European civilization arose at the turn of the 7th-6th centuries BC. This happened as a result of the reforms of Solon, as well as the subsequent political processes in Ancient Greece, when the phenomenon of antiquity itself, known as the genotype of this civilization, arose. Its foundations were the rule of law and civil society, the existence of specially developed rules, legal norms, guarantees and privileges to protect owners and the interests of citizens.
Civilization Features
The main elements of European civilization contributed to the formation of a market economy during the Middle Ages. Moreover, the Christian culture that dominated the continent was directly involved in the formation of fundamentally new meanings of human existence. First of all, they stimulated the development of human freedom and creativity.
In the subsequent Renaissance and Enlightenment eras, the antique genotype of European civilization finally manifested itself fully. He adopted the type of capitalism. The political, socio-economic, cultural life of European society was characterized by special dynamism.
It is noteworthy that even if the social genotype of antiquity was alternative, until about the XIV-XVI centuries there was a lot in common in the evolutionary development of the West and the East. Prior to that period, the cultural achievements of the East were comparable to the Western Renaissance in terms of significance and successes achieved. It is noteworthy that in the Muslim era, the East continued cultural development, interrupted in the Greco-Roman world, occupying a leading place culturally for several centuries. Interestingly, Europe, being the heiress of ancient civilization, joined it through Muslim intermediaries. In particular, Europeans first became acquainted with many ancient Greek treatises in translation from Arabic.
Moreover, the differences between the East and the West over time have been very fundamental. First of all, they were manifested in terms of spiritual development of cultural achievements. For example, typography in local languages, which was extremely developed in Europe, opened up direct access to knowledge for ordinary people. In the East, such opportunities simply did not exist.
Another thing is important. The scientific thought of Western society was, first of all, turned forward, manifesting itself in increased attention to basic research, natural sciences, requiring a high level of theoretical thinking. At the same time, in the East, science was primarily practical, and not theoretical, it existed inseparably from the emotions, intuitive decisions and experiences of each specific scientist.
In the XVII century, world history began to take shape along the path of globalization and modernization. This situation developed until the 19th century. In the event of a direct clash of the two types of civilization, the superiority of European civilization over the eastern one became obvious and obvious. This was largely due to the fact that the strength of states was determined by military-political and technical-economic advantages.
The existing civilized modern approach was originally based on the recognition of the inevitability of cultural differences and the rejection of any hierarchy of cultures, if necessary, the rejection of the values of all types of civilizations.
Distinctive features
European civilization is characterized by a number of important differences that determine its essence. First of all, it is important that this is a civilization of intensive development, which is characterized by the ideology of individualism. Preference is given to the priority of the individual and his specific interests. At the same time, public consciousness is perceived exclusively in reality, free from religious dogma in solving practical issues.
It is interesting that, despite rationalism, in the development of European civilization, its social consciousness has always been oriented towards Christian values, which were considered normative and supreme. An ideal to strive for. Public morality was the sphere of undivided domination of Christianity.
As a result, Catholic Christianity became one of the determining and key factors in the formation of Western society. On its ideological basis, science arose in its modern sense, first becoming a methodology for cognizing divine revelation, and then studying the cause-effect relationships of the material world.
It should be emphasized that the Western type of civilization has always been characterized by Eurocentrism, since the West considered itself the peak and center of the world.
Among the characteristic features of Western civilization, seven main ones can be distinguished, which as a result became the main values that ensured its development.
- Orientation to novelty, dynamism.
- The installation of personality on autonomy, individualism.
- Respect for the human person and dignity.
- Rationality.
- Respect for the concept of private property.
- The ideals of equality, freedom and tolerance that existed in society.
- Preference for democracy to all other forms of social and political structure of the state.
Characteristic
Giving a characteristic of European civilization, it is important to note the new that it brought to the modern world. It is noteworthy that Western countries, in contrast to such closed state entities as India and China, were extremely diverse. As a result, the peoples and countries of Western civilization had their own diverse and peculiar appearance. Of great importance in the formation of European civilization was the science that laid the foundation for the global history of mankind.
If we compare the countries of the West with India and China, where the concept of political freedom did not exist, for the West the idea of political freedom was one of the main conditions of existence. When rationality was learned in the West, oriental thinking was primarily distinguished by its consistency, which made it possible to develop formal logic, mathematics, and also the legal foundations of the state system.
In the history of European civilization, Westerners were very different from Easterners, realizing that it was he who was the beginning and creator of everything. Researchers note that Western dynamics are emerging from "exceptions." It is based on a constant feeling of dissatisfaction, anxiety, the desire for constant development and renewal. In the West, there has always been political and spiritual tension, which required growing spiritual energy, when in the East the main thing was a lack of tension and a state of unity.
Initially, the Western world developed within the framework of its own internal polarity. The foundation of European Western civilization was laid by the Greeks, who made it so that the world was disengaged from the East, removed from it, but constantly directed its gaze to that side.
Ancient civilizations
It is possible to talk about the existence of the first civilizations on the territory of the European continent since the Iron Age.
Around 400 BC, Latens culture spread its influence to vast lands, right up to the Iberian Peninsula. This was the origin of the Celtebrian culture, about contacts with which many records were left by the Romans. The Celts were able to resist the spread of the influence of the Roman state, which sought to conquer and colonize most of southern Europe.
Another significant ancient European civilization is Etruria. The Etruscans lived in cities that united in alliances. For example, the most influential Etruscan union included 12 urban communities.
Northern Europe and Britain
The first attempts to Romanize the territory of Ancient Germany were originally made by Julius Caesar. The borders of the empire could only be expanded under Nero Claudius, when, finally, almost all the tribes were conquered. Successful colonization was continued by Tiberius.
Roman Britain developed after the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar. He undertook two trips to the British lands. As a result, systematic attempts at conquest lasted until the year 43 AD. Until Britain turned into one of the outlying provinces of the Roman Empire. At the same time, the north was practically unaffected. Among the local population, who was unhappy with this state of affairs, rebellions regularly rose.
Greece
Greece is called the cradle of European civilization. This is a country with a great heritage and centuries-old history.
Initially, Hellenistic civilization began as a community of city-states, the most influential of which were Sparta and Athens. They had a variety of options for management, philosophy, culture, politics, science, sports, music and theater.
They founded many colonies on the shores of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, in southern Italy and on Sicily. It is believed that the cradle of European civilization originates in ancient Greece.
The situation changed dramatically in the IV century BC, when, due to internecine conflicts, these colonies became the prey of the Macedonian king Philip II. His son Alexander of Macedon spread Greek culture to Egypt, Persia and India.
Roman civilization
The fate of European civilization was largely predetermined by the Roman state, which began to actively expand from the territory of Italy. Due to his military power, as well as the inability of most enemies to provide decent resistance, only Carthage could pose the most serious challenge, but he was defeated as a result, which marked the beginning of Roman hegemony.
At first, Ancient Rome was ruled by kings, then became a senatorial republic, and at the end of the 1st century BC - an empire.
Its center was located on the Mediterranean Sea, the northern border was marked by the Danube and Rhine rivers. The empire reached its maximum expansion under Trajan, including Romania, Roman Britain and Mesopotamia. Together with her, she brought effective centralized management, peace, but in the 3rd century her social and economic status was undermined by a series of civil wars.
Constantine I and Diocletian were able to slow down the decay processes, dividing the empire into Eastern and Western. While Diocletian persecuted Christians, Constantine officially announced the end of the persecution of representatives of this faith in 313, paving the way for the empire to become Christian in the future.
Middle Ages
The development of medieval European civilization is divided into several stages. The division of Europe into two parts intensified after the final fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. She was conquered by Germanic tribes. But the Eastern Roman Empire lasted for millennia, later it was called the Byzantine Empire.
In the 7th-8th centuries, the expansion of Islamic culture began, which reinforced the differences between Mediterranean civilizations. A new order in a world without cities created feudalism, replacing a centralized Roman administration based on a highly organized army.
After the split of the Christian church in the middle of the XI century, the Catholic Church turned into a leading force in Western Europe. Then the first signs of the second birth of medieval European civilization began to appear. Trade, which became the basis for the cultural and economic growth of independent cities, led to the emergence of such powerful city-states as Florence and Venice.
At the same time, nation states began to form in England, France, Portugal and Spain.
At the same time, Europe more than once had to face serious disasters, one of which was the bubonic plague. The most serious outbreak occurred in the middle of the XIV century, destroying up to a third of the inhabitants.
Renaissance
The culture of European civilization was largely shaped during the Renaissance. From the XIV-XV centuries, the educated population of Byzantium migrated, the fall of Constantinople in 1453 led to the fact that the countries of the Roman Catholic Church realized that Europe had turned into the only Christian continent, it was their inheritance that became the pagan ancient culture.
An important distinguishing feature of this time was the secular nature of culture, as well as its anthropocentrism. First of all, there was an increased interest in human activities. There was an interest in ancient culture, when its revival actually began.
The great geographical discoveries of the XV-XVII centuries were directly related to the process of the initial accumulation of capital in Europe. The development of trade routes led to the robbery of new open lands; large-scale colonization began, which became the basis of capitalism. The formation of the global market has begun.
The active development of engineering and shipbuilding has led to the possibility of overcoming significant distances on ships. After improving navigational instruments, it became possible to accurately determine the position of the ship in the open sea.
Initially, Europeans knew only one way to India - through the Mediterranean Sea. But he was captured by the Seljuk Turks, who took high duties from European merchants. Then there was a need to find a new path to India, which led to the discovery of the American continent.
The Age of Enlightenment was of great importance, becoming a logical continuation of humanism of the XIV-XV centuries. The pan-European significance is gained by French educational literature, the common feature of which is the rule of rationalism.
The 19th century passed under the flag of the French Revolution, which radically changed the relations of power and society in many countries. Since that time, Russia begins to play an important role in European civilization.
Recent story
The recent history of the continent began with the crushing for many peoples of the First World War. It formed a crisis of autocracy in Russia, which resulted in two revolutions in 1917. Once in power, the Provisional Government failed to cope with the devastation and chaos in the country. As a result, they were overthrown by the Bolshevik government led by Lenin.
The next important stage in the modern history of Europe is the emergence of fascism. The ideology of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini embodies the ideas of a corporate state as opposed to parliamentary democracy.
In 1933, the National Socialist Workers' Party came to power in Germany with Adolf Hitler at the head, which began to ignore the clauses of the Treaty of Versailles, according to which Germany was significantly limited in the military sphere. Hitler's government begins to pursue an aggressive policy that spills over into World War II. An attempt to change the world order in Europe fails. Germany is defeated, and Europe is actually divided into capitalist and socialist camps.
The second half of the 20th century passes under the banner of the Cold War, which is accompanied by a nuclear arms race. Meanwhile, Europe itself is taking the first step towards the creation of the European Union. The first six states in 1951 announce the formation of the European Coal and Steel Association, which becomes the first prototype of the EU, the union that today defines the essence of European civilization.