Transcript Western Civilization I HIS-101

Western Civilization II
HIS-102
UNIT 3 - Absolutism and Empire, 1660-1789
Absolutism
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Effects of political and social upheaval of 1540-1660
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Absolutism
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Desire for peace and security
Form of government in which one body controls the right to
make war, tax, judge, and coin money
Ultimate authority rested in the hands of the monarch
Monarchs ruled by divine right
Monarchs answered to no one
Absolute monarchs demanded full control over:
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State’s armed forces
Legal system
Financial resources
Absolutism
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Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
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Bishop Jacques Bossuet (1627-1704)
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Leviathan (1651) stated it was the nature of man to be at war
with each other
A strong government was necessary to keep the order
He strongly believed in the divine rule of kings
Absolute authority of kings
Kings limited by the law of God
Ways to solidify power:
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Weaken the power of the nobility and the church
Create an efficient, central bureaucracy
Absolutism
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Ways to handle nobility:
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Ways to handle clergy:
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Pit the middle class against the nobility
Modus vivendi: convince the nobles that their own interests are
tied to the crown’s
Protestant countries – Church already subordinate to the state
Catholic countries – Focus their authority over the church
Mercantilism
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Country must accumulate bullion to be prosperous
Pushed for a state controlled economy
Also pushed for the creation of colonies
Main economic theory until 1776
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Louis XIV
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(1643-1716)
Louis XIV (1643-1716)
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Louis came of age in 1651
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Mazarin died in 1661
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Louis named himself first minister
Securing absolute power
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Fronde died down
Impacted Louis’ perception of nobility
Divine right of kings
Modus Vivendi with nobility
Versailles
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66.6 million livres for the château
91.7 million livres in operation costs
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Palace at Versailles
Louis XIV (1643-1716)
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In 1661, France was on the verge of bankruptcy
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Hired Jean Baptist Colbert as finance minister
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Involvement in numerous war
Rework the country’s finances
Louis could afford to maintain the extravagances
Colbert was effective
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He was a mercantilist
Focused on improving domestic goods
Fixed problems with tax farming (25% to 80%)
Raised taxes to bring in additional income
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Jean Baptiste Colbert
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Chief Financial Minister
(1664 to 1683)
Louis XIV (1643-1716)
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Religion: what was good for him was good for France
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Huguenots were pressured to convert
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Forced Catholicism to be only religion
Louis first offered bribes
Then hired dragonnades to torment them
Passed decrees to make their lives difficult
Edict of Fontainebleau (October 22, 1685)
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Revoked the Edict of Nantes
Protestantism now illegal in France
Over 200,000 Huguenots were forced to flee
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Dragonnades terrorizing French Protestants
Wars of Louis XIV
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Louis had two objectives throughout his reign:
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Louis wanted both internal success and international
glory
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Diminish the power of the Habsburgs
Promote royal interests
He wanted to show how powerful he was to the rest of
Europe
From 1661 to 1715, France almost constantly at war
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The War of Devolution (1667-68)
Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678)
War of the League of Augsburg (1688-1697)
War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713)
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Maria Theresa
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Queen of France
The War of Devolution (1667-68)
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In 1665, King Philip IV of Spain died
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Part of his inheritance was Brabant
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He was succeeded by his son, Charles II
Louis argued that Charles II could not inherit this province
Local law prevented it
It should “devolve” to the first wife’s daughter: Maria Theresa
Charles refused
Louis invaded the Spanish Netherlands in 1667
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Spain was weak and ill-equipped
French troops dominated in the beginning
The United Netherlands did not like this
The War of Devolution (1667-68)
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Triple Alliance (1668)
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Louis did not have the troops to face the Triple Alliance
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (May 2, 1668)
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Between Netherlands, England, and Sweden
None were comfortable with Louis controlling the Spanish
Netherlands
The Spanish Netherlands returned to Spain
France got very little territory
Louis felt betrayed by the Dutch
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The French had helped the Dutch gain independence
He believed the Dutch should have shown him some loyalty
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William III
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Prince of Orange
(1650-1702)
Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678)
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Treaty of Dover (1670)
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In 1672, Louis invaded the Spanish Netherlands
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Pushed the French out by 1673
Treaty of Nijmegen (August 10, 1678)
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England provided naval support
He quickly overtook three of the seven Dutch provinces
Dutch led by William III of Orange
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England would help France get the Spanish Netherlands
France would help bring back Catholicism
Negotiated due to financial strain
France received Franche-Comté and a few cities
William of Orange becomes the leader of resistance
against Louis
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Emperor Leopold I
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(1658-1705)
War of the League of Augsburg
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In 1680s, Louis turned his attention to Germany
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League of Augsburg (1686)
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Wanted to exert his influence over the states in the Rhine
Organized by Emperor Leopold I
Designed to protect the Rhine against an invasion by Louis
Included a number of German states as well as Sweden and
Spain
Two well matched armies:
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France had had the most powerful army in Europe and his navy
was far superior than the Dutch and English navies combined
Leopold had been successfully defeating the Turks in Austria
War of the League of Augsburg
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In September 1688, Louis sent troops into the Rhine
William became king of England in January 1689
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The war spread throughout the world
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He joined the League
Most was fought on continental Europe
In the Americas it was known as King William’s War
It was mostly a war of attrition
Treaty of Ryswick (September 20, 1697)
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France was able to keep some territory, including Alsace
All territory seized in the Rhine went back to pre-war borders
France had to recognize William as the legitimate king of
England
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Charles II of Spain
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(1665-1700)
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Lineage of Charles II of Spain
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Habsburg Family Lineage
The Problem of Spanish Succession
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Controversy over Spanish throne in 1690s
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Negotiations began to protect the balance of power
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Charles II had no direct heir to the throne
The next person in line was Louis’ son, Louis le grand dauphin
Third in line was the Habsburg Emperor Leopold I
First Partition Treaty(1698)
In 1698, the First Partition Treaty was signed
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Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria designated as heir to the throne
Charles agreed to this
Joseph Ferdinand died in 1699 of smallpox
The Problem of Spanish Succession
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Second Partition Treaty (1700)
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Charles died on November 1, 1700
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Throne would go to Leopold’s second son, Archduke Charles
of Austria
Part of this agreement included having Italy go to France
Charles did not like it as it meant dividing Spanish territory
In his will, Charles selected Philip of Anjou as his heir
Philip was grandson of Louis XIV
He would have to renounce all claims to the French throne
He also had to keep the Spanish empire in tact
Philip took the throne as Philip V
War of the Spanish Succession
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Louis invaded the Spanish Netherlands in 1701
Most of Europe participated in the war
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The war was fought mainly in the Low Countries and
Germany
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On one side was Spain and France
On the other was Leopold, England, the Dutch, and Austria
Casualties were high on both sides (~400,000 were killed)
Also fought in the Americas as Queen Anne’s War
From the beginning, France was losing most of the battles
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In 1708, Louis was on the verge of defeat
Began negotiations with other side
War of the Spanish Succession
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Alliance wanted Louis to use French troops to oust Philip
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On April 17, 1711, Emperor Joseph I died
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This was Archduke Charles’ older brother
Charles was now the Holy Roman Emperor (Charles VI)
The balance of power was once again threatened
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He refused
If the alliance won, Charles would have both the Empire and
Spain
Each of the members began negotiating separate treaties
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They were collectively known as the Peace at Utrecht
Peace at Utrecht (1713)
It set down the following:
 Philip V would remain King of Spain and all its colonies
 Philip renounced any claims to the French throne for him
or any of his descendants
 Charles VI received the Spanish Netherlands and Naples
 France would give England:
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Hudson Bay Company in North America
Caribbean island of St. Kitt’s
England would receive the right from Spain to transport
and sell slaves from Africa to Spanish America
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This made them the principle slave traders in the Americas
End of Louis XIV’s Reign
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Aftermath of the Treaty of Utrecht:
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Louis XIV died on September 1, 1715 of gangrene
He outlived:
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France’s power was diminished from the war
England emerged as the premiere naval power in Europe
Two main powers: France and England
The Netherlands began their decline
Spain was weakened even further by the war
His son Le Grand Dauphin (d. 1711)
Two grandsons and two great-grandsons
Louis of Anjou was heir to the throne
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He was Louis XIV five-year-old grandson
Brandenburg-Prussia
Rise of Brandenburg-Prussia
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Peace of Westphalia left a power vacuum in the HRE
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Brandenburg-Prussia included:
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The Duchy of East Prussia
The Margraviate of Brandenburg
The rulers came from the Hohenzollern family
Territories did not connect
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Brandenburg-Prussia will fill that void
Land was controlled by Sweden or Poland
This included Danzig
During the , Prussia acquires all this territory
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It becomes one of the most powerful countries in central
Europe
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Great Elector
Frederick William I
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(1640-1688)
Great Elector Frederick William I
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In 1640, Frederick William ascended to:
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He had three goals :
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Duke of Prussia
Elector of Brandenburg
Both territories were in bad shape from the Thirty Years’ War
Build up the agriculture and commerce
Build up his army to protect the country
Recapture territories lost during the Thirty Years’ War
To do this, he had to centralize the government
The nobility (Junkers) were going to be his biggest threat
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They still claimed special rights and privileges
Included controlling their own finances, administrations, judicial
systems, armies, and foreign affairs
Great Elector Frederick William I
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Frederick William made his own modus vivendi:
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Restructured the military
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They gave up their political power in their provincial EstatesGeneral
The Junkers would not have to pay taxes and have almost
complete control over their peasants
Prussia became a formidable military power
Attempts at expansion
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Wars against Sweden and France
He was unsuccessful
Did give the army valuable experience
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Great Elector
Frederick III
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(1688-1713)
Great Elector Frederick III
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Frederick was not physically strong
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He was not concerned with running the government
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He had been frail in health and was said to be physically
deformed
Put power in the hands of his ministers
Spent most of his time trying to imitate the court of Louis XIV
One of his main desires was to get the title of king
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However, this could not be accomplished legally
Brandenburg was inside the Holy Roman Empire
Prussia was technically part of Poland
Frederick was going to do whatever was necessary to get that
title
Great Elector Frederick III
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Frederick found that opportunity during the War of
Spanish Succession
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Emperor Leopold I wanted the help of the Prussian army
Frederick argued that he could be king as Prussia was never
part of the HRE
As part of their compromise, Frederick received the title of
King in Prussia
This title was used until 1772
Great Northern War (1700-1721)
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Joined forces with Russia against Sweden
Acquired western Pomerania
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King Frederick
William I
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(1713-1740)
King Frederick William I (1713-1740)
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Frederick William was also known as the “Potsdam
Fürher”
“I am going to place Prussian sovereignty on a rock of
bronze”
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Wanted Prussian independence from foreign subsidies
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He was an absolute monarch
Believed in divine right but said “salvation belongs to the Lord
and everything else is my affair”
Needed to make himself along with the country economical
Reformed the household accounts
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Fired all the court lackeys and pages
Sold the crown jewels to pay off the country’s debts
Gave his wife Sophia Dorothea a very small allowance for her
and their 14 children for living expenses
King Frederick William I (1713-1740)
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He developed commerce and industry
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He further centralized the government
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Placed on tariffs on foreign goods
Prohibited the exportation of raw materials
Created new industries to make Prussia more independent
Created the General Directory, the central authority of all his
territories
All territories were subordinate to the Directory
He was very strict with his underlings
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What was good for him was good for everybody else
Officials were fined if not in their offices by 5am
Would dock six months’ salary if missed an important meeting
King Frederick William I (1713-1740)
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Devoted to building up his army
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By 1740, Prussia was the third biggest military power
behind Russia and France
Frederick William did promote good health
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Started with only 38,000 paid for mostly with foreign subsidies
End of his reign, it was 83,000 and he had a huge war chest
Every year, his army was lined up and bled for “good health”
He was in front of that line each time
The Potsdam Giants
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This was his elite regiment and they could do no wrong
Had to be a least six feet tall to join
Many kings gave him gifts of tall men to get on his good side
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Maria Theresa
of Austria
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(1740-1780)
Maria Theresa (1740-1780)
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Austria had a slightly modified version of absolutism
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She was the first female heir in the entire Habsburg line
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It occurred during the reign of Maria Theresa
Because Austria followed Salic Law, her father Charles VI
needed to guarantee her succession
Pragmatic Sanction (1713)
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Issued by Emperor Charles VI
Guaranteed her the right for Maria Theresa to inherit the
Austrian throne and all of Charles’ lands
Most of the European countries accepted this
Maria Theresa (1740-1780)
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In 1740, Charles died
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Maria succeeded to the throne
Not everyone accepted her as monarch
Included France, Prussia, Bavaria, and Saxony
War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748)
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Began when Prussia invaded Silesia
Most of the major players of Europe were involved
One side was France and Prussia
The other Austria, Great Britain, and the United Netherlands
Fought in the colonies as King George’s War
Neither side had a clear advantage
Maria Theresa (1740-1780)
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Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)
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Prussia made out best, receiving Silesia from Austria
Austria also lost a number of duchies in Italy to Spain
France was forced to give up territory in the Netherlands but
did get back Cape Breton Island
Britain gave France back the fort of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia
Maria Theresa centralized the government
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She combined Austria and Bohemia into one administration
New departments were set up to administer both the
territories that answered directly to the monarchy
A supreme court was set up to handle all the judicial issues
Maria Theresa (1740-1780)
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She attempted to strengthen the economy
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She also set about reorganizing the military
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The army was increased twofold
She set up the Theresian Military Academy in 1751
She was not willing to make any radical reforms
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Only the monarch had the ability to collect taxes
Clergy and nobility now had to pay property and income taxes
She set up strict tariffs on all imports
She was staunchly Catholic and very conservative
When her husband died in 1765, she named her son
Joseph as her co-ruler
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Peter I
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(1689-1725)
Peter the Great (1689-1725)
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Russia needed a warm water port
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Peter decided to go against the Turks
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Baltic was controlled by Sweden
Black Sea was controlled by the Ottoman Turks
Attempted to take Fort Azov in the summer of 1695
That failed horribly
Over that winter, he built up a navy
By June 1696, he was able to take Azov with 30 ships
He still could not gain full access to the Black Sea without
a full navy
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Russia’s first navy was put into motion in October 1696
Peter the Great (1689-1725)
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Great Embassy (1697)
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Peter wanted help from Europe to defeat the Turks
Traveled throughout Europe as a member of the Embassy, not
“tsar”
Hoped to get a better view into the customs and traditions of
western Europe
The Embassy failed at securing any aid
He learned a lot about ship building and running a navy from
both the Dutch and English
In June 1698, the Streltsy revolted
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They wanted to place Sophia back into power
Peter had to return to Russia
Peter the Great (1689-1725)
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The revolt had been put down by the time Peter returned
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Peter ordered that entire Streltsy be destroyed
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However, he was not satisfied with the results
Only 57 had been executed and the rest ordered into exile
From September 1698 to February of 1699, roughly 1,200
Streltsy were executed
Most of those bodies were left either gibbeted outside the
Kremlin or unburied where they were executed
An additional 600 were tortured and exiled
Even the families of the Streltsy were forced out of Moscow
Now Peter could focus on modernizing Russia
Peter the Great (1689-1725)
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He continued to reorganize the military
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Peasants were conscripted for 25-year terms
Goal: a standing army of over 200,000 men
Improved on the navy
He made a few governmental reforms
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Centralized the government
Replaced the Duma with ten Departments of State
Set up new provinces and governors and councils to run them
Nobility and non-nobility were able to hold positions in the
government and gain rank through achievement
Peter the Great (1689-1725)
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He made numerous economic reforms based on
mercantilism
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He had new industries created and expanded old ones
Collect raw materials from untouched sources inside of Russia
He would conscript peasants to work in factories to help
boost commerce
His changes did end feudalism in some areas
In tsar-owned areas, the peasants were considered state
peasants and owned by the tsar
He made educational reforms
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He built elementary, military, and vocational schools
He also simplified the Russian alphabet by removing eight
letters and changing the forms of others
Peter the Great (1689-1725)
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Peter’s biggest impact was his cultural reforms
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He forced Russian men to shave their beards
He had tailors design clothes that looked more European
Those to refused to wear short sleeves would have their
sleeves cut
He taught people western dancing
He adopted the Julian calendar
Peter turned his attention back to his warm water port
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He knew it would be hard to keep control of Azov
He turned his attentions back to the Baltic Sea
The region was under the control of Charles XII of Sweden
Peter the Great (1689-1725)
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Great Northern War (1700-1721)
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Between Russia and Sweden
Russia captured the Gulf of Finland in 1703
Set up the city of St. Petersburg as a new capital city
In 1708, Charles invaded Russia to capture Moscow
Scorched earth policy
When winter set in, Charles’ army took a hard hit
Peace of Nystadt (1721) gave Russia warm weather ports on
the Baltic Sea
Peter was now a major player in Europe
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It came at a huge cost
Peter the Great (1689-1725)
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Many in Russia were not happy
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In 1725, Peter named his wife, Catherine, to be co-ruler
and heir to the throne
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Taxes were increased over 500% during his reign
Nobility upset they had to work for their positions and rank
Even his son, Alexei, fled Russia in 1716
Supposedly wanted to be a monk instead of tsar
When Alexei returned to Russia he was tortured and
sentenced to death
He believed that Salic Law was outdated
Peter died on January 28, 1725
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He developed gangrene in his bladder
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Charles II
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(1660-1685)
Charles II (1660-1685)
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Not all countries embraced absolutism
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United Provinces of the Netherlands remained a republic
England kept a mixed monarchy
In 1660, Charles II assumed the throne of England
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He had to do so under certain conditions
He was raised a Catholic but he was required to rule as a
Protestant king
He was required to accept a constitutional monarchy
He agreed to observe both the Magna Carta (1215) and the
Petition of Right (1628)
Charles II (1660-1685)
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With his ascension, the entire mood of England changed
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Many members of court were glad to see the end of Puritan
control
His court became the center for sexuality with risqué behavior,
dancing, and theater
Thus he earned the nickname the “Merrie Monarch”
One of the first things he did was to try those who had
been responsible for his father’s execution
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Those who were alive were tried and executed
Oliver Cromwell’s body was dug up, drawn and quartered, and
his head put on the end of a pike in front of Westminster
Abbey until 1685
His head was not buried until 1960
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The mummified
head of Oliver
Cromwell
Domestic Policies
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There was still some tension between the king and
Parliament
Cavalier Parliament (1661-1679)
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It was heavily royalist but wanted to limit the power of the king
The focus of this parliament was religion
Specifically they wanted to limit the threat of the nonconformist (radical Protestant) groups
Lord Chancellor, Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, put
together a series of religious laws known as the Clarendon
Codes
They made it difficult for non-conformists to meet and worship
Domestic Policies
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Then, in 1665 to 1666, London was hit with two major
disasters
The Great Plague of London (July 1665-September 1666)
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It killed between 75,000 and 100,000 people which was 1/5 of
London’s population
At one point 7,000 were dying a week
The Great Fire of London (September 2-5, 1666)
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It destroyed the homes of 70,000 of London’s 80,000
inhabitants
It did, however, have the benefit of ending the plague
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Great Fire of London (September 2-5, 1666)
Charles’ Foreign Policy
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Charles’ foreign policy began to negatively impact his
relationship with Parliament
England became involved in two wars with the Dutch
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Both were attempts to end the Dutch domination of world
trade, especially in the New World
In one instance, the Dutch fleet was able to sail up the Thames
River and destroy most of the English fleet
In the end, England lost both wars
In 1668, England joined the Triple Alliance against Louis
XIV in the War of Devolution


England was pressured into it by the Dutch
Even though Louis conceded, it was not a popular war with
Parliament
Charles’ Foreign Policy

Treaty of Dover (1670)





England would help France conquer the Spanish Netherlands
France would provide 6,000 troops and £200,000 to help bring
back Catholicism to England
Louis did not trust Charles’ desire to convert England
He was more interested in the military benefits that England
could provide
Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672-1674)


This was part of the Franco-Dutch War
After a series of failures, Parliament forced the king to
negotiate a peace with the Dutch in 1674
Charles’ Clash With Parliament

Parliament was afraid that Charles would do two things:



In 1669, a rumor spread that Charles wanted to openly
convert to Catholicism



Change his policies to favor Catholicism
Become a more absolutist style of monarch
Part of this included bringing Catholicism back to England
However, there is no proof that Charles planned on officially
converting before 1685
Royal Declaration of Indulgence (1672)



It suspended the restrictions on the recusants
It also removed the criminal laws against being a recusant
Parliament forced Charles to withdraw it
Charles’ Clash With Parliament

Parliament felt threatened by Charles’ actions

Test Acts of 1673 and 1678





Designed to keep England moderate Anglican
Aimed at Catholics (only 2% of the total population)
All public officials were required to denounce transubstantiation and
take oaths of allegiance and supremacy
They were also to receive communion in the Anglican church within
three months of their appointment
Another issue was the line of succession



Charles’ wife was unable to give birth to an heir
Her pregnancies ended in either miscarriage or stillbirth
Charles had 14 illegitimate children through his mistresses

Catherine of
Braganza


Queen Consort
(1662-1685)
Problems with Succession

Next was Charles’ brother, James Duke of York



Exclusion Bills (1679-1681)



Parliaments attempted to ban James from succession
Charles dissolved each Parliament to prevent its passage
Parliament split into two parties



He had openly converted to Catholicism in 1668
This made him unpopular as the next in line
Whig – Favored exclusion
Tory – Supported James in line for the throne
On February 6, 1685 Charles died of renal failure

On his deathbed, he converted to Catholicism

James II

(1685-1688)
James II (1685-1688)

When James ascended to the throne in 1685, he had two
very distinct aims:



Monmouth’s Rebellion (1685)





Make himself the absolute monarch of England
Reestablish the Catholic Church in England
Some Protestants began rallying around James Duke of
Monmouth
He was one of Charles’ illegitimate sons
The rebellion was quickly and violently put down
Monmouth was executed in elaborate fashion
James used this opportunity to raise a large army

Included placing Catholics in high military positions
James II (1685-1688)

Parliament visibly opposed this move



In 1686, James replaced many members of the Court of
King’s Bench



James suspended Parliament in November 1685
He never called it again for the remainder of his reign
Their rulings allowed the king to excuse certain people from
the oath required in the Test Acts
Now Catholics could hold positions in government, including
high offices and positions in the Anglican Church
Also that year, a papal nuncio was appointed to England

This was the first one since the reign of Queen Mary
James II (1685-1688)

On April 4, 1687, James issued the Declaration of
Indulgence





It suspended all punishments for recusants
People were now permitted to worship any religion other than
Church of England
It eliminated the religious oaths for public officials
It essentially negated the Test Acts
Why did the people of England not revolt against James?



He was old
The two children by his first wife, Mary and Anne, had been
raised Protestant
His second wife, Mary of Modena, had not produced any
children
James II (1685-1688)

Protestants had already contacted William III of Orange



On June 10, 1688 Queen Mary gave birth to a son


He was married to Princess Mary, the heir presumptive
William and Mary were to take the throne when James died
There was now a male heir who was to be raised Catholic
On June 30, nobles contacted William and Mary




They promised him military aid if they were to come to
England to depose of James
James heard about this but was not concerned
He believed his army was powerful enough army to repel such
an invasion
He did not to anything additional to prevent it

Mary of Modena


Queen Consort
(1685-1688)
The “Glorious Revolution”

On November 5, 1688, William arrived in England




James fled to France (December 23)


William allowed James to escape
No blood was shed in England


“Protestant winds” prevented the English navy from attacking
the landing party
He had between 18,000-21,000 man army
When he landed he was greeting with popular support
There were, however, battles fought in Ireland and Scotland
Parliament now got its limited monarchy
The “Glorious Revolution”


Convention Parliament confirmed the succession of Mary
and William to the throne
Declaration of Right (February 13, 1689)




It stated that James, “by the assistance of diverse evil
counselors, judges, and ministers employed by him, did
endeavor to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion and
the laws and liberties of this kingdom”
William and Mary were the legitimate monarchs as James
vacated the throne
Stipulated that if any member of the royal house converts or
marries a Catholic, they will be excluded from inheriting the
throne
Both had to agree to the terms of the Declaration if they were
to take the throne
The “Glorious Revolution”

Bill of Rights (1689)







Parliament’s approval was required for keeping a standing army
and raising taxes
Free elections of Parliamentary members without interference
from the monarchy
Guaranteed freedom of speech inside Parliament
Protected the Protestants from another Catholic monarch
All monarchs must swear an oath on coronation day to uphold
the Protestant religion
Confirmed succession through Mary’s line, not her father’s
If Mary did not have any children, the throne would be passed
on to her Protestant sister, Anne