Name: Crash Course European History
Uploaded: 2018
Description: In 50 episodes, John Green will teach you about European History to give you an overview of Europe’s history and connection with the world.

In 50 episodes, John Green will teach you about European History to give you an overview of Europe’s history and connection with the world.

Our European history is going to start around 1500 with the Renaissance, but believe it or not, that is not the actual beginning of history in the continent. So, today, we're going to teach you the broad outlines of the so-called Middle Ages, and look at events like the Black Plague.

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Medieval Europe: Crash Course European History #1

The Renaissance was a cultural revitalization that spread across Europe, and had repercussions across the globe, but one smallish city-state in Italy was in many ways the epicenter of the thing. Florence.

Florence and the Renaissance: Crash Course European History #2

The European Renaissance may have started in Florence, but it pretty quickly moved out of Italy and spread the art, architecture, literature, and humanism across Europe to places like France, Spain, England, and the Low Countries.

The Northern Renaissance: Crash Course European History #3

The thing about European History is that it tends to leak out of Europe. Europeans haven't been great at staying put in Europe. As human beings do, the people of Europe were very busy traveling around to trade, to spread religion, and in a lot of cases to try and conquer other people.

The Age of Exploration: Crash Course European History #4

European exploration had a lot of side effects. When the Old World and the New World began to interact, people, wealth, food, animals, and disease began to flow in both directions. In the New World, countless millions were killed by smallpox, measles, and other Old World diseases.

Expansion and Consequences: Crash Course European History #5

You may have noticed that the internet is terrible at religious discourse. Well, this is not a new phenomenon. In the early 16th century, the Roman Catholic church dominated Christianity in Europe, and the institution was starting to show some cracks.

The Protestant Reformation: Crash Course European History #6

The Protestant Reformation didn't exactly begin with Martin Luther, and it didn't end with him either. Reformers and monarchs changed the ways that religious and state power were organized throughout the 16th and early 17th centuries.

Reformation and Consequences: Crash Course European History #7

We've been talking a lot about kings, and queens, and wars, and religious upheaval for most of this series, but let's take a moment to zoom out, and look at the ways that individuals' lives were changing in the time span we've covered so far.

Commerce, Agriculture, and Slavery: Crash Course European History #8

When the Protestant Reformation broke out in Western Europe, the Catholic Church got the message, at least a little bit. Pope Paul III called a council to look into reforming some aspects of the Catholic Church and try to stem the tide of competing Christian sects popping up all over the place.

Catholic Counter-Reformation: Crash Course European History #9

During our last several episodes, Europe and the European-controlled world have been in crisis. Wars, disease, climate changes, and shifts in religious and political power threw the European world into turmoil. People were looking for a scapegoat, and for many, it was a time of magical thinking.

Witchcraft: Crash Course European History #10

The 17th Century in Europe was pretty rough in a lot of ways. The Thirty Years War involved a lot of countries and a lot of battles, and it was terrible for everyone involved, as wars have a historical tendency to be.

The 17th Century Crisis: Crash Course European History #11

We've seen wars and unrest of all types. But, there is some good news. Huge advances were underway in the scientific community in Europe at this time. In this video, we'll look at the progress of knowledge with Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, Harvey, Newton, and more.

Scientific Revolution: Crash Course European History #12

So far, the rulers of Europe have been working to consolidate their power and expand their kingdoms, and this is it. The moment they've been working toward Absolute Monarchy. We're going to learn about how kings and queens became absolute rulers in Europe.

Absolute Monarchy: Crash Course European History #13

The English Civil War. We'll talk about England after Elizabeth, in which things didn't go that smoothly. We'll talk about James I, Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, Charles II, and James II, all of whom ruled England, (and tried to rule all of Britain and Ireland) with varying degrees of success.

English Civil War: Crash Course European History #14

While the English were falling apart a little, with their civil war and their restoration and their succession problems, the Dutch were getting their act together. They were throwing off the yoke of the Spanish Empire, uniting their provinces, and building out their global trade network.

Dutch Golden Age: Crash Course European History #15

While the focus has been on Western Europe so far, there has also been a lot going on in Eastern Europe, which we'll be looking at today.

Eastern Europe Consolidates: Crash Course European History #16

In eastern Europe, in the 17th century, a couple of "great powers" were coming into their own. The vast empire of Russia was modernizing under Peter the Great, and the relatively tiny state of Prussia was evolving as well.

The Rise of Russia and Prussia: Crash Course European History #17

So far in this series, we've covered a lot of war, disease, climate disaster, and some more war. Well, prepare yourself for something a little more positive. This week, we're talking about the Enlightenment.

The Enlightenment: Crash Course European History #18

Last time we learned about the Enlightenment, and the philosophers and thinkers whose ideas would shape governance for hundreds of years. This week, we're learning how monarchs across Europe were influenced by those ideas.

Enlightened Monarchs: Crash Course European History #19

European powers had a lot of wars in the 18th century, and they weren't confined to Europe. Conflict raged across the globe, in what might be called a World War...but we don't call it that because we already have a couple of those coming up in the 20th century.

18th Century Warfare: Crash Course European History #20

In 1789, the French Monarchy's habit of supporting democratic popular revolutions in North America backfired. Today, we're talking about the French Revolution. Across the world, people were rising up to throw off monarchies, and Louis didn't see the writing on the wall until it was too late.

The French Revolution: Crash Course European History #21

We try not to get into too much great man history here at Crash Course, but we have to admit: Napoleon Bonaparte is a pretty big deal. Join us as we track the rise, further rise, fall, rise, fall, mortal fall, and posthumous rise of Napoleon.

Napoleon Bonaparte: Crash Course European History #22

The end of the Napoleonic Wars left the great powers of Europe shaken. Judging from the destruction that had been wrought across the continent, it seemed to the powers that be that the Enlightenment had liberated the people, and led to disaster.

The Congress of Vienna: Crash Course European History #23

We've talked about a lot of revolutions in 19th Century Europe, and today we're moving on to a less warlike revolution, the Industrial Revolution. You'll learn about the development of steam power and mechanization, and the labor and social movements that this revolution engendered.

The Industrial Revolution: Crash Course European History #24

In the aftermath of the revolutions and upheaval in 18th and early 19th century Europe, there was a hunger for reform across the continent. Reformers like Robert Owen, Charles Fourier, and Auguste Comte proposed radical new ideas, while regular people began to stand up and ask for greater equality.

Reform and Revolution 1815-1848: Crash Course European History #25

In 1848, Europe experienced a wave of revolutions. Last week we covered some of the reform movements that presaged these uprisings. This week, we're learning about what the people wanted from the revolutions, who was involved, and how many of those goals were accomplished.

Revolutions of 1848: Crash Course European History #26

So, we haven't talked much about Italy and Germany so far in Crash Course Euro, and that's because prior to the mid-19th century, those two nation-states weren't really a thing. Today we'll look at how Italy and Germany pulled it together in the second half of the 1800s.

Italian and German Unification: Crash Course European History #27

In 19th century Europe, with nation-building well underway, thoughts turned outward, toward empire. This week, we're looking at how Europeans expanded into Africa, Asia, and Oceania during the 1800s. You'll learn about China and the Opium War, British India, and the Scramble for Africa.

Expansion and Resistance: Crash Course European History #28

Between 1840 and 1914, an estimated 40 million people left Europe. This is one of the most significant migrations in human history. So, who was leaving Europe? And why?

Migration: Crash Course European History #29

So, "modern" is kind of a loaded term, but today we're going to talk about modern life in Europe, as it looked around the time the 19th century turned into the 20th. We'll look at what life was like in the rapidly growing urban centers of Europe.

Modern Life: Crash Course European History #30

Europe was in transition politically and culturally at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, we're looking at the dawn of modern science, and the rise of Modernism in the arts, especially in music, dance, and visual arts.

Modern Thought and Culture in 1900: Crash Course European History #31

Much has been written about what exactly caused World War I. As befits a true global war, the reality is that there isn't a single cause. There aren't even three causes. There are a vast array of causes. Today we'll get into just a few of those causes.

The Roads to World War I: Crash Course European History #32

Europe's system of alliances and centuries-old tensions erupted into war in August of 1914. This week on Crash Course Euro, we're talking about the military history of World War I and taking a look at the broad strokes of how the war unfolded.

World War I Battlefields: Crash Course European History #33

World War I was a total war for millions of people in Europe. Many men were enlisted in the fighting, but the war work had implications for the daily lives of a huge number of Europeans.

WWI's Civilians, the Homefront, and an Uneasy Peace: Crash Course European History #34

World War I was very hard on the Russian Empire. So hard, in fact, that it led to the end of the Russian Empire. As the global conflict ground on, Tsar Nicholas II faced increasing unrest at home. Today we'll learn about the Revolutions of 1917, the rise of Lenin, Trotsky, and the Bolsheviks.

Russian Revolution and Civil War: Crash Course European History #35

Today we're talking about the economic cultural recovery of the 1920s, and the economic depression of the 1930s, and the fragile state of Europe after the Great War. We'll also look at the rise of fascism via the auspices of populist leaders like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

Post-World War I Recovery: Crash Course European History #36

We're still leading up to World War II, but first, we gotta talk about the rise of the dictators. Today we talk about the rise of militaristic dictatorships in Germany, the Soviet Union, Japan, and Spain, and the economic depression that set the stage for their rise.

Economic Depression and Dictators: Crash Course European History #37

Only a couple of decades after the end of the First World War - which was supposed to be the War that Ended All Wars -another, bigger, farther-flung, more destructive, and deadlier war began.

World War II: Crash Course European History #38

Our look at World War II continues with a closer examination of just how the war impacted soldiers in the field and the people at home. For many of the combatants, the homefront and the war front were one and the same.

World War II Civilians and Soldiers: Crash Course European History #39

During World War II, Nazi Germany undertook the imprisonment and summary execution of many of its own citizens and citizens of the nations they occupied. One of the groups that came under assault was the European Jewish population. More than six million Jewish people were killed.

The Holocaust,Genocides, and Mass Murder of WWII: Crash Course European History #40

At the conclusion of World War II, the old structures of power were a shambles. The traditional European powers were greatly weakened by years of war. The USSR was looking to expand its sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, while the United States was assisting with the rebuilding of Western Europe

Post-War Rebuilding and the Cold War: Crash Course European History #41

Today we'll learn about how the various countries and blocs approached the problem of rebuilding their infrastructure and helping their residents recover. You'll learn about the Marshall plan and the various treaties that led to the modern-day European Union.

Post-World War II Recovery: Crash Course European History #42

After World War II, Europe was changing radically, and its place in the world was changing as well. European powers had colonized around the world in the 18th and 19th centuries, and in the 20th century, it all came crashing down.

Decolonization: Crash Course European History #43

In the decades following World War II, life changed in many ways, and a fair number of those changes were for the better. Many of the improvements were driven by advances in science and technology, in fields like biology, communication, energy production, space exploration, and especially medicine.

Revolutions in Science and Tech: Crash Course European History #44

The post-World War II decades in Europe are sometimes called the Thirty Glorious Years. As those years wore on, tensions between East and West grew, and economic growth slowed or was unevenly distributed across Europe, protests and dissent arose across the continent.

Protests East and West: Crash Course European History #45

In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, protests and unrest continued across Europe, and the Soviet Union was having increasing trouble holding its sphere of influence together.

The Soviet Bloc Unwinds: Crash Course European History #46

In this video you'll learn how countries like Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland and many others moved into the post-Soviet world.

The Fall of Communism: Crash Course European History #47

In which John looks at what it even means to live in a global age, as we've been talking about Europe's role in the gobal community for 47 episodes now. But, pedantry aside, the world is more connected than ever, and that has had effects in Europe.

Europe in the Global Age: Crash Course European History #48

The 21st century brought a whole new host of challenges to the world, and Europe was no exception. In this video you'll learn about how an increasingly connected and complex world led to some pretty deep rifts in countries across the continent.

21st Century Challenges: Crash Course European History #49

At the end of our journey through modern European history, we're taking an episode to look back at how the practice of history developed and what the aim and goals and purpose of history have been. We'll also take time to consider how we should approach history research and writing going forward.