Editing Eastern Europe (section)

===Classical antiquity and medieval origins===

Ancient kingdoms of the region included [[Orontid Armenia]], [[Caucasian Albania]], [[Colchis]] and [[Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Iberia]] (not to be confused with the [[Iberian Peninsula]] in [[Western Europe]]), of which the former two were the predecessor states of [[Armenia]] and [[Azerbaijan]] respectively, while the latter two were the predecessor states of modern-day [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]. These peripheral kingdoms were, either from the start or later on, incorporated into various Iranian empires, including the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Persian]], [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]], and [[Sassanid Persian]] Empires.<ref name="Rapp">Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts'', pp. 292-294. Peeters Bvba {{ISBN|90-429-1318-5}}.</ref> Parts of the [[Balkans]] and some more northern areas were ruled by the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Persians]] as well, including [[Thrace]], [[Paeonia (kingdom)|Paeonia]], [[Macedon]], and most of the [[Black Sea]] coastal regions of [[Romania]], [[Ukraine]], and [[Russia]].<ref>The Oxford Classical Dictionary by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth,{{ISBN|0-19-860641-9}}, "page 1515, "The Thracians were subdued by the Persians by 516"</ref><ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=QsJ183uUDkMC&q=Achaemenid+Persians+ruled+balkans&pg=PA345|title= A Companion to Ancient Macedonia|access-date= 22 April 2015|isbn= 9781444351637|last1= Roisman|first1= Joseph|last2= Worthington|first2= Ian|date= 7 July 2011|publisher= John Wiley & Sons|archive-date= 30 March 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240330042424/https://books.google.com/books?id=QsJ183uUDkMC&q=Achaemenid+Persians+ruled+balkans&pg=PA345#v=snippet&q=Achaemenid%20Persians%20ruled%20balkans&f=false|url-status= live}}</ref> Owing to the rivalry between the [[Parthian Empire]] and [[Roman Empire|Rome]], and later between [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]] and the [[Sassanid Persians]], the Parthians would invade the region several times, although it was never able to hold the area, unlike the Sassanids who controlled most of the [[Caucasus]] during their entire rule.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CquTz6ps5YgC&q=sassanids+rule+most+of+the+caucasus&pg=PA27|title= An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires|access-date= 22 April 2015|isbn= 9780313274978|last1= Olson|first1= James Stuart|last2= Pappas|first2= Lee Brigance|last3= Pappas|first3= Nicholas Charles|last4= Pappas|first4= Nicholas C. J.|year= 1994|publisher= Bloomsbury Academic|archive-date= 30 March 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240330042425/https://books.google.com/books?id=CquTz6ps5YgC&q=sassanids+rule+most+of+the+caucasus&pg=PA27|url-status= live}}</ref>
[[File:Theodosius I's empire.png|thumb|The [[Eastern Roman Empire|Eastern]] and [[Western Roman Empire]] at the death of Theodosius I in 395. The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 while the Eastern lasted until 1453.]]
The earliest known distinctions between east and west in Europe originate in the history of the [[Roman Republic]]. As the Roman domain expanded, a cultural and linguistic division appeared. The mainly [[Koine Greek|Greek-speaking]] eastern provinces had formed the highly urbanized [[Hellenistic civilization]]. In contrast, the western territories largely adopted the [[Latin language]]. The cultural and linguistic division was eventually reinforced by the later political east–west division of the [[Roman Empire]]. The division between these two spheres deepened during [[Late Antiquity]] and the [[Middle Ages]] because of a number of events. The [[Western Roman Empire]] collapsed in the 5th century, marking the start of the [[Early Middle Ages]]. By contrast, the [[Eastern Roman Empire]], called the "[[Byzantine Empire]]" in the West, had a survival strategy that kept it alive for another 1,000 years.<ref>Edward Luttwak, ''The grand strategy of the Byzantine Empire'' (Harvard UP, 2009).</ref>

The rise of the [[Carolingian Empire|Frankish Empire]] in the west and in particular the [[East–West Schism|Great Schism]], which formally divided [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern]] and [[Western Christianity]] in 1054, heightened the cultural and religious distinctiveness between Eastern and Western Europe. Much of Eastern Europe [[Mongol occupation of Eastern Europe|was invaded and occupied by the Mongols]].<ref>Denis Sinor, "The Mongols in the West." ''Journal of Asian History'' 33.1 (1999): 1-44 [http://www.m-hosseini.ir/mongol/articles-1/43.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190741/http://www.m-hosseini.ir/mongol/articles-1/43.pdf |date=2021-07-09 }}.</ref>

During the {{Lang|de|[[Ostsiedlung]]}}, towns founded under [[Magdeburg rights]] became centres of economic development and [[History of German settlement in Central and Eastern Europe|scattered German settlements]] were founded in parts of Eastern Europe.<ref>Martyn Rady, "The German Settlement in Central and Eastern Europe during the High Middle Ages." in ''The German Lands and Eastern Europe'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 1999) pp. 11-47.</ref> Introduction of German town law is often seen as a second great step after introduction of Christianity at the turn of the first and the second millennia. The ensuing modernization of society and economy allowed the increased role played by the rulers of [[Bohemia]] and [[Poland]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Jan M. Pisorski|chapter=Medieval Colonization in East Central Europe|title=The Germans and the East|editor1-last=Ingrao|editor2-last=Szabo|publisher=Purdue University Press|year= 2008|pages=31}}</ref>