Illustrated History of Europe by Frederic Delouche

European Values

The democrateic ideal, which is based on the conviction that collective well-being depends on each citizen taking an active part in civic life, is an inheriatnce from the ancient Greeks. It also derives from the assemblies of 'free men' held by the Germanic pepoples to counterbalance the powers of the leader in time fo peace.

The ideal of law and written statutes was established by Rome. By codifying relations between the various public authorities. The idea of the res publica, together with the political traditions of Northern Europe, gave birth to constitutional thought; and in the 17th and 18th centuries John Locke from England and the Baron de Montesquieu from France added the modern concept of the sepration of powers - legislative, executive and judiciary.

The ideal of individual liberty. Christianity by linking humanity to God and proclaiming 'Jesus as God made Man', had already added a personal dimension to everyone's destiny. Salvation, seen as supreme happiness was not a collective affair, but individual. The Christian spirit, which refused to link human success with birth, wealth, rank or glory, taught that happiess was to be found in a tranquil conscience.

At the Renaissance int he 15th century, with the rediscovery of the ancient world, humanist intellectuals archieved a synthesis of the Greco-Roman heritage and Christian thought. So four ideals cam together: democracy, equity under the rule of law, human equality and personal happiness based on individual freedom.

The diversity of cultures in Europe

Before the break-up of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, the language and culture of Greece were part of the Latin heritage and were taught throughout the Empire. After Roma, three great cultural zones co-exist and reguularly influenced each other in Europe. In the sourtheast there is the Balkan zone, heir to the Byzantine Empire, under which it flourished before coming under Moslem influence from the 15th to the 19th century. In the east is the Slav zone, largely open to Asian, Byzantine, Moslem and Western influence. In the west is the occidentla zone, with its intimate blend of Nordic or Anglo-Saxon cultures with the legacy of Greece and Rome.