Before Fusion: EU

By Artem V. Shamsutdinov
March 15th, 21st 2024 ...

Europe has been at near constant warfare for the entire history of its civilization right until the end of World War II. Can it stay free of deadly and maiming conflict in the face of increasing unifying (whole of) North America, economically influential China and likely soon to be "sovereign" CIS?

Early beginnings

Over thousands of years agriculture in Europe moved in from (around) Anatolia and was present in most of Western and Central Europe by about 7000 years ago. By about 5000 year ago Europe was largely populated by agricultural communities, havin displaced the hunter-gatherer groups.

The tradition of constructing metholiths also moved into Europe from Asia Minor and slowly spread in Europe, being most prominent from between 7000 and 3200 years ago.

Around 6200 years ago Indo-Europeans started migrating from Southeast Europe and by about 3000 years ago spread throughout Europe.

The writing system was first established in Europe in the Minoan civilization of about 4700 years to 3500 ago. It was succeeded by the Mycenaean civilization of about 2800 to 3100 years ago, which was the first distinctively Greek civilization, with distinct city-states. At about the same time the Etruscan civilization in Italy also consisted of city-states.

In the Western and Central Europe the Celtic Hallstatt culture spread between about 3200 and 2500 years ago. The proto-Celtic language became the lingua franca of most of Europe in that time period.

The early Democracy

First democracy known to us started in Greece.

It had a polytheistic ideology of Gods living on a not-too-distant mountain, having their own society and life and interacting with the inferior, mortal humans from above. Humans were pawns in the intrigues of Gods but were capable of achieving greater levels of independent existence through their deeds.

Athens (continuously populated for at least 5000 years) inherited the collective experience of the Mycenaean civilization and built a democracy based on the inculturated wisdom of the preceding trade empire. It was a trade hub and as all trade dominated civilizations was more diverse and open to ideas, which naturally led to the logical advancement into democracy. Athens was well ahead of its neighbors, which likely led to an ideology of exceptionalism, making wars with inferior opponents more justified.

Before and since its democratic beginnings about 2,500 years ago Athens has been involved in a number of wars. Coalitions of different states entered offensive and defensive conflicts and Athens was right in their midst. Eventually Athens became an empire by usurping the rights of its former allies. Violence was much closer to everyone's daily lives then it is in the majority of our societies today - being a pacifist state equated to letting neighboring states take over. The Athenian empire did not engage in the war of conquest - which perhaps serves as proof of democracies being less militant than more centralized forms of governance.

It is important to note that the democracy developed in Greece was limited to non-slave, land owning men with prior military service - a natural extension of the socio-economic realities of the time. Only about 10% of the Athenian population could vote.

The empires of the antique West

The advancements of the Athenian democracy impacted the Macedonian kingdom, which followed an ideology of superiority and world domination. It briefly conquered most of Greece and the Persian Empire but quickly fell apart. This made evident the pattern became very prevalent in pre-democratic Europe, where strong leadership could not be transferred into the following generations due to the lack of a system of governance that accounted for the interests of a larger group of population.

About the same time an oligarchic republic of Rome appeared in modern day Italy. Having the violent Romulus vs Remus mythology as its starting point to believe in, Rome was driven by internal contradictions between the patricians and the plebeians. This regionally superior ideology caused it to succeed in natural power expansion conflicts on the Italian peninsula and gain the advantageous centrally controlling position in the Mediterranean Sea (after conquering the competing Carthage).

The oligarchic Republic was fragile and limited its ability to expand. Military reforms aimed at strengthening the Republic's fighting force democratized its ranks, at the cost of the troops having a much greater sense of loyalty to their generals than to the Republic, which did not sufficiently defend their rights. This led to the authority of the senate being circumvented by the hidden Triumvirate of the 3 leading generals and shortly after that the Republic became an empire - dominated by a supreme military commander with the implied goal of maintaining and expanding the ruled domain.

In the same timeframe Christian faith (and ideology) spread through Rome and caused drastic changes. Christianity was a paradigm shift from the emperor holding the status of a God to a commoner being bestowed a God like status. It simplified and expanded the forward ideas of ancient Jewish wisdom (which distilled monotheism) making it universal. Christian ideology undermined the slave system on which the Roman society was based on and greatly contributed to the demise of the Roman Empire.

By the end of the 5th century, due the various migrations of peoples in the West Roman Empire and several wars there was virtually no central control of the imperial domains. Only the East Roman Empire persisted, with its own orthodox ideological spin that promoted central control (with the early schisms between the churches taking place in the mid 5th century). It split off from the Western Empire (arguably) in the early 4th century and reached its largest domain in the 6th century, covering most of the Mediterranean. Dubbed the Greek East, its lingua franca was the Greek language. Subsequent conflicts with Persia and the muslim Caliphate reduced its domains. At the turn of the 13th century its capital Constantinople was sacked by Crusaders and the empire temporarily dissolved. By the end of the century it reconstituted but was only a regional power. It finally fell to the Ottomans in the mid 15th century.

The Post-Roman Europe

After Rome fell to hordes of peoples migrating in a number of Barbarian Kingdoms were founded in its territory. To legitimize their rule the new kings tried to connect themselves to the Roman empire. Over time the formal ties to Rome disappeared and kings assumed full control. While inheriting Christianity and Latin kingdoms built their own identity but were fragile. At the turn of the 8th century the expansionist Carolingian Empire covered most of Western Europe but (lacking advanced governance transition system) was divided between the dynastical successors and fell into civil war.

The Carolingian Empire declined in part due to the raids of the northern barbarians (Vikings) that terrorized northern (and to a degree most) parts of Europe with indiscriminate violence. Probably for a combination of reasons and driven by a relatively primitive ideology of warfare, the new wealth of the south and aided by the lack of central command in the subject areas they looted the neighboring south for persons and resources. As they raided they also began to settle the accessible areas and eventually integrate into local societies. Subsequently Normans, the descendants of the Vikings, settled in Northern France, conquered England and (briefly) Southern Italy.

The Feudal System

With the diminished power of the imperial system of governance mounted soldiers/knights began to administer the land and started hereditary rule. From the 9th century and into the 15th century the Feudal System took hold in Europe. The society was divided into the nobility, the clergy and the peasantry. To support themselves and the lords the peasants worked the land around fortified manor houses (castles) from which lords controlled the nearby area. Lords had reciprocal military and legal obligations to their suzeren. Ideology and knowledge were upkept by the clergy in monasteries.

The feudal system largely replaced slavery in Europe (either abruptly around the turn of the 11th century or gradually from the 4th to the 10th century), with the additional driver of suppression of slavery of Christians by the Church.

Lords were nobles who held land, vassals were granted possession of the land by the lords and provided (most importantly) military services to the lord. The vast majority of the population were peasants who worked the land and were subdivided into either slaves, semi-free serfs (who could only be sold collectively and with their land) or free tenants (who were a minority). In theory it was the free men that had the military duties placed on them.

This appeared to be a very natural system of incentivising the maintenance of defensive capabilities. The system of serfdom was present in Greek Sparta and land grants were introduced by the above mentioned military reform of Rome (which led to the demise of the Republic, being replaced by the Empire).

As the Middle Ages progressed professional armies and mercenaries became more common. For that reason (with nobility no longer significantly contributing to armies) and because as the result of Black Death peasants gained much more autonomy, the military dimension of Feudalism ended by the turn of the 16th century.

Arguably a series of crop failures and famines lead to the economic shift from the feudal system to the resource seeking capitalism, which in turn caused a disbalance between the nominally influential feudal lords and resource holding city elites (and the resulting creation of revolutionary movements like the Freemasons). The political feudal order ended a few centuries later with the course of events accelerated by the French Revolution, right before the turn of the 19th century and largely finished with the abolition of serfdom in the Russian Empire in the mid 19th century.

The beginnings of European states

Due to time constraints not all EU members will be covered below:

Central European beginnings

While the European lords were united by the Christian ideology they continued conquest against each other, building empires that continued to look to Rome for ideological backing. After a long lapse the title of the "Emperor of the Romans" was introduced at the turn of the 9th century. After the fall of the Carolingian empire (and a lapse lasting several decades) the Holy Roman Empire took on the role of Rome's successor in the mid 10th century and lasted into the 19th century (but partially collapsed due to overextension) until the Napoleonic wars. Though it never claimed to rule the restored West Roman Empire.

The Holy Roman Empire subjugated most of Italy and unified the Germanic Central Europe, holding back further westward expansion of the then pagan Hungarians and Slavs. Starting out as a feudal state, its governance depended on mutual cooperation between the emperor and the vassals. The Emperor's legitimacy rested on the fact that he inherited power from the ancient emperors of Rome, considering him the first among equals in all of Europe's Catholic monarchs.

Beginnings of Denmark

The Roman and the Carolingian empires came close to the borders of Denmark who were among the people known as Vikings. As part of the Viking raids Danes besieged Paris and the Loire Valley in the 10th century. Subsequently a group of Danes was given permission to settle northwestern France promising to defend the coastal area against further attacks and establishing Normandy. During the age of the North Sea Empire of the late Viking age (in the early 11th century) England had completely submitted to Danes. By the late 13th century as a result of conflicts between the king, nobles and the church a charter was created which is considered the first constitution of Denmark.

Swedish beginnings

Swedish recorded history starts in the 11th century. Statehood estimates of Sweden range from the 6th to the 16th century with some laws present from the 13th century. By late 14th century Sweden began unification with Norway and Denmark, leading to the Kalmar union of the 15th and early 16th centuries. In the later stages of the union Sweden rebelled and elected a separate king.

Beginnings of France

After the Carolingian empire France became very decentralized with authority of the king being largely religious. This peaked in the 11th century when the provinces were de-facto governed independently. The vassals in name only increasingly asserted more authority and built some of the strongest states in Europe, with the most famous example being the Normans. France became truly centralized in the mid 13th century. From then royal attacks on the barons strengthened the monarchy and the authority of the king gradually became more accepted.

After a series of french led Crusades, two royal houses claimed the throne and the Hundred Year's War period ensued. It is during this time that French Nationalism was born, represented by the iconic Joan of Arc. Absolute sovereignty in France wasn't established until the 16th century.

Germanic beginnings

Christianity was introduced in Western Germany during Roman times. Subsequently invasion of the Huns triggered the Migration Period with the Germanic people (including the Vandals) moving into Western Roman Empire. Leading to the formation of the Holy Roman Empire a series of Duchies constituted the traditional Germanic territory. They were finally abolished and broken down into smaller units in the late 12th century. German monarchies expanded North and East and founded a series of border countries, including Austria.

Dutch beginnings

In the 10th and 11th centuries the Holy Roman Empire wasn't able to maintain the political unity of the Low Countries of the modern Netherlands. The city states of the area were in almost constant war or in defensive unions. Frankish settlement led to creation of the Old Dutch language and identity. At the turn of the 12th century local farmers began cultivating uninhabited swampy land in the west, which provided the resource base to the creation of the centralized County of Holland. A series of wars between the mid 14th and the late 15th centuries led to the creation of the Habsburg Netherlands.

Italian beginnings

As a result of the Gothic War in mid-6th century Italy, Germanic Lombards gradually took over Italy. Threatened Papacy appealed to the Franks who defeated the Lombards in the mid-8th century and allowed for the establishment of Papal States in central Italy. After the power of the Charlemagne Empire began to decrease the Papal states were threatened by the Caliphates in the South and the defense-united city states in the North.

The Papacy regained its authority in the 11th century with the recovery of trade. In the early 12th century the Pope regained the ability to install bishops (while consulting with the Holy Roman empire in case of controversy). In the late 12th century the Lombard League city-states of the North warred for and won autonomy from the Holy Roman Empire, while the Normans ended Muslim rule in the South.

By the 13th century the northern states prospered through commerce and were ruled by oligarchical governments. From that evolved merchant republic with the Republic of Venice being the most prominent one. By the 14th century Florence, Lucca, Genoa, Venice, Siena and other states became rich financial and commercial centers. From the 10th century the coastal cities built increasingly capable fleets to protect trade. Venice and Genoa controlled trade with the Byzantine Empire and the Caliphate. Their fleets were leading the effort of transporting Crusaders to the Holy Land. By then Rome was largely in ruins and the pooper Papal States had little law and order and the Papacy relocated north.

Iberian beginnings

After the post-roman domination of the Visigothic Kingdom, Hispania fell to the Muslim conquests in the early 8th century. Almost immediately the Reconquista began with Christian forces finally recapturing all of Spain in the late 15th century.

In the end of 11th century Portugal broke away from the Kingdom of Galicia. Subsequently in the mid-13th century the Muslim Moors conquered the North of the country and Lisbon became the capital. In the late 14th century the Portuguese defeated the Castilians and established a political alliance with England.

Slavic beginnings

First Slavs in recorded history existed between the German tribes in the West and the nomadic Sarmatians in the East since the 1st century in at least the present day Poland. Their descendants appeared at the Byzantine frontier in the early 6th century. They were described as democratically ruled barbarians that believed in one god to whom they made sacrifices. The prevalent Eastern Homeland theory states that as the Germanic tribes were fleeing the Huns, Slavs expanded west into their territory becoming the West Slavs, southward to modern day Austria and the Balkans becoming the South Slavs and northward becoming the East Slavs.

The first known Slavic state was Samo's Empire which was a tribal union of West slavic tribes including the Czechs and existed in the early to mid 7th century. Its successor was the Great Moravia of the 9th century that spanned the modern east of Germany, south of Poland, Czech and Slovak, east of Austria, Hungary, west of Romania and north of Serbia. It disintegrated after the Hungarian invasion around the turn of the 10th century.

Southern and Eastern Slavs

In the late 7th century The First Bulgarian Empire was founded north of the Byzantine Empire as an alliance between the Bulgars and Southern Slavs. It lasted into the 11th century (when, after sieging Constantinople and a series of wars it surrendered to the Byzantine Empire) and was the Slavic cultural center where the Cyrillic alphabet was invented. It was succeeded by the Second Bulgarian Empire of late 12th to the early 15th centuries when it fell to the Ottomans.

Polish beginnings

The closest ancestors of Poles were the West Slavic Lechites. They established settlements in present day Poland during the Early Middle Ages, starting with the 6th century. These were recorded to be tribal in the 9th century.

The Polish state was established in the late 10th century. Very shortly after that Christianization of Poland began, which took centuries, with a large push after pagan revolt in the early 11th century. Until the mid 11th century Poland was expanding, bringing Christianity with it.

From the late 10th century and until late 12th century Poland was involved in a number of conflicts with the Kievan Rus'. Subsequently in the 13th century Poland was involved in conflicts with the Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia. Subsequently the conflicts with the Russian state resumed in the early 16th century and culminated with a brief occupation of the Tsardom of Russia in the early 17th century. At times, the conflicts of various levels continued until the late 20th century.

From the mid 12th century and until the early 14th century Poland underwent a process of feudal fragmentation. The monarchy was effectively restored in the early 14th century with Poland subsequently expanding eastward by mid-century. In the early 13th century a regional ruler formed a military alliance Teutonic Order that soured and caused centuries of warfare with the Order and later the German Prussian state. Poland finally won the conflict in the late 15th century, expanding westward through feudal fiefdom of subjugated areas.

In the mid 13th century Poland was invaded by Mongols who briefly occupied it and continued to raid it into the late 13th century. In the late 14th century Poland was briefly ruled by Hungary after a monarchial crisis of succession. Common monarchical rule between Poland and Hungary was also established in the mid 15th century.

Poland developed increasingly close ruling class ties with Lithuania in the 14th to 16th centuries, with the creation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late 16th century. A unitary state was created in the late 18th century.

As early as late 11th century Polish nobles held significant influence in the Polish state, being able to expel a monarch from the state. In the late 14th century the Privilege of Kassa was granted to the Polish nobility, releasing them from many feudal duties. The General Parliament was established in Poland also in the late 14th century. In the early 15th century the rights of Polish nobility were further strengthened by Neminem captivabimus, which guaranteed due process. In the early 16th century the Nihil novi act transferred most of the legislative power from monarchy to parliament.

From the mid 15th century and until the very end of the 17th century Poland underwent a number of conflicts with the Ottoman Empire.

Czech beginnings

The Duchy of Bohemia (or the Czech Duchy) was formed in the late 9th century as part of the disintegrating Moravia. At that time Moravia was already under the process of Christianization which lasted into the early 10th century.

Struggling against the Polish occupation Bohemia and Moravia became parts of the Holy Roman Empire at the turn of the 11th century. In the early 13th century the Duchy gained in status and became Kingdom of Bohemia was established under the Holy Roman Empire and lasted until the end of WWI. In the early 14th century the disputed Duchies of Silesia were transferred from Poland to the Kingdom of Bohemia.

The 13th century Mongol raids into the region were successfully repelled.

From the late 13th century the representation of city clerical elites became instituted in provincial assemblies.

From the late 14th century Bohemia and Moravia underwent the popular process of theological reformation. After religious wars in the early 15th century the reformists submitted to the Roman Catholic Church while allowing them to keep their practices.

Beginnings of Hungary

A confederation of seven Hungarian (or Magyar) tribes moved into modern Hungarian territory and established a state in the late 9th century. Claiming a continuation from the earlier Huns they led a number of raids into surrounding territory until being defeated in the mid 10th century. Christianization of Hungary ensued subsequently in the early 11th century.

In the 12th and 13th centuries Hungary expanded its domain to the Balkans. In the early 13th century the "Golden Bull" forced constitutional limitations on absolute monarchy in Hungary. Subsequently Hungary became the first country with a parliamentary supremacy over monarchs.

In the mid-13th century Hungary was devastated by the Mongol invasion, losing between 20% and 50% of its population, with only fortified cities and abbeys surviving the attacks. Hungary regained its prosperity in the 14th century and gained a close alliance with Poland.

Following the Check proto-protestant movement Hungary went through anti-feudal and anti-clerical revolt in the mid 15th century. At about the same time Hungary fought the Ottoman Empire for additional territory and gained its monarchical zenith in the late 15th century. Hungary was the second country to experience Renaissance after Italy.

Beginnings of Romania

Dacians were the earliest people recorded as living in modern-day Romania around 2500 years ago. At the turn of the second century most Dacians were conquered by the Roman empire, with at least two subsequent recorded rebellions. Dacia remained under Rome until the late 3rd century, when Rome withdrew due to Goth advancements and was also populated by the Carpi people. It was briefly reconquered by Rome in the early 4th century. Evidence of the formation of the Proto-Romanian language was first recorded in the 5th century. There is a debate on the mixed Daco-Roman population being the ancestors of modern Romanians.

In the late 4th century the region was conquered by Huns and remained under them until mid 5th century. Subsequently it was occupied by Gepids until late 6th century and then briefly the Lombards and then Avars until late 8th century. Part of modern Romanian lands were under the First Bulgarian Empire from the late 7th century with more lands being incorporated in the early 9th century. By the 10th century the Pechenegs controlled the area. Subsequently the Cumans were present in the 11th and 12th centuries. The Uzes were also recorded to live in the territory of Romania.

There is also a view that the first Vlach/Wallachian and Romanians appeared in the area in the 13th century after migrating north from the Balkans. The Principality of Wallachia was founded in the early 14th century (after weakening of the Hungarian state by Mongol invasions) and (though often under heavy Ottoman influence) existed until the mid 19th century, when it unified with Moldavia and became Romania.

The Crusades

During the Medieval times the Western and Central Europe were united by the ideology of the Latin Church (which now constitutes the majority of the Catholic Church, having 1.3 billion members). All western European kings had to be confirmed by the Pope. In the mid 11th century the East-West schism took place that separated the then slim majority of Eastern Christians (now numbering 220 million) from Rome (due to among other things the Pope's claim to universal jurisdiction). None-the-less at the end of the 11th century Pope proclaimed the First Crusade to promote military support of the Byzantine empire. The intent was to reconquer Jerusalem and its surrounding area (the Holy Land) from Muslim rule.

The initial violent People's Crusade was followed by a more organized ideological effort that led to the creation of the Crusader states along the Mediterranean coast of the Levant. The European people participating in the crusade wars were motivated by the prospects of spiritual salvation, satisfaction of feudal obligations and economic or political advantage. The core of the Crusader armies was formed by various military-religions orders of knights.

The Holy Land Crusader states lasted until the end of the 13th century but the Crusades continued in other parts of the world, including the Spanish Reconquista, the Northern crusades against pagans and the Orthodox Christian Slavs, crusades against Christians in Europe (and the Byzantine Empire) and the crusades against Ottomans. Crusades finished by the end of the 16th century.

Colonial Age

Published: March 21st, 2024

The era of relative structural stability of European societies in the late Middle Ages came after a series of events in the 14th and 15th centuries now known as the crisis of the Middle Ages. The major contributing events were famines and plagues, which greatly reduced the population, as well as the beginning of the Little Ice Age.

The fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman Turks in the mid 15th century is generally considered to be the end of the European Middle Ages. The discovery of the New World and the above mentioned move away from the Feudal System kicked off the changes that led to the Industrial Revolution and technological progress.

Core changes

Starting with Italy in the 14th century, the Renaissance spread to the rest of Europe by the 16th century. Besides cultural and artistic pursuits the Renaissance's influence affected ideology, governance, science and technology.

European theology of the time underwent a revolution with a change in the way people perceived the relationship between man and God. This culminated in the Protestant Reformation that began in the beginning of the 16th century after the development printing press spread new ideas throughout Europe. This caused sovereignties to win in their long lasting struggle for ideological sovereignty and take control of the church institutions within their territories. In turn this caused a Counter-Reformation in the Catholic Church to retain as much control as possible.

Ideological struggles of the age were used as premises for starting a number of wars that were highly lethal due to direct reasons of violence and indirect reasons of famines caused by resulting resource shortages and plagues, which ravaged the weakened population.

The medieval system was that of monarchs being the first among nobles with the authority derived from the land they controlled. During the Renaissance (and in the late medieval period) monarchs gained separation from nobility in their status and influence. The role of the legal order of the entire society began to rise above the role of particular social groups. Renaissance also led to development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy. The idea of European superiority began to develop in this age, likely largely as a way of justifying colonialism.

By the mid 15th century the military technology improved the effectiveness of gunpowder weapons (wielded by professional soldiers), which combined with pikemen (who also were paid to fight) began to neutralize the effectiveness of the noble cavalry (who fought for honor or territory). The efficacy of old fortifications like the castles of nobles was neutralized by the emergence of cannons, leading to the need of rebuilding fortifications. The resource strain placed on the states to defend against and wage warfare further accelerated the socio-economic changes that were started by earlier famines and the Black Death.

The resulting changes required the monarchies to tax the economic activity of their domains across the board, instead of simply relying mainly on royal estate resources. The increase in demand for capital added to the greater demand for labor (due to the Black Death) and began to be compensated for by increased representation (strengthening parliamentary rule) and additional rights of increasingly larger societal groups.

Colonialism

The growth of the Ottoman Empire in the mid 15th century cut off existing eastern trade routes and forced Western Europe to seek new trade routes. This led to the Western discovery of the Americas and circumnavigation of Africa and India in the late 15th century. First trade colonies were established in the early 16th century. By the mid 17th century Spain and Portugal colonized large parts of Central and South Americas and all Western European naval sovereignties had trade colonies.

Increased warfare

The rapid changes of the 16th century culminated in the age of proliferation of warfare in the early and mid 17th centuries. Throughout Europe ideological differences combined with monarchical ambitions and economic competition between states caused large scale and prolonged armed conflicts, which led to a massive loss of life.

In particular, the Thirty Years' War fought in the early and the mid 17th century was one of the longest and most destructive wars in European history. With the ideological justification of expansion of protestant states the war (and related conflicts) also represented a fight for domination between Western European sovereignties. The war killed approximately eight million people.

Absolutism and Capitalism

As a result of the wars and successful defence of monarchial rule the major continental European states entered the age of absolute monarchical rule, starting with the mid 17th century and lasting into the late 18th century (with the Russian Empire remaining an absolute monarchy until 1917). This was countered by the start of an interest rate based economic system which placed resources and influence in the hands of the bourgeoisie. The predominant economic policy of the age was Mercantilism. It focused on maximizing the accumulation of resources and further fueled war and colonialism.

Enlightenment

Likely caused by the extreme violence of the previous centuries and combined with increasing scientific knowledge Enlightenment became a widespread cultural movement. Placed reason over tradition, promoted social reform through the scientific method and opposed religious dogma (and the conflicts that largely resulted from it). Increasingly the emerging transnational forces of Freemasonry began to lobby for the ideas of Liberalism.

History of some states

Denmark

In the late 14th century the lands in the present day countries Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland officially unified under central monarchical rule. A series of Swedish rebellions followed with several wars breaking out between Denmark and Sweden from mid 15th to the early 16th century, with the union ending in the early 16th century.

Subsequently in the early 16th century the Denmark-Norway monarchical union went through the Protestant Reformation (with Sweden already being protestant), a civil war (with Sweden's intervention) and officially became officially Protestant in the mid 16th century. At the time it was the geographic center protestant lands with German lands to the south also being Protestant.

From the mid 16th century Denmark-Norway enjoyed increased economic cooperation with the Netherlands.

In the early 17th century Denmark entered the Thirty Years' War on behalf o f the protestant forces and suffered a defeat. The resource strain of the War forced Denmark to change its toll policy in the Sound strait. In turn this caused a war between the temporary Netherlands-Swedish alliance and Denmark-Norway in the mid 17th century. Denmark-Norway lost the war and ceded territories.

Denmark became an absolute Monarchy in the mid 17th century and remained one until the mid 19th century, with the abolition of serfdom taking place in the late 18th and the early 19th centuries, putting an end to the feudal system in the country. In the early 18th century as part of a large alliance Denmark-Norway defeated Sweden, but was not allowed to regain any territories since no major party involved in the conflict wanted any one nation to have the sole control of the Sound strait. As a result of warfare in the 18th and 19th centuries Demark lost its southern territories (which were under various occupations since the early 18th century) to Germany by the mid 19th century.

Starting in the early 17th century and until the 20th century Denmark established several colonies in the Caribbean, Africa, South Asia and South-East Asia.

Italy

The early Italian Renaissance led to economic development and strengthening of the maritime trade republics of Venice and Genoa and culminated in development of numerous regional states. During this time the city-states waged continuous warfare for preeminence with Florence, Milan and Venice emerging as the dominant sovereignties and agreed to peace in the mid 15th century.

A series of wars known as the Italian Wars fought mostly between the French monarchy (who invaded Italy) on one side and the Habsburg of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain on the other, in the late 15th and mid 16th centuries. This period saw the devastation of Venice by Turks, sacking of Rome by German mercenaries (and decrease in Papal influence) and drastic reduction in Italy's population. The wars solidified the occupation of southern Italy by Spain, with Spain and the Habsburg wielding heavy influence in the affairs of the lands.

At the turn of the 17th century Northern and Central Italy was one of the most advanced areas in Europe. In the mid 16th century the Papal States launched the Counter Reformation which lasted until the mid 17th century and increased Papal influence. As a result of the War of the Spanish Succession in the beginning of the 18th century the Spanish possessions in Italy became part of the domain of the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy.

The wars (and resulting overtaxation), revolts and plagues of the 17th century greatly reduced the prominence of Italy. This trend would continue into the late 19th century, with continuous warfare, shift of trade away from Italy and deindustrialization.

The 18th century saw the Italian lands shift hands between the Austrian Habsburgs and Spain in the early and mid century.

Portugal

In the early 15th century Portugal conquered an Islamic North African trade center and began building its empire. From the early 15th century and through the early 16th century Portuguese feets discovered a number of islands in the North and South Atlantic. From the late 15th and two the late 16th century Portugal established a number trade posts and colonies throughout coastal Africa, Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia and East Asia.

In the late 15th century Spain and Portugal divided (largely yet to be discovered) the New World, with the Portuguese retaining the Easternmost territories. At the turn of the 16th century Portuguese first landed on and started to colonize Brazil.

In the late 16th century Portugal went through a monarchical succession crisis as a result of which Portugal came under Spanish rule until the mid 17th century. During this period a number of conflicts with the Dutch lead to (partially temporary) loss of colonies and deterioration of the empire. Subsequently Portugal underwent a long Restoration War until late 17th century.

During the 18th century Portugal experienced a large outflow of population to Colonial Brazil. Import of slaves into European Portugal was banned in the mid 18th century. Slavery in African Portuguese colonies was abolished in the late 19th century.

During the early and mid 18th century there were conflicts between Portugal (with British and Dutch allies) and Spain (with France).

Spain

At the end of the 15th century the previously separate kingdoms of Castile and Aragon (mostly formally only) united. Starting with the late 15th century Spain gained its colonial possessions in the New World, first in North America (starting the the Caribbean and Central America) and then in South America. The rapid expansion of its New World colonies continued until the late 16th century. Ideological goals of expanding Catholicism drove the expansion (aided by the material support received by the colonial economic output).

Subsequent to the initial contact of Spanish Europeans, the population of the Americas halved within a century, mostly because of exposure to imported diseases. Most heavy losses of life are estimated to have happened in modern day Mexico.

Also in the late 16th Spain started to gain large colonial possessions in South-East Asia. Starting with the late 15th century Spain also gained colonies in coastal North Africa (aid Atlantic Islands) and then North Western and Central Western coastal Africa. It also temporarily gained Portuguese colonial possessions during the union of two countries from late 16th to mid 17th centuries.

From the mid 16th and into the early 18th century parts of modern day Belgium, Luxembourg, northern France and southern Netherlands were ruled by the Spanish Monarchy.

In the late 16th century Spain suffered the worst military defeat in its history when attempting to invade England. Starting with the mid 16th century Spain overextended in its imperial efforts as it did not have sufficient population or economic output.

From the late 16th and into mid- 17th century the Spanish government of the Netherlands fought against the Dutch rebellion in the Eighty Years' War. Subsequently the Dutch Republic was recognized as an independent sovereignty (with the Southern Netherlands remaining under Spanish control).

In the 17th century Spain went through half a century of warfare with France. It also lost control of Portugal and its colonial possessions.

At the turn of the 18th century Spain went through a monarchical crisis of succession in which Spain and France fought against Britain, the Dutch Republic and Austria, Portugal and Savoy fought for control of the Spanish monarchy. The war prevented unification of Spain and France under one monarchy.

In the early and mid 18th century Spain fought for control of parts of Italy. In the mid 18th century Spain (along with most of Western European colonial sovereignties) participated in the Seven Years' War (in Europe and the New World) on the French Side. As a result of this war Spain gained large territories in North America and continued to expand its colonial possessions there until the turn of the 19th century.

Throughout the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries Spain was dominated by Catholic ideology which led to resistance of modern reforms and contributed to stagnation of Spain.

Netherlands

In the 16th century the Netherlands were controlled by the Spanish monarchy. This conflicted with the tradition of regional and local control being held by the locals. At the same time Protestant ideology became prominent in the Netherlands, which conflicted with the Spanish ideological goals of defeating Protestantism.

Starting with the late 17th century the Dutch Revolt (or the Eighty Years' War) split the Netherlands into southern and northern parts. The southern part later became Belgium and Luxembourg. The northern part became the Dutch Republic.

During the Eighty Years' War the Dutch provinces became the most important economic center of Northern Europe. The Dutch began to dominate the economic logistics both in Europe and world wide.

Beginning with the early 17th century and and into the end of the century Dutch established trading posts and colonies throughout eastern coastal Americas, western coastal Africa, the coastal Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia and East Asia, without an overall focus for territorial control. Part of the colonial possessions of the Dutch were conquered from the Portuguese. Largest territorial colonial possessions of the Dutch were in modern day South Africa and Indonesia, largely driven to expansion by independent settlers.

In the 18th century global Dutch influence started to reduce with the rise of Great Britain. In total 4 Anglo-Dutch wars were fought between the mid 17th and late 18th centuries. The Dutch lost a number of its colonial possessions at the end of the 18th century to Great Britain. The three subsequent British expeditions to the Netherlands at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries finished the competition between the two sovereignties.

France

The ancien régime (or the 'old rule' of the end of the 15th century to the end of the 18th century) was a period of creation of absolute monarchical rule. At the beginning of the period the governance of France was widely dispersed with the Catholic Church exerting heavy influence.

Throughout the 16th century France was faced with the dominance of the surrounding domains of the Spanish monarchy and Austrian Habsburg monarchy (of the Holy Roman Empire). From the end of the 15th century and into the middle of the 16th century France participated in the Italian Wars with intermittent success and no final gain. As a result of this conflict France ended hostilities with England and Spain.

Between the mid 16th and the early 17th centuries wars of religion were fought in France and caused mass loss of life. During this time the Protestant forces were supported by intervention forces from England and the Dutch Republic while the Catholic forces were supported by Spain and Savoy. As a result of the war the Protestants lost their political and military autonomy while retaining their religious rights. At the end of the 17th century Protestantism became illegal in France, leading to an exodus of its followers.

Subsequent to its wars of religion France (driven by national interests) intervened in the Thirty Years' War on behalf of the Protestants.

France began attempts at colonizing the New World in the mid 16th century with the first successful colony establishment in the early 17th century. During the pre-imperial period colonial France gained large territories in North America (including territories in the Caribbean), territory in South America, coastal territory in West Africa, a number of islands in the Indian Ocean and coastal colonial outposts in South Asia.

From the mid 18th century and into early 19th century a series of colonial conflicts took place between France and Britain, resulting in the end of most of French colonial rule. Notably the slave population in Haiti won its formal independence at the turn of 19th century, though subsequently remaining heavily indebted first to France and subsequently to the United States.

In the 17th century French monarchy continued to centralize its rule, removing feudal rights and weakening aristocracy until absolute monarchical rule was established. At this time France dominated in the alliance against the Ottoman Turks and defeated Spain. It also fought the Dutch Republic. At the end of the 17th century France fought an inconclusive conflict with the Grand Alliance of Dutch Republic, England and the Habsburg Monarchy. Subsequently France fought England and the Dutch Republic for monarchical dominance over Spain and lost.

In the 18th century France fought in Italy, against the Austrian Hapsburgs in the War of the Polish Succession, the War of the Austrian Succession. In the mid 18th century after the loss in the Seven Years War against the Anglo-Prussian Alliance (while allied with Russia and Austria) France lost its North American colonial possessions. In the late 18th century France allied with the American colonies in the American Revolution.

Austria

From the mid 15th century and until the early 19th century the Holy Roman Empire was under control of the Habsburg Monarchy. The Archduchy of Austria was also created in the mid 15th century and lasted till the mid 16th century. In this time the ruling monarchy solidified centralizing the control of the territories. It briefly controlled large parts of Spain and Netherlands and parts of France as well as Spanish overseas colonies but did not solidify control due to traditional monarchical division of realms. Via the same monarchical mechanisms it also temporarily controlled large territories to the east and southeast of the Holy Roman empire.

In the early 16th century the Protestant Reformation was beginning to divide the Holy Roman Empire, which by this time was facing a growing threat from the Ottoman Empire in the southeast. The non-Austrian lands of the Holy Roman Empire largely converted to Protestantism. In this situation the conflicts between Protestants and Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire began to escalate, and by the interventions from the French.

From the mid 16th to the early 17th century Habsburg lands went into a period of monarchical division into the Lower, Upper and Inner Austria and subsequently was once again reunited through succession and conquest. In the early to mid 17th century Austrian Monarchy started an attempt to reverse the spread of Protestantism in all of the Holy Roman Empire. That triggered the religious Thirty Years' War. As a result of the war (and intervention of many foreign sovereignties) the Peace of Westphalia was signed which gave more independence to the German states of the empire, gradually it into a loose confederation, while most of Austria was under absolute monarchical rule (though still divided). It is estimated that loss of life in the lands where the conflict was fought was as high as half of the population.

Through the mid 17th and late century Austria went through a series of conflicts with the Ottoman Turks, which resulted in Austria regaining Hungarian lands and gaining territories in southern Central Europe with a large Serbian population. The previously revolting Hungarians were granted diet (parliamentary) rights.

In the early 18th century Austrian monarchy claimed the throne of Spain in the War of Spanish Succession. As a result of the war the Austrian monarchy made gains in the Netherlands and Italy which (largely, with some changes) lasted until the Napoleonic wars. Austria continued to fight in a series of European conflicts into the mid 18th century.

In the mid and into the late 18th century Austria fought the wars of succession which involved all major European sovereignties, with the clearest winner being Prussia that acquired Silesia from Austria. This also resulted in the end of the multi-century rivalry between Austria and France and rearranged military alliances in Europe. The results of this conflict lead to the global Seven Years' War, in which Austria unsuccessfully fought Prussia for control of Silesia.

In the late 18th century, as an attempt to restore the balance of power in Central Europe, Austria gained territory in the north east as a result of the First Partition of Poland. Austria gained additional Polish territories farther north during the Third Partition of Poland, also in the late 18th century.

Hungary

From the early and into the mid 16th century Hungary was defeated by the Ottoman Empire and was divided. The northwestern part of Hungary was under Austrian Habsburg rule. The eastern part was at first an independent principality but gradually became a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. The rest of Hungary became an Ottoman province.

During the 17th century and the early 18th century a number of largely unsuccessful anti-Habsburg uprisings took place in Hungary.

In the late 17th century combined European forces reconquered Hungary from the Ottoman Empire (with Transylvania also becoming part of Hungary). In the early 18th century the Ottoman Rule ended on the entire territory of the kingdom of Hungary.

Romania

During the early and mid 15th century Wallachia went through an intermittent process of becoming a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. At the turn of the 16th century northeastern Moldavia (previously a Lithuanian vassal domain) became a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. In the Early 16th century East Hungary (present day Transylvania) also came under indirect Ottoman rule. All 3 provinces remained fully autonomous until the 18th century (except for cities of strategic importance to the Ottoman Empire). During the 17th century the Romanian lands saw the slow disappearance of feudalism.

In the late 17th century Transylvania was reconquered into Hungary.

Poland

During the 16th century Poland was a religiously tolerant state that allowed a number denominations to exist without persecution. After the establishment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (with Lithuania being largely orthodox) nationwide religious toleration was codified. In the late 16th century the Counter-Reformation of the Catholic Church led to the creation of the Uniate Church (still in existence today in Belarus and Ukraine), which continued orthodox practises under Catholic authority.

In the late 16th century Polish nobility held its first election of an individual king (vs election of a dynasty). At about the same the supreme court was established, transfering many appellate cases from the monary to the nobles.

In the early 17th century the Commonwealth unsuccessfully attempted to take over the Tsardom of Russia but gained territories in the east.

Between the late 16th century and the early 17th century the Commonwealth was under monarchical rule of the Swedish House of Vasa. A number of attempts have been made by the monarchy to ascend to the throne of Sweden which caused instability in the Commonwealth. The monarchy also attempted to move to a more centralized governance system and was met by cross-denominational rebellion, which further weakened the state.

In the early 17th century as a result of Polish-Swedish wars the Commonwealth lost its northeastern most territories. It subsequently repelled attacks from the Ottoman Empire and suppressed a number of Cossack uprisings in Ukraine and repelled a Russian invasion.

Poland did not participate in the religious Thirty Years' War and saw a restoration of official status to the Orthodox Church in the mid 17th century.

In the mid 17th century south-east of the Commonwealth was overwhelmed by a Cossack uprising (with a temporary transfer of territory to the Tsardom of Russia) as the state saw continuation of the strength of its central rule. Subsequently the Commonwealth was invaded by Sweden, resulting in loss of some northern territory and establishment of independence of the Duchy of Prussia. Also in the mid 17th century the Commonwealth participated in a war against Tsardom of Russia and regained some eastern territory but permanently lost a part of Ukraine.

In the late 17th century the Commonwealth successfully fought against the Ottomans for disputed territory and aided Austria. In the first half of the 18th century it was in an almost constant state of war, was temporarily and partially occupied by Sweden and began to disintegrate. Subsequently it went into a monarchical crisis of succession.

In the late 18th century Poland came under heavy Russian influence which resulted in an unsuccessful rebellion. Subsequently Russia, Austria and Prussia gained part of the territories of the Commonwealth in the First Partition of Poland.

Also in the late 18th century the Four-Year Sejm passed the first singular constitution in Europe, arguably manifesting early European nationalism of the common people. This anti-monarchical event was met with opposition from upper nobility and the Russian Empire with a subsequent occupation by the Imperial Russian forces and an unsuccessful resistance. Subsequently Russia and Prussia partitioned additional territories of the Commonwealth in the Second Partition of Poland.

The switch in the control of the territories was a major concern to the Polish population on largely the count of being able to practice catholicism, as there weren't yet any efforts to nationalize populations in Prussia (with the Russian Empire consisting of a multitude of nations).

Subsequently in the late 18th century Polish nationals started a widespread insurrection which could not generate necessary foreign assistance and was suppressed by Russian and Prussian forces. Finally the Third Partition of Poland was the final division and effective dissolution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with the remaining territories going to Russia, Prussia and Austria.

Sweden

In the early 16th century, after exiting the Kalmar Union with Denmark, Sweden broke away from the Catholic Church and established Protestantism.

In the mid 16th century, during the Livonian War, Estonia became a Swedish vassal. Subsequently Sweden continued to expand in the eastern Baltic region. In the early 17th century, as a result of a series of Polish-Swedish wars and the Russo-Swedish Ingrian War, Sweden regained Ingria, Kexholm and took the bulk of Livonia. During the Thirty Years' War (of the early to mid 17th century) Sweden conquered Danish Estonia, Jämtland, Gotland, Halland, Härjedalen, Idre and Särna. It was a major force in the war and became one of the guarantors of the subsequent peace agreements. In the mid 17th century Sweden established control of the eastern bank of the strait of Sound. It also claimed Bremen-Verden, Wismar and Swedish Pomerania.

In the mid 17th century Sweden briefly invaded and occupied western Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania becoming a Swedish fiefdom. Causing large scale devastation, this Deluge likely was the start of the downfall of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The loss of life caused by the Swedish Deluge was insurmountable.

In the early 18th century Sweden lost to the Russian Empire with Russia gaining most of the east Baltic region. In the mid 18th century tried to regain lost territories but lost and ceded more territories. Subsequently, in the late 18th century Sweden initiated another war with the Russian Empire.

Outside of Europe Sweden held three territories in North America (including two in Caribbean), a territory in West Africa and one in South Asia.

Germany

After the age of defensive (and economic) alliances in the north of the Holy Roman Empire, establishment of eastern baltic colonies and continuous eastward expansion of the German speaking peoples came the age of technological and structural military reforms which (combined with the rise of cities and emergence of the new burgher class) rendered the class of knights virtually obsolete (along with the feudal order in general).

With the rise of the Habsburg dynasty and its subsequent domination of the leadership of the Holy Empire, Austria gained the leading position in the region.

In the early 16th century the Protestant Reformation began in Saxony. It was soon supported by leadership of many principalities of the Empire and the first Protestant Church was established. It was met with stiff resistance from the Catholic Church and the leadership of the overall Holy Roman Empire.

During the initial struggles of Protestantism in the early 16th century the German Peasants' War erupted in a multitude of regions of the Holy Roman Empire. In it (encouraged by the Reformation) the rural lower classes revolted against the feudal lords, eventually losing and often were massacred as the result.

In the mid 16th century the Catholic Counter-Reformation attempted to stop the spread of Protestantism. Subsequently a Protestant military alliance was defeated by the imperial forces but eventually the Protestant faith was recognized. In the early 17th century many imperial states organized into either the Protestant Union or the Catholic League.

In the early to mid 17th century the Thirty Years' War took place (mostly within the Empire), initiated by the revolt of Protestant nobility in Bohemia. The Catholic leadership attempted to unify the empire both ideologically and politically.

Several foreign interventions took place during the war, including those of Denmark, Sweden and France (as well as by lesser forces). This revealed the underlying struggle for influence between the French monarch and the House of Habsburg (which ruled the Holy Roman Empire).

As a result of the war most of the constituent states of the empire gained increased autonomy, greatly reducing the unity and influence of the Empire. The Netherlands officially left the Empire and territory was ceded to France and Sweden. The empire would not recover from the war until the mid 18th century. Ultimately, the war resulted in related negative consequences, horrible atrocities and massive loss of life. Between 20% and 38% of the Empire's population died as the result of this war.

As a result of positioning its alliances and forces in the War of the Spanish Succession, Prussia gained significant sovereignty at the turn of the 18th century. In the early 18th century Prussia entered the Great Northern War, gaining Swedish Pomerania as the result. As a result of this war Prussian influence rose, replacing that of the declining Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During this time Prussia instituted compulsory conscription.

During the mid 18th century Prussia gained the territory of Silesia. Subsequently, in a related chain of events of the mid 18th century Prussian monarchy started the Seven Years' War and withstood the Austrian, French, Russian and Swedish forces (while being aligned with Great Britain). This conflict established Prussia as a European "great power".

From the mid 18th century the concept of enlightened absolutism was projected by the leadership of Prussia (and Austria) but did not have support of nobility or citizenry. Also in the mid 18th and late 18th century Prussia gained an additional county and two principalities.

In the late 18th century, due to gradual decline for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and with the Russian Empire dominating the course of events, Prussia participated in the three partitions of Poland gaining the northwestern territories of the Commonwealth.

Czech Republic

At the start of the 15th century Proto-Protestantic sentiments started in Bohemia. In the early 15th century Proto-Protestants revolted which led to the Hussite Wars, which was a series of failed Catholic Crusades. The wars ended in an agreement that allowed Proto-Protestants to practice their rite under the authority of the Catholic Church.

In the beginning of the 16th century a monarchical crisis of succession led to the transfer of control over Check lands to the House of Habsburg.

In the early 17th century, after first receiving rights from the Habsburg monarchy to practice Protestantism those rights were removed. Subsequently this caused a revolt of the local nobles leading to the first armed conflict of the Thirty Years' War. This was followed by Germanization of the elites and recatholization of the Czech land, with the movement towards Czech revival beginning again with Romanticism in the late 18th century.

To be continued ...