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Europe Vocabulary
Term
Polder
Definition
Term
Stateless Nation
Parliament
City-State
Socialism
Feudalism
European Union
Nationalism
Patriotism
Berlin Wall
Euro
Supranationalism
Devolution
Nation-State
Definition
European Vocabulary Reading
Europe is one of the smallest continents. It has several peninsulas, and many even considered the continent to
be one giant peninsula. It is separated from Asia by the Ural Mountains. It contains a variety of climates and landforms.
Some of the examples are the Alps, Baltic Sea, and the Northern European Plain. There are also many man-made
structures built into the natural landscape. People had to adapt to their environment using structures that include the
canals in Venice and the polders in the Netherlands. A polder is a piece of land that is reclaimed from a body of water by
building a dike. The water is then drained and you have new land.
Europe’s history is one of separation. Greece used to not be unified, but a collection of different city-states
separated by mountains and short rivers. A city-state is a political unit that includes one city and its surrounding lands. It
developed separately from others because travel and communication were difficult. Europe also used to be made of
small villages known as feudal states. Feudalism is a political system in which powerful lords owned most of the land.
Each feudal state was considered its own government because each lord had different rules and laws.
Feudalism slowly disappeared because of nationalism. Nationalism is the belief that people should be loyal to
their nation, their culture, history, and neighbors. This caused people to want their own countries, so this is where the
countries of Europe began to form. France was one of the first to form. Patriotism has a similar definition, and it occurs
once a country has been formed. Patriotism is defined as the love or devotion to one’s country. Both of these ideas
created competition in Europe. This competition was part of the cause of World War I. Eventually, after World War II,
you had even more competition with the building of the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall is a wall built in 1961 to separate
Berlin into democratic and communism capitals.
Nationalism has created a modern day conflict with nation-states and stateless nations. A nation is a group of
people with a common culture. Therefore, a nation-state is an area where a group of people with a common culture also
have their own country. They would be considered the majority of the country. For example, people who belong to the
French culture live in the nation-state of France. People who belong to the Italian culture live in the nation state of Italy.
A stateless nation is a group of people with a common culture that do not have their own country. They are usually the
minority amongst a larger group and often fight for rights. Ethnic conflict is often created from this problem.
The governments of many European countries are controlled by a Parliament. A parliament is a representative
body that makes the laws for a country. The United Kingdom is an example of a country in Europe that has a Parliament.
It is similar in function to the Congress in the United States. Also, many countries in Europe are considered socialist.
Socialism is an economic system where the government controls major aspects of the economy, but some private
ownership is allowed. In other words, it is a mixture of free market and communism (command economy). Norway and
Sweden can be considered socialist.
Today, much of Europe also works together in the economy. They have formed the European Union, which is an
organization of European countries designed to increase economic and political cooperation. It is supposed to help
improve the economy by making trade easier and decreasing the tariffs and taxes. It is supposed to keep the economy
stable. One way they do this is with the euro. The euro is the currency (money) of the European Union. It makes it easier
to travel between countries. The European Union is considered supranationalism. Supranationalism is when a country
gives up some power to work together for a greater cause.
Something else that has occurred in Europe is devolution. Devolution is when rights, powers, or property are
transferred from a national government to local authorities. This has occurred in the United Kingdom since Wales,
Scotland, and Ireland were given more rights from the central authority.