absolutism pt 2

Civil War in France

1562-1598 between French Catholics and Huguenots

Huguenots

French Protestants

St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

Catholics attacked Huguenots
1572 - Six week slaughter of Huguenots
represents the complete breakdown of order in France

Henry IV

victor of the civil war
became king of France from 1589-1610
Protestant
converted to Catholicism to secure crown
reduced nobles’ power and prevent peasant abuse by landlords
sought to heal France
government reached all areas of French life * improved roads and built bridges * administered justice * revived agriculture
groundwork for absolutism enabled * building of royal government * reducing noble influence
some people didn’t like his compromise and was stabbed to death by a fanatic in 1610

Edict of Nantes

outlawed persecution of Huguenots

Louis XIII

son of Henry IV
ruled from 1610-1643 after inheriting the throne at 9

Cardinal Richelieu

appointed Cheif Minister in 1624
focused on government changes * established strong administrative systems, armies, tax collection and business regulation * targeted noblels and Huguenots
nobles * fought their armies * gave them high positions in court (bonded them together)
Huguenots * smashed walled cites, outlawed armies
supported Protestant German princes in Thirty years’ war * to prevent Catholic HRE from expanding * Habsburg power a threat to France

Louis XIV

king at age 4 * Cardinal Mazarin led France as Chief Minister
experienced the Fonde upsisings * groups protested royal power, drove Louis from his palace (lasting impact)
established lavish style for European monarchs
longest reign in Europe - 72 years
took control at 23 bc Mazarin died in 1661
strengthened power of gov. nobels
costly wars to expand French borders * proved disastrous * Alliances of Dutch and England fought to maintain balance of power
War of Spanish Succession * France bankrupt * resulted in increased poverty & discontent with Louis XIV
Legacy * France was a military power * brilliant cultural period * lavish buildings, decorated palaces and churches, great playwrights and artists * final years more sad than glorious * costly wars ruined France and brought suffering to French people * warfare and building Versailles created staggering debt * corrupt, complicated, unjust tax system not changed * poor carried tax burden * nobles, clergy and government officials exempt from paying tax at expense of poor * Louis XIV abuse of power * nobility and peasantry (most of France) want change in system * revolution on the horizon

Cardinal Mazarin

chosen by Richelieu
hated by French nobility * strengthening the central government * tax increases
absolutism primarily around war, peace, religion, etc.
no oppressive control over lives of subjects * local institutions elites retained authority prevented influence on a national level

Jean Baptiste Colbert - minister of finance

27 million pound debt reduced → turned into 29 million pound surplus
fixed French economy when it was almost bankrupt * imposed Mercantilist policies * put high tariffs of foreign gods * established overseas colonies with strict trade regulations

Revoking the Edict of Nantes

Louis XIV wanted religious unification
hounded, bullied, bribed Huguenots to convert
revoked edict
protestant schools and churches closed * ministers exiled
non-converters * forced to be gallery slaves (row on ships) * children baptized Catholic * resulted in an emigration of 250,000 people from France

Persecuting Huguenots

major blow to French economy similar to expulsion of Jews and Muslims had to Spain. * among hardest working & prosperous

Versailles

Palace of Versailles * demonstrated wealth, power, & glory of France * 10,000 people lived and worked there
Versailles: A Center of The Arts * made ballet & opera popular * purpose of art to glorify the king & absolute rule * emphasis on human potential, not God
Louis XIV Patron of the Arts * enabled cultural flowering * supported century of arts * musical entertainments * plays sponsored with the best writers * French styles in painting, music, architecture, and decorative arts: a model for Europe * new dance drama, ballet, popularized

War of Spanish Succession

England, Netherlands, and Austria vs. France and Spain
Treaty of Utrecht * recognized Philip V as ruler * restricted France and Spain from becoming one empire * France loses colonies to England
The Spanish Throne * 1700 - given to Louis XIV’s grandson Philip V * Bourbon control over France/Spain

Fragmented Empire

HRE in the 1600s was a loose patchwork of separate states * no central government, German princes chose their respective religion for their provinces * Ruled by Ferdinand II in 1619 * chosen by electors → had little power * German princes usually have a lot of power * Ferdinand II was a devout Catholic and moved to suppress a Protestant uprising in Prague * Defenestration of Prague * started out a religious conflict, became a political conflict * Habsburgs lost, HRE dissolved

Ferdinand II

chosen by electors → little power
devout Catholic
wanted to suppress a Protestant uprising in Prague

Defenestration of Prague

when Protestant nobles tossed two royal officials out a window * Catholics and Protestants sought alliances, making a local conflict a European war

Peace of Westphalia

1648 - series of treaties aimed at creating a general European peace

Thirty Years War- reasons for, gain and loss of power, regions involved

basically all of Europe was involved but mostly France, Spain, Austria, Germany, and others
France gained the most territory * along with Sweden and Brandenbury
Habsburg rulers lost a majority of their power and Germany was divided into more than 360 separate states * wouldn’t unify until 1871
Protestantism protect in the Germanies
4 phases - Bohemian, Danish, Swedish, French
Austria and Prussia rose to prominence after Thirty Years’ War
Habsburg Austria Expands * kept the title of HRE but focused on expanding German lands * added Bohemia, Hungary and parts of Poland and some Italian states * divided by geography and culture * many parts had their own languages, laws, and customs * attempted, but unsuccessful in fully centralizing government * settled officials in seized lands and put down revolts

Pragmatic Sanction

Charles VI died and left no male heir in 1740
issued this as a means of ensuring that the Habsburg possessions could be inherited by his daughter
Prussia under Frederick II was the main aggressor; Maria Theresa pleaded with her Hungarian subjects for support; they came to her aid along with Britain and Russia

War of Austrian Succession

Charles VI persuaded other rulers to recognize his daughter * ignored him and immediately seized Austrian land in Silesia
symbolizes a challenge to Maria Theresa’s legitimacy to rule on the account that she was a woman

Maria Theresa

was an absolute monarch * believed her decisions were for the good of the people * strengthened authority by limiting the nobles and the church
unsuccessful in driving Prussia out of Silesia * regardless she preserved the empire and gained the support of her people * reorganized bureaucracy and improved tax collection (forced the nobles/clergy to pay) * burden on peasants became lessened

Hohenzollerns

united the lands that became Prussia
Prussia became Protestant * think __P__russia - __P__rotestant

Frederick I

came to power in 1713 * gained Junker (noble) support by appointing them to positions in the army and government * reduced noble independence * stressed military values and had one of the best-trained armies in Europe

similar to Louis XIV

also tied nobles to high positions in army/government to limit their influence in rural towns

Frederick II

not “his father’s son” * preferred playing the flute and writing poetry * tried fleeing the country with his friend * when his father found out, Frederick was thrown in solitary confinement and forced to watch his friend get beheaded
became king in 1740 and immediately challenged Austria over Silesia
brilliant leadership and willingness to use his disciplined army lead to him being called Frederick the Great
Europe was forced to recognize Prussia

Silesia

Tsar

title meaning caesar and represented being ordained by God

Development of Russia

Russian state emerged during the 15th century, much different history/traditions * no Roman Catholic influence * strongly influenced by the Mongols * less affected by the Renaissance * didn’t experience the turmoil fo the Reformation * Russia had no ties with Europe until the 18th century

Ivan III (Great)

1462-1505, many accomplishments * conquered territory around Moscow * liberated Russia from the Mongols * began centralizing Russia’s government
Vasily, his son, succeeded him and ruled for 28 years * added more territory * increased the power of the centralized government

Ivan IV (Terrible)

Vasily’s son came to the throne at 3 years old
boyars tried to control him when he was young * when he turned 16, he seized power from the boyars and proclaimed himself Tsar * married Anastasia, a Romanov (boyar family)
major achievements during the “good period” (1547-1560) * won great victories * added lands to Russia * gave Russia a code of laws * ruled justly
bad period began in 1560 when Anastasia died (1560-1584) * accused boyars of poisoning Anastasia * turned on them and organized his own police force * chief duty was to hunt down and murder anyone considered a traitor * thousands were executed: boyars, their families and peasants * in 1581 he got into a fight with his son * accidentally killed him, leaving no capable heir * Ivan attacked his son’s wife because he didn’t approve of the way she was dressed. she had a miscarriage and Ivan’s son was killed by him when he tried to protect his wife
enemies during “bad period” * hired his own police force with the focus of hunting down and murdering traitors * executed the boyars, their families and the peasants who worked their land * appointed new nobles he could trust (beginning of shady politics in Russia)
developed differently compared to Europe * ties to Constantinople, not Rome * Mongol rule meant to exposure to the Renaissance * geographical size * Eastern Orthodox followers, meant no Reformation

Boyars

landowning nobility

Time of Troubles

boyars struggled for power in the wake of Ivan’s death, resulting in chaos and anarchy * lasted from 1584-1613 * different boyar families made claims to the throne and were mysteriously murdered * ended when representatives from different cities met to choose the next tsar

Romanov dynasty

rule Russia from 1613-1917 * Michael I was the first Romanov tsar * he and his two successors brought back some stability to Russia
Russia had continuing challenges * still weak from the Time of Troubles * boyars had government control * tsars faced mutiny from Moscow garrison
passed laws and put down the revolt to pave the way for future Romanovs

Peter the Great

in 1697, a year after becoming ruler, he embarked on the Grand Embassy * goal was to learn about European customs and manufacturing techniques * wanted to compete both militarily and commercially, saw westernizing as a way to make Russia stronger * began issuing reforms that increased his power * Russian Orthodox Church was brought under state control * reduced the boyar’s power, gave power to lower-ranking families * trained army with European tactics and being a soldier became a lifetime job, imposed taxes to refund
end of Peter the Great * ongoing struggle with his son Alexis * Alexis was imprisoned and mysteriously died * Peter died in 1725 with no heir * soldiers and nobles decided leader for the next 30+ years * Peter’s legacy was split * laid the foundation for modern Russia * failed to achieve stability

Westernizing Russia

window on the west * Peter wanted to make it easier to travel to the West, desired a warm water port * Needed a port to enable western trade and intervention in Europe * Led to wars with Sweden/Ottomans * Captured Black Sea in 1696 but forced to return it in 1711 * War with Sweden * Peter captured modern day Estonia and Latvia * Gave Russia a port on the Baltic Sea * Enabled a “Window to the West” * Eased travel/enabled European influence * Established St. Petersburg * Built a city in northwest Russia to symbol the “Window to the West” * Built on a swamp, 100k serfs died building it
Russia’s future depended on having a warm-water port * needed to make westward travel easier * to promote education * increased trade
Peter undertook these to westernize: * introduced potatoes, became a staple in the Russian diet * started Russia’s first newspaper * raised the status of women, allowed them to attend social gatherings * ordered nobles to replace their traditional clothes with Western fashions * advanced education, open a school of navigation and a school of the arts and sciences * forced many to leave Russia to study the sciences
Peter introduced * new foodstuffs * newspaper * raised status of women * western fashion * advanced education

Catherine the Great (Catherine II)

was a German princess * came to Russia at 15, wed heir to Russian throne * learned Russian * embraced Russian Orthodox faith * won the loyalty of the people
husband was Peter III, mentally unstable, murdered by Russian army officers
Catherine took the throne * organized government/codified laws * state-sponsored education * embraced Western ideas * encourage French language/customs, student of French thinkers that led the enlightenment * established warm water port on the Black Sea (did what Peter couldn’t)