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This is not an alternate history question, but a question about actual history. To the average Western European, how important was the end of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD? Was it an epic social and technological collapse, or just one of many regime changes? Or something in between? I can look up facts online, but I have difficulty judging the connotations of the fall of Western Rome, which is what I am looking for. Is the importance of the year 476 traditionally overrated, or was it actually a turning point in European history?

Thanks for all the help. If you'd like to take this thread in an alternate history direction, that's perfectly fine, as long as we can discuss what happened OTL first.
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