Decline of venice notes
- 1. Decline of Venice The League of Cambrai was set up to recapturetheVenecianterritories as they felt Venice wasgetting too big and too powerful, gaining toomuch control over Northern Italy. It consisted of major powers in Europe, and territories wonwould be divided amongst the larger states. The League OfCambrai drained Venice of their resources through constant war and fighting.Venice also had to raise taxes to employ moremercenaries and supply them with weapons. The Venetians fought hard to maintain their control of the Adriatic Sea. However, they werefaced with constant attacks by the Ottomanempire. The Venetians used their galleys to fightoff offensive attacks, hence this disrupted it'suseof galleys for trading purposes. The constant effort to defend their trade routesfrom the Ottoman empire drained Venice of their resources such as manpower and money. Also,the use of Galleys to ward of attacks meant thatthey could not be used for economical purposes,hence disrupting trade. Maritime CompetitionThe tales and adventures of explorer Marco Polo prompted other people to try their luck insearching for new lands and trade routes. Oneexample was Vasco Da Gama who successfully reached Calicut, a thriving spice centre in India. The discovery of new sea routes, especially onesthat led to places in the Far East was devastatingfor the economy of Venice. For a long time,Venice has thrived as being a sole gateway for commodities such as spices into Europe,therefore they were able to make people payhigh prices for such goods. However, when newroutes into Far East were discovered, this meantthat Venice has lost her position as the sole provider of these goods, hence they could notcharge as much for them anymore. Newer trade rivals such as the Dutch East IndiaCompany and the English East India Compaywere established. The EIC specialized in bringing in goods such as cotton, tea, pepper and porcelain. They also had better designed shipscompared to Venecian galleys. This meant that Venice has lost her position asanentrepot, now that people could get goodsfrom the Far East from other sources. Thisgreatly affected Venice's economy. Also, Veniceattempted to imitate the newer ship designs, buttheir sailors were unable or found it extremelydifficult to operate them. Political ChallengesThe basic structure of the Venetian governmenthad remained unchanged since the 12thcentury.The Venetians had a practice of rotating duties to prevent any concentration of powers. After acertain period of time, officials were replacedwith new ones. This meant that it was possible for competent officials to be replaced by incompetent officials,who would make bad decisions for the country.
- 2. Many nobles competed to become naval officersin Venice's war against the Ottoman empireeventhough they lacked military experience or adequate naval expertise. This meant that they were incompetent in their roles as naval officers, their bad decisions andstrategies leading to the high casualty rates. Notonly did this make Venice's navy lose morale, italso cost Venice territories as they have failed todefend them. Over dependence on mercenaries was another reason. As Venice was a maritime empire, itfocussed primarily on naval defences, and it lacked ground forces. They compensated byhiring trained soldiers knowned as mercenaries. This proved to be bad for Venice as firstly,mercenary's loyalty lies in whoever pays thehigher amount of money. This meant that shouldthe their enemies pay a higher price, Venicewould be practically defenceless. Secondly,constantly hiring mercenaries eventually took atoll on Venice's economy. Thirdly, these soldierscould not be trusted as some of them even planned to overthrow the Veneciangovernmentfrom within. This proves that over reliance onforeign soldiers was not beneficial.