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Lectures National Thought in Europe 2020
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All the lectures of National Thought in Europe 2020, with extensive lecture notes of all 12 lectures.
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Lectures National Thought in EuropeLecture 1: Introduction
Europe is characterised by its diversity in communities, but the states kept (at times unstable)
relationships and connections throughout the centuries with each other (culture, language,
economy, war). Culture and language maps in Europe are large and cross different borders (German
language in Germany, Austria, Belgium etc.). Over the centuries, some states have stayed more or
less the same, sometimes empires/states have been broken up (Ottoman/Russian Empire had fallen
due to separatism) and in other cases unification occurred (Germany and Italy); realignment of
territories, people and power.
19th century consequences:
- A single cultural community divided over various states the divided nation attempts to
unite
- A single state containing various cultural communities
(a) the state attempts to ‘’tame’’ cultural diversity (centralism)
(b) the state’s control is challenged (separatism): minorities challenge the state (Catalonia)
Nationalism breaks and makes nations and is always occurring = ongoing instability and complexity
State borders contain sharp demarcations but at the same time these borders are volatile (shifts in
the border between Holland and Belgium, German states etc.: reflect power relations of the
moment) over time (changeable state borders) which reflect changeable power relations.
Cultural frontiers are stable (language frontiers stay at the same place) but vague: not sharp
demarcations but wide transitional zones.
Cultural frontiers and state borders are incompatible and cannot be mapped together
Lecture 2: Ancient Patterns
Old historical memories are deeply buried and vague (and often false) but also fundamental,
important, and influential in choices we make, and they give us attitudes (almost subconsciously) and
form ideologies. The memories themselves from decades, years, or centuries ago all have their own
history. The memories that are passed down through stories or institutions are constantly changed
and updated over the course of time. Memories of the Roman Empire (in this lecture), the vandals,
and other Germanic tribes, but also of the religious wars and WWI and WWII.
The most important continuity after the fall of the Roman Empire is Christianity, as Christianity was
legalised by Emperor Constantine (year 300) and made into the official religion of the Roman Empire.
The Empire split into the twin capitals of Rome (Latin spoken) and Constantinople (Greek spoken)
(dual Empire) which caused from early on religious tensions. Both had the same religion (Christianity)
but it was linguistically divided. Already in the year 400 the first Latin version of the Bible was made
available. This Latin Bible translation by Jerome became authoritative in the West whilst the Eastern
Roman Empire continued to use the Greek text. From that moment onwards, the governmental
split in the Roman Empire will slowly but surely also become a religious split as the Bible was used in
two versions by the two different languages in the Empire.
The Western Roman Empire was destroyed in 476 as Germanic tribes took over the land. The
secular and state structure of the Empire disappeared. BUT there was one exception or continuity of
the Roman Empire into the Middle Ages which was the Church structure (same status for popes and
bishops as civil servants) as the Germanic tribes had already earlier converted to Christianity.
Language and religion remain intact. Eventually, this caused rivalry over supremacy and importance
between the pope of Rome and the pope of Constantinople. This changes when Rome is no longer
, an imperial city but only Byzantium is. The patriarch of Byzantium (Constantinople/Eastern Roman
Empire) prevailed when Rome was no longer part of the Empire after the fall in 476. He argued that
the spiritual centre of Christianity was now in Constantinople. The patriarch of Rome created, in
response to this, another Empire under Emperor Charlemagne, a Frankish king (a family who has
helped the pope on several occasions). Charlemagne was the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire,
which was centred in the middle of Europe. This led to the Great Schism (around 1000); a huge split
between Western and Eastern Christianity because both popes wanted to be the centre of
Christianity.
In 700, Islam took ground in Spain and France and the then young religion spread fast throughout
Europe. Islam retreated to the southern part of Spain after their defeat. This fight, between
Christianity and Islam, lasted until 1492 when all the Muslims and Jews were expelled from Spain.
The Islamic Kingdom of Granada was re-conquered by the Christian monarchs of Spain =
Reconquista. There are lots of cultural traces of 700 years of Islam still present in Spain nowadays.
Islam rose in Eastern Europe in the Ottoman Empire after it was driven out of Western Europe
(shift from West to East).
West-European crusades weakened Constantinople, and these had the aim to conquer the religious
centre of Jerusalem in 1100-1200. The Turks of the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople easily
due to its weakened state in 1453, the fall of the Roman Empire. There was no Christian solidarity
between the crusaders and the people in Constantinople. The crusaders more or less destroyed
Constantinople. The Ottomans were strong and quickly conquered other parts of Eastern Europe
between the 14th and the 16th century. These conquests have left memories and changes between
ethnic groups and their rivalries, mostly in the Balkans (Battle of Kosovo; Albanian majority and do
not want to belong to Serbia). As Bosnia-Herzegovina is Islamic, other neighbouring countries are not
which has caused devastating wars in the 90s.
From the Siege of Vienna 1529, the Ottoman Empire was being defeated in several parts of Europe
due to Western alliances which caused this decline and eventual fall of the Empire (in 1683 with the
second Siege of Vienna the Ottoman Empire slowly declined and fell a couple centuries later). The
Empire could gain as much ground as it did in the centuries because of the Protestant Reformation
which weakened the German Empire (started under Charlemagne) around 1500 (Luther). The
Reformation could occur and was not smashed right away by the monarchs because they were in the
meantime fighting the Ottomans (fighting two battles). Several states decided to be Protestant and
not Catholic anymore and were not loyal to the pope of Rome anymore. Protestant-Catholic splits
were the direct cause for the wars and rivalry in Western Europe for at least two centuries. Wars
were fought over religious differences. For example, the Dutch Revolt against Spain. In 1648, with the
Peace of Westphalia, wars of religion were ended, and international relations stabilized. There
were however still prosecutions of minorities in Europe after this treaty.
Historical implications for the shaping of Europe
- Religion has a high mobilizing power
- Religious wars have tended to concentrate military powers in the monarchy and away from
the cities and the nobility
- Religious mobilization and state formation went hand in hand (religious wars had as an
important effect that they made states) especially in Orthodox Eastern Europe and in
Protestant areas (Church a lot of influence in state affairs and relation between national and
religious identity), less so in Catholic monarchies
All of humanity was descended from Noah and his 72 descendants according to the Biblical story .
This meant there were also 72 languages, as people thought in the Middle Ages. The three most
important languages were divided under the three sons of Noah: Sem – Asia, Japhet – Europe, and
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