Intro to Part 3

The civilizations of old (Rome, Han Dynasty China, the Mayan culture,etc.) have all had their share of progress and turmoil. With each end to these societies, historians have come to mark the end of the classical era and name the new one, the "post classical" era. There has been debate, however, on how historians create a new identity for a new millennium, without having to insult anyone. This came up when some thought of naming the new era medieval, but was eventually turned away after much fear of it becoming too Eurocentric. On the other hand, the new "third wave civilizations" brought new ways of life that created stability, prosperity, and progress for people to endure. Continents everywhere experienced vast changes in the new upcomong civilizations in terms of their economic status, culutural ideals, and established political systems. Eurasia has these kinds of progresses swarming everywhere, but the most dominant civilization that ever brought people close to its ideals was Islam. This society encompassed Egypt, India, Perisa, Mesopotamia, and much of the interior of West Africa. The Byzantine empire stretched as far as where Roman Empire once had its ground, conquering much of the Mediterranean. Much like their predecessors, though, the new empires eventually crumbled, leaving the way for individual kingdoms to be formed and led by kings. Thus, the start of Western European civilization began. With these individual kingdoms, there came postive and negative interactions between the neighboring civilizations. Goods, products, and new ideas were exchanged back and forth, while war and disease crumbled the nations for some time. During these cross cultural interactions, three mechanisms were created for the significant transformation of the lives of people and the societies they dwelled in. Trade was a highly essential mechanism that brought goods and various products to many communities. Economic opportunities grew vastly with the necessary trade routes established between the kingdoms. One such disadvantage, however, was the distance between civilizations that were really far from each other. This was an issue for the West African kingdom of Ghana and the Easterb African Swahili cities on the coast. Empires come as number two for the reason that they provided stability, structure, and most of all, security. The key to maintaining order within a society or empire was the ruling power of a single political system; one that ensure everlasting prosperity for its people. Technology added greatly to the progress made in each civilization, as well. Lastly, as new ideas were important to help societies advance, it was the willingness of merchants, travelers, migrants, armies and so on who went out into the world to stimulate change. Even with the spreading of their wealth and knowledge, these people were often changed by their experiences by converting into another religion or becoming part of the new society they ventured into.