The 18th Century and the Enlightenment

Salons

A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings were commonly associated with French literary and philosophical movements of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great was born a German princess but became empress of Russia after she was married to Peter III. When Peter III came into power but was considered mad. He exempted nobles from compulsory military service and made peace with Frederick the Great who he admired. Catherine was not close to her husband and had him deposed and murdered so that she could be proclaimed empress. She wanted to make reforms to make Russia a powerful country like those of Western Europe and uses her advantage as a woman to seduce the army and gain its support. She drew many ideas from the writings of philosophes (particularly Diderot) and gathered ideas about the conditions of local administration and economic life of Russians. Catherine had no intention of departing form absolutism but she did give strong support to the rights and local power of nobility in her Charter of the Nobility and made friends with nobles to strengthen the crown. Catherine favored the expansion of the small Russian urban middle class and promoted trade. Catherine the Great's great achievement was gaining control of the province of Crimea. She went to war with the Ottomans and her army had success against the "old man of Europe". The war ended with the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainardji which gave Russia a direct outlet on the Black Sea, free navigation and rights to its waters, and free access through the Bospours.

The War Of Spanish Succession

Charles II of Spain, a product of inbreeding, was a mentally defected imbecile who had no heirs because he was infertile. Charles II designated Philip of Anjou a grandson of Louis XIV of France as his successor, which caused uproar in other European countries as the combination of Spain and France under one monarch would cause a huge disruption of power in Europe. France faced a Grand Alliance of England, the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, Portugal and the Duchy of Savoy. France eventually lost, and the war ended with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. (1701-1713)

Immanuel Kant & "What Is Enlightenment?"

Immanuel Kant believed in human freedom, immortality, and the existence of God. In his essay "What is Enlightenment?" he dared his readers to be wise and to think for themselves. Kant believed all human beings possessed an innate sense of moral duty or awareness of what he called a categorical imperative or inner command to act in every situation as one would have all other people act in the same situation. He used human's moral sense to prove the existence of God, eternal life, and future rewards and punishments

Peter the Great of Russia

Peter the Great of Russia dragged Russia into the modern world. After his visit to Western Europe he enacted immediate change in Russia, particularly against the boyars and the streltsy. Peter created a Table of Ranks that subjugated nobles to state service— the nobles' rank was equal to his position in the bureaucracy or military not their family lineage. Peter also executed streltsy that revolted against him during his absence while he was visiting Western Europe, effectively subduing them. Peter built St. Petersburg to subdue the nobility, inviting the boyars to build government structures and town houses, creating a central court. Peter ruled during the Great Northern Wars, defeating Charles XII of Sweden and gaining Baltic provinces and the northern part of Swedish Pomerania.

Adam Smith & Capitalism

Adam Smith wrote Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. He believed economic liberty was the foundation of a natural economic system and urged that the mercantile system of England be abolished as he felt such systems hindered expansion of wealth and production. Adam Smith wanted to unleash individuals to pursue their own selfish economic interests, thus encouraging economic growth—manufacturers and merchants would compete for business and thus meet consumers "wants". He saw resources as boundless and demanding exploitation for the enrichment and comfort of human kind (nations and peoples of Europe need not be poor). Adam Smith was the founder of laissez-faire economic thought and policy (favored a limited role for the government in economic life), however he did not oppose ALL government activity touching the economy. He argued that states should provide schools, armies, navies and roads. He justified economic and imperial domination of the world as Europe was "bringing higher levels of civilization to people who lived in a lower stage of human social and economic development" and felt they were carrying out a civilizing mission to the rest of the world.

Baruch Spinoza

Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was a Jewish Portuguese Dutch Philosopher who created the idea of pantheism. Pantheism is the belief that God is everywhere and contained in everything. Spinoza was Einstein's favorite philosopher.

Maria Theresa of Austria

Despite promising aristocrats more power, Maria Theresa (1717-1780 ) attempted to strengthen the power of the crown by building a bigger bureaucracy and imposing a system of efficient tax collecting that extracted funds from even the clergy and nobles. She established several central councils to deal with government problems and sought to bring all educational institutions into the service of the crown. Maria Theresa expanded primary education on the local level and was concerned about the welfare of peasants and serfs. She extended the authority of the royal bureaucracy over local nobles and decreed limits on the amount of labor landowners could demand from peasants.

Denis Diderot

Diderot's main contribution was the Prospects of the Encyclopedia of Arts and Sciences. The Encyclopedia was written in order to further knowledge for the public and compile all natural knowledge to be available to all. His biggest idea was equality of all people and he sought to record the progress of mankind

The War Of Austrian Succession

Frederick II (the Great) disrupted the Pragmatic Sanction set up by Maria Theresa of Austria's father Charles VI. Charles VI wants his daughter to rule after his death and enacts the Pragmatic Sanction to prevent other countries invading Austria while his daughter is ruling. Frederick II ignores the Pragmatic Sanction and invades Austria in 1740, starting the War of Austrian Succession. France and Spain quickly get involved in the War of Jenkins Ear, encompassed by the War of Austrian Succession. The war ended with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, which kept Maria Theresa at the head of the throne but Prussia gains official control of Silesia.

The Treaty of Utrecht

The Treaty of Utrecht 1713 concluded the War of Spanish Succession. This treaty marked the end of French ambitions of hegemony in Europe and preserved European balance. Phillip V of Spain remains the King of Spain but is forced to renounce all Bourbon affiliations and attempts to become the French monarch as well.

Frederick II "The Great" (Hohenzollern) of Prussia

Frederick II of Prussia used the army his father had built up to invade Silesia (Austria), disturbing the Pragmatic Sanction enacted by Charles VI of Austria for his daughter Maria Theresa. Frederick II was close with Voltaire, who wrote historical and tracts for the Prussian king. Frederick II also built the Sans Souci, a huge palace outside of Potsdam, France. While Frederick sought for the recovery and consolidation of of Prussia, most Prussians did not prosper under his reign. He disproportionally taxed the peasants and townspeople. Frederick did carry out the policy of religious toleration and the state benefited from this policy. Frederick also attempted to rationalize the judicial system and saw legal reform as means to strengthen the monarchy. He created the idea of an impersonal state— the government would remain the same, even with changes in monarch.

Seven Years War

Frederick the Great attacks France in 1756 and due to the Diplomatic Revolution England and Hanover are allies with Prussia. Frederick's aggression gives England the opportunity to gain land in the New World, particularly from France. France eventually looses the colonies, and looses to Prussia. However, when Russia attacks Prussia, Russia under Elizabeth I Russia defeats Prussia but as Peter III comes to power he pulls his troops out of Prussia because he admires Frederick the Great.

The Pugachev Rebellion

In 1742, Yemelyan Pugachev rises up against the boyars— not necessarily Catherine. He preaches freedom and equality to the peasants of Russia, advocating killing the boyars and taking the their land. While Catherine the Great is comfortable with the idea of freedom— she corresponded with enlightened philosophers like Diderot— she could not support the peasants. Instead she persecuted Pugachev with the Russian army and hung him. She needs the boyars to support her to strengthen her crown, without the boyars she would not have been able to kill Peter III and rule as czarina.

James Watt & The Steam Engine

James Watt was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world. He developed the concept of horsepower and the SI unit of power, the watt, was named after him.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that society corrupts humanity, which he expressed in his Discourse on the Arts and Sciences. In his Discourse on the Origin of Inequality he blamed much of the evil in the world on the uneven distribution of property. Rousseau raised the question of what constitutes a good life. He discussed politics in The Social Contract which outlined a political structure Rousseau believed would overcome the evils of contemporary politics and society. He suggested that society is more important than its individual members because they are what they are only in comparison to the rest of the community. He also believed anything could be broken through the general will of the people.

War of Jenkins Ear

The War of Jenkins Ear (1739-1748) is a war over the territory of Florida. Britain and Spain fought and eventually Britain won. This war is subsumed in the War of Austrian Succession.

Joseph II of Austria

Joseph II of Austria was the son of Maria Theresa. He was austere and humorless and had a narrow passionless sense of rationality. His rule led to a series of aristocratic and peasant rebellions throughout the kingdom. Joseph II's greatest ambition was to increase the authority of the Habsburg emperor and to overcome pluralism by imposing central authority in areas of political and social life. He wanted to reduce Hungarian autonomy. Joseph II favored religious toleration, relieving Jews of their social stigma. Joseph II sought to lower the Roman Catholic Church's power and in turn increase his own power. He ended the influence of the Roman Catholic Church as an independent institution in Habsburg lands, known as Josephinism. Joseph II also greatly reformed Austria's economy. He abolished serfdom, sought to strengthen economic life, and established a system of land taxation in which all proprietors were expected to be taxed. Many of Joseph's reforms brought inner turmoil and peasants revolted over disagreements of their new rights while nobles protested the taxation scheme and resisted centralization measures.

The Partition of Poland

Military success brought Catherine the Great domestic support in Russia and other states of Eastern Europe became uneasy, particularly Austria who was jealous of Russian territorial expansions. The Ottoman Empire called for Prussian aid against Russia. Frederick the Great made a proposal to Russia and Austria to prevent conflict and save appearances in which Russia abandoned the conquered Danube provinces while being compensated with a large section of Polish territory. Prussia was rewarded for remaining neutral by gaining land between East Prussia and Prussia proper, unifying the realm. Austria took Galicia with its salt mines and other Polish territory. Poland lost huge amounts of territory as a result of not having a strong, centralized government. This inspired a rise in national feeling and attempts were made to adjust Polish political structures, but they were too little and too late. The division of Poland showed the willingness of powerhouse countries to exploit smaller, weaker countries. Russia and Prussia partitioned Poland again, and then a third time with the help of Austria, essentially removing it from the European map

The Mississippi Bubble

Mississippi Bubble, a financial scheme in 18th-century France that triggered a speculative frenzy and ended in financial collapse. The scheme was engineered by John Law, a Scottish economic theorist who was a friend of the regent, the Duke d'Orléans. In 1716 Law established the Banque Générale, a bank with the authority to issue notes. A year later he established the Compagnie d'Occident ("Company of the West") and obtained for it exclusive privileges to develop the vast French territories in the Mississippi River valley of North America. A frenzy of wild speculation ensued that led to a general stock-market boom across Europe. The French government took advantage of this situation by printing increased amounts of paper money, which was readily accepted by the state's creditors because it could be used to buy more shares of the Compagnie. However, the excess printing of money caused severe inflation. The shares of Compagnie plummeted in 1720 and causing a general stock market crash in France and other countries. Thus the Mississippi Bubble had popped.

Baron de Montesquieu

Montesquieu was a Frenchman, lawyer and well off noble. In his Spirit of the Laws Montesquieu held up the British Constitution as the wisest model for regulating the power of the government. He took an empirical method by taking examples form political experience of both modern and ancient nations and concluded that there could be no single set of political laws that applied to all peoples at all times and in all places. However, his support of the British government was based on a misconception. Montesquieu believed England had a true separation of powers but England's judicial and executive branches were encompassed under the monarch. Montesquieu wanted to achieve reform and end the oppressive and inefficient absolutism of the monarchy that he felt had led to the degradation of French life.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart was a prodigious musician during the Classical Era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. Mozart is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, and his influence on subsequent Western art music is profound.

Physiocrats

Physiocrats believe in an economic theory that the wealth of nations was derived solely from the value of "land agriculture" or "land development" and that agricultural products should be highly priced. Physiocrats believed mercantilist legislation and the regulation of labor by the governments and guilds hampered the expansion of trade, manufacture, and agriculture. This reforming movement was led by Francois Quesnay and Pierre Dupont de Nemours, who believed the primary role of government was to protect property and to permit its owners to use its property freely.

Robert Walpole

Robert Walpole helped handle British debt after the South Sea Company (who had exchanged government bonds for company stock) saw a crash in their stock as investors sold their holdings and took profits. He essentially saved the financial integrity of Britain and proved himself to be a person of administrative capacity and political ability, earning the complete trust of George I of England. Walpole was technically the first British Prime Minister and creator of the cabinet system of government. He demanded that all ministers in the cabinet agree on policy. Walpole gained all real power from the support of the King, his ability to handle the House of Commons, and his control of government patronage which earned support for him and his policies. He coined the phrases "let sleeping dogs lie" to support peace abroad and status quo at home

Charter of the Nobility

The Charter of the Nobility was enacted during Catherine the Great's rule. She issued the Charter of Nobility which guaranteed nobles many rights and privileges. She had to please nobles to protect her right to the throne

"Diplomatic Revolution of 1756"

The Diplomatic Revolution resulted from the War of Austrian Succession. After Prussia attacked Austria (Silesia) alliances between Austria, France and Russia begin to form. In turn Prussia, England and Hanover form an alliance to balance the power in Europe.

John Wesley & The Methodists

The Methodists originated as a revolt against deism and rationalism in the Church of England, forming the background for English romanticism. The leader of the movement was John Wesley, who was inspired by German Moravians that exhibited unshakeable faith and justification by faith. Methodists became a separate church which ordained its own clergy and sent missionaries to American where they achieved their greatest success and most widespread influence. Methodism stressed inward, heartfelt religion and the possibility of Christian perfection in this life, emphasizing the role of enthusiastic emotional experience as part of Christian conversion. Religious revivals became highly emotional in style and content

Voltaire

Voltaire (1694-1778) was a French Enlightenment thinker, satirist, and writer. He attacked the established Catholic Church, and advocated freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state. Voltaire was a versatile writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. His most significant works were Henriade, Oedipus, The Age of Louis XIV, Dictionnaire Philosophique and Candide. He also did calculus on his dates with his girlfriend, Émilie du Châtelet, which was pretty awesome.