The History of

Europe

-The British Isles

-France

-The Benelux Countries

-Scandinavia

-Germany

-The Alpine Countries

The British Isles

► Made up of two independent countries:

-the Republic of Ireland

-the United Kingdom (U.K.)

The U.K. is divided into four political regions:

-England

-Wales

-Scotland

-Northern Ireland

AND two physical regions:

-Lowland Britain

-Highland Britain

The British Isles

► The islands’ original inhabitants were the Celts (ancestors of the Scots, Welsh and Irish)

► Some lowland areas were later conquered by the Roman Empire

► The Germanic Angles and Saxons pushed the Celtic peoples into Highland Britain

► Scandinavian Vikings also established settlements in lowland areas

This layering of cultural landscapes is called sequent occupance

The British Empire

► Founded numerous colonies around the world beginning in the 15th and 16th centuries

► 1801 acquired Ireland, Scotland, and Wales

► Mid-1800s ruled more than one fourth of the world’s land

► Had a VERY powerful navy

► Spread the English language, law, and Christianity around the globe

► Ireland wins independence from Britain in 1921

France ► One of Europe’s largest and

most influential countries ► Strong cultural identity is

shaped by Gauls, Romans, Franks, and Vikings and unified by language and religion (Roman Catholic)

► Gov’t pays to nurture this distinct culture because of worries that American culture and business may erase it

► Paris is a PRIMATE CITY established on the Seine river about 2,000 years ago

► Today it is a world center of banking, business, government, and fashion

France

The Benelux Countries

► Include

-Belgium

-the Netherlands

-Luxembourg

-Because of their geographic location between the U.K., France and Germany, these countries have all been fought over by foreign powers.

-After WWII these countries established a political and economic union that eventually evolved into the European Union

The Netherlands

► Means “low lands”

► Large areas here are below sea level and were originally coastal marshes and wetlands

► The Dutch use a dike and polder system to drain water from these areas so it may be used as farmland

► speak Dutch

Belgium and Luxembourg

► Originally part of the Netherlands

► Belgians typically speak

-Dutch (Flemish) in the north

-French (Walloon) in the south

Luxembourgians speak

-German

-French

-Luxembourgian (related to German & Dutch)

The European Union ► An organization of countries

interested in increasing economic and political cooperation between its members

► After WWII some European countries broke down trade barriers and began forming alliances based on cooperation and economics instead of force

► Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Italy, and West Germany formed the European Economic Community in 1957

► This organization grew and became the European Union in 1993

Scandinavia ► Made up of 5 northernmost

countries:

-Norway

-Sweden

-Denmark

-Finland

-Iceland

-Known for fierce Viking sailors who raided the shores of ancient Europe

-Today most Scandinavians are Protestant Lutherans and speak very similar languages

Scandinavia ► Lapland stretches across northern

Norway, Sweden, and Finland and is populated by Lapps, or “Sami” as they call themselves

► Traditional economy based on reindeer herding, but today is based on tourism.

► Today most Scandinavians live in the warmer southern portions of their countries

► Urban, healthy, and well-educated populations with long life spans and low birth rates

► Most live near the capitals of Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki, and Stockholm

Germany ► Many Germanic tribes fought

against Rome

► Around 700s C.E. Charlemagne united several German kingdoms, but was later broken into hundreds of small states

► Many became a loose confederation called the Holy Roman Empire

► 1300s C.E. many northern towns joined a trading group known as the Hanseatic League

► 1700s C.E. a number of powers controlled German states

-Prussia

-Habsburg Empire

-Austro-Hungarian Empire

*Prussia led unification of 1871

Germany

► The rapid rise of German power worried many European countries and they formed military alliances.

► These alliances helped maintain the balance of power for some time

► This balance was upset and led to “the Great War” or WWI in 1914

► Britain, France, Russia, and U.S. joined to defeat Germany

► Defeat led to total economic collapse in the 1920s. These problems helped bring the Nazi Party to power in 1933.

Germany ► After WWII, Germany was

divided by Allied forces and Russia

► Communist Russia occupied East Germany as well as large portions of eastern Europe

► West Germany became a democracy and rebuilt quickly to become a global economic power

► In 1990, following the collapse of communism, East and West Germany were reunited

The Alpine Countries

Austria

-located in the Alps

-has a Germanic cultural history

-part of the Holy Roman Empire

-the Austrian Empire / Habsburgs replaced the Holy Roman Empire to become a major European power in the 1800s

-1867 Austrians agreed to share political power with Hungarians = Austro-Hungarian Empire

-The Empire collapsed at end of WWI

-Conquered by Hitler

-gained independence in 1955

The Alpine Countries

Switzerland -1200s C.E. the Swiss began to form

alliances to protect themselves against invading Austrian armies

-Today Switzerland is a confederation of 26 cantons joined for a common purpose

-has a history of neutrality and is NOT a member of the EU

-speak 4 major languages:

-German

-French

-Italian

-Romansh

-has become a world leader in banking and insurance