Impact of sea power upon history Essay

Introduction The profound work of sea commerce upon the wealth and strength of countries was all the way seen long before the true up principles which g all overned its growth and prosperity were detected. (Mahan 2004) Water covers over three-fourths of the egraphicshs surface. The wide-cut-cut human refinement lives on the stay one-fourth ara of earth. And scarcely 3% of the finished water present on the earths surface is fresh water. This leaves most of the remaining exposit of earths water area, as ample salty water bodies e rattlingone k straightways by the name of seas or oceans.These are the facts known to all, but few real come to know and appreciate the power that seas suck in wielded in the development of civilization. Before man ventured step forward into the sea for traveling, he was just a semi-barbaric creature, with especial(a) trading and social skills. As humans resolved to venture beyond to uncharted sea territories, and observe new lands and newer civilization, the world started to get close and thusly the progress of mankind, opposite than strictly in the biological sense, came into picture.But, progress was not the only thing which sea brought sometimes it also brought diseases like canker and sizable unwholesome wars to people residing on its shores. This paper give analyze all these issues, and will attempt to reflection at the effects these horizontalts brought to the civilization as a whole. The tale of ocean Power is widely, though by no means solely, a narrative of contests in the midst of nations, of mutual rivalries, of violence frequently culminating in war. (Mahan 2004) archives of Navigation explanation of Navigation can be traced back to centuries.Merchants in Egypt and Mesopotamia used to build large commercial vessels to carry and barter goods, more than 5500 long time ago. In Egypt, sea voyage are up to now recorded in hieroglyphics, which can be date back to 3200 BCE. whizz can take thi s as the starting point to trace the beginnings of navigation as a commercial pursuit. The first westernmostern civilization in bill, which is known to have developed the art of navigation at sea were the Phoenicians, more than 4,000 historic period ago. The popular stories of Helen of Troy were all related to sea travel. Phoenicians were in fact the first to use terminus Star for navigation, according to some accounts.Still downstairs overcast skies, the navigation was usually based on sheer guesswork and intuition, till in round 2000 years ago, when Chinese created the first magnetized beset compass. This technique spread across the world in about a thousand years. In twelfth and 13th centuries the science of making proper maritime charts and celestial almanacs began. By the 15th and 16th centuries, in-your-face exploration of the world of the world started with explorers like capital of Ohio getting funds from their respective Emperors to explore and subject newer land s (Spera & Strom 2002).Nevertheless, it is wrong to think that the early explorers used to tack into the unknown without some(prenominal) idea of their final destination. It is true though that while searching for a item land or route, the explorers were often surprised at the new lands they discovered. This was because many times the country they were pursuance was only known in legend or rumor, the most famous example being Columbus, in the recent times. opus the entire world is now charted and studied thoroughly, sea does not hold any less influence. The destruction brought by Tsunami is a very(prenominal) recent event.And even Mahans lines about sea and war, mentioned above, still hold true, as the countries still are always protecting themselves against attacks from other countries. Famous historical battles Countless battles have been fought over the sea formative the civilization, by up throwing honest-to-goodness empires and making newer one. unrivaled of the most famous older battles is the Battle of battle of Thermopylae surrounded by the Greek and Persians, changing the course of the entire war. As is mentioned in the section above, the aggressive 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. Many of the 16th century explorations were funded by the reigning Monarchs who wished only to increase their area of reign (Stafford 2005). study battles that were fought in this period were amongst English, 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 epoch 1702-1713 i. e.The Sea battle of Malaga, Sea battles between Britain and Spain 1748, sevener years war which establishes the English Supremacy over the seas 1756-1763, Naval war in America and West Indies in 1778-1781 which led the way to the American transmutation etc (Mahan 2004). These wars led to the building and destruction of colonies, and in twist around exposed the people in the colonies to a wide array of culture and newer ideas which were previously only frequent in the Europe, and had led to them being superiors over other cultures. Diseases brought by sea.Diseases is not a term usually associates with the sea, even though the possibilities are huge. However, the most destructive spread of Plague can be attributed to the seas and trade routes. Plague is one of the most destructive as well as the most incomprehensible disasters for humanity. While there is no direct relation between sea and plague, yet the spread of plague with sea from one to other port cities is a very relevant domain. The earliest and the best documented history of Plague was that of the Justinianic plague in the mid-sixth century.The Justinianic plague in the main followed trading routes and theref ore, was especially brutal to coastal cities. This plague originated either in Ethiopia, moving by Egypt, or in the Central Asian steppes, where it then travelled along the caravan trading routes. Finally through either of these locations the disease quickly spread passim the Roman world and beyond (Smith 1996). Another very infamous Plague closely resembling, but lots more destructive was the unforgiving Death in 1348.The effect of sea on Plague is even worse in this case. The Plague started in mainland 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 outpost on the coast. Tartars harassed the trapped townspeoplesfolk by hurling the dead bodies of their comrades over the town walls spreading the epidemic among the Genoese. The panicked inhabitants fled the scene by ship showing up in the ports of Union Italy and bringing the Black Death to Europe (www.eyewitnesstohistory. com). finding The e ffect of sea on mankind has two the coercive effects of exchange of trade and ideas and the minus effects of destruction and sometimes fatal diseases. One thing is clear however, no matter what the station was, the mankind always managed to surge ahead scholarship 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 Power Upon History, 2004, Gutenberg.Stafford J, Some Principles of Maritime strategy, February 16, 2005, Gutenberg Magazines Spera G, Strom S. R, The Back Page A Brief History of Human Navigation, Crosslink Volume 3, Number 2, 2002, http//www. aero. org/publications/crosslink/summer2002/backpage. hypertext markup language Journals Smith C. A, Plague in the Ancient population A Study from Thucydides to Justinian, The Student Historical Journal, 1996-97, http//www. loyno. edu/history/journal/1996-7/Smith. html Websites The Black Death, 1348, EyeWitness to History, www. eyewitnesstohistory. com, 2001.