What Accounts For The Initial Breakthroughs To Civilization

The term account refers to the part of a civilization that deals with external forces such as other civilizations, raiders, and extinction events. A civilization can have many accounts, or none at all for some eras.

Civilizations are at their core, competitors that unite to survive. At its best, where combined into superpowers that rivaled or force other superpowers to cower and obey. At its worst, where groups rule without a civilization-level understanding of justice or morality.

The term applied to the parts of civilizations that deal with external forces is called management. This is what makes management such a powerful part of the game as it gives you choices on how to respond to events.

Culture

what accounts for the initial breakthroughs to civilization

Creating cultures is one of the most fun parts of civilization. You can create your own state, or go for the perfect fit between two culture groups to create a superculture.

State building is something you will want to practice as you play, as some people do not feel comfortable creating supercults. States can merge and split, giving you new fits of civilization.

When joining a culture, your goals may be different than when starting out. For example, when joining an isolated culture, you may desire access to trade goods and prestige items than when joining a highly connected culture.

Since location and size affect civilization support levels, it is important to find what supports what you want. For example, looking at support in terms of territory size and number of supporters will help with this.

Technology

what accounts for the initial breakthroughs to civilization

As mentioned earlier, advanced civilizations began by using nature as sources of food and clothing. These civilizations developed the first agricultural techniques, creating crops and fashioning them into clothes and vessels.

These techniques would remain a staple in civilization for centuries to come. Another tool for technology is science. Using science, they applied water management techniques, studied the oceans, and created advanced technologies such as ships and government administration.

As previously stated, humans were not the only ones to discover tools and systems for making things. Other species found use for human-made technology, such as scientists say there are between 10–15 basic technologies found on Earth.

However, these other species are not very successful in terms of self-reliance because they do not have enough technology or knowledge of how to make things by themselves.

Theory of evolution

what accounts for the initial breakthroughs to civilization

Another key element to a successful civilization is the theory of evolution. This theory explains why our civilization is so powerful and how it can be defeated by lesser groups.

Most theories have a beginning and an end, but for this article, we are focusing on the middle elements. This includes ideas such as government, religion, and philosophy.

By including the middle elements, you will be able to find new solutions to problems and develop your culture.

Governmentally-appointed rulers are found in every culture, although they are rarely the driving force behind development. The leaders in your culture must develop themselves as people before anything affects them.

Developing a religion is common in developed countries, where individuals devote themselves to something for many years before any effects occur.

Developing a philosophy can be hard for individual members of your society, but does affect others who look at you from a distance.

What is culture?

what accounts for the initial breakthroughs to civilization

We refer to culture in a technical way as “the sum of the person’s experiences.” This refers to the things that have affected them emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.

In terms of gameplay, culture affects your civilization in two parts: it determines what technologies you learn and how quickly you learn them, and it determines what government types you choose for your civilization.

The two major ways that culture affects your civilization are through technology development and government corruption.

Technology development is how early cultures develop the means of producing and consuming things. Where they develop it and what they develop it to is usually dependent on their history.

Sometimes people adopt new technologies without being trained by an ancient society with this kind of historical overlay. Other times, older organizations like governments get re-involved in technological development after a breakthrough.

Initial breakthroughs to civilization

what accounts for the initial breakthroughs to civilization

Eight of the most significant initial breakthroughs to civilization were: bronze age, iron age, prehistory, classical era, medieval era, modern era, and total societal change.

The bronze age was a period of limited civilization between 700 and 1000 B.C. It was a time when people lived in smaller groups and organized themselves into social groups with formalized customs and institutions.

These groups used special tools such as weapons and armor, but they did not use them consistently or at length. They were a phase where people just used tools wascusically without developing the ability to make them in specific quantities or using them at length.

The absence of technology during this time is what accounts for the limited changes in society. People just exchanged weapons and armor from one group to another without making any changes to maintain technology or develop new ones.

Environmental factors

what accounts for the initial breakthroughs to civilization

Another key factor in the success of any civilization is the environment in which it operates. What laws and rules its citizens must follow, and what resources are available to them.

In a world where humans rule, there are several laws and rules that must be followed. These include governments that control food and medicine supplies, schools that provide education, housing, and transportation; and religious groups that sanction religion as the way to govern society.

As we saw earlier, humans were the first to systematically apply a government, so their accomplishments are not too surprising. What is surprising is how much influence a government can have in a society with no government.

It was only after humans developed a centralized government that they began to focus on governing their society as a whole. This attention to policy and administration was what caused the later advancements in technology such as writing and politics.

Influence from nearby civilizations

what accounts for the initial breakthroughs to civilization

Having a buffer of other civilizations is important for a player to learn about their world and influence how others respond to you.

As mentioned earlier, war damages your civilization and decreases its influence. When there are no other civilizations in your vicinity, this effect is reduced or eliminated.

As an example, during the early stages of civilization, when you do not have many neighbors, most civilizations are friendly toward you. As you gain dominance over the world, more powerful rivalries develop and later wars occur.

This is why it is important to learn about the effects of foreign influence. By paying attention to what countries affect you, and how they affect you, you will be more prepared for any conflicts!

influences from country data provided by The geopassassassave! warhammer community site.

Resources used by early civilizations

what accounts for the initial breakthroughs to civilization

While there are many examples of early human societies on the planet, understanding what ones they were and how they used resources is a tough task.

Given that so much archaeological evidence is still rare and inaccessible, we have to rely on reconstruction and speculation in order to better our understanding of this important period in history.

What factors contributed to the growth of early civilizations? What drove their population boom? How did they maintain security? All these questions and more will hopefully be answered with future research.

By looking into the resources that were used during this time period, we can better understand what motivated early people to create the perfect civilization. We also can study how these civilizations maintained security since there were no modern weapons available.

Leave a Comment