The European explorations were a direct result of the establishing of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans had their empire right on the most important place when it came to trade between Europe and Asia, so pretty much everything had to pass through their territory. They used this in order to get a lot of wealth, so they imposed big taxes. That was not seen fondly by the Europeans because they were dependent on the good will of someone else, and plus everything was becoming more expensive and less profitable. In order to find a new sea root toward Asia, they actually managed to discover two new continents by accident, North and South America, thus setting the beginnings of the colonialism.
