Transcript Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
Eighteenth Century –War and Change
What is Enlightened Absolutism?
Enlightenment brought about ideas of
unchangeable privileges that
shouldn’t be withheld from anyone
monarchs rule while
allowing natural rights to speech, religion, etc
France
Saw an economic revival as
Enlightenment grew
Louis XIV left France with enormous
debts
Louis XV was lazy and weak
More
inclined to spend time with
Madame de Pompadour
Louis XVI (XV’s grandson) married
Marie Antoinette
Not
capable of fixing economy
Marie denied as a wife and falls into
court intrigues
Great Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain -1707
England
and Scotland United
British refers to English and Scots
Parliament
Makes
laws, levies taxes, passes budget
St George, England
Dominated by landed aristocracy
St Andrew, Scotland
– House of Lords
Life position
– House of Commons
Great Britain
St Patrick,
Voting varied widely, wealthy able to use patronage- bribery
to gainIreland
control of boroughs and counties
United Kingdom
1802
Great Britain
1714- Queen Anne, last Stuart ruler, died
Crown offered to Protestant rulers of German state of
Hanover
George I (1714-1727)
Didn’t speak English
George II (1727-1760)
Had no familiarity with British system, chief ministers handled Parliament
William Pitt the Elder (PM) won Canada & India during 7 Years War
George III (1760-1820)
Occasional bouts of insanity, replaced PM William Pitt the Elder and
angered the People and the Parliament after losing Americas
Decline of the Dutch
Economic Decline
Infighting between regents and the House of
Orange
Burghers
– calling themselves Patriots- wanted
democratic reforms
Prussian troops came to protect the monarchs
Prussia- rise of army and bureaucracy
Frederick William I (1713-1740)
General
Directory
Supervised
military, police, financial affairs
Code: obedience, honor and service to the king
Closely supervised by Frederick William
Strict
class stratification
Nobility
& landed aristocracy “Junkers”
Still had large estates with serfs
Junkers had monopoly on officer corps of army
Prussia- rise of army and bureaucracy
Army – 4th largest behind France,
Russia, Austria
Nobility as officers created a close
bond between two
Prussia was an “army with a
country”
Frederick II “the Great” (17401786)
Best educated & cultured monarch
Invited Voltaire to live at his court
Single code of laws for territories
No torture
Limited freedom of speech, press,
religion
Enlarged military further and used
it!
Catherine the Great
Pugachev’s
rebellion
German princess
(1773-1774)
Believed in philosophes
but knew she would
independent
tribes ofif
alienate
the nobility
warriors
she
implemented reforms
Volga valley and South
like Joseph II
Russia
Strengthened the
Pugachev betrayed by
landholding
at
his own men,class
tortured
expense
of serfs
and executed
Catherine responded by
extending serfdom
Poland
1772-1795
Polish king
elected by
nobles thus
restricting his
power
Instead of
fighting with
each other,
Austria, Russia
& Prussia
divided Poland
After the heroic but failed
Rebellion under Thaddeus
Kosciuszko
Austria & the Habsburgs
Maria Theresa
10
surviving children
Divided Austria and
Bohemian lands into ten
provinces, subdivided
into districts
Administered
by royal
officers making more
centralized government
Enlarged
military
Austria & Habsburgs
Joseph II
Driven by reason
Abolished serfdom, gave serfs
hereditary rights, outlawed death
penalty, equality before law
EVERYONE found issue with reforms
Alienated nobility & church
Serfs couldn’t understand new laws
“here lies Joseph II, who was
unfortunate in everything he undertook”
Successors undid everything he
accomplished
Prussia, Austria, Russia, Britain, and France dominate in what area were they most likely to compete for land and power?
War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748)
– allowed
Maria Theresa to take
the Austrian throne
Frederick II of Prussia
took advantage of
Maria Theresa taking
the throne by invading
Silesia
France entered to take
advantage of Austria’s
weakness
War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748)
Maria Theresa allied
with Great Britain
France took Madras in
India from British, Brits
took French forts in
America
Peace Treaty of Aixla-Chapelle returned
all land but Silesia
Seven Years War (1756-1763)
Maria Theresa planned revenge by building her army and
by separating Prussia from France (mean girls unite!)
Britain
& France rivals over colonies
Austria & Prussia hate each other
France abandoned Prussia and joined Austria
So did Russia
Great Britain sided with Prussia
New War fought in Europe, India, and North America
7 Years War
VERSUS
7 Years War
VERSUS
War in Europe
British & Prussians vs.
Austrians, Russians, French
Frederick the Great able to defeat
Austria, Russia, France…
But he was gradually worn down
from surrounding powers
Tsarina Elizabeth of Russia died,
Peter III admired Frederick the
Great and withdrew, ending the
war
Peace of Hubertusburg 1763
All occupied territories returned
Austria recognized they lost Silesia
War in India
“Great War for the
Empire”
Robert
Clive (17251774) won the battle
for the Madras
Treaty of Paris, 1763
French
withdrew and
India remained under
the British
“French and Indian War”
Two areas of contention
Waterways of Gulf of Saint
Lawrence
Forts of Louisbourg, Great Lakes, Lake
Champlain
Ohio River Valley
French moved South from Quebec,
North from Louisiana along
Mississippi, cutting of British
expansion
England felt they must destroy
French colonial empire if they will
grow
concentrated on American theatre
“French and Indian War”
French had greater
numbers
British won decisive naval
battles
Treaty of Paris (1763)
France
ceded Canada
and lands East of
Mississippi
Spain (France’s ally) gave
up Florida
France gave Louisiana to
Spain
European Life Seminar
Points for participation
How did armies change between
1740-1780?
French 190,000 300,000
Prussian 83,000 200,000
Austrian 108,000 282,000
Russian 130,000 290,000
What was the composition of the armies?
Officers from landed aristocracy
Middle class not allowed in higher ranks
Rank-and-file soldiers came from lower classes
Because peasants were needed in fields, many
hired soldiers from Switzerland and Germany
England didn’t have a standing army
Britain and Dutch built up navies
Why didn’t bigger armies lead to
more war?
Europe was less driven by ideology like during
religious period
Ideological wars are more violent and destructive
Armies depended on tax money so monarchs were
loathe to “spend” that investment
Costliness of war and technology created barriers
How did child-rearing change?
Childhood began to be viewed as a phase of
human development
Children
dressed in more comfortable cloths
Primogeniture- treating son better – came under attack
Toys specifically for children appeared
Changes
limited to nobility
Infanticide
and abandonment common in lower classes
How did agriculture change?
New plants replaced leaving fields fallow
Alfalfa,
Jethro Tull invented a seed planter in rows
Potatoes and corn
Potato
turnips, clover return nitrogen
staple of the poor
Large landowners enclosed old open fields
Led
to demise of village farming, small farmers
became tenant farmers
How did finance change?
Public and private banks and acceptance of paper
notes made expansion of credit possible
Bank
of England (1694) – made loans
“banknotes” issued giving credit
Government bonds paying interest created notion of
“national debt” outside of monarchy
We
can now raise more for militaries
How did Industry Change?
Cottage Industry- textiles were produced by
“putting out” or “domestic” system where rural
workers would work raw materials in their home
Cotton from slave labor increased production and
led to innovation
Trade increased with new world