What is the West ?
At the middle of the fifteenth century (around 1450), the West was isolated. It was surrounded by a muslim-dominated Mediterranean Sea, Anatolia and Balkan region. Navigators, massively backed by States and European Dynasties, opened the world to Europeans. This article deem The West as the Western European civilization. In other words, this term gathers France, England, the Holy Empire of Germany, Italian cities, Spain and Portugal. These powers have longly collided the one with the other. Nevertheless, their affiliation to the same historical legacy, as well as religious past is not questionnable. In this article, we decided to speak about the US and to put this country in the West. However, we admit that he owns a very specific position in global history.
The West : the tradition of victories
Marx used to say that ” War is the engine of History “. To understand the Decline of The West, it is fundamental to take a look at wars. When Hernan Cortès set foot in Mexico in 1519, he conquered the Aztecs in three years with no more than 2000 soldiers. On the other side, the falling empire fought with hundreds of soldiers. While Aztecs did believe in the end of their world, via different predictions, the Spanish conquerors converted Aztecs. Cortès could understand the language of autochtonous to embrace the way of life of its opponents. Besides, Aztecs, as Incas later, were not used to wage war. They were accustomed of conflicts aiming at seize civilians. The invaders fought roughly, killed and slaughtered with no hesitation. They could easily defeat the non-organized warriors of their enemies.
Portuguese and Spanish where so powerful that they literally split the world in two thanks to two treaties : Tordesillas (1494) and Zaragoza (1529). Furthermore, the West, in addition to winning, doesn’t loose. More than 40 years later the Vienna’ siege, the Ottoman lost their fleet during the battle of Lepante in 1571. During this battle, Venetians proved their superiority over Ottomans, the historical enemy of the West. Ottomans used to be the great power of the Middle East. The West, is now strong and advanced enough to expand without credible adversaries.
The West at the beginning of the twentieth : the undisputed champion
Following the treaty of Paris (1763) between France and England, France admits its defeat in India, and Canada. British established in China (Honk Kong) and humiliated the millenium Empire of China. The Ottoman Empire, at the end of the nineteenth century, relies on Great Britain to exist. At this time, French and British had already split Africa. The western settlers also conquered most of Asia. The US started elaborating a new form of colonization in South America (Monroe Doctrine in 1823). At their peak, British and French respectively controlled 26 millions of square kilometers and 13 millions of square kilometers.
