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Western World

Right. Let's get this over with. You want an article, I'll give you one. Don't expect pleasantries.

Countries with an originally European Shared Culture

The term "Western world," or "the West," is a nebulous construct, primarily referring to a collection of nations in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia. However, the precise boundaries of this "West" are perpetually debated, with some scholars arguing for the inclusion of Eastern Europe and Latin America based on shared cultural, political, and economic threads. Historically, this concept is often traced back to the foundational civilizations of Ancient Greece and Rome, though this linear projection is not without its critics. The geographical notion of "the West" began to solidify around the 4th century CE when Constantine the Great divided the Roman Empire into its Greek East and Latin West halves. The East Roman Empire, later known as the Byzantine Empire, persisted for a millennium, while the West Roman Empire fractured after only about a century and a half. Significant theological and ecclesiastical divergences, culminating in the Great Schism of 1054, further cemented a politico-religious divide between the Western church and the Eastern church. The Crusades, ostensibly aimed at reclaiming trade routes to the East, paradoxically led to the discovery of the Americas and the subsequent emergence of a "Western" identity, intrinsically linked to Latin Christendom. The earliest recorded use of the term "Western world" dates back to 1586, found in the writings of William Warner.

The definition of what constitutes the "West" is less about geography and more about the confluence of cultural influences. Nations like Australia and New Zealand, despite their location in the Eastern Hemisphere, are generally included due to their profound historical ties to the British, stemming from colonization and subsequent European immigration. Russia presents a complex case, sometimes aligned with the West, other times positioned against it, even fostering anti-Western sentiment. The ascension of the United States as a global power, facilitated by advancements in communication and transportation technologies like the telegraph and railroads, further amplified its role in conceptualizations of the West.

Historically, particularly between the 18th and mid-20th centuries, some prominent Western nations such as the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand were viewed by certain factions as ethnocracies designed for Whites. This perspective is often linked to the role of racism in fueling Western European colonization of the New World, which today largely comprises the geographical West, divided between the Global North and Global South. In more recent decades, particularly from the late 1960s onwards, parts of the Western world have become significantly more diverse due to immigration and evolving fertility rates. The very concept of "the West" has transformed from a mere directional indicator to a complex sociopolitical construct, imbued with notions of progress and modernity, and oriented towards the future.

Introduction

The roots of Western civilization are deeply embedded in the ancient Mediterranean world. Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome are widely recognized as the cradles of this civilization, with Greece profoundly influencing Rome. Greece's contributions lie in its impact on philosophy, democracy, science, aesthetics, and architectural principles. Rome, in turn, left an indelible mark on art, law, warfare, governance, republicanism, engineering, and religion. Christianity, which became the dominant religion in the West, draws its origins from Greco-Roman and Jewish thought. The Christian ethics, informed by the ethical and moral principles of Judaism, have fundamentally shaped the bedrock of Western societies. Earlier civilizations, such as the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians, also played a significant role, contributing advancements in writing, legal systems, and societal organization. The fusion of Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian influences has led some scholars to characterize Western civilization as a synthesis of Athens and Jerusalem, or even Athens, Jerusalem, and Rome.

During antiquity, individuals primarily identified with their states, city-states, or empires, rather than as members of a distinct "Western civilization." This specific identification began to crystallize with the rise of Christianity in the Late Roman Empire. It was during this period that peoples in Europe started to see themselves as part of a unique civilization, differentiating themselves from others, such as Islam. By the Renaissance, intellectuals had solidified this concept, linking Western civilization not only to Christianity but also to the intellectual and political achievements of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Historians like Carroll Quigley, in his work "The Evolution of Civilizations," posit that Western civilization emerged around AD 500, following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This collapse, in Quigley's view, created a fertile ground for new ideas that had been suppressed in Classical societies. Regardless of the precise origin, the period between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the Renaissance witnessed a decline, followed by a significant readaptation, reorientation, and renewed material, technological, and political development in the regions that would later form the core of the "Western sphere." Aspects of Classical culture were preserved through the survival of the Eastern Roman Empire and the influence of the Catholic Church. Furthermore, Arab scholars played a crucial role in expanding knowledge by transmitting both Ancient Greco-Roman learning and new technologies from India and China to Europe.

Christopher Columbus arrives at the New World.

From the Renaissance onward, the West evolved beyond its ancient Greco-Roman and Islamic influences, propelled by the Second Agricultural, Commercial, Scientific, and Industrial revolutions, which fostered the development of modern banking concepts. The 18th century's Age of Enlightenment and the global expansion driven by the Age of Exploration further elevated the West's prominence. This expansion, often carried out by Western European colonial powers, was frequently accompanied by Catholic missionaries seeking to spread Christianity.

In the modern era, Western culture has continued to transform through the Renaissance, the Ages of Discovery and Enlightenment, and the Industrial and Scientific Revolutions. The global reach of Western culture was significantly extended through imperialism, colonialism, and Christianization by Western powers from the 15th to the 20th centuries. This influence persists today through the global dissemination of mass culture, a phenomenon often termed Westernization.

Debates arose in the 1960s regarding the classification of Latin America as a distinct category.

Culture

Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, illustrating the correlation between ideal human proportions and geometry as described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise De architectura.

Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, is characterized by its internal diversity. It encompasses the social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, artifacts, and technologies that are primarily rooted in European and Mediterranean histories. As a broad concept, "Western culture" does not adhere to fixed geographical boundaries or a static membership. It generally refers to the classical era cultures of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and their subsequent Christian successors, which spread across the Mediterranean basin and Europe, and eventually disseminated globally through colonization and globalization.

Historically, scholars have strongly linked the concept of Western culture to the classical period of Greco-Roman antiquity. However, it is also acknowledged that other cultures, such as Ancient Egypt, the Phoenician city-states, and various Near-Eastern cultures, provided stimulation and influence. The Hellenistic period was particularly important for promoting syncretism, blending Greek, Roman, and Jewish traditions. Significant advancements in literature, engineering, and science shaped the Hellenistic Jewish culture from which emerged the earliest Christians and the Greek New Testament. The eventual Christianization of Europe in late-antiquity ensured that Christianity, particularly the Catholic Church, remained a dominant force in Western culture for many centuries.

Western culture continued to evolve through the Middle Ages, influenced by the medieval renaissances, the significant contributions of the Islamic world via Al-Andalus and Sicily (including the transfer of technology from the East and Latin translations of Arabic texts on science and philosophy), and the Italian Renaissance. The arrival of Greek scholars fleeing the fall of Constantinople reintroduced ancient Greek and Roman texts to central and western Europe. Medieval Christianity is credited with the establishment of the modern university, the modern hospital system, advancements in scientific economics, and the development of natural law, which would later inform international law. European culture developed a rich tapestry of philosophy, medieval scholasticism, mysticism, and both Christian and secular humanism, setting the stage for the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. Led by figures like Martin Luther, Protestantism challenged the authority of the Catholic Church and championed ideas of individual freedom and religious reform, laying the groundwork for modern concepts of personal responsibility and governance.

The Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries placed a strong emphasis on reason, science, and individual rights, profoundly influencing revolutions across Europe and the Americas and the development of modern democratic institutions. Enlightenment thinkers promoted ideals of political pluralism and empirical inquiry, which, alongside the Industrial Revolution, transformed Western society. The influence of Enlightenment rationalism continued into the 19th and 20th centuries with the rise of secularism and liberal democracy, while the Industrial Revolution fueled unprecedented economic and technological growth. Significant cultural shifts were marked by the expansion of civil rights and the decline of religious authority. Key tendencies defining modern Western societies include the concept of political pluralism, individualism, the prominence of subcultures or countercultures, and increasing cultural syncretism resulting from globalization and immigration.

Historical Divisions

  • See also: [History of Western civilization]

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The West of the Mediterranean Region During Antiquity

The geopolitical divisions within Europe that gave rise to the concept of East and West can be traced back to the ancient tyrannical and imperialistic Graeco-Roman era. The Eastern Mediterranean was home to highly urbanized cultures that shared Greek as their common tongue, a legacy of Alexander the Great and his Hellenistic successors. In contrast, the West was considerably more rural and adopted Latin as its primary language. Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the advent of the Middle Ages, Western and Central Europe became largely isolated from the East. In the East, Byzantine Greek culture and Eastern Christianity became foundational influences for Eastern European populations, particularly the East and South Slavic peoples. [Citation needed]

The main travels of the Age of Discovery (beginning in the 15th century)

Roman Catholic Western and Central Europe thus maintained a distinct identity, particularly as it began to redevelop during the Renaissance. Even following the Protestant Reformation, Protestant Europe continued to see itself as more tied to Roman Catholic Europe than other parts of the perceived "civilized world". The use of the term "West" as a specific cultural and geopolitical term developed over the course of the Age of Exploration as Europe expanded its culture globally. Roman Catholics were the first major religious group to migrate to the New World, with settlers in the colonies of Spain and Portugal (and later, France) belonging to that faith. English and Dutch colonies, on the other hand, tended to be more religiously diverse. Settlers to these colonies included Anglicans, Dutch Calvinists, English Puritans and other nonconformists, English Catholics, Scottish Presbyterians, French Huguenots, German and Swedish Lutherans, as well as Quakers, Mennonites, Amish, and Moravians. [Citation needed]

Ancient Roman World (6th Century BC – AD 395–476)

The Roman Republic in 218 BC, after conquering most of the Italian Peninsula, stood on the precipice of its most successful and devastating war against the Carthaginians.

Graphical map of the post-AD 395 Roman Empire, highlighting the differences between the western Roman Catholic and eastern Greek Orthodox parts, on the eve of the death of the last emperor to rule both the western and eastern halves. The concept of "East-West" originated in the cultural division between Christian Churches. [Citation needed] The Western and Eastern Roman Empires on the eve of the Western collapse in September AD 476.

The Roman Empire in AD 117. Over 350 years, the Roman Republic transformed into an Empire, expanding its territory twenty-fivefold.

Ancient Rome (6th century BC – AD 476) refers to the ancient Roman society that conquered Central Italy, assimilating the Italian Etruscan culture. Originating from the Latium region around the 8th century BC, it grew into a vast empire that straddled the Mediterranean Sea. Throughout its 10-century territorial expansion, Roman civilization evolved from a small monarchy (753–509 BC) to a republic (509–27 BC), and finally to an autocratic empire (27 BC – AD 476). Its empire came to dominate Western, Central, and Southeastern Europe, North Africa, and, as an autocratic empire, a vast Middle Eastern territory until its end. Conquest was achieved through the might of the Roman legions and subsequently through cultural assimilation by granting privileges of Roman citizenship. Despite its immense legacy, a confluence of factors led to the eventual decline and fall of the Roman Empire. [Citation needed]

The Roman Empire succeeded the Roman Republic, which had endured for approximately 500 years (c. 510–30 BC). In 350 years, from the successful and devastating war with the Phoenicians beginning in 218 BC to the reign of Emperor Hadrian by AD 117, ancient Rome expanded its territory twenty-fivefold. An equivalent amount of time passed before its fall in AD 476. Rome's expansion predated the empire's zenith, which was marked by the conquest of Dacia in AD 106 (modern-day Romania) under Emperor Trajan. At its territorial peak, the Roman Empire encompassed approximately 5,000,000 square kilometers (1,900,000 sq mi) and a population of 100 million. From the era of Caesar (100–44 BC) to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, Rome exerted dominion over Southern Europe, the Mediterranean coast of Northern Africa, and the Levant, including ancient trade routes and populations beyond its borders. Ancient Rome's contributions to law, warfare, art, literature, architecture, technology, and language in the Western world are immense, and its history continues to exert a significant global influence. The Latin language served as the foundation for the evolution of Romance languages and remained the official language of the Catholic Church and all its ceremonies throughout Europe until 1967. It also served as an official or co-official language in countries like Italy and Poland from the 9th to the 18th centuries. [Citation needed]

Ending invasions on the Roman Empire from the 2nd through the 5th centuries, establishing mostly Germanic kingdoms in its place.

In AD 395, mere decades before its collapse in the West, the Roman Empire was formally divided into a Western and an Eastern entity, each with its own emperors, capitals, and governments, though ostensibly they remained part of a single formal Empire. The provinces of the Western Roman Empire were eventually supplanted by Northern European Germanic-ruled kingdoms in the 5th century, a consequence of civil wars, corruption, and devastating Germanic invasions by tribes such as the Huns, Goths, Franks, and Vandals during their late expansion across Europe. The Visigoths' three-day AD 410 sack of Rome, occurring shortly after their raids in Greece, was a shocking event, marking the first time in nearly 800 years that Rome had fallen to a foreign enemy. St. Jerome, then residing in Bethlehem, lamented, "The City which had taken the whole world was itself taken." This was followed by the sack of AD 455, which lasted 14 days and was carried out by the Vandals. The eternal spirit of Rome endured through the Holy See of Rome (the Latin Church) for centuries to come. The ancient Barbarian tribes, often comprised of Roman-trained soldiers paid to guard the empire's extensive borders, had evolved into militarily sophisticated "Romanized barbarians." They ruthlessly conquered Roman territories and plundered their possessions. [Citation needed]

The Roman Empire is the historical context from which the idea of "the West" began to emerge. [Note f]

The Eastern Roman Empire, governed from Constantinople, is typically referred to as the Byzantine Empire after AD 476, the traditional date marking the fall of the Roman Empire and the commencement of the Early Middle Ages. The survival of the Eastern Roman Empire preserved Roman legal and cultural traditions, blending them with Greek and Christian elements for another thousand years. The designation "Byzantine Empire" was adopted centuries later, after its demise. The dissolution of the Western half, officially ending in AD 476, was in reality a protracted process that concluded with the rise of Catholic Gaul (modern-day France), with its effective rule beginning around AD 800. Only the Eastern Roman Empire remained. The Eastern half continued to identify itself as the Roman Empire, with its inhabitants calling themselves Romans, as the term "Roman" was meant to signify all Christians. Pope crowned Charlemagne as Emperor of the Romans of the newly established Holy Roman Empire, leading to the West conceptualizing itself as comprising Western Latins inhabiting the old Western Empire, and Eastern Greeks (those within the Roman remnant of the old Eastern Empire). [Citation needed]

The Birth of the European West During the Middle Ages

Apex of Byzantine Empire's conquests (AD 527–565).

In the early 4th century, the locus of power was divided between two distinct imperial legacies within the Roman Empire: the older Aegean Sea Greek heritage (of Classical Greece) in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the newer, highly successful Tyrrhenian Sea Latin heritage (of Ancient Latium and Tuscany) in the Western Mediterranean. A pivotal moment occurred when Constantine the Great chose to establish Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) in Turkey as the "New Rome," making it the capital of his Empire (later termed the "Byzantine Empire" by modern historians) in AD 330.

The Byzantine Empire in AD 1025, prior to the Christian East-West Schism.

This internal conflict of legacies may have originated as early as the assassination of Julius Caesar three centuries prior, when the Roman Republic transitioned into the "Roman Empire." It reached its apex during the numerous civil wars of the 3rd century. This was also the period when the Huns, a group of ancient Eastern European tribes designated as barbarians by the Romans, migrated from modern-day Hungary into the Dalmatia (modern-day Croatia) region. Over the subsequent 150 years, this contributed to the official division of the Roman Empire into two halves. It was also a time of formal acceptance of Christianity as the Empire's religious policy, with emperors actively suppressing and combating previous pagan religions.

History of the spread of Christianity: in AD 325 (dark blue) and AD 600 (blue), following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire under Germanic migrations.

The Eastern Roman Empire encompassed territories south-west of the Black Sea, bordering the Eastern Mediterranean and parts of the Adriatic Sea. This division into Eastern and Western Roman Empires later influenced the administrative structures of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Greek Orthodox churches, leading to disputes between Rome and Constantinople over which city held primacy as the capital of Western religion. [Citation needed]

As the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic) churches expanded their influence, the dividing line between Eastern and Western Christianity shifted. This movement was affected by the influence of the Byzantine Empire and the fluctuating power and influence of the Catholic Church in Rome. The geographic line of religious division roughly mirrored a cultural divide. [Citation needed]

Rise of the Germanic Frankish Empire before Charlemagne's coronation in Rome.

In AD 800, under Charlemagne, the Early Medieval Franks established an empire recognized by the Pope in Rome as the Holy Roman Empire. This entity, a revival of the ancient Roman Empire under perpetual Germanic rule from AD 962, inherited the prestige of the Roman Empire but offended the Eastern Roman Emperor in Constantinople. This animosity contributed to the Crusades and the East–West Schism. The Pope's coronation of the Emperor established the assumption of supreme papal authority, the papal hierarchy, as the ultimate spiritual power, thereby defining the civilization of Western Christendom until the Protestant Reformation. [Citation needed]

The earliest conceptualization of Europe as a cultural sphere, rather than simply a geographic term, is attributed to Alcuin of York during the Carolingian Renaissance in the 9th century. However, this concept was initially confined to the territories practicing Western Christianity.

The Latin Church of western and central Europe formally separated from the eastern Greek patriarchates in the Christian East–West Schism, also known as the "Great Schism," during the Gregorian Reforms (which sought to centralize the authority of the Roman Catholic Church) in April 1054, three months after the death of Pope Leo IX. [Citation needed] Following the 1054 Great Schism, both the Western Church and the Eastern Church continued to consider themselves uniquely orthodox and catholic. Augustine wrote in On True Religion: "Religion is to be sought... only among those who are called Catholic or orthodox Christians, that is, guardians of truth and followers of right." [Citation needed] Over time, Western Christianity gradually adopted the "Catholic" label, and people in Western Europe increasingly associated the "Orthodox" label with Eastern Christianity (though in some languages, the term "Catholic" is not exclusively tied to the Western Church). This distinction emerged despite both "Catholic" and "Orthodox" being used as ecclesiastical adjectives as early as the 2nd and 4th centuries, respectively. Concurrently, the reach of both Christendoms expanded. The Western Church converted Germanic peoples, Bohemia, Poland, Hungary, Scandinavia, Finnic peoples, Baltic peoples, the British Isles, and other previously non-Christian lands in the northwest. Meanwhile, the Eastern Orthodox Church converted Eastern Slavic peoples, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Russian territories, Vlachs, and Georgia. [Citation needed]

The Byzantine Empire in AD 1180, before the Latin Fourth Crusade.

In 1071, the Byzantine army suffered a defeat against the Muslim Turco-Persians of medieval Asia, resulting in the loss of most of Asia Minor. This posed a grave threat to the future of the Eastern Orthodox Byzantine Empire. The Emperor appealed to the Pope in Rome for military assistance to reclaim the lost territories for Christian rule. This appeal led to a series of military campaigns by Western European forces into the eastern Mediterranean, known as the Crusades. Unfortunately for the Byzantines, the crusaders, drawn from the nobility of France, German territories, the Low Countries, England, and Italy, owed no allegiance to the Byzantine Emperor and established their own states in the conquered regions, including the heart of the Byzantine Empire.

The Holy Roman Empire would dissolve on 6 August 1806, following the French Revolution and the establishment of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon.

The Greek Byzantine Empire, divided by the newly established Latin Crusader State after the Fourth Crusade (shown partially in Greece and partially in Turkey).

The decline of the Byzantine Empire (13th–15th centuries) was significantly impacted by the Latin Fourth Crusade of AD 1202–04, an event considered pivotal in solidifying the schism between the Christian churches of the Greek Byzantine Rite and the Latin Roman Rite. An anti-Western riot targeting Latins erupted in Constantinople in 1182. The exceedingly wealthy Venetians, particularly after previous Crusades, successfully maintained control over the coast of Catholic present-day Croatia (specifically Dalmatia), a region of strategic interest to the maritime medieval Venetian Republic's financiers and their rivals, such as the Republic of Genoa, who were rebelling against Venetian economic dominance. [Citation needed] What followed was an irrevocable blow to the already weakened Byzantine Empire: the Crusader army's sack of Constantinople in April 1204. This sack of the capital of the Greek Christian-controlled Byzantine Empire is described as one of the most profitable and disgraceful sacks of a city in history. [Citation needed] This event paved the way for Muslim conquests in present-day Turkey and the Balkans in the subsequent centuries, with only a handful of Crusaders continuing to their original destination in the Holy Land. The Balkans, historically a cultural crossroads, served as a juncture between the Latin and Greek spheres of the Roman Empire. It was also the destination of a massive influx of pagan (meaning "non-Christians") Bulgars and Slavs, an area where Catholic and Orthodox Christianity met, [Citation needed] as well as a meeting point between Islam and Christianity. The Papal Inquisition was established on a permanent basis in AD 1229, managed largely by clergymen in Rome, [Citation needed] and was abolished six centuries later. Prior to AD 1100, the Catholic Church suppressed what it deemed heresy, primarily through ecclesiastical proscription or imprisonment, but without recourse to torture [Citation needed] and rarely resorting to executions. [Citation needed] [Citation needed] [Citation needed] [Citation needed]

Martin Luther, Protestant Reformer.

This highly profitable Central European Fourth Crusade indirectly prompted the 14th-century Renaissance (meaning 'Rebirth') in the Italian city-states, including the Papal States. This preceded the Protestant Reformation and the Counter-Reformation (which established the Roman Inquisition to succeed the Medieval Inquisition). Subsequently, the discovery of the American continent led to the dissolution of West Christendom as even a theoretical unified political body. This culminated in the religious Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) and the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between various Protestant and Catholic states within the Holy Roman Empire, and the emergence of religiously diverse confessions. Within this context, the Protestant Reformation (1517) can be viewed as a schism within the Catholic Church. German monk Martin Luther, building on the work of predecessors, broke with the Pope and the Emperor over the Catholic Church's corrupt commercialization of indulgences in the Late Medieval Period. Backed by many German princes and aided by the development of the printing press, Luther sought to reform corruption within the Church. [Citation needed]

Both of these religious wars concluded with the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which enshrined the concept of the nation-state and the principle of absolute national sovereignty in international law. As European influence spread across the globe, these Westphalian principles, particularly the notion of sovereign states, became foundational to international law and the prevailing world order.

Expansion of the West: The Era of Colonialism (15th–20th Centuries)

Portuguese discoveries and explorations since 1336: first arrival locations and dates; main Portuguese spice trade routes in the Indian Ocean (blue); territories claimed by King John III of Portugal (c. 1536) (green). Apex of the Spanish Empire in 1790.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, numerous European travelers, many of them Christian missionaries, sought to establish trade relations with Asia and Africa. The Crusades coincided with a relative contraction of the Orthodox Byzantine's large silk industry in favor of Catholic Western Europe and the rise of the Western Papacy. The most renowned of these merchant travelers pursuing East–west trade was the Venetian Marco Polo. However, these journeys had limited lasting impact on East-West trade due to a series of political shifts in Asia in the final decades of the 14th century, which curtailed further European exploration of the continent. Specifically, the new Ming rulers were unreceptive to religious proselytism by European missionaries and merchants. Simultaneously, the Ottoman Turks consolidated their control over the eastern Mediterranean, effectively blocking key overland trade routes. [Citation needed]

The Portuguese led the charge in discovering oceanic routes that would provide more cost-effective and accessible access to South and East Asian goods, facilitated by advancements in maritime technology such as the caravel ship introduced in the mid-1400s. The charting of oceanic routes between East and West commenced with the groundbreaking voyages of Portuguese and Spanish sea captains. In 1492, European colonialism expanded globally with the exploring voyage of merchant, navigator, and colonizer Christopher Columbus. These expeditions were influenced by medieval European adventurers who had journeyed overland to the Far East in pursuit of the spice trade with Asia, contributing to the geographical understanding of parts of the Asian continent. They hold immense significance in Western history as they marked the inception of European exploration, colonization, and exploitation of the American continents and their native inhabitants. [Note g] [Note h] The European colonization of the Americas led to the Atlantic slave trade between the 1490s and the 1800s, which also fueled intertribal warfare in Africa and the development of racist ideologies. Prior to the abolition of its slave trade in 1807, the British Empire alone (which initiated colonial efforts in 1578, nearly a century after the Portuguese and Spanish empires) was responsible for transporting 3.5 million African slaves to the Americas, representing one-third of all slaves transported across the Atlantic. [Citation needed] The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806 by the French Revolutionary Wars; the abolition of the Roman Catholic Inquisition followed. [Citation needed]

Through the extensive reach of these empires, Western institutions were disseminated worldwide. This process of influence (and imposition) began with the voyages of discovery, the colonization, conquest, and exploitation by Portugal, enforced by papal bulls in the 1450s (following the fall of the Byzantine Empire), granting Portugal a monopoly on navigation, warfare, and trade in newly discovered lands, [Citation needed] and the competitive voyages of Spanish navigators. It continued with the rise of the Dutch East India Company after the destabilizing Spanish discovery of the New World, and the establishment and expansion of the English and French colonial empires, among others. [Citation needed] Even after demands for self-determination from the peoples within Western empires led to decolonization, these institutions persisted. A notable example is the requirement for post-colonial societies to form nation-states modeled on the Western tradition. This often resulted in arbitrary boundaries and borders that did not accurately represent entire nations, peoples, or cultures (as seen in much of Africa), frequently leading to international conflicts and friction to this day. While not strictly part of the Western colonization process, Western culture, following the Middle Ages, did penetrate other global cultures during the colonial period of the 15th–20th centuries. [Citation needed] Historically, colonialism was often justified by the values of individualism and enlightenment. [Citation needed]

The concepts of a world comprised of nation-states, originating from the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, coupled with the ideologies of the Enlightenment, the advent of modernity, the Scientific Revolution [Citation needed] and the Industrial Revolution, [Citation needed] produced profound social transformations and political and economic institutions that have influenced (or been imposed upon) most nations globally today. Historians generally agree that the Industrial Revolution stands as one of history's most significant events. [Citation needed]

The span of three centuries since Christopher Columbus' late 15th-century voyages, encompassing the deportation of slaves from Africa and the dominant northern-Atlantic position of the British, later evolved into the modern-day United States of America. This evolution culminated with the ratification of the Constitution of the United States by thirteen States on the North American East Coast before the end of the 18th century.

Enlightenment (17th–18th Centuries)

Eric Voegelin characterized the 18th century as a period where "the sentiment grows that one age has come to its close and that a new age of Western civilization is about to be born." According to Voegelin, the Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, represents the "atrophy of Christian transcendental experiences and [seeks] to enthrone the Newtonian method of science as the only valid method of arriving at truth." [Citation needed] Its intellectual precursors included John Milton and Baruch Spinoza. [Citation needed] Milton's encounter with Galileo in 1638 profoundly influenced him, leading to his seminal work Areopagitica, where he warned against the imposition of "an undeserved thraldom upon learning" by inquisitorial forces, advocating for free speech. [Citation needed]

Key achievements of the 17th century included the invention of the telescope and the widespread acceptance of heliocentrism. 18th-century scholars continued to refine Newton's theory of gravitation, with notable contributions from Leonhard Euler, Pierre Louis Maupertuis, Alexis-Claude Clairaut, Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, Joseph-Louis Lagrange, and Pierre-Simon de Laplace. Laplace's five-volume Treatise on Celestial Mechanics is considered a landmark work of 18th-century Newtonianism. Astronomy gained significant prestige, with governments funding new observatories and the development of more powerful telescopes leading to the discovery of new planets, asteroids, nebulae, and comets. These advancements also improved navigation and cartography. Astronomy emerged as the second most popular scientific profession, following medicine. [Citation needed]

A prevalent meta-narrative of the Enlightenment is the "secularization theory," which posits modernity as a complete break from the past, championing innovation and science as inherently good and embodying modern values of rationalism, while relegating faith to superstition and traditionalism. [Citation needed] Inspired by the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment championed ideals of progress and improvement. Descartes and Isaac Newton were revered as exemplars of human intellectual achievement. Condorcet, in his Sketch of the Progress of the Human Mind (1794), outlined humanity's progress from primitive society through agrarianism, the invention of writing and the printing press, to an era where "the Sciences and Philosophy threw off the Yoke of Authority." [Citation needed]

The French writer Pierre Bayle controversially denounced Spinoza as a pantheist, implying atheism, a critique that garnered significant attention for Spinoza. The pantheism controversy of the late 18th century saw Gotthold Lessing attacked by Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi for his support of Spinoza's pantheism. Lessing was defended by Moses Mendelssohn, who, while not fully endorsing pantheism, aligned with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in arguing that God and the world were not of the same substance. Spinoza was excommunicated from the Dutch Sephardic community, yet for Jewish individuals seeking secular guidance, Spinoza held as much importance as Voltaire and Kant. [Citation needed]

19th Century

In the early 19th century, the systematic process of urbanization began, marked by migration from rural areas to manufacturing centers, leading to a surge in town populations. Global population also rose, estimated to have reached one billion in 1804. [Citation needed] Concurrently, the philosophical movement that would become known as Romanticism emerged, following the preceding Age of Reason in the 1600s and the Enlightenment of the 1700s. These intellectual currents are considered to have fostered the sustained economic development of the 19th-century Western world. [Citation needed] Prior to the widespread urbanization and industrialization of the 1800s, demand for oriental goods such as porcelain, silk, spices, and tea remained a primary driver of European imperialism in Asia. With the notable exception of the British East India Company's rule in India, European engagement in Asia was largely confined to trading posts and strategic outposts necessary for protecting commerce. [Citation needed] Industrialization, however, dramatically amplified European demand for Asian raw materials. The severe Long Depression of the 1870s intensified the quest for new markets for European industrial products and financial services in Africa, the Americas, Eastern Europe, and particularly in Asia. Western powers, for instance, exploited their advantages in China through the Opium Wars. [Citation needed] This led to "New Imperialism," characterized by a shift from trade and indirect rule to the formal colonial control of vast overseas territories, administered as political extensions of their mother countries. [Citation needed] The latter decades of the 19th century witnessed a transition from "informal imperialism" (hegemony) [Note i] achieved through military influence and economic dominance, to direct rule—a resurgence of colonial imperialism—in the African continent and the Middle East. [Citation needed]

During the socioeconomically optimistic and innovative decades of the Second Industrial Revolution (roughly 1870s–1914), also known as the "Belle Époque", established colonial powers in Asia, including the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands, expanded their empires to include vast territories in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Japan, during the Meiji period (1868–1912), also engaged in similar expansionist activities, building upon earlier interactions with Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch traders. The Japanese Empire recognized the strategic importance of European nations. Traditional Japanese society transformed into an industrial and militarist power, mirroring Western empires like the British Empire and the French Third Republic, as well as the German Empire. [Verification needed] [Citation needed]

At the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in 1898, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Cuba were ceded to the United States under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. The U.S. rapidly emerged as a new imperial power in East Asia and the Pacific Ocean area. The Philippines continued its struggle against colonial rule in the Philippine–American War. [Citation needed]

By 1913, the British Empire exerted influence over 412 million people, constituting 23% of the global population at the time. [Citation needed] By 1920, it spanned 35,500,000 km² (13,700,000 sq mi), [Citation needed] accounting for 24% of the Earth's total land area. [Citation needed] At its zenith, the phrase "the empire on which the sun never sets" aptly described the British Empire, owing to its global expanse ensuring that the sun was always shining on at least one of its territories. [Citation needed] Consequently, its political, legal, linguistic, and cultural legacy is widespread throughout the Western world. [Citation needed] In the aftermath of the Second World War, decolonization efforts were undertaken by all Western powers under the directives of the United Nations (formerly the League of Nations). [Citation needed] Most colonized nations achieved independence by 1960. Great Britain demonstrated ongoing responsibility for the welfare of its former colonies as member states of the Commonwealth of Nations. However, the end of Western colonial imperialism coincided with the rise of Western neocolonialism or economic imperialism. Multinational corporations emerged, offering "a dramatic refinement of the traditional business enterprise," impacting issues as diverse as national sovereignty, ownership of production means, environmental protection, consumerism, and policies toward organized labor. Although the overt colonial era had concluded, Western nations, as comparatively wealthy, well-armed, and culturally influential states, wielded considerable power globally, often without a commensurate sense of responsibility towards the populations affected by their multinational corporations' exploitation of resources and markets. [Citation needed] [Citation needed] The dictum of Alfred Thayer Mahan—that whoever controls the seas controls the world—continues to hold relevance. [Citation needed]

Cold War (1947–1991)

During the Cold War, a new conceptual framework emerged, dividing the world into three "worlds." The First World, in this context, was analogous to the West and comprised NATO members and other nations aligned with the United States.

The Second World consisted of the Eastern Bloc within the Soviet sphere of influence, including the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries such as Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia.

The Third World encompassed countries, many of which were unaligned with either the west or the east. Notable members included India, Yugoslavia, Finland (through Finlandization), and Switzerland (with its policy of Swiss Neutrality). Some classifications also include the People's Republic of China, although this is debated due to China's communist alignment and its historically friendly relations with the Soviet bloc at various times, as well as its significant geopolitical influence. Certain Third World countries aligned themselves with either the U.S.-led West or the Soviet-led East.

A number of countries did not fit neatly into this tripartite division, including Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, and Ireland, all of which maintained neutrality. Finland, while under the Soviet Union's military sphere of influence (as stipulated by the FCMA treaty), remained neutral and non-communist. It was not a member of the Warsaw Pact or Comecon but joined the EFTA in 1986 and was situated west of the Iron Curtain. Austria, upon regaining full independence in 1955, committed to neutrality but was geographically west of the Iron Curtain and thus within the United States' sphere of influence. Spain did not join NATO until 1982, seven years after the death of the authoritarian leader Francisco Franco.

The advent of Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s heralded the end of the Cold War, culminating in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Modern Definitions

The precise definition of the "Western world" remains somewhat subjective, varying based on whether cultural, economic, spiritual, or political criteria are applied. A common Western perspective acknowledges the existence of at least three "major worlds" (or "cultures," or "civilizations") in broad contrast to the West: the Eastern world, the Arab world, and the African worlds, without clearly defined boundaries. Furthermore, the Latin American and Orthodox European worlds are sometimes categorized as either sub-civilizations within Western civilization or as distinct entities "akin" to the West.

Many anthropologists, sociologists, and historians reject the simplistic categorization of "the West and the Rest." [Citation needed] This has also been observed among Malthusian demographers who draw a sharp distinction between European and non-European family systems. Prominent anthropologists who have explored these distinctions include Émile Durkheim, Louis Dumont, and Claude Lévi-Strauss. [Citation needed]

Cultural Definition

The Oxford English Dictionary notes that the earliest recorded use of the term "Western world" in the English language dates back to 1586, appearing in the writings of William Warner. [Citation needed]

In contemporary usage, the "Western world" typically refers to Europe and regions whose populations are predominantly of European origin, a demographic shift resulting from the Age of Discovery's imperialism. [Citation needed] [Citation needed] [Citation needed]

During the 20th century, Christianity experienced a decline in influence across many Western nations, particularly within the European Union, where several member states have witnessed decreasing church attendance and membership in recent years. [Citation needed] This trend has been accompanied by an increase in secularism, which advocates for the separation of religion from politics and science. However, despite declining church attendance, in some Western countries (such as Italy, Poland, and Portugal), a majority of the population still identifies religion as important [Importance_of_religion_by_country], and most Westerners nominally identify as Christians (for instance, 59% in the United Kingdom) and observe religious practices on major holidays like Christmas and Easter. In the Americas, Christianity continues to hold significant societal sway, although regions like Canada exhibit lower levels of religiosity due to a process of secularization akin to that in Europe. While the United Kingdom and some Nordic countries maintain official state religions that are forms of Christianity, the majority of European countries have no official religion. Nevertheless, Christianity, in its various forms, remains the predominant faith in most Western nations. [Citation needed]

Christianity continues to be the dominant religion in the Western world, with approximately 70% of the population adhering to it. [Citation needed] A 2011 survey by the Pew Research Center indicated that 76.2% of Europeans, 73.3% in Oceania, and around 86.0% in the Americas (with 90% in Latin America and the Caribbean and 77.4% in Northern America) identified themselves as Christians. [Citation needed] [Citation needed]

Since the mid-20th century, the West has become increasingly associated with irreligious sentiments. Following the Age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution, inquisitions were abolished in the 19th and 20th centuries. This accelerated the separation of church and state and the secularization of the Western world, where unchurched spirituality is gaining prominence over organized religion. [Citation needed]

Certain regions within the Western world have become notably more diverse since the late 1960s. [Citation needed] [Citation needed] Previously, between the 18th century and the mid-20th century, prominent Western countries like the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand were envisioned by some as homelands for white people. [Citation needed] [Citation needed] [Citation needed] Racism has been identified as a contributing factor to the colonization of the New World by Westerners, which now constitutes a significant portion of the geographical West. [Citation needed] [Citation needed]

Countries within the Western world are also the most avid adopters of digital and televisual media technologies, mirroring their earlier embrace of television and radio in the postwar period. Between 2000 and 2014, Internet market penetration in the West was double that of non-Western regions. [Citation needed]

Economic Definition

Countries by income group. Map of the Western world, including the Anglosphere (as defined by James Bennett), the European Union, and European Single Market members, 2017.

The term "Western world" is sometimes used interchangeably with "First World" or "developed countries," emphasizing the distinction between the First World and the Third World or developing countries. This usage persists despite the fact that many culturally Western countries are themselves developing countries; in fact, a substantial portion of the Americas falls into this category. It is also used despite numerous developed countries or regions not being culturally Western (e.g., Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao). Privatization policies (involving state-owned enterprises and public services) and the activities of multinational corporations are often seen as indicators of Western economic influence, particularly in Third World countries. These entities represent a common institutional environment for influential politicians, businesses, trade unions, firms, bankers, and thinkers within the Western world. [Citation needed] [Citation needed] [Citation needed] [Citation needed] [Citation needed]

Other Views

A number of civilization scholars, including Arnold J. Toynbee, Alfred Kroeber, and Carroll Quigley, have identified and analyzed "Western civilization" as one of the civilizations that have historically existed and continue to exist today. Toynbee's approach was notably expansive, including as candidates those countries or cultures that became so profoundly influenced by the West as to integrate these borrowings into their very self-identity. Taken to its extreme, this definition would encompass nearly everyone within the West, in various ways. Toynbee specifically refers to the intelligentsia formed among the educated elites of nations impacted by centuries of European expansion. While often exhibiting a strong nationalist sentiment, these cultural and political leaders interacted with the West to such an extent that they transformed both themselves and the West. [Citation needed]

The theologian and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin conceived of the West as the collection of civilizations descended from the Nile Valley Civilization of Egypt. [Citation needed]

The concept of "the West" has evolved over time from a directional designation to a sociopolitical construct, temporalized and framed as a vision of the future imbued with notions of progress and modernity. [Citation needed]

See Also

Notes

  • ^ Including Central European countries, the Baltics, and territories of Western European nations geographically situated near the coast of North Africa, such as Madeira and the Canary Islands.
  • ^ Comprising Australia and New Zealand, excluding the Pacific island nations.
  • ^ The status of Latin America as part of the West is undisputed by most researchers and debated by others. [Citation needed]
  • ^ See [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] See [34] [35] [36] [37] [38]
  • ^ See [39] [40] [41] [42]
  • ^ In relation to Rome's central geographic position within the Empire, "West" and "East" denoted provinces situated to the west and east of the capital, respectively. Consequently, Iberia (Portugal and Spain), Gaul (France), the Mediterranean coast of North Africa (Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco), and Britannia were all considered part of the "West." Greece, Cyprus, Anatolia, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, and Libya belonged to the "East." Italy itself was considered central until the reforms of Diocletian, which divided the Empire into distinct Eastern and Western halves. [Citation needed]
  • ^ Portuguese sailors began exploring the coast of Africa and the Atlantic archipelagos in 1418–19, utilizing recent advancements in navigation, cartography, and maritime technology such as the caravel, in their quest to discover a sea route to the source of the lucrative spice trade. [Citation needed] In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias, sponsored by Portugal's John II, rounded the southern tip of Africa, observing that the coast then turned northeast (Cape of Good Hope). [Citation needed] In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on an island in the Bahamas archipelago on behalf of the Spanish crown. Documentation of the Atlantic Ocean's routes led to him being granted a coat of arms by Pope Alexander VI motu proprio in 1502. [Citation needed] With the discovery of the American continent, or 'New World', in 1492–1493, the European colonial Age of Discovery and exploration was initiated. This era revisited an imperialistic perspective, amplified by the invention of firearms, and marked the beginning of the Modern Era. During this extended period, the Catholic Church undertook a significant effort to propagate Christianity in the New World and convert the Native Americans and others. A 'Modern West' emerged from the Late Middle Ages (following the Renaissance and the fall of Constantinople) as a new civilization deeply influenced by the interpretation of Greek thought preserved in the Byzantine Empire and transmitted through Latin translations and the emigration of Greek scholars via Renaissance humanism. (Popular typefaces such as italics were inspired by and designed from transcriptions during this period.) Renaissance architectural works and revivals of Classical and Gothic styles flourished throughout Western colonial empires during this modern period. In 1497, Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama completed the first direct sea voyage from Europe to India. [Citation needed] In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator serving the Crown of Castile ('Spain'), discovered a sea route into the Pacific Ocean.
  • ^ In the 16th century, the Portuguese disrupted the existing (overland) medieval monopoly held by Arabs and Italians on trade (including goods and slaves) between Asia and Europe by discovering the sea route to India around the Cape of Good Hope. [Citation needed] With the subsequent rise of the rival Dutch East India Company, Portuguese influence in Asia gradually waned; Dutch forces first established fortified independent bases in the East and then, between 1640 and 1660, wrested control of several southern Indian ports and the lucrative Japan trade from the Portuguese. Later, the English and the French established settlements in India and engaged in trade with China, gradually surpassing the Dutch in their acquisitions. By 1763, the British had eliminated French influence in India and established the British East India Company as the dominant political force on the Indian subcontinent.
  • ^ The Scramble for Africa refers to the occupation, division, and colonization of African territory by European powers during the period of New Imperialism, between 1881 and 1914. It is also known as the 'Partition of Africa' and, by some, the 'Conquest of Africa'. In 1870, only 10 percent of Africa was under formal Western/European control; by 1914, this had increased to almost 90 percent of the continent, with only the Ethiopian Empire (Abyssinia), the Dervish state (a portion of present-day Somalia), [Citation needed] and Liberia remaining independent.
  • ^ In ancient Greece (8th century BC – AD 6th century), hegemony signified the politico-military dominance of one city-state over others. [Citation needed] The dominant state was known as the hegemon. [Citation needed] [136]

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