State Building, Expansion, and Conflict, 1750-1900 Flashcards
~Nation-state
● A state-level community united at least in theory by a common ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural heritage
● Emerged as the leading form of political organization in more parts of hte world, particularly in the West
~Change in political order
● In the mid-1700s, all of Europe’s major powers were monarchies, in which the ruler shared power almost exclusively with aristocratic nobles who, despite their small numbers, controlled most of the country’s wealth, owned most of the nation’s land, and enjoyed virtually all influence over politics
● Even parliamentary monarchies like Great Britain allowed comparatively little popular representation at this time
● Most of Latin America and the Caribbean, along with much of North America, lived under European colonical authority
~Atlantic revolutions
● Between the 1770s and the 1810s
● State of affairs was shaken apart
● Include the America Revolution, the French Revolution, the Haitian Rebellion and the Latin American Wars of Independence
● Ended European colonical rule over most of the America
● People began to fight for social and political systems that gave them more voice in government
~American Revolution
● 1775-1783
● The poorly trained and poorly equipped American forced, led by George Washington, struggled against Britain’s professional armies and superior navy
● Battle of Saratoga won France’s support and they had the advantaage of fighting on their homeland
~Declaration of Independence
● Written in 1776
● Authored chiefly by Thomas Jefferson
● Considered a classic Enlightenment text
- Influenced hugely by thinkers such as John Lock and Montesquieu
~United States Constitution
● The process invovled much disagreement and lasted untilt he Constitutional Convention of 1787 and the ratification in 1789
● The resulting system was a democratic republic, in which a federal government shared power with governemnts in each of the 13 states
● First attempt by a major state to base a political system on Enlightenment philosophy
~Balance of power
● Three branches of federal power - Executive (president) - Legislative (Congress) - Judicial (Supreme Court) ● Based on Montesquieu's ideology ● Both at the state and federal level, governments were to be elected
~French Revolution
● 1789-1799
● Include the Estates General, storming of Bastille, Tennis Court Oath, Declaration and counterrevolution
● Radicalized into reign of terror and lead into Napoleonic reign
~Estates General
● A national assembly of delegates from each estate in France
~National assembly
● In late June, 1789, the delegates of the Thrid Estate, with liberal members of the First and Second Estates, formed a new governmental body, the National Assembly, and vowed not to leave Versailles until the king granted them a constituion
~Storming of the Bastille
● The people of Paris and other cities rose up in support of hte assembly in July, so did peasants int he countryside
● They freed many prisoners and seized weaponry
~Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
● Guided by Enlightenment ideas and the American Declaration of Independence
● Overseen by the Marquis de Lafayette
● Futuer assemblies were to be elected by popular vote
● Aristocratic status and privileges, especially the exemption from taxes, were done away with, and church and state were separated
● Policy was guided by the motto “Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality”
~Counterrevolution
● Louis XVI secretly plotted this, encouraged by Marie Antoinette
~French Republic (First)
● In the fall of 1792, a new constitution stripped hte king of all powers and proclaimed a republic
● Elections to a new legislature brought radicals to power, including jacobins
● Civil war erupted in the countryside, as peasants rebelled against conscription and hte radicals’ efforts ot do away with Catholicism
~Jacobins
● Radical gropu led by Maximilien Robespiere, a fanatically idealistic lawyer
~Committee of Public Safety
● An executive body created by Jacobins
● Assumed dictatorial powers and attempted the radical transofrmation of French society
● Expanded the war effort, mobilized hte economy for combat, and carried out modern Europe’s first national draft
~Reign of Terror
● Between the summer of 1793 and the summer of 1794
● Carried out by RObespierre and the Ommitte, supported by the urban sans-culottes
● Searching for traitors and counterrevolutionary foes
● In July 1794, a coup within the committee overthrew and executed Robespierre, ending the Terror
~Directory
● For five years, a more moderate regime presided over the revolution, stablizing the military situation and attempting to heal the wounds caused by the Terror
● Proved unpopular
● 1799, overthrew by Napoleon
~Napoleon Bonaparte
● Quickly seized power for himself after overthrowing the Directory
● Claimed to be a man of revolutionary ideals, but in reality he created a new dictatorship, going so far as to crown himself emperor in 1804
● Best known for his military career
~Bank of France
● Created by Napoleon as an act to modernize France
~Civil Law Code/Napoleonic Code
● Foundation for modern law not just in France, but wherever France extended its colonial influence
~Battle of Waterloo
● The last battle fought by Napoleon
● Lost and exiled to Sicily
~Congress of Vienna
● 1814-1815
● Peace was restored at this after Napoleonic wars
● Forged a long-lasting if informal agreement among Europe’s major regimes to work together to preserve order and prevent change
~Saint Domingue
● Prior to independence, the suar- and coffee-producing colony of Haiti
● By the French and Santo Domingo by the Spanish, with each country occupying half the island and relying heavily on slave labor imported from Africa
● Was threw into turmoil after 1789 because rights of man and the citizen were not extendd to everyone living in French colonies