Life harvester~pestis
In the development of medical technology today, people seem to have forgotten the fear of being dominated by epidemics, but in reality, it has completely left us. Pestis is a severe infectious disease caused by pestis pestis, with strong infectivity and high mortality. It has experienced multiple pandemics in human history, and its harm and historical impact can be considered the most infectious diseases encountered in human history.
Historians generally believe that there have been three pestis pandemics in world history.
The first plague of the epidemic: the plague of Justinian
According to the research of medieval European scholars, the plague first broke out in Egypt in 541 (controversial), and then spread to the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople. In the spring of the following year, it quickly covered the entire empire. Even more terrifying is that with the trade in the Mediterranean and the military actions of the Byzantine Empire, the plague spread throughout Europe for over a century.
Due to the fact that the plague began during the reign of Emperor Justinian I of the Eastern Roman Empire (reigning from 527 to 565), historians generally refer to it as the Justinian plague. Due to the long history and lack of historical data, it is difficult to determine the specific number of deaths caused by the pestis epidemic, but the conservative estimate is more than 20 million.
The impact of the Justinian plague is quite profound:
One is to extinguish the last hope of the revival of the Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire was divided into two parts in 395- the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire only existed for over 80 years before being eliminated by the Germans in 476, while the Eastern Roman Empire still existed. Justinian, the poor emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, devoted himself to the Western Expedition during his reign and unified the Roman Empire. After more than ten years of fighting, the Vandall Kingdom and the East Gothic Kingdom were successively eliminated, and the expedition to West Gothic recaptured most of the territory of the former Western Roman Empire. Although he leaned towards militarism, he did bring dawn to the revival of the Roman Empire. However, just as Justinian was full of ambition, the plague dealt him a blow.
The plague of Justinian caused losses to at least one-third of the population of the Eastern Roman Empire! The labor force of the empire has sharply decreased, and the social productivity and combat effectiveness of the army have seriously declined (according to data, the number of soldiers in Justinian's early days was 680000, but after the epidemic, it decreased to 150000). Justinian himself was also infected with the plague. Although he eventually recovered, it caused political turmoil in the later stages of his reign. The Eastern Roman Empire was weakened by this plague, and Justinian's ambitions were shattered. After his death, Western territory was quickly lost.
Secondly, it strengthened the mainstream ideological position of Christianity in Europe.
During the reign of Justinian I, he firmly held the power of the Christian Church in his own hands through a series of measures, such as presiding over Christian conferences, appointing and dismissing senior clergy, participating in church affairs, and arbitrating church disputes. People also want to believe that the emperor is supreme, but after the outbreak of the epidemic, people need to find out the reason.
So, the upper class intellectuals of the empire could only say that this plague was "God's punishment". This trapped the emperor because the medical level at that time was not yet able to deal with epidemics, so people generally believed that God really had infinite power and severe punishment.
Moreover, once the people believe that the plague comes from "God's punishment", they will definitely feel that the emperor has done evil, otherwise punishment will not come to the emperor and his people. After the plague, the mainstream position of Christian denominations further strengthened, and imperial power began to rely on divine power, until sliding towards the extreme direction of the Middle Ages.
Thirdly, it indirectly promoted the military actions of the Arab Empire in conquering Europe.
The epidemic not only directly causes a large number of deaths, but also greatly reduces the birth rate, because the epidemic causes great harm to pregnant women. These have all led to a sharp decline in the population of Europe for centuries, while at the same time, an Islamic country - the Arab Empire - emerged in the East. Scholars have shown that it is related to the successful defeat of the Byzantine Empire by the Arabs in the 7th century.
The Second Plague Epidemic: The Black Death in medieval Europe
The second pestis epidemic, which broke out in the 1440-50s, is the most famous and influential one. Due to one of the symptoms of the patient being skin bleeding and bruising, and the body turning purple black after death, this plague is also known as the "Black Death".
It is generally believed that the plague originated in Central Asia, and many scholars believe that it was caused by the Mongolian army's westward expedition (controversial). The harm of the epidemic even exceeds that of the first Justinian plague. From 1347 to 1353 alone, the concentrated outbreaks in Europe caused at least 25 million deaths, accounting for more than one-third of the total population of Europe at that time! The problem is that the Crusades, the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, and other population movements promoted the spread of the plague and spread to other parts of the world such as Asia.
In the next three to four hundred years, Europe will experience outbreaks of epidemics almost every once in a while. Although the mortality rate has greatly decreased due to the emergence of immunity and the improvement of medical standards, it still causes extremely tragic consequences.
China and India were also unable to escape the second epidemic. In the late Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, a large-scale epidemic broke out in Beijing and its surrounding areas. The Ming History once recorded: "Plague descended from heaven and reached its peak from August. Some died within one or two days, while others died at night. No less than a few hundred people died every day, and many family members died without leaving any." The Chongzhen Annals also recorded: "The Great Epidemic in the capital killed tens of thousands of people." In these records, the plague that would cause the death of a whole family refers to plague. The plague epidemic during the Chongzhen period of the late Ming Dynasty was a continuation of the "Black Death" in Europe.
The second plague of the epidemic did not end until the late 18th century. If we take all the deaths caused by pestis in these hundreds of years into account, at least more than 100 million, the harm is immeasurable!
The impact of the second epidemic on the epidemic is more widespread:
Firstly, it indirectly promoted the social transformation in Europe.
Although Europeans paid an extremely painful price for the Black Death, behind every dark cloud lies a glimmer of light accelerating out of the dark and distorted Middle Ages and into rational and free capitalism. The discussion on the positive role of the Black Death in the transformation of European society is complex. To summarize, the main points are as follows:
The authority of the Catholic Church has been severely impacted. The corruption and incompetence of the church have been exposed in this Black Death epidemic. Faced with illness, the church is powerless and can only boast about God's punishment. The problem is that everyone is equal before the Black Death, and a large number of clergy who died from this disease are simply slapping the face of the church - clergy have all been punished by God, proving that you have been abandoned by God!
It has promoted the progress of medical technology. Faced with the epidemic, the church only found a more devout way to repent to God. But no matter how much one repents or dies every day, desperate people have to seek other solutions in order to survive. At this time, the emergence of modern science had already emerged in Europe.
It triggers the flow of economic structure and social classes. The spread of the Black Death caused a large amount of ownerless land in Europe, and the old land ownership system created a huge vacuum. The vast number of lower class farmers are no longer confined to the land of knights and nobles for generations. The constantly rising labor prices encourage them to actively seek higher priced employers, which undoubtedly promotes the development of the commodity economy. In addition, the mortality rate of the Black Death in urban areas is much higher than that in rural areas, which has led to a large influx of rural population, quickly filling the labor gap and providing opportunities for the lower class to break through social classes. The shortage of labor has also led to the rapid growth of machines, and new production methods such as factories are beginning to bloom everywhere.
In summary, the Renaissance began with the concentrated outbreak of the Black Death in Europe. This is not a single coincidence, but an inherent connection. Many European scholars even refer to the spread of the Black Death as a "watershed in the mid to late Middle Ages", "marking the end of the Middle Ages", and so on.
Secondly, the persecution of Jews is even more severe.
Europe has extremely discriminated against Jews. When the Black Death broke out, people died every day in Europe, but for no reason. I don't know where it started spreading. The Black Death was caused by Jewish poisoning in various regions, leading to a wave of persecution of Jews in many parts of Europe.
Judith M. Bennett, a famous contemporary American historian, made textual research in the History of Medieval Europe: when the Black Death broke out, more than 12000 Jews in Mainz were burned alive as the disseminator of the plague, and more than 16000 Jews in Strasbourg were killed.
Thirdly, it accelerated the expansion of European colonialism.
With the gradual development of capitalism in Europe, there was an extreme shortage of raw material production areas, markets, and labor, all of which could be obtained through colonialism. Simply put, the speed of plundering in regions such as Asia, Africa, and the Americas is the fastest.
On the one hand, the spread of the Black Death increased the demand for labor among European colonizers, thereby promoting the spread of the slave trade.
On the other hand, the Black Death also served as an accomplice in the wars of Europeans slaughtering Native Americans and other Native Americans in the 16th and 17th centuries. Due to the fact that most Native Americans had not been exposed to this infectious disease and lacked resistance, Europeans were helpless when they spread infectious diseases such as the Black Death and smallpox to the Americas, and ultimately suffered extinction due to the combined effects of firearms and disease.
Fourthly, it indirectly affects the pace of dynastic changes in regions such as China and India.
The epidemic during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty intensified the crisis and ultimately led to internal corruption, natural disasters, epidemics, peasant uprisings, and external invasions. It was replaced by the Qing Dynasty, known for its high pressure, ignorance, lockdown, and authoritarianism.
The Turkic Mongols quickly attacked and eliminated the Indian princes with the help of the plague, establishing the Mughal Empire, an Islamic state that unified India. Afterwards, two major sects emerged in India, Islam and Hinduism, which laid hidden dangers for future religious conflicts.
The third plague epidemic
There are various opinions about the origin of this epidemic outbreak, with the mainstream believing that it was in Yunnan, China in 1855.
Compared with the previous two outbreaks, the third outbreak of pestis is obviously different:
Firstly, the speed and area of transmission are twice that of the other party, spreading to over 60 countries in Asia, Europe, America, and Africa within a few decades.
Secondly, although the number of deaths has reached an astonishing 12 million or even more, compared to the previous two incidents, the wide range has significantly reduced the mortality rate.
The pestis epidemic lasted until the end of the 1950s, but its historical influence declined significantly compared with the two world wars. The biggest impact of the pestis epidemic is to find the real cause of pestis - Yersinia pestis: in 1894, the famous French biologist Yersinia pestis successfully found the pathogen, and the next year developed an anti pestis serum. Since then, human beings have scientific methods to prevent and control pestis.
After several epidemics of pestis, it can be seen that pestis is definitely the infectious disease that has the most profound impact on human history (both good and bad, of course) and the greatest harm to human beings. Fortunately, epidemics are no longer incurable in contemporary society.