European Association of History Educators: The European Experience: Living with Difference

This source collection is part of the Teaching European History in the 21st Century handbook and can be used to teach about diversity and approaches to diversity in European History.

Religious, social, cultural, and political diversity is a fact of life in Europe. This Source Collection explores the ways in which people in Europe have dealt with these differences, from the historical development of religious communities to rivalling ideological schools. The differences between the continent’s urban centers and its peripheries and their cultural, social, and economic consequences are investigated, as are the intergenerational differences between parents and children, the young and the old. You can use the sources in this collection to reflect with your students on diversity, discrimination, and pluralism in European history and today. To view these sources in the context of the handbook "The European Experience. A Multi-Perspective History of Modern Europe, 1500-2000" [https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0323], please refer to the narratives on "Religions", "Ideology", "Centres and Peripheries", and "Generations and Lifecycles" in the Historical Content section of Historiana. This Source Collection has been developed by Mats Kooge and Georgi Pavlov as part of the project "Teaching European History in the 21st Century", which is founded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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1.1 The Capitulation of Granada
This painting was made by the Spanish painter Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz. It shows the Capitulation of Granada as Muhammad XII of Granada surrenders to the Catholic Kings Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. Source: Ortiz, Francisco Pradilla y. “La Rendición de Granada - Pradilla.” WikiMedia Commons (from Palace of the Senate, Spain), 1882, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_Rendici%C3%B3n_de_Granada_-_Pradilla.jpg.
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1.1 The religious situation in Europe about 1560
Details: This map shows the ramifications of Christianity in Europe as a result of the Protestant Reformation around 1560. While the Southern region of Italy, Spain and Portugal remained largely Roman Catholic, political rulers had revolted from the Roman Church north of the line drawn. Lutherans were concentrated in Scandinavia and the German states of the Holy Roman Empire, and Anglicans in England, Wales and North- and East Ireland. Other protestants such as Calvinists were popular throughout Europe, from Scotland to Western Russia (now Belarus). Central Europe, in particular, was a patchwork of religious groups. For example, the region of Transylvania (east of Hungary) shows a melting pot of Catholics, Orthodoxs, Calvinists, and other protestant groupings such as Antitrinitarians, Socinians and some fled Anabatists (orange). Source: Source: (original) Shepherd, William R. “The Religious Situation in Europe about 1560.” The Historical Atlas, 1923, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Europe_religions_1560.jpg. (Edited by EuroClio)
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1.2 Lourdes in 1858 - Apparition of the Holy Virgin to Bernadette on March 25. (French: "Lourdes en 1858 - Apparition de la Sainte Vierge à Bernadette le 25 Mars")
This is a postcard depicting an apparition of Saint Mary - here referred to as the Holy Virgin - the Southern French city of Lourdes. On this date of 25 March 1858, the peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous claimed to have witnessed a Maria apparition for the ninth time. In total, the Catholic Church counts 18 apparitions of the Holy Virgin to Bernadette, all taking place between February 11 and July 16. After the confirmation of canonical investigation in 1862, the apparitions became known as Our Lady of Lourdes and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes became an important pilgrimage site. Source: Unknown. “Lourdes en 1858 - Apparition de la Sainte Vierge à Bernadette le 25 Mars.” Gallica.bnf.fr - Archives et bibliothèques Pau Béarn Pyrénées B6-150, year unknown, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10570954g.
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1.3 March from Kharput during the Armenian genocide
This photograph of the Armenian village of Kharput captured one of the atrocities that happened during the Armenian Genocide (1915-1916). Ottoman military forces forced Armenian men to march from Kharput to an execution site outside the city of Kharput circa April 1915. Source: Unknown. “Marcharmenians.” WikiMedia Commons (from the Political Archive of the German Foreign Ministry: “Konstantinopel 169”), April 1915, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marcharmenians.jpg.
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1.3 Pope John Paul II and Solidarnosc leader Lech Wałęsa
Pope John Paul II has met the leader of Poland’s Solidarity trade union Lech Wałęsa multiple times. In June 1986, the Pope came to the northern Polish port of Gdansk to talk about the importance of solidarity. Three years later, Lech Wałęsa became the first post-communist president of Poland. Together with his Solidarity-led government, the country went through the economic transition from Communism to a liberal free-market system. This photo is from a meeting between the two in 1995. Source: Unknown. “Pope John Paul II and Lech Walesa at a meeting in 1995.” Religion.orf.at (from Reuters), 1995, https://religion.orf.at/v3/stories/2677594/.
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2.1 Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus (Latin: "Imago Erasmi Roterodami ab Alberto Durero ad Vivam Effigiem Deliniata”)
In this engraving from 1526, humanist Desiderius Erasmus from the city of Rotterdam is writing, while standing at a lectern. In this typical academic scene, he wears a hat and robe and is surrounded by books. In the background there is a framed inscription in both Latin and Greek. It states: “The Likeness of Erasmus of Rotterdam, done by Albrecht Dürer from life. His writings present a better picture of the man than this portrait.” Source: Dürer, Albrecht. “Portret van Erasmus.” Rijksmuseum, 1526, http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.378126.
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2.1 St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
The French painter François Dubois (1529 - 1584) made this painting of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572. The Catholic massacre was directed against French Huguenots (Calvinist Protestants) during the French Wars of Religion. This painting is quite exceptional because of the quality of its execution, but also because contemporary representations of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacres are very rare. It bears the signature of the painter François Dubois, a Protestant from Amiens who took refuge in Geneva after the massacres. Source: Dubois, François. “La masacre de San Bartolomé, por François Dubois.” WikiMedia Commons (from Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts), ca. 1572-1584, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_masacre_de_San_Bartolom%C3%A9,_por_Fran%C3%A7ois_Dubois.jpg.
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2.1 The First Era: The Law of Nature (Latin: “Prima Aetas: Lex Nature”)
This engraving from around 1563 depicts a personification of the natural law or Lex Nature in Latin. She is sitting on an uprooted tree labeled ‘the first era’ (prima aetas). In her right hand she holds up a heart with inside the phrase ‘do good and shun evil’ (fac bonum / fuge malum). The bit and whip in her left hand are symbolizing the inescapable obedience. In the background, the Biblical scene of God banning Adam and Eve from paradise refers to the beginning of the first era. At the bottom, the following is written in Dutch, Latin and French: ‘For more than 2000 years, the world has been ruled by the law of nature, content with little, ignorant of treachery and venom, of the great Almighty God, waiting for the promise.’ Source: Wierix, Hieronymus (after design by Maerten de Vos and Willem van Haecht). “Prima Aetas.” Rijksmuseum, ca. 1563, http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.332438.
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2.1 Frederick II of Prussia and Voltaire at the round table
This painting illustrates a gathering of intellectuals from the French enlightenment in the Palace of Sanssouci. It was the summer palace of the Prussian king Frederick the Great in Potsdam, near Berlin. This particular scene depicts Frederick II, center back, turning to Voltaire, who is seated in the second chair to the left of the king, conversing across the table with Count Algarotti. Between the two sits General Christoph Ludwig von Stille and on the far left army officer and diplomat Georg Keith. On the right of the King are the author and friend of Voltaire Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, philosopher Francesco Algarotti, Field Marshal James Keith, Lieutenant General Friedrich Rudolf von Rothenburg, and philosopher Julien Offray de la Mettrie. Source: Von Menzel, Adolph. “König Friedrichs II. Tafelrunde in Sanssouci.” WikiMedia Commons, ca. 1850, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adolph-von-Menzel-Tafelrunde.jpg.
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2.2 Napoleon Bonaparte in conversation with Madame de Staël during a reception in Paris
This is a drawing of Napoleon Bonaparte meeting with Louise Germainde de Staël-Holstein (1766-1817) during a reception in Paris. It was published in The Memorial of Saint Helena, which is a journal-memoir of Napoleon’s life in exile on Saint Helena. It includes conversations of the former French emperor on his political philosophy and life in general. Madame de Staël was a moderately progressive philosopher, which brought her in direct opposition to radical-liberal thinkers such as Napoleon Bonaparte. Source: Charlet, Nicolas-Toussaint. In: Las Cases, Emmanuel de. Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène Volume 2. Bibliothèque Nationale de France (originally published by Ernest Bourdin, Paris), 1842, pp.107, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4112291.
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2.2 The Familistère of Guise (French: “Familistère de Guise”)
This is a photograph of the Familistère or ‘Social Palace’ in English developed by the French industrialist Jean-Baptiste André Godin (1817-1888). As a socialist writer and political theorist, he built this residential community to experiment with the socialist ideals of cooperative ownership and management by workers. He did not want to isolate workers in their single-family houses, but encouraged a collective dwelling, which he called the ‘Social Palace’. Source: Unknown. “Guise - Intérieur du Familistère.” WikiMedia Commons, n.d., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Familist%C3%A8re-guise.jpg.
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2.3 “–Mister Mayor, what is a bibiscite?” (French: “M'sieu l'maire quoi donc que c'est qu'un bibiscite?”)
This lithograph on newsprint shows a cartoon about the plebiscite of 8 May 1870 from the journal Le Charivari. It is a witty rendition that addressed the guise of democratic legitimation. Of the two poor men, one asks ‘Mister Mayor, what is a plebiscite?’ To which the mayor replied: ‘It is a Latin word that means yes.’ Source: Daumier, Honoré. “-M’sieu l’maire quoi donc que c’est qu’un bibiscite? -C’est un mot latin qui veut dire oui.” Le Charivari, 30 April 1870, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/757073.
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2.3 Newspaper Il Popolo d’Italia
Totalitarianism uses mass scenery and mass information to diffuse their ideology among the population. This page provides an example of an Italian fascist newspaper, called Il Popolo d’Italia (The People of Italy), that was created by and for the use of Benito Mussolini. The picture on the right shows a reflection upon Italian East-Africa that refers to the need for order, authority and justice (ordini, autorità and giustizia). Beneath the drawing is written ‘Rastrellamento mussoliniano’, which means the raking of Mussolini. Source: Unknown. “CUB0706991_1936_00008_061.” Teca.bsmc.it - Index of Public Images - Materiale a Stampa, 11-04-2018 (newspaper from 10 August 1936), http://teca.bsmc.it/pub/images/materiale_a_stampa/periodico/Popolo%20d%60Italia(Il)/CUB0706991_1936_00008/CUB0706991_1936_00008_061.jpg.
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2.3 Vladimir Lenin giving a speech (1917)
After 17 years of exile, the Bolshevik politician Vladimir Lenin made his return to Russia on 16 April 1917. This is a photo of him giving a speech in St. Petersburg, calling for a revolution to install a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’. He summarized the people’s needs in the following quote: “The people need peace; the people need bread; the people need land.” Source: Unknown. “Vladimir Lenin giving a speech.” WikiMedia Commons (from The Moscow Times), 1917, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vladimir_Lenin_giving_a_speech.jpg.
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3.1 France: The growth of the royal domain to 1530
This map depicts the expansion of the lands under direct control of the French monarchy up to 1530. By that time, there were still vast areas within France that were not directly possessed by the crown. At first, the medieval use of the term ‘royal domain’ referred to the network of estates, taxes and justice under the king’s control. Only in the late 16th century the French royal domain started to overlap with the entire territory of the kingdom of France. Source: Unknown. “France: The Growth of the Royal Domain to 1530.” Edmaps.com, n.d., https://www.edmaps.com/html/france.html. (Edited by EuroClio)
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3.1 Russian Expansion between 1547 and 1725
This map shows the expansion of the Tsarist Empire of Russia from 1547 to 1725. The vast expansion was the result of centuries of wars and conquering, mainly in the eastward and southward direction. In addition, the Ural mountain range is regarded by many as a natural border between Europe and Asia. As the map shows, this coincides with the eastern border of Russia before the eastward expansion from 1547. Source: Sidorov, Nicolay. “Growth of Russia between 1547 and 1725.” WikiMedia Commons, 12-10-2018, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Growth_of_Russia_1547-1725.png. (Edited by EuroClio)
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3.2 The expansion of railroads in France over time
These three maps display the railway system in France in the years 1840 (left), 1860 (center) and 1880 (right). France opened its first railway line in 1827 from Saint-Étienne to Andrézieux (eastern central France). However, it was not until the 1840s that the vast expansion of railroads really kicked off. Most major cities in France were connected to each other and through Paris by 1860. The map to the right shows the dense web of railroads that covered all of France by 1880. (1) Smith, Benjamin. “Carte du réseau ferroviaire d'intérêt général en France métropolitaine en 1840.” WikiMedia Commons, 15 January 2021, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Railway_map_of_France_-_1840_-_fr_-_medium.svg; (2) Smith, Benjamin. “Carte du réseau ferroviaire d'intérêt général en France métropolitaine en 1860.” WikiMedia Commons, 15 January 2021, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Railway_map_of_France_-_1860_-_fr_-_medium.svg; (3) Smith, Benjamin. “Carte du réseau ferroviaire d'intérêt général en France métropolitaine en 1880.” WikiMedia Commons, 15 January 2021, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Railway_map_of_France_-_1880_-_fr_-_medium.svg.
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3.2 Map of European railways in the 1880s
This European map shows the railway networks as it was in the 1880s. It shows in which places the networks were concentrated and how national boundaries affected the distribution. Source: Sohr, Carl (author) and C. Flemming (publisher). “Eisenbahn - und - Dampfschiffsrouten-Karte von Europa / bearbeitet von Dr Sohr.” Gallica.bnf.fr, ca. 1880s, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b53242884t.
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3.2 Map of the routes of steamships, communication lines, railways and roads in the Russian Empire (1895)
This map provides an indication of the major infrastructure in the Western part of the Russian Empire at the end of the 19th century. The red lines illustrate the railway system while the blue lines indicate steamship lines and marinas. It clearly shows the contrast between the densely-populated urbanized part of the Russian Empire and the less connected eastern and southern part of the Russian Empire. The latter is only connected to the center by a few major arteries, as the result of some ambitious infrastructure projects. Source: A. Ilyin (firm). “Carta Parahodnyii Soobshenyii Zheleznyii i Poutovyii Dorog Rossiyskoi Imierin.” Stanford University Libraries, Digital Repository, The Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, 1895, http://purl.stanford.edu/sw824jv8215.
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3.3 Inverted America
This painting by the Uruguayan artist Joaquín Torres-García (1874-1949) is a symbolic vindication of Latin America as a center. To do this, the painter changes the standard representation of the North at the center of maps, inverting the orientation so that the South is upside down. By considering the South as North, the artist reveals a universalist pretension in the way we think about the world. Source: García, Joaquin Torres. “Inverted America.” WikiArt.org, 1943 (online 17-12-2012), https://www.wikiart.org/en/joaquin-torres-garcia/inverted-america-1943.
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3.3 The Natural Seats of Power (1904)
This map portrays a certain geopolitical situation of the world from a British viewpoint at the beginning of the 20th twentieth century. The 1904 map of Halford J. Mackinder is a simplified illustration of land-power and sea-power. History in the ‘old world’ was determined by land-power. Ancient history used to be marked by the great invasions of nomadic steppe cavalry from the wholly continental heartland (pivot area). The ‘great civilizations’ dealing with these invasions arose in the inner or marginal crescent because of the more favorable geographical location (partly continental, partly oceanic climate). The repeating history of invasions ended around the fifteenth century with the rise of guns and naval power. History in the ‘new world’ was made in the wholly oceanic realm of sea power (outer or insular crescent), which according to this map included the British Isles and Japan. Source: Mackinder, Halford J. “The Natural Seats of Power.” The Geographical Journal, April 1904, p. 435, https://geostrategie.ca/2021/05/02/mackinders-map-of-the-natural-seats-of-power-1904/.
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4.1 The Visible World in Pictures: The Seven Ages of Man (Latin: “Orbis Sensualium Pictus: Septem Aetates Hominis”)
This is a scan from the Latin school book Orbis Sensualium Pictus or Visible World in Pictures. It shows how visual images were incorporated into the textbook. The book was originally published in 1658, in both Latin and German, in the city of Nuremberg (Germany). Several translations had spread across Europe, making it an influential example for many school books to come. Source: Comenius, Jan Amos. Orbis Sensualium Pictus. London: J. Kirton, 1659, pp. 76-77.
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4.2 A German family around 1900 working, living, cooking and sleeping in one room (German: “Eine deutsche Familie um 1900, die in einem Raum arbeitet, wohnt, kocht und schläft”)
This picture shows a typical situation of the living space of a German family around 1900. German industrialization was characterized by urbanization and the large-scale development of apartment buildings. This dramatically affected the way families had lived together. As a result of workers moving into small apartments, the model of a nuclear family became the new norm in industrial societies. Source: St. Krekeler . “Eine deutsche Familie um 1900, die in einem Raum arbeitet, wohnt, kocht und schläft.” WikiMedia Commons, 12-12-2005, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Familie_um_1900.jpg.
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4.2 Worker housing in Widnes in the late 19th century
This photograph was taken of the industrial town of Widnes in England. In contrast to Germany and other European regions, worker housing was not dominated by apartment buildings. As Widnes exemplifies, single family houses remained the norm in the architectural landscape of Britain’s industrial centers. Source: Hardie, D.W.F. A History of the Chemical Industry in Widnes. Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, 1950, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Widnes_Smoke.jpg.
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4.3 Komsomol meeting at the Magnitka plant
This photograph was taken during a meeting of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League or Komsomol in 1932. Komsomol was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union that operated as the youth division of the All-Union Communist Party since the USSR unification in 1922. This picture shows a gathering at the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works located in the Southern Ural Mountains. Komsomol serves here as an example of young adults' involvement in ideological political movements during the interwar period. Source: Shagin, Ivan. “Zasedaniye Komsomolskogo Byuro.” WikiMediaCommons (originally from RIA Novosti Archive), 18 November 1932, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RIAN_archive_25358_Komsomol_meeting.jpg.
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4.3 Young adults in Carnaby Street, London
This photograph features a couple of young adults in the late 1960s, hanging at Carnaby Street in London. It depicts the youth-driven cultural revolution of the Swinging Sixties in the United Kingdom. London was at the center of this movement. While the 1950s are generally thought of as a time of austerity, the 1960s are known for its swinging music and colorful fashion. Shopping streets were also a result of the economic changes that facilitated a consumerist lifestyle. Source: Unknown. “Teenagers in Carnaby Street.” WikiMedia Commons (originally from The National Archives UK), 1969, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Londons_Carnaby_Street,_1966.jpg.
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4.3 Anti-war march in Amsterdam
On 13 April 1968, this photograph was taken of an anti-war demonstration in the center of Amsterdam. This march is one example of many demonstrations that took place in the year 1968. In Western Europe there were mainly student protests and peace demonstrations, such as the widespread May 1968 protests in France. On the eastern side of the Iron Curtain, protests happened against the lack of rights and freedoms, most famously the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia. This Dutch demonstration in particular was against nuclear weapons and the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War (1964-1973). One flag carries the peace sign (symbol of the nuclear disarmament movement). Other flags state: ‘Peace, Self-Determination for Vietnam’, ‘Death to American invaders’ and ‘Netherlands out of NATO, NATO out of the Netherlands’. Source: Koch, Eric. “Demonstratie tegen Oorlog in Vietnam, NATO enz. in Amsterdam.” Nationaal Archief / Dutch National Archives (Anefo collection), 13 April 1968, http://hdl.handle.net/10648/ab3cd58a-d0b4-102d-bcf8-003048976d84.