European History - Final Review
Unit One: Middle Ages - Civ-O-Meter
1. Ancient
i. Greece and Rome
● Rome = civilized world
● Barbarians = outskirts
● Western Roman Empire = roots of Western civilization
ii. First Barbarian Invasions - 400s
● Wanted a “piece of the pie”
● Due to the influx of the Barbarians Roman Culture “De-civilized”
● Later, the Barbarians converted to Catholicism.
iii. Soup set stage for Middle Ages...
● Greek civilization
● Rome civilization
● Catholic Church (greatest power in M.A.’s)
● Barbarians
2. Medieval (Middle Ages)
Battle of Hastings: William the Conqueror conquered England/GB in 1066
i. Dark Ages
● Roman leprosy - could not protect borders
Momentarily held by “commissioning” barbarians
● rise of Franks under Clovis
● rise of Muslims → defeated in Europe
○ France - Battle of Tours (Charles Martel, 732)
○ Spain - Reconquista (until 1492) = longest war in history
ii. Blip (Charlemagne, 800) = Carolingian Empire (another name for the later Frankish
Empire)
● King of Franks, Emperor of Romans
● literacy doubled from 1% → 2%
● fear decreases
● then Charlemagne died, grandsons split empire (Treaty of Verdun, 843)
iii. Second Barbarian Invasions - 800s
● Vikings - From the North
● Magyars- east
● Slavs - east
● Muslims - From the South
iv. Feudalism - 900s-1300s
● Feudalism: division of land and loyalty amongst kings and nobles where kings
were weak and nobles were strong; politics driven by FEAR
● nobles = vassals
○ land = fiefs
○ Oath of Fealty = declaration of loyalty sworn by a vassal to a lord
● Manorialism: production for protection when there is no $$ and land is the main
source of wealth; economics
○ prayers = clergy
○ fighters = nobles
○ workers = peasants and serfs
v. Crusades - 1095-1291 (1st Crusade to Fall of Acre)
● Christendom: Europe united as one under Catholic faith
○ religious, political, intellectual center of Europe
○ spread of Catholic faith:
i. quest - followed sword when Clovis and Charlemagne conquered
new lands
ii. missionaries
1. St. Patrick → Irish
2. St. Benedict → Roman
3. St. Boniface → German barbarians
● Western Christian military effort to regain Holy Land from Seljuk Turks
(Muslim) = 1095-1291
● called by Pope Urban II
● Causes
○ Turkish attacks on Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire which
lasted until 1453; Eastern Orthodox Church had split in 1054)
○ Turkish violence toward Christian pilgrims
○ Christian desire to regain Holy Land
● Motives
○ Deus vult! = God wills it
○ glory
○ adventure
○ personal gain
● Significant Events
○ 1st = gains most of land, but gradually they lose it anyways; only
successful Crusade
○ 4th = captured Constantinople
● Reflection of Medieval World
○ Power of Church
○ Religious devotion
○ warlike nature of people
● Major effects
○ improved technology
○ increased currency/trade use (remember Jolly Rancher activity)
○ rise of city-states
○ feudalism declines
○ worldly view
vi. High Middle Ages
● from country/manors → towns
○ agricultural advances
i. 3 field system
ii. plough
iii. Horsepower
● money and guilds
○ economy
i. serfs buy freedom
ii. kings pay armies, grow stronger than nobles
○ guilds
i. maintain monopoly** no competition
ii. apprenticeships
iii. provide medical care, unemployment relief
iv. sponsor banquets, plays, etc.
● education and literature
○ Aristotle-influenced
○ St. Thomas Aquinas - greatest Catholic theologian, master of
scholasticism
○ Dante Aligheri- The Divine Comedy, Inferno
○ Chaucer - Canterbury Tales
● origins of strong monarchs and nation-states that will eventually challenge power
of nobles and Church
3. Modern (Renaissance, 1400s) = “Re-birth” of civilization @ end of Middle Ages
Unit Two: Renaissance and Reformation
Part I: Renaissance = Rebirth of Classical and Catholic civilization (Greek, Roman)
1. Origins and Spread
a. Italian city-states
■ ideal conditions
1. trade w/outside world → cultural diffusion
2. Controlled Mediterranean trade routes
3. wealth, currency Mercantilism/Monopoly(jacked up prices of goods)
■ patrons
1. Pope
2. wealthy families (Medicis, Florence)
3. Church = glue
2. Character
a. Misconceptions - not total break from Middle Ages. Rather, gradual process.
b. What it is
■ reaping of Middle Ages seeds
■ redirection of thought from God → man
■ isms
1. humanism = focus on human values, capacities, achievements, emotions, etc. +
emphasis on classical (i.e. Greek and Roman) culture + human studies
○ Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare)
○ Utopia (Sir Thomas Moore)
○ Machiavelli - The Prince
○ Petrarch = first writer, father of Renaissance literature
2. secularism = focus on worldly as opposed to spiritual/religious
○ School of Athens (Raphael)
○ Architecture Renaissance style instead of Gothic (Brunelleschi - dome on
cathedral which was not pointy)
3. naturalism = focus on nature
○ Vesalius (skewed drawings)
○ Da Vinci (Mona Lisa, Last Supper)
○ heliocentrism (Copernicus + Galileo) sun is center
important to know how the solar system is
4. realism = depiction of things as they really are, esp. in art
○ Michelangelo
i. Statue of David
ii. Sistine Chapel
iii. Pieta
c. ideas spread by printing press
Part II: Reformation
1. Pre-Reformation
a. long term background
i. DOUBT invalidates everything!
ii. no more Christendom
iii. 1 church → 10,000 churches ? means that the protestant church branches off into other
churches- Amish, Luther, etc.
iv. Merchants hate paying taxes
b. Babylonian Captivity = 7 French Popes in Avignon, France instead of Rome
c. Great Schism = 3 Popes @ once
Cardinals of Rome make a new Pope
After both popes conflict, the cardinals create a German pope.
2. 1517: Things happening at the time
a. Monarchs = envious of Church
b. Nationalism replaces Christendom
c. Renaissance era abused by Church leaders
i. simony = buying, selling church offices
ii. nepotism = give jobs to relatives
iii. absenteeism = bail on job (being someplace else instead of their “workplace”) refers
exclusively to church authorities
iv. pluralism = bishop of multiple cities
v. worldly lives = masters of 7 deadly sins
d. Final straw (that broke the Camel’s back....remember the camel! (: )
i. Holy Roman Empire = 300-400 states
ii. Man = Luther (monk, priest, scholar)
iii. catalyst = sale of indulgences for St. Peter’s Basilica
iv. action = 95 Theses + Printing Press
v. reaction by the Church
1. Luther faces 41 counts of heresy (Pope Leo X)
2. State condemns to death (Holy Roman Emperor Charles V)
3. escapes to Saxony (Prince Frederick the Wise saves him)
vi. 3 doctrines
1. Sola Fidei = faith alone
2. Sola Scriptura = Bible alone
3. priesthood of all believers = anyone can interpret Bible
vii. results
1. Peace of Augsburg 1555, religion of ruler = religion of everyone in that state
2. 30 Years’ War (1618-1648, started by defenestration of Prague) kills ⅓ of HRE
population and ends w/Treaty of Westphalia, same as Peace of Augsburg
3. Calvinism
a. man = John Calvin
b. action = wrote the book The Institutes of the Christian Religion
c. doctrines
i. predestination
ii. “Elect” called to Heaven
iii. no dancing, gambling, dice, cards, staying up past 9:00 PM (curfew)
iv. results
1. Scotland = Presbyterians
2. England = Puritans
3. France = Huguenots
a. Edict of Nantes (repealed by Louis XIV)= religious toleration of
Huguenots
4. executed in 1649 by the Rump Parliament
Between the Kings = Interregnum
1. Cromwell = bloody ketchup-Interregnum
a. Cromwell sets up a miltiary dictatorship, heavily promoting Puritan ideas.
b. Commonwealth, rule by Parliament
Stuarts Part II
2. Charles II
a. Restoration of Merry Monarch
b. limited monarch
c. deathbed conversion of Catholic faith
3. James II
a. Charles II’s brother
b. shortened reign
c. Catholic, but daughters were Anglican, so Parliament let him become king
d. BUT 2nd wife had a son that was raised Catholic
e. Parl. feared Catholic king
f. Glorious Revolution 1688 deposed James (no bloodshed.)
4. William and Mary invited to throne
5. required to sign Bill of Rights Anglicanism
a. man = Henry VIII, “Defender of the Faith”
b. why? needed male heir
i. sought annulment
ii. Pope refused
c. action: Act of Supremacy
i. King is head of church
ii. Henry gets his son.
d. Other monarchs
i. Edward VI = Anglican
ii. Mary Tudor = Catholic, persecutes Protestants
iii. Elizabeth I = Anglican
iv. religious roller-coaster for English citizens
6. Reaction of Protest Revolt
a. Popes Paul III and Pius V counterattack
b. Council of Trent - reformed Catholic Church
c. new society of priests = Jesuits, founded by Ignatius of Loyola: valued education
d. some success winning back converts in France and HRE.
Unit Three: Rise of Nation-States and Royal Absolutism
1. Spain
a. ruling family = Hapsburgs
b. notable leaders = Ferdinand and Isabella
c. religion = Catholicism
d. expansion = to Portugal, Netherlands, Africa, India, New World
e. expansion b/c looking for trade routes, wealth
f. obstacles = inflation, guilds, religious intolerance
2. England
a. ruling family = Tudors
i. Henry VII
ii. Henry VIII
iii. Elizabeth I
b. Stuarts = other ruling family = Scottish
i. James I
ii. Charles I
iii. see Unit 4, Part I
c. religion = Anglicanism
d. expansion = to Maryland (Catholics), Massachusetts Bay Colony (Puritans)
e. obstacles
i. tradition
ii. Magna Carta 1215
iii. Parliament
f. overcoming obstacles
i. Divine Right of Kings → king = God
ii. raised $ w/o Parliament (we don’t need Parliament!)
iii. dumped Catholic Church (Henry VIII)
iv. buy off nobles with land from Catholic monasteries
3. France
a. religion = Catholicism
b. royal family = Bourbons
i. Henry IV (of Navarre)
1. Edict of Nantes
2. Catholics = Huguenots in power
3. disregarded Estates-General
4. assassinated 1610
ii. Louis XIII
1. supervised by mom (Marie de Medici), Cardinal Richelieu
a. destroyed castles
b. took away jobs (intendants)
c. took away Huguenots’ rights
d. last meeting of Estates-General until 1789
e. refined culture
2. Louis XIV = “Sun King” (L’Etat C’est Moi)
a. Cardinal Mazarin
b. built palace @ Versailles
c. REVOKED Edict of Nantes
d. War of Spanish Succession to suppress power
3. Louis XV
a. expelled Jesuits from France
b. “After me, the deluge” (Aprme moi, le deluge)
4. Louis XVI
a. “Humpty Dumpty had a big fall!”
b. executed at the Guillotine in 1793 (see French Revolution)
4. Holy Roman Empire
a. no strong central power after Charles V (Charles I in Spain, since Hapsburgs ruled both)
b. lead by Holy Roman Emperor
c. 30 Years’ War leaves weak, disunited empire;
i. devastation of land, ⅓ of population killed
ii. Treaty of Westphalia → several religions
iii. thank you for everything, Richelieu!
d. compete for power
i. South = Austria = Catholic = Hapsburgs
ii. North = Prussia = Lutheran = Hohenzollerns
1. nobles = Junkers
2. strong military
5. Russia
a. great leaders
i. Ivan III (Great) - kicks out Mongols
ii. Ivan IV (Terrible)
b. royal family = Romanovs
i. Peter the Great
ii. Catherine the Great
c. expansion to West (window = Baltic Sea), esp. b/c of Peter the Great
d. strong monarchs.
i. increasing control of nobles (Boyars), church
ii. enslavement of serfs under Catherine
Unit Four: Revolution
Part I: England - Double Chuckburger on James
- Stuarts Part I
5. James I
a. unified thrones of England and Scotland
b. proclaimed Divine Right of Kings
i. money problems
ii. Parliament controls purse strings
iii. sold nobility
iv. successors would pay!
6. Charles I
a. Parl. refuses to give $$ except on yearly basis
i. forces to call Parl. every year
ii. could not disregard Parl. like James I had
b. Petition of Right 1628
i. Parl. forces Charles I to sign for money
ii. but, he immediately ignores it.
c. War looms w/Scotland and later w/Ireland
i. Short Parl = 3 weeks
ii. Long Parliament
1. Charles needs money
2. Parl. demands 19 Propositions → Parl has supreme power in England
3. Charles says no, both prepare for war
d. English Civil War
i. Charles vs. Parliament (led by Cromwell)
ii. Charles surrenders in 1647
e.
i. Parliament every 3 years
ii. nothing w/o Parliament’s consent
f. then Parliament takes control of everything, monarchy has little power
g. 1701 Act of Settlement declares Catholics ineligible to become king (after James II died)
h. 1707 Act of Union unifies governments of England + Scotland → Great Britain
Part II: France
1. Enlightenment
a. seeing the light and throwing off darkness of authority (monarchy, Church, tradition) - use
REASON alone!
b. individual rights of life, liberty, and property
c. liberty = do as one wishes as long as it does not interfere w/ rights of another
d. gov’t exists to protect people’s rights; overthrow if it fails.
e. key philosophers:
1. Thomas Hobbes = Leviathan
i. man = cruel + selfish + greedy
ii. therefore life = nasty + brutish + short
iii. leads to chaos
iv. therefore must adopt Social Contract and gov’t has absolute power
2. John Locke = Two Treatises of Government =Social Contract: gov’t exists to protect
rights of people
a. life
b. liberty
c. property
3. Baron de Montesquieu = Spirit of Laws = separation of powers
4. Voltaire = Candide = freedom = kill the Church
5. Jean Jacques Rousseau = everyone born free, but gov’t messes everything up.
i. individual freedom
ii. civilization corrupts people’s natural goodness
iii. general will = direct democracy
f. Note that the Enlightenment directly impacted America in Declaration of Independence,
Constitution, etc.
2. French Revolution
a. contributing factors:
1. Enlightenment ideas
2. Freemasons, Jacobins
3. Heavy taxes
4. Versailles palace
5. American revolution
6. Starvation, inflation
7. Madame Deficit (Marie Antoinette)
8. Weak Louis XVI
9. Unfair representation in gov’t
b. Stages:
1. Normal (political goals achieved) 1789-92
i. May 5, Estates-General convenes
ii. June 17, Nat’l Assembly formed from 3rd estate = 1st act of French Revolution
iii. June 20 = Tennis Court Oath b/c 3rd estate was locked out
iv. July 14 = Storming of Bastille = 1st act of violence
v. August 1789 = Great Fear = nobles come, peasants, kill, so nobles flee (emigres)
2.
3.
4.
5.
vi. 5 major accomplishments:
a. abolished nobility
b. Declaration of Rights of Man (DORM) - August 26, 1789
c. more fair taxes
d. civil constitution of clergy = state controls church
e. Constitution of 1791 → limited monarchy
Radical = 1792-94
i. August 10, 1792 → King deposed
ii. September Massacre = sans-culottes
iii. Nat’l Convention formed
a. Left = Radical = Jacobins led by Robespierre
b. Middle = Middle
c. Right = Girond = Conservatives
iv. Committee of Public Safety = 12 man dictatorship
v. major goal = protect the revolution and everything that happened in the 1st stage
by throwing it all out the window.
a. threats: Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, Spain, etc.
b. other threats: monarchy (executed Jan 21, 1793), church (outlawed),
conservatives (Reign of Terror by Committee of Public Safety, ends with
death of Robespierre on July 28, 1794)
Boring = 1795-1799 = Directory
i. great military success
ii. many problems @ home
iii. call Napoleon Bonaparte
iv. military and Napoleon overthrew the government in coup d’etat
Napoleon = 1799-1815
i. first consul in the Consulate
ii. astonishing military success until 1812
iii. effects of success:
a. spreads Enlightenment ideas
b. inspires nationalism
iv. failed in the end
a. Trafalgar 1805 and Continental System vs. GB both failed
b. Invasion of Russia in 1812 was a fail; retreated with 10,000 men only.
c. abdicated (gave up) his throne in 1814, went to Elba
d. there was a period of 100 Days between when he returned to France to his
final defeat
e. Battle of Waterloo, 1815 = final i
Conclusion:
i. limited constitutional monarchy
ii. Louis XVIII restored (the missing Louis was Louis XVI’s son, who was killed
during the revolution)
iii. Bourbons restored to throne.
Unit 5 19th Century Europe
1. Age of Napoleon - stomps out Old Order, introduces twin-headed beast
a. nationalism
b. liberalism
2. Age of Metternich - brings back Old Order = reaction to Napoleon
a. Congress of Vienna = Metternich’s masterpiece
i. compensation
1. redrawing borders from Napoleonic Wars
2. victors gain land, losers lose land
ii. balance of power (punish France)
iii. legitimacy
1. attempt to restore Old Order and silence revolutionary ideas
2. restored monarchies
b. Post Vienna
i. balance of power → peace and order → successful
1. Austria dominates politics
2. alliances = UN of 19th century
a. Quadruple = Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, France
b. Holy = Austria, Prussia, Russia, later all
ii. stamp out twin-headed beast → fail
c. cracks
i. 1820s revolutions in New World + Balkans
ii. 1830 overthrow of Charles X of France
iii. 1848 Liberal Revolutions all over Europe starting in France - almost replay of French
Revolution
3. Age of Bismarck = nationalism leads to formation of unified Italy and Germany
a. people
i. William, King of Prussia
ii. Bismarck, Prime Minister
b. Bismarck the Man = Conservative, authoritarian, nationalist
c. goal = Germany unified under Prussia
d. Obstacles
i. Austria dominates HRE
ii. France is petrified of German unification
iii. Southern Catholic states oppose b/c North is Lutheran
e. how to make Germany strong under Prussia
i. realpolitik = do whatever it takes = realism = Machiavelli :)
ii. blood + iron = military warfare
f. principles in action
i. 3 wars = means to unify Germany
1. 1864 Denmark
2. 1866 Austria
3. 1870-71 France
4. industrial and military buildup
5. Kulturkampf = “culture war” to rid Catholic influence = fail
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION - STUDY ON YOUR OWN
Unit 6 World War I
1. Metternich’s pressure cooker- tried to cap nationalism, it will fail in an explosion.
2. Building Up
Remember for the test MAIN
a. Tension from Prussia leads other countries to build enormous militaries, Militarism
b. Nationalism- A sense of National Superiority.
i. Balkans will be shattered
ii. Alsace-Loraine - France still is brooding over this loss.
c. Many empires begin to have border disputes, Imperialism.
d. Alliances - Backing of countries to the point of gang wars (Big Mac Fight)
Triple Alliance= Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy (<1914)
Triple Entente= Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy (after 1914), USA (after 1917)
3. Explosion
a. Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand is killed in Sarajevo by a Black Hand Member.
b. Serbia takes the fall and Germany backs Austria-Hungary, Russia back Serbia, etc.
c. Cataclysmic war ensues.
Trench Warfare is brutal and fatal.
4. Effects of WWI ->
a. America becomes a Global Player
b. almost every government east of France become totalitarian
c. Ultimately Germany sparks WWII due to the Treaty of Versailles.- Hitler, Mein Kampf, etc.
more Nationalism