Europe
in
1740
FRANCE
 Dynasty  Bourbons
 Economy  Mercantilism
 Two Weak Monarchs…
 Louis XV (r. 1715-74)
 Louis XVI (r. 1774-92)
 Common people suffer from heavy taxes/hunger
 Aristocracy grows stronger  People distrust French
monarchy
 Lost colonial empire to British with defeats in War of
Spanish Succession & Seven Years’ War
GREAT BRITAIN
 1707  Unification of Scotland & England = Great Britain
 Economy  Mercantilism
 British Political System  King & Parliament share power
 New Dynasty  Hanoverians (“Georges” from Germany)
 Hanover Kings rely on prime minister to handle Parliament
 Robert Walpole (1721-42)
 William Pitt the Elder (1757-61) & the Younger (1783-1801)
 Built huge colonial empire in series of wars & alliances vs. France
 Peace of Utrecht(1713)  Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Hudson Bay
& the asiento
 Treaty of Paris (1763)  India, Quebec & lands E. of Mississippi
R., including Florida
PRUSSIA
 Dynasty  Hohenzollern
 Economy  Agricultural with Serfdom
 Major Problem  lack of territorial integrity
 Frederick William I (r.1713-1740) increases Prussia’s power
 Expands army & bureaucracy (General Directory)
 Junker nobility dominates serfs
 Committed to greatness of Prussian militarism (“Sparta of the
North”)
 Frederick William’s Successor  FREDERICK THE GREAT
 Was Frederick the Great an “enlightened monarch”?
Frederick the Great (r.1740-86)
 Impassioned by the arts as a young
man

Started War of Austrian Succession
by breaking Pragmatic Sanction
(1740)
 Implemented reforms after near
defeat in 7 Years’ War

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Religious toleration (except Jews)
Intellectual freedom
Improved Prussia’s schools
Simplified Prussian law code
Abolished torture
Demanded impartial legal judgments
 Maintained noble privilege & dominion
over serfs
“I am the
first servant
of the
state.”
Frederick’s Palace @ Sans Souci:
Austrian Empire
 Dynasty  Hapsburgs
 Economy  Agricultural with Serfdom
 Major Problem  nationalities problem
 Won Spanish Netherlands, Milan &
Naples in War of Spanish Succession
 Maria Theresa centralizes power
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Limited the role of the papacy
Strengthened central bureaucracy
Improved tax system (even nobles!)
Reduced power of lords over serfs
 Maria Theresa Successor  JOSEPH II
Maria Theresa
(r. 1740-80)
Joseph II (r.1780-90)
 Initiated far reaching reform
program…
 Complete religious toleration; even
for Protestants & Jews
(Toleration Patent of 1781)
 Abolished serfdom
 Freed serfs given legal rights over
their landholdings
 Eliminated the death penalty
 Established the principle of the
equality of all before the law
 Made German the official
language of the bureaucracy
 Radical edicts were canceled
after his death
“I have made
Philosophy the
lawmaker of my
empire.”
RUSSIA
 Dynasty  Romanovs
 Economy  Agricultural with Serfdom
 Major Problem  the pendulum of Russian history
 To westernize or not to westernize?
 Six week tsars succeeded Peter the Great fell under
control of the Palace Guard
 Tsar Peter III executed during coup by Palace Guard 
CATHERINE THE GREAT becomes tsarina in 1762
 Was Catherine the Great an “enlightened monarch”?
Catherine the Great (r.1762-96)
 Continued westernization of Russia
started by Peter the Great (imported
artists & intellectuals)

impassioned by the Enlightenment
(corresponded w/ philosophes like
Voltaire & Diderot)
 Attempted domestic reforms..
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Unified law code & restriction of torture
Limited religious toleration
Educational improvement
Reform of local governments
 Abandoned Reform after Pugachev’s
Rebellion (1773)…
 Charter of Nobility (1785)
 Nobles given absolute authority over serfs
 Serfdom extended to Ukraine
“I shall be an
autocrat,
that’s my
trade; and the
good Lord will
forgive me,
that’s his.”
DUTCH REPUBLIC
 Experienced a period of decline in late 17th c.
 Wars w/ England & France put heavy burdens on Dutch finances
& manpower
 Dutch shipping monopoly challenged by the English
 Dutch domestic industries, including fishing, stagnated
 Lack of political unity after death of William III (1702)
weakened system of the States General
 Power struggle  Regents vs. House of Orange
 Dutch burghers (“Patriots”) begin to agitate for domestic
reforms
 Invaded by Prussian king to protect his sister (wife of
Orangist stadtholder)  crushed Patriots
 Only thing keeping Dutch relevant  financial system
SPAIN
 Experienced a Period of Decline during 17th c.

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Philip III expels the Morsicos (1609)
Revenues from colonies declined
Loss of the quinto
Spanish currency devalued
 Aristocracy maintained wealth & power  lacked sizable middle
class
 New Dynasty in 18th c.  Bourbons
 Bourbon Kings modeled Spanish state on French monarchy 
Philip V & Charles III
 Aristocratic elite  resisted foreign ideas at expense of Spain
 Mercantilist legislation to promote domestic industry
 Ideas of Scientific Revolution & Enlightenment
OTHER MEDITERRANEAN STATES
Portugal
 Been in steady decline since losing the Spice
trade to Dutch (late 16th c.)
 Briefly revived by marquis of Pombal 
curtailed power of nobility & Catholic Church
 Nobility & Church regained power after removal
of Pombal
Italian States
 Austria replaces Spain as dominant power on
peninsula after Peace of Utrecht (1713)
 Independent Italian States impotent in
continental affairs
SWEDEN
 Dominant power in Northern Europe (17th c.)
 Loss at battle of Poltava (1709)  marked Swedish decline
 Swedish nobility regain power in 1718  monarchy reduced
to puppet status
 King Gustavus III (1771-1792) reasserts power of the
monarchy  the most enlightened of all European monarchs?
 Laissez-faire economic reforms
 Freedom of religion, speech & press
 New code of justice/abolition of torture
 Group of nobles assassinate Gustavus (1792)  proved unable
to restore rule of aristocracy
Gustavus III (r.1771-92)
 Restored the principle of strong
monarchy in Sweden via bloodless
military coup (Aug.19, 1772)
 Known as the “Theatre King”. Strong
patron of the arts, poetry, theatre, and
opera.
 Liberal domestic reforms..
 Torture forbidden by law (1772)
 Death penalty abolished for # of
offenses (1778-79)
 Relig. Toleration for Catholics & Jews
(1781)
 Laissez-faire economic reforms
 Rescinded freedom of the press
 Upset nobility w/ increased power to king
and restriction of privileges;
assassinated via noble plot in 1792
“ I will
never
pretend
esteem for
a man
whose
principles I
deteste.”
POLANDLITHUANIA
A Brief History of Poland
War of Austrian Succession (1740-48)
AUSTRIA
Great Britain
WAR
PRUSSIA
France

Cause  Frederick the Great ignores the Pragmatic Sanction &
invades Silesia

War fought in Europe, Asia & North America
 Prussia seized Silesia; France occupied Austrian Netherlands (Europe)
 France took Madras from Britain (Asia)
 British captured French fortress of Louisbourg (North Am.)

Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)  all occupied territories must
be returned to original owners except Silesia

This treaty basically guaranteed that another war would be
fought!
SEVEN YEARS’ WAR (1756-63)
Austria
France
Russia
WAR
Prussia
Great Britain

Causes  Prussia refused to return Silesia to Austria; Count
Wenzel von Kaunitz engineers Diplomatic Revolution of 1756

Fought on Three Continents – Europe, Asia & No. America

Treaty of Hubertusburg (1763)

 ends fighting in Europe; returns all occupied territories
 recognized Prussia’s permanent control over Silesia
Treaty of Paris (1763)
 Britain gets India, Quebec & lands E. of Mississippi from France
 French ally Spain transfers Spanish Florida to Britain
 French gives Louisiana territory to Spain
Seven Years’ War: The 1st World War?