HI 112 A Survey of Modern Europe

Raffael ScheckColby College

Myself

Miller 250 rmscheck@colby.edu 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)