4 ms·
I 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
by pg 14y ago
I 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.