The Great Wall is useless, Europe suffers
The role of the Great Wall of China has long been a topic of debate among historians and military experts. Some believe that it was the military defense line of ancient China, while others believe that it is a symbol of Chinese culture and history.
However, recent comments by American experts have sparked widespread discussion, claiming that the Great Wall has devastated all of Europe. This statement is confusing, but what does the Great Wall have to do with Europe?
The answer to this question is not simple, although the influence of the Great Wall in China is huge, its influence is not limited to China. The cultures of many countries and regions have been influenced by the Great Wall, including Europe.
In fact, the existence of the Great Wall has significantly improved the military strength of ancient China, which has played an important role in defending against foreign invasions. In the Middle Ages in Europe, it also had to face threats from the east, so the existence of the Great Wall did have a certain impact on Europe.
However, regardless of its role, the Great Wall is a treasure trove of ancient Chinese military engineering and an important part of the world's cultural heritage. The existence of the Great Wall is a symbol of Chinese history and culture, as well as a symbol of the wisdom and courage of the Chinese people.
The Great Wall, a great project in ancient China, was once considered a barrier against foreign invasion. However, did it also influence the development of European history? According to Western historians, in the middle of the 4th century B.C., Europe was confronted by a mysterious group of horseback enemies, who burned, killed and plundered, and no one could defeat them.
And the appearance of these enemies may be related to the Great Wall of China. The construction of the Great Wall led to a decrease in communication between the East and the West, which affected the historical development of Eurasia.
The Great Wall, the symbol of the Chinese nation, is more than 20,000 kilometers long and its history can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, due to the continuous wars in various places, the number of Great Wall constructions reached a peak to defend against foreign enemies.
The beacon tower on the Great Wall was an important signal transmission system in ancient times, which transmitted military information by lighting fireworks. From the stories of the princes of the Beacon Theater, we understand the importance of the Beacon Fire to the country.
When a beacon sees a firework, it will immediately ignite it and pass it on to the next beacon, and so on, so that the information can be quickly conveyed to the commander of the unit, so that he can quickly make the right decision.
This is the important role of the Beacon in ancient warfare. After Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, in order to consolidate the vast territory and prevent the northern nomads from invading the south, he began to expand the Great Wall, connecting and repairing the various Great Walls built by the previous dynasties, forming the world-famous Great Wall.
Under the brutal challenge of the natural environment, the Qin Dynasty devoted all its national strength to building the Great Wall. This huge project led to the sacrifice of countless young and middle-aged laborers, and the story of Meng Jiangnu crying on the Great Wall was born.
Although the Qin Dynasty fell, the Great Wall still stands, and has been expanded and repaired by many dynasties. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty and many other monarchs worked hard for the construction and renovation of the Great Wall.
During the Ming Dynasty, Ming Chengzu Zhu Di ordered the repair of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty and connected it with the previous Great Wall to form a strong defense line, which is a military defense building that we are proud of.
Most of the Great Wall that has survived today was built during that period.
During the Qing Dynasty during the Kangxi Emperor's reign, the construction of the Great Wall finally came to an end. However, for some key parts that were badly damaged in previous wars, the Qing ** will still be reinforced and repaired.
What was the reason why the rulers built the Great Wall? This brings us to the main enemy of the ancient Central Plains: the steppe nomads. In the north, there are many nomadic peoples living in it, such as the Mongols, Xiongnu, Jin, Turkic, Jurchen, etc.
Due to the lack of resources in the north, in order to better survive their tribes, they often invaded the Central Plains and plundered abundant supplies.
The nomadic cavalry, with its superior mobility, became its most powerful class. If there is no strong defensive engineering system, the northern region of our country will be within the enemy's attack range for a long time, and the Central Plains may also be rapidly encroached.
Therefore, the ancient emperors chose to expand and renovate the Great Wall to protect the people within the walls to better defend themselves against the invasion of the enemy. Without the Great Wall, it would have been easy for foreign tribes to invade the Central Plains, but the appearance of the Great Wall completely changed this situation.
The Great Wall, a military defense line that spanned thousands of years and thousands of miles, was not only a tool for Qin Shi Huang to resist the invasion of the northern steppe peoples, but also had a profound impact on world history.
Whenever the enemy invaded, the wolf smoke from the beacon tower of the Great Wall would ignite, indicating the direction of the attack. With its defensive advantage in height, soldiers can use bows and arrows, catapults, etc. to resist, deplete the enemy, and reduce the loss of their own strength.
The existence of the Great Wall made it impossible for the enemy to easily break through the blockade, which had a serious impact on the acquisition of supplies in the Central Plains, forcing them to find other methods. So, what impact does this Great Wall have on the situation in the whole world?
Why do American experts say that "the Great Wall has harmed Europe"?
The Great Wall, a natural hazard that winds its way through northern China, has blocked the southward journey of many nomads. The famous American historian Stavrianos pointed out in his "General History of the World" that it was the existence of the Great Wall that forced the nomads to turn to the West for expansion.
According to his research, these nomads may have come from Asia, and the blockage of the Great Wall made it impossible for them to easily invade the Central Plains, so they set their sights on the Western countries and advanced all the way west.
Undoubtedly, the Great Wall provided a solid line of defense for China, so that the nomads could no longer easily threaten the people of the Central Plains. At the same time, every attack on the Great Wall requires a lot of resources, but in the end it does not get any substantial gains.
Therefore, the existence of the Great Wall not only blocked foreign enemies, but also protected China from them.
They decided to advance westward, invading Central and Western Asia and finally reaching Europe. At that time, the European countries were independent and had a special geographical location, and they did not live together like the Central Plains, and they could not build fortresses to block foreign invasions like the Great Wall.
As a result, these nomads conquered the continent almost effortlessly. Their successive conquests of European countries brought great disasters to these countries, and the local people suffered terribly.
Nomads grew up on horseback, and they were tough in their own right. Even the powerful Qin ** team was not completely sure of defeating them, let alone the European countries with weak military strength at that time.
After being attacked by these enemies, some small countries collapsed in an instant and declared their demise.
In the middle of the fifth century AD, the Huns' territorial reach its peak, and even the historic Byzantine Empire could only bow to them. The northern nomads ranged from the Xiongnu in the Han Dynasty to the Mongols in the late Ming Dynasty, and their history of conquest continued in Eurasia.
Historians have found that the nomads turned to the west to attack Europe because they were blocked by the Great Wall of China, so there is a saying that "the Great Wall harmed Europe".
This explains why some Western experts would argue that the construction of the Great Wall and its westward expansion triggered many wars in Europe. Without these wars, the Great Roman Empire would not have fallen; If the Roman Empire had survived to this day, perhaps the development of Europe would have accelerated by at least a few hundred years.
Many acts of aggression in European history are often attributed to the existence of the Great Wall of China. However, is there enough basis for this view? In fact, this is not the truth.
To properly understand the relationship between the Great Wall and Europe, it is necessary to mention the northern nomadic peoples of China. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Xiongnu invaded the Central Plains many times. Due to their excellent horseback riding skills, our Central Plains infantry was at a disadvantage on the battlefield.
Qin Shi Huang's original intention in building the Great Wall was to thwart the enemy's attempts to ride south. If they want to attack south, the enemy will need to abandon their proud cavalry and fight with infantry.
In this way, the enemy's combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced, and infantry is the field where Qin Shi Huang excelled. Therefore, he insisted on building the Great Wall. The establishment of the Great Wall made it extremely difficult for nomads to enter the Central Plains to obtain resources.
After unsuccessfully invading the Central Plains, they turned to the West, which eventually led to chaos in European countries. Although some people think that the Great Wall "devastated Europe", in fact, the Great Wall was not the main cause of the invasion of Europe.
It's just that Europe at that time was unable to deal with an enemy as powerful as China.
The Great Wall was not the reason for the fall of Europe, because Europe at that time was still in an uncivilized state compared to the nomadic people with a deep cultural heritage, and they lacked sufficient ** and military strength to resist the invasion of the enemy.
In the course of world history, those countries and regions that have always been bullied have been relatively weak in their overall strength. For example, during the Song Dynasty in China, in the face of the powerful Mongols, we chose to resist, but the final defeat was not because the soldiers of the Song Dynasty could not fight against the Mongol cavalry, but because our own national strength was not strong enough.
Therefore, the main reason why Europe suffered from the slaughter was its own weakness. To put it another way, it was not the Great Wall that put Europe in trouble, but the development of history that changed Europe.
The wheel of history is rolling forward, and every turn of history will have a far-reaching impact on society, which is worthy of our in-depth thinking. The westward migration of nomads has rewritten the map of the world, and at the same time promoted the integration of Eastern and Western cultures.
The advanced technology and methods they brought with them enabled the rapid development of agriculture in Europe and gave a great impetus to the industrialization process of the West. War is like a double-edged sword, and although it has brought untold suffering to the people of war-torn countries, it has also brought the world together and broadened our horizons.
The Great Wall, this great architectural marvel, not only maintains the stability of our Central Plains, but also promotes the economic and technological development of European countries, in a sense, it accelerates the pace of human society.
After thousands of years of vicissitudes, the Great Wall has witnessed countless historical events. The people who once left their footprints here have passed away with the long river of time and turned into a grain of sand in the long river of history.
However, only the Great Wall still stands in the east of the world, welcoming tourists from all over the world with its unparalleled broad-mindedness. As a first-hand witness of history, the Great Wall today is open and inclusive to visitors from all over the world.
We are extremely happy and proud to live in this ancient and powerful country!