Mat Poovan and the Screamin Eagles

This site is made primarily as a way for my fellow rangers and I to study for the AP Modern European History class tests and such so if you found your way here accidentally, thats ok if you wanted to learn something about European History. All fellow rangers are invited to share in the intellectual cyber space thingy i have going on here.

I did start this a bit later in the year (October) but its early enough to use as review when midterms come around.. so contribute to the site! Share the knowledge!

Chapter 17 notes

THE EMERGENCE OF A STATE SYSTEM IN EUROPE

A. Overview
1. as order returned to Europe after 1650, the policies and practices became more absolute
2. The strength of the state became the central importance and the case was made that absolute authority was needed for the state
to be strong.
3. Louis XIV is the best example of an absolute monarch
4. At the royal court- Versailles- Louis XIV drew the nobility away from independent sources of power in the cities and countryside
5. He trades benefits for power. He offers patronage for absolute power
6. Louis XIV's key steps:
- offered nobles opportunities in his growing bureaucracy
- defined "tastes" for the elite (elite culture)
- proclaimed the monarchy as a source of all legitimacy
7. Louis XIV was back by 2 skillful ministers: Colbert and Louvous
8. Consolidated his power by:
- control over the armed forces
- control over taxes and law making
- control over the judicial system
9. Louis XIV's expansionist policies brought France more land along northwestern borders but it also provoked allegiance against
France; impoverished the peasantry
10. When he dies in 1715, the nobility reassert themselves but the system of state control, justice, and force worked too well and was
too well established to be dismantled.

B. Other Attempts at Absolutism- Austria
1. In Austria- the Hapsburg, Leopold I, aided by Eugene of Savoy, pursued successful foreign policy against the French and Turks
2. The foundation for Vienna's future cultural eminence is laid.
3. However the power of the nobles was not curbed as much as in France

C. Other attempts at Absolutism- Prussia
1. The Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg, Prussia, were somewhat successful in centralizing power. The "Junkers" (nobility) traded loyalty
to the throne for virtual control over their great grain producing estates.
2. The "state" controlled the military, justice, and administrative systems.
3. Berlin becomes a center for cultural/ scholarly life.
4. "Reasons of State" such as the need to secure borders, have strong armies, and regular finances were used by Frederick II and Maria
Theresa to reform practices and centralize administration.
5, In Russia:
Peter the Great goes further than any monarch in curbing the power of the Church and the aristocracy.
An increased number of peasants were reduced to serfdom (This slows industrialism in Russia)
The aristocracy became obligated to do military or bureaucratic service
Peter expands Russian territory, builds a capital, and transforms Russia into the greatest power in the Baltic
He gets sets the stage for Russian social and political development

D. Alternate models to Absolutism
1. Alternate models to absolutism could be formed in England, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
2. Oligarchies- power is shared among few aristocrats and merchants who had significant influence over national policy
(This is not quite democracy, but a step in that direction)
3. In England, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 ended the crown's hope for regaining power lost in the civil war and ended any
chance of absolutism
4. In England, the gentry (about 2% of the population) controlled or exercised authority though the House of Commons
- took steps toward toleration
- supported a new bank of England
5. The benefits to England was that with finances standardized and relative internal peace, they could focus on territorial and
economic expansion which they did for about a century.
6. The United Province slips into the second tier of powers. However, it does grant the merchant class (urban upper class) control
over state affairs.
7. Sweden also saw the nobility gain some power from the crown (which had suffered some foreign policy defeats). Sweden's
representative government was similar to England's.

E. Hobbes and Locke
1. English philosophers
2. Discussed human nature and its implications for government systems.
3. Hobbes believed:
- humans by nature are: selfish, brutish, evil
- humans need to be controlled
- the role of the government is to control these instincts- Absolutism is the best way to achieve this control
4. Locke believed:
- humans by nature are: equal and moral
- the government is to protect humans
- natural rights (life, liberty, property) Thomas Jefferson later made this more flowery and changed it to life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness
- constitutionalism is best
5. Both saw the relationship between government and the people as a social contract

F. European International system
1. Wars were fought with larger, more professional, and more expensive armies.
2. For this reason, more restraints on their use was demonstrated
3. Diplomacy increases in importance
4. State interests dominate
5. 7 years war was deeply rooted in competition (?)

Next will come the chapter 18 notes/outline... stay tuned fellow rangers.

A. Overview
1. The 18th centure was the beginning of a demographic and economic expansion that has continued to present day.
2. from 1730- 1800 the population grew 50%
3. Keys
- Decline in mortality rates
-slightly better food supply
- In England, there was a rise in birthrates
4. A time of gentle profit inflation
-helps merchants
-hurts working poor
5. To make ends meet, many families in Northern Europe turned to the "putting out" system
6. Several decades of "protoindustrialization"
- Relations between the countryside and cities prepared the way for revolutionary economic changes later

B. Economic Change for Growth
1. Expanding population
2. Mild inflation
*these are pre-conditions for sustained economic growth

C. Impediments to Economic Growth
1. Localized markets
2. A badly skewed distribution of wealth
3. Concerns about luxury, consumption, and status
4. Guild/ Government restrictions to competition

D. Adam Smith
1. Argued forcefilly against legal restraints to competition (competition leads to innovation)
2. Laizze Faire
3. Economic tranformations takes place in his native British Isle
4. "Invisible hand" will guide economic activity (supply/ demand)

E. British Isle
1. Britain had several advantages over its wealther and more populous European Rivals
- A large internal market
- Convenient water transportation
- A relatively* open social structure
- Runs off financial institution
- Ability to meet demand for cheap, durable cotton goods
- By developing new spinning and weaving techniques, British entreprenuers broke the supply bottle neck

F. The Transformation
1. Power driven machines vastly outperform human labor and transformed the workplace forever.
2. In Northwest Europe, the introduction of convertible husbandry, selective breeding, soil managment, and land enclosure particularly in England leads to greater food production which leads in turn to move people which free up the work industry
3. In Eastern Europe, peasants remained in serfdom. Large land owners exported food to the west. Eastern Europe remained agricultural.

G. Structural Changes
1. Structural changes were slowing in western Europe. The move from agriculture to industrualism had begun. In Eastern Europe, serfdom and agriculture would reamin the norm.
2. A visible sign of economic dynasm was the flourishing trade lining both coasts of the Atlantic.
3. In particular, Britain and France experienced an explosion in overseas mercantile activity.
4. Triangular trade (raw materials from the colonies, slaves from Africa, manufactured goods from home country) brought enormous profits to merchants, and in the form of excise and duties, to the government
5. Mercantile Lawes favored the home country (though colonists benefited too, only the slaves from Brazil to Virginia suffered)

H. Conflict
1. WAR errupts between competitive powers of Europe
2. The Franco- British rivalry plays out in the colonies and trade centers (America, carribean, and Indian Ocean)
3. Peace comes in 1763 and with it, Britain gets extensive rights to the future "jewel of the crown"--> India
4. More ominously- France pulls out of Canada. With the French removed, the colonists feel less vunerable and reduced their need of support from Britain.

The Enlightenment
A Overview
1. The age of Enlightenment was a time when European intellectuals popularized the great scientific and philosophical achievements of the 17th century.
2. It was also a time when attention was redirected toward the study of human nature and culture.

B. Philosophes
1. Combined naturalistic explanations of phenomenons with skeptisism about dogma and tradition
2. Challenged the teachings of Christianity
3. Promoted religious toleration
4. Promoted free expression
5. Promoted developments in social sciences (psychology, sociology)
6. Argued for greater liberty in economic and political life.

C. Key Figures
1. Voltaire (Deism)
2. Diderot (Encyclopedia)
3. Rosseau (challenged the Enlightenments nationalism and enthusiasm for sciences & he extended concern for individual freedom and the promotion of moral activity
=>General Will

D. High Culture vs Popular Culture
- elite classses - laboring classes
- growth of educated - poverty and disconnect of urban poor
- middle class - lower classes
- reading books - hardships
- attending concerts - blood sports
- reading newspapers - religious festivals (piety)
- academic salons - folk wisdom

E. Contrast
1. Elites saw themselves as sophisticated
2. Novel (Richardson and Fielding)
3. Romantic poetry
4. Symphonies (Mozart, Beethoven)
5. They saw popular culture as "vulgar"

Chapter 20 The French Revolution
A. Overview
1. The violent conflicts that conclude the 18th century come after a period of political changes- many initiated by monarchs themselves.
2. Catherine the Great of Russia and Frederick II of Prussia espoused selectivly the ideals of philosophes.
3. They especially stressed the state's obligation to provide order and sound administration in exchange for obedience from its subjects.
4. Joseph II of Austria advocated "reform from above" and promoted freedom of expression and religious tolerance, legal reform, and the end of serfdom
5. Tensions resulted from
- aristocrats jealous and fearful of losing priviliges
- peasants skeptical of any orders from above
6. Even constitutional governments felt pressure to reform (i.e American colonist revolution/ John Wilkes in Great Britain)

B. The Turning Point.
1. 1789- French Revolution
2. State finances collapsing
3. Need to reform tax structure
4. Louis XVI calls the "Estates General" to meet (first time since 1614)
5. Shift in power
6. 3rd Estate- Tennis Court Oath- "Right of the man and citizen" leads to National Assembly
7. Nonviolent Revolution turns violent

C. The Violence Begins
1. Between 1789- 1791 the National Assembly worked to draft a restructuring of government and society
2. They abolished classes (no more estates) and they limited the monarchy
3. Women were still excluded, but about 2/3 of the male population were eligible to vote
4. They set up
- uniform admiinistrative districts
- did away with monopolies
5. One source of conflict, however, was their decision to nationalize church property and place the clergy under state control
6. Religious schisms opened throughout the country
7. Emigrants organized opposition abroad
8. Louis XVI attempted to get Austrian and Prussian support for crushing the Revolution
9. Hence those in power (Austria and Prussia) end up in was in 1792
10. AND France ends the monarchy (eventually killing Louis)

D. The Reign of Terror
1. In late 1792 the Revolution takes an increasingly radical course
2. The assembly had been divided from the start
- the mountain demanded further social, political, and economic reforms
3, A military draft was initiated
4. Insurrectuin erupted in the Vendee
5. The committee of Public Safety
- controlled by Jacobin leader- Robespierre
- suspended the conventions democratic constitution and started the Reign of Terror
6. Their rationale- "we need to kill the enemies of the Revolution both here and abroad"Chapter 21 The Age of Napoleon
A. Overview
1. The Thermidorian Reaction
2. The Rise of Napoleon
3. Impact of Napoleon's Reign

B. The Downfall of Robespierre
1. As external and internal enemies are brought under control in 179, the convention turns on Robespierre and the radical Jacobin rule.
2. In 1795, the Directory, under a new constitution, takes control
3. The Directory tries to take a "middle ground" between the egalitarians (i.e. the sans- culottes and the reactionaries who still favored royalism or were uncomfortable with drastic changes
4. Balance was difficult
5. Corruption was rampant
6. Political expression was stifled
7. As a result, the Directory upset both ends of the political spectrum

C. Napoleon
1. Government ineptitude opened the door for Napoleon
2. In 1799, he seizes control of a coup, originally devised by others
3. The idea of the coup
- Bring order to France by limiting political activity
- Assert the civil equality originally sought in the Revolution

D. Demise of the Old Regime
1. Napoleon's leadership marks the demise of old regime's priviliges and estates
2. However, it also establishes a new form of authoritatian rule
3. His authoritarian rule would have been envied by the Burbon Kings

E. The Changes under Napoleon
1. Government 'by experts' replaces government by the people (representative institutions) and local self- government
2. Political dissent was stifled
3. A concordant with the Pope restores open worship by Catholics and the Christian Calender BUT effectively suborinates the Church to the state
4. Napoleon's
- civil code
- national bank
- the lycee system of elite education
- Legions of Honor Awards
gave institutional embodiments to his hierchial, (sp?) centralized, and property dominated vision of social order, which lasted long after his demise.

F. Napoleon's downfall
1. Napoleon's imperial ambitions- not his internal dictatorship proved to be his undoing.
2, For the 1st decade of his rule, his foreign policy was highly successful
- he subdued Austria, Prussia and Russia and smaller Gernman states
- his only failure was his inablity to destroy the British and initiate a cross channel invasion
3. By 1808, he had extended French power and effected political reorganization in a scale not seen for a thousand years
4. Although not perfect, his Continental System of economic boycott designed to choke Britain's overeas trade, did create hardship or merchants, maufacturers, and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic
5. To meet increasing needs for able bodied men, he increased central authority and started a large conscription machine
6. Then on 2 ends of the continent, his system unravels.
West
- He attempts to tighten control over Spain, initiating an uprising (and the start of modern guerilla warfare)
- Britian invads Portugal
- 300,000 French Troops pinned in Spain
East
- He invades Russia in 1812 and the Grand Army gets crushed by the harsh winter, guerilla atacks, poor logistics, and the Russian's willingness to keep fighting and dying
- By 1814, Prussia and Austria join with Great Britain and Russian forces in forcing Napoleon out.