The information revolution has been responsible for the rapidly decreasing costs of production for materials involving the processing and transmitting information from one device to the other. It has been one of the marvels of recent technological advancements that made information access a lot easier.
King Philip II of Spain was not lucky. His late father, King Charles V had left him a huge national debt and he defaulted on his own loans four times between 1557 and 1596. One big issue was that Spain had back them the greatest Empire in the world but the kingdom of Spain proper was not heavily populated and thus tax revenue was minimal, especially since local lords took most of it for themselves. Spain became heavily reliant on revenue from its colonies in the New World and Asia to pay for expenses but even that did not prevent loan defaults in various occasions.
King Louis XIV of France also inherited a dire financial situation but he had the foresight to choose a very capable and diligent Minister of Finances, Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Colbert applied very efficient taxation, forbidding the auctioning of taxes and of exemptions that had not been authorized by the government. He also made it mandatory to keep accurate records on all forms of taxation so as to prevent embezzlement of these funds by corrupt tax officials. The deficit was resorbed as well as the national debt. However, his extremely lavish lifestyle and his constant wars against other European powers eventually would undermine the beneficial aspects of his reforms. Also, he refused to tax nobility and most taxes were paid by peasants.
The Most Common Way to move freight by 1850, were Trains.
Quote:'From 1830-1860, Railroads appeared as the Main Means of Transportation.'<span />
Answer:
The Old Kingdom
The Old Kingdom was the first of the 3 Kingdoms of Egypt where the ancient Egyptian civilization was said to be at its zenith. It lasted from 2686 BC to 2181 BC.
Under the Old Kingdom;
- Great Pyramids were constructed - The Old Kingdom is popularly known as the Age of Pyramids because this was when Egypt mastered the art of building them. The Great Pyramids of Giza were built in the beginning of the Old Kingdom with the most popular being built for Pharaoh Khufu.
- Prosperity and trade increased - In the Old Kingdom, the ancient Egyptians saw their influence and reach increase. This brought prosperity to them and made them more powerful. Trading missions from the kingdom even reached as far as Lebanon and possibly modern day Somalia.
The Middle Kingdom
This followed the Old Kingdom and was established after the Old Kingdom had fallen into decline. It lasted from 2050 to 1710 BC and had Pharaohs such as Mentuhotep II and Senusret III.
The Middle Kingdom saw;
- The Canal constructed to the Red Sea - It is said that under Senusret III, the Egyptians tried to build a canal to the red sea and this was continued by Persian King Darius the Great when he conquered Egypt.
- The Kingdom fall to Hyksos invaders - The end of the Middle Kingdom came when it fell to the Hyksos invaders who were from West Asia.
