Europe

In ancient times the Greeks and Romans were the most prominent civilizations in Europe. They had great empires, and greatly influenced many cultures that came after them. Both spread their power to the far reaches of the known world at that time. One of the most important things that they left behind that greatly influences American society today is the fact that the Romans had on of the first democracy. Though both empires rose and fell, their effects are still felt. The Greeks and Romans controlled much of Europe in ancient times.

After the decline of the Roman Empire, Europe was dominated by Christian kingdoms, wrongly thought by the Romans to be "barbarians". These kingdoms were gradually forged into countries.

For a time, these countries used the feudal system. The feudal system is what many people think of as medieval times. In the feudal system, there was a feudal lord who would rule like a king over his estate. The feudal lord had a "right" to anything on his estate. The feudal lord got his position because somewhere along the line he or one of his ancestors found favor with the King. Each lord would swear loyalty to his King in exchange for the land and power his position received. Each lord in turn gave land, called a feif, to his knights. Peasants also lived on the feif with the knights. The peasants paid rent to live on the land and had to also work and fight for the knight. The lowest class of the peasants were slaves, with no possessions. The first countries to use the feudal system were France and Germany. It spread to England, and the Holy land later on. Feudalism was also used briefly in parts of Spain and Italy.

As would be expected in such a society, rebellion set in. People began to dislike the fact that only the king could make the decisions that mattered. In England the lords insisted that their king to agree to what they called the "Great Charter". This allowed the nobles to set up a counsel of advisors that the king was to refer to. Other countries followed this example.

The Vikings were the terror of the sea to the people of medieval Europe. They lived in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, and were a race of traders and pirates. Since they lived in a cold climate with meager farmland, the vikings became traders and raiders. The Vikings made many raids on the French coast, and for a time, they even controlled part of France, Normandy named because the Vikings were also know as the Norse. The Vikings told famous stories called sagas. Through these sagas, modern historians know that the Vikings even went to America long before Columbus ever did! The Vikings were an adventurous people, pirates through and through.

In the year 1790, Europe had changed little from the middle ages. The population was small, and most people lived in rural areas. The individual states, or kingdoms, were passed down from one generation to the next, staying in the same family. The Holy Roman Empire in Germany was divided into 350 principalities, duchies, counties, and bishoprics. The ordinary people seldom had any say in their government. In the late 18th century, "takeoffs" into industrial growth were experienced. Machines started being used instead of people, and new inventions sprang up everywhere. Class barriers began to break down, and the poor people, who before had almost been slaves, now had a more prominent place in society. The industrial revolution was a breakthrough that seperated medeival times from the modern world.

On the day of June 28, 1914, the man who would become ruler of Austro-Hungary took a trip to Serajevo (a city under his control). This man was the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Many people in Serajevo did not want to be ruled by Austro-Hungary. These people believed that if Franz Ferdinand was dead, they would be free. Francis rode through the streets of Serajevo with his wife, and they were unfortunate to pass a man who wanted them dead. With two shots, he had killed Franz, his wife, and at the same time, launched the world into a war. Germany sided with Austro-Hungary and declared war on Serbia. Germany and Austro-Hungary became the Central Powers. Serbia's allies became known as the Allied Powers. From the beginning, the Allied Powers were better equipped, with more men, and when America joined them, it became clear that they would win the war.

On November 11, 1918, the Allies had Germany sign an armistice (an agreement to stop the war). They also bound the Germans into the Treaty of Versailles. This agreement made the Germans very angry because it blamed the Germans for the war, had Germany pay huge fines, and didn't allow the Germans to have a large army. In an answer to what they saw as an unfair treaty, the Germans would soon fight back.

Angered at the Versailles treaty, and ravaged with the Depression, Germans thought that they needed someone to blame. A young Austrian, Adolf Hitler gave them one. With his cry against the Versailles treaty, the Jews, and anyone who was different, he was telling the "pure" Germans nothing was their fault. In 1933, he came to total power within Germany.

In 1938, purposely violating the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler took over Austria and Czechoslovakia. Britain and France did nothing to uphold the treaty. Then on September 1, 1939, Hitler went too far. He had invaded Poland. Britain and France came to the aide of Poland, but it was already to late. Soon after capturing Poland, many of the other European countries fell to the Nazis. Soon they controlled almost all of Europe.

Enraged by the Japanese's attack on Pearl Harbor, the Americans joined the war. The combined allied forces made an atttack on Normandy, which would forever be remembered in history as D-Day. After D-Day, the allies quickly moved across Europe. On May7, 1945. Germany surrendere. The war, however, was not yet over. On August 6, 1945, America dropped an atomic bomb on Japan. One week later, they dropped yet another on the japanese city of Nagasaki. The Japanese surrendered, and mankinds second world war was finally over.

Many things that we think of today as American really originated in Europe. Baseball for instance has its European counterpart in Cricket. Apple pie, another thing that we think of with the old USA was made by European housewives hundreds of years before England thought of making a colony on America. Even blue jeans were invented by a European, (a German), Levi Strauss! If all Americans traced back their roots far enough, many would find that they had ancestors in Europe. Many movie stars today are European in origin, like Arnold Schwarzeneger and Sandra Bullock. Some aspects of America are a lot more European than you might think.

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