EXPLAIN THE REASONS FOR VENICE’S RISE TO GREATNESS BETWEEN THE 9 & 15

TH TH
CENTURIES (PG 3 -
10)

• LEADERSHIP

(a)
⇒ All these helped to boost Venetian trade
⇒ Increased profits from trade earnings for Venice
⇒ Prosperity for Venice
⇒ Rise of Venice

(b)
⇒ Success of the Fourth Crusade weakened the Byzantine Empire
⇒ Allowed the Venetians to control some important territories for trade that used to belong to
the Byzantines
⇒ Boost Venetian trade
⇒ Increased profits from trade earnings for Venice
⇒ Prosperity for Venice
⇒ Rise of Venice

(c)

 Venetians were able to control trade routes in the Mediterranean Sea

 Allowed the Venetians to force ships from other countries to call at ports under Venetian
control & impose high taxes on the goods that they carried. At the same time, the
Venetians were able to ensure that their own traders could trade freely in the ports under
their control & be exempted from high taxes
 The goods sold by traders from other countries would be more expensive & less
competitive than those of Venetian traders
 More people would buy goods from Venetian traders
 Boost Venetian trade
 Increased profits from trade earnings for Venice
 Prosperity for Venice
 Rise of Venice

• REFORMS IN THE GOVT

(a)

 Creation of the Great Council gave more capable the opportunity to serve the government
 These men were able to serve Venice well, make wise decisions & introduce effective
policies
 Stability & development for Venice
 Rise of Venice

 More nobles were given the opportunity to decide on Venice’s future by being part of the
Great Council
 The nobles were happy with the Venetian government as they had a say in governance &
more chances to participate politically
 Prevented political instability & rivalry amongst the noble families for limited government
positions

 Promote growth & development of Venice

 Rise of Venice

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 Different areas of governance was taken care of & well-managed by specific groups in the
government
 Promote development & growth of Venice
 Rise of Venice

(b)

 The effective checks on power ensured that no one in the government could abuse his post
& power thereby leading to efficiency in the government.
 Furthermore, the effective checks on power also won the support of the Venetians who
were convinced that the policies implemented by the political leaders were for the benefit of
Venice & not for their own personal gains
 All these led to good policies & strong support from the people
 Rise of Venice

 The stringent election process ensured that only competent, capable & responsible officials
could hold posts in the government.
 These men could serve Venice well, make wise decisions & introduce effective policies
 Stability & development for Venice
 Rise of Venice

• TRADE DEVELOPMENT & EXPANSION

(a)

 The Venetians were able to sell their goods at lower prices, bring in goods that were in high
demand, establish more trade contacts & offer a greater variety of goods from different
places
 Attracted more people to buy from Venetian traders & allow the Venetians to compete
successfully with their trade rivals
 Boost Venetian trade
 Greater profits for the Venetians through trade earnings
 Prosperity for Venice
 Rise of Venice

(b)
 Maritime technological advancement allowed the Venetian ships to overcome the problems
of poor visibility caused by bad weather & set sail during winter.
 Allowed the Venetians to dominate trade in the Mediterranean Sea throughout the year
 Boost Venetian trade
 More profits for the Venetians through trade earnings
 Prosperity for Venice
 Rise of Venice

 The Venetian merchant & battle vessels were able to travel further & more swiftly than
other vessels.
 Allowed the Venetians to expand trade & territorial control
 The Venetians had access to more goods & trading opportunities
 Boost Venetian trade
 Greater profits for the Venetians through trade earnings
 Prosperity for Venice
 Rise of Venice

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 The great galleys of the Venetians were so powerful that the pirates dared not attack
Venetian trading ships
 No disruption of Venetian trade by pirates
 Increase trade & profits for the Venetians
 Prosperity for Venice
 Rise of Venice

(c)
 The efficiency of this system allowed the Venetians to attract more traders to their ports as
well as to expand their trade into many regions
 Boost Venetian trade
 Increased profits for the Venetians through trade earnings
 Prosperity for Venice
 Rise of Venice

(d)
 The Venetian victory allowed them to face less competition & to control the Mediterranean
Sea
 Greater amount of international trade for the Venetians
 Increased profits for the Venetians through trade earnings
 Prosperity for Venice
 Rise of Venice

(e)

 Venetian traders used a combination of overland & sea routes to travel to Arabia ports to
obtain spices & other Eastern goods that the people in Europe wanted
 These Eastern goods were sold at high prices to the European states
 The Venetian traders earned huge profits
 Prosperity for Venice
 Rise of Venice

 There was a ready market for the Eastern goods brought in by the Venetian traders’
 Great profits for the Venetian traders
 Prosperity for Venice
 Rise of Venice

• INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

(a)
 The Arsenal built the ships necessary for Venetian trade & naval strength
 Allowed the Venetians to travel further in search of trading opportunities as well as to
defend themselves against enemies & gain control over trade routes & territories
 Increase trade for the Venetians
 More profits for the Venetians
 Prosperity for Venice
 Rise of Venice

(b)
 Venice was able to offer high quality manufactured goods for sale
 Attracted more traders to purchase Venetian goods
 More profits for the Venetians
 Prosperity for Venice

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 Rise of Venice

(c)
 Such innovative practices attracted traders to Venice as they could get many transactions
done smoothly
 Increase trading activities in Venice
 More profits for the Venetians
 Prosperity for Venice
 Rise of Venice

EXPLAIN THE REASONS FOR VENICE’S DECLINE BETWEEN THE 15 & 18

TH TH
CENTURIES (PG 13-19).

• FOREIGN THREATS

(a)
 Venice’s act of switching alliances with opposing states meant that it had fragile relations
with the larger states & Venice could come under attacks should negotiations with the large
states failed
 Such a situation put the Venetians at a high risk as there was no certainty which alliance
would ultimately benefit Venice
 To deal with possible attacks from the large mainland states, the Venetians had to equip
themselves with a strong army by spending a lot of money recruiting mercenaries to fight
its wars as Venice’s population was too small to form a formidable army
 Drained Venice’s resources due to increase expenditure on defence
 Weakened Venice
 Led to Venice’s decline
 The Venetians depended on these commercial crossroads for trade & wealth
 Disruption of Venetian trade
 Reduced profits from trade for the Venetians
 Led to Venice’s decline

(b)
 The wars with the Ottoman Empire weakened Venice as it lost many men & much wealth
 Led to Venice’s decline

 Furthermore, the expansion of the Ottoman Empire also led to a situation in which the
Venetians lost important coastal territories to the Ottomans. For example, the Venetians
lost Negroponte, one of their most important Eastern trade outposts in the Mediterranean to
the Ottomans in 1470.
 Disruption of Venetian trade as the Venetians had to bypass Ottoman territories to go to
the East
 Less profits for the Venetians through trading activities
 Weakened the Venetians
 Led to Venice’s decline

(c)
 Although the Venetians were able to make use of the changing alliances among members
of the League of Cambrai to create new alliances & recapture some of its lost territories,
wars with the League of Cambrai drained & weakened Venice’s resources as it had to
finance the employment of mercenaries & replenish its supply of weapons
 Led to Venice’s decline

• MARITIME COMPETITION

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(a)
 The discovery of the new sea route destroyed Venice’s monopoly of the lucrative spice
trade as the Portuguese could buy their spices directly from India, sell them to the
European states & compete with the Venetians
 Greatly reduced the huge profits that the Venetian traders earned from the spice trade
 Weakened Venice
 Led to Venice’s decline

NOTE:
- Even though Venice lost its monopoly of the spice trade, it continued to function as a trade
centre in the western Mediterranean Sea as growing Portuguese cities demanded more
goods & Venice became the main supplier of Mediterranean goods such as wine, raisins &
Persian silk to these cities.
- Furthermore, Venetian-manufactured products like glassware were still highly profitable &
in high demand by both the East & West.
- The Venetians also expanded their trade to the North Sea region & maintained trade links
with Britain.

(b)
 The Venetians responded to the challenges posed by the Dutch & British by imposing a
protectionist policy in which higher duties were imposed on foreign traders
 It became more costly to trade with the Venetians
 Less traders were willing to visit to Venetian ports or trade with Venetian traders
 Reduced trade earnings for Venice
 Weakened Venice
 Led to Venice’s decline

• POLITICAL CHALLENGES

(a)
 Incompetent nobles were appointed as government officials
 They were unable to make wise decisions & effective policies for Venice
 Venice was less able to face the challenges from the 15th century onwards
 Weakened Venice
 Led to Venice’s decline

 These nobles were not able to lead the Venetian navy well & compete against the
Ottomans who were led by capable & qualified military leaders
 Venice suffered heavily in the wars against the Ottomans
 Weakened Venice
 Led to Venice’s decline

(b)
 These corrupted practices resulted in incompetent leaders taking on positions in the
government.
 Furthermore, these leaders cared more about the interest of themselves & their families
rather than that of the city-state & they formulated polices that were meant to preserve the
power, prestige & wealth of the nobles rather than for the good of Venice
 Bad decisions & ineffective policies for Venice
 Venice was less able to face the challenges from the 15th century onwards
 Weakened Venice
 Led to Venice’s decline

(c)

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 Many mercenaries chose to fight for richer & larger states that could pay them more rather
than the Venetians
 This weakened Venice as it did not have a strong citizen army to fight its war & defend it
 Led to easy defeats of Venice in the hands of its enemies
 Led to Venice’s decline

• SOCIAL CHALLENGES

 Such complacency & indulgence slowed down & eventually stopped the progress of the
Venetian society
 With the people not committed to the cause of the city-state, Venice went into decadence
leading to its decline