The global influence of Europe is by looking at its history

One of the many ways to look at the global influence of Europe is by looking at its history. This can include imperialism and major world events including both world wars. Europe has always been interested in expanding its empires throughout its history. In the Age of Imperialism, from the late nineteenth century to the beginning of the early twentieth century, European empires expand into Africa, Asia, and the Middle East (Age of Imperialism, n.d.). They wanted to expand for economic, military, and political reasons.

With them, they also brought their languages, religion, and government systems. The biggest European power expanding their empire at this time was the British. For the countries expanding they saw the good in imperialism such as expanding and building up communities and introducing new technologies but there is also the downside of imperialism. Imperialism also led to competition between European countries with each other trying to grow and gain faster than its competitor (Effects of WW1, 2018).

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The first World War ignited after the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 by a Serbian nationalist. With nearly nine million military and countless of civilian deaths, this war became the deadliest war for its time (Effects of WW1, 2018). While it started on European soil, non-European countries became involved including the United States and Japan. The results of the war led to the fall the of four monarchies: the Russian empire, Germany, Austro-Hungry, and Turkey (Mintz, n.d.). With the use of new military weapons used in WWI including tanks, submarines, and airplanes, the face of modern warfare was changed (Effects of WW1, 2018). On the global scale the war, it “led to the end of colonialism, as the people became more nationalistic and the one country after the other started colonial revolts in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa” (Effects of WW1, 2018). The end of the war left many European countries left picking up the pieces and allowed the US to come to the front as a strong economic force in the world (Effects of WW1, 2018). As a result of WWI, the League of Nations was formed in January 1920 (League of Nations, 2018).

The end effects of WWI made way for the rise of the Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union, Fascism in Italy, and the Nazis in Germany. Europe was on the edge of another world war. World War II started after the German invasion of Poland in 1939 and surpassed World War I as the largest armed conflict ever. Once again, the world was thrown into a massive war. There were battles raging in Europe, Africa, and Asia. When the war was over, it left the world with tension between the US and the Soviet Union that gave way to the Cold War. The League of Nations was dissolved and the new United Nations was formed in 1945 (Kaufman, 2017). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was also created in 1948 after the atrocities of World War II. This document laid out the basic rights that all humans are entitled to (Andreopoulos, 2017).

After two world wars plagued the globe, it makes you think about how could things have gone differently. What would our current world look like had these wars never been fought? Would something else have led to war breaking out or could tensions have been deescalated by other means? If we have been two world wars, who knows if there is the possibility of a third. With the advancements of technology and weapons, this thought is a little terrifying. If Europe did not engage in imperialism at the extent it did, would Europe become the powerhouse it was? I don’t think Britain would have become as strong as it was without its colonizing and spreading its empire.

Another way to look at Europe’s influence is through culture. In an article published by U.S. News about the 80 most influential countries, four of the top ten spots are European countries (US News,n.d). You can see the impact of European culture though the spread of its languages. English has its roots in England but is now spoken by one-third of the world population (Crystal & Potter, 2018). Out of the top ten spoken languages in the world, five of them are European languages-English, Spanish, French, Russian, Portuguese (Ayancan, 2018). You can go almost anywhere in the US and see the impact of European culture. You can find restaurants that bring cuisine from different European countries to the US. In schools are able to learn multiple languages including German, Spanish, and Italian. In Lincoln, we have a Latvian church where you can go for services and participate in other cultural events throughout the year. There is also the German’s from Russian Museum, where they hold Christmas Eve service in German at the church on the property every year. When you travel to all parts of the world you are able to see the influence of European artwork, music, and fashion. Examples of this included the Beatle Mania of the 1960s and the infatuation with the British Royal family felt all over the world. This can even be seen with the airing of the royal weddings over the past few years. It’s definitely interesting to be able to experience different culture from around the world. The US is built on immigration from all over and having bits and pieces of the cultures of Europe help keep the history alive.