The Great Wars of Empire

Implementing the Enlightenment

• Reforms should be started by rulers who are swayed in their opinion by Enlightenment thought.

• Natural Rights- Rights given to all humans by God, but not necessarily by law.

• Legal equality, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, property rights, happiness

France

• Economically prosperous.• Monarchy largely ignored

the principles of the Enlightenment.

• Louis XV began his reign in 1743, but was generally ruled by his ministers and mistresses.

• Rule characterized by taxes, debt, frivolous court life, starvation, and loss of empire.

Great Britain

• 1707 England and Scotland united to form the United Kingdom

• King and Parliament shared power, but Parliament held most of the power.

• 1714 Hanoverian Dynasty• 1721-1742 Robert

Walpole• 1757-1761 William Pitt

the Eldar

Prussia

• Frederick the Great (1740-1786)

• Most educated ruler of his time.

• Eliminated torture in most court cases.

• Granted limited freedom of speech and press.

• Enlarged the army to 200,000.

• Gained Silesia and Polish land.

• Did not free the serfs

Austria

• Vienna became the music capitol of Europe.

• Joseph II (1780-1790) became the only ruler to embrace Enlightenment ideas.

• Passed some 6000 reforms.

• Alienated himself from his nobles.

Russia

• Catherine the Great (1762-1796) came to power after the death of Peter III.

• Charter of Nobility granted special privileges to Russia’s nobles.

• Peasants suffered greatly and eventually rebelled against the czarina.

• Revolts were brutally crushed.• Expanded Russia’s border into

Poland and toward the Black Sea.

• 1774 Gained a protectorate over Greek Orthodox Church.

War of the Spanish Succession1701-1714

• Spanish king Charles II chose Louis XIV to become king of Spain.

• England, Holland, Austria formed an alliance against France and Spain.

• War was fought in North America as Queen Anne’s War

War of Spanish Succession

• 1701-1706 French forces fight battles in Italy

• 1703 Duke of Marlborough won major victory at the Battle of Blenheim

• 1706 Marlborough won another victory at Ramillies

• 1713 After further defeats France agreed to sign the Treaty of Utrecht

• Spain and France would not unify, France recognized Protestant Britain,

War of Austrian Succession1740-1748

• Maria Theresa and the Pragmatic Sanction

• Frederick the Great invaded Silesia to start the war.

• Prussia, France, Spain, Bavaria, Saxony formed an alliance against Austria and Britain.

• War ended with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle

Seven Years War1756-1763

• Britain, Prussia, Hanover against France, Russia, Austria, Saxony, and Sweden.

• Global war fought in Asia, Europe, & North America.

• Over 30 battles.• North American phased

known as the French and Indian War 1754-1763.

Seven Years War• War was seen by some as a

continuation of the War of Austrian Succession.

• Prussia invaded Saxony to start the European phase of the war in 1756.

• Frederick’s armies suffered a slight set back at the Battle of Kolin on June 18, 1757.

• Frederick responded by winning the battles of Rossbach, Leuthen, and Zorndorf.

• Prussian fortunes turn with defeats at Maxen and Kunersdorf.

Seven Years War

• Berlin was captured by the Russians in 1760.

• With the sudden death of the Russian Czarina Elizabeth the throne passed to Peter III, who liked Frederick and Prussia, withdrew from the war saving Prussia from defeat.

French and Indian War1754-1763

• Began as a result of British efforts to clear the Ohio Valley of French forts.

• Early fighting centered around several key forts in the Ohio Valley.

• French general the Marquis de Montcalm captured several British forts.

• Britain passed a resolution to begin deficit spending to pay for the war.

• Britain began to send more troops to North America and began a naval blockade of Canada.

French and Indian War

• Quebec fell to the British on Sept. 13, 1759. Both British general Wolfe and French general Montecalm were killed in the fighting.

• 1760 A French effort to retake Quebec failed. That same year Montreal fell to the British. Canada was now under British control.

Peace

• Treaty of Paris signed Feb. 10, 1763.• France lost all territory in North America.• Spain lost Florida, but gained New

Orleans and Louisiana.• Britain gained all of Canada and Florida.• Britain became the supreme colonial

power of North America.• The remainder of Europe settled for a

status quo antebellum peace.

American Revolution1775-1783

• American colonist rebelled at the notion of taxation without representation in Parliament.

• Other issues included the imposed limits on colonial expansion and the quartering of soldiers in private residences.

• First shots were fired in April 1775 in Concord and Lexington.

Revolution in America

• July 4, 1776 America declared independence.

• Battles went poorly for the Continental Army from 1776-1777.

• October 7, 1777 Battle of Saratoga brought about French intervention in the war, and turns the tide against Britain.

• 1779 With the war stalemated in the north, the British invade the southern colonies.

World Turned Upside Down• A combined French and

American army trap the army of Lord Charles Cornwallis in Yorktown, Virginia.

• Treaty of Paris 1783 gave official recognition to the United States.

• France regained Louisiana and New Orleans.

• Spain, who joined the war against Britain, regained Florida.

• Border of Canada and the US debated until the end of the War of 1812.

• Political ramifications.