1. Enlightened Absolutism and the French Revolution Lauryn Childress Milda Vielaviciute Andrew Gooding Andy Oliver Anja Bjelekovic

2. Toward A New Political Order: Enlightened Absolutism  Frederick II of Prussia, Catherine the Great of Russia, Joseph II of Austria were believed to be ‘enlightened’ rulers

3. Prussia: The Army and the Bureaucracy  Prussia became a big European power because of Frederick William I and Frederick II  Frederick William I  Focused on bureaucracy and army  Doubled army to 83,000 and was governed by local landed aristocracy  Frederick II  Most educated and great ruler of the 18 th century  Reformed most of the political order

4. Austrian Empire of the Habsburgs  Austria was a composite of many nationalities, languages, cultures, and religions  Maria Theresa made few administrative reforms to centralize empire  Her successor, Joseph II, made drastic reforms to free Austria from being conservative  Reforms proved to be overwhelming to Austrian people  Work was undone by his successor

5. Russian Under Catherine the Great  German widow of Peter III  Took control and didn’t make many reforms because she realized that success depended on the nobles, who were exempt from taxes  Conquered much territory for Russia, including 50% of Poland and area leading to the Black Sea  Peasant conditions were horrible and they rebelled, which was not successful

6. French Revolution: Background  27 million divided people who sought change  French Revolution had origins in political grievances  Social structure of Old Regime  1 st estate – clergy (130,000)  owned 10% of the land  Internally divided  2 nd estate – nobility (350,000)  Owned 25-30% of land  3 rd estate – commoners  Bourgeoisie was the middle class consisting of merchants, artisans, and other professionals (lawyers, doctors, etc.)  Both the nobility and the bourgeoisie wanted to reform strict rule of monarchy

7. Other Problems Facing French Monarchy  Bad harvests  Led to increase of peasants  Wars and royal extravagances  Led to state of near bankruptcy  People wanted constitutional government that would revoke fiscal privileges of church and nobility

8. From Estates-General to National Assembly  Estates General consisted of representatives from the 3 orders of society  1 st estate took most power, which led to the 3 rd estate forming of National Assembly  The king, Louis XVI, prepared to use force against the 3 rd estate  Assembly took over Bastille and defeated king’s forces  Mass revolts were taking place all over France

9. Destruction of Old Regime  National Assembly destroyed relicts of feudalism and aristocratic privilege  Everyone was made equal – except for women, who were given more but not full rights  On Oct. 5th, thousands of armed women broke into Versailles and forced the king to accept the new laws  King then moved to Paris  The Catholic church was the enemy of the revolution  Priests and bishops were to be elected by the people

10. Destruction of Old Regime  In 1791, National Assembly established a limited constitutional monarch, but Legislative Assembly actually made the laws  Legislative Assembly was made of 745 representatives chosen by election that preserved power in hands of more affluent members of society  King tried to flee Paris but was captured  Monarchs of Austria and Prussia feared that the revolution would spread to their countries  Tried to use force to reestablish monarchy in France  Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria, but was unsuccessful and took a large toll on the economy