CHAPTER 18
Eighteenth Century –War and Change
What is Enlightened Absolutism?

Enlightenment brought about ideas of
unchangeable privileges that
shouldn’t be withheld from anyone
monarchs rule while
allowing natural rights to speech, religion, etc
France



Saw an economic revival as
Enlightenment grew
Louis XIV left France with enormous
debts
Louis XV was lazy and weak
 More
inclined to spend time with
Madame de Pompadour

Louis XVI (XV’s grandson) married
Marie Antoinette
 Not
capable of fixing economy
 Marie denied as a wife and falls into
court intrigues
Great Britain

United Kingdom of Great Britain -1707
 England
and Scotland United
 British refers to English and Scots

Parliament
 Makes
laws, levies taxes, passes budget
St George, England
 Dominated by landed aristocracy
St Andrew, Scotland
– House of Lords

Life position
– House of Commons

Great Britain
St Patrick,
Voting varied widely, wealthy able to use patronage- bribery
to gainIreland
control of boroughs and counties
United Kingdom
1802
Great Britain


1714- Queen Anne, last Stuart ruler, died
Crown offered to Protestant rulers of German state of
Hanover

George I (1714-1727)


Didn’t speak English
George II (1727-1760)
Had no familiarity with British system, chief ministers handled Parliament
 William Pitt the Elder (PM) won Canada & India during 7 Years War


George III (1760-1820)

Occasional bouts of insanity, replaced PM William Pitt the Elder and
angered the People and the Parliament after losing Americas
Decline of the Dutch


Economic Decline
Infighting between regents and the House of
Orange
 Burghers
– calling themselves Patriots- wanted
democratic reforms
 Prussian troops came to protect the monarchs
Prussia- rise of army and bureaucracy

Frederick William I (1713-1740)
 General
Directory
 Supervised
military, police, financial affairs
 Code: obedience, honor and service to the king
 Closely supervised by Frederick William
 Strict
class stratification
 Nobility


& landed aristocracy “Junkers”
Still had large estates with serfs
Junkers had monopoly on officer corps of army
Prussia- rise of army and bureaucracy


Army – 4th largest behind France,
Russia, Austria
 Nobility as officers created a close
bond between two
 Prussia was an “army with a
country”
Frederick II “the Great” (17401786)
Best educated & cultured monarch
 Invited Voltaire to live at his court
 Single code of laws for territories
 No torture
 Limited freedom of speech, press,
religion
 Enlarged military further and used
it!

Catherine the Great
Pugachev’s
rebellion
 German princess
(1773-1774)
 Believed in philosophes
but knew she would
independent
tribes ofif
alienate
the nobility
warriors
she
implemented reforms
Volga valley and South
like Joseph II
Russia
 Strengthened the
Pugachev betrayed by
landholding
at
his own men,class
tortured
expense
of serfs
and executed
Catherine responded by
extending serfdom
Poland
1772-1795


Polish king
elected by
nobles thus
restricting his
power
Instead of
fighting with
each other,
Austria, Russia
& Prussia
divided Poland
After the heroic but failed
Rebellion under Thaddeus
Kosciuszko
Austria & the Habsburgs

Maria Theresa
 10
surviving children
 Divided Austria and
Bohemian lands into ten
provinces, subdivided
into districts
 Administered
by royal
officers making more
centralized government
 Enlarged
military
Austria & Habsburgs

Joseph II
Driven by reason
 Abolished serfdom, gave serfs
hereditary rights, outlawed death
penalty, equality before law
 EVERYONE found issue with reforms

Alienated nobility & church
 Serfs couldn’t understand new laws



“here lies Joseph II, who was
unfortunate in everything he undertook”
Successors undid everything he
accomplished
Prussia, Austria, Russia, Britain, and France dominate in what area were they most likely to compete for land and power?
War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748)

– allowed
Maria Theresa to take
the Austrian throne
Frederick II of Prussia
took advantage of
Maria Theresa taking
the throne by invading
Silesia

France entered to take
advantage of Austria’s
weakness
War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748)



Maria Theresa allied
with Great Britain
France took Madras in
India from British, Brits
took French forts in
America
Peace Treaty of Aixla-Chapelle returned
all land but Silesia
Seven Years War (1756-1763)

Maria Theresa planned revenge by building her army and
by separating Prussia from France (mean girls unite!)
 Britain
& France rivals over colonies
 Austria & Prussia hate each other
 France abandoned Prussia and joined Austria
 So did Russia
 Great Britain sided with Prussia

New War fought in Europe, India, and North America
7 Years War
VERSUS
7 Years War
VERSUS
War in Europe

British & Prussians vs.
Austrians, Russians, French
Frederick the Great able to defeat
Austria, Russia, France…
 But he was gradually worn down
from surrounding powers



Tsarina Elizabeth of Russia died,
Peter III admired Frederick the
Great and withdrew, ending the
war
Peace of Hubertusburg 1763
All occupied territories returned
 Austria recognized they lost Silesia

War in India

“Great War for the
Empire”
 Robert
Clive (17251774) won the battle
for the Madras

Treaty of Paris, 1763
 French
withdrew and
India remained under
the British
“French and Indian War”

Two areas of contention

Waterways of Gulf of Saint
Lawrence




Forts of Louisbourg, Great Lakes, Lake
Champlain
Ohio River Valley
French moved South from Quebec,
North from Louisiana along
Mississippi, cutting of British
expansion
England felt they must destroy
French colonial empire if they will
grow

concentrated on American theatre
“French and Indian War”



French had greater
numbers
British won decisive naval
battles
Treaty of Paris (1763)
 France
ceded Canada
and lands East of
Mississippi
 Spain (France’s ally) gave
up Florida
 France gave Louisiana to
Spain
European Life Seminar
Points for participation
How did armies change between
1740-1780?




French 190,000  300,000
Prussian 83,000  200,000
Austrian 108,000  282,000
Russian 130,000  290,000
What was the composition of the armies?






Officers from landed aristocracy
Middle class not allowed in higher ranks
Rank-and-file soldiers came from lower classes
Because peasants were needed in fields, many
hired soldiers from Switzerland and Germany
England didn’t have a standing army
Britain and Dutch built up navies
Why didn’t bigger armies lead to
more war?




Europe was less driven by ideology like during
religious period
Ideological wars are more violent and destructive
Armies depended on tax money so monarchs were
loathe to “spend” that investment
Costliness of war and technology created barriers
How did child-rearing change?

Childhood began to be viewed as a phase of
human development
 Children
dressed in more comfortable cloths
 Primogeniture- treating son better – came under attack
 Toys specifically for children appeared
 Changes
limited to nobility
 Infanticide
and abandonment common in lower classes
How did agriculture change?

New plants replaced leaving fields fallow
 Alfalfa,


Jethro Tull invented a seed planter in rows
Potatoes and corn
 Potato

turnips, clover return nitrogen
staple of the poor
Large landowners enclosed old open fields
 Led
to demise of village farming, small farmers
became tenant farmers
How did finance change?

Public and private banks and acceptance of paper
notes made expansion of credit possible
 Bank
of England (1694) – made loans
 “banknotes” issued giving credit
 Government bonds paying interest created notion of
“national debt” outside of monarchy
 We
can now raise more for militaries
How did Industry Change?



Cottage Industry- textiles were produced by
“putting out” or “domestic” system where rural
workers would work raw materials in their home
Cotton from slave labor increased production and
led to innovation
Trade increased with new world