The Role of Migration in the History of the Eurasian Steppe Sedentary Civilization vs. 'Barbarian' and Nomad

by Bell-Fialkoff, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9780312212070
• ISBN10: 0312212070
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-08-05
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Throughout their entire history, the sedentary civilizations of China and Europe had to deal with nomads and "barbarians." This unique volume explores their drastically different responses: China "chose" containment while Europe "chose" expansion. Migration played a crucial role in this interaction. Issuing from two population centers, the sedentary one in the West and the nomadic one in the East, two powerful population streams confronted each other in the Eurasian Steppe. This confrontation was a crucial factor in determining patterns of Eurasian history--it destroyed existing states, created new ones, and drastically changed the balance of power. Even today, while Russian populations in Asia contract, the population pressures in China and Central Asia continue to build and are likely to spill over across the border. This book shows how we are witnessing the beginning of a new cycle of the age-old contest.

Author Biography

Andrew Bell-Fialkoff is the author of Ethnic Cleansing.

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Table	vi
Acknowledgments	vii
List of Contributors	viii
Note on Spelling and Transliteration	ix
Foreword	x
The Framework	1	(20)
Part I Migrations from Areas of Advanced Civilization
Brief Introduction to Part I	19	(2)
Migration and Colonization in Antiquity	21	(16)
German Migrations East	37	(22)
Dean S. Rugg
Russian Migrations in the Sixteenth to Twentieth Centuries	59	(12)
Russian Immigration and its Effect on the Kazak Steppes, 1552-1965	71	(34)
Rebecca W. Wendelken
A Brief Summary of Part I. Can We Discern a Pattern in the Expansion of High Civilization?	99	(4)
Part II Migrations of the ``Forest'' Tribes
Brief Introduction to Part II	103	(2)
The Celts	105	(12)
Early Germanic Migrations	117	(16)
The Slavs	133	(18)
The Vikings	151	(38)
Part III Nomadic Migrations
A Brief Introduction to Part III. Nomads and Their Origins	181	(8)
Horses and Gold: The Scythians of the Eurasian Steppes	189	(18)
Rebecca W. Wendelken
The Last of the Iranians	207	(8)
The Huns	215	(14)
The Falling Dominoes	229	(22)
The Mongolian Impact on Eurasia: A Reassessment	251	(24)
Christopher Kaplonski
Migration, its Role and Significance	275	(36)
Appendices
A. Climate and Migration	287	(8)
William B. Meyer
B. Some Controversies	295	(16)
Select Bibliography	311	(32)
Index	343