Europe in World History Essay

Early Modern Europe is the term used to refer to a part of the history of Europe which began in 1648 following the last days of the Treaty of Westphalia and Thirty Years War. The war started due to some religious reasons. On the other hand, during the course of war, the battle focused on a political struggle between the states surrounding the Holy Roman Empire (Eusanz Organization, 2002). What was involved initially was the Austrian Habsburgs because of religious reasons supporting the Catholic side. On the other hand, there was an intervention on the part of Sweden on the Protestant side. France, then, which was a Catholic monarchy, went against Austria for political reasons. However, in the Treaty of Westphalia, the priorities of the powers were not religious but purely political in nature. France or Austria were not able to put up with each other, so these two nations decided to keep a historically fragmented division of the HRE in a number of weak and small states (Eusanz Organization, 2002). The only way to create peace between these powers was a balance of power. All three powerful states in Europe have origins in the feudal system. Feudal aristocracies exercised political power. Modernization and the progressions involved with it gave birth to a class of merchants and craftsmen which became a part of the middle class. The members of the middle class became active in trade which led to surplus increase. The role that the middle class played was in each of the state. They were scattered along the areas of Amsterdam, London and Paris which were bases of economic growth. Of the three locations, Paris had experienced the least degree of modernization, and Amsterdam the most. By the 17th century, Amsterdam had replaced Antwerp as the leading commercial city of Europe, reflecting the leading role that the Dutch had taken in commerce, shipbuilding, fishing and overseas exploration. London, the major seaport serving England’s commerce, was also prominent because of extensive trading contacts with the Lowlands dating back to medieval times, whereas Paris had become significant primarily as the political center of France rather than for commercial reasons. All these explain how the history of Europe alone has changed the history of the world as a whole (Eusanz Organization, 2002). Europe’s role in world history has always been an issue to scholars and especially to historians who always claim to put Europe it a place where it should rightfully be. Another even in the history of Europe was its landmass. The landmass of Europe alone already has a major role in world history. The Afro-Eurasian landmass, coming from South East Asia to North Africa covered various civilizations for 5,000 years which were all home to either pastoral nomadism or agrarian empires. China, India, Kushan Empire, Parthian Empire and the Roman Empire all dominated Eurasia. There were a lot of re-configurations which led to the Roman Empire adapting Christianity, the expansion of Islam, collapse of Persia and China being conquered by the Tang Dynasty. The role of Europe in these developments was that it stood as a frontier society. Christianized and Romanized barbarians constituted Europe during these times. Europe was even quarantined due to the fact that it did not succumb to the major trends of Buddhism’s intellectual advances and Islamic civilization (except for Spain). Along with the transformation of the other neighboring nations came Europe being a new creation itself. When Charlemagne was crowned, it was the sign of European civilization, which mirrored the sign of Islamic civilization when Muhammed finally preached Islam. The history of Europe clearly shows that it constantly expanded all throughout the years. Expansion definitely succeeded when the North East and Spain was conquered. Byzantium Empire was destroyed and Ottoman invasion began. Europe was also successful at developing its culture without the influence of other external factors because it was able to get away with Mongol’s worst excesses. Europe, unlike other countries, was not a successful and rich civilization during these years when it comes to achievements. Then again, Europe was able to expand when Little Ice Age and the Black Death ended. In terms of market and trade, Europe got some resources from India and China. European countries wanted to get into Eurasia’s trading network. It can not be denied the Europe had a small population during those times. Then again, its power was still very enormous. It has a big impact on world history, let its cultural patterns alone when it comes to politics. Secular politics was very well understood by Europe. European civilization deviated from the norms established by Eurasia. These are just among the many proofs that Europe played an important role in world history just by standing on its own and not allowing itself to be influenced by other nations. These factors made Europe a significant head start over other nations in the world. In fact, a lot of societies in the world today have derived its systems, be it economic or political, from the civilization of Europe. These societies were quickly able to approach the time when the investment’s marginal returns justified the expenditure that was continuously expanding. It can not be denied that the complexity level in Europe was high and was once proved to be unsustainable, but this didn’t keep Europe from achieving all the things it has achieved. The history of Europe was not always smooth. At time, it was not topsy-turvy and people suffered a lot, too. Then again, such case is not unique to Europe. Other civilizations in the world had been through the same dilemma, and others, even worse, especially the major ones. However, the situations and the history of European civilization alone make it a unique country from all the others. Its history made its achievements different from the others. There had been wars, and it doesn’t matter who won or lost. After all, the people who say negative things about European civilization are the same people who are claiming the rich heritage Europe has to offer.