Impact of sea power upon history Essay

Introduction The profound influence of ocean commerce upon the wealth and strength of countries was distinctly seen long before the true principles which g all overned its proceeds and prosperity were detected. (Mahan 2004) Water covers over three-fourths of the footings surface. The unblemished hu macrocosm finish lives on the remaining fourth part atomic number 18a of earth. And only 3% of the faultless water present on the earths surface is fresh water. This leaves most of the remaining part of earths water area, as large savory water bodies e rattling one(a) knows by the name of seas or oceans.These are the facts known to all, moreover few really come to know and measure the power that seas have wielded in the schooling of civilization. Before man ventured out into the sea for traveling, he was just a semi-barbaric creature, with exceptional business and social skills. As existence decided to venture beyond to uncharted sea territories, and discovered modern lands and newer civilization, the foundation started to get close and hence the throw out of mankind, some other than strictly in the biological sense, came into picture.But, progress was not the only liaison which sea brought sometimes it also brought affections want plague and big destructive state of state of wars to citizenry residing on its shores. This paper will crush all these issues, and will attempt to find out at the effects these hithertots brought to the civilization as a whole. The story of Sea office staff is largely, though by no government agency solely, a narrative of contests amongst nations, of usual rivalries, of violence frequently culminating in war. (Mahan 2004) tarradiddle of Navigation History of Navigation basin be traced back to centuries.Merchants in Egypt and Mesopotamia utilise to build large commercial vessels to apply and trade goods, more than 5500 age ago. In Egypt, sea voyage are even recorded in hieroglyphics, which suffer be dated back to 3200 BCE. atomic number 53 can take this as the starting superlative to trace the beginnings of navigation as a commercial pursuit. The first Western civilization in history, which is known to have developed the art of navigation at sea were the Phoenicians, more than 4,000 years ago. The popular stories of Helen of troy were all related to sea travel. Phoenicians were in fact the first to use peculiarity Star for navigation, according to some accounts. unchanging under overcast skies, the navigation was commonly based on sheer crack and intuition, till in about 2000 years ago, when Chinese created the first magnetized acerate leaf compass. This technique spread crossways the humanness in about a gibibyte years. In 12th and 13th centuries the learning of making proper nautical charts and celestial almanacs began. By the 15th and sixteenth centuries, ravening exploration of the world of the world started with explorers handle Columbus getting funds fr om their various(prenominal) Emperors to explore and enslave newer lands (Spera & Strom 2002).Nevertheless, it is malign to think that the early explorers used to public opinion poll into the unknown without e genuinely idea of their last-place destination. It is true though that while intrusive for a specific land or route, the explorers were often surprised at the new lands they discovered. This was because many times the country they were seek was only known in romance or rumor, the most illustrious good example being Columbus, in the recent times. part the absolute world is now charted and analyse thoroughly, sea does not take to any less influence. The closing brought by Tsunami is a very recent event.And even Mahans lines about sea and war, mentioned above, still hold true, as the countries still are continuously protecting themselves against attacks from other countries. Famous diachronic battles Countless battles have been fought over the sea shaping the c ivilization, by up throwing elderly empires and making newer one. One of the most famous older battles is the Battle of Thermopylae amidst the Greek and Persians, changing the course of the entire war. As is mentioned in the section above, the warring exploration started in the 15th and 16th centuries, to enslave newer and older countries.Before this the exploration of the sea was usually only trade-oriented. umpteen of the 16th century explorations were funded by the govern Monarchs who wished only to increase their area of control (Stafford 2005). Major battles that were fought in this period were amidst face, Dutch, French and Spanish Monarchy. The popular battles were the Anglo-Dutch war 1665-1667, war England and France against united Provinces 1672-1674, between France and the entire Europe in1674-1678, battle of the Spanish succession 1702-1713 i. e.The Sea battle of Malaga, Sea battles between Britain and Spain 1748, Seven years war which establishes the English Sup remacy over the seas 1756-1763, Naval war in America and West Indies in 1778-1781 which led the way to the American variation etc (Mahan 2004). These wars led to the building and destruction of colonies, and in turn exposed the people in the colonies to a wide array of polish and newer ideas which were previously only prevalent in the Europe, and had led to them being superiors over other cultures. Diseases brought by sea.Diseases is not a shape usually associates with the sea, even though the possibilities are huge. However, the most destructive spread of aversion can be attributed to the seas and trade routes. pest is one of the most destructive as well as the most unfathomable disasters for humanity. While there is no depend relation between sea and plague, nevertheless the spread of plague with sea from one to other port cities is a very relevant domain. The earliest and the best document history of aversion was that of the Justinianic plague in the mid-sixth century.T he Justinianic plague generally followed trading routes and therefore, was peculiarly brutal to coastal cities. This plague originated every in Ethiopia, moving through Egypt, or in the Central Asian steppes, where it then(prenominal) traveled along the caravan trading routes. Finally through either of these locations the disease quickly spread throughout the Roman world and beyond (Smith 1996). Another very infamous Plague closely resembling, but much more destructive was the saturnine Death in 1348.The effect of sea on Plague is even worsened in this case. The Plague started in china and made its way west across Asia to the Black Sea by 1347. One theory states that a group of infected Tartars besieged a Genoese frontier settlement on the coast. Tartars harassed the trapped townsfolk by hurling the dead bodies of their comrades over the town walls spreading the epidemic among the Genoese. The scared inhabitants fled the scene by ship screening up in the ports of northern It aly and manner of speaking the Black Death to Europe (www.eyewitnesstohistory. com). windup The effect of sea on mankind has both the positive effects of permutation of trade and ideas and the negative effects of destruction and sometimes fatal diseases. One thing is clear however, no matter what the position was, the mankind always managed to surge forth learning newer things and forging newer relations. This has in the end brought only positive influences to the mankind in the longer run. References Books Mahan A. T, The Influence of Sea force Upon History, 2004, Gutenberg.Stafford J, Some Principles of Maritime outline, February 16, 2005, Gutenberg Magazines Spera G, Strom S. R, The Back Page A draft History of Human Navigation, Crosslink saturation 3, Number 2, 2002, http//www. aero. org/publications/crosslink/summer2002/backpage. html Journals Smith C. A, Plague in the Ancient World A Study from Thucydides to Justinian, The Student Historical Journal, 1996-97, http//ww w. loyno. edu/history/journal/1996-7/Smith. html Websites The Black Death, 1348, witness to History, www. eyewitnesstohistory. com, 2001.