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Central & Eastern European AbsolutismPart II • Austria • Prussia • Russia Austria • THIRTY YEARS’ WAR – Lost ability to compete with Western Europe – Instead aimed internally and at Bohemia and Hungary Austria • Versus Ottomans – Ottoman private property • • • • Sultan system of rule No Suleiman (see pic) Bureaucracy??? – Christian slaves – Not smart ones became Janissaries – Thrived on Christian tribute • Religiously tolerant • Often kinder rulers than Christian emperors – Butted heads with Habsburgs (and Russians) The Golden Age of the Ottomans “Golden Horn” The Ottoman Capital -- Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople: 1453 Europeans vs. Turks The End of the Byzantine Empire Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia - interior Illuminated Qur’an Page Janissaries Battle of Lepanto (1571) Austria • Versus Bohemia – Bohemia fell during Thirty Years’ War • Protestant nobility crushed and replaced • Versus Hungary – Conquered by Habsburgs but never fully pacified – Surviving nobility were highly influenced by Protestantism – Revolt against Habsburgs under Prince Rakoczy failed but gained significant independence – Helped in revolts by Ottomans • Charles VI and the Pragmatic Sanction Charles VI (r. 1711-1740) Prussia • Blown apart by Thirty Years War… must face East • Geographical limitations – ‘sandbox of Europe’ – No natural physical barriers • Military is used to build the state • Junkers – Landowning Prussian nobility – Given status as head of military and complete domination of their serfs in exchange for loss of real political power Prussia & the Austrian Empire: 1721-72 Prussia • Great Elector – Why called this? – His goal- to weaken the local estates (regional parliaments) and build absolutism – War during his reign (against Sweden and Poland and in response to raids by the Tartars) allowed Great Elector to subjugate the Prussian Estates • The nobles were forced to choose security over independence – Bureaucracy and standing army basically the same thing • For example, soldier’s collected taxes Prussia • The Soldiers’ King – Solidified absolutism – Military nut • Lived a rigidly militaristic life – Built incredible army… • Tall soldiers • Prussia- 12th largest population, but 4th largest army – Exemplified hard work and living simply – Sparta of the North – Never ‘spent’ his soldiers Frederick William I King Frederick I of Prussia (r.1701-1713) The Soldier’s King Russia • European or not? – Yes – Geography, ethnicity, and desire – But… • Mongol Invasion – Mongol Legacy on the Tsars » Absoluter and terribler power (similar to Ottoman) » Missed the Renaissance - remain medieval/feudal – Rise of Muscovite Russians » Best suck-ups to Mongolians • Ivans kicked out the Khans • Newly independent Russians saw themselves as the ‘Third Rome’ • Fall of Byzantine Empire (Constantinople) to Ottomans • Religion – Eastern Orthodox • Caesar- tsar Population Center The Mongols Invade Russia Early Russia Early Byzantine Influences: Orthodox Christianity Early Byzantine Influences: Orthodox Christianity Ivan the Great (r. 1462-1505) Ivan III Tearing the Great Khan’s Letter Requesting More Tribute in 1480. Russia • Taming of the Boyars by the Ivans – Khan-like • Tsar had enormous land-holdings – Service nobility • Got land, had to serve in army relatively weak – Ivan the Terrible • Used ‘secret police’ to crush peasants further • Nobles, in turn, ruthlessly oppressed their own peasants • Even merchants were bound to their cities – Cossacks • Repeated uprisings – Tsars almost literally owned everything in Russia • Romanov line – Because of peasant revolts, the Romanovs restored some rights to nobles, to unify with them against the peasants Russian Boyars Russia • Peter the Great – – – – – Militaristic Great Northern War Promotion by ability Complete domination of the nobility Desire for a warm water port • fight with Ottomans- Black Sea • Fight with Swedes- Baltic • This is a recurring theme for Russia – Westernization, but mainly for military gain • Grand Tour • Europeans brought in to train Russians • Beard Law Peter the Great (r. 1682-1725) Russia & Sweden After the Great Northern War Mimicry of French Absolutism • Royal Cities – St. Petersburg • Window to the West • Built from scratch at great cost to nobility and peasants… evidence of absolutism • Evidence of military victories – Broad straight avenues radiating out from the center • Palaces Like Versailles Schönbrunn Palace Versailles Schönbrunn Palace Baroque ► 1600 – 1750. ► From a Portuguese word “barocca”, meaning “a pearl of irregular shape.” ► Implies strangeness, irregularity, and extravagance. ► The more dramatic, the better! Baroque • • • • Emotional Appeals to the commoner Grew out of the Catholic Reformation Used by Absolutists St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City by Gialorenzo Bernini Church of Santiago de Compostella, Spain Church of Veltenberg Altar, Germany “The Assumption of the Virgin Mary” Egid Quirim Asam, 1692-1750 Altar of Mercy, Germany, 1764 “David and Goliath” by Caravaggio “St. Bonaventure on His Deathbed” Francisco de Zurbarán, 1629 “Battle of the Amazons” Peter Paul Reubens Baroque Furniture