Peoples of Europe: history, features, traditions, customs, culture, languages, religions, life

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

The peoples of Europe is one of the most interesting and at the same time complex topics in history and cultural studies. Understanding the features of their development, way of life, traditions, culture will allow you to better understand the current events that are taking place in this part of the world in various areas of life.

General characteristics

With all the diversity of the population living on the territory of European states, we can say that, in principle, they all went through one common path of development. Most of the states were formed on the territory of the former Roman Empire, which included vast expanses, from the Germanic lands in the west to the Gallic regions in the east, from Britain in the north to North Africa in the south. That is why we can say that all these countries, for all their dissimilarity, nevertheless formed in a single cultural space.

The path of development in the early Middle Ages

The peoples of Europe as nationalities began to take shape as a result of the great migration of tribes that swept the mainland in the 4th-5th centuries. Then, as a result of mass migration flows, a radical transformation of the social structure took place, which existed for centuries in the period of ancienthistory, and new ethnic communities took shape. In addition, the formation of nationalities was also influenced by the movement of the Germanic tribes, who founded their so-called barbarian states on the lands of the former Roman Empire. Within their framework, the peoples of Europe were formed approximately in the form in which they exist at the present stage. However, the process of final nationalization fell on the period of the mature Middle Ages.

Further folding of states

In the XII-XIII centuries, in many countries of the mainland, the process of formation of national identity began. It was a time when the prerequisites were formed for the inhabitants of the states to identify and position themselves precisely as a certain national community. Initially, this manifested itself in language and culture. The peoples of Europe began to develop national literary languages, which determined their belonging to one or another ethnic group. In England, for example, this process began very early: already in the 12th century, the famous writer D. Chaucer created his famous Canterbury Tales, which laid the foundation for the national English language.

XV-XVI centuries in the history of Western Europe

The period of the late Middle Ages and early modern times played a decisive role in the formation of states. This was the period of the formation of monarchies, the formation of the main governing bodies, the formation of ways for the development of the economy, and, most importantly, the specificity of the cultural image was formed. In connection with these circumstances, the traditions of the peoples of Europe werevery varied. They were determined by the entire course of previous development. First of all, the geographical factor affected, as well as the peculiarities of the formation of nation-states, which finally took shape in the era under consideration.

New time

XVII-XVIII centuries is a time of violent upheavals for Western European countries that have experienced a rather difficult period in their history due to the transformation of the socio-political, social and cultural environment. It can be said that in these centuries the traditions of the peoples of Europe have been tested for strength not only by time, but also by revolutions. In these centuries, the states fought for hegemony on the mainland with varying success. The 16th century passed under the sign of the domination of the Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs, the next century - under the clear leadership of France, which was facilitated by the fact that absolutism was established here. The XVIII century shook its position largely due to the revolution, wars, and internal political crisis.

Expanding spheres of influence

The next two centuries were marked by major changes in the geopolitical situation in Western Europe. This was due to the fact that some leading states embarked on the path of colonialism. The peoples living in Europe have mastered new territorial spaces, primarily North, South American and Eastern lands. This significantly influenced the cultural appearance of European states. First of all, this applies to Great Britain, which created an entire colonial empire that covered almost half the world. This led tothat it was the English language and English diplomacy that began to influence European development.

Another event had a strong impact on the geopolitical map of the mainland - two world wars. The peoples living in Europe were on the verge of annihilation as a result of the devastation that the fighting had inflicted on it. Of course, all this affected the fact that it was the Western European states that influenced the beginning of the process of globalization and the creation of global bodies to resolve conflicts.

Current State

The culture of the peoples of Europe today is largely determined by the process of erasing national borders. The computerization of society, the rapid development of the Internet, as well as wide migration flows have posed the problem of erasing national identity. Therefore, the first decade of our century passed under the sign of resolving the issue of preserving the traditional cultural image of ethnic groups and nationalities. Recently, with the expansion of the process of globalization, there is a tendency to preserve the national identity of countries.

Cultural Development

Life of the peoples of Europe is determined by their history, mentality and religion. With all the diversity of the ways of the cultural appearance of countries, one general feature of development in these states can be distinguished: this is the dynamism, practicality, purposefulness of the processes that took place at different times towards science, art, politics, economics and society in general. It was the last characteristic feature that the famous philosopher O. Spengler pointed out.

The history of the peoples of Europe is characterized by early penetration into the culture of secular elements. This determined such a rapid development of painting, sculpture, architecture and literature. The desire for rationalism was inherent in the leading European thinkers and scientists, which led to the rapid growth of technological achievements. In general, the development of culture on the mainland was determined by the early penetration of secular knowledge and rationalism.

Spiritual life

The religions of the peoples of Europe can be divided into two large groups: Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodoxy. The first is one of the most common not only on the mainland, but throughout the world. At first, it was dominant in Western European countries, but then, after the Reformation that took place in the 16th century, Protestantism arose. The latter has several branches: Calvinism, Lutheranism, Puritanism, the Anglican Church and others. Subsequently, on its basis, separate communities of a closed type arose. Orthodoxy is widespread in the countries of Eastern Europe. It was borrowed from neighboring Byzantium, from where it penetrated into Russia.

Linguistics

The languages of the peoples of Europe can be divided into three large groups: Romance, Germanic and Slavic. To the first belong: France, Spain, Italy and others. Their features are that they were formed under the influence of eastern peoples. In the Middle Ages, these territories were invaded by Arabs and Turks, which undoubtedly affected the formation of their speech features. These languages are flexible, sonorous andmelodiousness. It is not for nothing that most operas are written in Italian, and in general, it is considered one of the most musical in the world. These languages are easy enough to understand and learn; however, the grammar and pronunciation of French can cause some difficulties.

The Germanic group includes the languages of the northern, Scandinavian countries. This speech is distinguished by the firmness of pronunciation and expressive sound. They are more difficult to understand and learn. For example, German is considered one of the most difficult among European languages. Scandinavian speech is also characterized by the complexity of sentence construction and rather difficult grammar.

The Slavic group is also quite difficult to master. Russian is also considered one of the most difficult languages to learn. At the same time, it is generally accepted that it is very rich in its lexical composition and semantic expressions. It is believed that it has all the necessary speech means and language turns to convey the necessary thoughts. It is indicative that the European languages at different times and centuries were considered world languages. For example, at first it was Latin and Greek, which was due to the fact that the Western European states, as mentioned above, were formed on the territory of the former Roman Empire, where both were in use. Subsequently, Spanish became widespread due to the fact that in the 16th century Spain became the leading colonial power, and its language spread to other countries.continents, primarily South America. In addition, this was due to the fact that the Austro-Spanish Habsburgs were the leaders on the mainland.

But subsequently the leading positions were taken by France, which, moreover, also embarked on the path of colonialism. Therefore, the French language spread to other continents, primarily to North America and North Africa. But already in the 19th century, the British Empire became the dominant colonial state, which determined the main role of the English language throughout the world, which is preserved in ours. In addition, this language is very convenient and easy to communicate, its grammatical structure is not as complex as, for example, French, and due to the rapid development of the Internet in recent years, English has become much simplified and almost colloquial. For example, many English words in Russian sounding have come into use in our country.

Mentality and consciousness

Features of the peoples of Europe should be considered in the context of their comparison with the population of the East. This analysis was carried out in the second decade by the well-known culturologist O. Spengler. He noted that all European peoples are characterized by an active life position, which led to the rapid development of technology, technology and industry in different centuries. It was the latter circumstance that determined, in his opinion, the fact that they very quickly embarked on the path of progressive development, began to actively develop new lands, improve production, and so on. A practical approach has become the key to the fact that these peoples have achieved great results in the modernization of not onlyeconomic, but also social and political life.

The mentality and consciousness of Europeans, according to the same scientist, from time immemorial have been aimed not only at studying and understanding nature and the reality around them, but also at actively using the results of these achievements in practice. Therefore, the thoughts of Europeans have always been aimed not only at obtaining knowledge in its pure form, but also at using it in transforming nature for their needs and improving living conditions. Of course, the above path of development was also characteristic of other regions of the world, but it was in Western Europe that it manifested itself with the greatest completeness and expressiveness. Some researchers associate such a business consciousness and a practically oriented mentality of Europeans with the peculiarities of the geographical conditions of their residence. After all, most European countries are small in size, and therefore, in order to achieve progress, the peoples inhabiting Europe have taken an intensive path of development, that is, due to the limited natural resources, they began to develop and master various technologies to improve production.

Characteristic features of countries

The customs of the peoples of Europe are very indicative of understanding their mentality and consciousness. They reflect their life values and priorities. Unfortunately, very often in the mass consciousness the image of this or that nation is formed according to purely external attributes. Thus labels are imposed on this or that country. For example, England is very often associated with stiffness, practicality and exceptional efficiency. The French are often perceived ascheerful secular and open people, laid-back in communication. Italians or, for example, Spaniards seem to be a very emotional nation with a stormy temperament.

However, the peoples inhabiting Europe have a very rich and complex history, which left a deep imprint on their life traditions and way of life. For example, the fact that the British are considered homebodies (hence the saying “my house is my castle”) undoubtedly has deep historical roots. When fierce internecine wars were going on in the country, apparently, the idea was formed that the fortress or castle of some feudal lord was a reliable defense. The British, for example, have another interesting custom that also dates back to the Middle Ages: in the process of parliamentary elections, the winning candidate literally fights his way to his seat, which is a kind of reference to the time when there was a fierce parliamentary struggle. Also, the custom of sitting on a wool sack is still preserved, since it was the textile industry that gave impetus to the rapid development of capitalism in the 16th century.

The French still have a tradition of striving to express their national identity in a particularly expressive way. This is due to their turbulent history, especially in the 18th century, when the country experienced a revolution, the Napoleonic wars. During these events, the people felt their national identity especially keenly. Expressing pride in one's country is also a long-standing French custom, as seen, for example,during the performance of "La Marseillaise" and today.

Population

The question of which peoples inhabit Europe seems to be very difficult, especially in view of the recent rapid migration processes. Therefore, this section should be limited to only a brief overview of this topic. When describing the language groups, it was already mentioned above which ethnic groups inhabited the mainland. Here, a few more features should be noted. Europe became the arena of the great migration of peoples in the early Middle Ages. Therefore, its ethnic composition is extremely diverse. In addition, at one time, Arabs and Turks dominated its part, which left their mark. However, it is still necessary to point to a list of the peoples of Europe from west to east (only the largest nations are listed in this row): Spaniards, Portuguese, French, Italians, Romanians, Germans, Scandinavian ethnic groups, Slavs (Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles, Croats, Serbs, Slovenes, Czechs, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Russians and others). At present, the issue of migration processes, which threaten to change the ethnic map of Europe, is particularly acute. In addition, the processes of modern globalization and the openness of borders threaten the erosion of ethnic territories. This issue is now one of the main ones in world politics, so in a number of countries there is a tendency to preserve national and cultural isolation.