Since ancient times, there has been a principle of heaven in the art of prosperity and decline, and no country in the world can prosper forever, and no dynasty will be undefeated for a long time. Everything that exists in the dimension of time has its own cycle, and all things that are smart and vivid seem to become history in the end. Stronger than Cyrus the Great and Alexander the Great, they did not turn into dust in the sands of the Middle East, and the Persian Empire and Alexander's Empire behind them were only a glimpse of history.
Reading through history, it is not difficult for us to find that the so-called historical powers are chaotic and mixed. There has never been a dynasty that has dominated the world number one for a long time, and it has spiraled up in ups and downs. Since Egypt and Babylon reigned supreme 5,000 years ago, the world's largest powers have undergone a long evolution, such as the First Persian Empire, Alexander's Empire, the Roman Empire, the Western Han Empire, the Arab Empire, the Tang Dynasty, the Mongolian Empire, the Ming Empire, the Kingdom of Spain, the Netherlands, the Kingdom of France, the British Empire, the United States, etc. However, by now, many empires have only existed in the dust of history, and have long since ceased to exist in reality.
The rise and fall of a country in the long history of human civilization is actually not too much, it is just a cyclical process, the long river has waves, layer by layer, pushing civilization forward and rolling away. Most of the great powers that once dominated the world in history have become ancient, and only a few mainstream civilizations can rise repeatedly.
Looking at today's world, there are many big countries, and all countries are vying to show their strength and influence. However, around the world, there are countries that were once brilliant but are now in a cycle of decline that cannot even be reversed, while others are still struggling with decline. This article will analyze the reasons and current situation of the world's declining powers, as well as their future prospects, to see how long they can hold out and whether they have a chance to rise again.
1. Russia.
Russia, starting with the defeat of the Tatars, embarked on the road to rise, then went through hundreds of years of tugging with Ottoman Turkey, and then began to rise from the time of Peter the Great, and began to expand in all directions, first opening the passage of the Baltic Sea, then beating the Ottoman Empire to the point that it could not raise its head, and then it marched eastward, sweeping the whole of Siberia and Central Asia.
The Russian Empire reached great power in the time of Catherine II and became one of the Western powers in one fell swoop, and the powerful Tsar** even had the reputation of the European gendarme after his victory in the Napoleonic Wars. And the first strong lasted for more than 200 years, and came to its peak before and after World War II, starting from the industrialization of the former Soviet Union led by Stalin, including Russia, a superpower stood in Eastern Europe and North Asia, and the lion was not until 1991, after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, it went downhill.
Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of land area, rich in mineral and land resources, as well as strong military strength and military research and development capabilities. However, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia's economy has been in a sluggish state, and there are serious problems with the political system. Although Russia's economy seems to have improved in recent years, it is not as strong as it used to be.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia, as the most core component, shared the lion's share of the legacy of the former Soviet Union. However, when he caught up, Yeltsin, Russia's first president, did not know how to govern the country and the economy, and listened to Western experts to engage in a market economy, which directly caused Russia's economy to go into shock, and a large number of state-owned assets were sold cheaply, which directly broke the backbone of Russia's economy and has been in decline since then.
So, to sum up, Russia's decline is mainly due to the following reasons: first, the collapse of the Soviet Union caused Russia to lose a lot of industrial and military power, and at the same time led to a large brain drain. Secondly, the Russian political system has serious flaws, too much centralization of power, and the lack of effective monitoring mechanisms. In addition, Russia's homogeneous industrial structure and excessive dependence on energy exports also make its economy vulnerable to international markets.
Although during the Putin era, Russia was trying to diversify its economy, strengthen cooperation with other countries, and try to alleviate social contradictions by reforming the political system. However, with the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Russia was comprehensively sanctioned and blockaded by the Western world, and gradually derailed from the whole world.
Although today's Russia is a heavily armed polar bear, it still retains the world's largest nuclear arsenal, with a variety of cutting-edge manufacturing drawings, which can be buried with any major country in the world, so although Russia has declined, no one dares to really want to destroy it
In fact, as long as there is peace, if there is a ruler who can endure the anger of the moment to rule Russia, it is entirely possible for Russia to rise again with Russia's natural conditions. But if it continues to be so aggressive and blindly involved in the war for hegemony, Russia may be dismembered by the West for the second time in the next decade.
2. The United Kingdom. The British Empire, once dominated the world for nearly two hundred years. Britain received civilization from the European continent during the Roman Empire, and then the Germans, Vikings, and Normans came to the isolated islands one after another, so that Britain formed a unique civilization structure.
The real rise of Britain should have begun in the time of Elizabeth I, with the advent of the maritime age led by the two giants of the Iberian Peninsula, Britain located on the Atlantic Ocean also began to develop towards the sea. First, it defeated the Spanish Armada and took a share of the world ocean. Then it competed with the Dutch for hegemony, and after the decline of the Dutch, tied with France as the strongest power in the world. But since ancient times, one mountain cannot tolerate two tigers, so Britain has competed with the French for hegemony in the world.
Since the brilliant war success of Britain in the Seven Years' War, Britain seized a large number of French overseas colonies, that is to say, from the middle of the eighteenth century, Britain has become a unique world hegemon, with colonies all over the world, and basically the most economically prosperous region in the world, the glorious British Empire, is the most veritable empire in the history of the world.
However, Britain's glory will always usher in a decline, because Germany and the United States enjoyed the late-mover advantage of the second industrial revolution and became the two most powerful countries in the world in terms of industrial production capacity. With the outbreak of World War I, Britain, as the main force of the Entente, lost a lot of wealth and population, which led to a decline in comprehensive national strength.
Before World War II, with the rise of the Soviet Union, the comprehensive national strength of Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union and Germany was basically in a considerable state, and each had its own merits. But as World War II progressed, Britain became the main power in Europe, and there was a lot of destruction at home, and the war also cost Britain a huge amount of wealth, which led Britain to decline from then on.
Moreover, after World War II, the United States began to export culture around the world, which accelerated the rise of nationalist ideas in third world countries, and Britain lost almost most of the world's territories or colonies within two or three decades after the war, and soon became a second-rate power.
After the weakening of the United Kingdom, it entered the era of small countries and widows, relying on the financial industry that affects the world, and there are many core industrial technologies in many fields, and can continue to maintain and barely maintain the image of a big country. However, the decline is already quite obvious, relying on the existing advantageous areas, Britain will not last long, it is estimated that it will only take 20 years.
3. Brazil. Brazil, as a South American power, has vast lower and rich mineral deposits, convenient shipping, many high-quality ports, at the beginning of the 21st century with high-speed economic development, among the world's economic powers, and with China, Russia, South Africa, India, is respected as one of the BRICS, just like a South American hegemon.
However, in the past decade or so, Brazil has not taken advantage of the situation to rise to become a regional power, but has experienced economic recession, national chaos, and has not even taken advantage of the peak of the world's development to complete the full industrialization. Brazil, as the largest country in South America, has abundant natural resources and vast market potential. However, due to poor development, Brazil's economy has been in a sluggish state, and social problems are becoming more and more serious.
Brazil's decline is mainly due to the following reasons: first, the country's economic structure is not reasonable, it is overly dependent on exports**, and the domestic market is underdeveloped. Secondly, there are serious problems with Brazil's political system, with widespread corruption and an uneven distribution of power. In addition, Brazil's social problems are also getting worse, such as the gap between the rich and the poor, racial discrimination, etc.
Another important factor is that Brazil is located in South America, which has been the backyard of the United States since the late 19th century, and the United States will never allow a major power in South America to become strong. Therefore, Brazil's development path has been cut in half, mainly due to the interference of the United States. Of course, there is also Brazil's eagerness to achieve something, in the process of Brazil's development, the real economy has not yet developed and grown, and blindly de-industrialized for short-term interests, which directly leads to Brazil's loss of potential for future rise.
At present, Brazil is actively promoting economic restructuring and political system reform, strengthening infrastructure construction and developing education and other measures to alleviate social contradictions. However, it remains to be seen whether these measures will be effective. Of course, Brazil has a unique geographical location, although the road to re-emergence is difficult, but at least it can maintain a simple life, the small rich side is no problem, as long as the political chaos is avoided, it can still be maintained!
4. Japan. Japan, as a major country in Northeast Asia, was knocked on the door of the Western world in the mid-19th century, and since then it has embarked on the road to rise. The First Sino-Japanese War defeated the Qing Empire and became the largest power in Asia in one fell swoop, and also used the compensation of the Qing ** to complete industrialization. Then, through the Russo-Japanese War, he defeated the tsar**, a world power, and established absolute hegemony in Northeast Asia, and also became one of the world powers.
After Japan gradually moved towards militarism, began a full-scale war of aggression in Asia, during World War II, Japan as the main country that dominated the world pattern, became a veritable world power, with the defeat of World War II, Japan was also liquidated, but fortunately, the national luck was good, with the escalation of the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, Japan, as the forefront of the Western world against the Soviet Union, received strong support from the United States, and the industry began to fully recover.
At the end of the last century, the country's GDP reached the second largest in the world, and its main domestic industries, the chip industry and the automobile industry, even caused fear in the United States, and it was precisely because of the US sanctions that the Japanese economy was in full recession. From the end of the last century until the first two decades of this century, Japan's economy was basically in a state of stagnation, and it is clear that it has gone into decline.
Despite the economic recession, Japan's huge overseas investment, especially in South America and Southeast Asia, has helped it make huge profits and helped Japan survive decades of almost no domestic economic growth.