Chapter 13: European State Consolidation in 17th and 18th Centuries

Question 1

Emergence of the Netherlands as a Nation

Answer 1

1572, after the revolt against Spain, seven provinces become United Provinces

Question 2

Religious characteristics of 16th/17th c. Netherlands

Answer 2

Traditionally identified as Protestant. Tolerant, home to Protestants, Roman-Catholics and Jews. Official church: Calvinist Reformed Church.

Question 3

Governmental system of Netherlands

Answer 3

Republic

Question 4

Reasons for Dutch economic prosperity & decline

Answer 4

Prosperity: High urban consolidation, transformed agriculture, trade and finance, and an overseas commercial empire.

Decline: Decline in political influence in 18th c., vanished unified political leadership, naval supremacy passed to Britain, plummet in fishing industry, lost technological superiority in shipbuilding.

Question 5

William III of Orange

Answer 5

1650-1702, rallied the Dutch and eventually led the entire European coalition against France. Answered invite to assume English throne issued by Protestant English aristocrats in 1688.

Question 6

Two most important models of European political organization

Answer 6

Absolute monarchy and parliamentary monarchy

Question 7

Characteristics of absolute rule

Answer 7

Divine right of kings, or right to rule was given from above. Does not use representative assemblies often.

Question 8

Characteristics of and facts about James I, his rule and relationship with Parliament

Answer 8

Reigns 1603-1625. Absolutist mindset. First Stuart monarch. Inherited large debt and divided church from Elizabeth I. Believed in divine right of kings. Minimum consultation outside of court. Parliament only met when he summoned it. Implemented impositions (levying new custom duties).

Question 9

Reasons for suspicion of James I foreign policy

Answer 9

Shows his Catholic side, despite being the leader of a Protestant nation. Makes peace with Spain in 1604. Relaxes penal laws against Catholics. Reluctant to send aid to suffering Protestants across the continent during the Thirty Years War. Marries his son, Charles, off to Henrietta Maria, daughter of very Catholic Henry IV in 1625.

Question 10

Charles I’s extra-parliamentary measures

Answer 10

Levies taxes, continues impositions, forces loans, forces people to house military (quartering troops) and renews ancient tax collections

Question 11

The Petition of Right

Answer 11

1628, stated that Charles I would have to petition/consult the Parliament before enforcing executive decisions. Rid of forced loans/taxes without Parliament, imprisonment without due cause and quartering of troops. Results in the dissolution of Parliament in 1629.

Question 12

Consequences of the religious policies of Charles I

Answer 12

Hoped to impose religious conformity within England and Scotland.

1637: Charles I and William Laud try to impose the episcopal system and prayer book similar to the Book of Common Prayer. Provokes war with Scotland.

Question 13

Facts about “Long Parliament”

Answer 13

1640-1660. Reconvened after English defeat against Scots at the Battle of Newburn. Impeached Strafford and Laud. Abolished courts that enforced royal policy without consent. Prohibited levying of royal taxes without consent. Decided no more than three years can elapse between meetings. King could not dissolve without Parliament’s consent. Divided by religion: Puritans wished to abolish bishops and Book of Common Prayer, whereas conservatives want to keep the system.

1641: Asked for money to suppress rebellion. Charles’ opponents refuse to give money because Charles can’t be trusted with an army.
1642: Charles’ army invades Parliament. House of Commons passes militia ordinance allowing Parliament to raise its own army.

Question 14

Facts about the English Civil War

Answer 14

1642-1646/49. Cavaliers (supporters of the king) vs Roundheads (Parliamentary support)

Question 15

England under Oliver Cromwell

Answer 15

Reorganized Parliament army and defeated Charles (executed Jam. 30, 1649). Parliament abolished monarchy, House of Lords and Anglican Church.

1649-1660: England becomes a Puritan Republic. Radical Protestant armies conquer Scotland and Ireland.

1653: Parliament wants to disband 50,000 men army, so Cromwell disbands Parliament.

Cromwell became known as the “Lord Protector.”

Question 16

State of England after Cromwell and what they wanted to restore

Answer 16

Resented Puritan prohibitions on drunkenness, theatergoing, and dancing. No political liberty. Wanted to restore the Anglican Church and monarchy.

Question 17

Facts about The Treaty of Dover

Answer 17

1670: England and France formally ally against the Dutch. A secret portion stated Charles II’s pledge to announce his conversion to Catholicism as soon as conditions in England made it possible, and Louis XIV promised to pay him a substantial subsidy upon the declaration. His conversion was never announced.

Question 18

The Test Act

Answer 18

Required all civil and military officials of the crown to swear an oath against the doctrine of transubstantiation

Question 19

The Popish Plot

Answer 19

1678: Innocent people were tired and executed following Titus Oates’ claim to Parliament that Charles’ Catholic wife, Jesuits and Irishmen were plotting to kill the king, so James could get the throne.

Question 20

Declaration of Indulgence of 1687

Answer 20

Suspended all religious tests and permitted free worship. Put in place by James II.

Question 21

Facts about The Glorious Revolution

Answer 21

Parliamentary opposition invites William III of Orange to invade England to preserve “traditional liberties” (the Anglican Church and Parliament government). William III arrived in 1688 and had popular support, so James fled to France. Parliament proclaims William III and Mary II as monarchs in 1689.

Question 22

The Act of Settlement of 1701

Answer 22

Provided for the English crown to go to the Protestant House of Hanover in Germany if Queen Anne, 2nd daughter of James II and heir to childless William III, died without issue.

Question 23

The Act of Union

Answer 23

1707. Combined England and Scotland to form Great Britain.

Question 24

Facts about Robert Walpole

Answer 24

Lived from 1676-1745, Assumed government position in 1721-1742. Based on royal support, ability to handle House of Commons and control of government patronage. Maintained peace abroad and status quo at home. Established foreign trade from New England to India.

Question 25

Facts about Cardinal Armand Richelieu

Answer 25

Chief advisor to Louis XIII (r. 1610-1643), heavy-handed centralization: crushed feudal armies, crushes Protestant cities, employed positions of royal court with lesser nobles

Question 26

Louis XIV’s reign

Answer 26

1643-1715

Question 27

Significance of Versailles dealing with Louis XIV

Answer 27

Built temple in Versailles, originally Bourbon hunting lodge, largest secular building at the time, consumed over half of the royal treasury

Question 28

Louis XIV’s Religious Acts/Policies

Answer 28

Suppression of Jansenists: Permitted papal bull banning Jansenism by Pope Innocent X to be enforced in France in 1660. Ordered the French church to accept the bull Unigenitus issued by Pope Clement XI in 1713 future condemning Jansenist teaching. This was in opposition to the Gallican Liberties previously established, which led to the church fostering opposition to royal authority.

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes: Religious repression followed. Protestant churches and schools were closed, Protestant ministers exiled, non-converting laity were condemned to be galley slaves and Protestant children were baptized by Catholic priests.

Ultimately, France becomes a symbol of religious repression all over Europe.

Question 29

Symbolism of Louis XIV

Answer 29

The Sun King

Question 30

Characteristics of Jansenists

Answer 30

Roman Catholic religious movement. Arose in the 1630s in opposition to the theology and political influence of the Jesuits. Adhered to the teachings of St. Augustine, opposed Jesuits teachings about freewill. Believed with Augustine that original sin had so corrupted humankind that individuals could by their own effort do nothing good nor contribute anything to their own salvation. Founded by Cornelius Jansen, a Flemish theologian and bishop of Ypres. Published Augustinus in 1640 saying that Jesuit teaching on grace and salvation was not sufficiently strict or careful dealing with morals.

Question 31

Results of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes

Answer 31

More than a quarter of a million people, many highly skilled, left France. Formed new communities abroad and joined the resistance to Louis in England, Germany, Holland and the New World. France becomes a symbol of religious repression.

Question 32

Finance minister of Louis XIV

Answer 32

Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Question 33

Wars fought during the reign of Louis XIV

Answer 33

1667-68: War of Devolution
1672-79: Franco-Dutch War
1689-97: Nine Years War
1701-1714: War of Spanish Succession

Question 34

Facts about the War of Spanish Succession

Answer 34

1701-1714. Started because the last Habsburg king of Spain, Charles II, died without direct heirs. Charles II left his entire inheritance to Philip of Anjou, becoming Philip V of Spain. Philip happened to be the grandson of Louis XIV. Louis proposed to team up with Spain and become a superpower. England, Holland and the HRE form the Grand Alliance to preserve the balance of power, secured Flanders as a neutral territory. France makes peace with England at Utrecht in July 1713, and with Holland and the emperor at Rastatt in March 1714.

Question 35

France after the Reign of Louis XIV

Answer 35

Louis XV comes to power, his regent being the duke of Orléans which brought financial and moral scandals, which further undermined the prestige of monarchy. Because of the regent’s constant gambling, he turned over financial management to John law, a Scottish mathematician, who believed an increase in paper money would stimulate France’s economic recovery. Bonds and stock could be bought for the Mississippi Company to later be exchanged for profit. The bank lacked enough gold to redeem all the paper money brought to it. Led to Great Depression in France.

Question 36

Economic beliefs of John Law

Answer 36

An increase in the paper-money supply would stimulate France’s economic recovery.

Question 37

Political/social characteristics of 17th and 18th century Poland

Answer 37

Absence of strong central authority, fails to maintain competitive political position, Polish monarchy was elective but deep distrust and divisions of nobility prevented a king being being elected amongst themselves, most Polish monarchs were foreigners. Sejm was a diet of Polish nobles, a central legislative body, excluding representatives from corporate bodies such as towns. They went by liberum veto - the staunch opposition of a single member could require the body to disband known as “exploding the diet” which prohibited effective government.

Question 38

Pragmatic Sanction

Answer 38

Provided legal basis for a single line of inheritance within Habsburgs through Maria Theresa

Question 39

Rulers of Prussia

Answer 39

Frederick William, Frederick I, Frederick William I, Frederick II

Question 40

Frederick William

Answer 40

R. 1640-1688. Forged into modern state, known as the Great Elector. Breaks the local noble estates, organizes a royal bureaucracy, and builds a strong army. All officials and army officers took an oath of loyalty to the Elector. Army made Prussia a valuable ally.

Question 41

Frederick I

Answer 41

R. 1688-1713. Build palaces, founded Halle Uni, patronized arts and lived luxuriously. During the War of Spanish Succession, he put his army at the disposal of the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Leopald I, so the emperor permits Fred to be “king of Prussia” in 1701.

Question 42

Frederick William I

Answer 42

R. 1713-1740. Most eccentric and most effective. Organized bureaucracy along military lines. Grew the Prussian army to over 80,000 by 1740, being the 3rd or 4th largest European army. Separate laws applied to civilians and the army. Officer corps were the highest social status of the state. The army, nobility, and the monarchy became forged into one political entity. Military priorities and values dominated Prussian government, society, and daily life, becoming a symbol for Prussian power and unity.

Question 43

Frederick II/The Great

Answer 43

R. 1740-1786. Upsets the Pragmatic Sanction and invaded Silesia. Solidified Austrian-Prussian rivalry for control of Germany.

Question 44

Aftermath of the reign of Ivan IV in Russia

Answer 44

Time of Troubles: Moved from sensible law reform to violent personal tyranny.

Question 45

Power of Boyars during reign of Peter the Great

Answer 45

Suffered decline. First had much power over the bureaucracy and then was tamed by Peter the Great through the Table of Ranks in 1722 in which case social rank was tied to service to the state. Shave beards, pay taxes, dress like Western Europeans.

Question 46

Facts about the Great Northern War

Answer 46

1700-1721. War with Sweden, who had managed to secure strict control over travel in and out of the Baltic Sea during Peter’s quest for a warm-water port. Ended with the Peace of Nystad in 1721. Granted Russia control of Estonia, Latvia and parts of Finland.. Obtained warm water port through the Baltic Sea.

Question 47

Significance of St. Petersburg

Answer 47

1703: Forced tens of thousands of peasants to drain the swamp land near the Nether river where they founded St. Petersburg as a new capitol.

Question 48

Reforms of Peter the Great and their purpose

Answer 48

Administrative Colleges - Bodies of royal officials selected from royal nobles and subjects. Looked over economy, military, and domestic and foreign affairs. Operated under explicit orders from Peter.

Table of Ranks (1722) - Tied one’s social rank to their service to the state.

The Holy Synod - Religious government body which replaced the head bishop of the church. Made up of groups of bishops directed by Peter to run the church.

Question 49

Characteristics of legacy of Peter the Great

Answer 49

Expanded Russian territory, mighty modern army and warm water port, magnificent city as a window to the west, wrestled authority away from nobels and the elite and made Russia relevant to European affairs.