Enlightened Absolutism and the Balance of Power (Chapter 3, Lesson 3)

Was Empress Maria Theresa an Enlightened Monarch?

- Empress Maria Theresa was not an Enlightened monarch. Despite working to improve the conditions of serfs, she failed to establish anything else to ensure the people's natural rights. - She was not open to the philosophes' calls for reforms, and only worked for her kingdom's welfare. She centralized and strengthened the state in order to maintain her country's power.

Was Frederick the Great an Enlightened Monarch?

- Frederick II of Prussia was an Enlightened Monarch, however he did not follow all of the philosopher's ideas. He abolished the use of torture except in treason and murder cases, granted limited freedom of speech and press, and granted greater religious toleration. All of these actions support the natural rights of people and are in line with the idea of an Enlightened Monarch. - However, he kept serfdom and the rigid social structure enact, which limits equality and the pursuit of happiness. Additionally, he was guided primarily by interest in power and welfare. He used much of his power to collect taxes in order to create armies, wage wars, and gain more power. - In conclusion, Frederick did just enough to be an Enlightened Monarch, but could've done much more.

Was Frederick William I an Enlightened Monarch?

- Frederick William I was not an Enlightened monarch, although increasing Prussia's military power and importance, he failed to establish and ensure the people's natural rights, including equality before the law, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to assemble, to hold property, and pursue happiness. - He only worked for the power of his country, his military, and the values of people serving him. Frederick never openly thought or talked about Enlightenment reforms and did not take any steps towards being an Enlightened monarch.

Was Catherine the Great an Enlightened Monarch?

- NO. Despite being open to enlightened reforms and even thinking about a code of law, she was greedy for her own power and did not serve her people like an Enlightened Monarch should. - She made a policy that favored landed nobility and made conditions worse for peasants, which disrupted equality and the pursuit of happiness. Catherine did not enforce the laws fairly for all subjects, as shown by this policy. - Catherine only seemed interested in her own power, the welfare of the states, and the power of her kingdom. She used her power not for the benefit of her people, but for collecting more taxes to create armies, wage wars, and gain even more power.

Catherine the Great of Russia

- intelligent woman familiar with the works of philosophers and seemed to favor enlightened reforms - considered idea of a new law code recognizing the principle of equality of everyone in the law - However, ended up doing nothing since she knew that her success depended on royal nobility support - her policy (which favored landed nobility) led to worse conditions for peasants and led to a rebellion by them - shut down the rebellion using strong measures led by Cosack that had spread across Southern Russia - rural reform was halted, serfdom expanded into newer parts of the empire - was a worthy successor of Peter the Great in policies of territorial expansion - she expanded southward to the Black Sea by defeating the Turks and gained about 50 percent of Poland's territory

Frederick William I of Prussia

- maintained a highly efficient bureaucracy of civil service worker - these workers observed the supreme values of obedience, honor, and service to the king - doubled the army's size by the end of his reign in 1740 - made the fourth largest-army and became the most important institution in the state (due to size and good reputation - members of nobility (who were officers in the Prussian army) had a strong sense of service to the king and the state, and believed in duty, obedience, and sacrifice

What did the Philosophers believe and how did they want Enlightened rulers to govern?

- The Philosophers believed in natural rights for all people, including equality before the law, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to assemble, to hold property, and pursue happiness. - To achieve this, philosophers thought that people needed to be governed by Enlightened rulers. They wanted these rulers to allow natural rights, nurture arts, sciences, and education and obey and enforce laws fairly for everyone.

Was Joseph II an Enlightened Ruler?

- Yes, he took major steps to religious freedom through religious reforms and religious tolerance, he abolished serfdom and the death penalty and established the principle of equality of all before the law. All of these actions align with the philosophes' beliefs of natural rights and how an Enlightened Monarch should govern. - He covered many of the categories for natural rights, including the freedom of religion, equality before law, and the pursuit of happiness. Joseph believed in the philosopher's ways and made drastic changes in order to become an enlightened monarch. - However, he was guided mostly by interest in power and welfare of the state, and would often use power to collect taxes instead of benefiting the

Joseph II of Austria

- believed in the need to sweep away anything standing in path of reason - abolished serfdom and eliminated the death penalty - established the principle of equality of all before the law - enacted religious reforms, including religious tolerance - reform program largely failed; he alienated the nobles by freeing serfs, alienated the Catholic Church with religious reforms, and even alienated serfs due to them not understanding the drastic changes - realized his failure and wrote his own epitaph for his gravestone (Here lies Joseph II who was unfortunate in all his enterprises) - successors undid nearly all of his reforms

Frederick the Great (Frederick II of Prussia)

- one of the best educated monarchs of the time - well versed in Enlightenment ideas - exchanged letters with French philosopher and writer Voltaire - dedicated ruler - enlarged the Prussian army by actively recruiting nobility into civil service - kept a strict watch over the bureaucracy - abolished the use of torture except in treason and murder cases - granted limited freedom of speech and press along with greater religious tolerance - kept the serfdom and rigid social structure inact; avoided any additional reforms

Empress Maria Theresa of Austria

- worked to centralize and strengthen the state - (Before Theresa) The Austrian Empire had become one of the great European states and was hard to rule due to the empire being composed of many nationalities, languages, religions, and cultures - not open to the philosophes' calls for reforms - worked to improve the condition of serfs

What new type of monarchy emerged in the late 18th century and how did the new rulers try to govern?

The new type of monarchy that emerged was called enlightened absolutism. These new rulers tried to govern by Enlightenment principles while maintaining royal authority.