 Thirty Year’s War  Maria Theresa  Frederick the Great  Seven Years War

 Rulers in Central Europe never became Absolute monarchs  Holy Roman Empire had a single emperor  Covered most of Central Europe › Empire had dozens of small states › Each with own ruler

 1450’s All Holy Roman Emperors came from the Hapsburg family  1600’s Hapsburg emperor caused the Thirty Years War  Alliances cause it to be a continent wide affair

 Religious dispute in 1618  Two Protestant churches were ordered to shut down  Protestants threw the emperor’s representatives out the palace window  They were unhurt

 Emperor’s attempt to control religion sparked revolt  Nobles in Bavaria and Austria rebelled  Joined by other rulers  Monarch in Spain were members of the Hapsburg joined Ferdinand’s side

 During the first 12 years Hapsburg armies crushed troops of Protestant princes  Put down Czech uprising  Defeated German Protestants  Army destroyed everything in its path

 Gustavus of Sweden shifted the tide  Drove Hapsburg out of northern Germany  Cardinal Richelieu and Mazarin dominated remaining years of the war  Did not want European leaders to have as much power as French King

 France, Spain’s rival joined the Protestant side  Denmark and Sweden Also on Protestant side  War lasted till 1648  7 million Germans died  Trade and agriculture ruined  Disease and starvation

 Treaty of Westphalia ended the war  Weakened the Hapsburg family  Strengthened France by awarding German territory  Ended religious wars in Europe  Introduced new method of negotiations to settle wars

 Serfs in western Europe slowly won their freedom  Joined middle class townspeople  Central Europe imposed laws restricting serfs from gaining freedom  Wanted serfs to produce large harvests

 Landowning nobles blocked development of strong kings  No strong ruler to unify the state  Ottoman empire weakened  Holy Roman Empire weakened from 30 Year’s War

 Austria governed by the Hapsburg family  Prussia’s rulers came from Hohenzollerns  1740 Charles V died without an heir (HRE)  Wrote the Pragmatic Sanction-empire could be passed to a female

 Maria Theresa was his daughter seemed she would take the throne  Hohenzollerans had different ideas  Frederick the Great seized Austria Province of Silesia  Offered Maria Theresa an alliance

 Would help her husband become Holy Roman Emperor  Maria Theresa turned him down  War of Austrian succession broke out

 Spain, France and two German states entered on Prussia’ side  Each hoped to gain territory  Maria Theresa asked for peace  Prussia kept Silesia launching it to position of power

 When he and a friend were caught stealing  Frederick I made his son watch his friends beheading  Frederick II › Religious tolerance › Legal reform › Ruler should be a father to his people

 Prussia’s victory intensified rivalry with Austria and Hungary  1756 Seven Year’s War  Prussia ruled by Frederick and Great Britain on one side  Austria, France, Russia on the other

 Fighting also occurred in North America and India  Prussia was on verge of defeat  Austrian and Russia forces occupied the capitol

 Russia pulled out of the war  Prussia regained strength  Prussia became the strongest military in Europe  Frederick pushed opponent out of Prussia

 1756 Every great European power was at war  Fought in Europe, India and north America  Did not change territory in Europe  France lost its colonies in North America