Chapter 10 Where Africa Meets Europe
The Spaniards are considered one of the most distinctive peoples.The Spaniards, who inhabit the Iberian Peninsula, are famous for their pride, their politeness, their pride, their dignity.In any place and in any environment, you can recognize them as Spanish at a glance through their distinctive "ethnic" features.Since modern music has also been used to flesh out this "race theory", you can even tell who is Spanish from the level of playing guitar and playing castanets.
Maybe so, maybe guitars and castanets can reveal Spanish identity as easily as pride and self-esteem, but I see it differently.Due to the warm and dry climate in Spain, outdoor instruments can be used indoors, which is why the Spaniards are good at playing guitars and castanets.If the weather permits in America and Germany, the people there may play better than the Spaniards.It's just that they don't have as many opportunities as the Spaniards, because the climatic conditions there are not suitable for the development of chamber instruments.On a cold Berlin night with constant rain, you can no more play castanets than you can play a guitar when your fingers are shaking with cold.And isn't their self-respect, pride, and politeness the product of hundreds of years of rigorous military training? Geographically, Spain is more like a part of Africa. Isn't their military life a direct result of this fact? Is it not a product? Therefore, this place has become a battlefield between Europeans and Africans, and the two sides must fight to the death. Isn't this the unfortunate fate of the Spaniards? In the end, the Spaniards won, but what they have been fighting for for a long time The land has left a deep imprint on this nation.If the Spaniards were born in Copenhagen or Bern, what would they look like? They could also be ordinary, unremarkable Danes or Swiss.In this case, they may skip the castanets and sing in bel canto, for there are beautiful echoes from the cliffs and hollows, which will inspire a person to learn bel canto.Moreover, they will not have to work hard to cultivate the barren land (the conflict between Africa and Europe is the main reason for the barrenness), to eat dry buns, to drink the bad wine, but they will eat butter, Sufficient to withstand the humid Nordic climate; the drink would be distilled spirits, an almost indispensable national drink, where food was plentiful and cheap.
Please see the picture below.Do you still have an impression of the mountains in Greece and Italy? The mountains in Greece run diagonally across the country; the mountains in Italy run straight from north to south, dividing Italy into two, leaving enough room on both sides. Enough to build roads to connect the coastal areas, and the Po River Plain, which connects the Apennine Peninsula with the European continent.
The mountains of Spain, on the other hand, run horizontally, and are almost seen as visible parallels.Why should these mountains be an obstacle to any orderly development?Just glance at the map and you will suddenly understand.First look at the Pyrenees.
The Pyrenees are 240 miles long, stretching straight from the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean to the west coast of the Mediterranean Sea, with almost no interruption in the middle.These mountains are not as high as the Alps, and it seems easier to climb over the pass.However, this is not the case.Although the Alps are high, they are also very wide; although the mountain roads are long, the slope is relatively gentle, so it does not cause much difficulty for pedestrians and freight carriages.The Pyrenees are not wide, only 60 miles wide, so for passers-by, the passes of the Pyrenees are too steep, and only goats and mules can climb across them so-so.Experienced travelers say that even mules have difficulty crossing these passes.Well-trained mountain men (mostly professional smugglers) successfully cross the natural barrier only during the summer months.For this reason, when engineers built railways connecting Spain with the outside world, both railways were built along the coastline, the Paris-Madrid line along the Atlantic coastline, and the Paris-Barcelona line along the Mediterranean coastline. Railway.Nobody has dug a tunnel 60 miles long, or made a train crawl on a 40° slope.Therefore, in the Pyrenees, there is no railway line passing through the mountains from Irun in the west to Figueres in the east, while in the Alps, many railway lines pass through the mountains.
But there is still a mountain pass in the west that is relatively easy to pass, and it is the famous Ronces Valles Pass.At that time, Roland, one of Charlemagne's prominent twelve warriors, in order to be loyal to his master, fought with the Saracens (a term in medieval Christianity, referring to all ethnic groups that believe in Islam, especially the Arabs) Author's note) fought to the end and gave his life here. 700 years later, another French army broke into Spain through this mountain pass.But after passing through the mountain pass, Pamplona blocked their way south.During the defense of the city, a Spanish soldier named Ignatius Loyola was badly shot in the leg.When the soldier was convalescing, he had some ideas and finally created a Christian organization, which is the famous Society of Jesus (one of the Catholic Orders. Founded in 1534. The organization imitates the military establishment and has strict discipline. The rules of the society In addition to making the "Three Absolutes" vows (absolute wealth, absolute beauty, and absolute will), the monks are also required to be absolutely loyal to the Pope. In the 16th century, Europe launched a religious reform movement, which was opposed by the Catholic Church, while the Jesuits It is the main opposition force of Catholicism——Translator's Note).
From here the Jesuits defend the only pass through the central Pyrenees.Later, the Jesuits had a huge impact on the territorial changes of many countries, and its influence even exceeded those of the Franciscan monks who lobbied tirelessly.
The famous Basques have been preserved from prehistoric times to the present, no doubt relying on the insurmountable natural barrier of the Pyrenees.The Principality of Andorra, located on the top of the eastern mountainous area, was able to maintain its independence precisely because of the existence of this natural danger. 700,000 Basques now live in a triangle that stretches from the Bay of Biscay in the north to the Spanish province of Navarra in the east and Santander and Logroño on the Ebro River in the west.In terms of meaning, Basque means the same as "boasters" in English (originally referring to the French Gascons, they are famous for their boasting and boasting, and later extended to refer to all "boasters"——Translator's Note) Pretty much the same, except that it has nothing to do with the old friend of the famous Captain d'Artanin .The Basques were called the Iberians by the Roman rulers, and the whole of Spain was called the Iberian Peninsula.The Basques, on the other hand, proudly call themselves Escaldunac, a name more Eskimo than European.
Maybe your guess is right, but let's take a look at some of the latest claims related to the origin of the Basque people.Some professors - who study the origin of the race in terms of skulls and pronunciation - believe that the Basques are related to the Berbers.Mentioned before the Berbers --- one of the earliest prehistoric races in Europe, the Cro-Magnons.Some believe that the Basques are survivors of the legendary and mysterious island of Atlantis.When the place of residence --- Atlantis sank to the bottom of the sea, they fled to the European continent and survived.Others believe that the place where the Basques live is their birthplace, and it is unnecessary to ask where they came from.No matter who is right or who is wrong, the Basques are always wise to stay away from the crowd and keep a certain distance from the outside world.There are about 100,000 Basques who emigrated to South America.Basques are very hardworking.They were excellent fishermen, excellent sailors, and capable blacksmiths.They never caused trouble, just went about their business in silence, and they never made the front pages of newspapers.
Founded by a Gothic king in the 6th century, Victoria is the most important city in the Basque country.There was also a famous battle in Victoria.In that battle an Irishman named Arthur Wesley (his better English name was the Duke of Wellington) defeated the army commanded by the Corsican General Napoleon, The general's title was Emperor of France.The Duke of Wellington finally drove the French emperor out of Spain forever.
Andorra is a wonderfully interesting little principality with only 5,000 inhabitants.A horse track is the only way they communicate with the outside world.The small principality of Andorra is the only living specimen surviving from the Middle Ages.Although Andorra is a frontier stronghold, they are willing to contribute precious gifts to distant emperors, so it can maintain its independence.Andorra is also far away from the noisy world outside, and no one cares about them.
There are only 600 citizens in the Andorran capital, but these Andorrans, like the Icelanders and the San Marinos in Italy, began to run the country as they wished 800 years before we experimented with democracy.The Principality of Andorra has such a long history that it deserves respect and love. 800 years is a long time. What will our nations look like in 2732?
The Pyrenees are also very different from the Alps in other ways.Glaciers are almost non-existent in the Pyrenees.Once upon a time, the Pyrenees were covered with thick snow and ice, which must have been thicker than in the Swiss mountains.But only a few square miles of glaciers remain in the Pyrenees.The ridges of the Pyrenees are steep and difficult to climb, and there are no glaciers on the ridges.Even if the Sierra Nevada in the southern Andalusian mountains has some snow, it only appears between October and March of the following year.
The direction of the mountains certainly directly affects the rivers of Spain.Almost all of Spain's rivers flow from the desolate central plateau, the remnants of a huge prehistoric mountain range that has been sunk by millions of years of erosion to the bottom of the sea.These rivers are fast-flowing, with dense waterfalls, running straight from the plateau to the sea, and can hardly bear the heavy responsibility of commercial channels.The river's flow is plummeted by the long, dry summer, and as you can see, for at least five months of each year, the Manzanares riverbed becomes an imaginary beach for kids in the capital, Madrid.
It is not necessary to count the names of all the rivers.Still, the Tagus River in the Portuguese capital Lisbon has something to say.The waterway of the Tagus River is almost as long as the Spanish-Portuguese border.The Ebro River in northern Spain is also navigable.The Ebro is a large river that runs through Navarre and Catalonia, and small boats can pass it, but large ships can only navigate in a canal that runs parallel to the river for most of the river.The Guadalquivir (“Great River of the Moors”) connects Seville to the Atlantic Ocean, but it is only accessible to ships with a draft of 15 feet or less.From Seville to Córdoba, the Guadalquivir River is only navigable by small boats.Córdoba was once famous for being the capital of the Moors. It is said that there were at least 900 public baths here.Later, Cordoba was captured by Christians, the population was reduced from 200,000 to 50,000 by Christians, and the public baths were reduced to zero.After passing this river course, the Guadalquivir River has also become a river full of canyons (like the Colorado River in the United States), which not only does not benefit water trade, but also seriously affects business on land.
In short, God has no favor with Spain.A large plateau occupies the central area of Spain, and a series of low mountains divides the central area into two. The watershed is called the Guadarrama Mountains, with Old Castile in the north and New Castile in the south.
Castile means "castle" and it sounds like a great name.But it is also, like Spanish cigars, ostentatious.Looking around in Castile, the eyes are full of creeping grass and cold smoke, and it is desolate and desolate.Of course, this scene can be seen everywhere in other parts of the world.If a crow wants to fly over the Shenandoah Valley, it has to carry rations with it. This is a saying that General Sherman said after the invasion of Georgia in the Civil War.I don't know whether it was intentional or unintentional, but Sherman's words paraphrase a saying of the Romans more than 2,000 years ago.The Romans once said that a nightingale wishing to fly over Castile must have water and dry food, or it would die of hunger and thirst.The mountains around the plateau are so high that they block the rain clouds from the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and the result is a plateau Jedi.
Nine months of the year Castile lived in dismal gloom, and the other three were completely exposed to the dry, cold winds.On the vast wilderness of Castile, the strong wind howls mercilessly. Only the goat can survive on the Castile plateau, but it also feels uncomfortable all over.Thatch is the only vegetation on the plateau of Castile, and because of its toughness, it is the best material for weaving baskets.
The Spaniards called most of the Castile Terrace the Meseta, the mesa.A meseta is hardly different from a desert.This is why Spain and Portugal are larger in size than England, but have half the population of the British Isles.
If you want to know more about the poverty and shabbiness of the Castile region, it is best to read the works of Miguel de Cervantes Sabedra.I don’t know if you still remember Don Quixote de la Mancha, the protagonist in de Cervantes’ works, that is an innocent little Spanish nobleman.In fact, Mancha is an inland desert, a bleak and eerie wilderness near the ancient Spanish capital of Toledo.In the Spanish dictionary, the word "Toledo" is an unlucky term, because its original meaning in Arabic is "desolate and desolate". Don Quixote has a noble title, but in fact he is just a King of the Wild".And Castille stood side by side with Mancha.
In a country like Spain, where nature is both stubborn and miserly, people either work honestly and hard, taking what they need to survive from nature, or live like most Spaniards, and only need a little donkey to drive them away. Take away all your belongings.This is the human tragedy created by the harsh geographical environment.
800 years ago, Spain was a country ruled by the Moors.This is not the only time that the Iberian Peninsula has been invaded by foreigners.Valuable minerals lie in Spanish soil. Copper, silver and zinc were as important 2,000 years ago as oil is today.Wherever copper, silver, and zinc are found, the armies of various countries will go there to rob them.When the two major military camps appeared in the Mediterranean area, when the Semites (a branch of the Carthaginians, originally belonging to the Phoenician expatriates, brutally oppressed and exploited the dependent countries) and the Romans (although they were not related to the Semitic When the Tetes, who are of different clans and different origins, but have the same attitude towards the dependent countries) all began to conspire to plunder the wealth of various countries, Spain was doomed.Like many countries, the abundance of natural resources was also a misfortune for the Spaniards, so two gangs of organized bandits turned Spain into a battlefield where their mercenaries fought.
As soon as the two gangs of robbers stepped out, the Nordic barbarians stretched their front feet in again. They tried to turn Spain into a convenient continental bridge through which to attack Africa.
By the early 7th century AD, an Arab had great ambitions (that is, Muhammad, the founder of Islam, about 580-632. At the age of 40, he called himself the messenger of Allah, the last prophet, and began to spread Islam in Mecca. The core of Islam is to believe in only one god——Translator’s Note), this camel rider commanded a large number of desert tribes that he had never heard of before fighting north and south, and began a long journey to seize world hegemony. After 100 years, they occupied the entire North African region and were preparing to attack Europe.
In 711 AD, the Arab Tariq led his warship to the famous Monkey Rock (the only place in Europe where there are wild monkeys). to this place) successfully landed.Known as "the end of the world", this Gibraltar has since become the possession of Muslims.According to legend, Hercules, the God of Hercules, opened the mountains of Europe and Africa, and today's Strait of Gibraltar (Pillar of Hercules) appeared.
Didn't the Spaniards make any resistance to the Arab invasion? They went all out, but Spain's geography made it impossible for them to act together.The entire country is divided into several independent small squares by parallel mountains and rivers in deep valleys.About 5,000 Spanish villages are still isolated in small worlds, without direct contact with the outside world.A dizzying narrow lane is their main external traffic, and it can only be passed at certain times.
There are not many definite laws left to human beings by history and geography, but there is one thing to remember: a country like Spain is an excellent place to create sectarian leaders.There is no doubt that clans and factions have certain benefits, at least people of the same clan and faction can be loyal to each other and jointly safeguard the interests of the sect group.But sectarianism is the natural enemy of all economic cooperation and international alliances, as Scotland and Scandinavia have shown.Although the residents on the island have always been regarded as selfish, conservative, and short-sighted people who don't care about anything other than the affairs of their own island, at least they can take a boat with their neighbors in peace and live together. For a weekend, maybe we can go to rescue a shipwreck together and listen to the news outside.But the almost impassable mountains shut out the valley-dwellers completely from the world, and everyone is like that, without possessions and without knowledge but himself and his neighbours.
The reason why the Muslims were able to conquer Spain was that although these Moors came from the desert, and although they were also faithful believers in the strict "denominational" concept, this time, under the call and leadership of some powerful leaders, they were able to unite. Work together, fight side by side, and obey the unified command.These leaders established a common national purpose for their fellow-citizens and made them set aside their own small calculations.However, for the benefit of their respective small sect groups, the Spaniards were intriguing, and the hatred among them was often stronger than the hatred against the common foreign enemies, so they were driven out of their homes by these foreign enemies.Then came the great Spanish war for independence, but this war lasted as long as 700 years.During the long period of 700 years, those small Christian countries in the north betrayed each other and intrigues with each other, and the reason why these small countries can survive depends on the natural barrier of the Pyrenees Mountains.On the other side of the Pyrenees were the French whom the Spaniards dared not provoke, and Charlemagne of France, after a moment of ambiguity, finally ignored these small countries and let them develop naturally.
Also in 700, southern Spain was turned into a veritable garden by the Moors.These people from the desert cherish the hard-won water resources and love the rare flowers and trees in their hometown.A huge irrigation project was built, and orange trees, jujube trees, apricot trees, sugar cane and cotton were introduced.The water power of the Guadalquivir was fully exploited, and the valley from Córdoba to Seville was transformed into a vast irrigated floodplain, or garden, that farmers could cultivate four times a year.Further exploitation of the Jucar River, which empties into the Mediterranean near Valencia, added another 1,200 square miles of fertile land to the Jucar River Basin.They also brought in technicians, established universities, and taught agricultural knowledge scientifically and systematically.And the roads built by these Muslims are still used by the Spaniards today!Their contributions to astronomy and mathematics have been mentioned earlier.The only people in Europe who cared about medicine and health at that time were the Moors.The Moors were very meticulous and patient in their research on these issues. They even translated ancient Greek works into Arabic and re-introduced them to the Western world.Another nation has made its own contribution because of them, and this aspect has more significance for the Moors.The Moors gave the Jews full freedom instead of forcing them to live in reservations or taking harsher measures against them. Benefit a lot.
News of Spain's paradise on earth reached the Arab and Berber tribes still suffocating with thirst in the dreadful desert.However, tragedy eventually happened.Almost all of Spain's territory was conquered by Muslims, and Christians no longer posed a threat.Moreover, since Muslims practiced dictatorships, the individual talents of the rulers completely determined whether the rule was good or bad.This dynasty built by heavily armed peasants gradually decayed in a comfortable and luxurious environment, while another part of the equally heavily armed peasants were overwhelmed and were still sweating profusely behind their cattle.Their envious eyes fell on the pleasure-seekers at the Alhambra in Granada and the Alcazar in Seville.Thus, a bloody civil war broke out and brutal killings began.One family after another disappeared without a trace, and one family after another reappeared out of thin air.And in northern Spain, powerful figures took the opportunity to come forward, merging small gangs and factions into small territories, and small territories gathered into small duchies.Families such as Castile, Leon, Aragon and Navarre gradually rose.In the end, the Spaniards abandoned the old feud, and even Isabel, the daughter of Castile in the State of the Castle, became the wife of Ferdinand of Aragon.
This war of liberation was a great one, with more than 3,000 arduous battles, large and small, taking place.And this ethnic conflict was turned into a battle of faith by the church.As a result, the Spaniards turned into crusader knights. Their noblest ideal was to destroy the entire country, and they fought bloody battles for this ideal.In the year that Granada, the last stronghold of the Moors, was conquered, the road to America was discovered by Columbus.Six years later, Da Gama sailed through the Cape of Good Hope and found the road to India (Da Gama, Portuguese navigator, about 1469-1524. In 1497, he bypassed the Cape of Good Hope and arrived in Mozambique. After that, he went to Mozambique twice. India. Became the pioneer of the sea route from Europe around the Cape of Good Hope to India——Translator's Note).Just when it was time for the Spaniards to take back their homeland, to continue to exploit the potentialities of nature that had been mobilized by the Moors, a windfall fell from the sky.With a religious zeal, the Spaniards easily let them imagine themselves as holy missionaries, but in fact, they are nothing but a gang of extraordinary robbers (for unusual cruelty, extraordinary greedy). In 1519, the Spaniards took Mexico, and in 1532, they conquered Peru.Since then, they have forgotten all about it.The flood of gold drowned all their ambitions.Hulking galleons delivered a steady stream of gold to vaults in Seville and Cadiz.As for the property looted from the Aztecs and the Incas, when a person has the ability to carve up and become a member of the "golden collar class", at this time, in order to avoid self-depreciation, his hands will never work again up.
All the hard work of the Moors was lost.They were kicked out of the country of Spain.Next came the turn of the Jews.The Spaniards threw them in droves into filthy boats, and left them at the disposal of their owners, who had to disembark where the ship docked, and when they landed they were penniless and destitute.The flames of vengeance burned in the hearts of these Jews, and suffering sharpened their minds.The Jews hated Spain, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and played a hand in everything against Spain.Even God helped, sending a king to the victims of these "golden dreams" who spent his entire life in seclusion in the palace of Iscolier, which he built himself.But this palace is located on the edge of the desolate Castile plateau, on this plateau, the king built his new capital --- Madrid.
Since then, the wealth of three continents and the human resources of Spain have been used to prevent the invasion of heretics, both Muslims in the south and Protestants in the north.And the Spaniards, due to the 700 years of religious wars, have also been created into such a nation. They would rather believe in everything, but the royal family is the leader.They were physically and mentally exhausted in the rapidly expanding wealth, and even lost their lives.
Today's Spaniards were created by the Iberian Peninsula.So, after hundreds of years of desertion, can the Spaniards go back and transform it to their liking? Don't worry about its past, but look at its future.
In order to realize this dream, in some cities, such as Barcelona, they are working hard, they are really working hard!
And yet, how difficult the enterprise is!