HIST 215 Weeks 1-5 Flashcards
Results of the Thirty Years War (1648)
- legacy of total war
- established political and social borders
- set a precedent for peaceful negotiations instead of forceful ones
- clear winners: France, Sweden, Dutch, Swiss
Political consequences of Thirty Years War
- increased state authority and revenues
- expansion of state bureaucracy
- standing armies (Prussia doubled its army)
- religious divisions solidify in German states
- “religious tolerance”
Large trends in Europe in 17th to 18th century
- France emerges as a model of absolute monarchy
- division between West and East deepens
- decline of the Ottoman Empire beginning
- Rise of Prussia, Brandenburg, and Hapsburg empires
- resettlement of Eastern Europe
- rise of Russia, decline of Poland and Sweden
- rise of Habsburgs and Hohenzollerns
Popular argument for absolutism
absolute ruler is guarantor of law and order after long period of war
economic argument for absolutism
precondition of economic policy of Mercantalism (state control fo all economic activities; positive trade balance, especially of precious metals; industry encouraged, tariffs against foreign competition)
theories/ideologues for absolutism
Jean Bodin (Six Books of the Republic) Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan) Jacques Boussuet on "divine right"
Absolutism in France
- Monarchs (Bourbon dynasty) and first ministers –> special relationship
- mercantilism
- Fronde (nobles’ rebellion against Anne who ruled as regent to Louis XIV) –> Parlement of Paris loses power, Louis XIV rules, builds Versailles to move out of Paris
Absolutism in Austria
Leopold I of Austria
- Habsburg Dynasty
- liberation of former Ottoman occupied lands results in tremendous expansion and gains in Eastern Europe
- Catholic counter reformation under Ferdinand III and Leopold I
- deal with nobility: suppression of rebellious native nobility (Czech and Hungarian) and establishment of new imperial nobility
Absolutism in Prussia
Frederick William the Great Elector
- Hohenzollern dynasty
- first king or Prussia: Frederick I, reject the French court model, receive Huguenot refugees from France
- increase of territory throughout the 17th and early 18th centuries and establishment of model army
- unique deal between ruler (elector –> king) the the Prussian nobility in exchange for army and state service, nobles exempt from taxation but keep their serfs and control grain trade
Absolutism in Russia
- Romanov dynasty
- increases territory at the expense of Sweden
- Peter the Great of Russia –> Westernized under his rule
- tour of and import of western Europe, among others: school system, calendar, fashion, architecture, drill sergeants, cannon makers, engineers
- St. Petersburg = “window to the west”
- hires engineers and architects from western europe to create this city in his own name which is a replica of what he had seen in Europe - special deal with the nobility: classification (in effect until russian revolution) and service in military and state bureaucracy, in exchange for income and continuing rule over serfs (Table of Ranks)
Court culture
- Versailles and the French court –> served as symbol of absolute rule, new city built around it which was new (city could be built from scratch in the middle of no where)
- clones: sanssouci (Freddy the great), peterhof, Schönbrunn (Maria Theresa of Austria)
- baroque and classicism –> characterized by excess, luxury, rare materials, palaces, Catholic Churches; courts of the royals were huge supporters of the arts
England –> glorious revolution and constitutional monarchy
- English Civil War
- Charles II and Restoration
- Wars with the Dutch
- From James II
- Bill of Rights
- theorist of English constitutional monarchy: John Locke: Two Treatises of Government
The Dutch Republic
- they had small territories that were strategically placed all over the world to control the spice trade
- occupied by the Spanish Habsburgs until the Treaty of Westphalia (recognized the independence of the United Provinces, while the Southern part remained part of Spanish Habsburg’s empire, part of the justification for dividing them came from religion)
- independence in 1648
- Dutch republic: federalist and parliamentary, ruled by an oligarchy of wealthy families
- became wealthy through global trade and commerce, control of Baltic Trade
- innovations in commerce in banking
- revolution in agricultural technology –> Tulip Mania
Dutch Golden Age and Decline
- religious tolerance, haven for prosecuted minorities who brought their skills with them
- middle class prosperity and charity –> much more influential and populous than any other middle class
- a golden age of visual arts, depicted every day people in every day life, Rembrandt, Vermeer
- best fed people in the world at the time
- DECLINE: a deficit in resources and population; commercial and naval/military competition from France and England
- England took over as an area of innovation and success
Agricultural revolution
- improvements: draining of swamps, crop rotations, use of specific crops
- enclosures: consolidations of continuous sections of land, ending common pasture and forest use
Population revolution
- dramatic population growth after 1750 because no plague since 1722; better water supply, drainage of swamps; canal and road building; better distribution and storing of food
- Malthusian World (“Essay on the Principle of Population”)
- guilds
18th century changes
- economic changes –> cottage industry and putting out system, central role of textile industry
- Britain becomes the uncontested military and economic leading power
- social changes –> Old Regime’s erosion, erosion of nobles’ privileges, middle class expanded, life of peasants gets worse
- east/west divisions reinforced
- economic and social changes parallel emergence of new ideas and political theories
Why England?
- colonial empire and economy provided markets and resources
- navy and merchants worked hand in hand
- agricultural and population revolutions resulted in surplus labour, capital and markets
- central bank and credit markets
- stable government
- new elite invested in colonial trade and manufacturing
- huge supplies of coal and iron
- best roads and waterways in Europe
Stages of the Enlightenment
First Stage: 18th century, rooted in Scientific Revolution
High Enlightenment: from Montesquieu’s Spirit of Laws, the death of Voltaire and Rousseau
Late Enlightenment: influenced by Rousseau, emphasis shifting from reason to emotions, application of freedom to economy (Adam Smith); enlightened absolutism
Key concepts of Enlightenment
reason, progress, social contract, separation of powers, nature vs. civilization, liberty (Rousseau —> “Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains.”)
Enlightenment program
- government (monarchy, despotism, republic)
- education
- religion (“If God did not exist, one would have to invent him” -Voltaire)
- Sciences of man
Enlightenment legacy
- gave birth to most modern Western political ideas and ideals: rule of law, separation of powers, popular sovereignty, accountability of rules, legal and administrative reforms
- celebration of reason over faith, belief in progress, fight against despotism, religious intolerance, and slavery
- emphasis on education and betterment of people
- cemented leading role of french culture and language
Special relationship between monarchs and philosophers
The philosophers benefited from the lifestyle; unprecedented access to power when there was no government in the modern sense—> didn’t have to go to governor or representative, they had access to the monarch him/herself; they wanted to change things from the top-down and so they had access to the top
The Monarchs had an input as to how the population was thinking, how to better control them; gain more legitimacy, efficient government
Enlightened monarchs
Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia –> new reforms, banned torture (like most monarchs under the influence of Beccaria)
Maria Theresa of Austria –> pragmatica sanctio: allowed MT to inherit the Habsburg throne while her husband became the HRE; ratio educationes: introduced compulsory elementary education, founded libraries and universities across the Habsburg Empire; regulated obligations of serfs
Joseph II (MT’s son) –> attack on Catholicism and religious orders, Edict of Toleration (Jews forced to take German names), abolished censorship, abolished serfdom, Modernization of public health, medicine, and education, Germanization (his downfall)
Leopold II (emperor after Joseph II) –> model enlightened ruler, , introduced smallpox vaccination, reformed civil service, introduced model civil law, abolished death penalty, modernized judiciary, banned torture, expelled Jesuits
Catherine II (the Great) –> close ties with Voltaire and Diderot, patron of arts and science but hesitant on reforms: started famous art collection of the monarchs, showed that being close to the monarch wasn’t always going to get the job done
