1. usmeni Flashcards
What is the absolutist rule and when did it occur?
From 16th to 18th century
European states established the absolutist rule of individual ruling houses:
- the introduction of standing army
the tax sysstem - the creation of administrative apparatus for supervising and collecting finances
- the absolute monarchies
Absolutism?
unlimited power of one ruler - legislative, administrative, judicial power
- the process of strenghtening the ruler’s power based on the new administrative apparatus
- the process of creating and developing countries 16-18th century
Niccolo Machiavelli?
The Prince - II Principe
1st to systematically present his thesis about the importance of rulers and his political action in the process of obtaining government
he described the ruler’s virtues that are necessary to overcome the Italian particularism and are important for the establishment of a single political power
- ARGUED THAT BAD DEEDS AND ACTIONS COULD BE JUSTIFIED BY NOBLE AIMS
Royal absolutism
the royal palace was the center of all life, founded in the time of Louis XIV when the Versailles became the center of social and political life
The enlightment
an intellectual movement in Europe of the 18th century
- basic feature is a belief in the human reason
- great advances in natural and social sciences
- the enlightened thinkers of Europe considered themselves to be part of an intellectual community
- shared their ideas through books, letters and magazine articles
- debated about state sovereignity, freedom, equality of all people and religion tolerance
John Locke?
accepted the idea of the social contract, critized the absolute monarchy and favored the idea of self-goverment whose main purpose is to protect 3 natural rights: life, liberty and property
- if goverment fails to do so, citizens can overthrow it
What did John Locke write?
Two Treaties on Goverment
Jean - Jacques Rousseau
a Swiss philosopher, active in France
- author of books: Of the Social Contract, Principles of Political Rights where he theorized about the best way to set up the government
claimed that good government was one that was freely formed by the people and guided by the general will of society -> direct democracy
Montesquieu or?
Charles Louis de Secondat
A French political thinker
famous for his theory of separation of powers (triodoba vlasti): the legislative, executive and judicial
- he thought that the separation of powers would keep any idividual or group from gaining complete power - POWER SHOULD BE A CHECK TO POWER
What did Montesquieu write?
On the Spirits of Laws
Which are philosopher of the englightment period?
Rene Descartes, John Locke, Voltaire
Rene Descartes
rationalism
cogito ergo sum - I think therefore I am
believed that the human reason is the main way to comprehension
John Locke
empiricism
postulated that the mind was a blank slate or TABULA RASA
believed that the experience was the main way to comprehension
Voltaire
close to empiriscm, critized the government, the clergy and the aristocracy
fought for tolerance, reason, freedom of speech and freedom of religious belief
Deism
belief that reason and observation of the naural world are sufficient to determine the existence of a Creator
The French Encyclopedie
edited by Denis Diderot and Jean D’Alembert
summary of thought and belief of the Englightment
reflected revolutionary political view and antireligious sentiment -> angered both the French government and the Catholic church
- publication completed between 1751 and 1780
Immanuel Kant
founder of the German critical philosophy
- ‘The Critique of Pure Reason’
Sapere aude - the motto of the enlightment - dare to be wise or dare to know
Mercantilism
an economic theory in which a country attemps to amass wealth through trade with other countries, exporting more than it imports and increasing stores of gold and precious metals
- in the 16/17th century it was believed that the accumulation of gold was the best way to increase the prosperity of a country
it involves government investment in research and development to maximize the efficiency and capacity of domestic industry
Monopoly
a situation in which a single company or group owns nearly all of the market for a given type of product or service
Examples of mercantilism
FRANCE
Jean Baptiste Colbert, a french statesman who carried out the program of economic reconstruction that helped make France the dominant power of Europe, he had new lands cleared for farming, encouraged mining and other basic industries and bulit up luxury trades such as lacemaking
- to protect manufacturers, he put high tariffs on imported goods
- he regulated trade with the colonies to enrich the royal treasury - he was the Minister of Louis XIV
ENGLAND
the goal of the English mercantilist policy was to achieve dominance in overseas trade and take monopoly on trade
THE NAVIGATION ACT
in 1651, laws restricted the use of foreign ships for trade between Britain and its colonies, these acts were not aimed against colonies but rather against the Dutch traders
- these Acts led to a war between the British and the Dutch
THE CORN LAWS
1815-1845, the laws were designed to protect English farmers from inexpensive foreign imports of grain
- these heavy restrictions and later taxes on any imported grain made it so the British people would only buy grain from within its borders, this raised the price of bread and overall cost of living
ECONOMIC LIBERALISM
economic theory opposed to mercantilism, they advocated for the freedom of the market and the abolition of state monopolies and that the goverment must nor interfere in economic policy
- it was formulated by Adam Smith and his book ‘The Wealth of Nations’, he claimed that economic liberty guaranteed economic progress
CAMERALISM
a German direction of mercantilism, goal is to provide revenue for the central treasury, claimed that the state should educate public officials who will know how to implement useful reforms, the ruler and the goverment should be involved in economic policy
PHYSIOCRATISM
based on natural laws they advocated the protection of private property by a constitutional monarchy
- economic development is possible only when the surplus is created in the process of production and it’s only possible in agriculture
-land is the only source of wealth
supported free trade and opposed tariffs and taxes on trade
urged a policy of LAISSEZ FAIRE - allowing business to operate with no government interference
headed by FRANCOIS QUESNAY, a French economist
PRUSSIA
1648 - Peace of Westphalia, the end of Thirty Years’ War, the war did great damage on the Holy Roman Empire so the Hohenzollern family began to expand its power in eastern parts of Europe
They ruled the state of Brandenburg and Berlin was their capital
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Purssia and the Margraviate of Brandenbrug under Hohenzollern dynasty
Frederick Wiliam I
the first king of Prussia
he was called the sergeant king bc he spent most of his time with his soldiers
he doubled the size of the army and made it the best trained in Europe - The Prussian Drill
he established a bureaucracyto carry out state business efficiently
cameralism
Frederick II The Great
1740-1786
the son of Frederick Wiliam I
loved music, philosophy and poetry - an enlightened ruler who believed that the king’s duty was to be THE FIRST SERVANT OF THE STATE
Reforms by Frederick II The Great
The Law Codification, 1763 - obligatory schooling and teaching for all boys, allowed religious tolerance, church authorities were subordinate to civilian authority, monopolies on tobacco, salt and coffee
established national manufacturing - for the production of luxury good and military purposes
Foreign policy - Prussia
1740 - 1748 War of the Austrian Succession - Frederick II The Great conquered Silesia
1756 - 1763 The Seven Years’ War
1772 The First Partition of Poland
RUSSIA - Peter I The Great
Russia was a land of boyars and serfs but Peter transformed Russia from an isolated and backward country into a great European power, he believed that Russia’s future depended on having a SEA PORT and that only then could Russia compete with more modern states of Western Europe
- he touredWestern Europe with a group of Russian delegates to learn about European customs and industrial techniques, insisted on keeping his identity a secret, viisted Netherlands, England and Austria
his goal was WESTERNIZATION - using Western Europe as a model for change
