Europe 1500

Europe 1600

Europe 1648

Europe 1700

Eastern Europe 1700

Questions:

• How did the map of Eastern Europe change from 1500-1750?

Prussia 1600s• Brandenburg-Prussia (German: Brandenburg-Preußen) is the historiographic denomination for the Early Modern realm of

the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg , the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession upon the latter's extinction in the male line in 1618. Another consequence of the intermarriage was the incorporation of the lower Rhenishprincipalities of Cleves, Mark and Ravensberg after the Treaty of Xanten in 1614. The Thirty Years' War (1618–48) was especially devastating. The Elector changed sides three times, and as a result Protestant and Catholic armies swept the land back and forth, killing, burning, seizing men and taking the food supplies. Upwards of half the population was killed or dislocated. Berlin and the other major cities were in ruins, and recovery took decades.

• By the Peace of Westphalia , which ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648, Brandenburg gainedMinden and Halberstadt, also the succession in Farther Pomerania (incorporated in 1653 ) and theDuchy of Magdeburg (incorporated in 1680). With the Treaty of Bromberg (1657), concluded during the Second Northern War , the electors were freed of Polish vassalage for the Duchy of Prussia and gained Lauenburg–Bütow and Draheim. The Treaty of Saint-Germain- en-Laye (1679)expanded Brandenburgian Pomerania to the lower Oder.

• The second half of the 17th century laid the basis for Prussia to become one of the great players in European politics later on. The emerging Brandenburg-Prussian military potential, based on the introduction of a standing army in 1653, was symbolized by the widely noted victories in Warsaw (1656) and Fehrbellin (1675) and by the Great Sleigh Drive (1678). Brandenburg-Prussia alsoestablished a navy and German colonies in the Brandenburger Gold Coast and Arguin. Frederick William, known as "The Great Elector", opened Brandenburg-Prussia to large-scale immigration ("Peuplierung") of mostly Protestant refugees from all across Europe ("Exulanten"), most notablyHuguenot immigration following the Edict of Potsdam. Frederick William also started to centralize Brandenburg-Prussia's administration and reduce the influence of the estates.

• In 1701, Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg , succeeded in elevating his status to King in Prussia. This was made possible by the Duchy of Prussia 's sovereign status outside the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation , and approval by the Habsburg emperor and other European royals in the course of forming alliances for the War of the Spanish succession and the Great Northern War . From 1701 onward, the Hohenzollern domains were referred to as the Kingdom of Prussia , or simply Prussia. Legally, the personal union between Brandenburg and Prussia continued until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. However, by this time the emperor's overlordship over the empire had become a legal fiction. Hence, after 1701, Brandenburg was de facto treated as part of the Prussian kingdom. Frederick and his successors continued to centralize and expand the state, transforming the personal union of politically diverse principalities typical for the Brandenburg-Prussian era into a system of provinces subordinate to Berlin.

Poland and Lithuania• The early modern era of Polish history follows the late Middle Ages. Historians use the term early modern to refer to the period beginning in

approximately 1500 AD and lasting until around 1800.• The Nihil novi act adopted by the Polish diet in 1505 transferred legislative power from the king to the diet. This event marked the beginning of the period

known as the "Nobles' Democracy" or "Nobles' Commonwealth" (Rzeczpospolita szlachecka). The state was ruled by the "free and equal" Polish nobility or szlachta, albeit in intense, and at times destabilizing, competition with the Jagiellon and thenelective kings.

• The Union of Lublin of 1569 constituted the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a more closely merged continuation of the already existing personal union of the Crown of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The beginning of the Commonwealth coincided with the period of Poland's greatest territorial expansion, power, civilizational advancement and prosperity. The Polish–Lithuanian state had become an influential player in Europe and a vital cultural entity, spreading Western cultureeastward.

• Following the Reformation gains accompanied by religious toleration, the Catholic Church embarked on an ideological counter-offensive and Counter-Reformation claimed many converts from Protestant circles. The disagreements over and the difficulties with the assimilation of the eastern Ruthenian populations of the Commonwealth had become clearly discernible; an attempt to settle the issue was made in the religious Union of Brest. On the military front, a series of Cossack uprisings took place.

• The Commonwealth, assertive militarily under King Stephen Báthory, suffered from dynastic distractions during the reigns of the Vasa kings Sigismund III and Władysław IV. It had also become a playground of internal conflicts, in which the kings, powerful magnates and factions of nobility were the main actors. The Commonwealth fought wars with Russia, Sweden and the Ottoman Empire.

• The situation, however, soon radically deteriorated. From 1648 the Cossack Khmelnytsky Uprisingengulfed the south and east, and was soon followed by a Swedish invasion, which raged through core Polish lands. Warfare with the Cossacks and Russia left Ukraine divided, with the eastern part, lost by the Commonwealth, becoming the Tsardom's dependency. John III Sobieski, fighting protracted wars with the Ottoman Empire, revived the Commonwealth's military might once more, in the process helping decisively in 1683 todeliver Vienna from a Turkish onslaught.

• The Commonwealth, subjected to almost constant warfare until 1720, suffered devastating population losses, massive damage to its economy and social structure. The government became ineffective because of large scale internal conflicts (e.g. Lubomirski's Rokosz against John II Casimir and other confederations), corrupted legislative processes (liberum veto) and manipulation by foreign interests. The "ruling" nobility class fell under control of a handful of powerful families with established territorial domains. The reigns of two kings of the Saxon Wettin dynasty, Augustus II andAugustus III, brought the Commonwealth further disintegration.

• The Polish-Lithuanian state was dominated by the Russian Empire from the time of Peter the Great. This foreign control reached its climax under Catherine the Great, and involved at that time also the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy. During the later part of the 18th century the Commonwealth recovered economically, developed culturally and attempted fundamental internal reforms. The reform activity provoked hostile reaction and eventually military response on the part of the neighboring powers. The royal election of 1764 resulted in the reign ofStanisław August Poniatowski.

• The Bar Confederation of 1768 was a szlachta rebellion directed against Russia and the Polish king. It was brought under control and followed in 1772 by the First Partition of the Commonwealth, a permanent encroachment on the outer Commonwealth provinces by Russia, Prussia and Austria.