Slow Collapse

[Tartar Horde]

If you look back through history at the disparate civilisations that have ended there are patterns to their demise. In the majority of instances we see a slow deterioration where a number of factors come into play. Where a civilisation has a currency based economy the money always becomes debased and eventually loses it's purchasing power, and more importantly the population lose faith in it, Rome being a good example. Agricultural societies all show patterns of collapse viz their food supply either through natural disasters or over exploitation of their resources, the Maya and Easter Island societies being prime examples. The last major factor is as always War and conflict although this always leads to the inevitable demise of both agriculture and economy. The Bronze age collapse is another good example. The collapse at first is slow and almost invisible, but the problems get worse and worse until the final collapse is fast, nasty and brutal.