Chapter 21 Section 3 Central European Monarchs Clash

 BIG IDEA- After a period of turmoil, absolute monarchs ruled Austria and the Germanic state of Prussia

The Start of the 30 Years War  The spark that began the 30 Years’ War was when the people of Bohemia (modern day Czech Rep.) disagreed with Ferdinand II (The future Holy Roman Emperor and their future King) ruling them as a prince.  he closed Protestant Churches & people revolted  This then exploded into conflict over all of Central Europe.

Hapsburg Triumphs  For the first 12 years of the war, the Hapsburg armies from Spain and Austria crushed their enemies.  Ferdinand II paid his 125,000 man army by allowing his men to plunder German villages.  Because of the 30 Years’ War, Germany’s population went from 20 million to 16 million.

Hapsburg Defeats  Turning point: Gustavus Adolphus, a protestant, of Sweden joined the war with his 23,000 man, well disciplined army  Cardinals Richelieu and Marazin of France joined the Protestants to fight the Hapsburgs,  they feared Protestants would gain more power than France.

Peace of Westphalia  The Thirty Years War killed 4 million Germans  The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 ended the war. It had the following consequences:  Weakened Spain and Austria, strengthened France with land  Made German Princes free of the Holy Roman Empire  Started peace negotiation which all participants meet to settle the problems of a war, which is still used today.

Europe after the 30 Years War  The treaty also abandoned the idea that Europe could be united as a Catholic Empire and was now seen as a collection of independent nations.

States form in Central Europe  States in Central Europe which were formed or grew after the 30 Years War were:  Poland  The Holy Roman Empire, represented by the Austria Hapsburgs  The Ottoman Empire

Economic Differences between Eastern and Western Europe  Western Europe was involved with full colonization and new sources of money.  This allowed Western European Serfs to be slowly freed and move to towns  However, Eastern Europe aristocracy was passing laws restricting the ability of serfs to gain freedom  With having huge harvests, these land owners could sell their farm crops for big profits in Western Europe

Weak Central European Empires  Poland elected their king, and completely restricted the power he could ever have by doing so.  The Holy Roman Empire was seriously weakened by the 30 Years War, without the German States, the HRE had no power  For the Ottomans, even though Suleiman the Magnificent conquered Hungary and sieged Vienna, he could not conquer anything substantial in Europe afterward and The Ottoman Empire began its decline.

Two Strong German Families Emerge  While all of these empires weakened, two German speaking families rose to power during this time :  The Hapsburg Family of Austria  The Hohenzollerns of Prussia

The Hapsburgs  The Hapsburgs, who ruled Austria from Vienna, gained:  Bohemia (Czech Rep.) in the 30 Years War  By 1699, they conquered Hungary from the Ottomans

The Hohenzollerns Challenge Russia  The Hohenzollern Family would be the rulers of the small but powerful Prussia ( Modern Day Germany and Poland).  Prussia’s Success was based on the fact that it had a highly militarized society

Frederick the Great  Frederick the Great was a lover of poetry, music, and philosophy but was forced into military school by his father  However, when he came to power he softened his father’s law and allowed religious toleration and legal form  This strengthened Prussia’s army to be even more loyal and Frederick decided to fight Austria for more land.

Maria Theresa in Austria  One of the reasons why Frederick the Great thought he could defeat Austria was because Maria Theresa became the Austrian Queen  Frederick assumed that Maria would be weak from giving birth, but she successfully lead Austria in their defense.

Prussia v. Austria  Maria Theresa gained the British as allies in fighting the French and Prussians  In this war, Prussia gained the area known as Silesia (Poland) which had heavy iron deposits, textiles, and food products.  After this war, Maria married her daughter to Louis XIV’s grandson, thus making the French now allies with the Austrians  So the British joined with Frederick’s Prussians and Russia.  These sides would face off in the Seven Years’ Wars

The Seven Years War  This war began in 1756 as Frederick attacked Saxony in Germany, an ally of Austria  This dragged every great power in Europe into this war as this war was fought in Europe, India, and in North America  While nothing really changed in Europe, territory did change hands in North America and India  In North America, this war is called the French and Indian War, as the British won France’s colonies and gained complete control of India on the other side of the world