The Western Tradition

Aired 1989-01-01

The origins of the human race are traced from anthropoid ancestors to the agricultural revolution.

Aired 1989-01-01

Egyptian irrigation created one of the first great civilizations.

Aired 1989-01-01

Settlements in the Fertile Crescent gave rise to the great river civilizations of the Middle East.

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Metals revolutionized tools, as well as societies, in the empires of Assyria, Persia, and Neo-Babylonia.

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Democracy and philosophy arose from Greek cities at the edge of the civilized world.

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Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle laid the foundation of Western intellectual thought.

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Alexander's conquests quadrupled the size of the world known to the Greeks.

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Hellenistic kingdoms extended Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean.

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Through its army, Rome built an empire that shaped the West.

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Rome's civil engineering contributed as much to the empire as did its weapons.

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Christianity spread despite contempt and persecution from Rome.

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The old heresy became the Roman empire's official religion under the Emperor Constantine.

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While enemies slashed at Rome's borders, civil war and economic collapse destroyed the empire from within.

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Despite the success of emperors such as Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, Rome fell victim to barbarian invasions.

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From Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire carried on the traditions of Greece and Rome.

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Nearly a thousand years after Rome's fall, Constantinople was conquered by the forces of Islam.

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Barbarian kingdoms took possession of the fragments of the Roman Empire.

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Charlemagne revived hopes for a new empire in Western Europe.

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Amid invasion and civil disorder, a military aristocracy dominated the kingdoms of Europe.

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Bishop, knight, and peasant exemplified some of the social divisions of the year 1000 A.D.

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Famine, disease, and short life expectancies were the conditions that shaped medieval beliefs.

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The great churches embodied the material and spiritual ambitions of the age.

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Two hundred years of war and plague debilitated Europe.

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A new urban middle class emerged, while dynastic marriages established centralized monarchies.

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Renaissance humanists made man "the measure of all things." Europe was possessed by a new passion for knowledge.

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The discovery of America challenged Europe.

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Voiced by Martin Luther, Protestantism shattered the unity of the Catholic Church.

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As the cities grew, new middle-class mores had an impact on religious life.

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For more than a century, the quarrels of Protestants and Catholics tore Europe apart.

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Amid religious wars, a few cities learned that tolerance increased their prosperity.

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Exhausted by war and civil strife, many Europeans exchanged earlier liberties and anarchies for greater peace.

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Arguments about the legitimate source of political power centered on divine right versus natural law.

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Monarchs considered reforms in order to create more efficient societies, but not at the expense of their own power.

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Intellectual theories about the nature of man and his potential came to the fore.

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Scientists and social reformers battled for universal human rights during a peaceful and prosperous period.

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Freedom of thought and expression opened new vistas explored by French, English, and American thinkers.

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The British colonists created a society that tested Enlightenment ideas and resisted restrictions imposed by England.

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A new republic, the compromise of radicals and conservatives, was founded on universal freedoms.

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In France the old order collapsed under revolutionaries' attacks and the monarchy's own weakness.

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Liberty, equality, and fraternity skidded into a reign of Terror.

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Technology and mass production reduced famine and ushered in higher standards of living.

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A consumer revolution was fueled by coal, public transportation, and new city services.

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Leaders in the arts, literature, and political theory argued for social justice and national liberation.

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The great powers cooperated to quell internal revolts, yet competed to acquire colonies.

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Public education and mass communications created a new political life and leisure time.

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Everyday life of the working class was transformed by leisure, prompting the birth of an elite avant-garde movement.

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Old empires crumbled during World War I to be replaced by right-wing dictatorships in Italy, Spain, and Germany.

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World War II was a war of new tactics and strategies. Civilian populations became targets as the Nazi holocaust exterminated millions of people.

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The U.S. and Soviet Union dominated Europe and confronted each other in Korea.

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Burdened with the legacy of colonial imperialism, the Third World rushed development to catch up with its Western counterparts.

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Keeping up with the ever-increasing pace of change became the standard of the day.

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Modern medicine, atomic energy, computers, and new concepts of time, energy, and matter all have an important effect on life in the 20th century.