Intro to part 2 and Chapter 3 blog.

The second waves in civilizations and world history involved greater population growth, states and empires grew that were even bigger than the first civilizations. The first civilizations were fragile as time went on. So, Mesopotamia was taken over by other greater empires (Babylon & Assyria); Egypt was conquered by foreign states (Roman empire being the greatest at the time); Indus Valley became a desert and collapsed politically; the Norte Chico disappeared; the Olmec civilization also collapsed (Mayan collapse was noted as having a huge impact on population in the region);  and China's civilization was plagued by war.  After the First Civilizations; what changed and what didn't?  After these civilizations collapsed there was no going back:  new urban-centered and state-based societies replaced the first civilizations; smaller civilizations arose elsewhere in Ethiopia, West Africa, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam & Cambodia so that civilization began to develop worldwide. These second wave civilizations also collapsed in time; The Roman empire, Han Dynasty in china and Mayan cities. The third wave of civilizations copied older patterns for example China. They borrowed from each other. continuity and civilizations, where the question is how the second and third wave differed from the first. The answer is they didn't differ very much. States rose and fell, kings ruled, women were kept at at a lower status than men, slavery was still prominent and there was a huge divide between the poor. There were no technological breakthroughs. Kings ruled over everyone merchants included. The first civilization was superior to the second and third because of agricultural developments. As far as changes in civilization went world population rose at an increasing rate, the size of states and empires grew even more than during the first civilization. Important innovations occurred; in culture and religion in Confucianism, Hinduism and Buddhism. The caste system in India made things much worse among other things. Communication and exchange improved; World trade grew as well. Basic economic and social patterns remained the same. In Chapter 3, I looked at Eurasian/North Africans in the second wave. By comparing there political and State structures. Here, culture and religious traditions, as mentioned above, are looked at very closely.