In today's political climate 'Europe' is an indistinct term - heavily used but poorly defined. Countries such as the Ukraine and Turkey have dual identities, located partway between the cultures of Europe and Asia, while the borders of the European Union are changing to admit new members. Any study of European history encounters even greater problems; this is an explanation of how your About guide has dealt with the difficulties.
The first problem for anyone interested in European history, be they historian, student or casual reader, concerns dates: where do you begin, and where do you end? At its greatest extent, the history of Europe stretches back in an unbroken chain for over three thousand years, including the rise and fall of empires and kingdoms. This is clearly an unmanageable amount for all but the grandest studies, and European history has traditionally been broken up into specific periods; however, this also causes problems. The events of European history are usually so intertwined, a mixture of political, economic and social factors, that even when an event does have specific dates, such as 1914 -1918 for World War One, the causes and consequences cover a far broader period. There is no definitive solution, and this site will cover the whole timeline up to 2000, albeit concentrating on the periods known as 'early modern' and 'modern'.
Borders are also problematic. Europe has well-defined limits in the north, south and west - the Barents Sea, Mediterranean and Atlantic respectively - but not in the east. The traditional boundary follows the Ural mountains down to the Caspian Sea, cutting back along the Caucasus Mountains and down through Turkey to the Mediterranean and Cyprus, but the borders of the old USSR have also been used. This site has taken the former boundaries, which include a large amount of Russia and Turkey. However, once the outer limits have been established, internal divisions cause more problems.
Studies of Europe as a whole usually focus on broad themes and issues, because the continent is too fragmented for in-depth and detailed studies; they would be huge. National boundaries can be used to sub-divide Europe, but the shifting mass of politics and peoples has created a massively complex patchwork. Portugal and France may have retained the same general borders for our period, but a study of Croatia swiftly dissolves into a study of the Austrian and Ottoman empires. Consequently, this site has two different kinds of Subject - regional and thematic. The latter covers specific events and issues, while the former is divided into either countries, or groups of countries. Modern day names have been used to make navigation easier, but the divisions reflect common political groupings, for instance 'The Balkans and Turkey' relates to the Ottoman Empire. The categories are far from perfect, and several countries will overlap, particularly Austria, but a compromise such as this is the only solution.
Many of the regional Subjects have been sub-divided. In these instances there is a section for general histories and timelines, while the other divisions cover specific periods or areas where necessary, including biographies and discussions. The regional Subjects cover the politics and conflicts pertinent to that area; wars which involve two, or more, of the regions have been included under 'Wars and Conflict', with links from inside the relevant Subjects. However, this system will inevitably evolve, and if you have any input please e-mail me, so we can try for a definitive organisation.
For Citation And Footnotes
Title: Dates and borders - the problems of European history
Author: Robert Wilde
Date: 2001
