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Why did Western societies come to dominate the globe?

  Two authors attempt to answer that question:

“Guns, Germs, and Steel” by Jared Diamond

“Carnage and Culture” by Victor Davis Hanson

Guns, Germs, and Steel

Diamond argues geographic determinism – meaning that cultures were a product of a variety of geographic factors – he rejects the notion of any racial or cultural superiority

Advantage 1: Many available plant species that were easily domesticated

            For example: Europe and the Fertile Crescent benefited from:

                        Wheat, barley – which have high yields, high carbs, and are fast growing

                        Peas, lentils – which are high in protein

            The Mediterranean benefits from having 32 different large seeded grass species

Advantage 2: Because Europe and Asia are on an East-West axis that allows domesticated crops to spread quickly in regions with similar climates – it is important to note that Africa and the Americas are on a North-South axis.

Advantage 3: Many available animal species that were easily domesticated

            Eurasia has 72 possible candidates for domestication

Sheep, goat, horse, cow, and pig are considered the major 5 and all came from Eurasia

            Sub-Saharan Africa had 51 candidates

            The Americas had 24 candidates

Result: Food surpluses led to food storage led to advanced societies

Food storage allowed for the creation of large, dense, sedentary, and stratified societies

The societies then developed technology for weapons and ocean-going ships, sophisticated political organizations, and writing

Result: Disease was promoted

            Dense societies mean that disease can spread rapidly

            Close proximity to domesticated animals meant diseases often jumped species

                        Measles, smallpox, and tuberculosis from cattle, flue from ducks and pigs

So Europe had developed a variety of diseases to unleash when they made contact with the New World

Culture and Carnage

Response to geographic determinism: It is impossible to determine whether man, nature, or chance was the catalyst for Western civilization – what is clear is that the West has almost always dominated the battlefield

Why not China? India? They are on the same East-West axis and developed plenty of technology (notably gunpowder)

For that matter Western armies have not always had better weapons

Nor have the weapons alone explained why they were able to overcome overwhelming numbers (Like Cortes and the Aztecs)

So the reason: war is a product of culture

                        Japan bans firearms

China develops gunpowder but does not develop it into an effective weapon

Aztecs develop a form of combat based on nonlethal capture

But the Western world developed an amoral form of war not shackled by ritual, tradition, or ethics

            Western armies:

            Often fought with or for a sense of freedom:

                        Fighting to protect their own property and liberty

                        Freedom encourages innovation and improvisation

                        Freedom enhances morale and confidence

            Western individualism allows for innovation at all levels of an army

            Frequently the products of civic militarism:

                        Europe could raise large armies to defend homeland

                        Citizen as soldier and society as war machine

                        Armies with legal rights and civic responsibility

                        Soldiers come from all ranks of society – officers and enlisted

                        Motivated not by loot or pay

Western armies seek head-to-head battle that destroys the enemy

            Emerged from Greek warfare where united freemen were were willing to seek decisive and deadly outcomes

            Why we see the shelling and bombing of cities as ethical but terrorist (ie secret) attacks as unethical

Western soldiers are disciplined to fight as a group not as individuals

            Training in rank, close-order formation drills develop soldiers who can be quickly commanded and ready to obey – emphasis not on individual bravery but on keeping in rank and formation

            Rank and formation also rely upon a notion of equality with fellow soldiers

Free inquiry and rationalism means that Western armies often have superior weapons and can adapt quickly

                        Can respond rationally to changing situations

            Capitalism means Western armies are often lavishly equipped

Capital is tied to technological innovation – profit motive to develop better weapons and technology – profit motive also ensures bountiful supply of materials of generally high quality