Is it all inevitable? “Social complexity and government also appeared in other ways. For example, through trade. When pirates and marauders disrupted trade, they reduced wealth. Traders and local governments then organized to eliminate the threats. Romans expanded into the… Read More »History’s Network Effects
This was radical. “Christianity comes from Judaism, but Jews think they are Chosen People: Only them have been chosen by God to receive the Torah and follow his commandments. It’s a religion mixed with an ethnicity. A private club. Back… Read More »How Christianity Went Viral
When you are bored… “Imagine you’re Portugal. It’s 1249. You’ve been fighting Muslims for 500 years (and a few Christian neighbors too), and this year you finally reach the southern coast after conquering the Algarve region. You’re done with your… Read More »A Brief History of Portugal
It is simple. “If you’re a pirate—or a competing European power—and you want to get your hands on that wealth, you’re going to attack the weakest points between Veracruz and Spain. If you’re Spain, you want to protect the loot… Read More »A Brief History of the Caribbean
Nothing is like a common enemy. “The northern mountains might not be very conducive to peace in normal times. But these were not normal times. These peoples were all Christian, and they shared an enemy on the other side of… Read More »A Brief History of Spain
Deserts are bad. “Crossing the Sahara by land was impossible. The desert is massive. Miles and miles of nothing. The distance to cross it was just too great. The only way through it was through the Nile, but even then… Read More »Why Europeans Colonized America Before Africa
Mountains and passes and power. “These two passes, the one through Carcassonne and the other through the Rhône Valley, are the only two flat connections between the Northern European Plain and the Mediterranean. The ramifications have defined the power of… Read More »How to Understand France
So true. “Geography and history shouldn’t be memorized. They should be understood.” https://unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/p/why-did-vikings-appear-out-of-nowhere
Bad luck. “Did you know that one of the oldest cities ever discovered, and the oldest one in Europe, is in Ukraine?” https://unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/p/why-isnt-ukraine-a-global-superpower
Geography at work again. “Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria are all in the Levant, a region that isn’t populated enough to become dominant, but is surrounded by superpowers.” https://unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/p/what-is-happening-in-syria