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| Western Civilization II page. |
The Establishment of Western European Leadership
(1650-1715 A.D.)
EUROPEAN ABSOLUTISM AND POWER POLITICS
- THE LEADERSHIP OF WESTERN EUROPE BECAME ESTABLISHED IN THE HALF-CENTURY FOLLOWING THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA (1648), WHICH ENDED THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS.
- THE ENERGY OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE HAD FADED.
- THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE HAD BEEN GREATLY WEAKENED DURING THE RELIGIOUS WARFARE.
- THE GREAT POWER OF SPAIN HAD DECAYED.
- THE MOST POWERFUL NATIONS IN EUROPE HAD BECOME ENGLAND, FRANCE AND THE UNITED PROVINCES OF THE DUTCH.
- PRINCIPAL BENEFICIARIES FROM PEACE OF WESTPHALIA WERE FRANCE AND SWEDEN.
- FRANCE GAINED TERRITORY ON HER NORTHEAST FRONTIER, i.e., ALSACE AND LORRAINE.
- SWEDEN OBTAINED EXTENSIVE TERRITORIES IN THE BALTIC SEA AREA.
- FRANCE NOW REPLACED SPAIN AS EUROPE'S MOST POWERFUL NATION.
- THE MOST DOMINANT PHILOSOPHY OF GOVERNMENT DURING THIS PERIOD WAS THAT OF ABSOLUTISM.
- TWO OF ITS MOST LEADING PHILOSOPHERS WHO DEVELOPED THE CONCEPT WERE THOMAS HOBBES (1588-1679) AND BISHOP JACQUES BOSSUET (1627-1704).
- HOBBES WROTE THE FIRST GENERAL THEORY OF POLITICS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, LEVIATHAN. IN IT HE HELD THAT KINGS LAWFULLY DEMAND UNQUALIFIED OBEDIENCE FROM ALL OF THEIR SUBJECTS.
- BOSSUET BASED ABSOLUTISM ON RELIGION BY HIS THESIS THAT THE KING ACTS AS GOD'S AGENT ON EARTH. THIS IDEA WAS CALLED THE "DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS."
FRANCE
BACKGROUND
- FRANCE'S GREAT POWER LAY IN THE FACT THAT SHE HAD:
- AN EXCELLENT ARMY
- A STRONG CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
- ABUNDANT FERTILE SOIL IN AN AGRICULTURAL AGE
- A FAVORABLE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION
- MANY CITIES WITH A BUSY CAPITALIST CLASS CALLED THE BOURGEOISIE.
- MOST IMPORTANTLY, A LARGE POPULATION OF 20 MILLION PEOPLE (FOUR TIMES THAT OF ENGLAND - TWICE THAT OF SPAIN).
- FRANCE'S INFLUENCE ON THE REST OF EUROPE EXTENDED TO MANY ASPECTS OF HER CULTURE: LANGUAGE, PHILOSOPHY, ART & ARCHITECTURE, LITERATURE AND SCIENCE.
- LOUIS XIV INHERITED A KINGDOM WHICH HAD BEEN MADE STRONG DURING THE PRECEDING FIFTY YEARS.
- THIS TASK HAD BEEN ACCOMPLISHED BY THREE LEADERS: KING HENRY IV, CARDINAL RICHELIEU AND CARDINAL MAZARIN.
- HENRY IV (1589-1610) HAD BEEN A HUGUENOT (PROTESTANT-CALVINIST) LEADER WHO BECAME A ROMAN CATHOLIC IN ORDER TO BECOME KING. HE WAS THE FIRST OF THE BOURBON DYNASTY OF FRENCH KINGS. HE ISSUED THE FAMOUS EDICT OF NANTES, IN 1598, WHICH GRANTED RELIGIOUS TOLERATION FOR ALL AND ENDED THE RELIGIOUS WARS IN FRANCE.
- CARDINAL RICHELIEU WAS THE POWER BEHIND THE THRONE OF LOUIS XIII, WHO SUCCEEDED HENRY IV. RICHELIEU RULED FROM 1624-42.
- RICHELIEU ATTACKED THE POWER BASES OF FRANCE'S FEUDAL NOBLES. HE GREATLY STRENGTHENED THE POWER OF THE MONARCHY BY ENDING THE NOBLE'S POWER AS GOVERNORS IN THEIR PROVINCES. OFFICIALS OF THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT, CALLED INTENDANTS, WERE GIVEN ACTUAL AUTHORITY IN EACH LOCALITY AND STRENGTHENED THE POWER OF THE KING.
- RICHELIEU WOULD NOT CALL INTO SESSION THE ESTATES-GENERAL, A GOVERNMENT BODY MADE UP OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THREE RECOGNIZED SOCIAL CLASSES: THE CLERGY, THE NOBILITY AND THE COMMONERS. THE ESTATES-GENERAL WOULD NOT MEET UNTIL THE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION IN 1789.
- CARDINAL MAZARIN WAS THE POWER BEHIND THE THRONE WHEN LOUIS XIV WAS A BOY-KING (1643-1661).
- MAZARIN PUT DOWN A SERIOUS REVOLT OF THE FRENCH NOBILITY KNOWN AS THE FRONDE.
- HE CONTINUED THE POLICIES OF RICHELIEU AND, AS A RESULT, ABSOLUTISM INCREASED WHILE THE POWER OF THE NOBILITY DECREASED.
- AFTER MAZARIN'S DEATH IN 1661, LOUIS XIV ASSUMED DIRECT CONTROL OF FRANCE AT AGE 23.
LOUIS XIV (1643-1715)
- AT THE VERY CENTER OF THE STATE OF FRANCE WAS HER GREATEST KING, LOUIS XIV.
- HE HAD THE LONGEST REIGN IN WESTERN HISTORY, 72 YEARS. HE BECAME KING IN 1643, AT THE AGE OF FIVE, AND RULED UNTIL 1715.
- HISTORIANS OFTEN REFER TO THE HALF-CENTURY FOLLOWING THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA AS THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
- HE WAS KNOWN AS "THE SUN KING" AND THE "GRAND MONARQUE."
- HE WAS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF ABSOLUTISM AND BOASTED "L'ETAT, C'EST MOI," "I AM THE STATE."
- LOUIS BUILT THE SPLENDID PALACE OF VERSAILLES, ABOUT 10 MILES FROM PARIS. IT WAS THE ENVY OF ALL EUROPE AND A MONUMENT TO WORLDLY SPLENDOR.
- IT COST SOME 360 MILLION DOLLARS TO BUILD AND WAS 47 YEARS IN CONSTRUCTION.
- ARCHITECTURALLY, IT WAS THE CROWNING GLORY OF THE CLASSICAL AGE OF FRANCE.
- ATTRACTED TO THE COURT OF VERSAILLES, A CITY IN ITSELF, WERE SOME 5,000 OF FRANCE'S LEADING ARISTOCRATS: NOBLES, CHURCHMEN AND THE RICHEST MEMBERS OF THE BOURGEOIS. LOUIS INVITED THEM TO COURT AS A WAY TO KEEP AN EYE ON THEM AND TO ENSURE THEIR LOYALTY. VERSAILLES WOULD CONTRIBUTE TO THE POLITICAL AND MORAL RUIN OF THE FRENCH ARISTOCRACY AS A CLASS.
- ALL WHO LIVED AT VERSAILLES, INCLUDING LOUIS XIV, BECAME ISOLATED FROM THE REALITY OF LIFE FOR THE PEOPLE OF FRANCE.
- LOUIS PREFERRED TO USE MEN IN HIS GOVERNMENT WHO HAD RECENTLY RISEN FROM THE RANKS OF THE BOURGEOIS, INSTEAD OF THE ARISTOCRATIC NOBILITY. THIS WAY THEY WERE DEPENDENT ON HIM FOR THEIR SALARIES AND CAREERS AND COMPLETELY LOYAL.
- LOUIS WAS BLESSED WITH HIS FINANCE MINISTER WHO WAS AN ECONOMIC GENIUS, COLBERT.
- COLBERT MADE A WIDE VARIETY OF ECONOMIC REFORMS TO INCREASE REVENUE AND STRENGTHEN THE NATIONAL ECONOMY.
- HE ENCOURAGED FRENCH COLONIES IN NORTH AMERICA AND BUILT UP A NAVY TO PROTECT THEM.
- HE BUILT UP THE NATION'S EXPORTS AND LIMITED ITS IMPORTS BY FOLLOWING THE ECONOMIC POLICY OF MERCANTILISM. MERCANTILISM LED TO A FAVORABLE BALANCE OF TRADE AND MUCH REVENUE FOR LOUIS.
- HE STIMULATED MANUFACTURING AND AGRICULTURE.
- COLBERT ENDED LOCAL TAXES ON PRODUCTS MOVING WITHIN FRENCH BORDERS. INTERNAL TRADE MOVED FREELY AND THUS GREW RAPIDLY.
- LOUIS BUILT UP THE STRONGEST ARMY IN EUROPE AND TRAINED THE BEST GENERALS.
- THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED IN LARGE DUE TO LOUIS' OTHER LEADING MINISTER, LOUVOIS. WHILE COLBERT HAD EMPHASIZED MERCANTILISM AS THE KEY TO A STRONG STATE, LOUVOIS EMPHASIZED THE ARMY AS KEY AND WAS ALWAYS CONCERNED ABOUT THE VULNERABLE NORTHEAST BORDER.
- IN HIS EARLY YEARS, LOUIS RELIED PRIMARILY ON COLBERT.
- IN HIS MIDDLE YEARS, LOUIS RELIED MORE HEAVILY ON LOUVOIS (UNTIL AFTER THE WAR OF THE LEAGUE OF AUGSBURG, WHICH WAS CONSIDERED A MINOR DEFEAT).
- LOUIS' RULE INSISTED ON RELIGIOUS CONFORMITY.
- HE REVOKED THE EDICT OF NANTES IN 1685, WHICH HAD GRANTED RELIGIOUS FREEDOM TO THE PROTESTANTS (HUGUENOTS).
- THOUSANDS OF INDUSTRIOUS AND TALENTED HUGUENOTS FROM THE BOURGEOISIE CLASS FLED FRANCE TO OTHER LANDS.
- LOUIS ALSO WASTED MEN AND REVENUE ON A SERIES OF NEEDLESS WARS.
- HIS STATED MOTIVE WAS SECURITY FOR FRANCE BY OBTAINING "NATURAL BOUNDARIES."
- HIS ACTUAL MOTIVE WAS TO ENHANCE HIS ROYAL POWER.
LOUIS' WARS
(1) WAR OF DEVOLUTION (1667-1668)
FOUGHT FOR THE POSSESSION OF THE NETHERLANDS FROM HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW, i.e., CHARLES II OF SPAIN, AGAINST A TRIPLE ALLIANCE OF HOLLAND, ENGLAND AND SWEDEN. WAR ENDED WITH TREATY OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE IN 1668 WITH FRANCE GAINING A SECTION OF FLANDERS.
(2) DUTCH WAR (1672-1678)
LOUIS ISOLATED THE NETHERLANDS FROM HER FORMER ALLIANCE WITH ENGLAND AND SWEDEN AND THEN PROCEEDED TO ATTACK HER. ANOTHER ALLIANCE WAS FORMED AGAINST FRANCE, AND FINALLY LOUIS MADE PEACE AT THE TREATY OF NIJMWEGEN. FRANCE MADE SOME GAINS TOWARD THE RHINE, BUT HER TREASURY WAS DEPLETED.
(3) WAR OF THE LEAGUE OF AUGSBURG (WAR OF THE PALATINATE) (1688-1697)
EMPEROR LEOPOLD (HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE) FORMED A LEAGUE COMPRISED OF SWEDEN, SPAIN AND SEVERAL GERMAN PRINCES WHEN THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND (1688) BROUGHT WILLIAM OF ORANGE (WILLIAM III) TO THE ENGLISH THRONE. ENGLAND ALSO JOINED THE LEAGUE AGAINST FRANCE. LOUIS SUED FOR PEACE AT THE TREATY OF RYSWICK (1697). LOUIS LOST LITTLE POSSESSIONS BUT HAD TO GRANT A FAVORABLE COMMERCIAL TREATY TO THE NETHERLANDS.
(4) WAR OF SPANISH SUCCESSION (1702-1713)
STARTED BECAUSE CHARLES II OF SPAIN WAS WITHOUT A SOLE HEIR AND HAD MADE A WILL IN WHICH LOUIS' GRANDSON WAS TO BE SUCCESSOR TO THE SPANISH THRONE. A GRAND ALLIANCE WAS FORMED AGAINST FRANCE COMPRISED OF ENGLAND, THE NETHERLANDS, AUSTRIA, SEVERAL GERMAN ELECTORS, PORTUGAL AND SAVOY. WAR ENDED IN A DRAW WITH THE TREATY OF UTRECHT IN 1713.
- LOUIS WAS ABLE TO KEEP HIS BORDERS INTACT.
- FRANCE'S ASCENDANCY ON THE CONTINENT HAD STOPPED AND SHE LOST TERRITORY IN THE NEW WORLD.
- ENGLAND'S POWER IN CONTINENTAL AFFAIRS INCREASED, AS WELL AS OVERSEAS, i.e., FRANCE HAD TO CEDE NEWFOUNDLAND, NOVA SCOTIA AND HUDSON BAY TO ENGLAND (QUEEN ANN'S WAR).
- LOUIS WAS ABLE TO OBTAIN THE SPANISH THRONE FOR HIS GRANDSON ALTHOUGH HE HAD TO MAKE CONCESSIONS REGARDING ANY POSSIBLE UNION BETWEEN FRANCE AND SPAIN AS WELL AS COMMERCIAL CONCESSIONS ON TRADE IN THE SPANISH EMPIRE.
ENGLAND
BACKGROUND
- THE SECOND MOST POWERFUL COUNTRY IN EUROPE DURING THE 17TH CENTURY WAS ENGLAND.
- UNLIKE ON THE CONTINENT, THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT SUCCESSFULLY CHALLENGED THE KING'S DESIRE FOR ABSOLUTE MONARCHY AND ARRIVED AT A WORKABLE FORM OF GOVERNMENT.
- THIS FORM OF GOVERNMENT, A REPRESENTATIVE ONE, WOULD SPREAD TO AMERICA AND EVENTUALLY EUROPE.
- THE BRITISH CHALLENGE TO ROYAL ABSOLUTISM TOOK THE FORM OF TWO CIVIL WARS AND INVOLVED THREE BASIC ISSUES:
- THE CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUE - THE POWER OF THE MONARCHY VS. PARLIAMENTARY POWER.
- THE RELIGIOUS ISSUE - WHETHER THERE WAS TO BE A STATE CHURCH, ANGLICAN (SIMILAR TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH), OR SEVERAL PROTESTANT SECTS - THE CHIEF AMONG THEM BEING THE PURITANS (SIMILAR TO THE PRESBYTERIANS).
- THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ISSUE - THE ROLE THAT THE SMALL BUT PROSPEROUS MIDDLE CLASS WOULD PLAY IN GOVERNMENT.
- FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, ENGLAND HAD BEEN SLOWLY EVOLVING IN THE DIRECTION OF A CONSTITUTIONAL-REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT.
- WITH THE DEATH OF THE LAST TUDOR, ELIZABETH I IN 1603, THE CROWN PASSED TO THE SON OF MARY STUART, "QUEEN OF SCOTS," WHO BECAME JAMES I. THUS BEGINS THE HOUSE OF STUART.
JAMES I (1603-1625)
- HE WAS A FOREIGNER, A SCOT, WHO LACKED THE ABILITY TO DEAL WITH THE ENGLISH.
- HE INFURIATED PARLIAMENT BY TRYING TO RULE AS ABSOLUTE MONARCH AND INSISTED ON THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS.
- JAMES I RAN INTO OPPOSITION IN THE AREA OF RELIGION AS WELL BECAUSE HE FAVORED A STATE RELIGION, THE ANGLICAN CHURCH, WHICH WAS SIMILAR TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
- MANY SIDED WITH JAMES, BUT AN IMPORTANT SECTION OF THE URBAN MIDDLE CLASS, CALLED PURITANS, OPPOSED ANGLICANISM AND WERE WELL REPRESENTED IN PARLIAMENT.
CHARLES I (1625-1649)
- CHARLES HAD EVEN LESS TACT AND REPEATED THE MISTAKES OF HIS FATHER.
- DESPERATE FOR REVENUE, CHARLES WAS FORCED TO SIGN THE PETITION OF RIGHT IN 1628. IT STATED THE KING CANNOT TAX WITHOUT PARLIAMENT'S CONSENT. IT IS CONSIDERED TO BE A MILESTONE TOWARDS DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT. CHARLES PROCEEDED TO TRY TO IGNORE IT.
- CHARLES SUPPORTED THE ANGLICAN CLERGY AND SOUGHT TO ENFORCE RELIGIOUS CONFORMITY.
- IN 1637, THE SCOTS REBELLED AGAINST THE ATTEMPT TO IMPOSE ANGLICANISM IN SCOTLAND BY CHARLES I.
- CHARLES WENT TO PARLIAMENT FOR REVENUE TO PUT DOWN THE REBELS. PARLIAMENT BALKED, CHARLES DISSOLVED IT AND CALLED FOR NEW ELECTIONS, AND THE SAME PARLIAMENT RETURNED TO OFFICE.
- IN 1642, CIVIL WAR BROKE OUT IN ENGLAND AND BETWEEN THE ROYALISTS CALLED "CAVALIERS" AND THE PARLIAMENTARIANS CALLED "ROUNDHEADS."
- THE ROYALISTS WERE LED BY A MAJORITY OF NOBLES, LANDOWNERS, ANGLICANS AND CATHOLICS.
- THE PARLIAMENTARIANS WERE LED BY THE BUSINESS CLASSES, SMALL FARMERS AND PURITANS.
- THE TIDE OF BATTLE WAS AT FIRST WITH THE ROYALISTS, BUT IT TURNED IN FAVOR OF THE PARLIAMENTARIANS WITH OLIVER CROMWELL LEADING THEM TO VICTORY.
OLIVER CROMWELL (1653-1658)
- OLIVER CROMWELL DISMISSED FROM PARLIAMENT ANY MEMBERS WHO FAVORED RESTORING THE KING AS A LIMITED MONARCH.
- WITH HIS "RUMP PARLIAMENT" HE HAD CHARLES I EXECUTED (1649).
- HE HAD THE MONARCHY ABOLISHED AND ENDED THE HOUSE OF LORDS.
- ENGLAND WAS DECLARED A COMMONWEALTH AND CROMWELL RULED AS A DICTATOR, WITH THE TITLE OF LORD PROTECTOR. HE OUTLAWED CATHOLICISM BUT TOLERATED MORE THAN ONE PROTESTANT SECT.
- IN 1649, BOTH IRELAND AND SCOTLAND REBELLED AGAINST CROMWELL'S ENGLAND.
- CROMWELL'S ARMY CRUSHED THE REBEL IRISH TROOPS.
- CROMWELL PLACED PROTESTANT LANDLORDS OVER THE ENTIRE COUNTRY OF IRELAND AND DROVE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH UNDERGROUND.
- CROMWELL'S PROTECTORATE IN ENGLAND BECAME INCREASINGLY REPRESSIVE.
- HE WAS RULING AS DICTATOR ON BEHALF OF A STERN PURITAN MINORITY WITH THE ARMY AS HIS BASE OF SUPPORT.
- ALTHOUGH MIDDLE CLASS MERCHANTS PROSPERED BY HIS POLICY OF OVERSEAS TRADE AND EXPANSION, CROMWELL NEVER HELD AN ELECTION BECAUSE OF HIS WIDESPREAD UNPOPULARITY.
- AFTER A DECADE OF DICTATORSHIP, CROMWELL DIED IN 1658. HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE UNFOLDING OF DEMOCRACY LIES IN HIS DEFEAT OF THE DESPOTIC RULE OF KINGS AND IN ADVANCING THE IDEA OF LIMITED RELIGIOUS TOLERATION.
CHARLES II (1660-1685)
- HE WAS THE SON OF THE BEHEADED CHARLES I AND WAS INVITED BACK TO RULE WITH THE UNDERSTANDING HE WOULD GOVERN THROUGH PARLIAMENT (1660).
- CHARLES II RULED WITH MORE TACT AND STATESMANSHIP THAN HIS FATHER.
- HE WORKED FOR RESTORING ABSOLUTE POWER BUT WAS CAREFUL NOT TO PUSH PARLIAMENT TOO FAR.
- BECAUSE CHARLES, SECRETLY A CATHOLIC, REPEALED LAWS DIRECTED AGAINST ENGLISH CATHOLICS, PARLIAMENT PASSED THE TEST ACT WHICH EXCLUDED ALL CATHOLICS FROM HOLDING PUBLIC OFFICE (1673).
- DURING CHARLES II's REIGN, TWO MODERN TYPE POLITICAL PARTIES EMERGED:
- THE WHIG PARTY, WHICH SUPPORTED PARLIAMENT, PROTESTANTISM (CALVINISM AND OTHER SECTS), AND THE MERCHANT CLASS.
- THE TORY PARTY, CONSISTING OF ROYALISTS, ANGLICANS AND CATHOLICS, AND THE LANDED GENTRY.
- DURING CHARLES II's KINGSHIP, A WAR WAS FOUGHT WITH THE DUTCH WHICH ENDED THE THREAT TO ENGLISH SEA POWER AND DROVE THE DUTCH OUT OF NEW YORK.
- WITH THE DEATH OF CHARLES II IN 1685, HIS BROTHER JAMES II BECAME KING.
JAMES II (1685-1688)
- HE WAS TACTLESS, UNDIPLOMATIC AND STUBBORN.
- AN OPEN ADVOCATE OF CATHOLICISM, HE TRIED APPOINTING CATHOLICS TO HIGH OFFICE.
- HE ATTEMPTED TO DEFY PARLIAMENT AND RULE BY DECREE.
- IN 1688, JAMES II's WIFE GAVE BIRTH TO A MALE HEIR WHICH GAVE FEAR OF A PERMANENT CATHOLIC SUCCESSION.
- THE SAME YEAR, PARLIAMENT, WITH THE BACKING OF THE WHIGS AND EVEN MANY TORIES, INVITED WILLIAM OF ORANGE, THE DUTCH RULER MARRIED TO MARY (DAUGHTER OF JAMES II) TO RULE ENGLAND.
- IT WAS CALLED THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION AND WAS BLOODLESS. JAMES II FLED TO FRANCE.
- PARLIAMENT OFFERED WILLIAM AND MARY THE CROWN ON THE CONDITION THEY ACCEPT A BILL OF RIGHTS:
(1) THE KING COULD NOT MAKE OR SUSPEND LAWS.
(2) HE COULD NOT TAX WITHOUT PARLIAMENT'S CONSENT.
(3) SUBJECTS WERE TO HAVE THE RIGHT OF PETITION AND WERE TO BE FREE OF EXCESSIVE FINES, BAIL AND CRUEL PUNISHMENT.
- THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION MARKED THE VICTORY OF CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY OVER ABSOLUTISM IN ENGLAND.
- AFTER THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION (1688), ENGLAND BECAME A CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY.
- WILLIAM AND MARY AND THEIR SUCCESSOR, QUEEN ANNE, ABIDED BY THE BILL OF RIGHTS SET BY PARLIAMENT.
- PARLIAMENT WAS NOW SUPREME.
- JAMES II HAD MADE THE LAST ATTEMPT BY AN ENGLISH KING TO OVERRULE PARLIAMENT.
- ALTHOUGH PARLIAMENT WAS NOW IN CONTROL, ENGLAND WAS NOT AT THIS TIME A DEMOCRACY:
- YOU HAD TO OWN LAND IN ORDER TO VOTE.
- NO WOMEN, NO MATTER HOW WEALTHY, COULD VOTE.
- BY 1700, THE STANDARD OF LIVING IN ENGLAND OF THE MASSES WAS THE HIGHEST IN EUROPE.
- THROUGHOUT THE 1700s, ENGLAND'S POPULATION NEARLY DOUBLED.
- ENGLAND CONTINUED TO GROW ECONOMICALLY AND GEOGRAPHICALLY DURING THE 1700s.
- BY 1700, ENGLAND HAD THE GREATEST NAVAL POWER IN THE WORLD (ALTHOUGH HER ARMY WAS STILL INFERIOR TO OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES).
- THIS NAVAL SUPREMACY WAS CRITICAL FOR KEEPING HER COLONIES STRENGTHENED.
- 1707 - ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND WERE COMBINED UNDER THE ACT OF UNION INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN.
- SCOTTISH REPRESENTATIVES WERE ELIGIBLE TO SIT IN PARLIAMENT.
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
DURING THE CENTURY AFTER THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA (1648), THERE APPEARED IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE THREE NEW POWERS:
(1) AUSTRIA
(2) PRUSSIA
(3) RUSSIA
THESE NEW STATES GREW AT THE EXPENSE OF THREE OLDER STATES:
(1) THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
(2) POLAND
(3) OTTOMAN TURKISH EMPIRE
THE THREE NEW STATES (LIKE THE ONES THEY REPLACED) WERE DIFFERENT THAN STATES IN WESTERN EUROPE IN THAT:
- THERE WERE LESS TOWNS AND CITIES.
- THE MIDDLE CLASS BOURGEOISIE WERE LESS STRONG.
- THE PEASANTS WERE LESS FREE.
- THE GREAT LANDLORDS OWNED VAST AMOUNTS OF LAND AND WERE THE ONLY POWERFUL SOCIAL CLASS.
- THE AGRICULTURAL ESTATE WAS THE MAIN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL UNIT.
- WITHIN THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, THERE EMERGED TWO STATES (RULING HOUSES) OUT OF HUNDREDS OF STATES THAT WOULD COMPETE FOR POWER IN CENTRAL EUROPE):
- AUSTRIA (HOUSE OF HAPSBURG)
- PRUSSIA (HOUSE OF HOHENZOLLERN)
AUSTRIA
- THE AUSTRIAN HAPSBURGS WERE CATHOLICS WHO BUILT UP A LARGE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE DANUBE AREA. THE AUSTRIAN HAPSBURGS WERE GERMANS, BUT THEIR EMPIRE WAS COMPRISED OF MANY NATIONALITIESINCLUDING GERMANS, HUNGARIANS, CZECHS, CROATS, SERBS, ITALIANS, RUMANIANS, POLES AND BELGIANS.
- EMPEROR LEOPOLD I OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE (1658-1705), A MEMBER OF THE HAPSBURG FAMILY, HAD A MUCH REDUCED INHERITANCE FROM HIS PREDECESSORS.
- HE BUILT A PALACE AT SCHÖNBRUNN (VIENNA) WHICH WAS LESS PRETENTIOUS THAN VERSAILLES.
- HE WAS A GREAT PATRON OF THE ARTS.
- HE RELIED ON A SMALL GROUP OF LEADING ARISTOCRATS TO RUN HIS ADMINISTRATION THROUGH THE PRIVY COUNCIL. THE ARISTOCRACY RETAINED MUCH MORE POWER HERE THAN THEY DID IN FRANCE.
- UNLIKE OTHER EUROPEAN COURTS, HIS GOVERNMENT DID NOT FAVOR ONLY NATIVE-BORN ARISTOCRATS, e.g., PRINCE EUGENE OF SAVOY, WHO WAS RAISED IN FRANCE AND BECAME A KEY FIGURE IN HAPSBURG HISTORY. PRINCE EUGENE WAS THE KEY FIGURE IN GETTING LEOPOLD TO EXPAND THE HAPSBURG'S HOLDINGS.
PRUSSIA
- NORTH OF THE AUSTRIAN HAPSBURGS WERE THE HOHENZOLLERNS OF BRANDENBURG - PRUSSIA. THIS WAS A STAUNCHLY PROTESTANT STATE WITH NO NATURAL FRONTIERS (EXCEPT TO THE NORTH) AND LYING ON AN OPEN PLAIN.
- FREDERICK WILLIAM (1640-1688) - THE GREAT ELECTOR - HE WAS A GREAT ORGANIZER WHO EXPANDED HIS FAMILY'S POWER THROUGH THE ARMY.
- HE GAINED TERRITORY FROM THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA AND DEVOTED MUCH OF HIS TIME TO STRENGTHENING HIS ARMY. HIS STATE BECAME VERY MILITARISTIC.
- THE DIET OF BRANDENBURG MET FOR THE LAST TIME IN 1653 BECAUSE IT GAVE FREDERICK WILLIAM THE RIGHT TO RAISE TAXES ON HIS OWN AUTHORITY (HE THEREFORE DID NOT NEED THE DIET AFTER THIS DATE).
- A NOBLE CLASS, THE JUNKERS, PROSPERED GREATLY UNDER FREDERICK WILLIAM, BOTH POLITICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY.
- UNLIKE FRANCE, FREDERICK WILLIAM'S NOBLES WERE NOT OSTENTATIOUS. HIS SON, FREDERICK III, ENJOYED POMP AND GREATLY ENCOURAGED THE ARTS. HE BECAME KING DURING THE WAR OF SPANISH SUCCESSION WHEN LEOPOLD I (HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR) NEEDED HIS HELP AGAINST LOUIS XIV. HE WAS CROWNED KING FREDERICK I AND SET ABOUT BEAUTIFYING BERLIN, THE CAPITAL, AS WELL AS CONTINUING TO SUPPORT THE ARTS.
RUSSIA
PETER I - THE GREAT (1682-1725)
A MEMBER OF THE ROMANOV FAMILY, HE WAS ALSO AN ABSOLUTIST LIKE LOUIS XIV, LEOPOLD I, AND KING FREDERICK I. LIKE THEM, HE BUILT AN
IMPRESSIVE SITE FOR HIS ROYAL COURTS. HE CHOSE ST. PETERSBURG, WHICH GAVE RUSSIA A "WINDOW ON THE SEA" IN THE BALTIC AT SWEDEN'S EXPENSE.
- UNLIKE OTHER ABSOLUTISTS OF HIS TIME, HE DESTROYED ECCLESIASTICAL INDEPENDENCE.
- HE IGNORED THE TRADITIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL - THE DUMA, AND STRENGTHENED HIS OWN BUREAUCRACY.
- HE CREATED A TWO-CLASS SOCIETY, i.e., NOBLES AND PEASANTS, AND BUILT HIS BUREAUCRACY ON THE NOBLES (THE ARISTOCRACY).
- HE ESTABLISHED A LARGE STANDING ARMY AND ADOPTED MILITARY TECHNIQUES FROM THE WEST.
- HE INITIATED FRENCH TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE INTO RUSSIAN SOCIETY AND FORCED WESTERN DRESS AND MANNERS UPON HIS PEOPLE.
- HE EXTENDED RUSSIA'S FRONTIERS TO THE SOUTH AND WEST AT THE EXPENSE OF SWEDEN AND TURKEY, RESPECTIVELY.
- THUS HE ENDED SWEDEN'S DOMINANCE IN THE BALTIC.
- HE IS THE KEY TO MAKING RUSSIA A GREAT POWER AFTER THE PEACE OF UTRECHT.
SWEDEN
- BITTER STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE KING AND NOBILITY UNDER CHARLES XI AND CHARLES XII.
- LED TO THE NOBLES EVENTUALLY DOMINATING AFTER THE DEATH OF CHARLES XII.
- LIKE LOUIS XIV, CHARLES XI AND CHARLES XII BECAME ABSOLUTE MONARCHISTS.
- CHARLES XI AVOIDED WAR AND STRENGTHENED HIS ADMINISTRATION PROCLAIMING HIMSELF AN ABSOLUTE MONARCHIST IN 1682.
CHARLES XII (1697-1717)
- HE SUCCEEDED CHARLES XI.
- HE FOUGHT SUCCESSFULLY IN HIS EARLY REIGN AGAINST VARIOUS COALITIONS.
- THE SECOND HALF OF HIS REIGN WAS MARKED BY MILITARY DEFEATS.
- HE INVADED RUSSIA AND WAS SEVERELY DEFEATED AT POLTAVA (1709).
- AFTER POLTAVA, THE SWEDISH EMPIRE DECAYS.
- BY 1721, SWEDEN HAD LOST MUCH OF HER BALTIC EMPIRE TO RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA.
- SWEDEN CEASED TO BE A MAJOR POWER SHORTLY AFTER THE PEACE OF UTRECHT.
- THE NOBLES CAME TO OCCUPY THE MOST IMPORTANT POSITION IN GOVERNMENT.
UNITED PROVINCES (DUTCH NETHERLANDS)
- COUNTRY EMERGED FROM WARS WITH LOUIS XIV INTACT BUT MUCH WEAKER.
- POPULATION WAS SMALL AND STAGNANT, UNLIKE THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH.
- SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS WERE LESS PROMINENT THAN IN ANY OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRY. THE ELITE, WHO WERE THE SMALL GROUP THAT CONTROLLED THE COUNTRY, WERE COMPOSED OF HARD-WORKING FINANCIERS AND TRADERS. THERE WAS NO GLITTERING COURT AS IN OTHER COUNTRIES.
- A STRONG CENTRALIZED STATE DID NOT EMERGE BUT RATHER REMAINED A LOOSE CONFEDERATION.
- ECONOMIC LOSSES OCCURRED AS ITS NAVAL POWER DECLINED, e.g., HEAVY INDIRECT TAXES ON MANUFACTURED GOODS AND FAILURE OF ITS TECHNOLOGY TO MODERNIZE.
- THE DUTCH INFLUENCE IN THE NEW WORLD DECLINES.
- FINANCIALLY, THE DUTCH DO REMAIN STRONG AS THEY ENTER THE AREAS OF CREDIT AND FINANCE.