Ch. 4 Section 4 Age of Absolutism; The Rise of Austria & Prussia The German States

There was no unified state of Germany until the end of the 19 th century. At the beginning of the 17 th century there were many smaller German states (many of which were part of the Holy Roman Empire), which spoke Germanic languages.

The Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire. By the 17 th century it was a patchwork of several hundred small, separate states. In theory these states were ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor, who was chosen by seven leading German princes, called electors. In practice, the emperor had little power over many rival princes.

The Thirty Years War

The Catholic Hapsburg ruler of Bohemia, sought to suppress Protestants and to assert royal power over nobles. Czech/Bohemian Protestants revolted against their Catholic ruler Ferdinand II of Bohemia in When Ferdinand II sent an army to crush the Protestant revolt, Protestant princes in the Holy Roman Empire came to the aid of the Protestants in Bohemia (part of the Holy Roman Empire).

Ferdinand II was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1619 and the protestant princes saw the conflict in Bohemia as a chance to challenge their Catholic Emperor. This war becomes a war between German Catholic princes/rulers and German Protestant princes. Spain sent aid to the Hapsburgs (Catholic princes). Denmark and Sweden fought against the Hapsburgs. Catholic France under Richelieu took up arms against the Catholic Hapsburgs to maintain a balance of power. The Thirty Years War started over religion but ended up being fought over the balance of power. Rulers said they wanted a balance of power but they really wanted the “balance” tipped in their favor.

Treaty/Peace of Westphalia Ended Hapsburg hopes of establishing an absolute monarchy over Germany/Holy Roman Empire. The princes of Germany won almost complete independence from the Holy Roman Empire. 2.France became the strongest country in Europe. France gained territory from the Hapsburgs. 3. Calvinism gained equal privileges with Lutheranism and Catholicism. A Calvinist prince could (in the Holy Roman Empire) dictate that religion for his state. 4. Dutch Republic won recognition as an independent state.

More results of the Thirty Years war. German lands remained divided into more than 360 states. These states still acknowledged the Holy Roman emperor. Yet each state had its own government, currency, church, armed forces, and foreign policy. The German states, potentially the most powerful nation in Europe, thus remained fragmented for another 223 years.

Hapsburgs They kept the title “Holy Roman Emperor,” but focused on expanding their own lands. To Austria, they added Bohemia, Hungary, and, later, parts of Poland and some Italian states. Uniting these lands proved difficult. By the 1700s, the Hapsburg Empire included Germans, Magyars, Slavs, and others. The Hapsburgs did assert some control over these diverse peoples. They never developed a centralized governmental system like France.

Maria Theresa

A Hapsburg inherited the throne of Austria in Maria’s father Charles VI, was the Holy Roman Emperor. Charles VI worked to secure the Pragmatic Sanction. Under the Pragmatic Sanction European Monarchs agreed to accept a Female Monarch of Austria. Maria never became the the Holy Roman Emperor.

Hohenzollern Prussia

Frederick William the Great Elector

From the Hohenzollern family. He became Elector (had a vote for the Holy Roman Emperor) of Brandenburg. He builds a strong standing army. He forms an alliance with the Junkers, Prussian Nobles.

The three Hohenzollerns who followed the Great Elector followed his formula for success; build a bigger army. Frederick I Frederick William I Frederick the Great (Frederick II)

Frederick I He was the first to be called the King of Prussia. Prussia, which was outside the Holy Roman Empire was recognized as a kingdom by the Treaty of Utrecht after the War of Spanish Succession. Brandenburg, which was a part of the Holy Roman Empire, now became a part of Prussia.

Frederick William I

He centralized the Government. He made the Prussian army the most efficient fighting force in Europe. He was called the Sergeant-king. Made sure his son Frederick was trained in the art of war. When Frederick, who preferred playing the flute, tried to flee the country with a friend, Frederick William put his son in solitary confinement and forced him to watch his friend being beheaded.

Frederick II (the Great)

He was the most powerful ruler in Prussian history. He rejected the Pragmatic Sanction, which guaranteed Maria Theresa the right to rule Austria. He seized the Austrian province of Silesia and started the War of Austrian Succession (because he did not want Maria to succeed to the Austrian Throne).

War of Austrian Succession In the war of Austrian Succession Spain and France backed Prussia. The French Bourbon rulers opposed the Austrian Hapsburgs. England and the Dutch Netherlands backed Austria. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the war of Austrian Succession, Maria kept her throne but Austria lost Silesia to Prussia.

Diplomatic Revolution Maria Theresa still hoped to get Silesia back from Prussia. In 1756 Maria pulls off the Diplomatic Revolution. She switches from an alliance with England to an Alliance with France and Russia. The French Bourbons had been fighting the Austrian and Spanish Hapsburgs for more than 200 years. England thus switches to supporting Prussia (because England’s primary enemy was France).

Seven Years War 1756 With enemies on three sides Frederick the Great struck first. The war, which started between Austria and Prussia, becomes a struggle between England and France. The War, which was also fought in the American colonies, was called the French and Indian War in America. After the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the only country to make major gains was England, which gained most of the French Colonial land in North America.