Documentary

All Episodes of The Western Tradition

Browse all episodes of The Western Tradition

Covering the ancient world through the age of technology, this illustrated lecture by Eugen Weber presents a tapestry of political and social events woven with many strands — religion, industry, agriculture, demography, government, economics, and

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Season 1

  • The Dawn of History
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    The Dawn of History

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 1/1/1989

    The origins of the human race are traced from anthropoid ancestors to the agricultural revolution.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Ancient Egyptians
    N/A/100 votes

    The Ancient Egyptians

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Egyptian irrigation created one of the first great civilizations.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Mesopotamia
    N/A/100 votes

    Mesopotamia

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Settlements in the Fertile Crescent gave rise to the great river civilizations of the Middle East.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • From Bronze to Iron
    N/A/100 votes

    From Bronze to Iron

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Metals revolutionized tools, as well as societies, in the empires of Assyria, Persia, and Neo-Babylonia.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Rise of Greek Civilization
    N/A/100 votes

    The Rise of Greek Civilization

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Democracy and philosophy arose from Greek cities at the edge of the civilized world.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Greek Thought
    N/A/100 votes

    Greek Thought

    Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle laid the foundation of Western intellectual thought.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Alexander the Great
    N/A/100 votes

    Alexander the Great

    Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Alexander's conquests quadrupled the size of the world known to the Greeks.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Hellenistic Age
    N/A/100 votes

    The Hellenistic Age

    Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Hellenistic kingdoms extended Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Rise of Rome
    N/A/100 votes

    The Rise of Rome

    Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Through its army, Rome built an empire that shaped the West.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Roman Empire
    N/A/100 votes

    The Roman Empire

    Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Rome's civil engineering contributed as much to the empire as did its weapons.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Early Christianity
    N/A/100 votes

    Early Christianity

    Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Christianity spread despite contempt and persecution from Rome.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Rise of the Church
    N/A/100 votes

    The Rise of the Church

    Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/1/1989

    The old heresy became the Roman empire's official religion under the Emperor Constantine.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Decline of Rome
    N/A/100 votes

    The Decline of Rome

    Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/1/1989

    While enemies slashed at Rome's borders, civil war and economic collapse destroyed the empire from within.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Fall of Rome
    N/A/100 votes

    The Fall of Rome

    Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Despite the success of emperors such as Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, Rome fell victim to barbarian invasions.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Byzantine Empire
    N/A/100 votes

    The Byzantine Empire

    Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 1/1/1989

    From Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire carried on the traditions of Greece and Rome.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Fall of Byzantium
    N/A/100 votes

    The Fall of Byzantium

    Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Nearly a thousand years after Rome's fall, Constantinople was conquered by the forces of Islam.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Dark Ages
    N/A/100 votes

    The Dark Ages

    Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Barbarian kingdoms took possession of the fragments of the Roman Empire.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Age of Charlemagne
    N/A/100 votes

    The Age of Charlemagne

    Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Charlemagne revived hopes for a new empire in Western Europe.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Middle Ages
    N/A/100 votes

    The Middle Ages

    Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Amid invasion and civil disorder, a military aristocracy dominated the kingdoms of Europe.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Feudal Order
    N/A/100 votes

    The Feudal Order

    Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Bishop, knight, and peasant exemplified some of the social divisions of the year 1000 A.D.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Common Life in the Middle Ages
    N/A/100 votes

    Common Life in the Middle Ages

    Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Famine, disease, and short life expectancies were the conditions that shaped medieval beliefs.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Cities and Cathedrals of the Middle Ages
    N/A/100 votes

    Cities and Cathedrals of the Middle Ages

    Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 1/1/1989

    The great churches embodied the material and spiritual ambitions of the age.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Late Middle Ages
    N/A/100 votes

    The Late Middle Ages

    Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Two hundred years of war and plague debilitated Europe.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The National Monarchies
    N/A/100 votes

    The National Monarchies

    Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 1/1/1989

    A new urban middle class emerged, while dynastic marriages established centralized monarchies.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Renaissance & the Age of Discovery
    N/A/100 votes

    Renaissance & the Age of Discovery

    Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Renaissance humanists made man "the measure of all things." Europe was possessed by a new passion for knowledge.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Renaissance & the New World
    N/A/100 votes

    Renaissance & the New World

    Season 1 Episode 26 - Aired 1/1/1989

    The discovery of America challenged Europe.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Reformation
    N/A/100 votes

    The Reformation

    Season 1 Episode 27 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Voiced by Martin Luther, Protestantism shattered the unity of the Catholic Church.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Rise of the Middle Class
    N/A/100 votes

    The Rise of the Middle Class

    Season 1 Episode 28 - Aired 1/1/1989

    As the cities grew, new middle-class mores had an impact on religious life.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Wars of Religion
    N/A/100 votes

    The Wars of Religion

    Season 1 Episode 29 - Aired 1/1/1989

    For more than a century, the quarrels of Protestants and Catholics tore Europe apart.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Rise of the Trading Cities
    N/A/100 votes

    The Rise of the Trading Cities

    Season 1 Episode 30 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Amid religious wars, a few cities learned that tolerance increased their prosperity.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Age of Absolutism
    N/A/100 votes

    The Age of Absolutism

    Season 1 Episode 31 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Exhausted by war and civil strife, many Europeans exchanged earlier liberties and anarchies for greater peace.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Absolutism and the Social Contract
    N/A/100 votes

    Absolutism and the Social Contract

    Season 1 Episode 32 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Arguments about the legitimate source of political power centered on divine right versus natural law.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Enlightened Despots
    N/A/100 votes

    The Enlightened Despots

    Season 1 Episode 33 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Monarchs considered reforms in order to create more efficient societies, but not at the expense of their own power.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Enlightenment
    N/A/100 votes

    The Enlightenment

    Season 1 Episode 34 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Intellectual theories about the nature of man and his potential came to the fore.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Enlightenment and Society
    N/A/100 votes

    The Enlightenment and Society

    Season 1 Episode 35 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Scientists and social reformers battled for universal human rights during a peaceful and prosperous period.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Modern Philosophers
    N/A/100 votes

    The Modern Philosophers

    Season 1 Episode 36 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Freedom of thought and expression opened new vistas explored by French, English, and American thinkers.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The American Revolution
    N/A/100 votes

    The American Revolution

    Season 1 Episode 37 - Aired 1/1/1989

    The British colonists created a society that tested Enlightenment ideas and resisted restrictions imposed by England.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The American Republic
    N/A/100 votes

    The American Republic

    Season 1 Episode 38 - Aired 1/1/1989

    A new republic, the compromise of radicals and conservatives, was founded on universal freedoms.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Death of the Old Regime
    N/A/100 votes

    The Death of the Old Regime

    Season 1 Episode 39 - Aired 1/1/1989

    In France the old order collapsed under revolutionaries' attacks and the monarchy's own weakness.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The French Revolution
    N/A/100 votes

    The French Revolution

    Season 1 Episode 40 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Liberty, equality, and fraternity skidded into a reign of Terror.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Industrial Revolution
    N/A/100 votes

    The Industrial Revolution

    Season 1 Episode 41 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Technology and mass production reduced famine and ushered in higher standards of living.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Industrial World
    N/A/100 votes

    The Industrial World

    Season 1 Episode 42 - Aired 1/1/1989

    A consumer revolution was fueled by coal, public transportation, and new city services.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Revolution and Romantics
    N/A/100 votes

    Revolution and Romantics

    Season 1 Episode 43 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Leaders in the arts, literature, and political theory argued for social justice and national liberation.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Age of the Nation-States
    N/A/100 votes

    The Age of the Nation-States

    Season 1 Episode 44 - Aired 1/1/1989

    The great powers cooperated to quell internal revolts, yet competed to acquire colonies.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • A New Public
    N/A/100 votes

    A New Public

    Season 1 Episode 45 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Public education and mass communications created a new political life and leisure time.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Fin de Siècle
    N/A/100 votes

    Fin de Siècle

    Season 1 Episode 46 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Everyday life of the working class was transformed by leisure, prompting the birth of an elite avant-garde movement.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The First World War and the Rise of Fascism
    N/A/100 votes

    The First World War and the Rise of Fascism

    Season 1 Episode 47 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Old empires crumbled during World War I to be replaced by right-wing dictatorships in Italy, Spain, and Germany.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Second World War
    N/A/100 votes

    The Second World War

    Season 1 Episode 48 - Aired 1/1/1989

    World War II was a war of new tactics and strategies. Civilian populations became targets as the Nazi holocaust exterminated millions of people.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Cold War
    N/A/100 votes

    The Cold War

    Season 1 Episode 49 - Aired 1/1/1989

    The U.S. and Soviet Union dominated Europe and confronted each other in Korea.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Europe and the Third World
    N/A/100 votes

    Europe and the Third World

    Season 1 Episode 50 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Burdened with the legacy of colonial imperialism, the Third World rushed development to catch up with its Western counterparts.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Technological Revolution
    N/A/100 votes

    The Technological Revolution

    Season 1 Episode 51 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Keeping up with the ever-increasing pace of change became the standard of the day.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Toward the Future
    N/A/100 votes

    Toward the Future

    Season 1 Episode 52 - Aired 1/1/1989

    Modern medicine, atomic energy, computers, and new concepts of time, energy, and matter all have an important effect on life in the 20th century.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown