Download
1 / 41
E N D
Ancient Greeks • The ancient Greeks were Europe's first great philosophers, historians, poets, and writers. They borrowed ideas from older civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt and used them to develop new ways of thinking. Their observations led to scientific ways of gathering knowledge. Their method of rule led to democracy.
Origins of Democracy • In ancient times, Greece was divided into over 100 city-states. Each city-state acted as an independent nation. The most famous was Athens. In Athens, free men were allowed to vote on their leaders, laws, and policies. Policies are the methods and plans a government uses to do work. Women, slaves, and non-Greeks could not vote. Even so, the idea that people should have a voice in how they are ruled had a strong impact on history.
Spread of Greek Culture • Greek language, ideas, and culture were spread throughout the Mediterranean by Alexander the Great, a king of Macedonia. Between 334 B.C. and 323 B.C., Alexander conquered an empire that spread eastward to the Indus River. An empire is a collection of lands ruled by a single government. When the Romans took over Alexander's lands they borrowed many Greek ideas.
The Roman Empire • The Romans began to build their empire after Alexander died. Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, came to power in 27 B.C. His rule began 200 years of Roman peace, or Pax Romana (pahks ro MAH nah). During this time, Rome was the most powerful state in Europe. Magnificent cities were built, new technologies were developed, and the economy prospered.
Judges in the Roman Empire followed written laws to make decisions. These written laws protected all citizens in the empire, not only the rich and powerful. Modern ideas about law and citizenship used by democratic governments are based on Roman law.
The Pax Romana was followed by hundreds of years of war. More and more soldiers were needed to defend the empire's boundaries. The taxes raised to maintain the army hurt the economy. The emperor could no longer govern such a huge area, and the empire was divided into two parts. The western half of the empire began to crumble.
The Fall of Rome • The Christian religion was based on the teachings of Jesus, who lived in the eastern Mediterranean region of Palestine. When the Roman emperor Constantine became a follower of Christianity, the religion quickly spread throughout the empire. Later, the empire collapsed. Government, law and order, and trade broke down, but Christianity survived. Without the empire, people were living in difficult, dangerous times. Christianity gave them hope.
Europe in the Middle Ages • Along with Christianity, feudalism (FYOOD ul iz um) was an important part of society in the Middle Ages, the time period that falls between ancient and modern times. Feudalism was a way to organize society when there was no central government. Peasants made up about 90% of the population. They worked as serfs, farming the land on manors owned by lords. The lords collected taxes for the king. The serfs were not slaves, but they had to follow the lord's rules. In return, they were given work and protection
Over the centuries, life in Europe changed. Trade increased. Many serfs bought their freedom from the lords and moved into towns, where they could practice trades and take advantage of opportunities. Towns grew into cities. By the 1400s, a new way of life had begun to develop in Europe.
The Age of Discovery • Two hundred years later, Christopher Columbus was inspired by Marco Polo's travels to set sail on a voyage of his own. Columbus believed that sailing west would lead to a new route to China, Japan, the Spice Islands, and India. Instead, Columbus came ashore in the New World and claimed it for Spain.
While Columbus was sailing across the Atlantic, the Portuguese were making their way down the western coast of Africa. They set up a very profitable trade in gold, ivory, and slaves. When they finally traveled around the Cape of Good Hope and reached the Indian Ocean, they were able to open trade corridors to the Spice Islands. To people in Europe, spices were more precious than any other resource.
Other European nations were quick to send explorers to faraway lands, seeking new trade routes and sources for exotic items. The rulers of Spain, France, England, and the Netherlands all wanted a share in the riches that the Portuguese enjoyed. As a result, wonderful goods poured into Europe. In additions to spices, there were precious minerals, gold and silver, and fur and tobacco
The Renaissance • The Age of Exploration made the European monarchs very rich. Monarchs were the king and queen in control of a nation. The traders and merchants got rich, too, and formed the new middle class, a group between the very poor and the very rich. The middle class paid taxes to the monarchs and soon, the monarchs did not need the support of the feudal lords. Feudalism began to disappear.
Members of the middle class used their money to support artists and scholars. They now had time to enjoy art and learning. This rebirth of interest in learning and art is called the Renaissance (REN uh sahns). It began in Italy in the 1300s and spread over the rest of the continent. It reached its peak in the 1500s.
Renaissance scholars and artists rediscovered the ideas of ancient Greece and Rome, and what they learned changed the culture. They began writing fresh, powerful poetry. They built glorious buildings and filled them with breathtaking paintings and sculpture. People focused on improving this world rather than hoping for a better life after death. This new approach to knowledge was called humanism.
Government Revolution • Over time, the monarchs of Europe unified their countries and made them stronger. The kings were absolute monarchs who exercised complete power. Louis XIV, a powerful king of France from 1643 to 1715, said, “I am the state.” His wishes were the law, and no one dared to disagree with him. He believed that his power to rule came from God. The French monarchs taxed citizens heavily to pay for their luxurious lifestyle.
By the end of the Age of Revolution, Europe was a continent of powerful nations. They were bustling with trade and bursting with new scientific ideas. Europe was about to begin a new kind of revolution. This time it would be an economic one—the rise of industry.
The Scientific Revolution • At the time of the revolutions in America and in France, there was also a revolution going on in the world of science. For centuries European scientists had studied nature to explain how the world fit with their religious beliefs. During the Age of Revolution, that approach changed. Scientists started to base theories on facts by watching carefully to see what really happened in the world. This change is called the Scientific Revolution. The Scientific Revolution required new procedures, called the scientific method, in which ideas are tested with experiments and observation.
The scientific method led to dramatic advances. For example, in the Middle Ages, Europeans believed that the Earth was at the center of the universe. Renaissance scientists challenged this belief, but they could not prove their ideas. Then, during the Scientific Revolution, scientists used a new form of mathematics called calculus (KAL kyoo lus) to study the movement of the moon and planets.
Technological Innovation Shapes the World • The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain. The first machines were invented to speed up the spinning of thread and the weaving of textiles, or cloth products. Spinning mules were huge machines that could spin fiber such as cotton or linen into thread. A person using a spinning wheel would have to spin full time for nearly four years to produce the amount of thread that the spinning mule could produce in a single day.
The new factories made their owners very wealthy, and the revolution spread to other countries. By 1900, factories produced almost all goods made in the United States and most of Western Europe.
The Industrial Revolution changed life across Europe. For centuries, farmers had worked the land. Now they moved to cramped, dirty quarters in rapidly growing cities to find factory work.
The changes that people made in their lives were difficult. For many years, factory owners took advantage of workers. Factory conditions were not safe, and wages were low. Conditions gradually improved as workers formed unions that spoke up for their rights and laws were passed to protect them.
Governments had to respond to workers' complaints. Making and selling goods became a big part of each country's economy, and the work force was an important resource. Nations became more democratic as working people were given a stronger voice in passing laws and setting policies.
At the same time, European governments were becoming more aggressive abroad. During the 1800s, many nations took over other countries and turned them into colonies.This is called imperialism. Factories needed raw materials, such as cotton, wood, and metals, which colonies could provide. With plenty of raw materials, the factories were able to produce more goods than people could buy. Colonies also became a source for new customers.
The late 1800s are called the Age of Imperialism, but European nations had a long tradition of colonizing other parts of the world. They began colonizing the Americas in the 1500s. By 1900, most of the colonies in America had gained their independence. Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Great Britain concentrated their efforts on managing colonies in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific. In time, struggles between these colonial powers would bring disaster to Europe.
Nationalism and Historic Events • At the start of the 1900s, the people of Europe were filled with nationalism, or pride in their country. Nationalism can be either destructive or creative, depending on how people express it.
Destructive Nationalism • Destructive nationalism can make anger and hatred erupt between nations as they compete with each other for the world's resources, wealth, and power. In the early 1900s, this sense of competition made the nations of Europe team up. They made alliances (uh LY un sez), or agreements, to help each other in case of attack. Soon, Europe was divided into two alliances, with Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy on one side and Great Britain, France, and Russia on the other. When fighting broke out between these alliances, World War I began, and millions of people were killed.
In 1939, World War II broke out between the Axis powers and the Allies. The Axis powers included Germany, Italy, and Japan; the Allies were Great Britain and the Soviet Union, joined by the United States. More than fifty nations were involved in this war, the most destructive ever fought. When it ended in 1945, the Allies had won.
Creative Nationalism • This period of war was followed by an era of creative nationalism. The United States and the Soviet Union took over as the world's leading nations while the Europeans rebuilt and repaired their societies. They began working together to establish a new type of European nationalism.
The Rise and Fall of the Russian Czars • Muscovy (MUHS kuh vee), or Moscow, was once a collection of lands ruled by weak princes who did not get along. Kiev (KEE ev), the most important city in the region, was ruled by the grand prince. In 1238, Mongol conquerors called the Golden Horde swept into the region from Asia and quickly defeated the weak princes. By 1240, the Mongols had conquered Kiev. The whole territory became part of the Mongol empire that lasted for 250 years.
The Mongols kept the people cut off from the culture of Western Europe. They demanded service in the army and high taxes, which were collected by princes they appointed. Little by little, the princes gained land and power until they were able to overthrow the Mongolian rule.
The Rise of the Czars • As Muscovy spread its control throughout Russia, its grand prince became known as a czar (ZAR), or emperor. The first czar, Ivan IV, was crowned in 1547. He conquered western Siberia and the Mongol lands to the southeast. He was known as Ivan the Terrible because of his cruelty.
After Ivan IV's death, Russians suffered through 30 years of war until 1613, when the Romanov (ROH muh nawf) family came to power. The Romanovs continued to expand Russian territory. Over time, seaports on the Baltic (BAWL tik) and Black seas were added to the empire, along with territories in Poland, Turkey, China, and Sweden.
In 1689, Peter the Great came to power, and in 1762, Catherine the Great took the throne. Both of them opened their court to the teachers, thinkers, and scientists of Western Europe and encouraged their people to adopt western customs.
However, the serfs of Russia wanted freedom, and the czars would not give it to them. The Russian people became divided between the very rich and the very poor, and the poor were starving. Finally, in 1905, violence erupted. Serfs and workers demonstrated, demanding reforms. Hundreds were killed and Czar Nicholas II was forced to establish the Duma (DOO mah), a congress whose members were elected by the people. Establishing the Duma was not enough, however, to save the monarchy
The Rise and Fall of Soviet Communism • Russian involvement in World War I caused severe food and fuel shortages at home. The people listened to leaders speaking out to overthrow the government. In November 1917, Vladimir Lenin and his supporters took over the government and set up a new communist regime. Communism (KAHM yoo nizum) is a form of unlimited government in which the state owns the farms and factories and decides what will be grown and produced. Lenin turned the Russian Empire into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) called the Soviet Union.
Iron Curtain • The Communists jailed or killed anyone who was an enemy of the revolution. When Lenin died in 1924, Josef Stalin took his place as dictator (DIK tayt ur). A dictator is a leader with unlimited power. All of the Soviet Union lived in terror of Stalin's harsh policies. • When World War II ended, the Communists established governments across Eastern Europe. The imaginary barrier called the Iron Curtain was created, again cutting the people off from the west.
The Cold War • In the decades following World War II, Communism was seen by the United States as a corrupt system of government. Both countries developed enough weapons to destroy the planet while they engaged in a Cold War, a period of tension without actual warfare. At the same time, the people were losing faith in unlimited control by the communist system. Their labor supported state projects instead of their families.
Government Reform • In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev(mee khah EEL GOR buh chawf) came into power. He granted the people more personal freedom and fewer economic controls. By 1991, the Soviet Union had broken apart into independent nations struggling for democracy. After years of harsh rule, the Eastern European and Russian people now control their own fate.
