Since there is no exact definition of Eastern Europe, be sure your list includes countries that are sometimes included as part of Eastern Europe. What made you turn to the idea of gunpowder technology as an explanation? Some of the economic activity in energy-rich states such as North Dakota, for instance, translates into income for shareholders living elsewhere in America. Being dominated for centuries has led to lingering inequality and long-lasting effects in many formerly colonized . Why Did Western Europe Dominate the Globe? Greece is in Eastern Europe. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. The former East Germany trails the former West in productivity. 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.
Additionally, some definitions include Greece as part of Eastern Europe, while others maintain that Greece is, in fact, part of Southern Europe. The continent of Europe can be divided into two regions as the western and eastern Europe. Its language is related to Italian, Spanish, and French, making the Romanians the only Latin people in Eastern Europe. An error occurred trying to load this video. It severely inhibited political and economic development. And all of this describes Europe. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. If we look at the stringency of control measures, we can also see that not all countries acted in the same way. Eastern Europes pandemic experience has been dramatically different this autumn. One thing is clear: eastern Europe exited the first wave at the end of June in much better shape than western Europe. Tamara Popic and Alexandru D Moise are collaborators on the project "Responding to COVID-19: Government Action, Government Rhetoric, and Public Trust", which is funded by the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence. Islam - Islam came to Eastern Europe via the Ottoman Empire. Fox News' Tucker Carlson asks what Attorney General Merrick Garland is doing in Ukraine, and wonders why no one cares about what happened to the Nordstream pipeline. The Western Roman Empire was poorer. 10. 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. One of the reasons for this, was that after WW II, parts of what were once considered to be Central and Western Europe, were taken over by a communist dictatorships aligned with the Soviet Union, and were classified as being part of Eastern Europe. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. Daily new COVID-19 deaths per million inhabitants, eastern and western Europe. So, I put together an economic model of how this technology has advanced to come up with what I think is the real reason why the West conquered almost everyone else. QuotidianPain 2 yr. ago I don't think Atlantic trade is the sole reason though. In the early 2000s, the unemployment rate was about 10 percentage points higher in the former East than in the former West nearly five times the gap in 2018. 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. I don't discount Mr Sowell's argument, I would add a major game changer was between the eastern and the western doctrine of the Trinity. You can think of that as being much like a baseball team that hires better players to win more games, but in this case, instead of coaches, it's political leaders and instead of games there are wars. Which is mostly Southern Europe and Anatolia (under the Macedonian dynasty at least). Continue with Recommended Cookies. 4. The spending on war gave leaders a chance to try out new weapons, new armed ships, and new tactics, and to learn from mistakes on the battlefield. Importantly, however, there have been major differences within eastern Europe too. Countries in this region are typically located on the continent of Asia, except for Turkey which lies partly in both Asia and Europe. Its fascinating how different these two worlds are, but it also shows us that we should not be afraid to embrace our unique qualities as individuals or communities if they lead to sustainable growth and innovationsomething both regions could stand for! It's just fascinating. For example, how did states get the ability to impose heavy taxes? Some argued that this was because of economics: that eastern European countries locked down early because they feared their economies would . 7. Well, Eastern Europe has always been less developed than the Western half. Be sure to note on your list which countries these cities are found in. That percentage has changed little in recent years, but is far higher than in 1991, when per-capita disposable income in the former East was only 61% of that in the former West. What can we learn from the differences between Eastern and Western Europe? Yellow areas poorer than Mexico. In other words, the few dark areas (a handful in Germany and one each in a few other nations) are the only parts of Europe that are economically equal or better thanthe United States. This is a problem in an age of common migration because the educated and talented are migrating from Eastern to Western Europe. Most people in western Europe speak at least two languages, one of which will be English. 6. 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. Between these two regions, a myriad of differences can be viewed regarding the geographical location, culture, economy, etc. Its a sign of American prosperity that we can afford to buy more from other nations than they can afford to buy from us. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7s6piXiFK-TaMDsKM4I7IS7iaNiyONEM, How Geography Shaped Africa | Thomas Sowell, Why Cultures Are So Different? However, Poles, Croats, and other Catholic Slavs use the Latin alphabet (the same alphabet used by English). One lesson the book teaches is that actions involving war, foreign policy, and military spending can have big, long-lasting consequences: this is a lesson that policy makers should never forget. Why did Eastern Europe lag behind Western Europe in terms of economic development? The largest country by area in eastern Europe is Russia with 677 thousand square miles. People in the former East Germany are also less optimistic than their counterparts in the former West on a variety of measures, including whether children today will grow up to be better off financially than their parents. It seems that at least some countries in the region have learned their lessons. A third of all languages spoken in western Europe are indigenous and not derived from Latin or Greek. Here is an Eastern Europe countries list that can help discern what is considered Eastern European territory, and what countries are considered Eastern European: Note: The Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) are also sometimes considered to be part of Eastern Europe by some, but part of Northern Europe by others. Generally speaking, Slavic languages that use the Cyrillic alphabet are found in countries that practice the Eastern Orthodox faith. September 01, 2015. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. Monotheism Overview & Examples | What is Monotheistic Religion? Muslims are a minority in most parts of Europe. Belgiums King Philippe is also Queen Mathildes husband. However, over the past 20 years, most of the nations of Eastern Europe have joined the . None of this suggests that policy in America is ideal (it isnt) or that European nations are failures (they still rank among the wealthiest places on the planet). I mean, as a Brit, I can see how our island had the best of it regarding no land border and access to the sea! Of course not. [CC BY-SA 3.0] via Commons, Filed Under: Countries Tagged With: Eastern bloc, Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe characteristics, Eastern Europe definition, Soviet bloc, Western and Eastern Europe compare, Western Europe, Western Europe characteristics, Western Europe definition, Western vs Eastern Europe. 7. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, which spans roughly 40% of the continent's landmass while accounting for approximately 15% of its total . David has taught Honors Physics, AP Physics, IB Physics and general science courses. Despite these differences, the former East has narrowed the . There are over 500 different languages spoken in the region of eastern Europe. Despite these differences, the former East has narrowed the gap with the former West substantially in recent decades. 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 Eastern Europeans developed their "taste" to the Western ways of life during the communist era around the 1970's 80's, based on stereotypes in films or on the rare visits Clean streets, orderly suburbs, homogenous (mainly white) population, comfortable life,. The fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago this week brought far-reaching social and economic changes to communist East Germany, and people on both sides of the former barrier say the changes that have occurred since 1989 have had a positive influence on living standards in their country, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. A thousand years ago, no one would have ever expected that result, for at that point western Europe was hopelessly backward. Explore Eastern Europe. This is Part 6 of an 8-Part series on Geography and Culture. So that's not the answerit's something else. He has a Masters in Education, and a Bachelors in Physics. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. This is perhaps one reason why startup teams in Western Europe are much smaller than in Eastern Europe. 10. Along with the inventions of the industrial revolution, countries have been able to gain a high economic development rate. One final comment. Around three-quarters of people in the former East Germany (74%) and around two-thirds of those in the former West (66%) say the East still has not achieved the same living standards as the West, according to the Centers recent survey, which was conducted among representative samples of adults in both areas as part of a larger study of Europe. Then you can bargain with your enemies to divvy up whatever you disagree about and you can have something like peace. I've been to EE and could see a significant difference in the living standards between there and here in Germany: people tend to be thinner, have worse skin, worse styles and their own supermarkets are shit. Gunpowder was really important for conquering territory; it allows a small number of people to exercise a lot of influence. Neighbouring Slovakia, on the other hand, imposed stricter measures despite having far fewer cases and deaths. During the cold war period, this region was referred to as the Eastern bloc or else the Soviet bloc. 8. Well, it depends on the parameters. Im simply making the modest yet important argument that Europeans would be more prosperous if the fiscal burden of government wasnt so onerous. Western Europe: Western Europe is economically more advanced as well as prosperous. You can refer to the lesson, but try to recall as many from memory as you can. When you go back that far, you need to use to use a proxy for human capital. The political dominance of western Europe was an unexpected outcome and had really big consequences, so I thought: let's explain it. Cases and deaths have not been spread evenly across the region. However, if we look back at the death rates of the two regions in the graph above, its clear that eastern European countries introduced restrictions when experiencing far fewer cases and deaths. 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. Therefore, there are a lot of contradictions in this country. Romania is probably the most unusual country in this region. - Quora Answer (1 of 107): If you had a world atlas in 1350, you'd see an apocalyptic wasteland where Western Europe is now. But Im digressing. /r/History is a place for discussions about history. 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. You also have more free time to learn other skills and trades. Also, the people follow many religions such as Orthodox Christianityand also Islam. wu tang clan concert 2021; beauty and the beast symbolic interactionism These are the countries that are in Eastern Europe: Russia (Partly in Asia). Lets get back to whether people in places such as Denmark (or anywhere else in Europe) enjoy more prosperity than their American counterparts. 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. At least if the goal is more economic output and higher living standards. What kinds of factors are included in this model? Summary: Despite all of the above, Eastern Europe is still not a poor region. The book also reminds us that in a world where there are hostile powers, we really don't want to get rid of spending on improving military technology. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Make sure to familiarize yourself with our rules and guidelines before participating. The head of the Orthodox faith is the Patriarch of Constantinople. Slovenia is the latest country in eastern Europe to carry out extensive tests in an effort to prove that multinational companies have been fobbing off eastern consumers with poorer-quality . It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. In the former East, 42% of adults say the next generation will be better off, compared with 50% in the West who say this. Eastern Europe: Eastern Europe is comparatively less advanced regarding the economy. 1. This has helped them recover from the damage done during their communist past. They mostly had industry in the western part of the empire while the east was sparsely populated, large parts of the population were seen as unreliable (= suspected tsar sympathisers) and it was expected that the most eastern parts would get ruined by the next war with Russia so there wasn't much work to improve anything. One big factor that's important to the advancement of any defense technology is how much money a political leader can spend. Make a list of at least fifteen countries that are part of Eastern Europe. Almost all the Muslims who live in Eastern Europe belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. We can also compare how restrictive the two regions disease-prevention measures were during the first wave using the Oxford COVID-19 government response tracker (OxCGRT). From West to East the climate, becoming more severe (in Siberia - almost impossible for an agricultural civilization) because decrease in influence of the Gulf stream. 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.
Turkish belongs to the Turkic language family. The capital of Romania is Bucharest, a city with approximately 1.8 million people. and I thought it was because they just freed themselves from communism a few decades ago. That being said, Ireland and the United Kingdom have the most economic freedom among EU nations, andSwitzerland would be at the top if the choice was broadened to non-EU nations in Europe. About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'questionscity_com-banner-1','ezslot_10',113,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-questionscity_com-banner-1-0'); Western Europe has been characterized by its diversity as well as its commitment to democracy and human rights. Most European countries (including Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium) if they joined the US, would rank among the poorest one-third of US states on a per-capita GDP basis, and the UK, France, Japan and New Zealand would all rank among Americas very poorest states, below No. Make a list of at least seven of the largest cities in Eastern Europe. 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? There's a brain drain. Love Sowell. They are languages that descend from Latin, the language of the Romans. It's also a sign of prosperity that, when they do earn American dollars, foreigners often choose to invest those funds in the American economy (remember, the necessary flip side of a "trade deficit" is a "capital surplus"). Required fields are marked *. The Mongols ravaged and destroyed the entirety of the Rus' land for centuries while making the Rus' their slaves. Today, not a single east German company is listed on the DAX-30, the nations leading stock exchange index, the report notes. Why is the Eastern Europe Poorer than the Western Europe?There are many reasons, the main ones are : location (Western Europe discovered new lands, Eastern Europe faced nomads), religion, the ottomans and the communism. 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. Dude, the question literally asks if eastern Europe was always poorer than western europe. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. Americans are not stupid, and when they complain about Europe, they are complaining about Western Europeans who are richer than Eastern neighbors yet less attentive to their own needs. Using GDP per capita as a measure of both economic output per person and of a countrys standard of living, America is winning quite handsomely. They were part of large empires, such as the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian empires. Less Diverse: Eastern European countries are less diverse. Create your account. For this reason, the economic situation is not uniform across the region. Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. Press J to jump to the feed. This is interesting because it shows that the wealth divide between Eastern and Western Europe existed long before the modern era. An important factor was also the raids of nomads from the steppes, ravaged Eastern Europe. Albanian forms its own branch of the Indo-European language family. Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms. Cross-posted from the International Libertyblog. The countries in western Europe have a more individualistic culture, with people caring about their success. The economy is comparatively lower and less stable than in Western Europe. I feel like its a lifeline. The four major religions in Eastern Europe are the Eastern Orthodox faith, Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism. This is a somewhat more serious subreddit compared to many others. 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. Also the Danube is a big invasion route from the Black Sea to Germany. 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). Stringency of COVID-19 restrictions, second wave, eastern Europe. The Western European region is very much advanced in its economy. Unofficial site of Thomas Sowell, Why is Eastern Europe Poorer than Western Europe? Those improvements can help at times when wars are necessaryfor instance, when we are fighting against enemies with whom we cannot negotiate. Most of the Jews who live in the United States are the descendants of people who once lived in Eastern Europe. Bohemia and Hungary were also quite powerful, and only the Russian states could be considered poor. spidey1z. Excellent point. Things are much better if the conflict concerns something that can be split upsuch as money or land. Although they may be connected by us all being human beings, there is a lot that separates us as well. In Germany, for example, the average startup team size is only 2.4 people, compared to an . Lesley has taught American and World History at the university level for the past seven years. Europe's economic crisis has thrown into relief the economic disparity between the Continent's richer, northern half and its poorer . However, over the past 20 years, most of the nations of Eastern Europe have joined the European Union. Romanian is a romance language. The Chinese invented gunpowder, but Hoffman, whose work applies economic theory to historical contexts, argues that certain political and economic circumstances allowed the Europeans to advance gunpowder technology at an unprecedented rateallowing a relatively small number of people to quickly take over much of the rest of the globe. For example, differences in economic strength could explain why the relatively richer Czech Republic waited to reintroduce restrictions (thinking it could bear the brunt of a high number of infections), but this doesnt account for the relatively poorer Romanias decision to do the same. See here for the complete series: I love listening to Dr. Sowell's wonderful explanations for everything. In 2018, the average unemployment rate was 6.9% in the six states of the former East Germany, compared with 4.8% in the 10 states of the former West Germany. When examining the culture and society of the countries of Eastern Europe, a clear difference can be seen in family structures. Communist regimes were politically repressive, and stifled the economic development of the region. Europe Climate Zones & Classifications | What Is the Climate In Europe? Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenians, Hungarians, Croats, and a few others in Eastern Europe are traditionally Catholic. All countries in the region have seen significant increases in cases and deaths.