Enlightenment/French Revolution #2 Flashcards
Law of Demand
A higher price = less demanded quantity
A lower price = higher quantity demanded
Mary Wollstonecraft
An English writer who is considered the founder of the modern feminist movement.
A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Mary Wollstonecraft’s most famous work. In it, she argues against the fact that the people who argued against monarch’s arbitrary power also believed that women should obey men. She believed that men ruling over women was equally as wrong. She also pointed out that the Enlightenment’s main point was an ideal of reason in all humans. Since women have reason, they should be treated the same as men.
Enlightened Despotism
A ruler with absolute power who also embraces Enlightenment ideas.
Catherine the Great
The wife of the last of Peter the Great’s six successors, and therefore, the heir to the Russian throne. She ruled from 1762 - 1796. Catherine was intelligent and the people favored her because she seemed to favor Enlightenment ideas. She invited Diderot to give her advice on her rule, but ended up taking none of it was she claimed it would have “turned her kingdom upside down.” She ended up doing nothing, as she believed her success actually depended on the Russian nobility. Her obsession with the Russian nobility led to a rebellion led by a Russian warrior named Yemelyan Pugachov. However, she able to expand greatly. Under her rule, Russia defeated the Turks and spread southward to the Black Sea. Russia also gained 50% of Poland’s territory through Catherine’s rule.
Seven Years War
Lasted 1756 - 1763, and it was a collection of global conflicts. France and Britain are fighting for dominance all over the world, and even enlisting Native Americans to aid in the war. Austria and Prussia are fighting because while Austria was deciding if Maria Theresa could rule, Prussia seized Silesia. Russia and the Ottoman Empire are also having conflict, and so the balance of power politics was created. This was a creation of alliances to keep any one power from completely dominating.
Treaty of Paris 1763
Ended the Seven Years War. The treaty resulted in France having to give up all mainland North American territory, ending all threats to Britain there.
Maria Theresa of Austria
Believed strongly in education for everyone. Maria inherited the Austrian throne in 1740, and this was a tough country to rule due to the varying nationalities, languages, and religions. She was not open to reforms, but she improved the serfs’ condition.
Joseph II the Great
Maria Theresa of Austria’s son. Believed strongly in eliminating anything standing in the way of reason. His reforms were greatly impacting. He abolished serfdom and got rid of the death penalty. He established that everyone was equal before the law and enforced religious toleration. However, his reforms failed. Joseph alienated the nobles and the Catholic Church through his changes, and even the serfs were unhappy because they couldn’t understand his new reforms. His following successors undid all of his reforms.
Fredrick the Great
Made Prussia a major power in the 18th century. Fredrick is considered to be one of the most educated and cultured monarchs of all time. He enlarged the army by drafting nobility into civil service and he watched over the bureaucracy. He abolished the use of torture (excluding serious situations) and he granted limited religious toleration, freedom of speech, and freedom of press. However, Fredrick kept Prussia’s serfdom, social structure, and didn’t change anything else.
Louis XVI
The French king during the French Revolution. People grew tired of monarchy based on rigid social order during his reign. He continued to spend on wars and luxury, and when the Americans needed aid, the French continued to support them, leading them to a complete financial crisis. Executed January 21, 1793.
Marie Antoinette
Louis XVI’s wife who loved luxury and continued to spend, even when France was on a verge of an economic crisis.
Silesia
Fredrick the Great of Prussia seized Silesia from Austria while they were fighting a succession war. This began a war between Prussia and Austria.
Old Regime
Describes the French society before the Revolution.
Relics of Feudalism
Also known as aristocrat privileges. These are obligations, or laws, that survived from the old regime into the modern era.
