Miss Raia & Ms. PojerMiss Raia & Ms. Pojer

Overview of Eastern Europe• Three aging empires: Holy Roman Empire,

Ottoman Empire and Polish Kingdom – gave way to new empires of Austria Prussia and

Russia

• Holy Roman Empire: religious divisions and war in 16th and 17th century

Overview of Eastern Europe• Ottoman Empire: could not

maintain possessions in E. Europe and Balkans in the Face of Austrian and Russian Expansion

• Suleiman the Magnificent nearly conquered Austria in 1529– Captured Belgrade (Serbia) and

nearly half of Eastern Europe including Balkan territories, most of Hungary and Southern Russia

– Janissary Corps – Christian slaves were not selected for Ottoman Bureaucracy served in Turkish Army

• Poland: liberum veto – voting in Polish parliament had to be unanimous (= weak gov’t)

How did Eastern Absolutism Differ from French Absolutism?

• Eastern was based on a powerful nobility, weak middle class and an oppressed peasantry of serfs

• In France the nobility’s power had been limited, the Middle class was relatively strong and peasants were generally free from serfdom

• The Threat of war from the east is the primary reason for their consolidation of power which reduced the power of the nobility, increased the need for efficient collection of taxes and a standing army

Serfdom• Ceased to exist in Western Europe• In the east, the lords revived Serfdom after 1300 to

combat increasing economic challenges• Areas most effected: Bohemia, Silesia, Hungary,

eastern Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Russia

Serfdom• Drop in the 14th century population created labor shortages for the

nobles• Laws were created restricting or eliminating peasant’s right of

moving freely– Prussia by 1500 had laws requiring runaway peasants to be hunted

down and returned to their lord– Laws froze peasants in their social class– Lords confiscated peasant lands and imposed heavier labor

obligations • Non-serf peasants were also affected

– Robot: In certain regions, peasants were required to work 3-4 days without pay per week for their local lord

Serfdom• Consolidated between 1500

and 1600• Hereditary serfdom

reestablished in Poland• 1694 in Russia, Tsar

rescinded a 9 year term limit on recovery of runaway serfs

• Economic situation positive – attention moved from serfs to growth of agriculture– Surpluses and influx of gold

and silver from colonies

Why did Serfdom Exist in Eastern Europe but not in

Western Europe?• Not necessarily economic• Political reasons

– Most kings directly benefited from serfdom– Eastern lords had more political power than in the west– Constant warfare in Eastern Europe and political chaos

resulted in noble landlord class increasing their political power at the expense of the monarchs

– Weak eastern kings had little power to control landlord policies aimed at the peasants

– Peasants were weaker politically than in the West– Landlords undermined medieval privileges of towns and

power of urban classes

Habsburg Family CrestHabsburg Family Crest

Emergence of Absolutism• Ineffective rule in the HRE forced monarchs to

turn their attention inwards and eastward to consolidate their diverse holdings into a strong unified state

• Reorganization of Bohemia was a major step– Czech nobility was wiped out during the Thirty Yeas

War– Ferdinand II redistributed Czech lands to aristocratic

soldiers from all over Europe– Conditions declined for serfs

• Old hereditary provinces of Austria proper were centralized by Ferdinand III

• Serfdom intensified in Hapsburg lands• Austria was NOT a national state

– Multinational empire which included• Austria Proper: Germans and Italians• Bohemia Czechs• Hungary: Hungarians, Serbs, Croats, Romanians

• No single constitutional system or administration existed in the empire as such each region had a different relationship to the emperor

Austrian Empire: 1657-1718Austrian Empire: 1657-1718

• Ferdinand II (1619-1637) Took control of Bohemia during the 30 Year’s War

• Ferdinand III (1637-1657) Centralized government in the old hereditary provinces of Austria proper

Leopold I

Holy Roman Emperor

(r. 1658-1705)

Leopold I

Holy Roman Emperor

(r. 1658-1705)

•Severely restricted protestant worship

•Successfully repelled Turks from gates of Vienna in 1683 at the Siege of Vienna

Schönbrunn PalaceSchönbrunn Palace

Schönbrunn PalaceSchönbrunn Palace

Schönbrunn PalaceSchönbrunn Palace

Emperor Charles VI

(1711-1740)

•Issued Pragmatic Sanction in 1713

•Hapsburg Possessions were never to be divided and henceforth to be passed intact to a single heir

•His daughter Maria Theresa, inherited Charles’ empire in 1740 and ruled for 40 years

Maria Theresa & Her FamilyMaria Theresa & Her Family

Her Notable Children:

HRE Joseph II

HRE Leopold II

Queen Marie Antoinette (Fr.)

Her Notable Children:

HRE Joseph II

HRE Leopold II

Queen Marie Antoinette (Fr.)

War of the Austrian SuccessionWar of the Austrian Succession

Holy Roman Empire: 1750Holy Roman Empire: 1750

Prussia: House of HohenzollernPrussia: House of Hohenzollern

•Ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia was designated as one of the 7 electors in the HRE in 1417

•By the 17th Century, Brandenburg was not significantly involved in HRE affairs

•Marriages increasingly gave the Hohenzollerns control of German principalities in central and Western Germany

•The prince had little power over the nobility

•Ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia was designated as one of the 7 electors in the HRE in 1417

•By the 17th Century, Brandenburg was not significantly involved in HRE affairs

•Marriages increasingly gave the Hohenzollerns control of German principalities in central and Western Germany

•The prince had little power over the nobility

Prussia & the Austrian Empire: 1721-72

Prussia & the Austrian Empire: 1721-72

Frederick William – The Great Elector (r.1640-1688)

Frederick William – The Great Elector (r.1640-1688)

• Ongoing struggle between Sweden and Poland for control of Baltic after 1648 and wars of Louis XIV created atmosphere of permanent crisis– Prussia was invaded in 1656 by the

Tartars of southern Russia who killed or carried off as slaves more than 50,000 peoples

– Effects lead to foundation for centralized control

• money needed for defense (military)

• Nobility or Junkers, support royal power

Frederick William – The Great Elector (r.1640-1688)

Frederick William – The Great Elector (r.1640-1688)

• Established Prussia as a great power and laid the foundation for future unification in the 19th century

• Oversaw Prussian militarism and created the most efficient army in Europe

• Employed military power and taxation to unify his Rhine holdings, Prussia and Brandenburg into a strong state

• Increased military spending through high taxation

• Encouraged Industry and trade

King Frederick I of Prussia (r.1701-1713)

King Frederick I of Prussia (r.1701-1713)Formerly: Frederick III of

Brandenburg

(r. 1688-1701)

Formerly: Frederick III of Brandenburg

(r. 1688-1701)

• Sought to imitate the court of Louis XIV

• Encourage higher education• Fought two wars against Louis XIV to

preserve balance of power– War of the League of Augsburg (1688-

1697) and War of Spanish Succession (1701-1713)

• Allied with Hapsburgs• Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia was

now recognized internationally as King of Prussia in return for aid to Hapsburgs

King Frederick William I of Prussia (r.1713-1740)

King Frederick William I of Prussia (r.1713-1740)

• “The Soldier’s King”• Calvinist• Infused militarism into Prussian society

– “Sparta of the North”– Society rigid and highly discipline– Unquestioning obedience was the highest virtue

• Nearly doubled the size of the army• 80% of gov’t revenues went towards the

military• Most efficient Bureaucracy in Europe• Demanded absolute obedience and discipline

from civil servants• Established approximately 1,000 schools for

peasant children

Frederick the Great (r. 1740-1786)Frederick the Great (r. 1740-1786)

• Son of Frederick William I who gave him a strong military education

• Proudly influenced by the Enlightenment

• He considered French learning to be superior

• Patronized Voltaire (Enlightenment thinker) and invited him to live in his court in Berlin

• Musician and Poet• The first 23 years of Frederick’s reign was

dominated by warfare

Frederick the Great (r. 1740-1786)Frederick the Great (r. 1740-1786)

Frederick the Great’s CourtFrederick the Great’s Court

Europe in 1740Europe in 1740

War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748)

War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748)

• Cause: Frederick invaded and annexed Silesia, part of the Austrian Hapsburg empire– Frederick violated Austria’s Pragmatic Sanction (1713)

whereby the Great Powers recognized that Charles VII’s daughter, Maria Theresa, would inherit the entire Hapsburg empire

• Prussia efficiently defeated Austria• Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle

– Prussia gained Silesia ( and doubled Prussia’s population in the process)

– Prussia was now recognized as the most powerful of all the German states and as one of Europe’s “Great Powers.”

The Seven Years WarThe Seven Years War• Cause: Maria Theresa sought to regain Silesia from Prussia and gained Russia and France as allies

– Goal of Austria, Russia and France was to conquer Prussia and divide its territories among winners.

• “Diplomatic Revolution of 1756”– France and Austria, traditional enemies now allied against Prussia– Britain, a traditional ally of Russia, supported Prussia withmoney, (but with few troops)

• Bloodiest war in Europe since the Thirty Year’s War of the 17th Century– World war that also included England and France’s Struggle for North America– Prussia outnumbered by its enemies 15 to 1– Prussia suffered 180,000 dead and sever disruptions to its society– Berlin was twice captured and partially destroyed by Russian troops– Prussia was on the verge of a catastrophic defeat

• Russian Czar Peter III (an admirer of Frederick) pulled

Russia out of the war in 1763)– This saved Prussia from almost certain defeat– Peter was assassinated and replaced by Catherine

II as a result

Treaty of Paris, 1763

– Most important peace treaty of the 18th century and most important since the Treaty of Westphalia (1648)

– Prussia permanently retained Silesia

– France lost all its colonies in North America to Great Britain

– Britain gained more territory in India