What made you turn to the idea of gunpowder technology as an explanation? The impact of modernization and individualization can be clearly seen in the lifestyles of people. They vary from culture to language, religion, and even government systems. Western European countries differ from each other in terms of their history, languages, religions, and political systems. When its easier to travel and grow food, its easier to sell the food at a greater. Eastern Europe Lives And Breathes History. This One Major Factor Makes Germany Richer Than Italy. Almost all the Muslims who live in Eastern Europe belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. Also, the people in Romania speak a language with romance roots, which is called the Romanian language. The four major religions in Eastern Europe are the Eastern Orthodox faith, Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism. There are many possible explanations for why history played out this way, but few can explain why the West was so powerful for so long. Roman Catholicism - Roman Catholicism is the largest branch of Christianity on Earth. 1. Most of the people who live here speak a Slavic language and belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church. Although they may be connected by us all being human beings, there is a lot that separates us as well. Live Longer: Western Europeans live longer than eastern Europeans.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,100],'questionscity_com-large-mobile-banner-2','ezslot_4',117,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-questionscity_com-large-mobile-banner-2-0'); Smaller House: Eastern Europeans live in smaller houses or apartments compared to western Europeans. Many of those that survived, emigrated to Israel or the US. What can we learn from the differences between Eastern and Western Europe? Very hard for a country to be doing well after all those struggles. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except for material where copyright is reserved by a party other than FEE. Christianity History & Location | How Did Christianity Spread? However, people in both areas work hard with about 40 hours per week spent working (the same amount). More specifically, the Eastern orthodox Church is the branch of Christianity with the largest number of adherents in this region. And, by extension, for the entire global West. Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. By the way, the economy in some eastern European countries (Poland, Romania and Hungary) is relatively close to the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese or Scandinavian countries economy. The governments report points to several possible factors for the worse economic conditions in East Germany, including the lack of major companies headquartered there. Less Diverse: Eastern European countries are less diverse. Explore Eastern Europe. While the Soviet Union was once considered to be the most important country in Eastern Europe, many ex-Soviet nations are, in fact, not even in Europe. Also, the people follow many religions such as Orthodox Christianityand also Islam. Im simply making the modest yet important argument that Europeans would be more prosperous if the fiscal burden of government wasnt so onerous. Example: You could draw a long river to illustrate the blue Danube. And while 7.5% of East Germans ages 55 to 64 were unemployed in 2018, the share was 5.3% among West Germans in the same age range. The Polish Lithuanian commonwealth was extremely powerful and wealthy by controling the rivers and by extension farmland and trade between Baltic and Black Seas. If you think about it, you realize that advancements in gunpowder technologywhich are important for conquestarise where political leaders fight using that technology, where they spend huge sums on it, and where they're able to share the resulting advances in that technology. Western European countries are generally considered to include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland (Republic of), Italy(although it could also be grouped with Central/Eastern European nations), Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It shows that in between the two waves, the east relaxed its measures further than the west, and was then less eager in reimposing them. However, the South Slavs themselves didn't have it easy, being subjugated by Franks, Bulgars and Byzantines, and later Magyars, Ottomans, Romanians, Austrians, Soviets, etc. Therefore, there are a lot of contradictions in this country. | Themes of Geography: Examples, 6th Grade Life Science: Enrichment Program, 7th Grade Life Science: Enrichment Program, 8th Grade Life Science: Enrichment Program, NY Regents Exam - Global History and Geography: Help and Review, NY Regents Exam - Global History and Geography: Tutoring Solution, Introduction to Political Science: Help and Review, Introduction to Political Science: Tutoring Solution, Intro to Criminal Justice: Help and Review, Introduction to Criminal Justice Syllabus Resource & Lesson Plans, Common Core History & Social Studies Grades 11-12: Literacy Standards, Instructional Strategies for Teachers: Help & Review, OSAT Psychology/Sociology (CEOE) (032): Practice & Study Guide, NMTA Social Science (303): Practice & Study Guide, Create an account to start this course today. Eastern Europe: Eastern Europe is comparatively less advanced regarding the economy. Even in countries where governments reintroduced relatively strong restrictions in October, such as Slovenia and Lithuania, infections and deaths have remained high throughout November suggesting low compliance with the rules. You also have more free time to learn other skills and trades. Eat: Eastern Europeans eat a lot of meat and potatoes while western Europeans eat more fruits and vegetables. Eastern Europe was praised for being exceptional during the first wave of the pandemic. The longest river in the region is the Danube. Although they may seem like completely different worlds at first glance, there are some striking similarities between eastern and western European countries that can help travelers decide where to go on vacation or which country to live in after college graduation. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. Daily new COVID-19 deaths per million inhabitants, eastern and western Europe. 1. All rights reserved. Learn what is considered Eastern European, view a list of Eastern European countries and discover Eastern Europe religions. the Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Turkey (western-most part). It was politically weak, it was poor, and the major long-distance commerce was a slave trade led by Vikings. As its name suggests, Eastern Europe is the eastern part of the European continent. @media (max-width: 1171px) { .sidead300 { margin-left: -20px; } } Hungarian is a Finno-Ugric language that is distantly related to Finnish and Estonian. These are the countries that are in Eastern Europe: Russia (Partly in Asia). 2 2. Create a poster, chart, or some other type of graphic organizer that lists and provides statistics for the religions of Eastern Europe. For that to happen, the countries have to be small and close to one another. Additionally, some definitions include Greece as part of Eastern Europe, while others maintain that Greece is, in fact, part of Southern Europe. In 1991, per-capita productivity in the former East was less than half (43%) of productivity in the former West. Adjusting for population size, both cases and deaths were substantially lower in the east, as shown in this comparison of the COVID-19 death rate in the two regions. In this region may Catholics and Protestant Christians can be seen. spidey1z. Richer not only than Europe, but even more prosperous than the United States. Our World in Data COVID-19 Dataset. Western Europe: United Kingdom, Norway, Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Vatican City, Netherlands, Sweden, Malta, Italy, Iceland, Germany, Greece, Finland are some examples for countries that belong to Western Europe. Romanian is a romance language. This is why Eastern Europe, in general, is poorer than countries in Western, Central, and Northern Europe. This button displays the currently selected search type. Daily new COVID-19 deaths per million inhabitants, second wave, eastern Europe. From the Eiffel Tower in Paris to The Great Wall Of China, these landmarks are instantly recognizable and attract millions of visitors each year. Please, enable JavaScript and reload the page to enjoy our modern features. Most of the major periods in European history (Middle Ages, Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment), also affected Eastern Europe. Those improvements can help at times when wars are necessaryfor instance, when we are fighting against enemies with whom we cannot negotiate. Youll get a better idea of how different cultures influence one another and why its difficult to generalize about either region. It also includes some of the Balkan nations. It is followed by a brief description of the four major religions in the region. Eastern Europe is home to a number of mountain ranges, including the Musala, the region's tallest mountain. Although Europe represents only about 8 percent of the planet's landmass, from 1492 to 1914, Europeans conquered or colonized more than 80 percent of the entire world. All countries in the region have seen significant increases in cases and deaths. Eastern Orthodox - The Eastern Orthodox Faith is a branch of Christianity that formed in 1054 AD, when the Byzantine Empire officially broke away from the Roman Catholic Church. You'll still need to back up the peace with armed forces, but you won't actually fight all that much, and that's a much better outcome. Example: 1.56% of Eastern Europeans are atheist. You want areas that produce finished products that are part of external trade systems. Please do not edit the piece, ensure that you attribute the author and mention that this article was originally published on FEE.org, Living Standards Are Markedly Higher in the United States, are doomed bydemographics tofiscal chaos, America should copy their expansive welfare states. 9. | Thomas Sowell. 2023 Sowell.org. The standard of living of the population until the mid 19th century was about the same. Eastern Europe: People speak languages with Slavic roots. The Western Roman Empire was poorer. The Byzantium empire which included the Balkans, and Greece were the richest part of Europe prior to Ottoman conquest. Caltech's Philip Hoffman, the Rea A. and Lela G. Axline Professor of Business Economics and professor of history, has a new explanation: the advancement of gunpowder technology. Before that point, Western and Eastern Europe were relatively similar in prosperity. Today, both Judaism and the Yiddish language are scarce in this part of the world. Serbia was especially rich in mineral wealth and with trade from Adriatic to Aegean during the Middle Ages. Among people ages 15 to 24, for example, the average unemployment rate in the former East Germany was 7.7% in 2018, compared with 4.1% in the former West. But something like the smallpox epidemic that ravaged Mexico when the Spanish conquistador Hernn Corts overthrew the Aztec Empire just isn't the whole story of Corts's victory or of Europe's successful colonization of other parts of the world. Many scholars believe that Moldovan is simply a dialect of Romanian, while others believe it is a separate language. South Asian Countries | Religion, Culture & Countries List. An error occurred trying to load this video. Central American Countries & Facts | People, Tribes & Culture of Central America, Central America Geography | Map, Physical Features & Examples, Physical & Human Features of Europe | Mapping the Features of Europe, Comparing Life in Different Locations in Europe, Latin America | Population, Ethnic Groups & Demographics, Physical Features of Russia & Central Asia | Map, Characteristics & Geography, Where is Latin America? Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7s6piXiFK-TaMDsKM4I7IS7iaNiyONEM, How Geography Shaped Africa | Thomas Sowell, Why Cultures Are So Different? 525 lessons. 1615 L St. NW, Suite 800Washington, DC 20036USA The tendency to ignore Eastern Europe in favour of Western Europe is a holdover from the Cold War. For example, how did states get the ability to impose heavy taxes? 8. The most widely-spoken Slavic language is Russian. why is eastern europe poorer than western europe? If, for some reason, somebody was holding a gun to my head and demanding that we copy the policies of a nation from the European Union,the Nordic countries would be among my top choices. I've looked at changes in technology that influence agriculture, and I've studied the development of financial markets, and in between those two, I was also studying why financial crises occur. One big factor that's important to the advancement of any defense technology is how much money a political leader can spend. 7. Make a list of at least fifteen countries that are part of Eastern Europe. This is an excerpt from 'The Thomas Sowell Reader'-----------------------------------Relevant Books-----------------------------------Wealth, Poverty and Politics: https://amzn.to/3BHrsJrMigrations and Cultures: https://amzn.to/32rBemhThe Thomas Sowell Reader: https://amzn.to/3vpTuqR-------------------------------------------Support this Channel--------------------------------------------Become a Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS67C1ChLicLkrp70mz7G7g/joinPayPal: https://paypal.me/SowellExplainsPateron: https://www.patreon.com/SowellExplainsSubscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/SowellExplains------------------------------------------Social Media------------------------------------------Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SowellExplainsTwitter: https://twitter.com/SowellExplainsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/SowellExplainsSubscribe for more Thomas Sowell videos! Hong Kong and Singapore, for instance, used to be poor jurisdictions. Paris was this little walled fortress town, and Constantinople was so large it needed its own governor. 9. 4. Conclusion paragraph: The differences between Eastern and Western Europe are vast, but there is one important similarity. The difference is so stark that Eastern Europe is sometime not even counted as "Western Civilization." Communism explains some of it more recently, but it doesn't explain why it was also true in the medieval and ancient times. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Although Europe represents only about 8 percent of the planet's landmass, from 1492 to 1914, Europeans conquered or colonized more than 80 percent of the entire world. The way to think of Europe is that it is a big collection of peninsulas jutting out from Asia. Here, we take a look at why this has happened. People speak languages with Slavic roots. When it's easier to travel and grow food, it's easier to sell the food at a greater. The reformation gave way to more literacy, the Protestant work ethic, which resulted in rapid advances in the sciences and technology. Electoral politics could explain the reluctance of the two countries to enter another lockdown with politicians seeing it as an unpopular measure that would also delay elections. Coming from Engineering cum Human Resource Development background, has over 10 years experience in content developmet and management. You can designate these countries on your list with an asterisk or "s" in parentheses next to them. Make sure to familiarize yourself with our rules and guidelines before participating. Eastern Europe: Most people follow Orthodox Christianity or Islam. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. Despite substantial improvements in recent decades, the former East Germany continues to trail the former West Germany on important economic measures ranging from unemployment to productivity, according to an annual German government report on the status of German unity. (The most recent version of the report, from September, is available here in German. Here is a look at how economic conditions in the former East and West Germany have changed over time, how they compare today and how people in the two areas perceive these differences. Most of the Jews who live in the United States are the descendants of people who once lived in Eastern Europe. Cross-posted from the International Libertyblog. Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms. Or, that when Europeans began to travel the world, people in other countries did not have the immunity to fight off the diseases they brought with them. The key difference between Western and Eastern Europe is that the name Eastern Europe is used to refer to all European countries that were previously ruled by communist regimes while the name Western Europe refers to the more economically stable and developed Western countries. What led you to investigate the global conquests of western Europe? Cases and deaths have not been spread evenly across the region. So now I wonder why India, which is by the ocean, has a warm climate, natural wealth, and at the same time is much poorer than those poor Eastern European countries? Also the Danube is a big invasion route from the Black Sea to Germany. In the very successful countries, the leaders could impose very heavy taxes and spend huge sums on war. Because at close to the end of WWII Stalin was fed up waiting for the ever delaying Normandy landing, wanted making peace with Hitler, and go home to carry on building communism. Press J to jump to the feed. Answer (1 of 7): The time lapse. For example, if I am fighting you and you figure out a better way to build an armed ship, I can imitate you. I'd given it to him because the use of this technology is related to politics and fiscal systems and taxes, and as he was reading it, he noted that the book did not give the ultimate cause of why Europe in particular was so successful. Being dominated for centuries has led to lingering inequality and long-lasting effects in many formerly colonized . One explanation might be that these countries are victims of their own success. The countries in western Europe have a more individualistic culture, with people caring about their success. Mark Perry of the American Enterprise Institute has put together some apples-to-apples data suggesting the answer is no. Personally, I would much rather see expenditures devoted to infrastructure, or scientific research, or free preschool for everybodythings that would carry big economic benefitsbut in this world, I don't think you can stop doing military research or spending money on the military. Eastern Europe has a total population of about 258 million people. Your email address will not be published. However "poverty" refers only to the revenues of States and the level of economic development. The main differences are the recognition of the pope as the head of the church, and the fact that priests in the Eastern orthodox faith are allowed to marry. Required fields are marked *. Living Standard: Western Europe has higher standards of living than eastern European countries. Its a sign of American prosperity that we can afford to buy more from other nations than they can afford to buy from us. From the Reformation to the 20th century. The Western European region is very much advanced in its economy. It severely inhibited political and economic development. Psychological Research & Experimental Design, All Teacher Certification Test Prep Courses, Global Temperature Patterns & The Atmosphere, Atmospheric Moisture, Precipitation & Clouds, Origin and Migrations of Humans and Culture, The Impact of Geography on Language & Culture, The Global Distribution & Characteristics of Soil, Ethical and Political Processes of the Environment, Geography of the Caribbean & Central & South America, Mapping the Physical & Human Characteristics of Europe, Major Landforms in Europe's Different Regions, Geographic Influences on European Migration Patterns, The Creation of Boundaries & Political Divisions in Europe, Influence of Geographic Factors on Politics in Europe, Impact of Resources on the Movement of Products, Capital & People in Europe, Major Climates in Europe's Different Regions, The Distribution of Plants & Animals in Europe, Geography of Australia & the Pacific Islands, Sociology for Teachers: Professional Development, Gerontology for Teachers: Professional Development, UExcel Introduction to Sociology: Study Guide & Test Prep, General Anthropology for Teachers: Professional Development, Counseling Fundamentals for Teachers: Professional Development, American Government Syllabus Resource & Lesson Plans, Foundations of Education Syllabus Resource & Lesson Plans, 10th Grade English Curriculum Resource & Lesson Plans, Intro to Political Science Syllabus Resource & Lesson Plans, Frankfurt School: Critical Theory & Philosophy, Conscientious Objector: Definition & Status, What is Libertarianism? When we turn to the second wave (starting around September and ongoing), were faced with the opposite question: why did eastern European countries not act in spite of rapidly rising infections and deaths? Western Europe is a major tourist attraction with over 100 million visitors per year. Austria-Hungary is partially to blame. Some of the economic activity in energy-rich states such as North Dakota, for instance, translates into income for shareholders living elsewhere in America. My idea incorporates the model of a contest or a tournament where your odds of winning are higher if you spend more resources on fighting. Transport, accommodation and food tend to take a smaller bite out of your wallet, without compromising on history, culture, and experience. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. This is why Eastern Europe, in general, is poorer than countries in Western, Central, and Northern Europe. Most of Eastern Europe was not touched by any Ancient advanced civilisation, either - they had to develop their own, except for the South Slavs. There are some exceptions, however. A long line of horse-lords swept west from the steppe into eastern europe, and would generally displace the tribes living there - all the way up to the Mongols. 50 Mississippi. | Thomas Sowell. But exploring Soviet-era Eastern Europe is not even half the story. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax While each country in Western Europe has its unique landscapes, cultures, and traditions, all share a common history that can be traced back thousands of years ago when Rome was at its height.