History of Europe

Origin

Name:
The word ‘Europe’ is believed to be derived from ‘Europa’, the
name of a princess in Greek mythology.

Early Civilization
(GREECE)

THE MINOANS:

− The first civilization in Europe began in about 3000 BC and is

called the Minoan Civilization. This civilization existed in the
Bronze Age and its remains come from Crete.

− The Crete represents large palace-like structures which reveal an

erudite and sophisticated society. This suggests that the people
living in Europe during its early days of were literate and had
civil sense.

− The Minoan civilization came to an abrupt end in early 1450 BC.

The cause is unknown; earthquakes, tidal waves and invasions by
the Mycenaeans are possible.

THE MYCENAEANS:

− In about 2000 BC, another wave of people settled in Greece,

Europe. They began another civilization and were called the
Mycenae, after their chief city.

− The Mycenaean civilization was another brilliant Bronze Age

culture which reached a high peak in the 13th century BC. At the
end of the 13th century BC, the chief palace sites were destroyed.

PAGE 1
 − Around 1200 BC the Mycenaeans were conquered by a new wave
of people called the Dorians and the Mycenaean civilization
came to an end.

THE DORIANS:

− After conquering the Mycenaeans, the Dorians started their own

society. They were grim, farming people who kept few records
and left very few important remains.

The Battle of Troy

In 1250 BC, a battle broke out between the city of Mycenae and
Troy. The ancient Greek poet, Homer, wrote a long poem about the
war which had begun because a Trojan noble kidnapped Helen, the
wife of a Greek king. The Greek besieged Troy for many years, but their
soldiers could not get through the massive walls which guarded them.
They built a huge model of a wooden horse and left it outside the gates
of Troy. The Greeks pretended to sail away and the Trojans brought
the horse into the city. Little did they know that the Greek soldiers had
hidden themselves inside the hollow model of the horse. During the
night, the Greeks came out and attacked Troy, slaughtering many
people, including the Trojan noble who kidnapped Helen. While the
story of Helen may not be completely true, the war and the victory of
the Greeks over the Trojans definitely are.

Athens and Sparta

From about 650 to 350 BC by far the most important Greek cities
was Athens. Although they were little more than 150 km apart and
shared the Greek Language, they were different in almost every other
aspect.

PAGE 2
ATHENS
Athens was a beautiful city of wonderful buildings – temples, markets,
theaters, sports grounds and even schools. The public squares were full of
fountains, statues and monuments. Life here was very pleasant and advanced for
the free people and even for the slaves. Although the slaves had no legal rights, yet
they were generally well-treated.

Women of all ranks were rarely allowed to go out except for religious
ceremonies after they were married, otherwise they remained in special quarters in
their homes. The people of Athens loved discussions about science, literature and
arts and the men spent much time in the marketplace arguing about politics.

Athens was a democracy, with all free men entitled to share in its
government. The city only had a small army, though during wartime, every man
was expected to fight. Their powerful navy kept the city safe.

SPARTA
Life in Sparta, as compared to Athens, was harsh. It was ruled by a
dictatorship. There were few beautiful buildings, little to no art or literature and
even their coins were made of iron and not gold or silver. Everything, houses and
all that was in them, belonged to the state, which told people what to do and what
not to do. At mealtimes they were made to eat together in public and not in their
homes.

The Spartans were preoccupied with war and how to train for it. Free men
were not allowed to be craftsmen or traders but spent their whole life, from the
age of seven to about the age fifty, living in army camps, preparing for battle, etc.
Even on their wedding day, the bridegroom had his marriage feast in the army
barracks and the bride had hers with friends at home.

As teenagers, they hunted and killed slaves for practice. When they grew
up, they were very tough soldiers. All of this training depended on the vast number
of slaves who outnumbered the thousand or so free Spartan men.

PAGE 3
 Alexander the Great
(356 – 323 BC)

In the city of Macedonia, Greece, the king, Phillip, was murdered and
his son, Alexander, only 20 years old, took charge of the city.
Alexander was a brilliant soldier. Immediately after becoming king, he
began to carry out his father’s plans to attack the Persians who had
conquered Greek colonies (present day Turkey).

Alexander defeated the Persian king, Darius, in a great battle.

The Greek colonies were now all free from Persian rule. At the age of
only 26, Alexander became the ruler of the vast Persian Empire and
married a Persian noblewoman named Roxanne. Alexander the Great
then went on to invade India. His army also captured Multan and
killed every single person there.

Alexander had also planned on attacking Arabia, but he

mysteriously died before the invasion could start. It is speculated that
his death was either due to a disease or he had been murdered. His son
was not yet born and his empire broke up into three parts, each rules
by one of his general’s. In eleven years, he had conquered an empire
much bigger than the whole of the subcontinent and had established
strong links between East and West.

Alexander’s influence did not last long in India. The Greeks were
driven out in 305 BC by Chandragupta, who was to be the first king of
the Mauryan Dynasty.

PAGE 4
 The Roman Empire
Founded in 753 BC, Rome was initially ruled by kings, of whom
Romulus was the first and Tarquinius Superbus was the seventh and
the last. Expelled in 509 BC for his tyrannical ways, he left the Romans
with a long-abiding hatred of monarchy The Romans believed that
their city was founded by two brothers, Romulus and Remus. They
wanted to find a city of their own. In a quarrel, Romulus killed his
brother and built his city which he named after himself.

A Republican system was created to prevent a tyrant from ever

ruling Rome again, but the system could not keep up with the
government of the Empire. After the wreckage of the Republic, the
Roman Empire was the creation of one man, Augustus.

People living at that time believed that Rome and its empire
would last forever, but after about AD 250 the Roman Empire began to
weaken and eventually collapsed.

CONSTANTINE THE GREAT

(272 – 337 AD)

There were a few strong emperors in the last period of the

Roman Empire. One of the most famous was Constantine the Great
who made himself not only the emperor of both the east and west
again and ruled from 307 to 337 AD. He established Christianity as the
state religion. He moved the capital of the empire to a city which he
named after himself. This is now Istanbul in Turkey.

After Constantine, the breakup of the Empire continued again

and in AD 395, it divided permanently into two different states. Both of
the states were weakened. The Western Empire was burnt by the
Goths. The Eastern Empire remained in existence, gradually getting
smaller, until it Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks
in 1453.

PAGE 5
 JULIUS CAESAR
(101 – 44 BC)

Julius Caesar was a Roman politician whose military genius

enable Rome to extend her empire permanently, but whose ruthless
ambition led to the breakdown of the Republic system. Caesar led his
army and plunged the state into civil war. Victory over enemy forces
left him in sole control at Rome. He did not disguise his power, taking
the title of ‘Dictator for Life’ in 44 BC and allowed himself to be paid for
extravagant honours. Many Republican-minded- Romans did not like
this and under the leadership of Brutus and Cassius, conspired to
murder Caesar.

His brief period of power left him with little time to carry
through the many reforms, socials and economic, that he had
intended. It was left to his great-nephew and only heir, Octavian (the
future Emperor Augustus) to reap where he had sown and also to learn
from his mistakes. Today, the month of July is named after Julius
Caesar himself, which suggests his importance in European History.

The French Revolution

The French Revolution was a period of time in France when the
people overthrew the monarchy and took control of the government.
The French Revolution lasted 10 years from 1789 to 1799. It began on
July 14, 1789 when revolutionaries stormed a prison called the Bastille.
The prison had become a symbol of the monarchy's dictatorial rule,
and the event became one of the defining moments in the Revolution
that followed.

The royal family was removed from Versailles to Paris, but on their
flight, their fate was sealed. Louis XIV and his queen, were killed. The
revolution ended when Napoleon Bonaparte took power in November
1799.

PAGE 6
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
(1769 – 1821)

French general, consul and emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte was a titanic figure in
European History. He rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several
successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. He was Emperor of the
French from 1804 until 1814 and again briefly in 1815 during the Hundred Days. After
seizing political power in France in 1799, he crowned himself emperor in 1804. During his
reign he conquered much of Europe in the 19th century, by spreading the ideas of religion
tolerance, liberal reforms and termination of feudalism. But, after a decade the mentality
of people changed and he was seen as an invader whose sole purpose was to seek power,
which eventually resulted in his crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. His civil
laws are still being implemented under the name of Napoleonic Code.

World War I
(1914 – 1918)

WWI was a war whose origins lay in the reaction of other great
powers to the ambitions of the German Empire after 1871. The resulting
political tensions divided Europe into two Camps, The Tripe Alliance
and The Triple Entente. The assassination of the heir to the Habsburg
throne, Prince Ferdinand, triggered the war. Austria declared war on
Serbia and Germany declared war on Russia and on France. Japan join
the British, French and Russians in the war.

The Germans were forced to surrender due to President Wilson’s

‘Fourteen Points’. Estimated combatant loss was over 8 million. The
peace treaties concluding the war were severe, leading to aggressive
nationalism in Germany. Despite the hope that it was ‘the end to all
wars’, WWI paved the way for the most devastating war in history.

PAGE 7
 World War II
(1939 – 45)

The most destructive war in history, WWII’s origins lay in three

different conflicts which emerged dude to Germany’s desire for
European expansion, Japan’s struggle against China and Japanese and
US conflict. The Germans were unwilling to accept ‘The Treaty of
Versailles’ and after German invasion of Czechoslovakia, Britain and
France declared war in their pledge to support Poland.

Germany attacked on London, but despite German use of flying

bombs, they advanced into Germany with the aid of American forces.
The Germans surrendered at Reims. The US declared war on Japan. It
dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6th and 9th
August. Japan surrendered.

Approximately 3 million Russians were killed in action while

Japan suffered over ¼ million civilian deaths. Only the USA and the
Soviet Union emerged as the two largest global powers.

ADOLF HITLER
(1889 – 1945)

Adolf Hitler was a German dictator. He was considered one of

history’s most cruel and brutal leaders, he converted Germany, a
defeated nation, into a fully remilitarized society. With racism the
basis of his ideology and policies, he conquered and dominated most
of Europe in over five years and ordered the deaths of millions of Jews
and others whom he considered inferior.

During WWII, when Germany was invaded, he retired to his

bunker and, along with his wife, committed suicide. It is believed that

PAGE 8
he poisoned himself. Hitler used forcefulness and manipulation to
appeal to the people. His ‘Thousand-Year Reich’ lasted 12 years and
three months.

Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new
manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime
between 1820 and 1840. Textiles were the dominant industry of
the Industrial Revolution in terms of employment, value of output and
capital invested. The textile industry was also the first to use modern
production methods. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain,
and many of the technological innovations were of British origin.

The Spinning Jenny was another example of great inventions of

the Industrial Revolution. It was developed by James Hargreaves who
patented his idea in 1764.The Spinning Jenny was groundbreaking
during its time and one that would help change the world forever. It
allowed workers to spin more wool at any one time. When James
Watt created the first reliable steam engine in 1775 his invention would
literally change the world. His innovation blew the older less efficient
models, like the Newcomen engine, out of the water.

Before the Industrial Revolution, the quality of Britain's roads

was less than great. At the time France was known to have the best
quality ones in the world. Many British roads were poorly maintained
and poor quality. During the 1700'sturnpike trusts were set up to
charge tolls in an attempt to improve maintenance and the general
quality of the country's transport system.

PAGE 9
 The Royal Family

KING HENRY VIII

(1491 – 1547)

Introduced as “one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the

English throne”, King Henry was the ruler of England, France and
Ireland after his father Henry VII. He is widely known for his role in
dissolution of monasteries and the separation of Church of England
from the Holy Roman Church. In 1536, he officially established
himself as the head of the Church of England and officially granted
Wales Act Law to take control of the union of England and Wales.
He was also well known for his six marriages and his bitter rivalry
with Hapsburg monarch Emperor Charles V and Francis I of France.

QUEEN ELIZABETH I
(1533 – 1603)

Queen of England and Ireland, Elizabeth I was the last monarch

of the Tudor Dynasty and is widely considered as one of the most
influential queens of Europe for her contribution towards the
establishment of modern Europe. The Elizabethan era is studded with
many famous personalities like William Shakespeare, Francis Drake,
etc. She banned images in English Churches and exercised full control
over them. She was a great military strategist too, which was
showcased after she successfully led the greatest military victory in
English history against the Spanish Armada in 1588.

PAGE 10
 QUEEN ELIZABETH II
(1926 – Present)
Queen Elizabeth II is the world's longest reigning monarch and
one of the most famous, well respected, and untouchable figures of the
past century. Born in 1926 as Elizabeth Alexandra Mary to The Duke
and Duchess of York (who later became King George VI and Queen
Elizabeth), she grew up in London with her sister, Princess
Margaret. The Queen was tutored at home by Britain's best tutors.
She studied constitutional history and law as preparation for her future
role, and took lessons in religion from the Archbishop of
Canterbury. She was also taught by the vice provost of Eton College.

PAGE 11