Venice: Revelation of Merchants’ Founding of a Country (3)

In 1202, the 4th Crusade. Venice seized the opportunity and, as the carrier and co-financer, the Venetian head of state Enrico Dandolo, who was over 80 years old, personally led 50 Calais warships and the required crew and 6,000 soldiers to participate in the battle. After two years, after experiencing the Zara Recapture and the Battle of Constantinople, in 1204, the Crusaders defeated the Byzantine Empire, captured Constantinople, and established the Latin Empire.

  As an important member of this battle, Venice has gained tremendously. Only in the pre-war agreement that "in the entire empire, all merchants regarded by Venice as a hostile country shall not engage in commercial activities", it succeeded in kicking competitors headed by Genoa out of the imperial realm. In addition, Venice also acquired three-eighths of the Latin Empire, mostly commercial and military important.

  The most important thing is that after 200 years, with the efforts of countless Venetians, a sea highway extending through Greece to Constantinople with a total of about 20 key supply points was completely completed.

  Venice, with a population of only about 100,000, took full advantage of the opportunity of the Fourth Crusade to become a major trading country that controlled the eastern Mediterranean basin and successfully laid the foundation for future prosperity.