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Western Europe is mainly a socio-political concept forged during the Cold War , which largely defined its borders. Its boundaries were effectively forged in the final stages of World War II and came to encompass all European countries which did not come under Soviet control and influence. As such these capitalist First World countries did not see Communist regimes imposed upon them. Neutral countries were classified by the nature of their political regimes. In common perception and usage, Western Europe was, and still is in a lesser extent, distinguished from Eastern Europe by differences of Culture , Politics , and Economics and its borders have little to do with clear and precise Geography . The term is commonly associated, but not clearly delimited, with Liberal Democracy , Capitalism , and also with the European Union . Most of the countries in this region share Western Culture , and many have economic, historical, and political ties with countries in North and South America , and Oceania (see Western World ). Cultural and Religious boundaries between these two regions are subject to considerable overlap and – most importantly – historical fluctuation, which makes a precise understanding somewhat difficult. It includes:
s of Europe as delineated by the United Nations (UN definition of Western Europe marked light blue): ]] Alternatively, ''Western Europe'' is also a less-known geographic Subregion of Europe that is far more restrictive than traditional political and cultural reckonings; as delineated by the United Nations {Link without Title} , it comprises the following nine countries: CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY AND MEDIEVAL ORIGINS The earliest known distinctions between east and west in Europe originate in the history of the Roman Empire . As the empire established itself it became somewhat culturally divided between the urbanized Greek -speaking Eastern Lands which had been part of the Macedonian Empire , and the western territories which widely adopted Latin as their common language. This cultural and linguistic division was eventually reinforced by the later political east-west division of the empire. The division between these two spheres was enhanced in the period of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages by a number of events. Roman Authority Collapsed in the West, leaving a number of Successor State s. By contrast, the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire survived and thrived for another 1000 years. The rise of the Frankish Empire in the west, and in particular, the Great Schism that formally divided Eastern and Western Christianity enhanced the cultural distinctiveness between Eastern and Western Europe. The conquest of the Byzantine Empire, center of Eastern Orthodoxy , by the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, and the gradual fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire (which had replaced the Frankish empire) led to a change of the importance of Roman Catholic / Protestant vs. Eastern Orthodox concept in Europe. Historical developments like the Lutheran Reformation and the Counter-Reformation , the Renaissance , The Enlightenment , the French Revolution , and the Industrial Revolution are considered to be common experiences which have shaped Western European culture and identity. With the Age Of Discovery , most of the western European countries colonized Africa , Asia , South and North America . All these historical and cultural developments have influence over the ''Western European'' concept. THE COLD WAR DIVIDES EUROPE INTO THE EASTERN/WESTERN BLOCS During the final stages of WWII the future of Europe was decided between the Allies in the 1945 Yalta Conference , between the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill , the President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt , and the Premier of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin . Post-war Europe would be divided into two major spheres: the '' "West" '' mainly influenced by the USA, and the '' Eastern Bloc '' dominated by the Soviet Union. With the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided by the '''Iron Curtain'''. This term had been used during World War II by German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and later Count Lutz Schwerin Von Krosigk in the last days of the war; however, its use was hugely popularised by Winston Churchill, who used it in his famous "Sinews of Peace" address March 5 , 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri : Although some countries were officially Neutral , they were classified according to the nature of their political and economical systems. This division largely defined the popular perception of borders between Western Europe and Eastern Europe till this day. A DIVIDED EUROPE Eastern Europe Eastern Europe was mainly composed of all the European countries liberated and then occupied by the Soviet army. It included the German Democratic Republic , widely known as East Germany, formed by the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany. All the countries in Eastern Europe had communist regimes imposed upon them. Most of these countries were officially independent from the Soviet Union, but the practical extent of this independence was quite limited. In some matters many of them were little more than Client-state s of the Soviet Union.
Western Europe Western Europe was and is composed by:
Other countries also became increasingly part of ''Western Europe''. Almost all countries of ''Western Europe'' received economical assistance from the United States through the Marshall Plan . Many joined NATO and/or the European Union or its rival, the European Free Trade Association .
Turkey
LATER POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS The world changed dramatically with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. The Federal Republic of Germany peacefully absorbed the Democratic Republic of Germany, leading to the German Reunification . COMECON and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved, and in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist, and several nations within it regained their full independence. Although the term ''Western Europe'' was largely defined of the Cold War, it still remains much in use. The term is commonly used in the media and in everyday use both in "western" and other regions of Europe. The term Central Europe reappeared. ''Western Europe'' has increasingly less to do with the European Union. The 1995, 2004, and 2007 Enlargements saw many eastern countries joining the EU, and a view that Europe is divided strictly into the West and the East is sometimes considered patronising or pejorative by many in the nominally eastern countries. SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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