The Black Death

Acemoglu and Robinson (2012) Claim That “The Black Death Is a Vivid Example of Critical Juncture.” Discuss How the Effects of the Black Death Can Lead To Markedly Different Development Paths

Critical Juncture

Historical occurrences known as critical junctures profoundly alter societies socially, politically, and economically. According to Acemoglu and Robinson (2012), institutional drift and crucial junctures are what determine national institutional differences. They use the Black Plague as an illustration of a turning point or external shock for feudal systems in both Western and Eastern Europe. According to Acemoglu and Robinson (2012), institutions frequently undergo significant change in reaction to pivotal moments, becoming either far more extractive or inclusive depending on who controls them. Nations are set on their respective dependent trajectories at critical junctures. The same key juncture can lead nations in drastically different routes as a result of slight variations in the initial circumstances. It could pave the way for ending the dominance of extractive institutions and allowing for the emergence of more inclusive institutions and governance, and vice versa.

The Black Death is considered the largest demographic shock in the history of Europe. The effects of this plague shook the feudal order and disrupted the existing political balances in society (Peters 2022). The plague’s first impact was quite disruptive. Income per person and wages both increased. Yet, this rise was only sustained over the long term in a small portion of Europe. The decline of serfdom in Western Europe, the establishment of stronger nations, and the growth of Western Europe compared to Eastern Europe are some of the other indirect long-term repercussions of the Black Plague. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Black Death as a clear example of critical juncture as claimed by Acemoglu and Robinson (2012). The paper also examines how the effects of the Black Death led to divergent institutional paths in Western and Eastern Europe.

How the Effects of The Black Death led to Different Development Paths

The deadly bubonic plague outbreak known as the “Black Death” devastated Western Eurasia and North Africa experienced in the 14th century. It is the deadliest epidemic ever documented, killing between 75 and 200 million people, with its peak occurring in Europe between 1347 and 1351 (Peters 2022). The pandemic transformed the Western European and Eastern European societies to a critical period of profound change. It altered social and economic institutions in Europe and Asia. Religious, social, and economic upheavals brought about by the plague had a significant impact on the development of European history.

We can better understand the economic, social, and political growth of Western Europe and Eastern Europe as well as the routes taken by each region during the plague by understanding how crucial turning points affect a nation’s course of development in these areas.

As a critical juncture, the Black Death caused a sudden dramatic turn in the history of Europe. In Western Europe it paved way for breaking the cycle of extractive institutions and allowed more inclusive institutions to emerge. In the East, the plague intensified the emergence of the Second Serfdom (Acemoglu & Robinson, 2012). This critical juncture shaped the path to divergent institutional development in the two regions. The Black Death plague caused a labor shortage that upended the feudal system and prompted peasants to demand higher salaries. While the peasants’ insurrection of 1381 was defeated, an inclusive labor market began to emerge in England and wages soared. In the Eastern Europe, the plague caused Second Serfdom to emerge and the control over workers to grow stronger.

The institution of feudalism ended as a result of the Black Death. A labor scarcity brought about by the considerable population decline brought about by the large number of fatalities contributed to the end of serfdom (Acemoglu & Robinson 2012). The relationship between the lords who controlled a large portion of the land in Europe and the peasants who served the lords was significantly impacted by the epidemic. Finding people to plow fields, harvest crops, and create other goods and services became more and more difficult as people passed away.

Greater labor scarcity led to higher wages. Surviving peasants started to ask for higher wages. Serfdom had all but vanished, and there was plenty of land and excellent earnings. Due to extreme worker shortages brought on by disease and death, even peasants felt the effects of the new wage increase. The need for laborers to work the land was so high that it jeopardized the manorial holdings. Whenever one lord left the land, another lord would immediately hire the serfs because they were no longer confined to that master (Acemoglu & Robinson 2012). Workers battled for higher salaries and more mobility in the face of government stubbornness; they were successful because churchmen and knights were willing to accept these compromises rather than force laborers work the fields and herd the sheep themselves.

High clergymen and aristocrats refused to perform menial jobs because doing so would be unbecoming of their social standing and it was unimaginable to quit that social and labor hierarchy, not because they could not accomplish these unskilled duties. Whether carried out by serfs bound to a certain manor, tenant farmers, or wage laborers employed by the year or the season, agricultural work was peasant employment (Piatkowski 2018). However, the Black Death’s shocking mortality rate significantly decreased this previously adequate peasant population, leading to a serious labor shortage.

Rents in Western Europe were significantly reduced. Because there was a shortage of labor, landlords were compelled to provide better lease conditions. Peasants and merchants were better able to bargain with landlords to seize what little feudal rule remained from them as a result of the Black Plague. The latter was forced to comply with the conditions. Rent payments had to take the place of serf obligations. The peasants rebelled when they disagreed with landlords. Peasant revolutions swept through Western Europe (Piatkowski 2018; pp. 64). Ultimately, a new contract that established a fixed annual payment for peasants and regulated the specifics of the tenure agreement came into being. City merchants also rose up in revolt and engaged in conflict with the feudal landlords until they won enough freedom to embark on a course toward ultimate full political and economic liberation. Despite subsequent attempts by feudal lords to resist it, the merchants and peasantry attained a critical mass of political power that is sustained moving forward. To defend their newly won rights against the landlords, emancipating peasants and merchants had a stake in powerful, frequently outdated, and centralized royal power. A new political order eventually emerged, consisting of a powerful central government and three distinct economic classes—landowners, bourgeois, and peasants.

The Black Death changed agriculture and spurred innovation of labor-saving technologies in the West. After the pandemic, workers demanded for better conditions and higher wages, which many Lords agreed to. Other Lords realized they had lost control over workers and started to shift from grain growing to animals rearing. Farming and harvesting grains required many workers, while rearing sheep required a handful of workers. Additionally, increase in incomes enabled people to purchase more clothing, fruits, and vegetables. Consequently, the production of vegetables increased. Over time, peasants gained the freedom to leave lords’ estates; some even had the opportunity to purchase their own land.

The Second Serfdom, with even more extractive economic systems, emerged in Eastern Europe as a result of the vital turning point the Black Plague generated (Hulme, 2015). While serfdom disappeared in Western Europe, the relationships between the Lord and the Peasants remained more or less the same. Due to the high land-to-labur ratio that resulted and the vast, sparsely populated regions of Eastern Europe, the lords had an incentive to enslave the remaining peasantry. The Second Serfdom, a set of new rules that bound the peasants to the land, was enacted.

Eastern Europe’s aristocracy was a little bit better organized. Workers were unable to gain influence as a result of the decline in the working force. Instead, lords expanded their land holdings and limited the independence of the peasantry. Eastern Europe thus progressed toward an ever more extractive economy based on the forced labor of serfs as Western Europe moved toward more freedom.

Eastern Europe saw the intensification of feudal institutions, as opposed to Western Europe, where the Black Plague decimated them (Furan 2003, pp.477). According to Acemoglu and Wolitzky’s model, labor shortages tend to make serfdom worse by raising the cost of production and decreasing the benefits of coercion. In addition, the model claimed that labor shortages tended to diminish serfdom by enhancing peasants’ perceptions of themselves in the outside world. According to Acemoglu and Wolitzky (2011), whether the value of output and the returns to coercion surpassed the value of the peasants’ outside options determined whether the labor shortage caused serfdom to intensify or alternatively shrink. In the East, Manorial authority persisted after the Black Death and significantly increased during the Second Serfdom. Serfdom developed to the point where it helped the east’s economy expand. With the goal of preserving the peasantry’s ability to pay taxes to the state rather than rent and labor services to landlords, the stronger central state that arose in the west around the end of the medieval period implemented peasant protection measures. In contrast, the state sided with the landowners in Eastern Europe and upheld their authority over the peasantry in return for a cut of the spoils. Serfdom was always an unfair system that transferred wealth from peasants to landlords. This redistribution had negative impacts on economic performance: the second serfdom resulted in the destruction of economic growth and the long-term regress of East Europe.

Conclusion

This paper examined how the effects of the Black Death led to divergent institutional development paths in Western and Eastern Europe. The plague completed altered the medieval Europe. In Western Europe, the pandemic resulted in enhanced worker negotiating power and the dissolution of feudal structures; in Eastern Europe, it led to the emergence of Second Serfdom and new limitations on the movement of agricultural labor. The second serfdom resulted in the destruction of economic growth and the long-term regress of East Europe. This suggests that the evolution of social and economic institutions depends on historical events. In most cases, small differences or different choices can make the difference between freedom or aristocracy.

Bibliography

Acemoglu D., & Robinson, JA 2012, Why Nation Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty. London: Profile Book Ltd.

Acemoglu, D., & Wolitzky, A 2011, The Economics of Labor Coercion, Journal of econometric Society, vol.79, no.2, pp. 555-600

Foran, J 2003, Theorizing Revolutions. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.

Peters, ME 2022, Government finance and imposition of serfdom after the Black Death, European Review of Economic History. https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heac011

Piatkowski, M 2018, Europe’s Growth Champion: Insights from the Economic Rise of Poland. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

Piatkowski, M 2018, Europe’s Growth Champion: Insights from the Economic Rise of Poland. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

Essay Tutors
Calculate your paper price
Pages (550 words)
Approximate price: -

Why You Should Choose Us

Affordable Prices

Since we know that we are dealing with students, either part time or full time, many might be having financial constraints, but still want to pursue academic life. This has made us ensure we have very affordable prices, and wonderful discounts, yet give high quality products.

Professional Writers

Our reputation has been built because of the dedicated and highly qualified writers in our team. The writers give clients high quality products which guarantees return clients and referrals.

Quality

Our team is dedicated to giving clients the best quality products. However, if a paper does not meet the requirements stated by the client, our team will provide free revisions to the satisfaction of the client.

Moneyback guarantee policy

We believe that clients should get value for their money. If the client finds that the product has not met the requirements stated, we will refund the amount paid.

Original papers

We understand how plagiarism can ruin clients’ careers and reputation. We thus strive to provide original papers to our clients. We use several tools to check plagiarism. This ensures that clients get products that meet their institutions’ standards.

24/7 Customer Support

You can reach our support team via, live chat, email or phone. All your issues will be dealt with asap as the team works round the clock.

Try it now!

Calculate the price of your order

Total price:
$0.00

How it works?

Follow these simple steps to get your paper done

Place your order

Fill in the order form and provide all details of your assignment.

Proceed with the payment

Choose the payment system that suits you most.

Receive the final file

Once your paper is ready, we will email it to you.

Our Services

You have other errands to run? No need to worry. Place your order with us, carry out your errands while we do your paper and deliver on time.

Blog Writing

Give us a topic you want your blog based on, and let our team handle the rest. You will get the best article to be published in any forum you want. We have able team to do all the work for you.

Assignments

Many students are given assignments by their tutors. However, students find it challenging to just even come up with a topic. This should no longer be a problem to you. Just visit our site, contact the support team that will help you place your order, and find the best writer to handle the assignment.

Dissertation Services

Dissertation has proven to be challenging to most students. For this reason, we have specialized writers who handles only these kind of papers. You will be in constant touch with the writer and the support team once you place a dissertation order to make sure nothing goes wrong.

Editing and Proofreading

Some students have good points and writing prowess. However, they make minor mistakes that deny them good grades. To avoid such cases, you can give us your already written paper so that our team can edit it to the correct formatting style, language, proper flow and the correct academic language. This gives you an upper hand to get the best grade than a person whose job has not been edited.