First Edition, Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1776

Understanding why Putin invaded Ukraine — and the inevitable losses Russia confronts — can help accelerate Russia’s ending of hostilities.

Chris Snow, at Medium, on the rise and fall of the Soviet Empire (Glory Blog 2 from Part  Snow Part 1), provides enough revelations for more than one blog of which this is the second).  Excerpt:

Historical Background knowledge

First, let me give you a simplified overview of the history of Europe and its once powerful colonial empires. This knowledge will help us to understand the conditions that have led to the two major collapses of Russian power in the 20th century.

Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too. Marcus Aurelius

Our journey through history begins in 1872, in the age of imperialism.

The German Kaiserreich was founded in 1871, and it had been industrializing and growing rapidly. The German Kaiser Wilhelm I longed for a “place in the sun.”

At first, his Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck opposed direct colonial holdings, in 1884, he succumbed to the “colonial fever” of the public.

However, the best spots on the imperial map had already been occupied by other colonial European powers. A rapidly industrializing and growing empire needs resources. Germany’s labor force left the fields and rapidly urbanized.

This process caused major social and economic problems. Child mortality rates sharply declined. However, the demand for resources was increasing sharply.

An industrial economy of scale cannot function well unless certain conditions are met.

1. Geography and a functional state apparatus.

According to Peter Zeihan “ a capital rich environment requires an easily defendable exterior, and an interior blessed with dense navigable waterways.” This makes the movement of goods a lot easier.

Germany is blessed with one of the best navigable river systems in the whole world. However, to achieve the political and cultural unification of all of its regions, Germany needed to invest heavily in infrastructure projects and in massive propaganda.

The Russian Empire has always faced horrendous geo-political realities.

The Russians have an almost complete lack of navigable river systems, and there are no easily defendable outer borders. The harsh Russian climate makes an economy of scale difficult to maintain, even in the best of times.

The population centers of this huge multi ethnic empire are vastly spread out….

2. Coal and metals

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3. Oil and gas.

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In World War I, Imperial Germany was joined by the other two declining imperial powers of its time.

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A most horrible, gruesome, and bloody war erupted when the empires of Europe thrust their industrial might against one another.

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In 1918, the defeated German Kaiserreich collapsed and made way for the democratic Weimar Republic.

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The last thing that dies is an empire’s arrogance.

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The defeated powers of the First World War felt robbed of their dignity and national pride.

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“Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.” Churchill

Glory to Ukraine!