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Writer's pictureNavya Prabhakara

History: A Guide To The Present

Hi! Welcome back to my blog! Today, I will be talking about world history. I’ve recently been learning about ancient civilizations in school, and found the topic really interesting. I specifically looked into the fall of Ancient Greece. 


In every aspect of our lives, there are systems in place. By systems, I mean government systems, economic systems, technological systems, and more. There are several reasons why Ancient Greece declined, and the downfall of  interdependence between systems did contribute to it. Firstly, the connection I will be making is between political structures and government. Ancient Greece was divided into city-states, each of which had their own law and government. For centuries, the city-states of Ancient Greece had rebellions, and were constantly in the middle of wars and conflicts. This made Ancient Greece weak over time. 


The political structures heavily relied on the government. The city-states shared the same culture, but never the same loyalty to Ancient Greece as a whole. This also made defeating a strong opponent like Ancient Rome nearly impossible. In 146 B.C.E, the Ancient Romans conquered Ancient Greece at the Battle of Corinth. One of the reasons that Ancient Rome was able to conquer Ancient Greece was because of the fact that there was no proper government. To me, this displays the decline in the connection between political structures and government, since the political structures depended on the government and both collapsed. 


Another reason that Ancient Greece fell is because of climate change and food supply. In Ancient Greece, they were heavily reliant on trade. Crop production in Ancient Greece was limited due to lack of rainfall, proper farmland and water for irrigation. The shortage of natural resources made the Ancient Greeks depend overseas for necessities such as food and water. However, Ancient Greece did not have strong relationships with neighbouring civilizations. Due to the unstable social structures within the civilization, it was difficult to create relationships overseas. Trade routes and alliances were also changing often within Ancient Greece. Since food supply relied on trade and their relationships with neighbouring civilizations and each other were in a very unstable situation, the effect turned out to be very impactful. The food supply was very much dependent on trade, so the food supply collapsed after trade declined. 


I think that history is very important and beneficial in our lives. Firstly, I believe that we can learn from the past. There are so many mistakes that have been committed and occurred in the past. We can choose to learn about history, while acknowledging the mistakes made in the past. As a result, we can truly understand the consequences of these errors that were made, and recognise the importance of not repeating those mistakes. 


Secondly, I think history is a huge aspect of our lives. Without history, the world would not be what it is today. Every part of our planet today comes from history and the past. If one thing in history happened differently, our lives now could be completely different. That makes me understand the importance of history, and how it plays a huge role in our future. This also reminds me of a quote by Carl Sagan, who once said “You have to know the past to understand the present”. I think this really helps strengthen the significance of the past, and how that affects our lives. I think that history plays an important role in our lives, and it’s important to recognize the influence it has on our futures.

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