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Chapter 18
The Eighteenth Century: European States,
International Wars, and Social Change
Europe in 1763
1. In the Dutch Republic local and national affairs were dominated by the municipal oligarchies. When the burghers (artisans, merchants, and
shopkeepers) sought democratic reforms to open up the municipal councils, they were crushed with the aid of Prussian troops. The old order was
preserved.
2. In Brandenburg-Prussia the army and the bureaucracy became the backbone of the king and government. In both instances, the nobility
(Junkers) were utilized. The close bond between the nobility and the army translated into the military's loyalty to the monarchy.
3. Austria was a sprawling empire of different nationalities, languages, religions, and cultures. These made centralization very difficult. The loss
of Silesia to Prussia in the War of Austrian Succession forced Empress Maria Theresa (1740-1780) to prepare for the inevitable conflict in the
future. One way to strengthen the power of the state was to overhaul the administration and the armed forces. Begun during the war, it resulted in
a more bureaucratic and centralized government as well as a strengthened army. The later reforms of Joseph II (1780-1790) which reflected
Enlightenment ideas, sought to further strengthen his state.
4. The eighteenth century in Spain was one of reform as a new ruling family, the French Bourbons, was initiated by Philip V (1700-1746), though
the War of the Spanish Succession had to be fought to confirm the king. New ideas brought revitalization to Spanish institutions. With the loss of
the Italian territories and the Netherlands by the Treaty of Utrecht in the seventeenth century, the new Spanish Bourbons had fewer administrative
problems and less drain on precious economic resources than their predecessors.
5. In Russia, Peter the Great was succeeded by a series of incompetent leaders. This changed when the German princess Catherine (17621796) succeeded her murdered husband Peter III in 1762. She may have wished to emulate Joseph II of Austria but Catherine knew that the rule
of Russia was dependant on the nobility. In reorganizing government, she divided the state into fifty provinces which were further broken down
into districts ruled by noblemen. In 1785 the privileges of the nobility were confirmed by the Charter of the Nobility. Catherine also gained
considerable territory as a consequence of her war with the Turks (1769-1774) and the partitions of Poland (see Acetate 57, Map 18.2).
Question:
1. In what manner were governments altered in the eighteenth century to address the need for more centralized power?
Europe in 1763
 The European States
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Enlightened Absolutism?
 Natural Rights
 Declaration of Independence
 Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws
 Rousseau and Voltaire
The Atlantic Seaboard States
 France: Louis XV, 1715-1774
 1743 decides to rule alone
 Louis XVI, 1774-1792
 Great Britain: King and Parliament
 United Kingdom of Great Britain, 1707
 Ministers chosen by the king to make Policy and guide
Parliament
 Hanoverians – George I, 1714-1727 and George II,
1727-1760
 Robert Walpole, 1721-1742, prime minister
 John Wilkes
 Decline of the Dutch Republic
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Absolutism in Central and Eastern Europe
 Prussia: Army and Bureaucracy
 Frederick William I, 1713-1740
 General Directory
 Bureaucracy
 Junkers
 Army
 Frederick the Great, 1740-1786
 Law code
 Maintains serfdom
 Expansion into Silesia
The Partitions of Poland
1. In Poland not only was the king kept weak by the nobles but the army was quite small. Such weakness invited trouble.
2. The partition of Poland between 1772 and 1795 was a result of the concerns of Frederick II (1740-1786), the Great, who feared the
consequences of the Russian military victory against the Turks (see Acetate 53, Map 15.4) in 1769 which had resulted in significant gains in the
Balkans. An apprehensive Austria made it known that it opposed further Russian expansion because it would upset the balance of power in the
region. Frederick concurred and convinced Russia to take Polish territory instead. At the same time, Austria and Prussia took slices out of
Poland. For Poland the loss represented thirty percent of its lands and half its population.
3. After the first partition, Russia exercised influence over Poland. Taking advantage of another Russian-Turkish conflict in 1788, Poland
established a brief independence. When the war ended in 1792, Russia and Prussia took two more bites out of Poland.
4. In 1794-1795 a rebellion broke out in Poland against Russian interference. After the insurrection was crushed, Austria, Prussia, and Russia
finished carving up Poland and its disappeared as a state.
Questions:
1. Why would Austria and Prussia be concerned about the growing expansion of Russia?
2. Why was Poland unable to stop its dismemberment?
3. Which state was the real winner in the carving up of Poland?
The Partitions of Poland
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Austrian Empire of the Habsburgs
 Empress Maria Theresa, 1740-1780
 Loss of Silesia in War of the Austrian Succession,
1740-1748
 Shares throne with Joseph II, 1765-1780
 Joseph II, 1780-1790
 Reforms
Russia Under Catherine the Great, 1762-1796
 Reform – Instruction, 1767
 Strengthens landholders at expense of serfs
 Rebellion of Emelyan Pugachev, 1773-1775
 Territorial expansion
Destruction of Poland
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The Mediterranean World
 Spain
 Bourbon rule and reform
 Portugal
 Italy dominated by Austria
Scandinavian States
 Sweden
 Denmark
Enlightened Absolutism Revisited
 Rarity and brevity
 Reality
The Seven Years' War
1. Paralleling the growth of absolutist states was the expansion of armies and the willingness to use them. Between 1740 and 1780, the army of
France grew from 190,000 to 300,000 men; Prussia from 83,000 to 200,000; Austria from 108,000 to 282,000; and Russia from 130,000 to
290,000.
2. There were three areas of conflict in the Seven Years' War: Europe, North America, and India. In Europe, Prussia and Britain faced Austria,
France, and Russia. Although Prussia had early successes, it was gradually worn down and was saved only when Russia withdrew from the
conflict in 1762 due to the accession of Peter III (1762) who admired Frederick the Great of Prussia and refused to fight him. The removal of
Russia in conjunction with the loss of the will to fight by Austria and France assured a stalemate that eventually forced peace in 1763. Though
Prussia had to relinquish some of the territory it had gained in the war, Austria recognized Prussia's retention of Silesia.
3. The American phase of the war, called the French and Indian War, witnessed British victories on the Great Lakes and the fall of Quebec in 1759
and Montreal the following year. As the key to French holdings in North America, Quebec's capture sealed the fate of French Canada. A year
earlier, Ft. Duquesne fell giving the British control of the upper Ohio River. By 1762 the British also held the French sugar islands in the West
Indies (except Saint Dominigue) and had captured Havana, Cuba, from France's ally Spain.
4. The war in India resulted in the defeat of the French by the British in 1757 and 1761. Nevertheless, the peace permitted the French to retain
footholds at Pondicherry and Chandernagore. The British victory had the effect of forcing the French to refocus their eastern interests on Southeast
Asia.
5. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 placed Canada and the French lands east of the Mississippi River in British hands. France's ally Spain also had to
cede Florida to the British but in return Britain recognized the cession of France's Louisiana territory west of the Mississippi River to the Spanish.
6. The recognition of Prussian occupation of Silesia by the Treaty of Paris marked the continued growth of Brandenburg-Prussia since its
creation as a single state in 1688. First seized in 1740, Silesia added to Prussia population, industry, and natural resources. Further expansion of
Prussia came in 1772 when it acquired West Prussia. At the same time, Prussia joined Austria and Russia in carving up Poland (see Acetate
57, Map 18.2).
Questions:
1. How was the Seven Years’ War a continuation of the War of Austrian Succession?
2. For the future, what were the implications of the territorial settlements of the Treaty of Paris?
The Seven Years’ War
 Wars and Diplomacy
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War of the Austrian Succession, 1740-1748
 Vulnerability of Maria Theresa
 Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748
Seven Years’ War, 1756-1763
 Diplomatic Revolution
 European War
 Indian War
 North American War
 William Pitt the Elder
 British victory
European Armies and Warfare
 Professional armies
 Class division in the armies
 Size of armies
 Use of tactics to preserve armies
 Economic Expansion and Social Change
 Growth of the European Population
 Falling death rate
 Improvements in diet
 Lack of hygiene
 Outbreaks of disease
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Family, Marriage, and Birthrate Patterns
 Treatment of Children
 Impact of Rousseau’s, Emile
 Infanticide
 Foundling institutions
 Nuclear family
 Late marriages
 Family economy
Agricultural Revolution
 Increased land under cultivation
 Increased livestock
 Jethro Tull (1674-1741)
 Potato and maize
 Enclosure
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New Methods of Finance and Industry
 National Banks
 National debt
 Investment in colonial trading companies
 Textile and cottage industry
 Mechanized production
 Flying shuttle
 Richard Arkwright (1732-1792), “water frame”
 Mechanized looms, 1780s
Global Economy: Mercantile Empires and Worldwide Trade
 Colonial Empire
 Portuguese and Spanish decline
 British and French growth
 British and French rivalry in the East
 Global Trade
 Slavery and sugar factories
 Social Order of the Eighteenth Century
 Peasants
 Domination by wealthy landowners
 Obligations
 Village as center of culture
 Diet
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The Nobility
 Military service
 Country house
 The Grand Tour
 Educational purpose
Inhabitants of Towns and Cities
 Urban oligarchy
 Emergent middle class
 Petty bourgeoisie
 Laborers
 Poverty