Comprehensive Notes on World History in 1750, Despotism, and the Enlightenment
Global Overview and Western Europe in 1750
Global Connectivity:
By the mid-eighteenth century (c. 1750), the world had become vastly more interconnected than in previous centuries.
Increased international contact required diverse cultures across the globe to engage with foreigners and foreign trade networks, whether willingly or involuntarily.
Western European Rivalries and Conflict:
The political dynamics of Western Europe were defined by an intensifying imperial and economic rivalry between Great Britain and France, combined with the expanding territorial ambitions of Eastern European monarchies.
This competitive environment sparked major global and continental wars during the mid-18th century, including:
The Great Northern War ()
The War of the Austrian Succession ()
The Seven Years' War ()
Conflict spurred rapid innovations in military organization, strategy, technology, and international diplomacy.
The Triangular Trade and Economic Expansion:
Britain and France dominated the lucrative transatlantic Triangle of Trade:
European manufactured goods were exchanged in Africa for enslaved humans.
Enslaved Africans were forcibly transported to North America and the Caribbean.
Raw materials (such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton) were shipped back to Europe.
The massive capital accumulation generated by this trade served as a key financial catalyst for:
An Agricultural Revolution, which increased crop yields and supported unprecedented population growth.
The creation of a widespread system of rural manufacturing (the cottage industry or putting-out system).
Collapse of Feudal Economic Systems:
Advances in agricultural and industrial production dismantled the remaining structures of medieval economic and social organization:
Manorialism (the medieval economic system of self-sufficient manorial estates).
Feudalism (the social and political hierarchy based on land tenure and vassalage).
European peasants and traditional urban guild artisans were progressively transformed into a landless class of wage laborers.
Emergence of the Modern State and Balance of Power:
The modern international state system originated with the Peace of Westphalia in .
The expanding hegemony and aggressive expansionism of France under King Louis XIV threatened this fragile state system.
France was successfully contained through the War of the Spanish Succession, the Treaty of Utrecht (), and the death of Louis XIV in .
By , European statesmen explicitly practiced the diplomatic art of balancing power with power:
The dominant or aggressive state was actively contained through defensive coalitions and counter-alliances.
Wars in the 18th century were conducted for limited political objectives using established rules of engagement rather than total destruction.
The Diplomatic Revolution and Naval Supremacy:
Anglo-French rivalries centered on colonial domination in North America and India.
The Diplomatic Revolution of the 18th Century:
During the War of the Austrian Succession, France was allied with Prussia, while Great Britain was allied with Austria.
By the Seven Years' War, a complete reversal occurred: France allied with its historic enemy, Austria, while Great Britain partnered with Prussia.
Following the conclusion of the Seven Years' War in , Great Britain defeated France in both North America and India, emerging as the dominant global naval empire.
Shift Toward Industrialization:
The accumulation of capital from colonial trade and agricultural efficiency created social pressures that laid the structural groundwork for the Industrial Revolution.
Originating in Great Britain, industrialization subsequently spread eastward across continental Europe.
Despotism and Absolutism in Political Theory
Etymological and Historical Definitions:
Despotism: A political system in which a single entity—the "despot"—rules with absolute, unrestricted power.
The term derives from the Greek despotes, meaning "master" or "one with power."
A despotism can manifest as an autocracy (ruled by a single individual) or an oligarchy (ruled by a small group).
Classical Despotism: Characterized by a single ruler embodying the entirety of the state, while all subjects remain subsidiaries. Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs serve as prime historical examples.
Modern Meanings: Contemporary usage associates despotism with:
Tyranny: Dominance exercised through the explicit threat of violence and punishment.
Dictatorship: Absolute rule unrestrained by constitutional law, legal precedents, or political opposition.
Montesquieu's Political Classification:
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, categorized government types based on geographic scale and legal structure:
Republics: Suitable for small territorial states.
Monarchies: Ideal for moderate-sized states, where a single monarch rules according to fixed, established, and fundamental laws.
Despotisms: Appropriate for large territorial empires, characterized by a ruler who governs arbitrarily according to individual will and caprice.
Enlightened Absolutism (Benevolent Despotism):
Prominent during the 18th century, enlightened absolutism occurred when absolute monarchs integrated Enlightenment principles into their governance.
Rulers utilized sovereign authority to enact administrative, judicial, educational, and economic reforms without surrendering their autocratic political power.
Imperial France: Absolute Monarchy under Louis XIV
Background to Centralization:
Late 16th-century France was torn apart by the French Wars of Religion between the Catholic majority and Protestant Huguenots.
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre (): Resulted in the murder of approximately Huguenots in Paris, symbolizing the complete breakdown of civil order.
Henry IV (reigned ):
Converted to Catholicism and issued the Edict of Nantes (), granting Huguenots religious toleration and political rights.
Centralized authority by expanding the royal bureaucracy and curtailing the power of regional nobles.
Henry IV was assassinated in by François Ravaillac.
Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu:
Cardinal Richelieu served as chief minister from , systematically expanding royal power.
Destroyed the fortified cities and military forces of the Huguenots.
Tied nobles to the royal court by distributing high-ranking administrative appointments.
The Rise of Louis XIV:
Louis XIV inherited the throne in at the age of .
The Fronde ():
A series of violent rebellions by nobles, merchants, and urban peasants seeking to curb royal authority.
Traumatized the young king after rioters forced him to flee Paris.
Shaped Louis XIV’s lifelong determination to establish absolute monarchy and eliminate independent aristocratic power.
Adopted the Sun as his personal emblem, signifying total, central authority over the state.
Governed without calling a meeting of the Estates General (the traditional representative assembly of the three estates) throughout his personal reign.
Administrative and Economic Systems:
Bypassed noble power by appointing middle-class intendants—royal administrative officials who collected taxes, recruited soldiers, and enforced royal decrees in the provinces.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (Controller-General of Finances):
Imposed strict mercantilist economic policies.
Cleared lands for agriculture, established state-regulated manufacturing, and instituted high protective tariffs on imported foreign goods.
Expanded overseas colonies in North America and regulated colonial trade to maximize bullion inflow.
Military Reforms of the Marquis de Louvois:
Louis XIV and his War Minister, the Marquis de Louvois, created one of the first professional national standing armies in Europe, addressing the unreliability and destructiveness of mercenary forces.
Core military reforms included:
Chain of Command: Established an administrative hierarchy from the Intendant de l'armée down to field marshals, generals, colonels, and captains.
Lieutenant Colonels: Appointed men of non-noble or humble origin to these professional positions to oversee noble officers, ensuring royal oversight.
Standardization: Introduced uniform equipment, standardized weaponry, and military drill to raise morale and efficiency.
Supply Lines: Created centralized supply depots, ending the practice of military foraging and protecting civilian populations from plunder.
Limits of Military Reforms:
Financial strain: At its peak, the army numbered men—representing nearly of the French population (well above the sustainable limit for pre-industrial states).
Corruption: The state was forced to sell military commissions during late-reign wars, which allowed wealthy, less competent individuals to secure officer ranks.
The Palace of Versailles:
Built outside Paris to escape the volatile urban populace and isolate the aristocracy.
Architectural scale: Features a facade 1/4 mile wide, a Hall of Mirrors measuring long, an Orangery containing over orange trees, and massive hydraulic pumps raising water from the Seine River to supply its fountains.
Social control: Nobles were compelled to reside at Versailles at their own expense, competing for meaningless court honors (such as the petit lever, the morning ritual of attending the king as he awoke and dressed).
Living conditions: Beyond the royal suites, accommodations for courtiers were cramped, unventilated, and unhealthy.
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes ():
Louis XIV viewed religious uniformity as necessary for state security, equating Protestantism with high treason.
Issued the Edict of Fontainebleau (), revoking the Edict of Nantes.
Outlawed Protestantism, resulting in the flight of over skilled Huguenot merchants, artisans, and officers to rival European states and English colonies.
Death and Legacy:
Louis XIV ruled for until his death in .
Sponsored the official French Academies, promoting a golden age of French classical drama, painting, architecture, and ballet.
His expansive, costly wars and extravagant palace construction left the French state burdened with debt, creating structural instabilities that contributed to the French Revolution in .
Eastern Europe and the Rise of Rival Powers
Prussian Militarism and Governance:
Frederick William I ():
Established a centralized administrative bureaucracy.
Built up a standing army, integrating the noble class (Junkers) into a professional officer corps.
Frederick II (the Great) (reigned ):
Ascended the throne in and immediately deployed the Prussian military to invade Silesia, a rich province held by Maria Theresa of the Austrian Habsburg Empire.
Doubled Prussia’s land area and population, establishing Prussia as a major European power.
Russian Expansion and Modernization:
Modernization efforts initiated by Peter the Great (reigned ) faltered during the early 18th century.
Power was restored under Catherine II (the Great) (reigned ):
Defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War ().
Secured the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (), extending Russia's southern borders to the Black Sea and the Balkan peninsula.
The Ottoman Empire: Structure, Expansion, and Decline
Territorial Extent and Nature of the Empire:
Founded in the late 13th century () by Uthman (an Uzbek leader of the Ottoman clan) following the collapse of the Seljuk Turk aristocracy in Asia Minor.
Conquered the Byzantine Empire, establishing its capital at Constantinople under Mehmet II in , which was renamed Istanbul ("city of Islam").
Reached its zenith under Suleiman the Magnificent (reigned ), extending across Southeastern Europe, Hungary, the Balkans, North Africa (Egypt, Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers), the Levant, and parts of Arabia.
Trade and Economic Importance:
Situated at the juncture of Europe, Asia, and Africa, controlling vital global trade routes.
Primary traded commodities included Chinese porcelain, silk, musk, rhubarb, spices (such as pepper), and dyes (such as indigo).
Economic policy centered on increasing the population of artisans and merchants through both incentives and forced resettlements of conquered peoples to Istanbul.
European flight following the fall of Constantinople ():
Greek scholars fled to Italy, stimulating the European Renaissance.
Ottoman control over land routes forced Western European nations to seek maritime trade routes to Asia, spurring voyages by Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, and Francis Drake.
Administrative and Social Hierarchy:
The Millet System:
Religious and ethnic minority communities were organized into semi-autonomous administrative units called millets.
The first Orthodox Christian millet was formally instituted in under the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople.
Religious minorities lived as dhimmis (protected non-Muslim subjects), paying a special tax (jizya), though specific groups performing state services were granted tax exemptions.
The Devshirme System:
Established in the 14th century, requiring conquered Christian communities (primarily in the Balkans) to hand over of their young male children as a tribute tax to the state.
Boys were forcibly converted to Islam, educated in state and palace madrasas, and assigned to state service as elite military troops or state administrators.
Devshirme candidates could attain high government ranks, including Grand Vizier (chief minister), or join the elite military corps of Janissaries.
Possessed high social status and wealth, but their positions remained legally uninherited, preventing hereditary aristocratic consolidation.
Dynastic and Imperial Practices:
Succession and Fratricide: Sultan Selim I formalized the policy of fratricide, where a new Sultan executed his brothers and nephews upon producing his first male heir to prevent civil war. In later centuries, royal rivals were confined to life imprisonment within palace quarters (the cage).
Topkapi Palace and the Harem:
Topkapi Palace in Istanbul served as the administrative and personal seat of the Sultan, holding sacred Islamic relics including the mantle, standard, and footprint of the Prophet Muhammad.
The Harem comprised over rooms housing concubines (often exceeding women) commanded by the Sultan, guarded exclusively by eunuchs.
Decline of the Empire:
Territorial Exploitation Model: The state utilized an exploitation model that extracted land resources to exhaustion before expanding into new territories. Halting territorial expansion triggered economic and structural decline.
Key Military Defeats:
Naval defeat at the Battle of Lepanto ().
Retreat after the Pruth River Campaign () against Russia, despite an initial victory following the defeat of King Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava ().
Territorial losses to Austria following the Austro-Turkish War ().
Decisive failure at the second Siege of Vienna ().
Institutional Decay: Imprisonment rather than governance training rendered 17th- and 18th-century Sultans incompetent, leading to administrative corruption, monetary inflation, and widespread unemployment.
Dissolution: The Ottoman Sultanate was officially abolished on November 1, , leading to the creation of the Republic of Turkey under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The Ottoman Caliphate was abolished on March 3, .
Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade
Internal Political Evolution:
The African continent experienced significant political restructuring during the 18th century.
Older Sudanic empires collapsed (such as Songhay, Western Sudanic states, and Christian Ethiopia).
Highly centralized, militarized, and feudal states emerged, including the empires of Asante, Dahomey, and Sakalava.
Religion: Traditional indigenous African religions coexisted alongside Islam (which expanded rapidly) and Christianity (which faced localized setbacks).
The Gun-Slave Cycle:
The introduction of European firearms—specifically the flintlock rifle—created a destructive conflict dynamic along the West African coast known as the gun-slave cycle.
African polities were compelled to acquire firearms via the exchange of captives to defend themselves or expand militarily.
This created an arms race where states had to "raid or be raided," driving militarization and mass capture across the region.
Demographics of the Transatlantic Slave Trade:
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, over individual slaving voyages were conducted.
Peak volume occurred during the 18th century, when an estimated enslaved Africans were forcibly transported across the Atlantic Ocean on journeys averaging over .
Geographic distribution of enslaved captives:
Caribbean: Approximately
Brazil: Approximately
North America: Approximately
The accumulation of capital from the slave trade and plantation agricultural production helped form the structural inequalities of the modern global economy.
South and East Asia in the 18th Century
India: Mughal Collapse and British Colonization:
Following the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in , the Islamic Mughal Empire experienced rapid political decline and territorial fragmentation.
Subcontinental instability was heightened by external invasions, notably by Nader Shah of Iran, alongside the rise of regional Hindu powers (such as the Maratha Confederacy).
The British East India Company (BEIC):
Phase 1 (Early 18th century): Operated purely as a coastal commercial trading entity.
Phase 2 (Mid-18th century onward): Engaged in military conflicts against the French East India Company and regional Indian rulers.
Anglo-French rivalries involved alliances with opposing political factions within local successor states.
Beginning in the , the BEIC waged direct territorial warfare, securing political governance and tax extraction rights over the rich province of Bengal following the Battle of Plassey ().
China: The Qing Dynasty:
Established in by invading Manchu nomads who overthrew the native Han Chinese Ming Dynasty, ruling until .
Emperor Kangxi (reigned ):
Ascended the throne at age .
Won over the Han scholar-gentry elite by adopting traditional Confucian governance methods modeled on Ming prototypes.
Emperor Qianlong (reigned ):
Expanded the Qing Empire to its greatest territorial extent, incorporating Manchuria, Mongolia, Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang.
Expressed a multiethnic ideology as a "Universal Ruler": portrayed as Manjusri (a reincarnation of a key Tibetan Buddhist bodhisattva) to Tibetans, a steppe prince to the Mongols, and a Confucian scholar-patron to the Han Chinese.
Late reign decline: Qianlong engaged in excessive luxury, permitted corruption under court favorites, and launched failed, costly military expeditions against Burma () and Vietnam, draining the imperial treasury and sparking the White Lotus Rebellion ().
Structure of the Qing Civil Bureaucracy:
Imperial Examination System:
A meritocratic civil service system based on rigorous examinations covering classic Confucian literature.
Exams were administered hierarchically at the county level, provincial level, and capital level.
Open to commoners, though preparation required family financial support; successful candidates formed the elite ruling bureaucracy.
The Rule of Avoidance:
To prevent corruption and nepotism, officials were forbidden from serving in their home provinces or adjacent neighboring provinces.
Officials were rotated to new administrative posts every .
Administrative Challenges:
Local administrative offices (yamen), headed by a local magistrate, formed the lowest tier of the imperial bureaucracy.
Rapid demographic growth caused the Chinese population to expand from approximately in the 1600s to by , reaching nearly by .
Consequently, a single magistrate was frequently responsible for administering over subjects.
Western Admiration:
European and American intellectuals praised the Chinese exam system and meritocracy, including Voltaire, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and British diplomat Thomas Taylor Meadows.
Japan: The Tokugawa Shogunate (Edo Period):
Governance Structure: The Baku-Han System:
Bakufu: The centralized national military government headed by the Shogun (officially Seii Taishōgun or "Barbarian-Conquering Generalissimo") based in Edo (modern Tokyo).
Emperor: Resided in Kyoto as a sacred, revered figurehead with nominal sovereignty, from whom the Shogun derived formal legitimacy.
Daimyo: Regional feudal lords ruling semi-autonomous territorial domains (han).
Categories and Qualifications of Daimyo:
Defined as a samurai lord possessing a domain with an annual productive capacity of at least of rice ().
Approximately active daimyo domains existed at any given time.
Mechanisms of Shogunal Control:
Alternate Attendance System (Sankin-kōtai): Mandated under the revised Regulations for Military Houses () by Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. Required daimyo to spend every other year residing in Edo attending the Shogun, while their wives and children remained in Edo as permanent hostages.
Financial Bleeding: Daimyo were forced to fund major state public works, maintenance of double residences, and grand movement processions to and from their domains, draining independent wealth.
Direct Control: The Bakufu maintained direct control over gold, silver, and copper mines, as well as principal urban centers (Edo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Nagasaki).
Social Class System:
Strict hereditary four-tier class structure: Samurai (warrior-bureaucrats at the top), followed by Peasants, Artisans, and Merchants.
Outcasts (Eta/Hinin), who performed occupations considered ritualistically impure, formed an uncounted fifth class.
Inter-class mobility was legally prohibited.
Isolation Policy (Sakoku):
Imposed via decrees issued between and by Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu to eradicate Christianity and foreign interference.
Foreign trade was restricted to Dutch and Chinese merchants operating under strict supervision at the artificial island port of Dejima in Nagasaki.
Travel abroad by Japanese subjects and the importation of Western books were banned (the book ban was relaxed in , allowing the study of Rangaku or "Dutch Learning").
Southeast Asia:
Dominated by mainland regional polities: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Siam (Thailand), and Burma.
Local dynasties successfully preserved sovereignty against early European merchant interests; Siam resisted European colonization entirely.
The Americas in 1750
North America:
Spanish Empire: Administered sparsely populated northern frontier regions extending from its viceroyalties in Mexico and South America into modern-day Florida, Texas, and the American Southwest.
French Empire (New France): Controlled vast interior territories along the St. Lawrence, Great Lakes, and Mississippi River basins, focusing primarily on the fur trade rather than dense agricultural settlement.
British Empire: Established Thirteen Atlantic coastal colonies with rapidly growing populations, centered on agricultural expansion, trade, and regional self-governance.
Central and South America:
Firmly partitioned between Portugal (governing Brazil) and Spain (governing the rest of Central and South America).
Economies were structured around plantation agriculture (sugar production) and extensive silver mining (such as the mines at Potosí and Zacatecas).
Colonial administration was tightly directed from Europe through viceroyalties, maintaining strict social hierarchies.
The Age of Enlightenment: Foundations and Key Concepts
Definitions and Terminology:
The Age of Enlightenment (or Age of Reason) refers to the dominant European and American intellectual movement of the 18th century, preceding the French Revolution ().
Intellectuals believed human society was emerging from centuries of ignorance into an era illuminated by reason, empirical science, and humanism.
Core Beliefs of Enlightenment Thought:
The universe is rational and fully comprehensible through the unassisted use of reason.
Truth is established via empirical observation, systematic doubt, and logical deduction.
Human experience forms the sole foundation of knowledge, superseding traditional authority or dogma.
Human nature, society, and institutions obey natural laws that can be understood, manipulated, and engineered.
Human history is defined by progress—the continuous improvement of society.
Education and rational training enhance human morality and capability.
Religious doctrines are invalid bases for explaining the physical world or political order.
Philosophical Ancestry and Scientific Roots:
Traces back to Aristotle (formal deductive logic) and its revival during the Renaissance.
Direct outgrowth of the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, applying scientific methodology (observation, experimentation, hypothesis testing) to human behavior, politics, and social systems.
Bernard de Fontenelle (): Authored Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds (), translating complex Copernican astronomy and physics into accessible prose for the reading public.
Skepticism:
Defined as the systematic questioning of established dogmas, absolute truths, and unquestioned authority.
Historical lineage:
Michel de Montaigne (): 16th-century French essayist who emphasized human intellectual limitations, rejected religious warfare, and introduced concepts of cultural relativism (truth as variable across cultures).
Pierre Bayle (): Huguenot refugee in the Dutch Republic who published the Historical and Critical Dictionary (), systematically cataloging errors in religious traditions and advocating for complete religious tolerance.
Travel Literature: Accounts from foreign lands (such as China or the Americas) described peaceful societies living without European state structures or Christian doctrines, undermining claims that European institutions represented universal truths.
John Locke and Empiricism:
Published An Essay Concerning Human Understanding ().
Refuted Cartesian and Classical theories of innate ideas (knowledge possessed at birth).
Posited that the human mind at birth is a tabula rasa (a blank slate) upon which all knowledge is inscribed through sensory experience.
Social Implication: Because humans possess no a priori knowledge, improving environment, social institutions, and education can improve human nature and society.
The Philosophes, Salons, and the Spread of Knowledge
The Philosophes:
Public intellectuals of the 18th century who sought to apply reason to reform society.
Located primarily in France (Paris serving as the intellectual capital of the movement), benefiting from the international status of French as the polite language of European elites.
Operated as practical reformers aiming to educate the social and political elite (a top-down approach to reform).
Deism:
A rationalist religious philosophy embraced by many philosophes (including Isaac Newton's followers).
Viewed God as a master clockmaker who created a universe governed by immutable natural laws, set it in motion, and ceased direct intervention (rejecting miracles, divine revelation, and mystical dogmas).
Maintained that God could be understood through reason and nature rather than church hierarchy or ritual.
The Salon Movement:
Private gatherings held in the homes of wealthy aristocrats, often hosted by influential women.
Provided a space for intellectuals to debate political, philosophical, and religious ideas free from state, church, or university censorship.
Madame Marie-Thérèse Geoffrin (): Hosted a prominent Paris salon frequented by leading French thinkers.
Salons spread to major European centers, including Berlin, London, and Warsaw.
Baron de Montesquieu ():
Published Persian Letters (): A satire utilizing fictional Persian travelers visiting France to criticize French absolutism, the Papacy, and social hypocrisy.
Published The Spirit of the Laws (): Applied scientific principles to government, analyzing how geography, climate, and history shape political systems. Advocated for a separation of powers to prevent tyranny.
Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) ():
Early career: Imprisoned in the Bastille () for insulting the French Regent; exiled to England (), where he studied English constitutionalism and empiricism.
Intellectual Partnership: Lived and worked with Gabrielle-Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet (), a mathematician and physicist who translated Newton's Principia into French.
Major Works and Philosophy:
Candide (): A satirical novel attacking religious hypocrisy, state oppression, war, and the philosophical optimism of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (who held that this was "the best of all possible worlds").
Jean Calas Case and A Treatise on Tolerance (): Defended Jean Calas, a Protestant tortured and executed on false charges of murdering his son. Argued that state-enforced religious intolerance leads to civil violence, demanding secular governance.
The Encyclopédie ():
Subtitled The Rational Dictionary of the Sciences, the Arts, and the Crafts.
Edited by Denis Diderot () and Jean le Rond d'Alembert ().
Scale: Reached , containing over articles and illustrations contributed by over scholars.
Objective: To synthesize human knowledge, challenge dogma and religious intolerance, and alter public ways of thinking.
Formally banned by the Catholic Church and French state authorities, but secretly printed and distributed to subscribers across Europe.
Radical Enlightenment, Materialism, and Social Contract Theory
Immanuel Kant ():
Authored the essay What is Enlightenment?.
Defined the movement's motto as Sapere aude ("Dare to know"), urging individuals to think independently and reject intellectual tutelage.
Baron Paul d'Holbach ():
Pushed Enlightenment materialism to radical atheism in System of Nature ().
Argued that the universe consists entirely of matter in motion; humans are biological machines devoid of free will or immortal souls.
Rejected deism and hosted salon dinners explicitly promoting atheism.
David Hume ():
Scottish skeptic who merged empiricism with philosophical skepticism.
Authored The Natural History of Religion (), arguing that belief in God stems from fear and superstition rather than reason, as divine existence cannot be verified through sensory experience.
Asserted the subjective nature of knowledge and aesthetics ("Beauty is in the eye of the beholder").
Jean-Jacques Rousseau ():
Swiss-born philosopher who critiqued the Enlightenment's exclusive reliance on reason, arguing that unchecked intellectualism degraded human morality.
The New Héloïse: A popular novel emphasizing emotion and sensibility.
Distrust of Society: Declared in The Social Contract (): "Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains."
Political Theory (The Social Contract):
Argued that legitimate political authority rests on a social contract reflecting popular sovereignty (power originating from the people).
Governed entities submit to the General Will—the collective interest of the community, which supersedes individual desires.
Educational Theory (Émile, ):
Advocated for child-centered, natural education that nurtures emotional development and practical reasoning rather than rote memorization.
Emphasized that children possess distinct developmental needs separate from adults.
Enlightened Despots of the 18th Century
Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia (reigned ):
Transformed governance after surviving the Seven Years' War, adopting the title "first servant of the state."
Implemented reforms:
Reorganized the judicial system and abolished judicial torture.
Enacted broad religious toleration for Lutherans, Calvinists, and Catholics.
Promoted freedom of the press for scholarly publications, inviting thinkers like Voltaire to his court.
Supported primary education, agricultural improvement, and state economic development.
Catherine II (the Great) of Russia (reigned ):
Seized power in after her husband, Peter III, was deposed and murdered in a military coup.
Corresponded with Voltaire and Diderot, offering to publish the Encyclopédie in Russia during its ban in France.
Assembled art collections that formed the basis of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and wrote educational manuals influenced by John Locke.
Social Policy Limitations: Attempted legal and judicial codification reforms, but aborted serfdom reforms following Pugachev's Rebellion ()—a massive Cossack and peasant uprising. To secure political stability, Catherine confirmed noble privileges over serfs and granted nobles conquered lands in Poland.
Maria Theresa and Joseph II of Austria:
Empress Maria Theresa (reigned ):
Centralized Austrian administrative governance, limited Church influence, and restricted feudal labor demands placed on peasants by landlords.
Emperor Joseph II (reigned ):
Enacted radical top-down reforms: granted full religious tolerance to Protestants and Jews, abolished serfdom entirely, and ordered feudal labor obligations converted into compulsory cash payments.
Unintended Consequence: Peasantry lacked liquid cash and nobles fiercely resisted losing unpaid labor, causing widespread unrest that destabilized the Habsburg realm by his death in .