Download Age of Absolutism Charles V: King of Spain and the Holy Roman

Age of Absolutism
Charles V: King of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire
 1500s - wealth from the Americas made Spain the most powerful state
in Europe
 grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella - followed them to the throne
 heir to Hapsburgs - Austrian rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and
Netherlands
 1519-1556 - ruled both empires
 constant warfare
 Hapsburgs struggled with France over rival claims to Italy
 there was an effort to suppress the Protestant movement in the
German states
 German princes were eventually allowed to choose own religion
with the Peace of Augsburg (1555)
 restrained Ottoman forces led by Suleiman
 empire was too scattered and diverse for a single ruler
 Charles V gave up his titles and entered the monastery in 1556
 Ferdinand, his brother, became the Holy Roman Emperor received lands in Central Europe
 Philip II, his 29-year-old son, received Spain, Netherlands,
southern Italy, overseas colonies
Philip II: reign 1556-1598
 goals: expand Spanish influence, strengthen Catholic Church, obtain
absolute power
 hard worker
 fought wars to advance Catholic power throughout the world
 Ottomans in Mediterranean
 Protestant groups in the Netherlands
 1581 - Dutch Netherlands (Protestant) broke away - not
officially recognized until 1648
 Elizabeth I in England - chief Protestant enemy
 supported the Dutch
 encouraged Sea Dogs - English privateers to plunder
Spain’s treasure
 1588 - Philip sent huge armada (fleet) to invade England
 130 ships, 20,000 men, 2,400 pieces of artillery
 in English Channel - lighter, faster English ships held off
the Spanish
 savage storm (Protestant wind) scattered armada = defeat
of Spain
 1600s - 1700s: Dutch, English, and French surpassed Spanish power
around the world
 1550-1600: “siglo de oro” (golden century)
 painters - El Greco, Diego Velazquez
 writers - playwright Lope de Vega, Miguel de Cervantes
 1600s : Spanish power declined
 Philip’s successors were less able rulers
 economic problems
 costly wars
 treasure from Americas = neglect of farming and
commerce
 middle class was heavily taxed
 expulsion of Muslims and Jews = loss of skilled artisans
and merchants
 American gold and silver = high inflation
Henry IV (of Navarre)
 1560s - 1590s - religious wars between Huguenots (French Calvinists)
and Catholics created chaos in France.
 St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre - August 24, 1572
 thousands of Huguenots filled Paris to celebrate the marriage
of Marguerite (daughter of Catherine de Medici) and Henry of
Navarre (a Huguenot)
 3,000 Huguenots killed and thousands more were killed in the
following days
 some believe that Catherine de Medici ordered the slaughter
 symbolized breakdown of order in France
 Henry IV (of Navarre) Bourbon prince and Huguenot leader came to
power
 reigned 1589 - 1610
 converted to Catholicism to facilitate ruling a mostly Catholic
country
 reportedly remarked, “Paris is well worth a mass”
 issued Edict of Nantes in 1598 granting Huguenots religious
toleration
 goal to have “a chicken in the pot every Sunday” = improve life
for peasants
 rebuilt the bureaucracy, increased taxes to pay for a strong
army
 royal officials administered justice, improved roads, built
bridges, encouraged new farming methods
 established tapestry and glass factories
 reduced influence of nobility
 assassinated in 1610
 9 year old son, Louis XIII, assumed the throne
Cardinal Armand Richelieu
 1624 - appointed as chief minister by Louis XIII
 1614 - nobles had tried to reassert their influence and forced
Louis to call the Estates General. No agreement could be
reached, and the assembly disbanded in 1615.
 For 18 years Richelieu worked to strengthen the power of
the central government and destroy the power of the
nobles and Huguenots.
 nobles were given high posts in the court or royal army
 Huguenots could no longer fortify their towns with walls,
and their armies were abolished, but they could still
practice their religion.
 followed mercantilist policies
 promoted commerce and allowed successful merchants
to buy titles of nobility = these new nobles were
staunchly loyal to the crown
Louis XIV (great-grandson of Philip II of Spain)
 1643 - inherited the throne at age 5 - ruled for 72 years
 Fronde - uprising by nobles, merchants, peasants, urban poor all wanting different things – frightened young Louis
 chief minister Cardinal Jules Mazarin
 handpicked by Richelieu to follow same policies
 died in 1661 - not replaced
 Louis took full control of government
 believed in divine right - “I am the state”








 symbol was the sun - center of the solar system
 Sun King - center of the French nation
Estates General did not meet between 1615 and 1789
 unlike Britain, there was no check on royal power
hard worker - expanded bureaucracy, gave government jobs to
wealthy members of the middle class
army became the strongest in Europe - 300,000-400,000 soldiers
wore uniforms and were assigned ranks - could put down local
uprisings and assert French power in Europe
wealthiest state in Europe, yet Louis was often short of cash
Versailles - lavish court
 most magnificent building in Europe
 12 miles west of Paris - safe distance from potential social
unrest
 27 years to complete
 housed 10,000 - nobles encouraged to live there so they
could be watched
 20,000 acres of formal gardens and woods
 symbol of Sun King’s wealth and power
 nobles competed for privileges rather than battling for
power
“splendid century” of the arts
 painting, music, architecture, decorative arts, academics
 French culture, manners, and customs replaced those of
Renaissance Italy as the standard of European taste.
Jean Baptiste Colbert managed royal finances
 supported mercantilist policy
 encouraged building of infrastructure: roads, canals, ships improved transportation and trade
 promoted manufacturing of luxury items - lace
 encouraged development of New France
 reformed tax collection to reduce corruption
 introduced higher taxes - but nobility and some bourgeoisie
traditionally did not have to pay taxes
 eliminated tariffs between French provinces
 raised tariffs on foreign imports
Wars
 to expand French borders to “natural frontiers” (Pyrenees
in the south, Alps in the east, Rhine River and English
Channel in the north) and to dominate Europe
 30 years of Louis’s reign - France was at war with the
Dutch Netherlands, Sweden, England, Spain, and Holy
Roman Empire at one time or another
 War of Spanish Succession: 1701
 1700 - Philip V inherited the throne of Spain grandson of Louis XIV
 Louis declared France and Spain “must regard
themselves as one”
 rest of Europe did not want the merger
 lasted until 1713 - Treaty of Utrecht - Spain and
France agreed not to unite
 Spain kept American colonies; but lost Milan,
Naples, and Sicily to Austrian Hapsburgs; and
England received Newfoundland and Nova Scotia
in America from France and Gibraltar and Minorca
in the Mediterranean from Spain.
 persecution of Huguenots
 perceived as a threat to religious and political unity
 1685 - revoked Edict of Nantes
 100,000 Huguenots fled to England, Dutch
Netherlands and the Americas - among the most
hardworking and prosperous subjects
 wars left France deeply in debt
 Louis died in 1715 - outlived his sons and grandsons
 Louis XV assumed throne
 5 year old great grandson of Louis XIV
 France was the strongest state in Europe, but warfare had
drained treasury
 time of bad economy and poor harvests further weakened
the country
 weak and indecisive ruler who pursued pleasure before
business
 ruled until 1774
 1793 - Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were beheaded;
their son died of unknown causes in a dungeon following the
French Revolution
Thirty Years’ War: 1618-1648
 religious and political causes
 When a Holy Roman Emperor died, seven leading German
princes called electors would choose a new emperor. Since the
1400s it was always a Hapsburg.
 After the Peace of Augsburg, German princes could choose their
religion, and there was increased tension.
 The Catholic Bohemian Hapsburg king tried to suppress
Protestants and assert royal power over nobles in the Holy Roman
Empire.
 Bohemian nobles threw royal officials out of a castle window.
 This became a European conflict as Catholic and Protestant
countries took sides.
 Later political motives outweighed religious issues - Catholics v.
Catholics & Protestants v. Protestants.
 Armies of mercenaries burned villages, destroyed crops, and
sacked cities.
 One-third of the population of the German states died.
 Peace of Westphalia - series of treaties
 Germany was divided into 360 separate states - “one for each
day of the year.”
 Dutch Netherlands and Swiss Confederation became
independent states.
 Austria and Prussia survived as strong states.
Hapsburg Austria
 Hapsburgs retained title of Holy Roman Emperors
 Austria added Bohemia, Hungary, and, later, parts of Poland and
Italy
 difficult to unite diverse people and cultures
 German-speakers exerted control
 never as centralized as France
 Maria Theresa
 daughter of Charles VI - no Hapsburg woman had ever ruled
on her own
 War of Austrian Succession
 1740 - Frederick II of Prussia seized province of Silesia
 she appealed to Hungarian nobles for help - Britain and
France also gave aid
 Frederick did not leave Silesia, but she preserved most of
her empire and won the support of her people
 reformer: reorganized bureaucracy, forced nobles and clergy to
pay taxes
 succeeded by son, Joseph II
Prussia
 Hohenzollern family, who ruled Brandenburg since the 1400s and
scattered lands across northern Germany, took in-between states
after the Peace of Westphalia
 reduced independence of Junkers (YOON kerz) - (nobles)
 Protestant power
 efficient bureaucracy and one of the best trained armies in Europe
 “Prussia is not a state that possesses an army, but an army which
possesses a state”
 Junkers received positions in the army and government
 1740 - Frederick II inherited the throne from his father Frederick
William
 as a youth, he preferred playing the flute and writing poetry, later
became a brilliant military leader - Frederick the Great
 1750 - European powers: Austria, Prussia, France, England, and
Russia formed various alliances to maintain the balance of power
 partners often switched - but England v. France and Austria v.
Prussia were constant rivals
Peter the Great: 1672-1725
 1613 - Russian nobles elected Michael Romanov as czar
 followed the Time of Troubles - 1604-1616 when czars were
constantly murdered by rivals
 Romanov dynasty lasted until 1917
 1682 – Peter assumed throne at age 10
 self-taught man
 1697 - went to Western Europe and recruited technical experts,
teachers, soldiers, and nobles
 centralized royal power by bringing Russian Orthodox Church
under his control
 boyars (nobles) forced to serve state in civilian or military jobs
 promoted serfdom so nobles could serve the state
 some serfs were forced to become soldiers or laborers on roads,
canals, and other government projects
 modernized Russia with social and economic reforms: mercantilist
policies, nobles forced to adopt western dress, ended seclusion of
women, and men must shave or pay a beard tax
 Russian expansion
 largest standing army in Europe
 fought Swedes and gained land along the Baltic
 fought Ottoman Turks but failed to recover Russian lands
north of the Black Sea
 signed treaty with Qing (CHIHNG) China (Manchu)
defining common border
 explorers were hired to investigate the Pacific - made it to
California
 St. Petersburg
 “window on the west” - located on swampy shores of the
Neva River
 thousands of serfs died draining the swamps
 Italian architects and artisans designed palaces in western
style
Catherine the Great
 German princess who married heir to Russian throne, Peter III
 she learned Russian, embraced the Russian Orthodox Church, and
won the loyalty of the people
 1762 - mentally unstable husband was murdered by a group of
army officers - Catherine ascended the Russian throne
 won support of nobles by giving them a charter of their rights,
exempting them from taxes, and excusing them from their service
to the state that had been mandated by Peter
 embraced western ideas - encouraged French language and
customs
 expanded Russian borders
 got warm-water port on the Black Sea – Odessa
 seized eastern Poland - Austria and Prussia took the rest
England: Tudors and Stuarts
 Absolute Monarch - ruler with complete authority over the
government and the lives of the people
 Divine Right - belief that authority to rule came directly from God
 Parliament: House of Lords - nobles served for life and House of
Commons - elected from wealthy merchants & gentry
 War of the Roses: 1455-1485 - civil war between House of Lancaster
and House of York
 House of Tudor emerged victorious in 1485
 Henry (of Tudor) VII, a relative of the Lancasters
 Henry VIII, Edward VI, “Bloody” Mary, Elizabeth I
 House of Stuart - ruling family of Scotland, not skilled in dealing with
Parliament, behaved like absolute monarchs
 James I (1603-1625) - King James Bible
 Charles I (1625-1649) - offended nobility, puritans, and Parliament
 Long Parliament (1640-1653) - met on and off after summoned by
Charles I to help put down a Scottish rebellion
 English Civil War - Cavaliers (wealthy supporters of Charles I) v.
Roundheads (middle class)
 Oliver Cromwell - Roundhead leader - puritan of lessor gentry
 Roundheads captured and beheaded Charles I
 Commonwealth (1649-1660) - English republic led by Cromwell
 Charles II (1660-1685) - Parliament invited him back to rule after
Cromwell’s death
 James II (1685-1688) - Catholic
 Glorious Revolution (1688) - Parliament invited Mary (Protestant
daughter of James) and her Dutch husband William of Orange to rule
 English Bill of Rights - acts passed by Parliament to limit royal power
 monarch to summon Parliament regularly, monarch could not
suspend laws, House of Commons got “power of the purse”
 restored the traditional rights of English citizens
 established: trial by jury, habeas corpus (can not be held
in prison without being charged with a crime)
 abolished: excessive fines, cruel and unusual punishment
 limited monarchy - government in which a constitution or legislative
body limits the monarch’s powers
Timeline of the American Revolution
 1763: Treaty of Paris - ends the French and Indian War/Seven Years
War
 1764-65: Sugar Act, Quartering Act, Stamp Act
 1770: Boston Massacre - 5 dead and 3 wounded
 1773: Boston Tea Party
 1774: First Continental Congress - discusses defense of the colonies,
boycott of British goods, blocking of colonial goods to Britain
 1775 - April: Lexington and Concord - “shot heard around the world”
 1775 - May: Second Continental Congress - becomes acting govt. of
the colonies, appoints Washington as commander of the Continental
Army
 1775 - June: Bunker Hill - bloodiest battle of the war
 1775 - July: Olive Branch Petition - sent to King George III asking for
a return to the former harmony
 1776 - Jan: Common Sense published - advocates declaring
independence
 1776 - July: Declaration of Independence
 1776 - Dec: Battle of Trenton - crossing of the Delaware - surprise
attack on drunk Hessians (German mercenaries)
 1777 - Oct: Battle of Saratoga - turning point in the war - France
openly comes to our aid
 1777-78 - winter: Valley Forge - bleakest point in the war - 2,500 freeze
or starve to death
 1781 - Yorktown - British surrender after being trapped in the
Chesapeake Bay by French ships and American troops
 1783: Treaty of Paris - American independence recognized - U.S.
boundary at the Mississippi
French Revolution
Old Regime
 First Estate: Clergy
 Second Estate: Titled Nobility
 Third Estate: 97% of population
Financial Crisis
 deficit spending - govt. spends more money than it takes in
 1780s - bad harvests - high food prices - riots in towns - peasants
attacking homes of nobles in the countryside
Meeting of Estates General to solve financial crisis: 1789
 Third Estate transformed themselves into the National Assembly
 They invited members of the other estates to help them write a
constitution.
Tennis Court Oath: June 20, 1789
 oath not to disband until a constitution was drawn up
 some reform-minded clergy and nobles joined the National Assembly
Storming the Bastille: July 14, 1789
 over 800 Parisians demanded weapons believed to be stored there
 commander opened fire on the crowd = 4-hour battle
 commander’s head was placed on a spike and carried through the
streets
 beginning/symbol of the Revolution - Bastille Day still celebrated on
July 14
Four Phases of the Revolution
1st: Moderate Phase of the National Assembly - 1789-1791
 Great Fear - worst famine in memory
 National Guard
 middle-class militia organized in response to royal troops
 first to don the tricolor
 Paris Commune - replaced royalist govt. of the city
 Liberty, Equality, Fraternity - slogan of the Revolution
 August 4, 1789 - nobles in the National Assembly voted to end their
privileges
 Declaration of the Rights of Man
 Women March on Versailles - October 5, 1789
 Civil Constitution of the Clergy - 1790
 Constitution of 1791
 set up a constitutional monarchy
 Legislative Assembly
 June 1791 - Louis and family attempted to flee the country
2nd: Radical Phase of the National Convention - 1792-1794
 hard times and political instability ushered in radical leadership
 Time of Warfare
 National Convention: September 1792
 radical group controlled by Jacobins
 voted to abolish monarchy and declare France a republic
 drew up a new constitution
 Louis XVI tried as a traitor and beheaded in January 1793
 Committee of Public Safety: Reign of Terror - July 1793 - July 1794
 all perceived opposition was eliminated - 40,000 executed
 Maximilien Robespierre - led Committee of Public Safety
3rd: Directory - 1795-1799
 period of reaction against extremism
 Constitution of 1795 set up a five-man Directory and two-house
legislature elected by male citizens of property
 corrupt and dictatorial
 rioting sans-culottes were suppressed
Outcome of the Revolution
 by 1799 the revolution had dislodged the old social order, overthrown
the monarchy, brought the Church under state control, fancy dress
and powdered wigs were replaced by practical clothes and simple
haircuts
 nationalism - aggressive felling of pride and devotion to one’s country
Age of Napoleon – 1800-1815
Napoleon Bonaparte: 1769 - 1821
 dominated France and Europe: 1799 - 1815
 1799 - overthrew Directory - set up Consulate
 three-man governing board - took title of First Consul
 1802 - named himself First Consul for life
 1804 - took title of Emperor of the French
Policies - continued reforms of the Revolution
 Political Reform - strengthened central government
 Economic Reform - regulated economy, controlled prices
 Concordat of 1801 - made peace with the Catholic Church
 Napoleonic Code: law code based on Enlightenment principles
 reforms of the revolution formed a unified legal system
 placed interests of the state above those of individual citizens
Military - great wins and great losses
 Continental System
 closed European ports to British goods - did not hurt Britain
 Britain began blockade of European ports - hurt Europe
 1812 - Grand Empire at its greatest
 Russian Front
 1812 - Alexander I resigned from the Continental System
 Napoleon sent 600,000 soldiers
 Russian retreat - scorched earth policy
 Napoleon entered Moscow in September - retreated in October
 desperate battle for survival - only 100,000 returned to France
 1813 - Napoleon defeated at Battle of Leipzig
 1814 - allies captured Paris - Napoleon abdicated - exiled to Elba
Louis XVIII - brother of Louis XVI - recognized as king
 accepted Napoleonic Code and land settlements from the revolution,
issued constitution, elected legislature, religious freedom
 economic depression due to fear of return of old regime rekindled
loyalty to Napoleon
Napoleon escaped from exile to France
 soldiers came to his support - Louis XVIII fled
 March 1815 - Napoleon entered Paris in triumph - only lasted 100 days
 June 18, 1815 - Waterloo - one-day battle
 Napoleon forced to abdicate - exile on St. Helena - died 1821
Legacy of Napoleon
 Napoleonic Code consolidated many of the changes of the revolution
 ended feudalism
 constitutional monarchy
 election expanded with limited suffrage
 more citizens had rights to property and access to education
 spread ideas of revolution
 promoted nationalism
 doubled size of U.S. when Napoleon sold Louisiana Territory in 1803
 however - many rights promised by republicans during the revolution
were lost
Latin American Revolutions: 1804 - 1824
Causes
 unhappy with Spanish rule
 inspired by Enlightenment, American Rev., and French Rev.
 Napoleon’s invasion of Spain was seen as a sign of weakness
and an opportunity for independence
Haiti
 sugar plantations
 1791: Toussaint L’Ouverture leads a slave revolt
 1802: Napoleon sends army which is defeated by the Haitians
 1804: 1st non-slave and independent L.A. nation in the Americas
Mexico
 1810: Father Miguel Hidalgo calls on people to fight for
independence - led Indian army for a year
 Father Jose Morelos - led rebels for 4 years
 Agustin de Iturbide (conservative) - declared independence became emperor - forced to abdicate
 1823: Republic of Mexico established
South America
 Jose de San Martin - liberated Argentina (1816), liberated Chile
and rejected invitation to become ruler (1818), led attack on
Peru, decided Spanish America should be ruled by a monarch,
stepped aside to allow Bolivar final victory (1822)
 Simon Bolivar - “the Liberator” led troops across Andes to
attack Spanish in Bogota (1819), freed Caracas (1821), liberated
Peru (1824)
Brazil
 1808: Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil when Napoleon’s
army conquered
 1821: King returned to Portugal - left Prince Dom Pedro to rule
 1822: Dom Pedro became emperor of independent Brazil
 1889: formation of republic
Latin America
 common political and religious heritage
 diverse geography and Spanish colonial structure encouraged
regionalism
 bitter rivalries led to separate countries
Politics
 republics with constitutions modeled after the U.S.
 no experience with representative govt.
 political instability = military dictatorships
 rigid class structure = criollos ruled
Economy
 rich in natural resources
 tied to Europe: supplied natural resources - market for
manufactured goods
 most nations exported 1-2 products = little control over their
own economy
 wealth was measured in land: a few powerful families and the
Church
 most of population was landless and poor