EUROPE OF THE 18TH CENTURY
SOCIETY OF THE 18TH CENTURY
ANCIEN REGIME France before 1789 Hierarchical society characterized by:Aristocratic elites with inherited legal privilegesEstablished churches closely associated with the state
Urban labor force usually organized into guildsRural peasantry subject to high taxes and feudal dues
Emphasis on group over individual rights
ARISTOCRACY 1-5% of population British: political power through the Parliament French: “nobles of the sword” v. “nobles of the robe” Eastern European: military Resurgence Privileges High-ranking jobs just for nobles Government institutions (Parliament, parlements, diets)
Tax exemptions
PEASANTS AND SERFS Worse off in the east France: banalities (feudal dues) & corvee (annual forced labor) Habsburg: robot (mandatory service to lord) Russia: noble wealth = number of serfs (worst)
FAMILY LIFE Family economy: the family was the basic unit of both production and consumption in preindustrial Europe NW Europe v. E Europe Nuclear v. extended Married later v. earlier Servants
Women Worth establish and maintain household Marriage economic necessity Birth control control food supply
URBAN LIFE Urbanization 1500: 156 cities with more than 10,000 people; 4 with more than 100,000
1800: 363 with more than 10,000; 17 with more than 100,000
Greatest growth among capitals and ports, due to monarchical state-building and expansion of overseas trade
Class System Upper: nobles, church, government (ran city) Middle: merchants, professional (bourgeoisie) Enlightenment
Artisans: skilled laborers (guilds)
POPULATION INCREASE BeforeFamine 1600 population growth outstripped food supply
Disease typhus, smallpox, recurring plagueWar 30 Years’ War (Germany)
18th CenturyDoubled in size between 1700-1835Fewer deaths disappearance of the plague, better public health, better food supply (absolutism)
ECONOMY OF THE 18TH CENTURY
AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION Goal: create a stable food supply Innovations Dutch: drain land, soil restoration England: seed drill, crop rotation Enclosure replaced open-fields, small land plots consolidated, commercialization
Population increase more access to food created a wider gap between rich and poor movement of poor to cities for work
COTTAGE INDUSTRY Rural workers used hand tools in their homes to manufacture food on a large scale for sale in a market Putting-out system Merchant capitalist and rural worker Raw materials finished products
Textiles Women Spinsters Wages lower than men
INDUSTRIOUS REVOLUTION Shift (NWE) from self production to earning wages Women Menial low paying jobs Great role in household decisions
Undermining Guilds Groups that held monopolies over trade, training apprentices and hiring workers
Protected urban artisans Membership men, Christians, fees and masterpiece Competition with rural workers led to slow decline of power