Epilogue [An Abridged History of Europe]

AN ABRIDGED HISTORY OF EUROPE 
by William M. Brinton 

Epilogue

Philip IV (1624-27), Diego Velazquez, Oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid
Philip IV (1624-27)
Diego Velàzquez
Carol Gerten's Fine Art (CGFA)

Some readers may question the omission of entire countries from this history text. It was deliberate. Those omitted were not the major players of the 20th century. Furthermore, they really didn't play a major role in the past centuries, with the exception of Sweden, Norway, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Netherlands. This last country was once the Dutch Republic when it was occupied by Spain. Diego Velasquez painted his Surrender of Brega, a Dutch village, in 1634. However, Spanish troops were finally sent back to their Iberian peninsula less than a hundred years later. In Madrid, King Phillip II reigned and sought to occupy Holland as a matter of religious imperialism. However, the Dutch did not any prosecution by the Spanish Inquisition. While it was not defined as a separate nation, Belgium was defined as the Dutch nobles retreated northward. Belgium is now the site of NATO headquarters. Sweden as one of the major combatants in the Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648), one that left Germany devastated. Catholic France under the leadership of Cardinal Richelieu, joined Dutch Calvinists and Swedish Lutherans in asserting the rights of German princes against Catholic Habsburgs. Wars since this one in 1648 never became so complicated until World War II, when the motives and conduct of the combatants were somewhat clearer. Denmark intermittently harried England with its Vikings and eventually its King Alfred was King of England until his death in 901 only 165 years before William the Conqueror invaded England. Many cultural and political artifacts of the Danes remain in England today.

Norway deserves some mention as the country occupied by Nazi troops during World War II, primarily as a strategic home for its U-boats that sank so much Allied shipping on its way to help rearm Russia. In a cynical treaty between Hitler and Stalin in 1939, Hitler agreed to a Russian occupation of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in exchange for Stalin's agreement to remain silent when the Nazis invaded Poland. In 1940, Russia sent its troops into the three countries mentioned and it was not until 40 years later that Russians who had lived in one or more of these countries were told to vacate all three. In the meantime, some of the Russian troops had married some of the residents and had children who could not speak Russian, only Lithuanian, Latvian or Estonian. They were reluctant to leave, but the pressure was too great. Each of these countries had a history of its own and the continued presence of Russians would have diluted their distinctive past. Finland was not a major player, but Helsinki, its capital, was the site of a major agreement in 1975. The Helsinki Accords set up a process designed to keep the peace in Europe. Czechoslovakia was formed in 1918 by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. It was once part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire mentioned in the text. After World War II, Hungary and Czechoslovakia were ruled by local communists until 1989 when both gained their freedom in the Velvet Revolution (1989 - 1990).

The Three Graces, Peter Paul Rubens, Oil on canvas (221 x 181 cm), Prado, Madrid
The Three Graces
Peter Paul Rubens
Mark Harden's Artchive

This convoluted history of those omitted made placement of the art displayed here somewhat easier than if it had been orderly. However, the fact remains that old master paintings were done by artists. Rather than a visual and social history, these paintings may have been closer to a newspaper account of one day in history. Velasquez's painting, The Surrender of Breda, was remarkable in at least one respect. It showed the Dutch mayor of Breda surrendering the key to his village to a Spanish grandee. The mayor seems to be bowing in the grandee who wants to treat the mayor as an equal and one who deserved respect. The Surrender of Breda was surely a history painting, one of several other paintings that competed for attention. In Paris of the 17th century, Peter Paul Rubens was commissioned to paint 48 paintings of the life of Henry IV and his consort, Marie de Medici. For reasons not clear today, only those of the Queen were executed. The history painting was fairly widespread. Dutch painter Jacob Jordaens was only one of three artists who cooperated on portraits of the councilman then, Frederick Henry. Even Rembrandt joined this group of history painters with his group portrait, Night Watch. And, French painter Eugene Delacroix who painted Liberty Leading the People, was a lively scene of liberation in Paris during 1830. The Tate Gallery in London offers another history painting, by William Hogarth, Beggars' Opera, Act III, done in the early 18th century.

The Company of Frans Banning Cocq Preparing to March Out [known as Nightwatch] (1642), Rembrandt van Rijn, Oil on canvas, (363 x 437 cm), Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
The Company of Frans Banning Cocq Preparing to March Out [known as Nightwatch] (1642)
Rembrandt van Rijn
Mark Harden's Artchive

The paintings in this text were a combination of history and genre paintings. Academics defined history paintings as depicting several persons in an important or memorable action or event. Genre paintings depicted the particularities of everyday life. In the 19th and 20th centuries, these definitions were still converging, so the placement of this art in the text was done deliberately to encourage readers to judge the art independent of any relevance to the surrounding text. This placement sems logical since there are many different forms of art illustrating this textbook. I only hope the reader has enjoyed the multimedia incorporated into the text, the sound, paintings and other art in color and film footage.



next >
All contents © 1999 William M. Brinton