History 1020 - TRISLER - EXAM 2

absolutism

concentrate power under one king; emerged due to peoples exhaustion of religious disputes in the 1600s.; a government in which the full power of the state is centralized into the hands of a singular authority whether its a king, queen, emperor, monarch, prince, etc.

2 institutions the king fighting for power with

nobility/aristocracy

corporate institutions: roman catholic church, municipal gov’t, local legislatures

two ways absolutism is justified

divine right; firm belief that kings are chosen by god and rule bc god allows it

age of religious warfares → strong centralized gov’t can prevent future bloodshed due to religious wars

absolutism as it emerged

emerged due to religious warfare/french monarchy is weak; bloodshed, famine, plague, anarchy

Francis II

• 1st son

• crowned at 15 years old

• terrible health

• has regency to rule for him until he becomes of age

• 1 year reign → dies at 16 years old

Charles IX

• 2nd son

• crowned at 10 years old

• has a regency to rule until he becomes of age

• mentally diseased/disturbed, tuberculosis

• dies after a 14 year reign, no offspring

Henry III

• 3rd son

• crowned after brother dies

• liked to cross dress

• assassinated by a dominican monk/friar

Henry of Navarre/King Henry IV

hugenot/french calvinist; signed edict of nantes; 3 step plan to rebuilding france; built stronger centralization in france

King Henry IV 3 step plan to rebuilding france

• 1. end the religious wars in france

• 2. solve the religious issue that caused the wars in the first place; becomes catholic

• 3. issuing the edict of nantes

edict of nantes

• roman catholic church is the official church of france

• granted hugenots religious civil and political rights; does NOT grant fully religious privileges

Cardinal Richeliue

• Hired to help the young King Louis XIII (9 years old in 1610)

• 1624: Named the King’s First Minister

• Restore the power of the monarchy

Richeliue’s 3 objectives

• Phase 1: Undermine the Huguenots

  • Peace treaty is signed; granted Huguenots complete and total religious freedom; relatively generous; huguenots lose their political and military independence

• Phase 2: Undermine the French nobility

  • richelieu employs network of spys to spy on noble men

  • establish a special tribunal

  • outlaws public dueling; montmorency is put of trial for dueling and is sentenced to death; botched execution to make a statement

• Phase 3: Restore France’s reputation

  • enters france in the 30 years war; plan successful

Crisis of the 17th Century

• Problem #1: Religion - Protestant v. Catholics

• Problem #2: Economics:

  • stagnation - very little economic growth

  • inflation - everything becoming more expensive

• Problem #3: Constitutional issues with absolutism

3 manifestations of the 17th century

1. The Holy Roman, Empire and the 30 Years War

2. The Fronde

Defenestration of Prague

• 2 catholic advisors are kidnapped and survive being thrown out of a window; caused massive rebellion between catholics and protestants

• May 1618: Capital City of Prague

King Ferdinand of Bohemia

Intolerant catholic; become emperor of the Holy Roman Empire; spain joins 30 years wa; spain and the holy roman empire v. german nobles, denmark, sweden,

The Peace of Westphalia(1648)

• 1: brings end to spain as a dominant european power

• 2: france becomes the dominating powerhouse

• 3: holy roman empire weaker than its ever been; treaty broke up the holy roman empire into 300 semi-independent states all under control of the holy roman emperor

• 4: effectively reaffirmed the peace of Augsburg; they can decide what religion is under their control

3 problems w/ the regency faced w/ Anne of Austria

• Problem #1: Anne and Mazarin(new cardinal) were foreigners

• Problem #2: France in economic depression from 30 Years War

• Problem #3: Lots of resentment for the King because of Richelieu

The Fronde(1648)

• breaks out in rebellion

• causes Mazarin to leave france twice

• Mazarin was able to keep most of Richelieu’s policies

• Mazarin gives a well-established monarchy to the young King

• The Fronde has a huge impact on the Reign of King Louis XIV

The Great Power System

• England

• France

• Austria

• Russia

• Prussia

great britain

• emerges as strong power after english civil war

• united under king charles II

• colonization

• powerful naval states

france

3 aspects of louis xiv reign

• control his nobility

  • new nobility class: nobles of the robe(purchase ranks from louis xiv)

  • nobles of the sword: traditional nobles

• reforms french army

  • follows king not the nobility

  • paid for by the king

  • mostly permanent institution

• restores french reputation

  • france is at war 65% of the time

results of the wars of louis xiv

• austria emerges as freat “german state”

• dutch republic in decline

• great britain emerges rich and powerful

• french economy exhausted

austria

• emerges from holy roman empire

• ottoman emprie moves in

• lays siege to vienna(july 1683)

peace of karlowitz(1699)

• peace treaty of austia and ottoman empire

• austria gets control hungary

prussia

only nobility control over taxation

junkers will serve general

prussia second biggest army

russia

• Russia was different from the West; untouched by the renaissance, reformation, scientific revolution

• Russia wants access to a warm water port: The Baltic Sea or the Black Sea; Russia has been cut off from warm water ports/access

• Russia fights the Ottomans and get their asses kicked

• Russia fights Sweden and Poland with better results

• The Great Northern War is fought until 1721

• Peter the Great obtained land along the Baltic Sea

• Built a new capital St. Petersburg

The enlightenment

• dominated every aspect of European light from cultural to political to social to intellectual

• tested and strained by the American and French Revolution

• inspired an explosion in art, music, opera, and literature

• challenged the old regime - status quo that has dominated Europe in the past years; persons station of life was already determined at birth in old regime

• more focused on science, reason, philosophy

John Locke

• Two Treatises on Government

• Life, Liberty, and Property

• Consent of the Governed - the people give their gov’t legitimacy

• A political contract - gives justification for rebellion

Charles de Montesquieu

• The Spirit of the Laws

• Separation of powers: executive, legislative, judicial

• is work heavily suppressed, bc its dangerous to the crown

• heavily influenced the Framers of the U.S. constitution

Rousseaus

• The Social Contract

• The governed should give up their will, their own self interest

• The general will of the people was sovereign

• Popular sovereignty, wants democracy

• work threaten kings legitimacy, direct cut to status quo

Voltaire

• Candide

• Moving Spirit of the Enlightenment

• Three subjects of importance:

  • Freedom of Expression - allow free thinking and speech

  • Civil Liberties - due process, anti-authoritarian gov’t

  • religious toleration - attacks the Catholic Church for its excesses

Two final points of the enlightment

• is NOT a single comprehensive movement; more accurate to say it was a set of attitudes

• no agreement for when the enlightenment will come to an end

four major factors of the french revolution

• First Factor: Antagonism among French social classes

  • First Estate: The Clergy(exempt from taxation, owns the most land in France)

  • Second Estate: The Nobility

    • Nobles of the Robe(occupy most important roles in France, purchased roles)

    • Nobles of the Sword(resentful of the robes bc they bought their titles)

  • Third Estate: Everyone else

    • those who have the least are taxed the most

    • upper class not paying taxes

    • first and second state want to prevent third from rising

• Second factor: The ideals of the Enlightenment

  • The Old Regime is a moral outrage

  • Kings, Nobles, and society are unjust but can be fixed

  • American Revolution was proof that rebellion can work

  • Marquis de Lafayette, influenced by the American Revolution

• Third Factor: Deepening Financial Crisis

  • Four elements of French Financial Disaster

    • Massive public debt due to years of warfare

    • Poor harvests - causes price of bread to skyrocket

    • Unemployment was rampant

    • City of Paris - Spring 1789, outbreaks of violence

• Fourth Factor: The character of King Louis XVI

King Louis XVI

• lacks a backbone

• Nobility always got their way when the King pushed back

• King Louis XVI influenced by his wife Marie Antoinette

• Also influenced by numerous advisers

The Estates General

• 14th century institution: only institution the french nobility says have the right to tax them; doesn’t have a lot of power; made to take power away from the king; people wanted estates general to act similar to British Parliament

17 June 1789

• Third Estate quits the Estates General

• The third estate create the national assembly

Tennis Court Oath(July 1789)

• not disband until a constitution was written for france

• Done in defiance of the King and the privileged orders

• Paris atmosphere is electrically charged!!

• 27 June 1789 - King Louis XVI granted a limited constitution

First Phase of the French Revolution: The Bastille: Prison and armory

• July 14, 1789 - french people storm the Bastille for guns

• fighting ensues; King Louis XVI removed troops from Paris

• storming the Bastille saved the National Assembly

• August 4, 1789: National Assembly abolishes old system

  • abolished tith, simony, feudalism, nobles being exempt from taxation

Second Phase of the French Revolution: dominated by the upper middle classes

• constitution of 1791: limited Constitutional Monarchy

• legislative assembly created replaces the National Assembly

• equality before the law

• catholic church influence was undermined

• civil constitution of the clergy

• June 1791: King Louis tries to escape france; captured in Varnnes

• Prussia and Austria issue Declaration of Pillnitz

• france declared war

Third Phase of the French Revolution: dominated by lower middle classes, more violent

• disillusionment grows

• france not doing great in the war

• king louis xvi’s family imprisoned due to treasony

• found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed

• September 21, 1792: the monarchy is abolished, france is now a monarchy

• bread prices are still rising

• france is being ganged up against

Declaration of Pillnitz

Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and King Frederick William II of Prussia that warned French revolutionaries to restore King Louis XVI's power, making military intervention conditional on the unanimous support of all major European powers

Brunswick Manifesto

demanded the immediate release of King Louis XVI, restoration of the French monarchy to full power, and an end to revolutionary anarchy

Reign of Terror

• a violent and radical period of the French Revolution

• Maxiumum Robespirre

Comittee of Public Safety

• protecting the new French Republic against its foreign and domestic enemies,

• fighting the First Coalition

• suppressing internal revolts like the Vendée revolt

Maximilien Robespierre

• most influential figures of the French Revolution

• campaigned for the voting rights of all men and their unimpeded admission to the National Guard

• stripped suspects of the right to a public trial or legal assistance

• refused to end terror which led to increased fear of him turning on other people, led to his executions