Early history The
Phoenicians originally expanded from
Canaan ports, dominating trade in the
Mediterranean by the 8th century BC.
Carthage was founded in 814 BC, and the
Carthaginians by 700 BC had firmly established strongholds in
Sicily and
Sardinia (both regions in present day
Italy), which created conflicts of interest with
Etruria. Its colonies later reached the
Western Mediterranean, such as
Cádiz in Spain and most notably
Carthage in North Africa, and even the
Atlantic Ocean. The civilisation spread across the Mediterranean between 1500 BC and 300 BC. The period known as
classical antiquity began with the rise of the city-states of
Ancient Greece. Greek influence reached its zenith under the expansive empire of
Alexander the Great, spreading throughout
Asia. The
Roman Empire came to dominate the entire
Mediterranean Basin in a vast empire based on
Roman law and
Roman legions. It promoted trade, tolerance, and Greek culture. By 300 AD the Roman Empire was divided into the
Western Roman Empire based in Rome, and the
Eastern Roman Empire based in Constantinople. The attacks of the
Goths led to the
fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, a date that traditionally marks the end of the classical period and the start of the
Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, the
Eastern Roman Empire survived though modern historians refer to the state as the Byzantine Empire. In Western Europe,
Germanic peoples moved into positions of power in the remnants of the former Western Roman Empire and established
kingdoms and empires of their own. The period known as the
Crusades, a series of religiously-motivated military expeditions originally intended to bring the
Levant back into Christian rule, began. Several
Crusader states were founded in the eastern Mediterranean, but they were all short-lived. The Crusaders would have a profound impact on many parts of Europe. Their
sack of Constantinople in 1204 brought an abrupt end to the Byzantine Empire. Though it would later be re-established, it would never recover its former glory. The Crusaders would establish trade routes that would develop into the
Silk Road and open the way for the merchant republics of
Genoa and
Venice to become major economic powers. The
Reconquista, a related movement, worked to reconquer
Iberia for
Christendom. The
late Middle Ages represented a period of upheaval in Europe. The epidemic known as the
Black Death and an associated famine caused
demographic catastrophe in Europe as the population plummeted. Dynastic struggles and
wars of conquest kept many of the states of Europe at war for much of the period. In the
Balkans, the
Ottoman Empire, a Turkish state originating in
Anatolia, encroached steadily on former Byzantine lands, culminating in the
fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Post-Middle Ages Beginning roughly in the 12th century in
Florence, and later spreading through Europe with the development of the
printing press, a
Renaissance of knowledge challenged traditional doctrines in science and
theology, with the Arabic texts and thought bringing about rediscovery of classical Greek and Roman knowledge. The Catholic reconquest of Portugal and Spain led to a series of oceanic explorations resulting in the
Age of Discovery that established direct links with Africa, the Americas, and Asia. During this period, Iberian forces engaged in a worldwide struggle with Islamic societies; the battlefronts in this Ibero-Islamic World War stretched from the
Mediterranean into the
Indian Ocean, finally involving the islands of
Southeast Asia (see also:
Indo-Mediterranean). Eventually this ecumenical conflict ended when new players—England, Holland and France—replaced Spain and Portugal as the main agents of European imperialism in the mid-17th century. European overseas expansion led to the rise of
colonial empires, producing the
Columbian Exchange.
Most of the Americas inherited two of Southern Europe’s main languages: Spanish and Portuguese. The combination of resource inflows from the New World and the
Industrial Revolution of Great Britain, allowed a new economy based on manufacturing instead of subsistence agriculture. The period between 1815 and 1871 saw a large number of revolutionary attempts and
independence wars. Balkan nations began to regain independence from the
Ottoman Empire. Italy unified into a nation state. The
capture of Rome in 1870 ended the
Papal temporal power. controlled most of the Mediterranean Sea for centuries.
19th to 21st century Mountainous terrain and fragmented coastlines hindered Southern Europe’s industrialization. During the 19th century, countries such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece remained predominantly agrarian, with industrial growth concentrated in only a few urban regions (notably northern Italy and Catalonia). Political instability in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balkans, along with the influence of
organized crime in Italy, further undermined economic development throughout much of the 20th century. The outbreak of
World War I in 1914 was precipitated by the rise of nationalism in Southeastern Europe as the
Great Powers took up sides. The Allies defeated the
Central Powers in 1918. During the
Paris Peace Conference the
Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, especially the
Treaty of Versailles. The Nazi regime under
Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, and along with
Mussolini's Italy sought to gain control of the continent by the
Second World War. Following the Allied victory in the Second World War, Europe was divided by the
Iron Curtain. The countries in Eastern and Southeastern Europe were dominated by the
Soviet Union and became
communist states. The major non-communist southern European countries joined a US-led military alliance (
NATO) and formed the
European Economic Community amongst themselves. The countries in the Soviet sphere of influence joined the military alliance known as the
Warsaw Pact and the economic bloc called
Comecon.
Yugoslavia was neutral. The common attribute of the eastern countries is that all of them have experiences with
socialism, but nevertheless, the beginning of the 1990s was just roughly the same. For some of them becoming independent was the major challenge, while others needed to face with poverty and deep dictatorship also Economically, parallel with the political changes, and the democratic transition, – as a rule of law states – the previous command economies were transformed via the legislation into market economies, and set up or renewed the major macroeconomic factors: budgetary rules, national audit, national currency, central bank. Generally, they shortly encountered the following problems: high inflation, high unemployment, low economic growth and high government debt. By 2000 these economies were stabilized, and sooner or later between 2004 and 2013 some of them joined the European Union, and Slovenia introduced the euro. Italy became a major
industrialized country again because of its post-war
economic miracle. The
European Union (EU) involved the division of powers; tax, health and education handled by the nation states, and the EU had charge of market rules, competition, legal standards and environmentalism. The Soviet economic and political system collapsed, leading to the end of communism in the satellite countries in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself in 1991. The European Union expanded to subsequently include many of the formerly communist European countries –
Romania and
Bulgaria (2007) and
Croatia (2013). The
Gotthard, a major and direct transport axis between northern and Southern Europe, was completed in 2016 with the
Gotthard Base Tunnel. The Gotthard inscribes itself in a long
history of transit across the Alps, which saw them progressively changing from an obstacle to a corridor between the
North Sea and the
Mediterranean Sea. == Demographics ==