Enlightened Despots

General Characteristics of Enlightened Rulers

• somehow religiously tolerant

• apply reason

• open-minded, open to new ideas

• no divine right

• lots of anti-torture

• pro-education

• had the idea of serving the state

• all worked to further their own power

• glorification of philosophes

• strengthened bureaucracy

• keep people happy = no revolt

Frederick II of Prussia

• "first servant of the state"
• got Silesia (War of Austrian Succession → defied Pragmatic Sanction; Seven Years War → defend Silesia from Austria) which doubled their population and made them a major European power
• religiously tolerant to Christians
• abolished torture
• simplified laws
• judges dealt with cases quickly and impartially
• improved schools
• introduced elementary education BUT did not take full form (to the lower classes) until after his death
• allowed scholars to publish findings freely
• promoted agriculture and industry
• cameralism: monarchy is the best government, all elements of society serve the monarch, state uses resources and authority to improve society
• was behind the Polish Partition which split up Poland without war
• more bureaucratic government (with cameralism)
• did not abolish serfdom
• extended privileges of nobility
• military related caste system still existed → Junkers were top caste
• no colonies
• continued use of military (constant war) hurt his people (nearly all dead), devoted to rebuilding his people in old age

Joseph II of Austria

• "revolutionary emperor"
• abolished serfdom
• was a radical reformer
• religiously tolerant to Jews → allowed them to integrate into society
• benefited from the Polish Partition
• combined old state-building with Enlightenment
• equal punishment for equal crimes in all social classes (a noble and peasant commit the same crime, they get the same sentence)
• removed Jesuits from positions of power → lessons the influence of the Catholic Church
• eliminating many religious holidays → lessons the influence of the Catholic Church
• reducing number of monasteries → lessons the influence of the Catholic Church
• more bureaucratic government
• smoothed out provincial differences
• revamped tax system, taxing even nobles land (previously exempt)
• reduced power of lords over serfs
• partially freed peasant tenants
• had a secret police who fact checked everything, monitored public opinion, what the public thought
• his mother Maria Teresa kept her throne, but lost Silesia in two wars: the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War
• 1789: decreed that peasants could pay landlords in cash rather than labor BUT peasants did nt like this because they didn't have cash
• Leopold II his brother reversed all of his reforms to re-establish order after his death at 49 → reforms shortlived
• no colonies

Catherine II (the Great) of Russia

• a German princess (mom had connection to Romanovs), but goes to the church to bleed the German out of her when she converts to the Russian Orthodox Church → really wants to be seen as Russian
• married her Peter III at 15, had her lover (and his brothers) kill her husband in 1762
• seized power in a coup and had a big coronation
• tried free the serfs before the Pugachev Rebellion
• westernized culture (imported Western architects, musicians, intellectuals, art, patronized philosophes) and continued Peter the Great's reforms
• created the Pale of Settlement (territory made of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus) where Jews had to live outside Russia
• offered to fund us and publish Diderot's Encyclopedia in St. Petersburg
• was a HUGE expansionist
• fights the Ottomans → got a colony on the Black Sea called New Odessa
• expands out to Alaska down to the Black Sea and to Poland
• funds Voltaire
• writes plays to shape noble culture
• freed nobles from tax and state service (post Pugachev)
• improved education up to university level
• sponsored art: Hermitage
• sponsored Russian ballet
• created a legal code
• restricted torture
• had a legislative assembly
• created a "Charter of the Nobility" → they liked that
• nobles had absolute control of serfs (post Pugachev)
• used men to cement her power
• encouraged elites to challenge culture
• benefited from the Partition of Poland
• gets Mongol and Crimean Tartars
• begins the conquest of the Caucasus
• not religiously tolerant to Jews
• reacted to the Pugachev Rebellion by extending serfdom to Ukraine, ending human rights

Peter III

• husband of Catherine II (the Great)
• came to power during the Seven Years War and withdrew troops from coalition against Prussia because he admired Frederick II → was very unpopular for this
• found a rat in the palace, put it on trial, executed it for treason → bit crazy
• wanted to divorce Catherine + confine her to convent → Catherine did NOT like this, how dare you get in the way of my ambition?
• Catherine formed a conspiracy to depose him (she only cared about crown, not him) and benefitted from his unpopularity
• in 1762, Gregory Orlov (Catherine's lover) and his 3 brothers (all army officers) murdered this man but officially he had died of hemorrhoids
• Catherine became Empress of Russia after his death

Pugachev's Rebellion

• 1773: a Cossack soldier, Pugachev, sparked an uprising of serfs
• Pugachev claimed he was the true tsar, he issued order abolishing serfdom, taxes, and army service
• thousands joined this, slaughtering landlords + officials and burning their homes all over southwestern Russia
• but Pugachev's forces were no match for Catherine's professional army
• Pugachev was betrayed by his own company, tortured and brutally executed (drawn and quartered)
• put an end to any intentions Catherine had about reforming the system and improving peasant's life

Partition of Poland (1772-1795)

• 1768-1772: Catherine's armies had many victories against Ottomans threatened to disturb the balance of power between Russia and Austria in Eastern Europe

• 1772: war between Russia and Austria because Austria felt threatened by Russia's gains from Ottoman Empire

• Frederick II of Prussia took a diplomatic approach and proposed that large parts of Poland be divided among Prussia, Austria and Russia in 1772

• in 1793 and 1795, Prussia, Russia, Austria once again partitioned the remainder of Poland and the republic of Poland ceased to exist