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EUROPE

Geography 102

World Regional Geography

Chapter 1

Basics

  • Lingering world influence
  • Numerous nation-states plagued by internal separatist movements
  • Physiography
  • Western extremity of Eurasian landmass
  • Wide range of topographic, climatic, and soil conditions
  • Economic Geography
  • High degree of differentiation and specialization
  • International economic integration
  • Manufacturing dominant with high levels of productivity
  • Population Geography
  • Well-off, well-educated, highly urbanized, but aging, population
  • Declining population in many countries
  • International immigration

Physical

Landscapes

  • Central Landscapes
  • Hills and plateaus loaded with raw materials
  • Alpine Mountains
  • Western Uplands
  • North European Lowland
  • Avenue for human migration
  • Most of Europe’s leading cities are located here
  • Many major rivers and connecting waterways

*

  • Among the physical landscapes of Europe, the North European Lowland is by far the most important. Among the things listed above, most of the continents wars have been fought here as well. This is a densely populated landscape that has contributed dramatically to Europe’s rise to dominance on the international scene.

Climate Categories


Relative Location

  • Relative Location – the location of a place in relation to other locations/places
  • Is the relative location of Europe favorable? YES
  • It is at the heart of the land hemisphere
  • It has maximum efficiency for contact with the rest of the world
  • Every part of Europe is close to the sea – a peninsula of peninsulas
  • It has hundreds of miles of navigable waterways and system of canals
  • There are moderate distances between European countries
  • Other geographical benefits…
  • Wide range of climates
  • Varied store of raw materials
  • Home to numerous cultural-linguistic peoples

*

  • Favorable relative location
  • If you look at all of the landmasses in the world, Europe lies at the heart.
  • Because it lies at the heart, Europe is not too far from any other landmass.
  • Making things even better, Europe is close to the sea, making this contact easier.
  • Not only is Europe close to the sea, but it also has hundreds of miles of waterways etc that make transportation between and within countries easier.
  • Finally, European countries are close together and the distances between countries is very small making interaction easy.

Relative Location

*

  • What we mean by the heart of the land hemisphere.

Historical Geography

  • Peopled during the retreat of the last glaciers
  • Ancient Greece
  • Achievements in political science, philosophy, and the arts that have endured for 25 centuries
  • Rome
  • First-metropolitan-scale urban center in Europe
  • Unparalleled infrastructure – the foundations of society; urban centers, transport networks, communications, energy distribution systems, farms, factories, mines, schools, hospitals, postal services, and policed/armed forces
  • Local Functional Specialization – particular people in particular places concentrate on the production of particular goods and services
  • Elba - iron ore
  • Parts of North Africa - granaries
  • Southern Spain - silver and lead

*

  • Understand what local functional specialization…that one place produces something another place needs and vice versa and a trade network sets up between the places. So in the example, Elba produces iron ore, parts of North Africa have granaries, and southern Spain provides silver and lead and each of these areas trade these goods with one another.

Historical Geography
The Paving of Modern Europe
Europe’s Three Revolutions

  • Agrarian Revolution
  • Began in Europe in the 1750s
  • The thriving of the port cities and capital cities created economic opportunities for farmers which spurred new agricultural innovations:
  • Improved farm practices
  • Better equipment
  • Better storage facilities
  • More efficient transport to urban areas
  • Enabled increased food production
  • Enabled sustained population increase

*

  • Agrarian Revolution – the agrarian revolution was of extreme importance in setting Europe up for the Industrial Revolution. Increased food production allowed population to grow and a larger population gave Europe its worker base for the industrial economy.

Historical Geography
Von Thunen’s Isolated State Model

  • Von Thunen’s Isolated State Model
  • An idealized model of agriculture based on four concentric land use rings surrounding a market place
  • Start with market center…
  • 1st ring (closest to market center) - intensive farming and dairying of the most perishable products and highest-priced products
  • 2nd ring – forest used for timber and firewood
  • 3rd ring – extensive field crops: grains, potatoes
  • 4th ring – pastures and livestock
  • Beyond 4th ring – wilderness

*

  • Von Thunen’s Model – in order to understand Europe’s agricultural patterns a man by the name of Von Thunen developed the Isolated State Model. In an ideal world (which of course does not exist but we’ll pretend it does) we start with a city center. The agricultural activity closest to the city center (1st ring) would be intensive farming and dairying. These products would be your perishable products (milk, eggs, veggies, fruits etc). The next ring would involve the extraction of timber/firewood from forests. The third ring would be extensive field cropping of such things as potatoes and grains. The fourth ring would involve the raising of livestock on pastures/fields. And finally, beyond the fourth ring resides wilderness.

VON THUNEN’S ISOLATED STATE

*

Historical Geography
The Paving of Modern Europe
Europe’s Three Revolutions

  • Industrial Revolution
  • Initiated in Britain and quickly spread to the continent between 1750-1850 due to Britain’s:
  • control over the flow of raw materials
  • monopoly over products in global demand
  • possessed the skills to make the machines that manufacture the products
  • What were some of the innovations?
  • Power loom
  • Steam-driven engine
  • Coal used to smelt iron instead of charcoal
  • Proved to be a major catalyst towards increased urbanization, rapid population growth, and colonial domination

*

  • Industrial Revolution – one can not even begin to talk about the importance of the industrial revolution in understanding current world patterns. I will not attempt to do so except to say that it was an extremely important event that lead to colonial domination. As we have already learned, many places in the world are still trying to recover from the aftereffects of colonization.

Europe’s Spatial Industrial Patterns after the Industrial Revolution

*

  • Notice how many industrial zones are located in Europe.

Historical Geography
The Paving of Modern Europe
Europe’s Three Revolutions

  • Political Revolution
  • State formation a long evolutionary process in Europe
  • The French Revolution, 1789-1795
  • Laid the foundation for modern nation-states
  • Democracy and nationalism were the major themes
  • The rise of the Nation-State (1860-1870’s)
  • Nation – a people with a single language, a common history, and a similar ethnic background
  • State – a politically organized territory, administered by a sovereign government and recognized by the international community. A state must also have:
  • a permanent resident population
  • an organized economy
  • a functioning internal regulation system

*

  • Political Revolution – many people do not realize that Europe has not had the same political divisions as it does today. In the 1800’s, for example, large sections of Europe were an amalgamation of states and cities ruled by kings, princes, rulers, etc. In fact, Germany was not even unified into a solid country until 1871. The political revolution is what stymied this consolidation of separate entities into one state and gives us the pattern we see today.

THE PAVING OF MODERN EUROPE Europe’s Three Revolutions

  • Political Revolution cont.
  • In European nation-states…
  • People consider themselves to be a nation
  • Emotional and legal ties are expressed in the state’s legal institutions, political system, and ideological strength
  • However, there are few TRUE nation-states (i.e. homogenous nations bound together in a state): exceptions are Poland, Hungary and Sweden
  • Europe’s dichotomy – what is it?
  • Centrifugal Forces – forces that tear countries apart…like what?
  • Centripetal Forces – forces that unify and bind countries together…like what?

*

  • Europe’s dichotomy….
  • Europe is in an interesting position right now. As we will see later in the lecture, Europe is trying to unify through the European Union (see later lecture notes if you do not know what the EU is) but individual countries are also splitting apart through a process called devolution (see lecture notes for definition and details). These are known as centripetal and centrifugal forces and both are strong forces at work in Europe today.

Centripetal Forces in Europe
Supranationalism

  • Supranationalism – the voluntary association in economic, political, or cultural spheres of three or more independent states willing to yield some measure of sovereignty for mutual benefit

New “Euro”Currency

*

  • Centripetal forces
  • So many countries (25 in all) have joined the European Union. In order to join a country must agree to the rules and conditions set forth by the EU in all spheres: economic, political, defense. However, in return for a decrease in autonomy, these countries get a lot of benefits.

Centripetal Forces in Europe
History of European Unification

  • Benelux Agreement 1944
  • Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg
  • Goal: total economic integration
  • Ease flow of goods over borders
  • Lower restrictive tariffs
  • Political cooperation
  • OEEC – Organization for European Economic Cooperation
  • Established to coordinate the investment of America’s air (under the Marshall Plan after WWII)
  • European Economic Community (“Common Market”), 1957
  • European Community, 1973
  • European Union, 1995

*

  • European integration began with the Benelux Agreement and progressed from there.

Centripetal Forces
The European Union - EU

  • European organization aimed at coordinating policies among its members in three areas:
  • Economics
  • Defense
  • Justice and home affairs
  • Why would a country want to sacrifice autonomy?
  • Benefits of Supranationalism?
  • Adverse effects of supranationalism?
  • EU’s newest members as of May 2004? (know these)
  • Problems with the new members?
  • Cyprus’s duality

*

  • Why would a country want to sacrifice its autonomy?
  • On the one hand, supranationalism is a scary concept. Countries that join the EU have to abide by the EU’s policies, guidelines, and laws. In this sense, a country loses some of it power, authority, and autonomy. On the other hand, that country also gains support in terms of its economy and defense. This makes supranationalism a double-edged sword (there are both pros and cons), but many countries are choosing the route of joining because the benefits thus far outweigh the costs.

The
European
Union
(EU)

*

  • What countries were the….
  • Initial members?
  • Latest members?
  • Joined in the 1970’s?
  • Want to join?

Centrifugal Forces in Europe

  • Devolution – the process by which regions or peoples within a state, through negotiation or active rebellion, demand and gain political strength (and sometimes autonomy) at the expense of the center
  • UK – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
  • Spain – Basques
  • France – Corsica
  • Belgium – Flemish
  • Former Yugoslavia
  • Former Czechoslovakia
  • The Four Motors
  • Rhone-Alps region in France, Lombardy in Italy, Catalonia in Spain, and Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany
  • Regions bypass their national governments in dealing with one another and their influence spans the world

*

  • Many countries in Europe are facing secession and independence movements.
  • The U.K. has had issues with Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. All of these entities
  • The Basques in Spain have their own distinct language and want their own country.
  • France have had problems with separatist groups seeking greater autonomy for Corsica throughout the years.
  • The Flemish (Dutch speakers) in Belgium want to create their own separate country and have resorted to ostracizing speakers of different languages (especially French).
  • The Former Yugoslavia completely disintegrated (which we will see soon).
  • Former Czechoslovakia split in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, two separate countries.

DEVOLUTION

IN

EUROPE

DEVOLUTIONARY

AREAS

*

  • Notice all the areas of devolution.
  • Europe is especially endowed with outstanding opportunities for productive contact and profitable interaction
  • The links between regions, countries, and places in Europe are guided by three main principles:

Complementarity

Transferability

Intervening Opportunity

Economic Geography

Contemporary Europe

*

  • Europe is in a unique position as most of the countries within this realm are highly integrated. Three principles that guide economic interaction between European countries and regions.
  • Complementarity- two places, through an exchange of goods, can specifically satisfy each other’s demands.
  • Occurs when one area has a surplus of an item demanded by a second area.
  • Example: Italy
  • Italy lacks coal
  • Italy imports coal from Western Europe and in return exports its citrus fruits, olives and grapes to Western Europe

Economic Geography

Complementarity

Germany

Italy

*

Economic Geography

Complementarity

*

  • Transferability - the ease with which a commodity may be transported or the capacity to move a good at a bearable cost
  • Do you remember friction of distance?
  • Factors that increase the friction of distance: rivers, mountain passes, road networks
  • Factors that decrease the friction of distance: advances in transportation technology, closely spaced cities/countries
  • Does Europe have a high or low friction of distance? Why or why not?

Economic Geography

Transferability

*

  • Europe has an extremely low friction of distance. Not only is it blessed with an abundance of waterways and small distances between countries, but it also has some of the most sophisticated transportation networks in the world. And even though mountains abound, these mountains are not enough to prohibit interaction.
  • Intervening Opportunity - the presence of a nearer source of supply or opportunity that acts to diminish the attractiveness of more distant sources and sites
  • Example: Italy
  • A major coalfield is found in Switzerland
  • Italy would reduce or eliminate its imports of coal from Western Europe and instead import coal from Switzerland

Economic Geography

Intervening Opportunity

*

Population Geography
An Urban Realm

  • A highly urbanized realm:
  • 1800 – 9% population urbanized
  • Now – 73% population urbanized
  • Metropolis – the central city and its suburban ring
  • Primate City – a country’s leading city, disproportionately large and exceptionally expressive of national capacity and feeling

*

  • Europe is a highly urbanized realm. The Industrial Revolution is in a large part responsible for this urbanization as it caused people to move from the rural countryside to the cities where the jobs were located.

POPULATION DENSITY

Population Density: 265.2 persons per square mile

Urbanization: 73%

EUROPE

*

Population Geography
European vs. American Cities

  • Similarities:
  • CBD – Central Business District (but CBD more dominant than in U.S.)
  • Suburban ring
  • Differences
  • High suburban density – why?
  • Greenbelts – recreational spaces set aside
  • Apartments, not single family homes
  • Reliance on public transportation
  • Centralized urban planning

*

  • If we were to compare the American city to the European city there would be some similarities but there would also be some very distinct differences.
  • Both the American and European city have a CBD. However, in European cities the CBD is still dominant (there has not been this huge shift from the CBD to the outer cities due to suburbanization in European cities).
  • Even though there is a suburban ring surrounding the city, this suburban ring is not comprised of single family homes (sometimes huge single family homes) like American suburbs but rather townhouses and apartments.
  • Public transportation is very prominent and widely used by all people in European cities. American cities do not have the same level of public transportation available le, and only certain classes of people are the prominent users.
  • Another difference between European and American cites lies in the planned nature of European cities. European cities have large greenbelt areas surrounding the city where people can go for recreation etc. In American cities, this large expanse of greenbelt is almost nonexistent.

Population Geography
Europe is Vanishing…

  • The Population Implosion
  • The declining of population (as opposed to the population explosion)
  • In Europe…population is declining in many countries:
  • Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine
  • Total (Replacement) Fertility Rate – the average number of children a woman needs to bear in order to replace herself and her partner = 2.1 children
  • Europe’s TFR = 1.4
  • Natural Increase Percent
  • What is it for European countries?

*

  • Europe is vanishing. Many countries have zero percent growth rates while many others have negative population growth rates. Make sure you understand what problems a population implosion causes.

Population Geography
Europe is Vanishing…

  • Why is population declining?
  • The greater the urbanization, the less children couples have – why? Other reasons?
  • What is the problem with a population implosion?
  • Less young people = more elderly people
  • Number of workers whose taxes pay for social services of the aged goes down – reduced pensions and dwindling funds for health care
  • Tax increases to offset losses in tax-base endanger business climate
  • Other problems?
  • Decline in population is being offset by immigration: Turks, Algerians, Moroccans, West Africans, Indonesians
  • Vast majority intensely devout, politically aware, and culturally insular
  • Problems this causes?

*

  • Other reasons for population decline?
  • Birth Control – birth control is fairly new. It really gained prominence and widespread usage in the 1970’s. This allowed women to choose when to get pregnant for the first time and allowed families to have less children.

European
Regions

  • Western Europe

  • The British Isles

  • Nordic Europe

  • Mediterranean

Europe

  • Eastern Europe

*

Regions of the Realm
Western Europe

  • Includes Germany, France, Benelux, Switzerland, Austria, and Liechtenstein
  • The heart of the European realm
  • Hub of Europe’s economic power and unifying drive
  • World’s richest economies

Regions of the Realm
Western Europe
Germany

  • A young country – not created until 1871
  • Europe’s most populous country, most powerful economy and most ardent supporter of the EU
  • Separation after WWII into:
  • East Germany – controlled by the U.S.S.R. and modeled on the Russian-communist model
  • West Germany – Ally control and formed into a federal state along democratic lines (thrived economically)
  • Reunification after the collapse of the Soviet Union
  • Disparity between eastern and western states (see Figure 1-15)
  • West Germany has yet to come up with the economic key to success for East Germany

States of Germany (Fig. 1-15)

Regions of the Realm
Western Europe
France

  • Primate City = Paris – why Paris?
  • Advantageous Site – the physical attributes of the place it occupies
  • Original settlement on an island in the Seine River - Île de la Cité
  • The security the island gave ensured its continuity
  • Advantageous Situation – a place’s location relative to surrounding areas of productive capacity, other cities/towns, barriers to access and movement etc.
  • Fertile agricultural hinterland
  • Numerous waterways and canals connected Paris to other important agricultural/industrial areas
  • Radial system of roads ensured easy access and movement

Paris’s Site and Situation

Regions of the Realm
Western Europe
France

  • Economic Geography
  • One of the world’s most productive and most diversified economies
  • Post-industrial economy dominated by high-tech industries: high-speed trains, aircraft, fiber-optic communication systems, and space-related technologies
  • World leader in nuclear power
  • Supplies 75% of the country’s electricity
  • Reduces dependence on foreign oil
  • Rhone-Alps region – self-standing economic powerhouse and one of Four Motors
  • Political Geography
  • 22 provinces, and various regions designed to appease devolutionary forces threatening to tear country apart

Regions of the Realm
Western Europe
Benelux

  • Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg
  • Regional complementarity between agriculturally productive Netherlands and industrially developed Belgium
  • Most densely populated countries on earth
  • Dutch have expanded living space by wresting land from the sea – Zuider Zee project (drained almost entire southern sea)
  • Belgium
  • Devolutionary force between Flemish and Walloons
  • Flemish: live in the northwest, speak Dutch, constitute 58% of the population, but held little power in the 19th and 20th centuries – granted regional autonomy
  • Walloons: live in the southeast, speak French, constitute 31% of the population, and held almost all the government posts

Regions of the Realm
Western Europe
The Alpine States

  • Switzerland, Austria, and Liechtenstein
  • Switzerland
  • Landlocked state – a country located in the interior of a continent without access to the sea
  • Advantageous or disadvantageous?
  • Why is Switzerland a ‘lesson in human geography’? (see book for answer)
  • Austria
  • Remnant of the Austro-Hungarian empire
  • Historical geography similar to Eastern European countries
  • Liechtenstein

Western Europe

Regions of the Realm
The British Isles

  • Two main islands:
  • Britain
  • Ireland
  • Four main cultural sections:
  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • Ireland
  • Two main political units:
  • United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • Republic of Ireland

Regions of the Realm
The British Isles

  • Historical Geography
  • Insularity allowed security and protection from turbulent continental Europe
  • Able to develop parliamentary system
  • Became world’s largest colonial empire
  • Site of the Industrial Revolution
  • The mismatch of physical and political geography
  • British occupied Ireland and many protestants from northern Britain settled in the northeastern portion of Ireland
  • Ireland set free and made independent, 1921
  • British kept control of Northern Ireland due to settlers, hence, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • Left Irish Catholics in British controlled north – caused tension
  • Intermittent fighting characterizes this situation

*

  • The entity known as the UK is a mismatch between physical and political geography because not only does it include the entire island of Britain, but it also includes a little section in the northern portion of Ireland. Why is this mismatch an issue? Because fighting has gone on over this piece of land in northern Ireland for more than half a century between the Irish Catholics and the Protestant English who both live there.

Regions of the Realm
The British Isles

  • United Kingdom
  • Region of major devolutionary forces:
  • The case of Northern Ireland
  • Welsh nationalism established Welsh Assembly to administer public services in Wales, 1997
  • Scottish nationalism formed a Scottish parliament, 1997, and hopes for an independent Scotland persist
  • Republic of Ireland
  • “Celtic Tiger”
  • An EU success story
  • Growing, booming, service-based economy reflected by burgeoning cities/towns, mushrooming industrial parks, bustling traffic, and construction everywhere

Regions of the Realm
Northern (Nordic)
Europe

  • Peripheral situation
  • Remote, isolated, and environmentally severe
  • No major shipping lanes
  • Limited interaction
  • Removed from wars
  • Democratic governments, individual rights and social welfare, strong participation of women

*

Mediterranean Europe

Mediterranean Europe

  • Includes Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, and Malta
  • A discontinuous region of peninsulas
  • On the periphery of the European core
  • Core-periphery contrasts sharp in some places
  • Only northern Italy and northern Spain part of the core
  • Urbanization lower than rest of Europe
  • Living standards lag behind rest of Europe
  • Mediterranean climate
  • Hot-dry summers
  • Distinct agricultural plants/produce – like what?

Regions of the Realm
Mediterranean Europe

  • Italy
  • Best connected to the European core
  • Most economically advanced
  • Displays a sharp north/south contrast
  • Ancona line - zone of transition between north and south
  • In the north:
  • Prominent cities: Milan, Turin, Florence, and Venice
  • Contains one of Europe’s Four Motors
  • Contains leading manufacturing complex, skilled labor force, hydroelectric power, and creates wide range of export products
  • In the south:
  • Stagnant, rural, poor, immigration problems

Italy
Economic Disparity between the North and the South



The Ancona Line

Regions of the Realm
Mediterranean Europe

  • Spain
  • Devolution a major force:
  • Basque Country
  • A group of people in Northern Spain and Southern France
  • Separate and very distinct culture and language (Basque is related to NO other language in the world)
  • ETA - Euskadi Ta Azkatasuna (Basque Homeland and Freedom)
  • Waged bloody campaign for independence against Spain, 1960’s-today
  • Catalonia (Barcelona)
  • Leading industrial area, fierce nationalism, own language and culture, one of Four Motors
  • High-tech regional economy
  • Produces 25% of Spain’s exports and 40% of Spain’s industrial exports
  • Issue: Catalonian separatism

DEVOLUTION

IN

EUROPE

DEVOLUTIONARY

AREAS

Regions of the Realm
Mediterranean Europe

  • Spain cont.
  • Sharp north/south contrasts
  • In the north….think Catalonia
  • In the south…
  • Drought-prone, inadequate land reform, scare resources, and remoteness from growth areas in Spain
  • Dispute over Gibraltar (‘The Rock’) with Britain
  • Gibraltar ceded to Britain (in perpetuity), 1713
  • British colony with 30,000 residents and British institutions, legal rules, and schools
  • Spain demands Gibraltar back, but British colonists refuse

Gibraltar – “The Rock”

Regions of the Realm
Mediterranean Europe
The Question of Cyprus

  • Historical Geography
  • Turks conquered and controlled island, 1571-1878
  • British took over, 1878
  • Independence with majority rule (80% Greeks) but minority rights (Turks), 1960
  • Civil war, 1974
  • Partition into southern Greek portion and northern Turkish portion
  • The Green Line separates the two sides
  • Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus declared, 1983, recognized only by Turkey
  • The Greek side joined the European Union, 2004

*

  • The question of Cyprus
  • Cyprus is in an interesting situation. Look at the map of countries that belong to the EU and then locate Cyprus. If you notice, only half of Cyprus belongs to the EU. This is because the country is divided into two entities: the Greek side (south) and the Turkish side (north) along a line called the ‘Green Line’. The EU was going to allow both entities to join in 2004. However, two votes were put into place before One vote was for the Greek side (the ‘official’ side) to decide whether the Turkish side should be allowed to join and the second vote was for the Turkish side to decide whether they wanted to join the EU. The Turkish side voted to join the EU, but the Greek side voted to not allow them to join. Hence, only the Greek side of the island belongs to the EU.

Regions of the Realm

Eastern

Europe

Regions of the Realm
Eastern Europe

  • Contains the most countries
  • Includes Europe’s largest state but also incorporates Europe’s poorest state
  • Reaches into the Russian zone of influence
  • Key Concepts:
  • Balkanization
  • Irredentism
  • Ethnic Cleansing
  • Devolution
  • Shatter belt

*

  • This is the poorest part of Europe and the part that is struggling the most. Remember, it is here that the Soviets had the strongest influence and many of these countries are still trying to recover from the Soviet yoke. Those countries who joined the EU will most likely be better off than their counterparts who did not join.

Regions of the Realm
Eastern Europe

  • Balkanization – the fragmentation of a region in smaller, often hostile political units
  • Stems from the verb balkanize, which means fragment
  • Applied to the Southern half of Eastern Europe, i.e., the Balkan countries of the Balkan Peninsula
  • Shatter Belt – a zone of persistent splintering and fracturing

WHY HERE?

*

  • There are a lot of terms that are used to describe this region and events that have occurred in different countries in this region. Make sure you know the examples and the terms used.

Regions of the Realm
Eastern Europe

  • Why do the terms shatter belt and balkanization describe this area so aptly?
  • Area of tumultuous migrations, epic battles, foreign invasions, and imperial episodes
  • Different cultures have come and stayed in this region leaving their imprint on the cultural landscape and conflict in their wake:
  • Romans and the Soviet Empire
  • Religious
  • Christian Orthodox from the east
  • Roman Catholicism from the southeast
  • Muslims (Ottomans) from the south

Regions of the Realm
Eastern Europe

  • Irredentism - A policy of cultural extension and political expansion aimed at a national group living in a neighboring country
  • Example: Hungary

B

A

A

RIVER & BORDER

COUNTRIES

MINORITY

POPULATION

BORDER

ADJUSTMENT

*

ETHNIC GROUPS IN

EASTERN EUROPE

Regions of the Realm
Eastern Europe

  • Ethnic Cleansing - refers to the forcible ouster of entire populations from their homelands by stronger powers bent on taking their territories
  • Example: cleansing of Bosnians by Serbs in former Yugoslavia

A

B

A

COUNTRIES

BORDER

MINORITY

POPULATION

ETHNIC MOSIAC

OF EASTERN EUROPE

*

Regions of the Realm
Eastern Europe

  • Countries Facing the Baltic
  • Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Belarus
  • Soviet domination affected and continues to affect these countries
  • Which of these countries joined the EU in 2004?
  • The Landlocked Center
  • The Velvet Divorce
  • Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia after the Slovaks disagreed with the direction of economic reforms after the Soviet era
  • Called velvet because of the ease and peacefulness with which it was achieved
  • Hungary
  • Irredentism in the form of the Status Law in which Hungary grants work, health and travel benefits to ethnic Hungarians living in neighboring countries

Regions of the Realm
Eastern Europe

  • Countries Facing the Black Sea
  • Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, and Bulgaria
  • Ukraine
  • Divide between Russian east and European west
  • Each side had a presidential candidate
  • Pro-Russian candidate ‘won’ in narrow and fraudulent contest
  • Parliament and supreme court voided results
  • Conflict exemplifies conflict between future and past, democracy and authoritarianism, Russia and Europe

Regions of the Realm
Eastern Europe

  • Countries Facing the Adriatic Sea
  • Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Serbia-Montenegro
  • In 1990, only two countries existed: Yugoslavia and Albania
  • After WWI, 7 major and 17 minor cultural groups thrown together
  • Slovenes and Croats (Roman Catholics), Serbs (Serbian Orthodox Church), Muslims
  • Serbs dominated political life, after WWII communism took root

Regions of the Realm
Eastern Europe

  • The disintegration of Yugoslavia
  • Collapse of communism led to declaration of independence by Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Serbia
  • Slovenia and Macedonia – relatively peaceful
  • Brutal wars in Croatia and Bosnia
  • Fighting over the rights of minorities in each of the newly declared states
  • Croatia - 88% Croat, 12% Serb minority
  • Bosnia - conflict between Serbs, Croats, and Muslims
  • Serbia-Montenegro
  • What has happened with Montenegro?
  • Kosovo – (Muslims vs. repressive Serbs) now NATO controlled

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  • Yugoslavia is one of the classic examples of a country (former by the way) that had all of these things happen within it: irredentism, ethnic cleansing, devolution. It has also been described as a shatter belt and the term balkanization came out of its disintegration as well. Basically after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia disintegrated. Some sections separated peacefully (know these) while others experienced intense conflict in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed.
  • Bosnia is one of the section of the former Yugoslavia where the fighting was most intense. Look at the map of Bosnia and notice where the different groups of people live. Seeing this, it is easy to understand how it might be difficult to separate this section into its own country because the different groups of people are so dispersed.
  • There is still tension in what is left of Yugoslavia (now known as Serbia and Montenegro). Know what just happened in Montenegro. Kosovo is an area that looks like it might split from Serbia in the near future. Talk about some major devolution!

Former Yugoslavia

Serbs

Muslims

Croats

No majority

Bosnia
The ‘Cauldron of Calamity’

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