traditional Viking ship and their nautical skills based on knowledge of marine life, the color of the sea, wind direction, and measurement of depth using ropes.

The activities of the Vikings led to the development of productivity and commercialization in Eastern Europe, ultimately triggering urbanization. Some of these cities dominated commercial business through the Hanseatic League in the 13th century, and by the 14th century, some 80 cities had joined the league and branch offices were established across Europe.

Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, Muslims had been active since the 8th century. They invaded Spain and twice gained victory in the battle for Constantinople. The Islamic empire, commonly known as the Saracens, took over Sicily and Crete in early 10th century. They continued to invade the northern coastline of Africa, thereby threatening marine activities of Europeans.

In Europe during the Middle Ages, the city states of Italy actively developed their marine activities.

This was when the trade route to the east changed from Persia to the Red Sea and Egypt. Ships were considered safer and cheaper forms of transportation, ship capacity increased, port fares lowered, navigational tools such as compasses and sea-charts improved, and port cities near sea routes of southern Europe developed.

Due to several factors such as settlement of merchants to reduce risks, city states were able to advance their maritime trade, and as a result, a new commercial era dawned.

The Renaissance, which was a prelude to modern Europe, owes some of its rise to the restless maritime activities of these city states.

At the time city states of Italy were reaching their heyday in the Mediterranean Sea, a movement of irreversible exploration in western history took place in Western Europe along the Atlantic Ocean.

Exploration was enabled by the production of detailed and accurate maps and sea charts, development of geography, introduction of compasses, and the development of navigational tools. In addition, guidelines and development of nautical skills based on accumulated knowledge of the ocean played an important role. Scientific advancement in vessel design such as the Portuguese caravel also helped drive exploration. Not insignificant, a determination towards missionary work by Christians, emergence of courageous crews and pioneers like Enrique drove interest in exploring new worlds. This drive was helped, somewhat, by overpopulation in western regions of the Mediterranean Sea and a desire for economic gain.

From the 14th century, much exploration and development was mainly led by Iberians. These activities by Iberians reached a high point with the establishment of the Nautical School of Sagres, the exploration of Africa and America in the 15th century, and a trip around the world by Magellan in early 16th century.

England, France, and the Netherlands began exploring in earnest from the 16th century onwards. As a result, Europe was able to form a large colonial empire, ease recurring food crises by bringing in new species of plants, achieve price revolution, and introduce capitalism. These elements stimulated rapid changes in social structure, while also defining the slavery system and humanitarian thinking.

The Age of Exploration commenced a truly global economy and served as a prelude to modern industrial development. It was also an expansionary era in Europe. This can be proven by the competition to establish colonies around the world that took place.

The construction of colonial empires officially took off after the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494). The establishment of colonies in the 15th and 16th centuries enabled greater national interest and economic development through increases in demand for gold, silver, spices, wheat, and slaves. In addition, a passion for expansion in all classes of society further drove interest in establishing and expanding colonies. Amongst this, competition between bourgeoisie and aristocrats led to cultural exchange through missionary, education, and relief works. In addition, in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Netherlands, England, and France also moved to establish colonies.

As a result of colonial expansion, the economic hubs moved from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. Consequently, European countries began to dominate the global economy. Technological and agricultural innovations of all sorts took place, and mutual exchanges between cultures began to flourish.

Trade volume in Europe grew tenfold between 1610 and 1640 and countries turned to mercantilist policies to keep each other in check and protect themselves. By the 18th century, England had emerged as the leader of international maritime trade.

With colonies at its foundation, England was the first country to experience industrial revolution starting from the late 18th century. At the time, England was referred to as the "factory of the world" and became the world's richest country.

In the 19th century, France and Germany also began to industrialize as information and ideas about technology, commerce, and finance spread from England to Europe. As a result, Europe saw great developments: from the construction of a railroad and canal network to the hypothesis of trans-Atlantic telegraph cable.

However, in the late 19th century, the balance between industrial powers was destroyed and gave way to the era of competition among imperialist countries. The era of England's economic hegemony had come to an end.

The industrial revolution advanced science and technology, as well as maritime activities. In the early half of the 19th century, wooden paddle steamers were built, and in 1832, a paddle steamer successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean using a steam engine. In the late 19th century, steel boats using propellers appeared. In particular, with the opening of the Suez Canal saw the era of steel boats with propellers begin.

At the beginning of the 20th century, new forces including the US came to the forefront. After liberating from England in 1776, the US pursued expansionary policies within the American continent until the first half of the 19th century. However, based on Mahan's theory of naval strategy, in the late 18th century the US began to turn its eyes to expansion abroad using oceans. As a result, US businessmen were able to make inroads into foreign markets. To achieve this, the US recognized the importance of Hawaii and central and South America as central points to advancing to the Far East, and simultaneously pursued territory expansion policies and naval expansion policies.

On the other hand, Russia, which grew as a strong nation by the 17th century, failed to become a maritime power due to its defeat in the Crimean and Russo-Japanese wars. In the early and mid-20th century the US managed to make another leap by leading two world wars to victory and become a superpower country.