West, The

A. Daniel Frankforter is Professor of History at the Pennsylvania State University, where he has taught for 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 interests are in English ecclesiastical history, the evolving status of women in medieval Europe, and textual criticism. Articles on these topics have appeared in such journals as Manuscripta, 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, and Stones for Bread: A Critique of Contemporary Worship. His most recent work is: Word of God/Words of Men: The Use and Abuse of Scripture. Over the course of his career he has developed 15 courses dealing with aspects of the ancient and medieval periods of Western civilization, the Judeo-Christian tradition, and gender issues. His service 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 Professor of History at the University of North Carolina Asheville and Director of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges, a constorium of twenty-six institutions in the United States and Canada. He is a graduate of Suffolk University, Boston, and holds a PhD 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 (Georgia, 1993); John Locke (Macmillan, 1995): European Political Thought, 1600-1700 (Macmillan, 1997); Monarchies, 1000-2000 (Reaktion, 2000); The Global Community: Migration and the Making of the Modern World (Sutton, 2002): A Concise History of the World Since 1945 (Palgrave, 2006); Uncertain Identity: International Migration Since 1945 (Reaktion, 2008); and A Short History of Western Political Thought (Palgrave, 2011).

Found in this section:

1. Brief Table of Contents

2. Full Table of Contents




1. BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Part I Departure Prehistory to 1000 B.C.E.

Chapter 1 The Birth of Civilization

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

Part II The Classical Era 2000 B.C.E. to 30 C.E.

Chapter 3 Aegean Civilizations

Chapter 4 The Hellenic Era

Chapter 5 The Hellenistic Era and the Rise of Rome

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

Part III The Division of the West 300 to 1300

Chapter 7 The West’s Medieval Civilizations

Chapter 8 The Emergence of Europe

Chapter 9 Europe Turns Outward

Chapter 10 Europe’s High Middle Ages

Part IV Challenges, Conflicts, and Departures 1300 to 1700

Chapter 11 Challenges to the Medieval Order

Chapter 12 Renaissance and Exploration

Chapter 13 Reformation, Religious Wars, and National Conflicts

Part V The Revolutionary Impulse

Chapter 14 The Early Modern State

Chapter 15 New World Views: Europe’s Scientific Revolution

Chapter 16 The Age of Enlightenment: Rationalism and its Uses

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

Part VI Europe Triumphant 1815 to 1914

Chapter 18 Industry, Society, and Environment

Chapter 19 The Age of Ideology in Western Europe

Chapter 20 The Consolidation of Nation States

Chapter 21 Global Empire and European Culture

Part VII Europe in Crisis 1914 to 1945

Chapter 22 World War I: The End of Enlightenment

Chapter 23 The Troubled Interwar Years

Chapter 24 World War II: Europe in Eclipse

Part VIII The Postwar Western Community 1945 to 2008

Chapter 25 Decolonization and the Cold War

Chapter 26 Western Civilization and the Global Community




2. FULL TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Part I — Departure Prehistory to 1000 B.C.E.

Chapter 1: The Birth of Civilization

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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 II — The Classical Era 2000 B.C.E. to 30 C.E.

Chapter 3: Aegean Civilizations

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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 III — The Division of the West 300 to 1300

Chapter 7: The West’s Medieval Civilizations

Key Question: Should freedom of religion be limited?

The Christian Element

The German Element

The Byzantine Empire of Constantinople

Islam

Chapter 8: The Emergence of Europe

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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 IV — Challenges, Conflicts, and Departures 1300 to 1700

Chapter 11: Challenges to the Medieval Order

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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 V The Revolutionary Impulse

Chapter 14: The Early Modern State

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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 VI Europe Triumphant 1815 to 1914

Chapter 18: Industry, Society, and Environment

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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 VII Europe in Crisis 1914 to 1945

Chapter 22: World War I: The End of Enlightenment

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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 VIII The Postwar Western Community 1945 to 2008

Chapter 25: Decolonization and the Cold War

Key Question: 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

Key Question: 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