Chapter Introduction
Section 1: History and
Governments
Section 2: Cultures and
Lifestyles
Visual Summary
Regions Europe is rich in
history and culture. Like the
United States, most countries
in Europe are industrialized
and have high standards of
living. Unlike the United
States, however, the people
of Europe do not share a
common language and
government. What forces
have helped unify
Europeans at different
times?
Section 1:
History and Governments
The characteristics and
movement of people impact
physical and human
systems. Over the centuries,
migrations and wars have
brought different groups to
power in Europe. As modern
nations have taken the place
of empires and kingdoms,
ways of living and thinking
have also changed.
Section 2:
Cultures and Lifestyles
Culture groups shape
human systems. Europe is a
region of many peoples with
different ethnic backgrounds,
languages, religions, and
traditions. Despite their
differences, Europeans lead
similar lifestyles and share a
rich cultural heritage.
The characteristics and movement of
people impact physical and human
systems.
Content Vocabulary
• classical
• feudalism
• city-state
• nation-state
• democracy
• revolution
• republic
• Holocaust
• emperor
• communism
• pope
Academic Vocabulary
• dominant
• authority
• currency
Who is that giant? Is it a warrior? A farmer? A
king? One thing is certain—at almost 230
feet (70 m) high, the Long Man of
Wilmington, in England, is one of the world’s
largest carved figures. Originally a chalk
outline that became overgrown by grass, the
Long Man was restored in 1969 with 770
concrete blocks. As scientists study the earth
around the giant, they will be better able to
judge when it was made—and maybe even
why it was made! Read this section to learn
more about the history of Europe.
Do you think technology can have a
negative impact upon society?
A. Yes
B. No
A. A
B. B
0%
A
0%
B
Legend has it that when Gordius, a mythological
Grecian king, tied a knot that was impossible to untie, a
wise priestess revealed that the person who could
loosen it would command a huge kingdom. Alexander
the Great discovered that there were no ends in the
knot. Since he could not untie it, he cut it in half with his
sword. He later became ruler of an enormous empire.
Since that time, difficult problems are often referred to
as Gordian knots.
Ancient Europe
Ancient Greece and Rome laid
the foundations of European
civilization.
Ancient Europe (cont.)
• The story of European civilization begins
with the ancient Greeks and Romans, now
known as the classical world.
• These peoples settled near the
Mediterranean Sea more than 2,500
years ago.
Ancient Europe (cont.)
• The earliest Greek civilizations began
among farming and fishing peoples who
lived near the Aegean Sea.
– They grew wealthy through trade.
Ancient Europe (cont.)
• Warfare led to these civilizations’
decline, but independent territories
called city-states developed
throughout Greece.
Ancient Europe (cont.)
• The city-state of Athens became one of the
most powerful city-states in Greece.
– Athens introduced the world’s first
democracy, a political system in which
all citizens share in running the
government.
– Learning and the arts also thrived in
Athens.
– Among the city-state’s great thinkers
were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
Ancient Europe (cont.)
• During the mid-300’s B.C., Phillip II of
Macedonia conquered Greece.
• Philip’s son Alexander the Great eventually
ruled Egypt, Persia, and part
of India.
Ancient Europe (cont.)
• Alexander died young, however, and his
empire quickly broke into smaller
kingdoms.
• By about 130 B.C., the Romans had
conquered most of the Greek kingdoms.
Ancient Europe (cont.)
• While Greece ruled the eastern
Mediterranean, Rome became a dominant
power on the Italian Peninsula.
• Rome began as a monarchy but changed
to a republic in 509 B.C.
• In a republic, people choose their leaders.
Ancient Greek and Roman Empires
Ancient Europe (cont.)
• One of the Roman government’s
achievements was the development of a
code of laws.
• Written on bronze tablets known as the
Twelve Tables, the laws held that all free
citizens had the right to be treated equally.
Ancient Europe (cont.)
• When Rome seized new territories, it
allowed many of the conquered people to
become Roman citizens.
• Citizenship created a strong state with
loyal members.
Ancient Europe (cont.)
• The first emperor, or all-powerful ruler,
was Augustus, who gained that position in
27 B.C.
• His rule began a time of peace, artistic
growth, and expanding trade that lasted for
200 years—a period called the Pax
Romana.
Ancient Europe (cont.)
• During the Pax Romana, Christianity was
developing in Palestine in the eastern part
of the Roman Empire.
• Jesus of Nazareth preached a message of
love and forgiveness.
• His enemies had Jesus executed, but his
followers reported that Jesus rose from
the dead.
Ancient Europe (cont.)
• Two early Christian leaders, Peter and
Paul, established the Christian Church
in Rome.
• Despite abuses against it, the new religion
grew in popularity, and in A.D. 392,
Christianity became Rome’s official
religion.
Ancient Europe (cont.)
• By the late A.D. 300s, the Roman Empire
was in decline and under attack.
• About A.D. 395, the empire was divided
into eastern and western parts, and in
A.D. 476, it came to an end.
Despite its fall, how did the Roman
Empire influence Europe and the West?
A. Helped spread classical
culture and Christianity
0%
D
A
B
C0%
D
C
D. None of the above
0%
A
C. Both A and B
A.
B.
C.
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D.
B
B. Helped shape the
legal systems in many
countries
Expansion of Europe
During the Middle Ages,
European society, religion,
and government underwent
great changes.
Expansion of Europe (cont.)
• After Rome’s fall, Europe entered the
Middle Ages, a 1,000-year period between
ancient and modern times.
• During the Middle Ages, Christianity
formed into two separate branches.
• The Roman Catholic Church, based in
Rome, was headed by a powerful pope.
• The Eastern Orthodox Church was
centered in the Byzantine Empire.
Expansion of Europe (cont.)
• About A.D. 800, a Germanic king named
Charlemagne united much of western
Europe.
• After his death, a new political and social
system arose, called feudalism.
• Under this system, kings gave land to
nobles.
• In turn, nobles provided military service,
becoming knights, or warriors, for the king.
Expansion of Europe (cont.)
• Most western Europeans were poor
peasants who worked hard and had limited
freedom.
Expansion of Europe (cont.)
• In feudal times, the Christian faith united
Europeans.
• The religion of Islam, founded in the A.D.
600s by an Arab named Muhammad, was
on the rise.
• Followers of Islam, called Muslims, spread
and gained control of Palestine, alarming
Christians who considered this the Holy
Land.
Expansion of Europe (cont.)
• Beginning in the 1000s, nobles from
western Europe gathered volunteers into
large armies to win back the Holy Land.
– These religious wars were called the
Crusades.
Expansion of Europe (cont.)
• The Crusades had a major impact on
Europeans. Goods began to flow more
steadily between Europe and the Muslim
lands.
• Kings taxed the trade and took over land
from nobles who left to fight in the
Crusades.
• As a result, feudalism gradually withered,
and Europe’s kingdoms grew stronger and
larger.
Expansion of Europe (cont.)
• Many of them later became modern
Europe’s nation-states.
• A nation-state is a country made up of
people who share a common culture or
history.
Expansion of Europe (cont.)
• In the 1300s, people all across Europe
battled the bubonic plague, or Black
Death.
– This disease killed about a third of
Europe’s population, causing a shortage
of labor.
– Workers, now in demand, earned higher
wages and gained more freedom.
Expansion of Europe (cont.)
• Muslim-Christian conflict arose again in
Spain in the late 1400s.
• In what came to be known as the
Reconquest, Spanish rulers forced out the
Muslims and united the country in 1492.
Expansion of Europe (cont.)
• Between about 1350 and 1550, new
interest in art and learning resulted in a
period called the Renaissance, or “rebirth.”
• Poets, sculptors, and painters, such as
Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci,
created stunning masterpieces.
• During the 1500s, humanism led people to
think that reason was just as important as
faith in the path to knowledge.
Expansion of Europe (cont.)
• In 1517 Martin Luther, a German religious
leader, set out to reform, or correct, certain
Roman Catholic practices.
– Luther’s ideas sparked a religious
movement called the Reformation, which
led to a new form of Christianity called
Protestantism.
Expansion of Europe (cont.)
• Wars between Roman Catholics and
Protestants soon swept through Europe.
• As the authority of church leaders was
challenged, kings and queens claimed
more authority for themselves.
Expansion of Europe (cont.)
• As Europe’s kingdoms grew stronger,
European seafarers began a series of
ocean voyages that led to a great age of
exploration.
• Sailing for Spain in 1492, Christopher
Columbus tried to find a different route
to Asia.
• His voyage took him to the Americas,
continents unknown in Europe at the time.
Expansion of Europe (cont.)
• Other countries sent out their own
explorers and founded colonies, or
overseas settlements, in the Americas,
Asia, and Africa.
• Trade with the colonies brought Europe
great wealth and power but often
destroyed the local cultures in the process.
History at a Glance
What important new idea came from the
Renaissance period?
A. Humanism
B. Feudalism
B
A
A. A
B. B
0% C.0%C
0%
C
C. the Crusades
Modern Europe
From the 1600s to the 1800s
and beyond, new ideas and
discoveries helped Europe
become a global power.
Modern Europe (cont.)
• After the Renaissance, educated
Europeans turned to science as a way to
find truth.
• New ideas, such as those of Copernicus
and Galileo, sparked a revolution, or
sweeping change, in the way people
thought about life and nature.
Modern Europe (cont.)
• This Scientific Revolution led people to
believe that reason could bring both truth
and error to light.
– As a result, the 1700s became known as
the Age of Enlightenment.
Modern Europe (cont.)
• Inspired by the American war for
independence in 1775, the people of
France carried out their own political
revolution in 1789.
– Soon thereafter, Napoleon Bonaparte
gained power and made himself
emperor.
– He was defeated in 1815.
History at a Glance
Modern Europe (cont.)
• Meanwhile, the Industrial Revolution was
beginning in Britain.
– Instead of making goods by hand,
people began using machines and
building factories.
– Machines could produce goods faster
and at lower cost, so people could now
afford more things.
Modern Europe (cont.)
• Industrial advances helped European
countries grow more powerful.
• They developed many new weapons and
competed aggressively for colonies.
• Tensions soon led to World War I (1914–1918)
and World War II (1939–1945).
• A major horror of World War II was the
Holocaust, the mass killing of 6 million
European Jews by Germany’s Nazi rulers.
Modern Europe (cont.)
• After World War II, the United States and
the Communist Soviet Union became
rivals in a struggle for world power known
as the Cold War.
• Communism is a system in which
government controls the ways of
producing goods.
Modern Europe (cont.)
• In 1989 people in Eastern Europe forced
several Communist governments from
power and set up new democracies.
– A year later, East and West Germany
merged to become one
democratic state.
– Then in 1991, the Soviet Union
broke apart.
Modern Europe (cont.)
• In 1993 several democracies in western
Europe formed the European Union (EU).
– Several eastern European countries
joined later.
– The goal of the EU is to unite Europe.
The European Union
Modern Europe (cont.)
• The European Union allows goods,
services, and workers to move freely
among member countries.
• It has also created a common EU currency
called the euro.
• Member countries can now trade more easily
among themselves because there is no need
to exchange currencies.
The European Union
Who was an important Enlightenment
thinker?
A. Nicolaus Copernicus
B. John Locke
C. Galileo Galilei
D. Napoleon
0%
A
A.
B.
C.
0%
D.
B
A
B
C
0%
D
C
0%
D
Culture groups shape human
systems.
Content Vocabulary
• ethnic group
• urbanization
• welfare state
• secular
• fertility rate
Academic Vocabulary
• bond
• attitude
Bog snorkeling? For more than
twenty years, competitors wearing
snorkels and flippers have met in the
small town of Powys, Wales, to swim
in its slimy bog. The challenge is to
swim the fastest without using any
standard swimming strokes. The justfor-fun event has attracted swimmers
from as far away as South Africa and
Australia. Read Section 2 to learn
more about the cultures
and lifestyles of
Europeans.
Should students be required to speak
the same language?
A. Yes
B. No
A. A
B. B
0%
A
0%
B
As evidence of the third-lowest fertility rate in Europe,
the average Italian family now has just one or two
children. Women give several reasons for their smaller
households. Higher education has opened career doors
for women, causing some to postpone starting families
until later in life. Childcare is unaffordable for most. The
Italian workplace offers few part-time jobs. And some
women say that until their husbands start helping
around the home, one child is enough.
Population Patterns
Ethnic differences and
population changes pose
challenges for Europe.
Population Patterns (cont.)
• Today Europe is home to many ethnic
groups.
– An ethnic group is a group of people
with shared ancestry, language, and
customs.
Population Patterns (cont.)
• Having a common heritage or culture
creates bonds among people.
• National ethnic loyalties have also led to
conflict, such as that in Yugoslavia in
the 1990s.
Population Patterns (cont.)
• Despite some divisions, Europeans have a
growing sense of unity.
– Shared values go beyond ethnic or
national loyalties.
– For example, Europeans value
democracy and human rights and
believe governments must care for their
citizens.
Population Patterns (cont.)
• Many European countries are welfare
states in which the government is the
main provider of support for the sick, the
needy, and the retired.
Population Patterns (cont.)
• Because of recent immigration of people
from Asia, Africa, and Latin America,
Europe’s population is undergoing change.
• Although the number of immigrants is
increasing, the region’s overall population
is decreasing due to a low fertility rate, or
the average number of children born to
each woman.
• Europe is expected to have 10 percent
fewer people by 2050.
An ethnic group is a group of people
with shared ancestry, language, and
customs.
A. True
B. False
A. A
B. B
0%
B
A
0%
Life in Europe
European lifestyles today
reflect the region’s urban
society and level of wealth.
Life in Europe (cont.)
• The Industrial Revolution changed Europe
from a rural, farming society to an urban,
industrial society.
– The concentration of people in towns
and cities is known as urbanization.
– Today, three of every four Europeans
live in cities.
Life in Europe (cont.)
• Europe boasts one of the world’s most
advanced transportation networks, which
includes railway, highway, river and canal,
and airline systems.
– Most transportation systems are
government owned.
Life in Europe (cont.)
• Europeans tend to be well educated, with
more than three-fourths of young people
completing high school.
• Because of their high levels of education,
Europeans earn more money than people
in many other parts of the world.
Life in Europe (cont.)
• In many European countries, workers
receive four weeks of paid vacation
each year.
In which country do workers receive
four weeks of paid vacation?
A. Germany
B. Italy
C. France
D. Europe
0%
A
A. A
B. B
C. 0%C
0%
D. D
B
C
0%
D
Religion and the Arts
Religion, especially
Christianity, has had an
important effect on European
society and arts.
Religion and the Arts (cont.)
• For centuries, Christianity was a major
influence in European life.
• Since the 1700s, however, European
attitudes have become more secular, or
nonreligious.
Religion and the Arts (cont.)
• Judaism and Islam also have influenced
European culture.
• Today, Jewish communities thrive in all
major European cities, and Muslim
immigrants are pouring into the region by
the thousands.
Religion and the Arts (cont.)
• For the most part, Europeans of different
faiths live together peacefully.
• In some cases, though, religious
differences have led to violence.
Europe’s Religions
Religion and the Arts (cont.)
• Examples are the Catholic–Protestant
hostilities in Northern Ireland and the
troubles among Roman Catholic, Eastern
Orthodox, and Muslim groups on the
Balkan Peninsula in the 1990s.
Europe’s Religions
Religion and the Arts (cont.)
• The arts have flourished in Europe for
centuries.
What is the most popular religion in
Europe?
A. Roman Catholicism
B. Eastern Orthodox
0%
D
A
0%
C
D. Islam
A. A
B. B
C. 0%C
0%
D. D
B
C. Protestantism
Ancient Europe
• The Greek city-state of
Athens introduced the
world’s first democracy.
• Rome influenced later
civilizations through its
legal system, its
language, and its role in
the spread of Christianity.
• Invasions by Germanic
peoples led to the Roman
Empire’s decline.
Europe’s Expansion
• Christianity shaped
Europe’s society and
culture during the
Middle Ages.
• The Renaissance,
which began in Italy,
brought about a new
interest in learning.
• European countries
controlled various parts
of the world as a result
of explorations overseas.
Modern Europe
• Through revolutions people challenged the power
of kings and demanded certain rights for citizens.
• As industries grew, many people left rural areas to
find work in city factories.
• Two costly world wars led European countries to
seek peace and greater unity.
Population Patterns
• Europe is densely
populated in many
areas.
• Europe’s population is
aging, and the total
population is declining.
• Many people have
immigrated to Europe
from Asia, Africa, and
Latin America.
Life and Culture
• Europeans tend to live
in urban areas and
have relatively high
levels of education and
income.
• With more leisure time,
Europeans enjoy
sports such as soccer.
• European society and
culture have become
more secular.
The Industrial Revolution increased the availability of goods
through the use of machinery and faster transportation to
market.
classical
referring to the civilizations of ancient
Greece and Rome
city-state
independent political unit that
includes a city and the surrounding
area
democracy
form of limited government in which
power rests with the people, and all
citizens share in running the
government
republic
government in which people choose
their leaders
emperor
all-powerful ruler
pope
head of the Roman Catholic Church
feudalism
political and social system in which
kings gave land to nobles in
exchange for the nobles’ promise to
serve them; those nobles provided
military service as knights for the king
nation-state
country formed of people who share a
common culture and history
revolution
one complete circuit around the sun;
sweeping change
Holocaust
mass killing of 6 million European
Jews by Germany’s Nazi leaders
during World War II
communism
system of government in which the
government controls the ways of
producing goods
dominant
having controlling influence over
others
authority
power or influence over others
currency
money
ethnic group
people with a common language,
history, religion, and some physical
traits
welfare state
country where the government is the
main provider of support for the sick,
needy, and the retired
fertility rate
average number of children born to
each woman
urbanization
growth of cities
secular
nonreligious
bonds
a uniting or binding force or influence
attitudes
a particular feeling or way of thinking
about something
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