Chapter 18 - The Balance of power in 18th Century Europe

At the beginning of the 18^th Century the map of Europe was remade by two major treaties, the resulting shifts in boarders created serious shifts in power throughout the continent…

Treaty of Utrecht 1713-1714, ended the War of Spanish Succession

• Austria:  gained the Spanish Netherlands and Spanish territories in Italy
• France:  gained territory in Alsace and Lorraine, while giving up colonial possessions in the Americas
• England:  gained France’s North American colonies, Gibraltar and Island of Minorca (both from Spain), Spanish trade routes to the Americas

Result:  England gained vital commercial interests and Austria became a major empire in central Europe

 

Treaty of Nystad 1721, ended the Great Northern War b/w Russia and Sweden over Finland and Baltic territories

• Russia:  gained territory in the Baltic region and built St. Petersburg
• Sweden:  lost land in Finland, the Baltic states and Northern Germany

 

Results:  Sweden fell from power, Russia and Prussia were on the rise, while Poland held on to a precarious position as they became challenged by Prussia, Russia and the Ottoman Empire

 

Rise of Russia

Russia became an established power with the victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War under the leadership of Peter the Great

 

Who were the Russians?

• Orthodox Christians:  Tsar had a religious obligation to promote Christianity
• Loose confederation of various peoples:  Mongols, Ottomans, Tartars, Cossacks, Muscovites

1.   Sharp contrast to most other European states which were homogenous

 

Peter the Great

Overview:  “Opened Russia to Europe and Europe to Russia”

• Reforms were created around the desire to become a great military power

1. Establishment of embassies in Western Europe and two personal visits
2. Recruited Western Europeans to advance Russian Army, Navy and statecraft
3. Poll Tax 1724:  Shift tax burden on to the individual, increased the govt. ability to collect taxes (support the army)
4. Census:  gave govt. more power to collect taxes
5. Conscription:  both peasants and gentry to create a standing army of over 330,000

• Meant life service, better trained military

1. Senate:  Group of nine senior military leaders to facilitate management of the Army

• Procurator-General oversaw the Senate

1. Fiscals (500):  began as tax collectors developed into a national policing agency
2. Table of Ranks:  an official hierarchy of the state, established an individuals position

• 3 Categories (Military, Civil and Land Owning), each with 14 steps
• Enter at the bottom rank and rise through experience and merit

Impact: 

• Advancement was tied to achievement
• Peter elevated Military category over the Landed Aristocracy to centralize the government allowing new groups to enter the Russian Elite.
• Created a new class of Russian Nobility to serve in the military (just when everyone else was trying to get rid of theirs)

 

• Educational Reform:  instituted educational reform to support the military and embraced liberal education
• Jump started manufacturing industries:  Textiles, glass, leather, iron and copper

1. by 1726 Russia led all nations in production of iron and copper

 

Results:

• Russia developed one of the most powerful armies and navies in all of Europe
• Russian society was fundamentally changed at the top, which led to conflict b/w Peter and the Aristocracy
• Life changed little for the peasantry

 

Russian Rural Life:

• 97% of the Russian people were connected to agriculture for a living
• Quality of the land was poor for agriculture
• Peasants became considered property as of 1649 (serfs)
• Most land owners were small and poor, measured wealth by the numbers of serfs
• Many serfs sought better conditions by moving to state sponsored lands and projects.

 

Catherine the Great

• Government after Peter the Great was in chaos for 37 years
• Population increased, aristocratic wealth increased (measured in serfs), power of the aristocracy increased (govt. weaker and they were stronger)

Result:  Succeeding Tsars had to grant increasing rights to the aristocracy so that they could hold the throne

• by 1762 obligation of service had been eliminated altogether

 

Catherine the Great's reign:

• Began with the murder of her husband (Peter III), seen as too close to the Prussians during the Seven Years War
• Part Enlightened and part absolutist
• Instruction 1767, instructions for government officials to behave in a more socially progressive way (encouraged the elimination of torture and capital punishment)
• Restructured the government into 50 provincial districts and required the service of the local aristocracy
• Charter of the Nobility 1785, laid out the rights and obligations of the nobility
• Reforms created a demand for educational change, restructured the entire educational system below the university level
• Did nothing the end Serfdom, still a major social and economic problem

 

Pugachev's Revolt:

• Emelyan Pugachev - Cossack
• 1773 Claimed to be Tsar Peter III
• by 1774 Pugachev threatened Moscow
• betrayed, sent to Moscow and executed
• Popularity of the revolt was tied to the terrible living conditions of the Russian people

           

Results of Peter and Catherine:

• St. Petersburg became a window through which Europe and Russia experienced one another
• Development of a modern Russian Military
• Institution of Feudal practices to promote military strength slowed down Russian economic development
• Life and conditions of the peasantry failed to significantly improve

 

Two Germanys

• 30 Years War left the unity of the HRE shattered

1. Two major empires arose:  Austrians and Prussians

 

Austria	Prussia
-  Southern Germany -  Catholic, heavy Jesuit influence -  Constant conflict with the Ottoman empire -  Ruled by Hapsburg line -  Multi-ethnic empire, loosely held together	-  Northern Germany -  Fredrick William I and II -  Calvinist -  Open to Protestant / Jewish immigration -  Centralized control of nobility through military service -  Homogenous empire

 

 Development of Prussia

• Poor natural barriers and surrounded by powerful would be conquerors necessitated the build up of a powerful military
• Fredrick William I:  ("The Great Elector") accepted protestant / Jewish refugees provided sound economic development and bureaucratic expansion created a stable government system
• Fredrick William II:  ("The Great") used military service and bureaucratic expansion to create a sense of obligation / statehood

1. Goals:  Silesia and the Polish Corridor
2. Reforms:  increased centralization of the state, abolished torture and capital    punishment, and imported new agricultural techniques

Result:  Prussia became a major power

 

Development of Austria:

• Austrian Empire grew as a result of the War of Spanish Succession (Netherlands and Italy)
• Expanded into Hungary - pushed back the Ottoman Empire
• Look strong from the outside, reality the Austrians had many problems:

• Human Resources:  Counter-Reformation and Jesuit influence in response to the presence of the Ottomans forced the evacuation of over 200,000 Protestants

1. Loss of skill and capital to northern German provinces
2. Set back Austrian economic development

• Governmental Control:  The Austrian monarchy only had loose control over several of their provinces (Hungary was in theory and independent state)

1. Multi-ethnic empire with constant struggle b/w peoples

• Financial challenges:  95% of the population lived in rural areas

1. Feudal traditions still very strong, the poor were still seen as serfs and thus paid          such high taxes to their lords they could not afford state taxes (nobles exempt)

 

Result:  The Austrian Empire looked powerful from the outside, but the reality was that they could only muster a small and poorly equipped army

 

• Succession:  Charles VI had no male heir

1. Pragmatic Sanction:  recognized the right of Maria Theresa to inherit Austrian lands, but not the title of Emperor

 

Maria Theresa 1740-1780

• Immediately attacked by Prussia
• Successfully defended Austria in the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War
• Together with Joseph II (son 1780-1790) Maria Theresa reformed and revitalized Austria society

1. Reorganized the military and civil bureaucracy leading to the ability of the state            to collect taxes and in part solve financial problems
2. Continually seek to roll back remnants of the Feudal system by limiting           demands placed on serfs / peasants (eventually force to back off by the nobility)

 

War of Austrian Succession 1740-1748

• Fredrick William II attempted to force an alliance with Maria Theresa, she declined and he attacked (goal: Silesia)
• Prussia, France and Spain v. Austria, England and Holland
• Austria lost Silesia (important industrial center) to Prussia and Italian territories to Spain, but with the help of the British and Hungarian forces they survived

Impact:  War made Austria and Prussia permanent enemies and rivals seeking to unify Germany under their leadership

 

 

Seven Years War 1756-1763

• Britain and Prussia v. France, Austria and Russia
• Fredrick William II attacked Saxony and Austria, Russia came to their defense
• 1759 Russians defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Kunersdorf
• 1762  Empress Elizabeth (Russia) died, Peter III settled for peace (admiration of FW II), led to his assassination
• Prussia able to hang on and defend it' territory

Impact: 

• Established Prussia as a major military power / counter-balance to the Austrian Empire in Central Europe
• Initiated a long period of peace in central Europe (drained of resources)

 

Partitioning of Poland

• Autonomous power of the Polish nobility remained intact and the Polish Diet proved to be an ineffective lawmaking body
• Government was unable to raise an effective army

• 1772 Prussia, Russia and Austria partitioned Poland

1. Prussia gained the Polish Corridor
2. Russia gained a vast buffer state
3. Austria gained vast territory in southern Poland

 

 

The Greatness of Great Britain

• 1707 Scotland and England joined = Great Britain
• By the mid 18^th Century:

1. Military power

• Great Army (guns)
• Unsurpassed navy

1. Economic power

• Colonial possessions
• Growth of domestic production (agriculture and industry)

1. Governmental system

• Constitutional system, with a “mixed” govt.

 

British Government

• Mixed govt. meant that power was shared by the king and the parliament (ruling elite)

Impact:  infusion of the ruling elite into the government integrated the interests of the local peoples into a central government

• The people of Great Britain came to understand the role of the government to act in the best interest of society
• Weakness:  to gain a consensus required at the very least capitulation of opposition

1. Compromise and collaboration led to weak and ineffective reform aimed more at placating the people rather than solving problems
2. Laws tended to patch work and reactionary in nature

 

Structure:

 

House of Commons:  Lower house of Parliament, typically “nominated” / elected to office

Monarchy: still seen as divine, and symbol of the nation Power:  select ministers, initiate policy and supervise / administer govt. 

• Served a term of office
• Represented the ideas of the gentry class (lower nobility)
• Eventually became the driving force of British political system

Power:  raise revenue, make laws and represent grievances of the people

House of Lords:  Upper house of Parliament, based upon hereditary rights

• Life membership
• Represented the desires of the aristocracy

Power:  raise revenue, make laws and represent grievances of the people

System was dependant upon cooperation

• Members of Parliament often worked for the crown at the same time as serving in parliament
• Rise of Parties
• Rise of the “Prime” Minister

 

Parties:

Whigs:	Tories:
Originally:  opposed James II based upon his Catholicism, included Protestant dissenters -  Supported the rise of George I (Hanoverian) -  As George won so to did the Whigs	Originally:  supported James II and the Anglican Church -  Supported rise of James III

Impact:  Parties helped to build consensus and create compromise, enabling the mixed govt. of Britain to function more effectively

 

Ministers helped organize and lead parliament

• Robert Walpole – First Lord of the Treasury, became the first dominating parliamentary figure

1. Created a precedence for a “prime” minister
2. Created an 18^th Century political machine

 

Hanoverian succession

William and Mary of Orange – Queen Anne - ???? James III or George I