Revolutionary EuropeTake Notes Only – No Worksheet

Chapter 15, Section 2, Part 2

Uniting Nations• After 1500, the monarchs of

Europe unified their lands and made them into strong nations.

• Kings eventually became absolute monarchs who exercised complete power over their people.

• In England, this process began when Henry VII married Elizabeth of York, uniting the two families that had fought the War of the Roses.

Tudor England• Henry VIII of England, famous for his six wives,

obtained great power when he made England Protestant in 1533.

• His motivation was to divorce his wife Catherine so he could marry his pregnant mistress, Anne Boleyn. He hoped his new child would be a boy that could someday take over his kingdom.

• Henry had other motivations. As head of the new Anglican church, the king took all the land and wealth that had belonged to the Catholic church. As the years went on, Henry became the most powerful English king in centuries.

Bloody Mary… Bloody Mary… Bloody Mary• Though Henry eventually had a

son, Edward VI, by his third wife, it was his daughters who made their mark on history.

• Mary, a Catholic, made fierce enemies of the English people and nobles when she became queen after Edward’s death in 1553.

• “Bloody Mary” returned England to the Catholic church and had hundreds of Protestants killed. Her reign of terror ended 5 years later with her death.

Elizabeth’s Golden Age• Henry’s Protestant daughter

Elizabeth took the throne next. She peacefully restored the Anglican church.

• Over the next 40 years Elizabeth led England to a golden age of expansion. Her navy defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588.

• Under the leadership of the “Virgin Queen”, England became a world power.

Nation Forming• England was not the only

kingdom in Europe to be ruled by strong monarchs around at the turn of the 17th century.

• The Spanish king, Phillip II held an empire that included parts of Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. Spain reached its greatest power under his rule.

• In France, the King Louis XIV would become the most powerful king in the history of Europe.

Revolution• The 1600’s and 1700’s were a time

of revolution in Europe. A revolution is an event that dramatically changes life.

• After the dark ages, there was an explosion of learning in Europe.

• In the Scientific Revolution, new ideas were tested using experiments and observation. New procedures like the scientific method were developed.

• The Scientific Revolution led to huge advances in math, science, medicine and invention.

The English Civil War (1640-9)

• After Elizabeth I of England died, her successors were less effective rulers.

• In the 1600’s, English kings in need of money granted their nobles more and more power.

• When King Charles I introduced a new, less protestant prayer book to British churches, it angered the people of Scotland enough that a Scottish army invaded England in 1640.

• Charles asked Parliament (a council of English nobles) for money to raise an army.

The English Civil War (1640-9)

• Parliament used this moment to make strong demands from the king.

• A frustrated Charles declared war on Parliament, sending England into a civil war.

• Charles was captured by the Parliamentarians and in 1649 the king was beheaded.

• For a time, England was ruled by a military officer named Oliver Cromwell and a freely elected Parliament.

Oliver Cromwell

The Glorious Revolution of 1689

• When Cromwell died, Parliament allowed Charles’ family to retake the throne.

• When his Catholic grandson, James II, became king in 1685 there was an uproar.

• Parliament invited James’ daughter, Mary Stuart, and her husband William, Prince of Orange, to become the new monarchs of England.

• William led an invading force to England, but there was little bloodshed. James II had fled to France.

• Before taking the throne in 1689, William and Mary signed the Declaration of Rights, which guarenteed that the kings and queens of England would share power with Parliament and the people.

• During the reign of King Louis XIV (1643-1715), France became the most powerful nation on Earth. Often called the “Sun King,” Louis held absolute power. His subjects and nobles lived in fear of their king.• However, by the end of the century, the Sun

King’s grandson struggled to control his subjects.

Change in France

Goodbye, Louis• In the French Revolution

(1789-99), the French nobles and people overthrew the king and made France a Republic.

• The French hoped to form a government much like the Americans, but in time, their violent new government was overthrown by Napoleon. The King is guillotined

• In 1799, a brilliant young General named Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the French Republic and named himself Emperor.

• Napoleon went on to conquer most of Europe, but was never satisfied.

Napoleon

Letter to Father from SchoolAge 9

"My father [he wrote], if you or my protectors cannot give me the means of sustaining myself more honorably in the house where I am, please let me return home as soon as possible.

I am tired of poverty and of the jeers of insolent scholars who are superior to me only in their fortune, for there is not one among them who feels one hundredth part of the noble sentiment which animates me. Must your son, sir, continually be the butt of these boobies, who, vain of the luxuries which they enjoy, insult me by their laughter at the privations which I am forced to endure? No, father, no! If fortune refuses to smile upon me, take me from Brienne, and make me, if you will, a mechanic.

From these words you may judge of my despair. This letter, sir, please believe, is not dictated by a vain desire to enjoy extravagant amusements. I have no such wish. I feel simply that it is necessary to show my companions that I can procure them as well as they, if I wish to do so.”

“Your respectful and affectionate son, "Bonaparte."

Napoleon’s Downfall• Napoleon’s freezing armies

nearly starved to death while attempting to conquer Russia.

• Retreating back home, his forces were defeated at Waterloo and Bonaparte was exiled to the Italian isle of Elba.

• France once again became a monarchy.

Fighters for a united and free German state in 1848. Their revolution was eventually crushed.

Europe in the 1800’s• From the 1400’s through the

1700’s, Europe explored and claimed much of Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia.

• After the fall of Napoleon in 1815, new countries on the continent began forming and other countries were becoming empires.

• Revolutions against monarchs continued in both 1830 and 1848, but were unsuccessful.

The Industrial Revolution

• Revolutions weren’t only political at this time.• Trade and science led Europe to develop a new

kind of revolution in the late 1700’s.The Industrial Revolution was an economic

revolution that affected the way people lived. At this time most Europeans left their farms in the country to work at

factories in large cities.

The Industrial Revolution• Until the 1700’s, all

goods were handmade at home, or from small shops.

After the Industrial Revolution, most goods were made by machines in factories.

The Industrial Revolution

• This revolution began in Britain. The first machines were invented to speed up the weaving of cloth.

• A person using a spinning wheel would have to spin all day for 4 years to produce the same amount of thread that a spinning machine could make in a day!A spinning mule

Factory ConditionsBy 1900, almost all goods were

made in factories. • Factory owners became rich,

but the workers were treated poorly. They worked long hours for little pay, and lived in cheap, dirty homes.

Factory conditions were often dangerous. Horrific injuries were much more common than today.

Organizing Unions

• In the 1800’s, workers began to unite to demand better working conditions and pay. They organized into groups called Unions to accomplish this.

• As many European countries became more democratic, their governments passed more laws to help workers.

The Unification of Italy• Italy hadn’t been one country

since the Romans controlled it in the 400’s. Since that time it was made up of between five and ten kingdoms.

• In the 1800’s, Italian states were often defeated by the Austrian Empire. If Italians wanted to stand up for themselves, they would have to unite.

The Unification of Italy• One or two Italian states

were conquered by King Victor Emmanuel of Piedmont-Sardinia.

• However, in most Italian kingdoms, the people revolted against their kings and voted to join the growing nation. Italy was finally United in 1870.