The history of Europe begins with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476. On the ruins of this largest state, barbarian kingdoms were formed, which became the basis of modern Western European states. The history of Western Europe is conditionally divided into four stages: the Middle Ages, New and Modern times and the modern era.
Western European Middle Ages
In the IV-V centuries AD. Germanic tribes began to settle on the borders of the Roman Empire. The emperors attracted new settlers to serve, not suspecting what a fatal role they would play in the fate of their state. Gradually, the Roman army was filled with immigrants from outsiders, who, during the period of unrest that shook the empire, often determined the policy of sovereigns, and sometimes even took part in coups, enthroning their own proteges.
This alignment of events led to the fact that in 476 the commander 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 reached power under the monarch Clovis. The new state reached its peak under the King of the Franks, Charlemagne, who in 800 took the title of emperor. Hispossessions included Italian territories, part of Spain, Saxon lands. The collapse of the empire after the death of Charlemagne determined the further development of the mainland.
The history of Europe in the Middle Ages is characterized by the establishment in most countries of the feudal mode of production. The power of the monarch in the early stages of development was strong, but due to the strengthening of centrifugal tendencies, the states broke up into a number of independent possessions. In the 11th-12th centuries, the rapid development of cities began, which became the basis of capitalist production.
New time
Europe, whose history is characterized by a rapid pace of development, in the XV-XVII centuries experienced a real turning point in socio-economic and political relations, primarily due to the beginning of the era of great geographical discoveries. Portugal, Spain, followed by the Netherlands, France set off in a real race to discover and conquer new territories.
In the economic sphere in the era under consideration, the period of the so-called primitive accumulation of capital begins, when the prerequisites for the industrial revolution were formed. 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 has never known anything like this, experienced an intensive development of industrial production largely due to the British experience.
The era of bourgeois revolutions
New history of Europeat the next stage was largely determined by the replacement of feudalism by the capitalist mode of production. The result of this struggle was a whole series of bourgeois revolutions that Europe experienced in the 17th-18th centuries. The history of these upheavals is closely connected with the crisis of absolutist regimes in the leading states of the mainland - England and France. The establishment of the 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 trend - enlightenment, whose representatives put forward revolutionary ideas about the responsibility of the monarch to the people, natural human rights, etc. These theories and concepts became the ideological basis for bourgeois revolutions. The first such revolution took place in the Netherlands in the 16th century, then in England in the 17th century. The Great French Revolution of the 18th century marked a new stage in the socio-economic and political development of Western Europe, since in 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 the general patterns by which history developed in the century under consideration. The countries of Europe completely changed their appearance after the Congress of Vienna in 1815, which determined the new borders and territory of Western European states.
The principle was proclaimed on the mainlandlegitimism, suggesting the need for the rule of legitimate dynasties. At the same time, the gains of the revolutions and the Napoleonic wars did not pass without a trace for the states of Europe. Capitalist production, the creation of large-scale industry, heavy industry brought into the arena a 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 the change of socio-economic formations, embarked on a new path of development, which was consolidated by revolutions in France, Bismarck's reforms in Germany, and the unification of Italy.
XX century in the history of Western Europe
The new century was marked by two terrible world wars, which again led to a change in the map of the mainland. After the end of the first war in 1918, the largest empires collapsed, and new states formed in their place. Military-political blocs began to take shape, which later played a decisive role in World War II, the main events of which unfolded on the Soviet-German front.
After it ended, Western Europe became a springboard for the capitalist camp that opposed the Soviet Union. Large political formations such as NATO and the Western European Union were created here as a counterbalance to the Warsaw Pact.
Western European countries today
Western European countries usually include 11 states: Belgium, Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Monaco, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France. However, for politicalFor reasons, this list also includes Finland, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece.
In the 21st century, the trend towards political and economic integration continues on the mainland. The European Union, the Schengen area contribute to the unification of states in various fields. At the same time, today 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 testifies to the growth of a number of serious contradictions in the European zone, which are exacerbated by migration processes, which have especially intensified recently.
