As a 4X, strategy and tactical gamer I have always loved playing on the map of Europe. Nowhere else on the planet exists such a plethora of strategic and tactical chokepoints. There are so many islands; large, medium and small. There are so many peninsulas of so many sizes. There is such a vast array of differing climates and ecosystems on such a small area of land, it is no wonder to me why civilization began there.

Island examples: England (huge), Ireland (large), Sicily (medium), Crete (small), and teeny tiny Islands all over the place, lots concentrated around Greece. Which is also why I think that one of the first civilizations started around Greece.

Peninsulas: They are everywhere. Spain, Italy, Scandinatia, Turkey, Greece, Arabian, Denmark, some sticking out of Western England on a smaller tactical scale, but most importantly these huge peninsulas on a strategic scale. Peninsulas are why I think medium sized city-states conglomerated into Kingdoms and maybe later Empires.

No doubt, I love the European playground when playing those wargames.

During around the times of the Golden Age of Greece, that entire area is dotted with small, medium, and large sized islands. Very easy to defend against enemies when your living on an island. No need to invest large amounts of capital on an army, so that's why I think civilization began to thrive there. I do not undestand how the Sumarian types of empires began in and around Persia and Iraq, no doubt a brutal regimented militaristic society had to defend such a large area of land with no chokepoints. Those may have been empires, but probably not a nice place to live.

Later, during the dark ages when kindoms sprouted up all over the place, France, England, Spain, Denmark, Scandinavia, Italy were probably the places to live. You didn't need a gigantic standing army to defend, or taxes to pay for a gigantic standing army. Although for Italy, they weren't united, but were a bunch of quarling city-states for a long time. Chokepoints are easier to defend against, and a navy to transport an army to strategically flank is very expensive. Between France and England was an ocean, thin in spots but its still an ocean. Between France and Spain, a proportionaly narrow strip of land which is mostly rocky. Between Denmark and the Holey Roman Empire, a very narrow strip of land, easier to defend against then say between the Germans and Polish who held a wide border which an army can easilly pass through.

Anywhere else in the world, there exist no other such continent with such strategic and tactical variety. Look at the map of the US. No chokepoints, a huge fat swath of land. How can the natives build up an empire if there were no chokepoints a military can defend against. All an invading army had to do was draw a straight line between their teepees and their enemies teepees, and march.

No chokepoints, constant warfare, no prosperity. Notice the chokepoints surrounding the Inca and Aztec empires. For the Inca it is those huge looming snow peaked Andes Mountains. But the Inca probably didn't survive because one chokepoint isn't enough. Not to mention the their Andes Mountain chokepoint was very long, and from a military standpoint, not so great, but its better then nothing. For the Aztecs it was the shape of the peninsula they were living on, they only had to defend against the north and south, but then again those chokepoints were not small enough and restricting enough to last. Not so in Europe.

The Chinese probably survived only because of the scale of their state, and how it expanded against the Gobi, the ocean, and Himalayas. Three very effective chokepoints. If the incas and aztecs would have grown larger like the Chinese, they probably would have survived and prospered better. But even the Chinese usually digressed into constant warfare after breaking up into smaller states. The Chinese were too big for their military technology at that time.

but what else would we expect from you - nice avatar by the way, where's your nearest meeting?

I'm not talking about the origins of half-monkey half-men, i'm talking about the origin of civilization. Besides the extremely low amount of subject bones does not mean monkeymen originated in Africa, it just means someone was lucky to stumble across ONE little tiny bit of monkeyman skull in Africa. That excessively low amount of data not enough to draw a conclusion about anything involving the monkeymen, other then Democrats think like monkeymen.

Even then, most agree that "civilization" actually began in the Middle East, most likely in Iraq, very near where Baghdad is today.

Is that in Europe?

Regards,
Gaar

__________________
A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets rough -- Ronald Reagan

Like I said, the old Sumarian types of civilizations that originated there don't fit within my chokepoint theory. They were probably not very nice places to live, it was probably brutally militaristic just to maintain it's large and wide borders. And those empires rose and fell with regularity, they didn't last very long.

The Hamurabi Code (first written record) mirrors their brutal militaristic regime mindset. Being a country, kingdom, empire is good, but living under tyranny simply to maintain a tyranny isn't pleasant. And it takes a tyrant to maintain a large army to guard huge frontier borders. Those first middle eastern Empires were all ruled by tyrants.

Empires began in the Middle East, Civilization began in Greece.

Writing came form these old 'barbaric' civilizations, as did many other things necessary for civilization to exist. The Hammurabi code is the first law to exist, when Europeans where still rolling around in the dirt. It also had some wonderful laws, still used today, concerning marriage etc.

And Egypt had great choke points, with the Sinai on the one side, and the Sahara on the other, and this was a great civilization, one that the Greeks often said is the forerunner to their own.

But of course Righty, this does not count.

According to you, I guess the first true civilization was built by Republicans!

__________________
“The subject no longer has to be mentioned by name. Someone is sick. Someone else is feeling better now. A friend has just gone back into the hospital. Another has died. The unspoken name, of course, is AIDS.”
“From the point of view of the pharmaceutical industry, the AIDS problem has already been solved. After all, we already have a drug which can be sold at the incredible price of $8, 000 an annual dose, and which has the added virtue of not diminishing the market by actually curing anyone.”

we invited alien invasion, which has devastated us. Hopefully, our fascist option will prevail and reverse modern history. GO FALANGE.

Attached Images

2.jpg (4.7 KB, 451 views)

__________________
Kick'm in the frig'n nuts.

Uhhhh..... What the hell is WhiteJackal talking about? Dude, lay off the rum... I mean, I drink... alot... but dude...

__________________
Patriotic Dissentor and Lovin it!
Death to those who Oppress and threaten the True People.

No brainless Democrat, I just forgot to mention Egypt. Egypt has an excellent fast transport logistics system (the Nile) for it's time, surrounded by Desert everywhere. But Egypt came at about the time of the Greeks. But your a Democrat who looks for loopholes everywhere. The law, the bible, anywhere there is a loophole to benefit your evil ideology, you will find it.

Political and the other "white Supremacists" are basically the same thing. And notice how they often pat themselves on the backs on this very forum.

Also notice how Democrats poo poo the "white Supremacists" and then embrace Muslims. All 3 groups are plainly nuts.