Impact of sea power upon history Essay

Introduction â€Å"The profound influence of sea commerce upon the wealth and strength of countries was clearly seen long before the true principles which governed its growth and prosperity were detected. † (Mahan 2004) Water covers over three-fourths of the earth’s surface. The entire human civilization lives on the remaining one-fourth area of earth. And only 3% of the entire water present on the earth’s surface is fresh water. This leaves most of the remaining part of earth’s water area, as large salty water bodies everyone knows by the name of seas or oceans. These are the facts known to all, but few really come to know and appreciate the power that seas have wielded in the development of civilization. Before man ventured out into the sea for traveling, he was just a semi-barbaric creature, with limited trading and social skills. As humans decided to venture beyond to uncharted sea territories, and discovered new lands and newer civilization, the world started to get close and hence the progress of mankind, other 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 plague and big destructive wars to people residing on its shores. This paper will analyze all these issues, and will attempt to look at the effects these events brought to the civilization as a whole. â€Å"The history of Sea Power is largely, though by no means solely, a narrative of contests between nations, of mutual rivalries, of violence frequently culminating in war. † (Mahan 2004) History of Navigation History of Navigation can be traced back to centuries. Merchants in Egypt and Mesopotamia used to build large commercial vessels to carry and trade goods, more than 5500 years ago. In Egypt, sea voyage are even recorded in hieroglyphics, which can be dated back to 3200 BCE. One can take this as the starting point to trace the beginnings of navigation as a commercial pursuit. The first Western civilization in history, which is known to have developed the art of navigation at sea were the Phoenicians, more than 4,000 years ago. The popular stories of Helen of Troy were all related to sea travel. Phoenicians were in fact the first to use Pole Star for navigation, according to some accounts. Still under overcast skies, the navigation was usually based on sheer guesswork and intuition, till in about 2000 years ago, when Chinese created the first magnetized needle compass. This technique spread across the world in about a thousand years. In 12th and 13th centuries the science of making proper nautical charts and celestial almanacs began. By the 15th and 16th centuries, aggressive exploration of the world of the world started with explorers like Columbus getting funds from their respective Emperors to explore and enslave newer lands (Spera & Strom 2002). Nevertheless, it is wrong to think that the early explorers used to sail into the unknown without any idea of their final destination. It is true though that while searching for a specific land or route, the explorers were often surprised at the new lands they discovered. This was because many times the country they were seeking was only known in legend or rumor, the most famous example being Columbus, in the recent times. While the entire world is now charted and studied thoroughly, sea does not hold any less influence. The destruction brought by Tsunami is a very recent event. And even Mahan’s 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 shaping the civilization, by up throwing older empires and making newer one. One of the most famous older battles is the Battle of Thermopylae between 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). Major battles that were fought in this period were between 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 succession 1702-1713 i. e. The Sea battle of Malaga, Sea battles between Britain and Spain 1748, Seven 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 Revolution etc (Mahan 2004). These wars led to the building and destruction of colonies, and in turn exposed the people in the colonies to a wide array of culture and newer ideas which were previously only prevalent 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 generally followed trading routes and therefore, was especially brutal to coastal cities. This plague originated either in Ethiopia, moving through Egypt, or in the Central Asian steppes, where it then traveled along the caravan trading routes. Finally through either of these locations the disease quickly spread throughout the Roman world and beyond (Smith 1996). Another very infamous Plague closely resembling, but much more destructive was the Black Death in 1348. The effect of sea on Plague is even worse in this case. The Plague started in 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 townspeople 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 northern Italy and bringing the Black Death to Europe (www.eyewitnesstohistory. com). Conclusion The effect of sea on mankind has both – the positive effects of exchange of trade and ideas; and the negative effects of destruction and sometimes fatal diseases. One thing is clear however, no matter what the situation was, the mankind always managed to surge ahead learning 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, â€Å"The Influence of Sea Power Upon History†, 2004, Gutenberg. Stafford J, â€Å"Some Principles of Maritime Strategy†, February 16, 2005, Gutenberg Magazines Spera G, Strom S. R, â€Å"The Back Page: A Brief History of Human Navigation†, Crosslink Volume 3, Number 2, 2002, http://www. aero. org/publications/crosslink/summer2002/backpage. html Journals Smith C. A, â€Å"Plague in the Ancient World: A Study from Thucydides to Justinian†, The Student Historical Journal, 1996-97, http://www. loyno. edu/~history/journal/1996-7/Smith. html Websites â€Å"The Black Death, 1348,† EyeWitness to History, www. eyewitnesstohistory. com, 2001.