Chapter 15 Terms and Questions

Absolutism

A form of government in which all power is vested in a single ruler or other authority. Absolutist monarchs gathered all power under their personal control. Countries with this form of government included: France, Spain, central Europe, and Russia. Foundation of Absolutism: France was weakened by religious wars, Henry IV helped France to recover by issuing Edict of Nantes, lowering taxes, improving infrastructure, etc. During the reign of Louis XIV, the French monarchy reaches its peak in absolutist development.

Constitutionalism

A form of government in which power is limited by law and balanced between the authority and power of the government, on the one hand, and the rights and liberties of the subjects or citizens on the other hand; could include constitutional monarchies or republics. By definition, all constitutionalist governments have a constitution, be it written or unwritten. A nation's constitution may be embodied in one basic document and occasionally revised by amendment. Or it may be only partly formalized and include parliamentary statutes, judicial decisions, and a body of traditional procedures and practices. Both the English and the Dutch Empire had constitutionalist governments. Despite their common commitment to constitutional government, England and the Dutch Republic represented significantly different alternatives to absolute rule.

What is constitutionalism? How does it differ from a democratic form of government? How does it differ from absolutism?

A form of government in which power is limited by law and balanced between the authority and power of the government, on the one hand, and the rights and liberties of the subjects or citizens on the other hand; could include constitutional monarchies or republics. By definition, all constitutionalist governments have a constitution, be it written or unwritten. A nation's constitution may be embodied in one basic document and occasionally revised by amendment. Or it may be only partly formalized and include parliamentary statutes, judicial decisions, and a body of traditional procedures and practices. Both the English and the Dutch Empire had constitutionalist governments. Despite their common commitment to constitutional government, England and the Dutch Republic represented significantly different alternatives to absolute rule. Constitutionalism is different from democracy because their is still a monarch and the power do not have as much power. It differs from absolutism because their are representative assemblies that decentralize the government and decrease the power of the monarch."

Republicanism

A form of government in which there is no monarch and power rests in the hands of the people as exercised through elected representatives. The English experimented with republicanism before opting for a constitutional monarchy in 1688.

Mongols

A group of nomadic tribes from present day Mongolia, they established an empire that, at its height, stretched from Korea to eastern Europe. In the thirteenth century, the Mongols conquered the Slavic princes and forced them to render payment of goods, money, and slaves. The princes of Moscow became particularly adept at serving the Mongols and were awarded the title of "great prince". Ivan III, known as Ivan the Great, successfully expanded the principality of Moscow toward the Baltic Sea. By 1480 Ivan III was strong enough to defy Mongol control and declare the autonomy of Moscow. To legitimize their new position, the princes of Moscow modeled themselves on the Mongol khans. Like the khans, the Muscovite state forced weaker Slavic principalities to render tribute previously paid to Mongols and borrowed Mongol institutions such as the tax system, postal routes and census.

Sword Nobles

As rebellion spread outside Paris and to the sword nobles (the traditional warrior nobility), civil order broke down completely.

Peace of Westphalia

A series of treaties that ended the 30 years war and marked a turning point in European History. For the most part, conflicts fought over religious faith receded., it marked the end of large scale religious violence in Europe. The treaties recognized the independent authority of more than three hundred German princes, reconfirming the emperor's severely limited authority. The Augsburg agreement of 1555 became permanent, adding Calvinism to Catholicism and Lutheranism as legally permissible creeds. The north German States remained Protestant, the south German states Catholic.

Peace of Ultrecht

A series of treaties, from 1723-1715, that ended the War of Spanish Succession, ended French expansion in Europe, and marked the rise of the British Empire. The Peace of Utrecht allowed Louis's grandson to remain king of Spain on the understanding that the French and Spanish crowns would never be united. France surrendered Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the Hudson Bay territory to England, which also acquired Gibraltar, Minorca, and control of the African slave trade from Spain. The Peace of Utrecht represented the balance of power principle in operation, setting limits on the extent to which any one power - in this case, France- could expand. It also marked the end of French expansion. 35 years of was had given France the rights to all of Alsace and some commercial centers in the north, but at what price? In 1714, an exhausted France hovered on the brink of bankruptcy.

Fronde

A series of violent uprisings during the early reign of Louis XIV triggered by growing royal control and increased taxation. A frondeur was originally a street urchin who threw mud at the passing carriages of the rich, but the word came to be applied to the many individuals and groups who opposed the policies of the government. During the first several riots, the queen mother fled Paris with Louis XIV. In 1651, Anne's regency ended with the declaration of Louis as king in his own right. Much of the rebellion died away, and its leaders came to terms with the government. The violence of the Fronde had significant results for the future. The twin evils of noble rebellion and popular riots left the French wishing for peace and for a strong monarch to reimpose order.

Mercantilism

A system of economic regulations aimed at increasing the power of the state based on the belief that a nation's international power was based on its wealth, specifically its supply of gold and silver. To accumulate wealth, a country always had to sell more goods abroad than it bought. To increase exports, Colbert (see below) supported old industries and created new ones in France, focusing especially on textiles.

Romanovs

After the Russian nobles crushed the Cossack rebellion, they brought Ivan's 16 year old grand nephew, Michael Romanov to the throne. Although the new tsar successfully re-consolidated central authority, he and his successors did not improve the lot of the common people. Despite the turbulence of the period, the Romanov tsars, like their Western counterparts, made several important achievements during the second half of the 17th century, After a long war, Russia gained land in Ukraine from Poland in 1667 and completed the conquest of Siberia by the end of the century, Territorial expansion was accompanied by growth of the bureaucracy and the army. The tsars employed foreign experts to reform the Russian army, and enlisted Cossack warriors to fight Siberian campaigns. The great profits from Siberia's natural resources, especially furs, funded the Romanov's bid for Great Power status. Russian imperialist expansion to the east paralleled the Western powers' exploration and conquest of the Atlantic world in the same period.

What happened as a result of the war?

As a result of the war, we have the Peace of Westphalia which was a series of treaties that not only ended the Thirty Years War, but also marked a turning point in European history. For the most part, conflicts fought over religious faith receded. The treaties recognized the independent authority of more than three hundred German princes, reconfirming the emperor's severely limited authority. The Augsburg agreement of 1555 became permanent, adding Calvinism to Catholicism and Lutheranism as legally permissible creeds. The north German States remained Protestant, the south German states Catholic. The war was the most destructive event for the central European economy and society prior to the world wars of the 20th century. Perhaps 1/3 of urban residents and 2.5 of the rural population died, leaving entire areas depopulated. Trade in southern German cities, such as Augsburg, was virtually destroyed. Agricultural areas suffered catastrophically. Many small farmers lost their land, allowing nobles to enlarge their estates and consolidate their control.

What were the reasons for the fall of the Spanish Empire?

Between 1610 and 1650, Spanish trade with the colonies in the New World fell 60% due to competition from local industries in the colonies and from Dutch and English traders. At the same time, the native Indian and African slaves who toiled in the South American silver mines suffered frightful epidemics of disease. Ultimately, the mines that filled the empire's treasury started to run dry, and the quantity of metal produced steadily declined after 1620. In Madrid, royal expenditures constantly exceeded income. To meet mountainous state debt, the Crown repeatedly devalued the coinage and declared bankruptcy, which resulted in the collapse of national credit. Meanwhile, manufacturing and commerce shrank. Spain had a tiny middle class and the elite condemned moneymaking as vulgar and undignified. To make matters worse, the Crown expelled some 300 thousand Moriscos, or former Muslims, in 1609, significantly reducing the pool of skilled workers and merchants. Those working in the textile industry were forced out of business by steep inflation. High rents and heavy taxes drove the peasants from the land, leading to a decline in agricultural productivity. In cities waged and production stagnated. Spain also ignored new scientific methods that might have improved agricultural or manufacturing techniques because they came from the heretical notions of Holland and England.

Was the revocation of the Edict of Nantes an error on the part of Louis XIV? Why or why not?

Both sides of this can be argued, however, the monarchy had never intended for religious toleration to be permanent, as religious pluralism was not a 17th century ideal. Louis XIV, though tolerant, did not want any religious division in his country. This was also a popular move, as aristocrats had long asked for Louis XIV to crack down on the Huguenots. Tens of thousands of Huguenot soldiers, craftsmen, and businessmen emigrated, taking away their skills, revenues, and influence. Though hatred of the French monarchy was strengthened in other countries, the adverse economic side effects of this move were minimal.

Cossacks

Free groups and outlaw armies originally comprising runaway peasants living on the borders of Russian territory from the fourteenth century onward. By the end of the sixteenth century they had formed an alliance with the Russian state. The Cossacks and peasants rebelled against nobles and officials, demanding fairer treatment. This social explosion from below brought the nobles, big and small, together. They crushed the Cossack rebellion and brought Ivan's 16 year old grand nephew, Michael Romanov to the throne. One of the largest rebellions was led by the Cossack Stenka Razin, who in 1670 attracted a great army of urban poor and peasants. He and his followers killed landlords and government officials and proclaimed freedom from oppression, but their rebellion was defeated in 1671. The tsars employed foreign experts to reform the Russian army, and enlisted Cossack warriors to fight Siberian campaigns.

Peter the Great

Heir to Romanov efforts at state-building. He embarked on a tremendous campaign to accelerate and complete these processes. A giant for his time at 6 ft 7 in, and possessing enormous energy and willpower, Peter was determined to build the army and to continue Russian territorial expansion. Fascinated by weapons and foreign technology and eager to gain support against the powerful Ottoman Empire, the tsar led a group of 250 Russian officials and young nobles on an 18 month tour of western European capitals Travelling unofficially to avoid lengthy diplomatic ceremonies, Peter met with foreign kings, toured the sites, and learned shipbuilding and other technical skills from local artisan and experts. He was particularly impressed with the growing economic power of the Dutch and the English, and he considered how Russia could profit from their example. Returning to Russia, Peter entered into a secret alliance with Denmark and Poland to wage a sudden war of aggression against Sweden with the goal of securing access to the Baltic Sea and opportunities for westward expansion. Peter and his allies believed that their combined forces could win easy victories because Sweden was in the hands of a new and inexperienced king. 18 year old Charles XII of Sweden surprised Peter. He defeated Denmark quickly in 1700 then turned on Russia, beginning the Great Northern War which lasted from 1700 to 1721. Peter responds to this defeat with measures designed to increase state power, strengthen his armies, and gain victory. He required all nobles to serve in the army or in the civil administration- for life. He created new schools and universities and required every young nobleman to spend 5 years in education away from home. He established an interlocking military-civilian bureaucracy with 14 ranks, and he decreed that all had to start at the bottom and work toward the top. He sought talented foreigners and place them in his service. These measures gradually combined to make the army and the government more powerful and efficient. Peter also increased the service requirements of commoners. For Peter, modernization meant westernization...forces western clothing, ideas, and culture onto people of Russia. His reforms were unpopular with many Russian, but despite this, his modernizing and westernizing of Russia paved the way for it to move somewhat closer to the European mainstream in its thought and institutions during the Enlightenment.

Charles I

His views were similar to his father's, and he also believed in divine right, counter to English traditions and considered such constraints intolerable and a threat to his divine right prerogative. Consequently, bitter squabbles erupted between the Crown and the House of Commons. Charles' response was to refuse to summon Parliament from 1629 onward. He antagonized religious sentiments by marrying a Catholic Princess, and supported the heavy-handed policies of the archbishop of Canterbury William Laud. He ruled from 129-1640 without Parliament, financing his government through extraordinary stopgap levies considered illegal by most English people. He revived a medieval law requiring coastal districts to help pay the cost of ships for defense, but he levied the tax, called "ship money" on inland as well as coastal counties. In 1641, the Commons passed the Triennial Act which compelled the king to summon Parliament every 3 years. The Commons impeached Archbishop Laud, and then threatened to abolish bishops. King Charles, fearful of a Scottish invasion reluctantly accepted these measures. In 1647, Charles was captured by Oliver Cromwell's forces and he was put on trial for high treason. He was found guilty and beheaded on January 30, 1649.

Elizabeth I

In 1588, Queen Elizabeth I of England exercised great personal power: by 1689 the English monarchy was severely circumscribed. A rare female monarch, Elizabeth was able to maintain control over her realm in part by refusing to marry and submit to her husband. She was immensely popular with her people, but left no immediate heir to continue her legacy.

James I

In 1603, Elizabeth's Scottish cousin James Stuart succeeded her as James I. He was well educated and had 35 years' experience as king of Scotland. But he was not as interested in displaying the majesty of monarchy as Elizabeth had been. Urged to wave at the crowds who waited to greet their new ruler, James complained that he was tired and threatened to drop his breeches. His greatest problem stemmed from his absolutist belief that a monarch has a divine right to his authority and is responsible only to God. He went so far as to lecture the House of Commons. Such a view ran directly counter to English traditions that a person's property could not be taken away without due process of law. James considered such constraints intolerable and a threat to their divine right prerogative. Consequently, bitter squabbles erupted between the Crown and the House of Commons.

Cardinal Richelieu

In 1628, Armand Jean du Plessis - Cardinal Richelieu - became the first minister of the French Crown. Richelieu's maneuvers allowed the monarchy to maintain power withing Europe and within its own borders despite the turmoil of the 30 years war. His political genius is best reflected in the administrative system he established to strengthen royal control. He extended the use of intendants, commissioners for each of France's thirty-two districts who were appointed directly by the monarch, to whom they were solely responsible. They recruited men for the army, supervised the collection of taxes, presided of over the administration of local law, checked up on the local nobility, and regulated economic activities in their districts. As the intendant's power increased under Richelieu, so did the power of the centralized French State. Under Richelieu, the French monarchy also acted to repress Protestantism. The fall of La Rochelle in October 1628, was one step closer to the removal of Protestantism as a strong force in French Life. He did not act to wipe out Protestantism in the rest of Europe, however. His main foreign policy goal was to destroy the Catholic Habsburgs' grip on territories that surrounded France. Consequently, Richelieu supported Habsburg enemies, including Protestants. In 1631, he signed a treaty with the Lutheran King Gustavus Adolphus promising French support against the Habsburgs in the 30 years war.

Fredrick William - "Great Elector"

In 1640, the 20 year old Fredrick William, later known as the "Great Elector", was determined to unify his three provinces and enlarge his holdings. William profited from ongoing European war and the threat of invasion from Russian when he argued for the need for a permanent standing army. In 1660 he persuaded Junkers the estates to accept taxation without consent in order to fund an army. They agreed to do so in exchange for reconfirmation of their own privileges, including authority over the serfs. Having won the Junkers, the king crushed potential opposition to his power from the towns. One by one, Prussian cities were eliminated from the estates and subjected to new taxes on goods and services. Thereafter, the estates' power declined rapidly, for the Great Elector had both financial independence and superior force. By following his own sage advice, Fredrick William tripled state revenue during his reign and expanded the army drastically. In 1688 a population of 1 million supported a peacetime standing army of 30,000. In 1701 the Elector's son, Fredrick I, received the elevated title of King of Prussia as a reward for aiding the Holy Roman emperor in the War of the Spanish Succession.

Versailles - what purpose did it serve?

In 1682, King Louis XIV, moved his court and government to the newly renovated palace at Versailles, a former hunting lodge. The palace quickly became the center of polical, social, and cultural life in France. The king required all great noble to spend at least part of the year there in attendance on him, so he could keep an eye on their activities. It was a mirror to the world of French gloried, soon copied by would-be absolutist monarchs across Europe. It served as government offices for royal bureaucrats, as living quarters for the royal family and nobles, and as a place of work for hundreds of domestic servants. It was also open to the public at certain hours of the day.

Fredrick William

In 1701 the Elector's son, Fredrick I, received the elevated title of King of Prussia as a reward for aiding the Holy Roman emperor in the War of the Spanish Succession. He was known as the "soldier king". He completed his grandfather's work, eliminating the last traces of parliamentary estates and local self government, It was he who truly established Prussian absolutism and transformed Prussia into a military state. He always wore an army uniform, and he lived the highly disciplined life of the professional soldier. He was penny-pinching and hard-working, he achieved results. He and his ministers built an exceptionally honest and conscientious bureaucracy to administer the country and foster economic development. In 1733, he ordered that all Prussian men would undergo military training and serve as reservists in the army, allowing him to preserve both agricultural production and army size. To appease the Junkers, the king enlisted them to lead his growing army. The policies of Fredrick William I, combined with harsh peasant bondage and Junker tyranny, laid the foundation for a highly militaristic country.

What were the social conditions of Eastern Europe? How did rulers of Austria and Prussia transform their nations into powerful absolutist monarchies?

In Eastern Europe, peasants lost the ability to own land independently- they were restricted from moving to take advantage of other opportunities, they even required permission to marry. This led to the return of serfdom. The rulers of Eastern Europe also labored to build strong absolutist states in the seventeenth century. But they built on social and economic foundation far different from those in western Europe, namely serfdom and the strong nobility who benefited from it. The endless wars of the 17th century allowed monarchs to increase their power by building large armies, increasing taxation, and suppressing representative institutions. In exchange for their growing political authority, monarchs allowed nobles to remain as unchallenged masters of their peasants, a deal that appeased both king and nobility, but left serfs at the mercy of the lords. The most successful states were Austria and Prussia, which witnessed the rise of absolutism between 1620 and 1740.

Robe Nobles

In Paris, magistrates of the Parliament of Paris, the nation's most important court, were outraged by the Crown's autocratic measures. So called because of the robes they wore in court. These noble encouraged violent protest by the common people.

Stadholder

In each province, the Estates appointed an executive officer, known as the Stadholder (the executive officer in each of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, a position often held by the princes of Orange) They carried out ceremonial functions and were responsible for military defenses. Although in theory freely chosen by the Estates and answerable to them, in practice the strong and influential House of Orange usually held the office of stadholder in several of the 7 provinces of the republic. This meant that tension always lingered between supporters of the House of Orange and those of the staunchly Republican Estates.

Johan Sebastian Bach

In music, the baroque style reached it culmination almost a century later in the dynamic, soaring lines of the endlessly inventive Bach. Organist and choirmaster of several Lutheran churches across Germany, Bach was equally at home writing secular concertos and sublime religious cantatas. Bach's organ music combined the baroque spirit of inventions, tension, and emotion in an unforgettable striving toward the infinite. Unlike Rubens, Bach was not fully appreciated in his lifetime, but since the early 19th century, his reputation has grown steadily.

Peter Paul Rubens

In painting, the baroque reached maturity early with Peter Paul Rubens, the most outstanding and representative of baroque painters, Studying in his native Flanders and in Italy, where he was influenced by masters of the High Renaissance such as Michelangelo, Rubens developed his own rich, sensuous, colorful style, which was characterized by animated figures, melodramatic contrasts, and monumental size. Rubens excelled in glorifying monarchs such as Queen Mother Marie de' Medici of France. He was also a devout Catholic; nearly half of his pictures treat Christian subjects. Yet one of Ruben's trademarks was the fleshy, sensual nudes who populate his canvases as Roman goddesses, water nymphs, and remarkably voluptuous saints and angels.

Prussian Hohenzollerns

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Hohenzollern family had ruled parts of Eastern Germany as the imperial electors of Brandenburg and the dukes of Prussia. The title of "elector gave its holder the privilege of being one of the only seven princes or archbishops entitled to elect the Holy Roman emperor, but those electors had little real power.

United Provinces of the Netherlands

In the late 16th century the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands fought for and won their independence from Spain. The independence of the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands was recognized in 1648 in the treaty that ended the Thirty Year's War. In this period, often called the "golden age of the Netherlands", Dutch ideas and attitudes played a profound role in shaping a new and modern worldview. At the same time, the United Provinces developed its own distinctive model of a constitutional state. Rejecting the rule of a monarch, the Dutch established a republic, a state in which power rested in the hands of the people and was exercised through elected representatives. Among the Dutch, an oligarchy of wealthy business men called regents handled domestic affairs in each province's Estates.

"Little Ice Age"

In the seventeenth century, a period of colder and wetter climate throughout Europe, which meant a shorter farming season with lower yield. A bad harvest created food shortages; a series of bad harvest could lead to famine. Recurrent famines significantly reduced the population of early modern Europe. Most people did not die of outright starvation, but through the spread of disease like smallpox and typhoid, which were facilitated by malnutrition and exhaustion. Industry also suffered. Textiles output declined sharply. Food prices were high, wages stagnated, and unemployment soared. The urban poor and the peasants were the hardest hit.

Ivan III

Ivan III, known as Ivan the Great, successfully expanded the principality of Moscow toward the Baltic Sea. By 1480 Ivan III was strong enough to defy Mongol control and declare the autonomy of Moscow. To legitimize their new position, the princes of Moscow modeled themselves on the Mongol khans. The marriage of Ivan III to the daughter of the last Byzantine emperor further enhanced Moscow's assertion of imperial authority.

What were the attitudes and policies of James I that made him so unpopular?

James's greatest problem stemmed from his absolutist belief that a monarch has a divine right to his authority and is responsible only to God. James went so far as to lecture the House of Commons: "There are no privileges and immunities which can stand against a divinely appointed king." Such a view ran directly counter to English traditions that a person's property could not be taken away without due process of law.

Colbert

Jean-Baptiste was the controller general under Louis XIV, he proved to be a financial genius. His central principle was that the wealth and the economy of France should serve the state. He applied rigorous mercantilist policies to France. To decrease the purchase of goods outside France, Colbert insisted that French industry should produce everything needed by the French people. To increase exports, Colbert supported old industries and created new ones, focusing especially on textiles, which were the most important sector of the economy. Colbert enacted new production regulations, created guilds to boost quality standards, and encouraged foreign craftsmen to immigrate to France. To encourage the purchase of French goods, he abolished many domestic tariffs and raised tariffs on foreign products. In 1644 Colbert founded the Company of the East Indies with (unfulfilled) hopes of competing with the Dutch and Asian trade. Colbert also hoped to make Canada- rich in untapped minerals and some of the best agricultural land in the world- part of the vast French Empire. He sent 4,000 colonists to Quebec, whose capital had been founded in 1608 under Henry IV. Subsequently, the Jesuit Jacques Marquette and the merchant Louis Joliet sailed down the Mississippi River, which they names Colbert in honor of their sponsor. During Colbert's tenure as controller general, Louis was able to pursue his goals without massive tax increases and without creating a stream of new offices. The constant pressure of warfare after Colbert's death, however, undid many of his economic achievements.

Austrian Habsburgs

Like all of central Europe, the Habsburgs emerged from the Thirty Years' War impoverished and exhausted. Although the Habsburgs remained the hereditary emperors, real power lay in the hands of a bewildering variety of separate political jurisdictions. Defeat in central Europe encouraged the Habsburgs to turn away from a quest for imperial dominance and to focus inward and eastward in an attempt to unify their diverse holdings. If they could not impose Catholicism in the empire, at least they could do so in their own domains. Habsburg victory over Bohemia during the Thirty War was an important step in this direction.With the support of Bohemian nobility, the Habsburgs established direct rule over Bohemia. Under their rule the condition of the enserfed peasantry worsened substantially. Protestantism was also stamped out. These changes were important steps in creating absolutist rule in Bohemia. Ferdinand III centralized the government in the German speaking provinces, which formed the core Habsburg holding.The Habsburgs then turned to Hungary... the recovery of all the former kingdoms of Hungary was completed in 1718. However, the Habsburgs agreed to restore many of the traditional privileges of the aristocracy in return for Hungarian acceptance of hereditary Habsburg rule. Thus, unlike Austria and Bohemia, Hungary was never fully integrated into a centralized, absolute Habsburg state. Vienna became to political and cultural center of the Habsburg Empire.

Boyars

Like the khans, the Muscovite state forced weaker Slavic principalities to render tribute previously paid to Mongols and borrowed Mongol institutions such as the tax system, postal routes and census. Loyalty from the boyars, or the highest ranking nobles in Moscow, helped the Muscovite princes consolidate their power.

"The Great Chain of Being"

Linked God to his creation in a series of ranked social groups. Peasants occupied the lower tiers of society organized in hierarchical levels. At the top, the monarch was celebrated as a semidevine being, chosen by God to embody the state. In Catholic countries, the clergy occupied the second level due to their sacred role interceding with God on behalf of their flocks. Next came nobles, whose privileged status derived from their ancient bloodlines and centuries of sacrifice on the battlefield. Christian prejudices against commerce and money meant that merchants could never lay claim to the highest honors. However, many prosperous mercantile families had bought their way into the nobility through service to the rising monarchies in of the 15th and 16th centuries and constituted a second tier of nobles. Those lower on the social scale, the peasants and artisans who constituted the vast majority of the population, were expected to defer to their betters with humble obedience.

Why is it said that Locke was the spokesman for the liberal English revolution of 1689 and for representative government?

Locke maintained that a government that oversteps its proper function- protecting the natural rights of life, liberty, and property- becomes a tyranny. By "natural rights" Locke meant rights basic to all men because all have the ability to reason. Under a tyrannical government, the people have the natural right to rebellion. On the basis of this link, he justified limiting the vote to property owners. Locke's idea that there are natural or universal rights equally valid for all peoples and societies.

Discuss the foreign policy goals of Louis XIV. Was he successful?

Louis XIV wrote that "the character of a conqueror is regarded as the noblest and highest of titles" In pursuit of the title of conqueror, he kept France at war for 33/54 years of his personal rule. Many historians believe that the new loyalty, professionalism, and growth of the French army represented the peak of Louis's success in reforming the government. Louis's goal was to expand France to what he considered its natural borders. His armies managed to extend French borders to include important commercial centers in the Spanish Netherlands and Flanders as well as the entire province between 1667 and 1668. After seizing the city of Strasbourg, Louis seemed invincible, when in fact he had reached the limit of expansion. Louis's last war, the War of Spanish Succession marked the end of French expansion in Europe.

War of Spanish Succession- causes and results

Louis's last war was endured by a French people suffering high taxes, crop failure, and widespread malnutrition and death. In 1700, the childless Spanish king Charles II died, opening a struggle for control of Spain and its colonies. His will bequeathed the Spanish crown and its empire to Phillip of Anjou, Louis XIV's grandson (Louis's wife, Maria-Theresa, had been Charles's sister.) The will violated a prior treaty by which the European powers had agreed to divide the Spanish possessions between the king of France and the Holy Roman emperor, both brothers-in-law of Charles II. Claiming that he was following both Spanish and French interests, Louis broke with the treaty and accepted the will, thereby triggering the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1713) In 1701, the English, Dutch Austrians, and Prussians formed the Grand Alliance against Louis XIV. War dragged on until 1713. (see results under Peace of Utrecht.)

How did countries grow their militaries? What happened as a result of this growth?

New monarchs began to recruit their own forces and maintain permanent standing armies. Instead of serving their own interests, army officers were required to be loyal and obedient to those who commanded them. New techniques for training and deploying soldiers meant a rise in the professional standards of the army. Along with professionalization came an explosive growth in army size.

How did countries centralize their power? What was a result of this centralization?

Over the course of the 17th century, both absolutist and constitutional governments achieved new levels of central control. This increased authority focused on four areas in particular: greater taxation, growth in armed forces, larger and more efficient bureaucracies, and the increased ability to compel obedience from subjects. To meet the demands of running their expanding governments, rulers turned to trusted ministers. Over time, centralized power added up to something close to sovereignty. A state may be termed sovereign when it possess a monopoly over the instruments of justice and the use of force within clearly defined boundaries. In a sovereign state, no system of courts, such as church tribunals, competes with state courts in the dispensation of justice; and private armies, such as those of feudal lords, present no threat to central authority. While 17th century states did not acquire total sovereignty, they made important strides toward that goal.

Sovereignty

Over time, centralized power added up to something close to sovereignty. A state may be termed sovereign when it possesses a monopoly over the instruments of justice and the use of force within clearly defined boundaries. In a sovereign state, no system of courts, such as church tribunals, competes with state courts in the dispensation of justice; and private armies, such as those of feudal lords, present no threat to central authority. While 17th century states did not acquire total sovereignty, they made important strides toward that goal.

Briefly explain the order and aspects of peasant life in the 17th century socially, politically, and economically.

Peasants occupied the lower tiers of a society organized in hierarchical levels. At the top, the monarch(divine right.... God chose the king to embody the state and answer only to him), then the clergy, then the nobles (whose status derived from bloodlines), then the peasants and artisans (who constituted a vast majority of the population) occupied the lower levels. European societies were strictly patriarchal in nature. The family represented a microcosm of this social order. In the 17th century, most Europeans lived in the countryside. Bread was the primary element of the diet...often accompanied by soup made of roots, herbs, beans, etc. Because of crude technology and low crop yield, peasants were constantly threatened by scarcity and famine. "Little ice age" causes a shorted farming season with lower yield. Starvation increases and so does the spread of disease. Population decreases dramatically. The economic crisis was not universal; it struck various regions at different times and to various degrees. The urban poor and peasants were the hardest hit. Historians have used the term "moral economy" for the vision of a world in which community need predominate over competition and profit.

Describe the Dutch System of government. What was unusual about the Dutch attitudes toward religious belief?

Rejecting the rule of a monarch, the Dutch established a republic, a state in which power rested in the hands of the peoples and was exercised through elected representatives. Among the Dutch, an oligarchy of wealthy businessmen called regents handled domestic affairs in each provinces's Estates (assemblies). The provinces Estates held virtually all power. A federal assembly, or States General, handled foreign affairs and war, but it did not possess sovereign authority. All issues had to be referred back to the local Estates for approval and each of the seven provinces could veto any proposed legislation. Holland usually dominated the republic and the States General.In each province, the Estates appointed an executive officer, known as the stadholder (the executive officer in each of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, a position often held by the princes of Orange) They carried out ceremonial functions and were responsible for military defenses. Although in theory freely chosen by the Estates and answerable to them, in practice the strong and influential House of Orange usually held the office of stadholder in several of the 7 provinces of the republic. This meant that tension always lingered between supporters of the House of Orange and those of the staunchly Republican Estates. Although their is scattered evidence of anti-Semitism, Jews enjoyed a level of acceptance and assimilation in Dutch business and general culture unique in early modern Europe. In the Dutch Republic, toleration paid off: it attracted a great of foreign capital and investment.

In what ways does Richelieu symbolize absolutism? What were his achievements?

Richelieu symbolized absolutism because he worked to aid in the establishment of a standing army and centralize government power: both of which are main characteristics of absolutism. Cardinal Richelieu's political genius is best reflected in the administrative system he established to strengthen royal control. He extended the use of intendants, they recruited men for the army, supervised the collection of taxes, presided over the administration of local law, checked up on the local nobility, and regulated economic activities in their districts. AS the intendants power increased under Richelieu, so did the centralized power of the state. Under Richelieu, the French monarchy also acted to repress Protestantism. The fall of La Rochelle in October 1628, was one step closer to the removal of Protestantism as a strong force in French Life. He did not act to wipe out Protestantism in the rest of Europe, however. His main foreign policy goal was to destroy the Catholic Habsburgs' grip on territories that surrounded France. Consequently, Richelieu supported Habsburg enemies, including Protestants. In 1631, he signed a treaty with the Lutheran King Gustavus Adolphus promising French support against the Habsburgs in the 30 years war.

Cardinal Mazarin

Richelieu's successor as chief minister for the next child king, the four-year-old Louis XIV, was the Cardinal Jules Mazarin. Mazarin continued Richelieu's centralizing policies. His struggle to increase royal revenues to meet the costs of the war led to the uprisings of 1648-1653 known as Fronde (see below).

John Locke

The Glorious Revolution and the concept of representative government found its best defense in political philosopher John Locke's Second Treatise of Civil Government. Locke maintained that a government that oversteps its proper function- protecting the natural rights of life, liberty, and property- becomes a tyranny. By "natural rights" Locke meant rights basic to all men because all have the ability to reason. Under a tyrannical government, the people have the natural right to rebellion. On the basis of this link, he justified limiting the vote to property owners. Locke's idea that there are natural or universal rights equally valid for all peoples and societies was especially popular in the colonies. American colonists also appreciated his arguments that Native Americans had no property rights since they did not cultivate the land and, by extension, no political rights because they possessed no property.

Millet System

The Ottomans divided their subjects into religious communities, and each millet, or "nation", enjoyed autonomous self-government under its religious leaders. The millet system created a powerful bond between the Ottoman ruling class and religious leaders, who supported the sultan's rule in return for extensive authority over their own communities. Each millet collected taxes for the state, regulated group behavior, and maintained law courts, schools, houses of worship, and hospitals for its people.

What began the thirty years war? Explain how the 30 years war went from a religious confrontation to a political one.

The Thirty Year's War began when the uneasy truce between the Catholics and the Protestants created by the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 deteriorated as the faiths of various areas shifted. Lutheran princes felt compelled to form the Protestant Union (1608) and the Catholics retaliated with the Catholic League (1609). Each alliance was determined that the other should make no religious of territorial advance. Dynastic interests were also involved; the Spanish Habsburgs strongly supported the goals of their Austrian relatives: the unity of the empire and the preservation of Catholicism within it.

Janissary Corps

The core of the sultans army, composed of slave conscripts from non-Muslim parts of the empire; after 1683 it became a volunteer force. These highly organized and efficient troops gave the Ottomans a formidable advantage in war with western Europeans.

Charles II

The eldest son of Charles I, who was brought to the throne through the Restoration of 1660. Both houses of Parliament were restored, together with the established Anglican Church. In politics, Charles II initial determination to work well with Parliament did not last long. Finding that Parliament did not grant him an adequate income, in 1670 Charles entered into a secret agreement with his cousin Louis XIV. The French king would give Charles 200,000 pounds annually, and in return, Charles would relax the laws against Catholics, gradually re-Catholicize England and convert to Catholicism himself. When the details of this treaty leaked out, a great wave of anti-Catholic sentiment swept England. When Charles died, his Catholic brother James became king.

Serfs

The endless wars of the 17th century allowed monarch to increase their power by building large armies, increasing taxation, and suppressing representative institutions. In exchange for their growing political authority, monarch allowed noble to remain as unchallenged masters of their peasants, a deal that appeased both king and nobility, but left serfs at the mercy of the lords. In the west the demographic losses of the Black Death allowed peasants to escape from serfdom as they acquired enough land to feed themselves. In eastern Europe 17th-century peasants had largely lost their ability to own land independently. Eastern lords dealt with the labor shortages caused by the Black Death by restricting the right of their peasants to move to take advantage of better opportunities elsewhere. Moreover, lords steadily took more and more of their peasant's land and arbitrarily imposed heavier labor obligations. Between 1500 and 1650 the consolidation of serfdom in Eastern Europe was accompanied by the growth of commercial agriculture, particularly in Poland and Eastern Germany. As economic expansion and population growth resumed after 1500, eastern lords increased the production of their estates by squeezing sizable surpluses out of the impoverished peasants.

The Glorious Revolution

The events of 1688-1689 in England so called because the English believed that it replaced one king with another with barely any bloodshed. The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King James II of England (James VII of Scotland and James II of Ireland) by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch William III of Orange-Nassau (William of Orange). William's arrival sparked revolutionary riots and violence across the British Isles and in North American cities such as Boston and New York. William's victory as the Battle of the Boyne and the subsequent Treaty of Limerick sealed his accession to power.

Louis XIV

The large coalition that Louis XIV confronted required him to fight on multiple fronts with huge armies, in turn the relative size and wealth of France among European nations allowed Louis to field enormous armies and thereby to pursue the ambitious foreign policies that cause his neighbors to form coalitions against him. In 1673, Louis XIV's imposition of new taxes on legal transactions, tobacco, and pewter ware provoked an uprising in Bordeaux. Louis XIV's absolutism had long roots. Louis XIV became a child king at the age of 4 with Cardinal Jules Mazarin as his adviser. He inherited the legacy of violence and riots, but a yearning for peace when he assumed personal rule in 1661, at the age of 23. He was determined to avoid any recurrence of rebellion. His reign was the longest in European history, during which France reached the peak of absolutist development. Religion, Anne, and Mazarin all taught Louis the doctrine of the divine right of kings: God had established kings as his rulers on earth, and they were answerable ultimately to him alone. He acquired the title of "sun king" when he was 15. He ruled his realm through several councils of state and insisted on taking a personal role in many of their decisions. Despite increasing financial problems, Louis never called a meeting of the Estates General, thereby depriving nobles of united expression or action. He believed that religious unity was essential to his royal dignity and to the security of the state. He thus pursued a policy of Protestant repression. In 1685 he revoked the Edict of Nantes. The new law ordered the Catholic baptism of Huguenots, the destruction of Huguenot churches, the closing of schools, and the exile of Huguenot pastors who refused to renounce their faith. Louis' need to elicit noble cooperation led him to revolutionize court life at his spectacular palace at Versailles* see below.

English Bill of Rights

The men who brought about the Glorious Revolution framed their intentions in the Bill of Rights, which was formulated in direct response to Stuart absolutism. Law was to be made in Parliament, once made it could not be suspended by the crown. Parliament had to be called at least once every three years. The independence of the judiciary was established, and their was to be no standing army in peacetime. Protestants could possess arms, but the Catholic minority could not. No Catholic could ever inherit the throne. Additional legislation granted freedom of worship to Protestant dissenters, but not to Catholics. William and Mary accepted these principles when they took the throne, and the House of Parliament passed the Bill of Rights in December 1689.

Junkers

The nobility and landowning class of Brandenburg and Prussia, they were reluctant allies of Fredrick William in his consolidation of the Prussian state. In 1660, Fredrick William persuaded Junkers in the estates to accept taxation without consent in order to fund an army. They agreed to do so in exchange for reconfirmation of their own privileges, including authority over the serfs.

Louis XIII

The queen regent Marie de' Medici headed the government for the nine year old Louis XIII. He was also aided by the first French minister to the French Crown, Cardinal Richelieu. (see above)

Sultan

The ruler of the Ottoman Empire; he owned all of the agricultural land of the empire and was served by an army and bureaucracy composed of highly trained slaves. There was therefore an almost complete absence of private landed property and no hereditary nobility.

Baroque

The term baroque may have come from the Portuguese word from an "odd-shaped imperfect pearl" and was commonly used by late eighteenth-century art critics as an expression of scorn for what they considered an overblown, unbalanced style. Specialists now agree that the baroque style marked one of the high points in the history of Western culture. Rome and the revitalized Catholic Church of the late 16th century spurred the early development of the baroque. The papacy and the Jesuits encourages the growth of intensely emotional, exuberant art. The baroque style spread partly because its tension and bombast spoke to an agitated age that was experiencing great violence and controversy in politics and religion.

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 title of "elector" gave its holder the privilege of being one of the only seven princes or archbishops entitled to elect the Holy Roman emperor, but the electors had little real power. When he came to power in 1640, the 20 year old Fredrick William, later known as the "Great Elector" was determined to unify his 3 provinces and enlarge his holdings. These provinces were Brandenburg; Prussia, inherited in 1618; and scattered territories along the Rhine inherited in 1614. Each was inhabited by German speakers, but each had its own estates. Although the estates had not met regularly during the chaotic 30 years war, taxes could not be levied without their consent. The estates of Brandenburg and Prussia were dominated by the nobility and the landowning classes known as the Junkers. In 1660 he persuaded Junkers the estates to accept taxation without consent in order to fund an army. They agreed to do so in exchange for reconfirmation of their own privileges, including authority over the serfs. Having won the Junkers, the king crushed potential opposition to his power from the towns. One by one, Prussian cities were eliminated from the estates and subjected to new taxes on goods and services. Thereafter, the estates' power declined rapidly, for the Great Elector had both financial independence and superior force. By following his own sage advice, Fredrick William tripled state revenue during his reign and expanded the army drastically. In 1688 a population of 1 million supported a peacetime standing army of 30,000.

Divine Right of Kings

This was the belief that God had established kings as his rulers on earth, and they were answerable ultimately to him alone. Kings were divinely anointed and shared in the sacred nature of divinity, but they could not simply do as they pleased. They had to obey God's laws and rule for the good of the people.

What were the immediate and long-range causes of the English Civil War? What were the results?

Without an army, Charles I could neither come to terms with the Scots nor respond to the Irish rebellion. After a failed attempt to arrest parliamentary leaders, Charles left London for the north of England. There, he recruited an army drawn from the nobility and its cavalry staff, the rural gentry, and mercenaries. In response, Parliament formed its own army, the New Model Army, composed of militia of the city of London and county squires. During the spring of 1642 both sides prepared for war. In July a linen weaver became the first casualty. The English civil was pitted the power of the king against that of Parliament. After 3 years of fighting, Parliament's New Model Army defeated t.he king's armies at the Battle of Naseby and Langport in the summer of 1645. Charles refused to concede defeat. Both sides jockeyed for position, waiting for a decisive event. This arrived in the form of the army under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell, a member of the House of Commons and a devout Puritan. In 1647, Cromwell's forces captured the king and dismissed anti-Cromwell members of the Parliament. In 1649, the remaining Parliament members put Charles on trial for high treason. Charles was found guilty and beheaded, an act that sent shock waves around Europe.