What are the Western countries? How has the relationship evolved since history?
Let's take a look at the concept of the Western world. This concept has been interpreted differently at different times and places. Its roots can be traced back to ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, as well as later ** religious culture.
Through a series of historical events, such as the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Age of Enlightenment, as well as imperialism, colonial expansion, technology, and the Industrial Revolution, the Western world we know today was formed.
In my opinion, Western countries usually have the following characteristics: firstly, ethnically, they are mainly Caucasian. Secondly, culturally, they are based on the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, as well as the ** religion culture.
Finally, economically, the typical or core Western countries are usually or mostly developed countries.
What are the Western countries that are usually considered to be included? In general, they include the United States and Canada in Europe, North America, and Australia and New Zealand in Oceania.
However, there is some controversy about whether Latin America, Israel in the Middle East, and the countries of Eastern Europe belong to the Western world. So, why are the United States and Canada in North America, and Australia and New Zealand in Oceania, these four countries considered Western countries?
While the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are typical immigrants, white Europeans make up the majority of the ethnic makeup in these countries. As of 2020, Europeans in the United States accounted for about two-thirds of the country's total population.
Among these European-Americans, Germans, Irish, British, Italians, Poles, etc., are the most numerous ethnic groups, as well as other ethnic groups such as Greeks, Danes, Swedish, and Dutch.
Among these European-Americans, English-Americans are dominant, according to statistics, the vast majority of the successive ** in the more than 200 years since the founding of the United States are Anglo-Americans, while Germans, Dutch, Irish, etc. also have a proportion, and only the 44th **Obama of the United States has African ancestry.
The majority ethnic group in Canada is Europeans, accounting for about 72% of the total population in 20169%。European-Canadians are further divided into Western Europeans, Eastern Europeans, Northern Europeans, and Southern Europeans.
Among them, Anglo-Canadians, Scottish-Canadians, Irish-Canadians, French-Canadians, German-Canadians, Italian-Canadians, and Ukrainian-Canadians are the main groups among European Canadians.
1.Australia is a diverse country, with European-Australians making up the majority of the population. According to 2006 data, whites make up 92% of Australia's population, with the majority of white ancestors coming from the British Isles, with the largest number of descendants in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
2.In New Zealand, European New Zealanders make up about 67 percent of the population6 per cent, followed by Māori, Asians and other Pacific Islanders. Of these European New Zealanders, the majority of European New Zealanders can be traced back to the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Sydney, a beautiful city, is world-famous for its spectacular harbour and iconic Sydney Opera House. Here, visitors can visit many places worth visiting, such as Sydney Tower, Bondi Beach and the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Whether you're looking to enjoy the beautiful natural scenery or learn about Sydney's history and culture, the city will have endless surprises and fun.
Replacing the Anglo-Saxon Cultural Sphere with the Germanic Cultural Sphere: White Westerners tend to use the Germanic cultural sphere as an important frame of reference when looking at culture, language, religion, politics, economics, etc.
In this cultural circle, the English people, descendants of the Germanic peoples, dominated. The United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada (excluding Quebec) and New Zealand are considered core members of the Anglo-Saxon cultural sphere.
These countries were once colonies of the United Kingdom, and their dominant culture is derived from British and European cultures, with English as their mother tongue and primary language. In Germanic cultural circles, Protestantism and Catholicism were the main religious beliefs.
In terms of political systems, these countries have similar systems. These countries are also very closely linked in terms of economic and mobility of people. The study found that the people of these countries have always regarded each other as their most important allies.
Moreover, they are also important members of the intelligence alliance Five Eyes.
Some countries in Western Europe, such as Norway, Iceland, Andorra, Switzerland, etc., are still considered Western countries despite not being members of the European Union. This reflects the EU's important position in Europe's political and economic landscape, as well as the extensive influence of Western culture and values in Europe.
I understand what you mean, the concept of Western countries is a hierarchical division. Countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Germany are considered to be more typical Western countries, while countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Austria, and Iceland in Western Europe are also considered to be typical Western countries.
In addition, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are also considered Western countries. In the EU, some of the newly joined CEE countries may psychologically perceive them as not "special and traditional Western", and that countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany are Western countries.
I think that apart from these typical and recognized Western countries, the boundaries of Western countries are not always clear and there may be debate.
The peculiarities of the linguistic distribution in Europe are closely related to the historical colonial expansion. Western powers such as Britain, France, Germany, Spain, and Portugal established colonies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, while smaller powers such as the Netherlands and Belgium also had similar histories.
Although Russia is also one of the European powers, due to its "dislike" by other European countries in modern times, in the eyes of modern European countries, although Russian culture belongs to Western culture, most European countries do not identify it as a Western country.
The Spanish Empire was the hegemon of the modern world, and Japan became one of the Western powers after the Meiji Restoration.
The predecessor of the United States was a British colony in North America, and after independence, the United States grew in power and became a member of the Western powers. Once at the top of the global food chain, Western powers still dominate the global economic and political landscape.
In the long course of history, wars between Western countries are not uncommon. From the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585 to 1604, to the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th and 18th centuries, to the Hundred Years' War between England and France, and later the Seven Years' War in North America, every war was filled with blood and fire.
Although these wars have long been a thing of the past, their lessons and effects are still in our hearts. Nevertheless, we still firmly believe that war cannot solve any problems, and that only peace and development are the long-term solutions of human society.
The Anglo-French conflict that lasted for a hundred years.
In 1871, under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire was established, and after the unification of Germany, its national power grew rapidly, while the strength of the superpower Britain at that time gradually declined, and the contradictions between the two sides deepened, and the two sides fought fiercely in World War I and World War II.
Throughout history, there have been many tragic conflicts between Germany and France, the most famous of which was the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated France and finally completed the unification of Germany.
From the American Revolutionary War to the Anglo-American Struggle to the Anglo-American Struggle to the Anglo-French alliance against the British, the history between Western countries has been full of fierce conflicts and wars. Still, this relationship does not prevent them from respecting each other, cooperating and win-win.
The question is, why did Western countries have fewer wars after World War II and showed a certain level of unity among themselves? Although the EU and the United States have differences on many issues, the member states of the EU also have contradictions on some issues.
Moreover, while the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand in the Five Eyes alliance are on the same page on some issues, they are not monolithic. Finally, the membership of NATO is also fraught with contradictions.
The "true face" of the traditional European powers was revealed, and although Europe was large, about 40 countries scattered over about 6.2 million square kilometers of land were indeed somewhat crowded.
In ancient times, Europe suffered from war, but in modern times, Europe has been mired in endless wars. From the 16th century until World War II, there was hardly a single day of tranquility in Europe.
The Western powers fought each other, both in large-scale group fights and in small-scale heads-ups, and each battle was thrilling and unforgettable.
World War I was a world-shaking battle between the Western powers, between the Entente and the Allied powers, and the main battlefield was in Europe. The war killed more than 10 million people and greatly damaged the morale of Britain, France, Germany, Russia and other European powers.
And in World War II, the scale of the war expanded to the whole world, causing about 70 million deaths. In post-war Europe, the most developed places were in ruins, traditional Western powers such as Germany and France were almost crippled, and Britain and the Soviet Union were also deeply damaged.
Although Europe was small before World War I, about the size of North American Canada, no European country since the Roman Empire has been able to build on the European continent like the Roman Empire, and no country has been able to unify the whole of Europe.
Napoleon tried to unify Europe, but the First French Empire (1804-1815) failed under a strong counterattack by Britain and **. Hitler also tried to unify Europe, but again failed in the face of strong resistance from Britain and the Soviet Union.
Even the most powerful Britain and ** could not conquer and unify the entire European continent.
The ancient Roman Empire.
In the past, the idea of creating a "United States of Europe" was put forward by European countries, but it did not attract much attention. However, with the dissolution of the British Empire and the French colonial empire, European countries gradually realized the importance of uniting.
After hundreds of years of fruitless "fighting", they realized that only solidarity and cooperation can occupy a "pole" position in the world pattern. Thus, in 1948, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands formed a customs union; In 1951, West Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg signed the Treaty of Paris and decided to establish the European Coal and Steel Community. In 1952, the European Coal and Steel Community was formally established; Subsequently, the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community were established.
In 1965, the six countries decided to merge the body and collectively name it the "European Community". In 1967, the European Community was formally established. Since then, a number of European countries have continued to join, and in 1993, the European Union was formally established, and the three major European communities were incorporated into the European Union.
The European Union is also constantly expanding and moving forward.
Western Hegemony: A Shift in Power and Influence In the 19th century, the British Empire dominated the world, controlling more than 30 million square kilometers of land, however, with the exception of the Russian Empire, other Western powers such as the French Colonial Empire and the German Empire posed a challenge to Britain in terms of strength.
Thus, although Britain was the number one power in the Western world, it did not achieve a crushing advantage over the other major Western powers. After World War II, the United States made a fortune through World War I and World War II, becoming the hegemon of the Western world and the world's superpower.
In the 100 years since, the United States has been largely the number one power, and there have been no major conflicts within the Western world. Why, then, did the Western world continue to struggle when Britain became the hegemon, and why did the Western world not have a major conflict after the United States became the hegemon?
This could be due to two reasons: one is the strength factor, and the other is the influence of the United States. In the 19th century, Britain, although powerful, did not achieve absolute superiority over the other major Western powers.
After the United States became the hegemon, its strong economic and military strength made other countries have to respect its status, so there was no major conflict within the Western world.
After World War II, the United States has clearly surpassed other major Western countries in terms of strength. As early as the 19th century, Latin America saw the rise of independence movements, freed from the colonial rule of Spain and Portugal, and the power of the two countries was greatly weakened.
After the baptism of the two world wars, the strength of traditional Western powers such as Britain, France, and Germany was greatly reduced, and after World War II, the national liberation movements in Asia, Africa and Latin America surged, and the colonies of Britain, France and other former colonial empires became independent, and these Western powers were forced to return to their original strength levels.
After the Latin American independence movements, traditional powers such as Britain, France, and Germany were no longer able to compete with the United States on the world stage. The United States has obvious advantages in terms of area, natural resources, economy, and military, and has formed an overwhelming advantage over other major Western countries.
Although the EU can compete with the United States economically and politically, it is an economic and political union, not a sovereign state. More crucially, the EU's defense is effectively controlled by the US-led NATO, which is a member of 21 of the EU's 27 member states.
After World War II, the United States intervened deeply in the European economic field through the Marshall Plan, and at the same time established a NATO military alliance to achieve full control over Europe. The secretary general of NATO is held by a European, however, the military command of NATO has always been in the hands of the United States.
As of 2021, NATO membership includes 30 countries, mainly the United States and Canada in Europe and North America, and Turkey is also a member of NATO. The United States has adopted a strategy of pulling and attacking the EU at the same time, striving for cooperation and exerting pressure, and at the same time adopting an attitude of prevention and support for other Western countries, and has a strong opposition to the development of the EU's independent defense.
The Marshall Plan established the hegemony of the United States in the Western world after World War II. The United States, with its great power and control of NATO, has succeeded in suppressing other Western countries.
Controlling Western countries is an important guarantee for the United States to achieve global hegemony.
First, geographical proximity. The US military bases in Europe are mainly distributed in Germany, Britain, Italy, France and other European countries, which are geographically close to each other, which is convenient for the US military to carry out transnational operations.
Second, cultural similarities. These Western countries are basically white or predominantly white countries, many Western countries have the same origin in terms of race and ethnicity, such as Britain and Australia, and for example, the English and Germans are Germanic, such as Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Icelanders They all belong to the northern branch of the Germanic people.
And these countries also have cultural similarities, they basically have typical Western culture and ideology, and they also have great similarities in institutions.
In general, these factors have made the US military bases in Europe have good geographical proximity and cultural similarity, which provides convenience and advantages for the US military operations in Europe.
NATO expands eastward, however, change is the only constant. As the EU becomes more integrated, it is possible for the EU to develop an independent defense force that is no longer dependent on the United States.
At the same time, if the power of the United States declines, the Western world may form a competition between the European Union, with Germany and France at its core, and the English-speaking Western countries, led by the United States and Britain. Within the EU, Germany and France are the two core members, and they disagree with the United States on a number of issues.
The UK's Brexit also reflects the UK's preference for the US over the EU.