Midieval Pessimism/Optimism Essay, Research Paper

Beginning in the Thirteenth Century, Europe has undergone tremendous changes and has hit its proudest and most shameful points. Historians have long debated whether Europe+s past leads us to think pessimistically or optimistically in terms of the future. The events which occurred in the pre-Renaissance and Napoleonic eras, when combined with the Cold War and both World Wars can lead the human race to expect pessimstic outcomes for Europe+s future. Due to the poor conditions which humans fostered, as well as hostility to certain cultures and the allowance of dictatorial rules, which corrupted leading individuals, humanity can expect a negativistic outlook on the future, whether distant or near. Due to the allowance of poor conditions and the lack of acceptance of certain races or religions, humans should expect nothing more of the future than a disasterous reoccurrence of past events. As early as the Fourteenth Century, plethoric problems were beginning to arise in Europe. Starting in Italy, a massive plague, scientifically called |Pasteuritis PestisX, began to claim many lives throughout Europe. Carried by a flea infesting in a black rat, the disease spread by the poor shipping systems. Had the people kept better hygenial standards in their towns, the plague most likely would not have caused the extensive damage that it did. However, due to the overwhelming filth of the streets, which allowed the rat adn flea to survive, and the poor housing, which a rat could easily penetrate into, the disease spread from home to home. Since multiple people slept in one house, even in the same bed, the epidemic spread quickly, taking the lives of many Italians, then spreading to the rest of Europe. Without sufficient housing, health standards, or decent medical care, Europeans suffered slow, painful deaths. Victims of the disease who remained alive and needed help were placed in |hospitalsX, which did nothing but experiment on the sick, torturing victims, and spreading the disease more by not isolating patients. While historians could not explain the plague at the time, Europeans assumed that it was the fault of the Jewish Europeans. This early form of anti-semitism became popular due to the lack of understanding for the plague+s natural occurrence. While anti-semitism did not dissappear after the plague, it did not become prevolent again until the 1500+s, when Phillip II of Spain issued the Reconquista, which was an attempt to counter the Prodestant Reformation by emphasizing Catholicism. Phillip II expelled all Jews and Muslims because thay were not Catholic. By doing so, Phillip eliminated the buisiness class of Spain, since the Jews and the Muslims practically ran the economy. This stupidity by Spain+s monarch, which ultimately played a part in European inflation brought on by the overflow of gold from the Potosi mines in Peru, leads one to expect nothing from the future but more problems with society, brought on mostly by the human race. The major world wars, sparked by hostility towards nations by other major European powers, is another reason for pessimism towards the future of Europe. World War I, which started as a conflict between Austria and Germany, marked some of the lowest points in the history of mankind. Resorting to merciless, slow, and brutal trench warfare on Germany+s Western front, the soldiers experienced such brutal and unjust weaponry as the machine gun and mustard gas. These weapons, which slowly and painfully killed opposing soldiers, marked a low point in European history, since the soldiers were resorting to torturous killing in order to win land. For four years, the world was brutally involved in a total war effort which hunderds of thousands of soldiers and threw the European balance of power into total mayhem. After Germany was defeated, the Treaty of Versailles was drawn up, delineating how Germany would be dealt with. It was decided that Germany would bear all the blame for the war, pay war reparations, and be limited to 100,000 men in their standing army. However, as the post World War I era endured, Germany was slowly being granted appeasement, and being allowed to gewt away with more than usual. By placing himself on the defensive and explaining how his Germany is to blame for World War I, Adolf Hitler struck compassion in the hearts of European Powers. As a result, Hitler was allowed new territory and increased military power. Through appeasement, he was granted Sudetenland, and Germany began to build strength once again. By not realizing that Germany would cause problems again if they were given power, the European powers unintelligently gave Germany slack. Due to the stupitidy of the leaders of Europe, Germany struck up chaos again, and the world was engaged into World War II. The events which occurred with Germany and the stupidity of the European Power nations lead the human race to expect nothing but a negativistic future for the world.

The cold war is another reason for pessimism towards the future of the world. After such a major disaster such as World War II, one would expect that each country woudl try to set differences aside and make war reparations. Instead, the United States and Russia engaged in a non- violent war called the Cold War, in which each country set up nuclear weapons and threatened to use them. The United States, with its atomic bomb, threatened to launch it at the Soviet Union. However, when two Soviet spies in America gave plans for the atomic bomb to Russia, the Soviet Union quickly built its own nuclear warhead and began testing it. Also armed with nuclear weapons, Cuba began to participate in the cold war, threatening to launch their missiles at the United States. Fortunately, shortly after Stalin fell from power, the cold war ended, and the United States revived its relationship with Russia. However, now that the USSR has split into hundreds of independent nations, many minor powers have powerful nuclear weapons, and the threat of those nations launching them is too great to ignore. The schism of Russia into many parts after the Cold War, which brought back the threat of a war between the United States and Russia, follows the same pattern of destruction by society as the rest of European history. The human race should expect nothing but a negativistic future, due to the course of the past. In summation, the outlook on the future for the human race is, ath this point in time, negative due to the problems which humans cause themselves. Europe+s plague and massive purges, whether by war or the Reconquista, when looked at with possible threat of a third World War or nuclear chaos instigated by the small nations of the Independent states of the former USSR, shoes the human race+s natural tendency for destruction. These events can and do lead humans to expect nothing more of the future than another step in the natural course of the history of the world: self destruction and pessimism.