Europe as a Continent and as a Cultural Region.
A continent, in basic geographic terms, is a landmass and Europe is part of a big continent called Eurasia, containing both Europe and Asia. Europe, as a cultural region, is the home of the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome with Slavic peoples in the East, Latin people in the South and Germanic people in the North.
The geographic boundaries of Europe are the Arctic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Ural and Caucasus Mountains which has a six hundred mile gap between these mountain ranges and the Ural Mountains are located in Russia. As the historian, Arnold Toynbee said, in reference to the classification of Europe as its own continent, “the geographer’s error here lay in attempting to translate a serviceable piece of
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This brings up an important concept of metageography, which states that mapping the world is subjective, not objective. For example, long ago Greeks defined a boundary line between Europe and Asia to belittle their Persian neighbors. However, others saw Greece in an undefined position between Europe and Asia. Another example is the rise of the ‘nation-state’, or the modern autonomous nation, which is considered a unit of political organization, produced a war against Germans and French. Now in Europe, the transition began in the Middle Ages. The havoc of the bubonic plague left much of the region in political, economic, and social disarray. It also weakened the power of nobles and the church. Power, of course, existed in little pockets where feudal lords ruled over small territories. But eventually, powerful kings incorporated these feudal regions into their own kingdoms. And so, often out of a need for protection, the lords slowly turned their power over and became part of large kingdoms or principalities, where there are some
Eventually, Afro-Eurasians bounced back from the devastation. Shockingly religious convictions and establishments stayed solid after the decimation of the infection. In some areas, old political frameworks grew stronger, while other new political forces rose to the forefront, and in the aftermath of the Black Plague, political dynasties became the favored arrangement of the government. Also during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, France and England were largely at war with each other, until England was driven from the mainland. Civil war broke out in England, as a result of going to war with the French.
The most two worlds that were most affected by being a site of encounter in Quanzhou were the Economic and culture world. The culture world lead to more trade which greatly affected China and the Economic world lead to more education around China. The Culture world was one of the two worlds that was affected by the site of encounter in Quanzhou. “Wang Yuan Mao was a Quanzhou man.
Wealthy and powerful people fled to country. People began to live for the moment and threw themselves into sexual and alcoholic orgies. Conditions for the wealthy declined while life for peasants improved. Jews were accused of causing the plague by poisoning town wells. It also led to economic problems, and economic
We’ve all had that moment when we said, “I want to visit Europe,” or, “European culture is different, I would love to see it.” Now imagine yourself roughly 125 years before now. Now, imagine that you are living in Africa. Would you still think about moving to Europe? Would you know what Europe is?
The reason the bubonic plague was so devastating to the European society is because no one was prepared for so many people to die so quickly. This event that reached Italy in the spring of 1348 was one of the most deeply stressing moments of humanity that faced most of Europe. No only did 50% of Europe’s population die it affected every single part of the European society. The culture, education, economy, religion, and the simplicity of life was turned upside down from this epidemic. Not only was were the symptoms of the plague bad, while you had the symptoms you suffered with the misery effects of the plague that there was no cure for.
The decline of population was a prominent aspect in the deadly epidemic. Physicians didn’t have any knowledge of the Black Plague, which made it difficult to cure and eliminate the disease. With the lack of information about the disease and how it started, it resulted in many people not being able to get cured: “perhaps either the nature of the disease did not allow for any cure or the ignorance of the physicians… did not know how to cure it; as a consequence, very few were ever cured…” (Bubonic Plague DBQ Doc. 1). There was no medicine for
Growing up, I have always had an interest in geography and thinking about different countries and what makes them the way that they are. I have not been in a geography class since middle school and Human Geography was a class that made me think about things I have never thought of before. The readings of both Kropotkin and Mackinder brought up very interesting points, some that conflict and others that agree. Each author writes in a way that stimulates and makes you think about geography and certain topics in different ways which I find to be very rare in writings from this time period. Discussing Kropotkin’s and Mackinder’s general ideas, points they disagree or agree on, and my own views on the topic will all be discussed in this final paper.
Harun Vemulapalli 5-24 Q3 Benchmark Constructed Response Prompt: Explain the effects of the Bubonic Plague on Medieval Europe The Bubonic Plague effected Medieval Europe in many ways. One way the Bubonic Plague effected Medieval Europe is that it caused one third of Europe's population to die due to the sickness spreading rapidly. For example, in Document 4, the chart includes, In all of Europe there were 53.2 million people there, but after the Plague, however, the population decreased about 30 percent leading the Post-Plague population to be 37 million. This piece of evidence shows how the Bubonic Plague effected Europe because it shows a serious decline in population which was 30% or one-third percent.
The fashions of the nobility became more extravagant in order to emphasize the social standing of the person wearing the clothing. The peasants became slightly more empowered, and revolted when the aristocracy attempted to resist the changes brought about by the plague. The social and economic structure of Europe was drastically and irretrievably
Throughout history, Europe has faced many adversities such as plagues that immediately impacted the people. The Justinian plague, which lasted from 541-549 AD, and the Black Death, which affected Europe from 1347-1351, are two such plagues that affected the societies of Europe. These plagues brought death tolls that affected the economy and military strength of countries. As a result of the Justian Plague, almost a third of the Byzantine population was wiped out. While many believe that plagues only brought about destruction, the plagues that affected Europe during the Middle Ages didn't only negatively influence the nations but also caused the region to enter a new age of prosperity.
In the spring of 1348, the most devastating pandemic in European history infected it’s first victim along the coast of Italy. The Bubonic Plague had established a foothold and would continue to rip its way through Europe for the rest of the 14th century. The Bubonic Plague is a vector borne illness that is transmitted by a flea that is typically found on rats. The plague originated in Eastern Asia, but found its way to Europe along trade routes carried by rats on Genoese ships. The Bubonic Plague was extremely devastating to European society in several ways including: major population destruction, harsh invalid accusations, and compounding medical issues.
Since the plague hit, people began to panic. There were some instances where they would abandon their dying relatives, burn or purge people in their communities, closed down businesses and even move out to the country side. There was a rumor at the time that the black death could not infect people who lived in the country side. However, if people in the city have been in contact with the plague and they move to the country side, then they can infect the people there and also the livestock there. Therefore, people will be starved to death since the livestock was a source of food and also they need farmers to raise livestock and work the fields.
In the 1500s and the 1600s the feudal system was beginning to fall. Different countries were trying new different types of governments instead of the dysfunctional feudal system. The feudal system consisted of many different nobles ruling over their own land. It was not a uniform system of ruling over the country. There were small city-states run by a singular ruler.
According to Ole J. Benedictow “Inevitably [the Black Plague] had an enormous impact on European society and greatly affected the dynamics of change and development from the medieval to Early Modern period. A historical turning point, as well as a vast human tragedy, the Black Death of 1346-53 is unparalleled in human history.” It was one of the most devastating diseases in history
Like all social identities, there is no fixed European identity. Today we have overcome the monolithic conception of it in favour of a more postmodern definition, understanding it as something fluid or constantly in the process of becoming. Ideas of Europe and about Europe are in close relationship with the historical context and as such they ought to be studied, so that a diachronic understanding can facilitate a synchronic analysis. Paul Valéry’s essay “The Crisis of the Mind” fits well in this framework: the crisis is a crisis of conscience, it’s the awareness that the understanding of the world that once was is no more. Thus, it is an important example of a turning point in the history and evolution of Europe’s identity (or at least of