History Is Governed By Geography

History is Governed by Geography
The geographic characteristics of a land may influence or condition the culture and history of those people who inhabit that land.When talking about Britain, many points should be bare in mind as regards the relation between its history and its geography. First, the fact that Britain is anisland, surrounded by sea. Second, Britain´s geographic position with respect to Europe and the rest of the world and third, the physical formation of the land.Trevelyan, a British historian who was born in the 19th century, referred to these characteristics using the words passive and receptive, and active and acquisitive. On theone hand, Britain was regarded as “passive” because it did not participate actively in international trade as it was too far from the main routes, and as“receptive” because its weather conditions, the characteristics of the soil and the navigable rivers made Britain an attractive place for those tribes who wanted to settle there.On the other hand, the discovery of America changed the history of Britain completely. England reached a much better position because the island was between Americaand Europe and it could have access to the eastern countries. At this point Britain turned to be active because it now acted on the sea by participating ininternational trade with the entire continent; and acquisitive since instead of allowing people to enter the country it started conquering new lands. The geography of acountry is definitely one of the most distinctive characteristics that influences the way in which the history of a country is developed.

Gagliardi, Agustina