20th Century’s Deadliest Disasters

1. Justinian’s Plague Ended the Classical Age, and Kick Started the Feudal Era

Justinian’s Plague hit Europe hard: an estimated 40% to 50% of the continent’s population perished during the pandemic’s tragic course and aftermath. However, not all parts of Europe were equally hard-hit. The plague followed the established trade routes, so ports and cities got the worst of it. By contrast, the countryside and the parts of Europe of the established trade routes got off relatively lightly.

That uneven death toll, heavy in the cities and relatively light in the countryside, transitioned Europe out of what was left of the Classical Age, and ushered in the Feudal Era. The Classical Age had been marked by a significant urban culture. Justinian’s Plague – on top of Justinian’s many wars – put paid to that, devastating the cities and an economy built around sustaining urban life. The center of power shifted from the cities to the countryside, and rural strongmen emerged as the founders of feudalism. One era and way of life ended, and another one began.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Cantor, Norman F. – In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World it Made (2002)

Cracked – 6 Historical Tragedies That Were Way Worse Than You Thought

Crawford, Dorothy – Deadly Companions: How Microbes Shaped Our History (2018)

History Collection – Historic Disasters That Were Way Worse Than People Think

Devastating Disasters – Yellow River Flood, China, 1887 AD

Disaster History – Central China Flood, 1931

Encyclopedia Britannica – Huang He Floods

Encyclopedia Britannica – Tangshan Earthquake of 1976

History Collection – Unusual Historic Crises and Calamities

Facts and Details – Yellow River

Flood List – Central China Flood, 1931

Hurricane Science – 1839 Coringa Cyclone

Live Science – Mount Vesuvius & Pompeii: Facts & History

Live Science – What Was the Black Death?

History Collection – 16 Dreadful Details about the Black Plague

McNeil, William H. – Plagues and People (1976)

National Geographic, September, 2007 – Vesuvius, Asleep for Now

New York Times, September 15^th, 1996 – China’s Endless Task to Stem Centuries of Floods

Rosen, William – Justinian’s Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe (2007)

History Collection – Seven Deadliest Plagues in History

Sigurosson, Haraldur, and Carey, Steven – The Eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 (2002)

Time Magazine, October 15^th, 1956 – Science: Man of Pompeii

Wikipedia – 1976 Tangshan Earthquake