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HI 112 A Survey of Modern Europe
Raffael ScheckColby College
Myself
Miller 250 [email protected] Tel. 859-5331 Office hours: MWF, 11-12, or by appt.
Introduction
Course Content and Mechanics
What is Modernity?
Braudel’s Sea Model
Time of Events. Politics, Wars, Revolutions. Fast-Paced Change
Social Time. Economic and Social Change. Slow Structural Change.
Geographic Time. Changes in the Climate. Very slow.
Society and Everyday Life 1600-1750
Religion and Mentalities
Religiosity dominated by fear of eternal damnation. Example: Walpurgisnacht 1702
Communal mindset: salvation possible only through the group
Hence: religious intolerance Wars of religion in the 16th century The Thirty Years War 1618-1648
Cities and the Countryside
The vast majority (over 90%) live in the countryside
Cities still resemble the medieval city Urbanization (density of cities) is higher in
western Europe than in eastern Europe
The Social Order
The vast majority are born to work and serve and will always be poor
Very little social mobility, except in cities Aristocracy in possession of the land Feudalism in the West: peasants owe
services to the lords and the king Serfdom in the East: peasants belong to the
lord like cattle
The Economy
Subsistence farming No machines, only tools Barter, and local trading; but some money
economy, too Small climate changes produce famines “Lord, protect us from plague, famine, and war” Trade centered on cities, but still small (mostly
transportable goods such as precious metals, spices, silk, wine, lumber)
The Family before 1750: Western and Eastern Variations Western Family
– Nuclear Family– Late Marriage– Young people work in
other household to save for their own
– Communal control– High Child Mortality
Eastern Family– Extended family– Serfdom– Early marriage– Extremely high child
mortality– Control of the lord
State-Building and Absolutism
The State Before 1618
Poor communications Weak administrative structure Much local difference; sometimes overlapping
patchwork of different legal and administrative spaces (taxation; laws; weights and measures)
No state services (such as schools, police, welfare) Kings are „primus inter pares“; conflict with lords
over taxation, service, and religion Parliaments The Catholic Church: A state within the state?
What Changes after 1600?
Efforts by kings to centralize authority Struggle of kings with regional and local
lords, parliaments, cities, and the church Attempts by kings to secure revenue, build
up a state administration for collecting revenue, and to undermine the money-granting power of parliaments and lords
Why Does This Occur?
Need for greater income, fueled by growing economic opportunity and military expenses
Spirit of the age: rationalization, modernization
International competition
Absolutism
Differentiation between state-building and absolutism
„Rex legibus absolutus est“ French theorists: Bodin and Bossuet Motivation: strong ruler seen as safeguard
against the chaos and anarchy of the religious wars
How Does One Build an Absolutist State? Central aim: undermine the power of the
lords (aristocracy) Co-optation and pressure (carrot and the
stick) Formation of a new (royal) nobility - often
as an administrative elite (noblesse de robe) Potential alliance with the peasants Problems with religion
Some Successful Examples of Absolutism Spain under Charles V and Phillip II
(sixteenth century) France (seventeenth century) Russia, Austria, Brandenburg-Prussia
(eighteenth century)
Successful Examples of State-Building without Absolutism England The United Provinces (Netherlands)
Some Major Snafus
The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation
Poland
The Holy Roman Empire and Poland (1618)
Absolutism in France
The Foundations of Absolutism in France (1598-1643) Main policies:
1. Raising money through government monopolies, trading companies, investment in canals etc.
2. Expansion
3. Assault on the nobility
4. Buildup of a royal administration (intendants, noblesse de robe)
Cardinal Richelieu
Louis XIII
Mercantilism
Corvée (labor tax)
Huguenots
Absolutism under Louis XIV
Fronde uprising, 1649-52 Louis XIV’s Absolutism
– Wooing the nobles– Ideological
justification of his rule– Court– War on the Huguenots
Struggle for European Hegemony (1667-1714)
Mazarin
“L’état c’est moi”
War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714)
Sophia Scheck in Versailles
Louis XIV‘s Legacy
Strong monarchy but weak finances Strong European but weak overseas
position France as the model for absolutist Europe
(military, aristocratic culture, language, literature, architecture)
Constitutionalism in England
Principal Motives
Similar struggle as in France, but different outcome Crown needs revenue and clashes with Parliament Assertive upper nobility (gentry) dominating Parliament Unresolved religious situation
– Anglican Church– Pressure for theological reform of the Anglican Church
(Puritans)– Pressure for re-Catholicization
International complications through marriage alliances (Spain, France, the Netherlands)
England under James I (1603-1625) Believes in the divine right of kings;
does not want to share power with Parliament
Badly needs money (debt from Elizabeth I). Raises revenue through customs (to bypass Parliament)
Frustrates Puritan demands for church reform (refuses to dismantle the episcopal system); allows games on Sundays (to reconcile Catholics)
Puritans do not trust him because his mother was a Catholic (Mary Stuart)
Avoids war (expenses), but Parliament forces him into war with Spain in 1624 (partly religious motivation)
Toward Revolution: Charles I (1625-49) Inherits financial crisis and war with
Spain; even bigger need for revenue Has to call Parliament in 1629;
furious confrontation Decides to do without Parliament in
1630; creates new nobility (through selling titles)
Fatal mistake: tries to impose the Anglican Church on Calvinist Scotland; triggers rebellion and has to call Parliament for funds (1640). Parliament takes control
Chaos and civil war 1642 (rebellion also in Ireland). Charles I is defeated in 1645 and executed in 1649
Dictatorship and Restoration
Oliver Cromwell - dictator based on a fanatical and well-organized radical Puritan army
Abolishes the monarchy and represses the Anglican Church and even the moderate Protestants
Becomes increasingly unpopular. After his death (1658): call for restoration of the monarchy
The Pragmatism of Charles II (1660-85) Restores the Anglican Church and the
situation of 1642 Favors religious tolerance but has ministers
who want to repress Puritans and Catholics Conducts trade wars with the Netherlands
(revenue) Makes tricky secret agreement with
France: subsidies for conversion to Catholicism; Parliament reacts by tightening repression of Catholics
Subdues Parliament through repression: execution and expulsion of some of his enemies
Careful and pragmatic leader
James II (1685-88) and the Glorious Revolution (1688-89) James II forfeits everything by
promoting devout Catholics. Wants to combine the buildup of absolutism with a re-Catholicization of England
Birth of a male heir in 1688 triggers new revolution by Parliament, which invites William of Orange (a Dutch lord married to James‘ Protestant daughter Mary) to take the throne
William and Mary expel James II and agree to a bill of rights limiting monarchic power and excluding Catholics from the throne. Contractual theory on relations between monarch and „people“
The Outcome
Permanently weak monarchy (Act of Settlement, 1701, giving the throne to the Elector of Hannover - 1714)
But: successful state-building centered on Parliament, with elites willing to work together and to pay taxes
Outlines of a constitutional system built around civil liberties, security of property, and restrictions on the king (who is an arbiter or chairman rather than absolutist ruler); stability
International Politics and Warfare before 1789
The Military Revolution (ca. 1500-1700) Firearms - cannon, hand guns - trump the infantry armies
with pikes and crossbows (which had earlier defeated the horse-mounted knight armies)
Much larger, more professionalized armies. Longer training. More peasants serve in the armies, fewer mercenaries. Desertion and supply remain large problems, however
Revolution in naval warfare. From the galley to the frigate. Battle in line. Broadsides
Global consequences: Europeans dominate 35% of the world’s regions by 1750 (the Americas, the African coast, South Asia). Exception: East Asia
Cannon
Portable Firearms
Defended City (Dunkirk, after Vauban)
Second Siege of Vienna (1683)
Spanish Galleon, ca. 1500
Mediterranean Galleon, 1550
Battle of Lepanto, 1571
The Mary Rose, 1545
The Vasa, 1628
The Frigate, ca. 1770
Fundamentals of Warfare
War and foreign policy are matters of kings, not the people. No mass nationalism. Provinces change hands without consideration for the will of the inhabitants
Wars are fought between rulers, not nations. Ideology does not matter; religion matters less after 1600. Wars usually are fought for limited aims, not total destruction
War is a frequent occurrence. Wars happen for all but 15-20 years every century
Principles of International Relations Balance of Power Dynastic legitimacy Reason of state
The Power Struggles in Eastern Europe The Swedish challenge; gamble to conquer a huge
Baltic empire fails 1700-1721 (defeat against Russia)
Poland and the Ottoman Empire loose Russian expansion Austria: wins Spanish Netherlands (Belgium) and
strong position in Italy and the Balkans Prussia wins Silesia from Austria and some
territory from Poland (Polish partitions with Russia and Austria, 1772, 1793, 1795)
The Power Struggles in Western Europe Spain, France, and England as colonial rivals.
Mercantilism Traditional rivalry between France and the
Habsburgs (Austria and Spain) Revamping of alliances during the Seven Years
War (1756-63): France allies with Austria and Russia, Britain with Prussia
Britian becomes the world power by 1763 But: cost of war triggers demand for more revenue
and, indirectly, revolution (America, France)
Europe in 1600
Europe in 1720
Europe in 1777
Revolution in Science and World Views
Scholasticism, the Traditional World View Everything worth knowing has been revealed
– A) in the Bible and the writings of the church fathers– B) in the writings of ancient philosophers and scientists
Hence: focus on interpretation Observation and experimentation are of secondary
importance Merits of scholasticism: synthesis of ancient and
medieval thought Limits of scholasticism: always focused on the past.
Had become stale by 1500
The Rational World View in Science Impulses from Humanism and the Renaissance:
focus on method, not contents. Textual analysis of old scriptures triggers doubt in their actual form
Focus on observation, experiment, attempts to formulate universal laws
Interest in improving life, society, the economy (appealing to state-building monarchs)
Disenchantment with religion?
Some Examples: Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Observation of planetary
movements through the telescope
Argument that the universe behaved according to mathematical laws
Conclusions: God’s truth is lawful and can be discovered by humans through observation
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Introduced a mathematically reasoned theory of gravity
Idea that what can be mathematically constructed must somehow be observable in reality
Deism
Universe as a big clockwork of causes and effects. Dominated by laws and regularity, not arbitrary and haphazard
God as a rational being. Clockmaker and initial cause, but not somebody who intervenes later on
Mechanistic universe; challenge to magic
Some Rationalist Philosophers: Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Stress on empirical work
to discover the truth and to improve the human condition (utilitarian aspect)
Inductive method: Discover a law from observing single phenomena and then try to confirm the law by multiplying the observations
René Descartes (1596-1650)
Start thinking from “clear and distinct ideas”, then proceed from one rational idea to the next conclusion (deductive thought)
Reality divided into thought and material (soul and body). Mathematical laws applied only to the latter. Difficulties with explaining the relation between them
Political Thought
Belief in the perfectibility of humans and society through human efforts
Reason and science can help improve life before death
Examples: Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) Leviathan: Humans are in
their “state of nature” anarchic beasts. Reason dictates that they select a strong leader through a social contract (absolutist monarchy justified by reason)
Supportive of Charles II’s efforts to build a pragmatic absolutism after civil war and anarchy
John Locke (1632-1704)
Second Treatise on Government: social contract of the “people” to accept a king as supreme arbiter
Thinker most closely connected to the “Glorious Revolution”
Conclusions
Wide-open new frontier in thought; comforting to some, alarming to many
Challenge to religion Many governments embrace some of these views
and use them in their fights against older vested interests, particularly of the church. Rational administration - national standards and laws
But the new rational thought can also backfire on “rationalizing” rulers
The Rise of Enlightenment Thought
Basic Ideas
Rational thought inspires a broad intellectual movement across western and central Europe, favored by print culture (particularly in France)
Focus on rational self-determination: “Enlightenment is man's way out of self-imposed tutelage.” “Dare to be free!” (Immanuel Kant)
But: Freedom to accept and affirm limitations if they are rationally justified
Freedom FROM tutelage, superstition, repression, dictates of tradition, old rules of trade
Tolerance; rejection of fanaticism
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-81) Nathan der Weise
(1779) The original Nathan:
Moses Mendelssohn (1729-86)
Improvement of the World
Collection of all knowledge in the French Encyclopedia (1751-72) as the basis for rational improvement of the world (Diderot and D’Alembert)
Reform of justice (Cesare Beccaria, 1738-94). Utilitarian principle rather than preparation for purgatory
Economic liberalism (Adam Smith, 1723-90). Against mercantilism: minimal state intervention (“invisible hand”); optimism about the abundance of resources
Voltaire (1694-1778)
Assault on religious fanaticism and bigotry (persecution of Huguenots)
Belief in rational rule through enlightened despotism
Main works: Candide, Zadig
Satiricist. “Ecrasez l’imfâme!”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78) Representative and critic of
the enlightenment Realm of intuition, feeling Emotional religion against
deism: admiring a God of love and beauty
Alienation from state of nature. What to do now?
Influential political thought (Social Contract, General Will)
Cult figure of aristocracy
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
Main works: Critique of Pure Reason; Critique of Practical Reason
Conflict of duty and inclination
Ethical imperative: Always ask if the way you behave could become the foundation of a law for all humans that would benefit humanity as a whole.
Philosophy of perception: mind is no tabula rasa
Conclusions
Massive revolution in thought Intellectual armory for a full-blown assault on the
traditional order (church and religion, absolutist states, guilds and old trade structures)
Redefinition of the individual as a free, rational being with universal rights - not as a member of a corporate structure with corporate rights
Impulse for revolutionary and democratic movements (Age of “Atlantic Revolution”)
But: enlightenment has begun to cast doubt on itself (Rousseau, Kant)