History of Europe: the Renaissance - Essay Example

Introduction: In the history of Europe we can see a total reformation in all European countries. This reformation was mainly in the field of cultural, intellectual and artistic fields. A suitable example for this artistic reformation was William Shakespeare. He was one of the well known writers of that time. His plays were humorous and highlighted the strength and weakness of people. The world famous painter Michel Angelo was the other wonder of this time. Italy was the center of culture in Europe during this time. Writers of middle class caliber were supported by noble men. This enabled the literature to develop considerably. The remarkable changes which took place during this period were totally known as Renaissance. Moreover a lot of historical researches and learning were conducted during this period. The developments in writing inspired cultural reformation also. In communication field also there were notable improvements.( Paul W. Schroeder,) This assisted the Renaissance ideals to spread all over Europe quickly. In this way the intellectuals had certain key roles in bringing a remarkable civilization among people every where in Europe. The modern history of Europe is considered as the events taken place from Renaissance onwards. Thus the developments are limited not only in social and cultural fields but in political and diplomatic fields also. This includes social bases of politics, the origin of modern states and relation between various social classes. The major cultural movements which took place in the modern Europe is on account of Renaissance. The European cultural life is very much affected by this Renaissance. These cultural developments were started from Italy and spreads towards north and western regions Europe. Apart from literature, art and culture other categories which influenced by the modernization of Europe are philosophy, science, history, religion and other results intellectual researches. It is from France that the ancient culture transmitted to the modern Europe. (Jhon, marry man) The main principles of this culture were theories of equality and democracy and these two constituents are considered as the extracts of modern political and social developments in the modern Europe. If the French culture had not intervened in European culture the modern European culture would have been entirely different from the currently prevailing style. The religious reformation after Renaissance led to the movement of Catholic Church called Counter Reformation. This movement was in view to reduce corruption and make progress in the activities of catholic Dogma. An important group called Jesuit was organized from the movement of Catholic Church and their duty was to keep the Eastern Europe in the supremacy of Catholics. In spite of all these precautionary measures the Catholic Churches could not reign all portions of Eastern Europe. Because of this reason the kings ruling in various Catholic countries took directly the charges of the respective Catholic institutions within their kingdom. (Jhon Thomas Didymus) The countries in central Europe, Polish Lithuanian commonwealth and Hungary were broader minded comparing to Catholic dominated western European countries. They allowed the minorities to believe in their own religion instead of persuading them to convert to Catholicism. This was really a boon to minorities who preferred to believe in their own and religion. Thus in central Europe apart from Catholics there were Jews, Protestants and Orthodox. They lived there peacefully without ant differences. Other important development was the European superiority idea. They considered the Roman and Greek civilization as ideal. Discipline, education and city life made people highly civilized. Both Europeans and non Europeans were considered for their courtesy nature even though Europeans are superior to their continents. Certain people organized a special movement called Montaigen at this occasion and passed a decision that non European people are primitive and they are far better and natural. Intellectuals all over Europe developed humanistic relations by conducting get-togethers even though they believed in different religions. During this period the Roman Catholic Church had banned scientifically related works and this ironically benefited the Protestants considerably. They could develop intellectual advantages because the process of banning of books by them was regionally recognized. People like Francis Bacon and other distinguished men tried their best to develop unity in Europe by the reorganization process. As a result of this powerful sovereign states were developed by the end of fifteenth century. Thus new monarchs with centralizing powers in France, Britain and Spain were reigned. In addition to this, numerous states were developed with co operations from territorial rulers, farmer republics, cities and knights. In the modern European countries numerous problems are aroused in a very complicated form and this lasted until the middle of the last century. These problems are the main causes which later led to the world war. Actually the reorganization and reconstruction of modern Europe started after the world wars. There after occurred large changes in the social and economic conditions of the world. (Robert Wilde) Due to war the economic conditions in Europe was totally dull. To recover from this pathetic condition was their main destinations. The European countries altogether organized a Marshall plan for recovering from the loss of world wars. The aim of this plan was to rebuild and develop stronger economic foundation among European countries. Hence this plan was generally known as ERP (European Recovery Program). ERP organized plans to tackle obstacles to achieve a fast post war recovery. The subjects of their plans were industrial and business developments by which the European countries can survive from economic recession. Another aim of this renovation was to avoid artificial trade problems and maintain self reliance. All European countries implemented the ERP programs successfully and reinstated their economic condition to the pre war level. After attaining reliable stability in economic conditions the European community preferred to develop stronger integration and cooperation in foreign and home affairs. They also showed interests in the affairs of neutral and communist countries. The Maastricht treaty of 1993 organized European Union following the European Economic Community. (http://www.academicinfo.net/histeurolibrary.html)This further strengthened the political cooperation between the European countries. The neutral countries like Austria, Finland and Sweden also joined with the European Union. Those countries which did not show interests in joining with the European Union were ties in to the European Union Economic market by means European Economic area. Countries of European Union were abided by Schengen agreement and hence there were no border controls between the member states. Other remarkable innovation made as per the Maastricht treaty was the introduction of common currency among the European Union members. This currency which implemented in 1999 was named as Euro. This new currency replaced all previous currencies by 2002. The most notable thing regarding the new currency is that the United Kingdom has not abided by the Schengen agreement. The European Union‘s decision to work with respect to foreign policy did not succeed on account of their unsuitable actions during the Yugoslav wars. There were also differences regarding the decision to support United States during Iraqi (William Russell) Thus the United States criticized the European Union NATO countries for not spending too much for the military expenses and also for not sending troops to assist NATO troops in Afghan war. Meanwhile the European Union decided to rely on the benefits of their post cold war peace dividend and supported for the developments of international law. They achieved this feat through the international criminal court. In the year 2004 the European Union has increased its membership strengths by enrolling ten new countries with the organization. Among them eight were former communist countries in which three were from former USSR. This is followed by the registration of two more communist countries with the European Union in 2007. The increase in strength of European Union persuaded NATO to widen its association by adding these newly enrolled countries. This was strongly protested by Russia since these countries were the parts of former Soviet Union. Russia had bilateral problems with Belarus and Ukraine regarding the supply of petroleum gases. Russia had also disputes with Georgia and both of them were in a mini war in 2008. The induction of new members in the European Union and the inclusion of Turkey developed severe negative public opinion regarding its enlargement. This resulted in the rejection of European Constitution with ret to the referenda in France and Netherlands. In the beginning the Irish rejected the constitutional amendment and the Lisbon treaty, but later they changed their decision in 2009. (Nicholas Atkins, Michael, Biddis,)There was navel gazing by the European Union till 2009 and an increased Euro skepticism in some states. But the Lisbon treaty could do a great deal for the development of European Union’s capacity on foreign policy. The difference in the European Union regarding the membership of Turkey pointed out the irritation of other European countries against Islam. This is on account of the hatred ness over the Al Qaeda which had encouraged attacks on London and Madrid. But blaming the whole Muslims in Europe is foolish on the basis of Al Qaeda’s attack. In 2008 the European countries which use euros entered its first recession in the economic status and they conducted a debate regarding the role of European Union in the down turn of a member county in economic field. This highlighted the European Unions unity in dealing the common problems of member countries. Conclusion Nowadays the modern Europe has been improving with the support of European Unions. The unity of the members in this organization is really appreciable. They work for the common cause and intervene in common problems of the members. This is the reasons behind their developments. PaulW.Schroeder,http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryWorld/European/?view=usa&ci=9780198221197 Jhon, marryman. History of Modern Europe: From the Renaissance to the Present (v. 1 & 2) http://www.amazon.com/History-Modern-Europe-Renaissance-Present/dp/0393968855 Jhon Thomas didymus, Conflict of Church and State in European History http://ezinearticles.com/?Conflict-of-Church-and-State-in-European-History&id=5323880 Robert Wilde,Europen history, http://europeanhistory.about.com/ http://www.academicinfo.net/histeurolibrary.html Bethany, lamb,Early Europeon history,http://ezinearticles.com/?Early-European-History&id=5226436 Nicholas Athkin, Michael, Biddis, Modern history of Europe Retrieved from, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=uWEErjNJaW0C&pg=PR9&lpg=PR9&dq=love+to+know+articles+on+modern+european William,Ressel.http://books.google.co.in/books?id=sUwMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA214&lpg=PA214&dq=the+advancements+in+the+history+of+m#v=onepage&q&f=false Read More