By English today is the language of the world, the basic common language of humanity. English became the global language through the three central powers of the Western world: the Roman Empire, the British Empire, and the United States of America. The Roman Empire was the first central power and the first empire of the Western world, but also its geographical base. It laid the geographical foundations of the Western world, since through its geographical territory it connected a large part of the Western world, forming a base; all these territories and their populations for the first time somehow were connected, triggering this development. Ancient Rome was the geographical foundation and Ancient Greece had been the cultural foundation of the Western world. Ancient Greece influenced Ancient Rome and also Latin was influenced by Ancient Greek. The western world was founded on the temperate climate and the suitable geographical conditions of the Mediterranean Sea. The Roman Empire promoted Latin in the territories under its dominion, part of which was the present English geographical area. Latin was promoted in those parts that formed a base for the Western world and later became countries; the Latin alphabet was adopted as the common alphabet.
On the island of Great Britain, several, different population groups, which passed through, blended and integrated to create the English culture and the English country, created a language, a mixture of influences from various population groups based on the Latin alphabet. As history progressed, England became an empire, the British Empire, the epicenter of the Industrial Revolution, the foundation of modern capitalism, the first central power of capitalism and the next central power of the Western world. Through this influence, as the epicenter of the Industrial Revolution and as a colonial power already, England, too, promoted the English language in its colonies, the territories under its dominion. After the medieval period various European powers started the modern colonialism that expanded all over the world. During colonialism some of the biggest crimes in human history happened. As a colonial power, England’s geography, location and topography, being an island, played a crucial role. Its geographical location was critical, just as for other colonial powers, such as Spain, Portugal, and France, with open access to the sea, particularly the Atlantic Ocean, and also being geographically advantageous over the Americas. Geographically, Spain and Portugal, countries in the south of Europe and on the same line of latitude as the Mediterranean, began imperialism in the Americas, mainly in South and Latin America. Correspondingly in geographical terms, later on, England, a northern European country, as well as France and others to a lesser degree, expanded mainly in North America.
The Balkans is the first peninsula, at the entrance of Europe from the east, in the temperate Mediterranean Basin. The Balkan peninsula, the present-day Greek mainland part and the islands around it, is the entrance and passage to Europe from the exit points of Africa, which is the origin of humankind. The exits points were the one where Africa meets Eurasia at the Sinai peninsula, and the other where Africa is close to Eurasia in the Arabian peninsula, at the modern Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. Present-day Greece, being in the entrance of Europe from the exit points of the origin of Africa and in the temperate Mediterranean Basin, was the suitable geographical place for civilization to begin on European ground during the Bronze Age, and later in the Archaic and Classical periods, to be developed this civilization, that is considered the cradle of Western civilization. The next, second peninsula, and in the middle of the Mediterranean Basin, the Italian peninsula, constituted the start of ancient Rome and later the center of an empire that expanded across the Mediterranean Basin and then across Europe, the Roman Empire, the first empire in Europe. The fall of the Roman Empire is one of the landmarks of the beginning of the Middle Ages or medieval period, which lasted around a thousand years, and the European discovery of the Americas, one of the landmarks of its end. The Renaissance that had already started, and the Age of Discovery, are considered the periods of the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern era. The Renaissance, and also mercantilism, the ancestor of capitalism, have their beginning in the Italian peninsula again, the middle peninsula at the center of the Mediterranean. The next, third and last peninsula of the Mediterranean Basin, is the Iberian Peninsula, a peninsula in the southwest corner of Europe and the westernmost edge of Eurasia. The Iberian Peninsula has the geographical particularity on the one side to be bounded by the temperate Mediterranean Sea, being also on the same latitude, and on the other side to be bounded by and open to the Atlantic Ocean. It is basically divided between Spain and Portugal. The Age of Discovery, the overseas exploration, but also colonialism, were led by Portugal and Spain. The European discovery of the Americas, a landmark of the end of the medieval period, was sponsored by the Spanish monarchies. Spain, lying on the Iberian Peninsula, and between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, evolved into the most powerful empire in the world, until the British Empire later took the lead. From the Balkan to the Italian, and to the Iberian peninsula, in the Mediterranean Basin, history expanded geographically successively in relation to the distance from the exit points of the origin of Africa, and also for so many years later. Geography determined the beginning, determined and the course of history.
The importance of geography coexists of course with the importance of human factor and human expression. The center and subject of any environmental effect, to which and where any environmental effect occurs, is the human species and human nature. Humanity is in interaction with the environment. Also, humans are social beings and their society is fundamental for their development and their expression. Social structures, institutions and the political system are fundamental for the development and expression of humans. For example, ancient Greece and ancient Rome have various negative features, as imperialism is, but they have also an element that made their societies special. It was democracy and republic and this general spirit. Democracy, in ancient Athens for example, and republic, which existed for centuries in ancient Rome, were the cores of these societies and made different aspects of society to thrive. This reveals what can happen when society is more open, when society is led by society itself, by the people, and when the people and individuals are more active members of society. Something that gives special impetus to the members of society and to society as a whole, as humans are social beings.
Interaction and trade among peoples that were important factors of development and growth had changed in time. They were more favored in the south and in areas of similar latitude to the Mediterranean. In general, gradually over the years, technological changes also changed the conditions, overcoming geographical limitations. Conditions changed gradually in fields such as farming, trade and shipping. That also brought growth to more northern European geographical places than the Mediterranean. The means of transport and objects of trade had also changed. Furthermore, the seas and seaways, that were important to transport and trade, as well as expansionism, previously took place mainly in the Mediterranean Sea, that was almost completely enclosed by land, located in a more southern latitude with a temperate climate, that eventually opened to the ocean. In general, the shift from farming to industry, took growth to more northern geographical parts and climates, which were favorable to workers while more southern were favorable to farmers. From the Agricultural to the Industrial Revolution, geography has always determined humankind. England gave a complete form to and established mercantilism, that had begun in Italy, and later took the lead from the Spanish Empire in shipping and as the most powerful empire in the world. Also, England had started to develop a form of a capitalistic agricultural system. Later, there was also another, modern, British Agricultural Revolution, also helped by technological changes, that contributed to the Industrial Revolution. The geography of Great Britain combined the geographical advantages for growth at the time, at first for shipping and also later for industry, being an island, the largest European one, open to the Atlantic Ocean, and located in Northern Europe. The same happened with the Ancient Rome before, which started from the middle peninsula and in the center of the temperate Mediterranean Sea, that with suitable geography eventually evolved into the first empire that extended over the European territory. The Mediterranean Sea has a temperate climate, specifically the particular Mediterranean climate. It is almost completely enclosed by land, and located right above the origin of humankind which is Africa. The particularity of the Mediterranean area is the creator of the beginning of the Western world. The Mediterranean Basin offered the favorable geographical and climatic conditions for the foundation of the Western world, which was founded in ancient Greece. The Western world started from the Mediterranean and was during its evolution transferred to the Americas as part of its continuity, with the USA being a creation and a continuation of Europe.
The British Empire, like the Roman Empire, promoted its language in territories under its dominion, its colonies. The same happened to some of the North America, one of its colonies, the present USA. After World War II, England, weakened by the war and losing its colonies, gave way to the United States, which in turn became the central power of the Western world and the next epicenter of capitalism. The United States of America were founded by the American Revolution against English colonialism, a historical event that together with the French Revolution are two of the most important events in modern history of humankind that shaped the Western world and the world as a whole. The American and French Revolutions were inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, a period of expression of ideas that have shaped humanity and the world and changed their course. The United States, with its impact as the epicenter of modern capitalism and the central power of the Western world, is the dominant role model producing country for the rest of the planet. The United States, which adopted English as a colony of the British Empire, became the central power of the Western world and the epicenter of capitalism. And previously, the territory of the Roman Empire that formed a base for the Western world, England being a part, had adopted the Latin alphabet. The US with its impact being the epicenter of modern capitalism, have promoted English worldwide through the media and the Internet, a global impact, such as through the music and film industry and the economic system in general, establishing English as the language of the world. English is the dominant language on the Internet, the media, music and cinema, but also of markets, companies and advertising, things with a global impact. English is the language most people speak in addition to their mother tongue and the most widespread language of communication for people of different origin regardless of location.
This way, through the three central powers of the Western world, and through the globalized features of the modern community of humans, English became the universal language, the language of the world. The impact of the Western world and its course today affects and shapes all of the world. If things change in the Western world, there will also be a change of things in the world as a whole. Western civilization is just a part of human civilization. Civilization is common and universal to humankind. The emergence of civilization is a feature of human species. Civilization is of our species, common to humankind, the human civilization. The future of humanity and of the Earth is common to all humans.
Human nature and humanity are common and universal to humans. Internet, today, has no geographic boundaries, which can be global and universal. All the human knowledge, interaction, interrelation and interconnection among humans can be universal to humankind. Humans can become more and more united. People, on the Internet today, using English, can communicate universally, without boundaries or barriers, in the common language of humanity.
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