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Western Europe at its most general meaning means 'all the countries in the West of Europe'. The concept at different times has had different meanings, at times including political and cultural considerations as well as geographical.
Classical antiquity and medieval originsThe earliest known distinctions between east and west in Europe originate in the history of the Roman Republic. As Roman domain expanded a cultural and linguistical division appeared between the mainly Greek-speaking eastern provinces which had formed the highly urbanized Hellenistic civilization. On contrast the western territories largely adopted the Latin language. This cultural and linguistic division was eventually reinforced by the later political east-west division of the Roman Empire The division between these two spheres was enhanced during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages by a number of events. The Western Roman Empire collapsed starting the Early Middle Ages. By contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire, mostly known as Byzantine Empire, managed to survive and even to thrive for another 1000 years. The rise of the Frankish Empire in the west, and in particular the Great Schism that formally divided Eastern and Western Christianity, enhanced the cultural and religious distinctiveness between Eastern and Western Europe. The conquest of the Byzantine Empire, center of the Eastern Orthodox Church, by the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, and the gradual fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire (which had replaced the Frankish Empire) led to a change of the importance of Roman Catholic/Protestant vs. Eastern Orthodox concept in Europe. Historical events like the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation by Martin Luther and the Counter-Reformation of the Catholic Church, the Age of Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution are considered to be common experiences which have shaped Western European culture and identity. During the Age of Discovery, most of the Western European countries colonized Africa, Asia, South and North America. All these historical events and cultural developments have influence over the Western European concept. 
The Cold WarDuring the final stages of WWII the future of Europe was decided between the Allies in the 1945 Yalta Conference, between the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill, the President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the Premier of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin. Post-war Europe would be divided into two major spheres: the "West" mainly influenced by the USA, and the Eastern Bloc dominated by the Soviet Union. With the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain. This term had been used during World War II by German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and later Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk in the last days of the war; however, its use was hugely popularised by Winston Churchill, who used it in his famous "Sinews of Peace" address March 5, 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri:
Although some countries were officially neutral, they were classified according to the nature of their political and economical systems. This division largely defined the popular perception and understanding of Western Europe and its borders with Eastern Europe till this day. A divided EuropeEastern EuropeEastern Europe, in the view accepted after the second World War, was mainly composed of all the European countries liberated and then occupied by the Soviet army. It included the German Democratic Republic, widely known as East Germany, formed by the Soviet occupation zone of Germany. All the countries in Eastern Europe had communist regimes imposed upon them. Most of these countries were officially independent from the Soviet Union, but the practical extent of this independence was quite limited. In some matters many of them were little more than client-states of the Soviet Union. Currently, the borders of Eastern Europe are a topic of debate, especially because of the countries and people identifying themselves with Central Europe and denouncing the notion of "Easternity".dubious
Western EuropeAt the end of the World War II almost all countries of Western Europe received economical assistance from the United States through the Marshall Plan. Most joined NATO and/or the European Community or its rival, the European Free Trade Association. Western Europe was and is composed by:
Other countries also became increasingly part of Western Europe.
Turkey
Later political developmentsThe world changed dramatically with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. The Federal Republic of Germany peacefully absorbed the Democratic Republic of Germany, leading to the German reunification. COMECON and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved, and in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Several countries which had been part of the Soviet Union regained their full independence. Although the term Western Europe was largely defined of the Cold War, it still remains much in use. The term is commonly used in the media and in everyday use both in "western" and other regions of Europe. The term Central Europe reappeared. Germany for example is still often considered Western in some countries, but Germans (also politicians) consider Germany more and more Central European (see also German Wikipedia). Western Europe has increasingly less to do with the European Union. The 1995, 2004, and 2007 enlargements saw many eastern countries joining the EU, and a view that Europe is divided strictly into the West and the East is sometimes considered patronising or pejorative by many in the nominally eastern countries. Present time
The present definition, as geographically defined by the CIA World Factbook[2] includes: Western Europe: Southwestern Europe: 
The United Nationscitation needed definition considers Western Europe to consist of the following nine countries, except in the case of United Nations Regional Groups, in which the term also includes northern and southern Europe: See also
References and notes
External links
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