how did georgaphy play a najor role in histroic events?

Question

highlight 3 historic events where geography played a major role (quest for natural resources or control of strategic location)

major*******

Answer 1

Spain, England, Portugal, France------all four on the Atlantic seaboard of Europe----all four with major colonies on the other side of the Atlantic by the 16th century. Why? Their geographic location made it easy to sail west, bump into "unknown" lands and claim them. Hard to do that from Germany, Italy, Russia etc.

Russia. Vastness of the steppes made invasion exceedingly difficult. Both Napoleon (1812) and Hitler (1941-2) discovered how that geographical black hole swallowed up their armies.

Eurasia----the orientation of the two continents (east-west) made civilization spread more easily than in the Americas (north-south) and Africa (north-south) or Australia (separated by ocean).
Primarily, this allowed crops that had been developed to spread in a similar climactic band----something not possible elsewhere. So when agriculture developed in Mesopotamia, it spread quickly to Europe and Asia, where in Africa and the Americas that was not the case.

Answer 2

For us here in the United States, Thomas Jefferson wanted to acquire New Orleans for it's commercial value as a port at the end of the Mississippi River. So he made proposal to buy New Orleans from the French Government. They made offer to throw-in all of the Western Drainage of the Mississippi River, what is known as the Louisiana Purchase. This opened up the area to survey and Exploration by the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Answer 3

The Hundred Year's War (France and England were both vying for control of Normandy)

Answer 4

Mexican-American War (American quest for Mexican lands), and Sakhalin Islands (Russia got from Japan after WWII; important b/c they contain lots of oil beds).