The subject of a recent National Geographic series on PBS, ‘Guns,
Germs, and
Steel’ asks the question of why certain
societies and not
others developed and advanced into dominant powers that shape our world.
Jared Diamond believes that the basis for success lies in environmental
and ecological differences between the continents. That the climates of
Europe, the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, and east Asia all favored plant
and animal species that were essential to the establishment of
agricultural societies. Food production is critical to the development
of civilized societies as it allows for the establishment of permanent
settlements and food surpluses that allow humans to advance in other
areas necessary for ascendency. Namely
writing, technological
development, governmental organization, and war.
This is not a unique or even a new
theory. Diamond, however, builds on
it by arguing that
geography was not simply key in the birth of
civilization, but that it has been a central pivot for all developments
since. Essentially his theory is that the success or failure of any
given society can, in some way, be traced to its geographical reality.
The domestication of animals is a case in point. Here again, Eurasia
was favored with animals with suitable behavioral traits for
domestication. The success of this process placed Eurasians in close
proximity to large numbers of livestock and from this exposure humans
developed resistence to various diseases – many human diseases have
their origins in animal populations. This resistence became a critical
strength when confronting other societies in other parts of the world.
Small pox decimated the population of the new world and was an ally in
European conquest of the Americas. Disease was also something that
European technology and weaponry could not defend against. Malaria
impeded European control of certain areas of the globe for centuries.
Diamond presents a history of the origin of writing. Developed at
roughly the same time by several societies, early writing had specific,
and limited, uses. Diamond traces its gradual refinement and
spread.
Again this spread was influenced by geography. The adoption of writing
was assisted in Europe by good cross-continental communications and
hampered in isolated parts of the globe where the environment presented
formidable geographical barriers. The same is true of other
technologies – development and spread is dependent on population
density and geography. Furthermore technology tended to spread east and
west much easier than north and south. Climate, temperature, and
topography remain similar along the lines of latitude and successful
implementation required less technical adaptation.
War is critically dependent on technology. The weaponry of Europe
allowed Spain to easily defeat the Incas and conquer an empire. At the
battle of Cajamarca in 1532, 169 Spaniards defeated an Inca army of
80,000 with not a single Spanish casualty. The Spanish had steel swords
and gunpowder, the Incas wooden clubs.
Diamond presents several case studies of different regions. Here he
applies the theories and concepts he has laid out. He concludes with a
proposal to extend the approach of ‘Guns, Germs, and Steel’ to smaller
geographical areas and on shorter timelines. What he is proposing is a
theory for historical analysis.
At 480 pages, ‘Guns, Germs, and Steel’ covers a huge swath of human
history and presents an extensive theoretical model for understanding
the development of human societies and our modern world.
More reviews about the Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies