Another reason for the decline of Venice was that of maritime challenges. Two significant events caused Venice to lose its competitive edge in maritime trading. One of which was the discovery of a new sea route in the late 15th century by Portuguese Vasco da Gama. This route went round the Cape of Good Hope, hence allowing the Portuguese to bypass Venice and buy spices directly from India. This destroyed Venice’s monopoly of the lucrative spice trade and greatly reduced the large profits of Venetian traders who were the middlemen. Venice resorted to continuing its overland trade route to the East, but this was dangerous as Venetian traders were often attacked by robbers along the route. The other event which affected Venice’s maritime trade was the formation of the Dutch VOC and British East India Company. These companies were well funded and were hence equipped with better designed ships and could secure better trading concessions in new ports. Venice responded by imposing taxes on foreign traders, but this merely resulted in loss of trading partners. Hence, Venice could not match the more powerful trading companies or the advantage of the new Portuguese trading route. Thus their economy was affected.
A third reason for the decline of Venice was that of corruption in the government. In order to finance the cost of the wars with the Ottomans and the neighboring states, the Venetian government suspended the salaries of civil servants. Thus, nobles began to seek alternative ways to supplement their source of income. Poor nobles sold their votes in the Great Council to those who had ambitions to secure high posts, while others sold their positions to raise funds. As leadership was now based on financial capacity, incompetent leaders were voted and appointed into the government. This resulted in weak decisions made by the government which led to Venice’s decline.
A final reason for the decline of Venice would be the complacent attitude of the people. The Venetians were used to living in peace and security and had the preconceived notion that they would never be attacked. Hence they were more concerned about their wealth than of state administration and preparation for war. Moreover, as the nobles became more affluent, they often indulged in parties, celebrations and gambling. Such lifestyles widened the gap between the rich and the poor. Venice became more disunited and less able to withstand hardship. Thus, when Venice was attacked, the nobles sought out more to protect their self-interests than the interests of Venice and readily surrendered in 1797 without a single shot being fired.
In conclusion, the most important reason for the decline of Venice would have been the complacent attitude of the people as it was the root cause of its fall. Essentially, as Venice became more prosperous, it seemed more unlikely to the Venetians that their empire would decline. Hence the leaders thought existing trading and security measures were sufficient to ensure their survival. Militarily, they did not prepare for war as evident from the fact that they did not even have an army or battleships for their military campaigns, but instead relied on mercenaries and trading galleys. Such ill-preparation made them very vulnerable to foreign threats. Economically, they did not seek out to improve trading methods and were unable to adapt to the changing nature of the 15th century. Hence, they lost much of their lucrative trade. Such circumstances crippled their economy and as a result, they resorted to slashing salaries of state officials and encouraging corruption. This made leadership weak and further accelerated Venice’s decline. This eventually caused their fall in 1797.
