The Birth of Europe (1991)
Synopsis
The series reveals how the success of peoples and nations of Europe was controlled by the natural mineral resources of the land: from Stone Age flints to the uranium of the Nuclear Age.
First Air Date: 1991-10-06
Last Air Date: 1991-11-17
Number of Seasons: 1
Number of Episodes: 7
Networks: BBC Two
Seasons
Season 1 (1991)
No overview available for this season.
Episodes:
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Ep. 1: Out of the Ice
Where did the first Europeans come from, and why? The ice ages swept early humans across the face of the globe in forced migrations. Then 35,000 years ago our direct ancestors arrived in Europe. They were different. Instead of being at the mercy of the environment, they began to control the natural world.
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Ep. 2: Colliding Continents and the Age of Bronze
A look at how the Alps were formed and how the discovery of bronze began the first arms race in northern Europe. But in the south, the first great European civilisation grew up in peaceful isolation on Crete, born from the wealth of agriculture and trade. Did a volcano destroy it?
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Ep. 3: Trade, Cities and the Land-Locked Sea
The third part shows how the lack of fertile land in Greece led traders and settlers to colonise the Mediterranean shores, how the silver mines of Athens saved western civilisation from the Persians, and how the Romans broke through the barrier of the Alps to conquer Gaul.
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Ep. 4: Feast and Famine - The Limestone Legacy
Between AD 1000 and 1300, northern Europe was transformed - from isolated peasants living at the mercy of marauding Vikings, to a rich society with bustling cities graced by magnificent architecture. This progress was built on a single geological resource, limestone.
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Ep. 5: Coal, Blood and Iron
Two hundred years ago, industrialisation swept from Britain across the coalfields of Europe, bringing prosperity to the cities but also dreadful social problems. It also encouraged war on an unprecedented scale.
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Ep. 6: Power and Frontiers
A century ago, European power sprang from the wealth of its coalfields. But the discovery of oil broke the stalemate of the First World War, made possible Hitler's Blitzkriegand changed our whole civilisation.
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Ep. 7: Hostages to Oil
The Gulf War showed how Europe's survival depends on imported oil. This programme reveals how the economic and political power of European countries now hangs on their energy supplies.
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