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Western Civilization II page. |
FRANCE UNDER LOUIS XV
LOUIS XV (1715-1774)
- GREAT GRANDSON AND SUCCESSOR OF LOUIS XIV.
- HE UTILIZED A ROYAL COUNCIL TO HELP HIM ADMINISTER THE GOVERNMENT.
- INTENDANTS CONTINUED TO INCREASE THEIR POWER IN THE LOCAL DISTRICTS. THE INTENDANTS HAD THE RIGHT TO SET TAXES IN THEIR LOCAL DISTRICTS AS WELL AS THE RIGHT TO RECRUIT SOLDIERS AND BUILD ROADS.
- LOUIS XV GAVE ALMOST UNLIMITED POWER TO CARDINAL FLEURY, WHO WAS HIS ADVISOR. FLEURY CONTINUED TO SUPPORT ABSOLUTISM AND BETWEEN 1720-1740, THERE WAS A PERIOD OF STABILITY:
- ABUNDANT HARVESTS
- INCREASING COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY
- SLOWLY RISING POPULATION
- NO WARS FOR FRANCE
- POLITICAL AND SOCIAL INEQUALITIES CONTINUE:
- LOUIS XV SPENT MOST OF HIS TIME AT VERSAILLES. UNLIKE HIS GREAT GRANDFATHER (LOUIS XIV), HE WAS NOT VERY INTERESTED IN THE AFFAIRS OF THE STATE.
- THERE WAS NO UNIFORMITY OF LAW.
- JUDGES BROUGHT THEIR POSITIONS ON COURTS FROM THE KING.
- TAXATION CONTINUED TO FALL HARDEST ON THE UNPRIVILEGED, i.e., THE BOURGEOISE AND THE PEASANTS.
THE UNDERPRIVILEGED CLASSES
- PEASANTS
- THE PEASANTS' EXISTENCE CONTINUED TO BE PRIMARILY ONE OF SUBSTANDARD CONDITIONS.
- THEY HAD NO VOICE IN GOVERNMENT.
- THEY HAD TO PAY HEAVY TAXES BOTH TO THE CHURCH AND STATE.
- THEIR FOOD WAS SCARCE AND FAMINES OCCURRED.
- THEIR SHELTER WAS DEPLORABLE AND VERY UNSANITARY.
- BOURGEOISIE
- DESPITE HARDSHIPS, THE STRENGTH OF THE BOURGEOISIE CONTINUED TO RISE. THIS GROUP WAS THE MIDDLE CLASS OF MERCHANTS, WORKERS, GILD-MASTERS AND SHOP KEEPERS.
- AS INDUSTRY AND TRADE CONTINUED TO DEVELOP; CITIES CONTINUED TO GROW; AND TRANSPORTATION CONTINUED TO IMPROVE; THE BOURGEOISIE CONTINUED TO STRENGTHEN.
THE PRIVILEGED CLASSES
- THE PRIVILEGED CLASSES WERE THE HIGHER CLERGY AND THE NOBILITY AND MADE UP ABOUT 2%-3% OF FRANCE'S POPULATION.
- FIRST ESTATE
- THIS WAS THE HIGHER CLERGY. OFTEN THESE POSITIONS (CARDINALS, BISHOPS) WERE GIVEN TO THE SONS OF NOBLES WHO DID NOT INHERIT LAND FROM THEIR FATHERS.
- SECOND ESTATE
- THE HIGHER NOBILITY SPENT MOST OF THEIR TIME AT VERSAILLES AND CONTRIBUTED VERY LITTLE TO STRENGTHENING THE STATE. AS PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED, THEY HAD BEEN GREATLY WEAKENED AS A GROUP BY RICHELIEU, MAZARIN AND LOUIS XIV.
GREAT BRITAIN (ENGLAND)
- AFTER QUEEN ANN DIED HEIRLESS IN 1714, THE CROWN PASSED TO THE HANOVERIAN LINE BEGINNING WITH GEORGE I (1714-1777).
- THIS FAMILY CAME FROM THE ELECTORATE OF HANOVER (PART OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE).
- GEORGE I DID NOT GET VERY INVOLVED WITH AFFAIRS OF STATE AND DIDN'T EVEN SPEAK ENGLISH.
- PARLIAMENT CONTINUED TO CONSOLIDATE ITS POWER UNDER HIM AND HIS SON GEORGE II (1727-1760).
- DURING THE FIRST TWO GEORGES, THE WHIG PARTY BECAME DOMINANT AT PARLIAMENT AND ROBERT WALPOLE WAS THE GREAT WHIG LEADER. HE BECAME THE MOST DOMINANT PERSON IN THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT FROM 1721-1742.
ENLIGHTENED ABSOLUTISM
- THE TERM "ENLIGHTENED ABSOLUTISM" COMES FROM THE LATE 19th CENTURY GERMAN HISTORIANS TO DESCRIBE THE PRUSSIAN AND HAPSBURG MONARCHIES OF THE 18th CENTURY.
- THESE HISTORIANS ARGUED THAT THE STRENGTH OF AN ENLIGHTENED RULER WAS THE SUREST WAY FOR PROGRESS IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE. THEY FELT THAT A RULER WHO REIGNED IN THE INTEREST OF HIS(HER) SUBJECTS PRECLUDED VIOLENT DIVISIONS LIKE THAT OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
- THREE EXAMPLES OF THIS SO-CALLED ENLIGHTENED ABSOLUTISM WERE FREDERICK THE GREAT (PRUSSIA), CATHERINE THE GREAT (RUSSIA) AND JOSEPH II (AUSTRIA).
- THESE WERE THE MONARCHS OF EUROPE WHO PRACTICED THE REFORMS ADVOCATED BY THE PHILOSOPHES.
PRUSSIA
FREDERICK THE GREAT (FREDERICK II) (1740-1786)
- UNLIKE THE STATEMENT "L'ETAT, C'EST MOI", FREDERICK II'S DICTUM WAS THAT HE WAS "THE FIRST SERVANT OF THE STATE."
- LIKE HIS FATHER, HE WANTED TO CONTINUE TO BUILD THE PRESTIGE OF PRUSSIA.
- HE THEREFORE CONTINUED TO DEVELOP ABSOLUTISM BY:
CENTRALIZING HIS POWER, BUILDING A LARGE ARMY, AND INVADING FOREIGN TERRITORIES TO EXPAND. HE BELIEVED THE FUNDAMENTAL RULE OF GOVERNMENT WAS THE PRINCIPAL OF EXTENDING ITS TERRITORY.
- HE BELIEVED THE MAIN INSTRUMENT OF PROGRESS AND REFORM WAS THE STATE.
- HE PRACTICED RELIGIOUS TOLERATION.
- HE WAS A PATRON OF THE ARTS, LEARNING, AND LITERATURE.
- WHILE HE IMPROVED AGRICULTURE, HE RETAINED SERFDOM.
- HE SOUGHT TO DISMEMBER THE HAPSBURG EMPIRE BY SETTING UP AN ALLIANCE WITH THE ELECTOR OF BAVARIA AND FRANCE AND THEN TAKING TERRITORY FROM THE NEW HAPSBURG RULER, MARIA THERESA. HE THUS BEGAN THE WAR OF AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION BY INVADING SILESIA, WHICH WAS A HAPSBURG PROVINCE RICH IN RESOURCES AND GEOGRAPHICALLY CLOSE TO PRUSSIA.
18th CENTURY - OVERVIEW
- THE 18th CENTURY SAW THE MATURATION OF THE MODERN STATE AND THE TESTING OF EACH STATE WITHIN THE STATE.
- FOR SOME 80 YEARS, BETWEEN UTRECHT AND NAPOLEON, NO STATE THREATENED TO DOMINATE EUROPE.
- A BALANCE OF POWER RATHER THAN HEGEMONY EXISTED.
- THERE WERE THREE MAJOR ZONES OF CONFLICT DURING THE 18th CENTURY:
(1) CENTRAL EUROPE
- DYNASTIC RIVALRIES, PARTICULARLY BETWEEN HAPSBURGS AND HOHENZOLLERNS.
(2) EASTERN EUROPE
- RUSSIA GREW AT POLAND'S AND TURKEY'S EXPENSE. POLAND WOULD DISAPPEAR AS RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA BECOME STRONGER.
(3) COLONIES
- FROM 1689 TO 1763, FRANCE AND ENGLAND HAD BECOME THE TWO GREATEST COLONIZING NATIONS. DURING A LITTLE MORE THAN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 18th CENTURY, FRANCE AND ENGLAND WOULD BATTLE FOR EMPIRE IN
® NORTH AMERICA
® INDIA
- AT THE END OF THE WAR OF SPANISH SUCCESSION (QUEEN ANNE'S WAR - 1702-1713), FRANCE LOST NEWFOUNDLAND, NOVIA SCOTIA, AND HUDSON BAY TO ENGLAND.
- AFTER THE TREATY OF UTRECHT (1713), FRANCE STRENGTHENED HER POSITION IN NORTH AMERICA BY ERECTING FORTIFICATIONS ON THE ST. LAWRENCE, THE GREAT LAKES, AND THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. DESPITE A THIN POPULATION IN NORTH AMERICA, FRANCE HAD WELL-ORGANIZED COLONIES AND USED THE ALLEGIANCE OF MANY INDIANS MUCH MORE SO THAN ENGLAND.
- THE 18th CENTURY SAW TWO INTERNATIONAL CONFLICTS AFTER SOME 20 YEARS OF RELATIVE PEACE, i.e., 1720-1740:
I. (A&B) WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION (1740-1748)
(KING GEORGE'S WAR (1744-1748)
II. (A&B&C) SEVEN YEARS' WAR (FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR) 1756-1763
IA. WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION (1740-1748)
- THIS WAR WAS FOUGHT AGAINST MARIA THERESA, WHO HAD COME TO THE HAPSBURG THRONE IN 1740. AGAINST THE ALLIANCE THAT FREDERICK THE GREAT FORMED, MARIA THERESA WAS ABLE TO GET HELP PRINCIPALLY FROM AUSTRIA, HUNGARY AND GREAT BRITAIN.
- RESULTS OF THE WAR:
- FREDERICK THE GREAT WAS ABLE TO KEEP SILESIA FROM AUSTRIA. OUTSIDE OF THIS CONQUEST, THE STATUS QUO ESTABLISHED AT UTRECHT REMAINED INTACT.
- THE TREATY OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE IN 1748 KEPT THE STATUS QUO.
IB. KING GEORGE'S WAR (RESULTS OF THIS WAR IN AMERICA)
- ALTHOUGH ENGLAND CAPTURED THE MAJOR FORT FROM FRANCE ON THE ST. LAWRENCE, IT WAS RETURNED AND THEREFORE NEITHER COUNTRY GAINED NOR LOST MUCH IN NORTH AMERICA DURING THIS WAR.
IIA. SEVEN YEARS' WAR (1756-1763)
- THIS WAR WAS ALSO FOUGHT BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE IN NORTH AMERICA (FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR) AND INDIA.
- IN EUROPE, AUSTRIA UNDER MARIA THERESA WAS ABLE TO PUT TOGETHER AN ALLIANCE OF FRANCE AND NOW RUSSIA AGAINST PRUSSIA.
- SHE WANTED SILESIA BACK FROM FREDERICK THE GREAT.
- GREAT BRITAIN THIS TIME CAME TO THE AID OF FREDERICK THE GREAT INSTEAD OF MARIA THERESA.
- FREDERICK THE GREAT BECAME COMPLETELY SURROUNDED AND WOULD HAVE LOST EXCEPT THAT EMPRESS ELIZABETH OF RUSSIA DIED (1762) AND WAS REPLACED BY TSAR PETER III, AN ADMIRER OF FREDERICK, WHO PULLED RUSSIA OUT OF THE WAR.
- PEACE OF HUBERTUSBERG (1763) SETTLED THE EUROPEAN CONTINENTAL PHASE OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR.
- RESULTS OF THE SEVEN YEAR'S WAR:
- LIKE THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION, THE EUROPEAN CONTINENTAL PHASE MAINTAINED THE STATUS QUO WITH PRUSSIA STILL HOLDING SILESIA.
- DESPITE SHIFTING OF ALLIANCES, THE BALANCE OF POWER IN EUROPE WAS MAINTAINED WITH NO COUNTRY BEING ABLE TO ATTAIN CONTINENTAL HEGEMONY.
- OVERSEAS, HOWEVER, THE BALANCE OF POWER IN COLONIZATION HAD CLEARLY SHIFTED AWAY FROM FRANCE (AND SPAIN) TO ENGLAND.
- BY THE TREATY OF PARIS, GREAT BRITAIN HAD BECOME THE GREATEST COMMERCIAL AND COLONIAL POWER IN THE WORLD.
- GREAT BRITAIN CONTINUED TO MAINTAIN THE STRONGEST NAVY IN THE WORLD.
IIB. IN AMERICA, THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR WAS CALLED THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR (1756-1763).
- FRANCE WAS AT A MAJOR DISADVANTAGE SINCE HER NAVAL POWER HAD BEEN GREATLY WEAKENED BY ENGLAND.
- IN THE DECISIVE BATTLE AT THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM (1759) IN QUEBEC, THE BRITISH GENERAL WOLFE DEFEATED THE FRENCH GENERAL MONTCALM. THE WAR CONCLUDED AT THE TREATY OF PARIS IN 1763.
- RESULTS OF THE FRENCH & INDIAN WAR:
- THE WAR WAS A MAJOR VICTORY FOR ENGLAND OVER FRANCE.
- FRANCE LOST CANADA (NEW FRANCE) TO GREAT BRITAIN.
- FRANCE LOST ALL HER POSSESSIONS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI TO ENGLAND.
- FRANCE CEDED TO SPAIN NEW ORLEANS AND THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY.
- THE REMOVAL OF THE FRENCH THREAT IN CANADA WAS A MAJOR IMPETUS TO THE AMERICAN COLONIES TO BREAK WITH GREAT BRITAIN.
- FRANCE WAS NO LONGER A THREAT TO THE SECURITY OF THE COLONIES.
- ENGLAND RAISED TAXES IN THE COLONIES TO PAY FOR THIS WAR.
IIC. SEVEN YEARS WAR IN INDIA
THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR WAS ALSO FOUGHT BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN INDIA. INDIA WAS ENGLAND'S MOST IMPORTANT COLONIAL TERRITORY.
- RESULTS:
- LIKE NORTH AMERICA, THIS WAR IN INDIA WAS TO BE A DECISIVE DEFEAT FOR FRANCE BY GREAT BRITAIN.
- THE FRENCH, UNDER DUPLEIX, WERE DECISIVELY DEFEATED AT THE BATTLE OF PLASSEY (1757) BY ROBERT CLIVE OF GREAT BRITAIN.
HAPSBURG EMPIRE
MARIA THERESA (1740-1780)
- SHE WAS NOT CONSIDERED AN ENLIGHTENED DESPOT.
- UNLIKE FREDERICK THE GREAT, SHE BELIEVED IN THE DIVINE RIGHTS OF RULERS (NOT JUST SIMPLY THE CONCEPT OF FIRST SERVANT OF THE STATE).
- SHE FOUGHT AGAINST FREDERICK THE GREAT DURING BOTH THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION AND THE SEVEN YEARS WAR.
- UNLIKE FREDERICK THE GREAT, SHE WAS CATHOLIC AND VERY DEVOUT.
- DESPITE HER DEVOTION TO CATHOLICISM, SHE FORBADE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW MONASTERIES AND SHE ABOLISHED THE CLERGY'S EXEMPTION FROM TAXATION.
- LIKE FREDERICK THE GREAT, SHE WAS A GREAT ADMINISTRATOR AND REORGANIZED HER EMPIRE.
- LIKE FREDERICK THE GREAT, SHE STRENGTHENED HER ARMY WITH MILITARY REFORMS.
- EXCEPT FOR THE LOSS OF SILESIA, SHE WAS ABLE TO KEEP HER EMPIRE INTACT.
JOSEPH II (1780-1790) - AUSTRIAN EMPIRE
- SON OF MARIA THERESA.
- HE WAS CONSIDERED THE MOST ENLIGHTENED OF ALL DESPOTS.
- MOST IMPORTANTLY, HE IMPROVED THE LIFE OF THE PEASANT.
- HE INTRODUCED RELIGIOUS TOLERATION AND FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.
- HE PROMOTED EDUCATION, AND AUSTRIAN SCHOOLS BECAME THE BEST IN EUROPE.
- HE DRAFTED NEW CRIMINAL CODES INCLUDING ABOLISHING THE DEATH PENALTY FOR MOST CRIMES AND RECOGNIZING NO CLASS DIFFERENCE IN APPLYING THE LAW.
- UNFORTUNATELY, HE COULD NOT ACCEPT CRITICISM OF HIS REFORMS. TOWARD THE END OF HIS REIGN, HE RESTORED CENSORSHIP AND GAVE THE POLICE UNPRECEDENTED POWER.
RUSSIA
CATHERINE II (CATHERINE THE GREAT) (1762-1796)
- LIKE FREDERICK THE GREAT OF PRUSSIA, CATHERINE THE GREAT WAS CONSIDERED AN ENLIGHTENED DESPOT.
- SHE WAS WELL-READ, SOPHISTICATED AND EAGER TO WIN APPROVAL OF WESTERN EUROPEAN LEADERS.
- LIKE PETER THE GREAT BEFORE HER, SHE CONTINUED TO SUBORDINATE THE CHURCH (SECULARIZED CHURCH PROPERTY).
- LIKE FREDERICK THE GREAT, SHE RETAINED SERFDOM. WHILE SHE PROFESSED A DESIRE TO LIBERATE AND EDUCATE THE LOWER CLASSES, THIS NEVER OCCURRED. IN FACT, THE STATUS OF THE SERFS BECAME WORSE UNDER HER.
- LIKE FREDERICK THE GREAT, SHE MAINTAINED A VERY AGGRESSIVE FOREIGN POLICY AND MAINTAINED A VERY STRONG ARMY.
- LIKE FREDERICK THE GREAT, SHE WAS INTERESTED IN EXPANDING HER EMPIRE.
- SHE JOINED WITH PRUSSIA AND AUSTRIA IN PARTITIONING POLAND. BY 1795, THESE THREE COUNTRIES PARTITIONED POLAND FROM THE MAP.
- SHE WAS VERY DESIROUS OF GETTING A "WINDOW" ON THE BLACK SEA AT TURKEY'S EXPENSE. BY THE TURKISH WARS (1768-1774), CATHERINE THE GREAT WAS ABLE TO OBTAIN ALL LAND NORTH OF THE BLACK SEA AS WELL AS FREE NAVIGATION IN TURKISH WATERS.
- THE VIOLENCE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION ALARMED HER AND SHE BECAME MUCH MORE CONSERVATIVE AT THE END OF HER REIGN.