The Societies Collapsed and Recovered - Essay Example

The author has succeeded in bringing out his message in the book. He has discussed the reasons why many societies collapsed especially in the 13th and 14th centuries. Some of the reasons as t why the societies collapsed include the outbreak of deadly disease (Bubonic Plague), changes in climatic seasons, and war. Due to the above factors, many people in the societies lost their lives and this led to the reduction of people in the society. There is also the discussion of how the societies were able to recover from the loss. For one, there was the strengthening of the army which enabled strong defense against the members of the society. There was cultural survival whereby the culture of the Mongols was dropped and the societies embraced the Chinese cultural traditions. There was the multiplication of population due to the increase of birth rates. This made society replace the people who were lost during the war.

Why societies collapsed

According to Diamond, societies collapsed mainly in the fourteenth century due to the outbreak of bubonic plague. Since the societies were crowded, the disease widely spread and caused a lot of deaths to the people. The outbreak continued up to the seventh century whereby by then it had claimed a lot of lives. The disease had spread and had covered most parts of Asia, Europe some parts of north Africa (Diamond 011, p. 350). In 1the 340s, merchants from Mongols and other travelers assisted in the spread of the plague along all the trade routes that were used by the Chinese people. By the year 1348, the disease had spread throughout the Mediterranean basin and most parts of Western Europe.

The other reason for the collapse according to Diamond was the changes in climatic seasons whereby in 1300 B.C there was a continued cool season for five years. This made famine ravage the people to an extent that there was starvation. This made many people in the society thereby leaving very few people in the society (Rees 2005).

Recovery of the societies

One of the reasons that led to the recovery of the societies was the fact the few people who remained after the plague gave birth and were able t replace those that had died during the disease. This made the population increase as we all know that increase in birth rate leads to an increase in population. The other reason was that the young emperor from a poor family strengthened the military a fact that made the Yuan Dynasty recover (Diamond 1999, p. 353). During his reign, there was a regular supply of military officials and this made the society to be centralized. Whenever there is a strong and able military, there is the urinary of the society.

There was also a culture whereby Emperor Hongwu eradicated all the Mongols traditions He abolished all forms of the culture and strongly advocated Chinese cultural traditions. The introduction of armies and taxes further led to the strengthening of the societies. There was the introduction of new taxes which were levied on the citizens. The armies were well equipped with modern equipment which made them stronger against their enemies. The armies were armed with gunpowder weapons which were usually supported by state funds. With the equipment, there was maximum security a fact that ensured that there was no loss of life and the population of the society kept on growing. The societies were also helped by other states for example the Italian state whereby they were given financial support in order t maintain their strong army. There were direct taxes on the citizens of the states and the societies were also issued with long-term bonds (Gladwell 2005).

In Spain, the state recovered due to the marriage of Fernando f Aragon and Isabel of Castile were by there was uniting of two states. The incomes that the state got as a result of the sale of the tax made it possible for the maintenance of the strong army. In Western Europe, the recovery was made possible due to the renaissance process. This was a process that was marketed by intellectual creativity and artistic activities (Flannery 2005).

Diamond has succeeded in his argument about how societies in the 13th and 14th centuries collapsed and how they recovered. His argument is strong and this makes the understanding of his work simpler.

Conclusion

The paper has discussed how various societies collapsed in the 13th and 14th centuries. The paper has also provided a critical discussion as to why the societies collapsed and how they were able to recover. The paper has also shed light on some of the regions which were affected by the collapse. Some of these regions include China, Spain, and Western Europe. Some of the reasons why the societies collapsed were war, climatic changes, and outbreaks of deadly diseases.