The Decline of the West

In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe it is demonstrated how the Ibo culture slowly deteriorated from their own culture. The Western ideas influenced a different impact on certain characters, this also included characters like Okonwo and his son Nwoye. Many from the Ibo culture were confused by the merge of the European people slowly but subtly trying to enforce and covert their religion upon them. The books ending explained why the book was written in the first place, which was to “break the silence” that existed from the unheard side of the colonized people. The novel explained the impact Nwoye encountered with Western ideas was a clear and positive one. Nwoye felt like he resonated, was wanted, and more suited in the new culture

Rome was a great nation of conquerors, vast wealth and riches which stretched most of Europe, parts of North Africa, and areas of Asia. Its army is arguably the longest surviving and most effective fighting force in military history. Every empire has to terminate and Rome disassembled rather swiftly. The fall of the empire is mentioned in virtually every type of informative media including books and television networks. The fall of the Western Roman Empire was caused by the lack of monetary funds, the formation and following of a new religion, and an increasingly forlorn and debilitated army.

The role of the federal government in the formation of the modern West, holds to a wide range of factors. The role of the government remained small in until the beginning of the 20th century, but later in history, its reach became far more apparent and noticeable. An understanding of the foundations of settlement in the West is important to address. The basics of in these foundations, in modern urbanization, are influential to the direct role the government plays in the lands to the West. In this discussion, I will examine some of the major contributions in which federal government involvement was apparent in the West.

Web essay 4: The West There are many people that think of the land west of the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean known simply as “The West” as just another part of the United States. The real story of how the western frontier as we know it today manifested is a truly magnificent one. It is one of many different perspectives filled with war, courage, religious freedom, and the bloodshed of many for the fulfillment of dreams or the perseverance of ones right to their land and culture. It was the center of the universe for the Indians who were first to inhabit the land and a promise of riches and power for explorers, settlers, and missionaries who set out to make the West their own. The two sections I paid particular attention to in my research were The People and The Empire upon the Trails.

The West drastically evolved after the Civil War. The gold mining boom brought businessmen and crooks to the West. While mining for gold, the discovery of silver, copper, and ore caused more destruction of the land. The railroads were needed to transport mining materials and equipment. In the meantime, the demand for grains in the North caused corporations to buy up land and plant crops purely for profit.

The Great War, or World War I, ended in 1918 with the Treaty of Paris. It marked the beginning of a new era. During the war, there was a boom in the economy and employment was easy to find. The damage the war caused on the land in Europe was catastrophic; with the trenches and heavy artillery and machinery being used to destroy each other and take cities, it is amazing that there was anything left. Many people, soldiers and civilians, died during the war. After World War I, many countries gained their independence, and many countries suffered severe economic debt due to the expensive war reparations.

The battle of Thermopylae is one of the most important and profoundly symbolic battles in Greek and Persian history. The three-day battle for the pass at the “Hot Gates” of Thermopylae was an overwhelming event that ended in the defeat of the Greeks by the Persian empire. Thermopylae, The Battle for the West, by Ernle Bradford, depicts in detail, important features that frame the significance of the battle. These features contribute to the overall strategies employed by the Persians and the Greeks which is much of the focus of Bradford’s book. To varying degrees both the Persians and the Greeks demonstrated the use of their leadership, capacity for planning and organization, intelligence, technological superiority, military prowess, perseverance and bravery, all of which contribute to a successful strategy. While the differences amongst the features alone can be seen to determine the strength of one nation over the other, the weaknesses and strengths were played to take advantage of the opportunities and challenges when faced with formidable opponents.

When the West first made contact with the non-Western world, this was on a basis of trading. As Europeans became further embroiled into the non-West politics, it made trading all the more harder. To keep the flow of trade going, in an easier way, the European countries then began to take over parts of countries, India for example. With China, they made spheres of influence, which, technically was not their colonies, but the European powers still ruled over them. In Africa, many of the European Empires almost literally carved out their colonies, using the Africans to do so—although slavery was seen as immoral and illegal in many of the Empires.

The Navajo Indians emulated the pueblo. The shed their animal skin clothing for cotton and learned quickly how to farm. These people settled in between the Rio Grande and the Grand Canyon. They herded sheep and grew corn in the valleys. They were a peaceful group of people, and were one with their surroundings.

1) What enabled Europeans to carve out huge empires an ocean away from their homelands?

In Samuel P. Huntington’s article “The West: Unique, Not Universal,” he addresses his audience with a very controversial question: Is Western Culture universal or unique? Huntington elaborately opens up this question with research and examples to explain and persuade readers that the West will never be a universal culture for all, but rather a unique culture that will be accepted by those who appreciate it. For decades now, historians and scholars have debated with one another to determine who is right and wrong. However, from a handful of articles from different scholars, Samuel Huntington’s statement that the West is unique rather than universal is supported and even further elaborated on by these particular sources. A common understanding between all the sources, that must be noted, is that a civilization’s culture is not comprised of material goods but rather their culmination of their religion(s), values, language(s) and traditions. While although there are scholars out their that negate the West is unique, a large amount of scholars still argue and strengthen Huntington’s argument that the West has unique and exclusive characteristics that make them distinctive and rare.

The rise of the West refers to a period of time when Western Europe rose to power due to many environmental, political, and social factors. Many historians attribute the Rise of the West to the time period of 1450 to 1850. This power surge of Western Europe has been attributed to the global dominance of Western Europe and America in the 21 century. The interesting aspect regarding the Rise of the West is how Western Europe developed so differently from other parts of the world, leading it to be the superpower of the world. Over the past 50 years, the idea of the rise of the West has been closely re-examined. Prior to the 1950s, historians believed that the rise of the West occurred because it was destined to; because Europe is the best and

Exam #3 Essay: Rise of the West Ch. 26-30 As “A World History” comes to an end, McNeill’s echoing concept of rise of the west is countered by rise of the rest in Chapters 26 through 30. Through the Industrial Revolution, the Taiping Rebellion, the World Wars, and the zeitgeist of world history, the rise of the West is influenced through technological advances, social uprisings, military, and time setting. The most significant reason the West is in power is accredited to the location in time and space they have been offered that has given them countless opportunities to progress further and quicker.

As Austrian writer Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach wrote,“To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible.” History and literature have established that the ideal goal every American has wanted is for his thirst for material possessions to be reached, but even then, the individual isn’t truly happy. Money, and the things it can get you, have long been a part of American culture and the materialist culture of society have been examined in numerous ways from novels to the art of those like Andy Warhol. A life free from the economic woes that plague almost everyone seems like the quintessential existence, but material wealth is not a way to mend issues.

A. J. Polyzoides, an honorary senior lecturer at Birmingham University, states: “The western world has adopted and developed their discoveries throughout the centuries.” (Polyzoides 1). As the Hellenistic society shifted away from the Classical ideals of perfectionism and idolization of the elites and gods in sculpture, artists began to be fixated on illustrating imperfection of a variety of individuals faced with the ruthless authenticity of their emotional struggles. Whereas, Classical architecture focused on dedicating massive structures to the gods to emphasize their divinity, but Hellenistic architecture used advanced technology to exemplify Alexander the Great’s magnificence. Thus, differences in the architecture can be seen in the sophisticated town of Alexandria with structures such as the lighthouse that show how Alexander the Great influenced town planning that was centralized on the creation of a superior city, likewise, The Altar at Pergamon expresses the loss of focus on the divine through unique sculptural techniques. Change can also be seen in the sculptures of The Boxer and The Old Market Woman as they are depicted to be imperfectly individualistic and in emotional distress.