Midterm 1 Flashcards
Where is Eastern Europe?
The region is east of Germany, west of Russia, south of Sweden, and north of Greece
What is Eastern Europe?
It is defined as a cultural concept that represents the opposite of Western Europe, meaning less modernizes and less developed
Why is it so difficult to define?
Eastern Europe was often a synonym of the Eastern Bloc in terms of communist. However, this was not applicable to the whole region since some countries like Yugoslavia and Albania were not part of the Warsaw Act and therefore, there was a lot of variation within the Eastern Bloc
The Roman Period
During this time, there was a development of trade routes [“Amber road”], growth of large settlements along the trade routes, and left its Latin-based language [Romanian]
What happened after the dissolution of the Roman Empire?
The Eastern part became known as the Byzantine Empire and the Western part fell later on after being invaded by the Barbarians
Who took the Byzantine Empire out of power?
Ottoman Turks and after, they renamed the capital of Constantinople as Istanbul
The Dark Ages are considered…
a period of civilization decline
What happened during the Early Medieval Kingdoms?
State formations began, both the Roman and Byzantine forms of Christianity began to spread, trade was revived, in the West kingship emerged but states were weak and had limited trade capacity.
What does kingship refer to?
The king is known as “master” in political sense but “subject” of the Pope in religious matters. This started the idea of limits on political power
What is the “steppe theory [Kurgan Hypothesis] ?”
It argues that the origin of Indo-European peoples can be traced to the area north of the Black Sea, where the horse was first domesticates and where inventions such as the two-wheeled cart and the fourth-wheeled wagon led to a revolution in human mobility. These inventions eventually reached the east, influencing the first state-based civilizations from Mesopotamia to Egypt.
What is the idea of cultural crossroads?
Eastern Europe has often found itself being influenced from the west, east, and south in realms of politics, religion, economic and social relationships, technology, art, etc.
What does it mean to be caught between empires?
Much of the region of Europe has become vulnerable to invasion and conquest since it has no natural defensive boundaries.
Organizations of Political Power from least to most developed
triple, chiefdom, state, and empire
When discussing being caught between empires, what powers were in the west?
Germanic Empire, Roman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and the Habsburg Dynasty
When discussing being caught between empires, what powers were in the south?
Byzantium, Ottoman Empire, and Republic of Turkey
When discussing being caught between empires, what powers were in the east?
Muscovy, Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and Russian Federation
Why did the Scandinavians expand to Eastern Europe?
wanted to establish trade routes
How did the transition from chiefdom to statehood come about in Poland?
It occurred as a combination of the chieftain marrying into European royal family and his baptism which represent conversion to Christianity
Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania
it was, at its time, the largest state in Europe and consisted of Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, and Estonia
What was required to be part of the noble class?
Had to be Christian or be willing to convert
Khmelnytsky Uprising
leaders of the Cossacks rebelled against Polish-Lithuanian rule
What kind of political power did Poland-Lithuania have?
noble republic but this resulted in a weak state and having it be conquered by monarchies
Why was serfdom less burdensome?
For nobles, status mattered more than profiting off of human labor and agricultural commerce was not there yet
Who began Europe’s first Protestant Reformation and what did it lead to?
Jan Hus and it led to the Hussite Wars
Hussite Wars
marked the beginning of a divide between German-speaking Catholics and Czech-speaking Protestants
Thirty Years’ War
began in Bohemia as Czech/Protestant nobles attempted to free themselves from domination of German/Catholic Habsburg’s. In the Battle of White Mountain, the Habsburg’s defeat the Czech nobles and confiscate their lands, wealth, and power. Resentment led to the War.
Bourgeoisie Class
new social class that emerged from trade and industry on entrepreneurship rather than land ownership
Who created the Bohemian-Moravian kingdom?
St. Wenceslaus
How did Hungary emerge?
after King Stephen accepted Christianity
What is the “Golden Bull?”
Hungary’s own Magna Carta which marked the beginning of limited monarchy and the power shifted from the crown to the landowning nobility
Battle of Mohacs
Ottoman army defeats the Hungarians which leads to most of Hungary falling under Ottoman rule but some Hungarian autonomy is kept in Transylvania
What is the difference between Habsburg’s invasion of Czech lands and Hungary?
In Hungary, they did not destroy the native noble class
What is an agrarian economy?
low innovation and low productivity and reliance on serfdom
What impact did the Treaty of Trianon have on Hungary?
Hungary gained its independence but lost 2/3 of its land as punishment for fighting on the side of Germany
Bulgaria was weakened by ______ and controlled by ________
- Mongols and 2. Ottoman Turks
What was the importance of the Battle of Kosovo?
Serb prince was killed by Turks, marking the fall of medieval Serbia and followed by Ottoman rule
What was the effect of the Russo-Turkish war?
Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania gain independence
What was the intention behind Mongol rule?
they wanted to extract tribute from local princes who still remained in charge
Romanov Dynasty imposed…
a rise political autocracy, reduced rights and privileges for the nobility, and orthodox church becomes part of state bureaucracy
Bolshevik Revolution led to…
the fall of the Romanov dynasty
What is the concept of backwardness?
Religion in the Center of Europe was
a combination of western and eastern influences
Religion in the South of Europe was
a combination of Byzantine and Ottoman influences
What is a similarity between the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires?
Both did not develop the tradition of separating sacred and secular realms of authority
How do the east and the west of Europe differ in terms of religion?
In the East, most people were Orthodox Christians who inherited tradition from the Byzantine Empire that the emperor was also the head of the church, meaning that there were no limits on political power and there was patrimonial absolutism. On the other hand, Western Europe was predominantly Catholic or Protestant Christians. They believed that the religious authority rested in the church and secular authority rested in the king or emperor and this led to the principle of “limited government”
How do the east and the west of Europe differ in their approach of feudalism?
In the West, feudalism developed into a system of mutual obligation between the lord and the peasant which created a culture of “contract” between landowners and peasants, instilling the idea of legally enforceable rights and freedoms meaning that the state and its rulers were also subject to law. This created the principle of “law-governed state.” On the other hand, the East focused on “service nobility” (noble status depended on service to the state and the good will of the monarch) and made nobles not feel secure in the property, making them feel no reciprocal obligation to the peasantry, therefore, feudalism did not have any positive consequences for the development of rights and freedoms.
