Summary of European History From Renaissance to Present A sharp break with medieval values and institutions, a new awareness of the individual, an awakened interest in the material world and nature, and a recovery of the cultural heritage of ancient Greece and Romeâ??these were once understood to be the major achievements of the Renaissance. Today, every particular of this formula is under suspicion if not altogether repudiated. Nevertheless, the term Renaissance remains a widely …showed first 75 words of 794 total…

…showed last 75 words of 794 total…been marked by major economic and political upheavals. The most cataclysmic were the two world wars that brought the old Europe of the balance of power to the brink of destruction. For much of the period after 1945, Europe remained divided between East and West, and it was only in the West that unity began to be practicable. At length, however, political changes in central and eastern Europe gradually revived old hopes of a possible â??Paneuropaâ??.