Location: western part of EUROPE along Atlantic & Mediterranean
Coastline: irregular - good harbors - wealth from trade
Agriculture: favorable, climate + many rivers = food surplus
Ancient Greece: city- state because of mountains/islands
Democracy: Athens; direct (all citizens vote on laws)
Philosophers: meaning of life; Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
Ancient Rome: from, Republic to Empire
Law: 12 Tables written laws protect; Senate represented patricians
Engineering: practical use of knowledge; roads, aqueducts, arch, dome
Pax Ramona: 200 years of peace; Empire grew.
Religion: polytheistic; persecuted Christians, and then tolerated (Edict of Milan), then official religion.
Dark Ages: period of chaos, danger after fall of Rome: no central authority.
Feudalism: social, political, economic system: land ownership: local lords more powerful than king; rigid classes: serfs bound to land.
Roman Catholic Church: only unifying force: preserved learning.
Crusades: wars to win Holy Land from Muslims; failed; brought back spices, silk
Towns/trade: grew with demand for spices: weakened lords: kings stronger.
"rebirth" of interest in ancient Greece & Rome
Italy: wealthy through trade. Patrons (deMedici) supported artists
Masters: Michelangelo (Sistine Chapel): daVinci (Mona Lisa)
Humanism: belief that humans are important - secular (non-religious)
Questioning Spirit: in science (Galilee); led to questioning religion
attempt to correct abuses' of the R. Catholic Church
Martin Luther: GermanrnpI1k; 95 Theses: Lutheran Church.
Movement grows: spreads across Europe; Henry VIII (Eng), John Calvin (Switzerland)
End of religious unity: civil wars, international wars about religion
Decline of RC Church: Pope and Church lost power
Demand for goods: led to search for all-water route to East
Columbus: 1492: sailed west to get to Asia; "discovered" New World
Atlantic Ocean: replaced Mediterranean as chief trade route.
Commercial Revolution: trade led to wealthy middle class who looked for new investments; rise of capitalism (private ownership); mercantilism: colonies exist to benefit mother country (materials & markets)
RISE OF NATION STATES
Kings united their countries
France: absolute monarchy: divine fight: Louis XIV made France powerful, but ran up debts by wars, & extravagance.
England: become more democratic through revolution/evolution
Magna Carta: 1215 - King must obey the law; trial by Jury
Limited Monarchy: Parliament makes the laws
Evolved, unwritten constitution: laws based on customs
Natural Laws: laws of nature also apply to society: man has "natural rights"
John Locke: govt is based on the "consent of the “governed"; people give power
Voltaire: freedom of speech & religion
Rousseau: majority should rule
Montesquieu: no one should be too powerful; 3 branches of govt: Executive, Legislative& Judicial should check & balance each other.
Inspired by the American Revolution
Old Regime: abuses: absolutism, taxation, 3 Estates
Bourgeoisie: middle class (3rd Estate) overthrew Louis XVI
Moderate-Radical-Moderate:" stages of revolution - Reign of Terror
Napoleon: seized-power
Napoleonic Wars
Code Napoleon
Results: ideas of nationalism, (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) spread through Europe; middle class became powerful political force.
Change: from domestic system (in house) to factory System
England: had resources, $$, labor force
Good & bad: More production, lower prices - terrible factory conditions
Laissez Faire: Adam Smith; govt should stay out of economy
Karl Marx: Communist; class struggle; workers should unite & take over
Middle class: became wealthy & politically strong
Africa & Asia: for raw materials & markets; couldn't defend (Bur. weapons)
Mercantilism: colonies exist for mother country (support industries)
Conflict: race for colonies led to tension, wars
Social Darwinism: "White Man's Burden"; "superior" races conquer weaker ones
United Germany & Italy upset balance of power
MAIN Causes: Militarism; Alliances; Imperialism; Nationalism (assassination)
Sides: Allied Powers (Britain, France, Russia - US) v. Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire)
Types of Warfare: trenches; airplanes; submarines; chemical
Treaty- of Versailles: established League of Nations; punished Germany: war guilt, reparations, and loss of colonies
New Countries: based on ethnic lines: Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia
Rise of Dictators:
Mussolini (Italy) establishes Fascism;
Hitler (Germany) promises to return Germany to glory
Aggressions:
Violation of Treaty or Versailles
Anschluss with Austria;
Sudetenland;
Czechoslovakia;
Poland
Appeasement: giving in to demands to avoid war.
Munich Agreement
Totalitarianism: total control of every aspect of life
Nazi Party: German Fascist Party - nation (state) is all-important
Anti-Semitism: hatred of Jews; blamed for defeat in WW I
Holocaust: genocide (murder of race of people); 6 million Jew; 6 million others.
US involvement: Pearl Harbor (Japan); joined Allies v Axis; D-Day, Hiroshima
Nuremberg Trials: Nazis guilty of "crimes' against humanity"
Cold War: Superpowers (US & USSR); war of words, spies
Iron Curtain: USSR made "satellites" of Eastern Europe; imposed communism
NATO v. Warsaw Pact: Democracies v. communists; defensive alliances
End of Colonial Empires: Britain & France weak; colonies win independence,
Containment & Marshall Plan: US policy to stop spread of Communism, rebuild Europe
United Nations: international forum to settle problems
Northern Ireland: civil war; Catholic minority v. Protestants; IRA terrorism
European Economic Community (European Union): outgrowth of Common Market; economic cooperation among members; some want political union.
Eurodollar has gone into effect a common currency for all members of the European Union.