I. Warfare and Social Change

Serfdom in Central/Eastern Europe

    1050-1300 – Economic expansion in Europe 14thC – Black Death = New economic problems  Lords exploited peasantry Eradication of serfdom in W. Europe, Re-entrenchment in E. Europe Restricted or eliminated freedom of movement for peasants    Lords took over more peasant land Heavy labor obligations – work w/o pay Local lords – control of local legal system

Consolidation of Serfdom

 1500-1650 – social, legal, and economic conditions of peasants declined in E. Europe    Poland 1574 – Lords could inflict death penalty on peasants Prussia 1653 – Hereditary subjugation Russia 1603 – Eliminated freedom of movement  Growth of estate agriculture    Pop. growth of 16thC – increased demand for commodities Lords seized peasant lands – increase profits Poor East helped feed wealthier West.

 Lords had more power in E. Europe    Warfare created more power for local lords Weak kings had to compromise with nobility Weakened urban/merchant class in towns – sold directly to foreigners  Eastern monarchs did not oppose growth of serfdom

II. Rise of Austria and Prussia

 Atmosphere of wartime emergency allowed monarchs to increase power of central state  Gained political power in three areas  Imposed permanent taxes w/o consent   Maintained permanent standing armies Conducted relations with other states for their benefit

The Austrian Habsburgs

  Habsburg territory full of different languages, ethnicities, religions   Some in HRE, some not Lots of little political jurisdictions Abandon imperial dominance, focus on consolidation of current territory    Crushed Protestant Bohemian nobility – Ferdinand II   Sold their land to new Catholic nobility (new loyalty) Accomplished direct control over Bohemia Centralized gov’t in German-speaking provinces Created permanent standing army

Austrian Rule in Hungary

  After Battle of Mohacs (1526), Hungary divided between Ottomans and Habsburgs Warfare between the Habsburgs and Ottomans devastated Hungary   1683 – Habsburgs succeeded in gaining control of most of Hungary and Transylvania  1718 – Complete recovery of Hungary Hungarian nobility resisted the full development of Habsburg absolutism    Protestants Ottomans were nicer Sense of nationalism

 Habsburgs advanced the cause of state building in Hungary by forging a consensus with the church and nobility  Allowed nobility to keep aristocratic privileges  Creation of standing army under Emperor Leopold  Funded by provincial estates  German language and Catholicism helped form collective identity  Vienna became political and cultural center of empire  Pragmatic Sanction, 1713   Habsburg lands should never be divided Women could inherit throne  Maria Theresa crowned in 1740

Prussia in the 17

th

Century

 The Hohenzollern family ruled the electorate of Brandenburg and Prussia  The Thirty Years’ War weakened representative assemblies and allowed the Hohenzollerns to consolidate their rule  Frederick William, the Great Elector (r. 1640-1688)   Used military power to consolidate Prussia, Brandenburg, and Rhine territories into one state Struggle between Frederick and provincial estates

 Instated permanent tax w/o permission of estates to strengthen military  Warfare atmosphere created sense of urgency  Created large, centralized bureaucracy  Like Louis XIV, the Great Elector built his absolutist state on collaboration with traditional elites, reaffirming their privileges in return for loyal service and revenue

The Consolidation of Prussian Absolutism

 Frederick William I knows as “the Soldier’s King” (r.1713 1740)   Created best army in Europe Transformed Prussia into model military state  Believed that welfare of king and state depended on army  Ironically, Prussia at peace for most of his reign  Created rigid civil society, obedience – “Sparta of the North”