Unit Two Flashcards
(34 cards)
Catherine the Great
- Model examples of enlightened despots
- Elevated Russia to a world power status by the end of her reign in the late 18th century.
Fredrick of Prussia
- Model examples of enlightened despots
- Granted religious tolerance and established a law code
Louis XVI
- King of France and an absolute ruler
- His reign marked the outbreak of the French Revolution.
- By 1788, Louis XVI had almost bankrupted the government supporting the American revolution.
- In 1789 he summoned the Estates-General, but he did not grant the reforms that were demanded and revolution followed.
Jean Jacques Rousseau
- Enlightenment thinker
- He had a profound impact on people’s way of life; he taught parents to take a new interest in their children and to educate them differently
- Impacted governments around the world with his idea of the social contract and the importance of individual freedoms.
Deism
- Belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation
- Deism is a crucial factor in the French Enlightenment
- Deism was seen as a compromise between the oppressiveness of Christianity and atheistic materialism.
- Many philosophers, including Voltaire, agreed that there must be a God.
Estates General
- Representative assembly of the three “estates”
- Estate general had the right to approve or veto any tax reforms. The monarchy wanted more taxes.
- The revolt/disassembly of the estate general led to the Tennis Court oath which then led to the French Revolution.
Ottoman Empire
- Feared by the rest of Europe
- One of the largest and longest lasting Empires in history.
- Replaced the Byzantine Empire as the major power in the Eastern Mediterranean.
- At it’s height, it expanded to cover the Balkans and Hungary, and reached the gates of Vienna.
- Known for its extensive Islamic influence in the Middle East which is still carried on to this day.
Third Estate
- Third estate = Common people
- The third estate was always outvoted by the first and second estate. The representatives of the third estate left the meeting and Louis XVI locked them out of the Palace of Versailles.
- Instead, they had convened in the tennis court.
- On June 20, 1789, they declared the tennis court oath and started the National Assembly of France
Voltaire
- Famous enlightenment thinker
- Forwarded thinker when it came to civil liberties and the separation of the church and state
- His works and ideas influenced important thinkers of both the American and French Revolutions.
John Locke
- Enlightenment thinker
- His philosophical views influenced leaders in the French Enlightenment and American Revolution & its Founding Fathers.
Adam Smith
- Philosopher & political economist
- Considered to be the ‘Father of Economics’
- ‘Wealth of Nations’ considered the foundation of modern economics
- Father of capitalism and the free market economy (laisse-faire)
Agricultural Revolution
- 17th to 19th century
- Period of technological improvement and increased crop productivity in G.B which helped drive the industrial revolution
- Steam power and system of crop rotation was invented
- Growing population which led to an increase in demand for food
Seven Year’s War
- Great Britain & Prussia vs. France and Austria
- 1756-1763
- Resulted from commercial and colonial rivalry between Britain and France
- Mainly fought between British and French
- British colonists wanted to expand into western American colonies (meant more trade, more wealth)
- Britain won the Seven Years War.
- French had to reduce their colony size in the Caribbean and India.
- This greatly weakened the French economy.
- Because the war was so expensive, to pay for the cost of the war, the British heavily taxed the colonists in the Americas.
Abolitionist Movement
- Movement to abolish slavery
- Reflected the triumph of modern ideas of freedom and human rights over older social forms based on privileged elites and social stratification.
Beethoven
- German musician and composer
- Was a revolutionary artist for his time, refusing to conform to traditional musical standards and always striving to attain perfection
- He can be given almost sole credit for creating the bridge between the Classical period and the Romantic.
Storming of the Bastille
- In 1789, a crowd attacks the Bastille (a political prison).
- Stand against monarchy and oppression.
- It was a symbol of repression from the ancient regime.
- The Bastille was attacked not by the lower-class, but by shopkeepers and merchants who were now joining in the revolution.
- Political power was now in the streets.
Louis XIV
- Louis XIV was an absolute monarch, had absolute and total control of his country
- Referenced to be the “Sun King”
- Oblivious to the life of its people
- Nearly bankrupted the country with his building of the Palace of Versailles (symbol of absolutism)
- Longest reign in the history of European rulers
- Revoked the Edict of Nantes which allowed French Protestants freedom of worship.
- Increasing hunger and unrest were evident in France toward the end of the Thirty Years’ War, and since France’s ingenious system of taxation meant that the people with the least money paid the most, the situation didn’t get any better.
Robespierre
- One of the principal architects of the ‘Reign of Terror’ -Radical Jacobin leader and one of the principal figures in the French Revolution
- One of the most influential members of the Committee of Public Safety
- His action during the reign of terror represented how far awry a revolution could go, replacing the tyranny of the King with the tyranny of the Committee of Public Safety.
Salon
- Played an integral role in the cultural and intellectual development of France
- Salons provided a place for women and men to congregate for intellectual discourse.
- Gathering of knowledgeable individuals where people conversed about philosophy, literature and related subjects.
Tennis Court Oath
- When Louis XVI locked them out of the Palace, they convened in the tennis court and declared the ‘tennis court oath’.
- Started the National Assembly of France in 1789
- The National Assembly said that they would not dissolve unless they had a constitution.
- It was the first step in the Third Estate of France forming an organized protest of the French government in the lead-up to the French Revolution.
East India Company
- Formed in 1600 by a group of London merchants
- Queen Elizabeth I granted it a monopoly of English commerce with ‘the East’
- At its height, it controlled half the world’s trade
- Controlled many structures and became the official arm of the government.
Dependency Theory vs. Modernization Theory
Modernization Theory:
- All societies were originally traditional (stagnant/unchanging)
- While scientific discovery was happening in various parts of the world, it was only in Europe did these discoveries lead to important technological advancements.
- Emergence of capitalism also fuelled change; idea that wealth can be used to make more wealth. This idea ultimately powered the Industrial Revolution.
- Developing nations exist because the failed to move rom traditional societies to modern societies; didn’t focus on science, technology, innovation, democracy etc.
Dependency Theory:
- Developing nations exist because, since the 18th century, growing European nations purposely created poverty and dependency in these areas, for their own selfish reasons.
- Poor nations provide natural resources, cheap labour, a destination for outdated technology, and markets for developed nations, without which the latter could not have the standard of living they enjoy.
- Wealthy nations perpetuate a state of dependence by various means involving economics, media control, politics, banking and finance, education, culture, and sport.
Effect of the enlightenment on social groups in France
- Enlightenment transformed the Western world into an intelligent and self-aware civilization.
- Many thinkers of this time argued that “enlightened despotism” was the best way to rule, a wise and cultured ruler was needed. Unlike Louis XIV, an enlightened despot was expected to cultivate religious toleration & freedom of speech (Catherine & Fredrick)
- Philosophical arguments for the separation of the church emerged. The Church’s authority was greatly questioned. New religions emerged ,like Voltaire’s idea of deism, and agnosticism.
- Weakening of the nobility especially in France. When Louis XIV died in 1715, most other nations were governed by a monarchy.The monarchy believed the noble were far too greedy and lived a far too privileged life.
- Capitalism, laisses-faire (no government interference). Commercial capitalism increased and this lead to greater trade. More money began to spread into the middle or merchant class
- The Enlightenment contributed to the emergence of more secular classes as we know them today - i.e. upper/middle/working classes due to capitalism
How has Napoleon Bonaparte shaped our modern picture of Europe? (Military, economic, social & territorial reforms)
- Came to symbolize order following the chaos of the revolution.
- During the time of terror in France, Napoleon asserted himself in a Mediterranean battle.
- Following the fall of the Jacobins and the rise of the Thermidors, tensions were high in France. Napoleon seized an opportunity to show his military prowess when a mob of royalist supporters demonstrated.
- Napoleon had his soldiers fire into the crowd, squashing the demonstration.
- In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte became First Consul of France.
- In 1804, he crowned himself Emperor of France.
- One of his main campaigns were the Italian and Egyptian campaigns.
- Napoleon demolished the Egyptian army with ease, but the British army was not that easy to defeat. Founded the Rosetta Stone while in Egypt.
- Reorganized the entire legal structure with the Napoleonic Code (basis of law in France and Quebec)
- Fair taxes, increased trade, improved infrastructure, new commercial code, a new central bank to control monetary polices was established
- Napoleon reached an agreement with the Pope allowing the Church a major role in French society while providing religious freedom for all others. He also abolished slavery and freed the serfs, and today he is seen as a progressive force in European history.
- To create a middle-class cadre of leaders, Napoleon reorganized France’s education system. He restarted the primary schools, created a new elite secondary system of schools and established many other schools for the general populace. He promoted education for girls and greatly improved teacher training. Literacy levels in France soared under Napoleon’s reforms.