The peoples of Europe are one of the most interesting and at the same time complex topics in history and cultural studies. Understanding the features of their development, way of life, traditions, culture will help to better understand modern events that occur in this part of the world in various areas of life.
general characteristics
With all the diversity of the population living on the territory of European states, we can say that, in principle, they all went along one common development path. Most of the states formed on the territory of the former Roman Empire, which included vast spaces, from German lands in the west to Gallic regions in the east, from Britain in the north to northern Africa in the south. That is why we can say that all these countries, with all their dissimilarities, nevertheless formed in a single cultural space.
The path of development in the early Middle Ages
The peoples of Europe as nationalities began to take shape as a result of the great migration of tribes that swept the mainland in the 4th-5th centuries. Then, as a result of mass migration flows, a radical transformation of the social structure took place, which existed for centuries during the period of ancient history, and new ethnic communities took shape. In addition, the movement of Germanic tribes, which founded their so-called barbarian states on the lands of the former Roman Empire, also influenced the formation of nationalities. Within their framework, the peoples of Europe have formed approximately in the form in which they exist at the present stage. However, the process of final nationalization came in the period of the mature Middle Ages.
Further folding of states
In the XII-XIII centuries, in many countries of the continent, the process of the formation of national identity began. It was a time when prerequisites were formed for the residents of states to identify and position themselves precisely as a certain national community. Initially, this manifested itself in language and culture. The peoples of Europe began to develop national literary languages, which determined their belonging to a particular ethnic group. In England, for example, this process began very early: already in the 12th century, the famous writer D. Chaucer created his famous Canterbury Tales, which laid the foundation for the national English language.
XV-XVI centuries in the history of Western Europe
The period of the late Middle Ages and early modern times played a decisive role in the formation of states. It was a period of formation of monarchies, the design of the main governing bodies, the formation of economic development paths, and, most importantly, the specificity of the cultural image was formed. In connection with these circumstances, the traditions of the peoples of Europe were very diverse. They were determined by the whole course of the previous development. First of all, the geographical factor affected, as well as the features of the formation of nation-states, which finally took shape in the era under consideration.
New time
The XVII-XVIII centuries is a time of violent upheaval for Western European countries that have experienced a rather difficult period in their history in connection with the transformation of the socio-political, social and cultural environment. We can say that in these centuries the traditions of the peoples of Europe passed the test of strength not only with time, but also with revolutions. In these centuries, states fought for hegemony on the mainland with varying success. The sixteenth century was marked by the dominance of the Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs, the next century under the clear leadership of France, which was facilitated by the fact that absolutism was established here. The eighteenth century shook its position largely due to the revolution, wars, as well as the domestic political crisis.
Expansion of spheres of influence
The next two centuries were marked by major changes in the geopolitical situation in Western Europe. This was due to the fact that some leading states embarked on the path of colonialism. The peoples living in Europe have mastered new territorial spaces, primarily the North, South American and Eastern lands. This significantly influenced the cultural image of European states. First of all, it concerns Great Britain, which created a whole colonial empire that swept almost half the world. This led to the fact that it was the English language and English diplomacy that began to influence European development.
Another event was strongly reflected on the geopolitical map of the mainland - two world wars. The peoples living in Europe were on the verge of destruction as a result of the devastation that had caused her hostilities. Of course, all this affected the fact that it was the West European states that influenced the beginning of the globalization process and the creation of global conflict resolution bodies.
Current state
The culture of the peoples of Europe today is largely determined by the process of erasing national borders. The computerization of society, the rapid development of the Internet, as well as wide migration flows, have posed the problem of erasing national distinctive features. Therefore, the first decade of our century passed under the sign of resolving the issue of preserving the traditional cultural image of ethnic groups and nationalities. Recently, with the expansion of globalization, there has been a tendency to preserve the national identity of countries.
Cultural development
The life of the peoples of Europe is determined by their history, mentality and religion. For all the variety of ways of the cultural appearance of countries, one general feature of development in these states can be distinguished: these are dynamism, practicality, and purposefulness of processes that occurred at different times to science, art, politics, economics, and society in general. It was on the last characteristic feature that the famous philosopher O. Spengler pointed out.
The history of the peoples of Europe is characterized by an early penetration of secular elements into the culture. This determined such a rapid development of painting, sculpture, architecture and literature. The desire for rationalism was inherent in leading European thinkers and scientists, which led to a rapid growth rate of technological advances. In general, the development of culture on the mainland was determined by the early penetration of secular knowledge and rationalism.
Spiritual life
The religions of the peoples of Europe can be divided into two large groups: Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodoxy. The first is one of the most common not only on the mainland, but throughout the world. At first it was dominant in Western European countries, but then, after the Reformation, which took place in the XVI century, Protestantism arose. The latter has several branches: Calvinism, Lutheranism, Puritanism, the Church of England and others. Subsequently, on its basis, separate closed-type communities arose. Orthodoxy is common in Eastern Europe. It was borrowed from neighboring Byzantium, from where it penetrated into Russia.
Linguistics
The languages of the peoples of Europe can be divided into three large groups: Romance, German and Slavic. To the first belong: France, Spain, Italy and others. Their features is that they were formed under the influence of the eastern peoples. In the Middle Ages, these territories were subjected to the invasion of Arabs and Turks, which undoubtedly affected the folding of their speech features. These languages are flexible, sonorous and melodious. No wonder most of the operas are written in Italian, and in general, it is considered to be one of the most musical in the world. These languages are easy enough to understand and learn; however, the grammar and pronunciation of French can cause some difficulties.
The German group includes the languages of the northern, Scandinavian countries. This speech is distinguished by its hard pronunciation and expressive sound. They are more difficult to understand and learn. For example, German is considered one of the most difficult among European languages. Scandinavian speech is also characterized by the complexity of constructing sentences and rather difficult grammar.
The Slavic group is also quite difficult to master. Russian is also considered one of the most difficult to learn. However, it is generally accepted that he is very rich in his lexical composition and semantic expressions. It is believed that it has all the necessary speech means and linguistic turns to transmit the necessary thoughts. It is indicative that it was the European languages that were considered world languages at different times and centuries. For example, at first it was Latin and Greek, which was due to the fact that Western European states, as mentioned above, were formed on the territory of the former Roman Empire, where both were in use. Subsequently, Spanish became very widespread due to the fact that in the 16th century Spain became a leading colonial power, and its language spread to other continents, primarily to South America. In addition, this was due to the fact that the Austro-Spanish Habsburgs were leaders on the mainland.
But subsequently, France took the leading position, which, moreover, also embarked on the path of colonialism. Therefore, the French language has spread to other continents, primarily to North America and North Africa. But already in the 19th century, the British Empire became the dominant colonial state, which determined the main role of the English language throughout the world, which is preserved in ours. In addition, this language is very convenient and easy to communicate, its grammatical structure is not as complex as, for example, that of French, and in connection with the rapid development of the Internet in recent years, English has greatly simplified and become almost conversational. For example, many English words in Russian sound have come into use in our country.
Mentality and Consciousness
Features of the peoples of Europe should be considered in the context of their comparison with the population of the East. This analysis was carried out in the second decade by the famous culturologist O. Spengler. He noted that all European nations are characterized by an active life position, which led to the rapid development in different centuries of technology, technology and industry. It was the latter circumstance that, in his opinion, was determined by the fact that they very quickly embarked on the path of progressive development, began to actively develop new lands, improve production, and so on. A practical approach was the key to the fact that these peoples achieved great results in the modernization of not only economic, but also socio-political life.
The mentality and consciousness of Europeans, according to the same scientist, from time immemorial were aimed not only to study and cognize nature and the reality surrounding them, but also to actively use the results of these achievements in practice. Therefore, the thoughts of Europeans have always been aimed not only at obtaining knowledge in its purest form, but also at using it in transforming nature for its needs and improving the conditions of life. Of course, the above path of development was characteristic of other regions of the world, but it was in Western Europe that it manifested itself with the greatest completeness and expressiveness. Some researchers associate such a business consciousness and practically directed mentality of Europeans with the peculiarities of the geographical conditions of their residence. Indeed, most European countries are small in size, and therefore, to achieve progress, the peoples living in Europe have taken an intensive development path, i.e., due to limited natural resources, they have begun to develop and develop various technologies to improve production.
Country features
The customs of the peoples of Europe are very indicative of an understanding of their mentality and consciousness. They reflect their life values and priorities. Unfortunately, very often in the mass consciousness an image of a nation is formed according to purely external attributes. Thus, labels are applied to a particular country. For example, England is very often associated with stiffness, practicality and exceptional efficiency. The French are often perceived as a cheerful secular and open people, laid-back in communication. Italians or, for example, Spaniards seem to be a very emotional nation with a stormy temperament.
However, the peoples inhabiting Europe have a very rich and complex history, which left a deep imprint on their life traditions and way of life. For example, the fact that the English are considered homebodies (from where the proverb “my house is my fortress” came from) undoubtedly has deep historical roots. When there were fierce internecine wars in the country, it seems that the idea was formed that the fortress or castle of some feudal lord was a reliable defense. The British, for example, have another interesting custom that also dates back to the Middle Ages: in the process of parliamentary elections, the victorious candidate literally makes his way to his place, which is a kind of reference to the time when there was a fierce parliamentary struggle. Also, the custom of sitting on a bag of wool has still been preserved, since it was the textile industry that gave impetus to the rapid development of capitalism in the 16th century.
The French still have a tradition of striving to express their national identity especially expressively. This is due to their turbulent history, especially in the 18th century, when the country survived the revolution, the Napoleonic wars. During these events, the people especially acutely felt their national identity. The expression of pride in one's homeland is also a long-standing custom of the French, which is manifested, for example, in the performance of the Marseillaise today.
