Hansen
AP Euro
14th
Century
Semester Final Study Guide – Additional Info About Each Century
Middle Ages Renaissance
Classical Background, Geography, and a Basic Chronological Framework
•You must know the map of Europe we did in the first unit, including: major political divisions of 1500
(13), major European peninsulas (7), major bodies of water (but not rivers) (11), why many major
European capitals are on rivers, basic climatic regions (north western, Mediterranean, and Eastern,
including the impact of the gulf stream and the moderating impact of bodies of water in the west and
south on climate)
•History broken into pre-history, classical history/antiquity, medieval history, and the modern age
•The meaning of the term the ‘Early Modern Age’
Late Medieval World
•Great Chain of Being, including: patronage v deference, Ptolemy and Aristotle’s contributions,
primogeniture, ‘stations’ on the chain. Why it was unthinkable to break the chain. The need to accept
ones’ station. King versus church sovereignty issues.
•Feudalism/manor system, manorial privileges for nobles: root of social classes… insecurity of medieval
world leads to castles, local power, nobles of the sword who fight for local security… diminished
international trade
•Social repercussions of the Black Plague (poor workers have more rights… end of serfdom in Western,
but not Eastern Europe)
•Basics of the 1st Hundred Years’ War (fought by French and British over ownership of France… some
French nobles betrayed their own side to get independence from French king… Joan of Arc eventually
rallies French to win… Parliament gains power in response to English king’s need to get money for the
fight… led to early stirrings of nationalism in France and Britain, one of the last chivalric wars… kings
are left as 1st among equals, but will soon rise higher… Magna Carta in England stands as a medieval
symbol for limitation of royal power)
•Two basic branches of Christianity: Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox (Byzantium)
•The Great Schism/Babylonian Captivity (several competing Popes; it eventually ends, but weakens the
authority and prestige of the church)
•John Wycliffe attacks Catholic corruption and founds Lollards; Jan Hus, Czech critic of Catholic
Church… burned at the stake… followers known as Hussites; ; pre-Luther Luthers
•‘Gothic’ signifies German or non-Roman and was an artistic style of the late Middle Ages… it was
significantly different from the classical style, which would be reborn in the Renaissance (I didn’t cover
this in class, but you must know it for the final!)
•Evidence of earliest roots of nationalism in vernacular literature like Dante’s Divine Comedy and
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; scholasticism
•Christine de Pisan- Early Italian advocate of women’s rights
•In the 13th c, the fourth crusade sacked Constantinople, eliminating a non-Italian alternative to trade
routes for Asian trade goods entering Europe, handing even more power to the Northern Italian citystates…ripening them for the Renaissance
•Understand the existence of identification by king or lord in place of nationalism (which wouldn’t rise
until Napoleon)… (hint: understanding the difference between subjects and citizens helps with this one).
Few large towns in Europe… most are in northern Italy.
•Petrarch … very early Humanist… believes Italy is entering a Golden ‘New Classical’ Age
•Vocab- bourgeoisie/burghers, guilds, HRE, oligarchy, despotism, republic, empire
15th Century
Renaissance
•Signori, wealthy oligarchic families, run Italian city-states (de Medici’s in Florence, for example)
•Italian city states had a balance of power that allowed cultural explosion but eventually inviting
invasion from outsiders (Valois-Habsburg Wars)
•Savonarola represented the popolo’s dissatisfaction with the Signori)
•Humanism: individualism, secularism (but not atheism), love of the classical, belief that classical
knowledge can be interpreted and evaluated, not just received, introduction of classical texts from the
Middle East; printing press
•Humanists: Pico della Mirandola (Oration on the Dignity of Man- humanist anthem); Lorenzo Valla
(textual criticism); Leonardo da Vinci as Renaissance Man
•Themes of Renaissance Art: single-point perspective, human focus (portraits) (Mona Lisa), realism
(nudes) (David), higher status of the artist (signed their works… seen as divine), shading
(chiarascuro), revival of classical styles (especially in architecture) (School of Athens painting),
patronage of both wealthy families and the church
•Women and the Renaissance: noble women got great educations, but only to make themselves
decorative to men (The Courtier was gender biased) not to participate in society; evidence of impact
on lower class women is weaker, but weak rape laws indicate low status
•Laura Cereta is an example of a Renaissance humanist/feminist… she was only able to have an
independent life as a writer because of the good fortune of her husband dying… despite her brilliance
she was still looked upon skeptically
•Pre ‘Age of Exploration’ status of Africans: curiosities in Europe, valued as such… mixed views on
black skin... Sign of humility or devil?
•Erasmus- Northern Humanist (Christian Humanism)- early advocate of bible in vernacular, holier
Christianity as promoted by Christian education, more critical version of the bible; criticized abuses in
Church hierarchy and argued for tolerance, prepared Northern Europe for Luther
•Thomas More- Northern Humanist- Utopia- no private property… causes corruption, reason is the
basis for a better society
•Rabelais- French humanist Shakespeare
•In the wake of the First Hundred Years’ War, New Monarchs aka Renaissance Princes’ used
marriage and war to reassert monarchical power (like France, Spain, England)
•French New Monarchs unified competing French provinces, rebuild French army and increase
French royal power
• English kings use the strict and politically motivated Court of the Star Chamber to reassert royal
authority under the house of Tudor (it stands until the English Civil War); this court breaks the
English tradition of advanced and fair judiciary, but does centralize and organize England after 1 st
Hundred Years’ War
•Ferdinand and Isabella used marriage to bring central authority to Spain, booted out Muslims
(reconquista), copied Roman Inquisition to persecute Jews, and began to engineer marriages to
establish Habsburg Empire; funded Columbus’ missions
•Prince Henry the Navigator builds up Portuguese knowledge of African coast to find alternate trade
route, especially after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman in 1457; Dias rounds Cape of Good
Hope, end of century explosion as part of Age of Exploration
•In Treaty of Tordesillas, Pope divides New World between Portuguese and Spain (Portugal is happy
because they are after east…India, etc… they will later regret losing out on silver of Peru and Mexico)
•Columbian Exchange, goods cross Atlantic in both directions
Hansen
AP Euro
Semester Final Study Guide – Additional Info About Each Century
16th Century
Renaissance  Age of Exploration  Reformation  Wars of Religion
•High Renaissance in Rome with Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Raphael
•Castiglione’s The Courtier and the idea of the ideal ‘Renaissance Man’
•Machiavelli’s The Prince and its statements about power (Machiavellian versus Machiavelli). His goal to
make Italy strong enough to withstand foreigners taking over Italy (Habsburg-Valios Wars)
•Thomas Moore’s Utopia argues that flawed social institutions and greed, rather than inherent corruption,
caused evil in men; earliest kernels of socialist-type thought
•Criticism of the Roman Catholic Church: absenteeism/pluralism, immorality of the clergy, Tetzel’s
indulgences (purgatory), poor education of the clergy, worldliness of church hierarchy, simony
•Luther’s teachings- sola scriptura, priesthood of all believers, vernacular bible, faith alone can save (sola
fide), rejection of most Catholic sacraments because not in bible
•Friction between educated laity and poorly educated priests
•Why could the Reformation happen only in HRE? Understand clash between Charles V and Luther at Diet
of Worms.
•How did Luther react to HRE peasant revolts and why? (Against the Thieving, Murderous, Hordes of
Peasants) Why did many nobles in HRE support Luther?
•What was Luther’s stance on women? (see textbook pg 462)
•Habsburg-Valois Wars (fought between France and Habsburgs over Italy… also, France wants to keep
HRE divided, so it supports Protestant nobles in HRE- in Peace of Augsburg, Charles V has to accept the
rule that in HRE, he who rules, chooses religion. Charles V can’t crush Protestantism because he is
worrying about Ottoman’s, French, and rebellious Lutheran HRE princes.
•Know the total land controlled by Habsburg dynasty by the time of Phillip II (Spanish Habsburg) and
Ferdinand (Austrian Habsburg)
•Calvinism (Calvinism’s predestination- which links to Calvinist belief in the puniness of humans before
God- morally rigid Geneva with a consistory that looked in on human behavior, inflexibility with some
ideas as evident in execution of Servetus, strong work ethic and educational push to enable reading of the
bible). Most famous book: Institutes of the Christian Religion
•Calvinism has a greater direct influence on other Protestant faiths (Huguenot in France, Presbyterian in
Scotland, Puritans in England) than Lutheranism
•Calvin didn’t do much to advance the status of women
•Anabaptists were true radicals with: equality for women, adult baptism, and separation of church and state;
persecuted by almost everyone… (“by their fruits you will know them”)
•English Reformation: Henry VIII asked for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon; Pope’s
hands were tied by need to look infallible in face of Reformation and to avoid angering Catherine’s relative
Charles V: said no. Henry established Anglican church. Act of Supremacy and Act in Restraint of Appeals
end Pope’s control over English Church. Henry’s kids swing England back and forth between Catholicism
(Bloody Mary) and Protestantism, and Elizabethan Settlement declares a middle of the road Protestantism) .
•Reason for Irish devotion to Catholicism (link to English oppressors)
•Lutheranism becomes popular in Scandinavian states and Calvinism in Scotland
•Catholic reaction to Reformation: two basic models, moral reform of Catholic Church (Catholic
Reformation) and an attack on Protestantism (Counter-Reformation)
•Know the basic reforms of the Council of Trent (end of absenteeism, higher standards for clergy
(vocational callings), Pope over councils, list of banned books, strengthening of inquisition)
•Founding of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) by Ignatius Loyola (famous work Spiritual Exercises) to travel
the world and support the papacy’s brand of Christianity. Ursuline Order to educate Catholic girls.
16th Century continued
•Baroque art reflects the Council of Trent’s desire to emphasize emotion and to direct art and
worship towards the masses rather than elites.
•Tensions in France between absolutist and lavish Catholics (Francis I and Henry II) on the one
hand and the increasingly Huguenot nobles on the other. Francis I and Henry II had overspent
their income from the Taille (tax on land) because of lavish living and Habsburg-Valois War.
French monarchs create money by selling offices to the Nobility of the Robe. Early Wars of
Religion fighting was touched off by the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacres, which led to the War
of the Three Henry’s. This war ended when politique Prince Henry Navarre/Henry IV (“Paris is
worth a mass”) took the throne. Converts to Catholicism, but passes Edict of Nantes for
Protestants.
•Netherlands had been able to tolerate Habsburg rule under culturally Flemish Charles V, but not
so much under intolerant Spanish Philip II. Calvinists in the Spanish-owned Netherlands revolt
against Catholicism (smash icons). Spanish Habsburg Philip II sends army up to the Netherlands
to pacify it. Spanish use violence and the inquisition. Netherlands unites under William of Orange
(‘the silent’). Eventually the Southern provinces of the Netherlands (future Belgium) are held by
Spain (remain Catholic) and the Northern parts (future Netherlands) are liberated (under the Union
of Utrecht) (Protestant). Dutch use flooding to hold back Spanish mercenary army.
•Netherlands had been begging Protestant England for help; Elizabeth had tried to avoid helping,
but needed Dutch markets and didn’t want to stand alone against Catholic Spain, so eventually,
after William the Silent was assassinated, helped. Catholic cousin of Elizabeth, Mary, Queen of
Scots, was executed when linked to a Catholic plot to overthrow Elizabeth. Spanish are spurred by
aid to Dutch and death of Mary to launch armada. ‘Protestant wind’ helps defeat the Spanish
Armada; Spain is weakened but not defeated, but Protestantism will live.
•Thirty Years’ War is thematically related, but falls in next century.
•Portuguese start Age of Exploration by taking North West African islands and ports (starts in
previous century). .Prince Henry the Navigator is pivotal. Caravel, cannon, astrolabe, and
magnetic compass give European explorers an advantage. Ultimately will find new world and
wrest Indian Ocean trade away from Muslim traders.
•Spain follows with Columbus. Explorers main goals are economic. Religion and curiosity were
motives as well. Silver bullion in New World will contribute to Spain’s mighty power, its attempt
to roll back the ‘Protestant Tide’, and the high inflation in Europe in the late 16 th century (Price
Revolution). Some recent scholars tie this inflation to Europe’s growing population as well as the
new world silver.
•Spanish priest de las Casas criticizes the poor treatment of Native Americans by the Spanish.
•European Witch Hunts reflect tension and superstition of Wars of Religion; misogyny
•Golden Age of English Lit under Elizabeth and King James (Shakespeare and King James Bible)
•African slavery increases (middle passage) and slavery is increasingly racial with the end of
white slaves from Crimea with fall of Constantinople to Ottomans Indians make poor slaves so
Africans work sugar plantations in African islands and the New World
•Montaigne demonstrates uncertainty of the times of the Wars of Religion with his style of
skeptical essays. Criticizes poor treatment of non-Europeans
•The discovery of the new world will be instrumental in the rise of the Atlantic Economy later
with its mercantilism, joint-stock companies, rising capital and the glimmerings of capitalism, the
putting out system, rising population in Europe (potato), growing power of banks, and a challenge
to feudal system, as well as the a struggle for control of Atlantic trade.
•Copernicus lays the seeds of the Scientific Revolution, which won’t blossom until the next
century; Brahe records valuable empirical astronomical data
Hansen AP Euro
17th Century
Semester Final Study Guide – Additional Info About Each Century
Rise of Absolutism and Constitutionalism - 2nd Phase of
Wars of Religion - Scientific Revolution
•Thirty Years War moves struggles over religion to central and Eastern Europe. The Thirty Years’ War
is touched off by lingering religious tensions in the HRE that were supposedly solved by the Peace of
Augsburg, but lingered. The Catholic League and the Protestant League both jockey for HRE territories.
The fighting is touched off when Ferdinand of Styria becomes Austrian Habsburg emperor and
determines to crush Protestantism in Bohemia, which leads to the Defenestration of Prague. There were
several phases of the war. In the first two, the Bohemian phase and the Danish phase, the Catholic
forces won great victories and issued the Edict of Restitution, rolling back gains made by Protestants in
the 1st Phase of the Wars of Religion. However, an increasingly powerful Habsburg dynasty inspired
enemies like Gustavus Adolphus from Sweden and the French king Louis XIII (even though the French
king was Catholic). Eventually the Catholic forces were beaten back and the Peace of Westphalia
enshrined the religious ‘live and let live’ attitude of the earlier Peace of Augsburg permanently. The
Thirty Years’ War smashed the population and land of the HRE. The power vacuum left by a weak
HRE helps to explain the later rise of strong absolutist Austria and Prussia.
•End of the Thirty Years’ War (and with it the Wars of Religion) marks the end of religion as the central
determinant in European wars.
•By the end of the Reformation and the Wars of Religion, Northern and Western Europe became
primarily Protestant, while Southern and Eastern Europe stayed Catholic
•Protestants had an advanced work ethic and tended to be more interested in education, which grew out
of a desire/obligation to read the bible.
Western (French and Spanish) Absolutism
•What are the characteristics of Absolutism? (Standing armies, centralized power supported by
bureaucracy, secret police, sovereignty safely in the hands of the monarch, Divine Right)
•Spain fell from its era of domination as a result of its attempts to roll back the Protestant tide during the
Wars of Religion, dwindling new world silver, Habsburg inbreeding, noble distaste with work.
Cervantes’ Don Quixote represents the crumbling of Spain.
•France became greatest Absolutist nation under the successive reigns of Henry IV and his minister the
Duke de Sully (who built up French infrastructure, kept peace, grew trade); Louis XIII and Cardinal
Richelieu (who further strengthened royal power by keeping rival HRE weak, weakening Hugeunot by
destroying their strongholds like La Rochelle, destroying nobles’ castles, kicking powerful nobles off of
royal councils, executing plotters, creating bureaucracy and local representatives of the king, intendants,
to help the king rule) and then finally Louis XIV and his minister Colbert. Richeleiu had argued that if
a government commits a crime for reasons of state (raison d’etat) then no crime has been committed.
•The Fronde, a noble reaction to growing French Absolutism, happened when Louis XIV was a boy.
Convinced Louis that absolutism was necessary. He is absolutism personified: sun king, “l’etat c’est
moi”, morning ritual, Palace of Versailles, etc.). Understand how Louis XIV increased the nobles’
symbolical power (status) while undermining their real power.
•Louis’ minister Colbert pursued mercantilist policies which aimed at the wealth of the state. Why
would tariffs be an important part of mercantilist policies?
•Louis built up a professional ‘Martinet’ army (dragooning, etc.)
•Louis XIV fought a series of expansive wars, which would eventually cause other European powers to
bond together to maintain a Balance of Power.
•Understand French cultural pre-eminence under Louis XIV as exemplified by lingua franca, French
Classicism, and the French Royal Academies of Sciences and Arts
17th c continued
Constitutionalism
•Trouble for English absolutists came after the reign of Elizabeth I, in the reign of King
James I (originally a Scotsman) of England. King James tried to be absolutist, but
Parliament, and especially the House of Commons was starting to feel confident enough to
challenge the monarch (they’d been gaining wealth from trade, ownership of church lands
sold by Henry VIII …in short, economic power). However, James I was amiable, and so
things never came to blows. Religion was complicated for the British at the time because
the official Anglican Church was squeezed between Catholics on the one hand and
Puritans on the other. Charles I, James’ successor, was headstrong and imperious and
angered Parliament much more. Charles I was also a religious zealot and many feared he
was pushing England back towards Christianity. Charles also angered the Scots by trying
to enforce Anglicanism. When he tried to get Parliament to raise him an army, it refused.
Instead it raised an army against him and he raised his own army and the ensuing clash
was the English Civil War. This Parliament was known as the Long Parliament, because it
wouldn’t let Charles disband it. Roundheads versus Cavaliers and the New Model Army.
•The English Civil War was horribly destructive (prompting philosophers like Thomas
Hobbes in Leviathan to declare that absolutism was the best form of gov’t). A puritan
military dictatorship took over England under Oliver Cromwell. Its rule is known as the
interregnum. The people didn’t like this either as it was too stifling and the chaos was seen
as punishment by god for breaking the Great Chain of Being/Divine Right. Incidentally,
Cromwell started the fierce mercantilist policies to seize Atlantic trade from the Dutch
(Navigation Acts).
•The English people eventually invited Charles I’s sons Charles II and James II to return
from exile in the court of Versailles to restore the Chain of Being. Charles II knew to be
easygoing and he hid his Catholicism and worked with the CABAL representatives of
Parliament to keep the peace and raised his daughters Protestant (although he was secretly
taking $ from Louis XIV). James II was not diplomatic and pushed his absolutism and his
Catholicism. The English might have been content to wait for Charles IIs daughters to take
over, but James II had a Catholic son. This sparks Parliament to invite Dutch William and
Mary of Orange (Mary was one of James II’s daughters but had been raised Protestant) to
invade England and take the throne (pulls the wool over the eyes of God and his damned
chain). The revolution was a Glorious Revolution because there was little bloodshed after
James II fled. The English Bill of Rights was written immediately after the Revolution and
outlined a constitutional monarchy with Parliament over the king, a judiciary independent
of the king, regular meetings of Parliament, etc. John Locke wrote a philosophical defense
of the new gov’t. (Two Treatise on Government) English gov’t was not a full democracy.
•The Dutch were an alternate model as a Constitutional Republic with weak central
authority (confederation with stadholder). The Dutch were famed as religiously tolerant,
mostly work oriented Protestants), agriculturally advanced, and The Dutch Golden Age
existed as the result of a great Dutch trading empire (Dutch East India Company)
(Amsterdam), taken largely from the Spanish, and an advanced banking system with low
interest rates. The Golden Age began to come to an end with competition in trade from
England (Navigation Acts) and draining wars against Louis XIV.
•Dutch, English and others formed an alliance against Louis XIV’s French juggernaut to
maintain balance of power- Roots of the Second Hundred Years’ War
Hansen AP Euro
17th Century (cont.)
Semester Final Study Guide – Additional Info About Each Century
Absolutism in Eastern Europe
•Different pattern of development in the East. The Black Death reinforced serfdom rather than ending it.
Local lords had great power between the Black Death and the 17 th c. There was almost no middle class
and town were kept weak. In the 17th c, kings start to rise above nobles. Eastern Europeans grew food
for expanding Western Europeans in 17th & 18th c.
•Austria- Habsburgs had little power after the Thirty Years’ War. They turned eastwards hoping for land
and power. Habsburgs dominated Bohemia (crushed in the first part of the Thirty Years’ War) and
Hungary (which was fiercely Protestant and independent, but unable to keep the Austrians out). This
brought the Austrian Habsburgs face to face with the Ottomans. The Ottomans pushed into Europe and
managed, at their high point to siege, but not take, Vienna (capital of Austria) in 1683. To consolidate
land after victory of Ottomans, Habsburg Charles VI sought the Pragmatic Sanction, which would keep
Habsburg land under one heir.
•Prussia- Hohenzollern family was basically 1st among equals of nobility in Prussia until the Thirty
Years War weakened Brandenburg-Prussia’s Estates and prepared the way for Hohenzollern ‘Great
Elector’ Frederick William to start to assert absolutist power. The Great Elector used the constant war
that was going on and his willingness to leave the Junker nobility in charge over their serfs and taxexempt, to rise in power. Later, Frederick William, the Soldier King, greatly enhanced Prussian power
by building a large standing army, literally of giants, and by forcing the Junkers into the military
(trading them prestige for power).
•Russia- Tsars had to throw of the Mongol Khans to rule. Russians saw themselves as the Orthodox
Christian inheritors of the Roman Empire. In the 16 th c, Tsars like Ivan IV (the Terrible) reduced the
power of the Russian nobility (known as Boyars) to service nobility. Ivan IV founded the Romanov
line, which would rule Russia until the Russian Revolution of 1917. These tsars used secret police and
violence to keep their people down and expanded Russia and the power of the tsar (Cossacks formed as
peasants fled from the oppression of the tsars; they periodically rose in revolt). Peter the Great tried to
modernize Russia in a primarily military fashion after he learned how far behind it was during his grand
tour of Europe as a young man. He built up a strong standing army and defeated Sweden in the Great
Northern War to gain access to the Baltic. There were few years of peace during Peter’s reign. He built
St. Peterburg as a modern city and a ‘window on the West’ and forced nobles to go live in it.
Scientific Revolution
•European scientific revolution is spurred by the medieval university system, tools from navigation/Age
of Exploration, the development of the Scientific Method
•Aristotelian and Ptolemeic worldview was challenged by Copernicus (heliocentrism). Religion
opposed the new ideas (oddly, Protestant more than Catholics, because Protestants are propped up by
the literalness of the bible). This helps to explain some scientists attempt to hide their criticisms (for
example, Copernicus didn’t publish until right before his death and Galileo wrote a Dialogue on the
Two Chief Systems of the World having a character argue for both Ptolemaic and Copernican systems
so he could claim he had no preference, even though his preference was clear. Galileo was forced to
recant. Brahe records great astronomical data. Kepler advanced mathematical formulae that helped to
explain planetary motion, Galileo conducted experiments and observations with the telescope, and
Newton unified all the observation and math with his universal laws and theories of motion and gravity
(Principia) and invention of Calculus.
•Francis Bacon championed inductive reasoning (aka empiricism) (like Galileo), while Rene Descartes
argued for deductive reasoning. The two were joined in the scientific method (which added the
important step that a scientific theory needs to make new predictions that can be tested)
18th Century Enlightenment
•Apply successful methods of science (reason) to society (social science): Equality and Liberty
•Enlightenment rose out of skepticism of absolute truth caused by the Wars of Religion and its
inconclusive settlement and the increasing realization that European cultural values were relative
(the result of increasing contact with non-Europeans (see Baron de Montesqueiu’s Persian Letters or
Locke’s argument that morals were not inherent, but instead built by culture- mind was tabula rasa).
By the end of the 18th c, most educated elites were adherents to the ideas of the Enlightenment.
France, post Louis XIV, was ground zero for the Enlightenment, although many philosophe had to use
sneaky means (satire, discussion in salons, foreign publication, dialogue, etc.,) to get around the
censors. Many were inspired by England’s Constitutionalism.
•Montesquieu is most famous for his Spirit of the Laws, which argued for a separation of powers, in
particular, that the nobility and bourgeoisie could provide a check on kings.
•Voltaire believed in Enlightening monarchs (Frederick the Great for example), freedom of
expression, and Deism
•Diderot and the Encyclopedia
•Madame du Chatelet serves as a reminder that women were not fully accepted into the Enlightenment
(she translated works and helped Voltaire, but wasn’t accepted to Royal Academy). Women could
find a way to participate as salonnierres.
•The Enlightenment was progressive, more moderate, and more unified before 1770. Afterwards, it
became more radical (for example, some became athiests, others, like David Hume, argued that our
understanding of the world was limited by our reliance on our senses; Hume was famous for his
skepticism; Rousseau argued that spontaneous emotion was as important as reason and logic and
argued that the general will should guide society, even though the majority was not always clear on
what the general will was, he also argued that sovereignty ought to come from the people)
•Enlightenment ideas: Hobbes and Locke’s Social Contract, Locke’s individual natural rights and
right to rebellion, natural law, checks and balances, the general will
•widening gap in the tastes and goals of the elites (or ‘the public’) and the mob; the salon
•Adam Smith applies reason to the economy and comes up with Capitalist framework (On the Wealth
of Nations, the invisible hand, the three basic roles of gov’t). a repudiation of mercantilism.
Enlightened Absolutism
•Frederick the Great was a fascinating Prussia leader. As a young man, he was something of an
Enlightenment wussy: pro-peace and art, a dabbler in atheism, he tried to run away from his
domineering father as a young man. Yet when he took over, he immediately seized Silesia from
Austria (War of the Austrian Succession). This greatly increased the power of Prussia. European
powers aligned against Prussia in the later Seven Years War, and Prussia was only saved by Russian
Peter III (who admired Frederick the Great and so decided not to crush him). Frederick pursued
Enlightened policies (religious toleration except for the Jews, free press, reformed and efficient
bureaucracy, he himself lived simply (1st Servant of the State as opposed to ‘l’etat c’est moi’).
•Catherine the Great was an HRE noble with Romanov blood. She was married to Tsar Peter III, but
was complicit in his downfall in a coup with her lover (Peter Orlav) who was an officer in the
military. Catherine became leader of Russia and was an Enlightened leader who modernized Russian
society (whereas Peter the Great had mainly modernized the military). She had to stop short of
extreme liberal reform because of Cossack Rebellion that caused her to ally with Boyars nobility.
•Maria Theresa of Austria was an Enlightened monarch. Her son, Joseph II, tried to push reason too
far… freed the serfs, tried religious toleration for Jews, all of which caused chaos and didn’t help
much… eventually was repealed by the next ruler (Leopold II)
•France’s absolutism began to slip after Louis XIV’s death. The Duke d’Orleans restored power of
remonstration to Parlement of Paris. Louis XV managed to restore absolutism by abolishing the
Parlement, but Louis XVI reinstated it.
Hansen AP Euro
Semester Final Study Guide – Additional Info About Each Century
18th Century (cont.)
Expansions of the 18th Century
•Although I didn’t say it in class, the rise of the Cottage Industry and the boom in the
Atlantic Economy in 18th century Europe are often called the Commercial Revolution
•The Dutch led the Agricultural Revolution and the British followed: know, Charles
“Turnip” Townsend as a champion of nitrogen-restoring plants, the end of the fallow,
enclosure, loss of the commons and its social safety net properties, crop rotation (sometimes
called the 3 field system), and selective breeding (linked to scientific farming)
•Population boomed in the 18th c was the result of more food, end of Black Death (wander
rat), ability to defeat famine with better transportation of food, new world foods
•Putting Out System/Cottage Industry starts in wool industry in England; link between
urban merchants and rural cottage workers
•Atlantic Economy is lead by Atlantic European states, especially England. African Slaves
in the New World create sugar, tobacco, and cotton. Navigation Acts protect mercantilist
British trade. Navigation Acts contain some privileges for the colonies, so they help
America build up, too. Mercantilist policies add to tension that will lead to 2 nd Hundred
Years’ War.
•Adam Smith, Scottish philosoph, argues that the government should stay out of economics
(anti-mercantilist); gov’t would work better with invisible hand (Capitalism)
The Second Hundred Years War
•The S.H.Y.W. was born out of the Grand Alliance and other groups that unified to contain
Louis XIV’s growing French military power and morphed into a battle between France and
Britain for control of the Atlantic Economy and European dominance that lasted until the
fall of Napoleon.
•In the War of the Spanish Succession, Louis XIV, who had agreed after disastrous fighting
with the League of Augsburg (Dutch, Habsburgs, Spain, and Sweden) to leave the Spanish
Empire alone, was handed the Spanish throne (or his nephew Phillip of Anjou was) in the
will of Carlos II (El Hechizado). The Grand Alliance defeated the French and the Treaty of
Utrecht gave new world land from France to England and the Asiento from Spain to
England.
• The War of the Austrian Succession had an Central/Eastern European slant (struggle
between Austria and Prussia over land) and a Western slant (inconclusive battle in the New
World.
•Finally, the Seven Years War (aka French-Indian War) proved conclusive. The British
defeated the French forces by siege at Quebec. France lost all New World colonies
(although the Spanish got Louisiana, not the British) in the 1 st Treaty of Paris. The Seven
Year’s War also had an Eastern/Central European component as Russia, Austria, and France
tried to smash Prussia. Peter III of Russia backed out of the fighting, narrowly allowing
Prussia to survive. Don’t forget, one reason that France lost in the new world is that they
had to focus on European continental conflict as well, whereas the British could focus on
the new world.
Societal Changes in the 18th Century
•rising number of kids born out of wedlock (foundling homes)
•Growing treatment of young kids as unique and valuable rather than as little adults to be
disciplined harshly (based partly on Rousseau’s ideas in Emile)
(cont.)
•Improvements in the treatment of mental patients and some improvements to hospital
conditions in the late 18th century
•Edward Jenner develops an effective inoculation for smallpox
•Literacy of the lower classes was focused on chapbook and almanacs and fairy tales,
while the upper classes read the philosophes.
Late 18th To 19th Century
Political Revolutions
The American Revolution: importance of the Seven Year’s War, Common Sense , Thomas
Paine, the irony of the taxes Americans paid after winning the revolution, The Declaration of
Independence, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, King George III, no taxation
without representation, the American Constitution, the Stamp Act and the Coercise Acts
the Boston Tea party, the Treaty of Paris, the Marquis de Lafayette,
•Causes of the French Revolution (pre-1787)
•Phases of the French Revolution and their dates: Bourgeois/ Moderate (1789-1791),
Radical (1791-1795), The Directory (1795-1799), Napoleonic (1799-1814), the Congress
of Vienna (1814-1815)
•Estates, their percentages (in terms of population) and privileges, and the different
sections of the third estate and their unique attributes
•Ancien Regime, Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, san-culottes, Jacobin, Girondin, the
Mountain,, Napoleon, Parlement and the reason for their return to power, the Assembly of
Notables, Estates General, Voting Deadlock, National Assembly, Tennis Court Oath,
Abbe Sieyes, The Great Fear, the concessions of the first two estates on the night of
August 4th 1789 (and how to argue that this wasn't entirely a selfless act of the first two
estates), Cahiers, Marquis de Lafayette, Declaration of the Rights of Man, Radicalizing
events- Women's March on Versailles, failed Flight to Varennes, declaration of war by
Austria and Prussia, women's movements- why at this time, Olympe de Gouge and Mary
Wollestonecraft, the 3rd estatesa disagreements over the Church and what the National
Assembly did with the church (assignats), farmers get land (long lasting gain of the
Revolution) rationalization of the French system (department, new calendar, etc.),
Political Spectrum (right, center, left, reactionary, conservative, moderate, liberal, radical),
Foreign distrust of the French Revolution and Edmund Burke's response, the Reign of
Terror, the Committee on Public Safety, Robespierre, early sparks of Socialism,
connection to Rousseau, levee en masse, Revolutionary symbols, fall of Robespierre
the Directory, Napoleon's coup d'etat , Horatio Nelson and Battle of Trafalgar, Spain and
guerrilla warfare, the Louisiana Purchase, Napoleon's plebiscite's, Concordat with the
Pope, and Napoleonic Code Rise to emperor and show of power over the Pope, family
members placed on conquered thrones, Continental System, Confederation of the Rhine,
Invasion of Russia (Grand Army), Scorched Earth Policy, the Battle of Leipzig, the
Hundred Days, the Battle of Waterloo, the Bourbon Restoration and the Congress of
Vienna (Balance of Power, Legitimacy, Contain France) Metternich, the Battle of
Waterloo, guillotine and the irony of the guillotine
Hansen AP Euro
Semester Final Study Guide – Additional Info About Each Century
Industrial Revolution
•KEY development in European and World History, perhaps since 10,000 BC with the
Development of Farming
•First in England and then on Continent
•Doesn’t trickle down to help the average person until 1850 and later
•Britain leads for a number of reasons: great infrastructure for transportation (canals,
ocean), capital to invest built up from trade, especially with colonies, iron and coal, low
tariffs and gov’t interference in economy (capitalism), agricultural success as one of the
leaders of the 2nd Agricultural Revolution (so average Joe has money to spend), stable banks
and credit markets, stable constitutional gov’t that isn’t interrupted by invasion from
Napoleon, available proletariat workforce, strong system os education (machinists,
engineers)
•First industry- textiles
•Cotton gin  spinning jenny  water frame  power loom
•Early factories  water, animal, or human power  used foundlings
•Energy revolution  steam power  Newcomen  Watt  separate condenser used
first to drain mines leads to almost unlimited power and iron
•Trains  the Rocket
•Skilled artisan jobs (weavers, say) replaced by machinery… possible social unrest
•Crystal Palace Exhibition
•Gains of Industrialization eaten up by pop. growth before 1850
•Malthus and Ricardo’s (Iron Law of Wages) pessimistic economic theories
•Advantages for Continental European industrialization versus England as trailblazer
•U.S. and German industrial explosion after 1850
•Zollverein ideas (Friedrich List), tariffs
•Limited Liability Partnerships (Credit Mobilier of Paris)