Eastern Europe and Russia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Eastern Europe and Russia - Essay Example As reviewed by Butler (2007), the highlight of European civilization had been mostly focused on one group, the Byzantine Empire, which had thrived despite the incursions on fifth century C.E. The race had adopted the Greek culture and its philosophy. Nonetheless, like other great civilizations, the empire, too, had experienced its ultimate end in 1453 (â€Å"The Byzantine Empire,† n.d.). Despite its massive fall in 40th century, their existence still holds substantial contributions to Eastern Europe and Russia up to now. It paved way to the emergence of eastern Cyrillic alphabet, as well as the Orthodox Christianity in Russia (Peterson, 1995). As further explained by Butler (2007), â€Å"Eastern Europe, especially Russia, was heavily influenced by Byzantine architecture.† Such masterpiece can be witness in the â€Å"onion dome† of most Russian Churches. In similar area, the art of this empire had influenced the styles in Europe in terms of â€Å"designs that dep ict God, icons, religious images†¦mosaic, pictures and colored bits of stained scenes or tile cemented in place—brought scenes from the Bible to life.† By claiming part of the Greek’s heritage, the Byzantine Empire had contributed in Literature, as well—preserving important scholarly writings. Its thoughtful conservation had aided much in the development of the European culture—the Renaissance (â€Å"The Byzantine Empire,† n.d.). The eastern part of the continent had experienced fateful changes, from various barbaric invasions to prolonged Communist stand. Most Eastern European countries took a sharp turn, as communism was terminated in 1989-1991 (Fukuyama, Lewis, Orenstein, Kapstein, & Converse, 2008). The struggle in transition phase had been difficult for most East European countries. Modifications in economy had a negative effect on the people in Eastern Europe. â€Å"The number of jobs had declined†¦in some sectors, the number of workers in Czech had been cut in half†