Civilizations

1
Civilizations
2
What is a civilization?

• A society in which large numbers of people share
  many things in common such as
• Culture
• Cities
• Style of government
• Economies

3
The 4 Stages of Civilization

• Gestation
• The civilization is born and prospers because of
  increased production inside and growth at the
  expense of neighbors
• The Age of Expansion
• The civilization grows in population, geography,
  production, and power until it reaches a crisis
  of organization.

4

• The Age of Conflict
• The civilization can no longer expand because of
• Internal class conflicts
• Imperial Wars drain resources and wealth
• Culture becomes pessimistic, paranoid
• The Age of Universal Empire/Decline
• The civilization reorganizes into an empire it
  is often united by a single government which is
  authoritarian in nature
• Another civilization rises up and conquers it

5
What Makes a civilization rise?

• Growth from within
• Productive agriculture
• Productive industries
• Technology advances
• Growth from outside
• Ideas/goods from other civilizations are adopted
  and improved upon

6
What Causes Civilizations to Expand?

• Population growth due to productive agriculture
  and advances in medicine
• Superior weaponry
• Superior organization skills

7
What is the Age of Conflict

• Expansion becomes impossible
• There is not enough money, resources, or manpower
  to push the civilization outward
• The economy, which has evolved based on
  expansion, contracts
• The population becomes restless, paranoid, and
  critical of the system that is no longer bringing
  it prosperity
• The government or those in power move to oppress
  the population to avoid being removed from power
  (authoritarianism)

8
What is the age of empire?

• Some power within the civilization takes complete
  control, unifies the civilization under a single
  system, and tries to maintain order
• Another civilization which has been going through
  its expansion phase conquers the old civilization
• There have been roughly 20 civilizations in
  history, 12-14 of which are dead or dying. Of
  those 12-14, 6 have been destroyed by Western
  Civilization