The West

A. Daniel Frankforter is Professor of History at the Pennsylvania State University, where he has taught for nearly four decades.  His undergraduate work was in the history of ideas and philosophy at Franklin and Marshall College.  He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Drew University, did graduate work at Columbia University and the University of Göttingen and completed master’s and doctoral degrees in medieval history and religious studies at Penn State.  His research has focused on the medieval English Church and on the evolving role of European women throughout the medieval period.  Articles on these topics have appeared in such journals asManuscripta,Church History,The British Studies Monitor,The Catholic Historical Review,The American Benedictine Review, The International Journal of Women’s Studies, and The Journal of Women’s History.  His books include:A History of the Christian Movement:An Essay on the Development of Christian Institutions,Civilization and Survival,The Shakespeare Name Dictionary (with J. Madison Davis),The Medieval Millennium: An Introduction, The Western Heritage, Brief Edition (with Donald Kagan, Stephen Ozment, and Frank Turner),The Heritage of World Civilizations, brief third edition (with Albert Craig, William Graham, Donald Kagan, Stephen Ozment, and Frank Turner), an edition and translation of Poullain de la Barre’s De L’Égalité des deux Sexes, andStones for Bread: A Critique of Contemporary Worship.  Over the course of his career he has developed 15 courses dealing with aspects of the ancient and medieval periods of Western civilization, Judeo-Christian studies, and gender issues.  His work in the classroom has been acknowledged by the Penn State Behrend Excellence in Teaching Award and the prestigious Amoco Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching Performance.     William M. Spellman is the Dean of Humanities at the University of North Carolina, Asheville.  He is a graduate of Suffolk University, Boston, and holds the Ph.D. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.  He is the author of John Locke and the Problem of Depravity (Oxford, 1988); The Latitudinarians and the Church of England, 1660-1700 (Georgia, 1993); John Locke (Macmillan, 1995); European Political Thought, 1600-1700 (Macmillan, 1997); Monarchies, 1000-2000 (Reaktion Press, 2000); Extraordinary Women of the Medieval and Renaissance World (Greenwood Press, 2000) co-authored with Carole Levin, et. al.; The Global Community: Migration and the Making of the Modern World, 1500-2000 (Sutton, 2002); A Concise History of the World Since 1945 (Palgrave, 2006); and Migration and the Nation State (Reaktion Press, forthcoming).  

 

Table of Contents

 

Introduction

 

PART ONE: DEPARTURE PREHISTORY TO 1000 BCE

 

Chapter 1: The Birth of Civilization

Larger Issue: How do environments shape human communities and human communities alter environments?

    The Evolution of the Prehistoric Cultures 

    The Archaic States  

    The Origin of Civilization in Mesopotamia: Sumer  

    The Rise of Civilization in Egypt

 

Chapter 2: The Rise of Empires and the Beginning of the Iron Age

Larger Issue: Does civilization promote or intensify divisions among peoples?

    The Transition States

    Imperial Egypt: The New Kingdom 

    The Indo-Europeans and the Clash of Empires

    The Bible and History

 

PART TWO: THE CLASSICAL ERA 2000 BCE to 30 CE

 

Chapter 3: Aegean Civilizations

Larger Issue: When does civilization in the West become “Western” civilization?

    Minoan Mentors

    The Mycenaeans, Greece’s First Civilization 

    The Aegean Dark Age

    The Hellenic Era

    The Rise of the Mainland Powers

    The Persian Wars: Crucible of a Civilization

 

Chapter 4: The Hellenic Era

Larger Issue: What did the Greeks contribute to the development of modern civilization?

    Persian Wars as Catalyst

    The Peloponnesian War 

    Intellectual and Artistic Life in the Polis

 


Chapter 5: The Hellenistic Era and the Rise of Rome

Larger Issue: What circumstances are likely to undermine governments by the people?

    The Hellenistic Era

    The Origin of Rome

    The Roman Republic

    Rome’s Civil War

 

Chapter 6: Rome’s Empire and the Unification of the Western World

Larger Issue:  Do people prefer order to liberty?

    The Augustan Era 

    Order and Continuity: The Dynastic Option 

    Order and Continuity: The Elective Option 

    Life in an Imperial Environment 

    The Decline of Rome

 

PART THREE: THE DIVISION OF THE WEST 300 TO 1300

 

Chapter 7: The West’s Medieval Civilizations

Larger Issue:  Should freedom of religion be limited?

    The Christian Element 

    The German Element 

    The Byzantine Empire of Constantinople 

    Islam

 

Chapter 8: The Emergence of Europe

Larger Issue: How did Europe build on its legacies from the ancient world?

    The Merovingian Kingdom: Europe’s Nucleus

    The Franks’ Neighbors 

    The Carolingian Era 

    Retrenchment and Reorganization 

    The Culture of Europe’s Dark Age

 

Chapter 9: Europe Turns Outward

Larger Issue: Was conflict among the medieval civilizations inevitable?

    Islam’s Crest and Byzantium’s Resurgence

    The Reorganization of Feudal Europe

    The Eleventh-Century Turning Point

 

Chapter 10: Europe’s High Middle Ages

Larger Issue: Why are some societies more open to change than others?

    The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century

    Universities and Scholasticism

    Religious Revival and Diversity of Opinion

    The Artistic Vision of the High Middle Ages

    Government in the High Middle Ages

 

PART FOUR: CHALLENGES, CONFLICTS, AND DEPARTURES 1300 to 1700

 

Chapter 11: Challenges to the Medieval Order

Larger Issue: What did the crises of the late medieval era reveal about the strengths and weaknesses of Europe’s civilization?

    Challenges from Nature  

    Turmoil in the Middle East 

    Spiritual Crises 

    Political Responses: The Burdens of War

 

Chapter 12: Renaissance and Exploration

Larger Issue: How should a society use its history?

    The Context for the Renaissance  

    The Culture of the Renaissance 

    The Northern Renaissance  

    The Middle East: The Ottoman Empire 

    Europe and Atlantic Exploration

 

Chapter 13: Reformation, Religious Wars, and National Conflicts

Larger Issue: How do civilized societies justify war?

    The Lutheran Reformation

    The Swiss Reformation 

    The Catholic Reformation 

    The Habsburg-Valois Wars 

    England’s Ambivalent Reformation 

    Convergence of Foreign and Domestic Politics: England, Spain, and France 

    The Final Religious Upheaval 

 

PART FIVE: THE REVOLUTIONARY IMPULSE

 

Chapter 14: The Early Modern State

Larger Issue: How do political systems reflect the structure of social and economic life?

    Society in Early Modern Europe

    Forging Centralized States

    Absolutism in France

    Constitutionalism in England

    Wars of Empire and Global Markets

    Central and Eastern Europe

    Europe’s Declining Powers

 

Chapter 15: New World Views: Europe’s Scientific Revolution

Larger Issue: How does the study of the natural world influence religious belief and the understanding of truth?

    The Medieval World View

    Anticipating the New Science

    New Directions in Astronomy and Physics

    New Approaches to Truth

    Theory and Application

    Politics as Science

    Science as Religion

    Superstition and Its Victims

 

Chapter 16: The Age of Enlightenment: Rationalism and its Uses

Larger Issue: How do people construct ideas of progress?

    Critiquing the Traditional Way of Life

    Formulas for Improving Material Conditions

    Enlightened Despots

    Critiquing the Enlightenment

    The Arts in the Age of Reason

 

Chapter 17: Rebellion and Revolution: American Independence and the French Revolution

Larger Issue: Can political change occur without social and economic upheaval?

    America Rejects Europe

    Revolution in France

    Napoleon Bonaparte and the Export of Revolution, 1799–1815

    The French Revolution and the Americas

 

PART SIX: EUROPE TRIUMPHANT 1815-1914

Chapter 18: Industry, Society, and Environment

Larger Issue: How do technology and urbanization influences the relationship between humans and nature?

    From Rural to Urban Lifestyles in Europe

    Agriculture, Demographics, and Labor

    Innovations in Production

    The Social Consequences of Industrialization

    Industry, the State, and Global Power 

  

Chapter 19: The Age of Ideology in Western Europe

Larger Issue: What leads people to challenge conventional ideas and practices?

    The Congress System and the Conservative Agenda

    Ideological Ferment

    The Revolutions of 1848    

    Britain and Reform

    The Romantic Movement

    Utilitarianism and Utopian Socialism

    The Marxist Challenge 

 

Chapter 20: The Consolidation of Nation States

Larger Issue: Is nationalism a constructive force in the modern age?

    Italian Unification

    The Creation of Modern Germany

    Constitutional Change in France and Britain

    The Waning of the Habsburg, Russian, and Ottoman Empires

    The United States and Western Europe

    Nationalism and Race

 

Chapter 21: Global Empire and European Culture

Larger Issue: How does the projection of power reflect wider cultural values?

    The New Imperialism: Motives and Methods

    The Scramble for Empire: Africa

    The Scramble for Empire: South and East Asia

    The Legacy of Empire

    Imperialism, Intellectual Controversy, and European Culture

    Transformation in the Arts

 

PART SEVEN: EUROPE IN CRISIS 1914-1945

 

Chapter 22: World War I: The End of Enlightenment

Larger Issue: Are nation states inherently adversarial?

    The Alliance System

    The Experience of Modern Warfare

    The Eastern Front and Europe’s Empire

    Naval War and American Entry

    The Impact of Total War at Home

    Bolshevik Revolution in Russia

    Peace Settlement and European Consciousness 


Chapter 23: The Troubled Interwar Years

Larger Issue: Can personal liberty be maintained under conditions of material hardship?

    Postwar Problems in Western Europe

    The Price of Victory

    The Great Depression, 1929–1939

    Coping with the Depression

    Italy: The First Fascist State

    Authoritarian Regimes in Spain and Eastern Europe

    The Emergence of Nazi Germany

    Imperial Japan

    The Soviet Union under Stalin

 

Chapter 24: World War II: Europe in Eclipse

Larger Issue: Can the force of ideas sustain a civilization under attack?

    The Process of Appeasement, 1933–1939

    Nazism Triumphant, 1939–1941: Europe and North Africa

    The German Empire

    The Destruction of the Jews

    The Home Front and the Role of Women

    War in Asia and the Pacific

    The Tide Turns, 1942–1945

    Planning for the Postwar World

 

PART EIGHT: THE POSTWAR WESTREN COMMUNITY 1945-2008

 

Chapter 25: Decolonization and the Cold War

Larger Issue: How does ideology shape public policy?

    The Eclipse of Postwar Optimism

    The End of European Empire

    Expanding the Cold War

    The Cold War and Nuclear Threat

    Cuban Missile Crisis

    Divisions and Detente

 

Chapter 26: Western Civilization and the Global Community

Larger Issue: Has the West defined the process of globalization?

    The End of Communism

    United Europe?

    Science, Technology and the Envirnoment

    Women and the Struggle for Equality

    Religious Divides and Ethnic Nationalism

    The Postindustrial West