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Chapter 17: Absolutism in Central and Eastern Europe
-In the wakes of wars, religious divisions, and economic depressions, the major powers of central and
eastern Europe developed long-lasting, powerful absolutist states.
Warfare and Social Change in Central and Eastern Europe:
-Absolutism in central and eastern Europe developed from earlier economic changes culminating in the
Thirty Years’ War that enabled the elites to gain power at the expense of peasants, the middle class, and
towns.
Origins of Serfdom:
-Period of 1050-1300 = general economic expansion and growth of trade, towns, and population and
serfdom had basically disappeared in eastern Europe by 1300
-peasants bargained freely with their landlords and moved about as they pleased
-the population and economic decline of the fourteenth century led to its re-emergence in eastern
Europe
-Landlords successfully used their political and police power against the peasantry:
1) They restricted peasants’ freedom of movement
-peasants couldn’t leave
2) They took more land, and imposed heavier labor obligations.
-instead of being independent farmers paying freely negotiated rents, peasants became forced
laborers on the lords’ estates
-Lords manipulated the legal system, eroding the peasants’ economic position
-they were the local prosecutor, judge, and jailer and there were no independent officials to make
sure they upheld law
The Consolidation of Serfdom:
-Free peasants became serfs
-Poland—nobles gained complete control over their peasants and could legally give them the death
penalty
-Prussia—peasants were tied to their lords in hereditary subjugation- bound to their lords from
generation to generation
-Russia—peasants freedom of movement was abolished
-Economic and population growth resumed in the 16th century  lords wanted to increase production of
their estates  They squeezed sizable profits from their impoverished peasants
-By 1650, politically powerful eastern landlords, supported by relatively weak monarchs, had subjugated
the peasants into permanent hereditary serfs in order to meet the labor demands of expanding estate
agriculture.
-Eastern and central Europe experienced lots of wars and political chaos, allowing noble landlords
increased their power
-Kings were generally losing power and didn’t oppose serfdom, wanting to squeeze his peasants himself
-The landlords also encroached on the power of towns and the urban classes by selling their crops
directly to foreign buyers, instead of local merchants
-the population of the towns and the importance of the urban middle classes declined greatly
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The Thirty Years’ War
-The war primarily takes place in Germany
The Peace of Augsburg
-stated that German princes could decide the religion of their provinces- either Catholic or Lutheran
-intensified the rivalry between Protestants and Catholics to control territory and religious choice in
the Holy Roman Empire.
-The Peace of Augsburg was being violated
-Lutherans were acquiring German bishroprics
-Jesuits converted Lutheran princes to Catholicism
-the spread of Calvinism, which wasn’t included in the treaty
Religious Tensions
-Protestant League
-the Lutheran princes formed an alliance against the Catholics
-goal= to make sure the Catholics didn’t make religious or territorial advances
-Catholic League
-alliance formed to retaliate against the Protestant league
-goal= to make sure the Protestants didn’t make religious or territorial advances
Political Tensions
-1617, Matias was the Holy Roman Emperor (he’s a Hapsburg)
-problem: he was childless and he needed to find someone to take his position when he died
-He picked Ferdinand of Styria
-However, Ferdinand had to be elected into office, so he gave him a chance to prove himself by making
him king of Bohemia. He became Ferdinand II.
-Ferdinand was a devout Catholic
-he enforced the Council of Trent
-established Jesuit schools
-barred Protestant preachers from political office
-burned Protestant books and shut down Protestant churches
-many Protestants fled
In 1619, Matias died and Ferdinand II became emperor
-Bohemians weren’t happy with this
-They picked Frederick V of Palentine to become king of Bohemia – he was pushed by his wife to
accept
There were also tensions between the Spanish Hapsburgs and France (Louis III)
Defenestration of Prague
-a group of Protestant noblemen threw 2 Catholic officials of Ferdinand out of a castle window
-However, they survived
-causes revolts in Hungary and Bohemia
Stage 1 (Bohemian stage)
Catholic Ferdinand II vs. Protestant Frederick
-Frederick fought for religious freedom and independence from Habsburg rule
-Catholics and Ferdinand II win
-They defeated Frederick at the Battle of White Mountain
-Frederick = “Winter King” because he only lasted for one winter
-Ferdinand’s mercenaries sacked Prague, the capital of Bohemia, and the peasants were serfed
-As a result:
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-Frederick fled to Holland
-Ferdinand wiped out Protestantism
-anyone who supported Frederick lost all their land
-this all upsets Protestants(set the stage for Stage 2)
Stage 2 (Danish stage)
-King Christian IV from Denmark led an army against Ferdinand II and the Catholics
-They were crushed by the Catholics, led by Wallenstein because he didn’t have enough men
-Wallenstein led the Catholic army to victory and gained many territories, but his extreme measures led
to arguments with the Catholic league  Catholic forces were divided
-As a result:
-Ferdinand got rid of the Peace of Augsburg
-He replaced it with the Edict of Restitution= all Catholic properties lost to Protestantism were to be
returned and only Catholics and Lutherans were allowed to practice their faiths
-No Lutherans were allowed anymore, just Catholics
-ANGRY protestants(set the stage for Stage 3)
Stage 3 (Swedish stage)
-Gustavus Adolphus led the Swedish army against Ferdinand II
-he was an incredible general – people studied his military strategy later on
-he came in to support the empire’s oppressed Protestants
-problem: raising troops
-Sacking of Magderburg
-40,000 inhabitants killed
-led by the Catholics
-led to other German provinces adding troops to his Protestant army against Catholic Ferdinand II
-Battle of Lutzen:
-Adolphus died
-Catholics took back lands that had been conquered by Adolphus
-this worried France(balance of power issue)- set the stage for Stage 4
Stage 4 (French or international stage)
Catholics vs. Catholics
-this war wasn’t over religious reasons, it was now over political motives and ambitions
-France wanted to defeat the Habsburgs to prevent them from getting too much power
-France declared war on Spain and sent financial and military aid to Swedes and German Protestant
princes
-neither side was ready for this long drawn out war
-neither side had the resources to win
-Spain= economy in shambles
-many revolts occurred due to high taxes and high prices
-Portuguese declared independence from Spain
-France= bankrupt
-led to the Fronde
Consequences of the Thirty Years’ War:
-After years of destruction, peace was finally achieved in 1648.
The Peace of Westphalia-ended the Thirty Years’ War
-the Peace of Westphalia marked the end of European religious wars
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Losers
Winners
1) Germany
1) German princes
-completely devasted
-gained independent authority
-losses in agricultural land, livestock,
2) Netherlands (United Provinces)
trade, and commerce
-gained official independence
-no crops  starvation
3) France
-5 million people die in Germany
-Spain declined in power, so France was
-plague spreads
raised in power
2) Spain
-also caused bankruptcy though which
-contributed to their decline
causes the Fronde
-destroyed their economy and led to
4) Sweden
revolts
-gained Baltic territories
3) Denmark
-their importance faded
4) Habsburg
-limited Habsburg power by keeping the
Holy Roman Empire a confederation
-limited the power of the papacy
-The war was devastating for the central European economy and society
-entire areas were depopulated by war, disease, and the flight of refugees
-all of Europe was already experiencing severe inflation, and the destruction of the war caused
prices to rise even higher
-agricultural areas suffered, along with farmers who lacked to revenue to rework their land and had
to become day laborers
-While rulers in the empire still chose the religion for their subjects, Calvinism became a legal choice
along with Catholicism and Lutheranism.
The Rise of Austria and Prussia
-While royal absolutism differed in Austria and Prussia, a state of almost continual warfare enabled the
rulers of both countries to increase their power.
-Monarchs allowed landlords almost total power over their peasants.
-In return, the monarchs expanded their power to tax, create standing armies, and conduct foreign
affairs.
Austria
The Austrian Habsburgs:
-The Habsburgs controlled a scattered group of territories in central and eastern Europe
-Habsburgs emerged from the Thirty Years’ War impoverished and exhausted
-their efforts to destroy Protestantism failed
-The Habsburgs worked to unify their holdings in central and eastern Europe
-The Thirty Years War helped them do this, through Bohemia
-The Habsburgs crushed Bohemian Estates’ revolt for Protestantism in the Battle of White Mountain
-The power of the Bohemian Estates was greatly diminished
They imposed Catholicism and rewarded loyal nobles and military leaders
-Such steps led to the reorganization of Bohemia, a vital step toward absolutism.
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-The Habsburgs established direct rule over Bohemia
-The condiditon of the enserfed peasantry worsened substantially:
-the robot- three days per week of unpaid labor- became the norm
-Protestantism was stamped out in an effort to achieve religious unity
-Following the Thirty Years’ War, the Habsburg ruler Ferdinand III, backed by a strong army, continued
to centralize the government in its German-speaking states.
Austrian Rule in Hungary:
-After the Battle of Mohacs, the kingdom of Hungary was divided between the Ottomans and the
Habsburgs
-Warring with the Ottoman Empire over Hungary, the Austrians gained most of Hungary by 1683.
-warfare between the two devastated Hungary
-Still, they were unable to establish absolute power in the area as Hungarian nobles used rebellion to
retain their traditional privileges.
-many Hungarians resisted because many of them remained Protestants
-Prince Francis Rakoczy led the last patriotic rebellion and his forces were eventually defeated
-The Habsburgs were forced to accept a compromise, and Charles VI had to restore traditional
privileges
-The Habsburgs did manage to create consensus with the Church and nobility in their territories.
-a sense of common identity and loyalty to the monarch grew among the nobles
-growth of the army
-German became the language of common culture and Catholicism helped fuse a collective identity
-Vienna became the political and cultural center of the empire and had its own version of Versailles,
the royal palace of Schonbrunn
-The nobility took charge of economic recovery
-they increased serfdom and proficted from the war’s population losses to take over lots of land
-they created a new form of capitalist, market-oriented agriculture which allowed them to increase
their holdings even more, at the expense of smaller landowners
Charles VI (1711-1746)
-he was the Holy Roman Emperor of Austria
-his problem: he had no male heir
-so he passed the Pragmatic Sanction
-stated:
1. Habsburg territory can’t be split up; it has to go to one person
2. The territory can go to a female
-He spent most of his reign trying to get everyone to agree to this
-allowed his daughter Maria Theresa to rule
Maria Theresa (1740-1750)
-gained Austria
1. She had 18 children
-she married them to important European people
-they played important roles
-one of her daughters was Marie Antoinette
-one of her sons was Joseph II who inherited Austria later
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2. She saved the Holy Roman Empire in the
Austrian War of Spanish Succession
-Frederick II of Prussia marched troops towards Austria and marched up to Maria and said he wanted
her land
-he assumes she will just give it up- he has the 4th largest army in the world
-he underestimates her
-She refuses
-Problem: she needs troops from Hungary (which is also under Austrian control)
-However, the nobles are independent and don’t pay taxes
-She begged the Hungarians for troops and convinced them
-Britain joined on the side of Austria
-France joined on the side of Prussia
Results
-Maria saved her kingdom, but lost Silesia
-Prussia became on the map as a big political power
-Frederick II got Silesia, which is what he wanted
-eventually led to the 70 Years War
Joseph II (1780-1790)
-most enlightened of the enlightened rulers
He made many legal reforms
-freedom of press- got rid of all censorship
-similar to Frederick II, he abolished torture and capital punishment
-supported freedom of religion –Jews, Protestants, etc. (even though Austria was Catholic)
-abolished serfdom and required that all peasants be paid in cash, not food, etc.
-the nobles didn’t like him
-after he died, most of his reforms were undone
Leopold I
-Joseph II’s son
-was under the thumb of the nobles
-commanded a standing army
-became important in the French Revolution
Prussia
Frederick William the Great Elector (1646-1688)
-By 1400, true power in Prussia was with the landed nobility, not the Hohenzollern rulers.
-Frederick (a Hohenzollern) inherited Brandenburg and Prussia
-still part of the Holy Roman Empire
-electors have a voice to select the next pope
-but he had no military strength of his own
-came into power at an awful time
1. 30 Years War
-½ the population was destroyed
-his territories were ravaged by Swedish and Habsburg armies
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2. Only 2,500 men in his army
3. Sweden and Poland both wanted his territory
4. The Junkers = the nobility
-independent
-tradition of being exempt from paying taxes
5. Towns feel no obligations to send troops
-he can’t expand his army
-He was determined to unify his inherited territories (Brandenburg, Prussia, and areas along the Rhine)
and expand through diplomacy and war
-However, the devastation of the Thirty Years’ War reduced the power of the nobles and enabled him to
take over traditional representative rights and unify his three provinces.
-He used the devastation from war to his advantage
-foreign armies weakened the political power of the Junkers  he could take steps toward
absolutism
-The Junkers reasserted their control over taxes, but he overpowered them-he forced permanent taxation without consent, which decreased the Junker’s power
-He created an excise tax = tax on commodities
-created first Department of War
-created a very efficient bureaucracy to gather money
-revenue triples during his reign
-convinced towns to give people for the army to increase military size
-he told them they’re easy prey to Sweden, Poland, and Russia
-hired mercenaries
-2 factors contributed to his success:
1. War
-the constant war atmosphere convinced nobles to want to build an army
2. The nobility were willing to accept his new claim’s in exchange for reconfirmation of their own
privileges
-nobles accepted a compromise with the states: most of the taxes fell on town and they have
legal authority over the serfs
-He built his absolutist state on cooperation with the nobles, by reaffirming their privileges for
loyal service and revenue
-started with nothing and put Prussia on the path to become a big power
Frederick William I (1713-1740)
“The Soldiers’ King”
-made Prussia into a world power and truly established Prussian absolutism
-continued Frederick the Great Elector’s path
-he was granted the title of King of Prussia as a reward for helping the Holy Roman emperor in the War
of Spanish Succession
-was very military focused and was very military thinking
-he would rather sleep in a barrack than a palace
-always wore an army uniform
-lived the highly disciplined life of a soldier
-other countries followed him
-he made Prussia’s army into the 4th largest army and transformed Prussia into a model military state
-he believed that the welfare of the state and the king depended on the army
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-to ensure troops’ loyalty:
-no mercenaries
-only German officers
-70% of his money went to the military
-harsh military treatment of his son, Frederick II
-his son’s tutor tried to help him flee, but they were caught
-he made his son watch his beloved tutor get beheaded ad punished him by locking him up
-he welcomed Jews and Protestants and people who fled from other countries into his country
-His consolidation of power created conflict with the Junkers
-so instead of destroying them, he enlisted them in the army and they proudly commanded the
peasantry
-known as a great bureaucrat
-he eliminated all local self-governments
-Prussia had a large surplus of money
-he was a miser and hated to spend his money
-so he never really fought any battles despite his building of the army
-as a result, civil society became rigid and highly disciplined
-Prussia became known as the “Sparta of the North”
-unquestioning obedience was the highest virtue
-“to keep quiet is the first civic duty”
-laid foundations for a highly militaristic country
Frederick William II (1740-1786)
“Frederick the Great”
-When he came into power, he had a good position
-inherited the 4th largest army
-everything was already in play, like the great tax system
-said he’s the “servant of the state”
-his job = to serve the people
-was an “enlightened despot/monarch”
-was good friends with Voltaire
-Unlike Catharine, he was truly influenced by him and Voltaire even visited his palace
-One evening, Voltaire read Frederick’s poetry and said it was mediocre  he ended up in jail, as he
often did due to his big mouth
Domestic changes
-codified written laws
-reduced censorship
-improved educational system
-allowed religious freedom
-abolished torture and capital punishment
-improved agricultural practices
-for example, he developed swamp draining techniques  more usable land
-moved peasants into areas that didn’t have enough population, so they could help cultivate the land
-introduced better cattle and new crops: turnips and potatoes
-the cutting edge of agriculture
-abolished serfdom on his land, but didn’t force the Junkers to do it
-he wanted to serve as a role model to encourage them to follow in his footsteps
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-he wanted their support and still had practical ideas that he wanted them to support
Military aspirations
-he wants:
1. Polish territory
2. Silesia
-controlled by Austria
-had a lot of natural resources and offered a lot agriculturally
-would increase Prussia’s size by 25%
-then the Austrian leader died with only a daughter hair and he saw an opportunity
-started the Austrian War of Spanish Succession
The Development of Russia and the Ottoman Empire:
-Both Russia and the Ottoman Empire would develop unique forms of absolutism in this period.
Russia
The Mongol Yoke:
-From the thirteenth century, the Mongols ruled the eastern Slavic peoples
-the Mongol army- the Golden Horde- used terror to force conquered people into submission
-The Mongols used area princes to administer local governments
-In the fifteenth century, the Mongols began losing power as princes like Ivan III gained independence
from them
Ivan III (1462-1525)
-city of Mascovy
-His big accomplishment was expansion
-He expanded Russia by 1.5 million square miles
-He declared himself an autocrat, the sole source of power.
-He legitimized his rule by claiming to be the inheritors of the Byzantine Empire.
-He used military as a form of diplomacy
How he accomplished this:
1. improved the military and army
2. had support of the Russian Orthodox Church
-Muscovy was called the “third Rome”
-he only believed in the Russian Orthodox religion and that the tsars were the rightful and holy
rulers
3. gained the support of the boyers (eastern nobility)
4. fortuna- the Mongol’s power was decreasing so they weren’t as much of a threat and he was able
to conquer them and expand
He brought culture to Russia
-He married Sophia, the last daughter of the Byzantine empire
-she was a huge patron of the arts
-she supported artists
-she brought Byzantine customs to Russia
-When he died, his son Ivan IV was only 3 years old
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Ivan IV (1533-1584)
“Ivan the Terrible”
-From ages 3-16, regents ruled the country for him
He hates the boyers because:
1. his mother partially helped the regents rule, although the regents held the most power
-she died when he was 10- there were rumors that she was poisoned by the boyers
2. the boyers who were raising him tortured, neglected, beat, and starved him
-he had a hard childhood life
-At age 16, he became old enough to rule
-he became the first to use the title tsar and laid the foundations for the Russian Empire
Good Period
-he found love and married Anastasia
-then she died in 1560 and he assumed she had been poisoned by the boyers, just like his mom
-he became enraged and completely distrustful of boyers
-this led to evil Ivan and his bad period
Bad Period
-War, terrorism, and internal unrest
-he takes revenge against the boyers
-he disregards all of his council and courts
-creates oprichniki
-they wore black outfits and rode black horses
-they killed and tortured thousands of people, even Russian Orthodox Church members even though
he was religious
-he killed his own oldest son Demetri in rage by cracking his skull.
-He added vast new territories to his realm and waged an exhausting, unsuccessful, 25 year war with the
large Polish-Lithuanian state
-his endless wars and violent purges depopulated much of central Russia
-Peasants fled and formed free groups and outlaw armies known as Cossacks and maintained a
precarious independence
-He made all commoners servants of the tsar
-peasants fled and formed free groups and outlaw armies known as Cossacks a maintained
independence
-Peasants were bound to their landholders
-Urban traders and artisans were bound to their towns and jobs to the tsar could tax them more heavily
-royal monopolization and service obligations checked the growth of the middle class
Times of Troubles
- problem: who will rule??
-Ivan IV’s other son was mentally challenged and unable to rule
-boyers created their own armies and tried to each take over
-they all claimed that the spirit of Demetri was in them
-Poland invaded in order to get back the territory that Moscow took over
-Ivan Bolotnikov led the Cossacks against the nobles
Michael Romanov(~1600)
-the boyers put aside their differences and elected Michael Romanov to rule
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-he was the first Romanov (they rule for 300 years until the Russian revolution) and was somehow
related to Anastasia
He does 2 important things:
1. Prevents Russia from being taken over by Poland
2. Unified the country
-Obstacles:
-huge size of its territory
-thinly spread population
-economic devastation from the Time of Troubles
-social and religious unrest
-Achievements:
-territorial expansion
-growth of bureaucracy, army, and economy
-profits from natural resources, especially furs, funded the Romanov’s bid for great power status
Peter the Great (1682-1725)
-he was a Romanov
-before was king, he embarked on the Grand Embassy
-the Grand Embassy was when you would leave your country and meet up with other nobles of
other countries to gain knowledge and information about others
-he was greatly impressed by the power of Western European cultures (especially the Dutch and
English) and wanted Russia to emulate them and create a great Russian power
He decided he needed to modernize and westernize Russia during his rule
-He transformed the dress
-made people wear western clothing
-beard tax: if you don’t shave your beard, you have to pay a tax
-this was helpful because it raised revenues, and by giving the nobility options, it also didn’t
create a war with them
-imported potatoes
-created the first newspapers
-edited the first volume himself
-introduced new schools of navigation, arts, and science
-required a 5 year education away from home for every young nobleman
-encouraged nobles to visit foreign lands
-before- they could be killed for leaving the country
-modernized the army
-hired western European officers
-made it a lifetime job to be a soldier
-made it more disciplined and professional
-created the Table of Ranks
-elevated people from the lower nobility with high-power government jobs
-it limited nobles’ power and created merit-based government appointments
-confiscated the church’s wealth for himself
-created to Holy Synad
-an office to ruler over the church
-the church doesn’t have as much power
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-In order to do all of this, he had to create high taxes
-taxes increased by 500% during his rule and fell heavily on the peasants
-He spend 80-85% of his money on war, yet expanded very little
-Peter’s reforms were a success, although a vast number of Russians hated Peter’s massive changes
-his most hated reform = unigeniture (=inheritance of land by one son alone—cutting daughters and
other sons from family property)
-His rule led to an rise in serfdom and widened the gap between the enserfed peasantry and the
educated nobility
Great Northern War
-Peter vs. Sweden
-he wanted their warm water ports for trade for financial and westernizing reasons
-trade = money and new ideas
-he formed a secret alliance with Denmark
-Swedish rulers had developed a strong absolutist state and had built an excellent standing army
-Charles XI of Sweden built a beautiful palace modeled after Versailles and expanded its borders,
although his territories laid scattered and vulnerable
-Peter and his allies believed that they could easily win due to Sweden’s new and inexperienced king,
Charles XII – they underestimated him
-Charles XII defeated Denmark quickly then led his trained professional army in an attack on
unsuspecting Russians who were besieging Swedish fortresses
-Peter and the remaining survivors had to flee
St. Petersburg
“the window to the west”
-was the center of trade
-he built it on a swamp, territory captured from the Swedes
-After the Russian victory at Poltava that greatly reduced the threat of Swedish armies, Peter took action
and ordered his people to build a Western and modern city
-First, Peter wanted a comfortable “modern” city
-Second, all building had to conform to detailed architectural regulations set down by the
government
-Third, each social group was to live in a certain section of town and were to conform to a carefully
defined urban plan
-100,000 serfs died while building St. Petersburg due to forced labor and harsh conditions
-the building of the city was an enormous direct tax levied on the wealthy, which forced the
peasantry to do most of the work
-it became the capital of Russia (moved from Moscow)
-Peter the Great’s establishment of a new capital city at St. Petersburg mirrors his reforms, as he first
fortified the city and then turned it into modern western showplace using forced Russian labor and
ordering nobles to build homes in the city.
-Peter’s youngest daughter, Elizabeth named Bartolomeo Rastrelli as his chief architect
-he built many palaces for the nobility and all the large government buildings
-he rebuilt the Winter Palace
Catharine the Great (1762-1796)
-one of the most ridiculed people in history
-would give men territory for sleeping with her
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-a myth arose that she was sleeping with animals and that she died when a horse fell on her
-it was either created by Frenchmen in a coffee shop or peasants trying to malign her
-Huge growth in Russia’s population
-60% of the population = peasants
-more than half of the peasant population (1/3 of the total population)= serfs
-She was a German princess and married Peter III
-Peter was psychotic
-She had him arrested and killed once he became tsar so she then becomes tsar
-When she first comes to power, people were excited
-she was considered an enlightened despot because she was well-educated
-people expected her to do great things in power to improve the lives of the Russian people
-she was influenced by Voltair whom she was pen pals with (he believed in free speech) and
Beccaria (believed in fair trials and treatments)
-However, she accomplished very little
-creates the Legislative Commission
-abolished torture, capital punishment, and serf auctions
-established religious tolerance, even emancipation of serfs
-The nobles were not happy about this and even refused to follow some rules
-she accomplished very little because she didn’t want to upset the nobles
-created the Charter of Nobility
-guaranteed nobility all of their rights
-made educational reforms
-created elementary schools for the nobility’s children
-equal education for men and women
-however, most women still rarely attended school, so it wasn’t very equal
-there were many revolts
-peasants vs. nobility
-she came in on the side of nobility and crushed the peasants
-peasants were angry because:
-she did nothing to help them during her reign
-she gave them awful treatment
-Pugachev’s revolt (1773-1775)
-Pugachev claimed he was Peter III was reincarnated in him
-he is killed
-they fought against her so she wouldn’t continue to do nothing for them
-she sided with the nobility
-positive aspect = expansion
-she wanted access to the Black Sea for trade
-However, it was controlled by the Ottomans
-she defeated them and gained the port
-she also gained the right to send her ships through Ottoman Bosophorus
-conquered Poland
-Partition of Poland – it split up Poland into 3 parts, each given to Russia, Prussia, or Austria
-Pale settlement- all the Jews were not allowed to live in specific areas
The Growth of the Ottoman Empire:
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-By the mid-sixteenth century, the Ottomans ruled the world’s largest empire.
-Most Christian Europeans viewed the Ottomans as the antithesis of their own values and traditions,
driven by lust for war and conquest, religious fanaticism, and tyranny
-The Ottomans came out of Central Asia as conquering warriors
-Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent established them as the most powerful empire in the world
-Ottomans developed practices and culture from the peoples they conquered
-they adopted the Byzantine Empire’s tax structure
-their openness and adaptability was largely responsible for their longevity
-Conquering Constantinople (renamed Istanbul) in 1453 was important to the Ottomans both for
symbolic and strategic reasons.
-Symbolically: while fulfilling the Islamic dream, it shattered the bulwark of Christian identity
-Strategically: with the capture of Constantinople, the Ottomans occupied a permanent place in the
European landscape
-Ottoman expansion continued to the south
-Sultan Selim I captured much of Africa
-Suleiman the Magnificent captured many territories in the north
-In addition to religious differences, many aspects of the Ottoman Empire set it apart from western
states,
-lack of privately owned property
-the sultan owned all property and peasants paid taxes to use the land, so there was no security
of landholding and no hereditary nobility (2 key features of western society)
-a bureaucracy staffed by the sultan’s slave corps
-slaves were purchased along the borders of the empire
-the most talented rose to the top of the bureaucracy where they could acquire wealth and
power
-the less talented formed the brave a skillful core of the army, the janissary corps
-The newly constructed Topkapi Palace was where officials worked and young slaves trained for future
administrative or military careers
-to prevent wives from bringing foreign influence into government, sultans only procreated with
their concubines and mistresses, not their wives. They could also only have one male heir
-Sultan Suleiman undid these policies when he married his concubine and had several children with her
-this marked the beginning of more power for imperial wives
-over time, the sultan’s power decreased and a more bureaucratic administration developed
-Ottoman Empire experienced the same economic and social crises that affected the rest of Europe
-rebellions broke out
-The Habsburgs’ successful defense of Vienna in 1683 marked the beginning of Ottoman decline, along
with their loss at the Battle of Lepanto.
-the Treaty of Passarowitz completed Habsburg victory
Religious Diversity in the Ottoman Empire:
-The Ottomans practiced more religious tolerance than the West
-They recognized Christians and Jews as “peoples of the Book”
-They allowed Christians and Jews to have their own religious communities with autonomous selfgovernments called millets
-The religious leaders of each community had close bonds with the Ottoman ruling class and other
religious leaders, thereby making religious diversity a source of strength.
-Still Jews and Christian were a religious minority, and Muslims dominated all aspects of society.
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-Muslim schools, laws, courts, etc.
-The Ottomans were open in law and empire building towards non-Muslims
-Non-Muslim minorities coexisted and commingled with the Muslim majority
-Religious diversity was mostly a source of strength for the Ottomans
-they profited from the skills and networks of each group
-they integrated different ethnicities into the empire