Western Civ

Old Regime

Cultural Change in France During the Revolution The French Revolution brought important changes to French culture. The Transformation of Cultural Institutions The cultural institutions of the old regime were either destroyed or radically changed.

Zimmermann telegram

Desperate for a quick win, Germany renewed unrestricted submarine warfare. This action, the interception of the Zimmerman telegram (the exposure of a German plan to convince Mexico to invade the U.S.), and the tight economic link between the U.S. and the Allies, led to the U.S. declaration of war in April of 1917. Although American troops did not arrive in France until 1918, American entrance into the war provided a psychological boost.

Peter the Great

During the Reign of Peter I, the Great (r. 1862-1725), Russia began to adopt Western ways. Peter the Great established a standing army, trained in Prussian methods, imposed new taxes, created a centralized bureaucracy, and promoted industry. He also built the new city of St. Petersburg as a "window to Europe."

Versailles

Germany perceived the Versailles Treaty as unjustly punitive. Germany lost 13% of its territory and all of its colonies. It also lost 10% of its population.

Glorious Revolution

Glorious Revolution, shifted the center of power from the king to the aristocracy sitting in Parliament. The Glorious Revolution was justified by John Locke in his Two Treatises of Government. Locke argued that man left the state of nature and established a government to protect his property and avoid chaos. But if the government acted against the interests of the people, they could overthrow it.

Estates General

In 1787, the king called for a tax on land to be paid by all landowners. Nobles refused to give their support and instead advised the king to call the Estates General, which had not met since 1614. The king initially refused, but the worsening financial situation forced the king to call the Estates General. The Estates General consisted of three chambers representing the three social groups, or estates, in French Society: the nobility, the clergy, and the commoners, or Third Estate. In the months before the Estates General convened, a debate raged about how the Estates General should vote. If they voted by estate, the noble-dominated First and Second Estates would block any action of the chamber of the Third Estate. If they voted by head, the more numerously represented Third Estate would dominate. The question remained unresolved when the Estates General convened on May 5, 1789. When the king said he would support the nobility and clergy, the Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly and asked the other two to join them on the basis of "one man, one vote." When shortly afterwards the Third Estate was locked out of its meeting hall, the members moved to a indoor tennis court and took an oath not to disband until a constitution was written. When more nobles and clergymen joined the Third Estate, the king was forced to accept the new situation.

Duke of Alba

In response, Philip introduced the Spanish Inquisition to the Netherlands and dispatched an army under the command of the Duke of Alba to restore order. Alba imposed a martial reign of terror. Alba's cruelty backfired and a full-scale civil war between the Spanish and Protestants ensued. Alba's replacement, the Duke of Parma, subdued the southern provinces.

Treaty of Utrecht

Louis XIV's last war was known as the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713). The other powers refused to accept this increase of French power. After a decade of war, the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) allowed Louis XIV's grandson, Philip V, to become king of Spain on the condition the French and Spanish crowns never be unified. Also, the Spanish territories in Italy and the Netherlands were awarded to the Austrian Habsburgs.

St. Bartholomew's Day

Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day On August 14, 1572, the royal family and the Guise attempted to permanently "solve" the Huguenot "problem" by assassinating the Huguenot leaders and sponsoring the massacre of over 20,000 Huguenots throughout France. In response, Calvinist thinkers developed theories justifying political revolution. However, the leader of the Bourbon family, Henry of Navarre, had managed to escape the massacre, and when in 1589 the last son of Henry II, Henry III, died without an heir like his brothers before him, Henry of Navarre became King Henry IV of France by hereditary right. Realizing that mostly Catholic France would never accept a Huguenot king, Henry IV converted to Catholicism in 1593, but in the Edict of Nantes, 1598, he tried to ensure the security of his former co-religionists. A Catholic fanatic assassinated Henry IV in 1610.

Nationalism

Nationalism Another new ideology was nationalism. Nationalism first appeared during the French Revolution. A nation refers to a large community of people who share a homeland and cultural identity. Nationalists argued that nationalities have a right to national serf-determination, and their main aim was to establish nation-states. Although nationalists spoke of the antiquity of their nation, most people who were identified in the nineteenth century with a particular land shared little cultural unity. For example, the French spoke many different dialects and the Swiss spoke several different languages. In addition, establishing the ideal nation-state was almost impossible, as patterns of settlement meant that a minority lived within the geographical borders of another nation. Some states were made up of many different peoples. In the early nineteenth century, nationalism was identified with liberalism, since both shared a belief in representative government. Later in the nineteenth century, nationalism identified more with conservatism.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

On August 26, 1789 the National Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. The Declaration was influenced by the Enlightenment and proclaimed the rights to liberty and property, equality before the law, freedom from oppression, and religious toleration to be natural rights.

The Somme

On the morning of July 1, 1916 the British soldiers in northern France began the first attack of the Battle of the Somme. By the end of the day, 20,000 British soldiers were dead and 40,000 were wounded. By the time the battle ended on November 18, 1916, 420,000 British soldiers and 200,000 French soldiers were dead or wounded.

Total war

The Experience of War The realities of war shattered expectations of a short war. The war moved beyond Europe into Asia, Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean. To meet the demands of total war, governments exercised stronger control and women entered the workforce.

National self-determination

The Failure of the Peace Settlement As the representatives of the powers gathered in Paris to write the peace treaties ending the war, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson offered a vision for the future based on national self-determination and open peace covenants. The new world order was to be organized around a League of Nations to oversee implementation of the treaties and resolve disputes. The peace settlements, however, contributed to the undermining of the international political and economic stability in the postwar years.

French Revolution

The French Revolution brought important changes to French culture. The Transformation of Cultural Institutions The cultural institutions of the old regime were either destroyed or radically changed. Schools The confiscation of church property and abolition of religious orders had devastated the system of schools and universities run by the church. The government created a system of public primary and secondary or central schools based on free instruction by teachers paid by the state. Lacking sufficient funds to finance the schools, however, education continued to suffer. Academies The old scientific and artistic academies were abolished and their work taken over by government committees. For example, the Commission of Weights and Measures established the metric system as the new measuring standard. Museums and Monuments The Commission of the Museums created the Louvre museum to house the objects and paintings confiscated from the homes of émigrés and the churches. The revolutionary government also attempted to erase the memory of the old regime by having the tombs of the kings destroyed.

Nation-State

The nation-state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a country as a sovereign territorial unit.[1] The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity. The term "nation-state" implies that the two geographically coincide, and this distinguishes the nation state from the other types of state, which historically preceded it.

National Assembly

The question remained unresolved when the Estates General convened on May 5, 1789. When the king said he would support the nobility and clergy, the Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly and asked the other two to join them on the basis of "one man, one vote." When shortly afterwards the Third Estate was locked out of its meeting hall, the members moved to a indoor tennis court and took an oath not to disband until a constitution was written. When more nobles and clergymen joined the Third Estate, the king was forced to accept the new situation.

William Shakespeare

The reign of Elizabeth I (r. 1558- 1603) marks the arrival of the English Renaissance. The major literary figure was the dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616), whose writings demonstrate his deep understanding of human nature.

No-man's land

The trenches zigzagged at sharp angles to limit the range of fire, which also ensured that everywhere a soldier looked he saw mud. Between the lines was no-man's land, pocketed by deep craters from the shelling and littered with the decomposing corpses of the dead. In 1915, a new deadly weapon, poison gas, was introduced, which blinded, blistered skin, and caused death by asphyxiation.

State

A federated state (often referred to simply as a state) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federal union.[1] Such states differ from sovereign states, in that they have transferred a portion of their sovereign powers to a federal government.[2] A federated state holds administrative jurisdiction over a defined geographic territory and is a form of regional government.

Nation

A nation is a grouping of people who share common history, culture, language and ethnic origin, often possessing or seeking its own government.[1] The development and conceptualization of a nation is closely related to the development of modern industrial states and nationalist movements in Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,[2] although nationalists would trace nations into the past along uninterrupted lines of historical narrative.

Proletariat

According to Marx, history had advanced to a new stage when the bourgeoisie took power from the aristocracy. A new stage of advancement would result from conflict between the bourgeoisie and the working class (proletariat). Communism calls for a workers' revolution and complete economic equality.

The Fronde

After Richelieu died, he was succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin (1601-1661). As chief minister during the early reign of Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715), who also became king as a child, Cardinal Mazarin faced a series of revolts against the crown called the Fronde, which began when the judges of Parlement of Paris refused to register a royal edict. Within a decade, however, the French state had recovered from these challenges.

Girondists

After the declaration of the Republic and the election of the National Convention, the main factions were the moderate Girondins and the radical Montagnards, or "the Mountain." The Mountain, led by people like Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), pushed for the centralization of power in Paris, while the Girondins favored federalism.

League of Nations

As the representatives of the powers gathered in Paris to write the peace treaties ending the war, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson offered a vision for the future based on national self-determination and open peace covenants. The new world order was to be organized around a League of Nations to oversee implementation of the treaties and resolve disputes. The peace settlements, however, contributed to the undermining of the international political and economic stability in the postwar years.

Balfour Declaration

At the same time, the British promised in the Balfour Declaration support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The Balfour Declaration was seen by the Palestinian Arabs as a betrayal. The war also stimulated nationalist aspirations in the European empires.

Trench Warfare

Both sides found themselves confined to underground dwellings. For four years, men stood in muddy ditches 3-4 feet wide and 7-8 feet deep, reinforced by sandbags and barbed wire. The trenches zigzagged at sharp angles to limit the range of fire, which also ensured that everywhere a soldier looked he saw mud. Between the lines was no-man's land, pocketed by deep craters from the shelling and littered with the decomposing corpses of the dead

Pius VII

Concordat with the Papacy To settle the conflict between church and state, Napoleon signed the Concordat of 1801 with Pope Pius VII (r. 1800-1823). The pope gave up all claims to the property confiscated by the revolution, agreed that the clergy would take an oath of allegiance to the state, and agreed not to appoint bishops without prior approval of the French government.

Conservatism

Conservatism: Preserving the Established Order: The reaction to the excesses of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution produced the ideology of conservatism. Its leading theorist was Edmund Burke. Burke viewed the social order as a partnership between past, present, and future. He rejected the notion of equality or natural rights. He argued that rights were inherited from the past. Burke and other conservatives believed monarchy was the form of government most capable of protecting peoples' rights. Conservatives differed from reactionaries, in that they accepted gradual change. The leading conservative governments of Europe in 1815 formed the Concert of Europe to maintain the peace settlement of 1815 and avoid another revolution.

Dialectical Materialism

Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx concluded that history advances through a process they called the dialectic. The idea had been borrowed from Friedrich Hegel, who believed that history advances because of a class of ideas. Marx argued that historical change was the result of economic factors, so his theory was known as dialectical materialism. According to Marx, history had advanced to a new stage when the bourgeoisie took power from the aristocracy. A new stage of advancement would result from conflict between the bourgeoisie and the working class (proletariat).

Baroque

He built a new royal palace at Versailles in the baroque style, which through its size emphasized the unrivaled power of the king. Paintings, sculptures, and theatre productions always portrayed the symbols of power.

Edict of Nantes

Henry of Navarre became King Henry IV of France by hereditary right. Realizing that mostly Catholic France would never accept a Huguenot king, Henry IV converted to Catholicism in 1593, but in the Edict of Nantes, 1598, he tried to ensure the security of his former co-religionists. A Catholic fanatic assassinated Henry IV in 1610.

Congress of Vienna

Ideological Encounters in Europe, 1815-1848 The confrontation of ideologies of the nineteenth century frequently led to violent political conflict. In the years after the Congress of Vienna, conservatives led by Austrian Chancellor Metternich were determined to suppress any signs of revolution. Liberal and Nationalist Revolts, 1820-1825 A series of revolts in Europe in the early 1820s revealed the influence of liberalism and nationalism.

Triple Entente

In 1898, Germany began constructing a navy, which Britain saw as a threat to its security. Britain began making economic, imperial, and military agreements with France and Russia. These agreements resulted in the formation of the Triple Entente. These agreements did not require Britain to join a war. By the beginning of the twentieth century, Europe was divided into two opposing camps.

The Convention

In January 1793, the Convention put the king on trial, convicted him of treason, and he was executed by using the guillotine. The factional splits worsened with new defeats on the battlefield. Robespierre saw internal opposition as a Gerondins plot and expelled them from the convention.

Bolsheviks

In November, a small group of socialist revolutionaries called the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government and withdrew Russia from the war and in March of 1918 with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Because of the large numbers of troops needed to hold these territories, Germany did not benefit as much as expected.

Ivan "the Terrible"

Legacy of Ivan the Terrible Russia experienced the strengthening of royal power in the sixteenth century. The grand-dukes of Moscow freed themselves from the control of the Tartars in the fifteenth century. They then increased their authority at the expense of the nobles (boyars) and cities, while allowing nobles to impose serfdom on the peasants. Ivan III, "the Great" (1462-1505), married a Byzantine princess and adopted the title of tsar. Ivan IV, "the Terrible" (1533-1584), carried out a reign of terror against his enemies. He set aside half of the kingdom for his personal domain and used it to finance the army, which successfully fought Poland-Lithuania and Sweden. In the early seventeenth century, Russia experienced great chaos known as the "Time of Troubles" (1604-1613), which concluded with the election of Michael Romanov as tzar.

Liberalism

Liberalism: The Protection of Individual Freedom The ideology of liberalism is centered on the principle of political, social, and economic freedom. The political agenda of the liberals consisted of three aims. First, liberals aimed to establish and protect civil liberties. Second, they worked for the extension of the right to vote to the middle class. They rejected giving the vote to people without property. Third, they promoted free trade. Their wealth backed their claim to a share in political power. Liberals followed the ideas of Adam Smith, who argued that government should allow the economic interests complete freedom of action (commonly called laissez-faire). For Smith, the only function of government was to protect property and maintain public order. Liberalism drew most of its supporters from the urban middle-class professionals, merchants, and manufacturers.

Parlements

Louis XIII and his chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu, worked to centralize power in the hands of the French state. Richelieu suppressed rebellions led by nobles and restricted the independence of the regional supreme courts or parlements.

War of Spanish Succession

Louis XIV's last war was known as the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713). The other powers refused to accept this increase of French power. After a decade of war, the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) allowed Louis XIV's grandson, Philip V, to become king of Spain on the condition the French and Spanish crowns never be unified. Also, the Spanish territories in Italy and the Netherlands were awarded to the Austrian Habsburgs.

Huguenots

Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day On August 14, 1572, the royal family and the Guise attempted to permanently "solve" the Huguenot "problem" by assassinating the Huguenot leaders and sponsoring the massacre of over 20,000 Huguenots throughout France. In response, Calvinist thinkers developed theories justifying political revolution.

Bastille

On July 12, 1789, the French journalist named Camille Desmoulins incited the people of Paris to invade the arsenals and arm themselves in fear that King Louis XVI was about the attack the city. Two days later, on July 14, the people of Paris attacked the fortress of the Bastille, murdered its governor and defenders, as well as the city's magistrates. This violent event was the beginning of fundamental political changes in France and Europe that are known as the French Revolution.

Louis XVI of France

On July 12, 1789, the French journalist named Camille Desmoulins incited the people of Paris to invade the arsenals and arm themselves in fear that King Louis XVI was about the attack the city. Two days later, on July 14, the people of Paris attacked the fortress of the Bastille, murdered its governor and defenders, as well as the city's magistrates. This violent event was the beginning of fundamental political changes in France and Europe that are known as the French Revolution.

Positivism

One form of scientific rationalism developed by Auguste Comte (1798-1857) is positivism, which states that science is the highest form of knowledge and will inevitably lead to human progress. Comte argued that the highest stage of human development was the positive stage, in which scientific or positive knowledge would allow people to discover the laws of human behavior and use them to improve society.

Philip II of Spain

Philip II, the King of Paper Spain under Charles V abdicated in favor of King Philip II. His domain included Naples, Milan, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the colonies of the New World. Philip exercised a personal supervision over the affairs of his far-flung empire from the seclusion of the palace of El Escorial, making him an office-bound bureaucrat. Philip saw himself as the protector of Catholicism and enemy of Muslims and Protestants. Fearful that the Moriscos of Spain would give support to the Ottoman Turks, he banned all vestiges of Muslim culture.

Cardinal Mazarin

Richelieu also increased the yield from the taille and imposed a tax on office holders. After Richelieu died, he was succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin (1601-1661). As chief minister during the early reign of Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715), who also became king as a child, Cardinal Mazarin faced a series of revolts against the crown called the Fronde, which began when the judges of Parlement of Paris refused to register a royal edict. Within a decade, however, the French state had recovered from these challenges.

Romanticism

Romanticism Romanticism rejected many of the ideas of the positivists. Romantics recognized the limits of human reason to comprehend reality and be objective. They also rejected the order and rationalism of the eighteenth-century artistic style called classicism. Many romantic writers explored the exotic, strange, mysterious, and satanic aspects of human nature. Much of their literature was set in the Middle Ages, a period which they associated with religion and order in politics and society. Romantic operas incorporated folk music and myths. Romanticism appealed to liberals, who agreed with its emphasis on individual liberty and a rejection of the established order. Romanticism also appealed to conservatives with its idealization of the traditional social and political order of the Middle Ages and of its elevation of the societal importance of religion. The works of Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744-1803), who emphasized the cultural traditions of Germany, were identified with the nationalist cause.

Karl Marx

Socialism The reaction to the rise of industrial capitalism and liberalism and the justification of the awful conditions in which the working class found itself was socialism. Socialists advocated ownership of the means of production by the community. The most radical form of socialism was the communism ideology developed by Karl Marx. Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx concluded that history advances through a process they called the dialectic. The idea had been borrowed from Friedrich Hegel, who believed that history advances because of a class of ideas. Marx argued that historical change was the result of economic factors, so his theory was known as dialectical materialism. According to Marx, history had advanced to a new stage when the bourgeoisie took power from the aristocracy. A new stage of advancement would result from conflict between the bourgeoisie and the working class (proletariat). Communism calls for a workers' revolution and complete economic equality.

Socialism

Socialism The reaction to the rise of industrial capitalism and liberalism and the justification of the awful conditions in which the working class found itself was socialism. Socialists advocated ownership of the means of production by the community. The most radical form of socialism was the communism ideology developed by Karl Marx. Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx concluded that history advances through a process they called the dialectic. The idea had been borrowed from Friedrich Hegel, who believed that history advances because of a class of ideas. Marx argued that historical change was the result of economic factors, so his theory was known as dialectical materialism. According to Marx, history had advanced to a new stage when the bourgeoisie took power from the aristocracy. A new stage of advancement would result from conflict between the bourgeoisie and the working class (proletariat). Communism calls for a workers' revolution and complete economic equality.

Communism

Socialists advocated ownership of the means of production by the community. The most radical form of socialism was the communism ideology developed by Karl Marx. Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx concluded that history advances through a process they called the dialectic. The idea had been borrowed from Friedrich Hegel, who believed that history advances because of a class of ideas. Marx argued that historical change was the result of economic factors, so his theory was known as dialectical materialism. According to Marx, history had advanced to a new stage when the bourgeoisie took power from the aristocracy. A new stage of advancement would result from conflict between the bourgeoisie and the working class (proletariat). Communism calls for a workers' revolution and complete economic equality.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Soon, opposition arose from the radical Jacobins and sans-culottes over the rising price of bread. A new coup brought a new government called the Consulate to power. It was dominated by a young general named Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), who was named First Consul. The government retained its republican form, but in actuality, Napoleon was a military dictator.

Carnival

Suppressing Popular Culture Religious reformers placed great emphasis in purifying society by imposing strict regulation of human behavior. They acted to suppress un-Christian practices in popular culture. One of their main targets was the festival of Carnival, which preceded Lent. They also used preaching and instruction to encourage values of thrift, modesty, and chastity.

Napoleonic Code

The Civil Code To standardize the legal system, Napoleon promulgated a series of new legal codes. The most important was the Civil Code, or Napoleonic Code. In it he guaranteed the rights to private property, equality before the law, and freedom of religion. He gave men control of the family by denying women the right to inherit, buy, or sell property.

Decembrists

The Decembrist Revolt of 1825 in Russia The liberal revolt in Russia in December of 1825 failed. A group of army officers who had served in France led a revolt against Tsar Nicholas I (r. 1825-1855). The Decembrists, as the rebels became known, were suppressed. They failed to influence any change in the regime of Nicholas I.

Revolt of the Netherlands

The Dutch Revolt The Netherlands held some of Europe's richest cities. In 1548, Charles V had annexed the northern provinces to the southern provinces he had inherited from his father, so they were not subject to the clauses of the Peace of Augsburg, which allowed local provinces to determine the religion of their lands. The consolidation of the region under Spanish rule was very difficult. Philip's harsh attitudes toward Protestantism and the arrival of French Huguenot refugees increased the fanatical anti-Catholicism of the Calvinists.

Battle of Tannenberg

The Eastern Front: A War of Movement In 1914, the Russians mobilized faster than expected and advanced into eastern Germany and Austria. At the Battle of Tannenberg, the Germans, under the command of Generals Hindenberg and Ludendorff, stopped the Russians, advanced, and then pushed them back deep into Russian territory. For the next two years, the pattern of Russian advance and retreat continued, revealing the inability of the Russian government and economy to supply its troops.

Woodrow Wilson

The Failure of the Peace Settlement As the representatives of the powers gathered in Paris to write the peace treaties ending the war, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson offered a vision for the future based on national self-determination and open peace covenants. The new world order was to be organized around a League of Nations to oversee implementation of the treaties and resolve disputes. The peace settlements, however, contributed to the undermining of the international political and economic stability in the postwar years.

Charles X

The French Revolution: The Success of Liberalism The most important revolution took place in France. The ultra-conservative King Charles X took steps to undermine even the mild concessions made by his predecessor, Louis XVIII. When Charles X dissolved the Chamber of Deputies and restricted the franchise, violence erupted in the streets of Paris. Charles X abdicated, and the liberals placed Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orleans, on the throne. Louis-Philippe served the interests of the liberal bourgeoisie by extending the franchise slightly and by declaring that Roman Catholicism was no longer the state religion.

Oliver Cromwell

The House of Commons eliminated the monarchy and established a republic. The army's commander-in-chief, Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), was named Lord Protector of England. When Cromwell died in 1558, the political conflict between the Parliament and the army was renewed. In 1660, the army restored the monarchy.

Protector of England

The House of Commons eliminated the monarchy and established a republic. The army's commander-in-chief, Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), was named Lord Protector of England. When Cromwell died in 1558, the political conflict between the Parliament and the army was renewed. In 1660, the army restored the monarchy.

Montagnards

The Jacobins and the Revolution Several factions were struggling for power in France. After the declaration of the Republic and the election of the National Convention, the main factions were the moderate Girondins and the radical Montagnards, or "the Mountain." The Mountain, led by people like Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), pushed for the centralization of power in Paris, while the Girondins favored federalism. In January 1793, the Convention put the king on trial, convicted him of treason, and he was executed by using the guillotine. The factional splits worsened with new defeats on the battlefield. Robespierre saw internal opposition as a Gerondins plot and expelled them from the convention.

Maximilien Robespierre

The Jacobins and the Revolution Several factions were struggling for power in France. After the declaration of the Republic and the election of the National Convention, the main factions were the moderate Girondins and the radical Montagnards, or "the Mountain." The Mountain, led by people like Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), pushed for the centralization of power in Paris, while the Girondins favored federalism. In January 1793, the Convention put the king on trial, convicted him of treason, and he was executed by using the guillotine. The factional splits worsened with new defeats on the battlefield. Robespierre saw internal opposition as a Gerondins plot and expelled them from the convention. The Reign of Terror In order to deal with the internal enemies, the convention entrusted executive power to a Committee of Public Safety led by Robespierre and established special courts to prosecute enemies. They implemented a terror campaign to crush opposition. Between October 1793 and June 1794 over 17,000 persons were executed and another 20,000 were imprisoned or killed without trial. A group of moderate Jacobins retaliated, plotted against Robespierre and his followers, arrested them, and guillotined them in August 1794. Members of the White Terror, Bourbon supporters, retaliated against the Jacobins and executed leaders of revolutionary tribunals. This brought an end to the most violent and radical phase of the revolution.

Concert of Europe

The Liberal Revolt of 1820 in Spain After the fall of Napoleon, King Ferdinand VII returned to power in Spain. He refused to accept the liberal constitution written by the Spanish cortes (parliament) in 1812. In 1820 a group of military officers seized power. Then, an army of the Concert of Europe invaded Spain. Ferdinand's restoration to power signaled a liberal defeat when their leaders were executed and he once again denounced the constitution of 1812.

Thomas Hobbes

The Nature of Absolutism To best understand absolutism we need to differentiate between theoretical definitions as postulated by writers such as Thomas Hobbes and practice as applied by the various monarchs of Europe.

Absolutism

The Nature of Absolutism To best understand absolutism we need to differentiate between theoretical definitions as postulated by writers such as Thomas Hobbes and practice as applied by the various monarchs of Europe. Although the term absolutism may conjure images of despotic rulers, seventeenth-century kings did not have the resources and power to impose their will on the entire people of their country. The Theory of Absolutism When seventeenth-century political writers such as Jean Bodin refer to the king as having absolute power, they mean that he did not share the power to make laws with national representative assemblies; in other words he was "sole legislator." Absolute monarchs claimed that they held power by divine right. They also claimed that they were above the law and as the highest judge in the land could not be held accountable for their actions. This meant that they acted for reasons of state, i.e. the benefit of the entire kingdom, and therefore could not be expected to observe the rights and liberties of their subjects.

Vladimir Lenin

The October Revolution In November of 1917 a second revolution led by the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government. The Bolsheviks were led by Vladimir Lenin. He argued that a group of professional revolutionaries could bring about a working-class revolution in Russia. The Bolsheviks proclaimed a policy of land partition without compensation to the estates' owners. In March of 1918 they signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which brought peace by giving Germany the western territories of Russia. For the next two years, the Bolsheviks fought a brutal civil war to hold on to power.

Guise family

The Origins of the Religious Wars Three distinct groups, headed by the Guise family, the royal family, and the families of Chatillon and Bourbon, vied with each other for supremacy. The Guise led the Catholic nobility, the Chatillons and Bourbons led the Huguenot nobility, and the royal family remained Catholic but was willing to ally with the Huguenots in order to thwart the Guise.

Nicholas II

The Russian Revolution In Russia, Tsar Nicholas II assumed command of the army at the front. Nicholas left domestic political affairs in disarray, which quickly destabilized the Russian government. The lack of strong leadership and the enormous military losses of the war and extreme hunger added to the growing disaffection of the tsarist regime.

James I of England

The Stuart kings tried to introduce royal absolutism. James I (r. 1603-1625) was a strong believer in the royal prerogative and argued the function of Parliament was only to give advice, but made no attempt to legislate without it.

Allies

The War at Sea and the Entry of the United States At sea, the British Navy had blockaded Germany and its allies, and the consequent food shortages were causing riots in Germany.

Cardinal Richelieu

The aristocracy took advantage of royal weakness to try and build up its power. Louis XIII and his chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu, worked to centralize power in the hands of the French state. Richelieu suppressed rebellions led by nobles and restricted the independence of the regional supreme courts or parlements.

Legislative Assembly

The final blow to the monarchy came from the pressure of war. In an attempt to prevent an invasion and to maintain the revolution, the French Legislative Assembly responded by declaring war on Austria. The war went badly for France and produced a mood of fear that enemies within were undermining the revolution.

Mercantilism

The government took an active role in the economic life of the country. The controller general, Jean Baptiste Colbert, promoted a set of policies called mercantilism to promote the economic expansion of France by improving the transportation network, promoting industry and expanding the merchant fleet.

Treaty of Westphalia

Thirty Years' War. The war devastated the German lands and retarded economic growth for more than half a century. The war ended with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, which allowed the German territories to develop as sovereign states with their own armies and central governments. The two most powerful were the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy and Brandenburg-Prussia.

Petition of Right

When his successor, Charles I (r. 1625-1649) proceeded to impose forced loans on his subjects, Parliament responded with the Petition of Rights, stating the fundamental rights of the people. In response, Charles did not call Parliament from 1629 to 1640.

Napoleon III

When, in June of 1848, the conservative-dominated National Assembly closed the workshops, riots exploded again. This time they were crushed. In December 1848, Napoleon's nephew, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (1808-1873), was elected president. He had support from conservatives, liberals, and moderate republicans. In 1851, he proclaimed himself Emperor Napoleon III.

Louis XVIII

With the further defeats by the Austrians in Italy and the British in Spain, Napoleon abdicated in April of 1814. The French government was turned over to King Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI. Louis XVIII restored the White flag of the Bourbons and recognized Catholic Christianity as the state religion, but left most changes brought by the revolution to the French government unchanged. Despite Louis XVIII's attempts at conciliation, Napoleon remained very popular.

Edmund Burke

onservatism: Preserving the Established Order The reaction to the excesses of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution produced the ideology of conservatism. Its leading theorist was Edmund Burke. Burke viewed the social order as a partnership between past, present, and future. He rejected the notion of equality or natural rights. He argued that rights were inherited from the past. Burke and other conservatives believed monarchy was the form of government most capable of protecting peoples' rights. Conservatives differed from reactionaries, in that they accepted gradual change. The leading conservative governments of Europe in 1815 formed the Concert of Europe to maintain the peace settlement of 1815 and avoid another revolution.