20 most important events of european history

[Squonk]

that form european identity and should be in every european schoolbook. What are they? My list would go about like this

1) ancient greek history (philosophy, Athens vs Sparta, Alexander, diadochoi)
2) roman expansion
3) spread of christianity
4) fall of the roman empire
5) Arabs (and Slavs) attack
6) great schism
7) second wave of spread of christianity (Bulgaria, Moravia, Poland, Ruthenia, Scandinavia)
8) crusades
9) fight between pope and emperor
10) renaissance
11) turkish threat
12) reformation
13) great discoveries
14) englightment
15) french revolution, incl. Napoleon
16) growth of nationalism and socialism
17) ww1
18) ww2
19) cold war
20) EU

[Owen Glyndwr]

I dunno, those topics are super duper broad. This wasn't so much a events thing as a broad flow of general history, so which do you want? Specific events or general history topics?

[bombshoo]

What's an "event"? I am sort of confused as to how you can have ~8 things listed for the Middle Ages and yet list almost all of Classical history as a single event.

[Gruekiller]

If you mean single points, the Battle of Vienna and the Battle of Waterloo are both important turning points. I might also point at the 1st Crusade and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.

[Magnificent One]

My list of important European Events.

1) The Persian Empire
2) Alexander the Great
3) Rome VS Carthage
4) The Roman Empire
5) Christianity
6) Fall of West Rome
7) Byzantium
8) Arabian Expansion
9) Founding of Islam
10) Dark Ages
11) Hundred Years War
12) Crusades
13) Teutonic Order
14) The Ottoman Empire + Fall of Constantinople
15) Renaisance
16) Colonialism
17) Napoleonic Wars
18) World War I
19) World War II
20) The Cold War

[Squonk]

I do not mean singular battles, sorry for not making myself clear. I mean sort of cultural movements, changes in history that made profound, structural influence on it... hm...

Originally Posted by bombshoo

What's an "event"? I am sort of confused as to how you can have ~8 things listed for the Middle Ages and yet list all of Classical history as a single event.

I do not.
1) ancient greek history (philosophy, Athens vs Sparta, Alexander, diadochoi) - ANCIENT
2) roman expansion - ANCIENT
3) spread of christianity - ANCIENT
4) fall of the roman empire - ANCIENT
5) Arabs (and Slavs) attack - on the verge of ANTIQUITY

It's 4-5 points, not 1

Magnificent One, why Teutonic Order? When I think of it, its most important influence was cutting Slavs from the Baltic Sea, influencing Lithuania into chosing catholicism over orthodoxy (which's results were overturned by partages etc)... but in general, their influence was regional and not more profound than any other state's.

oh, I forgot Mongols, they made a huge impact on half of Europe. And it is in fact, now that I think of it, the common thing in european and turkish history

Why do you put arab expansion before birth of islam, and why are these events separate?

Why 100 yw is so important? It did contribute to the art of warfare I guess... But in fact it only ment expulsion of the English from France, which is a return to a situation that existed before... hm... perhaps it also contributed to existance of a long France vs England feud, but it was one of many in history and not the most important.

[Chieftess]

Kind of broad list for 20, but here's a quick 5 (with long-lasting consequences) -

1 - Roman Empire - The basis for many languages, and words imported into other languages.

2 - Rise of Christianity - Defined the European culture, and acts as a unifying force.

3 - The Great Migrations - Pressures from China (direct and indirect) forced many seeking Roman lands. These would eventually become countries (as well as provide a monarchial government to Europe) In a way, this made Europe many competing cultures rather than one (like China), which would have importance in the future.

4 - Founding of Islam/Rise of the Arabian Empire - Cuts off direct Europe-to-China trade (unless they wanted to pay a "protection tax"). This would be part of the reason Europe sought a quicker route to China (after finding Africa was so large)

5 - Colonization - A consequence of 3 and 4. It essentially was what Rome was to the Medditeranian area, only as a very loose "alliance" of nations vying for land. This would trigger wars and revolutions in Europe later.

[GinandTonic]

How are the agricultural and industrial revoloutions not on the lists given they completely changed the lives of every european and the whole political economy of the continent. Twice.

[Squonk]

I didn't put economic events on the list. Maybe I should.

[Owen Glyndwr]

I still don't really understand the point of this thread. From here it looks like all we're doing is outlining what chapters there would be in a Euro-history textbook. I think individual events would be much more interesting, and much more prone to discussion that what this is supposed to be.

[Quackers]

inb4 accusations of eurocentricity

I would say the French and Russian revolutions are worth mentioning.

[Louis XXIV]

Since the thread says events, I'm going to pick an event that's symbolic of a broader change.

1. The First Punic War, Rome conquers Sicily (or the establishment of the Roman Empire generally).
2. Caesar's Conquest of Gaul (original unifying culture of Europe)
3. Constantine ends persecution of Christianity (more or less representing Christianity spreading in the Empire)
4. Odoacer overthrows the last Roman Emperor in the west (barbarian migration period, fall of the Roman Empire)
5. Charles Martel halts the advance of Islam
6. Charlemagne crowned as Roman Emperor (reestablishment of political unity, uniting Western Europe in allegiance to the Pope).
7. Investiture Controversy (dominance of the Papacy, ending of the church as personal property)
8. Crusades (defining the boundaries of Europe, intellectual reawakening due to rediscovering Greek sources).
9. The Plague! (demographic shifts, mercantile revitalization).
10. Gutenberg invents the Printing Press
11. Discovery of America (change in economy of Europe).
12. 30 Years War (end of Papal dominance, rise of European political balance).
13. Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, and others publish their works (height of the Enlightenment)
14. The French Revolution (rise of Nationalism and spread of ideals of liberty).
15. Congress of Vienna (Concert of Europe and policies that followed until World War I).
16. Unification of Germany
17. World War I (destroyed three Empires).
18. Bolshevik Revolution (rise of the Communist movement in Europe).
19. Potsdam Conference (post-World War II East/West divide. I considered the fall of Berlin and the bombing of Hiroshima as other possible events)
20. Establishment of the European Economic Community

That was quite fun. A couple of other events I would have loved to have included if I could fit more.

[Arriaga II]

Here's 20 of the most important single events in European history, several of the events did not occur in Europe.

1. The migrants that introduced agriculture in Europe.
2. Whatever the hell happened that triggered the Bronze Age Collapse.
3. Cyrus creates an empire in Mesopotamia.
4. Philip V allies with Carthage.
5. Attila has a nosebleed.
6. The invention of the stirrup.
7. The invention of Greek Fire.
8. The death of Ogedei Khan.
9. Genoese traders from Kaffa land at Messina.
10. The utilization of paper in Europe for the first time.
11. Luther refuses to recant at the Diet of Worms.
12. Atahualpa invites the party of strangers to meet at Cajamarca.
13. Galileo learns about the newly invented telescope.
14. The death of Elizabeth I of Russia.
15. Watt develops his modified steam engine.
16. The flight of Louis XVI.
17. McClellan pulls a McClellan after Special Order 191 is discovered.
18. Louis Pasteur demonstrates his metholodogy via milk.
19. Ludendorff lets Lenin pass through Germany to Russia.
20. Einstein is persuaded to write a letter to FDR.

[Louis XXIV]

Cool list, but why Greek Fire?

[Arriaga II]

Originally Posted by Louis XXIV

Cool list, but why Greek Fire?

I'm no expert on the Byzantines, so I tried to think of the most obvious event that would symbolize their ability to avoid the fate of the Sassanid Empire.

Thus, checking the expansion of Islam into Europe for 600 years (except Spain).

[taillesskangaru]

1. Development of philosophy in Ancient Greece
2. Rise of the Roman Empire
3. Rise of Christianity and Christianization of the Roman Empire
4. Germanic/Barbarian Migrations
5. Rise of Islam
6. Eastern Roman revival under the Macedonian and the Komnenoi dynasties
7. Great Schism
8. The Crusades
9. The Black Death
10. The Renaissance
11. The Printing Press
12. Rise of the Ottomans
13. Rise of the Habsburg
14. Conquest of the New World
15. The Reformation
16. The Enlightenment
17. The Industrial Revolution
18. World War I
19. Bolshevik Revolution
20. World War II

[Masada]

Originally Posted by Arriaga II

I'm no expert on the Byzantines, so I tried to think of the most obvious event that would symbolize their ability to avoid the fate of the Sassanid Empire.

Themes. Also, disunity in the Islamic world itself.

[cubsfan6506]

1. 1900-2000
2. 1700-1800
3. 500-600
4. 400-500
5. 1800-1900
6. 0-100
7. 100-200
8. 200-300
9. 600-700
10. 700-800
11. 800-900
12. 1600-1700
13. 2000-pres
14. England
15. 1200-1300
16. 1500-1600
17. 1300-1400
18.1000-1100
19. 1100-1300
20. Dday

All dates are C.E, nothing happened important before then.

[taillesskangaru]

Originally Posted by cubsfan6506

All dates are C.E, nothing happened important before then.

You mean A.D., and not even Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome?

[Plotinus]

Originally Posted by Squonk

I do not.
1) ancient greek history (philosophy, Athens vs Sparta, Alexander, diadochoi) - ANCIENT
2) roman expansion - ANCIENT
3) spread of christianity - ANCIENT
4) fall of the roman empire - ANCIENT
5) Arabs (and Slavs) attack - on the verge of ANTIQUITY

It's 4-5 points, not 1

"Classical" does not mean the same thing as "ancient". Of the five topics you give here, only the first two could be considered "classical".

And I agree that it's pretty absurd to just label the whole of "ancient Greek history" as a single "event". By that logic, I can list the most important events in European history like this:

(1) European history.

Originally Posted by taillesskangaru

You mean A.D.

CE is the standard scholarly form. And we are not going to have that argument again, at least not here.