Still, in spite of it all, the idea of human dignity, beauty, culture, and of a cooperative self-development of a people that the renaissance had brought into the open, was not defeated at this time.  It continued beyond the Thirty Years War.  It lead to the great cultural renewal that gave us such geniuses as Mozart, Haydn, Shakespeare, Schiller, Leibnitz, etc...  This renewal also furnished the background for the self-liberation of a number of British Colonies in North America, from the British Empire that had grown out of the Venetian background and had become evermore repressive.

Venice must have found its tiny Italian base too limited for the power it sought, and its traditional region too depleted after the Thirty Years War, which prompted its oligarchy to look further abroad.  Evidently if found some 'fertile' ground in the northern area of Europe, especially in England.   Thus it began a subtle takeover of the English monarchy.  Although, this took 200 years to accomplish, when the process was finished with the succession of George I to the throne (who was in effect a dodge) the new British Empire was poised to loot the world.

The new Empire soon became the biggest colonial and financial empire on the planet, and the world's foremost slave trader and dope pusher.  In the 18th century 2,000,000 slaves were 'harvested' out of the jungles of Africa by the colonial empires of the time, of which the British Empire had become the greatest.  Almost 75% of all slaves were carried on the ships of the British Empire, especially in the later years.  The slaves were mostly 'traded' to the colonies.

Another imperial 'trade' was in dope, for which a market was enforced by means of war.  Here, the fur trade played a role.  Fur trapping in North America (controlled by the Hudson Bay Co. - a crown corporation if the British Empire) fed the Indian market, for proceeds in dope which was 'traded' to China for gold etc..  It didn't matter that the Chinese were unwilling to allow their society to be destroyed with narcotics imports.  The Empire simply bombed the hell out their port cities with its infamous gun boats, until the Chinese gave in.  After two such wars China capitulated and allowed the British dope imports to proceed.  After this it really lost the war.  The Optimum Wars had forced China into a free-trade agreement with the British Empire from which it never truly recovered.  The curse of the poppy became a part, even of its modern history.

Narcotics are poisons which act against the most crucial foundation of a population: its mental capability.  Nor has the Empire quit the dope business, although its part in the game is now largely in the financial end of it, where it converts well over half a trillion dollars in annual dope-cash-flow into tax free legitimate accounts.

The two cycles of history where a bright period of renaissance was followed by a dark period of imperial domination have many similarities between them.  Each period of renaissance lasted for about 500-600 years, and so did the major imperial periods that followed the periods of renaissance.

The time-span between Homer's work and the beginning of the Roman Empire was slightly more than half a millennium, and so was the time-span of the Roman Empire that took over.  When the Roman empire collapsed, a great opportunity had opened up like a break in some dark clouds after a downpour.  It gave mankind a chance to change direction and start a new renaissance.  But this chance was largely missed.

This great chance for a fundamental renewal was only to a very small degree grasped. It becomes evident that the mere shutdown of an imperial structure is not sufficient in itself a cause the start of a dramatic new renaissance.  None-the-less a spiritual renewal of some sort did occur after the fall of Rome.

Next Page

|| - page index - || - chapter index - || - Exit - ||

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