Europe/Timelines

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A timeline (or several) relating to Europe.

The European heritage

Ancient Greece
- the poetry of Homer (the Iliad and the Odyssey)
- the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle and the concept of democracy as a system of government
- the mathematics of Euclid and Pythagoras
The Roman Empire
- the rule of law and Pax Romana[1]:
- the poetry of Virgil (the Aeneid)
Christianity
- the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and the other patristic philosophers[2]: a doctrine of passive obediance to authority
- the art of Michelangelo and Benini [3]
- the politics of the Holy Roman Empire[4] and the reign of Charlemagne
Islam
- the mathematics and poetry of the Abbasid culture[5][6],
- Omar Khayyam.
The Enlightenment
- the philosophical writings of Denis Diderot, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau that gave priority to the power of reason over the claims of authority.
- the scientific method: Galileo on the importance of observation, and Isaac Newton on the rules of reasoning.

The development of the nation states

1648: Treaty of Westphalia
- created the Westphalian System[1] of European sovereign states.
1663: Thomas Newcomen[2] (1663 - 1729) and the development of the steam engine.
1689: The Glorious Revolution establishes the duties of the monarchy
1690: John Locke Two Treatises on Government - the proposition that government is legitimate only if it is exercised in the interests of the governed.
1713: Treaty of Utrecht
- separated France from Spain; ceded the Spanish Netherlands to Austria; ceded Gibraltar and parts of Canada to Britain
1789: French Revolution - The replacement of the monarchy with a Republic.
1791: Thomas Paine's The Rights of Man [7]
1799-1815 Napoleonic Wars[8] - between France and other European countries including Austria, Russia and Britain.
1806: Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and formation of the Federation of the Rhine.
1815: Congress of Vienna
- redefined the territorial map of Europe following the defeat of Napoleon; including the creation of the Confederation of Germany
1867: Austro-Hungarian Compromise
- united Austria with Hungary.
1914-18 First World War
1917: October Revolution
- the seizure of power by Lenin's Bolshevics, from the provisional government that had been formed by the revolutionary uprising of of February 1917.
1918: The collapse of Austro-Hungary, and the proclamation of the separate republics of Austria and Hungary.
1919: Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920)
- concluded the treaties of Versailles (with Germany), St Germain (with Austria), Trianon (with Hungary), Neuilly (with Bulgaria), Sèvres and Lausanne (with Turkey).
1929-35: Great Depression
1933: Adolf Hitler and Nazi Party takes power in Germany
1939-45 Second World War
1946: Paris Peace Conference (1946-1947)
- concluded peace treaties with Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Rumania and Italy.

The development of a union of nation states

1946: The partition of Germany[9] - between West Germany and communist East Germany
Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech[10] - the east/west division of Europe
1949: North Atlantic Treaty[11] - created NATO
Treaty of London (1949) - created the Council of Europe[12]
1953: Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
1954: Brussels Treaty[13] - created the Western Union involving Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
1957: Treaty of Rome [14] - created the European Community: a customs union that included Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands
- for further accessions see the European Union timeline
1973: Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe - and the signing in 1975 of the Helsinki Final Act[15] - which created the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
1985: The Schengen Agreement for border crossings without passport checks.
1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall - the symbolic destruction of the fortified barrier between east and west Berlin
1990: German reunification[16]
1991: Collapse of the Soviet Union and the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars
1992: Treaty of Maastricht[17] - created the European Union: an extension of the European Community embodying political as well as economic collaboration.
-for subsequent treaties see the European Union timeline
1994: Opening of the Channel tunnel
2008-10: Great Recession
2010: Eurozone crisis - a financial crisis concerning the fiscal sustainability of the PIIGS members of the European Monetary Union.

References