Chapter Seventeen: The Emergence of the European State System

Absolutism in France Other Patterns of Absolutism Alternatives to Absolutism The International System

Absolutism in France In the wake of the midseventeenth century crisis, a strong impetus for a powerful and centralized government grew The institutions and practices which were created became the essential components for the modern state

*Absolutism: the belief that power emanated from the monarchs unlimited authority Absolutism was based on a theory known as the *divine right of kings Gods representative on earth

The Rule of Louis XIV The most famous absolutist state was the Kingdom of France, which became the most powerful regime in Europe Louis XIV (1643-1715) an archetype Gods lieutenant and the authority from the Bible

Versailles The court and setting of a kings rule is a reection of his power and the authority of the central government Near Paris, a remote and elaborate court was created (c. 1680) The largest building in Europe

Domestication of the aristocracy authority and statues of lords no longer came from lineage but from service to the thrown Control of nobles and Lords and who controlled the land

Court Life French culture was shape by the kings patronage of those artists and writers who appealed to the royal taste Ofcial taste is what counted What exalted the king, dazzling displays at Versaillesa reection of France and the King

Paris and Versailles One alternative center of society and culture was Paris Versailles was overwhelmingly a male society, except for the royal mistresses in his early years Rigidly pious in later years

In Paris, women established and dominated the *salons: gathering places which promoted discussion comedy, political discussion, and lively entertainment A converse to the somber court of the King

Government Absolutism was more than a device of royal arrogance The rebuilding of the state and the reorganization of government institutions Centralization of authority around the throne

The long-lasting results of Louis Absolutism control over these three areas: The use of armed force, the formulation and execution of laws, and the collection and expenditure of revenue These required a centrally controlled bureaucracy

The Kings Dual Functions In addition to his administrative skills, Louis created an extravagant court life: Hunting, cultivating arts, huge banquets His court consumed an excessive share of the states resources and became an end in itself

Like court life, government policy under Louis XIV was tailored to the aim of state building

Competing Ministers Jean-Baptiste Colbert Advocated a mercantilist policy He argued that the governments policy should be to increase Frances wealth

Marquis of Louvois The son of a military administrator, Louvois consistently emphasized the army as the foundation of Frances power

Foreign Policy The international scene of his court was to serve the la gloire (the glory) of France His efforts to expand that power prompted their neighbors to form coalitions and alliances together against France

Louis versus Europe These alliances led to the concept of *balance of power Leopold I, the Holy Roman Emperor, was distracted by war against the Turks in the East After 1683, the war turned in HREs favor

HREs attention and subsequent joining of the war led to the halting French expansion When Louis lost territories in the 1680s, he sought peace Eventually France got involved in a bitter war with the Spanish to gain the throne

Economic strains emerged which reduced the tax revenue size and the workforce, leading to an extensive decline of French economic, and therefore political, power

The War of Spanish Succession

A long battle emerged in Europe and overseas, in India, Canada, and the Caribbean Led by brilliant generals, the Grand Alliance won a series of great victories France endured a terrible famine in 1709 Despite the setbacks, he maintained his boarders and secured the Spanish throne

Domestic Policy Control and Reform The Sun King extended centralization to religion and social institutions Persecution and exile of Huguenots and the Catholic Jansenists Revoked the Edicts of Nantes (1685)

France became the envy of Europe An extreme contrast existed between the glittering court and the misery of most French Taxes and rents rose dramatically Many began to see commoners as assets to the state

The End of an Era

France after Louis XIV Traditional ambitions of the nobles reasserted themselves after he died in 1715 A rejection of centralization emerged Louis XV left with much debt from his fathers wars

Louis XV and Fleury He gave almost unlimited authority to his tutor Cardinal Fleury Silent Absolutism Gradually the populace had abundant harvests, a rising population, and increased commercialism

Political Problems Following Louis XVs death in 1743, War Hawks plunged France into more wars which led to an increased strain on the lower classes

The Long Term The 1700s were a time of notable advancements Expansions in population, in the rural economy, commerce, and empire building

Other Patterns of Absolutism Four other monarchs built absolute states: Vienna, Berlin, Madrid, and St. Petersburg All varied in strengths and weaknesses

The Habsburgs at Vienna The Habsburg Leopold I, the Holy Roman Emperor (1658-1705) He transformed Vienna into a city for nobles as well as smalltime traders Leopold had no fondness of the pomp like Louis XIV He supported many composers and musical culture

Government Policy After the 30 Years War, it was discovered that the princes could not be controlled The Privy Council, dominated by aristocratic families, ran Leopolds government

The Power of the Nobility Unlike Louis XIV, Leopold gave his aristocracy inuence in the government and the lands Limited centralization beyond Austria Leopolds absolutism the nobility retained far more autonomous power

The Hohenzollerns at Berlin A new power emerged in Brandenburg-Prussia State-building was made possible by a close alliance between powerful rulers and his nobles Frederick William of Hohenzollern (r. 1640-1688)

He ruled the scattered territories which stretched over 700 miles

Foreign Policy Built a massive army some 8,000 strong by 1648 Military became a major factor in his foreign policy, a major inuence on the future policies Prussia and Germany

Domestic Policy The Elector Fredrick William was given the right to raise taxes from the Diet of Brandenburg in 1653 With this power, he had no use of the ofcials Military expansion

The Junkers Prussian nobles (young lord) formed an alliance with with Frederick Williams that undermined the diet and representative assemblies They reimposed serfdom and consolidated their land holdings

Frederick III Frederick Williams heir, Elector Frederick III, had no love of pomp He fashioned Berlin as a cultural center, founding libraries, fostered the arts, Academy of Sciences, and sponsored German scientists and philosophersLeibniz

Frederick only lacked one thing: a crown To ght with Leopold I against France in the War of Spanish Succession Fredrick was given the title King of Prussia

Rivalry and State Building Poland failed to centralize and was partitioned three times by Russian, Austria, and Prussia Absolute rulers built their states by increasing the size of armies, collecting larger revenues, and developing bureaucracies for the war effort

The Prussia of Frederick William I The Prussia of Frederick William I (r. 1713-1740) sought to strengthen absolutism at home and abroad Uncluttered by royal ceremonies, he supervised all government activities personally

Emphasis on the Military Organized his state to serve his military power Fourth largest military in Europe behind France, Russia, and Austria Intensive drilling and standardized uniforms

Frederick the Great Frederick II (r. 1740-1786) opposite to the temperament of his Father deist, sentimental, artistic, composer of music, and admirer of French culture His father forced him to work at all levels to gain experience

Fredericks Absolutism Sought to expand political power not because it was his divine mission but because absolute rule could bring results An enlightened monarch who sought rational and moral existence Religious toleration and judicial reform

The Habsburg Empire The Habsburg Empire held diverse territories under one crown They hoped to integrate Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary

International Rivalry Leopolds successor, Charles VI (r. 1711-1740) was sonless, only having his daughter Maria Theresa He sought to pass the Pragmatic Sanction (1713), declaring that all Habsburg dominions to pass to the eldest heir, male or female

The focus on this succession ultimately weakened the HRE This weakening was taken advantage by Austria and Prussia She eventually solidied this kingdom through military strength completely convinced of the divine mission

Reform in Church and State She disdained religious toleration and loathed atheists thus she sought to reform the Church She abolished the clergys exemptions from taxes

Habsburgs and Bourbons at Madrid In Spain the Habsburgs had little success in state building Charles II (r. 1665-1700) incapable of having children, which led to the War of Spanish Succession

Bourbon Spain When the Bourbons gained the crown, they challenged the power of the Jesuits who had gotten involved in the political landscape Expelled from Spanish territory in 1767 This led Jesuits to break free from the Spanish Empire

Peter the Great of St. Petersburg While many capitals were improved and made cultural centers which reected absolutism, St. Petersburg in Russia was the only entirely new capital Tsar Peter I (the Great) 1682-1725

Peters Fierce Absolutism None of the statebuilding rulers of the period had Peters terrifying energy to exercise absolute power Forced labor to build his capital in a cold swamp resulting in thousands of deaths Named after his patron saint

Western Models After a humiliating military defeat, Peter sought the advances that the Western nations had developed While disguised, he traveled the European countries

He built a Western modeled court, an Academy of Sciences, and encouraged the rst Russian newspaper Italian artists, Scandinavian army ofcers, German engineers, and Dutch shipbuilders

Bureaucratization Peter ignored the Duma, the traditional advisory council, and focused on his bureaucracy He copied the models set by Prussia, establishing a complex system of government departments

The Imposition of Social Order Peters policies laid the foundation for a two-class system society All peasants were reduced to one level, only slightly above Serfs Peter created a single class of nobles who found power in the bureaucracy rather than in the traditional titles

The Subjugation of the Nobility There was no voluntary alliance between nobles and the government The Tsars offered privilege and wealth in exchange for public service They coerced the nobility to follow the crowns wishes

Control of the Church

Peter also absorbed the authority and wealth of church lands by abolishing ecclesiastical independence He refused to replace the patriarch of the Russian church who had died The Church became a branch of the government

Military Expansion Peter established a huge standing army, more than three hundred thousand by the 1720s He extended Russias frontier to the south and west, and, at the battle of Poltava in 1709, reversed his earlier defeat by the Swedes

Alternatives to Absolutism Alternative models did develop: governments dominated by aristocrats or merchants Some of these systems are called constitutionalism

Aristocracy in the United Provinces, Sweden, and Poland In the Dutch republic, the succession of William III seemed to move toward absolutism soon, however, the power of merchants and provincial leaders William sought the English crown and given attempts at political centralization

Dutch Society Instead of ancient families and bureaucratic dynasties, the nobility was composed of merchants and mayors The elite were composed of hardworking nanciers and traders

Sweden The Swedes created yet another non-absolutist model of state building Charles XI (1660-1697), the monarchy was able to force the great lords to return land to the throne Stayed out of Europes wars and conserved resources

Charles XII (r. 1697-1718) revived Swedens tradition of military conquest In treaties signed from 1719 to 1721, Sweden reverted to roughly the territory it had a century earlier A splendid court arose in Stockholm

Poland The sheer chaos and disunity that plagued Poland until it ceased to exist as a state in the 18th century was the direct result of the aristocracy blocking centralization Poland was divided among the three major powers

The Triumph of the Gentry in England The model for a nonabsolutist regime was England King Charles II (r. 1660-1685) seemed to hold similar power to most absolutist rulers but was actually restrained by the Parliament which had deep roots in England

He could not raise taxes but was given a xed annual income nanced by a tax on beer

The Gentry and Parliament The real control of the countrys affairs passed to substantial land owners known as the gentry The gentry were an independent force over various regions of land Policy was still set by the King and his ministers, but the Commons had be persuaded

The Succession Despite divided authority, the structure worked Under James II (r. 1685-88), disaster emerged A zealous Catholic in a Protestant country

The gentry invited the Protestant ruler of the United Provinces, William III James II ed to France A bloodless victory called the Glorious Revolution

William and Mary He gained what little title he could from his wife Mary The Parliament proclaimed them joint monarch in 1689 *Bill of Rights determined the succession of the throne

William guided England into an aggressive foreign policy He insisted that Parliament not meet while he was out of country But unlike James, William recognized his limits

Politics and Prosperity A small elite controlled the countries policy and its institutions A party system had developed during Charles IIs reign

*Whig party, which opposed to the throne, Catholicism, and rebellion against James II *Tory party, stood for independence and authority of the crown, Anglicanism

The Sea and the Economy England was winning for itself unprecedented prosperity and laying the foundations of its world power England founded new colonies across the globe

As the nancial and military needs of the government expanded A fully bureaucratized state developed Wars required an increase of resources and troops; 1690: 2 Million1770: 30 Million

War and Taxes

Contrasts in Political Thought Intensive development of new political systems led to an outpouring of ideas about the nature and purpose of government

Hobbes Thomas Hobbes, from a poor family who tutored aristocrats sons, attempted to use the scientic method to analyze political behavior

Leviathan (1651) People are selsh and ambitious and unless they are restrained, they will ght perpetual wars *State of naturethe state of war Absolutism and sovereign power will maintain peace

Locke John Locke, a professor at Oxford, sought to soften Hobbes He based his theories on knowledge; tabula rasa Locke believed an underlying order exists in every person

Second Treatise of Civil Government Published in 1690, deeply inuenced by Hobbes He agreed with Hobbes but that the government should not encroach on three areas: life, liberty, and property He became the voice for the gentry

The International System An orderly system on how nations are to get along became a major concern

Diplomacy and Warfare Traditional dynastic interests still dominated policy Family succession and arranged marriages to gain new titles or alliances Eventually, these dynastic interests gave way to the impersonal conception of the state

Balance of Power and the Diplomatic System The concept of equilibrium among state powers in Europe was quickly taking hold The Routinized management of foreign relations fostered a collective European identity

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