Empire K.C. Flashcards
What is empire
A civilization that expands their land into other lands.Tends to be ruled by one person, conquered other people and lands. All built something.
Assyrians conquered the Babylonians
Egypt conquered Palestine, Syria, and Nubia and ruled by a god-king, specifically Ramses III
Chinese empire was ruled by only Shi Huangdi who had ultimate power
Why do Empires form
Self defense, to stabilize/bring peace, new resources, spread ideas, gain power
Assyria was in the flat area of Mesopotamia and didn’t have any natural defense, so they were frequently attacked until they decided to attack others instead of being attacked
Egypt conquered to drive out the Hyksos and so that they would never be conquered again
Shi Huangdi conquered to unify the warring states and bring peace/stability to the lands
How do empires form
Through war/miliary means, trade, tolerance
War: Assyrians had advanced war strategies and the Egyptian empire was formed when Thutmose III invaded and took over Palestine, Nubia, and Syria
Trade: Phoenicians, Hatshepsut
How do empires maintain thier power
Through WAR (Assyrians fought to keep their rebelling lands undercontrol through military means), COMMUNICATION/UNIFICATION (Persia and China with common coinage and the road system), TRADE INCREASE (Egyptians, Hatshepsut who brang trade to their conquered lands), ROADS (China with the regulated road system and Persia who used the Royal Road to go from one end of the empire to the other), TOLERANCE (Persians/Cyrus, who let the conquered keep their land so they hated them less), EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT (Persia with the province to regulate each area), CONTROL KNOWLEDGE (legalists who burned books).
How do empires fail
They WERE CONQUERED (Assyrians were conquered by the Medes and Chaldeans), a LEADER DIES (Egypt failed shortly after Ramses III died and China failed after Shi Huangdi died), INTERNAL REBELLION (Assyrians, Egypt)
What were the positives to empire
INCREASED WEALTH (Egypt Hapshetsut with trade), SAFER, DEFENSE FROM THE MOST POWERFUL EMPIRE (Assyria), NEW TECHNOLOGY/WAR TECH (Assyrians brang them new war techniques along with armour)
What were the negatives to empire
STRICT CONTROL (Assyrians who fought those who opposed and China who regulated roads, ideas, and nobels), HARSH PUNISHMENTS (China, if you were caught traveling without a permit, your ear was cut off as legalists believed in harsh punishments), LOSS OF KNOWLEDGE (China, Shi Huangdi and the legalists burned many knowledge that could suggest criticsm of the government including confucianistic texts)
