Download Decline of Empires Han, Rome, Gupta

Decline of Empire
Decline of Empires (Upshur)
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China
Dynastic
Succession
Bureaucratic
Corruption
Inequitable
Economic Burdens
Regional, racial, or
ethnic tensions
Decline of martial
spirit
Costly technology
Moral Decline
Religion
External enemies
India
Rome
Disuptes led to
coups
COLLAPSE IN INDIA
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Guptan Dynasty
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Lacked strong central government
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Relied on provincial rule, type of feudalism
Regional leaders often stronger than
emperor
Dynasty’s worries
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Civil war between regional leaders
Invasions by Central Asian nomads including White Huns
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Provinces only owed tribute, tax, respect
to central ruler
Provincial rulers viewed emperor as
related to gods
But local areas largely self-governing
Beaten off by Guptas but seriously weakened empire
Continued raids by Huns, Central Asians kept empire in turmoil
Large scale migrations from Northern India to Southern parts
Dynasty ceased to exist; attempted revival failed
Regional states broke off, constant warfare follows
HAN TROUBLES
Expeditions consumed the empire's surplus
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Raised taxes and confiscated land of some wealthy individuals
Taxes, land confiscations discouraged investment
Much of defense consumed on defending against nomads
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Social tensions, stratification between the poor and rich
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Problems of land distribution
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Early Han supported land redistribution
Economic difficulties forced some small landowners to sell property
Some sold themselves or their families into slavery
Lands accumulated in the hands of a few
No land reform, because Han needed cooperation of large landowners
The reign of Wang Mang
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A powerful Han minister
Dethroned the baby emperor, claimed imperial title himself, 9 C.E.
Land reforms - the "socialist emperor"
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Overthrown by revolts, 23 C.E.
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The reign of Wang Mang
• A powerful Han minister
• Dethroned the baby emperor,
claimed imperial title himself, 9 C.E.
• Land reforms - the "socialist
emperor"
• Overthrown by revolts, 23 C.E.
LOSS OF THE
MANDATE OF HEAVEN
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Collapse of the Han
 Factions at court paralyzed the central
government
 Han empire dissolved
 China was divided into regional kingdoms
 Devastated by plague
 Invaded by Huns and other nomadic
forces
ROMAN Decline:
Government
•Structure
•Imperial system
•Emperorship not hereditary
•Emperor selected arbitrarily
•Elite form imperial bureaucracy
•The Crisis
•Succession crises, many civil wars
• Many military coups
•Declining Loyalty to State
•Politicized generals
•Corruption, graft common
• Eastern, Western Empires too much to manage.
ROMAN Decline: Military
•Structure
• “All volunteer army”
• Poor, foreigners, criminals
• Citizens avoid military service
•Problems
• Politicized Generals, Incompetent
• Troops loyal to paying leader
• Troops largely “barbarians”
• Persia
• Major enemy
• Romans fight wrong force
• Roman troops in East
ROMAN Decline: Economics
• Economic Structure
• Capitalistic, mercantilistic
• Some command economy
• Commercial agriculture: grains, export
• Heavy reliance on slave labor
• Industry not wide-spread
• Problems
• Economic Stagnation, collapse
• Agriculture disrupted, famines
• Currency devalued, worthless
• Trade, commerce collapse
• Peasants overtaxed
• Feudalism on Rise
ROMAN Decline: Religion
• Original Roman Faith Traditions
• Nationalistic, ritualistic
• Unemotional
• Rise of Philosophies, Mystery Religions
• Rise of Christianity
• Christianity spreading, vibrant
• Attracts poor, women, slaves
• Good Romans enter Church
• Problem for Rome
• Loyalty to God, church, faith
• Christians live in East, urban areas
• Church is state within a state
ROMAN Decline:
The Germans
• Homeland
• Overpopulated, hunger for land
• Migrated to East, SE Europe
• Spread of agriculture
• Tribal Structure
• War-like kings led tribes
• Well-led, loyalty to leader
• Rule of king not rule of law
• Interactions: War, Faith, Diplomacy
•Enjoyed war, part of their code
•Superior in cavalry, archers
•Often strong Arian Christians
•Allied with Huns, Romans
•Turned on both in end
• Kings assign lands after conquest to
loyal supporters
Decline of Empires
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Empires too big—costly to defend the
frontiers
Burden of taxes on the poor, some flee
to evade taxes, as maintaining the
grows more costly—taxes go up, few
new sources of revenue, religious
groups and nobility exempt
Slavery in Roman so oppressive less
productive, fewer new sources, less
technological development
Decline of Empires
(continued)
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Administrative problems
succession—court intrigue, barrack emperors
failing bureaucracies—corruption of examination
system, lack of civic responsibility
Roman—bread and circuses to forestall revolts
Eroding economies—decline in trade when roads
not repaired or safe
Religion—Christianity a factor in the decline of
Rome, but not Buddhism in the decline of the Han
Dynasty.
Decline of Empires
(continued)
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Plagues—hit both empires hard, especially
in cities of Roman empire
Pressure from nomads—Huns, Xiongnu,
Germanic
Why did the west fall harder?
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More multiethnic Han Chinese—a true nation that
can endure beyond the dynasty.
In Roman empire most live outside Italy.
State and society not bonded together with the
same glue—China, Confucianism offers both order
for family, society and state—not true of Romans
Better assimilation of “barbarians” by China,
Germanic dismembered Roman empire, while
nomads absorbed by Chinese
Common language—Latin never really replaced
Greek in much of the empire
Why did the western Roman
empire fall and not the eastern?
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Deep, ingrained civilization in the east—Greeks and before
East less impacted by nomadic invasion—maybe because
many enduring cities, large populations
Tribes on eastern borders were disorganized and
unmotivated
After separation of empire, east no longer has to send any
help to West
Even with changing political structure , little threat to social,
economic or cultural continuity
No cities in the west
German soldiers fill the ranks of Roman legions
When west cut from wealth of East, the tax base dwindled
Stearns Chapters 5 Review: Decline of Empires
What conditions led each empire to fall? What conditions for decline and fall are similar?
China
Greco-Roman
China & Greece/Rome
China &
India
All 3 cultures share these similarities:
India
ESSAY: What were 5 causes for the collapse of the
Classical Empires of Rome, and Han China? How were their
collapses similar and different? Which region had the hardest
fall and why?