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Lecture 26: Social Crisis and Absolutism

Lecture 26: Social Crisis and Absolutism. -- Period between 1560 and 1650 is toward absolutism (complete control by monarchies) -- Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) results from dynastic rivalries among German princes and desire of European powers to

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Lecture 26: Social Crisis and Absolutism

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  1. Lecture 26: Social Crisis and Absolutism

  2. -- Period between 1560 and 1650 is toward absolutism (complete control by monarchies) -- Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) results from dynastic rivalries among German princes and desire of European powers to limit power of the Holy Roman Empire and ruling Austrian Habsburg family -- Four phases: Palatine-Bohemian (1618-25); Danish (1625-29); Swedish (1630-35) and French (1636-48) -- Phase I: revolt in Protestant Bohemia against Austrian rulers (Catholics) results in Austrian defeat; Phase II: Denmark enters war against remaining Austrians; Phase III: Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus joins Protestants but are defeated by Catholic France which joins war to oppose Austria’s ally, Spain; Phase IV: French receive Alsace and Sweden receives Baltic provinces under Treaty of Westphalia (1648)

  3. -- After 1648, power of Spain and Austria declines, ); German principalities become more autonomous; population of German states reduced by 1/3 as a result of war; 15-20% of European population die from armed conflict, famine and disease -- Power of monarchs consolidated after 1648, despite protest of bourgeoisie which revolts against high taxes (La Fronde) -- 1661 Louis XIV announces he will be his own first minister, rules France autocratically for next 54 rules; becomes the symbol of the Age of Absolutism -- Jansenists unsuccessfully respond to Louis’s dominance over the Catholic Church (right to appoint clergy, etc.) -- Palace of Versailles was Louis’s monument to his excess

  4. -- Louis revokes Edict of Nantes which since 1598 had allowed Protestants to worship legally; French Huguenot preachers are expelled from France; worship forbidden, meeting houses demolished; 200-300,000 Huguenots (artisans, intellectuals, army officers) leave France -- Louis leads France into four costly wars, all with aim of reduc- ing power of the Habsburgs and extending French frontiers: 1667 Louis claims Spanish Netherlands, France loses war with Spain but gains 11 fortified outposts on its northeastern borders -- 1672 Louis attacks the Dutch Republic; after six years of war, gains Franche-Comte on eastern frontier and 12 new towns; 1689 coalition of powers forces Louis to stop annexing territories -- Charles II of Spain, with no direct heirs, wills his kingdom to grandson of Louis VIX, Philip of Anjou, igniting War of Spanish Succession because other powers fear an enlarged France

  5. -- War of Spanish succession continues for 13 years (1701-14); ended by Peace of Utrecht (1713, but fighting goes on until 1714); Philip of Anjou confirmed as ruler of Spain -- Spain: between 1550 and 1650, Spain has the largest empire in the world; ruled by Spanish Habsburg dynasty -- Son of Philip II, Philip IV, depletes the treasury and expels remaining Moriscos, which decreases labor and rents -- Internal revolts follow losses after Thirty Years’ War, and over-taxed subjects revolt -- Italian states: after 1559 ruled by Philip II of Spain because his father was the Holy Roman Emperor; until 1715, only Florence, Venice and the Papal States are relatively independent; much persecution of intellectuals after the Catholic Reformation; Austria replaces Spain as dominant power

  6. -- German states: 300 German principalities in northeast, ruled by Hohenzollern family; by 1609 add land along Rhine, later Duchy of Prussia, so that Brandenburg-Prussia is three disconnected land masses in western, central and eastern Germany; after 1648 Peace Conference at Westphalia, B-P gains contiguous border ruled by Frederick William the Elector -- Frederick William raises army to over 40,000 men, fights with nobility but give them absolute power over the peasants, no taxation and highest ranks in the army (“Junkers”) -- Frederick William creates commission which collects new excise taxes, new industrial and commercial enterprises -- Follows mercantilist policies of high tariffs, subsidies and monopolies for manufacturers; invites immigration and French Huguenots settle in Prussia

  7. -- Habsburgs: after loss of Spanish and German lands, dynasty turns to East and Southeast Europe, attempts to expand into areas held by Ottoman Empire -- 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz gives Habsburgs control of Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia and Slovenia; after War of Spanish Succession, Austria receives Spanish Netherlands, Milan, Mantua, Sardinia and Naples; by beginning of 1700’s, Archduke of Austria is also King of Bohemia and Hungary -- Habsburg Empire is merely collection of territories, each with its own laws, national assemblies and political life -- Russia: by 17th century would emerge as a modern nation state under Peter the Great (1689-1725); attempts to move Russia from primitive, feudal state with landed assembly (Zemsky Sobor) to modern state

  8. Europe c. 1557

  9. -- After visit to West in 1697, Peter creates colleges of war, foreign affairs, justice, etc. to replace Sobor; divides Russian into provinces; builds standing army of 210,000 men who serve for 25 years -- All landholders required to serve in either government or army; Peter creates Table of Ranks which gives non-nobles ability to serve the state and eventually gain noble status -- Peter attempts to control powerful Russian Orthodox Church by creating a Holy Synod lead by layman who reported to Peter -- Peter attacks Sweden in attempt to gain warm water port, gains Estonia, Livonia and Karelia -- 1703 Peter begins to build St. Petersburg on marshland near northern Baltic – capital until Revolution of 1917 (and again now)

  10. -- Scandinavia: by 1600’s Sweden becomes independent from Denmark; both then fight over territory in northern Europe -- Denmark, unsuccessful in 30 Years’ War and war with Sweden, have constitutional crisis which leads to centralized administra- tion with nobility as chief officeholders -- Sweden: Gustavus Adolphus (1611-32) enlarges central govern- ment and creates more stable monarchy; dies in battle -- His daughter, Christina abdicates in favor of her cousin, Charles X 91654-60); Charles XI (1660-97) creates an absolute monarchy -- By 1697, Sweden a more bureaucratic, monarchial state with improved army and navy and subdued parliament and church -- By 1718, Charles XII loses most of its northern empire to Russia, becomes second class state

  11. -- Witchcraft: persecution of witches, most often older, single women or widows resumes in much of Europe -- Pope Innocent VIII sends Dominican monks to Germany to investigate witchcraft; The Hammer of Witches (standard handbook on practice of witchcraft and how to identify a witch) is published (1486) -- 100,000 people prosecuted for witchcraft; virtually all victims belonged to the lower classes, were poor and propertyless -- Persecution of witches may have developed as the result of uncertainties and religious ambiguities created by the Reformation, as well as personal revenge

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