History Creator / FeliksKoneczny

* turanian: ProudWarriorRace, nomadic; MightMakesRight even more than in the byzantine, but the organisation is loose and tends to [[DecapitatedArmy fall apart when deprived of]] a [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority leader]]; not tied to any particular religion (it accommodates animists, buddhists, muslims and several christian sects); see UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan;

* chinese: TheClan UpToEleven, with the ruler treated as a sort of ThePatriarch for the entire state, not very religious (see Creator/{{Confucius}}) although they invented [[{{Koan}} Zen]], VastBureaucracy with [[AsianAndNerdy scholarly]] [[ProudScholarRace tendencies]].

* MarryThemAll: The latin civilisation is strictly monogamous, as were the republican roman and [[AncientGreece greek civilisations]], the others have various degrees of {{Polyamory}} (and Koneczny treats divorce as {{Polyamory}}, but not remarrying after your spouse has died).

* latin: heir to both the attican and [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic republican roman]], [[ChristianityIsCatholic christian - catholic]]; {{Double Standard}}s are '''bad''' - the same morality applies to the rulers and the ruled; [[ForGreatJustice law should be ethical]], people should be independent (if [[TheFettered morally principled]], small land-owners if possible; also facilitates development of [[ForScience science]] and tends towards maximum variety (within its limits) and creativity (see Creator/GKChesterton for a nice example of a latin civilisation member); has concepts of nation and critical, scientific history;

* jewish: [[JewishAndNerdy scholarly]] [[TheTheocracy sacral civilisation]] (that means SacredScripture is the source of all their laws [[note]]Although JewsLoveToArgue, so various cultures may differ about which scriptures, exactly, are sacred.[[/note]]) of {{Rules Lawyer}}s; severed too early and abruptly from its land of origin, hence tending towards mercantile occupations; perceive themselves as the Chosen People, DoubleStandard towards the gentiles;

* CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority: In latin civilisation, and only within reason - latin civilisation values Truth above all, the search of which needs independent thinking. But you can't think freely without acknowledging that maybe you're wrong - the authority, of course, may be wrong as well.

* NurtureOverNature: Biology, genes, blood and whatnot have '''nothing'' to do with civilisation. You can be ethnically Jewish and belong to the byzantine, or, as Hungarians did, come from the inland Asia and adopt the latin civilisation. Language may be of some importance, but not vital - all the greek civilisations spoke koine, the latin civilisation is right now using languages derived from actual latin (like UsefulNotes/SpanishLanguage) or related to it (like English and Polish) as well as completely unrelated ones, like the aforementioned Hungarian. In general, Koneczny thinks explaining human behaviour by biology alone is complete rubbish.

* chinese: TheClan UpToEleven, with the ruler treated as a sort of ThePatriarch for the entire state, not very religious (see Creator/{{Confucius}}) although they invented [[{{Koan}} Zen]], VastBureaucracy with [[AsianAndNerdy scholarly tendencies]].

* ''Cywilizacja bizantyńska'' [[labelnote:translation]]Byzantine Civilisation[[/labelnote]]
* ''Cywilizacja żydowska'' [[labelnote:translation]]Jewish Civilisation[[/labelnote]]

* jewish: [[JewishAndNerdy scholarly]] [[TheTheocracy sacral civilisation]] (that means religious writings are sole source of the law) of {{Rules Lawyer}}s; severed too early and abruptly from its land of origin, hence tending towards mercantile occupations; perceive themselves as the Chosen People, DoubleStandard towards the gentiles;
* arabian: TheClan (cordoban culture had NuclearFamily); sacral (has stricter and less strict cultures - some of the less strict developed science, e.g. [[ArabianNightsDays the Baghdad culture]], which took some cues from the persian civilisation); law only deals with immediate human relationships and TheGovernment must make do with that (justifying e.g. taxes by the koranic duty of almsgiving), Literature/TheQuran is the highest authority (which the ruler has to obey);

(The arabian, brahmin and chinese civilisations were not described by Koneczny in much detail, possibly because their members are not found in Poland in significant numbers.)

* NurtureOverNature: This is '''not''' about birth - you can be ethnically Jewish and belong to the byzantine civilisation, or, as Hungarians did, come from the inland Asia and adopt the latin civilisation. Language may be of some importance, but not vital - all the greek civilisations spoke koine, the latin civilisation is right now using languages derived from actual latin (like UsefulNotes/SpanishLanguage) or related to it (like English and Polish) as well as completely unrelated ones, like the aforementioned Hungarian.
* ScrewDestiny: There's no such thing as historical determinism. Sure, history repeats, but that's because people keep making the same choices from the same pool of ideas.
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Koneczny assumed humans are naturally monogamous and both polygamy and low social position of women arise from [[SexSlave slavery]]. As such, he frowned on them, since he deemed slavery demoralising for both the slave and the owner.

* latin: heir to both the attican and [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic republican roman]], [[ChristianityIsCatholic christian - catholic]]; {{Double Standard}}s are '''bad''' - the same morality applies to the rulers and the ruled; [[ForGreatJustice law should be ethical]], people should be independent (if [[TheFettered) morally principled]], small land-owners if possible; also facilitates development of [[ForScience science]] and tends towards maximum variety (within its limits) and creativity (see Creator/GKChesterton for a nice example of a latin civilisation member); has concepts of nation and critical, scientific history;

* latin: heir to both the attican and [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic republican roman]], with a good dose of ChristianityIsCatholic; {{Double Standard}}s are '''bad''' - the same morality applies to the rulers and the ruled; [[ForGreatJustice law should be ethical]], people should be independent (if TheFettered), small land-owners if possible; also facilitates development of [[ForScience science]] and tends towards variety (within its limits) and creativity (see Creator/GKChesterton for a nice example of a latin civilisation member); has concepts of nation and critical, scientific history;
* byzantine: heir to the [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire imperial roman]] and hellenistic, also christian, but much less tolerant, MightMakesRight; with a VastBureaucracy (very [[ObstructiveBureaucrat micromanaging]]), the Supreme Boss of which is above [[DoubleStandard morality]];
* turanian: ProudWarriorRace, nomadic; MightMakesRight even more than in the byzantine, but the organisation is loose and tends to fall apart when deprived of a [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority leader]]; not tied to any particular religion (it accommodates animists, buddhists, muslims and several christian sects); see UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan;
* jewish: [[JewishAndNerdy scholarly]] [[TheTheocracy sacral civilisation (meaning religious writings are sole source of the law)]] of {{Rules Lawyer}}s; severed abruptly from its land of origin, hence tending towards mercantile occupations; perceive themselves as the Chosen People, DoubleStandard towards the gentiles;

* ScienceMarchesOn: Koneczny's sees historical determinism (historiosophy) and all the "theories" concerning race and the alleged superiority of one race over the others as completely wrong (he ridicules them a lot in the ''Cywilizacja bizantyńska'').
** He himself quotes, in dead earnest, weird concepts like crystals having sex (no, we don't know either)

'''Feliks Karol Koneczny''' (1862-1949) was a historian and a journalist, but what he's best known for (and incidentally, what's most [[{{Trope}} tropish]] about his work) is the theory of civilisations he developed.

Oh, and when two civilisations meet beyond occasional trade, you get ValuesDissonance of epic proportions, obviously. If civilisations try to meld together, ApatheticCitizens inevitably result, because of all the confusion (one says eg. BeYourself, the other shouts [[TallPoppySyndrome Conform]]! - what's a poor guy going to do?). If the civilisations are too far apart to even try melding, the [[CrystalSpiresAndTogas more advanced one]] (that is, the one demanding more effort from its members) usually gets squished by the [[BarbarianTribe less advanced one]]. The advanced one may also split, as was the case with the roman civilisation, even on the same territory (a staunch republican Cato and very imperial Creator/GaiusJuliusCaesar lived alongside), with the less advanced one getting to rule (more or less oppresively).

* arabian: TheClan (cordoban culture had NuclearFamily); sacral (has stricter and less strict cultures - some of the less strict developed science, e.g. [[ArabianNightsDays the baghdad culture]], which took some cues from the persian civilisation); law only deals with immediate human relationships and TheGovernment must make do with that (justifying e.g. taxes by the koranic duty of almsgiving), Literature/TheQuran is the highest authority (which the ruler has to obey);

* chinese: TheClan UpToEleven, with the ruler treated as a sort of ThePatriarch for the entire state, not very religious (see Creator/{{Confucius}}) although they invented Zen, VastBureaucracy with [[AsianAndNerdy scholarly tendencies]].

* ''Cywilizacja bizantyńska'' [[labelnote:translation]]Byzantine civilisation[[/labelnote]]
* ''Cywilizacja żydowska'' [[labelnote:translation]]Jewish civilisation[[/labelnote]]
* ''Państwo w cywilizacji łacińskiej. Zasady prawa w cywilizacji łacińskiej'' [[labelnote:translation]]The state in the latin civilisation. The base for laws in the latin civilisation

Of course, there are hundreds of possible civilisations. UsefulNotes/AncientGreece alone had several, although it's hard to tell exactly, because, unlike ceramics and weapons, laws don't leave much archeological evidence [[note]]Koneczny himself mentions at least three: attican (Athens - what you probably think of when hearing the phrase "Ancient Greece", since they were the Greeks who wrote the most - Creator/{{Socrates}} and Creator/{{Plato}} belong here), spartan and macedonian, which resembled republican roman more than it did other Greeks. The syncretic hellenistic civilisation was a late, UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat-era development[[/note]]. Some civilisations die out (like spartan or republican roman, although this one sort of [[SpiritualSuccessor survives]] in the latin civilisation), some last for a really, really long time (the jewish civilisation is circa 6000 years old and going strong). There's no law to this.

Oh, and when two civilisations meet beyond occasional trade, you get ValuesDissonance of epic proportions, obviously. If civilisations try to meld, ApatheticCitizens inevitably result, because of all the confusion (one says eg. BeYourself, the other shouts [[TallPoppySyndrome Conform]]! - what's a poor guy going to do?). If the civilisations are too far apart to even try melding, the [[CrystalSpiresAndTogas more advanced one]] (that is, the one demanding more effort from its members) usually gets squished by the [[BarbarianTribe less advanced one]]. The advanced one may also split, as was the case with the roman civilisation, even on the same territory (a staunch republican Cato and very imperial Creator/GaiusJuliusCaesar lived alongside), with the less advanced one getting to rule (more or less oppresively).

Civilisations tend to be tied to at least one religion (although sometimes religions [[NeverAcceptedInHisHometown turn out to fit another civilisation better]]: UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} has mostly migrated out of its civilisation of origin, the brahmin, into the chinese and tibetan). Their connection to places is less important - you simply need somewhere for the people to live and build their society, which at least at the beggining usually is a specific state. Within a civilisation, varieties called cultures arise (and fall): for example arabian civilisation used to have cordoban culture (in Spain), which was still arabian, just with some local flavour. It had the potential to split off, but didn't.

* latin: heir to both the attican and [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic republican roman]], with a good dose of ChristianityIsCatholic; {{Double Standard}}s are '''bad''' - the same morality applies to the rulers and the ruled; [[ForGreatJustice law should be ethical]], people should be independent (if TheFettered), small land-owners if possible; also facilitates development of [[ForScience science]] and tends towards variety (within its limits) and creativity (see Creator/GKChesterton for a nice example of a latin civilisation member); has concepts of nation and critical, scientific history
* byzantine: heir to the [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire imperial roman]] and hellenistic, also christian, but much less tolerant, MightMakesRight; with a VastBureaucracy (very [[ObstructiveBureaucrat micromanaging]]), the Supreme Boss of which is above [[DoubleStandard morality]]
* turanian: ProudWarriorRace, nomadic; MightMakesRight even more than in the byzantine, but the organisation is loose and tends to fall apart when deprived of a [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority leader]]; not tied to any particular religion (it accommodates animists, buddhists, muslims and several christian sects); see UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan
* jewish: [[JewishAndNerdy scholarly]] [[TheTheocracy sacral civilisation (meaning religious writings are sole source of the law)]] of {{Rules Lawyer}}s; severed abruptly from its land of origin, hence tending towards mercantile occupations; perceive themselves as the Chosen People, DoubleStandard towards the gentiles
* arabian: TheClan (cordoban culture had NuclearFamily); sacral (has stricter and less strict cultures - some of the less strict developed science, e.g. [[ArabianNightsDays the baghdad culture]], which took some cues from the persian civilisation); law only deals with immediate human relationships and TheGovernment must make do with that (justifying e.g. taxes by the koranic duty of giving to the poor), Literature/TheQuran is the highest authority (which the ruler has to obey)
* brahmin: very formal [[TheTheocracy sacral civilisation]] with {{The Clan}}s and castes
* chinese: TheClan UpToEleven, with the ruler treated as a sort of ThePatriarch for the entire state, not very religious (see Creator/{{Confucius}}) although they invented Zen, VastBureaucracy with [[AsianAndNerdy scholarly tendencies]]

* MarryThemAll: The latin civilisation is strictly monogamous, the others can have various degrees of {{Polyamory}} (and Koneczny treats divorce as {{Polyamory}}, but not remarrying after your spouse has died).

* arabian: TheClan (cordoban culture had NuclearFamily); sacral (has stricter and less strict cultures - some of the less strict developed science, e.g. [[ArabianNightsDays the baghdad culture]]); law only deals with immediate human relationships and TheGovernment must make do with that (justifying e.g. taxes by the koranic duty of giving to the poor), Literature/TheQuran is the highest authority (which the ruler has to obey)

Of course, there are hundreds of possible civilisations. UsefulNotes/AncientGreece alone had several, although it's hard to tell exactly, because, unlike ceramics and weapons, laws don't leave much archeological evidence [[note]]Koneczny himself mentions at least three: attican (Athens - what you probably think of when hearing the phrase "Ancient Greece", since they were the Greeks who wrote the most - Creator/{{Socrates}} and Creator/{{Plato}} belong here), spartan and macedonian, which resembled republican roman more than it did other Greeks. The syncretic hellenistic civilisation was a late, AlexanderTheGreat-era development[[/note]]. Some civilisations die out (like spartan or republican roman, although this one sort of [[SpiritualSuccessor survives]] in the latin civilisation), some last for a really, really long time (the jewish civilisation is circa 6000 years old and going strong). There's no law to this.

* WomenAreDelicate: DiscussedTrope in ''O wielości cywilizacyj'' - Koneczny points out that many cultures have men sowing the fields and women grinding, which is harder work. His hypothesis is that women in primitive society were the primary caretakers and so had to StayInTheKitchen to be close to the less mobile part of TheClan, which is why female work is usually done at home.

All civilisations have laws - sometimes just [[BecauseISaidSo the word of the ruler]]. They also have the basic concepts of ethics: duty, selflessness, responsibility, justice, conscience, attitude towards time [[note]]i.e. is lateness disrespectful? does the concept of lateness even make sense?[[/note]], attitude towards work [[note]]i.e. is it right to only do as much as you have to, or should you work your hardest?[[/note]]. These concepts mean ''different'' things in various civilisations: "duty" is always "what you ought to do, because not doing it is immoral" but what exactly your duty is varies between civilisations..

* arabian: TheClan (cordoban culture had NuclearFamily); sacral (has stricter and less strict cultures - some of the less strict developed science, e.g. the baghdad culture); law only deals with immediate human relationships and TheGovernment must make do with that (justifying e.g. taxes by the koranic duty of giving to the poor), Literature/TheQuran is the highest authority (which the ruler has to obey)

Of course, there are hundreds of possible civilisations. UsefulNotes/AncientGreece alone had several, although it's hard to tell exactly, because, unlike ceramics and weapons, laws don't leave much archeological evidence [[note]]Koneczny himself mentions at least three: attican (Athens - what you probably think of when hearing the phrase "Ancient Greece", since they were the Greeks who wrote the most), spartan and macedonian, which resembled republican roman more than it did other Greeks. The syncretic hellenistic civilisation was a late, AlexanderTheGreat-era development[[/note]]. Some civilisations die out (like spartan or republican roman, although this one sort of [[SpiritualSuccessor survives]] in the latin civilisation), some last for a really, really long time (the jewish civilisation is circa 6000 years old and going strong). There's no law to this.

Of course, there are hundreds of possible civilisations. UsefulNotes/AncientGreece alone had several, although it's hard to tell exactly, because, unlike ceramics and weapons, laws don't leave much archeological evidence [[note]]Koneczny himself mentions at least three: attican (Athens - what you probably think of when hearing the phrase "Ancient Greece", since they were the Greeks who wrote the most), spartan and macedonian, which resembled republican roman more than it did other Greeks. Hellenistic civilisation was the late, AlexanderTheGreat-era development[[/note]]. Some civilisations die out (like spartan or republican roman, although this one sort of [[SpiritualSuccessor survives]] in the latin civilisation), some last for a really, really long time (the jewish civilisation is circa 6000 years old and going strong). There's no law to this.

All civilisations have laws - sometimes just [[BecauseISaidSo the word of the ruler]]. They also have the basic concepts of ethics: duty, selflessness, responsibility, justice, conscience, attitude towards time [[note]]i.e. is lateness disrespectful? does the concept of lateness even make sense?[[/note]], attitude towards work [[note]]i.e. is it right to only do as much as you have to, or should you work your hardest?[[/note]]. These concepts mean ''different'' things in various civilisations.

* arabian: TheClan (cordoban culture had NuclearFamily); sacral (has stricter and less strict cultures); law only deals with immediate human relationships and TheGovernment must make do with that (justifying e.g. taxes by the koranic duty of giving to the poor), Literature/TheQuran is the highest authority (which the ruler has to obey)
* brahmin: [[TheTheocracy sacral civilisation]] with {{The Clan}}s and castes
* chinese: TheClan UpToEleven, with the ruler treated as a sort of ThePatriarch for the entire state

* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Koneczny assumed humans are naturally monogamous and both polygamy and low social position of women arise from [[SexSlave slavery]]. As such, he frowned on them, since slavery is demoralising for both the slave and the owner.

Of course, there are hundreds of possible civilisations. UsefulNotes/AncientGreece alone had several, although it's hard to tell exactly, because, unlike ceramics and weapons, laws don't leave much archeological evidence [[note]]Koneczny himself mentions at least three: attican (Athens - what you probably think of when hearing the phrase "Ancient Greece", since they were the Greeks who wrote the most), spartan and macedonian, which resembled republican roman more than it did other Greeks[[/note]]. Some civilisations die out (like spartan or republican roman, although this one sort of [[SpiritualSuccessor survives]] in the latin civilisation), some last for a really, really long time (the jewish civilisation is circa 6000 years old and going strong). There's no law to this.

* turanian: ProudWarriorRace, nomadic; MightMakesRight even more than in the byzantine, but the organisation is loose and everything above TheClan tends to fall apart when deprived of a leader; not tied to any particular religion (it accommodates animists, buddhists, muslims and several christian sects); see UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan

* chinese: TheClan UpToEleven, with the ruler treated as a sort of pater familias for the entire state

Apart from ethics and law, the most visible difference between civilisations is their treatment of the five basic values: spiritual [[ForScience Truth]] and [[GoodnessTropes Good]], spiritual/physical [[TheBeautifulTropes Beauty]], physical [[PerfectHealth Health]] and [[MoneyTropes Wealth]]. For example, the attican civilisation tended towards BeautyEqualsGoodness equals Truth - but pursuit of Wealth for itself was ridiculed.

Civilisations tend to be tied to at least one religion (although sometimes religions [[NeverAcceptedInHisHometown turn out to fit another civilisation better]]: UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} has mostly migrated out of its civilisation of origin, the brahmin, into the chinese and tibetan). Their connection to places is less important - you simply need somewhere for the people to live and build their society, which at least at the beggining usually is a specific state. Within a civilisation, varieties called cultures arise (and fall): for example arabian civilisation used to have cordoban culture (in Spain), which was still arabian, but with some local flavour.

* byzantine: heir to the [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire imperial roman]], also christian, but much less tolerant, MightMakesRight; with a VastBureaucracy (very [[ObstructiveBureaucrat micromanaging]]), the Supreme Boss of which is above [[DoubleStandard morality]]

* CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority: In latin civilisation, and only within reason - latin civilisation values freedom, including independent thinking. But you can't think freely without acknowledging that maybe you're wrong - the authority, of course, may be wrong as well.

Civilisations tend to be tied to at least one religion (although sometimes religions [[NeverAcceptedInHisHometown turn out to fit another civilisation better]]: UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} has mostly migrated out of its civilisation of origin, the brahmin, into the chinese). Their connection to places is less important - you simply need somewhere for the people to live and build their society, which at least at the beggining usually is a specific state. Within a civilisation, varieties called cultures arise (and fall): for example arabian civilisation used to have cordoban culture (in Spain), which was still arabian, but with some local flavour.

* latin: heir to both the attican and [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic republican roman]], with a good dose of ChristianityIsCatholic; {{Double Standard}}s are '''bad''' - the same morality applies to the rulers and the ruled; [[ForGreatJustice law should be ethical]], people should be independent (if TheFettered), small land-owners if possible; also facilitates development of [[ForScience science]] and tends towards variety (within its limits) and creativity (see Creator/GKChesterton for a nice example of a latin civilisation member)

* turanian: ProudWarriorRace, unconnected to land; MightMakesRight even more than in the byzantine, but the organisation is loose and everything above TheClan tends to fall apart when deprived of a leader; not particularly religious; see UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan
* jewish: [[JewishAndNerdy scholarly]] TheTheocracy of {{Rules Lawyer}}s; severed from its land of origin, hence tending towards mercantile occupations; perceive themselves as the Chosen People, DoubleStandard towards the gentiles
* arabian: TheClan (cordoban culture had NuclearFamily); law only deals with immediate human relationships and TheGovernment must make do with that (justifying e.g. taxes by the koranic duty of giving to the poor), Literature/TheQuran is the highest authority (which the ruler has to obey)
* brahmin: TheTheocracy over {{The Clan}}s

* ScienceMarchesOn: Koneczny's sees historical determinism (historiosophy) and all the "theories" concerning race and the alleged superiority of one race over the others as completely wrong and outdated (he ridicules them a lot in the ''Cywilizacja bizantyńska'').
* ScrewDestiny: There's no such thing as historical determinism. Sure, history repeats, but it's because people keep making the same choices from the same pool of ideas.
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Koneczny assumed humans are naturally monogamous and both polygamy and low social position of women arise from [[SexSlave slavery]]. As such, he frowned on them.

* GodEmperor: Some historical civilisations (notably [[UsefulNotes/AncientEgypt the egyptian]]) believed that a real ruler has to be divine, or at least SemiDivine. This proved problematic for those who tried to conquer them - either they assumed GodGuise or were hated and despised, thus forced to rule with an iron fist, which made the people [[AndTereWasMuchRejoicing even more happy to renounce them]].

All civilisations have laws - sometimes they're [[BecauseISaidSo the word of the ruler]]. They also have the basic concepts of ethics: duty, selflessness, responsibility, justice, conscience, attitude towards time [[note]]i.e. is lateness disrespectful?[[/note]], attitude towards work [[note]]i.e. is it right to only do as much as you have to, or should you work your hardest?[[/note]]. These concepts mean ''different'' things in various civilisations.

* CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority: In latin civilisation, and only within reason - latin civilisation values freedom, including independent thinking. But you can't think freely without acknowledging that maybe you're wrong.

* GodEmperor: Some historical civilisations (notably [[UsefulNotes/AncientEgypt the egyptian]]) believed that a real ruler has to be divine, or at least SemiDivine. This proved problematic for those who tried to conquer them - either they assumed GodGuise or had to rule with iron fist.
* MarryThemAll: The latin civilisation is strictly monogamous, the others can have various degrees of {{Polyamory}} (and Koneczny treats divorce as {{Polyamory}}).

* SlaveryIsSpecialKindOfEvil: Koneczny assumed humans are naturally monogamous and both polygamy and low social position of women arise from [[SexSlave slavery]]. As such, he frowned on them.