Western Europe Essay Examples and Topics

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339 samples

The benefit of writing essays on West European Studies is that researchers have already covered many topics on this subject.

Therefore, outlining your paper becomes a matter of and being able to find information and including it in your essay. For example, here are some ideas for a well-structured academic work:

  • Do your research first and outline second. Most west European studies essay questions have many topical books, from contemporary to historical.
  • This knowledge gives you, as a writer, the advantage of having a lot of research on your side.
  • Do your best to define the borders of your topic explicitly. West European studies topics tend to blend into each other, often even linking to subjects related to Central Europe.
  • Ask yourself if you can include any more relevant information about your subject. For example, if your essay title is “Germanic Religion” should you focus on its theological side only? There are archaeological and cultural aspects to this subject and you must cover them as per your essay’s instructions.

Additionally, you should write your outline so that it clearly states your essay’s purpose. A subheading named “Western Europe Culture” gives the reader an idea as to neither what you will write about, nor even about what period you will mention.

Conversely, “Merovingian Craftsmanship: The Best Example of European Culture?” piques your readers’ interest because it gives an idea which culture you will examine and demonstrates your position, which is questioning its historical value.

However, do not attempt to create sensational subheadings at the cost of historical accuracy. Remember that you are writing an academic essay, not a sensational tabloid.

Need more help? Find essay samples on our website!

339 Best Essay Examples on Western Europe

The 18th Century Children’s Clothing in England

With that background in mind, this paper shall discus the characteristics of girls' and boys' dresses in the eighteenth century as well as the similarities between the dresses of both sexes.
  • 5
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 794

Child Abuse in the Victorian Era in Great Britain

This was unacceptable in the eyes of the factory owners resulting in the implementation of the practice of children being sent into the mechanisms of machines while they were still operating since they were supposedly [...]
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1114

The Age of Exploration

However, the exploration, or the settlement of the Viking Norsemen, had little effects on the lives of the Native Americans because these explorers soon sailed back across the Atlantic and to Europe.
  • 5
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1352

History of French Revolution

The whole French terrorism was a means of dealing with the rivals of the bourgeoisie that is feudalism and absolutism. In the estates general, there was the clergy, nobility and the rest of the people.
  • 2.7
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 878

The Achievements of Napoleon Bonaparte

This ensured that France had a unified and progressive legal system that respected the need to uphold human rights and promote equality and justice in his country and its colonies.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1144

The Expulsion of the Acadians

The expulsion of the Acadians from the British Colony of Nova Scotia by Governor Charles Lawrence is one of the best-known cases of forced displacement of European colonists in North America.
  • 3.4
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2294

The British East India Company

The answer to this lies in the fact that documentary evidence was required to protect the trades and industries within the country in the event of civil commotion, feudal oppression and general lawlessness.
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1516

The French Revolution: Romanticism Period

Romanticism was anchored in the work of the poets which was evident in the daily lives of the society. Besides, the role of women in romantic literature was significant, thus; they were greatest poets and [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 688

French Revolution: Role of Propaganda and Music

The history of propaganda is based on three interweaving fundamentals: first, the mounting need, with the growth of civilization and the rise of nation-state, to win the battle for people's minds; second, the increasing sophistication [...]
  • Pages: 30
  • Words: 7374

A Comparison of the Battles of the Somme and Verdun

The Battles of the Somme and Verdun were two of the greatest battles fought on the Western front between the Anglo-French military forces and the German forces during the course of the First World War.
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1918

Letter by Galileo to a Friend

While I have had many inventions in my time, I concede that my discovery of the use of the pendulum for the measurement of time is the most significant one and while this blindness that [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 879

Legacies of the Renaissance and Reformation

The exceptional volume of the innovations introduced to the life of people and the developmental power it had on the country appears to trace the connections of those changes in the 21st century.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1204

Napoleon Bonaparte, His Rise and Fall

He was the second born son of a prominent man in Corsica; he represented Corsica at the court of the then king of France Luis XVI. The defeat of the royalists earned Napoleon the admiration [...]
  • 5
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 3123

Treaty of Paris

It was hard for the British to avoid Indians and they continued considering them as an issue for the cost of the war.
  • 4
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 825

Ten Hours Act of 1847: History and Implications

In response to Lord Macaulay's argument, Peel admitted that although the government was not supposed to abandon all forms of social responsibility, it was expected to come in handy especially as the last resort. On [...]
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1372

History of Feudal System

Feudalism to Ganshof was the possession of power by the lords in the form of land and its systematic transmission to the serfs.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 840

The Roman Empire and the Roman Republic

Among the similarities is the use of the same language, Latin, and the worshipping of Gods. As for the fundamental distinction between the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire is that the republic was a [...]
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 379

Costume Design in Elizabeth: The Golden Age

The fact that ace costume designer, Alexandra Byrne won an Oscar for her authentic portrayal of clothes and accessories worn by the various actors in Elizabeth: The Golden Age is ample proof of the authenticity [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 888

History of British Empire

Well, as exposited in this paper, the Second World War, anti-colonial movements, the United States, the United Nations declaration, the Cold War and the USSR were the main forces behind the decolonization while the end [...]
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 3054

Berlin: the Gray City of Contrasts

Now, the wall does not divide the city, and the remainders of it are covered with art, representing a reminder of the city's history and the freedom that seemed unattainable four decades ago.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1116

History of Western Europe in the 17th -18th Century

In this essay, we are going to look at the history of Western Europe in the 17th -18th century with emphasis on the causes of societal unrest prior to the French revolution, the enlightenment era, [...]
  • 3.5
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1924

The Spread of European Culture

This hypothesis could be counter-argued by Halford Mackinder's Heartland theory that emphasizes the importance of the geopolitical concept in the process of the formation of the states.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1144

Napoleon’s Strategy and Tactics

The uniqueness of Napoleon is that he had already discovered in his time the current application of professional military skills and logistics in his strategies and tactics.
  • 5
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2819

History of Spanish Empire 1500-1700

Many communities have undergone various political, economic, and social changes mostly because of adopting the characters and values of the other communities they come in contact with.
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1419

Galilei’s Letter to the Grand Duchess of Tuscany

Galileo's letter to the Grand Duchess is very believable and shows Galileo as a man passionate about his belief that scientific discoveries are not made for the sole purpose of discrediting the Catholic Church or [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 524

Parent-Child Relationship in Early Modern England

Moreover, the influence that parents had was significant, and it would not be an easy task for the government to monitor and review all the cases of unfair treatment. The author suggests that parents loved [...]
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 2324

The third of May, 1808: by Francisco Goya – 1814

At the beginning of 1808 however, Napoleon made a major mistake of making an intervention in a political court case in the Spanish court out of opportunism, and the thought that this would cement his [...]
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 1932

The Aftermath of World War I for Germany

In spite of the fact that Germany was one of the most powerful European states before the war's start in 1914, World War I led to the political, economic, and social decline in the country [...]
  • 5
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2165

British History: The Victorian England

It was also noted for the religious inconsistencies, affected with the advent of many scientific theories like the 'On the Theory of Species' by Charles Darwin and the great invention of Cowper Nikes that proved [...]
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1178

How Revolutionary Was the French Revolution?

The French Revolution was the most revolutionary era in the history of France as the country underwent radical reforms. One of the greatest landmark revolutions was the spread of the Napoleonic culture and some of [...]
  • 4
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 612

Genoa and Venice in 13th Century

Their competing for the control of the Mediterranean, Black Sea Basin and the Red Sea as well as for the finding the routes to trade the Eastern countries transformed to a great rival.
  • 5
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 670

Nationalism in World War II

Another critical "nation-statehood making" is the break of the Soviet Union and the end of cold war between Soviet Union republic and the United States.
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1382

French Revolution: Liberal and Radical Portions

Of course, a hope that the presence of revolution promoted certain changes and made the government to think about the improvement of citizens' lives and wellbeing was inherent to the French.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1184

French Revolution and Napoleonic Era

Subsequently, rebellion and a spirit of revolution began to ferment among the commoners, the nobility and the clergy as well as the wider French society.
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 734

German Nationalism and Its Effects

There has been an extensive account of a favorite cultural model in Germany, even prior to the augmentation of the National Socialists and their capitalization on the initiative of the Volksgemeinschaft in the 1930s and [...]
  • Pages: 12
  • Words: 3249

The Atlantic Slave Trade

The author criticizes the historiography of the Dutch participation in the transatlantic slave trade by pointing out that the participation of the Dutch in this trade was not given the attention that it deserved.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 924

Early Modern England: a Social History

For instance, within his work, one of the chapters has the same views as those of Whig about the politics of England. This would be a reflection of the way of carrying out the revision [...]
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1930

The Congress of Vienna (1814-1815)

The Congress largely known as the European Concert was the initial sequence of the worldwide conference to be held for the diplomatic European power balance.
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1480

The French Revolutions: Causes and Impacts

The monarch's symbol of power was the Bastille jail in Paris that had been in place for the past 400 years and its attack signified the beginning of a republican government.
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1329

English Peasants’ Revolt of 1381

In Anonimalle Chronicle, the peasants are also introduced as foolish, although the author focuses on one of the leaders of the rebellion, Wat Tyler, and his lack of manners.
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 655

Concepts of Angola & Colonial Rule

Portuguese colonialism in Angola later seemed not to care about the local people social- economic development rather to exploit the Angolans' natural resources for the benefit of the Portuguese and the locals were discriminated against [...]
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2770

Hitler’s vs. Mussolini’s Regimes Comparison

The Nazi rule was referred to in the country in many ways, such as the intensification of propaganda and the prohibition of dissent, which was regarded as a betrayal of the motherland.
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1496

The 1641 Rebellion in Ireland: Historical Roots

The roots of the 1641 rebellion lie partly in the Elizabethan conquest and colonization of Ireland and partly in the alienation of Anglo-Irish Catholics from the new Protestant English state in the decades following that [...]
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1720

The Capitalism Development in Russia

In the book The Communist Manifesto, the authors view capitalism as a brief economic form destined to fail to lead to a rise in the communist system. Capitalism was attributed to the harsh inequalities of [...]
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1421

The Easter Rising in History and Cinematography

Ireland, the territory that had been subject to British rule since the twelfth century, combined with Britain to become the United Kingdom with the Acts of Union at the beginning of the 18th century.
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1352

The Fall of the Weimar Republic

In the eyes of most Germans, the goal of the treaty's reparations was to "ruin the Reich's economy" and overpower the country's political and territorial integrity.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 861

Bildung Tradition and Kantian Philosophy

The Bildung tradition was the basis for the transformation of Prussia of the eighteenth century into a potent Germany at the end of the nineteenth century.
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1463

The Nationalism Role During the French Revolution

One of the most developed variants of this concept is the nationalism of the era of the French Revolution. In 1789, with the outbreak of the French Revolution, the idea of nationalism spread throughout France, [...]
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1695

The Reformation Era of 1517-1648

This work was written with the aim of studying the era of the Reformation, significant personalities, and events. Martin Luther sparked the Reformation with his criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church's actions and doctrine.
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 276

Nationalism in Austria, Germany and Italy

Italy and Germany were able to become the major political powers only through unification under a robust national idea, with the domination of the Austrian Empire serving as the catalyst of this process.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1196

Why East Germany Built the Berlin Wall in 1961

Those were the Federal Republic of Germany, also known as Western Germany, allied to the UK and the States, and the German Democratic Republic, also known as East Germany, allied to the USSR.
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 418

History of Berlin in Postwar Period

Overall, the division of Germany is a consequence of the Second World War and the struggle between two political forces western and eastern.
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 655

Empire and Homogenization in Gilded Age

In the book, City of Inmates, the author Hernandez aims to explore the issue of incarceration using the example of Los Angeles, a city with the most significant number of inmates in the United States.
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 555

Berlin in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

Maintaining the health of the children is a way to express the love mothers have for their children. It is crucial to think of the deplorable working and living conditions for Berlin workers in the [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 625

The Paris Commune of 1871: History

The Paris Commune of 1871 was a brief revolutionary government that took control of Paris in the midst of social and political turmoil in France at the time.
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 1562

Modern Capitalism in Great Britain

This leads to the emergence of social classes in society, with the elites who own most business enterprises at the top of the hierarchy.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 845

Western Ideals in the 19th Century

The ancient Greeks and Romans alongside with their culture greatly influenced the nature of Greco-Roman culture in terms of religion, culture and language use.
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 879

Napoleon’s Rise to Power in 1800-1815

The government appreciated his contribution and promoted him to the division general and commander of the Army of Italy. Ambitious Napoleon realized the futility of the situation and decided to abandon his army in Egypt [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 617

Kristallnacht: “Night of Broken Glass” by Rinde

The text is titled "A History of Violence", and the author discusses the events preceding Kristallnacht using the example of a well-known physician Paul Ehrlich and the institutional nationalism in the 1930s and 1940s Germany.
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 592

“Progress” and the Victorians

The Act granted middle-class citizens voting rights in addition to changing the mode of representation in parliament to cover the interests of more segments of the population.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 890

Political Ideals of Enlightenment

The initial period of the reign of terror is the radical phase when there was the domination of the Jacobins over the legislative assembly.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1104

Foreigners Within: Foreigners in West Europe

The foreign tag in Germany was particularly attached to migrants from Western and Southern Europe especially the Turks whose population had disturbingly increased from a negligible size in 1960 to above two million at the [...]
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 2150

“Invisible Cities” by Calvino

While it might take days to complete the reading the entire book, the unique presentation of the 55 cities is a fascinating process that takes the reader through one of the most intricate pieces of [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 586

Economic Situation of the Later Roman Empire

It signifies that the problem of inflation and pricing crisis were the major economic problems that were the most significant signs of economic decay of the Empire at the beginning of the fourth century.
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1669

Americanization in Germany Post WWII

Most of these changes have indeed played a major role in improving the status of Germany only that the Germans now have little to be proud of in terms of heritage as most of it [...]
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2404

The Great Potato Famine: Analysis of the Causes

It is often argued that that the inaction of the British government aggravated the effects of the famine. In addition to that, several historians believe that the Potato famine can be considered as an act [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 823

Revolution in Europe 1750-1850

Alfred Weber is one of the world's known revolutionists who engineered the use of written literature in this field by putting down the two revolution theories, i.e, Agglomerative and Deglomerative forces; agglomerative refers to concentrating [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 653

The Black Death and Its Impact on Early Modern Europe

The decrease of the population had a considerable on commercial relations since due to the disappearance of the working class which the main basis in the medieval economy, peasants become more conscious and prudent.
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 561
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