ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE TO 1740

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Lords and Peasants in Eastern Europe

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Overall, between 1400 and 1650 the princes and landed nobility of eastern Europe rolled back the gains made earlier by the peasantry Serfdom was reimposed.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The Medieval Background (1400-1650)

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Personal and economic freedom for peasants increased between 1050 and 1300. Serfdom nearly disappeared. Peasants bargained freely with their landlords and moved about as they pleased.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE After 1300, powerful lords in eastern Europe revived serfdom to combat their economic problems.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Laws that restricted the peasants' right of free movement were passed. Lords took more and more of the peasants' land and imposed heavier labor obligations.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The Consolidation of Serfdom

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The re-establishment of hereditary serfdom took place in Poland, Prussia, and Russia between 1500 and 1650.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The consolidation of serfdom was accompanied by the growth of estate agriculture. Lords seized peasant land for their own estates. They then demanded unpaid serf labor on those estates.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Political reasons for changes in serfdom in eastern Europe were the most important.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Weak monarchs could not resist the demands of the powerful noble landlords.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The absence of the western concept of sovereignty meant that the king did not think in terms of protecting the people of the nation.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Overall, the peasants had less political power in eastern Europe and less solidarity.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The landlords systematically undermined the medieval privileges of the towns. The lords sold directly to foreign capitalists instead of selling to local merchants. Eastern towns lost their medieval right of refuge.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The Rise of Austria and Prussia

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Austria and the Ottoman Turks

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Aftermath of the Thirty Years' War The Austrian Habsburgs lacked any real power in the Holy Roman Empire turned inward and eastward to unify their holdings.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Ferdinand II (r. 1619-1637) The Habsburgs, having defeated the Protestant Czechs in Bohemia during the Thirty Years’ War, replaced the Bohemian nobility with a foreign nobility loyal to the Habsburgs

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Serfdom increased Protestantism was wiped out Absolutism was achieved.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Ferdinand III (r. 1637-1657) Centralized the government in Austria Created a standing army Turned toward Hungary for land.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE This eastward turn led Austria to war against the Turks over Hungary and Transylvania.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Under Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520-1566), the Ottoman Turks had built the most powerful empire in the world, which included part of central Europe.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Ottoman System The Turkish sultan was the absolute head of the state. There was little private property, and a bureaucracy staffed by slaves.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Ottoman System Other slaves formed the heart of the Sultan’s army, the janissary corps

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Suleiman led an unsuccessful Turkish assault on Vienna in 1529

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE After Suleiman, the empire declined

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE In the late 17th century, a fading Ottoman Empire regrouped for one more attack on the Habsburgs An Ottoman attack on Vienna in 1683 was turned back

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE When the Ottomans retreated, the Habsburgs attacked The Habsburgs conquered all of Hungary and Transylvania by 1699.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Attempts to develop Habsburg absolutism fail – especially in Hungary The three main areas of the empire – Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary – are united only through allegiance to their ruler, not through any connection to each other

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE To preserve the union, Charles VI issued the Pragmatic Sanction in 1713

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The Pragmatic Sanction stated that the possessions should never be divided. became critical when it became clear that Charles VI would leave a daughter, Maria Theresa, but no male heir

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Prussia in the 17th Century

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The Hohenzollern family ruled the electorate of Brandenburg, but had little real power.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The Thirty Years' War, however, weakened the Estates, the representative assemblies of the realm, and allowed the Hohenzollerns to consolidate their absolutist rule.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Frederick William (the Great Elector) (r. 1640-1688) used military force and taxation to unify his Rhine holdings, Prussia, and Brandenburg into a strong state.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The traditional parliaments, or Estates, which were controlled by the Junkers (the nobles and the landowners), were weakened.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE 1) Wars strengthened the elector The Estates gave the Elector support to fight off various invaders

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE 2) The Junkers were unwilling to join with the towns to block absolutism being more concerned with control over their peasants and freedom from taxation

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The Consolidation of Prussian Absolutism

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Frederick William died in 1688 and was succeeded by Frederick III (r. 1688-1713) Frederick III was award the title of King by the Holy Roman Emperor, but accomplished little else politically

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Frederick III died in 1713 and succeeded by Frederick William I (r. 1713-1740) encouraged Prussian militarism created the best army in Europe plus an efficient bureaucracy.

Frederick William I p. 629, The Western Perspective by Cannistraro and Reich

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The last traces of the parliamentary Estates and local self-government vanished The Junker class became the military elite and Prussia a militarist state, the “Sparta of the North”

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The Development of Russia

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Between 1250 and 1700, Russia and the West became strikingly different After 1700 Russia's development was closer to that of the West.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The Mongol Yoke and The Rise of Moscow

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The Mongols conquered the Kievan state in the 13th century unified it under their harsh rule.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The Mongols used Russian aristocrats as their servants and tax collectors.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The princes of Moscow served the Mongols well became the hereditary great princes.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Ivan I served the Mongols used his wealth and power to strengthen the principality of Moscow.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Ivan III acquired territory around Moscow - including the rich republic of Novgorod.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Ivan III stopped acknowledging the Mongol khan as the supreme ruler assumed the headship of Orthodox Christianity.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Tsar and People to 1689

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE By 1505, the prince of Moscow - the tsar - had emerged as the single hereditary ruler of the eastern Slavs.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The tsars and the boyars, the nobles, struggled over who would rule the state The tsars won and created a new "service nobility" who held the tsar's land on the condition that they serve in his army.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Ivan IV (“Ivan the Terrible”) (r. 1533-1584) An autocratic tsar who expanded Muscovy Further reduced the power of the boyars.

Ivan the Terrible p. 633, The Western Perspective by Cannistraro and Reich

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Murdered leading boyars Confiscated their estates.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Many peasants fled his rule to the newly conquered territories, forming groups called Cossacks.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Businessmen and artisans were bound to their towns and jobs The middle class did not develop.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Ivan the Terrible died in 1584 His son, Theodore, died in 1598, without leaving an heir The result was The Time of Troubles (1598-1613), a period characterized by internal struggles and invasions.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE With no direct heir, relatives of the tsar fought and killed each other.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Swedish and Polish armies invaded - often with some Russian support

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Cossack bands, led by Ivan Bolotnikov, slaughtered many nobles and officials.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The external and internal threats convinced the nobles to band together

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The nobility crushed the Cossack revolt when it reached Moscow

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The nobility then elected Michael Romanov, Ivan’s grandnephew, tsar in 1613 Michael re-established tsarist autocracy and established the Romanov dynasty

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The Romanovs brought about the total enserfment of the people Considerably relaxed the military obligations on the nobility

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE A split in the church over religious reforms led to mass protests by the peasants The church became dependent on the state for its authority.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Another Cossack revolt, led by Stenka Razin, attracted both the urban poor and rural peasants while battling landlords and government officials

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Although Razin’s revolt ultimately failed and he was executed, the revolt further divided Russian society The nobles more strongly supported the tsar and more strongly suppressed the serfs and peasants

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The Reforms of Peter the Great

Peter the Great p. 635, The Western Perspective by Cannistraro and Reich

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Peter the Great (r. 1682-1725) inherited a Russian army based on cavalry, not infantry not the sort of professional armies being formed in Europe.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Using existing Russian methods, Peter conquered Azov in 1696 He then went on a long tour of inspection of western Europe to learn from its example

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE He went to war against the absolutist king of Sweden, Charles XII Despite underestimating Charles, Peter eventually won the Great Northern War.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Reformed the army Forced the nobility to serve in either the army or his bureaucracy for life Required compulsory education for the nobility

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE His new army numbered 200,000 The soldiers were mostly peasants drafted for life The officers were mostly nobles Another 100,000 special troops consisted of Cossacks and foreigners

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE He created schools to train technicians for his army.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Army and government became more efficient and powerful as an interlocking military-civilian bureaucracy was created and staffed by talented people.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Russian peasant life under Peter became more harsh. People replaced land as the primary unit of taxation. Serfs were arbitrarily assigned to work in the factories and mines.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Russia defeated Sweden in 1709 at Poltava to gain control of the Baltic Sea. Russia gained Estonia and Latvia for the first time and became the dominant power on the Baltic

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Although territorial expansion was relatively modest under Peter, Russia became a European Great Power.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Other consequences A greater influx of Western ideas into Russia despite resistance by both nobles and peasants Further class divisions

Caricature of Peter the Great cutting the beard of a boyar p. 637, The Western Perspective by Cannistraro and Reich Caricature of Peter the Great cutting the beard of a boyar

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Absolutism and the Baroque

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Palaces and Power

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Baroque culture and art grew out of an effort by the Catholic church to attract followers.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Architecture played an important role in politics. Used by kings to enhance their image and awe their subjects.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The royal palace was the favorite architectural expression of absolutist power.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The dominant artistic style of the age of absolutism was baroque - a dramatic and emotional style.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Royal Cities and Urban Planning

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Karlsruhe is a good example of how cities were rebuilt along orderly lines and with great avenues and imposing public buildings.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The new avenues brought speed to the city - as elegant carriages raced down the new broad and straight streets.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The Growth of St. Petersburg

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The new St. Petersburg is an excellent example of the tie among architecture, politics, and urban development.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Peter the Great wanted to create a modern, baroque city from which to rule Russia.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The city became a showplace for the tsar paid for by the Russian nobility built by Russian peasants.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE During the 18th century, St. Petersburg became one of the world's largest and most influential cities.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE The new city was Western and baroque in its layout and design.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE It had broad, straight avenues. Houses were built in a uniform line. There were parks, canals, and streetlights. Each social group was to live in a specific section.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE All social groups, especially the peasants, bore heavy burdens to construct the city.

ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Tsarina Elizabeth and the architect Rastrelli crowned the city with great palaces.