AP European History

EHAP Review

The Emergence of the European State System

Absolutism in France under Louis XIV

• Louis XIV, a.k.a. the Sun King, was the next threat to universal absolute monarchy.
• Born in 1638, he ruled from 1643–1715. His rule had three phases:
  1. 1643-1661 Cardinal Mazarin rules because Louis XIV was too young. Mazarin put down the Fronde (rebellion by nobles, not by peasants) but only after Louis XIV fled Paris and his entire family was killed (oops!) which, naturally, left a lasting impression on Louis XIV (could have been a reason why Louis XIV did not want his palace at Paris). This phase ended when Mazarin died in 1661.
  2. 1661-1682 Louis takes over, builds Versailles, and vows not to let anyone rule over him. He built up the standing army, continued centralization of power through the bureaucracy, helped the economy grow and said I am the state, which pretty much sums it up.
  3. 1682-1715 Constant wars, France vs. the rest of Europe.

Louis XIV’s Internal Policies

• Versailles isolated location of Louis XIV’s palace. Versailles was the great trap dedicated to the taming of the aristocracy. Effectively, it drew the nobles away from their affairs and kept them close to Louis XIV. Versailles was a constant party, so nobody wanted to leave. Louis XIV, however, knew how to balance work w/party so he was a good ruler, unlike his successors and the foreign rulers who tried to emulate him. Versailles was also the center of French culture.
• Louis attempted to strengthen the economy by making reforms (which he later ignored because he needed instant $ for wars) by stimulating manufacturing, agriculture, and trade. He also tried to reduce the effect of France’s internal toll, and tried to boost overseas trade.
• Louis XIV wanted to unify the country and keep his control over it, which he attempted to do by:
  1. Trying to create religious uniformity (i.e. trying to make France Catholic). First, Louis XIV revoked the entire Edict of Nantes in order to “clean out” the country from the Huguenots. He also tried to get a papal bull to condemn the Jansenists, a Catholic faction, but Louis XIV died before he could put the policy into effect. This aspect of Louis’ policies did not work, for they simply angered productive and hardworking sects of the French population while accomplishing nothing. In other words, in attempting to unify the country through religion, Louis XIV simply alienated his people.
  2. Employing intendants and royal officials to subdue peasants and collect taxes. Although this helped the economy and the treasury, it was terrible for the peasants, who had to pay exorbitant taxes to support the wars, and, since nobles couldn’t be taxed, the peasants were forced to bear all the burden of taxation.
  3. Keeping the parlements and nobles (with Versailles) under control. Additionally, he ruthlessly suppressed all the peasant rebellions that occurred.

Louis XIV’s Foreign Policies

• Louis made very good use of his contrasting advisers, which helped him greatly at foreign policy.
• Colbert one of Louis’ advisers who regarded the Netherlands as France’s biggest enemy because of their mercantilist policies. Therefore, he felt that all the taxes should go to building up a navy to fight the Netherlands, who tended to dominate the overseas trade routes.
• Louvois other adviser, who emphasized the army because he felt that France was threatened by land.
• First, Louis listened to Colbert, and fought the Dutch. When this war (1672–1678) failed, Louis turned to Louvois and began land wars. The result was that France was able to annex a lot of territory, until the other countries ganged up on him because of the balance of power.
• Grand Alliance league formed against Louis headed by Leopold I (HRE) and William III (Netherlands/England). The league went to war against Louis at 1688.
• When Louis began to lose his territories he chose to seek peace and get rid of Louvois. But the peace didn’t last long, for, in 1690, the War of the Spanish Succession began.
• The War of the Spanish Succession was a war to gain the Spanish throne for Louis’ family. The previous king had actually chosen Philip (Louis XIV’s grandson), and his wishes might have been respected had Louis promised to open Spain to trade and not unify France and Spain under one ruler. Since he didn’t agree to do so, the Grand Alliance declared war on him in 1701. Louis was defeated, but at the Peace of Utrecht in 1713 he still was able to secure the throne for his grandson though he couldn’t unify the country and had to open Spain to trade. Mainly, the war was a waste of $ and an additional on France’s already strained economy.

France after Louis XIV

• After Louis’ death in 1715 the duke of Orléans served as reagent (until 1723). The duke was committed to giving power back to the aristocracy, so he restored the parlements to power (he gave them the power to veto royal laws, a power they would never relinquish) and replaced royal bureaucrats w/nobles. On the financial side, a brilliant financier named John Law tried to solve the $ crisis w/ government banks, but the scheme failed. A positive change was that the peasants were never again to be oppressed as they were under Louis XIV (not by much though) because government realized that in order to be successful, need mass support.
• After the duke, Louis XV gave almost unlimited authority to his tutor and adviser, Cardinal Fleury, who was a cautious, dedicated man. During Fleury’s time, France began to recover: harvests were abundant, population grew, and commerce boomed.
• The problems that had plagued the reign of Louis XIV, however, were not solved, and when Fleury died in 1743 the pressures exploded. France was plunged into stupid wars that ruined the economy and Louis XV, having nobody to replace Fleury, placed his confidence in several advisers, most of which were incompetent. Louis XV was uninterested in government, and he neglected his work! So, the problems went without solving, and only got worse.

Absolutism in Austria under the Hapsburgs

• Leopold I ruler of the HRE (but really Austria) who established a court similar to Louis XIV’s Versailles at Schönbrunn. Although Leopold only had control over Bohemia, Austria, and a small part of Hungary, he still had considerable authority.
• Unlike Louis, however, Leopold relied on the Privy Council, a group of leading nobles, to devise policy and run his government. After consulting w/them, he would come to a final decision. Since Leopold gave the nobles influence in the government without first establishing control over their lands, the nobles were far more autonomous, so, though Leopold had less power, he had more support.
• Since members of the Austrian court did not necessarily have to be Austrian, some great foreigners came to power, such as Prince Eugene (1663 – 1736), who volunteered to serve the Austrians in the war w/the Turks. Since he was very talented, he became field marshal and had a decisive influence on Hapsburg affairs because he transformed their military policies from defensive to aggressive. Eugene led the Austrians as they laid the foundations for a new empire of Austria-Hungary.
• Charles VI (r. 1711–1740) was Leopold’s successor, whose major problem was that he had no male heir. In 1713 he drafted the Pragmatic Sanction, which stated that all Hapsburg lands would pass intact to the heir regardless of who it was. He forced all the major powers to sign the PS.
• Maria Theresa was Charles’ daughter, who was heir to the throne in 1740. Maria Theresa was in a difficult position, for not only had Charles had left her w/an empty treasury, a poorly trained army and an ineffective bureaucracy, but she also faced a rebellion by the Czech nobles in Bohemia, and the Hungarian nobles were ready to follow suit. So, Maria Theresa went around to the nobles and appealed to them as a damsel in distress. Though she was also forced to promise the Hungarians autonomy (within empire), the plan still worked wonders. But Maria Theresa also faced other nations, who didn’t respect the PS.
• The War of Austrian Succession (1740–1748) The French (to help Bavaria claim the Hapsburg throne), Spain (hoped to win back control of Austria’s Italian possessions), and Prussia (took Silesia) gang up on Austria. Only England supports Austria (Balance of Power), but because of Maria Theresa’s brilliant tactics, Austria was able to fight to a stalemate and only gave up Silesia.
• Maria Theresa’s State Building Policies Maria Theresa was a moralistic and pious woman who was still a very brilliant ruler. She believed in the divine mission of the Hapsburgs, and was ready to defend her country. First, she reformed the church by forbidding the founding of new monasteries (they were wasteful) and abolishing the clergy’s exemptions from taxes! Next, she established a new bureaucracy in Vienna by appointing new local officials and reorganizing the central ministries. The new bureaucracy helped her collect taxes. Lastly, she improved the military and its training.

Absolutism in Prussia under the Hohenzollerns

• In Brandenburg-Prussia, state building was once again made possible through an alliance between the ruler and the nobles. The nobility saw that they could get serfs and consolidate their power on their lands, and the elector saw that he could build a strong state. The nobles created very efficient, profitable estates, and were known as Junkers.
• Frederick William (r. 1648–1688) a.k.a. the Great Elector. Realizing that other states were swarming over his possessions at will, he built a good army, which he used to impose order and to gain territory (without actually using the army, just through intimidation). In domestic policy, FW got rid of the Diet of Brandenburg (it actually got rid of itself as it gave FW the power to raise taxes without its consent in 1653), established the War Chest, which financed the army and collect government revenue, and placed the implementation of policies in the hands of war commissars. FW quickly intimidated his only sources of resistance, the cities, w/the army, and established his control.
• Frederick III (r. 1688–1713) unlike his father, he enjoyed court society and made Berlin into a cultural center with a lively court and an Academy of Sciences. He also effectively gained Prussian independence by asking Leopold to make him a king in exchange for his army (for war of Spanish succession). After gaining independence, Frederick changed his name to Frederick I.
• Frederick William I (r. 1713–1740) was a Spartan ruler who disdained court society and concentrated on the army. He built up the army (38,000 83,000 men) by instituting a form of conscription. He took great care of the army and drilled it incessantly. As a result, he had a fantastic army that he could use to intimidate other powers (he actually never fought wars w/it). On the domestic side, FW created the General Directory of Finance, War and Domains, which took over in 1723 all government functions except justice, education and religion. FW made education compulsory, but did not really enforce the rules.
• Frederick II (r. 1740–1786) a.k.a. Frederick the Great, he was trained for kingship by his father and had a fierce sense of duty. He realized only absolute rule could bring results, so he used his absolute power to reach objectives. Immediately, he was able to establish religious toleration and judicial reform, but his main goal, security, was more difficult to accomplish. To gain security, Frederick knew that he had to acquire new, stronger borders, and he began the process of gaining territory in 1740 when he attacked the Hapsburg’s province of Silesia, which the Hapsburgs couldn’t defend. In the War of Austrian Succession that followed, Frederick was able to keep Silesia.

Absolutism in Spain under Hapsburgs/Bourbons

• After Philip IV the throne went to Charles II, a sickly man incapable of having children. Spain had a relatively weak monarchy, for the nobles controlled the regime, and Spain’s dominions had been reduced by the war of Spanish succession (Netherlands + Italy Austria).
• After the war of Spanish Succession, however, the Bourbons gained control of the crown, and they ended the traditional independence of Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia and created a united Spain. The Bourbons also established the office of the intendant in Spain, which helped curb the nobles.
• Count Pedro de Campomanes liberal reformer in Spain during the Bourbon rule that, among other things, expelled the Jesuits because he felt they were too powerful and opposed to reform.

Absolutism in Russia under Peter the Great

• Peter (the Great Westernizer) was born in 1672, and, when he was three, his father Tsar Alexis (Romanov) died and his half-brother from an earlier marriage (from Miloslavsky family old believers in the Russian Orthodox Church) took over, called Fedor. After Fedor died, there was the question of succession – was it to be Ivan (dumb, older son) or Peter (brilliant, younger son)?
• So, Sophie (Peter’s brilliant half-sister) organized the Streltsy, a group of conservative soldiers w/nothing to do, and removes Peter and his mother (from Naryshkin family westernized) sending them to Preobrazhusky (place filled w/foreigners) where Peter learns Western ways.
• In 1689, Peter goes back to Moscow and overthrows the government of Ivan (in name, but really it is Sophie) and becomes a co-ruler w/Ivan.
• Peter’s Crash Course in Westernization beginning in 1689 Peter gives Russia a crash course in Western ways. He sent Russians to the West to study, brought foreigners into Russia, forced men to shave (against Old Believer rules, symbol of modernization), adopted Western court rituals and founded an Academy of Sciences.
• In 1697, he went to the West himself undercover. Peter was a giant, and he was also VERY intelligent, and he learned about Western ways from the bottom up (shipbuilding, metallurgy, dentistry). When he returned, he set up many factories w/serf labor.
• Peter’s Administration in ruling, Peter pretty much ignored Duma (advisory council) and concentrated on his bureaucracy. He organized his administration into several departments each of which either had a specialized function or took care of a region. He totally subdued the nobles, and used coercion to make them listen to him (do this or else!).
• Russian Society Peter made a very clear dividing line between peasants (had to pay poll tax, military conscription, forced public work) and nobility (status in which was now based on level in bureaucracy and not family). Result was more controlled social order + more uniformity.
• Though Peter was very intelligent, he was also very barbaric, w/bad temper, and drank SO much! Hates religion, hates Streltsy, and really hates Old Believers. When the Patriarch (Pope for Russian Orthodox Church) dies, he simply does not replace him, and simply appoints a council called the Synod to run church (he can control Synod). Also, he makes a mock religion.
• On way back from Europe, Peter meets Augustus the Strong, a Polish king, and they become best friends, and decide to declare war on Sweden – they think “easy target” since the Swedish king just died and there is a 12-year-old on the throne. Peter wants ports.
• Charles XII Swedish king MILITARY GENIUS! Obsessed w/war, very brilliant, great physical courage, very willful, upright moral man, Lutheran, determined to fight to death if attacked, but will not attack if not provoked.
• The Great Northern War Charles crushes Denmark, then scares Polish away from Riga (they were besieging it) and totally beat Russians, who were besieging Narva. So, by 1700, Charles has really won, but he still wants revenge, and chooses (big mistake) to go after Augustus first (because Augustus didn’t declare war, which is sneaky and he thinks Russians are pathetic). For 7 yrs Charles chases after Augustus and finally puts him in jail. Now Charles attacks Peter, but now Peter is ready. Charles takes 35,000 men and invades Russia, and Russians use Scorched Earth Policy (retreat and burn everything) so in INCREDIBLY harsh Russian winter of 1707-1708 the Swedes freeze. So, in 1709 at Poltava the Russians win a crushing victory and gain Baltic provinces as Window West.

The United Provinces

• The United Provinces’s were moving towards absolutism when William III had the office of Stadholder (during the wars against Louis XIV), but the Estates General soon reasserted themselves and ended the wars. Then, William sought the English crown, but only w/the approval of the Estates and he had to leave the representative assemblies for the two countries separate.
• When William died without hier, Antonius Heinsius continued his policies, but the government was really controlled by the Estates General. But the United Provinces’s soon began to decline, for their trading power and naval supremacy was surpassed by England.
• Dutch Society in the United Provinces’s, social distinctions were less prominent and social mobility was easier. Also, instead of ancient families of nobility, the United Provinces’s were filled with merchants and mayors – they were the most bourgeoisie state.

Sweden

• In Sweden, the nobles emerged from a long struggle vs. the monarchy as the dominant force. During the reign of Charles XI this was not a problem as Charles stayed out of Europe’s wars and was able to conserve his resources and not rely on the nobility.
• His successor, Charles XII (little genius kid) who r. 1697–1718, fought Poland and invaded Russia (maybe he wasn’t such a genius after all) where he got his little butt kicked. Then, his neighbors began taking over his lands, and the nobles took advantage of his absence to reassert their power.
• So, Queen Ulrika was forced to accept a constitution that gave the Riksdag (like Parliament) control over the country and Stockholm became an elegant capital without many big political aspirations.

Poland

• Poland was the strongest contrast to the French society, for it was so chaotic and not unified that it ceased to exist as a state in the late 18th century. This chaos was a result of the complete dominance of the nobility, which didn’t allow a centralized government to form. Though there were some brilliant kings who still fought in wars (when all nobles saw a threat they would unite and form an army under king), they could exercise power once wars were over (since kings were elected).
• The crown, then, had no bureaucracy or funding, so Poland still resembled a feudal kingdom.

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