No such thing as Hakuna Matata in Europe!

Eastern and Western Europe are like Scar and Mufasa in The Lion King. They originate from the same place (family) but are not the same. They have different ways of ruling and different concepts they execute. Let's start with the Scar of Europe or in other words the East!

The most defining aspect of Eastern Europe and The Lion King is serfdom or servitude.

The once peasants of Europe were returning to the serf lifestyle as the nobility gained power. The monarchy, although had similar views to the nobility, was not strong enough to completely withhold the nobles from taking control, especially regarding the peasants. The peasants were not ecstatic about this at all. They were basically slaves with no freedoms! They were being forced to work for lords while the lords sat and watched. The nobles had all the power.....

They catered to their own needs not caring about the morals of the situation. The reason they did this was because the black death decreased the population, and Europe was still feeling the effects. They did not have enough people making products to sell to foreigners. This would have boosted up the economy (a major problem of Russia). To ensure that serfdom remained, they issued hereditary subjugation. Now all lineage of the family were born into the slave life. There was no escape.


The Lion King:  Just as the monarchs were taken over by the nobility, Mufasa was taken over by Scar (see picture below). Scar then forced everyone(peasants) but his own supporters into servitude. Whether it was the Sarabi being forced to find food for the pack, or Zazu providing entertainment for Scar, their freedoms were taken away just as the peasants' had in Europe. Simba was devastated over the loss of his father (the absolute power) just as the peasants were over their rights.

 

 

Now on to Western Europe!

 

History: Western Europe was not as cruel as its counterpart. Serfdom was not as prominent in the West. The absolute monarch, who made sure to limit the power of the nobles like Louis XIV had, disagreed with servitude for economic reasons. If the peasants were put into servitude, they could not pay their taxes. Therefore, the monarch made sure the peasants had money to pay taxes in order to benefit the country. This is a major contrast to the East who thought that servitude would bring economic prosperity. Also, the reason the monarch could not physically bring peasants into servitude was that there were too many compromises being made between the two classes. Because of this absence, the West had more respect and peace than the East.

 

The Lion King: Think of Mufasa as the monarch and the rest of the pack as equals. Mufasa was the overall ruler. The rest of the lions, or nobility so to speak, had authority but not so much as to overpower him. Mufasa made rules for the betterment of his land and the happiness of his people. Although monarchs in Europe did not have the best intentions for the people, the rulers of the West were much more considerate than the East.

 

 

 

The only uniting factor of East and West Europe was religion. Russian Orthodoxy was practiced the most. To further map out the branches of religion, here is a chart:

(Focus on the left hand orange boxes!)

 

Anyway, religion somewhat unified the East and West. Both sides were looking for the same thing (money), but went about it in different ways, the East's more violent than the West's just like Scar's was more deceptive than Mufasa's.  It all depended on the nobility and their relationship with the absolute monarch. Either way though, no one truly lived in harmony with each other. There was no Hakuna Matata in Europe.