CONSEQUENCES OF PLAGUE
Plague was the leading Couse of death in the Afro Eurasian world, in this essay I am going to discuss the long term effects of plague on the Afro-Eurasian world. In addition, I will discuss the ramifications on the social, political and economic sectors for the Western Europe, China, and Islamic Empire.
Back then plague was referred to as the Black Death and myths came up that God had sent the plague. It is thought to have originated from Central Asia specifically china travelling along Silk Road until reaching Crimea in 1346. It is thought to have spread from there through various forms i.e. black rats, merchant ships etc. There were many consequences resulting to the plague in Western Europe, China and Islamic empire. In Western Europe, Black Death was the most overwhelming epidemic in human history. In between the years of 1348 and 1350, the disease had killed approximately 200 million people. In Europe it had consumed 60 percent of the population taking Europe 150 years to recover its population. As a fact it is estimated to have killed 450 million people all over the world in the 14th century.
BACK GROUND INFOMATION
The plague also known as the Black Death is carried about by a vector Yersinia Pestis which lives in guts of fleas. They fleas are mostly universally found on rodents –rats, prairie dogs, but not in humans. When an infested flea bites a human it transfers the Yersinia bacterium into the person’s veins.
The bacterium develops after 4-6 days when the person would developed swollen lymph nodes and a black cyst at the bite. Next, purple bruise-like lump, called buboes, would appear on the victim skin.
The disease also attacks the nervous system, causing delirium or stupor. Death is eminent in a few days. In addition, symptoms include desire to sleep, mental disorder, bleeding lungs, and muscular pains, very high fever and delirium to mention a few.
Treatment in those ages included use of concoction of herbs to relieve the symptoms. Headache were relieved using bay lavender, roses etc.
Today scientist have developed vaccines for the bacterium and proves to be effective before an outbreak arises.
WESTERN EUROPE
The effects on the social and economic status brought upon by the plague in Western Europe were quite severe. As the ailment was named ‘black death’ was not the first bubonic outbreak to befall Europe. There were other plagues e.g. the Justinian plague that was probably worse than Black Death. Black Death had settled ate Christians and hence was seen as punishment for lack of spiritual Christian faith.
The plague had come after the (great famine in 1315-1317). In 1348, there was subsequent steep decrease of population especially in the crowded towns. It sealed a sudden end to the forgoing period of social age. There were rebellions after rich people limited rearrangement of wealth after population decline e.g. the peasant revolution in 1381 at a time of rapprochement between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. Faith in religion decreased significantly cause of the deaths. It also introduced Decameron. People abandoned each other’s families and this made everyone to shut themselves out of the world. The society went through an upheaval to an extent.
The economy went through inflation as great price increases. Because of this was it became hard to produce goods locally or import them, hence the sky rocketing of prices. Wages for everyone outpaced prices and the standard of living was subsequently raised.
Politically peasants began seeking more freedom. This lead to uprisings for example in England there was a peasant revolt in England.
ISLAMIC EMPIRE
The precise demographic mortality rate was high in the rural areas in the Middle East. This included significant areas in Syria and Judea. Many people moved leaving their foodstuffs and at the end, the place was depopulated .In 1938, 10000 people were killed by the epidemic in Gaza. Aleppo documented a death toll of 500 a day while in Damascus’s 1348 chronicled a death toll of 1000 people a day. Syria lost a total of 400000 thousand people from the rampant.
The social effect in the Middle East was devastating. In Cairo Muslim women became victims as the epidemic hit. In 1438, the sultans alleged it was Allah who had sent the plague as penalty for the impishness of fornication and testifying that females were not permissible as they may lure men to sin.
Economically labor shortage resulted to the to the sky rocketing of prices of goods while foreign goods weren’t available at all because the outbreak had also taken deaths tolls in foreign merchants. Increased interactions with Europe during the wealth of Western Europe. The plague also increased the trade in the silk, road trade succeeded, and the Indian Ocean trade networked as merchants from china traded with Muslim merchants.
The Islamic world was impacted profoundly by the plague. The social, economic and political world failed significantly. The plague abandoned the region of the Middle East, brought down structures set to guide the political association and ran down the economy
CHINA
In the early 1930s and 1940s the Black Death was reported to have spread expressively across central Asia. With it came brought terror and distraction. Many investigator believed that the epidemic had started in north western China or South Western China. In 1331, there was an outbreak in Yuan Empire and may have speeded the end of Mongol statute over china. In 1334 the death toll because of the disease reached 5 million people in Hubei Province-about 90% percent of the population.
At the time China was hit by the Black Death it was a super authority with one of the largest army in the world. The Chinese vessels are supposed to have been the original carries of the fleas that spread the disease.
The plague caused party-political uprising in china. Assemblies were postponed, a hundred year war was postponed because many soldiers died. City councils were ravaged, courts were closed and noble families wiped out. This was an overwhelming outcome on the state of China since it came down in terms of power.
The Black Death disrupted the ways of custom of daily life. There were shortage of even grave diggers in the society at large.
CONCLUSION
The long term effects on the social, political and economic effects of the plague were evident in more years to come in the Afro European world.
Some social overall changes of the plague were positive. Serfs who were servants of the rich folks became free to move around to get work everywhere.
The plague impact on the region had also resulted in economic inflation .It resulted to the uprising of religious wars.
The plague resulted in enormous changes in the Afro European world in terms of political, social, and economic stability.
Works Cited
Bubonic Plague the Black Death. New York: Bearport Pub., 2010.
Zahler, Diane. The Black Death. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books, 2009.
