General History of the World: From Prehistory to the 21st Century (New Translation)
Written by L.S. Stavrianos, translated by Wang Wanqiang, and edited by Liu Beicheng
Peking University Press, June 2024
ISBN：9787301344897/9787301346228
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Editor's Choice
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Introduction
This book adopts a new historiographical perspective and method, regards the whole world as an inseparable organic unity, examines the emergence and development of human civilization in various regions of the world from a global perspective, focuses on various historical movements and historical events that have a significant impact on the course of human history, and strives to reflect the confrontation between the part and the whole and the interaction between them.
This book was the first of its kind to be written by historians to encompass global civilizations from a global perspective, and was highly praised by famous historians such as Toynbee, and has been translated into many languages and circulated around the world.
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About the Author
L.S. Stavrianos S. Stavrianos (1913-2004), professor emeritus of history at the University of California, United States, is a world-renowned historian who has received a series of academic honors such as the Guggenheim Award and the Ford Distinguished Teacher Award.
Stavrianos has made remarkable academic achievements in his life, publishing 18 influential works such as "Global Fragmentation" and "Outline of Global History", among which this book can be described as the culmination of Stavrianos, and it is also a real foundation work for the practice of the "global historical thought" that emerged in the 60s of the 20th century.
Wang Wanqiang is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of History, Renmin University of Chinese, and the director of the Department of Modern and Contemporary World History. His main research interests are the history of Western thought and culture. He is the author of Modern United Kingdom Popular Culture. Representative translations include Toynbee's Historical Research (co-translated with Guo Xiaoling and Liu Beicheng) and Peter ·'s The Age of Enlightenment (co-translated with Liu Beicheng).
Liu Beicheng, professor emeritus of the Department of History of Tsinghua University, has long been engaged in the teaching and research of modern world history and Western intellectual history, and has made remarkable achievements in the evaluation of contemporary Western postmodernist thought, the translation of foreign historiography and the study of modern world history. He is the author of "Foucault's Portrait of Thought" and "Benjamin's Portrait of Thought". His representative translations include On History (Braudel), Madness and Civilization (Foucault), Discipline and Punishment (Foucault), The Crisis of Legalization (Habermas), Historical Studies (Toynbee), The Age of Enlightenment (Peter · Gay), etc.
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Publication Foreword
Recommended Preface to the 7th Edition of the General History of the World, Liu Debin
Stavrianos's optimism and hesitation
Note to Readers: Why do you need a general history of the world in the 21st century?
Thanks
Volume I
Part I: Prehistoric Times
Chapter 1 Food Gatherers
Chapter 2 Food Producers
The Revelation of History The Nature of Human Nature
Part II: Classical Civilization in Eurasia (Before 500 AD)
Chapter 3 The First Eurasian Civilization (3500-1000 BC)
Chapter 4 Classical Civilization Beginning the Integration of Eurasia (1000 BC-500 AD)
Chapter 5: Greece-Roman Civilization
Chapter VI: India Civilization
Chapter VII: Chinese Civilization
Chapter 8: The End of Classical Civilization
Lessons from History Civilization: Disaster or Welfare?
Part III: Medieval Civilization in Eurasia (500-1500 AD)
Chapter 9 Medieval Civilization for the Integration of Eurasia
Chapter 10: The Rise of Islamic Civilization
Chapter 11: The Turkic Mongolia Invasion
Chapter 12 Traditional Byzantine Civilization
Chapter 13 Traditional Confucian Civilization
Chapter 14 Breakthrough Western Civilization
Historical Lessons: Developing Societies and the "Leader Trap"
Part IV: The World Beyond Eurasia (Before 1500 A.D.)
CHAPTER XV. Africa
CHAPTER XVI
Chapter XVII: The World on the Eve of European Expansion
Historical Revelation Historical Ethnicity
Part V: The World in Isolated Regions (Before 1500 C.E.)
Chapter 18: The Muslim World at the Time of Western Expansion
Chapter 19 The Confucian Cultural Sphere at the Time of Western Expansion
Chapter 20 The Growth of the West as It Famous: The Renaissance and the Reformation
Chapter 21 The Growth of Western Civilization: Economic Growth and State-Building
Historical Revelation History and Fashion
Volume II
Part VI: The World Rising in the West (1500-1763 AD)
Chapter 22: The Expansion of Western Europe: The Iberian State (1500-1600 AD)
Chapter 23: The Expansion of Western Europe: Netherlands, France, and United Kingdom (1600-1763 AD)
Chapter XXIV
Chapter 25 The Beginning of Global Integration
Historical Implications: Regional Autonomy and Global Integration
Part VII: The World Dominated by the West (1763-1914 AD)
Chapter 26 The Scientific and Industrial Revolution in Europe
Chapter XXVII: The Political Revolution in Europe
CHAPTER XXVIII
CHAPTER XXIX
Chapter 30: India
Chapter 31: China and Japan
CHAPTER XXXII
Chapter XXXIII The Americas and the Dominion of United Kingdom
CHAPTER XXXIV
Chapter 35 Consolidation of global integration
The Revelation of History The contrast between Marx's predictions and reality
Part VIII: The Declining and Prosperous World of the West (1914 A.D. to the Present)
Chapter 36 The First World War and Its Global Implications
Chapter XXXVII
Chapter 38: Revolution and Reconciliation in Europe (Before 1929 AD)
Chapter 39: The Five-Year Plan and the Great Depression
Chapter 40: Towards War (1929-1939)
Chapter 41: The Second World War and Its Global Implications
Chapter 42: The End of the Empire
Chapter 43: The Grand Alliance, the Cold War, and Its Aftermath
Chapter 44 The Second Industrial Revolution and Its Global Implications
Revelations of history
index
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Foreword
Note to Readers: Why Write a Global History for the 21st Century?
History must be rewritten in every era. This is not because of how many mistakes there were in previous historical writings, but because every era faces new challenges, raises new questions, and searches for new answers. This is self-evident, because the world is changing at an exponential rate, and there is an urgent need for a new history to ask new questions and provide new answers.
For example, our generation has been raised with a Western-centric history because we live in a world dominated by the West. The period from the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century was an era in which the West seized global political, economic and cultural hegemony. However, the two world wars and the subsequent colonial revolutions soon put an end to this hegemony, as evidenced by the disappearance of the great empires of Europeans from the world map. The names and colors of the countries on the map are vastly different from before, reflecting the new world that emerged up to the middle of the 20th century.
Despite our frustration, we have come to realize that the Western-centric traditional view of history is not only out of touch with this world, but also misleading. In order to understand the changing environment, a new global perspective is needed. After spiritual exploration and verbal warfare, we have finally completed the reform of the historical outlook. In the sixties of the twentieth century, the establishment of the United States "World Historical Society", the creation of the "Journal of World History" and the publication of the first edition of this book showed that this shift in the view of history became a reality.
This brings us back to the question we asked at the beginning: why publish a new edition for the 21st century just a few decades after the first edition was published? The reason is the same as when the first edition was published: that is, the new world needs a new perspective on history. The post-colonial world of the 60s of the 20th century needed a new global history. The new world of the 90s of the 20th century and the 21st century also needs to be examined with a new historical perspective. The New World of the 60s of the 20th century was largely a product of the colonial revolutions. The new world of the 90s of the 20th century, as Pope Paul VI put it, was the product of "the magic of technology". The impact of technology is far-reaching, bringing "major problems" to all aspects of our lives. For example, students in the late 20th century, who must have had drills under their desks, were probably puzzled as to how an unsturdy wooden table could withstand an atomic bomb.
That generation of students had to face not only new dangers that threatened human life, but also the unprecedented and grave dangers faced by Mother Earth, which gave birth to this life. Oceanographer Jacques · Cousteau warned: "Humanity may have done more damage to the planet in the 20th century than all the periods of human history combined." Similarly, in 1989, the environmental group Worldwatch asserted: "By the end of the next decade, the big picture will be settled." In the 21st century, if the international community fails to work together to reverse the crisis, the world will fall into a vicious circle of environmental degradation and social disintegration. ”
Spurred by the tragic prospect of species extinction and the destruction of the planet, books such as "The End of the Century in United States", "The End of the World", "The End of the Future" and "The End of History" have appeared one after another. If we think of humans as a link in the long chain of species on Earth, these pessimistic titles may sound reasonable. Today, there are about 40 million species of plants and animals on the planet. In addition, there used to be about 5 billion ~ 40 billion species on the earth. In other words, only one out of every 1,000 species survived, and the remaining 99.9% went extinct. This seems to provide statistical evidence for the popular "doomsday" book series.
However, these statistics are prone to misunderstanding because there is a fundamental difference between humans and extinct species. Those species became extinct mainly because they failed to adapt to environmental changes, such as those during the Ice Age. On the contrary, human beings, by virtue of their ingenuity, know how to make fire, weave cloth, make clothes, build houses, and use various means to adapt to the environment and meet their own needs. Humans stand out as the only species capable of adapting to their environment and being masters of fate rather than slaves.
The change in the relationship between humans and the smallpox virus dramatically reveals the most important difference between the Lord of Destiny and the Servant of Destiny. Smallpox is the most widespread of all diseases, appearing in the Far East at least 2,000 years ago, spreading to Europe in the 8th century AD, and then to the Americas after Columbus's voyage. As Europeans spread to other continents, the smallpox virus caused mass deaths of immuneless overseas populations. Amerindians, Australia Aborigines, and Polynesian and Caribbean islanders were all wiped out. In Europe, the smallpox virus ravaged repeatedly, causing no less harm than the plague, eventually claiming one-third of the continent's population.
The human conquest of the smallpox virus began in 1796, when United Kingdom physician Edward · Jenner discovered that people vaccinated and infected with cowpox were immune to smallpox. Today, smallpox's relationship with humans is completely reversed, with only small samples of smallpox virus stored in laboratories in United States and Russia. In 1977, the last case of smallpox was detected in Somalia, and in 1980, smallpox was declared eradicated.
Scientists have been proposing the destruction of stored samples of the smallpox virus to prevent its leakage and spread, but the final ruling has been repeatedly postponed amid concerns that destroying these samples may be detrimental to future research. Since then, this concern has been alleviated, as scientists have synthesized harmless genetic fragments of the smallpox virus, allowing scientific research to be carried out even if the virus samples are destroyed, with a complete genetic blueprint for the smallpox virus. In January 1996, the Executive Committee of the World Health Organization agreed on 30 June 1999 as the deadline for the destruction of the remaining smallpox virus. At this point, this deadly virus, which has been a plague to the world for a long time, has been locked in, waiting for its former victims to be destroyed (extinct) at a later date. It can be seen that human beings are the supreme masters of the living and non-living worlds.
Physicist Werner · Heisenberg asserted: "For the first time in history, human beings on Earth are independent, without any partners or predators." "The most ironic thing about our time is that the supremacy of humanity is the source of today's global worries and fears. After eliminating all possible competitors, humanity no longer has any natural predators. We are dealing with only human beings themselves.
It's a daunting new task to confront the inner self of humanity rather than the outer world. It requires more knowledge and technology, and humans have proven to be unmatched in their ability to do so; It also needs to be guided and targeted by ethical norms to make it perfect. In the 17th century, when the Scientific Revolution arose, United Kingdom philosopher Francis · Bacon pointed out the potential of knowledge and warned against its dangers. He earnestly endorsed the scientific pursuit of "knowledge and skill," but also admonished "humility and kindness," which should not be "for the sake of self-satisfaction, competitiveness, and superiority, and the pursuit of profit, fame, power, and other lowly tastes; but for the benefit of human life".
Bacon admonishes us to stay away from "low tastes," but we ignore them, as evidenced by the daily television programs and the annual report of Fordham University's Social Health Index. The report monitors the happiness of United States society based on statistics from the United States Census Bureau on youth suicide, unemployment, drug abuse, high school dropout rates, and affordable housing affordability. The index fell from 75 in 1970 to 36 in 1991, and the moderator of the annual report said the situation was "terrible".
The serious deterioration in the health of society is not limited to United States. Oceanographer Jacques · Cousteau found the same problem in Paris. He strolls through the streets of Paris, carrying a counter with him, "and I press it whenever I come across all sorts of advertisements that sell me something I don't even need." At the end of the day, I pressed a total of 183 times."
Cousteau's experience is by no means an isolated case. This is the norm, whether it's Paris, Athens, Los Angeles, or Mexico City. As a thoughtful scientist, Cousteau began to inquire about the social significance of his own personal experiences. Through his research, he concluded: "The key to curbing this destructive consumerism lies not in the individual, but in society as a whole." I'm not in favor of any kind of eco-nationalism. Never. However, when you are driving at a red light, you will stop, and you will not think that a red light restricts your freedom. On the contrary, you know that it is protecting you. Why isn't this the case in economics? …… It is the social system that fulfills the obligation rather than the moral character of the individual. ”
Cousteau's argument in "The Consumer Society is the Culprit" is significant because the consumer society is becoming a global phenomenon. For example, in post-1949 China, the "four major items" (bicycles, radios, watches, and sewing machines) were popular in society. Later, consumers' expectations were upgraded to "eight major items", adding items such as color TVs, refrigerators, and motorcycles. The list is getting longer and longer, and private cars are a recent addition to the "big item", which is becoming a status symbol in the minds of hundreds of millions of "poor" people in the third world. Between 1990 and 2000, the number of cars in Indonesia increased from 272524 to about 675,000, India from 354393 to 1.1 million, and China from 420,670 to 2.21 million.
Environmentalists worry that the millions of new cars will cause global air pollution. However, former Norway Prime Minister Gro ·Harlem· Brundtland pointed out that it was Western Europeans who pioneered the Industrial Revolution and caused air pollution, and now they cannot nail the "poor country" to the status of "eternal poverty".
In the face of the new situation, individuals and society must think about some deep-seated issues, which are not only related to the present but also to the near future. We have come to a juncture where we must face up to the fundamental issues. What is the meaning of life? What do human beings really exist? Francis confronted this problem head-on · Bacon, calling for the emerging sciences to be used for "the benefit of human life" rather than for "lowly pleasures" such as "profit, fame, and power." It can be said that Bacon raised a sharp question: Is it true that "Homo sapiens" will eventually become "economic man", and only think about getting rich with enough food and wine?
The primary goal of any society must be to meet basic human needs: food, housing, health care and education, and in order to meet these needs, priority must be given to improving economic efficiency. But after the basic needs have been met, is it necessary to blindly pursue economic production at personal, social and ecological costs? This fundamental problem has not received the attention it deserves, and it is precisely because of this omission that, as Cousteau discovered in Paris, blind consumerism and materialism are rampant across the globe.
Prevarication is not a long-term solution. Under the general trend, humanity must try to avoid becoming "homo economicus", and rather, humanity should use an ethical compass to guide the savage growth of technology. This is the great challenge facing humanity: the greatest challenge facing humanity to date. Humanity has used its wisdom to navigate the environment and gain supremacy on the planet Earth. However, as humanity has reached the top, it has also rapidly fallen into the current global social degradation and environmental degradation, which has led to a new challenge for humanity, that is, how to evolve from intelligent primates to wise humans, and from intelligent to wise.
From the narrative of this book, it is not difficult to see that humanity has successfully met challenges in the past and is still bravely taking on new challenges. On the eve of the 21st century, unprecedented social experimentation and innovation are taking place around the world. Their scope and significance are evident from the waves of global change that have taken place in recent years. In China, for example, committed revolutionaries are exploring "socialism with Chinese characteristics"; In the USSR, economist Nikolai · Shmelev called on compatriots not to be afraid of losing "ideological purity"; Even in the major market economies, capitalism takes different forms, from United States-style capitalism, which emphasizes unfettered free enterprise, to Germany and Scandinavian capitalism, which values the welfare state and workers' participation in decision-making, and rapidly developing Asian capitalism, which mixes varying degrees of national economic planning, large conglomerates with intertwined conglomerates, large corporations with lifetime employment, and government support for export-oriented industries.
This seething scene shows that the 21st century is both full of crises and unlimited potential. Historians do not predict the crystal ball of the future, and it is impossible to predict the prophet. However, historians can make a reasonable prediction that the 21st century will be neither a utopian nor a dystopian century, but a century of possibilities. As for which possibilities will become a reality, it is up to readers to make the right fateful choices and act on them in the coming decades.
In view of this, it is time not to indulge in self-delusional utopian fantasies or to be held back by unfounded pessimism, but rather to dispassionately reassess existing practices and institutions, taking the best of them and eliminating the dross, which is what is happening on a global scale. The purpose of this new edition is to facilitate this process of re-evaluation, to devote itself to the "benefit of mankind" advocated by Francis · Bacon, and to move away from the "low tastes" that he despised.
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