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Section 1: Spain
- The Spanish Empire reached its height during the reign of Charles's son, Philip II, who
became king in 1556.
- In 1580, Philip II of Spain enforced his claim to the Portuguese throne by invading and
conquering the country.
- Spain gained control of the Philippine Islands during the late 1500's.
- Spain also fought to defend western Europe from the expanding Ottoman Empire.
Philip's rule brought the beginning of the Golden Age of Spanish art, a time when writers
and painters created some of Spain's greatest artistic works.
- Although Philip ruled a worldwide empire and Spain was the strongest nation in
Europe, signs of strain began to appear.
- Wars, inflation, and poor economic management weakened the country's economy.
Philip's attempts to slow or stop the advance of Protestantism in Europe met serious
opposition from the Netherlands and England. In the 1560's, the Netherlands rebelled
against Spain. In 1588, Philip II launched a great Spanish Armada of about 130 ships in
an unsuccessful attempt to conquer England. English ships repelled the armada, and
storms destroyed many of the Spanish ships during the retreat.
- Only about two-thirds of the armada made it back to Spain.
- In the 1600's, Spain was weakened by wars, rebellions, economic crises, and weak
rulers.
- Fighting in the Netherlands continued into the early 1600's. Spain heavily financed the
Roman Catholic cause in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648).
- It also fought wars with France and faced rebellions in Portugal and the region of
Catalonia in northern Spain.
- The last Spanish Habsburg, Charles II, had no children of his own.
- In 1700, he named a French duke, Philip of Anjou, as heir to the Spanish throne. Philip
was a grandson of France's King Louis XIV, who reigned in France from 1643 to 1715.
Philip was also descended from the Spanish Habsburgs through intermarriage between
the Spanish and French royal families.
- When Charles II died later in 1700, Philip became King Philip V of Spain, the first
Spanish ruler from the French Bourbon family.
- The succession of Philip V touched off the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714).
France fought England, the Netherlands, and other European nations that opposed French
control of the Spanish crown. France lost the war.
- Under the peace treaty, Philip remained king of Spain, but Spain lost all its possessions
in Europe.
- In addition, the United Kingdom received Gibraltar and the Balearic island of Minorca
Section 2: England
- Henry VIII inherited great wealth when he became king in 1509. His father, Henry VII,
had been a thrifty ruler.
- Henry VIII was talented and popular, but he was also selfish and wasteful. He enjoyed
luxury, sports, good food, and music.
- Early in his reign, Henry VIII made Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, archbishop of York,
responsible for much of the country's management. But then, Henry wanted to annul his
marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the first of his six wives.
- Wolsey was unable to get the pope to dissolve the marriage, so in 1529, Henry took
away Wolsey's authority. During the 1530's, Thomas Cromwell became Henry's chief
adviser. In 1534, Henry had Parliament pass a law declaring that the king, not the pope,
was supreme head of the church in England.
- These actions occurred while the Reformation, the religious movement that gave birth
to Protestantism, was spreading across northern Europe.
- Following Henry's actions, English church leaders made changes in Roman Catholic
services that gradually led to the formation of the Church of England.
- A number of Henry's subjects who opposed him were imprisoned or executed for
treason.
- During Henry VIII's reign, England and Wales were finally united. The Welsh people
had revolted against the English several times after Edward I had conquered Wales in the
1280's. But the Welsh gradually accepted the idea of union with England.
- In acts of 1536 and 1543, Henry joined both countries under one system of government.
- Parliament passed more church reforms during the short reign of Edward VI, Henry's
son. But in 1553, Edward's half sister Mary became queen.
- Mary was the daughter of Catherine of Aragon and was a Roman Catholic. As queen,
she reestablished Catholicism as the state religion.
- Queen Elizabeth IThe reign of Elizabeth I is often called the Golden Age of English
history.
- Elizabeth became queen in 1558 after Mary, her half sister, died. Elizabeth was a strong
but cautious ruler who played her enemies off against one another. One of her first acts
was to reestablish the Church of England.
- Under Elizabeth, England advanced in many areas. Merchants formed a great trading
company, the East India Company, in 1600.
- Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, and other daring English adventurers explored
the West Indies and the coasts of North and South America. English literature flowered
during Elizabeth's reign with the works of such great writers as Francis Bacon, Ben
Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, Edmund Spenser, and--above all--William Shakespeare.
- In 1588, England won a great sea battle against Spain, the most powerful nation in
Europe. King Philip II of Spain built a huge fleet called the Armada to conquer England.
- But an English fleet led by Admiral Lord Howard of Effingham defeated the Armada.
- After Elizabeth I died in 1603, her cousin James VI of Scotland inherited the English
throne. James belonged to the House of Stuart, which had ruled Scotland since 1371.
- As king of England, he took the title of James I. Although England and Scotland
became joined in a personal union under James, he ruled each country as a separate
kingdom. During his reign, English colonists founded the Jamestown and Plymouth
settlements in America.
- The English people disliked James. He increased royal spending, went into debt, and
raised taxes. He quarreled frequently with Parliament because he wanted to rule as an
absolute monarch.
- He believed in the divine right of kings--that is, that kings got their right to rule from
God, not from the consent of the people.
- Under James's son, Charles I, the struggle between the king and Parliament became
more intense.
- Three groups--Puritans, lawyers, and members of the House of Commons--united
against the king. In 1628, Charles reluctantly agreed to the Petition of Right, a document
that limited the power of the king.
- However, Charles had no intention of keeping the agreement.
- Charles I did not call Parliament into session from 1629 to 1640.
- When Parliament finally met in 1640, it refused to grant the king any funds unless he
again agreed to limit his power. Charles reacted angrily, and civil war broke out in 1642.
- People who supported the king in the war were called Royalists or Cavaliers.
Parliament's greatest supporters were the Puritans, who were called Roundheads because
they cut their hair short.
- The Puritans closed the theaters, changed the structure of the Church of England, and
forced many of their religious beliefs on the people. During the war, Oliver Cromwell
emerged as a leader in the army and in Parliament. In 1646, Charles surrendered to
Scottish troops, but the next year, they turned him over to the Roundheads. Attempts to
negotiate a settlement between the king and Parliament failed.
- In 1647 and 1648, the army removed the more moderate members from Parliament.
The remaining members set up a special court, which condemned Charles to death. He
was beheaded in 1649.
- After Charles's execution, England became a republic called the Commonwealth of
England. A committee of Parliament ruled the country. Cromwell ended the
Commonwealth of England in 1653 by forcibly disbanding the Long Parliament.
- The Parliament was called Long because part of it had been meeting since 1640.
- England then became a dictatorship called the Protectorate, with Cromwell as lord
protector. During his rule, Cromwell brought Scotland and Ireland under the control of
England. His armies swept through both countries and put down all resisting forces.
Section 3: France
- The power of the kings and their ministers (high government officials) grew steadily
from the 1500's to the 1700's.
- France became a strong nation, largely through the efforts of these ministers. The first
important minister was Maximilien de Bethune, Duke of Sully, who served Henry IV.
Sully promoted agriculture and such public works as highways and canals.
- He reduced the taille, the chief tax on the common people.
- Louis XIII followed his father, Henry IV, to the throne.
- But the actual ruler was Louis XIII's prime minister, Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal
Richelieu. Richelieu increased royal power more than any other individual.
- Louis XIll's son Louis XIV was the outstanding example of the absolute French king.
He is said to have boasted: "I am the State."
- After the death of his prime minister, Jules Cardinal Mazarin, in 1661, Louis declared
that he would be his own prime minister.
- In 1685, Louis canceled the Edict of Nantes and began to persecute the Huguenots
savagely.
- About 200,000 Huguenots fled France, which weakened the country's economy. Louis's
minister of finance, Jean Baptiste Colbert, promoted a strong economy. But the
construction of Louis's grand Palace of Versailles and a series of major wars drained
France's finances.
- Louis tried to rule supreme in Europe. He was stopped by military alliances that
included England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and other nations.
- The gathering storm. By the 1700's, a government bureaucracy had developed to
manage a large standing royal army, as well as to collect taxes.
- Royal courts upheld law and order. Lawyers and jurists of the courts bought their
offices from the king at very high prices. The king allowed those who bought the highest
judicial offices to call themselves nobles, and he granted them tax exemptions.
- This burdensome system worked well enough to allow remarkable economic and
population growth in the 1700's.
- But the population growth exceeded agriculture's production capacities, and food
shortages and famines became common. Such growth also strained the guild system that
governed the activities of merchants and craftworkers in the towns.
- Burdened by the needs of the military and unable to tax nobles or church lands, the
government was forced to borrow heavily.
- In 1786, the government proposed a new land tax in order to avoid bankruptcy. Many
urban lawyers, merchants, clerks, and craftworkers, as well as some aristocrats, opposed
any new taxes. The French Revolution was born out of this crisis.
Section 4: German States
- By 1600, the German lands were divided by many political and religious rivalries. In
1618, a Protestant revolt in Bohemia set off a series of wars that lasted for 30 years.
- The wars were partially religious struggles between Protestants and Catholics, but they
were also political struggles between certain princes and the emperor. In addition, the
kings of Denmark, Sweden, and France entered the wars to gain German lands and to
reduce the Habsburgs' power.
- The Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648. Under this treaty, France
and Sweden received some German lands.
- The wars had been hard on German trade and farming. Large parts of Germany were
ruined, and some of the towns had nearly disappeared. The emperor's already limited
power had been further weakened by the wars. Germany was a collection of free cities
and hundreds of states.
- During the 1600's, the Hohenzollern family began to expand its power in eastern
Germany.
- The Hohenzollerns ruled the state of Brandenburg. Berlin was their capital. In 1618, the
ruler of Brandenburg inherited the duchy of Prussia. The Peace of Westphalia added part
of Pomerania and some territories on the lower Rhine River to the Hohenzollern
holdings.
- The Hohenzollerns' rise to power began with Frederick William (the Great Elector),
who became ruler of Brandenburg in 1640.
- He began to unite and expand his lands after the Thirty Years' War. In 1701, his son
Frederick became the first king of Prussia. The Hohenzollerns' power continued to grow
under the next two kings, Frederick William I and Frederick II (the Great).
- The Hohenzollerns built a large, well-trained professional army and a strong civil
service to defend and rule their scattered territories.
- Through their civil service, they improved farming and industry, and filled their
treasury with tax money. They built canals, schools, and roads, and promoted the arts and
learning.
- After Frederick the Great became king in 1740, he seized Silesia, a rich province of
Austria.
- This invasion led to fighting between Prussia and Austria in two wars, the War of the
Austrian Succession (1740-1748) and the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). Many other
nations fought in these wars. Some sided with Frederick, and others with his enemy,
Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. Under the final peace treaty, Silesia remained under
Prussian rule. Prussia was now recognized as a great power.
Section 5: Russia
- After the rise of Moscow, its grand prince came to be called czar. In 1547, Ivan IV, also
known as Ivan the Terrible, became the first ruler to be crowned czar.
- Ivan made the power of the czar over all Russia complete.
- Ivan was brutal, extremely suspicious, and perhaps, at times, insane. He formed a
special police force and began a reign of terror in which he ordered the arrest and murder
of hundreds of aristocrats.
- Ivan gave his victims' estates as payment to the service gentry (landowners serving in
the army and government). He also established strict rules concerning the number of
warriors and horses each landowner had to supply to the army. Ivan burned many towns
and villages, and he killed church leaders who opposed him. In a fit of rage, Ivan even
struck and killed his oldest son.
- The number of service gentry increased rapidly. But their estates had no value unless
the peasants remained on the land and farmed it.
- Ivan and later czars passed a series of laws that bound the peasants to the land as serfs.
Serfdom became the economic basis of Russian power. The development of Russian
serfdom differed sharply from changes occurring in Western Europe at the time. There,
during the Renaissance, the growth of trade led to the use of money as royal payment. It
also led to the disappearance of serfdom in Western Europe. Ivan fought Tatars at
Astrakhan and Kazan to the southeast, and he won their lands.
- Russian forces then crossed the Ural Mountains and conquered western Siberia. Ivan
also tried to win lands northwest to the Baltic Sea, but he was defeated by Lithuanian,
Polish, and Swedish armies. In 1682, a struggle for power resulted in the crowning of two
half brothers--Peter I (later known as Peter the Great) and Ivan V--as co-czars. Both were
children, and Ivan's sister Sophia ruled as regent (temporary ruler) until Peter's followers
forced her to retire in 1689. Peter made close contact with the many Western Europeans
living in Moscow and absorbed much new information from them.
- He came into full power in 1696, when Ivan died.
- Peter was greatly influenced by ideas of commerce and government then popular in
Western Europe. A powerful ruler, he improved Russia's military and made many
important conquests.
- During Peter's reign, Russia expanded its territory to the Baltic Sea in the Great
Northern War with Sweden. In 1703, Peter founded St. Petersburg on the Baltic, and he
moved the capital there in 1712. After traveling throughout Europe, he introduced
Western-type clothing, factories, and schools in Russia, and reorganized Russia's
government to make it run more efficiently.
- Peter forced Russia's nobility to adopt many Western customs. He also increased the
czar's power over the aristocrats, church officials, and serfs.
- He dealt harshly with those who opposed these changes. Under Peter, the legal status of
serfs further deteriorated.
- After Peter's death in 1725, a series of struggles for the throne took place. The service
gentry and the leading nobles were on opposite sides.
- Candidates for the throne who were supported by the service gentry won most of these
struggles and rewarded their followers. The rulers increased the gentry's power over the
serfs and local affairs.
- The gentry's enforced service to the state was gradually reduced. It was ended altogether
in 1762. Later that year, Empress Catherine II, known as Catherine the Great, came to
power.
- Magnificent royal parties and other festivities, all in the latest Western fashion, took
place during the 1700's.
- The arts were promoted, and many new schools were started, mainly for the upper
classes. The Russian Imperial School of Ballet was founded, and Italian opera and
chamber music were brought to Russia. It also became fashionable in Russia to repeat the
newest Western ideas on freedom and social reform, especially during the rule of
Catherine II, known as Catherine the Great. In 1767, Catherine called a large legislative
assembly to reform Russian laws. However, the assembly achieved nothing.
- The great majority of Russians remained in extreme poverty and ignorance during this
period. In 1773 and 1774, the peasants' discontent boiled over in a revolt led by Emelian
Pugachev, a Cossack.
- The revolt swept through Russia from the Ural Mountains to the Volga River. It spread
almost to Moscow before being crushed by government troops. In 1775, Catherine further
tightened the landowners' control over the serfs.
- Under Catherine the Great, Russia rose to new importance as a major world power. In
the late 1700's, Austria, Prussia, and Russia gradually divided Poland among themselves.
- Russia gained nearly all of Belarus, Lithuania, and Ukraine from Poland. In wars
against the Ottoman Empire (based in present-day Turkey), Russia gained the Crimea and
other Ottoman lands. Catherine died in 1796. She was succeeded by her son, Paul.
Keywords:
section spain spanish empire reached height during reign charles philip became king
philip spain enforced claim portuguese throne invading conquering country spain gained
control philippine islands during late also fought defend western europe from expanding
ottoman empire philip rule brought beginning golden spanish time when writers painters
created some greatest artistic works although ruled worldwide empire strongest nation
europe signs strain began appear wars inflation poor economic management weakened
country economy attempts slow stop advance protestantism europe serious opposition
from netherlands england netherlands rebelled against launched great spanish armada
about ships unsuccessful attempt conquer england english ships repelled armada storms
destroyed many ships during retreat only about thirds armada made back weakened wars
rebellions economic crises weak rulers fighting netherlands continued into early heavily
financed roman catholic cause thirty years also fought wars with france faced rebellions
portugal region catalonia northern last habsburg charles children named french duke
anjou heir throne grandson france king louis reigned france from also descended
habsburgs through intermarriage between french royal families when charles died later
became king first ruler french bourbon family succession touched succession fought
england other european nations that opposed control crown lost under peace treaty
remained lost possessions addition united kingdom received gibraltar balearic island
minorca section henry viii inherited great wealth when became father henry been thrifty
ruler henry viii talented popular selfish wasteful enjoyed luxury sports good food music
early reign viii made thomas cardinal wolsey archbishop york responsible much country
management then wanted annul marriage catherine aragon first wives wolsey unable
pope dissolve marriage took away wolsey authority thomas cromwell chief adviser
parliament pass declaring that pope supreme head church these actions occurred while
reformation religious movement that gave birth protestantism spreading across northern
following actions english church leaders made changes roman catholic services gradually
formation church number subjects opposed were imprisoned executed treason reign wales
were finally united welsh people revolted against english several times after edward
conquered wales welsh gradually accepted idea union with acts joined both countries
under system government parliament passed more reforms short edward edward half
sister mary queen mary daughter catherine aragon roman catholic queen reestablished
catholicism state religion queen elizabeth ithe elizabeth often called golden history
elizabeth after mary half sister died strong cautious ruler played enemies against another
first acts reestablish under advanced many areas merchants formed great trading
company east india company francis drake walter raleigh other daring adventurers
explored west indies coasts north south america literature flowered with works such
writers francis bacon jonson christopher marlowe edmund spenser above william
shakespeare battle most powerful nation built huge fleet called conquer fleet admiral lord
howard effingham defeated after died cousin james scotland inherited throne james
belonged house stuart which ruled scotland since took title james although scotland
joined personal union ruled each separate kingdom colonists founded jamestown
plymouth settlements america people disliked increased royal spending went into debt
raised taxes quarreled frequently parliament because wanted rule absolute monarch
believed divine right kings kings their right rule consent people struggle between more
intense three groups puritans lawyers members house commons united reluctantly agreed
petition right document limited power however intention keeping agreement call into
session finally refused grant funds unless again agreed limit power reacted angrily civil
broke supported were called royalists cavaliers greatest supporters puritans roundheads
because they their hair short puritans closed theaters changed structure forced many their
religious beliefs oliver cromwell emerged leader army surrendered scottish troops next
year they turned over roundheads attempts negotiate settlement between failed army
removed more moderate members remaining members special court which condemned
death beheaded execution republic commonwealth committee cromwell ended
commonwealth forcibly disbanding long long because part been meeting since then
dictatorship protectorate lord protector brought ireland control armies swept through both
countries down resisting forces section power kings ministers high government officials
grew steadily strong nation largely through efforts these ministers important minister
maximilien bethune duke sully served sully promoted agriculture such public works
highways canals reduced taille chief common louis xiii followed father actual louis xiii
prime minister armand jean plessis cardinal richelieu richelieu increased royal than other
individual xill outstanding example absolute said have boasted state death prime minister
jules cardinal mazarin declared would prime canceled edict nantes began persecute
huguenots savagely about huguenots fled which weakened economy finance jean baptiste
colbert promoted strong economy construction grand palace versailles series major
drained finances tried supreme stopped military alliances included holy nations gathering
storm government bureaucracy developed manage large standing army well collect taxes
courts upheld order lawyers jurists courts bought offices very high prices allowed those
bought highest judicial offices call themselves nobles granted them exemptions this
burdensome system worked well enough allow remarkable economic population growth
population growth exceeded agriculture production capacities food shortages famines
common such growth strained guild system governed activities merchants craftworkers
towns burdened needs military unable nobles lands forced borrow heavily proposed land
order avoid bankruptcy urban lawyers merchants clerks craftworkers well some
aristocrats opposed taxes revolution born this crisis german states german lands divided
political religious rivalries protestant revolt bohemia series lasted years partially struggles
protestants catholics they political struggles certain princes emperor addition denmark
sweden entered gain german lands reduce habsburgs peace westphalia ended thirty years
this treaty sweden received some been hard trade farming large parts germany ruined
towns nearly disappeared emperor already limited further germany collection free cities
hundreds states hohenzollern family began expand eastern germany hohenzollerns state
brandenburg berlin capital brandenburg inherited duchy prussia peace westphalia added
part pomerania territories lower rhine river hohenzollern holdings hohenzollerns rise
frederick william elector brandenburg unite expand thirty frederick prussia hohenzollerns
continued grow next frederick william built large trained professional civil service defend
scattered territories civil service improved farming industry filled treasury money built
canals schools roads promoted arts learning seized silesia rich province austria invasion
fighting prussia austria austrian succession seven nations these sided others enemy
empress maria theresa austria final treaty silesia remained prussian recognized russia rise
moscow grand prince came czar ivan known ivan terrible crowned czar ivan czar over
russia complete brutal extremely suspicious perhaps times insane formed special police
force terror ordered arrest murder hundreds aristocrats gave victims estates payment
service gentry landowners serving established strict rules concerning number warriors
horses each landowner supply burned towns villages killed leaders rage even struck killed
oldest number gentry increased rapidly estates value unless peasants remained land
farmed later czars passed series laws bound peasants land serfs serfdom basis russian
development russian serfdom differed sharply changes occurring western time there
renaissance trade money payment disappearance serfdom western tatars astrakhan kazan
southeast russian forces then crossed ural mountains conquered siberia tried northwest
baltic defeated lithuanian polish swedish armies struggle resulted crowning half brothers
peter later known peter czars both children sister sophia regent temporary until peter
followers forced retire close contact europeans living moscow absorbed much
information them came full greatly influenced ideas commerce popular powerful
improved russia military important conquests expanded territory baltic northern sweden
founded petersburg baltic moved capital there traveling throughout introduced type
clothing factories schools reorganized make efficiently nobility adopt customs over
aristocrats officials serfs dealt harshly those changes legal status serfs further deteriorated
death struggles took place gentry leading nobles opposite sides candidates supported
most rewarded followers rulers local affairs enforced gradually reduced ended altogether
year empress catherine known came magnificent parties festivities latest fashion place
arts schools started mainly upper classes imperial school ballet founded italian opera
chamber music brought fashionable repeat newest ideas freedom social reform especially
legislative assembly reform laws however assembly achieved nothing majority russians
extreme poverty ignorance period peasants discontent boiled revolt emelian pugachev
cossack revolt swept ural mountains volga river spread almost moscow before being
crushed troops further tightened landowners rose importance major world late divided
poland among themselves gained nearly belarus lithuania ukraine poland ottoman based
present turkey gained crimea ottoman succeeded paul
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