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Absolutism in Eastern Europe

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Title: Absolutism in Eastern Europe


1
Absolutism in Eastern Europe
  • How did the basic structure of society in eastern
    Europe become different from that of western
    Europe in the early modern period?
  • How and why did the rulers of Austria, Prussia,
    and Russia manage to build powerful absolutist
    states?

2
I. Geography of Eastern Europe
  • 3 aging empires
  • Holy Roman Empire
  • Republic of Poland
  • Ottoman Empire
  • 3 emerging states
  • Austria
  • Prussia
  • Russia

3
Russia
Prussia
Poland
Holy Roman Empire
Austria
Ottoman Empire
4
A. Holy Roman Empire (after 1648)
  • never very strong
  • remember Voltaire?
  • 30 Years War delivered final blow
  • econ, arts, lit, science ?
  • religious disunity
  • central authority ?

Holy Roman empire in 1648
5
H.R.E. continued govt structure
  • emperor
  • elected by 9 electors, leaders of imp. German
    states
  • Habsburg position bargain w/ electors to keep
    it
  • imperial diet
  • authority to raise troops taxes ? lost after 30
    Yrs. War

6
H.R.E. continued
Brandenburg-Prussia
  • not able to become absolutist as a whole, but
    individual states could
  • Brandenburg-Prussia (Hohenzollerns)
  • Austria (Habsburgs)
  • 1806 HRE dissolved

Austria
7
B. Republic of Poland (about 1650)
  • Kingdom of Poland Grand Duchy of Lithuania
  • republic elected king constitutional
    liberties
  • weak central authority
  • real authority szlachta (landed aristocracy)
    regional diets
  • heterogeneous pop.
  • Catholic

8
Republic of Poland continued
  • 1795 end of republic carved up by stronger,
    expansionistic states

9
C. Ottoman Empire (about 1650)
  • strongest of the 3 aging empires, BUT
  • weakened govt
  • weakened military
  • once strong janissaries, well-equipped,
    devshirme
  • feared sieges on Vienna in 1529 1683
  • Muslim
  • religious toleration
  • heterogeneous pop.

Ottoman print of devshirme in Bulgaria. Every
fifth Christian child taken.
10
  • 1923 dissolution

11
II. West vs. East
  • Similar paths of development up to 1300
  • trade, towns, pop. ?
  • expansion into frontier
  • ? opportunities for socioeconomic advancement

EXPANSION GROWTH!!
12
West vs. East
  • Diverged after 1300

Western Europe Eastern Europe
serfdom abolished serfdom reestablished
weak lords powerful lords
urban agrarian
strong middle class weak middle class
strong states strong central authority weak empires weak central authority
13
Serfdom in Eastern Europe
  • How did eastern European landlords return
    peasants to serfdom?
  • made rulers issue laws restricting peasants
    movement
  • hereditary subjugation serfdom passes on
    through generations
  • took over peasants land and ? labor obligations
  • growth of estate agriculture

14
Serfdom in Eastern Europe
  • How were eastern landlords able to enforce their
    changes to the condition of the peasantry?
  • Controlled local justice.

15
Serfdom in Eastern Europe
  • Why did serfdom reemerge in eastern Europe?
  • economic interpretation
  • 14th-15th c. agricultural depression pop. ?
  • ?
  • labor shortage
  • ?
  • landlords tie peasants to land
  • ?
  • 16th c. prosperity returns but lords finish what
    they started
  • flaw in argument Western Europe had identical
    economic development but did not reinstate serfdom

16
Serfdom in Eastern Europe
  • Why did serfdom reemerge in eastern Europe?
  • political interpretation
  • most convincing argument

Western Europe Eastern Europe
What happened strong monarchs landlords ? power weak monarchs war landlords ? power
Different concepts of monarchical authority monarch has sovereignty and protects interests of his people monarch is only 1st among equals does not protect interests of his people
17
Serfdom in Eastern Europe
  • political interpretation (continued)

Western Europe Eastern Europe
Power of the peasantry stronger weaker uprisings rarely succeeded
Power of the towns urban classes stronger towns retained greater privileges weaker landlords took power privileges away lords sold directly to foreign capitalists instead of urban merchants peasants lost right of refuge
18
III. Rise of Eastern Absolutism
  • Monarchs vs. landlords ? successful monarchs
    gained power in 3 key areas
  • taxation
  • army
  • foreign policy

19
AUSTRIA
20
Austria
  • Habsburgs
  • mostly in HRE, but also outside to SE
  • Austrian rulers HRE emperors
  • Catholic

Habsburg domains to 1795.
21
Austria consolidation of power
  • 30 Years War set stage
  • Habsburgs (losers) turn inward and eastward to
    strengthen state
  • events in Bohemia (Phase 1) introduce new
    nobility loyal to Habsburgs ? Habsburgs
    reestablish control over Bohemia

22
Austria Bohemia 30 Yrs War (1)
  • Bohemian Estates (Protestant) revolt against
    Habsburgs (Catholic)
  • Battle of White Mountain (1620) Bohemian
    Estates crushed
  • Habsburgs take land/power from Protestant Czech
    nobles and give it to Catholic Czech nobles new
    Bohemian nobility loyal to Habsburgs

23
Austria Bohemia 30 Yrs War (2)
  • Habsburgs reestablish control over Bohemia
  • Protestantism eliminated
  • peasants exploited even more the robot
  • ? Personal note It was in this era that my
    grandmothers family converted from Protestantism
    to Judaism because they were persecuted for being
    Protestants and did not want to become Catholic
    Judaism for them was the less detestable choice.
    Not a good decision in the long run.

24
Austria Turkish wars expansion
  • 1529 1683 unsuccessful Ottoman sieges on
    Vienna
  • Habsburgs acquire Hungary Transylvania
    (Romania) from Ottomans
  • new Habsburg state Austria, Bohemia, Hungary

25
Absolutism partially achieved
  • common Habsburg ruler but each state kept own
    laws/govt (Estates)
  • Pragmatic Sanction (1713) Habsburg possessions
    are never to be divided and are to be passed to
    single heir
  • Hungary not fully integrated
  • Hungarian nobles revolted somewhat successfully
  • why and how religion (Protestant Hungarians vs.
    Catholic Habsburgs), Hungarian nationalism,
    Ottoman military support
  • 1703 revolt under Rákóczy ? Hungarians accept
    Habsburg rule Habsburgs restore Hungarian
    nobilitys privileges

26
Austria Habsburg rulers ( H.R.E. emperors)
  • Ferdinand II (r. 1619-1637)
  • crushes Bohemian Estates creates new loyal
    Bohemian nobility
  • Ferdinand III (r. 1637-1657)
  • consolidates German-speaking provinces (Austria,
    Styria, Tyrol)
  • creates permanent standing army
  • Charles VI (r. 1711-1740)
  • Pragmatic Sanction (1713)
  • Rákóczys revolt

27
Prussia
28
Prussia
29
Prussia
  • Hohenzollerns elector of Brandenburg duke of
    Prussia
  • elector of Brandenburg helps choose Holy Roman
    emperor
  • 1618 Prussia became possession of elector of
    Brandenburg when junior branch of Hohenzollern
    family died out

30
Prussia
  • Hohenzollerns had little power until 30 Years
    War
  • elector of Brandenburg position bestowed no
    real power
  • Brandenburg land-locked, no natural defenses,
    poor land
  • Prussia separated from Brandenburg, basically
    part of Poland
  • 30 Years War weakened the Estates (rep.
    assemblies) ? allowed monarchs to take more power

31
Prussia Hohenzollern rulers
  • Frederick William, the Great Elector
  • (r. 1640-1688)
  • Frederick III, the Ostentatious
  • (r. 1688-1713)
  • Frederick William I, the Soldiers King
  • (r. 1713-1740)

32
Frederick William, the Great Elector (r.
1640-1688)
  • strengthened central authority
  • unified 3 provinces Brandenburg, Prussia, lands
    along the Rhine
  • forced Estates to accept permanent taxation w/o
    their consent
  • created permanent standing army
  • factors enabling his success
  • foreign invasions ? Estates more willing to issue
    funds for army
  • Junkers did not support the towns ? elector broke
    town liberties

33
Frederick III, the Ostentatious (r. 1688-1713)
  • weak
  • focused on copying Louis XIVs style

Frederick III
Louis XIV
34
Frederick William I, the Soldiers King (r.
1713-1740)
  • most influential in est. Prussian absolutism
  • military obsessed
  • strengthened royal authority
  • created best army in Europe
  • created strong, centralized bureaucracy
  • honest and conscientious
  • worked to develop economy
  • eliminated threat from nobility by enlisting
    Junkers in army (became officers)
  • almost always at peace
  • civil society became militarized very rigid
    disciplined

35
C. Russia
  • Similar to W. Europe up to 1250
  • Christian (though Eastern Orthodox)
  • territories unified (11th c.)
  • feudal (boyard nobility peasantry)
  • political fragmentation at various times
  • 1250-1700 Russia becomes quite different from W.
    Europe
  • cause Russia under brutal foreign rule (Mongols)

36
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37
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38
Largest contiguous empire in history!!!
39
Russia the Mongol Conquest
  • Chinggis Khan (1162-1227) Golden Horde great
    conquerors

Kiev (capital of Ukraine)
  • mid-13th c. Mongols conquer Kievan Rus ? Mongol
    Yoke

40
Russia The Mongol Yoke
  • unified eastern Slavs
  • Allowed Russian princes who demonstrated good
    service/loyalty to retain some authority.
  • ? ? ?
  • Muscovite princes served Mongols well ? given
    more power. Over time Muscovite princes ?
    territory and consolidate power.

41
Russia rulers
  • Ivan I, Ivan Moneybags (r. 1328-1341)
  • Ivan III (r. 1462-1505)
  • Ivan IV, Ivan the Terrible (r. 1533-1584)
  • Michael Romanov (r. 1613-1645)
  • Alexis (r. 1645-1676)
  • Peter the Great (r. 1682-1725)

42
Ivan I, Ivan Moneybags (r. 1328-1341)
  • stingy
  • made by lending to princes for Mongol tax
    collection
  • Mongols made him tax collector great prince

43
Ivan III (r. 1462-1505)
  • Muscovite power consolidated no longer
    recognized leadership of Mongol khan
  • ? ?
  • hello Russian absolutism!
  • Why did this happen?
  • Ivan III felt strong
  • tsars believed they had to carry on Byzantine
    legacy (Orthodox Xtianity Moscow as Third
    Rome after Constantinople)
  • monarchy became more powerful than nobility
  • boyard nobility lost power in 15th c.
  • service nobility new class loyal to tsar

44
Ivan IV, Ivan the Terrible (r. 1533-1584)
  • 1st to take title of tsar
  • wars of expansion
  • successful in the E. took Mongol land
  • unsuccessful in the W. (Poland-Lithuania)
  • subjugated boyars reign of terror
  • service nobles demand more from peasants ?
    peasants flee and form independent outlaw groups
    Cossacks
  • urban traders artisans bound to towns so Ivan
    could tax them
  • limited middle class (vs. W. Europe)

45
1584-1682
  • Theodore (r. 1584-1598)
  • Time of Troubles (1598-1613)
  • fighting over who would be tsar
  • unsuccessful Cossack rebellion led by Ivan
    Bolotnikov
  • Michael Romanov (r. 1613-1645)
  • elected by nobles became new hereditary tsar
  • restored power of the tsar

46
1584-1682 cont
  • Alexis (r. 1645-1676)
  • 1649 peasants enserfed
  • social class gap widens
  • split in Russian Orthodox church Nikon wants
    reforms along Greek Orthodox model vs. Old
    Believers want to stick to Russian ways ? Old
    Believers persecuted Russians alienated from
    church
  • 1670-71 unsuccessful Cossack rebellion led by
    Stenka Razin

Alexis
47
Peter the Great (r. 1682-1725)
  • What were his policies?
  • What made him great?
  • Was he really great?

48
Some Terminology
  • tsar term for the Russian ruler (like king)
  • autocracy government in which one person
    possesses unlimited power
  • absolutism government by an absolute ruler or
    authority, meaning a ruler completely free from
    constitutional or other restraint
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