Much like the difficulty we had pinning down just exactly what countries were included in the term “Central America”, so too is there some flexibility with the term “Western Europe”. Western Europe traditionally refers to the countries in the western most half of Europe. However, the view that Europe is divided strictly into the West and the East is sometimes considered patronizing or pejorative by many in the countries of Central Europe. For the purposes of this course, our unit will explore a slightly wider range of countries than is traditionally considered part of Western Europe.

The present definition, as currently defined by the CIA World Factbook, includes the following countries:

United Kingdom
Ireland
Belgium
France
Netherlands
Luxembourg
But, for purposes of this unit we will also be including some of Southwestern Europe, Central Europe, and Southeastern Europe:

Portugal
Spain
Germany
Switzerland
Greece
Italy

The area which was once the home to ancient Greece is now inhabited by millions of European citizens. The art and architecture of Ancient Greece influenced the ancient Roman civilization as well as generations that followed. Watch the following tutorial to learn more about the rich history of the art and architecture of Greece.

Select the play button to begin the tutorial, and then use the navigation buttons to pause/stop, continue, or reset the tutorial. View the presentation as often as you would like, and take notes as you follow along. Be sure to set your volume at a reasonable level before you begin.

The nations of Western Europe can be divided in multiple ways. Historically, Hadrian’s Wall, found in what is now northern England and Scotland, marked the northern defensive boundary of Roman Britain. Today, most of this 2000-year-old wall still stands, but many would argue that the boundaries of Western Europe are actually fewer, not more, than ever before in history, mainly due to the establishment of the European Union, or EU. The EU is an economic and political union established in 1993 by members of the European community. In recent years, it has been expanded to include not only members of Western Europe, but also Central and Eastern Europe, as well. The designation of a division between Eastern and Western Europe only came to pass in recent times—it was a term used to group all the countries under Communist rule under one term—Eastern Europe. It was also a way to group together the countries that were not progressing as well as the rest of Europe. Today, that division is not supported by many people in Europe overall.


Divisions of Western Europe
Another distinguishable region of Western Europe is the Mediterranean. Mediterranean Europe generally consists of Italy, Greece, Spain, and Portugal. France is generally not considered part of Mediterranean Europe although the south of France shares many similar characteristics with these other countries. Although Greece is considered part of Mediterranean Europe, if you look on a map, you will notice that Greece seems to fall more on the eastern side of the continent. So, what is correct? Is Greece Eastern Europe or Western Europe? The truth is that it really doesn’t matter with what region you group any country. Most of the divisional terminology is purely a matter of perception and there is no right or wrong way to divide the continent. This map shows one way that the continent of Europe can be divided.

One of the integral members of the European Union is the United Kingdom, or UK. Many people are confused about to what area, exactly, the term United Kingdom refers. Although terms like Western Europe and Central America have some flexibility with their definitions, the UK is completely different.

Do you know what nations make up the UK?
Answer: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Scotland, as it is officially known, is an independent state consisting of four nations—each with its own devolved parliamentary system. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are all governed by the British Parliament in London, but they also have their own administrations to handle local issues in their own capital cities—Belfast, Cardiff, and Edinburgh.

Do you know the difference between state, nation, and country? It can be confusing to keep these terms straight! Although the terms country, state, and nation are often used interchangeably, there is a difference!

A State (capital “S”) is a self-governing political entity. This word can be used interchangeably with country. There are currently 195 independent countries in the world! Scotland is not a country, for example.
A nation is a tight-knit group of people who share the same culture. This group is larger than a tribe or community and it may or may not have national borders. The Kurds are a nation, but they have no State.
A nation-state is a nation that has the same borders as the state. France and the U.S. are excellent examples of nation-states.
As Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States, and each state has its own capital, the European countries have their own capitals as well. Some of the most notable cities in alphabetical order are:

Capital City/Country
Athens/Greece
Belgrade/Serbia
Berlin/Germany
Bern/Switzerland
Brussels/Belgium
Bucharest/Romania
Budapest/Hungary
Copenhagen/Denmark
Dublin/Ireland
Helsinki/Finland
Kiev/Ukraine
Lisbon/Portugal
London/United Kingdom
Madrid/Spain
Moscow/Russia
Oslo/Norway
Paris/France
Prague/Czech Republic
Rome/Italy
Stockholm/Sweden
Vienna/Austria
Warsaw/Poland

Did you ever wonder how or why a city came to be a city? For instance consider the city of Rome. A city cannot grow without attracting people. In ancient Rome, the mix of climate, fertility, geography, and culture brought people from all over Italy to make a home in the city walls. When conditions like these are favorable people will make the journey regardless of obstacles. The Alps Mountains North of Italy did not prevent people from moving to or from Rome. The study of settlement patterns are often referred to as non-site archaeology because of the fact that settlement pattern studies involve investigations which examine regions or areas, rather than focusing on individual sites. Studying settlement patterns generally involves looking at natural resources, location of a region, climate, and a multitude of other factors, to determine how and why people chose to stay or move from place to place.

The three main patterns of settlement are linear, scattered, and clustered. A linear settlement pattern initially develops along a main road, and can often maintain this pattern even as the settlement grows due to geographical boundaries, such as rivers and mountains. A scattered settlement pattern typically occurs in rural areas where agriculture is the primary focus. A clustered settlement generally grows around a common community area that the settlement expands around over time.

There are also settlement patterns that analyze how settlements grow over time. A settlement may start off as an isolated farmhouse, and eventually grow into a linear hamlet with a number of buildings popping up along the main road. Then, as the settlement grows, another road may intersect that first road with structures growing up around it as well, forming a settlement pattern known as a T-shaped village. Some well-situated villages become very popular, expanding around the center of the early settlement, and growing into a nucleated town. All settlements constantly change their shape, and often their function, over time. The animation below shows the transformation from an isolated hamlet, to a village, to a town, and potentially a city.

The countries of Western Europe are the “hub” of European economics. These countries’ economies are primarily based on industry, although agriculture will always be an important part. Each country of Western Europe has its own unique mix of industry and agriculture. The activities of Mediterranean Europe, for example, are limited to agricultural products such as wine because the region has been deforested and there are very few mineral resources.

The following list highlights some of the unique aspects of different Western European countries.

Italy is often described as two countries; a progressive north dominated by a post-industrial economy and a stagnant, economically depressed South. While the North prospers, the South of Italy suffers from economic disarray, corruption, and ineffective state-run activities.
Portugal has small and inefficient farms and must import most of its food.
Greece is an agrarian country—it is completely self-sufficient in staple foods, and imports only livestock products.
Spain has many diverse regions within its borders. Catalonia, for example, is incredibly important to Spain because the region produces 25 percent of Spanish exports and nearly 40 percent of its industrial exports.

As we have learned, physical processes and systems shape Earth’s surface and interact with plant and animal life to create, sustain, and modify ecosystems. In this section, we will take a closer look at physical processes and systems that have shaped Western Europe.

Although Western Europe is very industrially developed, agriculture is the main form of land use. Different types of agriculture can be found in different parts of Western Europe depending on the type of climate and terrain found in each region. The majority of the Western European agriculture takes place on the Great European Plain. The three types of agriculture that are most common in Western Europe are Mediterranean polyculture, dairy farming, and mixed livestock and crop farming.

Before reading the brief description of each distinct type of agriculture, can you make an educated guess about what each type might entail?
Do you think the Mediterranean polyculture takes place along the Mediterranean? Did you say that dairy farming must involve cows? Although you might not have heard about mixed livestock and crop farming, chances are it means just what it says—animals and crops on the same land!

Mediterranean polyculture – The very first staple of Mediterranean agriculture was wheat. The subsistence based farmers (farmers that grew just what they needed to feed their families) around the Aegean Sea diversified their crops by the addition of the olive and the vine to the earlier staple of wheat. This resulted in the development of Mediterranean polyculture—subsistence agriculture based on the three-legged stool of wheat, the olive, and the grape. Mediterranean polyculture is grown in a region most similar to California.
Dairy farming – Dairy farming takes up a considerable area to the north of the Mediterranean. Dairy farming requires a cooler climate. One prominent belt is located in the Alps of France, Switzerland, and Austria and a second dairy belt exists in the north, starting in the United Kingdom and the Breton Peninsula along the shores of the North and Baltic seas.
Mixed livestock-Crop Farming – The best known type of integrated mixed farming around the world is probably mixed crop-livestock systems. In Western Europe, mixed crop-livestock farming is predominantly found between the northern dairy belt and Mediterranean polyculture. Mixed crop-livestock systems are very independent. For example, most livestock are fed from local farm resources such as the existing pastures and crop residues.

The climate of Western Europe is a predominantly marine climate. Its abundant moisture comes from the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean moderates the temperature during the seasons, making the winter moist and mild, and the summer moist and cool.

The Alps are considered a climatic divide due to the fact that the marine climate stays primarily to the north of the Alps. The mild climate felt across most of Europe is most significantly influenced by the Gulf Stream winds from the Atlantic because there are no high mountain ranges to get in the way of the path of the wind until it reaches the Alps.

As you can see from the map of present potential vegetation in Europe, the predominant flora in Western Europe is forests. Notice that the region identified as cool temperate forests stretches from Portugal well into Central Europe. The intensive use of the land by a dense population has greatly changed the original natural patterns of Europe, especially the vegetation. Some people are surprised to learn that much of Europe has undergone substantial deforestation due to ever-growing civilizations present on the continent for over 2000 years. When we explore Eastern Europe, we will take a closer look at European deforestation and what is currently being done by Eastern European countries.

“Not without reason did gods and men choose this spot for the site of our city – the salubrious hills, the river to bring us produce from the inland regions and sea-borne commerce from abroad, the sea itself, near enough for convenience yet not so near as to bring danger from foreign fleets, our situation in the very heart of Italy – all these advantages make it of all places in the world the best for a city destined to grow great.”
— Livy, speaking of the Po River
As we have seen, there are many rivers and waterways that crisscross the continent of Europe. Rivers are important for many reasons—some provide fresh water, others provide a route for transportation and the shipping of goods, others are simply enjoyed by local residents for their natural beauty.

As Livy states in the quote above, the many natural advantages of this Po River Valley site were obvious. The Po River Valley is just one of the many reasons that Ancient Rome and its surrounding cities came to be great and prosperous cities. The Po River, Italy’s longest river, runs approximately 400 miles from the southwestern Alps to the Adriatic Sea, passing indirectly through Milan, and through Turin.

Another important river in Western Europe is the Rhine River. The Rhine River, whose name comes from the Celtic word renos, meaning raging flow, begins slowly at the Rheinwaldhorn Glacier in the Swiss Alps and builds up speed as it flows north and east for approximately 820 miles through the countries of Switzerland, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. The Rhine River is one of the most important waterways in Germany and is linked by canals to other major rivers in Western Europe. Many German manufacturing and industrial cities are located along the Rhine, and the river is important for shipping and transportation.

The longest international river in Europe is the Danube River. The Danube River has been one of the most significant cultural and historic boundaries in Europe. This river flows through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldavia, and Ukraine. The Danube has been harnessed to produce hydroelectricity, especially on its upper course. The Danube also serves as a channel for local trade among the nations along its banks.

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean and is almost completely enclosed by land.The Mediterranean Sea is the world's largest inland sea, surrounded by Europe, Asia, and Africa. There are many smaller bodies of water that make up the Mediterranean Sea. The Ionian Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea, and Aegean Sea are all arms of the Mediterranean. The Ionian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea between western Greece and southern Italy, while the Aegean Sea is between Greece and Turkey. During the time of the Roman Empire the Mediterranean Sea was essentially a Roman Lake—the Romans even referred to it as Mare Nostrum—meaning Our Lake.

Although Europe is technically its own continent, if you look closely at a map of Europe, you will notice there is no clear delineation between the continent of Europe and Asia. In fact, Europe is, essentially, the western peninsula of the Eurasian landmass. As we have learned, a peninsula is a landmass surrounded on three sides by water. There are many peninsulas that are part of Europe.

Although Europe is technically its own continent, if you look closely at a map of Europe, you will notice there is no clear delineation between the continent of Europe and Asia. In fact, Europe is, essentially, the western peninsula of the Eurasian landmass. As we have learned, a peninsula is a landmass surrounded on three sides by water. There are many peninsulas that are part of Europe.

Can you think of a Western European country that is also a peninsula?
Answer: Did you say Italy or Greece? Good job!

Many would say that the continent of Europe is actually a collection of peninsulas. Look closely. How many peninsulas do you see? The countries of Portugal and Spain make up what is known as the Iberian Peninsula; Norway and Sweden are part of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Even the country of Spain itself has its own peninsula —Cape Finisterre—believed to be the westernmost point of Spain, is also a peninsula.


Loess in Germany
The continent of Europe rests on a continental shelf that it shares with Asia. As in many parts of the world, glaciations have had a marked impact on the region. In the Netherlands, for example, glaciations created numerous small lakes which gradually filled with humus to make marshes. Some of these were later drained to make mucklands, which are primarily used for high value crops such as vegetables due to the richness of the soil. The potential loss of glaciations in the Alps is a considerable concern for all of Europe due to the fact that glaciers provide fresh drinking water, they are a source of hydro power, and are also visited annually by tourists looking for adventures in skiing and snowboarding.

Linked to this glacial presence, the region of Western Europe is also known for its abundance of loess sediments. Thick loess deposits generally formed over time in areas bordering large, continental glaciers. Loess is a geologic term that refers to deposits of silt left behind by receding glaciers. Loess sediments are some of the most fertile soils there are. Although loess soils and sediments cover about 1/10 of the Earth, approximately 1/5 of Europe contains loess.

The history of the people and culture of Western Europe has been so influential throughout history that there is even a term that refers to cultural norms, religion, politics, and history that are European in their origin. Today, the term Western Culture applies to areas of the world strongly impacted by Western Civilization, mainly through migration, such as the Americas, Australia, and even parts of Asia. In this section, we will explore many facets that make up Western Culture and how it has evolved and changed over time.

The ancient Greeks established the very blueprint of Western civilization—our societies, institutions, art, and culture. It is widely referred to as the cradle of Western Civilization and the birthplace of Democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BCE on the rest of the then known European Continent.

Today, we can see the impact of ancient Greece most clearly in our own system of government. Athens had an established system of government as well as an organized judicial system very similar to modern government in the United States. The Athenian justice system decided not only criminal and property cases, but it also decided whether or not laws were legal. The earliest democracy in the world can be traced back to Athens. It began in 510 BCE. The very word Democracy comes from a Greek word meaning government by the people. The Greek suffix kratia or kratos means “power” or “rule”, and the Greek word demos means “people”. The Greeks even had leaders, called strategoi, who acted much like our President acts today. The strategoi were elected by the Greek Assembly and controlled the navy and army and basically ran the government.

The impact of ancient Rome can also be seen in our modern system of government. Beginning as early as 509 BCE, Rome was a republic ruled by wealthy landowners and elders, who were called Senators, and by the people. Today, the United States would be considered a democratic republic.

The English language has its roots in several languages, including Greek, Latin, and older forms of English, German, and French. Learning to recognize common roots and affixes (prefixes and suffixes) will help you build your vocabulary and improve your ability to make educated guesses about unknown words you encounter in reading and test-taking situations. If you are unsure of a word, break it down into its component parts. Now that you know the parts of the word democracy, you can determine other words with similar components. Look at the chart below for a few examples.

Democracy
Autocracy
Theocracy
Bureaucracy
Demos + cracy
Auto + cracy
Theo + cracy
Bureau + cracy
Rule by the people
Rule by one (ex:dictator)
Rule by God (ex: Saudi Arabia)
Literally means rule by an office
Religious Culture
Religion, one of the biggest aspects of a community’s culture, is not highly diversified in Europe. The overwhelming majority of European people practice Christianity, while a minority are Muslim. Christians in Europe are divided into two major groups: Catholics, who make up the majority in most European countries, and protestants.

Catholic and protestant churches in Europe are seen as models for religious architecture. Some of their stained-glass windows are comprised of several thousands of pieces.

European art has influenced people worldwide. The Ancient Greeks and Romans contributed beautiful vases and mosaic-tiled walls. During the Renaissance, the Italians dominated the scene, with sculptors and painters like Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci, in particular, painted what may be the most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa.

For many years, as the Roman Empire declined, Europe was politically, socially, and economically unstable. In 1066, William the Conqueror achieved political stability with the introduction of the feudal system. This system would develop for over 200 years into a national monarchy—although once a monarchy was established the monarch did not actually have sway over the manor system.

Cleric, Knight, Workman: Medieval Europe
Due to the extreme instability that existed in the region, all levels of society were seeking a moderating influence. The feudal system was devised to create a level of stability. Under the feudal system, land was exchanged for loyalty. Feudalism was a manor system whereby peasants worked the land on an estate and a manorial lord protected several of these estates and all the people who worked and lived on the land.

Manors were the center of political and economic life in medieval Europe. A manor consisted of a manor house, one or more villages, and up to several thousand acres of land divided into meadow, pasture, forest, and cultivated fields.

The fields were further divided into strips; 1/3 for the lord of the manor, a small amount of land for the church, and the remainder for the peasants and serfs. Life for a serf was not much better than the life of a slave. The only difference was that a serf could not be sold to another manor. Individual lords, or barons, administered their own estates, made decisions regarding justice, money, taxes, and military service. The lords, so to speak, were the rulers of their individual fiefdoms! Lords were actually more powerful than the kings. Feudalism, in some variation, existed from the 9th century to the 15th century.

To combat instability in a different way, King Charlemagne promoted literacy through the establishment of schools to aid expansion and administration of his kingdom. The “Carolingian Renaissance” is the term given to the revival of learning in Medieval Europe. Due to the decline of the Roman Empire, almost everyone was nearly illiterate before this endeavor!

Dictatorship—A dictatorship is a form of government run by an individual or small group with absolute power. Dictators often use force or political fraud to gain power. Once in power, the dictator may take away much of his or her subjects’ freedoms through the use of intimidation and terror. If dictators are not overthrown, they usually pass their dictatorship on to their children. North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong-II, is expected to pass his dictatorship on to his son Kim Jong-un.

Theocracy—A theocracy is a form of government in which a country is governed by religious law. This generally means that the country is ruled by clergy. Iran is considered a theocracy. It maintains religious courts and has religious police to maintain social order.

Democracy—A democracy is a form of government in which citizens participate in the lawmaking process. This includes being involved in the development and passage of laws. Direct democracies are political systems in which citizens directly share in decision-making, instead of depending on representatives. Switzerland is an example of a direct democracy.

Republic—A republic is a form of government in which the power rests with the people. However, that power is exercised by representatives chosen by the people. A republic does not practice direct democracy, but is indirectly controlled by the people. This is known as a representative democracy. The United States is a republic.

Totalitarianism—Totalitarianism is a political system in which the state rules absolutely. It recognizes no limits its authority. Totalitarian regimes attempt to control all aspects of their subjects’ lives. They retain political power through propaganda, state-controlled mass media, and restriction of speech. The government may also engage in mass surveillance and state terrorism. China has a totalitarian government.



The European Union (EU) evolved from its humble roots as a regional economic agreement in 1951 among six neighboring states to today's supranational organization of 27 countries across the European continent. In this tutorial, we will explore the historical and modern implications for this incredible achievement and analyze its impact on the politics and economy of Western Europe.

I want to paint stunning pictures that you can sell for very high prices. ~ Pierre-Auguste Renoir, to art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel
Impressionism is a light, spontaneous manner of painting which began in France as a reaction against the restrictions and conventions of the dominant academic art. Its style is naturalistic and is known for the down-to-earth treatment of its subject matter, most commonly landscapes.

The impressionist style of painting is characterized chiefly by concentration on the general impression produced by a scene or object and the use of unmixed primary colors and small strokes to simulate actual reflected light. This painting Soleil Levant by Claude Monet was the first to inspire the use of the term “Impressionism”.

Although France was the center of Impressionist painting, one of the most famous Impressionist artists was actually an American. Mary Cassatt produced some of the most well-known Impressionist paintings, including this one called Lydia Leaning on Her Arms (in a theatre box).

Impressionist painters were considered radical at the time because of their use of color and because they dared to take painting out of a studio and into the real world! They painted realistic effects and paid less attention to small details. Monet, Renoir, Pisarro, and Sisley are some of the most famous names of the Impressionist movement. Although the movement itself seemed to fade out as an intellectual school by the end of the 19th century, the form of painting remains one of the most widely recognizable to this day.

As we have discussed through the course, the importance of human migration cannot be overstated. In Western Europe, migration into and out of Greco-Roman civilizations helped spread Western culture around the globe. Historically, forced migrations due to religious persecutions are a sad spot on the history of many powerful nations.

Today, human migration impacts Western Europe in multiple ways. In modern times, migration is influenced by refugees seeking out the safety of many European nations or Eastern Europeans migrating to Western Europe looking for higher paying jobs.

Beginning as far back as 750 BCE, the Greek civilization grew beyond the capacity of its limited arable land, and from about 750 BC the Greeks began 250 years of expansion, settling colonies in all directions. Although we are all familiar with the expeditions of European explorers to the New World in the 15th century, European migration across the Atlantic was not exceptionally unique for the time. For centuries prior to their arrival in the New World, Europeans had participated in extensive migrations throughout their continent and Asia. The people living on the European continent were quite mobile—their history is full of movement and migration. In many ways, the initial arrival in the New World by the Europeans and the advent of trans-Atlantic migration served to extend the migratory patterns that were already present in European society.

Read the article Snapshot: Global Migration from The New York Times. Be sure to compare Western Europe to the United States and other areas of the world that we have discussed. (Or use the following key words to locate the maps with an online search engine: NYT Snapshot Global Migration.)