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History of the Western Civilization
History is not a collection of haphazard events, rather a chain of events which have profound
impact on any civilization. “Historians define civilization as a way of life based on agriculture and trade,
with cities containing large buildings for religion and government; technology to produce metals,
textiles, pottery, and other manufactured objects; and knowledge of writing.” (Hunt 4) The pattern
developed by the people of Stone Age still exist such as; the evolution of the hierarchical society and
the invention of agriculture ( Hunt 3). Similarly, the modern western civilization has its roots in ancient
Greek and Roman civilizations. The peoples of different civilizations, ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia,
Romans, created the western civilization by exchanging the ideas and technologies (Hunt 5).
Ideas brought commercial revolution of the Middle Ages and with it came the church
reforms (hunt 314). The beginning of the 15th century European Society was transformed by
the revolutionary changes. For instance, trade, use of money and expanded printing came into
the use. Moving forward, the Renaissance gave way to reason and developed science which
brought the rapid technological advancement, that has profound impact on the whole western
civilization. These advancement open the door to unknown world , and the era of
colonization started with that the Western civilization expanded across the continent.
Europe at home, however, was getting into the menace of religious conflicts, the
movement known as the Reformation. This movement separated the Europe into
protestantism and Roman Catholic Church. This split gave rise to the new wave of secularism
and scientists started doing things which were otherwise considered as heresy in the old days.
Names like Copernicus, Newton and Galileo Galilee changed the viewpoint of the Europeans
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about the universe. Moreover, these advancements did not stop there but continued or rather
intensified during the age of enlightenment.
The age of enlightenment challenged every institution and ideas of past whether it
was church, monarchies or colonial rules. The American Revolution in 1775 is a paramount
example of that changing world. Later, the French Revolution which was stimulated by the
ideas of American Revolution, broke the strong fortresses of hereditary monarchies of the
Europe. From there on, the western civilization created the whole new system of government
based on the ideas of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Voltaire.
The next big moment in the history of western civilization was that of industrial
revolution. Its origin lies in the 18th century Britain, where the steam power boosted the
productivity of mechanical engines. The very steam power used to run trains which decreased
the time to travel from one place to another. Resultantly, the interaction of people increased
and it developed a new pattern of economy. These engines were not only transporting goods
and raw materials, but also new ideas across the Europe.
The spread of ideas across the continent gave rise to a new era of modern
democracies, and also the idea of nation states. The long history of monarchies ended one
after another, and rule of the people, by the people, for the people became a new norm. The
rise of nation states gave birth to nationalism which later led the world into the furies of the
two World Wars. The two World Wars burnt the European civilization in the furnace of
European rulers arrogance and stubbornness. However, this in turn developed a more mature
and rational modern western civilization which gave birth to the age of globalism and
corporation.
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Work Cited
Hunt, Lynn. Making of the West: Peoples and Culture. Fifth ed., BEDFORD BKS ST
MARTIN'S, 2016.
