Themes Of Before European Hegemony

Perhaps the two most important civilizations, Rome and Han China both fell due to major similarities. At the same time, Rome and Han China fell due to distinct differences as well. Furthermore, the collapse of China and Rome had far more similarities rather than differences. During 200 and 600 BCE both classical civilizations suffered from outside invasions; growing from Central Asia. They were not as sweeping as earlier Indo-European growth but tested Rome and China severely.

The loss of a great leader combined with a series of bad leaders lead to the weakening of the Yuan dynasty (“The Mongols”). The unrestricted trade the Asia once enjoyed decreased, accompanied by the ending of Mongolian peace (Fitzgerald 238). With peasant uprisings and revolts, the Mongols came crashing down, however, their impact on China was not one that was forgotten. First, Some Mongol practices were continued into the Ming dynasty, specifically the successful Yuan census (“Yuan Dynasty”). The Ming also inherited a huge and successful postal and transportation system.

Soon after the death of Zheng He, China ceased exploration of new lands. Conversely, the wealth and power the excursions generated for Spain and Portugal fueled their desired to discover new territories and treasures. Although the explorations were considered successful in elevating Chinese stature and influence at the time, questions arose over how much the Chinese actually profited from their expensive excursions. Chinese officials argued they benefitted as much as they could from the trips for the vast amounts of money spent and the decision was made to cease further expeditions. In addition, invaders from the north were creating new threats and money was needed to defend and fortify the Chinese borders.

A good example of this would be Lewis writing on the fall of The Eastern Han Empire. Lewis presents several factors as to their decline, however there are two major reasons, decentralization and corruption. Lewis explains that The Han dynasty had based its governmental power in a two tier system that broke up local power in order to keep the central government remaing supreme, however the power deviated from this system. Lewis explains “The provincial governor, however, became a third tier, with command of large populations, great wealth, and significant armed forces— resources that could challenge the authority of the imperial government”. This broke up the power of the central government and decentralized the empire back into states.

They both fell from similar reasons although there was some differences. One similarity in Han China and Rome was that they were invaded constantly. The Han were invaded by the Xiongnu, the Kazakhs, and Mongols. Emperors in Han china offered the Xiongnu many items in return for peace but they didn 't have enough to pay everyone!Eventually the Han ended the Xiongnu but it came at a price. They had little money left over which put the government into turmoil.

The Great Wall of China: Did the Benefits Outweigh the Cost? The Qin and Han dynasty built the notorious wall we know today as The Great Wall of China. Although, The Great Wall of China has many benefits, but it does come with some costs. The benefits of the wall are great I do not think they out weigh the costs. For example, in document c, it states that they lost many people of their civilization.This means they would lose soldiers to protect the wall.That is not a good thing they need all those people to have an army.Now another cost that involved the wall was they would have less space and have not as much food which was code into document a.They would have to go out and risk there lives to find food and also go on a trek just for

One main similarity is the Roman empire, in the Mediterranean region, and the Hang dynasty, in East Asia, had an overextended population due to nomadic people which diminished the amount of available resources as well as the authority of the central government. One main difference involves the Roman empire where the nomadic people were able to create their own kingdoms first controlling the empire and then being diminished, whereas in the Hang dynasty the nomadic people assimilated to the Chinese culture at the start without altering the political systems.

Due to the poor state of France’s economy, government, and recent losses in the war, France had to sign the Peace of Bretigny in 1356 (Lengal, 2013). The Peace of Bretigny, in turn, gave England more power and created a short reprieve from the Hundred Years’ War. In conclusion, there are countless reasons the economy and the way of living changed dramatically in Europe during the time of the Black Death. The illness came right on the heels of the Great Famine and could not have begun at a worse time for Europe. Fear of trade, self-preservation during though times, lack of resources, and having to care for the sick and the dead.

The Impact of the Mongols on Asia Trade is a crucial factor contributing to the Mongols’ success, and its influence is still felt in the nations which were once under Mongol rule that exist in modern times. As nomads, the Mongols relied heavily on trade in order to obtain manufactured goods to support their way of life, as their nomadic lifestyle did not support activities such as agricultural development. Consequently, nations brought under Mongol rule experienced great shifts towards commercialism and trade to reflect the Mongol values they were governed by. This is supported by the motivation of the Mongols to conquer China as a means to not only profit from China’s economy, but also to gain control of the Silk Road, as it provided a vast trade route that could both be used and profited from. As a nomadic people, travel was highly encouraged by the Mongols during their reign, as it was necessary in order to facilitate trade.

For my research project I researched the Chinese Americans or the ethnic Chinese who came to America during the 19th century during the gold rush. During the 1880’s into the 19th century it was especially bad with white people saying things like they were a “yellow peril” and regarded them as downgraded even though there were provisions for equal treatment in the 1868 Burlingame treaty. Things did not get better for Chinese immigrants until the U.S. and China became allies in World War II as restrictions on entering the country, naturalization and mixed marriages were being lessened. Finally in 1943 Chinese immigration was allowed once more but the massive wave of immigrants did not come until 1965. During the construction of the transcontinental railroad thousands of Chinese laborers were used for extremely