Editing Guns, Germs, and Steel (section)

== Synopsis ==

The prologue opens with an account of Diamond's conversation with [[Yali (politician)|Yali]], a [[Papua New Guinea]]n politician. The conversation turned to the differences in power and technology between Papua New Guineans and the [[Europe]]ans who dominated the region for two centuries, differences that neither of them considered due to European genetic superiority. Yali asked, using the local term ''[[Cargo cult|cargo]]'' for inventions and manufactured goods, "Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?"{{R|Diamond1997GGS|page=14}}

Diamond realized the same question seemed to apply elsewhere: "People of Eurasian origin{{nbsp}}... dominate{{nbsp}}... the world in wealth and power." Other peoples, after having thrown off colonial domination, still lag in wealth and power. Still others, he says, "have been decimated, subjugated, and in some cases even exterminated by European colonialists."{{R|Diamond1997GGS|page=15}}

The peoples of other continents ([[sub-Saharan Africans]], [[Indigenous people of the Americas]], [[Aboriginal Australians]], [[New Guineans]], and the original inhabitants of tropical Southeast Asia) have been largely conquered, displaced and in some extreme cases – referring to Native Americans, Aboriginal Australians, and South Africa's indigenous [[Khoisan]] peoples – largely exterminated by farm-based societies such as Eurasians and [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]]. He believes this is due to these societies' technological and immunological advantages, stemming from the early rise of agriculture after the [[Last Glacial Period|last ice age]].

=== Title ===
The book's title is a reference to the means by which farm-based societies conquered populations and maintained dominance though sometimes being vastly outnumbered, so that imperialism was enabled by guns, germs, and steel.

Diamond argues geographic, climatic and environmental characteristics which favored early development of stable [[Agrarian society|agricultural societies]] ultimately led to immunity to diseases endemic in agricultural animals and the development of powerful, organized [[State (polity)|states]] capable of dominating others.

=== Summary ===
Diamond argues that Eurasian [[civilization]] is not so much a product of ingenuity, but of opportunity and necessity. That is, civilization is not created out of superior intelligence, but is the result of a chain of developments, each made possible by certain preconditions.

The first step towards civilization is the move from [[nomad]]ic [[hunter-gatherer]] to rooted agrarian society. Several conditions are necessary for this transition to occur: access to high-carbohydrate vegetation that endures storage; a [[climate]] dry enough to allow storage; and access to animals docile enough for [[domestication]] and versatile enough to survive captivity. Control of [[crops]] and livestock leads to food [[Excess supply|surpluses]]. Surpluses free people to specialize in activities other than sustenance and support population growth. The combination of specialization and population growth leads to the accumulation of social and technological innovations which build on each other. Large societies develop [[ruling class]]es and supporting [[bureaucracies]], which in turn lead to the organization of [[nation-state]]s and empires.<ref name="Diamond1997GGS">{{cite book | last=Diamond | first=Jared | author-link=Jared Diamond | title=Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies | publisher=W.W. Norton & Company | date=March 1997 | isbn=978-0-393-03891-0 }}</ref>

Although agriculture arose in several parts of the world, Eurasia gained an early advantage due to the greater availability of suitable plant and animal species for domestication. In particular, Eurasia has [[barley]], two varieties of wheat, and three protein-rich [[pulse (legume)|pulses]] for food; [[flax]] for textiles; and goats, sheep, and cattle. Eurasian grains were richer in protein, easier to sow, and easier to store than American maize or tropical bananas.

As early Western Asian civilizations developed trading relationships, they found additional useful animals in adjacent territories, such as horses and [[donkey]]s for use in transport. Diamond identifies 13 species of large animals over {{convert|100|lb}} domesticated in Eurasia, compared with just one in South America (counting the [[llama]] and [[alpaca]] as breeds within the same species) and none at all in the rest of the world. Australia and North America suffered from a lack of useful animals due to [[extinction]], probably by human hunting, shortly after the end of the [[Pleistocene]], and the only [[Domestication of animals|domesticated animals]] in [[New Guinea]] came from the East Asian mainland during the [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] settlement around 4,000–5,000 years ago. Biological relatives of the horse, including [[zebra]]s and [[onager]]s, proved untameable; and although [[African elephant]]s can be tamed, it is very difficult to breed them in captivity.<ref name="Diamond1997GGS" /><ref name="McNeill2001WorldAccordingToDiamond">{{cite journal|last=McNeill | first=J.R.|date=February 2001|title=The World According to Jared Diamond|url=https://historycooperative.org/journal/world-according-jared-diamond/|url-status=live|journal=The History Teacher|volume=34|issue=2|pages=165–174|doi=10.2307/3054276|jstor=3054276|pmid=19069596|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203143937/https://historycooperative.org/journal/world-according-jared-diamond/|archive-date=February 3, 2019|access-date=February 3, 2019}}</ref> Diamond describes the small number of domesticated species (14 out of 148 "candidates") as an instance of the [[Anna Karenina principle]]: many promising species have just one of several significant difficulties that prevent domestication. He argues that all large mammals that could be domesticated, have been.{{R|Diamond1997GGS|pages=168–174}}

Eurasians domesticated goats and sheep for hides, clothing, and cheese; cows for milk; [[ox|bullocks]] for [[tillage]] of fields and transport; and benign animals such as pigs and chickens. Large domestic animals such as horses and camels offered the considerable military and economic advantages of mobile transport.

[[File:Continental axes by Jared Diamond.png|thumb|[[Continent]]al axes according to the book]]
Eurasia's large landmass and long east–west distance increased these advantages. Its large area provided more plant and animal species suitable for domestication. Equally important, its east–west orientation has allowed groups of people to wander and empires to conquer from one end of the continent to the other while staying at the same latitude. This was important because similar climate and cycle of seasons let them keep the same "food production system" – they could keep growing the same crops and raising the same animals all the way from Scotland to Siberia. Doing this throughout history, they spread innovations, languages and diseases everywhere.

By contrast, the north–south orientation of the Americas and Africa created countless difficulties adapting crops domesticated at one [[latitude]] for use at other latitudes (and, in North America, adapting crops from one side of the [[Rocky Mountains]] to the other). Similarly, Africa was fragmented by its extreme variations in climate from north to south: crops and animals that flourished in one area never reached other areas where they could have flourished, because they could not survive the intervening environment. Europe was the ultimate beneficiary of Eurasia's east–west orientation: in the [[first millennium BCE]], the [[Mediterranean]] areas of Europe adopted Southwestern Asia's animals, plants, and agricultural techniques; in the [[first millennium]] CE, the rest of Europe followed suit.<ref name="Diamond1997GGS" /><ref name="McNeill2001WorldAccordingToDiamond" />

The plentiful supply of food and the dense populations that it supported made [[division of labor]] possible. The rise of non-farming specialists such as craftsmen and [[scribe]]s accelerated economic growth and technological progress. These economic and technological advantages eventually enabled Europeans to conquer the peoples of the other continents in recent centuries by using guns and steel, particularly after the devastation of native populations by the epidemic diseases from germs.

Eurasia's dense populations, high levels of trade, and living in close proximity to livestock resulted in widespread transmission of diseases, including from animals to humans. [[Smallpox]], [[measles]], and [[influenza]] were the result of close proximity between dense populations of animals and humans. [[Natural selection]] endowed most Eurasians with genetic variations making them less susceptible to some diseases, and constant circulation of diseases meant adult individuals had developed [[immunity (medical)|immunity]] to a wide range of [[pathogen]]s. When Europeans made contact with the Americas, European diseases (to which Americans had no immunity) ravaged the indigenous American population, rather than the other way around. The "trade" in diseases was a little more balanced in Africa and southern Asia, where endemic malaria and [[yellow fever]] made these regions notorious as the "white man's grave".<ref name="RossMacGregor1903 offightAgainstMalaria">{{cite journal
|title = The Fight against Malaria: An Industrial Necessity for Our African Colonies |author1=Ross, R. |author2=MacGregor, W. |journal=Journal of the Royal African Society |volume=2 |issue=6 |date=January 1903 |pages=149–160 |jstor=714548 }}</ref> Some researchers say [[syphilis]] was known to [[Hippocrates]],<ref>{{cite web |url = http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article266422.ece |title = English syphilis epidemic pre-dated European outbreaks by 150 years |last = Keys | first=David |access-date = 2007-09-22 |publisher = Independent News and Media Limited |year = 2007 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071015045621/http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article266422.ece |archive-date = October 15, 2007 |df = mdy-all }}</ref> and others think it was brought from the Americas by [[Christopher Columbus|Columbus]] and his successors.<ref>{{cite web |title = Columbus blamed for spread of syphilis |url = https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13186-columbus-blamed-for-spread-of-syphilis-.html |date = January 2008 |website = NewScientist.com news service |last = MacKenzie |first = D. }}</ref> The European diseases from [[Germ (microorganism)|germs]] obliterated indigenous populations so that relatively small numbers of Europeans could maintain dominance.<ref name="Diamond1997GGS" /><ref name="McNeill2001WorldAccordingToDiamond" />

Diamond proposes geographical explanations for why western European societies, rather than other Eurasian powers such as China, have been the dominant colonizers.<ref name="Diamond1997GGS" /><ref name="Diamond1999HowToGetRich">{{cite web |title = How to get rich |url = http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/diamond_rich/rich_p1.html |last = Diamond |first = Jared |date = July 1999 |access-date = October 24, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061006065424/http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/diamond_rich/rich_p1.html |archive-date = October 6, 2006 |url-status = live }}</ref> He said Europe's geography favored [[balkanization]] into smaller, closer nation-states, bordered by natural barriers of mountains, rivers, and coastline. Advanced civilization developed first in areas whose geography lacked these barriers, such as China, India and Mesopotamia. There, the ease of conquest meant they were dominated by large empires in which manufacturing, trade and knowledge flourished for millennia, while balkanized Europe remained more primitive.

However, at a later stage of development, western Europe's fragmented governmental structure actually became an advantage. Monolithic, isolated empires without serious competition could continue mistaken policies – such as China squandering its naval mastery by [[Haijin|banning the building of ocean-going ships]] – for long periods without immediate consequences. In Western Europe, by contrast, competition from immediate neighbors meant that governments could not afford to suppress economic and technological progress for long; if they did not correct their mistakes, they were out-competed and/or conquered relatively quickly. While the leading powers alternated, a constant was rapid development of knowledge which could not be suppressed. For instance, the Chinese Emperor could ban shipbuilding and be obeyed, ending China's Age of Discovery, but the Pope could not keep [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]]'s ''[[Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems|Dialogue]]'' from being republished in Protestant countries, or [[Johannes Kepler|Kepler]] and [[Isaac Newton|Newton]] from continuing his progress; this ultimately enabled European merchant ships and navies to navigate around the globe. Western Europe also benefited from a more temperate climate than Southwestern Asia where intense agriculture ultimately damaged the environment, encouraged [[desertification]], and hurt [[soil fertility]].

=== Agriculture ===
[[File:Jared Diamond's big five.jpg|thumb|The five most significant domesticated animals: clockwise, cattle, pigs, goats, sheep and horses]]
''Guns, Germs, and Steel'' argues that [[urbanization|cities]] require an ample supply of food, and thus are dependent on agriculture. As farmers do the work of providing food, division of labor allows others freedom to pursue other functions, such as mining and literacy.

The crucial trap for the development of agriculture is the availability of wild edible plant species suitable for domestication. Farming arose early in the [[Fertile Crescent]] since the area had an abundance of wild wheat and pulse species that were nutritious and easy to domesticate. In contrast, American farmers had to struggle to develop corn as a useful food from its probable wild ancestor, [[teosinte]].

Also important to the transition from hunter-gatherer to city-dwelling agrarian societies was the presence of "large" domesticable animals, raised for meat, work, and long-distance communication. Diamond identifies a mere 14 domesticated large mammal species worldwide. The five most useful (cow, horse, sheep, goat, and pig) are all descendants of species [[Endemic (ecology)|endemic]] to [[Eurasia]]. Of the remaining nine, only two (the [[llama]] and [[alpaca]] both of South America) are indigenous to a land outside the temperate region of Eurasia.

Due to the [[Anna Karenina principle]], surprisingly few animals are suitable for domestication. Diamond identifies six criteria including the animal being sufficiently docile, gregarious, willing to breed in captivity and having a social dominance hierarchy. Therefore, none of the many African mammals such as the [[zebra]], [[antelope]], [[cape buffalo]], and [[African elephant]] were ever domesticated (although some can be tamed, they are not easily bred in captivity). The [[Holocene extinction event]] eliminated many of the [[megafauna]] that, had they survived, might have become candidate species, and [[Holocene extinction event#North America|Diamond argues]] that the pattern of extinction is more severe on continents where animals that had no prior experience of humans were exposed to humans who already possessed advanced hunting techniques (such as the Americas and Australia).

Smaller domesticable animals such as dogs, cats, chickens, and [[guinea pig]]s may be valuable in various ways to an agricultural society, but will not be adequate in themselves to sustain a large-scale agrarian society. An important example is the use of larger animals such as cattle and horses in plowing land, allowing for much greater crop productivity and the ability to farm a much wider variety of land and soil types than would be possible solely by human muscle power. Large domestic animals also have an important role in the transportation of goods and people over long distances, giving the societies that possess them considerable military and economic advantages.

=== Geography ===
Diamond argues that geography shaped [[Migration (human)|human migration]], not simply by making travel difficult (particularly by latitude), but by how climates affect where domesticable animals can easily travel and where crops can ideally grow easily due to the sun. The dominant [[Out of Africa theory]] holds that modern humans developed east of the [[Great Rift Valley]] of the African continent at one time or another. The [[Sahara]] kept people from migrating north to the [[Fertile Crescent]], until later when the [[Nile River]] valley became accommodating. Diamond continues to describe the story of human development up to the modern era, through the rapid development of technology, and its dire consequences on hunter-gathering cultures around the world.

Diamond touches on why the dominant powers of the last 500 years have been West European rather than East Asian, especially Chinese. The Asian areas in which big civilizations arose had geographical features conducive to the formation of large, stable, isolated empires which faced no external pressure to change which led to stagnation. Europe's many [[natural barrier]]s allowed the development of competing nation states. Such competition forced the European nations to encourage innovation and avoid technological stagnation.

=== Germs ===
In the later context of the [[European colonization of the Americas]], 95% of the indigenous populations are believed to have been [[Population history of indigenous peoples of the Americas|killed off by diseases]] brought by the Europeans. Many were killed by infectious diseases such as smallpox and measles. Similar circumstances were observed in [[History of Australia (1788–1850)|Australia]] and [[History of South Africa|South Africa]]. Aboriginal Australians and the Khoikhoi population were devastated by smallpox, measles, influenza, and other diseases.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Blainey|first1=Geoffrey|title=A short history of the world|url=https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofwo00blai|url-access=registration|date=2002|publisher=Dee|location=Chicago|isbn=978-1566635073}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Smallpox Epidemic Strikes at the Cape|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/smallpox-epidemic-strikes-cape|website=South Africa History Online|date=16 March 2011|access-date=April 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428140710/https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/smallpox-epidemic-strikes-cape|archive-date=April 28, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Diamond questions how diseases native to the American continents did not kill off Europeans, and posits that most of these diseases were developed and sustained only in large dense populations in villages and cities. He also states most epidemic diseases evolve from similar diseases of domestic animals. The combined effect of the increased population densities supported by agriculture, and of close human proximity to domesticated animals leading to animal diseases infecting humans, resulted in European societies acquiring a much richer collection of dangerous pathogens to which European people had acquired immunity through [[natural selection]] (such as the [[Black Death]] and other epidemics) during a longer time than was the case for [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] [[hunter-gatherers]] and farmers.

He mentions the tropical diseases (mainly [[malaria]]) that limited European penetration into Africa as an exception. Endemic infectious diseases were also barriers to European colonisation of Southeast Asia and New Guinea.

=== Success and failure ===
''Guns, Germs, and Steel'' focuses on why some populations succeeded. Diamond's later book, ''[[Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed]]'', focuses on environmental and other factors that have caused some populations to fail.