Hydraulic empire

A hydraulic empire (also known as a hydraulic despotism or a water monopoly empire) is an empire which maintains control over its population by means of controlling the supply of water. The term was coined by the German American historian Karl Wittfogel in his 1957 book "Oriental Despotism".

Most of the first civilizations in history, such as Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia were hydraulic empires. Most hydraulic empires existed in desert regions, but imperial China also had some such characteristics, due to the exacting needs of rice cultivation.

Because control over the vital resource of water gives the government power of life and death over its population, extreme despotism is typical of hydraulic empires - historically, many of these empires revered their rulers as gods. Governments were extremely centralized, with no trace of an independent aristocracy. Popular revolution was impossible - a dynasty may die out or be overthrown by force, but the new regime would be very little different to the old one. Hydraulic empires were only ever destroyed by outside invaders.

The late Israeli author EG Ban describes in The Constant Feud how the prevalence of this form of government in the Middle East, rather than the Islamic religion, was crucial in causing the conflict between the Middle East and the West.