Final answer:
The state building and decline in Eurasia over time was a cyclical process of empires rising and falling due to various factors, including environmental changes, human interventions, and the shifting ideology from empires to nation-states driven by nationalism.
Step-by-step explanation:
State Building and Decline in Eurasia
The process of state building and decline in Eurasia has been marked by cycles of empire expansion and collapse. Between 1200 - 1100 BCE, major empires in the region collapsed, and it took approximately 100 years for new empires to rise from the ruins. This collapse at the end of the Bronze Age is attributed to a combination of human-induced and environmental factors, although the exact causes remain unclear due to the cessation of record-keeping by disintegrating bureaucracies.
From 1000 - 1350 CE, Eurasia underwent significant changes: China neared industrialization, a growing population converted to Islam, Christian forces challenged Islamic rule, and enslaved people began to govern in regions like the Nile delta. This period also saw efforts in Europe to establish governments that could protect the populace without excessive centralization.
The period between 500 - 1000 CE, known as the early Middle Ages, saw Western Europe become rural following the collapse of Roman authority, while trade and urban life thrived under the early Islamic kingdoms and Byzantine Greeks.
Moving into the 19th and 20th centuries, the concept of nationalism began to reshape societies, leading to a decline in land-based empires and the rise of nation-states. This was exemplified by the collapse of the Ottoman Empire due to internal weaknesses and European opportunism, setting the stage for conflict in the Balkans and later contributing to the outbreak of World War I.
In Eastern Europe, the 20th century saw a divide and later reuniting of Western and Eastern Europe, transitions from socialism to capitalist democracies, and cultural and political changes resultant from the fragmentation of nation-states such as Yugoslavia.