The Eighteenth Century: European States, International Wars, and Social Change

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Chapter 18 The Eighteenth Century European
States, International Wars, and Social Change
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Europe in 1763 1. In the Dutch Republic local
and national affairs were dominated by the
municipal oligarchies. When the burghers
(artisans, merchants, and shopkeepers) sought
democratic reforms to open up the municipal
councils, they were crushed with the aid of
Prussian troops. The old order was
preserved. 2. In Brandenburg-Prussia the army
and the bureaucracy became the backbone of the
king and government. In both instances, the
nobility (Junkers) were utilized. The close bond
between the nobility and the army translated into
the military's loyalty to the monarchy. 3.
Austria was a sprawling empire of different
nationalities, languages, religions, and
cultures. These made centralization very
difficult. The loss of Silesia to Prussia in the
War of Austrian Succession forced Empress Maria
Theresa (1740-1780) to prepare for the inevitable
conflict in the future. One way to strengthen
the power of the state was to overhaul the
administration and the armed forces. Begun
during the war, it resulted in a more
bureaucratic and centralized government as well
as a strengthened army. The later reforms of
Joseph II (1780-1790) which reflected
Enlightenment ideas, sought to further strengthen
his state. 4. The eighteenth century in Spain
was one of reform as a new ruling family, the
French Bourbons, was initiated by Philip V
(1700-1746), though the War of the Spanish
Succession had to be fought to confirm the king.
New ideas brought revitalization to Spanish
institutions. With the loss of the Italian
territories and the Netherlands by the Treaty of
Utrecht in the seventeenth century, the new
Spanish Bourbons had fewer administrative
problems and less drain on precious economic
resources than their predecessors. 5. In
Russia, Peter the Great was succeeded by a series
of incompetent leaders. This changed when the
German princess Catherine (1762-1796) succeeded
her murdered husband Peter III in 1762. She may
have wished to emulate Joseph II of Austria but
Catherine knew that the rule of Russia was
dependant on the nobility. In reorganizing
government, she divided the state into fifty
provinces which were further broken down into
districts ruled by noblemen. In 1785 the
privileges of the nobility were confirmed by the
Charter of the Nobility. Catherine also gained
considerable territory as a consequence of her
war with the Turks (1769-1774) and the partitions
of Poland (see Acetate 57, Map 18.2). Question 1
. In what manner were governments altered in the
eighteenth century to address the need for more
centralized power?

• Europe in 1763

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• The European States
• Enlightened Absolutism?
• Natural Rights
• Declaration of Independence
• Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws
• Rousseau and Voltaire
• The Atlantic Seaboard States
• France Louis XV, 1715-1774
• 1743 decides to rule alone
• Louis XVI, 1774-1792

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• Great Britain King and Parliament
• United Kingdom of Great Britain, 1707
• Ministers chosen by the king to make Policy and
  guide Parliament
• Hanoverians George I, 1714-1727 and George II,
  1727-1760
• Robert Walpole, 1721-1742, prime minister
• John Wilkes
• Decline of the Dutch Republic

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• Absolutism in Central and Eastern Europe
• Prussia Army and Bureaucracy
• Frederick William I, 1713-1740
• General Directory
• Bureaucracy
• Junkers
• Army
• Frederick the Great, 1740-1786
• Law code
• Maintains serfdom
• Expansion into Silesia

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The Partitions of Poland 1. In Poland not only
was the king kept weak by the nobles but the army
was quite small. Such weakness invited
trouble. 2. The partition of Poland between 1772
and 1795 was a result of the concerns of
Frederick II (1740-1786), the Great, who feared
the consequences of the Russian military victory
against the Turks (see Acetate 53, Map 15.4) in
1769 which had resulted in significant gains in
the Balkans. An apprehensive Austria made it
known that it opposed further Russian expansion
because it would upset the balance of power in
the region. Frederick concurred and convinced
Russia to take Polish territory instead. At the
same time, Austria and Prussia took slices out of
Poland. For Poland the loss represented thirty
percent of its lands and half its population. 3.
After the first partition, Russia exercised
influence over Poland. Taking advantage of
another Russian-Turkish conflict in 1788, Poland
established a brief independence. When the war
ended in 1792, Russia and Prussia took two more
bites out of Poland. 4. In 1794-1795 a rebellion
broke out in Poland against Russian interference.
After the insurrection was crushed, Austria,
Prussia, and Russia finished carving up Poland
and its disappeared as a state. Questions 1.
Why would Austria and Prussia be concerned about
the growing expansion of Russia? 2. Why was
Poland unable to stop its dismemberment? 3. Which
state was the real winner in the carving up of
Poland?

• The Partitions of Poland

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• Austrian Empire of the Habsburgs
• Empress Maria Theresa, 1740-1780
• Loss of Silesia in War of the Austrian
  Succession, 1740-1748
• Shares throne with Joseph II, 1765-1780
• Joseph II, 1780-1790
• Reforms
• Russia Under Catherine the Great, 1762-1796
• Reform Instruction, 1767
• Strengthens landholders at expense of serfs
• Rebellion of Emelyan Pugachev, 1773-1775
• Territorial expansion
• Destruction of Poland

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• The Mediterranean World
• Spain
• Bourbon rule and reform
• Portugal
• Italy dominated by Austria
• Scandinavian States
• Sweden
• Denmark
• Enlightened Absolutism Revisited
• Rarity and brevity
• Reality

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The Seven Years' War 1. Paralleling the growth
of absolutist states was the expansion of armies
and the willingness to use them. Between 1740
and 1780, the army of France grew from 190,000 to
300,000 men Prussia from 83,000 to 200,000
Austria from 108,000 to 282,000 and Russia from
130,000 to 290,000. 2. There were three areas
of conflict in the Seven Years' War Europe,
North America, and India. In Europe, Prussia and
Britain faced Austria, France, and Russia.
Although Prussia had early successes, it was
gradually worn down and was saved only when
Russia withdrew from the conflict in 1762 due to
the accession of Peter III (1762) who admired
Frederick the Great of Prussia and refused to
fight him. The removal of Russia in conjunction
with the loss of the will to fight by Austria and
France assured a stalemate that eventually forced
peace in 1763. Though Prussia had to relinquish
some of the territory it had gained in the war,
Austria recognized Prussia's retention of
Silesia. 3. The American phase of the war,
called the French and Indian War, witnessed
British victories on the Great Lakes and the fall
of Quebec in 1759 and Montreal the following
year. As the key to French holdings in North
America, Quebec's capture sealed the fate of
French Canada. A year earlier, Ft. Duquesne fell
giving the British control of the upper Ohio
River. By 1762 the British also held the French
sugar islands in the West Indies (except Saint
Dominigue) and had captured Havana, Cuba, from
France's ally Spain. 4. The war in India
resulted in the defeat of the French by the
British in 1757 and 1761. Nevertheless, the
peace permitted the French to retain footholds at
Pondicherry and Chandernagore. The British
victory had the effect of forcing the French to
refocus their eastern interests on Southeast
Asia. 5. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 placed
Canada and the French lands east of the
Mississippi River in British hands. France's
ally Spain also had to cede Florida to the
British but in return Britain recognized the
cession of France's Louisiana territory west of
the Mississippi River to the Spanish. 6. The
recognition of Prussian occupation of Silesia by
the Treaty of Paris marked the continued growth
of Brandenburg-Prussia since its creation as a
single state in 1688. First seized in 1740,
Silesia added to Prussia population, industry,
and natural resources. Further expansion of
Prussia came in 1772 when it acquired West
Prussia. At the same time, Prussia joined
Austria and Russia in carving up Poland (see
Acetate 57, Map 18.2). Questions 1. How was the
Seven Years War a continuation of the War of
Austrian Succession? 2. For the future, what were
the implications of the territorial settlements
of the Treaty of Paris?

• The Seven Years War

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• Wars and Diplomacy
• War of the Austrian Succession, 1740-1748
• Vulnerability of Maria Theresa
• Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748
• Seven Years War, 1756-1763
• Diplomatic Revolution
• European War
• Indian War
• North American War
• William Pitt the Elder
• British victory

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• European Armies and Warfare
• Professional armies
• Class division in the armies
• Size of armies
• Use of tactics to preserve armies
• Economic Expansion and Social Change
• Growth of the European Population
• Falling death rate
• Improvements in diet
• Lack of hygiene
• Outbreaks of disease

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• Family, Marriage, and Birthrate Patterns
• Treatment of Children
• Impact of Rousseaus, Emile
• Infanticide
• Foundling institutions
• Nuclear family
• Late marriages
• Family economy
• Agricultural Revolution
• Increased land under cultivation
• Increased livestock
• Jethro Tull (1674-1741)
• Potato and maize
• Enclosure

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• New Methods of Finance and Industry
• National Banks
• National debt
• Investment in colonial trading companies
• Textile and cottage industry
• Mechanized production
• Flying shuttle
• Richard Arkwright (1732-1792), water frame
• Mechanized looms, 1780s

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• Global Economy Mercantile Empires and Worldwide
  Trade
• Colonial Empire
• Portuguese and Spanish decline
• British and French growth
• British and French rivalry in the East
• Global Trade
• Slavery and sugar factories
• Social Order of the Eighteenth Century
• Peasants
• Domination by wealthy landowners
• Obligations
• Village as center of culture
• Diet

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• The Nobility
• Military service
• Country house
• The Grand Tour
• Educational purpose
• Inhabitants of Towns and Cities
• Urban oligarchy
• Emergent middle class
• Petty bourgeoisie
• Laborers
• Poverty