Central and Eastern Europe
Central and Eastern Europe
• Most economy of central and eastern
Europe was agrarian
• These states did not have overseas empires,
or engage in overseas trade
• Austrian Habsburgs recognized how weak
the Holy Roman Emperor was and began to
consolidate power
• Russia became a military and naval power
Poland: Absence of Strong Central
Authority
• Polish Monarchy was elective
– Deep distrust and decisions among nobility
prevented electing a king from among
themselves
• Most kings were foreigners
• Sejm (legislative body) practiced liberum
veto
– Opposition of any single member, who might
have been bribed by a foreign power, could
require the legislative body to disband
The Habsburg Empire and the
Pragmatic Sanction
• Ruled by virtue of a different title – king,
archduke, duke and all needed the
cooperation of the local nobility
• Roman Catholicism could not unify these
people politically
The Habsburg Empire and the
Pragmatic Sanction
• Charles VI
– No male heir but he had a daughter
– Spent most of his reign seeking appoval of his
family for a document called the Pragmatic
Sanction
• Provided legal basis for a single line of inheritance
within the Habsburg dynasty
– Frederick II of Prussia invaded Habsburg and
Maria Theresa had to fight for her inheritance
Prussia and the Hohenzollerns
• East Prussia lay inside Poland and outside of
the authority of the Holy Roman Emperor
• Frederick William the Great Elector
– Broke local noble estates, organized a royal
bureaucracy and built a strong army
• Needed taxes to build his army but nobility said no
• Took it by military force
– Mostly fell on the peasants and urban classes
Prussia and the Hohenzollerns
• Frederick William I
– Military grew from 39,000 to 80,000
– Separate Laws applied to army and to civilians
• Laws, customs, and royal attention made the officer
corps the highest social class of the state so the army,
the nobility and the monarchy became a single
political entity
– Avoided conflict
• His army was a symbol of Prussian power and unity
Russia Enters the European Political
Arena
• Peter the Great
– 10 years old when he took the throne as co-ruler
with his half brother
• Sister, Sophia, was named regent but Peter’s
followers overthrew her
• 2 things were made clear to Peter
– Power of the tsar must be made secure
– Russian military power must be increased
Russia Enters the European Political
Arena
• Peter The Great
– Visited Europe in disguise to find out what
people thought and were saying about Russia
– While Peter was abroad the guards had rebelled
• Peter brutally suppressed the revolt with public
tortures and public executions
• Thousands of rebels were put to death and their
corpses remained on public display to discourage
disloyalty
Russia Enters the European Political
Arena
• Peter the Great
– Shaved (personally) the nobilities long beards
and cut off their long hand covering sleeves of
shirts and coats
– Highly skilled at balancing one group off against
another while never excluding any group
Russia Enters the European Political
Arena
• Founding St Petersburg
– Built government structures and encouraged the
nobles to construct town houses
– Constructed a smaller version of Versailles
– Symbolized a new Western orientation of Russia
and Peter’s determination to hold his position
on the Baltic Coast
The Case of Peter’s Son Aleksei
• Peter was jealous of this son even though he
showed no strong intelligence or ambition
• Peter became convinced that his opponents
were looking to Alesei for a possible
rebellion
• Peter interrogated his son and condemned
him to death
– He died under mysterious circumstances
Administrative Colleges
• Peter reorganized his administration to show
his own personal authority and to fight
corruption
• Created eight of these colleges to oversee
matters such as collection of taxes, foreign
relations, war, and economic affairs
• Each college received advice from foreigners
Achieving Secular Control of the
Church
• Suppressed the independence of the Russian
Orthodox Church
– The bishops and clergy showed sympathy for
Peter’s son
• Peter abolished the head of the church’s
position
• When Peter died he left no clear line of
succession to the throne
– Peter had laid the groundwork for a modern
Russia but not a stable state
What to do after you have read and
filled out the analysis worksheet
• On a blank piece of chart paper write the title of your
document (in marker)`
• Write a short description of the letter
• Write the following:
– What do you wonder about… (come up with questions about
your document)
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