What was the renaissance? a. a period--during the thirteenth century--of renewed interest in ancient civilizations in europe b. a period of artistic and literary achievements in europe--from the late fourteenth to the early seventeenth centuries--inspired by new interest in the classics c. the eighteenth-century era of renewed interest in classical greece and rome d. the rebirth of classical learning in the middle east between the late fourteenth and the early seventeenth centuries

The correct answer is B. The Renaissance was a period of artistic and literary achievements in Europe, from the late 14th to the early 17th centuries, inspired by new interest in the classics.

Renaissance is the name given to a broad cultural movement that occurred in Western Europe during the 14th and 17th centuries. It was a period of transition between the Middle Ages and the beginnings of the Modern Age. Its main exponents were in the field of arts, although there was also a renewal in science, both natural and human. The city of Florence, in Italy, was the birthplace and development of this movement, which later spread throughout Europe.

The Renaissance was the result of the dissemination of the ideas of humanism, which determined a new conception of man and the world. The term "rebirth" was used to claim certain elements of classical Greek and Roman culture, and was originally applied as a return to the values of Greco-Roman culture and the free contemplation of nature after centuries of predominance of a more rigid type of mentality and dogmatic established in medieval Europe. In this new stage a new way of seeing the world and the human being was proposed, with new approaches in the fields of arts, politics, philosophy and sciences, replacing medieval theocentrism with anthropocentrism.

on this day in 1939, in response to hitler’s invasion of poland, britain and france, both allies of the overrun nation declare war on germany.

the first casualty of that declaration was not german—but the british ocean liner athenia, which was sunk by a german u-30 submarine that had assumed the liner was armed and belligerent. there were more than 1,100 passengers on board, 112 of whom lost their lives. of those, 28 were americans, but president roosevelt was unfazed by the tragedy, declaring that no one was to “thoughtlessly or falsely talk of america sending its armies to european fields.” the united states would remain neutral.

as for britain’s response, it was initially no more than the dropping of anti-nazi propaganda leaflets—13 tons of them—over germany. they would begin bombing german ships on september 4, suffering significant losses. they were also working under orders not to harm german civilians. the german military, of course, had no such restrictions. france would begin an offensive against germany’s western border two weeks later. their effort was weakened by a narrow 90-mile window leading to the german front, enclosed by the borders of luxembourg and belgium—both neutral countries. the germans mined the passage, stalling the french offensive.