Who put the West in western civilization?

Answer 1

~The Teutons did. All European and North American (including the various empires of the various nations) of the last two millennia were founded by Teutons spilling out of Scandinavia and the Germanic plains. The Etruscans, Lombards and Villanovans founded Rome. The Celts, having been displaced from first Germany then France landed on the British Isles, followed by the Angles, the Saxons, the Bretons and the Normans. The Normans also built France, along with the Gauls and the Franks. The Goths and Visogoths went pretty much wherever they pleased, from Poland to Libia to Sicily. The Vandals, Goths and Celts settled most of Iberia and the Rus gave Russia its name. From their respective European bases, the Teotons then built their empires in the Pacific, in the Americas, in Australia and Africa and thorought much of the world, save the Orient.

The Teutons created the modern 'western' world, as opposed to the Asian or Oriental world. Why west? Look at a map. Great Britain, Spain, France and the Netherlands are the driving forces behind modern civilization and everything geographic is mentioned in terms of them. The East is the Orient. That leaves the "west" for the Teutons and Europeans.

Basically, you can thank the Romans. "Orient" derives from a Latin word meaning 'where the sun rises'. Thus, the eastern Roman Empire was the Orient. Later, the term evolved to depict lands east of the Roman Empire.

I hope this is sufficient drivel for such an inane question. My god, I feel like Cliff Clavin.

Answer 2

The Indians

Ok, just kidding. Take this
Where did “Western” Civilization come
from? The term does not refer to any simple
geographical location and did not exist
until relatively recently. According to the
Oxford English Dictionary, Chesterton was
the first to use the expression “Western
man” only ninety years ago, in 1907. How
the notion came into existence explains a
good deal about what the West represents.
For many people, the West simply means
Western Europe and countries of European
origin such as the Americas, Australia,
and New Zealand. But the non-European
parts of the West, particularly
America, have added to and altered the
original cultural base. Much of what is
characteristically American was forged
against European influences, long before
there was such a thing as opposition to
“Eurocentrism.” Yet we also undeniably
remain an offshoot of Europe. In addition,
Western ways are spreading to other parts
of the globe. Paradoxes of this kind make it
necessary to inquire more carefully into
exactly what we mean by the West.

Answer 3

Geography

Answer 4

Not the Cowboys!

Answer 5

http://www.mmisi.org/ir/33_02/royal.pdf