Relationship Between European Geography and its History Essay

Jared Diamond discusses the reasons why geographical and environmental factors lead to a more rapid progression of certain civilizations throughout history. The book Guns, Germs and Steel portrays an argument that due to some societies’ access to an area witch contains sufficient amounts of wildlife and climates that are easily inhabitable, these societies developed into more advanced ways of living much easier and also earlier than societies who lacked these geographical attributes. These beneficial geographical attributes promoted the growth of technological improvements in weapons, religion, and farming.

Changes are an important part of history, and a natural part of life. In the case of geography throughout history, the world has made many changes to its borders and who has grievances with one another. From the High Middle Ages of olden Europe, to the twentieth century, change has occurred. These changes have unified and broken ties between countries and regions time and time again throughout history. There are many forces that push toward and against unity throughout time. The world map became what is today because of both unity and division marking change in the past.

Geography was an important element in Europe’s culture. As stated in the article, “Conversely, this variegated landscape encouraged the growth, and the continued existence, of decentralized power, with local kingdoms and marcher lordships…”(17). This is beneficial because the power is split up and one government does not have all the power. The geography also resulted in altering climates. This led to differentiated products that could be traded. A crucial part in European culture was the steady improvement in ship’s armaments. “The siting of cannon on sailing vessels was a natural enough development at a time when sea warfare so resembled that on land...”(24). This improvement opened up a brand new way of warfare. It allowed Europe to control the water trade routes. Another element that contributed to European culture was the replacement of a feudal system by a three class system. The European class system changed by the addition of the middle merchant class. The middle class financed a social transformation that broke down feudal customs. As a result, there was a smaller gap between the different classes. These three elements were factors of the “European Miracle” which had a great impact on the culture of

1500 A.D. is known as the Rise of Europe. Europe took Chinese inventions and developed them to their full potential. They used the new ideas for overseas expansions, in return, this triggered more technological advances and changes. This caused a transition from medieval to modern civilization. The rise of the nation-state also was an important factor in the rise of Europe. European power rose to a new level of effectiveness and for the first time it gave Europeans a clear margin of superiority over the other great world cultures. European's domination was challenged and rejected. Others felt that Europe's domination left little to individual choice and destroys life's richness and diversity. The two historical fault lines that run in Europe are significant because they stand for the lines that show where war and conflict was located.

"The growth of commerce and industry led to the technological advances, which in turn stimulated, and were stimulated by science.” (p. 403) The European scientific revolution was fueled by the blending of “liberal” and “servile” arts, in other words, science and technology. Because of the European expansion taking place throughout the world, new commerce and industries were advancing, creating the need for new technology and science. The theories and inventions that Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton provided were the fist major advances during the scientific revolution, and perhaps were the most profound.

If anyone takes a look at a globe, they will undoubtedly see two islands on almost opposite sides of earth. These two islands are Great Britan and Japan. During the age of industrialization, the geography of these islands played a major role in the growth of these nations.

“Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies. Those whom God has so joined together, let no man put asunder.” ~(John F. Kennedy) Geography has impacted countries and regions dissimilarly throughout the duration of history. Geography influences the historical and social development of a country or region. These features can either cause an area to be hindered or prosperous in its development. Likewise, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers of Mesopotamia were essential because it provided fertile soil for crops, trade, transport and the necessities to food sources. Also, the mountainous terrain of Greece caused the country to have independent city- states. The mountains

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond, attempts to explain why history progressed differently for people from various geographical regions. Diamond introduces his book by pointing out that history followed different courses for different people because of differences among peoples’ environments, not because of biological differences among people themselves. Through his convincing explanation for how civilizations were created and evolved throughout the course of history, he argues that environmental factors gave some societies advantages over others, allowing them to conquer the disadvantaged societies. While I agree with Diamond’s argument that the orientation of continental axis, availability of potential

- Geopolitics: the study of the relationships of physical geography and human geography on international politics and/or relations.

For instance, the mighty Roman Empire, which was much more technologically advanced and urbanized than its barbarian neighbors, was crippled by political corruption, apathetic citizens, and religious conflict. It didn’t matter how developed the Romans were; their internal issues allowed the Germanics to conquer them. The strength of cultural values, the cohesion of a society, and the charisma and contributions of individuals are not measured by the society’s technological advances and must be accounted for in a complete view of world

European society between the years 1500 and 1800 prove to be an interesting comparison to modern times, as can be seen in †George Huppert's work, After the Black Death. Some important aspects of this particular historical society bore both similarities and differences to contemporary populous. In comparing and contrasting certain features of Huppert's analysis, the reader can better understand the growth of society in the past five hundred years .

The book by Jared Diamond “Guns, Germs and Steel” outlines a brief history, of how countries and groups of people became more prosperous and powerful through history. The book is focused on Diamond’s theory, of “Guns, Germs and Steel”; he argues that guns, germs and steel are the three main reasons for different countries rise to power. That being said the theory also places a tremendous amount of weight on the geographical attributes that certain groups of people had at their disposal, which allow for technological advances. Through this concept, Diamond in his theory attempts to demonstrate that prosperous groups of people through out history is not based on sheer intelligence and the different intellectual levels of people. He then looks at the advantages that different regions where given based initially on their geography. Such that China was unified much earlier in its history then Europe, due to there are less geographic barriers in China than Europe, therefore making communication easier between regions in China. Diamonds theory does go on to explain many of the worlds power differences

By the early 1990s, Soviet domination in Eastern Europe had ended. A number of individuals played a part in the collapse of the Soviet Union. Understanding the role that each played is an important part of understanding the process that changed European politics and geography.

Geography influences culture in many ways. A civilizations geography determines what kind of god(s) they believe in as well as influences from other cultures. These features provide a stepping stone for cultures that are solely based on geography.

Maybe some people will think human geography has no relation between physical geography. But I think human geography has a great effect on physical geography, and physical geography has a great effect on human geography too.