Blog 3

This week we focused on the importance of the Middle East and the conflicts they had because of where they were geographically...

The Middle East was the center of all global trade. Routes through the Middle East connected Europe to the Far East. The Middle East also made it possible for the Persians and the Chinese to trade. Essentially, this connected the East and the West. Of course being such a major part of global trade, the Middle East constantly ran into conflict within its own territory. The Muslims and Crusaders fought for many years, because of conflicts like this the Middle East was never really able to reach out to other places around the world.

This moves me to the Persian Gulf. In a sense a blessing for whoever controlled it because it was a great place for trading. It connected the Mediterranean Sea, India and the Middle East. What more could you ask for? Unfortunately, it was so popular that there were constant fights over who controlled it. The conflicts made it so that the trade routes were unsafe and trade in the Persian Gulf struggled. Short after the Black Death hit, the Portuguese swooped in and took control of the Persian Gulf. This was also the fall of Egypt's superiority in trade.

The European Crusaders and the Muslims constantly fought over religion more so than money. It does not surprise me that both had a chance to share the gold mine the Persian Gulf but instead could not settle their differences. In the end the Portuguese were the winners! This is one of the few instances i can think of when money was not the top priority.