Backlinks
Table of Contents
1 Kennedy Is Frustrating
Figure 1: Screen Shot 2020-08-31 at 9.30.01 AM.png
His arguments are not very well supported. For instance, his argument that orthodox Confucianism stopped trade (and ???, then) decline for China.
Missing was pieces of evidence could have caused tremendous difficulty.
"I don't need arguments to support his claims, I just need to claim harder" — Kennedy
- "These people failed because they cared about their own people" — Both Empires
- "These people failed because they used a strategy that have worked for them and is working" — Ming w.r.t. Confusianism
- "These people failed because they are too good and managing an empire" — Ottomans w.r.t. to the Romanitus
1.1 His Frustrating Arguments
One is obliged to stress the words "potential power" because the evolution of the gunned long-range sailing ship was a slow, often uneven development…. Moreover, there were considerable arguments in favor of continuing to deploy galleys in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; they were swifter on many occasions, more maneuverable… which, for the Turks, outweighed the disadvantages of their being short-ranged and unable to to act in heavy seas. (25)
Kennedy's framing of potential power is basically saying "Turks, why did you not see the benefits of this thing that you could not possibly have seen given the circumstances? Why don't you time travel?" Development of large maritime ships was slow