Central Western Europe

Chapter 16

Northern France

Paris Basin- Part of the Northern European Plain

City of Lille◦North of Paris◦Great location near European Union Countries◦Provided tons of jobs

Paris-the political, cultural, and economic capitol of France◦France’s Chief Center of Commerce◦Raw materials are turned into finished products

FRANCE

SouthwestWarm AirDry SoilTown of Bordeaux in southwest France has a

reputation of producing the best wine. The worse the soil the better the wine

Southern France• Massif Central Mts- 1/6 of French Land Area• Poor Soil

• Alps• Great Scenery• Challenging Skiing• Barrier to Italy until 1965 when the built a

highway tunnel through to the other side

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Mediterranean Border

Known as the RivieraPeople enjoy busy cities and Beautiful

sceneryCannes- Famous for Film FestivalMarseille- Busiest seaport in France

◦Export: wine, electronic goods, & chemicals◦Import: Petroleum

East

Rhine River- Europe’s Busiest waterwayForms part of Frances border w/ GermanyAlsace and Loraine-areas along the Rhine

river rich in resourcesLoraine- has France’s Largest deposits of

Iron OreStrasbourg- major port on the Rhine River

Understanding the Past

France was 1st known as Gaul when the Romans conquered in the 1st century B.C.

Gaul was influenced greatly and spoke Latin and was part of the Christian faith.

After Gaul, they were conquered by the Franks & part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Under the Holy Roman Empire Christianity spread. Later Monarch gained large amounts of power and

expanded the French borders to where they are today. Monarch Power came to a halt w/ the French

Revolution. Since France has been governed in different forms

◦ Republic◦ Constitutional Monarchy

Language and Culture

The French language was the main language only in Paris.

French Kings made French the Official language in the 1500’s

Many Dialects- variations of a language that are unique to a region or a community, are spoken throughout France.

French take pride in intellectual and artistic achievements.

Many famous philosophers and painters know as impressionists come from France.

Impressionism- art sought to capture fleeting visual “impressions” of color, light, and shadows.

Famous for clothing design

Louvre-Museum and gallery of art

Paris- the Cultural Center of the World.

France Today

After WWII, the French government began work on modernizing and encouraging more balanced growth among France's regions.

B/c of the , the nation has grown and prospered.

Gov. nationalized the economy, brought under state control, some business are vital to national interest.

1990’s struggled w/ recession- an extended decline in business activity.◦Unemployment was high◦Muslims were the focus of racial tension◦Student and worker protests

Germany’s Struggle

In 1961, the 103 mile wall was built by Communist East Germany to keep citizens from escaping to West Germany.

Divided German States

Germany was once part of the Holy Roman Empire and then was broke up into small independent states.

The Reformation divided the German States even further.

In the 1700’s the state of Prussia unified a lot of the separate small nations, making a confederation-loose political union.

Later Prussia moved to establish a German Empire.

United Germany’s Defeats

In 1882 Austria-Hungary, Prussia and other countries joined in an effort to defeat the Allied Powers of the US, UK, France, and Russia in WWI.

They lost and the treaty was heavy.◦ Pay Reparations- money for war damages

The German economy crumbled and inflation- sharp rising prices ruined Germany’s currency.

1929- Worldwide Depression1930’s- Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party

◦ Made Promise to return Germany to past Glory and avenge the war punishment

◦ Blamed Jew for all of Germany’s Problems1939- Invaded Poland and WWII beganConcentration Camps killed millions of Jews1945 Germany surrendered.

One People Two Countries

After the war tensions grew b/w communist Russia and democratic US

1949 West Germany became a democratic nation and East Germany became communist

The capitol was also split and located w/in East Germany

The Berlin Wall was built to separate the two nationsThe remained divided for 40 yrs, then in 1989

protesters swept across Europe and East Communist Germany was overthrown.

The wall was torn down piece by piece and hauled off.

In October 3, 1990 Germany was officially unified.

Physical Characteristics

High Mts in the South

Hills, low peaks, and plateaus in the middle

Flat lands in the north

Mild Climate

Northern Germany◦ North European Plain◦ Sandy◦ Farmed◦ Manufacturing and Trade◦ Hamburg, Germany-

largest port Rebuilt after WWII

◦ Rostock- built in the Baltic Sea Hand Dug

◦ Berlin Rich Prosperous Capitol

Natural Resources and Industry

Most Industrial Center of the World

Rhine and Elbe RiverRuhr Valley

◦Leader in Steel and Iron

◦Textile and Chemical industries

◦More than 8 million people live in the valley

East Central Germany◦Steel, Machinery,

automobile, & textile industry

◦Factory power comes from lignite-soft brown coal

◦Frankfurt-Germany’s Banking center

◦Some live on farmland

Scenic Southern Germany

Great for Skiers Munich

◦Germany’s Cultural Center

◦Largest city in Southern Germany

◦After WWII, building and paintings were restored and exhibited.

Germany Today

Leading Industrial Center in the World only 3rd behind Japan and the US

Leading member of the European Union

Challenges:◦Unemployment◦Violence against

foreign workers◦Pollution◦Billions of $ are spent

upgrading lands under passed Communist control

Netherlands

Building of dikes-embankment of rock and earth to hold back the water, are used to make land to live on and farm

Finally the Dutch became more sophisticated and encircled the land w/ dikes and pumped the water out. This new land is called a polder.

Almost 1/3 of the country is below sea level.

High Population Density Can’t waste farmland Gov. spending money on

protecting its farmland

Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht form one huge Mega polis called Randstad- Ring City

The gov. is trying to keep people out of rural areas

If fact the gov. is now flooding areas in hopes to preserve the environment.

Rotterdam and Amsterdam are important ports on the North Sea

Rotterdam is a port city on the Rhine River making it a link to b/w Europe and the rest of the world.

Belgium

Division b/w◦ The French, Walloons◦ The Dutch, Flemish

In 1830 when Belgium became independent the official language was French.

Government jobs and universities used French making it hard on the Flemish to get and maintain a job in Belgium.

To Resolve the conflict the gov. made the official language Flemish in 1898

They also decentralized its government-transferred power to smaller regions further eliminating the problem

Luxemburg

990 Square miles (smaller than Rhode Island)3 languages are spoken: French, German, &

German Dialect, LuxembourgishHighest standard of Living in EuropeDiversified Economy

◦High Tech Industry◦Steel Production

Member of EU and trades most goods with EU members

Switzerland

3 official languages: French, German, Italian

Each group gives Switzerland its own name.

•Formed in 1291Switzerland has only fought 1 foreign war in its past•1798 Switzerland was finally recognized as a neutral country

Understanding The Past

Culture and Citizenship

26 cantons- states differ in language, religion, customs, and ways they make a living

Have control over their affairs

Today, if they are to pass a law they have to have the majority of Swiss citizens to agree

Direct role in government

High standard of living Few natural resources Dairy Farming

◦ Cheese ◦ Chocolate***

Prosperous Market Economy• Watches w/ accuracy• Tools, Microscopes• World Leaders in new Medicines•Banking • Safe b/c of neutrality

•Tourism• Ski in the Alps

Specializing in Global Trade

Austria

In the past Austria was leader of the Austria-Hungary Empire that ruled much of Italy and Eastern Europe

Fought w/ Germany in WWIDefeated and CollapsedSeparated into separate

countriesMts. Cover much of the

countryPopulation is centered in

the Eastern Lowlands

Created specialized industries◦ Machine tools,

chemicals, textiles◦ Cattle Breeding and

Dairy farming◦ Mineral Resources

Iron ore◦ Strip mining-strip the

surface of the earth to lay bare mineral deposits

◦ Aluminum, copper, lead◦ Vienna-Capitol City

One of the worlds largest cities

◦ Tourism is also popular