Western and East Europe Compare and Contrast Essay
Compare & Contrast Essay Following the end of late Middle Ages was the creation of the early modern empires such as Russia and Western Europe. Both empires had several things in common, such as emerging around the same time and expanding their empire. However, there were more key differences than similarities that separated these empires. For example, the Russian and Western Europe had different motivations that motivated to expand their empires. Also, “Western Europe was distinctive because the conquered territories lay an ocean away from the imperial heartland, rather than adjacent to it,” (Strayer 626). The Russian and Western Europe empires were created around 1450-1750 which was right after the Middle Ages and during the Modern world. “Vast transformations took place old societies were destroyed, and new societies arose as Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans came into sustained contact with one another for the first time in world history,”(Strayer 626). Furthermore, Russia created one of the largest territorial empire, which made it an Asian as well as a European power. Another thing is that they were both trying to get people into Christendom. “Clearly, the Russians had created an empire, similar to those of Western Europe in terms of conquest, settlement, exploitation, religious conversion, and feelings of superiority”(Strayer 642). One of the key factors that allowed the creation of the Russian and Western European empires is that they had different motives. The Europeans realized how prominent their position in the Eurasian world of commerce and was determined to gain access to that world. Also, Western Europe had rivalries and competition among the states. On the other hand, the Russian empire was motivated by the opportunity of gold fur from animals as they were in high demand on the world