AP European History

 Enlightened Despots ◦ 18 th -century monarchs ◦ NOT democratic ◦ BUT used absolute power to reform their countries.  Areas of reform:  Law  Social and economic conditions  Education  Notice! No English monarchs here!

 Many of them read the works of the philosophers of the “Age of Reason” or were advised by councilors who had. ◦ Who were the philosophers?  Locke  Hobbes  Montesquieu  Voltaire  Rousseau  The Physiocrats

 Many monarchs realized that to improve their states, they needed to reform.  Several key absolute rulers invited many of the living philosophers to advise them.

 Voltaire pushed the idea that a ruler can justify her/his power by improving society. ◦ Voltaire is the philosopher who said: “I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it.”

◦ spent a lot of time at the court of Frederick the Great of Prussia (Voltaire was the first to call him “the Great”) ◦ corresponded with Catherine the Great of Russia.

 Frederick of Prussia ( ) ◦ Reign ◦ (Frederick William Hohenzollern II) ◦ Wrote poetry and essays, played music, even wrote some philosophy. ◦ Strategic thinker

 Reforms ◦ Abolished torture (except for treason & murder) ◦ Established elementary schools ◦ Promoted industry and agriculture ◦ After “Seven Years War,” helped peasants rebuild. ◦ Established some religious freedom

 Reign  Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, empress of the HRE, and a ton of other titles. ◦ Husband Francis I – Francis Stephen of Lorraine – was the Emperor in name only  Got to the throne by “Pragmatic Sanction” which recognized succession through female line. ◦ But as soon as her dad died, Frederick of Prussia invaded. ◦ Her appeal to the Hungarian Diet for help was “over the top”

 Her son, Josef II, became HRE; the two ruled together for some time.  Devout Catholic; 16 children (10 to adulthood) ◦ Among them, Marie “Let them eat cake”Antoinette  Disagreed with many Enlightenment Philosophers.

 Reforms ◦ Protected the rights of serfs: codes established regulating relationship with lords ◦ Freed all peasants on crown lands ◦ Started a paid bureaucracy (civil servants) ◦ Set up elementary schools funded by local and state funds. ◦ Created a tariff union of all parts of the HRE ◦ Kicked the Jesuits out of the country

 Reign with Mom ( ); all by himself ( )  Huge fan of Enlightenment philosophers. ◦ When MT died, he pushed for even greater reforms. “Too many notes”

 Reforms ◦ Serfdom completely abolished. ◦ Taxes were made equal for both serfs and nobles ◦ Freedom of the press ◦ Took property from the church to fund hospitals. ◦ Relaxed laws binding Jews to villages.  His brother Leopold, however, was a huge reactionary, and rolled back a lot of the reforms.

 Reigned  German-born princess who staged a coup against her incompetent husband, Peter III. ◦ Did the Romanov dynasty end with her?  Ignored son Paul, but practically raised grandson Alexander by herself.  Major reformer…

 Reform ◦ Reorganized local government and established a civil service. ◦ Decreased use of torture ◦ Codified laws. ◦ Toured the countryside incognito.  Potemkin village comes from this tour. Potemkin

 Backlash! ◦ When Pugachev rebellion arose, she back-pedaled some of the reforms.  Toyed with the idea of freeing the serfs. The Don Cossack, Pugachev

 Enlightened Despots were not democrats, but top-down reformers. ◦ They liked Enlightenment philosophy—especially Voltaire’s brand.  Reforms in general: ◦ Codification of laws ◦ Limit church power ◦ Construct hospitals and elementary schools ◦ Develop centralized bureaucracy ◦ Modify serfdom