The author's analysis highlights three closely interrelated periods. First, the critical political relations, due to the Crusades, in the Middle Ages, which favored major economic and cultural exchanges between the two shores of the Mediterranean. Then the age of the Great Empires, when East-West economic exchanges took other directions and Mare Nostrum became the cradle of piracy in a never ending decline. The crises pushed the “North” to step up research while the “South” kept feeding the war system. The return of Mediterranean centrality was also due to colonial policies, (Suez Canal), as it favored the launch of greater economic and cultural exchanges between the two shores. Historians of the Middle East, notwithstanding Braudel’s lesson, continued to study the area from the point of view of winners or losers, mostly concentrating their attention on the military aspect of these relations. This article takes a different perspective to identify the social and cultural economic aspects of the interactions between the two sides. The objective is to show the positive effect of mutual diplomatic, cultural and commercial relations which can support the strategic role of the area and independence from external influences On looking more closely into our past history, recurrent mistakes become evident as well as the limited success (in the long run) of the “war policy” of the Ottomans, to begin with, and the French and the British later on. The critical consequences are evident in the persistent controversial approach of certain Western Governments, despite the considerable European investments in the area. The article concludes with some final considerations on the impact of Covid 19.
Notes on a new reading of the Mediterranean: a History of Trade, Culture and Wars / Corrao, Francesca Maria. - (2021), pp. 3-43. [10.1007/978-3-030-69000-7_1]
Notes on a new reading of the Mediterranean: a History of Trade, Culture and Wars
Corrao Francesca Maria
2021
Abstract
The author's analysis highlights three closely interrelated periods. First, the critical political relations, due to the Crusades, in the Middle Ages, which favored major economic and cultural exchanges between the two shores of the Mediterranean. Then the age of the Great Empires, when East-West economic exchanges took other directions and Mare Nostrum became the cradle of piracy in a never ending decline. The crises pushed the “North” to step up research while the “South” kept feeding the war system. The return of Mediterranean centrality was also due to colonial policies, (Suez Canal), as it favored the launch of greater economic and cultural exchanges between the two shores. Historians of the Middle East, notwithstanding Braudel’s lesson, continued to study the area from the point of view of winners or losers, mostly concentrating their attention on the military aspect of these relations. This article takes a different perspective to identify the social and cultural economic aspects of the interactions between the two sides. The objective is to show the positive effect of mutual diplomatic, cultural and commercial relations which can support the strategic role of the area and independence from external influences On looking more closely into our past history, recurrent mistakes become evident as well as the limited success (in the long run) of the “war policy” of the Ottomans, to begin with, and the French and the British later on. The critical consequences are evident in the persistent controversial approach of certain Western Governments, despite the considerable European investments in the area. The article concludes with some final considerations on the impact of Covid 19.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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