Download Europe Power point

The First Europeans
•
•
The first Europeans
were hunters and
gatherers.
As they learned
how to
domesticate
plants and animals,
Europeans began
to settle in small
communities.
Early Civilizations
•
•
Greece was the site of one of Europe’s earliest and
most advanced civilizations.
Many Greeks lived in a number of powerful citystates.
– A self-governing city and its surrounding area.
– Athens and Sparta were two of the most famous
city-states
– The city-states were home to early forms of
democracy
History and
Government
The Development of
European Civilizations
•The
Greeks made great contributions to the
arts, government, philosophy, science,
and sports.
Aegean Islands
The Roman Empire
Along with Greece, Rome was home to one
of the earliest significant European
civilizations.
• Rome grew from a small city to one of the
most powerful empires in history.
• At its peak, the Roman Empire stretched
across much of Europe, North Africa, and
Southwest Asia.
• The Romans would eventually help spread
Christianity throughout Europe
•
City-States
What are examples of city-states in
Europe today?
 Why are city-states so rare?

The Middle Ages
Feudalism: a system in which powerful lords
gave land to nobles and the nobles would
have control over the people on their land.
Nobles would use their people for wars and
for taxes on goods.
 The Roman Catholic church became most
powerful force in Europe.
 Islam



Preached by the prophet Muhammad.
Followers known as Muslims.


Spread Chinese inventions of gunpowder, paper and
Hindu system of numerals.
Expanded mathematics, medicine and astronomy.
The Crusades
In the early 1000s, Christians from Western
Europe tried to take back Palestine
(Jerusalem) from Muslim rule.
 Both sides fought to hold the land, but
Christians eventually lost all control and left
the area in Muslim control.
 Both sides were fighting for it because it had
in the origin of their religions. important
places

Exploration (Age of Discovery)
1400-1600
Began funding explorations to find shorter
trade routes to Asia.
 Set up colonies-land equaled power.
Bartholomew Dias – first to reach Africa’s
Cape of Good Hope.
Chris Columbus – heads west to look for
western route to Asia.
Vasco da Gama – Rounds Cape of Good
Hope and reaches India.
Magellan – 5 ships and 270 men set off to
circumnavigate the globe. Magellan dies on
the trip. Eighteen of his crew and one ship
make it back to port. Took ~ 3 years.





The Renaissance
French word meaning “rebirth”
Renaissance 1450-1600
 Reformation-lessened power of Roman
Catholic Church and led to beginning of
Protestantism.
 300 year period of learning the arts.
 Brought about great advancements in
European civilization.
 The Renaissance was a “rebirth” in art,
literature, and thinking.
 People became more focused on human life,
rather than human afterlife.
 Considered the start of Modern History
The Industrial Revolution

Began in Britain in 1700’s

Developed steam power and metal machine
tools
Transformed Europe from agricultural to
industrial society.
 East Europe lags behind West Europe
because of its isolation.
 Paris and London are two of the worlds
largest urban areas.
 Allowed for much quicker production of
goods and made them much cheaper

Colonization

During the 1800s, more than ¼ of the
world’s land was ruled by the British
Empire
Colonies provided raw materials, and
markets for finished goods
 Result of colonization included the spread
of the English language, Christianity,
British law, sports, and British customs
around the world.

Independence at a price
As a result of the Revolutionary war,
the colonies in the U.S. declared
independence in 1776.
 Ireland wins independence in 1921
after War and the Anglo-Irish treaty.
 1947 India achieves independence.

Former British colonies















Australia
Botswana
BVI
Brunei
Burma
Egypt
Fiji
Gambia
Ghana
Gibraltar
Grenada
Guyana
India
Ireland
Jamaica









Kenya
Kuwait
Lesotho
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
New Zealand
Nigeria
Pakistan
Qatar

Why would it be appropriate to say
“The Sun never sets on the British
Empire”?
Conflict and Division

World War I- “The Great War”
Assassination, competition for colonies,
economic power, the desire for
independence, and secret military alliances
are all causes of the war.
 Allies (Great Britain, France, & Russia) VS.
Central Powers (Germany & Austria)
 Lasted from 1914 to 1918 ending with the
Treaty of Versailles

Conflict and Division

World War II



German unrest with the Treaty of Versailles led
to World War II (in 1939) and the rise of Adolf
Hitler and Benito Mussolini
The Holocaust was one of the horrors of WWII;
it involved the mass killing of 6 million European
Jews and others by Nazi leaders.
Ended in 1945, bringing the downfall of Western
Europe as the center of world power.


Eastern Europe fell under the control of the communist
Soviet Union
The western world was led by the democratic United
States
The Cold War
Between the U.S. and USSR.
 It was a period of conflict between the
world’s superpowers over an arms
race.
 A race to build nuclear bombs and
better weapons and the space race.
 USSR was trying to spread communism,
and US was trying to stop it from doing
so. (Domino Theory)

Cooperation and Unity

East Europe

In the 1980s Eastern Europe began
demanding more freedom from the Soviet
Union
In 1989 and 1990, free elections ended
communist control in Eastern Europe
 In 1990, East and West Germany were united
with the fall of the Berlin Wall

Cooperation and Unity

Western Europe

In 1958, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg,
France, Italy, and West Germany joined together
to form the European Community (EC)



The EC was an effort to create an economic unit forming
a single market for their resources
By 1990, Denmark, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Greece,
Portugal, Spain, and the united Germany joined the EC
to form the European Union (EU)
The EU worked to create a new Europe in which
goods, services, workers, and money could move
freely among countries.

These efforts have helped the countries of the EU to
strengthen their economies