Early XIX V. was a dramatic period in European history. For almost 15 years in a row, battles raged in Europe, blood was shed, states collapsed and borders were redrawn. Napoleonic France was at the center of the events. She won a number of victories over other powers, but was ultimately defeated and lost all her conquests.
Victory allied powers over Napoleonic France ended the turbulent period of European history that began with the French Revolution XVII I century Peace has come. The winners had to solve many questions political structure post-war Europe.
England, small in size and population, ranked first in the world in terms of volume. industrial production and financial resources. Political system in England was one of the most democratic. But despite this, there were many disadvantaged people here too.
By the beginning of the 20th century. England lost first place in terms of industrial production, but remained the strongest naval, colonial power And financial center peace. IN political life restrictions continued monarchical power and strengthening the role of parliament.
During this period, France experienced a change of three political regimes: two monarchical and one republican. The then established empire of Napoleon III also turned out to be fragile, despite serious economic achievements and some foreign policy successes.
At the beginning of 1848, all of Europe was shocked by bourgeois-democratic revolutions, which affected all countries and essentially merged into one powerful movement. Their the most important tasks were the elimination of feudal orders, the destruction of absolutism and the establishment of a constitutional system. In Germany, Italy, Austrian Empire had to resolve the issue of the relationship between different peoples. The struggle for these goals was carried out by the bourgeoisie, intelligentsia, workers, artisans, and peasants. They were the main ones driving force revolutions.
IN German history second half of the 19th century V. two important events occurred: political unification and the transformation of Germany into the strongest industrial country in Europe. At the same time powerful German Empire considered herself deprived in the colonial sphere.
IN mid-19th century V. There were about 20 million wage workers in Western countries. At this time, in the labor movement, along with economic demands, political demands began to play an increasingly important role. Arose international organizations who aimed to change political system and the conquest of power by the working class.
What is culture? This question was raised by Europeans in the second half of the 19th century. Currently, there are more than five hundred definitions of culture. But scientists obviously won’t stop there. The word "culture" comes from Lat. cultura, which has several similar meanings: cultivation, upbringing, education, development, veneration.
In the 19th century have been achieved great success in the field of education, science and technology. Scientific discoveries, which poured out as if from a cornucopia, contributed to the development modern industry. Under their influence, people's ideas about the world around them and the centuries-old way of their life changed. Over the course of one century, a person moved from a carriage to a train, from a train to a car, in 1903.
The progressive people of Europe enthusiastically embraced the slogan of the French Revolution, “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.” Many heard the music of the revolution in it and were filled with radiant hopes. But soon bitter disappointment set in. Beautiful slogans were distorted and replaced by revolutionary tyranny. Violent bloodshed first flooded France, then Europe.
The formation of industrial civilization had a huge impact on European art. Like never before, it was in close connection With social life, spiritual and material needs of people. In the context of the growing interdependence of peoples, artistic movements and cultural achievements quickly spread throughout the world.
The USA was a new type of country. She did not have a past like European and Asian countries. But there was a democratic constitution, parliament and great opportunities for the development of the bourgeoisie. The Americans wisely took advantage of the favorable geographical location: mild climate, fertile lands, abundance of forests and minerals.
The most important and at the same time the most tragic event American history became Civil war, which broke out in 1861. It took four years of brutal fighting to keep the United States united. After bloody war The Americans, forgetting their differences, set to work together and turned their country into a world power.
The 19th century was a time of great changes in the spiritual life of the United States. Industrial Revolution and economic success destroyed the strict Puritan precepts, which condemned art created not by reason, but by feeling. Everything inspired optimistic confidence in the great destiny of America. People naively believed in their unlimited capabilities.
In history Latin America XIX century the most important event was the formation of independent Latin American states. Spain and Portugal were the first European countries who lost their richest colonies. However, the collapse colonial system, created by Europeans, occurred only in the second half of the 20th century.
Autocracy and serfdom were an obstacle to modernization Russian society in the 19th century Most feudal landowners did not realize this. Only the advanced part of the nobility, disillusioned with the inactivity of the tsar and the government, tried to change the situation themselves by force.
The second period (1815-1825) of the reign of Alexander I was characterized by most historians as conservative in relation to the first period (1802-1814) - liberal, aimed at implementing large-scale reforms in Russia. The strengthening of the conservative trend and the establishment of a strict police regime in the country are associated with the name of the all-powerful A.
60-70s - this is a time of radical transformations in Russia, which affected almost all the most important aspects of the life of society and the state. For relatively short term reforms were carried out in the country in the fields of economics, management, military affairs, education and culture.
The accession to the throne of Alexander II, the weakening of censorship, some liberalization of the government policy in comparison with Nicholas's time, rumors about upcoming transformations and, first of all, the preparation for the abolition of serfdom - all this had an exciting effect on Russian society, especially for young people.
The socio-economic processes that took place in Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries were extremely contradictory. Economic success combined with a backward system public administration, restrictions on freedom of enterprise, and the reluctance of tsarism to carry out consistent reforms aimed at modernizing the country.
Russian Revolution 1905-1907 is one of the later bourgeois revolutions. 250 years separated her from English revolution XVII century, more than a century - from the Great French Revolution, more than half a century - from the European revolutions of 1848-1849. The first Russian bourgeois revolution differed from its predecessors in European countries.
Less than 10 years separate Russia from the end of the first bourgeois-democratic revolution of 1905-1907. before the start of the second - in February 1917, which radically changed the whole course historical development Russia. During this period, the autocracy tried to resolve the most important socio-economic and political issues posed by the revolution.
Characteristic features of the culture of the first half of the 19th century. were: its democratization; an increase in the number of cultural figures from unprivileged classes; close interaction of Russian culture with world culture, primarily with European culture; the beginning of world recognition best achievements Russian culture.
Abolition of serfdom, reforms of the 60-70s, rise social movement, the establishment of capitalism - all this contributed to the growth of enlightenment and the further development of culture. The leading role in art in the post-reform period belonged to the advanced common intelligentsia.
In 1868, an event occurred in Japan that dramatically changed the course of the historical development of this country. For the first time after the 12th century. Imperial power was restored. It was not just the Tokugawa shogunate, which began in 1603, that ended. The entire system of the shogunate, which had existed in Japan for almost seven hundred years, collapsed.
Of all the Asian countries, only Japan developed as an independent state. She strove for power and prosperity in order to take a prominent place among the European powers. To this end, the imperial government borrowed its scientific, technical, economic and political achievements from the West. At the beginning of the 20th century.
They lived in poverty and ignorance. The idea that the Earth is a ball, that the world is large and diverse, was forgotten. There were many robbers on the roads, neighbors often fought with each other. Europeans, with the exception of the Vikings, or Normans, - northern people(north - north), traveled little.
Main events
- Reconquista.
- Merovingian Empire (Frankish).
- Viking Age.
- Formation of the Holy Roman Empire.
Early Middle Ages culture
Main events
- Scholasticism.
- Trade.
- A sharp leap in the development of science and technology.
Strengthening royal power in Europe
Iberian Peninsula
Italy
Significant changes occurred in the 13th century. V Southern Italy.
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa(1152-1190) in 1186 married his son to the only heiress of the Kingdom of Sicily, created by the Normans in the 11th century. and which included, in addition to the island of Sicily, also the south of Italy.
In 1265, Pope Clement IV granted the Kingdom of Sicily to the brother of the French king Louis IX, Charles of Anjou, who in 1266 established himself on the Sicilian throne. The harsh policy of Charles of Anjou led in 1285 to an uprising in Sicily, called the “Sicilian Vespers”, after which the island of Sicily passed into the possession of the kingdom of Aragon. However, the possessions of Charles of Anjou in southern Italy, from that time called the Kingdom of Naples, were assigned to his descendants, who ruled in southern Italy until 1435.
At the end of the XIII - beginning of the XIV century. Venice And Genoa, the largest and richest trading ports Northern Italy became independent oligarchic republics.
Old Russian state
Late Middle Ages (XIV-XV centuries)
- Hundred Years' War.
- Great War and Battle of Grunwald.
- Conquests Ottoman Empire.
- Development of art (Renaissance).
Iberian Peninsula
In 1479, the unification of the two largest Christian states Iberian Peninsula- Castile and Aragon - led to the emergence Spanish Kingdom.
Scandinavia
At the very end of the 14th century. important changes occurred on the political map of Scandinavia.
Ancient Greece (Hellas), common name territories of ancient Greek states in the south of the Balkan Peninsula, islands Aegean Sea, coast of Thrace, along the western coastal strip mainland of Asia. Story Ancient Greece falls into five periods: Achaean (XX–XII centuries BC), Homeric, or “ Dark Ages"(XI-IX centuries BC), archaic (VIII-VI centuries BC), classical (V-IV centuries BC) and Hellenistic (III-II centuries BC AD)...
Ancient Rome - Ancient Rome- one of the leading civilizations Ancient world and antiquity, got its name from the main city (Roma), in turn named after legendary founder- Romulus. The center of Rome developed within a marshy plain bounded by the Capitol, Palatine and Quirinal. The culture of the Etruscans and ancient Greeks had a certain influence on the formation of ancient Roman civilization. Ancient Rome reached the peak of its power in the 2nd century AD. e., when under his control came the space from modern Scotland in the north to Ethiopia in the south and from Armenia in the east to Portugal in the west.
Byzantium - Byzantine Empire, Byzantium is the name of the Roman Empire after the collapse of the empire in 480. Located on three continents - at the junction of Europe, Asia and Africa - Byzantium occupied an area of up to 1 mln sq. It included the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Cyrenaica, part of Mesopotamia and Armenia, Mediterranean islands, primarily Crete and Cyprus, strongholds in the Crimea (Chersonese), in the Caucasus (in Georgia), some regions of Arabia, islands of the Eastern Mediterranean. Its borders extended from the Danube to the Euphrates.
Crusades- the campaigns to the East lasted almost two hundred years - from the end of the 11th century to the last third of the 13th century. These were wars mainly of chivalry. They got their name because their participants, preparing to fight against Muslims (Turks and Arabs), attached to their clothes - on the chest or shoulders - a red cloth sign of the cross, symbolizing the religious motives, goals and intentions of the warriors: to liberate Palestine from the power of infidels, in the ideas of Christians - the Holy Land, for there, according to the gospel stories, Jesus Christ, the founder of the Christian religion, was born, lived and was crucified on the cross.
Hundred Years' War- the war between England and France, the longest in the history of the past military-political conflict. The term "war" in relation to this event as well as its chronological framework, is quite conditional, since military operations were not constantly carried out over a period of more than a hundred years.
Renaissance- Renaissance, or Renaissance (French Renaissance, Italian Rinascimento) is an era in the history of European culture that replaced the culture of the Middle Ages and preceded the culture of modern times. The approximate chronological framework of the era is XIV-XVI centuries.
Napoleon's Empire- Napoleon's Empire arose as a result of the successful conduct of France " Napoleonic wars". Under this name, mainly the wars waged by Napoleon I with different states Europe when he was first consul and emperor (1800-1815). The victorious Napoleonic wars, especially the 2nd Austrian campaign of 1805, the Prussian campaign of 1806, and the Polish campaign of 1807, contributed to the transformation of France into the main power on the continent.
First World War(July 28, 1914 – November 11, 1918) - the first military conflict on a global scale, in which 38 of the 59 existing at that time were involved independent states. About 73.5 million people were mobilized; of these, 9.5 million were killed or died from wounds, more than 20 million were wounded, 3.5 million were left crippled. As a result of the First World War, the map of Europe was completely redrawn. New states emerged: Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. The contradictions between the new states, the preserved industrial potential of Germany and its disadvantaged position made the new world war inevitable.
World War II(September 1, 1939 – September 2, 1945) - war anti-fascist coalition led by the USSR, USA and Great Britain against a bloc of fascist powers led by Germany, Italy and Japan.
The history of Europe begins with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476. On the ruins of this largest state formed barbarian kingdoms, which became the basis of modern Western European states. History is conventionally divided into four stages: the Middle Ages, the New and Modern times and the modern era.
Western European Middle Ages
IN IV-V centuries AD began to settle on the borders of the Roman Empire Germanic tribes. The emperors recruited new settlers to serve, unaware of the fatal role they would play in the fate of their state. Gradually, the Roman army was filled with people from foreign lands, who, during the period of unrest that shook the empire, often determined the policies of the sovereigns, and sometimes even took part in coups, placing their own proteges on the throne.
This alignment of events led to the fact that in 476, the military leader Odoacer overthrew the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus, and new states of Western Europe were formed on the site of the former Western Roman Empire. The largest and most powerful of them was the kingdom of the Franks, which achieved power under the monarch Clovis. The new state reached its peak under the Frankish king Charlemagne, who assumed the title of emperor in 800. His possessions included Italian territories, part of Spain, and Saxon lands. The collapse of the empire after the death of Charlemagne determined further development mainland.
The history of Europe in the Middle Ages is characterized by the establishment of a feudal mode of production in most countries. The power of the monarch in the first stages of development was strong, but due to the strengthening centrifugal tendencies the state broke up into a number of independent possessions. IN XI-XII centuries The rapid development of cities began, becoming the basis of capitalist production.
New time
Europe, whose history is characterized by a rapid pace of development, in XV-XVII centuries experienced real turning point in socio-economic and political relations First of all, because of the beginning, Portugal, Spain, and after them the Netherlands, France embarked on a real race to discover and conquer new territories.
IN economic sphere In the era under review, the period of the so-called primitive accumulation of capital begins, when the prerequisites for industrial revolution. England became a pioneer in machine production: it was in this country that the rapid development of large-scale industry began already in the 17th century. Europe, whose history had never known anything like it until now, experienced intensive development of industrial production largely thanks to the English experience.
The era of bourgeois revolutions
The new history of Europe at the next stage was largely determined by the replacement of feudalism with the capitalist mode of production. The consequence of this struggle was a whole series of bourgeois revolutions that Europe experienced in the 17th-18th centuries. The history of these coups is closely connected with the crisis of absolutist regimes in the leading states of the mainland - England and France. The establishment of unlimited power of the monarch met with stiff resistance from the third estate - the urban bourgeoisie, which demanded economic and political freedoms.
These ideas and aspirations of the new class were reflected in a new cultural movement - enlightenment, whose representatives put forward revolutionary ideas about the responsibility of the monarch to the people, natural rights person, etc. These theories and concepts became the ideological basis for bourgeois revolutions. The first such revolution occurred in the Netherlands in the 16th century, then in England in the 17th century. Great french revolution The 18th century marked new stage in the socio-economic and political development of Western Europe, since during its course feudal orders were legally abolished and a republic was established.
Western European countries in the 19th century
Understanding the significance of the Napoleonic wars allows us to identify general patterns, according to which history developed in the century under review. The countries of Europe completely changed their appearance after Congress of Vienna 1815, which determined the new borders and territory of Western European states.
On the mainland, the principle of legitimism was proclaimed, which presupposed the need for the rule of legitimate dynasties. At the same time, the gains of the revolutions and Napoleonic wars did not pass without a trace for the states of Europe. Capitalist production, the creation of large industry, heavy industry brought into the arena new class- the bourgeoisie, which from now on began to determine not only the economic, but also the political development of countries. Europe, whose history was determined by changes in socio-economic formations, entered new way development, which was consolidated by Bismarck's reforms in Germany,
20th century in the history of Western Europe
The new century was marked by two terrible world wars, which again led to changes in the map of the continent. After the end of the first war in 1918, they disbanded largest empires, and in their place new states were formed. Military-political blocs began to take shape, which subsequently played a decisive role in the Second World War, the main events of which unfolded on the Soviet-German front.
After its completion Western Europe became a springboard for the capitalist camp opposing Soviet Union. Such large political entities like NATO and the Western European Union as opposed to
Western European countries today
It is customary to include 11 states: Belgium, Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Monaco, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France. However, for political reasons, it is customary to also include Finland, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece in this list.
In the 21st century, the mainland continues to move toward political and economic integration. The Schengen area contributes to the unification of states in the most various fields. At the same time, these days there are centrifugal aspirations of a number of states that want to pursue an independent policy, regardless of the decision of the European Union. The latter circumstance indicates the growth of a number of serious contradictions in European zone, which are aggravated by migration processes, which have especially intensified recently.
