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Eastern Europe (Overview)
- economically less advanced than Western Europe
- fewer cities
- many areas still have serfdom (more peasants)
- no overseas colonies
- no extensive trade
- lack of centralized leadership
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Austrian Hapsburg Empire (1)
Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I
- Treaty of Westphalia (1648): gives Austrian-Hapsburgs control over Bohemia, S.E. German city states, and parts of Hungary after 30 Years' War
- Treaty of Karlowitz (1699): Leopold acquires most of Hungary
- H.R.E. Leopold I successfully resists expansions of France and the Ottoman Turks
- Battle of Vienna (1683): last attempt of Ottoman Turks to gain territory; Emeperor Leopold' forces refuse to surrender; saved by John Sobieski, ("Savior of the Western European Civilization") king of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- John Sobieski: elected by teh sjem (Polish Parliament) in 1674; rules until 1696; Poland is dominated by foreign powers after his death; sjem must have 100% agreement on who the next king will be; allows foreign powers to buy off at least one member and block the good candidates
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Austrian Hapsburg Empire (2)
Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I; War of the Spanish Succession
- Leopold joins Grand Alliance against Louis XIV
- Treaty of Rastatt (1714): Spanish Netherlands becomes Austrian Netherlands; Spanish Hapsburg territories in Italy become Austrian-Hapsburg's territories; Spain is weakened as a result
- Victory against French confirms Austria's place as a European power
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Austrian Hapsburg Empire (3)
Charles VI
- Leopold is succeeded by Joseph I, who is succeeded by his brother Charles VI in 1711
- Charles dies w/o a male heir
- will designated that his daughters would rule the empire rather than Joseph's daughters
- Pragmatic Sanction of 1713: designed to alter Hapsburg law of succession in case of no male heirs and to prevent a struggle for succession; legal inheritance of Hapsburg holdings goes to Charles VI's daughter, Maria Theresa (1740-1780)
- Charles does not leave his daughter with a strong military
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Austrian Hapsburg Empire (4)
War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748)
- Silesia is invaded by Frederick the Great of Prussia; Maria cannot stop him
- war involves almost all of Europe/the world
- marks the beginning of a rivalry described as German Dualism (long conflict b/w 2 largest German states and its allies; Austria has a greater economy; Prussia has a greater military)
- Maria successfully defends her inheritance in the rest of the Austrian-Hapsburg domains
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Austrian Hapsburg Empire (5)
Maria Theresa as Sovereign Ruler
- Maria's husband, Francis of Lorraine, becomes HRE
- he has little interest in ruling, leaving Maria fully in charge
- Maria=anti-semetic
- Medicinal Reforms: Vienna General Hospital; decrees autopsies mandatory for all hospital deaths; introduces smallpox inoculations
- Civil Rights Reforms: outlaws witch burning and torture
- Educational Reforms: all children (male and female) from 6-12 had to attend school
- Economic Reforms: collected taxes from clergy and nobility
- "That woman's achievements are those of a great man."-Frederick the Great
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Austrian Hapsburg Empire (6)
Joseph II (r. 1765-1790)
- proponent of Enlightened Absolutism
- Enlightened Absolutism: form of absolute monarchy/despotism in which rulers were influenced by the Enlightenment
- influenced by Voltaire, Enlightenment writer
- allowed toleration of all Christian sects; rights for Jews; freedom of speech
- Abolished robot (work obligation owed by Austrian peasants to noble owners of the land) and serfdom
- End of reign marked by personal issues and rebellions in Hungary and Austrian Netherlands (Belgium/Spanish Netherlands)
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Austrian Hapsburg Empire (7)
Leopold II
- End of the reform
- Joseph II's reforms came quickly and created much turmoil
- many nobles protested that these reforms worked to their disadvantage; peasants rose up in revolt to defend new rights
- Leopold repeals many of Joseph's reforms in an effort to appease the nobles
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Prussia and the Hohenzollerns (1)
- The Hohenzollern family began its prominence in 1415 as a family of electors in Brandenburg (N. Germany)
- Over time, the family gradually increased its power and faced the task of uniting their scattered lands
- "Prussia was not a country with an army, but an army with a country..."-Frederich von Schrotter (1743-1815), Junker & Prussian gov. minister
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Prussia and the Hohenzollerns (2)
Creating a Modern State; Frederick William, the Great Elector (r. 1640-1688)
- Golden Bull Elector (not king)
- led Prussia
- built up military, making the army the cornerstone of the newly forming nation
- Generalkriegskommissariat (General War Commission): raised taxes, settled new Protestant immigrants from France; most important job was to maintain the army through taxation
- Prussians bear more than twice as much in taxes as contemporaries in other countries; peasants and the urban class especially
- Alliance with the Junkers (nobility) to serve as army officers (exempt from taxes); Prussia is characterized by the alliance of its ruler with the nobility (unlike France); army officials take oaths of allegiance to Frederick
- Allows religious toleraion across the nation (French Huguenots, Polish Jews, etc.)
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Prussia and the Hohenzollerns (3)
Frederick I (r. 1688-1713)
- first to assume the title of "King of Prussia"
- makes a deal with Leopold I; he will provide Austria with soldiers in order to stop France, and Leopold will recognize him as king
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Prussia and the Hohenzollerns (4)
Frederick William "the Soldier King" (r. 1713-1740)
- doubles the size of the Prussian army
- army designed to show Prussian power; not necessarily an instrument of war
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Prussia and the Hohenzollerns (5)
Frederick II or the Great (r. 1740-1786)
- begins the war of Austrian Succession with the invasion of Silesia
- establishes Prussia's position as a power in Europe
- personal friend=Voltaire
- ruled as an enlightened despot (enlightened absolutism)
- absolute rulers use power to promote reform, but none of these reforms endanger the rulers' power
- allows religious toleration
- patron of the arts and sciences
- creates a merit-based system to advance in gov. positions
- participates in the 1st Partition of Poland (1772)
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