Transcript European History

European History
From 800 B. C. until Present Day
(The Quick Version)
The Greek Civilization 800 BC- 146 BC
• The Birthplace of Western Civilization
• Technological and societal advances:
Architecture (columns)
Olympic Games
Democracy
Theater (Drama)
Modern Education
Mathematics
Arts
Medicine
Why did the Greek Civilization fail?
1. Well-off lifestyle made people too satisfied.
2. Warring between city-states.
3. Over expansion of the empire without the
money to rule the new lands.
4. The middle class that had arisen because of
economic prosperity became poorer.
Roman Empire
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27 BC – 476 AD
Technological and societal advances:
-architecture (vaulted ceilings and arches).
-engineering (roads, aqueducts, and sewers.
- ruled 60 million people
- efficient government
- military tactics
- trade
- spread of Christianity
Why did the Roman Civilization fail?
1. New Christian beliefs conflicted with
Roman government
2. The barbarians
3. Erosion of the government and military
4. Bad economy because of overexpansion.
5. Lead in the drinking water.
6. Division of the Empire.
The Rise of Christianity:100 BC-500 AD
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New religion to spring
from the Jews of
Israel.
Preached forgiveness
and personal
salvation.
Persecuted by
Romans at first.
Women were greatly
valued members of
the Christian society.
Christians did not
fight back against
Romans.
The belief system
offered people who
were suppressed
societally or
economically to
believe they were
moving forward to a
better life in Heaven.
• The eventual leader of the Christian
movement was a very likable dude.
• His self-sacrifice made Christians even
more devout.
• Christianity eventually becomes the
official religion of Roman Empire.
• Christianity unified Europe.
The Middle Ages (500 – 1200 AD)
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Period of time after the fall of Rome.
One of the worst periods of European history.
All the advances of Greece & Rome were nearly
lost.
There was not huge government (the Roman
Empire) to pay for things like schools, roads, art,
or protection.
Many poor lived in the countryside where they
were targets.
Normal people were worse off during the
Middle Ages.
The Catholic Church was the supreme power.
Catholic Church preserved Roman tradition
(such as art & education) but did not expand on
them.
Feudalism was practiced with kings or queens
loyal to the Church.
Poor people were forced to move to lands
controlled by lords for protection.
The poor (peasants) were exploited to serve the
feudal lord.
Democracy was lost. Many church and feudal
leaders told the people that this is why Greece
& Rome had fallen.
Since there was no large entity to invest in
culture or societal advancement, European
culture rolled to a stand still (no new ideas,
inventions, or ways of thinking).
Muslim Invasion of Southern Europe
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Islamic religion begins in early Middle Ages in
present day Saudi Arabia and steadily grows.
An Islamic group, the Moors, moves into Spain
during the 700s.
In the terrible Middle Ages, it was Muslim
thinkers that preserved and expanded on much
of the knowledge gained by the Greeks and the
Romans.
Islamic Advances:
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Mathematics (number system including “0”)
Astronomy & other sciences
Medicine
Navigation (would lead to the compass & astrolabe
that would make the discovery of the New World
possible 800 years later).
The invasion into Europe terrified the kings and
church leaders of Europe.
This invasion and the eventual Islamic take over of
Jerusalem sparked the Crusades.
Many historians give the Muslims the credit for
preserving the ideas that will make up Western
Civilization after the Middle Ages.
The Crusades 1095 -1291 AD
• To take back control of the Holy
Land from the Muslims, Pope
Urban calls for all men of faith
in Europe to drop everything
and go to the Holy Land to fight
the Muslims.
• The pope promised eternal
salvation and that all sins that
take place in the Holy Land will
be automatically forgiven.
• This leads to the slaughter of
millions of Muslims.
• There were three Crusades,
and, eventually, they proved
unsuccessful because the
Muslims still controlled the
Holy Land after the 3rd Crusade.
• Everyone from peasants, knights,
lords, and kings in search of
wealth & riches.
• Some left because their life was
so awful and saw the Crusades as
an escape.
• The Crusades were where most
Europeans had first contact with
trade goods from Asia such as silk
& spices.
The Black Plague 1348 – 1350 AD
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Came to Europe via trade ships from Asia on fleas on
rats.
Disease struck trading countries first (like Italy).
One of the bad side effects of societies
advancements (we become more interconnected).
Plague killed more than half the population of Europe
(maybe 25 million people).
Christians believed they were being punished for sins.
Some Europeans blamed ethnic groups (like the Jews)
for starting the disease.
Disease spread like wild fire because Europeans
didn’t understand germs.
Disease broke down all civil structure. Governments
were powerless. Parents abandoned sick children.
Dead bodies piled in the streets.
It took 150 years for Europe’s population to recover.
Led to increased call for scientific & medical research.
The Renaissance
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Rebirth of western civilization after the
Crusades, the Middle Ages, and the Black
Death.
Rediscovery of Greek and Roman thinking.
Funded by the rich families of Europe.
Saw the resurgence of art, education, and
science for the first time in 800 years.
Many prominent figures complete work
during this time period:
– Michelangelo (Statue of David and the
Sistine Chapel)
– William Shakespeare (Romeo & Juliet,
Julius Caesar, Othello, Hamlet, &
Macbeth)
– Prince Henry the Navigator (Father of
European Exploration)
– Leonardo da Vinci (The Last Supper, The
Mona Lisa, military technology)
– Johannes Guttenberg (the printing
press)
The new more open thinking of the
Renaissance led to the Age of
Exploration, the Reformation, and the
Enlightenment.
1300-1600 AD
The Age of Exploration (1400s-1600s)
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The Age of Exploration got its
start with sailors attempting to
find quicker trade routes to
Asia after the Crusades.
Started with the exploration of
the African coast all the way to
India.
A faster route was desired.
Columbus sailed west and
discovered America.
This may have been the most
Earth shattering event in
human history (the world is
round and there is a lot more
land)
Explorers set off for the New
World for the next or 200
years.
The Protestant Reformation (1500s)
• The Catholic Church, the most powerful
group in the world, had grown
increasingly corrupt.
• They sold salvation and indulgences to
the rich.
• The Catholic Church did not allow the
average person to read the Bible.
• The Guttenberg printing press ended
this.
• Martin Luther, a German monk,
published his “protest” of 95 Catholic
Church policies.
• This led to the split of the Christian
Church between Catholics &
Protestants.
• This split caused many wars over the
next 200 years.
The Enlightenment (1600-1700s)
• Time period where forward thinkers
wanted to reform society using reason
moving away from ideas rooted in
religion, tradition, or mysticism.
• Enlightenment thinking led to:
– The French Revolution
– The American Declaration of
Independence
– The Scientific Method
– Less power for European kings & queens
and more political power for the people.
– Scientific ideas becoming the explanation
of the natural world.
English Bill of Rights 1689
• Document that
essentially gave
most power of
government to
the elected
parliament and
not the king or
queen.
• Also began listing
specific rights
the government
would protect for
its citizens.
• This document basically did
away with absolute monarchy
in England.
French Revolution 1789-1799
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Inspired by the American Revolution, it
represented a complete upheaval of French
society.
No more absolute monarchy, no more privileged
aristocracy, or powerful religious leaders.
The people would lead for better or worse.
Seen as the greatest example in Europe of the
Enlightenment.
The people became out of control with newly
found power and little government.
This led to a the Committee for Public Safety
being created that held executions of trouble
makers or loyalists.
This was a great time of fear in France.
This ended with the rise to power of Napoleon
Bonaparte, another dictator.
Also seen as how Enlightenment thinking can go
wrong.
Industrial Revolution 1750s-1850s
• Transition of the world to
machine power and
production.
• Greatly increases the
available goods for sale.
• Well-being of the people
increases with greater
salaries and more food
available.
• New type of jobs are created.
• Started in England with small
factories.
• Also led to pollution,
exploitation of workers, and
child labor.
The Rise of Industrial Capitalism
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Born out of the industrial revolution,
companies begin to grow massively and
are only concerned with making profits at
all costs.
The owners of these companies convince
governments that this is better for the
citizens. It will improve their lives.
Industrial capitalism believes for one
company to become ultimately successful,
all other companies must be purchased,
absorbed, or destroyed.
Business owners attempt to form business
monopolies to control an entire market
(such as railroads or steel).
While owners of these businesses became
very rich, the benefits promised to citizens
are lacking.
Rise of Communism
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Karl Marx, a German
philosopher, saw the abuses of
big businesses that created
massive profits while exploiting
workers.
He wrote the Communist
Manifesto urging rebellion of
the world’s workers to take
control of the means of
production.
Industrial Capitalists and
governments were terrified of
communism.
Governments who were
profiting from businesses
repressed communists.
This movement is a response to
industrial capitalism.
After many failed attempts at
revolution in many European
countries, Russia becomes the first
communist state in 1921.
World War 1 (1914-1918)
• Seen as “The War to End All
Wars”, WW1 saw 20 million killed
world wide.
• Started by Germany in an
attempt to become the dominant
European continental power.
• Britain, France, & the U.S.
defeated Germany and imposed
the Treaty of Versailles on
Germany.
• This left Germany in shambles
with no money and a weak
government.
World War 2 (1939-1945)
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20 years later in a weakened Germany,
Adolf Hitler and his National Democratic
Socialist Workers Party, or Nazis, takes
power in Germany.
Called for the end to the terms of the
Treaty of Versailles and a racially pure
German state.
Germany invades Poland in September
1939.
Britain, France, USSR, and US fight
Germany.
50 million die in war.
Germany defeated in May of 1945.
Europe is destroyed.
The U.S. rebuilds Western Europe.
This war ends dictators in Western
Europe.
The Holocaust
• 6 Million Jewish people,
Slavs from Eastern
Europe, gypsies from
Hungary, & mentally
challenged men, women,
& children were killed in
death camps by
Germany in order to
make the “perfect
German race”.
• This event leads to
Human Rights becoming
a dominate fighting point
between countries.
The European Union
• Created out of the European Economic
Community, the European Union was
created by the Maastricht Treaty of 1992.
• The EU was formed to end trade
restrictions between member nations to
create a unified economy that could
compete with economic superpowers
such as the U. S., China, & Japan.
• The EU also works to resolve disputes
between European countries before war
can start.
• Member nations in Europe have adopted
one currency, called the Euro.
• The EU has eased trade & labor
restrictions so all countries can make
more money.