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This is not the generally accepted view of the cause of Venice's decline, to put it mildly. Venice owed its power in the medieval period largely to geography.
by pg 14y ago
This is not the generally accepted view of the cause of Venice's decline, to put it mildly. Venice owed its power in the medieval period largely to geography. When trade between Europe and the rest of the world was almost entirely something that happened via the Mediterranean, Venice was the most important port. After the Spanish and Portuguese discovered sea routes to the Americas, Africa, and the Far East, that was no longer true. It would have been surprising if Venice hadn't declined after that.
It didn't help, either, that at about the same time, the whole Italian peninsula became a prize fought over by the now very powerful kingdoms of France and Spain. City-states in general were becoming obsolete.
Maybe there is some sort of badness going on in the US, but almost any other failing empire would have made a better example than Venice. There have been few where the external causes of failure were clearer.
- enraged_camel 14y agoStill though, civilizations usually collapse for more than one reason. The discovery of alternative sea routes certainly contributed to Venice's fall. But the thing is, if it wasn't for the Serrata, perhaps they would have enough entrepreneurs to find other means of powering their economy. At the end of the day, if you want to be able to solve difficult problems and make progress, then you need risk-takers.
- pg 14y agoI already listed two. If you want a third, add the Ottoman Empire. Venice was a trading empire. Its empire became worthless. To bounce back from that would have required a transformation unprecedented in history. In fact, even knowing the history that followed, if I had been summoned back by time machine to advise the council about what to do to repair Venice's fortunes, I probably would not have been able to give them advice that would have worked, short of telling them about all the scientific and engineering discoveries that had been made since, and sending them off on a Riverworld-like future.
- enraged_camel 14y agoI was going to mention the Ottoman Empire as well to support my argument that civilizations collapse for more than one reason. In the case of the Ottomans, the discovery of alternative trade routes definitely reduced the amount of gold going into the coffers. But there were also many other problems, such as growing income inequality and rampant corruption among the ruling class. These economic and social issues eventually led to the stagnation of the empire. Then competitors caught up and surpassed them technologically, which directly translated into defeats on the battlefield. That said, you're right that Venice was a trading empire, so losing that competitive edge hurt them a lot more.
- 001sky 14y agoChristopher Columbus (Italian: Cristoforo Colombo; Spanish: Cristóbal Colón; before 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an explorer, navigator, and colonizer, born in the Republic of Genoa, in what is today northwestern Italy.[2][3][4][5] -- Columbus was from a competing city-state in Italy Also, as an artist I am sure you are familiar with the shift in financial and cultural power to the medici-backed city state of Florence during the quattrocento. While the art and culture of Venice stagnated, and largely just reflected its more medeival and eastward focus (still on byzanyium etc.) So the legitimate question follows: why was innovation happening in close proximity to but outside the auspices of, Venice? When they had so many advantages (first mover, cash flow, ect). Classical Rome was also a city state, but with a more expansive and inclusive (citizenship, etc) worldview.