Next, we will touch upon the history of the state and the history of government. It is thought that the earliest form of state started to exist around 5000 years ago; and this occurred in Ancient Egypt, Inca Civilization and interestingly in China and India. Prior to that, people were considered to be stateless which means they were not governed by any states and had no governments. It was only when people started settling down in a particular place and the centralization of power became possible that states could emerge. Moreover, historians have claimed that the two most common activities related to early states are agriculture and writing. This is because agriculture was imperative in attracting people who did not have to spend their time for subsistence whilst writing was vital …show more content…
because it allowed for the centralization of information. The early states are generally deemed the centers of civilizations for their particular eras. States like Mesopotamia and China evidently had complex societal systems like division of labour, long distance trades and ruling classes. The citizens of these states are also thought to be the world’s first literate society and not to mention, laws and regulations had already become a norm in these places. Even though state-like cities have emerged long before the Ancient Greek Empire, it was the Greeks who first studied and formulated politics of the state. Not only did they pioneer political institutions in the state, they also redefined it to be less religious as how it was once characterized as. The state during medieval times in Europe revolved around the principle of feudalism which combined both military and legal customs in the administration. The feudal state had led to the advancement of greater social hierarchies. In modern days, states have always been organized nationally. National identities and symbols are often accentuated to promote nationalism among citizens. Unlike states, governments are institutions which survive the long period of warfare when conquerors were seeking to expand their influence and create empires. The vital element in creating governments is roads, which enabled backwoods and distant places to be connected and hence supervised by the central governments. Religions played a crucial role in the expansion of powers and territories.
For example, the caliphs of Islam which were also Muhammad’s successor, combined political and religious authority. It is said that, one of the main purposes of the empire is to enlighten and convert the people to Islam as well as to govern them according to the laws prescribed by Muhammad himself. Besides that, we have also observed how the Byzantine Empire associated the church and the state. The conversion of Barbarian kings to Christianity, the giving of blessing by the church to their rule and the coining of the title “Holy Roman Emperor” by the Pope show just how much religions had influenced the governments of that era. In the later part of history, democratic governments started to arise replacing hereditary monarchies. This happened in the U.K. after the Glorious Revolution in 1688, whereby the power of the monarch was reduced so greatly and replaced by the Parliament. Wars are now very scarce as governments always seek for more harmonious relationships with each other. Trades are key in the development of a nation. Education is also thought to be essential for a better and more successful
democracy.
Throughout history, and in many nations and empires throughout time, governments are affected by religions of different kinds. Religion has been an integral component of humanity, as a way to search answers to existential questions that they might have as well as possibly giving a reason as to why the things they saw happen occur, mostly in older religions. Religion is used by people in power to govern the citizens of their nations on a basis of that religion, as a way to set the foundations of the rules and regulations that must be followed. The Han Dynasty and the Gupta Empire during the classical ages of China and India, respectively, are examples of how their emperors used religion to exert control and shape their nation. The methods in
During the years of 3500 BC to 2500 BC, the geography of a land often impacted a civilizations development in great measures. Depending on the resources available or the detriments present due to certain topographical characteristics like rivers or deserts, a civilization could flourish or collapse. By studying the geographic features of growing societies like the Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris Rivers as well as the Mediterranean Sea of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the link between developing cultures and geography will be examined through sources, including Egypt: Ancient Culture, Modern Land edited by Jaromir Malek and Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization by Paul Kriwaczek. To determine the extent of its influence, this investigation will attempt to compare and contrast the role of geography in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, focusing on the civilizations’ various periods of development and settlement.
State-building was defined as culturally distinct groups who come together to form a new state by accepting a single culture. A dominant example would be the United States. The United States became a huge inspiration to many of the European countries when they had won their independence. They fought during the American Revolution for a democracy, they so desperately wanted the people to have a say in the government. Freedom, liberty, and rights are what drove them, they never gave up on their fight for freedom. The United States people were able to separate their differences by coming together and forming a new nation by accepting one single culture. This is what the European countries hoped that they could someday accomplish the same
Politics is important to any civilization for the reason that it influences how a civilization governs their people and expands their belief system upon its citizens. Both Byzantine and Islamic civilization had used politics in a manner that provided them the success accomplished during their expansion throughout Europe. The Byzantine Empire was a form of an autocratic government that was governed by one ruler at a time, known as an emperor. The emperor had made most of the decisions that pushed the Byzantine regime forward. The Islamic civilization governed its people under one ruler known as a caliph. The caliph had the position as a leader of an Islamic community. The caliph had used Islam to promote his authority over the community and across wider fields. Muhammad used tribal methods of jihad, referred to “holy war”, to expand its authority of the movement. Both ...
The Austrian, Habsburg Empire and England faced issues common to many European nations of the time. Religion and leadership were at the forefront of these crises. What set the two nations apart and ensured England’s survival was that England, not necessarily consciously, made improvements to their government while they addressed their smaller individual problems. With each growing pain came compromise. Through compromise, the English developed into a Constitutional Monarchy; this representative type of government, guided by a Bill of Rights, established checks and balances that inherently support a strong, unified nation as opposed to the self interests of individual factions.
It’s hard to believe there was a group of people more advanced than europeans in the 1500s. . Mesoamerica includes three complex societies-the Mayam,the Aztec,the Inca.
Mayan, Inca, and Aztec Civilizations. The Mayan, Inca, and Aztec civilizations each originated in Latin America. The Mayans lived in southern and central Mexico, other Mayans lived in Central America in the present day countries of Belize, Guatemala, and ancient Honduras. The Incas lived along the long coastal strip, and in the high peaks and deep fertile valleys of the Andes Mountains, and along the edges of the tropical forest to the east; this would be the country of Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina in present days.
Religion has throughout history has always been an important part of countries across the world. The world’s first religions were founded hundreds of years ago, yet they still hold an important role in today’s society. It is important to look at how religions were like in the past, especially in the Middle Ages several centuries after the major religions first formed in order to find out why religions are still relevant in the present. Without finding out the history behind religion in the past, we would never know how and why the practice of religion is still going on. Both the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Caliphates were two of the most powerful states at the time before the 1450’s. In the Byzantium Empire most people followed a form of Christianity similar to today’s Eastern Orthodox while in the Islamic Caliphates the dominant religion was Islam.
After the revolution as humans began to settle down and leave their nomadic ways. Some people settled in the places that geographically are exposed more than others which made the land an easy target to attack, so to defend themselves the people needed defense. An example of this is Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia had no natural barriers which made it susceptible to being attacked, unlike Egypt, which had natural barriers on all sides. Therefore Mesopotamia needed a strong military compared to Egypt. The Mesopotamians would have had no defense to serve all the people in an organized and supported fashion, so the people needed a way to create an army. This lead to people creating a government for one of the many reasons, the need for a
In both societies, each city-state had their own political systems, economy, social and cultural digressions from city-state to city-state. Similar problems arose within both societies regarding city-states. In Mesopotamian society, the city-states lasted from 3000-2340B.C.E., during the Early Dynastic Age. As the number of Sumerian city-states grew and the states expanded, new conflicts arose as city-state fought city-state for control of land and water (Spielvogel 9). In the new world of the Greek city-states, war became an integral part of the Greek way of life (Spielvogel 61).
The system of government we have today was starting to developed centuries ago by the Athenians and Romans. Both governments were established with the intent to give power to the people, even though it did not always play out that way in society. The Athenian democracy and the Roman republic were two very different governments in practice, but also maintained similar characteristics in both systems of government.
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers six percent of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4 percent of the total land area, Egypt is a country in northeastern Africa. There are many interesting facts about Egypt like The Natural World, History, Culture, Geography, and Economy.
Aristotle and Plato both view the state as a basic necessity for humans; however the purpose of the state varies from Aristotle’s to Plato’s ideologies. Within Aristotle’s ideal state “the true purpose of government is to enable its citizen to live the full and happy life,” (“The Man” 32), the best government for Aristotle is one that allows individualism among its citizens, rather than rule in favor of the majority. In Plato’s view “A just state […] is achieved in a situation in which everyone knows one’s own job, where...
To examine what state formation is and how it has occurred the logical route seems to assess from where they have evolved. The notion of the state is a relatively recent concept, for example in 1555 there existed only two national states, England and France. With otherwise the existence of disorganised and corrupt empires, federations and protectorates. It appears states have formed despite the many obstacles facing their development. Not only did the challenges of securing territory exist but ri...
Some see a "state" as an ancient institution, going back to Rome, Greece and before, and theorized by Plato, Aristotle and other classical philosophers. Corruption and poverty, these issues and many more has always been present in every city throughout the history of civilization. Others say that a city or a nation is only as good as its ruler but sometimes series of emperors, kings, presidents and rulers in general has been the sole liable cause of their nation’s downfall. To be a ruler is to have the power to govern his subjects, a ruler is respected and a ruler has to be obeyed. But is that enough? With a little amount of power, a man can go crazy, imagine if a man has more. Some would exercise their power in terms of what is good and what is considered right but through time, we became tempted to do what we say we wouldn’t. With the said temptations like money and fame, we can see that the works of different great thinkers within the past