Why are there no nomads in Europe?
Agricultural states which, in the Medieval or Early Modern eras, fended off or emerged from nomadic invasions, had to develop large land holdings, centralized bureaucracies, efficient large-scale taxation, and huge armies– eg, the Russians, the Ottomans, the Mamelukes, and (this part I’m not as sure about) the Qings and Mogus. Even when they’re not fending off invasions, states generally hate nomads within their borders, and try to settle them so they can be taxed. In return, the nomads raid commerce and push peasants off the land, inhibiting industrialization and forcing the militarization of overland commerce.And nomads are ubiquitous. In the early modern period, Anatolia has Kurds and Turkomen, the Ukraine has Cossacks and Tatars, North Africa has various Arab and Berber groups, Arabia has Bedouin, Iran has Qashqai, Central Asia seems to have nothing BUT nomads, and presumably China and maybe India have their own groups.
But there’s one big exception: Europe, which didn’t have nomads, aside from arguably the Gypsies/Romani, who anyway don’t seem to have played much of a role in Western Europe. This seems pretty important for the development of European feudalism (apologies to Dr. Moye), states, empires, commerce, and industrialization. So why didn’t Europe have nomads? Is it geographic?