Monday, June 11, 2012

jewboiiii asked: A couple weeks ago when talking about East African City States, John said "trade is a weak base for a polity" because the city would be at the mercy of fluctuating world markets. But last week, we heard that Venice was based on - and thrived with - trade with the Ottomans. Why was Venice an exception (or was it)?

Well, as I mentioned briefly, Venice had a surprisingly diverse economy: They made textiles and glass for export, and also had a huge shipbuilding industry. So while Venice did rely upon trade (and was eventually hurt by its over-reliance on trade), it had a much more diverse economy than the trade-based city states we talked about in the Indian Ocean trade episode. -John

Notes

  1. thecrashcourse posted this