A Short History of the World

by Christopher Lascelles

  The collapse of the communist Eastern bloc was sudden and relatively bloodless as revolutions go. Poland became the first non-communist government in Eastern Europe. In Czechoslovakia, a human rights campaigner, Vaclav Havel, was elected as president. In October 1989, the East German leader, Erich Honecker, resigned under pressure and East Germany opened its borders. Thousands of Eastern Europeans fled to the West, unsure of how long the border would remain open. Within a month the hated Berlin Wall had been torn down and Germany was unified the following year.

  In August 1991, hardliners in the Soviet government who were unhappy at the changes and totally out of touch with the people they ruled, attempted a coup. However, massive demonstrations led by the Mayor of Moscow, Boris Yeltsin, ensued and the barricading of the Russian parliament by the people brought the coup to an end within days. Having tasted the albeit limited fruits of freedom, the people understandably had no intention of returning to the old system. On Christmas Day, 1991, Gorbachev resigned as Soviet president and the USSR was formally disbanded, giving way to 15 independent countries. The Russians had lost the Cold War. As Ian Morris relates in ‘Why the West Rules for Now’, ‘the end was almost too perfect: Gorbachev’s Soviet pen would not write and he had to borrow one from a CNN cameraman.’112

  For the new nations that sprang up after the dissolution of the communist bloc, life was not as rosy as they had expected it to be; unprepared for independence and with little experience of managing a free-market economy, they struggled under tough economic conditions and major increases in crime. Almost immediately, Yugoslavia fell apart in a brutal and bloody civil war. Territorial and ethnic conflict intensified elsewhere and terrorism became increasingly common.

  The Cold War had acted as a lid on simmering disputes, as order had come about ‘through the superpower dominance of two blocs and superpower influence in the third world.’113 Many nations now acquired highly sophisticated weapons and even nuclear weapons, which were seen as the only effective policy to challenge powers that they had no chance of defeating on a conventional battle-field. Indeed it was the threat of Iraq developing nuclear weapons that the USA used as an excuse to invade the oil-rich country in 2003.

  The Pendulum Turns: Europe Loses its Dominance

  After the Second World War, Europe ‘finally achieved peacefully what the Habsburgs, Bourbons, Napoleon and Hitler failed to achieve through violence’,114 yet by the end of the 20th century Western Europe could already see its dominance in world affairs begin to fade. Despite coming together in 1957 under the banner of the European Economic Community and under a common currency four decades or so later, Europe has been less and less able to compete with the dynamic growth witnessed in other parts of the world, specifically in China, which some would say is regaining the place it formerly occupied in the world. The centre of gravity of world power seems to be slowly shifting from the West back to the East.

  The growth in the economies of Asia was the success story for much of the 1990s. In fact, this decade saw such growth in the economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan that they were named the ‘Asian Tigers’. Growth then moved to China and to other countries in Asia.

  While many of the Asian countries became more capitalist and democratic with the growth of their economies, China managed to successfully introduce a mixture of capitalism and authoritarianism that saw its economy become the fastest growing economy in the world. Indeed low Chinese labour costs kept the cost of living down in the rest of the world and were largely responsible for what growth there was in the economies of the West.

  Yet China was, and remains, an autocratic state, and continued to pay scant regard to human rights, an attitude that was clearly demonstrated by the massacre of hundreds of democratic protesters on Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989. When attempts were made by Western governments to link trade with an increase in the country’s attitude towards human rights, China responded angrily, claiming that human rights monitoring violated its state sovereignty. Ashamedly sacrificing human rights considerations for economic interest, Western governments rapidly capitulated. Economic power was becoming increasingly important.

  The Resurgence of Islam

  The post Cold War era saw a revival of religion in the former communist states, split between Orthodox Christianity and Islam, and in Asia, where China saw a huge growth in the number of converts to Christianity. The Islamic world in particular, encouraged by the relative decline in Western power and prestige, became increasingly hostile to the West, and the Cold War between two superpowers was replaced by ‘a civilisational Cold War between Islam and the West’.

  Samuel Huntington, in his seminal work, The Clash of Civilizations, stated that this ‘Islamic Resurgence’ was at least as relevant as the Protestant Reformation and the French, American and Russian Revolutions. Several Islamic states, through their strategic locations, large populations and oil resources became increasingly influential in world affairs. Rejecting Western secularism, decadence and immorality, Islamic movements began to dominate the opposition to autocratic governments in Islamic countries. The success of these movements induced governments to promote Islamic practices and affirm the Islamic nature of the state.

  Huge population growth in Islamic countries and the significant increase in the number of people migrating to cities led to increasing unemployment and social unrest. Extremists managed to capitalise on the anger that resulted. The first decade of the 21st century saw an increase in terrorist attacks from Muslim extremists convinced that it was the duty of all Muslims to wage war against non-believers. These included a devastating attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11th 2001, and bombings in Bali (2002), Madrid (2004) and London (2005) amongst other attacks around the world. America responded to the attack on the World Trade Centre by initiating a ‘global war on terror ‘and invading Afghanistan.

  What's Next?

  In the 20th century we climbed the highest mountains, visited the extremes of the earth, and even landed a machine on another planet. What we have achieved as a species is quite spectacular. In many ways we currently live in the best of times; we have unlimited and cheap energy at our disposal, we have access to medicine unparalleled in human history, we can visit any part of the planet within 24 hours, and falling costs of computing and communications have contributed to bringing barriers down around the world in every shape and form. In theory, we should be at the pinnacle of our existence.

  Paradoxically however, the last century also witnessed the worst wars in history and even with our best minds we are still unable to free the vast majority of the world’s population from the ‘poverty trap’. Despite all the advances in science, education and communications, modern-day slavery in the form of human trafficking continues to blight the world in which we live and is becoming one of the fastest growing criminal activities. According to a UN report from 2003, an estimated 2.5 million people were in forced labour that year, of which 1.2 million were children being trafficked for commercial gain.115 Our endless hankering after material wealth and possessions has led to an explosion of debt and to a crisis in our financial system. We are no closer to the perfect political system than the ancient Greeks were.

  The resurgence of Islamic militancy threatens the very basis upon which modern Western society was built: freedom of expression, democracy and the rule of law. It also threatens the supply of oil, much of which lies in the Islamic countries of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Kuwait. If this supply is threatened, the West, and its trading partners, will suffer the consequences, and the result will be further instability and conflict.

  Yet there is a much larger threat to global prosperity and world peace than a rough economy or an unstable oil supply, as serious as they are. This threat is climate change. Despite clear evidence of the consequences of doing so, we pollute the fragile climate in which we live, inadvertently destroying the environmental resources upon which we, as a species, depend. In an endless drive for profit, we destroy
the forests which are needed to produce oxygen and reduce carbon dioxide – a large contributor to the heating of our planet – and through our addiction to hydrocarbons, we continue to pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink.

  Many previous societies have collapsed from over-exploiting their own resources. This is exactly what we are doing now, but on a much larger, global scale. We know the problems that we are storing up for ourselves, but our constant short-term approach and lack of political will to make unpopular decisions mean that we do nothing about it. We live in a state of denial.

  We may be immensely adaptable as a species, but with the world’s population now at seven billion and growing, it is becoming more and more likely that competition over resources such as water will increase to a critical point. Unless we begin to think in the long term over the short term, and do something to preserve our valuable resources, we will end up fighting over them, and then the future is very likely to consist of intolerance, warfare, starvation and genocide, as it has done in the past.

  Comments

  With such a broad subject to cover, it is clearly difficult to please everybody. Comments and / or corrections are gratefully accepted by the author.

  Please send these to info@lascelleshistory.com

  If you have enjoyed reading this ebook, then please take a moment to write a review on the website where you bought it.

  About the Author

  Christopher Lascelles studied modern languages and history at St Andrews University in Scotland. His experience living in Russia, France, Italy and India made him curious about how world history fits together in a bigger picture, and it was this that drove him to write A Short History of the World. This is his first book.

  Christopher is currently writing a book about the future.

  For more information on A Short History of the World, including high-resolution versions of the maps in this book and a timeline of the past 5,000 years, please visit www.lascelleshistory.com

  You can also follow Christopher on Twitter @historymeister

  Recommended Reading

  A Splendid Exchange

  W. Bernstein

  Collapse

  Jared Diamond

  Guns, Germs and Steel

  Jared Diamond

  The House of Wisdom

  Jonathan Lyons

  Mao’s Great Famine

  Frank Dikötter

  The Fall of the West

  Adrian Goldsworthy

  The Prize – The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power

  Daniel Yergin

  The Rise and Fall of Great Powers

  Paul Kennedy

  The Wealth and Poverty of Nations

  David Landes

  Why the West Rules for Now

  Ian Morris

  Worlds at War

  Anthony Pagden

  Also available

  from Crux Publishing…

  The Normans: From Raiders to Kings

  "Lars Brownworth’s The Normans is like a gallop through the Middle Ages on a fast warhorse. It is rare to find an author who takes on a subject so broad and so complex, while delivering a book that is both fast-paced and readable."

  Bill Yenne, author of Julius Caesar: Lessons in Leadership from the Great Conqueror; The White Rose of Stalingrad and Sitting Bull

  There is much more to the Norman story than the Battle of Hastings. These descendants of the Vikings who settled in France, England, and Italy - but were not strictly French, English, or Italian - played a large role in creating the modern world. They were the success story of the Middle Ages; a footloose band of individual adventurers who transformed the face of medieval Europe. During the course of two centuries they launched a series of extraordinary conquests, carving out kingdoms from the North Sea to the North African coast.

  In The Normans, author Lars Brownworth follows their story, from the first shock of a Viking raid on an Irish monastery to the exile of the last Norman Prince of Antioch. In the process he brings to vivid life the Norman tapestry’s rich cast of characters: figures like Rollo the Walker, William Iron-Arm, Tancred the Monkey King, and Robert Guiscard. It presents a fascinating glimpse of a time when a group of restless adventurers had the world at their fingertips.

  50 REASONS TO HATE THE FRENCH!

  “If the French can inspire a book as funny as this, perhaps we shouldn’t hate them after all!”

  Toby Young, Spectator critic

  “Deliciously irreverent and provocative!”

  Christopher Silvester, Independent on Sunday

  You winced when the Sun accused the French of being weasels over Iraq. You shuddered when the U.S. Congress renamed French fries. You sighed when the French rejected the European Constitution they’d written themselves. But come on, admit it: deep down there’s something in all of us that likes to take a swipe at our Gallic friends.

  This ebook provides you with fifty painstakingly researched, wittily written reasons to back up your views. From sinking the Rainbow Warrior, portraits of leaders past and present, to Serge Gainsbourg, the Quasimodo of French pop, this book answers every question you’ve got about the French – except one: “Why only fifty?’

  the thing about Islam

  exposing the myths, facts and controversies

  Islam in the twenty-first century is at the very heart of world affairs, including its conflicts. More than any other world religion it has sparked heated debate, its name associated with some of the greatest terrorist acts of our age. Some argue it is an intolerant faith that condones violence. Others go further, maintaining that terrorist attacks in recent times have showed Islam to have an inherently evil core. At the same time Muslims across the world have been left feeling that they have been subjected to hostility and victimisation. They themselves insist that Islam is peaceful and compassionate.

  With such diverging opinions and heated debate, it is sometimes hard to know whom and what to believe and what is the truth of it? What does Islam actually have to say about society, human rights, the role of women, marriage, and homosexuality? How can a religion that purports to be peaceful and compassionate ever be made an excuse for the human atrocities such as those we have seen in recent times in the bombings in London and New York? What are the challenges for Islam in the modern age? And is the rift that exists between Muslim and non-Muslim something that can, in time, be made to heal? Or are just we too different?

  the thing about Islam is an engaging and intelligently written introduction to the Islamic faith and people – a must-read for anybody looking for a simple introduction to the subject.

  A Short History of the World

  Copyright © 2011 by Christopher Lascelles.

  eBook ISBN 978-0-9571116-1-5

  The book is also available as a paperback form Amazon.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Crux Publishing Ltd.

  Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to hello@cruxpublishing.co.uk

  Maps produced by ML Design.

  To contact the author with comments or questions, please visit www.lascelleshistory.com

  For more great books by amazing authors, please visit:

  www.cruxpublishing.co.uk/books

  Notes

  1. K-T signifies Cretaceous-Tertiary, which are both names of geological periods.

  2. The little evidence we have for the evolution of man revolves around a very small number of skull and skeletal fragments found in different parts of the world.

  3. This is called the ‘Out of Africa’
theory.

  4. In all likelihood, there were other migrations between the two.

  5. Neanderthals originated in Europe while Homo Sapiens originated in Africa.

  6. We share 99.5 per cent of our DNA with Neanderthals.

  7. Earth’s history has been characterised by the coming and going of long ice ages. The Bering Strait may have been frozen just before the end of the last ice age in around 12,000 BC, allowing man to make the journey between the two continents.

  8. Neolithic means ‘New Stone Age’.

  9. The word 'Mesopotamia' comes from the Greek ‘mesos’- middle, and 'potamos' – river, i.e. land between the rivers.

  10. Indo-Europeans were a people who originated in an area between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

  11. In all likelihood, the Egyptians built their early pyramids with only copper and stone utensils, which makes the pyramids an even greater achievement than we might at first think, notwithstanding the untold misery of the workers that must have been involved in the process.