How Did Western Europe Change
Western Europe changed rapidly during the Early Modern Period, from around 1450 to 1750: very little remained the same. The shift from feudalism to the development of defined nation states that looked to colonize the New World continued with more centralized forms of parliamentary and absolute monarchies. Colonies helped increase revenue for the West, fundamentally altering the economy from its agricultural base during the feudal period to a capitalist world economy with a rising middle class, though agriculture remained central to the economy. An emphasis on mercantilism led to the rise of core and dependent zones. The Enlightenment produced new philosophies such as humanism and the Renaissance reintroduced classical art styles and more rational
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France became a nation-state — an area with defined borders, a common ethnicity, and independence — by gaining sovereignty, or ruling itself. France under King Louis XIV typified absolutism: he controlled all political decisions and all aspects of his subjects’ lives. In England and the Netherlands, however, parliament, comprised of civil bodies representing privileged groups, limited the power of the monarch by creating laws, controlling taxes, and implementing martial law. While at first weak, the English parliament exemplified its eventual strength during the English Civil War, when parliament formed its own army. In many places, the will of the monarch was further enforced through a system of bureaucrats, ministers who oversaw different aspects of the government. A series of wars in the 16th century helped to solidify boundaries between developing nation-states and strengthen their respective monarchies. Despite this, in Germany and other areas, feudalism, a hierarchy of landowning lords and their loyal peasants, and feudal monarchies, a less centralized form of monarchy, remained the predominant political structure. New overseas colonies gave more power, land, and resources to rulers. In this way, weak governments became strong nation-states with powerful
France became a nation-state — an area with defined borders, a common ethnicity, and independence — by gaining sovereignty, or ruling itself. France under King Louis XIV typified absolutism: he controlled all political decisions and all aspects of his subjects’ lives. In England and the Netherlands, however, parliament, comprised of civil bodies representing privileged groups, limited the power of the monarch by creating laws, controlling taxes, and implementing martial law. While at first weak, the English parliament exemplified its eventual strength during the English Civil War, when parliament formed its own army. In many places, the will of the monarch was further enforced through a system of bureaucrats, ministers who oversaw different aspects of the government. A series of wars in the 16th century helped to solidify boundaries between developing nation-states and strengthen their respective monarchies. Despite this, in Germany and other areas, feudalism, a hierarchy of landowning lords and their loyal peasants, and feudal monarchies, a less centralized form of monarchy, remained the predominant political structure. New overseas colonies gave more power, land, and resources to rulers. In this way, weak governments became strong nation-states with powerful