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Western Civilization I page. |
1560-1648
DURING THE PERIOD FOLLOWING THE REFORMATION AND CATHOLIC REFORMATION, EUROPE WAS THE SCENE OF ALMOST CONSTANT FIGHTING.
MILITARY REVOLUTION
- GUNPOWDER BECAME ESSENTIAL TO WARFARE.
- SIEGES OF TOWNS, FORTIFIED WITH HEAVY WALLS, BECAME THE MOST COMMON FORM OF MILITARY ACTIVITY.
- IN OPEN BATTLES, MASSED RANKS OF INFANTRY ORGANIZED IN HUGE SQUARES OF ABOUT 3,000 TROOPS, BECAME HE MOST COMMON TACTIC.
- PERFECTED BY THE SPANIARDS WHO HAD THE BEST ARMY IN EUROPE FOLLOWING ISABELLA'S AND FERDINAND'S REIGNS.
- HUGE SQUARES GREATLY DIMINISHED THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CAVALRY.
- GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS, KING OF SWEDEN, INVENTED THE SALVO (FIRING ALL AT ONCE) AND CREATED MORE MOBILE UNITS WHICH USED MOVABLE CANNON.
- HE INTRODUCED CONSCRIPTION IN 1620's WHICH LESSENED THE NEED FOR MERCENARIES WHILE GIVING HIM GREATER CONTROL OF HIS OWN SUBJECTS.
- ARMIES CONTINUED TO GROW IN SIZE, e.g., GUSTAVUS HAD AN ARMY OF 150,000 TROOPS BY 1632 (THIRTY YEARS WAR).
- ARMIES BECAME PERMANENT
- DID NOT DISBAND FOR THE WINTER SEASON.
- CASUALTIES GREATLY INCREASED WITH LARGE ARMIES AND BETTER FIREPOWER DURING ALMOST A CENTURY OF CONTINUOUS WARFARE (1560 - 1660).
- TAXATION WAS GREATLY INCREASED TO SUPPORT GROWING ARMIES.
SPAIN
SPAIN'S CATHOLIC CRUSADE
- PHILIP II (1556 - 1598) - A HAPSBURG, SON OF CHARLES V (CHARLES I) WAS THE MOST POWERFUL MONARCH IN EUROPE AND THE MILITARY LEADER OF THE CATHOLIC SIDE. HE RULED IBERIA (SPAIN AND PORTUGAL), MUCH OF ITALY, THE NETHERLANDS AND HUGE OVERSEAS POSSESSIONS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA.
- HIS 2 MAIN ENEMIES WERE:
1) MUSLIMS
2) PROTESTANTS
- HE SUCCESSFULLY WEAKENED MUSLIM POWER IN THE MEDITERRANEAN WITH A DECISIVE NAVAL VICTORY AT LEPANTO (OFF GREECE) IN 1571.
- WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL IN HIS EFFORTS TO AFFECT THE OUTCOME OF CIVIL WAR IN FRANCE.
- WARS AGAINST ENGLAND
- WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL IN HIS CAMPAIGNS AGAINST ENGLAND UNDER ELIZABETH I.
- SHE SUPPORTED THE PROTESTANT DUTCH IN THEIR REBELLION AGAINST SPAIN.
- SHE SUPPORTED PRIVATEERING AGAINST SPANISH POSSESSIONS OVERSEAS.
- SHE SUCCESSFULLY DEFEATED THE ARMADA IN 1588 WHICH PHILIP HAD ORGANIZED TO INVADE ENGLAND. THIS DEFEAT WAS A MAJOR SETBACK TO PHILIP'S FOREIGN POLICY.
- DUTCH REVOLT
- PHILIP II TRIED TO REORGANIZE CLERGY IN THE NETHERLANDS (INHERITED FROM HIS FATHER) TO GAIN CONTROL OVER THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
- BILLETED SPANISH TROOPS IN CITIZENS' HOMES.
- USED THE INQUISITION AGAINST HERETICS.
- WILLIAM OF ORANGE, A DUTCH NOBLE LED A REVOLT AGAINST PHILIP IN 1572.
- 1579 - SEVEN NORTHERN PROVINCES OF THE NETHERLANDS FORMED THE UNITED PROVINCES UNDER WILLIAM OF ORANGE WHILE THE TEN SOUTHERN PROVINCES REMAINED LOYAL TO PHILIP.
- 1609 - TRUCE BETWEEN BOTH SIDES LED TO TEMPORARY CESSATION OF FIGHTING.
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS
- SPAIN WAS A RICH COUNTRY IN PHILIP'S REIGN BUT MOST OF THE PROFITABLE ACTIVITIES WERE MONOPOLIZED BY LIMITED GROUPS -OFTEN FOREIGNERS.
- THE SPANISH CITY OF SEVILLE CONTROLLED COMMERCE WITH THE NEW WORLD. GENOA IN ITALY AND ANTWERP IN THE LOW COUNTRIES ALSO GAINED GREAT WEALTH.
- MOST OF THE NEW WORLD TREASURE WAS SENT TO GERMAN AND ITALIAN BANKERS WHOSE LOANS KEPT PHILIP'S TROOPS FIGHTING.
- EVEN THOUGH THE INFLUX OF SILVER INTO SPAIN ROSE DRAMATICALLY, THE MONEY WAS NOT INVESTED WITHIN THE COUNTRY.
- DEMOGRAPHIC DISASTER OF AMERICAN INDIANS MADE IT MUCH MORE DIFFICULT FOR SPAIN TO MINE SILVER.
- PHILIP DECLARED BANKRUPTCY 3 TIMES.
- SPAIN ALSO SUFFERED DEMOGRAPHIC DROP FROM 1600 TO 1700.
- SPAIN HAD TO RELY INCREASINGLY ON IMPORTATION OF EXPENSIVE FOODSTUFF.
- SPAIN'S WINE AND WOOD INDUSTRY DID NOT GROW DRAMATICALLY IN THE 1600's.
- DESPITE THE DROP IN POPULATION, EXPENSIVE IMPORTATION OF FOOD, AND LACK OF GROWTH IN PRINCIPAL INDUSTRIES, PHILIP IV (GRANDSON OF PHILIP II) REOPENED WAR WITH THE DUTCH IN 1621 AND PARTICIPATED HEAVILY IN THIRTY YEARS WAR.
- THIS POLICY OF CONTINUING WARFARE DESPITE ECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC SETBACKS DOOMED SPAIN TO BECOMING A SECOND-CLASS POWER AFTER HAVING BEEN THE MOST POWERFUL COUNTRY IN EUROPE.
FRANCE
CIVIL WAR IN FRANCE
- 1559 - HENRY II, FRANCE'S LAST STRONG KING FOR A GENERATION DIED. IN THIS SAME YEAR, FRANCE LOST HER 65 YEAR OLD CONFLICT TO THE HAPSBURGS IN ITALY.
- THE REFORMATION SPLIT THE COUNTRY INTO THE:
1) CATHOLICS - DIRECTED BY THE GUISE FAMILY.
2) HUGUENOTS (PROTESTANTS) - DIRECTED BY THE BOURBON FAMILY. THESE PROTESTANTS MADE UP ABOUT 1/12 OF THE POPULATION.
- 1572 - ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY MASSACRE.
- CATHERINE DE MEDICI, WIDOW OF HENRY II, MASSACRED PROTESTANT LEADERS LURED TO PARIS UNDER THE PRETEXT OF RECONCILIATION AS WELL AS MURDERING 20,000 OTHER PROTESTANTS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.
- HENRY OF NAVARRE, A BOURBON, WAS THE ONLY MAJOR PROTESTANT LEADER TO ESCAPE.
- AFTER THIS MASSACRE, A THIRD PARTY, THE POLITIQUES, WHICH WAS MORE CONCERNED WITH THE CENTRALIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT RATHER THAN RELIGIOUS GOALS, FOUGHT TO DESTROY THE CATHOLIC PARTY UNDER THE GUISE FAMILY.
- SHIFTING ALLIANCES LED TO THE WAR OF THE THREE HENRYS AS EACH PARTY WAS LED BY A MAN BY THIS NAME.
- 1588 - AFTER DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA, THE GUISE FAMILY LOST ITS MAJOR SUPPORT FROM PHILIP II OF SPAIN.
- 1589 - HENRY OF NAVARRE (HENRY IV 1589-1610) FROM THE HOUSE OF BOURBON ASCENDED THE FRENCH THRONE AS VICTOR IN THE WAR OF THE THREE HENRYS.
- MUCH OF FRANCE HAD BEEN DEVASTATED BY WAR, i.e., NUMEROUS FARMS DESTROYED AND COUNTRY IMPOVERISHED.
- NOBLES HAD REGAINED POWER AT THE EXPENSE OF THE MONARCHY.
- LARGE SECTIONS OF FRANCE WERE CONTROLLED BY DIFFERENT FACTIONS.
- HUGUENOTS (CALVINISTS) - SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST FRANCE.
- CATHOLICS - MOST OTHER AREAS.
- 1593 - HENRY IV RENOUNCED PROTESTANTISM AND CONVERTED TO CATHOLICISM TO WIN ACCEPTANCE OF THE LARGER CATHOLIC FACTION.
- 1598 - TO RECONCILE HUGUENOT DISSENTION, HENRY ISSUED THE EDICT OF NANTES.
- GRANTED LIMITED TOLERATION TO HUGUENOTS INCLUDING RECOGNIZING CALVINISM AS LEGAL AS WELL AS OPENING PUBLIC OFFICES TO PROTESTANTS.
- UNDER THE RULE OF HENRY IV, THE POLITIQUES ROSE IN POWER WITH THE PRINCIPAL AIM OF NATIONAL UNITY TRANSCENDING RELIGIOUS ISSUES.
- JEAN BODIN WAS THEIR MOST FAMOUS REPRESENTATIVE. HIS PRINCIPAL WORK WAS THE SIX BOOKS OF THE REPUBLIC IN WHICH HE DEFINED THE NATURE AND LIMITS OF GOVERNMENT.
- HENRY IV MUTED OPPOSITION DURING HIS REIGN SO THAT WHEN HE DIED NEITHER NOBLES NOR HUGUENOTS GAVE THE MONARCH ANY PROBLEMS.
- THUS THE MONARCHY REGAINED MUCH OF ITS LOST POWER UNDER HENRY IV.
- HENRY IV LEFT A SOLVENT TREASURY.
- HE ACCELERATED THE SALES OF OFFICES.
- HE ADDED AN ANNUAL FEE TO OFFICE HOLDERS, THE PAULETTE, WHICH ENSURED AN OFFICEHOLDER'S JOB WOULD REMAIN WITHIN THE FAMILY AFTER HIS DEATH.
- ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
- CIVIL WAR HAD HURT TRADE AS WELL AS OVERSEAS EXPLORATION.
- FRANCE WAS REPLACED BY THE ENGLISH AND THE DUTCH AS THE PRINCIPAL CHALLENGERS TO THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE OVERSEAS EMPIRES.
- TAXES INCREASED.
- MUCH OF THE BURDEN FELL ON THE MERCHANTS.
- MANY MERCHANTS WHO COULD AFFORD TO ABANDON COMMERCE DID SO TO BUY ROYAL OFFICES WHERE THEY WOULDN'T BE TAXED.
- NOBILITY DEVELOPED A CONTEMPT FOR COMMERCE.
- MERCANTILISM CONTINUED TO STRENGTHEN.
- ITS BASIC PREMISE WAS THAT THE WORLD CONTAINED A FIXED AMOUNT OF WEALTH AND THAT EACH NATION COULD ENRICH ITSELF ONLY AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHERS.
- ALL MERCANTILISTS AGREED THAT STATE REGULATION WAS NECESSARY FOR THE WELFARE OF A COUNTRY. THUS A STRONG, CENTRALIZED GOVERNMENT WAS DEEMED ESSENTIAL.
- HENRY IV's CHIEF MINISTER, THE DUKE OF SULLY, WAS A PRINCIPAL ADVOCATE OF MERCANTILISM.
- HE FELT ONLY A STRONG MONARCHY COULD GUIDE THE COUNTRY TO PROSPERITY AND ORDER.
THE REGENCY AND RICHELIEU
- HENRY IV WAS ASSASSINATED IN 1610 AND WAS SUCCEEDED BY HIS NINE YEAR OLD SON LOUIS XIII (1610-1643).
- HENRY IV's WIDOW, MARIE DE MEDICI, SERVED AS REGENT FOR THE YOUNG KING.
- SHE TRIED TO WEAKEN THE POWER OF THE NOBLES AND THREATENED THE HUGUENOTS BOTH OF WHOM CHALLENGED HER REGENCY.
- 1614 - MARIE CALLED THE ESTATES GENERAL INTO SESSION TO AID HER.
- THIS WOULD BE THE LAST TIME THE ASSEMBLY WOULD MEET UNTIL THE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
- THE ESTATES GENERAL PROVED INEFFECTIVE IN ADDRESSING THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE THRONE AND THE NOBLES/HUGUENOTS.
- MARIE RESOLVED MANY OF THE PROBLEMS WITH THE NOBLES BY GIVING THEM LARGE BRIBES. PROMISES TO RESPECT THE STATUS OF THE HUGUENOTS WERE ALSO MADE.
- 1624 - CARDINAL RICHELIEU, TOOK CONTROL OF THE GOVERNMENT UNDER MARIE'S GUIDANCE.
- HE WAS DETERMINED TO STRENGTHEN THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT.
- HE ABOLISHED MANY OF THE GUARANTEES OF THE EDICT OF NANTES ALTHOUGH HE ALLOWED THE HUGUENOTS FREEDOM OF WORSHIP (THEY NO LONGER HAD LOCAL INDEPENDENCE AS GUARANTEED BY HENRY IV).
- WHILE HE TRIED TO REDUCE ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES, THE THIRTY YEARS WAR MADE THIS IMPOSSIBLE.
- BY 1643 (WHEN HE DIED), 3/4 OF THE CROWN'S DIRECT TAXATION WAS NEEDED TO PAY THE SALARIES OF THE GROWING BUREAUCRACY. THE TAX BURDEN CONTINUED TO FALL MOST HEAVILY ON THE NON-NOBLE CLASSES (THIRD ESTATE).
- HE INCREASED THE POWER OF THE INTENDANTS.
- CHIEF AGENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE LOCALITIES WHO WERE A DIRECT CHALLENGE TO THE NOBLES.
- THEY RECRUITED FOR THE ARMY.
- THEY ARRANGED FOR BILLETING OF THE ARMY.
- THEY SUPERVISED RAISING OF TAXES.
- THEY ENFORCED THE KINGS DECREES.
- THE INTENDANTS THUS STRENGTHENED THE MONARCHY AT THE EXPENSE OF THE NOBLES.
ENGLAND - ELIZABETH I AND JAMES I
ELIZABETH I (1558 - 1603)
- DAUGHTER OF HENRY VIII AND HALF SISTER OF HER PREDECESSOR -MARY.
- ENGLAND ENJOYED A RELATIVELY PEACEFUL ERA UNDER ELIZABETH COMPARED TO NATIONS ON THE CONTINENT DURING THIS TIME.
- ELIZABETH REINTRODUCED ANGLICANISM (PROTESTANTISM) INTO ENGLAND AFTER HER HALF-SISTER MARY HAD TRIED AND FAILED TO REINSTATE CATHOLICISM.
- SHE APPOINTED ADVISERS TO THE PRIVY COUNCIL WHICH WAS THE CHIEF GOVERNMENT BODY.
- ELIZABETH SHOWED GREAT SKILL IN BALANCING THE DIFFERENT VIEWS OF THIS COUNCIL.
- SHE GREW THE PATRONAGE SYSTEM IN THE ROYAL ADMINISTRATION TO INCREASE LOYALTY TO HER (IT NEVER REACHED PROPORTIONS SUCH AS THOSE IN FRANCE).
- HER OPPOSITION TO SPAIN CULMINATED IN ENGLAND'S DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA IN 1588.
- HER WAR WITH SPAIN LED TO ELIZABETH BEQUEATHING TO HER SUCCESSOR, JAMES I, A HUGE DEBT.
- ELIZABETH DIED HEIRLESS. SHE WAS THE LAST TUDOR IN ENGLISH HISTORY.
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CHANGES
- UNDER ELIZABETH, THE GENTRY CONTINUED TO INCREASE THEIR POWER AS THE POWER OF THE NOBLES STAGNATED OR DECREASED.
- THERE WERE NEVER MORE THAN 60 NOBLES DURING ELIZABETH'S REIGN - GENTRY HAD RISEN TO 20,000 BY THE TIME OF HER DEATH.
- GENTRY BENEFITTED FROM THE CONFISCATION OF CATHOLIC MONASTERIES' HOLDINGS UNDER HER FATHER, HENRY VIII.
- GENTRY PARTICIPATED HEAVILY IN COMMERCE WHILE THE REST OF EUROPE'S UPPER CLASSES DISCLAIMED BUSINESS AFFAIRS.
- GENTRY GREW MORE POWERFUL IN PARLIAMENT, i.e., THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
- MANY OF THE GENTRY SUPPORTED THE PURITANS - RELIGIOUS REFORMERS WHO BELIEVED THE ANGLICAN CHURCH WAS STILL TOO CLOSE TO ROMAN CATHOLICISM. ELIZABETH WAS FORCED TO SILENCE THE MOST OUTSPOKEN PURITAN CRITICS AS WELL AS ROMAN CATHOLICS.
- SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED ESPECIALLY IN MINING, MANUFACTURING OF CLOTH, WINE AND SHIPBUILDING.
- OVERSEAS EXPLORATION WAS ENCOURAGED AND WOULD LAY THE FOUNDATION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
PARLIAMENT AND THE LAW
- MONARCHY WAS STILL A DOMINANT FORCE IN THE COUNTRY BUT PARLIAMENT CONTINUED TO GROW IN STRENGTH.
- UNDER JAMES I (1603 - 1625), ELIZABETH'S SUCCESSOR, PARLIAMENT BECAME GREATLY STRENGTHENED.
- PARLIAMENT DREW UP AN "APOLOGY" REGARDING JAMES I.
- EXPLAINED HIS MISTAKES AND HIS IGNORANCE, AS A SCOTSMAN, OF ENGLISH TRADITIONS.
- JAMES HAD SOME MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT IMPRISONED AS RELATIONS BETWEEN THE MONARCHY AND PARLIAMENT DETERIORATED.
THE UNITED PROVINCES
THE DUTCH WERE UNIQUE IN THAT MANY CITIZENS PARTICIPATED IN THEIR GOVERNMENT THROUGH ELECTED DELEGATES.
MOST NOTEWORTHY ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE DUTCH WAS THEIR RISE TO SUPREMACY IN COMMERCE.
- AMSTERDAM REPLACED GENOA AND ANTWERP AS THE CONTINENT'S FINANCIAL CENTER.
- 1609 - BANK OF AMSTERDAM WAS ESTABLISHED.
- IT OFFERED LOWEST INTEREST RATES IN EUROPE WHICH ENCOURAGED NATIVE INDUSTRIES SUCH AS SHIPBUILDING AND OVERSEAS ADVENTURES, e.g., EAST INDIA COMPANY.
- BY MID 17TH CENTURY, DUTCH WERE THE CHIEF CARRIERS OF EUROPEAN TRADE.
DUTCH WERE VERY TOLERANT OF RELIGIOUS GROUPS.
- THIS OPENNESS ATTRACTED MANY ARTISTS AND DUTCH PAINTING IN THE 17TH CENTURY BECAME A REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT OF WESTERN CULTURE.
DOMESTIC TENSIONS
- BASIC SPLIT WITHIN THE UNITED PROVINCES.
1) MERCANTILISTS - PRIMARILY FROM HOLLAND AND ZEELAND ADVOCATED PEACE SO TRADE ABROAD COULD FLOURISH. ALSO ADVOCATED RELIGIOUS TOLERATION.
2) PARTY SUPPORTING HOUSE OF ORANGE - STOOD FOR WAR TO STRENGTHEN POWER OF THE HOUSE OF ORANGE.
- ALSO ADVOCATED STRICT ADHERENCE TO CALVINISM.
- WITH DEFEAT OF MERCANTILIST CLASS IN 1621, THE HOUSE OF ORANGE LED DUTCH INTO THE THIRTY YEARS WAR.
- AFTER THE TREATY OF WESTPHALIA IN 1648 THE MERCANTILIST PARTY REASSERTED ITS DOMINANT POSITION.
SWEDEN
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS (1611-1632) - TRANSFORMED SWEDEN INTO A MAJOR POWER.
- ARRANGED ALLIANCE WITH NOBLES AND GAVE THEM DOMINANT POSITIONS IN NEWLY ORGANIZED BUREAUCRACY.
- HAD ABLE CHIEF ADVISOR - AXEL OXENSTIERNA WHO ADMINISTERED IN GUSTAVUS' LONG ABSENCES IN FOREIGN WARS AND AFTER HIS DEATH.
- GUSTAVUS ESTABLISHED FIVE ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENTS EACH LED BY A NOBLEMAN WHICH WERE CRITICAL IN RUNNING THE GOVERNMENT.
- THE RIKSDAG WAS OSTENSIBLY THE HIGHEST LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY BUT IN REALITY REAL POWER RESTED WITH THE KING AND THE NOBLES.
- ECONOMY FLOURISHED UNDER GUSTAVUS.
- MINING OF HUGE DEPOSITS OF COPPER.
- MINING OF HUGE DEPOSITS OF IRON AND UTILIZING A NEW SMELTING PROCESS WHICH MADE SWEDISH IRON HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER.
- INCREASED PRODUCTION OF TAR AND TIMBER.
- STOCKHOLM CONTINUED TO GROW AS A TRADING, FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER.
- GUSTAVUS WAS A MILITARY GENIUS WHO LED SWEDEN IN THE THIRTY YEARS WAR.
- SWEDEN BECAME THE MOST POWERFUL STATE IN THE BALTIC REGION.
- AFTER GUSTAVUS' DEATH A STRUGGLE FOR POWER BETWEEN THE MONARCHY AND THE GREAT NOBLES SET IN. GRADUALLY POWER SHIFTED AWAY FROM THE NOBLES.
RUSSIA
IVAN THE TERRIBLE (1533-1584)
- USED MILITARY STRENGTH BOTH INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY TO EXPAND THE POWER OF THE TSAR AS WELL AS EXTENDING MUSCOVITE RULE.
- RUSSIA REMAINED FEUDAL: PEASANTS WERE STILL SERFS AND THE GREAT NOBLES, BOYARS, CONTROLLED LOCAL AREAS BUT HAD LITTLE VOICE IN NATIONAL AFFAIRS.
- IVAN LAUNCHED A VICIOUS CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE BOYARS TO BRING MORE OF RUSSIA UNDER HIS DIRECT CONTROL.
- THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH WAS TOTALLY SUBORDINATE TO HIM.
- IVAN ESTABLISHED PERMANENT CONNECTIONS WITH THE WEST BY WELCOMING ENGLISH MERCHANTS.
- HE INVITED CRAFTSMEN FROM THE WEST AND INTRODUCED WESTERN TECHNIQUES.
- UNDER IVAN, RUSSIA BEGAN HER EASTWARD MARCH ACROSS THE URAL MOUNTAINS.
TIME OF TROUBLE - FOLLOWING IVAN'S DEATH, HIS SON, FEODOR, RULED.
- HE WOULD BE THE LAST OF THE RURIK DYNASTY.
- FEODOR WAS WEAK AND AFTER HIS DEATH IN 1598 RUSSIA ENTERED A PERIOD OF WARS - BOTH INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY.
MICHAEL FEODOROVITCH (1613-1645) - FIRST OF THE ROMANOV DYNASTY TO RULE AS TSAR.
- THIS FAMILY WOULD RULE RUSSIA UNTIL 1917.
- CENTRAL GOVERNMENT UNDER MICHAEL EMERGED FROM THESE DISRUPTIONS WITH NO MAJOR ATTEMPT BEING MADE TO WEAKEN THE TSAR'S POWER.
TSAR ALEXIS (1645-1676) - SON OF MICHAEL.
- UNDER HIM A MAJOR ATTEMPT WAS MADE BY THE LOWER CLASSES TO RESTRAIN THE GROWING POWER OF THE TSAR.
- CLASS WARFARE BETWEEN THE POOR AND THE RICH LASTED FROM 1648 UNTIL 1671 WHEN THE PEASANTS WERE FINALLY DEFEATED.
- THIS WOULD BE THE LAST MAJOR EFFORT BY THE LOWER CLASSES TO LIMIT THE POWER OF THE TSARS AS WELL AS THE BOYARS.
POLAND
LARGEST KINGDOM IN EUROPE BUT AS DISORGANIZED AS THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE.
- MOST OF THE COUNTRY WAS IN THE HANDS OF POWERFUL NOBLES.
- THE MONARCHY BECAME STRICTLY ELECTIVE.
- THE DIET, AN ASSEMBLY OF NOBLES, APPROVED ALL POLICIES.
- RELIGIOUS DIVISION SPLIT POLAND BETWEEN ROMAN CATHOLICISM AND GREEK ORTHODOXY.
- 1648 - THE EASTERN UKRAINE BROKE FROM POLAND AND ROMAN CATHOLICISM AND OFFERED ITS ALLEGIANCE TO THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH AND TSAR OF RUSSIA.
OTTOMAN EMPIRE
CONTINUED TO BE RULED FROM CONSTANTINOPLE UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE SULTAN.
- HE WAS BOTH SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL HEAD OF THIS EMPIRE.
- THE SULTAN LEFT MUCH AUTHORITY IN THE HANDS OF LOCAL NOBLES AND PRINCES AS LONG AS THEY REMAINED LOYAL TO HIM.
- EMPIRE CONTINUED TO REMAIN A MAJOR FORCE EVEN AFTER SULEIMAN'S DEATH IN 1566.
THIRTY YEARS WAR (1618-1648)
BEGAN IN THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE IN BOHEMIA AS A RELIGIOUS WAR BETWEEN CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS.
PHASE I AND II
- BOHEMIAN AND DANISH PHASES ENDED IN 1629 WITH THE CATHOLIC FORCES OF THE HAPSBURGS VICTORIOUS.
- PRINCIPAL CATHOLIC GENERALS WERE WALLENSTEIN AND TILLY WHO WON A MAJOR VICTORY AT WHITE MOUNTAIN. CATHOLIC FORCES COMPRISED PRIMARILY GERMAN PRINCES LOYAL TO THE HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR AS WELL AS SPANISH TROOPS.
- EMPEROR FERDINAND II OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC SIDE, ISSUED THE EDICT OF RESTITUTION IN 1629 WHICH WAS TO RESTORE TO CATHOLICS ALL TERRITORIES THEY HAD LOST TO PROTESTANTS SINCE 1552.
- THE YEAR 1629 IS THE HIGH POINT FOR THE CATHOLIC SIDE IN THE THIRTY YEARS WAR UNDER HAPSBURG DIRECTION.
PHASE III - SWEDISH PHASE
- GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS OF SWEDEN ENTERS ON THE PROTESTANT SIDE IN 1630 TO HELP FELLOW LUTHERANS AS WELL AS STRENGTHEN SWEDEN'S POSITION IN THE BALTIC.
- HE OBTAINED SUBSIDIES FROM FRANCE, A CATHOLIC COUNTRY, TO FIGHT AGAINST THE HAPSBURG OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE - ALSO CATHOLIC.
- 1632 - CATHOLIC FORCES UNDER WALLENSTEIN WERE DEFEATED AT LUTZEN BY PROTESTANT FORCES.
- GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS WAS KILLED IN THIS BATTLE.
- PROTESTANT PRINCES OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE WERE ENCOURAGED BY GUSTAVUS' SUCCESS AND RAISED NEW ARMIES AGAINST EMPEROR FERDINAND.
- 1635 - TREATY OF PRAGUE
- EMPEROR FERDINAND MADE PEACE WITH PROTESTANT PRINCES OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE IN AN ENDEAVOR TO DRIVE THE SWEDES OUT OF GERMAN LANDS.
- HE SUSPENDED THE EDICT OF RESTITUTION.
- PHASE IV - 1635 - BEGAN WITH FRENCH ENCOURAGEMENT TO HER ALLIES TO CONTINUE THE WAR AGAINST THE HAPSBURGS.
- FRENCH ENCOURAGED SWEDES TO KEEP FIGHTING AND THE DUTCH TO ATTACK THE SPANISH NETHERLANDS.
- FRENCH ALSO ATTACKED THE HAPSBURGS.
- 1648 - WAR ENDS WITH THE TREATY OF WESTPHALIA
- MORE THAN 1/3 OF THE GERMAN POPULATION WAS KILLED!
- ECONOMIC PROBLEMS BECAME WORSE IN THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE.
TREATY OF WESTPHALIA - 1648
- THIS TREATY ENDED THE LAST MAJOR INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT IN EUROPE IN WHICH TWO RELIGIOUS CAMPS ORGANIZED THEIR FORCES AS BLOCS.
- AFTER 1648, NATIONAL INTEREST AND NOT RELIGION WOULD DOMINATE.
- THIS TREATY WAS THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE REARRANGEMENT OF THE MAP OF EUROPE IN MODERN HISTORY.
- FRANCE AND SWEDEN, THE CHIEF AGGRESSORS DURING THE LAST PHASE OF THE WAR, WERE THE PRINCIPAL BENEFICIARIES.
- FRANCE GAINED TERRITORY TO THE NORTHEAST, i.e., PARTS OF ALSACE AND LORRAINE.
- FRANCE REPLACED SPAIN AS THE CONTINENT'S DOMINANT POWER.
- SWEDEN OBTAINED EXTENSIVE TERRITORIES IN THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE.
- MAIN LOSER WAS THE HOUSE OF HAPSBURG
- UNITED PROVINCES RECOGNIZED AS INDEPENDENT.
- SWISS CONFEDERATION RECOGNIZED AS INDEPENDENT.
- GERMAN PROVINCES MAINTAINED INDEPENDENCE FROM THE HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR.
- THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE WOULD REMAIN A LOOSE CONFEDERATION OF SOME 300 INDEPENDENT STATES.
- ECONOMIC LEADERSHIP PASSED FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN TO THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES ESPECIALLY ENGLAND AND THE UNITED PROVINCES.