Probably any student who does not skip the lessons of history can tell when the Roman Empire collapsed. But the causes of the collapse of the state, which seemed unshakable and even eternal for several centuries, today are known and not everyone remembers. We will try to fix it. And let's start from the time when Rome was just gaining power, so that it becomes clear what processes were going on in the state, when the Roman Empire collapsed , and why it happened.
How the Romans gained power
This powerful power has existed for almost five centuries - like most others, first rapidly gaining influence, and then losing it even faster.
As an empire, it appeared in 27 BC. But Rome itself, which became increasingly powerful and enlightened, was founded back in 753 BC. The first ruler was Romulus - according to legend, fed with a wolf along with his brother Rem. Over the next seven centuries, the country saw everything - war, betrayal, fraternal strife, the change of rulers.
However, all this time the state and people were gaining power. As a result, 27 years before the advent of our era, a powerful political union was formed, called the empire. At this moment, under the influence of the emperor Augustus, there was a really vast territory - almost the entire basin of the Mediterranean Sea several hundred kilometers deep (Europe, Asia, Africa), as well as the entire territory of Western Europe, including part of modern Britain.
The Romans even managed to defeat the Hellenes, a powerful people who had great influence throughout the region. Alas, after several centuries of prosperity and growth, an inevitable decline began.
Breakup date
If you are interested in when the Roman Empire collapsed, the year can be called quite accurately - 395 AD. However, do not think that this was the end of a powerful state. By no means, just the far-sighted and wise emperor Theodosius the First, trying to postpone the almost inevitable death of his power, divided it into two parts. Perhaps this was a mistake, but after that one of the parts existed for almost a century, and the other for almost a millennium, leaving many traces in the history of mankind.
Separately, it is worth clarifying one nuance. Many novice historians are seriously interested in when the Holy Roman Empire collapsed, considering it the power that Caesar and Augustus glorified, tens of thousands of legionnaires carrying civilization at the tips of their smoothies. Of course, this is a serious mistake. After all, the Holy Roman Empire appeared only in 962. And even in its heyday, it included only the northern part of Italy, which is the successor to the Roman Empire. But it included the whole territory of modern Germany, the Czech Republic and some regions of France. It was located in Central Europe, that is, much north and partially on lands that never were part of the empire of Rome. The emperors repeatedly sent their legions here, but few returned from these harsh places.
But this empire broke up only in 1806, having survived not only the Western Roman Empire, but also the Eastern.
Fall background
To begin with, the Roman Empire had a huge area. Judge for yourself - from Austria in the north to Algeria in the south, from England in the west to Turkey in the east. This is really a gigantic political unit, which would be very difficult to monitor even today, in the era of the Internet and high-speed aircraft. What can we say about the ancient centuries - any news, even the most important, reached the emperor at best in a few days, and more often - weeks.
Of course, with this size of the empire, corruption flourished in many places, especially on the outskirts, although Rome itself was infected by it - most influential officials did not leave the capital and simply were content with the privileges that fathers and grandfathers had bestowed on them.
Neighborhood with the barbarians also did not add calm to ordinary people or politicians. If earlier legionnaires boldly rejected superior forces, using tactics and advanced weapons, now those in power preferred to solve the problem by bribery. Many barbarian leaders received titles, were part of the ruling elite.
The army was rapidly disintegrating. An extremely important role was played by extremely low salaries - top officials simply took the lion's share of the money intended for legionnaires to themselves. But an even more terrible blow was the loss of patriotism. Previously, the legionnaires went to the most dangerous missions with enthusiasm, knowing that if they die, then to the glory of Rome and Caesar. Now, seeing in the ruling elite the Gauls, Franks, Ostrogoths, Saxons and representatives of other tribes whom the true Romans used to consider as second-class people, many simply deserted, not wanting to shed blood for an empire that had lost its honor and a single nationality.
Crash reasons
It is simply impossible to say unequivocally why the Roman Empire collapsed. You can only identify the main reasons.
Let's start with the economy. She kept primarily on the slaves. Even the poorest citizens of the empire were considered shameful to work in the fields or construction - for this there were people from the slave class. But the slaves did not want to remain dumb property. More and more rebellions broke out. Sometimes tiny, during which overseers were killed and the villas of the owners were burned. Sometimes large-scale, covering entire cities.
The weakness of the army also affected - few wanted to shed blood on the borders, protecting the empire from the Gauls and Franks, knowing that the natives of these tribes had long taken their place in the government.
All this led to instability reigning in the country. People were simply afraid of giving birth to children, unsure that they could feed and protect them.
And the absence of children deprived the lives of many people of meaning. If there is no way to bequeath their wealth to descendants, then what is the point of multiplying it? Many citizens of the empire preferred to spend whole days in pleasant and harmful occupations: feasts, depraved orgies, excessive consumption of wine.
Therefore, we can confidently say that by the time the Roman Empire collapsed, that powerful people that created it simply did not exist.
Fatal coincidence
As mentioned above, it is impossible to name the only reason for the collapse of the empire. To date, experts put forward as many as 210 versions! But that they intertwined in the most unfortunate way can be argued without a doubt.
People who are not ready to give birth to children, a decline in morality, a completely demoralized army, external and internal enemies, instability - some reasons clung to others, which made it impossible to manage a huge empire.
He also contributed to the sharp transition from the usual paganism to Christianity. Proponents of the new religion zealously began to destroy culture and science, to which the Romans went for several centuries. Perhaps this accelerated the collapse of the Roman Empire.
What are the parts of the empire
If you are interested in what states the Roman Empire fell into, then this question can be answered unequivocally: no. Because officially the collapse did not happen. It is just that Emperor Theodosius the First divided his possessions into two parts. He bequeathed the Western Empire to his eldest son Flavius, and the Eastern Empire to the younger Honorius. He sensibly reasoned that it would be easier to clean up a smaller territory than a vast one. But officially, the collapse did not happen. There was a usual administrative division. So it’s impossible to say that the Roman Empire fell into two parts. Alas, this did not save the Roman Empire, nor the people of Rome.
The fate of the eastern part
The future of the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as Byzantium, was not brilliant, but quite good. For many centuries, the people managed to repel raids from the southeast, although over time they had to pay off their northern neighbors more than once - from the Vikings to the Slavs who went on military campaigns against them.
Alas, gradually, the Ottoman Empire, gaining tremendous power, was able to crush the fragment of a once powerful state. And we know for sure when the Eastern Roman Empire collapsed - it happened in 1453, when Sultan Mehmed II captured Constantinople, finally turning Byzantium into a part of his empire.
What happened to western
The history of the Western Roman Empire was much shorter. It lasted less than a century and was abolished in 476. Why did the Western Roman Empire collapse? Because, unlike Eastern, she was constantly subjected to raids by more powerful barbarians - immigrants from the harsh Central and Northern Europe.
Once just an unpleasant neighborhood with barbarians became critical. Constant raids finally crippled the power of the country. Scorched crops, devastated cities - the Romans could not resist this. As a result, on September 4, 476, the leader of the barbarians Odoacer deposed the last emperor - the young Romulus Augustulus, founding a new state - Italy. Well, the Western Roman Empire fell apart.
So the story of a powerful empire began with Romulus and Romulus ended.
Effects
When the Roman Empire collapsed, many of the achievements of culture and science were lost. To reach those heights in construction, medicine and mathematics again, Europeans had to spend many centuries.
Cultural monuments, carefully guarded for centuries, were destroyed by Christians as a relic of godless paganism.
But even worse, the fall of the Roman Empire (or rather, Byzantium) allowed countless hordes of Turkic peoples to penetrate into Europe and shed the blood of local residents for several centuries, driving hundreds of thousands of people into slavery.
What states were formed on the territory of a powerful empire
But the fall of the Roman Empire did not bury Europe, as many philosophers predicted. In the western part of it, even if not immediately, such states as Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and also partially Algeria and Egypt arose.
On the lands where the Eastern Roman Empire was once located, Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina appeared, as well as partially Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary.
Conclusion
This concludes our brief excursion into history.
Now you are much better versed in the questions of when and for what reasons the collapse of the Roman Empire occurred, which means you can show off erudition in any conversation.