Venice: The empire of business empire and the

beginning of true capitalism. After the beginning of the greatvoyage, trade routes quickly moved from the Eastern Mediterranean to aroundAfrica. The Italian commercial city complained that the Portuguese reliedon strong ocean power to make huge profits from the spice trade. However,the Republic of Venice, which has always been known for its shrewdness andflexibility, will not be so helpless. Instead, they have maintained prosperityfor at least a century after facing many challenges.

When Venice was transformed from a city country to a territorial country, St.Mark's lion, with the rise of local industry, sent a loud signal in theMediterranean world, realizing the diversification of the overall economy.

At the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries,

people in Venice often said that there were no families in commerceand handicrafts, but the nobles of Venice, the "capital of the sea,"had an extraordinary sense of pride. Prior to the 16th century, theyconsidered commerce to be the primary responsibility of nobles, but they mockedthe Florentine nobles who were actively engaged in the silk and wool textileindustry. Although they have also made some investments in their handicraftindustry, they rarely participate in the operation.

This is mainly because the original territory of Venice was very narrow, andits continent was only a line on the west bank of the Adriatic Sea. Butwhen the Venetians merged Verona, Padua, and other large states in northernItaly, they occupied almost all the fertile plains in the middle and lowerreaches of the Po River. They also have the source, human and resourcebase for large-scale development of handicraft industry.

The territorial expansion of northern Italy made handicrafts possible. In

1506, when the spice trade was in crisis, the Venetian government establishedthe "Five Trade Committees" and proposed plans to revitalizehandicrafts. According to the committee's plan, the government has reducedtransportation costs and tariffs on raw materials, and cancelled policies suchas opening new markets for raw materials and protecting workers' rights.

At the same time, as the flames of the Italian war engulfed the ApenninePeninsula, the Venetians implementing a radical expansion policy suffered adisastrous defeat. However, as the Venetian stubbornly defended nearlyhalf of the territory from the effects of war, the city of Venice floating onthe lagoon was safe. Compared with Lombardy and Tuscany, which have beenplagued by war, Venice has opened a new world in handicrafts, especially thelucrative woolen textile industry.

The naval and island terrain

textile industry that avoided the destruction of the Venice war hasgradually developed into the economic pillar of Venice.

In Europe, people like woolen clothes. Wool tapestries and rugs areessential makeup points for European nobles to create an elegantatmosphere. But during the Italian war, chaos destroyed many factories innorthern Italy. The stagnation of the flow of raw materials and finishedproducts has caused a large number of workers to lose theirjobs. Naturally, the production of wool and textiles has been greatlyreduced. The chaotic situation deprives capitalists of their desire to investand workers' willingness to work. For example, in Lombardy and Tuscany,located on the northern peninsula, most capital owners belong to the rulingclass, and their interests are often closely related to thestate. Therefore, it is difficult to emigrate abroad. However, thecashless and light working class is flooding Venice with a stable politicalsituation, which has brought a lot of technical talent to Venice.

As a result, with the encouragement of policies, Venice's woolen textileindustry has sprung up. In 1516, the annual production of woolen textilesin Venice was 2,000 pieces. After 50 years, the annual output increased by 10times to 20,000 pieces. By 1569, this number had been updated to 26,000.In 1598, output still increased at an average annual rate of 9.6%, entering aperiod of rapid growth.

Venice imports a lot of wool from Spain every year.

Venice has always been good at using the world's supply and demand situation toadjust its industry. In the late 16th century, Spain's wool productionsurpassed that of Britain, known for wool production in the MiddleAges. As Spain is closer to Venice, the cost of transporting raw materialsis greatly reduced, which makes Venice extremely advantageous in terms ofindustrial development. The silk industry is also booming inVenice. A large number of silk threads were transported from Persia toAleppo, Syria. After being processed and converted into finished productsin Venice, they can be transported to various parts of Europe, or vice versa

The 16th century was the last brilliant era of the Renaissance. The Medicifamily in Florence lost enthusiasm for supporting literature and art, and waskeen to transform the tyrant system into a hereditary monarchy. The Sifzafamily in Milan also lost power in the tug of war in Italy. However, atthe end of these good years, the enthusiastic Venetian combined literature andart with commerce to create a brilliant cultural light.

With the decline of Florence culture, a large number of artists came to Venicewith a happy mood. The Venetian School has absorbed the best of thepainters of the Renaissance, is the master of Renaissance painting art, and isthe most sensual and charming school of Renaissance painting. Both Georgeand Titian were great painters, and their influence continued to the presentday.

New typography was introduced to Venice as quickly as possible.

Venice's ability to grasp the Renaissance tail was also related to itsdeveloped publishing industry. Typewriting was invented by Gutenberg inGermany in the middle of the 15th century. Only 20 years later, it wasintroduced to Venice and was widely implemented in the 16thcentury. Through the Fourth Crusade, Venice acquired a large number ofclassical Greek and Roman works from the Byzantine Empire. Before theByzantine demise, Cardinal Johannes Besarion fled to Venice and brought a largenumber of precious books. The National Library of Venice holds many rarebooks and has become the basis of its famous publishing industry.

The policy of rewarding culture allowed Venice to gather a large number ofpeople of insight, who could proofread mistakes in the originalwork. Enlightened national policies and tolerant religious policiesallowed Venice to enjoy free speech when it was independent, and even ruled outthe Holy See's interference. As long as there is no opposition to theVenetian government, even the banned books of the Vatican can be published inVenice. Works by Martin Luther, Machiavelli, Bruno and Galileo can befound in Venice at the time. Erotic books were not banned in Venice, butflourished everywhere. Venice of free speech has long recognized theconcept of copyright.

Venice also became a cultural center in early modern times.

Trade unions have a great say in the Republic.

Behind capitalism is often blood. However, Venice is not a colonialcountry, and it cannot obtain a stable supply of labor from Asia and Africa asa consumer product like the big powers. Technical talents recruited fromall over Italy and even all over Europe can't stand too muchcrushing. Therefore, Venice has chosen the path of sustainable developmentand paid attention to protecting the rights and interests of workers,reflecting the humane care of this powerful Italian nation.

The Medieval Chamber of Commerce and Industry was called "Chilt" andit was very developed in Venice. The trade unions in Venice attach greatimportance to the introduction of new technologies and have played a veryactive role in the development of local industry in Venice. Workers occupya high place in the republic. When businessmen tried to acquire workers'productivity at a fixed monthly wage, the union appealed to thegovernment. It is believed that this will make technicians lose initiativeand sense of competition, which is not conducive to the introduction of foreigntalents. In the end, the workers won the lawsuit and their wages weredetermined based on output.

The lives of Venetian workers are much better than elsewhere.

To prevent oligarchy, the Venetian government also stipulated that each silkweaver must not own more than 600 textile machines. This will prevent silkweaver entrepreneurs from crowding out other silk weavers by hiring largenumbers of workers and expanding production to reduce wages. When someoneviolated this rule, the union filed a complaint with the government, and theSenate reiterated the rule.

In addition, in Venice, strikes and calls for higher wages are high. Witha strong union, workers can stand up and live proudly as the creators ofVenice's prosperity. When the country was in crisis, the workers also tookup swords and went to the battlefield as citizens of the country. TheVenetian government uses unions as a unit to distribute military serviceobligations, and everyone joins the army equally. Venice's maritimesupremacy is guarded by these glorious laborers.

Workers can also be the main force protecting the republic during wartime.

The final decline of

Venice is also inevitable . Because they did not participate inthe great colony of Venice, they bleed their son's blood in battles with theOttoman Turkish Empire. The dissolution of the Republic in 1797

The protection of workers' rights and interests by the Venetian trade unions isindeed not conducive to the transition to modern capitalism, and even has thesuspicion of "eating the same cauldron". However, if we comparethe Venetian system to contemporary worker protection, we will be surprised todiscover the advanced nature of the Venetian. He abandoned the bloodbehind capitalism and stood with enthusiasm to the end. Therefore, theindustrial development model of Venice deserves constant respect from futuregenerations.