9 "What Ifs..." That Would Change Everything

2. What If The Plague Never Happened?

The Black Death decimated most of Europe in the 1300s and is estimated to have killed off as much as 60% of the population. This, as you might imagine, had a few knock-on effects. You might think, had the plague not set us back a few million people, that our population now would be much higher. This is probably not the case, as there are other limiting factors on population.

In the 14th century, agriculture and technology were not yet advanced enough to support a significant population boom like we see today. The whole starving-to-death thing probably would have done the trick quite nicely, in the absence of sweeping pestilence. Ironically, we might actually have the plague to thank for the technological advancement that allows us to fire out babies with such abandon today. The plague had a nasty habit of killing off the lower classes.

The problem with this is that it's like knocking out the bottom of a pyramid, as the posh nobs suddenly found themselves noticeably short of worthless serfs to labour their land. This labour deficit suddenly put the peasants in high demand, giving them the power to negotiate pay, perks and generally-not-being-treated-like-dirt. They were no longer the de facto property of the rich folk. It should surprise no one to learn that the newly-powerful peasants thought that feudal serfdom wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and this led almost directly to the peasants' revolt and creating a burgeoning middle class.

And what do you get when you have a middle class? Business. Industry. Most notably, The Industrial Revolution. So, if you're looking for someone to thank for our modern world, maybe show a little appreciation for a little bacterium by the name of Yersinia pestis.