Howdy folks.
I'm back from my long break. As some of you may know, and as has been alluded to in a few previous entries, I've been writing a novel.
It got to a point where I realised that I needed to focus totally on that, and so I did - hence the hiatus. But, it's now done. 80,156 words.
Not bad for a first real effort, no? Especially since half of that was done through December, as my deadline approached - that is, the deadline for the competition that it's been submitted to.
Fingers crossed it'll end up somewhere worthwhile - and if not, hey, at least I've got something to submit to people for getting it published the long way round.
But enough on that topic. I shall attempt to begin my daily foray into the world of literature once more, with a curious observation on a truism; he who walks with his head in the clouds is tripped by the smallest pebble.
It's an old saying, and quite true (mostly metaphorically, but sometimes literally...), but few people consider its ramifications in history. For instance, let me tell you about my favourite little history anecdote, and proof positive that if there are gods out there, they have a really twisted sense of humour.
Who is the greatest conquerer of all time? The most infamous leader, the one who shook the world?
Some people might think of Caesar, with his great campaigns against the Gauls and his expansions of the Roman Empire. Others might argue Hitler, whose Nazi regime was seemingly unstoppable for some years. Napoleon, others might cry, the man who really did conquer Europe. Queen Victoria! She ruled over the largest empire the world has ever seen!
No. None of those. It was a man who spent his youth in poverty, killed his half-brother in a fight over hunting spoils, and who grew up in what most people would consider a barren wasteland - Borjigin Temüjin, better known as Genghis Khan.
The Mongol Empire is the largest contiguous land empire in history, and only narrowly loses out to the British Empire at its height on largest of all (around 1% smaller). The Mongols swept through China, Russia, the Middle East and eventually ground to a halt around Turkey. The brutally simple expansion technique (surrender or be butchered to the last man, woman and child, have your city burned down and the ground sown with salt) caused a noticeable dip in world populations according to historians.
Part of it was certainly that the Mongols are tough bastards. Napoleon and Hitler both tried to invade Russia and got crippled by the winter. The Mongols chose to invade Russia during the winter, as the icy rivers and lakes made nice roads for their cavalry.
But... where are the Mongols now? Conquerers that successful, people that shook the world and annihilated civilisations, they must have done well, right?
...well, Mongolia has a population half that of London, a fair chunk of the population is wandering nomads, and it's kind of forgettable in world politics.
Good joke, huh?
But Fen, I hear you say, this is all very well, but what does it have to do with heads in clouds?
I have a theory that you need two things to be a successful conquerer. You need grand vision, and you need to have someone else to take care of the trivia. Genghis didn't have trivia - you live out in the wilderness, living day to day without the concerns that had occupied the rest of civilisation, get an idea for conquering the world, and there's not much to stop you. Napoleon had most of the work done for him; by the time he came to power, France was already everyone's enemy and raring for a fight - he just focused it. Hitler ranted glorious speeches and let others do the hard work.
In other words, the only reason why we don't have more power-hungry world dominating types is that they keep losing the pens to write out their plans, and get frustrated enough by trying to find said pens that they forget the plans for world domination, and satisfy themselves with a really good pen organisation system.
Think about it.
Until next time... you're so like a rose.
No comments:
Post a Comment