Throughout history, there have been a countless number of empires. Most all of these empires have fallen, and not all by themselves. Many of these fallen empires were already on their way to collapsing, but in a recurring pattern, other groups or empires invaded and overtook the weak empires, forcing them to truly collapse. A likely reason for this is that the overtakers would’ve sensed weakness in the empires they were planning on defeating, and decided to take over the empires while they were vulnerable. This strategy proved worthy against many empires, including the Songhai, Inca, and Mauryan empires, who were all taken over. To begin, Songhai was taken over by the Moroccan empire, who invaded during the time of 1590 - 1591 (Ziervogel). …show more content…
The previously described pattern states that the overtaken empire started to show signs of weakness, and in this particular case, the Songhai empire fell under rule of several weak rulers, causing them to lose strength (Williams). Songhai also showed decline when they started losing trade relationships with Portugal (Williams). And using Songhai’s decline as an advantage, Moroccan forces decided to attack and invade Songhai (Williams). This illustrates the theory that once the overtakers, in this case the Moroccan empire, saw telltale signs of weakness in the Songhai empire, they swept in and overthrew the once well-functioning empire. Another empire who was pushed into collapse by overtakers was the Incan empire.
The Incan empire was taken over by the Spanish because of their weakness (Brinker). This weakness started when in 1527, Sapa Inca Huayna Capac died of smallpox, therefore weakening the empire (“The Fall of the Inca Empire”). His eldest son was to heir to the throne, but also died of smallpox (“The Fall of the Inca Empire”). And as if this wasn’t enough, a five-year civil war broke out in the empire because the empire couldn’t peacefully decide the person who was to heir to the throne (“The Fall of the Inca Empire”). Following the pattern perfectly, between smallpox and the long civil war, the Spanish conquistadors had no problem taking advantage of the situation (“The Fall of the Inca …show more content…
Empire”). A final empire who showed this pattern was the Mauryan empire, taken over because of their choice of nonviolence, causing them to be unable to stop the invasions from the Northwest (Asherman).
The decline of the Mauryan empire started immediately after the death of Asoka, who was one of the greatest leaders of the empire, who preached not violence, which did not settle well with the military in the empire, rendering the Mauryan empire weak (Mehta). On top of that, the king at the time, Brihadratha, was killed by a Mauryan military general named Pushyamitra who took the throne for himself, making the empire even weaker (Mehta). A final weakness was that different groups began to break away from the empire, meaning it was no longer united (Mehta). And as the patterns goes, the empire was then taken over, in this case, by the Greeks who came across from Bactria in raids and later established the new Indo-Greek Kingdom
(Mehta). This pattern could be compared to a bully picking on a smaller kid. The bully would chose to pick on the smaller kid rather than a kid more his size because the smaller kid is more susceptible to the power of the bully. In terms of empires, the overtaking groups decided to wait until the empires were vulnerable, like the smaller kid being the easier choice to pick on than the kid closer to the size of the bully. While very unfortunate, it is human nature for people or groups of people to use other’s weaknesses to their best advantage. This can be either small scale like a bully on a playground, or commonly, as shown through history, big scale, as empires were taken over while they were at their weakest point.
The Incan Empire was older than the Aztec empire and included over five million people before the Spanish arrived. The strength of the empire was impressive considering most of the empire's terrain was mountainous and they had only llamas and people to transport goods. One of the systems that the Incas had in place that allowed their road systems to flourish was that every young poor male had to work for their government building villages, roads, etc. After the Spanish arrived, many Incas died from disease. It is believed that the similarities between the Spanish religious and political systems and the Mesoamerican political/religious systems allowed for an easier takeover of the empires for the Spanish. The Spanish had originally come to the "New World" in search of gold and they found little of it, however, they found a surplus of silver, especially in the mountain practically made of silver in Peru. The responsibility of mining for the silver fell to the natives, despite the mercury poisoning and the deadly conditions in the mines. Spain did eventually become rich from the silver, but inflation and the cost of their wars left them damaged. China had also suffered inflation after they developed paper money and they changed their tax system to require that taxes be paid in silver, which meant their people gave up agricultural jobs for jobs that usually involved silk (which paid in
The declines of the Ottoman and Qing Empires both had commonalities in their downfall such as corruption in the government, weak armies, and debt to the Europeans, though the main reasons for the collapse of the empires are alike the way that the problems developed are dissimilar. While both the Qing and the Ottoman were in completely separate locations both had government officials that abused their positions of power and brought down the economic standing of the empire as whole. Ottoman rule was at is peak during the sixteenth century and they stayed in that era, as did the Qing, the military advancements that had occurred were not followed by these empires causing them to be utterly defenseless in war. Finally due to the fact that the Ottoman and Qing had no way to protect themselves form the European, the British and French gave them loans or crops that force them into economical strife because they could not pay back the money they had borrowed. All of theses manipulations caused by their governments and the European nations drove to the outcome of two historic leaderships to disband.
The Inca Empire Janos Gyarmati’s Paria la Viexa and an expanding empire: Provincial centers in the political economy of the Inca Empire proved that the Inca’s built an empire unlike any other. From 1440 to 1532 A.D., the Inca Empire dominated the Americas. Known as “the fastest growing and largest territorial empire”(Gyarmati 37) of its time, the Inca Empire left a mark with their complex, perpetual and innovative economic, road, and settlement system. The Inca’s were advanced for their time, however, they lacked a system that would guarantee the survival of their kin. In order to strive, for the long-term, the Inca’s created provincial centers that would ensure their growth and economy for the generations to come.
Post Classical politics first came to be when Kong Fuzi or Confucius brought it up during the classical era. Confucius was an educator and a political advisor. At the time, China was experiencing problems and Confucius helped to settle everything. He passed his knowledge on to students who then created analects which are political and cultural traditions that Confucius had taught. Confucius was a very wise man. He did not answer philosophical questions because it did not help to solve the problems at hands and he refused to answer religious question because it was too complex for mere human beings to understand. He believed that political and social harmony came from appropriate arrangements of human relationships with one another. To him, the country should not have been ruled by someone born into power, but to someone who was erudite and incredibly meticulous. When the post classical era came around Yang Jian brought China back to an un-centralized rule after their collapse during the Han dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty they came up with the “bureaucracy based on merit” (Bentley and Zeigler, p. 378) or by recruiting government officials.
A non-Aztec or Indian may think that the reason the Aztec empire fell was because of their strategies and techniques associated with how they dealt with their neighbors. The Aztecs were extremely concerned with human sacrifice and many of the times that persuaded them to make decisions regarding their neighbors. Once the Aztecs captured Indians they would make them pay tribute (labor and sacrifice) instead of integrating them into Aztec society. If they would
Now you are probably wondering with all these similar factors that lead to the demise of the empires, how did China recover successfully? The Chinese empire unlike the Roman empire, held on to their cultural identity and tried not to accept diversity in cultures. This is also called cultural homogeneity. Cultural homogeneity create a sense of togetherness. This creates less organization and religious drama. China also had more advanced technological breakthroughs in the fields of agriculture and metallurgy. This is needed to progress and recover so you have ways of keeping up with the economy. The Chinese empire also had one common religion that mostly held up. Confucianism. Having mostly the same religion unifies most people, which is also needed for a recovery. With these main factors, the Chinese empire recovered successfully.
What can cause a strong empire to fall? Rome is known for having many achievements that have helped to advance culture such as, aqueducts, irrigation systems, and trade. They also helped improve the structure of cities by plotting them in grids which are still used today. Also, religions are taken very seriously. In fact, it got so serious that rulers insisted that they were to be worshiped as the god.
Throughout world civilization, numerous empires have dominated geographical areas with powerful military forces, effective rulers and strong economy’s. However, majority of the worlds empires have declined after centuries of dominance. The most significant similarity in all of the worlds empires is the greed of expansion. History has proven this significance to result in the falling of great empires. When empires fall, new ones are established and this is the process known as the dynastic cycle. The dynastic cycle is based off the different dynasties that once ruled China, however, the process can be used with the rise, fall and replacement of other empires. The dynastic cycle has occurred in the once dominant Ottoman empire, that dominated in Europe and the Middle East for nearly 500 years and also the Russian empire (1721-1917).
The history of development of European empires in the Americas dates back to the early sixteenth century. Western Europe created vast colonial empires in the Americas. Of the various colonial empires, the Spanish and English were the most prominent which brought a dramatic change in the natural and human environment in the Americas. The voyage of Christopher Columbus in August 1492 marks as the formal beginning of European entry in the Americas. While arriving at in the New World, Christopher Columbus was filled with an immense ambition for colonizing the islands and gathering riches. Both the English and Spanish had more or less the same core motive in coming to the Americas. However, the English and Spanish differ largely in their approach to accomplish their goals.
... (Schweikart 5-6). The Aztecs’ greed for sacrificial hostages turned these Indian neighbors against them (Kingfisher 196-197). The Aztecs were defeated, partially because they had been weakened by smallpox, but also because the Spanish fought together as a single force, while Aztecs fought as individuals (Schweikart 6-7).
The Mongol and the Mali Empires differ in their rise with the use of certain methods towards conquering. Geographic locations play an enormous role in the rise of both these magnificent empires. In the Mali empire, Islam was prevalent unlike the Mongol Empire where everyone was allowed to practice their own religion. Another difference would be the methods by which they arose. Although warfare existed within the Mali empire, Mali arose by peaceful methods. However, the Mongol empire attacked states which were already established. If people ...
One of the most common causes of the decline of an empire results from having weak military power and martial spirit. In order for an empire to be successful, that empire must present a strong will to fight or sacrifice property and life in order to defend its state. If an empire does not possess this characteristic, it often will quickly diminish. For example, the Roman Empire became successful because of the willingness of the males to defend the state. Shortly after, the males lost their willingness to defend and the empire had to recruit unreliable mercenaries to fight in war. Unlike the successful army of the past, these mercenaries did not have true loyalty to Rome. Because of constant warfare, the Romans had heavy military spending. The Roman Empire had become too large to control effortlessly. Families and soldiers in parts of the Roman Empire adopted local customs. The Roman Empire was made up not only of natives from the Italian peninsula, but it was also made up of barbarians from the conquered lands. The barbarians were very knowledgeable when it came to Roman warfare and military tactics. Corruption became widespread throughout the Em...
The Mauryan Empire was a very intriguing empire, with rulers of different beliefs and ways of ruling, as well as antithetical ways that the rulers gained and maintained their power. Important events occurred during this period of time that affected future generations. The Empire’s people mainly had a Buddhist religion. The people of the Mauryan Empire contributed greatly to the fields of art, and architecture. The Mauryan Empire was very important to India’s way of life.
Power, control, influence and greed all describe the history of the rise and fall with some of the greatest empires, which all involve the jurisdiction of a central state including large quantities of land and diversity amongst it’s people. The growths of empires happen for different reasons such as military, victories, political control and economic growth and can be very short lived or last five hundred years ("Rise and fall of empires (article) |Khan Academy," n.d.). When an empire collapses it happens over a period of time as the central state gradually loses its power. The Roman, Anglo-Saxon and British Empires have many similarities that helped the creation and fall of these kingdoms.
The king should avoid injuring women and property of others and should shun falsehood and haughtiness.