For the second part of the class, Dr. Shaya lectured on “Europe and the World.” We started off this lecture with the sad news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth. We discussed how she stood for the stability of the country throughout the world wars and the following crises. We then moved into learning about the timeline of the United Kingdom which really showed a huge growth and then a decrease in its status as it started by being a set of kingdoms in the islands of Western Europe, to reach its peak as an Empire between 1910 and 1930 by controlling 25% of the world land and 25% of the world’s population to their gradual fall as an Empire after the 1930s. One of the reasons for this fall was the quick decolonization starting with India and Pakistan in 1947, then Ghana in 1957, and lastly Kenya in 1960, after an 8-year rebellion being fought.

At the end of the class, we talked about a couple of takeaways to keep in mind after today’s class. One of those was the difference between Eastern and Western Europe, especially in their political aspects post World War era. Also, we talked about how Europe represents a World Power, especially with the formation of the European Union. Moreover, we mentioned the Welfare State and the US’s help in founding the Welfare of Europe.