History Antiquity to Westphalia The emergence of city-states (poleis) in ancient Greece marks the beginning of classical antiquity. The two most important Greek cities, the Ionian-democratic Athens and the Dorian-aristocratic Sparta, led the successful defense of Greece against the invading Persians from the east, but then clashed against each other for supremacy in the Peloponnesian War. The Kingdom of Macedon took advantage of the following instability and established a single rule over Greece. Desire to form a universal monarchy brought Alexander the Great to annex the entire Persian Empire and begin a hellenization of the Macedonian possessions. At his death in 323 BC, his reign was divided between his successors and several hellenistic kingdoms were formed.William C. Wohlforth, , et al. "Testing balance-of-power theory in world history." European Journal of International Relations 13.2 (2007): 155-185 online. Rome unified Italy around the same period and then rose to prominence in the western and eastern Mediterranean through the Punic and Macedonian wars. Such a rapid expansion was followed by the so-called 'Roman Revolution', when the Gracchi, the Servile Wars, the Social War and Sulla's civil wars shook the Italian peninsula. Meanwhile, the popularity and wealth of Roman generals increased: notably Julius Caesar acquired fame for projecting military power north of the Alps into Gaul, east of the Rhine into Germania and across the English channel into Britain. A group of senators afraid of Caesar's title of dictator for life assassinated him the Ides of March of 44 BC. The adoptive son of Caesar, Octavian Augustus, defeated the killers of his father and became the first Roman Emperor (Princeps) in 27 BC.Daniel Deudney, "‘A Republic for Expansion’: The Roman Constitution and Empire and Balance-of-Power Theory." The Balance of Power in World History (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2007) pp. 148-175. online%DIFDELCMD < %DIFDELCMD < %%% The Roman Empire peaked during the Pax Romana, stagnated during the crisis of the third century AD and ultimately split between the Latin West and the Greek East. Both parts of the Empire abandoned pagan polytheism in order to tolerate monotheistic Christianity and finally make it the state religion. The West collapsed around 476, following centuries of attacks by Germanic and Slavic peoples and several "barbarian" kingdoms were established on its former territory. The East continued to be ruled by the Byzantine Empire for an additional thousand years. Among the successor barbarian kingdoms in the West, that of the Franks was the largest, and under Charlemagne managed to unite most of present-day France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Low Countries and Italy under one rule: he was subsequently crowned Holy Roman Emperor the day of Christmas in 800 by Pope Leo III. Meanwhile, the Iberian peninsula fell under Muslim control. The Germanic Emperor (Holy Roman Emperor) and the Roman Pontiff (Pope in Rome) came to be known as the universal powers of Europe, but then entered in conflict during the investiture controversy and the clash between their factions. Their rivalry made possible the birth of autonomous city-states in northern Italy and the rise of an independent feudal monarchy in France under the House of Capet. Around the same period, the Norse Viking expansion was taking place with the Norman conquest of England happening in 1066 and that of Sicily in 1130. With the holy land lost to Islam and the Byzantine Empire seeking help from Turks, the Pope initiated the crusades against Muslims in an attempt to restore Christian unity following the Eastern Schism of the Orthodox from the Catholics.Bryce Lyon, Medieval Constitutionalism: A Balance of Power (1961).%DIFDELCMD < %DIFDELCMD < %%% Most of the crusades did not achieve their objective, but some of them had a massive impact on the political and economic landscape of Europe: the first crusade (1099) re-opened the trade routes in the Mediterranean and ushered the commercial revolution; the fourth crusade (1204) resulted in the formation of the Venetian maritime empire; and the sixth crusade (1228) temporarily made Frederick stupor mundi, heir of both the Kingdom of Sicily and the Holy Roman Empire, also King of Jerusalem. At the same time, the Reconquista of Christian forces was taking place in the Iberian peninsula and the kingdoms of Portugal, Castile and Aragon were formed. A vast part of the French nobility took part in the crusades under the leadership of their king: this made possible the formation of a strong centralized French monarchy. The rise of medieval France began with the Battle of Bouvines (1224) and the Avignon Papacy (1309) but ended with the outbreak of the Hundred Years' War (1337) with England and the return of the papacy to Rome (1378). As Europe recovered from the Black Death, a Renaissance in art and science began in Italy and spread to the rest of the continent.%DIFDELCMD < %DIFDELCMD < %%% Portugal formed the first European colonial Empire in 1415 with the conquest of Ceuta. In 1453, the French expelled the English from their land and the Ottoman Turks caused the Fall of Constantinople, initiating the rise of the Ottoman Empire in Europe. In 1500, Charles V of the House of Austria was born in the Habsburg Netherlands. He inherited the territories of the Holy Roman Empire as well as the crowns of Castille and Aragon. In the Indies, recently discovered by Christopher Columbus for Castille and Aragon, he ordered the conquistadores to annex the Aztec Empire and conquer the Incas. He made use of the gold and silver coming from the Americas to finance the defence of his German territories in Austria from the Ottoman Empire (Siege of Vienna) and his Italian territories in the Duchy of Milan from France (Battle of Pavia). Styling himself as the protector of Catholicism, he resigned because of the growth of protestantism and split his territories between a Spanish Empire led by Philip II of Spain and a Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation led by Ferdinand I. The papacy launched the Catholic revival in an attempt to halt the growth of Protestantism and Ottoman expansion. Despite some successes, such as the Battle of Lepanto (1571) and the Siege of Paris (1590), the Anglo-Spanish War and the Long Turkish War questioned the Catholic ambitions. Ultimately, the Papacy lost its status and influence with the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and many Protestant states experienced a golden age: the Netherlands (having obtained independence from both the Holy Roman Empire and the Spanish Habsburgs) formed the Dutch East India Company in Indonesia; Sweden formed an empire in northern Europe; and England began the colonization of North America. By the Treaty of Westphalia at the end of the Thirty Years' War, the Holy Roman Empire became a more decentralized entity in which constituent states, such as Prussia (which also had lands outside the Empire), were allowed to pursue their own foreign policy independent of that of the Austrian Habsburg Emperor. The Austrian Habsburgs also controlled some states outside of the Holy Roman Empire. It was France who took the status of dominant continental power from the Habsburgs thanks to the Treaty of Westphalia and the Treaty of the Pyrenees.
History %DIFDELCMD < %DIFDELCMD < %%% %DIFDELCMD < %DIFDELCMD < %%% %DIFDELCMD < %DIFDELCMD < %%% =jim bob ate a apple for lunch and said it tasted relay good,
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Antiquity to Westphalia The emergence of city-states (poleis) in ancient Greece marks the beginning of classical antiquity. The two most important Greek cities, the Ionian-democratic Athens and the Dorian-aristocratic Sparta, led the successful defense of Greece against the invading Persians from the east, but then clashed against each other for supremacy in the Peloponnesian War. The Kingdom of Macedon took advantage of the following instability and established a single rule over Greece. Desire to form a universal monarchy brought Alexander the Great to annex the entire Persian Empire and begin a hellenization of the Macedonian possessions. At his death in 323 BC, his reign was divided between his successors and several hellenistic kingdoms were formed.William C. Wohlforth, , et al. "Testing balance-of-power theory in world history." European Journal of International Relations 13.2 (2007): 155-185 online.
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Rome unified Italy around the same period and then rose to prominence in the western and eastern Mediterranean through the Punic and Macedonian wars. Such a rapid expansion was followed by the so-called 'Roman Revolution', when the Gracchi, the Servile Wars, the Social War and Sulla's civil wars shook the Italian peninsula. Meanwhile, the popularity and wealth of Roman generals increased: notably Julius Caesar acquired fame for projecting military power north of the Alps into Gaul, east of the Rhine into Germania and across the English channel into Britain. A group of senators afraid of Caesar's title of dictator for life assassinated him the Ides of March of 44 BC. The adoptive son of Caesar, Octavian Augustus, defeated the killers of his father and became the first Roman Emperor (Princeps) in 27 BC.Daniel Deudney, "‘A Republic for Expansion’: The Roman Constitution and Empire and Balance-of-Power Theory." The Balance of Power in World History (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2007) pp. 148-175. online
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The Roman Empire peaked during the Pax Romana, stagnated during the crisis of the third century AD and ultimately split between the Latin West and the Greek East. Both parts of the Empire abandoned pagan polytheism in order to tolerate monotheistic Christianity and finally make it the state religion. The West collapsed around 476, following centuries of attacks by Germanic and Slavic peoples and several "barbarian" kingdoms were established on its former territory. The East continued to be ruled by the Byzantine Empire for an additional thousand years. Among the successor barbarian kingdoms in the West, that of the Franks was the largest, and under Charlemagne managed to unite most of present-day France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Low Countries and Italy under one rule: he was subsequently crowned Holy Roman Emperor the day of Christmas in 800 by Pope Leo III. Meanwhile, the Iberian peninsula fell under Muslim control.
D
The Germanic Emperor (Holy Roman Emperor) and the Roman Pontiff (Pope in Rome) came to be known as the universal powers of Europe, but then entered in conflict during the investiture controversy and the clash between their factions. Their rivalry made possible the birth of autonomous city-states in northern Italy and the rise of an independent feudal monarchy in France under the House of Capet. Around the same period, the Norse Viking expansion was taking place with the Norman conquest of England happening in 1066 and that of Sicily in 1130. With the holy land lost to Islam and the Byzantine Empire seeking help from Turks, the Pope initiated the crusades against Muslims in an attempt to restore Christian unity following the Eastern Schism of the Orthodox from the Catholics.Bryce Lyon, Medieval Constitutionalism: A Balance of Power (1961).
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Most of the crusades did not achieve their objective, but some of them had a massive impact on the political and economic landscape of Europe: the first crusade (1099) re-opened the trade routes in the Mediterranean and ushered the commercial revolution; the fourth crusade (1204) resulted in the formation of the Venetian maritime empire; and the sixth crusade (1228) temporarily made Frederick stupor mundi, heir of both the Kingdom of Sicily and the Holy Roman Empire, also King of Jerusalem. At the same time, the Reconquista of Christian forces was taking place in the Iberian peninsula and the kingdoms of Portugal, Castile and Aragon were formed.
D
A vast part of the French nobility took part in the crusades under the leadership of their king: this made possible the formation of a strong centralized French monarchy. The rise of medieval France began with the Battle of Bouvines (1224) and the Avignon Papacy (1309) but ended with the outbreak of the Hundred Years' War (1337) with England and the return of the papacy to Rome (1378). As Europe recovered from the Black Death, a Renaissance in art and science began in Italy and spread to the rest of the continent.
D
Portugal formed the first European colonial Empire in 1415 with the conquest of Ceuta. In 1453, the French expelled the English from their land and the Ottoman Turks caused the Fall of Constantinople, initiating the rise of the Ottoman Empire in Europe. In 1500, Charles V of the House of Austria was born in the Habsburg Netherlands. He inherited the territories of the Holy Roman Empire as well as the crowns of Castille and Aragon. In the Indies, recently discovered by Christopher Columbus for Castille and Aragon, he ordered the conquistadores to annex the Aztec Empire and conquer the Incas. He made use of the gold and silver coming from the Americas to finance the defence of his German territories in Austria from the Ottoman Empire (Siege of Vienna) and his Italian territories in the Duchy of Milan from France (Battle of Pavia). Styling himself as the protector of Catholicism, he resigned because of the growth of protestantism and split his territories between a Spanish Empire led by Philip II of Spain and a Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation led by Ferdinand I.
R
The papacy launched the Catholic revival in an attempt to halt the growth of Protestantism and Ottoman expansion. Despite some successes, such as the Battle of Lepanto (1571) and the Siege of Paris (1590), the Anglo-Spanish War and the Long Turkish War questioned the Catholic ambitions. Ultimately, the Papacy lost its status and influence with the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and many Protestant states experienced a golden age: the Netherlands (having obtained independence from both the Holy Roman Empire and the Spanish Habsburgs) formed the Dutch East India Company in Indonesia; Sweden formed an empire in northern Europe; and England began the colonization of North America. By the Treaty of Westphalia at the end of the Thirty Years' War, the Holy Roman Empire became a more decentralized entity in which constituent states, such as Prussia (which also had lands outside the Empire), were allowed to pursue their own foreign policy independent of that of the Austrian Habsburg Emperor. The Austrian Habsburgs also controlled some states outside of the Holy Roman Empire. It was France who took the status of dominant continental power from the Habsburgs thanks to the Treaty of Westphalia and the Treaty of the Pyrenees.
=jim bob ate a apple for lunch and said it tasted relay good,