finally i have learned to play the game

After logging close to 25 hours in the simulation game Civilization IV I have decided to move away from hasty and risky decisions regarding my society and move more towards advancing a civilization and making it truly successful. No longer will I engage in dangerous and risky military strategies, but be more conservative and help to build up good, soldiers, and technology before going intro treacherous combat. Originally in my game play I focused on conquering as many new lands and territories in as little time as possible. This plan worked for a short period of time, but soon after my civilization would collapse and fall apart extremely quickly. It is just not possible to have a successful civilization while engaging in multi-front battles and allocating far too high of a percentage of a nations resources on war. This can be seen in the history of the modern world through the example of Germany under the control of Hitler. From the late 1930’s to the countries practical collapse in the mid 1940’s the nation used all their man power and resources on conquering as much land and overtaking local governments, but this could only be successful for so long and eventually the civilization collapse. Maintaining a successful, powerful, and dominant society is a lot like staying healthy through eating a balanced diet. Every aspect to the success of a society needs to be taken in moderation not too much aggressive warfare or isolationism, kind of like not eating too many fatty proteins, or not eating enough fruits and vegetables.
Another aspect to developing a successful civilization that I have developed and mastered through my growing experience in game play is strategizing where to develop new territories and cities to fit the needs of my society most adequately. It does no good for a nation to have five cities in very close approximation to each other in almost uninhabitable lands consuming unnecessary resources. Also it is pointless to waste a society’s resources to conquer lands that will do absolutely nothing to aid or advance a civilization. Taking over a desert or an ice sheet will do little to benefit the people of a nation. But taking over freshwater sources or arable land will be of great benefit to the people of a society. This cost-benefit analysis is crucial and a separating factor between societies that succeed and societies that collapse. Many times nations such as Britain in the 19th century and Spain in the 15th through 17th century become overly aggressive and begin to conquer far too many lands and declare this is all good and makes the nation powerful and seem invisible. However this overzealous conquering eventually runs down a nation like an infection and without giving the nation like the human body time to rest the nation begins to fail and eventually if the problem is not fixed the society will collapse. This is what happened to Great Britain and Spain they over spent their man power and resources on overtaking lands that did nothing to improve, advance, or aid the nations and eventually these pointless undertakings contributed to the demise as both of these nations as world superpowers.
Overall the more I play the game Civilization IV the more I realize the characteristics that define why some civilizations succeed and others fair.