Sometimes I just love the internet....
...and sometimes I worship it.
[link|http://www.essaybank.co.uk/free_coursework/3086.html| Why did the western empire fall when the east survived?
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"The Eastern Empire had many intrinsic advantages over its Western counterpart. It was agriculturally more fertile, more populous and had a far shorter frontier, and in this period was relatively free from external attack. Indeed, the East only fought its traditional enemy, Persia, twice in this period. However the East shared many of the political, social and economic problems of the west, but perhaps to a lesser extent. So why did the West fall? We must surely point to the presence of foreign tribes within the empire as the primary reason. These tribes not only fought the Empire, but their presence reinforced and added to existing internal problems. The west\ufffds need for extra military strength placed a huge burden on the peasantry and caused a decline in output, whilst persistent internal problems added to an unstable political climate. In contrast the Eastern Empire never housed any foreign tribes. It is therefore reasonable to suggest that the presence of barbarian tribes was the primary reason for the Western Empire\ufffds decline."
-Mike
Granted...one opinion.
It's also a decent read on the fall of the West.
"My purchase of a Hummer was inspired by our 1991 Gulf War victory. After this war, I'm buying an aircraft carrier."
(The Onion)
