Student Paper SP002-10
Spring 2000, Section I
Reviewer Comments

During the period of its history, Europe has gone through many changes in their social order. Because of changing politics, military actions, and gender issues; Europeans have seen little peace and harmony. From world wars to political debates to riots and petitions, European states have been in a constant rebuilding period for the last two hundred years or so. The people who call this European continent home have traveled a long winding road to become the civilized people they are today.

Europe has seen many different political parties come and go through time. From kings to dictators, Europe has seen them all. Many riots have been fought and petitions signed to assure their children a government that would give them certain freedoms. Under different kings the people felt that they were not geffing the affention they felt they needed. So in 1682 "The Petition of Right" was written to take more power from the king and give it to the people. Although at first the king disagreed, he soon went along with it, but later found ways around it. Later in 1689 the "English Bill of Rights" was enacted to take even more power away from the king. This too was rejected, but the

people fought for what they believed in and got what they wanted. These kinds of things

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went on and on through time until around the 20 century. An individual by the name of

Karl Marx wrote a book entitled "Manifesto of the Communist Party." This was the beginning of a political theory like no other, Communism. Communism came to Europe as an idea, but when other people began to hear what it was about it grew into a major political party. Communism made people feel as if they belonged to some sort of special elite club. This new idea took control over all of the people's property and basic freedoms; this would lead to an individualistic society. The Communist also took over the working sector of many European states to regulate the wages. Communist also felt

very strong about education, and so control was taken out of the hands of the upper class and placed in the hands of the state. Because the states are so different, they all contain their own kind of governmental body. Government and politics will always change, but we can only hope that they will change for the good of society.

War has always been something that could either make or break a society. War had completely decimated Europe during the first and second World Wars. I feel that the Nazi Regime was solely to blame for the deconstruction of Europe. During this period of war, Europe went through a severe drop in its population due to casualties of war and the extermination of Jews. The Nazi Germans made every effort to completely annihilate the entire Jewish population. The Waunsee Protocol was to be the final solution for the extermination of the Jewish population in Europe. This discussion took place on January 20, 1942, in which the acts were carried out. These Jews were executed just for the purpose of getting rid of one particular race. This act of execution was seen as being morally incorrect. The men who had to carry out these types of orders soon found themselves to be committing crimes. Many years afier these "war crimes" were committed, a book entitled "Ordinary Men" was written to explain some of the horrors that were done. It discussed in detail the mass murder of 1,800 Jews and how the men grew sick of the blood that they had seen. The wars caused turmoil throughout the European states, either physical or mental. Even today we can still see the remains of this havoc that was once a reality to many, just around 20 years ago we saw the Berlin Wall fall. Even though reparations have been paid, there will always be a sour note lefi behind.

The status has greatly changed the way Europeans feel about women. Form the beginnings of time man was seen as the dominant sex in society. Women were to stay at home and tend to their chores and the children. They were seen as being more important at home; therefore there was no need for them to leave to join the men in the workforce. Many women soon grew tired of sitting at home when they really wanted to do some real work. A woman by the name of Olympia de Gouges was one of the first women to speak up for what women really wanted. In 1791, she declared women not to be as inferior to men as once perceived. She was responsible for writing a counter declaration to the "Declaration of the Rights of Man," in which she called the "Declaration of the Rights of Women and Female Citizens." Women of this time also became thirstier for kriowledge, but they were not allowed to do anything but be a nurse or a teacher. More and more women went to universities to obtain degrees to be able to do more with their lives. Once women joined the workforce they were not treated as they should have been. In England women and young children worked in coal pits because they could fit through smaller holes. The conditions these women faced were unacceptable; some were rapped while others died because of poor conditions. New laws were put into play to protect women from such harshness. Prostitution soon became a major problem in France, which called for many restrictions to clean up tbis industry. Women have had a long hard battle to earn the slightest respect, but through riots and petitions much has been achieved.

Although there are many other changes that could be mentioned, these are the most drastic. From war to politics to gender, there will always be something changing in society. But in the long run of it all things usually end up on a positive note.