A look Back

When studying history it is important from time to time to look back analytically at the the different things that you have studied over a period of time. Recently I have been pondering the idea of the rise and fall of empires and how civilizations grew based on the spread of ideas. I think that in order to survive as a nation/civilization/empire you need to adapt and learn from the past otherwise you are doomed to fail. If you look at the rise and fall of empires, you see that the empire fell for one of a few different reasons. Each empire we have studies has been different in one way or another. As technology grew empires grew based on technological advancements. These advancements were spread all throughout Afro-Eurasia and the spread of technology and ideas advanced these civilizations. China invented several unique technologies and these new techs found their way into Europe via the silk roads. Once in Europe the natural competition between civilizations forced them to adapt and improve these technologies to try and stay one step ahead of the competition. The natural spread of ideas during the renaissance seemed like of of the key factors in the growth of civilizations at the time. Now that we looked at what caused empires to grow, we need to talk about what makes them stop. One of  3 basic things can happen; The plague can hit you and wipe out half of your population, You can get conquered by another civilization, or the people hate their leaders and rebel. Those three things pretty much summarize the fall of civilizations. However, when an empire falls, others lean from your mistakes and new stronger civilizations rise.