This is demonstrated in documents 4, 5, and 6. Henry Haskell states that “The government undertook such far-reaching responsibility in affairs that the fiber of the citizens weakened” (Document 4) This shows that the decline of the empire was due to heavy taxation that couldn’t support the government. If the taxes couldn’t sustain the government then it wouldn’t be able to control the people. According to Montanelli “The military crisis was the result of… proud old aristocracy’s… shortage of children” (Document 5) This means that many children weren’t old enough to go into the military which caused the decrease of soldiers. With the lack of soldiers, it would be easier to invade Rome, which could’ve led to the decline of the Empire.
Compare and Contrast Essay Decline of the Han vs. Decline of the Roman Empire The collapse of the Han and the Roman Empires were both due to internal conflicts within the government and among their people. Both empires started to fall apart as disorganization and lack of a central government began to influence the whole empire. Political chaos led to the breakdown of the economy which spread to other things, and the spread of new religions came too late to save the crumbling empires from the destruction of themselves. The downfall of both civilizations began as their political rulers’ superiority became so disorganized and chaotic that everything just started to fall apart. Citizens began to revolt and in the Han dynasty in 220 C.E., the emperor was rebelled against among middle and lower class peasants and was eventually disposed of.
Another primary reason of Rome’s decline was a series of foreign invasions. As Rome’s army weakened, foreigners began taking over parts of Rome. Many people hated Rome for taking all their land and property because Rome had conquered many provinces over the years of its prosperity. Land was important, and the Romans had a lot of it, so foreigners wanted to conquer Rome. The Visigoths were the first to reach there.
The economy went down because of the rising prices. Their government produced more coins led to Inflation where the prices rise as the money value declines. Also, there was disruption of trade since the capital moved to Byzantium, which is renamed Constantinople, for mores secure surroundings and they would be closer to trade routes. There was a civil war in 337 AD, where the empire was divided in half. The Roman Empire was the western half and the Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Half.
Like most stubborn or one track minded group of individuals, the Roman’s had yet another flaw which seemed to break in the end. Overall it was their failing economy and high inflation threatening the government by bankruptcy due to the cost of defending the Empire (TWT 13), the failing economics, heavy taxation and high inflation was another Causes for the Fall of the Roman Empire. The majority of the inhabitants of the Roman Empire failed to share in the incredible prosperity of Rome. The amount of gold sent to the orient to pay for luxury goods led to a shortage of gold to make Roman coins. Roman currency was devalued to such an extent that a system of bartering returned to one of the greatest civilizations the world had ever known.
Many of these people were unemployed and unskilled, subject to poverty and falling into the lower classes of America's ‘capitalist’ society. They were treated unfairly with appalling working and living conditions and, although they may have escaped persecution or extreme poverty elsewhere, the prospects of becoming successful and prospering (as the American dream had so claimed) were quite distant. It was soon apparent that Americans began to fear the immigration system where hundreds of thousands of people arrived in the USA. This brought about anarchism and communism. America dived into the Red Scare, fearing that thousands of communists were roaming the streets hoping for another revolution.
Enormous construction projects took place, such as the resurrection of the Great Canal and the famous Great Wall. The Ming was also responsible for establishing the Forbidden City in Beijing. The Qing’s success did not last eventually after many reforms due to land distribution, examinations, and social inequality; the Qing began to lose hold on their once strong control. Events such as the Opium war and the Boxer rebellion damaged the Qing dynasties social order and military force. The systems became corrupt which lead to political and social disintegrations.
Christianity challenged the traditional charactertraits and caused people to neglect the state when they concentrated on personal salvation. C. Economic Causes.As productivity declined, Rome became more dependent on foreign products. A breakdown in the labor force occurred as the traditional work ethic declined. The infrastructure of the cities declined and began a steady decay. A balance of trade deficit began to occur.
Revolts and unruly satraps caused serious economic problems for the empire. Persian taxes became heavier and more unfair, which led to economic depression and rebellions, which in turn led to more cruelty, heavier taxes and so on. The Persian kings also started hoarding gold and silver rather than recirculating it. This created economic chaos without sufficient gold and silver for doing business. As a result of this economic disorder, the Persian kings got weaker still, which fed back into the problem of revolts and powerful satraps.
The downward spiral began with the degeneration of the army that weaken the defenses and made them more vulnerable to Germanic invasions. These invasions led to economic disruptions which combined with other deteriorating conditions led the Roman’s to look increasingly to mystery cults and reject the rational thought of the Greeks. The presentation points out that as economic disruptions continued to deteriorate Rome’s fate was sealed. The date that is assigned to the final demise of the Roman Empire is A.D. 476 when a Germanic emperor was placed on the throne. The presentation reminds us that only the western part of the empire fell.