Regardless of what one calls it, there is no denying that a whole lot of unpleasantness seems to have occurred in the 17th century, with massive population loss, wars, and collapsing governments seeming to occur at an accelerated rate in locations from the Holy Roman Empire to Ming China. I just finished some basic reading on the "General Crisis" theory, suggesting some sort of global socio-economic tipping point had been reached, and noted that it wasn't a universally accepted explanation.
I'm curious what other explanations or theories have been put forward? This is smack on top of the so-called "Little Ice Age," but that affected different regions in different ways. Were there epidemics or crop failures sufficiently widespread to contribute? Interconnected treaties like WWI, leading to mass destruction? Huge migrations trigged by climatological or geological factors? It's pretty rare in our recent history for the global human population to go significantly backwards - the Black Death managed it, and this time period seems to have as well... what happened?
The general crisis of the 17th century is indeed an interesting topic. Sadly I lack the time to write a detailed answer, therefore I can give you only bibliographical references with some notes for further reading. Since this is my first reddit-post and I’m not familiar with English citation methods, so please be kind.
The debate about a general crisis of the 17th century was started by the Marxist-affiliated Eric Hobsbawn and his counterpart Hugh Trevor-Roper in the 1950s. Hobsbawn saw the (economical) crisis as consequence of the replacement of traditional feudalism with capitalism in the 17th century, and the English Revolution as first completed revolution of the bourgeoisie. Trevor-Roper, however, saw it as conflict between the (parasitic) bureaucratic Renaissance state and the society.
Eric Hobsbawn, “The General Crisis of the European Economy in the 17th Century” (I & II), Past and Present, vol. 5, 1954, pp. 33-53 and vol. 6, 1954, pp. 44-65.
Hugh Trevor Roper, “The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century”, Past and Present, vol. 16, 1959, pp. 31–64.
These approaches were further discussed in a collection by Aston Trevor in 1965 and later by John H. Elliott and Theodore Rabb, mainly because both Hobsbawns and Trever-Ropers explanatory models could not be applied completely to other countries, for example Spain and France.
Trevor Aston (ed.), Crisis in Europe 1560–1660: Essays from Past and Present, Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1965.
John H. Elliott, Revolution and Continuity in Early Modern Europe, Past and Present, vol. 42, 1969, pp. 35-56.
Theodore Rabb, The Struggle for Stability in Early Modern Europe, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975.
Since the 1980s the debate has broadened with numerous studies, analyzing partial aspects of the crisis. Climate change (Little Ice Age, Maunder Minimum), for example, as trigger for the crisis was discussed. Especially Geoffrey Parker has tried to connect climate change with the general crisis theory.
Geoffrey Parker and Leslie Smith (ed.), The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century, Hove: Psychology Press, 1997.
Brian M. Fagan, The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300–1850, New York: Basic Books, 2001.
Parker, Geoffrey, "Crisis and Catastrophe: The Global Crisis of the Seventeenth Century Reconsidered", American Historical Review, vol. 113, 2008.4, pp. 1053–79.
Reinhold Reith, Umweltgeschichte der Frühen Neuzeit, München: Oldenbourg Verlag, 2011.
At the end of my post I’d like to recommend to you the latest work about the crisis of the 17th century. Geoffrey Parkers 'Global Crisis' (2013) is a well-written and comprehensive reading and shouldn’t be too expensive at Amazon. Parker first discusses the possible triggers of the crisis. He points to the El Niño-phenomenon for example, which had a serious impact on the monsoon in particular and agriculture on the southern hemisphere in general. The same applies for the so called Little Ice Age on the northern hemisphere. After that he examines the catastrophic effects of the crisis on certain examples (Ming-China, Eastern Europe, Ottoman Empire, Germany, Iberian Peninsula, France, and Great Britain). In a third step he analyzes parts of the world where the crisis had lesser impact (Mughal-India, Italy, America, Africa, Australia, and Japan), then looks on individual life during these times and closes with a view beyond the crisis.
Geoffrey Parker, Global Crisis. War, Climate Change & Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013.
I hope I was able to help you with your question. Feel free to ask if you’re interested in literature about a particular country or area during the crisis.