Western History: A Turning Point in the History of the World

Western history is one of the most important periods in human history because it gave birth to a new world. Western culture traces its origins back to the Mediterranean and Europe. It is closely associated with ancient Rome, ancient Greece and with Medieval Western Christendomy that emerged from the Middle Ages. Western history also witnessed the rise of many powerful kingdoms such as those of Charlemagne in Western Europe and King Edward I of England who re-established the Carolingian dynasty. Other than this, there were numerous empires including the Turkish, Persian and Russian empires that existed in the Middle East and Europe. These nations ruled over vast parts of the earth.

There was a period known as the dark ages when there was a complete decline in the western civilization. The pinnacle of the western civilization was reached during the fourth and fifth centuries with the development of the Roman Empire. From the fifth century onward, the Roman economy was the first to transform into what we call the Feudal system. Under this system, land was organized into smaller units of farming and pasture, so that there would be an even distribution of wealth. With the development of the middle ages, there was a further progress made by the peoples of Western Europe in their attempts to convert the Roman economic model into that of the Christian religion.

During the Early Middle Ages, there was a dramatic contraction in the west European economy, because of the decline in the productivity of the wheat and barley fields. The result was that there was a relative decrease in population and the West Europeans became increasingly poorer. In the 11th century, the balance started to change again with the growth of the cities of the west europe.

During the Early Middle Ages, the west Europeans were mainly involved in interactions with their neighbors on a defensive as well as an offensive level. At the same time, trade relations were established between various countries. The expansion of the city states was facilitated by the development of the Rhine-Lippe border that separated the German and Roman domains. When the power of the central power waned, the city states were able to expand thanks to the wealth generated by the towns on the river Rhine. As a result of this development, a new political order emerged in the early medieval west europe, which was known as the Frankish realm.

Although the early medieval period had a profound effect on the evolution of the European history, it was the collapse of the Roman economy that triggered the formation of the country states in the west. The Germanic peoples who inhabited the area along the river Rhine brought with them the Indo-European language. This Indo-European language was a result of contact with Greek speaking communities on the Greek Islands and in Italy. Furthermore, the Frisian language was also introduced from the Greek community in the seventh century, because of the close proximity of the western region and its port of Leith.

Apart from the classical period, there is another very important western culture that shaped the world in the modern era. This is the Christian civilization which dominated most of the ancient civilisations in the west. This western culture gave birth to such great men as Charlemagne, Burgundy and similar great figures. The development of the nation state, separation of church and state and the rule of kings and aristocracy all are linked with the development of the western history. No matter if we talk about the dark ages or the golden age, western history has been shaped since the medieval era.