**Key Factors Behind the Collapse of the Western Roman Empire**

| Category | Main Points | Why It Contributed |
|----------|------------|--------------------|
| **Political & Administrative Instability** | • Cycles of civil war, assassinations, and short‑lived emperors.  <br>• Weak central authority; local governors and military generals often pursued personal power. | Frequent power struggles drained resources and eroded confidence in Rome’s leadership. |
| **Economic Decline & Fiscal Strain** | • Rising taxes to pay soldiers and maintain public works.  <br>• Heavy reliance on slave labor that stifled technological innovation.  <br>• Inflation from debased coinage and declining trade. | Revenues could not keep pace with costs, leading to austerity, unemployment, and decreased public services. |
| **Military Overreach & Pressure from Barbarian Tribes** | • Endless campaigns in North Africa, Britain, and the Rhine/Danube frontiers.  <br>• Recruitment of increasingly “barbarian” mercenaries.  <br>• Attacks by Goths, Vandals, Huns, and other migratory peoples. | Constant military expenditure, stretched borders, and the erosion of Roman control over frontier tribes created a military stalemate. |
| **Social & Cultural Decay** | • Declining civic engagement and elite “quasi‑barbarian” lifestyles.  <br>• Spread of Christianity altered traditional Roman values and state-funded resources (e.g., reduced funding for public projects). | Loss of a shared civic identity weakened the social glue that helped maintain the empire. |
| **Administrative Division** | • 285 AD split by Diocletian into Western and Eastern halves; each got its own bureaucracy and politics.  <br>• East remained more prosperous and better able to defend itself. | The West lost coordinated support and became more vulnerable to external attacks. |
| **Environmental & Demographic Pressures** | • Plagues and overpopulation impacted workforce.  <br>• Climate changes (e.g., cooler temperatures, Droughts) inflicted crop failures. | Scarcity of labour and goods worsened economic hardship and weakened supply chains. |

**Outcome**

- The Western Roman Empire succumbed to a catastrophic combination of internal decay, relentless external threats, and insufficient resources.  
- While the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire survived for another thousand years, the west could not recover, leading to the fall of the last Roman emperor in 476 CE.