West European Studies

Francisco de Goya was born in Fuendetodos, a village in Aragon, Spain, on March 30, 1746. Goya became studying art as an apprentice to Jose Luzan at the age of fourteen and continued his art education in Italy (Franciscodegoya.net). He returned to Spain in 1771 and painted frescoes in local cathedrals which helped establish his artistic reputation. In Madrid, he joined painter brothers Francisco and Ramon Bayeu y Subias and later married their sister (metmuseum.org). In 1774, he was introduced to...

The history of the Roman Republic could be traced back to the era after the overthrow of Tarquin monarchy led by Junius Brutus at around 509 BC. From that time henceforth Rome has never reverted back to a monarchy. This era signified great expansion, power and civilization of the Roman Republic. Rome was ruled by the senate and assembly which were institutions formed that were formed at the beginning of the monarchy. The Republic was characterized by continuous warfare. The Republic had a constitution...

Peter Abelard (Pierre Ablard) was a French philosopher, theologian and a dialectician. He was born in April 1079 in a small town of Pallet near Nantes, to a noble family of a lord of a village who later became monasteries. He went against the wishes of his parents by opting to pursue education as opposed to joining military profession. In search of his education he moved from one school to another and eventually ended up in Paris (Atkinson, 1998). Here, he undertook to rival the teachings offered...

Unlike the contemporary concept of a constitution, which is the fundamental law of a state that defines the basic policies and principles of the government, the declaration of unity among its citizens and the promotion of their welfare, the establishment of justice, the insurance of peace and order, and the protection of their territory for the end purpose of gaining the national and global recognition of the countrys independence and self governance, the Athenian constitution is a historical account...

Germany was involved in the First World War in which it was defeated in 1918. There are various similarities between the defeat of Germany in 1918 and defeat of France in 1871. The similarities of their defeat can be obtained by considering the causes of the war and the end results. There were also dissimilarities between these wars. The dissimilarities can also be ascertained by considering the participants in the war and the consequences of the war.     The similarities can be...

    The First World War started in 1914. The war was initiated by the imbalance of power within the European nation. The British Empire was the first to undergo industrialization. Industrial revolution began in British. This made British the only European nation served with industries.  British revived policies of ensuring they are the only ones involved in production. The world markets were flocked with products from Britain.  The competing European nations included India...

Nationalism is defined as a collection of ideas, sentiments, cultures or social movements which portray patriotism for a certain country. Two great revolutions occurred in France and Germany. The French revolution begun in 1789 and lasted up to the start of the First World War. Therefore, nationalism is a political ideology which gains momentum as a result of improvement of modern technology. Historian Carlton Hayes classified the evolution of nationalism into five major stages humanitarian enlighten,...

    The invasion of Germany on Poland was attributed to the cause of the Second World War. The causes of the Second World War are attributed to the unresolved issues left after the First World War. After the First World War, allied nations joined to evaluate the verdict of the First World War. Amongst those included were Clemenceau who was from France, England was presented by Lloyd, Orland presented Italy while Woodrow Wilson presented the United States.  The damages of the...

    The concepts of inquisition and the inquisitorial procedure are deeply rooted in the history of the world. Inquisitions were popular during the fall of the Roman Empire and lasted up to the fall of the Spanish Inquisition in the opening years of the 19th century. The inquisition was one of the most influential and polemical institutions that were used by the Roman Catholic Church to get rid of heresy and offer protection to the unity of Christendom. An inquisition could be carried...

The European community is currently locked in the debate of whether or not it is necessary to have a single currency for its single market. The European Union has developed a common market via a system of standardized laws that are applicable in all the states under the EU. These laws are mainly aimed at ensuring that there is free movement of capital, services, goods and people within the region. However, the lack of a single currency has been cited as one of the greatest impediments to the free...

Two thousands years ago, the whole world was ruled by the Roman Empire. Between the first and the fifth century, the Roman Empire had a great influence on the politics of the world. In the same period, Christianity was spreading very first in the same empire. However, the Roman Empire came to a fall in the in the fifth century. The fall of the Roman Empire was followed by the middle ages. Due to the high spread of Christianity in the world of civilization during the Roman Empire rule and the early...

The past century has seen much advancement in terms of medical care, economy, social, environment and technology and this is bound to continue into the forthcoming  centuries. These changes have greatly improved the lives of communities.      Recent discoveries have greatly improved provision of health care. Many diseases can now be cured and the ones not yet curable will soon be (Woodward and Richards 54). By 2000 vaccines for all major diseases will have been discovered...

FALKLAND WARThe Falkland War did not do much in changing the course of British defense policy during the 1980s. However, it offered important lessons concerning the need to respond to the contingent circumstances of an unpredictable world beyond the institutionalized situations. Literature on Falkland War focusing on the development of operational capabilities, defense planning, organizational culture and jointery is enormous even though there is very minimal objective analysis. This owes to the...