AP
Eurpean
History
Absolutism and Constitutionalism
In much of Europe, absolute monarchy was established over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Peter the great
Peter the Great had a life changing response to the Great Northern War defeat. He responded with measures designed to increase state power, strengthen his armies, and gain victory. He required all nobles to serve in the army or in the civil administration, he needed high skilled experts, so he created schools and universities and required every young noble to spend five years in education away from home.
France's ability to build armies and fight wars depended on a strong economy. Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683), proved to be a financial genius. Colbert's central principle was that the wealth and the economy of France should serve the state. Colbert rigorously applied mercantilist policies to France.
Joseph II (r. 1780-1790), drew on enlightenment ideals, earning the title of "revolutionary emperor." Emerging from the long War of the Austrian Succession in 1748 with the serious loss of Silesia, Maria Theresa was determined to introduce reforms that would make the state stronger and more efficient.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Joseph II
Through the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, Russia received the Swedish Baltic provinces and some Polish territories. Worse, the polish nobility, protective of its own power and fearful of an alliance between merchants and the king, deliberately penalized merchants by passing legislation to restrict trade. Over the course of the seventeenth century, revolts by Ukrainian Cossack warriors and wars with Russia, Sweden, and Brandenburg-Prussia resulted in the loss of Polish territories.
Peter the Great westernized Russia in a few ways. He required nobles to shave their heavy beards and wear western clothing, previously banned in Russia. He also ordered them to attend parties where young men and women would mix together and freely choose their own spouses. From these changed a new elite class of Western-oriented Russians began to emerge. Despite the unpopularity of Peter's reforms, his modernizing and westernizing Russia paved the way for it to move somewhat closer to the European mainstream in its thought and institutions during the enlightenment, especially under Catherine the Great.
Challenges to absolutism resulted in alternative political systems
The English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution protected the rights of the gentry and aristocracy from absolutism through assertions of the rights of Parliament. The men who brought the Revolution framed their intentions in the Bill of Rights, which was formulated in direct response to Stuart absolutism. Law was to be made in Parliament; once made, it could not be suspended by the Crown. Parliament had to be called at least once every three years.
Among the Dutch, and oligarchy of wealthy businessmen called regents handled domestic affairs in each province's estates. The provincial esates held virtually all power. A federal assembly, or States General, handled foreign affairs and war, but it did not possess sovereign authority. All issues had to be referred back to the local Estates for approval, and each of the seven provinces could veto any proposed legislation.
Maria Theresa of Austria
Frederick William I
After 1648, dynastic and state interests, along with Europe’s expanding colonial empires, influenced the diplomacy of European States and frequently led to war.
The twenty-year-old Frederick William I, later known as the "Great Elector," was determined to unify his three provinces and enlarge his holdings. Frederick William profited from ongoing European war and the threat of invasion from Russia when he argued for the need for a permanent standing arm. He then persuaded Junkers to accept taxation without consent to fun his armies. Having won over the Junkers, the king crushed potential opposition to his power from the towns. One by one, Prussian cities were eliminated from the estates and subjected to new taxes on goods and services. Charles II died then the Spanish crown and the empire was handed to Philip of Anjou, his grandmother, Maria-Theresa, happens to be Charles II sister. Charles will was also handed down, but the will violated a prior treaty by which the European powers had agreed to divide the Spanish Possessions between the king of France and the Holy Roman Emperor. This triggered the Spanish Succession.
The war of the Spanish Succession went through (1701-1713). In 1701 the EngLish, Dutch, Austrians, and Prussians formed the Grand Alliance against Louis XIV. War dragged unitl 1713.
The rivalry between Britain and France was overwhelming. Britain had naval arms races, and had economic rivalry with Germany. France wanted the return of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine from Germany. This is what created many of the world wars.
Through the 15th and 16th centuries, European powers engaged in intensive exploration of the world now known as the “Age of Discovery”. At the beginning of the 17th century the English and the French entered the arena of colonial conflict, sending trade missions and establishing colonies in different parts of the world. England then entered into a series of wars with the Netherlands known as the “Anglo-Dutch Wars” which seriously weakened the Netherlands and confirmed England as the predominant naval power in Europe.