1. Jeannie Sullivan, Cecilia Bellet, Shelbi Matthews

2.  After thirty years of turmoil in Russia, Michael Romanov took over as the first Romanov tsar and restored the country’s prosperity.  Another Romanov, Peter the Great, took Russia to the next level and transformed it into a major European power.

4.  Peter was the son of Michael Romanov, he became tsar when he was ten years old in 1682.  Peter was enthralled by technology and traveled abroad to various Western European countries (such as the Dutch Republic & England).  While abroad, Peter studied Western culture and brought back many modern ideas to Russia.

5.  (1700-1725) The Great Northern War- a war between Russia and Sweden that resulted in Russian dominance of the Baltic Sea.  Russians believed that having control of the Baltic was critical to become a major European power.  St. Petersburg was built in 1703 and was made the new capital in Russia. It was a way of celebrating Peter the Greats success after the war.  It was made using urban principles from the West.  The most drunken council was made by Peter the great. It was a meeting of Peter and his friends drinking, violent jokes, and criticism of the Catholic church.

6.  It was a decree by Peter in 1722 that restructured civil and military administration into a system of advancement based on merit  Administrators received noble status as they moved up instead of paying for a rank.

8.  Catherine(original name: Sophie) married Peter the Great’s grandson Peter III. She plotted a coup d'état against Peter with her lover  He was soon killed and Sophie became successor of the throne and changed her name to Catherine II the Great.  She took over ecclesiastical lands and became one of Russia's most powerful rulers. She dramatically expanded Russia’s borders and joined in the partition of Poland.  She also fought two wars with the Turks. These conquests along with the partitions of Poland rivaled Peter the Greats advances in the Baltic region and established the western, modern boundaries of Russia.

9.  Catherine encouraged colonization.  At the end of her reign the Russian empire contained dozens of different ethnic and religious communities.  Cultural diversity in the Russian empire rivaled that of the Habsburg lands.

10.  Division of Poland carried out by Austria, Prussia, and Russia. In 1772 1792 and 1795 leading to the end of an independent Polish State.  Russia instigated a civil war in Poland by demanding full toleration for its protestant and orthodox inhabitants.  Attempting to put an end to that civil war Austria, Prussia, and Russia proceeded to divide up sections of Poland among themselves.

11.  Emelian Pugachev: (c.1742-1775) Cossack who claimed to be Peter III and led an unsuccessful rebellion of thousands of serfs against Catherine the Great.  Pugachev’s revolts were unique because of their size and social composition (social status of people included in the revolts).  Pugachev was taken to Moscow in a cage and executed  Although the revolt failed it was a sign of deep social crisis in Russia.  The rebellion a demand for a end to serfdom, taxation, and military drafts.

12.  In 1740 Frederick II of Prussia attacked Maria Theresa of Austria, beginning the War of the Austrian Succession.  Frederick was seeking Silesia, the richest of Austria's territories.  He took advantage of the questioning of Maria Theresa’s legitimacy to the throne and claimed that Silesia rightfully belonged to Prussia.

13.  In 1740 Britain joined Austria in the fight against Prussia, renewing the British-Austrian alliance that had been forged in the wars against Louis XIV.  Britain during this time was also engaged in war with Spain, fighting over trading rights therefore, decided to interject in war with the French residing in India and North America  At the wars’ end Prussia emerged victorious, keeping Silesia and the French and British war ended indecisively.

14.  War broke out again in 1756 between Austria and Prussia over Silesia. ◦ Russia this time was helping Austria France and Britain continued their wars in India during the Sven Year War ◦ France concluded an alliance with Austria so Britain joined Prussia in the diplomatic revolution ◦ War ended in 1763

15.  18th Century Warfare ◦ by this time in Europe constant war was veiwed as inevitable ◦ because of this many aspects of warfare were so deeply embedded into the peoples minds that nothing ever changed ◦ For example:  the king as head of military  shifting of alliances

16. ◦ But now, in the 18th century, war became more civilized  Louis XIV made having a standing army a standard feature in Europe  with the exception of Britain who preferred a smaller army but provided financial aid to their allies's forces  Armies now had better weapons and were much more disciplined and trained  Armies now had less of an impact on the civilians because of better discipline and less pillaging ◦ Warfare also became more of a science  Sebastien le Prestre de Vauban for example improved and supervised the building of French fortresses  other military scientists improved military drills so that the soldiers were better trained, in line and knew military maneuvers  nobles who were the heads of armies were educated about drill and battle-field tactics which they then taught to their own soldiers

17. ◦ These new military systems also affected the government of countries  because even distribution of power seemed to work very well with the military, countries such as France tried to restore balance after wars by giving each state even power according to size, population etc.  this though, made competition with states more scrambled, and religious division in states and countries a smaller role in wars. Now territory, power and prestige were much larger roles in wars.

18.  When the war ended in 1763, there were clear winners and losers:  In central Europe, FREDERICK II was a WINNER b/c Silesia was never returned to Austria.  AUSTRIA was a LOSER. The shock of Silesia’s loss was great, and influenced the decisions of political leaders such as Maria Theresa.  Austria’s defeat in war led to radical social reforms intended to increase peasant prosperity, which in turn would allow for higher taxes and more money for the army.

19.  Although Austria did end up losing the battle, Maria Theresa tried everything in her power to strengthen the country. She founded a military academy, introduced advanced drill and maneuvering techniques.  Maria also imposed new taxes on the Catholic Church for she believed that the church should assume a greater part of the expenses needed to defend the state against competitors.  When Maria Theresa died in 1780, she was succeeded by her son, Joseph II, who was also determined to strengthen Austria against Prussia.  Joseph II took a more radical approach, and in 1780 he abolished serfdom as a whole. He also imposed state taxes on the ex-serfs.