The Western Tradition (1989) · WatchGuide

The Western Tradition (1989) · WatchGuide

Episodes

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E1 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Dawn of History
The origins of the human race are traced from anthropoid ancestors to the agricultural revolution.
E2 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Ancient Egyptians
Egyptian irrigation created one of the first great civilizations.
E3 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
Mesopotamia
Settlements in the Fertile Crescent gave rise to the great river civilizations of the Middle East.
E4 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
From Bronze to Iron
Metals revolutionized tools, as well as societies, in the empires of Assyria, Persia, and Neo-Babylonia.
E5 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Rise of Greek Civilization
Democracy and philosophy arose from Greek cities at the edge of the civilized world.
E6 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
Greek Thought
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle laid the foundation of Western intellectual thought.
E7 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
Alexander the Great
Alexander's conquests quadrupled the size of the world known to the Greeks.
E8 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Hellenistic Age
Hellenistic kingdoms extended Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean.
E9 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Rise of Rome
Through its army, Rome built an empire that shaped the West.
E10 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Roman Empire
Rome's civil engineering contributed as much to the empire as did its weapons.
E11 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
Early Christianity
Christianity spread despite contempt and persecution from Rome.
E12 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Rise of the Church
The old heresy became the Roman empire's official religion under the Emperor Constantine.
E13 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Decline of Rome
While enemies slashed at Rome's borders, civil war and economic collapse destroyed the empire from within.
E14 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Fall of Rome
Despite the success of emperors such as Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, Rome fell victim to barbarian invasions.
E15 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Byzantine Empire
From Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire carried on the traditions of Greece and Rome.
E16 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Fall of Byzantium
Nearly a thousand years after Rome's fall, Constantinople was conquered by the forces of Islam.
E17 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Dark Ages
Barbarian kingdoms took possession of the fragments of the Roman Empire.
E18 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Age of Charlemagne
Charlemagne revived hopes for a new empire in Western Europe.
E19 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Middle Ages
Amid invasion and civil disorder, a military aristocracy dominated the kingdoms of Europe.
E20 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Feudal Order
Bishop, knight, and peasant exemplified some of the social divisions of the year 1000 A.D.
E21 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
Common Life in the Middle Ages
Famine, disease, and short life expectancies were the conditions that shaped medieval beliefs.
E22 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
Cities and Cathedrals of the Middle Ages
The great churches embodied the material and spiritual ambitions of the age.
E23 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Late Middle Ages
Two hundred years of war and plague debilitated Europe.
E24 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The National Monarchies
A new urban middle class emerged, while dynastic marriages established centralized monarchies.
E25 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
Renaissance & the Age of Discovery
Renaissance humanists made man "the measure of all things." Europe was possessed by a new passion for knowledge.
E26 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
Renaissance & the New World
The discovery of America challenged Europe.
E27 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Reformation
Voiced by Martin Luther, Protestantism shattered the unity of the Catholic Church.
E28 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Rise of the Middle Class
As the cities grew, new middle-class mores had an impact on religious life.
E29 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Wars of Religion
For more than a century, the quarrels of Protestants and Catholics tore Europe apart.
E30 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Rise of the Trading Cities
Amid religious wars, a few cities learned that tolerance increased their prosperity.
E31 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Age of Absolutism
Exhausted by war and civil strife, many Europeans exchanged earlier liberties and anarchies for greater peace.
E32 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
Absolutism and the Social Contract
Arguments about the legitimate source of political power centered on divine right versus natural law.
E33 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Enlightened Despots
Monarchs considered reforms in order to create more efficient societies, but not at the expense of their own power.
E34 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Enlightenment
Intellectual theories about the nature of man and his potential came to the fore.
E35 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Enlightenment and Society
Scientists and social reformers battled for universal human rights during a peaceful and prosperous period.
E36 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Modern Philosophers
Freedom of thought and expression opened new vistas explored by French, English, and American thinkers.
E37 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The American Revolution
The British colonists created a society that tested Enlightenment ideas and resisted restrictions imposed by England.
E38 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The American Republic
A new republic, the compromise of radicals and conservatives, was founded on universal freedoms.
E39 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Death of the Old Regime
In France the old order collapsed under revolutionaries' attacks and the monarchy's own weakness.
E40 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The French Revolution
Liberty, equality, and fraternity skidded into a reign of Terror.
E41 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Industrial Revolution
Technology and mass production reduced famine and ushered in higher standards of living.
E42 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Industrial World
A consumer revolution was fueled by coal, public transportation, and new city services.
E43 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
Revolution and Romantics
Leaders in the arts, literature, and political theory argued for social justice and national liberation.
E44 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Age of the Nation-States
The great powers cooperated to quell internal revolts, yet competed to acquire colonies.
E45 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
A New Public
Public education and mass communications created a new political life and leisure time.
E46 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
Fin de Siècle
Everyday life of the working class was transformed by leisure, prompting the birth of an elite avant-garde movement.
E47 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The First World War and the Rise of Fascism
Old empires crumbled during World War I to be replaced by right-wing dictatorships in Italy, Spain, and Germany.
E48 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Second World War
World War II was a war of new tactics and strategies. Civilian populations became targets as the Nazi holocaust exterminated millions of people.
E49 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Cold War
The U.S. and Soviet Union dominated Europe and confronted each other in Korea.
E50 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
Europe and the Third World
Burdened with the legacy of colonial imperialism, the Third World rushed development to catch up with its Western counterparts.
E51 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
The Technological Revolution
Keeping up with the ever-increasing pace of change became the standard of the day.
E52 · Airs Jan 1, 1989 · 30m
Toward the Future
Modern medicine, atomic energy, computers, and new concepts of time, energy, and matter all have an important effect on life in the 20th century.