Constructs of Western Civilization

Constructs of Western Civilization

By

March 2017

Table of contents

Journal Entry 1        4

Journal Entry 2        4

What were the origins of Western Civilization?        4

Journal Entry 3        6

The Romans followed the Greeks.        6

The foundation of Rome according to legend.        7

The foundation of Rome according to archaeological research.        7

The power of Caesar: The expansion of the Roman Empire and the end of the Republic.        7

What ancient Rome borrowed on The Greek?        8

Journal Entry 4        10

What does the end of the Roman Empire mean to you?        10

Journal Entry 5        11

The Barbarians.        11

Middle Ages.        12

Journal Entry 6        13

What kind of a picture do these films build up? How do they relate to the idea of Western Civilization?        13

Pillars of the Earth        13

Alexander Nevsky        13

The return of Martin Guerre        14

Journal Entry 7        14

What is the Renaissance?        14

How did it relate to the voyages of discovery, the New World?        15

What can we say about the Industrial Revolution?        16

Journal Entry 8        17

The 19th Century rushes headlong into the 20th Century. The first World War (WWI).        17

Did you have any pre-conceived ideas about this war? If so, what were they?        17

Did watching “All Quiet On The Western Front” impress you, or change any of your ideas about this war? Explain.        17

What would you say were the main themes in this film?        18

Can you compare what was happening then to today? Why? Why not?        18

What is the significance of the title “All Quiet On The Western Front”?        18

The author of the book prefaced his work with the following: “I will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war”. Comment on this statement.        18

Journal Entry 9        19

The First World War was called The Great War, and The War to End all Wars. However, within 20 years, the world was at war again. Referring to the films watched in class, Schindler’s Ark, The Hunt For The Red October, Goodbye Lenin, discuss the nature of the “peace” that was achieved during the second half of the 20th Century.        19

How does all this relate to Niall Ferguson’s series, Is The West History? What is your idea of the future? Does it include Western Civilization? Yes? No? Explain your opinion.        19

Journal Entry 10        20

Reflecting on the Vietnam War, what lessons do you think we have learned from it?        20

What were the chief effects of the fall of the Berlin Wall (the end of the Iron Curtain)?        21

Looking at our world today, do you think that it reflects all that has gone before? Is this positive or negative? Why? Why not? Looking briefly at Western Civilization, how do you think it relates do today’s world?        21

References        23

Journal Entry 1

I think that studying Western civilization makes it possible to improve our knowledge of our present society. I believe that this course can allow me to have an awareness of the different cultures that have emerged in Western civilization. This course may enable me to develop my ability to address a current issue from a historical fact. It is a chance to study the human and social sciences of our civilization. It is interesting to study these cultures and see the man and his/her relationships with his/her natural, cultural, social, political and economic environment. Studying Western civilization will enable me to understand the complexity of human actions.

Choosing this course, I hope to improve my knowledge and reflection through historical models in order to better understand the difficulty of relations between people and the relationship between man and nature.

For a more personal achievement, I think this course can allow me to think and debate better on subjects of society, political or economic problems.

Journal Entry 2

What were the origins of Western Civilization?

Greece is the beginning of Western civilization. Before the Roman domination of the Mediterranean, Alexander the Great conquered part of the Mediterranean world and Asia. He founded the city of Alexandria in Egypt (Ancient Greek Culture and Civilization, 2010).

In class, we saw the root of the "Hellenistic" word, which means “Greek civilization." The Hellenistic era is the name which we give to the period which follows the conquest of the Mediterranean continent and Asia by Alexander the Great, until the Roman period. We also learned what a "Polis is." It is a Greek city (A community of citizens completely independent and sovereign, reinforced by cults and governed by laws).

We learnt that there were three groups in the Greek society: the aristocrats who controlled the wealth, the political, judicial and religious power, the free people or thetes (most were artisans and farmers, generally poor people, which were forced to exchange their services against a salary.) and no possibility of participating in the political life, and the many slaves (Cartwright, 2013).

The Greeks are described as perhaps the most eager, adventurous and creative people who have ever populated the planet. Inhabitants of a proportionally small land, they pushed their explorations to the limits of their sailboats and their rowing ships, exchanging goods and ideas throughout the Mediterranean.

The state of war was very frequent in the Greek period. It was sometimes a question of external conflicts, but more often of neighborhood struggles between the cities. At his death at the age of 33, Alexander the Great left no real successor. Thus, power and empire are divided among his generals (Mark, 2013).

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