Languages
Pages
Legal
The Enlightenment
Enlightened Despots
Why the Strange Bedfellows?• Philosophes
believed ~~~> benevolent absolutism = best chance for improving society’
• The rulers seemed to seek the philosophes' advice.
• The philosophes distrusted the masses and believed that change had to come from above.
WHY THE TOP DOWN APPROACH?
Prussia in the Age of Absolutism
Frederick II (The Great) r. 1740-1786
• At war for the first half of his reign.
• Takes Silesia from Austria in the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748).
• Prussia is now the most powerful German state
• Seven Years War (1756-1763) – Militarily he fought alone against France, Russia & Austria
War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748)
•Frederick seizes opportunity of territory
•By invading Silesia he defies the Pragmatic Sanction
Prussia AustriaFrance vs. BritainSpain Dutch
Republic
Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)
• Attempts to restore balance of power that was present after War of Spanish Succession
• End Result Prussia retains Silesia (all territory returned to former owners)
• Prussia emerges as great European power– Strongest German state
Diplomatic Revolution • Uneasy peace after 1748….A
diplomatic revolution took place• FEAR: Conflict between Russia and
Prussia for control of the Baltic Sea & Poland
• Frederick the Great seeks alliance with Britain
• Austria hoping to retake Silesia are forced to ally with France (Ends hundreds of years of feuding between the Habsburgs & French) marriage of Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette
• Russians soon join the Franco-Austrian alliance
Frederick as Enlightened Despot• “First servant of the state.”
• Restructured industry and agriculture• Allowed religious toleration• Created compulsory elementary
education for all citizens• Allowed thinkers to be published (Kant
loves him)• Legal system as tool: laws codified,
torture abolished, quick and impartial trials
Writing to Voltaire: “I must enlighten my people, cultivate their manners & morals & make them as happy as humans can be”
Frederick as not so enlightening
• Existing social structure went untouched
• Serfdom stayed• Extended privileges of nobility
(his ally)• Jews in Prussia (as in other
German states) were an oppressed group (Ghettos, excluded from jobs/business opportunities)
Compare Sans Souci, Versailles, and Escorial
Russia in the Age of Enlightenment
Catherine the Great 1762-1798
• How do we get from Peter the Great to Catherine the Great?
Peter the Great to Catherine the Great
• Peter the Great (r. 1682-1725) abolished hereditary process of Succession (could name his own heirs)
• 1725-1741 a Period of rapid turnover of Tsars• 1741- Tsarina Elizabeth (daughter of P.T.G• Elizabeth had a young nephew named Peter• Elizabeth chose a German princess for Peter to
have as a wife in 1744• Once in Russia: learned Russian, converted
from Lutheran to Eastern Orthodox, read Bayle, Voltaire
• Elizabeth dies in 1761, young nephew Peter becomes Tsar Peter III (r. 1761-1762)
Peter III• Withdrew Russia
from Seven Years’ War (1756-1763)
• Peter tries to make friends by freeing the service nobility
• Coup d’etat occurs• Peter III was
arrested and executed (1762)
Catherine’s Goals:
• Brings sophistication to Russian culture
• Domestic reform
• Territorial expansion
Goal 1: Sophistication of Culture
• Imported Western architects, sculptors, musicians, artists
• Patron of Voltaire, Diderot
• Offered to publish Encyclopedia in Russia
• Westernized Russian nobility as Peter I westernized the military
Goal 2: Domestic Reform
• Better Laws
1767- Committee to look into codifying laws
• Practice of torture was restricted
• Allowed limited Religious toleration
• Tried to improve education
• Tried to strengthen local government
The Pugachev Uprising
• 1773-proclaimed himself to be “true tsar”
• “End serfdom, taxes, army service”
• Thousands join in the slaughter
• Captured & Executed
Why is the Pugachev uprising significant?
Turning point in the Domestic Policy• Ends the possibility of getting rid of serfdom• Conclusions:
–Peasants were dangerous –Catherine’s reign rested on support of Nobility
After 1775: Serfdom increased and spread into the Ukraine
1785-Freed Nobles from taxes & states service
Confiscated lands of R.O. Church and gave them to favorite officials Under
CatherineNOBLES SERFS
Goal 3: Territorial Expansion
• Extremely successful • Between 1768-1772: many victories
against the Turks• Acquires most of the lands around
the Northern coast of Black sea• 1783- Annexed independent Crimea
Partition of PolandStory of Poland:
*Weak/decentralized government*all decisions needed unanimous votes by all nobles elected to Polish diet
• Catherine upsets E. balance of power with her military victories
• Frederick the great come forward with a deal
• Slice up and distribute Poland….WHY?
3 partitions = Poland is gone
FRQ: 2008 Test
•Analyze the methods and degrees of success of Russian political and social reform from the period of Peter the Great (1689-1725) through Catherine the Great (1762-1796)
Austrian Empire
Maria Theresa 1717-1780• At the beginning major
powers ignore the Pragmatic Sanction and attempt to carve up a vulnerable Austria
• Strengthened the bureaucracy and began to tax nobility
• Reduced the power of the lords over their serfs thus strengthening agriculture
Further Reforms• Determined to limit the
influence of the church on her kingdom– Brought relations
between state and church under government control and limited the pope’s political influence in the country
• Established a system of elementary education, the first in Europe
Joseph II r. 1780-1790• Believed in the greatest
good for the greatest number.
• Abolished serfdom, allowed freedom of press, freedom of religion, civic rights, more equitable justice system
• Made German official language (to assimilate minorities)
• Increased control over Catholic education and expanded state schools
Joseph’s Reforms Reversed• Leopold II rescinds
many laws• Reforms floundered due
to resistance– The nobles rejected
aAbolishing serfdom and requiring payment and serfs rejected it because there was no money in their barter system
• He died leaving the Empire in economic and political turmoil
France
King Louis XV (r. 1715-1774)• Great grandson of the
“Sun King”• The Duke of Orleans
governed as regent until 1723
• Under him the nobility make a strong comeback
• Restored the right to the high courts (Parlements) to review royal decrees before they become law
• Curbs absolute power of the monarch
Absolute power diminishes further• 1748- 5% income tax on all
individuals regardless of status----repealed thanks to protests by the Parlement
• Wartime taxes after 7yr. War were repealed thanks to protests by the Parlement
Rene de Maupeou
• 1768- Louis XV appoints a tough official named Maupeou to crush the judicial opposition
• Maupeou abolishes the parlements • At first seen well needed reform• Eventually seen as royal despotism• Erodes the foundation of authority of
the monarch with scathing accounts of the king and his court (Common people in Paris begin to listen)
King Louis XVI (r. 1774-1792)
• Eager to please, he dismisses Maupeou and cancels many of his “reforms”
• Reinstated the Parlements
• The country continues down the path of financial crisis and political upheaval
Despotic Results
• In France, the rise of judicial and aristocratic opposition combined with liberalism put absolutism on the defensive
• In eastern Europe, the results of enlightened absolutism were modest and absolutism remained strong
• By combining state building with the culture and critical thinking of the Enlightenment, absolute monarchs succeeded in expanding the role of the state in the life of society.
More Despotic Results• Improvements made
by Enlightened despots were few and did little for the peasantry
• Absolutists more vigorously sought reforms to strengthen the state and allow them to compete militarily with their neighbors
• Reforms included toleration of religious minorities, simplified legal codes, and promotion of practical public education
• They continued the nation-state building of their predecessors.
Questions to Consider
• Does change come from above or below?• What reforms did Catherine the Great attempt
to initiate in Russia? Why did she change her attitude toward reform later on in her reign?
• Why was Joseph II considered to be the only real "enlightened" absolute monarch of the 18c?
• Why did most of Joseph II’s reforms fail?• Why were monarchs and the nobility natural
rivals?
The Enlightenment
Resistance
Theistic Resistance• German pietism: argued
need for spiritual conversion and religious experience
• Methodism: taught need for spiritual regeneration and a moral life that would demonstrate reality of the conversion– John Wesley (1703-
91): Preached in fields all over England and spread Methodism
• Jansenism in France argued against idea of an uninvolved or impersonal God
• Started out worse from Protestants and ended up gaining Protestant support and losing Catholic support to the point where Spain ignored good ideas.
The Enlightenment
Neoclassical Art
Principles of Neoclassical Art
• Harkens back to severity of Roman art
• Shows the triumph of reason over passion
• Reaction against the emotional Baroque style
• Portraits were popular form
• Its principles fit well with the Gestalt
Jacques Louis David: The Oath of the Horatti (1784)
• Commissioned by the king of France with the goal of promoting public morality. Three Romans--brothers--join in swearing to give their lives for their city. Virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice are conveyed in a direct and visually economical way
Jacques Louis David: The Death of Marat (1793)
• Marat was a "martyr" of the French Revolution. It is a stark image of death, in which not a single element of the composition leads the eye upwards, towards a hypothetical "Heaven"--The work has been described as a secular depiction of the Virgin Mary grieving over the body of the dead Christ.
Four Word Summary
• Relativity – Skepticism, history of different people, different places, and different times
• Secularization – Reason trumps passions and faith
• Science – Science is applied to EVERYTHING (thought that there were universal scientific laws of mankind)
• Equality – Liberalism, Progress, perfection of man
Top Related