Everybody wants to rule the world

It’s hard to imagine, but Rome was once a small farming village, nothing unique about it – and in fact a town overshadowed by its neighbors. According to legend, it was Romulus and Remus, but whoever or whatever happened, something inspired their people to dream big. No doubt brave warriors and cunning leaders played a part, but there was one ingenuous tactic that made Rome stand out. In those days, once you conquered the enemy, the enemy would become your slaves. Not so with Rome. Once an enemy was conquered, they became Romans. In other words, ever time they won, Rome grew larger and stronger. This strategy was employed in a different part of the world, with equal success – the Han people of what is now China practiced what western historians today call Sinicization.

For both the Romans and the Han, their methods, as well as a lot of tact, allowed them to conquer their respective continents. However, for the Romans, they met one terrible challenger in the form of Carthage. Situated in northern Africa, modern day Libya, this city state and its esteemed general Hannibal lead an army across Iberia, France, and over the Swiss Alps, riding elephants, and won victory after victory over the Roman Legions. Yet, just as he started on his way to the gates of the city of Rome, in a final stand, the Romans prevailed and Hannibal had to retreat.

Fearing that Hannibal will return, Rome decided on a counter-attack, and they had a secret weapon – ships. While Hannibal had to tread across land to reach Rome’s capital, the Romans could sail the Mediterranean and reach Carthage in a fraction of that time. They took the fight to Carthage and won – the final opponent to Rome’s supremacy of the known world, lay in defeat.

This story was relayed over the generations, and long after the fall of the western Roman Empire, the intellectuals of Europe studied this history and made an astute conclusion – boats were an invaluable tool for a country. And over time, the boats were made ever bigger and ever more sturdy. While the Mediterranean was the main area for trade, piracy, and naval warfare, the doors to the oceans would soon pry open.

The 15th century is referred in the west as ‘the age of discovery.’ The Portuguese sailed around Africa, India, and all the way to Japan. The Spanish also took to the oceans and ‘discovered’ the Americas. There were many reasons that the Europeans set out to build blue water capable ships – including religion and science – but most of all, it was money.

Yet around the same time, another civilization had also developed shipping technology. Some argue they were even more advanced than the Europeans – China. Admiral Zheng He sailed all the way to Africa, bringing back to China some of the exotic animals he met there (lord knows how they managed to get a giraffe on a ship!). There is even some historical evidence that suggests Chinese explorers knew about Australia and New Zealand two centuries before Captain Cook. And while the Europeans were looking for gold and Christians, the Chinese were not looking for material gain. These expeditions were patriotic in nature, they had diplomatic intentions, or what you might call PR. Zheng He and the emperor knew that China was the greatest civilization in the world, but wanted the rest of the world to know it as well. However, before they could hope to reach Europe with the good news, an unexpected turn of events lead to the cancellation of their sea-voyaging: the Mongols were coming. And in order to prevent another invasion, the Peking Court emptied their coffers to build The Great Wall in order to keep the barbarians out. Historians argue over how effective this wall actually was, but the fact was, there were no more land invasions from the north. However, their coastline was left undefended.

The Americas were truly a blessed land. The indigenous people had everything they needed – beans, corn, potatoes, buffalos… what more could one want? Therefore, when they gazed across the ocean, while many speculated what existed over the waves, they felt no need to try and find out for themselves. Paradise was here, and so what use was exploring out into the unknown? And on these lands existed impressive civilizations. The Maya for instance had advanced mathematics and developed, or discovered, the number zero. (Only one other country, India, had stumbled on this concept. It wasn’t until the middle-ages it was brought over to Europe – the Church summarily suppressed the use of zeros, as it was deemed a dangerous idea! So much for Western ingenuity). At the same time, they had built pyramids – literal pyramids, but these monoliths were also a reflection of how their societies worked. There was a ruler at the top, and a strict hierarchy that held everything in place.

Busy with their astronomy, administration, and agriculture, the South American civilizations were completely caught off-guard when the Conquistador arrived. They had never seen such a ship, such people’s complexions, their armor, their weapons. And they had soon learned these mysterious visitors were not the kind sort.

The Spanish made their conquest in the New World, and with a mix of cunning, barbarity, guns, germs and steel, soon, they had taken over the South American continent. And ‘taken over’ is the right choice of words. The Spaniards had no desire to build a country from scratch, they read the political terrain, understood the hierarchy, and simply placed themselves on top of the figurative pyramid. From there, they were free to loot the lands of all its wealth, on behalf of the Spanish Crown.

Envious of the success of the Portuguese and Spanish, the British and French had built ships of their own and went off to claim new lands. When the British arrived in North America, unlike the Spaniards, they didn’t really know what to do with it. In the end, the east coast became a dumping ground for their undesirables – Scots, convicts and Puritans. Yet, these folks were the lucky ones for the lands they were brought to happened to be some of the most fertile plains on the planet. Just as Rome or the Han did a millennia ago, the settlers built agricultural civilizations and then expanded their territory, mercilessly slaying the natives they came across.

Let’s not forget The Founding Fathers of America were history nerds, who poured over books of the Greeks, the Roman Republic, and the battle at Carthage. Their vision was to create a comparable civilization, DC as their Senate, and New York as their Constantinople. The genocide of the natives and the importation of slaves were simply part of a process to create an empire for the ages. They first succeeded in ridding of their British overlords, and soon headed west, knowing full well that this land was theirs. They even gave this theft a name: Manifest Destiny.

It was not only in the north, South America too revolted against their European King. Simon Bolivar, a man you may not have heard of, was the hero of his time, and lead the revolutions against Spanish rule in Latin America, and not long after, the sovereign states of Central and South America were born. They had a rich culture to boast as well. Music and festivals that are a mix of indigenous American and Southern Europe, are a shining star in our world. On top of that, they have a hearth of natural resources and lands suited for agriculture… yet we seldom hear about their successes today. Partly, it was because the political systems had not completed rid themselves of the colonial structures that had been in place for so long. And there was another challenge – they are too far away from foreign markets. To overcome this, they would need ships… but for reasons of geography and politics, advancements in these areas have been slow. And thus, South America, at the bottom left corner of the world map, has been left an obscure place in the international order.

Around the same time as America’s westward expansion, the Russians were moving east. Siberia, with its harsh climate, was not an ideal place to build large settlements, but Ivan the Terrible went ahead anyway, simply because he could. While the Americans had their cowboys, the Russians had the Cossacks. The Russian Empire stretched across the Eurasian continent into Alaska and down to California. But they had lacked one thing: ships. Missing a powerful navy, their overseas colonies were too hard to manage, and were soon left abandoned. Later, they stuck to what they were good at: fighting on land. Catherine the Great henceforth focused on warring with peoples of Central Asia and Eastern Europe, and they had success, became a great power, but they would forever felt incomplete with the lack of warm water ports with access to the oceans.

The Aboriginals of Australia are the oldest living culture in the world. For sixty-thousand years they hunted, gathered, lived in harmony with their natural environment, sang songs, danced, made musical instruments, told fantastic stories and lived content. The Redcoats didn’t care. They wanted more land for Englishmen and colonized these lands. Same went for New Zealand – I almost forgot! The Polynesians had their own maritime tradition. They came from the island today called Taiwan, and a century before Columbus and Zheng He, they explored the ocean, riding on double-hulled canoes, making it all the way to Hawaii, and many islands in between including Aotearoa. The bravery, intelligence and sheer strength of these rowers cannot be understated. This race of people were busy creating their own civilization, out of sight and out of mind from both the west and the east (less east?). Yet while they stumbled upon uninhabited islands to start a new life, Europeans and Americans, who wanted land too, were not opposed to taking it from someone else.

But better than finding land to live on, was finding people you could oppress and exploit. As was the fate of India. This marvelous civilization that spans back thousands of years was one built on mysticism and spirituality. They had a large coastline, but were preoccupied with seeking the eternal truth to seek what was beyond their watery borders. The British arrived and with great cunning were able to pit the Indian Kingdoms against one another – a strategy of divide and conquer. Soon the whole subcontinent was theirs – they called it the Jewel of the Crown. In the west, extent of the atrocities committed in this part of the world have been consistently white-washed. Oppression, famines and massacres were aplenty over the following two hundred years. It was so severe for so long that the Indians themselves have begun to forget about the richness of their own culture.

Indonesia was another victim of foreign rule – but they were initially not ruled over by a country, but a company. The Dutch East Indies were not state actors but an independent entity who sought wealth. They used ships, cannons and deceit to take over the kingdoms of the Indonesian archipelago and made the land theirs and they held on to it for as long as they could. That a company rather than a government had such power should be a lesson for us today. Corporations rule our world in the 21st century, some of them with armed agents that act as mercenaries. I would hate to skip over the precolonial history of the Southeast Asia, as most western historians do, but their stories are simply too rich and complex to cover. Suffice to say, they were an advanced collection of states, there were the rise and fall of empires, and, they had boats. But these boats were only used to travel around the archipelago. It was only by chance that they chose not to venture further out at sea – how different world history could have been if Asian kings dared to explore the unknown.

In the 19th century, the people of western Europe had all but abandoned God. Instead they gave in to the sins of Greed and Pride. They were making so much money from their colonies but they wanted more. So they carved up Africa. They ruled over India and Southeast Asia. They were not expanding their lands, just exploiting the wealth of black, brown and yellow people. Yet while they found it fairly easy to build ports and dominate trade in these continents, going inland proved much more difficult. The British had lost battle after battle against the Zulu, Afghans and Ethiopians. They were a naval empire, not a land-based one. Yet it didn’t bother them too much, they sang songs like ‘Britannia Rule the Waves’ basking in the glory of foreign exploitation.

As all this happened, China remained content within their borders. They believed themselves to be the superior culture, but continued to trade with lesser cultures, making a lot of money doing so. Remember that the Europeans learned about gunpowder from China. Yet the intense rivalry between the European powers lead to innovations, making bigger and more powerful cannons, and eventually, the musket. Guns had really changed how battles were fought. This however was news to the Chinese who were safe behind their wall. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the British, the French, the Dutch, the Portuguese all started pushing their weight around Asia, and the Chinese were not spared. During the Opium Wars and The Boxer rebellion, the Qing Dynasty, with their inferior weapons were massacred by the white man. Yes, the west calls this ‘The Age of Discovery’ but the Chinese call it ‘A Century of Humiliation.’ However, China’s troubles were only just beginning. There was yet another foreign power that had their sights set on The Middle Kingdom with blood-thirsty eyes...

Japan was an island nation that grew rice. Lots of it too, it was a land of plenty and the people there did not feel inclined to sail over the seas. There was some sailing, but it was mostly for students who wanted to study the ways of the Empire where the Sun Sets. However, they were mostly satisfied with their isolation. When the Portuguese landed on the coast of Japan, the Japanese asked themselves a question: are these things that walk on two legs humans? No, really. They had never seen or had any concept of a white person and did not know how to approach them – or if they should. Confused and awed, they thought it would be wise to introduce them to their lord – a samurai. These warrior kings knew how to approach these foreigners – by taking them to the courtyard, presenting them their best warriors, who displayed their terrifying skills with the katana. Despite the language barrier, the message was quite clear: do not fuck with us. The plan worked. The Portuguese returned to their homelands telling slightly exaggerated tales of mystical warriors and tall castles, they spoke with great admiration of these Asiatic peoples and made it clear that the samurai were not a weaker race that could easily be exploited. In a manner unusual during the colonial period, Portugal (and the Dutch) set up a trade agreement with the Japans with a feeling of respect.

The Black Ship is an icon of Japanese history – every student learns its name and the man who captained it – Commodore Matthew Perry. He was an American who felt he had the right to trade with Japan, even against their will. So he sailed his impressive ship into the harbor of Edo and gave the Shogun an ultimatum – trade with me or I will shoot. More of a threat than a negotiation. The Japanese knew that their days of isolationism were numbered. They accepted the terms set by the Americans and later the British and French, but in exchange they wanted what the west had – modern legal systems, guns, technology, and a navy.

The Meiji Restoration was a miraculous turn of events, where in under a generation, Japan went from a feudal society to an industrialized modern state. The Japanese felt proud of their achievements, so much so they wanted to invade foreign countries to prove how strong they were. They began with Hokkaido and Okinawa, and soon the island of Taiwan, Korea and mainland China. They were unbeatable, for no other Asian country had a modern navy. But in the Pacific was a powerful rival. The US had built a large naval base on Oahu (land they had taken from the Hawiians whose ancestors rowed there) in order to prevent just the kind of things Japan wanted to do. The Japanese Empire hatched a plan. It had a simple logic: if we destroy all the ships on Peral Harbor, we will dominate the Pacific unmatched. They tried, and they failed.

During the same time, Germany was also busy taking land. They had an impressive army with modern weapons – including planes – and set out on an extremely ambitious mission to conquer the continent. The leaders of this regime were particularly keen on stealing land from Poland. They called this policy Lebensraum. Just as the Americans chased off the Indians, the Germans will massacre the Poles and populate these fertile plains with ethnic Germans. For Adolf Hitler, maritime Empires were a joke. Yet when America entered the war and they sailed their impressive ships across the Atlantic, landing in Normandy, they could fight the Germans on their own land. Just as the Romans defeated Hannibal on ships, the US defeated Nazi Germany.

It was sea power that determined the result of World War 2. The British Navy prevented a German Invasion of the UK, and American planes took off of aircraft carriers when they bombed Japan’s mainland. True, it was the USSR that captured Berlin– but it cost them 23 million lives. German U-boats harassed allied shipping, but they alone could not hold back the superior navies of US and Britain. So the ships were what carried the allies to victory.

This brings us to our current era, ‘The New World Order.’ It is one dominated by a single power, America, who had attained this prestigious role thanks to its peerless navy. It is very interesting to compare the maps of Portuguese ports during the height of their empire, with the map of British ports at the height of their empire, with the American foreign military bases today. They’re the same maps – only a change in management. So this Pax-Americana – forget about Korea, Vietnam, Congo, Iraq, Iraq again, and Afghanistan for now – this period of long peace and prosperity seems to suggest we live in a golden age. And perhaps, we hope to some extent that this age will continue. Yet, something on the news I read recently gives me pause: President Xi Jinping had announced he will expand the PLA Navy.

I do not completely agree with the assertion that China has vengeance on their minds. I am merely pointing out that the last time the world had two great naval powers, these powers, France and Britain were constantly at war for over two hundred years. Is this our destiny? Will missiles be fired around the Strait of Malacca or in the seas surrounding Taiwan? Is the peace over, and will we now see a hundred year war over the maritime trade routes in the Indo-Pacific? I hope not, but my optimism has often clouded my abilities in clairvoyance.

However, there might be an alternative. Perhaps technology will progress in ways not foreseen and that maritime trade will no longer be the ways empires are built. 3D printing or supercomputers may pave a path to prosperity without the need of ships. Better yet, perhaps our values could change and exerting foreign influence ceases to be an ideal to aspire towards. Just like the native Americans and Australians, the Africans, India, Edo Japan, or Qing Dynasty, is it possible that we too can learn to be content in isolation? Yeah, I doubt it too, but what did I say about optimism…