Why Empires Fall. Part 2
Empires are born by the sword…and die by the sword.
Or at least that is what we like to think. Human nature makes us look at our violent past in an often binary fashion, reducing complex answers to simple digestible stories that fit within what we already know about the world.
Unfortunately, the same approach cannot be applied to history, especially towards the cyclical nature of the lives of empires. While there are overarching themes that unite human civilization, it is often a challenge to pinpoint reasons for specific results in history, especially given the embellished sources that we use to construct such arguments. Napoleon believed that “History is a set of lies agreed upon". This makes analyzing why empires fall all the more fascinating.
So without further ado, let us look at 4 overarching themes for the sake of brevity, that have played a role repeatedly throughout human existence.
Keeping your gunpowder dry against your friends, not your foes.
“Without training, they lacked knowledge. Without knowledge, they lacked confidence. Without confidence, they lacked victory.” — Julius Caesar
Caesar uttered those words as he entered the camp of the soon to be defeated Pompey, as he contrasted the strict discipline of his own soldiers with the debauchery that existed in Pompey’s camp.
Empires, after solidifying their borders through spartan discipline, often find themselves neglecting their armies in pursuit of the arts. The absence of external enemies often leads to internal strife. Civil Wars are fought with soldiers who are supposed to be guarding a nation’s borders. Meanwhile, as the nation decays, barbarians cross over from distant lands, eyeing the treasures that awaited. Rome was not built in a day, but it also did not fall in a day.
Over-pleasing the Gods, and under-pleasing his priests.
“My years have gone by profitless… There is no hope for the future..I have greatly sinned, and know not what torments await me”
Those were Emperor Aurangzeb’s last words, a man who inherited a massive empire that spanned almost the entire Indian Sub-Continent. While being pious towards his own faith, he abandoned the precepts of tolerance towards those who did not share his beliefs. Despite his lack of extravagance and discipline, he lost the support of his people, that had been wisely won by secular rulers who preceded him. This made it all the easier for a tiny island nation of traders to exchange their wares for guns, and eventually, claim the Indian subcontinent as its own.
History is littered with examples of nations falling into disunity over internal strife. Moreover, several of these “civil wars” were not fought over ideals, but rather over dogma. In other words, “Is my God better than yours?”. Some conquerors, such as Genghis Khan, knew the importance of religious tolerance. The Mongols, despite their notoriety in any literature except their own, held religious debates in the emperor’s court while the west butchered itself over slight digressions.
Mongol debates followed the same rules as their wrestling matches. Between each round, the wrestlers(and eventually the theologians) would have to drink fermented mare’s milk. During one of their debates, neither side was able to convince others, and the magical effects of alcohol took over. The Christians gave up the rhetoric and began to sing their hymns while the Muslims decided to drown the singing by reciting the Koran as loud as they could. The Buddhists on the other hand, retreated to silent meditation until everyone became too drunk to continue![1]
We could go further back in time to the sands of Ancient Egypt, where the line between God and Man did not exist. The Pharaohs didn’t have a divine right to rule, they were divine. However, a Pharaoh name Akhenathon who existed before the biblical Ramses decided to push his divinity a bit too far. Realizing that the vast resources of his kingdom were syphoned off to unscrupulous priests, Akhenathon decided to destroy the old order. Almost overnight, he declared that only one God should be worshipped (sounds familiar?). Aten, the Sun God, was the sole God, and the worship of every other God was deemed illegal. He even built a new capital city for Aten, and declared himself the High Priest. However, this move brought about his ultimate downfall. Old habits die hard, and the Egyptians despised Akhenathon. His death caused Egyptians to regress to their previous state, and his provinces rose up in revolt. When he died destroyed his capital city, defaced all monuments to Aten, and erased his name from history, only referring to him as “The Criminal”.
Akhenaton's and Aurangzeb’s cautionary tale contrasts with that of the Mongols. The priestly class has abused their power for a good proportion of human history, but one must not take lightly the follies of faith. A human conditioned from birth towards a set of beliefs will most likely base his identity around it. Taking away something as essential as that has led even the greatest of conquerors towards ruin.
Nostalgia
Gunpowder was invented in China, Asian merchants used the compass centuries before Columbus, and were amongst the first to use coal for power. Yet, it was not China that won the Boxer Rebellion against western powers. So why did civilizations that were historically known for innovation fail to reap the benefits of their creations?
“I set no value on objects strange and ingenious, and have no use for your country’s manufactures. This, then, is my answer to your request to appoint a representative at my court, a request contrary to our dynastic usage, which could only result in inconvenience to yourself. I have expounded my views in detail and have commanded your tribute envoys to leave in peace on their homeward journeys. It behooves you, O King, to respect my sentiments and to display even greater devotion and loyalty in future, so that, by perpetual submission to our throne, you may secure peace and prosperity for your country hereafter.”[2]
These words were uttered by the Chinese Emperor when approached by British envoys who sought to trade with his empire. The East failed to see the value of inventions and products that could easily be made by the hard work of millions of peasants. Moreover, these western goods lacked the refinement and polish of oriental treasures. With these reasons and those unknown, China made known its view on the insignificance of the industrial revolution and paid a heavy price for her views. Despite a head start, advanced civilizations failed to commercialize and exploit their discoveries, leading to an easy takeover of their resources by external powers.
Moreover, social structures also played a tremendous role in the creation of an industrial state. It was not the nobility of the west that blessed her with her inventions, but rather her enterprising peasants, who were empowered by a solid system of credit and hungry investors. For example on the Indian Sub-continent, the caste system would have shackled would-be entrepreneurs. Taking a page out of Will Durant...
“The caste system was conceived in terms of a static and agricultural society; it provided order, but gave no opening to pedigreed genius, no purchase to ambition and hope, no stimulus to invention and enterprise; it was doomed when the Industrial Revolution reached India’s shores. The machine does not respect persons: in most of the factories men work side by side without discrimination of caste, trains and trams give berth or standing-room to all who can pay, cooperative societies and political parties bring all grades together, and in the congestion of the urban theatre or street Brahman and Pariah rub elbows in unexpected fellowship.”
King of Kings — L’Etat, C’est moi!
History teaches us that the most common way to consolidate power is to murder your brothers and sisters, poison your parents, and remove all those who had a claim on the throne. Mehmed III, for example, had all 19 of his siblings strangled so no one else could challenge him for the Ottoman throne. However, once human rulers settle into their thrones, they often forget their mortality. This lack of succession planning left room for civil wars, revolts, and conquest.
The Great Mughal Emperor, Akbar, fell prey to this scenario. Despite his brilliant reforms and expansionist policies, history records he succumbed to a sorrowful ending.
“In his last days his children ignored him, and gave their energies to quarreling for his throne. Only a few intimates were with him when he died-presumably of dysentery, perhaps of poisoning by Jehangir(his son). Mullahs came to his deathbed to reconvert him to Islam, but they failed; the King “passed away without the benefit of the prayers of any church or sect.” No crowd followed his simple funeral; the sons and courtiers who had worn mourning for the event discarded it the same evening and rejoiced that they had inherited his kingdom. It was a bitter death for the justest and wisest ruler that Asia has ever known.”[2]
Ergo
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. — George Santayana.
The superpowers we know today will fade into obscurity. Just like Rome, Memphis, and Babylon. What we hold as evident truths will be either discarded or disproved by those who will inherit our planet. History teaches us that we are just specks of dust blown around by the sands of time.
There are no epistemic authorities to protect us from such harsh realities. All we can do is learn from history, and a good start is Our Oriental Heritage, by Will Durant.
References
- Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world
2. Our Oriental Heritage
