Final answer:
Outside invasions and internal problems typically lead to the end of civilizations. Historical examples include the decline of the Mycenaeans, the Hittite Empire, and the upheavals in Mesopotamia. These collapses were often due to a combination of climate change, disease, warfare, invasions, and internal conflicts. The answer is option B.
Step-by-step explanation:
Outside invasions and problems from within spell the end for most civilizations. Historically, civilizations have faced challenges like climate change, disease, warfare, and invasions that eventually lead to their collapse. The Mycenaeans, for example, experienced a combination of foreign invasions, local rebellions, and wars that led to their decline around 1100 BCE, which subsequently ushered in the Greek Dark Age. Similarly, Mesopotamian states had to deal with barbarian invasions from the north, and the western Roman Empire faced the onslaught of the Huns. Factors like environmental disasters, foreign invasion, and peasant rebellion can converge to effectively cripple states, leading to the disintegration of their political and economic systems.
In the context of Bronze Age civilizations, a series of invasions and the collapse of bureaucracies contributed to the downfall of once-flourishing empires. For instance, the Hittite Empire never fully recovered after the invasions, and the Assyrian state, while surviving initially, went through significant territorial losses. The network of trade and diplomacy weakened significantly between 1200 and 1100 BCE, marking an era of ruin and the close of the Bronze Age. Nevertheless, the cycle of history suggests that with the fall of civilizations, new ones often arise, as seen after the Renaissance which followed the medieval period, known as the 'rebirth' of the world.