Chapter 15 T's & Q's
United Provinces of the Netherlands
Dutch Republic, formally Republic of the United Netherlands, Dutch Republiek der Verenigde Nederlanden, (1588-1795), state whose area comprised approximately that of the present Kingdom of the Netherlands and which achieved a position of world power in the 17th century. The republic consisted of the seven northern Netherlands provinces that won independence from Spain from 1568 to 1609, and it grew out of the Union of Utrecht (1579), which was designed to improve the military capability of its signatories within the larger union of the rebelling provinces. As the southern provinces (later Belgium and Luxembourg) were recovered by Spain, however, the provinces bound by the Utrecht pact became a new, independent state.
James I
From 1567 to 1625 and first Stuart king of England from 1603 to 1625, who styled himself "king of Great Britain." James was a strong advocate of royal absolutism, and his conflicts with an increasingly self-assertive Parliament set the stage for the rebellion against his successor, Charles I. When James at length succeeded to the English throne on the death of Elizabeth I (March 24, 1603), he was already, as he told the English Parliament, "an old and experienced king" and one with a clearly defined theory of royal government. His 22-year-long reign over England was to prove almost as unfortunate for the Stuart dynasty as his years before 1603 had been fortunate. There was admittedly much that was sensible in his policies, and the opening years of his reign as king of Great Britain were a time of material prosperity for both England and Scotland. For one thing, he established peace by speedily ending England's war with Spain in 1604. Besides the political problems that he bequeathed to his son Charles, James left a body of writings which, though of mediocre quality as literature, entitle him to a unique place among English kings since the time of Alfred.
Robe Nobles
Noblesse de robe, (French: "Nobility of the Robe"), in 17th- and 18th-century France, a class of hereditary nobles who acquired their rank through holding a high state office. Their name was derived from the robes worn by officials. The class was already in existence by the end of the 16th century, but it was only in the 17th century that its members acquired the right to transmit noble status to their heirs. The period of the 1640s and '50s was pivotal in the development of the noblesse de robe. In an attempt to bargain for political support during the troubled minority of Louis XIV, the crown granted detailed charters of nobility to judicial officials. At the summit of this newly created privileged class were the officers of such sovereign courts as the Parlement of Paris.
Republicanism
Republicanism is a political ideology in opposition to monarchy and tyranny. Republicans hold that a political system must be founded upon the rule of law, the rights of individuals, and the sovereignty of the people. It is also closely connected to the idea of civic virtue, the responsibility citizens owe to their republic, and to opposition to corruption, or the use of public power to benefit the politician.
In what ways does Richelieu symbolize absolutism? What were his achievements?
Richeliu had a policy of total subordination of all groups and institutions to the French monarchy. The nobility was long considered the biggest threat to the centralizing goals of the crown and a strong national state, so Richelieu sought to restrain their power. In 1624, he re-shuffled the royal council and eliminated any threats to power. He dominated the council, leveling castles, long the symbol of feudal independence, and crushed aristocratic conspiracies quickly. His greatest accomplishment is the administrative system he established, which consisted of royal commissioners, called intendants, that ran the 32 géraliti or districts, France was made up of. They ran special tasks, like financial, judicial, and policing. As intendants' power increased under Richelieu, so did the power of the centralized French state.
Serfs
Serfdom, condition in medieval Europe in which a tenant farmer was bound to a hereditary plot of land and to the will of his landlord. The vast majority of serfs in medieval Europe obtained their subsistence by cultivating a plot of land that was owned by a lord. This was the essential feature differentiating serfs from slaves, who were bought and sold without reference to a plot of land. The serf provided his own food and clothing from his own productive efforts. A substantial proportion of the grain the serf grew on his holding had to be given to his lord. The lord could also compel the serf to cultivate that portion of the lord's land that was not held by other tenants (called demesne land). The serf also had to use his lord's grain mills and no others.
Sovereignty
Sovereignty, in political theory, the ultimate overseer, or authority, in the decision-making process of the state and in the maintenance of order. The concept of sovereignty—one of the most controversial ideas in political science and international law—is closely related to the difficult concepts of state and government and of independence and democracy. Derived from the Latin term superanus through the French term souveraineté, sovereignty was originally meant to be the equivalent of supreme power. However, in practice it often has departed from this traditional meaning.
Stadholder
Stadtholder, also spelled Stadholder, Dutch Stadhouder, provincial executive officer in the Low Countries, or Netherlands, from the 15th through the 18th century. The office acquired extensive powers in the United Provinces of the Netherlands (Dutch Republic). Introduced by the ruling Burgundian dukes in the 15th century and continued unchanged by the succeeding Habsburg rulers, the stadtholderates were at first occupied by noblemen appointed by the central government. The duties of the stadtholder included presiding over the provincial states (assemblies), control and command of provincial armies, and appointment to certain offices. The stadtholderate disappeared in 1795 along with the old republic. The last stadtholder fled to England as invading French revolutionary armies and their Dutch sympathizers brought the republic to an end.
Sultan
The Ottoman sultan was the absolute ruler of the territory. He was the head of the state and head of the government, and his words were the Law. He was the political, military, judicial, social, and religious leader. He was responsible only to Allah and God's Law, known as the Seriat (Sharia). The Sultanate was inherited from father to the son during the early days of the Ottoman Empire. Sultan Fatih Mehmet, following the struggle for power between Yildirim Bayezit's sons for the throne, in the 15th century enacted the ruling of the murder of other siblings once the eldest was throned, in a decree (Ferman) named after himself. This application which was known as the "survival of the fittest" was enforced for about 250 years, until it was abandoned at the beginning of the 17th century and replaced with the rule of the "eldest family member" upon the death of a sultan. That is why after the 17th century a deceased sultan was rarely succeeded by his own son but usually by an uncle or brother. Also, all prospective future heirs to the throne were forced to live in the Harem's "cage" section, cut off from the rest of the world.
How did countries centralize their power? What was a result of this centralization?
The countries centralized their power by adopting absolutism, which meant that the highest person would have complete control over their people. The result of centralization meant that the countries had more power over their people then they have had before.
War of Spanish Succession- causes and results
War of the Spanish Succession, (1701-14), conflict that arose out of the disputed succession to the throne of Spain following the death of the childless Charles II, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs. In an effort to regulate the impending succession, to which there were three principal claimants, England, the Dutch Republic, and France had in October 1698 signed the First Treaty of Partition, agreeing that on the death of Charles II, Prince Joseph Ferdinand, son of the elector of Bavaria, should inherit Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, and the Spanish colonies. Spain's Italian dependencies would be detached and partitioned between Austria (to be awarded the Duchy of Milan) and France (Naples and Sicily). In February 1699, however, Joseph Ferdinand died. A second treaty, signed on June 11, 1699, by England and France and in March 1700 by the Dutch Republic, awarded Spain and the Spanish Netherlands and colonies to Archduke Charles, second son of the Holy Roman emperor Leopold I, and Naples, Sicily, and other Spanish territories in Italy to France. Leopold, however, refused to sign the treaty, demanding that Charles receive all the Spanish territories intact. The Spanish grandees likewise did not recognize it, being unalterably opposed to partition. Charles II allowed himself to be convinced that only the House of Bourbon had the power to keep the Spanish possessions intact, and in the autumn of 1700 he made a will bequeathing them to Philip, duc d'Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV of France. On November 1 he died, and on November 24 Louis XIV proclaimed his grandson king of Spain, as Philip V (the first Bourbon king of Spain), and then invaded the Spanish Netherlands. An anti-French alliance was formed (September 7, 1701) by England, the Dutch Republic, and the emperor Leopold. They were later joined by Prussia, Hanover, other German states, and Portugal. The electors of Bavaria and Cologne and the dukes of Mantua and Savoy allied themselves with France, although Savoy switched sides in 1703. William III of England, a strong opponent of Louis XIV, died in 1702, but the government of his successor, Queen Anne, upheld the vigorous conduct of the war. John Churchill, duke of Marlborough, played the leading role in Queen Anne's government and on the battlefield until his fall in 1711. He was ably seconded on the battlefield by the imperial general Prince Eugene of Savoy. Louis XIV sought to end the war from 1708 and was willing to give up the Spanish inheritance to the House of Habsburg. The British, however, insisted on the unrealistic demand that Louis use his army to remove his own grandson from Spain. Louis refused, broke off negotiations, and resumed the war. Two developments in 1711 altered the situation in favour of France. On April 17, 1711, Archduke Charles became heir to all the Austrian Habsburg possessions. Britain and the Dutch had no intention of continuing the war in order to give him the Spanish inheritance as well and thereby resurrect the old empire of Charles V. In Britain the enemies of Marlborough won influence with the queen and had him removed from command on December 31, 1711. With the collapse of the alliance, peace negotiations began in 1712. Because of the conflicts of interest between the former allies, each dealt separately with France. The first group of treaties was signed at Utrecht in April 1713. These and the later treaties of Rastatt and Baden ignored the will of Charles II and divided his inheritance among the powers. Louis XIV's grandson remained king of Spain, but the treaties of Utrecht marked the rise of the power of Britain and the British colonial empire at the expense of both France and Spain.
Absolutism
Absolutism, the political doctrine and practice of unlimited, centralized authority and absolute sovereignty, as vested especially in a monarch or dictator. The essence of an absolutist system is that the ruling power is not subject to regularized challenge or check by any other agency, be it judicial, legislative, religious, economic, or electoral. King Louis XIV (1643-1715) of France furnished the most familiar assertion of absolutism when he said, "L'état, c'est moi" ("I am the state"). Absolutism has existed in various forms in all parts of the world, including in Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler and in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.
Joan Sebastian Bach
A magnificent baroque-era composer, Johann Sebastian Bach is revered through the ages for his work's musical complexities and stylistic innovations. After a year in Mühlhausen, Bach won the post of organist at the court of the Duke Wilhelm Ernst in Weimar. He wrote many church cantatas and some of his best compositions for the organ while working for the duke. During his time at Weimar, Bach wrote "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor," one of his most popular pieces for the organ. He also composed the cantata "Herz und Mund und Tat," or Heart and Mouth and Deed. One section of this cantata, called "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" in English, is especially famous. One of his later religious masterworks is "Mass in B minor." He had developed sections of it, known as Kyrie and Gloria, in 1733, which were presented to the Elector of Saxony. Bach did not finish the composition, a musical version of a traditional Latin mass, until 1749. The complete work was not performed during his lifetime.
Baraoque
Baroque art and architecture, the visual arts and building design and construction produced during the era in the history of Western art that roughly coincides with the 17th century. The earliest manifestations, which occurred in Italy, date from the latter decades of the 16th century, while in some regions, notably Germany and colonial South America, certain culminating achievements of Baroque did not occur until the 18th century. The work that distinguishes the Baroque period is stylistically complex, even contradictory. In general, however, the desire to evoke emotional states by appealing to the senses, often in dramatic ways, underlies its manifestations. Some of the qualities most frequently associated with the Baroque are grandeur, sensuous richness, drama, vitality, movement, tension, emotional exuberance, and a tendency to blur distinctions between the various arts.
Cardinal Mazarin
Before Richelieu died in December 1642, he recommended Mazarin to Louis XIII as his successor, and the king accepted. Louis XIII died in May 1643, and the regent for the 5-year-old Louis XIV was his widow, Anne of Austria. The nobility welcomed the change. Anne was known to have been Richelieu's enemy, and Mazarin, though acknowledged as his nominee, was universally regarded as soft, ingratiating, and harmless. To everyone's utter astonishment, Anne confirmed Mazarin as first minister, and it soon became clear that she was in love with him. It is possible, though there is no proof, that later they were secretly married. They remained intimate friends and allies to the end of Mazarin's life. His task was to maintain the royal authority established by Richelieu and to win the war against France and Spain that he had started. Austria was humbled at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648; the war with Spain dragged on until 1659. The maintenance of royal authority was the most difficult task. Nobles who had reluctantly given way to Richelieu would not accept his successor, who was despised as a lowborn foreigner and thought to be weak-willed. The country was bitter at the taxes imposed by Richelieu to support the war, and its mounting resentment found dangerous expression in the Parliament of Paris, whose opposition was supported by all classes in the city.
Louis XIII
Born in France in 1601, Louis XIII took the throne at a young age. He was crowned king after the assassination of his father, Henry IV, in 1610. In 1612, Louis XIII became engaged to Anne of Austria. Though Louis XIII displayed courage on the battlefield, his mental instability and chronic ill health undermined his capacity for sustained concentration on affairs of state. By 1642, however, substantial victories had been won in the war against the Spaniards, and Louis XIII was subsequently respected as one of the most powerful rulers in Europe. He died in 1643. King Louis XIII and Anne of Austria were only 14 years old when they wed in November 1615. The union was far from a match made in heaven. The teenage king had no interest in his new bride. She also suffered several miscarriages, failing to give the king the heir he sought. Louis eventually came to favor Cardinal Richelieu, appointing him his chief minister in 1624. Richelieu was able to exert an extraordinary amount of influence on foreign and domestic policies. He managed to score an important victory against the Huguenots in 1628 at La Rochelle. In 1630, Louis found himself battling his own mother after she insisted on Richelieu's dismissal. Instead, he chose to send his mother back into exile.
Charles I
Charles I was a king of England, Scotland and Ireland, whose conflicts with parliament and his subjects led to civil war and his execution. The king was forced to call parliament back into session to obtain funds for war. He faced military insurrection in Ireland in November 1641. Facing another quarrel with parliament, Charles attempted to have five legislators arrested. In 1642, civil war broke out in England. Charles surrendered to the Scottish forces, who then handed him over to parliament. He escaped to the Isle of Wight in 1647, using his remaining influence to encourage discontented Scots to invade England. Parliamentarian general Oliver Cromwell defeated the royalist invaders within a year, ending the Second Civil War. Charles was tried for treason and found guilty. He was beheaded in London, England, on January 30, 1649.
Charles II
Charles II was the monarch of England, Scotland and Ireland during much of the latter half of the 17th century, marking the Restoration era. The English republican government collapsed following Cromwell's death in 1658, and Charles was reinstated to the throne in 1661. In his restoration agreement with Parliament, he was given a standing army and allowed to purge officials responsible for his father's execution. In exchange, Charles II agreed to honor the Petition of Right and accept a limited income. By this point, Charles was cynical and self-indulgent, less skilled in governing than in surviving adversity. Like his father, he believed he possessed the divine right to rule, but unlike Charles I, he didn't make it his priority. The Royal Court was notorious for its wine, women and song, and Charles became known as the "Merry Monarch" for his indulgence in hedonistic pleasures.
Colbert
Colbert gave an unprecedented impetus to trade and developed the kingdom's influence around the world with the setting up of trading companies in the 1660s and 1670s, such as the Compagnie des Indes Orientales (East India Company). Two outstanding results were the establishment of the trading post of Pondicherry in southern India and the French presence in Nouvelle-France, the future Quebec. Also a builder, he worked on the embellishment of Paris where he designed the laying out of numerous public squares and the Tuileries garden. Attached to the sciences, Colbert was responsible for the establishment of the Academy of Sciences and the Paris Observatory in 1667 In spite of a certain loss of influence at the end of his career, Colbert never fell into disgrace. He was one of the rare men of whom Louis XIV was always sure. He died in 1683 and was buried in the church of Saint-Eustache. His name lives on in the concept of colbertism, an economic theory involving strict state control and protectionism.
What is constitutionalism? How does it differ from a democratic form of government? How does it differ from Absolutism?
Constitutionalism is a government in which power is distributed and limited by a system of laws that the rulers must obey. The difference between a democratic form of government and constitutionalism is a Constitutional monarchy features a monarch who functions as the head of state. In a democracy, the head of state is someone elected by the eligible citizens of the state Constitutional monarchy differs from absolute monarchy, in which a monarch holds absolute power. A constitutional monarchy may refer to a system in which the monarch acts as a non-party political head of state under the constitution, whether written or unwritten.
Constitutionalism
Constitutionalism is the idea, often associated with the political theories of John Locke and the "founders" of the American republic, and equated with the concept of regula iuris, the "Rule of Law", that government can and should be legally limited in its powers, and that its authority depends on enforcing these limitations
Cossack
Cossack, Russian Kazak, (from Turkic kazak, "adventurer" or "free man"), member of a people dwelling in the northern hinterlands of the Black and Caspian seas. They had a tradition of independence and finally received privileges from the Russian government in return for military services. Originally (in the 15th century) the term referred to semi-independent Tatar groups, which formed in the Dnieper region. The term was also applied (by the end of the 15th century) to peasants who had fled from serfdom in Poland, Lithuania, and Muscovy to the Dnieper and Don regions, where they established free self-governing military communities. In the 16th century there were six major Cossack hosts: the Don, the Greben (in Caucasia), the Yaik (on the middle Ural River), the Volga, the Dnieper, and the Zaporozhian (mainly west of the Dnieper).
How did countries grow their militaries? What happened as a result of this growth?
Countries grew their militaries by having every man train and be educated in the military and they developed standing armies which meant more power and better a better chance to win the battles. Standing armies were the result of its growth.
Divine Rights of Kings
Divine right of kings, political doctrine in defense of monarchical absolutism, which asserted that kings derived their authority from God and could not therefore be held accountable for their actions by any earthly authority such as a parliament. Originating in Europe, the divine-right theory can be traced to the medieval conception of God's award of temporal power to the political ruler, paralleling the award of spiritual power to the church. By the 16th and 17th centuries, however, the new national monarchs were asserting their authority in matters of both church and state. King James I of England (reigned 1603-25) was the foremost exponent of the divine right of kings, but the doctrine virtually disappeared from English politics after the Glorious Revolution (1688-89). In the late 17th and the 18th centuries, kings such as Louis XIV (1643-1715) of France continued to profit from the divine-right theory, even though many of them no longer had any truly religious belief in it. The American Revolution (1775-83), the French Revolution (1789), and the Napoleonic wars deprived the doctrine of most of its remaining credibility
What were the social conditions of Eastern Europe? How did rulers of Austria and Prussia transform their nations into powerful absolutist monarchies?
Eastern Europe had a strong nobility and a weak middle class: most were peasants. After the High Middle Ages and the Black Plague, the West sought to maintain peasant production via economic encentives as a result of the relative weakness of the nobility. In the East, however, the strong noble class was able to forcefully keep peasant production high and make up for population loss. This trend toward oppression resulted in a great divide between East and West: while the economic power of the middle and lower classes increased in the West, it sharply decreased in the East. So, while serfdom was virtually abolished in the West, it became deeply entrenched in the East as a result of the sharply contrasting political philosophies which arose prior to the 1700's. Austria and Prussia transformed their nations into powerful absolutist monarchies by having a standard army, having control over everything and forcing peasants to be serfs.
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I was the long-ruling queen of England, governing with relative stability and prosperity for 44 years. The Elizabethan era is named for her. In 1558, Elizabeth took the reins of her country after the death of her sister. She inherited a number of problems stirred up by Mary. The country was at war with France, which proved to be a tremendous drain on the royal coffers. There was also great tension between different religious factions after Mary worked to restore England to Roman Catholicism by any means necessary. In fact, she earned the nickname Bloody Mary for ordering the execution of 300 Protestants as heretics. Succession became an another pressing issue for Elizabeth once she took the throne. She showed her talents as a diplomat, managing a number of suitors and potential royal matches during her reign. Through her father and her sister, Elizabeth had seen the troubles and challenges of royal marriages. Mary had made an unpopular choice in marrying Phillip II of Spain, who shared her devotion to the Roman Catholic faith. In the hopes of reuniting their two countries once more, Phillip even offered to wed Elizabeth at one time. While the end of her reign had been difficult, Elizabeth has largely been remembered as being a queen who supported her people. Her lengthy time on the throne provided her subjects with stability and consistency, and her sharp wits and clever mind helped navigate the nation through religious and political challenges. Sometimes referred to as the Golden Age, the arts had a chance to blossom with Elizabeth's support.
John Locke
English philosopher John Locke's works lie at the foundation of modern philosophical empiricism and political liberalism. In Locke's landmark, Two Treatises of Government, put forth his revolutionary ideas concerning the natural rights of man and the social contract. Both concepts not only stirred waves in England, but also impacted the intellectual underpinnings that formed the later American and French revolutions. As England fell under a cloud of possible revolution, Locke became a target of the government. While historical research has pointed to his lack of involvement in the incident, Locke was forced to leave in England in 1683 due to a failed assassination attempt of King Charles II and his brother, or what later came to known as the Rye House Plot. Exiled in Holland, Locke composed "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding," another ground breaking work of intellectual might that spanned four books and took on the task of examining the nature of human knowledge. Later called the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the event forever changed English government, moving the balance of power from the throne to Parliament. It also set Locke up to be a hero to many in his native country.
The Great Chain of Being
Great Chain of Being, also called Chain of Being, conception of the nature of the universe that had a pervasive influence on Western thought, particularly through the ancient Greek Neoplatonists and derivative philosophies during the European Renaissance and the 17th and early 18th centuries. The term denotes three general features of the universe: plenitude, continuity, and gradation. The principle of plenitude states that the universe is "full," exhibiting the maximal diversity of kinds of existences; everything possible (i.e., not self-contradictory) is actual. The principle of continuity asserts that the universe is composed of an infinite series of forms, each of which shares with its neighbour at least one attribute. According to the principle of linear gradation, this series ranges in hierarchical order from the barest type of existence to the ens perfectissimum, or God.
Prussian Hohenzollerns
Hohenzollern dynasty, dynasty prominent in European history, chiefly as the ruling house of Brandenburg-Prussia (1415-1918) and of imperial Germany (1871-1918). It takes its name from a castle in Swabia first mentioned as Zolorin or Zolre (the modern Hohenzollern, south of Tübingen, in the Land Baden-Württemberg). Burchard I, the first recorded ancestor of the dynasty, was count of Zollern in the 11th century. In the third and fourth generation from him two lines were formed: that of Zollern-Hohenberg, extinct in all its branches by 1486, and that of the burgraves of Nürnberg, from which all the branches surviving into modern times derived. The rise of the Brandenburg Hohenzollerns (who became Lutheran at the Reformation but turned to Calvinism in 1613) was accompanied by considerable acquisitions of territory in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries (see Brandenburg). One of the most significant acquisitions was made by a junior member of the house in 1525—namely, the duchy of Prussia.
Frederick William
In 1713 Prussia's armed forces numbered 38,000 soldiers, supported in large part by foreign subsidies. When Frederick William died in 1740, he left his son an army of about 83,000 out of a population of 2,200,000, a war chest of more than 8,000,000 taler, and a Prussia that had become the third military power on the European continent, after Russia and France. The canton system of recruitment and replacement, introduced in 1733, provided one-half the manpower of Frederick William's army from the Prussian peasantry. The rest of the soldiers were recruited from all over Europe. Frederick William also created from his fractious nobility the loyal Prussian officer corps. Prince Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau, a brutal, if efficient, drillmaster, provided the instrument wielded by these officers—the Prussian infantry, which could outmarch and outshoot all others.The need for funds, coupled with Frederick William's genuine concern for his subjects, led to a number of sweeping reforms and innovations. A thrifty, practical Protestant, the king on his accession all but dissolved his extravagant court. Prussia's eastern territories, depopulated by the plague of 1709, were resettled and made prosperous once again. The lot of the peasantry improved. In his own domains, which eventually comprised one-third of all the land, Frederick William freed the serfs completely (1719) and abolished hereditary leases. In 1717 a yearly tax replaced the aristocracy's feudal war service.
English Bill Of Rights
In England, during the Glorious Revolution of 1688, King James II abdicated and fled the country. He was succeeded by his daughter Mary and her Dutch husband, William of Orange. Before William and Mary could be proclaimed king and queen they had to agree to accept the Bill of Rights, which they did in February, 1689. The English Bill of Rights, which was an act of Parliament, guaranteed certain rights of the citizens of England from the power of the crown. The Bill of Rights was later added on by the Act of Settlement in 1701. Both of these contributed to the establishment of parliamentary sovereignty, which gives the legislative body of Parliament absolute sovereignty and makes it supreme over all other government institutions. The Bill of Rights also shrunk many of the powers of the crown. In fact, the United States Bill of Rights was modeled after the English Bill of Rights.
Mercantilism
Mercantilism, economic theory and practice common in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century that promoted governmental regulation of a nation's economy for the purpose of augmenting state power at the expense of rival national powers. It was the economic counterpart of political absolutism. Its 17th-century publicists—most notably Thomas Mun in England, Jean-Baptiste Colbert in France, and Antonio Serra in Italy—never, however, used the term themselves; it was given currency by the Scottish economist Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations (1776). Mercantilism contained many interlocking principles. Precious metals, such as gold and silver, were deemed indispensable to a nation's wealth. If a nation did not possess mines or have access to them, precious metals should be obtained by trade. It was believed that trade balances must be "favourable," meaning an excess of exports over imports. Colonial possessions should serve as markets for exports and as suppliers of raw materials to the mother country. Manufacturing was forbidden in colonies, and all commerce between colony and mother country was held to be a monopoly of the mother country.
Ivan III
In terms of political success, the 15th-century grand prince Ivan III was easily the greatest of all the descendants of Rurik, the reputed founder of Russia. No ruler of Muscovy until Peter I the Great, two centuries later, did more to consolidate and develop the achievements of his predecessors, to strengthen the authority of the monarch, or to lay the foundations for a centralized state. By means of cunning diplomacy and shrewdly calculated aggression, Ivan not only established Muscovy as a great power to be reckoned with by the rulers and diplomats of Europe but also set in motion the reconquest of the Ukraine from Poland and Lithuania. In spite of his great achievements, Ivan died unmourned and seemingly unloved. Singularly little is known about him as a man. He was tall and thin and had a slight stoop. It is said that women fainted in his presence, so frightened were they by his awesome gaze. His only known pleasures were those of the bed and the table. His contemporaries are silent about his virtues. Yet few scholars have underestimated the role of Ivan in the creation of the Russian state, and none dispute the significance of his diplomatic and military successes. It may be that the excessive cautiousness of his character, the lack of élan and glamour, and the very dullness of the man have prevented historians from universally recognizing the appellation of "the Great," first attributed to him by the Austrian ambassador to his son's court.
Why is it said that Locke was the spokesman for the liberal English revolution of 1689 and for representative government?
It is said that Locke was the spokesman for the liberal English Revolution of 1689 and for representative government because he maintained that people set up civil governments to protect life, liberty, and property. A government that oversteps its proper function-protecting the natural rights of life, liberty, and property-becomes a tyranny. Under such a governemnt, the people have the natural rights to rebel. Locke linked economic liberty and private property with political freedom.
What were the attitudes and policies of James I that made him so unpopular?
James I wasn't interested in displaying the majesty and mystique of monarchy, he lacked the common touch. He didn't like to wave at the crowds who waited to greet him. He was also a poor judge of character, and in a society already hostile to Scots, his Scottish accent didn't help him. James was devoted to the theory of the divine right of kings and went so far as to lecture the House of Commons. He said that there is nothing that can stand against a king. He was implying total royal jurisdiction over the liberties, persons, and properties of English men and women formed the basis of the Stuart concept of absolutism.
What happened as a result of the war?
One result of the war was the division of Germany into many territories — all of which, despite their membership in the Empire, won de facto sovereignty. This limited the power of the Holy Roman Empire and decentralized German power. The Thirty Years' War rearranged the European power structure. After the two sides had each scored varying amounts of success, the Peace of Westphalia created a tentative, if not quite harmonious, peace between the warring factions. Some historians see the end of the war as an end to the wars of religion which had formerly shook the continent. The peace also eventually paved the way for the creation of truly individual nations in Europe. On a darker note, the war had decimated a good portion of the European population.
Janissary corps
Janissary, also spelled Janizary, Turkish Yeniçeri, (New Soldier, or Troop), member of an elite corps in the standing army of the Ottoman Empire from the late 14th century to 1826. Highly respected for their military prowess in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Janissaries became a powerful political force within the Ottoman state. The Janissary corps was originally staffed by Christian youths from the Balkan provinces who were converted to Islām on being drafted into the Ottoman service. Subject to strict rules, including celibacy, they were organized into three unequal divisions (cemaat, bölükhalkı, segban) and commanded by an ağā. In the late 16th century the celibacy rule and other restrictions were relaxed, and by the early 18th century the original method of recruitment was abandoned. The Janissaries frequently engineered palace coups in the 17th and 18th centuries, and in the early 19th century they resisted the adoption of European reforms by the army. Their end came in June 1826 in the so-called Auspicious Incident. On learning of the formation of new, westernized troops, the Janissaries revolted. Sultan Mahmud II declared war on the rebels and, on their refusal to surrender, had cannon fire directed on their barracks. Most of the Janissaries were killed, and those who were taken prisoner were executed.
Junkers
Junkers exercised substantial political power. Otto von Bismarck himself, the imperial chancellor during 1871-90, was of Junker stock and at first was regarded as representing its interests. Politically, Junkers stood for extreme conservatism, support of the monarchy and military tradition, and protectionist policies for agriculture. The German Conservative Party in the Reichstag, or Imperial Assembly, and the extraparliamentary Agrarian League represented Junker interests throughout the imperial era. Because the Junkers staffed the Prussian army, which had brought about Germany's unification, they were accorded great influence, particularly in Prussia, where a highly illiberal constitution remained in force (1850-1918). During the Weimar period, Junkers were continuously hostile to the republic, the collapse of which contributed to the rise of Adolf Hitler.
Little Ice Age
Little Ice Age (LIA), climate interval that occurred from the early 14th century through the mid-19th century, when mountain glaciers expanded at several locations, including the European Alps, New Zealand, Alaska, and the southern Andes, and mean annual temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere declined by 0.6 °C (1.1 °F) relative to the average temperature between 1000 and 2000 ce. The term Little Ice Age was introduced to the scientific literature by Dutch-born American geologist F.E. Matthes in 1939. Originally the phrase was used to refer to Earth's most recent 4,000-year period of mountain-glacier expansion and retreat. Today some scientists use it to distinguish only the period 1500-1850, when mountain glaciers expanded to their greatest extent, but the phrase is more commonly applied to the broader period 1300-1850. The Little Ice Age followed the Medieval Warming Period (roughly 900-1300 ce) and preceded the present period of warming that began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It led to shorter farming seasons and less productions of goods and essentially brought infaltion
Discuss the foreign policy goals of Louis XIV. Was he successful?
Louis XIV of France was an aggressive expansionist. He followed in the footsteps of Cardinal Richelieu in that aspect. His foreign policies were mainly against the Habsburg dynasty's power and the ownership of French-speaking territories by nations other than France. Hence, his foreign policies included many wars. He took over the Spanish Netherlands and some of the United Provinces of Holland, and Franche-Comté. However, his aggressive advances caused alliances to be formed against him which included the Habsburg domains of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, England, and Holland in all of their incarnations. Eventually, Louis XIV could not defeat the alliances, and some acquired territories were lost again in treaties, even French colonies.
Louis XIV
Louis XIV, byname Louis the Great, Louis the Grand Monarch, or the Sun King, French Louis Le Grand, Louis Le Grand Monarque, or Le Roi Soleil who ruled his country, principally from his great palace at Versailles, during one of its most brilliant periods and who remains the symbol of absolute monarchy of the classical age. Internationally, in a series of wars between 1667 and 1697, he extended France's eastern borders at the expense of the Habsburgs and then, in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14), engaged a hostile European coalition in order to secure the Spanish throne for his grandson.
Millet system
Millet, (Turkish: "religious community," or "people"), according to the Qurʾān, the religion professed by Abraham and other ancient prophets. In medieval Islāmic states, the word was applied to certain non-Muslim minorities, mainly Christians and Jews. In the heterogeneous Ottoman Empire (c. 1300-1923), a millet was an autonomous self-governing religious community, each organized under its own laws and headed by a religious leader, who was responsible to the central government for the fulfillment of millet responsibilities and duties, particularly those of paying taxes and maintaining internal security. In addition, each millet assumed responsibility for social and administrative functions not provided by the state, conducting affairs through a communal council (meclisimillî) without intervention from outside. From 1856 on, a series of imperial reform edicts introduced secular law codes for all citizens, and much of the millets' administrative autonomy was lost.
Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia, European settlements of 1648, which brought to an end the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch and the German phase of the Thirty Years' War. The peace was negotiated, from 1644, in the Westphalian towns of Münster and Osnabrück. The Spanish-Dutch treaty was signed on January 30, 1648. The treaty of October 24, 1648, comprehended the Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand III, the other German princes, France, and Sweden. England, Poland, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire were the only European powers that were not represented at the two assemblies. Some scholars of international relations credit the treaties with providing the foundation of the modern state system and articulating the concept of territorial sovereignty.
Briefly explain the order and aspects of peasant life in the seventeenth century socially, politically, and economically.
Peasants had to find work, feed themselves and their families and worry about diseases. After years of apprenticeship they were able to start businesses for themselves. Peasant men who were around 20 would marry women found by their father. They wouldn't get paid much and were always running away and looking for more jobs, they never had a stable one and the pay wasn't that good either.
Peter Paul Rubens
Peter Paul Rubens was one of the most famous and successful European artists of the 17th century, and isknown for such works as "The Descent from the Cross," "Wolf and Fox Hunt" and "The Garden of Love." Rubens became known as "the prince of painters and the painter of princes" during his career, due to his frequent work for royal clients. He produced a tapestry cycle for Louis XIII of France (1622-25), a series of 21 large canvases glorifying the life and reign of Marie de Medici of France (1622-25) and the allegorical "Peace and War" for Charles I of England (1629-30). Following the death of his wife, Isabella, in 1626, Rubens traveled for several years, combining his artistic career with diplomatic visits to Spain and England on behalf of the Netherlands. When he returned to Antwerp, he married his second wife, Helena Fourment; his family group "Self-Portrait with Helena and Peter Paul" was a testament to his domestic happiness with his wife and new son. In the 1630s, Rubens produced several of his major mythological works, including "The Judgment of Paris" and "The Garden of Love," an idyllic scene of courting couples in a landscape.
Cardinal Richelieu
Richelieu adhered to the maxim that "the ends justify the means." Although he devoutly believed in the mission of the Roman Church, he sought to assign the church a more practical role. Richelieu argued that the state is above everything, and that religion is a mere instrument to promote the policies of the state. When Richelieu rose to power France's King Louis XIII had not solidified his authority in France. A combination of political corruption, an independent nobility, and the power of a Protestant group called the Huguenots, threatened the monarchy's rule. In 1627 Richelieu set out to secure the authority of the crown through force and political repression. By 1631 he had crushed Huguenot resistance, severely punished nobles who plotted against the king, and replaced his enemies in the government. In addition, he expanded the king's authority in the provinces through the use of royal agents called intendants.Richelieu insisted that the king apply the law with severity, otherwise the state could not survive. He emphasized that rigorous punishment of even small crimes would forestall greater ones. Through this reasoning, Richelieu provided his sovereign a rationale for the harsh rule he knew to be requisite with strengthening and maintaining the authority of the French State.
Romanovs
Romanov dynasty, rulers of Russia from 1613 until the Russian Revolution of February 1917. Descendants of Andrey Ivanovich Kobyla (Kambila), a Muscovite boyar who lived during the reign of the grand prince of Moscow Ivan I Kalita (reigned 1328-41), the Romanovs acquired their name from Roman Yurev (died 1543), whose daughter Anastasiya Romanovna Zakharina-Yureva was the first wife of Ivan IV the Terrible (reigned as tsar 1547-84). Her brother Nikita's children took the surname Romanov in honour of their grandfather, father of a tsarina. After Fyodor I (the last ruler of the Rurik dynasty) died in 1598, Russia endured 15 chaotic years known as the Time of Troubles (1598-1613), which ended when a zemsky sobor ("assembly of the land") elected Nikita's grandson, Michael Romanov, as the new tsar.
Boyars
Russian Boyarin, plural Boyare, member of the upper stratum of medieval, Russian society and state administration. In Kievan Rus during the 10th-12th century, the boyars constituted the senior group in the prince's retinue (druzhina) and occupied the higher posts in the armed forces and in the civil administration. They also formed a boyar council, or duma, which advised the prince in important matters of state. In the 13th and 14th centuries, in the northeastern Russian principalities, the boyars were a privileged class of rich landowners; they served the prince as his aides and councillors but retained the right to leave his service and enter that of another prince without losing their estates.Throughout the 17th century, the social and political importance of the boyars declined. Early in the 18th century, Tsar Peter I the Great abolished the rank and title of boyar and made state service the exclusive means of attaining a high position in the bureaucratic hierarchy.
Fronde
The Fronde was a reaction to the policies begun under the Cardinal de Richelieu, chief minister of Louis XIII from 1624 to 1642, who weakened the influence of the nobility and reduced the powers of the judicial bodies, called Parlements. Opposition to the government from these privileged groups gained momentum from 1643 under the "foreign" rule of the queen regent Anne of Austria (Louis XIV's mother) and her Italian-born chief minister, Jules Cardinal Mazarin.
The Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution was when William of Orange took the English throne from James II in 1688. The event brought a permanent realignment of power within the English constitution. The new co-monarchy of King William III and Queen Mary II accepted more constraints from Parliament than previous monarchs had, and the new constitution created the expectation that future monarchs would also remain constrained by Parliament. The new balance of power between parliament and crown made the promises of the English government more credible, and credibility allowed the government to reorganize its finances through a collection of changes called the Financial Revolution. A more contentious argument is that the constitutional changes made property rights more secure and thus promoted economic development.
Fredrick William- "Great Elector"
The Great Elector bequeathed to his son Frederick (after 1701, Frederick I, king of Prussia) a well-organized state, widely respected for its sound finances and efficient army. Frederick William had gone far toward integrating his inherited and acquired territories by establishing national institutions and central administrative bodies. He did, however, endanger the further integration by endowing the children of his second marriage, contracted in 1668 with Dorothea of Holstein-Glücksburg, with semi-autonomous principalities. Many of his ambitious plans were not realized. Just as he was unable to provide a pathway to the Baltic for his country, his attempt to establish a colony on the Guinea coast of Africa remained only an episode in Brandenburg-Prussian history. He was far more successful in the economic field. The systematic colonization of the sparsely populated country, the improvement of trade routes through canal construction, and the establishment and operation of factories after the mercantilist model were begun under Frederick William. In this area, too, the Elector established a tradition that was broadened by his 18th-century successors. The political views of all rulers of that period were rooted in religion. For the Great Elector royal power was a God-given duty, a common Christian viewpoint that was given a special character by the Elector's Calvinist beliefs, which bind the ruler, just as the least of his subjects, to prove himself visibly in his daily duties. Here lies the religious basis of Frederick William's ambition for political power and of his immense, yet restrained, energy, which is still evident today in Andreas Schlüter's famous equestrian statue of the Great Elector in Berlin
Describe the Dutch system of government. What was unusual about the Dutch attitudes toward religious beliefs?
The Netherlands is usually governed by a coalition of different political parties. Prime minister is usually coming from the party, which won the most seats in the elections. Usually the King gives the leader of the party, which won the elections, or an important politician coming from this party, the task of forming the new government. The constitution does not permit to a member of the parliament to serve in the government. The unusual thing about Dutch's attitude towards religious beliefs was that their religions varied and they didn't have one specific religion. They were open to many.
Sword Nobles
The Nobility of the Sword consisted of the nobles of the court and of the nobles of the provinces. The former were few in number, perhaps a thousand, but they shone with peculiar brilliancy, for they were the ones who lived in Versailles, danced attendance upon the king, vied with each other in an eager competition for appointments in the army and navy and diplomatic service, for pensions and largesses from the royal bounty. These they needed, as they lived in a luxurious splendor that taxed their incomes and overtaxed them. Residing at court, they allowed their estates to be administered by bailiffs or stewards, who exacted all that they could get from the peasantry who cultivated them. Everybody was jealous of the nobles of this class, for they were the favored few, who practically monopolized all the pleasant places in the sun.
What began the thirty years' war? Explain how the Thirty Years' war went from a religious confrontation to a political one.
The Thirty Years' War (1618-48) began when Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II of Bohemia attempted to curtail the religious activities of his subjects, sparking rebellion among Protestants. Known in part for the atrocities committed by mercenary soldiers, the war ended with a series of treaties that made up the Peace of Westphalia. The fallout reshaped the religious and political map of central Europe, setting the stage for the old centralized Roman Catholic empire to give way to a community of sovereign states. The Thirty Years' War went from a religious confrontation to a political one because it also resulted in famine disease resulting in high mortality in the populations of the German and Italian states, the Crown of Bohemia, and the Southern Netherlands. Because of the war, a number of important geographical consequences occurred; Germany was broken up, the Swiss Confederation and the Netherlands were declared as autonomous nations, but most importantly, the Holy Roman Empire lost power and began to decline from the signing of the Peace until modernity.
What were the immediate and long-range causes of the English Civil War? What were the results?
The immediate and long-range causes of the English Civil War was the status of the monarchy had started to decline under the reign of James I. He was known as the "wisest fool in Christendom". James was a firm believer in the "divine right of kings". This was a belief that God had made someone a king and as God could not be wrong, neither could anyone appointed by him to rule a nation. James expected Parliament to do as he wanted; he did not expect it to argue with any of his decisions. The results were that Charles was executed and James signed the warrant for it.
Austrian Habsburg
The empire of Austria, as an official designation of the territories ruled by the Habsburg monarchy, dates to 1804, when Francis II, the last of the Holy Roman emperors, proclaimed himself emperor of Austria as Francis I. Two years later the Holy Roman Empire came to an end. After the fall of Napoleon (1814-15), Austria became once more the leader of the German states, but the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 resulted in the expulsion of Austria from the German Confederation and caused Emperor Francis Joseph to reorient his policy toward the east and to consolidate his heterogeneous empire. Even before the war the necessity of coming to terms with the rebellious Hungarians had been recognized. The outcome of negotiations was the Ausgleich concluded on February 8, 1867. The agreement was a compromise between the emperor and Hungary, not between Hungary and the rest of the empire. Indeed, the peoples of the empire were not consulted, despite Francis Joseph's earlier promise not to make further constitutional changes without the advice of the imperial parliament, the Reichsrat. Hungary received full internal autonomy, together with a responsible ministry, and, in return, agreed that the empire should still be a single great state for purposes of war and foreign affairs. Francis Joseph thus surrendered his domestic prerogatives in Hungary, including his protection of the non-Magyar peoples, in exchange for the maintenance of dynastic prestige abroad. The "common monarchy" consisted of the emperor and his court, the minister for foreign affairs, and the minister of war. There was no common prime minister (other than Francis Joseph himself) and no common cabinet. The common affairs were to be considered at the delegations, composed of representatives from the two parliaments. There was to be a customs union and a sharing of accounts, which was to be revised every 10 years. This decennial revision gave the Hungarians recurring opportunity to levy blackmail on the rest of the empire.
What were the reasons for the fall of the Spanish Empire?
The reasons for the fall of the Spanish Empire was that Spain would send gold and silver to the Americas and it would be raided by pirates or would be lost in storms, they would spend a lot of money and expenses on their armies because people didn't like the land. They also fell because they relied too much on other countries for products and when they were cut off from them, they entered inflation and poverty. Spain was a Catholic country and wanted everyone to be although Calvinism was rapidly spreading.
Why would the reign of the Great Elector be regarded as "the most crucial constitutional struggle in Prussian history for hundreds of years"? What did he do to increase royal authority? Who were the losers?
The reign of the Great Elector would be known as the "the most crucial constitutional struggle" because the Great Elector would remove representative powers and introduce absolutist power. Since the Estates of Brandenburg gave into the permanent taxation, constitutionalism would never be achieved. This caused him to have superior force and financial independence. To increase royal authority, he used permanent taxation. The losers were the peasants and the Estates of Brandenburg since they were the ones who became the ones ruled be the Frederick William the Great Elector, and had to pay his taxes.
Mongols
The stereotype of the 13th-century Mongols as barbaric plunderers intent merely to maim, slaughter, and destroy. This perception, based on Persian, Chinese, Russian, and other accounts of the speed and ruthlessness with which the Mongols carved out the largest contiguous land empire in world history, has shaped both Asian and Western images of the Mongols and of their earliest leader, Chinggis Khan. The Mongol Khans also funded advances in medicine and astronomy throughout their domains. And their construction projects — extension of the Grand Canal in the direction of Beijing, the building of a capital city in Daidu (present-day Beijing) and of summer palaces in Shangdu ("Xanadu") and Takht-i-Sulaiman, and the construction of a sizable network of roads and postal stations throughout their lands — promoted developments in science and engineering
Was the revocation of the Edict on Nantes an error on the part of Louis XIV? Why or why not?
Though it is highly debatable that King Louis XIV made the correct decision in revoking the Edict of Nantes, he had many reasons for doing so. The French monarchy did not intend for religious toleration to be permanent, as religious pluralism was not regarded as a 17th century virtue. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes was also very popular, as aristocrats had wanted Louis XIV to crack down on the Protestants for a long time. Tens of thousands of Huguenot craftsmen, soldiers, and businessmen were emigrated, taking away their skills, revenues, and bitterness to Holland, England, Prussia, and Cape Town. However, modern scholars found that the revocation only caused a minor effect in the French economical development.
Peace of Utrecht
Treaties of Utrecht, also called Peace of Utrecht, (April 1713-September 1714), a series of treaties between France and other European powers (April 11, 1713 to Sept. 7, 1714) and another series between Spain and other powers (July 13, 1713 to June 26, 1714), concluding the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14). France concluded treaties of peace at Utrecht with Britain, the Dutch republic, Prussia, Portugal, and Savoy. By the treaty with Britain (April 11), France recognized Queen Anne as the British sovereign and undertook to cease supporting James Edward, the son of the deposed king James II. France ceded Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, the Hudson Bay territory, and the island of St. Kitts to Britain and promised to demolish the fortifications at Dunkirk, which had been used as a base for attacks on English and Dutch shipping. In the treaty with the Dutch, France agreed that the United Provinces should annex part of Gelderland and should retain certain barrier fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands. In the treaty with Prussia, France acknowledged Frederick I's royal title (claimed in 1701) and recognized his claim to Neuchâtel (in present Switzerland) and southeast Gelderland. In return France received the principality of Orange from Prussia. In the treaty with Savoy, France recognized Victor Amadeus II, duke of Savoy, as king of Sicily and that he should rule Sicily and Nice. The treaty with Portugal recognized its sovereignty on both banks of the Amazon River. France's Guiana colony in South America was restricted in size
Versailles-What purpose did it serve?
Under the guidance of Louis XIV (reigned 1643-1715), the residence was transformed (1661-1710) into an immense and extravagant complex surrounded by stylized French and English gardens. Every detail of its construction was intended to glorify the king. The additions were designed by such renowned architects as Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Robert de Cotte, and Louis Le Vau. Charles Le Brun oversaw the interior decoration. Landscape artist André Le Nôtre created symmetrical French gardens that included ornate fountains with "magically" still water, expressing the power of humanity—and, specifically, the king—over nature
Peter The Great
tsar of Russia who reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V (1682-96) and alone thereafter (1696-1725) and who in 1721 was proclaimed emperor (imperator). He was one of his country's greatest statesmen, organizers, and reformers. At the beginning of Peter's reign, Russia was territorially a huge power, but with no access to the Black Sea, the Caspian, or to the Baltic, and to win such an outlet became the main goal of Peter's foreign policy. At the beginning of Peter's reign, Russia was backward by comparison with the countries of western Europe. This backwardness inhibited foreign policy and even put Russia's national independence in danger. Peter's aim, therefore, was to overtake the developed countries of western Europe as soon as possible, in order both to promote the national economy and to ensure victory in his wars for access to the seas. Breaking the resistance of the boyars, or members of the ancient landed aristocracy, and of the clergy and severely punishing all other opposition to his projects, he initiated a series of reforms that affected, in the course of 25 years, every field of the national life- administration, industry, commerce, technology and culture.
