Absolutism in Eastern Europe Lords Peasants in Eastern

Absolutism in Eastern Europe

Lords & Peasants in Eastern Europe

Compared to Western Europe ● “Backward” – Less politically developed, still used feudal system – Not influenced by Renaissance and Scientific Revolution – No exploration (no sea routes) – Lack of trade / economy – 30 Years War (holds E. Europe back)

Serfdom and Nobility • Lords asserted their authority through imposition of laws that restricted the peasants rights to move freely as well as taking their land heavier labor obligations thus making them serfs. • The lords also acted as prosecutor, judge and jailer • Hereditary subjugation in Prussia (bound to lords from one generation to the next). • Noble landlords enjoyed significantly more political power in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe as a result of questions about succession and monarchs needing the favor of the nobility. • Writers and travelers from Western Europe often portrayed Eastern Europe as more barbaric and unrefined as a result of the social and economic conditions they witnessed.

Polish-Lithuania Commonwealth “The Kingdom of Poland the Grand Duchy of Lithuania” • Its powerful parliament was dominated by nobles who were reluctant to get involved in the Thirty Years' War; this neutrality spared the country from the ravages of a political-religious conflict which devastated most of contemporary Europe. • In 1768, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth became a protectorate of the Russian Empire • The country was partitioned in three stages by the neighboring Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Monarchy. By 1795, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had been completely erased from the map of Europe. Poland Lithuania were not re-established as independent countries until 1918.

The three regions of the Commonwealth enjoyed a degree of autonomy Each voivodship had its own parliament (sejmik), which exercised serious political power, including choice of deputy and charging of the deputy with specific voting instructions. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania had its own separate army, treasury and most other official institutions

Austria

Charles VI (1713) Won land in War of the Spanish Succession ● Large empire, hard to rule ● – – Dukedom of Austria Kingdom of Bohemia Kingdom of Hungary Land in Germany, Italy Diverse lands = Diverse people ● Common ruler was only unifying factor ●

Charles VI (1713) ● Wanted to ensure his empire would not be split – Pragmatic Sanction- only heir (Maria Theresa) would be heir to all Hapsburg land ● Maria Theresa- Reign plagued by war – Enemy= Hohenzollerns of Prussia ● Austria had no natural boundaries or ethnicities – Austrian are really German

Maria Theresa • Became the ruler by the Pragmatic Sanction, an edict issued by Charles VI on 19 April 1713, to ensure that the Habsburg hereditary possessions could be inherited by a daughter. • Her ascension to the throne in 1740 resulted in the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession. France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony broke their promises and contested the claims of Maria Theresa on Charles VI’s Austrian lands, and initiated the War of the Austrian Succession. • Religious differences prevented her from having an arranged marriage to the Calvinist prince Frederick of Prussia; instead she married Francis Stephen of Lorraine. • Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, had sixteen children, including Queen Marie Antoinette of France

Prussia ● Hohenzollern family ruled ● Formed from small states ● Brandenburg was the most important state – Ruling prince 1 of 7 electors of HRE

Prussia Frederick William (Great Elector) ( The Elector) Frederick I (Frederick III The Ostentatious) Fredrick William I (The Soldier King) Frederick II (The Great)

Frederick William -1640 ● The Great Elector- overrun in 30 Years War – Took control at age 20, unified 3 “provinces” (Brandenburg, Prussia, and pieces of territory in the west (Cleve, Mark, and Ravensburg)) – Took control using force, funded by heavy taxation – He gave his nobles (Junkers) positions in government or military to gain support – Prussia was not a country with an army but an army with a country

The “Great Elector” established Berlin as his capital city and allowed over 20, 000 French Huguenots to immigrate there

When “Great Elector” Frederick William died, he was replaced by his son Frederick I (III) in 1701.

Frederick the Ostentatious ● Frederick I (son) – 1 st Hohenzollern to have the title of king – 1713 Treaty of Utrecht- the duchy of Prussia is now recognized as kingdom – All Hohenzollern’s lands called Prussia

Unlike his father, Frederick I was a weak ruler who did little but maintain what his father had started for over 25 years – he loved luxury and the arts (much like Louis XIV)

When he died in 1713, he was replaced by his son, Frederick William I, who was a strong ruler

Due to Frederick William I’s obsession with the military he was nicknamed the “Soldier King”

Prussia’s Army Grows… ● Frederick William I – Obsessed with growing his military / recruiting (kidnapping) from Europe – Money spent only on army – Army doubled in size – Junkers (land-owning nobility)= officers – Military society implemented

Under him the Prussian military doubled in size and consumed 80% of the national budget…. but he never used them!

Despite this, he balanced the budget by cutting the lavishness of his imperial court He cuts power from the estates to establish an absolute, centralized (militarized) monarchy

Frederick William I’s greatest fear was that his oldest son, Frederick II, would not be strong enough to rule

Prussia – Frederick II Ruled 1740 -1786 � Absolute ruler of Prussia (Germany) � Attacked Austria, sparking the War of Austrian Succession � Unified Prussia, part of the Holy Roman Empire, into one nation

The Isolation of Russia

Byzantinian Influence ● Eastern Slavs converted from Byzantinian missionaries to Eastern Orthodoxy – Break from Catholicism (Pope not authority) – Art = icons

Further Isolation ● Geographically cut-off – Ural Mountains cut off from East – Only seaport- Archangel (frozen) ● Religion widens gap West – Eastern/Russian Orthodox v. Catholic/ Protestant

Mongol Yoke – 200 years ● Influence of “Asian” culture ● Mongols took money (tribute) – Princes controlled land collected money ● Mongols used strength of military/force (Genghis Khan)

Early Russian Society ● 1480 Ivan III (Prince of Moscow) frees Russia from the Mongol Yoke – Became the first czar – Claimed descent from Caesar (tsar / czar is Slavic or Caesar) ● Society dominated by landowning nobility (boyars), serfs tied to land – Serfdom lasted until mid 1800’s (ended in 1300/1400’s in Western Europe)

Czarist Russia • • • Czar Ivan IV (the Terrible) 15471584 Ivan expanded Russian territory and crushed the powers of the nobility (known as Boyars) ruthlessly (garnering his name) which left Russia severely depopulated. Independent “outlaw” groups formed in retaliation called Cossacks. He killed his own eldest son and was succeeded by his weak younger son. After his son’s death Russia was in anarchy (The Time of Troubles) until a national assembly was formed in 1613

The Romanov Dyanasty Begins �The National Assembly chooses Ivan’s grandnephew, Michael Romanov, as the new Czar in 1613. �The Romanov Dynasty will Rule Russia for more than 300 years. �Their most effective Czar is Peter the Great, who modernized Russia and become an Absolute monarch who believed in divine right

Peter the Great

Peter the Great ● 1682 - 1725 ● Interested in foreign things, ships, seas ● Saw need for warm water port – Necessary for competition with modern powers ● Came to power w/ help of streltski (Moscow guards)

Desire to Modernize ● 1698 Traveled to W. Europe to learn customs – 1 st czar to travel to W. Europe – Incognito – Worked in shipyard in Netherlands ● Later traveled to England – Toured in London

Peter’s Changes – Make Russian more W. European ● Agriculture – Staple crop= potato ● Factories and Mines – Exports encourage – Imports discouraged – Factories subsidized (centralized workshops) – Iron industry developed

Peter’s Changes – Make Russian more W. European ● Russian Calendar – Year starts on Jan. 1 not Sept. 1 – Year based on birth of Jesus ● Newspapers – 1 st newspaper reported on non-Russian events – Western ideas develop – Emphasis on literacy

Peter’s Changes – Make Russian more W. European ● Status of Women – Until 1700 followed Medieval treatment of women – Noblewoman invited to social gatherings (without veils) – No arranged marriages (unless children consented) ● No beards for men (to look more European)

Absolute Rule ● Peter increased power of monarchy ● People become discontented (forced changes) ● Holy Synod (priests) with Peter as head- replaced Patriarch – Similar to Church of England ● Boyars lose power (new social status) – Land positions given to lower-ranking (ensured loyalty)

Russian Military ● European officers hired to modernize – Army –Prussia, Navy -Britain – Only had part-time cavalry – Army of 200, 000 paid for by taxes ● Army used to crush peasant revolt and gain warm water port – Lead to need for warships

Russian Military ● Close Russia off to possible European invasion ● Great Northern War- v. Swedes who invade Ukraine (defeated by winter) – Russia gains land on Baltic Sea

Great Northern War 1700 -1721 • Alliance with Denmark • Invades Sweden, wants warm water ports • Denmark and Russia defeated at first (Battle of Narva) • Peter reforms: nobles must serve for life; military schools; 5 years serve away from home; bureaucracy; higher taxes • Battle of Poltava was great victory • End: Russia gains Estonia and Latvia, becomes Baltic power

A New Capital ● 1712 St. Petersburg made capital ● Built on swamp ● Land gained from Sweden ● Located on Neva River, near coast

Lands added by Peter the Great