PROGRESS OF NATIONS

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 57, 9 March 1922, Page 7

PROGRESS OF NATIONS

THE INFLUENCE .OE GEOGRAPHY

LECTURE TO TERRITORIALS

An instructive lecture on the subject of "Tiie Influence of Geography upon the Progress of Nations," was given by Mr.. E. K. Lomas, M.A., M.Sc., to ay big gathering of Territorials at' the-' Buckle-: street Barracks last evening. . .■;',,'..!!'.,.,

Two factors were at work deiermin- ; ing the course of Aistory, said Mrv i Lomas, the inherent powers and possi-^ bilities of the race itself, and the naturid! surroundings in ,jvWch the race had been, placed. What 'natural', surroundings were best suited foi\ the.; progress., of » civilised race?-,- The conditions must ba . stimulating, and must give need..for forethought, and : activity: a'"." temperate climate, rather than a tropical onev for the tropics created procrastination/ The . natural . defences against enemies must be good', for man must be .free to devote, his time to the internal development of; his country. The best defences were" the".' sea, the desert, or'high pkteaux. Egypt became the first'civilised world--power, because it had the advantage of .a seasonal water supply aiid. a natural protection in sea. and desert.—: ,'i'

The Babylonians, too, were,well.sitn : ated, as the Tigris and .Euphrates'.were t subject to floods, and 1 provided rich' dalta land, 'capable of cultivation,. while|there was a natural ,pr6feetion -in .■- swamps, i steppe country, and " desert.. Babyim;» drained its -swamps, and ; was over-j ■ whelmed by its enemies in the surround-'.. ing ..plains and mountains. „ 7 ■'. :',i.■';■' . -Trade between the two countries mean, while developed, along : one ..main high T / way or. road tlrougl^Palestine^fherJeivs \ becoming. traders," and then 1 by* sea/; and] the Phoenicians became'sea traders. The Mediterranean was atf ideaV'place fdr,',c!,e; veloping sea trade, for- it was landlocked, and free from violent storms.'The quest for Tyrian purple,'from, sea..'.shells sent the seamen further and 'further round the coast; and the Mediterranean '- became tile centre, .of. trade.., .*;,., ,■ ..- .. ?/ ■-,-'■GREECE.'"'";.'"!;'/'.';. :'*;*.•■ 'Another civilisation came"to L'the :frtf!tt —the Grecian—which was the; first nation owing its '.protection, purely., fo; the sea. .The Greak kingdom arose "first!; in -the islands off the Greek Peninsula,'and 1 the Greeks became, not traders'.on. the sea (like the Phoenicians),'but a nation of fighters'on the sea, fighting for tfieir independence. ... V..'.' . .

The Persians attempted to 'overthrow ' this supremacy with; Carthaginian shi;)a, but a race of seamen ican.always ho-d.ots- • own against a. land.' power, .'fighting 'in ships "controlled by-mercenaries-or'a'sub-ject foreign race. Trls 'great" fight'"at. Salamis between Greeks and Persians proved that very early in historical' times, but internal dissensions and decayset in, and-the 'Greek' civilisation 'wa« ■ overwhelmed. ■ ■■■■- ■■ ■ .: -.j.---- ■

THE RISE OF THE. ROMAN, . .-" EMPIRE.' •■.•■■'

The.conditions which led t to the ris« of the .Roman Empire, said the lecturer, were more complex.. Borne was the natural centre of a peninsula well protected; by mountain ranges from the mainland' and very near the centre of. the former, civilisation. AH natural highways in the peninsula led to Rome, and thus the city became a meeting-place of two civilisations, one frorh, the sea, and one from the Mfid. ' Rdme was built on seven hills, which were the only,iiatural fortresses bety/e'en the conflicting parties from north and south,, arid'as the. city was easily defended it- soon became supreme.

Egypt had no need for roads,., for the land was too sandy. Babylon was swampy, but had -no building 'stone,, while Greece depended upon its ships. Rome, surrounded by swamps, was built on a volcanic outcrop of the finest roadmaking material,, and hence, the Romans became road-makers, and users of wheeled, vehicles to control their outlying dependencies.

BARBARIANS FROM THE NORTH.

The Me'diteiTanean civilisation was protected from the southern block races by, an almotfc impassable desert,, but it. was overthrown by an invasion of barbarians from the north-east. The great geographical factor was apparently the increasing dryness of (the plains of Cen-" tral Asia, which drove" hordes of savage tribes, each pursued, by , relentless enemies, further,and further into Europe,' till they were forced over the mountains, and then swooped down on the sunny lands of the Mediterranean. ', ' IN MEDIEVAL TIMES.. Europe grew rich,' and trade in luxuries developed with the East /Indies and India, the carriers being the Arabs. The towns of Italy again flourished, but Great Britain,, was still on", the outskirts^ 'of things, sending wool down the" Rhine to the world's-• markets in the , south. Tlie Arabs were rich and flourishing on. the profits made in Eastern trade. • ACROSS THE SEAS. .; ''- ■Spain and Portugal wero free on the sea," while the Arabs held Gibraltar, 1 and controlled the Mediterranean. At last, .about 1497, Diaz doubled the Cape around Africa, Vasco da Gania went to India and back, and in less than five years trade with. India across the desert, by means of Arab caravans, was'killed, and- Alexandria, Beirut,. V.enice, "and Genoa were ruined and bankrupt. Within twelve years the Arabs wera defeated in the Arahura Sea, and the Portuguese were supreme on the ocean and in the Indian trad^. -

The idea had been gaming ground that the world was round, and that there was a second ocean route to India, across the ocean. It was that thought that sent : Columbus on ' liis'. famous voyage, resulting--in the discovery,: of new lands to the west. ' .The direction taken and the part discovered were 7 del termined by the direction of the southwest trade winds; and later on, the return of . Spanish- and Portugueses ships further noAh, on account'of the' Gulf Stream, made possible their capture bj] marauding British ships. ■•■-, „..,.,

THe Mediterranean "no longer was th« centre of civilisation, coasting..traffic' gave way to ocean traffic, and the countries Non the outer open sea-front became dominant. _ England was no longer merely on the edge of civilisation, but the, Spaniards and Portuguese were the ruling races. ..,

The lecturer then drew a' comparison' of those nations, which had reigned supreme in their.'turn, the Dutch,- the French, and finally the British, by reason of their sea-power. ■ So- long as a nation kept control of. the seas, its natural protection, it',would reign.supreme. ■,•;