ZTE: When I watched an American history, The Growth of America and China recently, I often wondered what caused the failure of American Indians. According to the translator's preface, this book was written by a "bourgeois historian". A little western-centered, focusing on the expansion of whites, without in-depth discussion on the failure of Indians. Our country's history textbooks and Internet surfers are willing to side with Indians, but the reasons they sum up are often too simple. To put it bluntly, it is nothing more than the brutality of white people, massacre or genocide, and the gap in military strength.
None of these three articles holds water. When it comes to cruelty, Indians are no worse than whites. It is a common ceremony for Indians to entertain prisoners by cutting open their bellies and cutting off their limbs. As for scalping and decorating rooms, it is their famous tradition. If human history is really barbaric, I'm afraid it should be Indians who occupied Europe.
The Holocaust is also a one-sided story. It is only nearly a hundred years since human society banned slaughter and abuse. Before that, slaughter has always been the main way of international communication. Settlements originally built by Europeans, including residents, soldiers, houses, etc. , often disappear without a trace within a few years. During the White People's War of Independence, the Indians also took advantage of the fire and carried out several mass killings. Before the independence of the United States, whites and reds basically slaughtered each other, and it was not until later that the power gap widened that it became mainly white people who slaughtered Indians. From our point of view today, whites and Indians are both murderers and sacrifices.
The view of genocide is more extreme. Even our history textbooks, which take anti-imperialism as their responsibility, never dare to say that "white people have implemented a policy of genocide against Indians." This statement only exists in the slogans of some net worms. Genocide, like slaughter, is common among ancient hostile groups, but in North America, both the slaughter of red people against white people and the slaughter of red people by white people are basically composed of a series of long-term isolated and scattered events, far less concentrated and crazy than Zhang's slaughter of Mongols and Sichuanese, not to mention the organized and disciplined slaughter of Jews by Qing army and German army. It is true that as long as the armed forces kill innocent civilians, even if only one person is killed, it is still a massacre. But if there is no strict organization and purpose and a certain scale, I don't think the holocaust can rise to genocide. Otherwise 1937 what happened to Nanjing people would have been called genocide rather than massacre.
The military gap is not the main reason. As we all know, among all technologies, military technology is the fastest spreading one. Indians have long discovered the great power of European weapons. They took advantage of the demand for hides in the European market in exchange for a large number of weapons. Once the Indians are armed, coupled with their inherent natural advantages, they become a formidable force on the land of North America. It is not uncommon for a red man to beat a white man. For example, the defenders of Fort Deere Bern in 18 12 and Fort George in 18 13 were all wiped out by Indians. As for the white militia swept away by them, there are countless more. Besides, the gap in firepower can be made up by flexible tactics. 1The second missionary war, which broke out in February, 835, lasted seven years, cost 20 million yuan and killed more than 0/000 people, but it still failed to force the Indians to migrate in an all-round way. The reason why it is so difficult is that Misino people have developed a set of successful guerrilla tactics by taking advantage of the local complex terrain. In a Christmas attack, they even created a casualty ratio of red people to white people of 1: 10. It can be said that as the enemy of the US military, the military disadvantage of Indians in the19th century is not greater than that of Vietnamese in the 20th century.
Brutality, massacre and military disparity are untenable, because they all seek answers from the outside, that is, from whites. They can't answer such a question: countless nationalities have been invaded and slaughtered in history. In the ancient Greek-Persian War, a series of nations such as Indian, Japanese and China were lying on the road of modern western expansion. The invaders in Asia were not more merciful than those in America, and the gap between science and technology in19th century was even greater than that in17th century. Then, why did these peoples finally retain their national independence, while the Indians lost their land and soldiers and became American minorities? Obviously, it is not enough to emphasize only external reasons. The real reason should be found within Indians.
Entering the Indian inland, the deepest first impression is their scattered yellow sand. When Europeans first landed, the Indians' first reaction was that these white-skinned people must have descended from the sky, and then, well, we can form an alliance with these people to deal with our enemies. As a result, at the invitation of Indian tribes, Europeans easily disintegrated one by one and gained a firm foothold on the east coast of America. At the same time, the quicksand of the Indians also caused another result, that is, the news between tribes was blocked, and often one tribe was defeated. A nearby tribe knows nothing about their neighbors' experiences and the virtues of their new white neighbors. They were still ecstatic to see the white people and offered conditions to invite them to attack the Indians farther away. Europeans are like viruses without immunity, devouring the cells of one Indian after another. Only a few wise tribes, such as the five tribes in Iroquois, formed an alliance among Indians and did not take the initiative to get angry. Only then did he escape the game of moths to the fire, and he was fortunate to become one of the protagonists in the later Red and White Massacre.
However, compared with another mistake in India, these are not particularly serious. In the first three wars in North America, the Seven-Year War, the War of Independence and the Anglo-American War, the Indians all sided with the enemies of the United States. I didn't see a detailed analysis of the reasons why Indians lined up. Perhaps the contradiction between the red man and the white man at that time was mainly concentrated on the contradiction with the colony or the United States. Therefore, once the white people's infighting broke out, the vengeful Indians chose to become enemies of the United States, not their own comrades. Unfortunately, all three wars ended in the victory of the United States, and the Indians were on the wrong side and on the side of the losers three times. The failure of France resulted in the loss of Canada, the failure of Britain resulted in the loss of colonies, and the failure of Indians resulted in the establishment of their national enemy status. A while ago, there was a popular post on the Chinese website, probably called "The Four Founding Fathers of the United States and the Genocide Policy against Indians", which recorded many remarks that Washington, Jefferson and others hated Indians. These remarks are not isolated, but the same impression of Indians by Americans at that time. This provided a public opinion basis for the subsequent exclusion and slaughter of Indians. Due to the lack of long-term vision, Indians have repeatedly turned against the United States. Obviously, they have prepared a butcher knife for themselves.
After the independence of the United States, white people embezzled Indian land in another mode. At that time, the United States signed a treaty with most Indian tribes on the border to demarcate the border. At this time, the British in the northwest and Canada often encourage Indians to abolish the signed treaties and recover the land in the east. In addition, there are many American hooligans who covet the fertile land of Indians and often make all kinds of troubles and provoke their hostility. Under the empty promises of Britain and unreasonable provocations of the United States, Indians often rashly set out to attack villages and towns in China. Then, of course, it was the large-scale revenge of the American army that drove away this group of unwelcome neighbors and pushed the border further west. As a result, the British achieved the purpose of harassing the United States, and the American hooligans also achieved the purpose of seizing the land, while the Indians bled for nothing except leaving their homes. Refusing to obey modern rules, blindly using force and jumping into the dug trap are the main internal causes of the Indians' loss of territory in the later period.
After paying tuition fees and making mistakes, Indians finally began to reflect on the reasons for their retreat. /kloc-At the beginning of the 9th century, a chief named Tokem West began to unite with the Indians. He shuttled between the tribes in the northwest and gave speeches everywhere: "Why can't the Indians even keep their last position?" It is the Indians who lack unity and have no weapons. Only when all Indian tribes from the Canadian forest to the Gulf of Mexico unite to take up arms can we stop the wave of white immigrants and defeat them. "Under the advocacy of Tokem West, Indian tribes began to boycott white textiles and proudly wore their own buffalo hide in exchange for ammunition and weapons. At the same time, referring to the experience of white military organizations, Tokem West gathered young soldiers from various tribes for unified military training.
Although Tokem advocates nationalism at home, it insists on doing things according to civilized rules abroad. He doesn't want revenge through war, and he knows that the idea of revenge is unrealistic. He plans to negotiate with whites on an equal footing in the name of "Red National Alliance" to safeguard the long-term interests of his nation. 1809, Harrison, the governor of Indiana (184 1 year later) reached an agreement with some important tribes and bought about 3 million acres of land at a relatively cheap price. Tecumseh is firmly opposed. He said that any tribal cession of land must be approved by all tribes before it can take effect. Because of Tokem West's insistence, Harrison finally gave up the deal.
Just as Tokem West's career was booming, the cunning Englishman took a fancy to this promising star. At that time, on the eve of the Anglo-American War, the United States was sharpening its sword to seize Canada, and Britain was being dragged away by Napoleon. Only 3000 soldiers are stationed in Canada. The British naturally fell in love with the idea of Indians. Under their strong temptation, Tokem Selly, who lacked political experience, made him dizzy, assembled that unformed army and took the initiative to fight Harrison. Despite the support of the British army, they were quickly defeated by the experienced Harrison. Tokem West was also killed in a battle, and 3 million acres of land were annexed to the territory of Indiana. India's most promising resistance was thus destroyed by British conspirators.
Looking at history, I have a particularly familiar feeling. Yes, Tokem West is India's Li Hongzhang, and the Battle of Tokem West is India's Sino-Japanese War. Now we finally get to the core of the failure of Indians, that is, their Westernization Movement was too late. Tecumseh opened the door to Indian reform, insisting on tradition while training the new army, and boycotting foreign products while observing the rules. We know that this semi-native and semi-foreign reform is doomed to failure, but it is also doomed by the ancient nation. This is the tuition that is destined to be paid on the road to modernization. However, if the Indian Westernization Movement can be carried out in advance, even if it is carried out 50 years before Tokem West, then even if they fail, they can polish Tokem West's eyes and let him step on the shoulders of his predecessors for the next round of the Reform Movement of 1898 or the Meiji Restoration. If the Indian nation can be comprehensively reformed for 30 to 50 years, can Harrison still get it so easily?
If the young don't work hard, the old will be sad. In the 300 years since the white man came in, the Indians wasted too many years. Only when Americans saw the Pacific Ocean did someone wake up and talk about politics, unity and learning. Thus, the tragedy of Tokem West became the tragedy of the whole Indian nation, because it was the last dike of the Indians. Once Tokem West fell, the Indian capital was completely consumed. There are not so many mistakes in history, and they no longer have tuition fees for the next round of experiments.
There was once a widely circulated speech by an Indian chief. I can't remember the specific content. The general idea is that this is our land. We Indians live our own lives with you white people, and no one needs anyone. Why did you invade our land? From the point of view of Indians, this speech is very powerful in criticizing whites, but from the point of view of onlookers, it just shows that the failures of so many Indians are really in vain. If it is understandable to say that no one needs anyone, it comes from the mouth of ignorance of western civilization, then Indians who have dealt with Europeans for hundreds of years have not seen the overall advantages of the enemy in politics, economy, military affairs, culture and technology, so they study with an open mind and make great efforts to reform. In the eyes of our descendants, it can only be "mourning their misfortune and angering them."
Toynbee believes that challenges and challenges are the main driving force for the growth of civilization in his book Historical Research. He divided the challenge into three levels: weak, medium and strong. Too weak challenges can't inspire a civilization, such as the Mongolian invasion, which has little influence on Japan; And too strong a challenge will destroy a civilization. For example, China's tolerant and active society in the Tang and Song Dynasties is gone forever, and it has been replaced by a harsh and repressive society in the Ming and Qing Dynasties; Only moderate challenges, such as the Mongols invading the Grand Duchy of Moscow, have really played a role in promoting Russian civilization. The tragedy of the Indians is obviously caused by their failure to successfully meet the challenge of the white invasion. However, it seems difficult to find a reasonable explanation because the challenge is too weak or too strong: on the one hand, in the face of the challenge, the Indian way of thinking and behavior rules have not changed much, and they have never fought at all, which seems to be that the challenge is too weak; On the other hand, the Indian tribes who participated in the challenge disappeared before they could fight, as if they were strong again.
In the final analysis, this contradiction that cannot be located is caused by the insensitivity of Indians. As mentioned earlier, Indian tribes are fighting in their own way. For the tribes on the front line of the Anti-Japanese War, they were beaten to pieces before they could study their opponents in depth, let alone learn from them. Other tribes, on the other hand, are mostly indifferent to the fate of their neighbors and will not learn any lessons, as long as the butcher's knife does not fall on their own heads. In this way, the white power that has just landed is very weak relative to the whole Indian tribe, but it becomes an overwhelming advantage when it comes to the head of a certain tribe. In this case, the strange challenges that Indians encounter are challenges that are too strong at the micro level and too weak at the macro level, or weak challenges composed of a series of strong challenges. In short, due to the internal contradictions of Indian tribes, the white invasion has never been able to form a mild stimulus, and the Indians have never or can't fight seriously. Behind Indians' failure to learn and reform, there is actually another reason for disunity.
At present, our internal unity is not enough, our politics is not mature enough, we have gone all the way without learning or reform, and we have gone a long way and are not United enough. It seems that these three reasons are not relatively isolated, but intertwined and mutually reinforcing. If you refuse to study, you will never mature. If you are not mature, you will not talk about unity. If you don't talk about unity, you must face the strong pressure of the enemy alone, and naturally you can't learn. This is a strange circle that many latecomers will encounter, which can probably be called the "Indian trap".
Forget this strange circle. Let's talk about whether the failure of Indians can be avoided. My answer is yes, as evidenced by Japanese, China and Indian mirrors. As wise after the event, I think Indians have three strategies for the invasion and expansion of whites. The best policy is Japanese. After several wars with whites, it quickly realized the superiority of western civilization and saw that "this is a great change that the United States has never seen before." While striving for trade, it sent outstanding young people to Europe to study and inspect, and completely reformed itself according to the western system. Of course, some people will inevitably accuse them of losing their traditions, but smart Indians can completely refute that human rights are the first right to life and traditions cannot be eaten. Save your life first. From Matthew Calbraith perry to the Russo-Japanese War, in just 50 years, Japan became a member of the great powers from the object of aggression by the great powers. If the Indians follow the Japanese way, if the tribes unite, there will be a powerful "Indian United Emirates", and it is entirely possible for us yellow people to dominate the world today. If the tribes are not United, at least it will be a new Europe with political division but high development. Today, it is likely that it is negotiating to establish an "Indian institution".
China policy is China policy. Although China lags behind Japan in learning reform and its country is relatively poor, it stood a good team in World War II and then joined forces with the United States and the Soviet Union. Now it has a greater say in international affairs than Japan. In the War of Independence, if a visionary chief can lead Indian tribes to stand on the colonial side and fight bloody battles with the Continental Army, how much political capital they will have after the war! After the success of independence, all the slaves who joined the continental army were free, and so were the Indians. They will certainly get more than freedom. It is conceivable that Indians will become an active force in American politics with their great military exploits and huge population. From then on, they are no longer enemies who are chased everywhere, but masters who have the right to speak. With luck, they may even produce an Indian president.
The worst policy is India's policy. Mahatma Gandhi's magic weapon is non-cooperation. He started from the British concept of human rights and used the governance rules of the British authorities to launch a movement to overthrow Britain. As a result, "political power comes out of the barrel of a gun", a China truth, failed in India. The old man without a gun somehow made Pakistan independent. Perhaps the Indian road is the most enlightening, because without a strong central India, it is impossible to mobilize national strength on a large scale and make great moves in politics and diplomacy like Japan and China. For nations like India and India, the invaders don't even need to divide and rule, they just need to occupy them piece by piece. India's road is actually a way for the weak to use the rules of the strong to fight skillfully and legally. This is exactly what Martin Luther King defended civil rights. After the independence of the United States, if the Indians face up to the balance of power between the two sides and are not bewitched by the British, provoked by the Americans and carried away by the national virtual fire, then at least, the road to the west of Tokem can go on. If there are provocative acts of American hooligans, don't jump at the first stab, but stick to the common rules of civilization. The original intention of the United States was to resist oppression and achieve justice, and it is still the last refuge of the oppressed all over the world. Of all the governments, the United States government should be regarded as the most reasonable. Besides, at the beginning of the founding of the United States, wars continued, such as the Anglo-American War, the Spanish-American War, the Mexican War and the Civil War. As long as Indians always behave themselves, Americans dare not act rashly. Today's West Indies is still a Mexico.
Now, with Japanese, China and Indian mirrors, I can safely quote an old China saying: "You can live if you do evil in the sky, but you can't live if you do evil yourself." The expansion policy of white people is the external cause of the tragic fate of Indians, while their own isolation, infighting and shortsightedness are the internal causes.
With the establishment of the global status of the United States, there are more and more voices complaining about Indians. But I think that the history of Indians, besides spears, should be a mirror. Arabs in the Middle East, in particular, have made all the mistakes made by Indians in the past 400 years, and they have made all the mistakes in the past 60 years, and there is a great momentum of increasing efforts. "Qin people can't help but mourn for themselves, and later people mourn for it." If Arabs mourn for this mirror, "future generations will no longer learn from it." Let's wait patiently and see if the "Indian trap" will "also make future generations mourn for future generations."