From 1348-1350, the Black Death invaded Europe, immediately obliterating from one third to one half of the population. Transmitted through the bite of contaminated fleas which were brought to Western Europe on the backs of rats aboard merchant ships, the Black Death showed no mercy, usually killing off eighty to ninety percent of infected individuals within a three day span. Though the Black Death was, in itself, a terrible epidemic, its depopulating effects helped to relieve Europe from overpopulation, eventually leading to Europe's modernization by exposing and increasing the existence of aspects of cultural pluralism, the belief in diversity and the existence of competition between multiple parties and beliefs: through the transformation of old feudalism into new proto-nationalism among kings, the Black Death led into political pluralism of nationalism; as a result of Europe's decreased population, economic feudalism gave way to increased competitivism, leading to limited mercantile capitalism...