Why did civilisations expand?
TLF ID M021195
This short video offers an overview of why civilisations expanded, by looking at the past for commonalities and patterns. The need to expand is one such pattern with massive empires growing then collapsing. Expansion was necessary to pay for increasing infrastructure, government and the military, and internal resources were at a limit. Military expansion was common during agrarian civilisations. These armies required huge resources, and some military inventions led to technological innovations, such as the use of metals, and road building. Military outposts led to new settlements and collective learning occurred. The development of separate European states after the collapse of the Roman empire and the decline of agrarian civilisations enabled their colonisation by the European powers. Empires were shaped by spheres of commercial interest