Is it safe to say that the time of Italian city states is similar to the Sengoku Jidai in both causes and effects?

by Frigorifico

This is how I see it:

1.-Similar geography, long narrow stretch of land

2.-The land was unified by a single government

3.-That government collapsed

4.-Because of its relative isolation, no outside power is able to take that land

5.-A myriad of different governments arised from the chaos. They are in near constant war with each other, leading to important improvements in military technology and administration

6.-Eventually there is a conscious and deliberate internal effort to unify the region under a single government. This effort is ultimately successful

Am I seeing things or are these valid comparisons about the patterns of history?

ParallelPain

No

  1. Italy is a peninsula. Japan is an archipelago. The three Japanese islands are also much more heavily divided into isolated river valleys and coastal plains than Italy, the defining feature of which was the Apennine Mountains that went down its middle.
  2. The Ashikaga Shōguns were in a far weaker position in Japan than the Roman Emperor in Italy, with the provinces being de-facto ruled by the daimyōs.
  3. The Ashikaga Bakufu continued to exist and function until at least 1573, long after the Sengoku began. The city-states of Italy did not gain prominence until the decline in control of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy, and declined after the powers of Early Modern Europe began invading.
  4. The Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, Franks, Lombards, Eastern Romans, Moors, Normans, French, Holy Romans, and Austrians would like to have a word with you regarding Italy's isolation. If anything, Italy's central position in the Mediterranean world made it one of the most exposed places.
  5. All the major European powers in Early Modern Europe outpaced the Italian city states in military at least, if not also in statecraft.
  6. Italy's unification was fueled by nationalism, had plenty of direct external military influences, and took place long after the city-states had declined in influence. As far as the Japanese were concerned, they were always unified under the Emperor, and they simply restored peace, order, and control to a land fraught by civil war. Italian unification was a conscious effort to create a central state in the peninsula to throw off foreign control, and included many military engagements with foreign powers (Austria in particular) to that effect. Japanese daimyōs saw a rising central power backed by Imperial sanction, and decided to obey the order to stop fighting on pain of destruction. Most retained large sections of their domains (if not all of it, and more) and significant autonomy.

There are "valid comparisons about the patterns of history" for sure. This is not one of them.