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Why Some Empires Are Stronger Than Others Essay

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In Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash hit Hamilton, King George III sings the following line: “Oceans rise / empires fall / we have seen each other through it all.” He speaks of the fall of empires like their defeat is inevitable, just as common as the ebb and flow of the tides. Yet, his empire, Britain, has been able to endure and watch all of these things happen. This brings to mind a few questions: Why can some empires endure longer than others? What factors might be enough to give one civilization an advantage over another? The answers are not simple, but they lie within our reach if we seek them within the resources we have available - history, literature, current events, personal experience, and more.

Firstly, one important factor that determines the success of a civilization is its access to natural resources. Natural resources can significantly sway the course of a society, but in which direction depends upon how they are used. For example, Saudi Arabia is well-known for the richness of its people, and this is almost entirely because of their oil reserves. However, since they are so dependent on this single resource, if the price of oil tanks, so does their entire economy (NY Times citation). Natural resources can be a very effective economic kickstarter, but they can also be exploited to the detriment of the home …show more content…
This can be most clearly seen in Europe. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 laid the foundation for independent, competing states. As a result, to maintain the balance of power, European states were constantly competing to have the best technology. This led to the rapid development of European states. Meanwhile, other countries, such as the dar-al-Islam and China, had no such incentive to constantly improve. Consequently, their own technological advancements lagged far behind those of Europe, and European states were the main powers of the world (Textbook

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