Human civilization has gone through about 5,000 years since its birth. How should these 5,000 years be divided? How should humans define their own history?
The division in the traditional sense is also the most common way in the world today is the linear model, which divides world history into ancient history, medieval history, modern history, and modern history according to time. This is the division method of the orthodox school. It has been recognized by most people.
After the First World War, the German historian Spengler wrote the book "The Decline of the West-An Introduction to the Morphology of World History" with reflection on the pain of war. Concepts conduct historical research and divide world history into eight fully developed cultures to show the process of the rise and fall of civilization. These eight cultures are classical culture, Western culture, Babylon culture, Chinese culture, Egyptian culture, Mexican culture, Arabic culture, Indian culture, etc.
I have to say that the gap between people is really huge. As early as 1922, Spengler had foreseen the decline of Western society, but until now there are still many people clinging to their former glory. Its declining body forcibly propped up the glory of the Western powers, which is sad and sigh!
Is the sun not setting?
Japanese history professor Masakazu Miyazaki divided the world history into three stages of land, sea and air in his book "The Hegemony of Great Powers: 5000 Years of World Hegemony by Sea, Land and Air", and each stage was born with one. The world overlord.
So, who are the three world hegemons corresponding to the three phases of sea, land and air? Who will be the next world hegemon, and in what field will he dominate?
Today’s World Hegemon
01 Land Hegemon
When humans come out of the Great Rift Valley ,After a long migration, human footprints have finally spread across all the livable spots on Asia, Europe and Africa, and cities have been established with large rivers as the core, and human civilization has been developed from this.
When the ancient Egyptian civilization, Babylonian civilization, and ancient Indian civilization were extinguished in turn, the east and west ends of Eurasia and the Middle East at the intersection of east and west are entering the age of empire. With the promotion of ironware, more arable land has been cultivated After coming out, food became richer, and the opening of the Silk Road gradually increased the exchanges between the East and the West.
Map of the world situation around the year AD
The Asian and European continents have formed economic links through the Silk Road, so there are always fierce people who want to open up the mainland and achieve political communication. The first time I thought about it and put it into practice was Alexander the Great, In 334 BC, Alexander the Great conquered Greece and Egypt and destroyed Persia. After that, the soldiers arrived in India and the territory started from to the Balkans in the west. , east to , the Indus Plain , from the southern part of Central Asia in the north, to the Indian Ocean and northern Africa in the south, with Egypt, and straddling the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa.
It can be said that Alexander the Great almost achieved the conquest of the Eurasian continent. Of course, judging from the circumstances at the time, whether it could be achieved would depend on the face of China. After all, if Alexander the Great was a fierce man to enter China. , The first army encountered, most likely to be the Qin army known as the Tiger Wolf Division. Of course, Alexander the Great did not have this opportunity to try it. In 324 BC, the Alexander's Eastern Expedition ended. After returning to Babylon, he died of illness and left soon, and the Alexander Empire also fell apart.
Territory of the Alexander Empire
Alexander’s Eastern Expedition was the only time when the ancient Western society was tough. The European society after that was always shrouded in Eastern fear.A Xiongnu tribe that fled to the west could sweep Europe and create the horrible myth of the whip of God, which directly caused the collapse of the Roman Empire .
The dream that Alexander the Great wanted to accomplish but failed to realize was realized in Mongolia in 1500.
In 1219 AD, the Mongolian tribes under the leadership of Genghis Khan, a generation of Tianjiao, began the Western Expedition. For more than 40 years, the iron hoof of the Mongols reverberated over the Eurasian continent and became a lingering nightmare in every region.
The first Western Expedition lasted for 6 years. From 1219, to the triumphant return of Genghis Khan to the east in 1225, Hua Ting Zi Mo became the ghost of the first Western Expedition. Today’s imperial cemetery Afghanistan was included in this period. The scope of the Mongolian Empire . According to some scholars' statistics, the Mongolia's first west expedition raced about 15,000 kilometers.
Mongolia's first western expedition
In 1235, the grandson of Genghis Khan Batu led the western expedition, as far as , Qincha, Poland, Russia, Hungary and other countries and regions, In 1252, Genghis Khan's grandson Xuliegu carried out the third western expedition, as far as Syria, Egypt, Iraq and other countries or regions. During the three western expeditions, the Mongols traveled more than 40,000 kilometers, which is equivalent to the Mongols riding a horse around the earth in just 20 years, conquering most of the Eurasian continent by the way.
At this time, the largest land-based overlord in human history was born, the Mongol Empire! At its peak, the largest territory was 33 million square kilometers, bordered by the Pacific Ocean in the east, the Arctic Ocean in the north, the Danube River in the west, and the South China Sea in the south, accounting for almost 22% of the world's land area.
Mongolia at its peak
Although the Mongol Empire soon split into the Four Khanates and the Yuan Dynasty,But these are all regimes established by the Mongols after all.
The establishment of the Mongol Empire not only meant the birth of the first land-based world hegemon in human history, but also meant that the barrier of East-West exchanges between Asia and Europe was completely forcibly opened up, the entire world was connected, and the progress of world history Since then, it has speeded up abruptly.
Mongolian Iron Horse
02 Sea Overlord
Mongolia’s West Expedition , connect the world, a brand new world is displayed in front of the poor and backward medieval western society. When the Mongol Empire collapsed and this connection was blocked by the Ottoman Empire from the middle, the weak Europe had no choice but to find another way, but it unexpectedly opened the ocean age of human civilization.
On the earth we live on, 30% of the land and 70% of the ocean, before the great nautical era, the main scope of human activities was limited to the Eurasian continent. When Europeans were forced to step on a small sampan, their courage to resolutely drifted towards endless At the time of the ocean, a new world is slowly unfolding towards them, and the footprints of human civilization are finally spreading across the entire earth.
Seven continents and four oceans
Spain and Portugal were the first to open the ocean age, and the Netherlands and other Nordic countries followed randomly, but after all, they could not reach the rising star of the United Kingdom. 1588 British annihilated Spanish invincible fleet , three Anglo-Dutch War defeated the Dutch fleet, established maritime supremacy, 1815 British in Napoleonic Wars victory over the powerful enemy in the Napoleonic Wars 5span France has become the hegemon of the world.
In 1865, the British economist Jevons proudly declared the world : The plains of North America and Russia are our cornfields.Canada and Baltic is our forest area , Australia is our ranch , Peru is our gold mine_ and Australia are our gold mine_ , India and China are our tea plantations, East Indies is our sugarcane, coffee, spice plantations, the southern United States is our cotton plantations.
On the road to the rise of Britain, along with the emergence and proliferation of the bourgeois revolution and the industrial revolution, the triple leadership in politics, military and economics has made the rule of the British Empire unprecedentedly large. Every continent in the world has its colony, The ruling area reaches an astonishing 34 million square kilometers, and its people account for about a quarter of the world's total population. This is the first global maritime hegemon in human history, and it is known as the sun never set empire!
Geographical location of the United Kingdom
03 Airspace Overlord
At the beginning of the 20th century, the aircraft was born in the United States, marking the dawn of a new era. During World War I, airplanes were widely used on the battlefield. By the time of World War II, airplanes had already become the most critical factor affecting the victory or defeat of the war. Whoever controls the air supremacy on the battlefield is undoubtedly the winner in control of the war.
Due to the two world wars, the European region was in ruins, while the United States, watching the fire across the Atlantic Ocean, made a fortune from the war, seized absolute military superiority, and ascended to the throne of world hegemony. Relying on military advantages is not stable. The US hegemony soon greeted the Soviet Union's challenge. The 45-year-old US-Soviet Cold War hegemony also allowed the United States to complete its transformation from maritime hegemony to airspace hegemony.
American Empire
The United States uses the Internet to create virtual spaces around the world, develop IT technology, and financialize the world economy. Through various financial institutions, the United States has extended its financial reach to all sides of the world, and through the special status of the US dollar as the world's currency, the United States can easily harvest global wealth and establish a new financial colony. The absolute leading position in Internet technology has built up a series of technological barriers. The United States can easily monitor the world's every move, making it difficult for all rising countries to break through, and there is no way to attack the hegemony of the United States.
If the United States after World War I and World War II initially established its airspace supremacy through its military advantages such as aircraft carriers, and using the Internet and finance, the United States successfully entered the second stage of airspace dominance, and the United States almost created the electronic space of the human world. , It reconstructs the definition of hegemony, from real to virtual. Such an airspace hegemon is the strongest and most difficult in history!
Electronic Space
04 Final Chapter
In today's era, we are in an unprecedented period of super hegemony. As for the peak of dominance, or the end of dominance, the benevolent will see the difference, and the wise will see the wisdom.
Three world hegemons, corresponding to the three eras of landing, sea and sky, each hegemon has achieved almost the extreme degree in the corresponding field, no one before, no one after, but also because it can become a domineering world hegemon .
For the world, each of these hegemons has more or less directly promoted the exchanges of human civilizations around the world. It is a leap forward in the history of human civilization development. The position of the world hegemon may be for this Reward for contribution.
Who will be the 4th world overlord in the history of human civilization? I can't help but look at the land under my feet.
In which field will the fourth world overlord build a new leap forward in human civilization? I can't help but look up at the stars. Perhaps only the sea of stars is her journey.
The Journey of the Stars and the Sea
The full text is 3400 words,This article was originally created by 青衣弹史 . Thank you for reading. It is not allowed to be reproduced. If you like it, please pay attention to and support it~, your support is my greatest honor~
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.References:
1. Masaaki Miyazaki "Great Power Hegemony: 5000 Years of World Hegemony by Sea, Land and Air"
2. Spengler "The Decline of the West-An Introduction to World History Morphology"
3. Chen Qiyun "Mongolian Expedition to the West and Human Civilization"
4. Yang Junling "A Trial Analysis of the Influence of Mongolia's Expedition to the West on Cultural Exchanges between the East and the West"
5. Liu Jinghua, Ding Duben's "Sunset That Never Sets": The Rise and Fall of the British Empire
6. Men Honghua, "International Mechanism and American Hegemony"
