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Absolute Monarchs
Continued…
07/01/2015
Central European
Monarchs Clash
The Thirty Year’s War
• Lutheran and the Catholic princes tried to gain followers.
• Both sides felt threatened by Calvinism
• Lutherans joined together in the Protestant Union in 1608
• The Catholic princes formed the Catholic League
• Bohemian Protestants Revolt
• 1618 war breaks out
• The Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (Head of the Hapsburg Family) ruled the
Czech kingdom of Bohemia.
• The protestants did not trust Ferdinand because he was Catholic and foreign.
• He closed down some Protestant churches, the Protestants revolted.
• Ferdinand sent an army to crush down the revolt, several German Protestant
princes took this chance to challenge their Catholic emperor.
• Thus began the Thirty Years’ War: A conflict over religion and territory and for
power among European ruling families.
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The war can be divided into 2 sections Hapsburg Triumphs and Hapsburg Defeats.
The Thirty Year’s War
• Hapsburg Triumphs (16-18-1648)
• Hapsburg armies from Austria and Spain crushed the troops hired by the
Protestant princes.
• They put down the Czech uprising and defeated the German Protestants who
supported the Czechs.
• Ferdinand paid his army 125,000 men by allowing them to plunder rob the
Germany villages, the destroyed everything in their path.
• Hapsburg Defeat
• The Protestant Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and his disciplined army of
23,000 shifted the tide of war in 1630. They drove the Hapsburg armies out of
northern Germany.
• Adolphus was killed in battle in 1632.
• Cardinal Richelieu and Mazarin of France dominated the remaining years of the
war.
• 1635: Richelieu sent French troops to join the German and Swedish Protestants
in the struggle against the Hapsburgs because they did not want European
rulers to have more power than the French king.
The Thirty Year’s War
• Peace of Westphalia
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War did great damage to Germany.
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Population decreased from 20 million to 16 million
Trade and agriculture were disrupted
• The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended the war.
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Weakened the Hapsburg states of Spain and Austria
Strengthened France by awarding it German Territory
Made German princes independent of the Holy Roman Emperor
Ended Religious wars in Europe
Introduced a new method of peace negotiation where are participants meet and discuss
the problems and decide the terms of peace (This is still used today)
• Beginning of Modern State
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The treaty abonded the idea of a Catholic empire ruling most of Europe and instead
recognized Europe as a group of equal independent states. This mars the beginning of
the modern state system and was the most important result of the Thirty Years’ War
States Form in Central Europe
• Strong states develop in Central Europe: The major powers of this region were the
kingdom of Poland, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.
• Economic Contrasts with the West
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Late middle ages- Serfs in Europe slowly won freedom and moved to towns and joined
middle class townspeople who gained political power through commercial revolution and the
development of capitalism.
Landowning aristocracy in Europe passed laws to restrict the ability of serfs gaining freedom
and moving into the cities.
Nobles wanted serfs on the land to produce large harvests and sell the surplus crops to
western European cities for great profit.
• Several Weak Empires
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Nobles limited the development of strong kings.
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The 2 empires in central Europe were weak.
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For example: The King of Poland elected had limited income, no law courts, and no standing
army.
The Ottoman empire fell apart and declined in power.
The Holy Roman Empire no longer able to command obedience of the German states after
Thirty Year’s War.
Late 1600’s two German families became absolute leaders in order to lead Central Europe
States Form in Central
Europe
• Austria Grows Stronger
• The Hapsburg of Austria took several steps to become absolute monarchs
• They reconquered Bohemia during Thirty Years’ War.
• Hapsburgs wiped out the Protestantism, created new Czech nobility to pledge
loyalty to the them
• Centralized the government and created a standing army.
• 1699: Hapsburgs had retaken Hungary from the Ottoman Empire
• 1711: Charles VI became the Hapsburg rulers. Within the boarders lived a diverse
assortment of people- Czech, Hungarians, Italians, Croatians, and Germans
• Only the fact that one Hapsburg ruler wore the Austrian, Hungarian and
Bohemian crowns kept the empire together.
• Maria Theresa Inherits the Austrian Throne
• How could the Hapsburg make sure that they continued to rule all those lands?
• Charles VI spent his entire reign answering this problem- he persuaded other
leader of Europe to sign an agreement that declared they would recognize his
daughter as the heir to all his Hapsburg territories.
• Maria Theresa: The agreement guaranteed Theresa and peaceful reign instead
she faced many years of war. Her main enemy Prussia.
Prussia Challenges
Austria
• The Rise of Prussia
• Rose to power in late 1600’s with Prussia’s ruling family the
Hohenzollerns.
• Built their state from small holdings beginning with the German states of
Brandenburg and Prussia.
• 1640: 20 year old Frederick William inherited the title of elector of
Brandenburg. “The Great Elector”
• After seeing the Thirty Years’ War destruction, William decided to have a
strong army.
• Created the best standing army in Europe, 80,000 men!
• To pay for the army he introduced permanent taxations
• Weakened the representative assemblies of their territories.
• Prussia’s landowning nobility the Junkers, resisted the king’s growing
power.
• By early 1700’s King Frederick William I bought their cooperation by
making them officers in his army
• Prussia became a rigidly controlled highly militarized society
Prussia Challenges
Austria
• Fredrick the Great
• Fredrick William worried that his son was not military
enough to rule
• The prince loved music, philosophy, and poetry.
• 1730: When Fredrick and his friend tried to run away,
Fredrick was ordered to witness the beheading of his
friend!
• Despite this, Fredrick II aka Frederick the Great
followed his fathers military policies. He softened up
some of his father’s laws.
• He encouraged religious tolerance and legal reform.
Prussia Challenges
Austria
• War of Austrian Succession
• 1740: Maria Theresa succeeded her father, 5 months later
Fredrick II becomes King of Prussia.
• He goes after the Austrian land of Silesia (produces iron ore,
textiles, and food products)
• He assumed that Maria Theresa would not fight back and in 1740
sent an army to occupy Silesia and thus began the War of
Austrian Succession.
• Maria Theresa had just give birth, she brought her infant with her
and asked for the Hungarian nobles to aid in this war.
• They didn’t trust the Hapsburgs but they did pledge to give Maria an
army.
• Great Britain joined Maria, they did stop Prussia’s aggression but
she lost Silesia in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748
• The Acquisition of Silesia made Prussia a major European power.
Prussia Challenges
Austria
• The Seven Years’ War
• Maria Theresa decided that French kings were no longer
Austria’s chief enemies so she made an alliance with them.
• Frederick heard of actions and signed a treaty with Britain
(Austria’s former ally)
• Austria, France, Russia v. Prussia and Britain
• 1756: Ferderick attacked Saxony (Austrian ally) war broke
out that lasted until 1763- Called the Seven Years’ War.
• Did not change territorial situation in Europe
• British emerged as real victors: France lost its colonies in North
America, Britain gained sole economic domination of India (this
leads to expansion in India in the 1800’s)
Absolute Rulers in
Russia
Absolute Rulers of Russia
• Ivan II of Moscow
(1462-1505)
• Conquered much of
the territory around
Moscow
• Liberated Russia from
the Mongols
• Centralized the
Russian government
• Vasily (ruled for 28
years)
• Continued fathers
work by adding
territory to the
growing Russian state
• Increased the power
of the central
government
The First Czar
• Ivan the Terrible
• Ivan IV aka Ivan the Terrible.
• 1533: Ivan IV came to throne when he was only 3 years old!
• His young life was disrupted by struggles for power among Russia’s landowning
nobles known as boyars. Boyars fought to control young Ivan
• 16 years old: Ivan seized power and had himself crowned czar. It means “Caesar”
• He married Anastasia (related to an old boyar family) the Romanovs.
• 1547-1560 Ivan’s good period: Won great victories, added lands to Russia, gave Russia
a code of laws and ruled justly.
• Rule by Terror
• Ivan’s bad period began in 1560 after Anastasia died. He accused the Boyars of
poisoning his wife and turned against them.
• Organized his own police force whose chief duty was to hunt down and murder
people Ivan considered traitors. (Dressed in black and rode black horses)
• Ivan executed many boyars, their families and peasants who worked on their lands
• Ivan seized control of the boyars estates and gave them to new class of nobles who
had to remain loyal to him.
• 1581: He killed his oldest son and heir to the throne. He died 3 years later and his weak
second song was left to rule
The First Czar
• Rise of the Romanovs
• Ivan’s son proved to be physically and mentally not capable
of ruling Russia- After he died without an heir Russia
experienced a period of turmoil known as the Time of
Troubles.
• Time of Troubles: Boyars struggled for power, heirs of czar
died, several imposters tried to claim the throne.
• 1613: Representatives from many Russian cities met to
choose the next czar.
• The choice was Michael Romanov, grandnephew of Ivan
the Terrible’s wife Anastasia. Thus began the Romanov
dynasty ruled Russia for 300 years (1612-1917)
Peter the Great Comes to
Power
• Peter the Great
• Romanovs restored Russia and paved the way for absolute leader Peter I.
• Peter shared his throne with his brother.
• 1696: Peter becomes the sole owner of Russia. He is known as Peter the Great
because he was one Russia’s greatest reformers and hi continued the trend of
increasing czar’s power.
• Russia Contrasts with Europe
• Russia was still a land of boyars and serfs- last until 1800’s
• Serfs were treated like property; when a landowner sold his property he would sell
the serfs with it too, serfs were given away as presents or to pay off debts and
couldn’t run away.
• Mongol rule had cut Russia off from the Renaissance and the Age of Exploration.
• Little interactions with traders, only seaport was iced most of the year.
• Religious differences: Russians adopted the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity.
Western Europeans were mostly Catholic or Protestant. (Russians viewed them as
heretics and avoided them)
Peter the Great Comes to
Power
• Peter Visits the West
• 1680’s people in the German quarter of Moscow were
accustomed to seeing young Peter walking through the
neighborhood (more than 6 feet tall!)
• He was fascinated by modern tools and had a passion for
ships and the sea.
• He believed that Russia’s future depended on having
warm-water port.
• He was 24 years old when he became sole ruler of Russia.
• 1697 (a year later) he embarked on the Grand Embassy a
long visit to western Europe to learn about Europeans
customs and manufacturing techniques.
Peter Rules Absolutely
• Peter’s Reform
• Inspired by his trip, Peter resolved that Russia would compete with
Europe on both military and commercial terms.
• Peter’s goal was westernization: Using western Europe as a model for
change.
• Peter increased his powers as an absolute ruler to accomplish this
goal.
• He brought the Russian Orthodox Church under state control.
Abolished the head of the patriarch, head of church and set up a a
group called the Hold Synod to run the church under his direction.
• Reduced the power of the great landowners
• Modernized his army, hired European offices who drilled his soldiers in
European tactics with European weapons.
• Being a soldier= lifetime job.
• Russia’s army = 200,000 men
• To pay for this large army, Ivan imposed heavy taxes
Peter Rules Absolutely
• Westernizing Russia
• Introduced potatoes- staple in Russian diet
• Started Russia’s first newspaper and edited it first
issue himself
• Raised women’s status by having them attend
social gatherings
• Ordered nobles to give up their traditional clothes
but to Western fashions.
• Advanced education by opening a school of
navigation and introducing schools of arts and
sciences.
Peter Rules Absolutely
• Establishing St. Petersburg
• To promote education and growth, Peter wanted a seaport
that would make it easier to travel west.
• Peter fought Sweden to gain a piece of the Baltic coast (21
long years of war, Russia finally won the “Window on
Europe”)
• 1703 Peter began building a new city in Swedish land. Land
was swampy but still perfect location for a seaport.
• 25,000 to 100,000 serfs died building the city.
• Once finished, Peter ordered many Russian nobles to leave the
comforts of their homes and settle in his new capital.
• Peter tried to westernize and reform the culture and
government of Russia and by 1725 (Peter’s death) Russia
was a power to be reckoned with.
Parliament Limits the
English Monarchy
Monarchs Defy
Parliament
• Elizabeth I of England
• Frequent conflicts with Parliament- arguments over money, left a huge debt
• 1603: Elizabeth died with no heir, her closest relative was James Stuart King of
Scotland.
• He became King of England in 1603. England and Scotland will not unite until
1707, they just shared a ruler.
• James’s Problems
• Money problems that Elizabeth left.
• Offended the Puritan members of Parliament. They hoped that he would enact
reforms to purify the English church of Catholic Practices, he refused to make
reforms except agreeing to a new translation of the Bible.
• Charles I Fights Parliament
• 1625: James I died, his son Charles I took the throne.
• Always needed money because of his wars against Spain and France
• Parliament refused to give him fund, he dissolved Parliament because of this.
Monarchs Defy
Parliament
• Charles I Fights Parliament
• 1628, Charles was forced to call Parliament again. This time
it refused to give him money unless he signed a document
known as the Petition of Right (It had 4 points)
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He would not imprison subjects with due cause
He would not levy taxes without Parliament’s consent
He would not house soldiers in private homes
He would not impose marital law in peacetime
• Charles signed but did not follow the petition
• 1629: He dissolved the Parliament, imposed all kinds of
fees and fines on the English people to get money.
English Civil War
• Scotland
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Charles offended Puritans by upholding the rituals of the Anglican Church
1637: He tried to force the Presbyterian Scots to accept a version of the Anglican prayer book.
(He wanted both kingdoms to follow one religion)
Scotts rebelled, assembled huge army and threatened to invade England.
Charles needed more money to fight off the Scotts, so he called Parliament again.
• War Topples a King
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1641: Parliament passed laws to limit royal power
Charles tried to arrest Parliament leaders in January 1642 (they escaped)
Equally furious a mob on Londoner’s raged outside the palace, Charles fled London and raised an
army in the North of England where people were loyal to him.
1642-1649 supporters and opponents of King Charles fought the English Civil War.
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1644: The puritans found a general who could win Oliver Cromwell.
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Those who remained loyal to Charles were called Royalists or Cavaliers
Other side were Puritan supporters of Parliament (Roundheads because their hair was short over
their ears)
1645: Cromwell’s New Model Army began defeating the Cavaliers and tides turned towards the
Puritans
1647: They held the King prisoner
1649: Charles was brought to trial for treason against Parliament, found guilty and sentenced to
death.
English Civil War
• Cromwell's Rule
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1649: He abolished monarch and the House of Lords
Established commonwealth, a republic form of government
1653: Sent home remaining members of Parliament
Drafted a constitution- HOWEVER Cromwell eventually tore up the
document and became a military dictator.
• Put down a rebellion in Ireland, seized lands and homes gave them to
English soldiers. The fighting, plague and famine killed hundreds of
thousands.
• Puritan Morality
• Cromwell and the Puritans sought to reform society. The made laws
that promoted Puritan morality and abolished activities that were
considered sinful like sporting events and dancing.
• Cromwell was still in favor of religious toleration (unlike the Puritans)
he even allowed Jews to return (they had been expelled in 1290)
Restoration and
Revolution
• Charles II Resigns
• 1658: Charles I died and 1659 Parliament voted to ask
Charles II to rule England as king not under military rule.
• Restoration: Period when Charles II restored monarch
• Parliament passed an important guarantee of freedom
habeas corpus- every prisoner has the right to obtain a
writ or document ordering that the prisoner be brought
before a judge to specify the charges against a prisoner.
• This is important so that people weren’t arrested simply
for opposing royalty.
• Charles’ heir would be his brother James (Catholic)
Restoration and
Revolution
• James II and the Glorious Revolution
• 1685: Charles II died and James became King
• He offended people by displaying his Catholicism, violating
English law for appoint several Catholic to high office, and when
Parliament protested James dissolved them.
• 1688: James’s second wife gave birth to son (English Protestants
became terrified at the prospect of a line of Catholic Kings)
• BUT James had an older daughter named Mary who was
Protestant. (She was the wife of William of Orange- Prince of the
Netherlands)
• 7 members of Parliament invited William and Mary to overthrow
James for the sake of Protestantism,
• William led an army to London in 1688, James fled to France.
• This bloodless overthrow of King James II is called the Glorious
Revolution
Limits on Monarch’s
Power
• Bill of Rights
• At their coronation, William and Mary vowed to recognize Parliament
as their partner in governing.
• England was no longer an absolute monarchy but a Constitutional
Monarch- where laws limit the ruler’s power.
• To make clear the limits of royal power, Parliament drafted a Bill
of Rights in 1689. This document listed many things that a ruler
could not do:
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no suspending of Parliament’s laws
no levying of taxes without a specific grant from
Parliament
no interfering with freedom of speech in Parliament
no penalty for a citizen who petitions the king about
grievances
Limits on Monarch’s
Power
• After 1688, no British monarch could rule without the
consent of Parliament.
• Parliament could not rule without the consent of the
Monarch. If they disagreed the government would come to
standstill.
• Cabinet: The development of a group of government
ministers or officials who acted in the ruler’s name but in
reality represented the major party of Parliament. They
became the link between the Monarch and the majority
party in Parliament
• Became the center of power and policymaking. Under the
cabinet system, the leader of the majority party in Parliament
heads the cabinet and is called the prime minister. This system
of English government continues today.