The West

Topics

• Intellectual history• Economic history• Political history• Religious history

Intellectual History

Renaissance

• Foundations–Greece and Rome–Economic recovery–Ideas and pressures from Muslims–Competition–Growing middle class

Renaissance

• Secularism–Fed by Crusades, Black Death,

usury• Humanism

Scientific Revolution• Foundations–Greek and Roman science–Secularism

• Key ideas–Rationalism–Empiricism–Progress

Enlightenment• Foundations–Scientific Revolution–Liberalism (which comes from good

times, and Renaissance)• Key ideas–Social science–Progress

Capitalism• Money and markets = good• Supply and demand will work–Let market set prices, everything

will work out• Laissez faire – minimum government

interference• Adam Smith: The Wealth of Nations

Socialism• Capitalism creates injustice and economic

imbalance–Markets benefit the rich, but someone

has to be poor if there will be rich• Government should redistribute money for

people’s needs–Active in economy–Significant welfare

Communism• Capitalism is super evil!– It exploits the workers and turns them into nothing– All history is the history of class struggle

• Inevitably, the proletariat will revolt against the middle class– Then, we’ll have a wonderful world where there is

no private property– From each what he can, to each what he needs

• Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto

Economic History

Post-Classical Trade• Crusades– Stimulates demand for Eastern goods– Reconnects W. Europe to Silk Road

• Profit– Italian traders as middle men of Mediterranean

• Leads to– Secularization and Reformation (complaints

about usury)– Renaissance: money to spend on art

Colonial Empires• Reasons for outreach: –merchants looking for profits–fear of Muslim empires–need for gold to pay for Asian imports

• Technology enabled exploration: –better ships–compass, maps, etc.–cannons (military advantage)

Trade Imbalances• Exploit colonies–Take all, give back almost none–Exclusive trade

• Ship silver to China–Europe still the periphery–Cut out Muslim traders in the middle,

so more profit but still no exports

Mercantilism• Economic philosophy of competitive

European states• Core ideas–Self-sufficiency–Hoard bullion (gold and silver)–Zero-sum game

• Causes/reinforces creation of empires

Commercial Revolution

• Commercial Revolution –more trade, more merchants and

markets–Inflation and colonial trading companies

brought profits, stimulated manufacturing–Ordinary people gained as well as the

rich, more simple goods and luxuries

Industrial Revolution

• Shift to factories and machines, not hand-made crafts• Changes economy – no more guilds,

now low-skilled workers valuable• Very capitalistic – find the cheap

labor to keep costs down, make a lot and sell it back to the workers!

World Wars

• World Wars hurt economic production–Kill workers–Destroy farm land–Shift focus of production–Cause inflation

Depression• Speculation and unstable loans–Booming 20s were a charade–Inflationary pressures

• Stock market and banking collapse• Loss of confidence, stop in spending• Deflation – no spending, no hiring• Protectionism as failed response

Post-WWII• Consumer society–We see things, we want things, we buy things,

then we buy other things–Multinational culture

• Shift to service economy–Factories are in the third world now because

Western workers are expensive• Welfare states created in most of Europe, less in

the US

Political History

Absolute Monarchs

• Take complete control of society and economy–Divine right of kings–Monopoly of force

• France, Spain, Prussia, Russia

Parliamentary Monarchs

• Share power with parliament–Usually need to raise taxes, give

power to nobles in exchange–Does not include lower classes

• England, Netherlands

French Revolution• Total political shift–Middle and lower classes work together–Mass participation (in government and

war)–First European nation to grant mass

voting rights• Spreads liberal ideas

Liberal vs. Conservative

• Liberals say– Individual rights are good–People all deserve freedom–Enlightenment was cool

• Conservatives say–Let’s not change things (don’t fix what ain’t

broke; the devil you know…)–Things are this way for a reason: rich people

got rich because they are smart

Germany and Italy• Prussia modernizes a military

machine; Bismarck guides it to victories over German princes, France, Austria; becomes independent• Cavour and Garibaldi mobilize a

nationalist following to kick out the foreigners and unite Italy

Fascism• Extreme government control of economy,

denial of rights and voting, nationalism and militarism• Effective in response to depression that

must be solved by government spending• Germany, Italy (also Japan)• Pretty much always will be evil

International Organizations

• Europe has moved beyond internal conflict to increasing cooperation–At least, conflict between countries

• Examples–League of Nations–United Nations–NATO, European Union

Religious History

Reformation• Martin Luther and John Calvin• Complaints– Catholic church too distant from people• It uses Latin, people don’t• Priests don’t talk to people

– Church too much into money• Collects and spends for luxury• Sells indulgences

– Usury isn’t a sin, its profit!• New doctrine– Faith alone, not faith and good works