The Enlightened Despots

The enlightened despots came out of the old absolute monarchs

The idea of the state was changing. They were dictators of a kind who tried to bring into their countries

some of the ideas of the enlightenment.

The Seven Years War, with its high death tolls and mountainous debt made it a necessity for rulers to make their governments more

efficient for tax purposes.

In France, the taille (tax) continued to be place on the third

estate. Nobles were exempt.

Louis XV was a kind-hearted, yet

prolifigate spender, who failed to push through much

needed reforms.

He was, by all accounts a failure, who left glorious works of art as his legacy.

But it is in Austria, Prussia and Russia where the enlightened monarchs ruled to the benefit of their

people.

Maria Theresa and Joseph

(1740-1780) and (1780-1790)

After Maria’s husband died, Maria co-ruled with

her son. She named him Emperor.

Maria tried to abolish serfdom. She regulated it

so that peasants were not treated so harshly.

Her son wanted even more dramatic reforms…

As a true enlightened monarch, he abolished serfdom, established equal taxation. He reformed the

criminal code.

He ordered toleration for religion and

equal rights for Jews.

But when nobles did not support his reforms, he used suppression and the secret police to thwart the

rebellion…

So, consequently, he became ruthless and dictatorial against those who did not support his

reforms.

Joseph has been called the “revolutionary” emperor. A

good man whose ideas were too advanced for the people he

served.

He died disillusioned and broken-hearted.

Now, for Frederick the Great (1712-1786).

After the end of the Seven Years War, Frederick ruled Prussia for another 23 years. His life, like Voltaire’s spanned the enlightenment. He died only three years

before the French Revolution.

He turned from war, to peace.

He did not pursue the radical changes of Joseph of Austria—he simply had

the state run more efficiently and promoted honesty.

A famous statement of Frederick was when he called himself “The

first Servant of the State.”

He did little to limit the power of the junkers – the powerful

landlords of East Prussia

He was lofty, superior, and said that only he knew what was good for the people. He attended to every

detail, neglected his dress, and became a beloved, eccentric

monarch.

He did not train a successor—and the kingdom

was left vulnerable after his death.

Our final monarch is

Catherine the Great,

Tsarina of Russia

(1762-1796)

She was born in Germany, yet

married Elizabeth’s nephew Peter, who

was heir to the throne.

When Elizabeth I of Russia

died, Peter made peace

withFrederick the

Great

Peter was assassinated within six months, and in a

military coup, Catherine took the

throne.

As a young girl and the rest of her life, she devoured books. Learning helped her to escape the palace intrigues of the Peter’s aunt, Tsarina Elizabeth.

As empress, she

corresponded with Voltaire,

and invited Diderot to

visit her in St. Petersburg.

And there were all sorts of nasty

rumors about her sexual appetites, passed about by her enemies, of

course.

She began as an enlightened

ruler…but had to put away those ideas when faced

with revolts by different groups

in her vast empire.

The old believers influenced Pugachev’s rebellion.

Pugachev , a Cossack,

proclaimed himself the true tsar. He said he was really Peter III, Catherine’s

deceased husband.

This imposter promised that he would free the serfs, abolish

taxes, and forced military conscription (draft)

Tens of thousands joined his forces…

They were at first successful, but eventually Pugachev was

captured.

He was brought to Moscow in an iron cage.

He was drawn and quartered, though Catherine ordered that he not be tortured during the trial.

Pugachev’s rebellion was

the most violent peasant

uprising in Russian history.

Catherine responded by enforcing serfdom.

As a builder of Russia’s borders, Catherine was more successful.

She gained an important port on the Black sea, which became Odessa.

She also participated

in the partition of

Poland.

She had many famous lovers, including Gregory Orlov and Potemkin.

Potemkin was the governor of the area along the Volga.

Catherine traveled down the Volga with the Austrian emperor Joseph II.

Hence the term

“Potemkin” village.

All the enlightened despots ruled from top down.

They could only do so much without the peoples’

participation.

They are seen as brilliant, but flawed, monarchs.

On continental Europe, they were the last great rulers.

After their reigns, and the revolution, the ideas of Kings

and Queens were seen as backward. The time for more

enlightened ideas—maybe even revolution had come….

The Legacy of the Enlightenment

1. The democratic revolutions begun in America in 1776 and continued in Amsterdam, Brussels, and especially in Paris in the late 1780s, put every Western government on the defensive.

2. Reform, democracy, and republicanism had been placed irrevocably on the Western agenda.

The Legacy of the Enlightenment

3. New forms of civil society arose –-- clubs, salons, fraternals, private academies, lending libraries, and professional/scientific organizations.

4. 19c conservatives blamed it for the modern “egalitarian disease” (once reformers began to criticize established institutions, they didn’t know where and when to stop!)

The Legacy of the Enlightenment

5. It established a materialistic tradition based on an ethical system derived solely from a naturalistic account of the human condition (the “Religion of Nature”).

6. Theoretically endowed with full civil and legal rights, the individual had come into existence as a political and social force to be reckoned with.