Only once in history, during the infamous Thirty Years War, has the brutality of man against man faintly approximated the level and scope of brutality that marks the twentieth century.  Nevertheless, in the shadow of all this, arises the possibility that a new renaissance might yet spring forth out of the ashes of destruction.  Such a reversal has been achieved several times in the past.  The potential exists for mankind in this age to make a future brighter than in all the ages since the dawn of man.  In very real terms mankind stands at the portal to infinity in every respect: technologically, economically, culturally, scientifically, and agriculturally.  This potential is absolutely real.  It could become concrete reality if mankind will but grasp it.

History tells us that each succeeding period of renaissance has been greater, in terms of achievements, than the period before.  Certain fundamental laws can be gleaned from this and projections made.  Such projections do indeed coincide with potentials in current development.  History also teaches us that none of mankind's periods of renaissance emerged by themselves, without a dedicated effort by the whole of society, towards the goal that has become the driving force for each of these periods of humanist progress.

We learn form this that progress in the broad human domain, regardless of any existing potential, is fundamentally neither a gift, nor the result of passing time.  We are told from the annals of history that in spite of the warring dynasties and empires that existed from the earliest ages of civilization on, there were succeeding brief spans of time, beginning with the old Babylonian civilization some 3,800 years ago, when society had made itself quite a rich one, culturally by its own dedicated efforts.  (Frequently these efforts were sparked by a single pioneer.)  Nor was the Babylonian period the very first such period of cultural awakening.  An earlier dynasty, for instance, that of the Akkad people, some 4,300 years ago, had already been officially bilingual.  This particular civilization had incorporated both a pictographic language, and a literary language (cuneiform).  Literary advances have always been a fundamental element in staging a new renaissance, as they enable a greater depth in communicating and formulating new ideas.  While the Akkad people did not launch a full fledged renaissance 3,800 years ago, their literary language remained in use for almost 2000 years, spanning across several dynasties.

The undeniable fact that there have been dynastic periods that have had, to some degree, a contributory influence on the advance of humanity and its civilization, does not mean that the dynastic and imperial processes are ideal for nurturing the emergence of cultural development.  It merely means that in the more progressive dynasties the imperial process was less intrusive and destructive to the natural self-development of humanity.  The self-development of mankind has had its own driver, independent of the imperial forces, which these forces have suppressed, some more so than others.  This is why the environments of renaissance have proven to be so explosive in advancing human progress, as they became periods in which mankind's natural self-development tendency was purposely enhanced and promoted.

Here we see a definable factor emerging for determining the strength of mankind's civilization, which is something quite unrelated to the supposed strengths of empires and their imaginary wealth.

On this note we begin to explore the underlying regions of universal history.

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Stories about War from novels by Rolf A. F. Witzsche