The paper discusses two societies; the Mali Empire in North Africa and the Aztec Empire by comparing and contrasting their governments’ efforts to promote culture and the biggest challenges to their political stability. The government of Mali, over a long period has played a major role in maintenance and promotion of the Malian culture with the aim of ensuring that its culture is not eroded by either foreigners or citizens with unclear interests and ambitions. The national anthem of Mali which was composed by Seydou Badian has, over many years since her independence, acted as a symbol that unites all the Malians and refers them back to the time they struggled for independence and formed their government. In the 20th century, the government of Mali constructed the women’s museum, a center for cultural research and monuments putting great emphasis on the development of women. Every year the government leads the Malians in celebrating the lives they lost in their struggle for democracy and against colonization (Fahey). Mali is dominated by Muslims with around 80% of her population comprising of Muslim.
The government has made great efforts to spread the Islamic laws and teachings throughout the country aiding in construction of mosques and involving many Muslims in leadership positions to ensure the continuity of Islam. The government recognizes both Christian and Islamic holidays like Christmas, Easter, Ramadan and others by leading the citizens in passage of the rituals for these holidays (Ly-Tall). The Malians use French as their official language of communication in media, education and administration. The government unites the Malians by emphasizing of French as the language of instruction in schools making the elites and other people be able to understand each other. Bamana is another language that is commonly used by a large population since the era of struggle for independence and the Malian government has established linguistic research centers to aid the citizens in learning much about their culture.
The Aztec culture dates back to a period between the 12th and 16th centuries AD. In 1519, the Aztec culture and civilization was greatly interfered with by the Spaniards who invaded their area but later on it developed as a result of intermarriage between the two societies and currently there are many people speaking the Nahuatl language in the Mexican reserves. Many years in the past, the Mexican government has greatly contributed to development of art by supporting the Aztec people develop their skills in poetry and songs. Apart from poems and songs, the Aztec also practiced music, acrobat activities and plays which are normally performed on special government and non-government occasions. The government of Mexico offered support to poetry authors like Cuacuauhtzin, tlatoani of Texcoco, Lord of Tepechpan and Nezahualcoyotl by providing funds to do research and publish their works of art as part of their culture (Paquette). Like the people of Mali, the Aztec also had a common language i.e. Nahuatl which acted as a symbol of unity and a basis of understanding each other which the Mexican government took great interest to protect.
The Aztec empire was also characterized by artistic objects like the monuments and stone sculptures. Sculptures depicting images of animals, people, plants and Gods are still in existence in the Mexican museums, a clear sign that the government of Mexico has made efforts to ensure that the Aztec culture does not diminish with time. In family matters, the Aztec women and men had different roles to play in the society. Up to date, the government of Mexico has retained this culture by teaching young men and women their roles in societies. The parents at basic level teach their daughters on the role of women in the society like raising children and taking good care of their husbands. On the other side, men are taught to be family providers and practice crafting skills to ensure continuity of the Aztec culture. Unlike the Malians who only worshiped God and Muhammad, The Aztec people worshiped many gods who they believed had different powers and roles like the patron of priests who was referred to as Quetzalcoatl. They considered worship as a vital event where they communicated with their Gods (Pasztory). The Mexican government has continued to allow them practice their rights of worship promoting individual liberty and the Aztec culture.
Basing on challenges to political stability, Mali has struggled with many occasions of instability in the government the recent one being the Tuareg rebellion. In 2012, the Tuaregs, organized in a group were armed to resist and fight the government with the goal of forming Azawad, an independent state in the northern side of Mali. The Tuaregs received support in terms of equipment from Libya after the rule of Muammar Gaddafi was brought to an end (Fahey). The Northern people were unhappy with the government’s failure to counter terrorism, inappropriate allocation and misuse of funds that were set aside for the North and marginalization of the area in both political and economic fields. The 2012 military coup was another challenged that disrupted the political order in the country where Amadou Sanogo, the then captain led the military in revolting and in a period of three months they deposed the Malian government.
Research indicates that the level of poverty in Mali has contributed much to her political instability. In 2006, research by the World Health Organization indicated that half the population in Ghana operates below the poverty line. The level of education is very low in the country leading to production of low-quality human labor which cannot run the economy effectively. Corruption among politicians has contributed to revolutions in the country, for instance the Tuareg revolution in the North was as a result of corruption and theft of funds that were set aside for the region. The Muslim Jihad wars have also contributed to an unstable government in Mali where they purport to be fighting wholly wars yet destroying people by killing them raising tension among different tribes which ultimately leads to instability in the government. In 1880s, the French invaded Mali with the aim of colonizing the Malians. Later on, the Malians resisted by fighting back leading to a state of political instability in the country.
In the Aztec empire, there existed political instability that was caused by different factors. In contrast to Mali, the Aztec economy was known to have some traces of capitalism where some few individuals enjoyed ownership of factors of productions like land and another group of people had to provide labor on the farms. These different groups sometimes disagreed because the few individuals who owned production factors were viewed to be interested in only meeting their needs and not minding about the other class (Paquette). This state of economy witnessed political unrest in the empire as disagreements existed between the two groups.
Like Mali, many wars existed in the Aztec Empire between the military men who paid allegiance to their King and the enemies who invaded the empire. The military used bows and arrows, swords with sharp edges and thrusting spears to fight enemies who attempted to oppose and fight the empire. The soldiers who opposed the army also fought hard with the aim of capturing the army men alive and sacrifice them to their gods as an act of maintaining loyalty. These war acts made it very difficult for the Aztec Empire to maintain political stability for a long time and therefore, the empire remained unstable and the army men were always up and ready to defend their King by applying all means possible.
In around 1517, the Europeans invaded the Aztec empire with the aim of seizing the land and colonizing the people which also happened to the Mali Empire in the 1880s (Paquette). A great war occurred between the Aztec army men and the European colonial masters who led to thousands of the Aztec people losing their lives and many others displaced. In 1521, the Europeans took control of the empire and embarked on a reconstruction mission after completely disrupting the Aztec political stability and totally destroying it. This war is what led to the fall of the Aztec empire and a new era of colonization began in Mexico with the Aztec land being under the Europeans.
Works cited
Fahey, David M. "Migration in Modern World History, 1500-2000." History Computer Review 18.1 (2002): 71-77.
Paquette, William A. "Putting the world into world history textbooks." Teaching History: A Journal of Methods 26.2 (2001): 71-89.
Pasztory, Esther. Aztec art. Harry N Abrams Incorporated, 1983.
Ly-Tall, Madina. "The decline of the Mali empire." Niane, ed (1984): 172-186.
