Enlightened Absolutism

Chapter 18

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Notes

Notes:  Enlightened Absolutism

Spielvogel Chapter 18

  • Enlightened Absolutism
    • people have natural rights
      • right to choose religion, freedom of speech & press, and right to hold private property
      • these rights are protected by an “Enlightened” ruler
      • rights of individual groups cannot be trusted to masses, who tend to oppress minorities
    • Enlightened rulers also:
      • foster arts, sciences, & education
      • rule not arbitrary – rule by force of law/subject to law
  • Warfare
    • Views
      • philosophes argued that wars were foolish, wasting lives and resources
      • rulers insisted on preserving the “balance of power”
        • became this period's primary excuse for going to war
    • Changes
      • substantial increase in the size of the army (standing armies were fairly new, remember)
      • reflected social classes
        • officers were aristocrats
        • Middle-class becomes lower ranking officers
        • lower-class make up rank-and-file
          • many of them were conscripted
      • war not as destructive as it had been in the past
        • not ideologically-driven
        • larger armies required higher taxes (not willing to get their taxpayers killed, even if they were lower class)
        • standing armies already costly – hate to increase it with a costly war
          • led to limited objectives in warfare
        • clever tactics favored over direct confrontation
          • system of formalities evolved, designed to keep armies from utter destruction
  • Austria
    • Vienna, the capital city, had become a center for high culture in Europe
    • War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748)
      • Habsburg emperor Charles VI (1711-1740) knew that his daughter Maria Theresa would take his place
        • he spent his life negotiating the Pragmatic Sanction (other countries recognized Maria as the legal heir)
      • Pragmatic Sanction was ignored by Frederick II of Prussia, who invaded part of Austria (Silesia)
        • France also invaded part of Austria
        • Great Britain came to Austria's aid
      • in the end, countries seized landholdings of other countries throughout the entire world
      • all returned in 1748, except Silesia
    • Maria Theresa (1740-1780)
      • reworked system of administration throughout Austrian Empire
      • Catholic:  not open to Philosophes' suggestions for reformation
    • Joseph II (1780-1790)
      • son of Maria Theresa
      • continued expanding Habsburg power in Austria
      • Enlightened monarch
        • Reforms
          • abolished serfdom
          • gave peasants hereditary rights to their holdings (semi-successful)
          • eliminated international trade barriers
          • abolished death penalty
          • complete religious toleration
        • Reforms alienated nobility and the Catholic church, and even commoners
          • example:  tried making German official national language, which alienated non-German speakers, nobles and peasants alike
        • successors undid most of his reforms
          • his self-composed epitaph reads:  “Here lies Joseph II, who was unfortunate in everything that he undertook.”
  • Louis XV (d. 1774) – France
    • supposed to be the Enlightened monarch, but was strongly influence by his mistress Madame de Pompadour
      • she made many of France's important government decisions
  • Great Britain
    • from “English”/“Scottish” to “Britains” in the United Kingdom
    • Patronage – awarding of titles, posts, and positions in church & government
      • deputies to the House of Commons were chosen by borough (small town)
      • no equality to how many came from each borough
      • ended up with “pocket boroughs,” where a borough was controlled by a single person
        • for example: Duke of Newcastle controlled representatives of seven boroughs
    • Hanoverians – when the last Stuart ruler died, the crown was offered to the rulers of the German state of Hanover.
      • George I (1714-1727) & George II (1727-1760) did not speak British or understand the British system
        • Duke of Newcastle handled patronage
        • Robert Walpole, the prime minister, handled governmental matters
    • The Seven Years' War (1756-1763)
      • Maria Theresa angry because Prussia held onto Silesia (see War of Austrian Succession)
        • organized a “diplomatic revolution”
          • the Bourbons and Habsburgs resolved their differences and France allied with Austria
          • Russia joined also, because they felt Prussia stood in their way
          • Britain, enemy of France over colonies, joined Prussia
      • European Front
        • Prussia initially did well, but began to be worn down when the ruler of Russia died
          • Russia now withdrew its troops, leading to a stalemate
        • Peace of Hubertusburg (1763) – all captured territories returned; Silesia officially recognized as part of Prussia
      • Indian Front (called the “Great War for Empire” on worldwide front)
        • French and British each backed opposing Indian princes
        • British won – now sole control of India per the Treaty of Paris (1763)
      • North America (called the “French and Indian War” on North American front)
        • attempt to gain St. Lawrence River and the Ohio River Valley
          • American Indians wanted it to be French, since the French were less invasive
        • William Pitt the Elder (British prime minister) felt that annihilation of French colonies was necessary to pave the way for British settlement
          • focus on naval power – keep France from supporting army in America
        • British defeated Quebec by scaling cliffs
        • Treaty of Paris (1763) – Great Britain gains lands east of Mississippi
          • Great Britain also gets Canada
      • major result:  Great Britain became the world's greatest colonial power
  • Decline of the Dutch Republic
    • rebellions by the “Patriots” calling for democratic reforms
    • crushed by Orangists (rulers, remember William?)
  • Prussia
    • Frederick William I (1713-1740)
      • established the General Directory, which supervised all government affairs
        • increased differences between socio-economic classes
        • Set up the Junkers, landed aristocracy who owned large estates with lots of serfs
          • The Junkers controlled the army and the peasants
          • Frederick controlled the Junkers
        • Peasants had no control over their lives (even had to get nobles' permission to marry)
        • only way middle class could gain prestige was through civil service
    • Frederick the Great (1740-1786) = Frederick II
      • diligent ruler known for efficiency and honesty
      • followed philsophes' recommendations (except for abolishing serfdom – he increased class-based stratification) – Enlightened Monarch
      • enlarged army and used it in War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War (not very enlightened)
  • Russia
    • Catherine the Great (1762-1796)
      • German wife of Tsar Peter III, who was assassinated by nobles
      • said she wanted to be Enlightened, but worked with nobility to strengthen their position relative to peasants
      • led to very poor conditions for peasants, and even revolts in border districts
      • Cossacks: independent tribes in southern Russia – instrumental in the rebellion
        • led by Emalyan Pugachev (Pugachev's rebellion – 1773)
        • focused on Volga River valley, north of the Caspian Sea
        • peasants seized landlords' estates, killing over 1,500 estate owners & their families
        • government rallied, Pugachev captured & killed
        • conditions for peasants made even poorer – end all reforms in rural areas, expand serfdom
      • Catherine expanded Russian territory
        • west into Poland (acquired 50%)
        • south to Black Sea (required fighting Turks)
  • Goodbye for now, Poland
    • three surrounding countries divided Polish state in three partitions (1791, 1792, 1795)
    • see map p. 502
  • the rest of Europe
    • Spain
      • now with a Bourbon king (remember Wars of the Spanish Succession?)
      • had lost lands in Italy & Netherlands in Treaty of Utrecht (once again, the Wars of Succession), so now it had enough money to get by
      • Charles III (1759-1788) reduced power of Inquisition and banished the Jesuits
    • Portugal
      • the marquis of Pombal – ruled through several monarchs (from 1699-1782)
        • reduced power of nobles & church
        • once he died, things went right back to the way they were
    • Scandinavia – Gustavus III (1771-1792) – Enlightened Monarch of Sweden
      • est. freedom of religion, speech, press
      • no more torture
      • laissez-faire economics
      • assassinated by nobles, but they couldn't undo his reforms
  • Examining big three “Enlightened Monarchs”
    • Joseph II (Austria) – truly was
    • Frederick II (Prussia) – was, but loved war & class divisions too much
    • Catherine (Russia) – started out, but kept nobles happy too much
  • Economic and Social Change
    • Steadily increasing population
      • mostly due to a decline in death rates (better food, better transportation to get food to people)
      • death still common, especially from diseases, especially those caused by poor sanitation
        • incidentally – the last significant outbreak of plague occurred in 1720 in S. France
    • marriage – ave. 27-28 for men; 25-27 for women (gave them time to acquire finances necessary to support a family)
      • ave. five births per family in lower classes; move from 6 circa 1675 to 2 circa 1760
      • cottage industry – everyone in the home contributed to the family economy
      • survival of children – more likely
        • led to children's clothing styles, attacks on primogeniture, toys (including jigsaw puzzles), and mothers breast-feeding their own kids (even in the aristocracy)
        • unfortunately, infanticide was fairly common for economic reasons
          • more often, though, children were abandoned in foundling homes
            • in foundling homes, mortality rates ranged from 50 to 90%
            • survivors had to perform miserable jobs
    • Agricultural Revolution!
      • Increased food production
        • more farmland
          • no land lying fallow – instead planted nitrogen-replenishing crops (alfalfa, turnips, clover)
          • enclosure – large landowners enclosed open fields/small holdings into large farms (especially popular in Britain)
            • took land from poor farmers, who had to become wage laborers or tenants farmers – destroyed their way of life
          • most people in this time period were rural, except in the Dutch Republic, Britain, and some of Italy
        • increased yield per acre
          • Jethro Tull (1674-1741)
            • used a seed drill to plant (less loss to birds)
            • constantly cultivated soil (air and moisture got to plants better)
          • add corn and potatoes
        • healthier/more livestock
          • could eat the crops mentioned in a).  More food=more animals
        • improved climate – end mini-ice age of 17th century
    • Financial changes
      • move toward paper money (not backed by hard currency)
        • allows issue of credit, especially in Great Britain
    • move from cottage to factory production
      • Richard Arkwright (1732-1792) – invented water frame, a water-powered spinning machine