1. Daniel W. Blackmon AP European History Coral Gables Sr. High
Enlightened Despots
Daniel W. Blackmon
AP European History
Coral Gables Sr. High

2. Monarchs to be Compared
Peter the Great
Catherine the Great
Frederick the Great
Maria Theresa and Joseph II

3. Precursors: Peter the Great
Mongols 1242
Alexander Nevsky 1252
Ivan I Moneybags increases holdings, completed by Ivan III, who marries Byzantine princess, Holy Russia, Third Rome

4. Precursors: Peter the Great
Ivan IV the Terrible ( ): conquers Kazan and Astrakhan,
service nobility to hold land, breaks boyars, by using the oprichniki ,
enserfed peasants, whose flight south creates Cossacks;

5. Precursors: Peter the Great
Time of Troubles
Michael Romanov 1613
Patriarch Nikon and Old Believers 1652
Stenka Razin peasant revolt

6. Precursors: Catherine the Great
Elizabeth I ( )
Peter III marries Catherine 1744; Peter withdrew from Seven Years’ War when he took throne in 1762; Catherine and her lover, Gregory Orlov plot to overthrow him and he is later murdered

7. Precursors: Frederick the Great
Brandenburg the “sandbox of the Holy Roman Empire”

8. Precursors: Frederick the Great
Great Elector Frederick William I ( ) of Hohenzollern struggles with the Junkers.
He sets permanent standing army (aftermath of 30 Yrs War) forcing the Estates of Brandenburg and Prussia to accept taxation without consent.

9. Precursors: Frederick the Great
His army collects taxes. Revenue triples, army increases by 10. War instrument of policy.
Compromise with Junkers–freedom from taxes and unlimited control over serfs; new taxes fall on towns.

10. Precursors: Frederick the Great
Frederick III The Ostentatious ( ) become King of Prussia

11. Precursors: Frederick the Great
Frederick William I The Soldier King militarizes Prussian society. Austere, disciplined life, strict Lutheran values, belief in dog-eat-dog world; army and income matter.

12. Precursors: Frederick the Great
“I must be served with life and limb, with house and wealth, with honor and conscience, everything must be committed except eternal salvation–tat belongs to God, but all else is mine.”

13. Precursors: Frederick the Great
Junkers become officer caste; huge standing army for size; honest and efficient bureaucracy; royal drillmaster,
“Sparta of the North”

14. Precursors: Maria Theresa
Ferdinand III ( ) centralized government in Styria, Tyrol, and Austria; permanent army;
Turkish Empire begins to weaken after 1570;

15. Precursors: Maria Theresa
alliances with Louis XIV of France leads to siege of Vienna in 1683;
its defeat leads to reconquest of Hungary and Transylvania;

16. Precursors: Maria Theresa
Austria is now tripartite: the hereditary provinces of Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary

17. Precursors: Maria Theresa
Charles VI ( ) works for Pragmatic Sanction –-Hapsburg lands never to be divided and passes to female if no male heir.

18. Precursors: Maria Theresa
Hungary revolts under Prince Rákóczy in 1703 while Austria is tied up with War of Spanish Succession–Charles must restore Hungarian privileges in order to gain hereditary kingship.

19. Precursors: Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa ( ) faced with War of Austrian Succession until 1748.
Minister Wenzel Kaunitz helps push reforms;

20. Precursors: Maria Theresa
Minister Wenzel Kaunitz helps push reforms;
Joseph co-regent from and king from

21. Precursors: Napoleon

22. Governmental and Administrative Reform: Peter the Great
Under force of war, reinstates service nobility for life;
military / civilian bureaucracy of 14 ranks (the Table of Ranks);

23. Governmental and Administrative Reform: Catherine the Great
Inherited a badly trained and small bureaucracy; chose to base her autocratic authority on the land-owning class and the only group capable of exercising control.

24. Governmental and Administrative Reform: Catherine the Great
Goal was to transform the gentry into unsalaried servants of the Crown.

25. Governmental and Administrative Reform: Catherine the Great
Russian gentry did not have traditional corporate rights; their status depended on the Crown.

26. Governmental and Administrative Reform: Catherine the Great
Catherine reorganized administrative districts and municipalities.
She extended the gentry’s patrimonial control over the serfs,

27. Governmental and Administrative Reform: Frederick the Great
King is the “first servant of the state”

28. Governmental and Administrative Reform: Frederick the Great
General Directory was the central administrative body, but all reports went to his “Kabinett” or personal office.
He rarely asked for advice, only information, and intruded continuously in all departments.

29. Governmental and Administrative Reform: Frederick the Great
He was in fact the most “absolute” of the Enlightened Despots.

30. Governmental and Administrative Reform: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
Large scale reorganization of bureaucracy after 1748 to clarify and rationalize duties;

31. Governmental and Administrative Reform: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
Creation of a Staatsrat (State Council) to coordinate between the monarch and the various administrative departments;
Concentrated on Crown lands in Bohemia and Austria

32. Governmental and Administrative Reform: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
Joseph became co-regent from 1765 and sole ruler after 1780.
Extended reforms to to other lands: the Netherlands, Hungary and Lombardy in an attempt to create a unitary state;

33. Governmental and Administrative Reform : Napoleon
“Authority from above, confidence from below”

34. Governmental and Administrative Reform : Napoleon
Hostility to the “mob”: The “Whiff of Grapeshot”
Overthrow of the Directory, new Constitution with himself as First Consul
Ratified by plebiscite

35. Governmental and Administrative Reform : Napoleon
Crowned himself Emperor
Made his relatives kings, attempted to create a new Bonapartist dynasty

36. Governmental and Administrative Reform : Napoleon
Repressed political liberty
Censored newspapers, restricted freedom of speech

37. Governmental and Administrative Reform : Napoleon
Orderly, efficient, centralized government
Prefects and subprefects to administer laws.

38. Precursors: Napoleon

39. Economic and Fiscal Reform: Peter the Great
Fosters trade with Western Europe,
invites foreign merchants in; creates factories and mines served by serfs and owned by the state;

40. Economic and Fiscal Reform: Peter the Great
triples taxes;
Builds St. Petersburg as his Window to the West

41. Economic and Fiscal Reform: Catherine the Great
Offered generous conditions to foreign settlers to settle in thinly populated areas;
devoted Crown lands to the construction of model farms to demonstrate scientific farming ;

42. Economic and Fiscal Reform: Catherine the Great
foundation of a royal bank to provide investment capital;
final secularization of Church lands, thus making them taxable;

43. Economic and Fiscal Reform: Catherine the Great
“Catherine II performed one of her greatest services for the Russian economy in creating a state debt by heavy borrowing from both domestic and foreign sources.

44. Economic and Fiscal Reform: Catherine the Great
“In capital-poor Russia, such indebtedness was an indispensable requirement for the growth of Russian industry. Her monetary policy, too, created for the first time a really stable currency system.” (Gagliardo 45)

45. Economic and Fiscal Reform: Frederick the Great
draining of swamp land around the Oder and Vistula and attraction of 300,000 foreign colonists to settle on the newly reclaimed land;

46. Economic and Fiscal Reform: Frederick the Great
devoted Crown lands to the construction of model farms to demonstrate scientific farming
fostered state businesses that were strategically important,

47. Economic and Fiscal Reform: Frederick the Great
state monopolies of salt, tobacco and coffee;
foundation of a royal bank to provide investment capital;

48. Economic and Fiscal Reform: Frederick the Great
created an Excise and Tolls Department (the Régie) to collect taxes, thus abandoning the use of tax farmers;

49. Economic and Fiscal Reform: Frederick the Great
doubled state revenue, and at his death, state income was three times state expenditure

50. Economic and Fiscal Reform: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
attempts to foster modern manufacturing,
attract skilled workers from abroad;
revamped taxes;

51. Economic and Fiscal Reform: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
creation of a free trade zone in Austria and Bohemia (an attempt to allow free internal trade);
foundation of a royal bank to provide investment capital;

52. Economic and Fiscal Reform: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
dissolution of [most] monasteries, thus making their lands liable to taxation;
increased manufacturing and reduced state indebtedness;

53. Economic Reform : Napoleon
Reorganized and centralized tax collection.
Called in and paid bonds.
Established the Bank of France
Constant wars placed heavy burdens on the tax base.

54. Economic Reform : Napoleon
The Continental System—attempted to block England from continental trade
Berlin Decree—1806 Prohibited trade with England

55. Economic Reform : Napoleon
British Orders in Council required all vessels trading with France to purchase a license.
Milan Decrees—1807 Any ship which had traded or even been stopped by the British Navy was to be confiscated.

56. Economic Reform : Napoleon
Customs revenues plummeted
French manufacturing was wholly unable to make up for the loss of British goods
French manufacturers and merchants began to resent the restrictions

57. Economic Reform : Napoleon
French dependants and allies resented the restrictions even more.
The Dutch economy is devastated.
Napoleon’s need to maintain the Continental System is an important reason for his defeat.

58. Economic Reform : Napoleon
Regarded his allies and conquered territories as a source for raw materials, conscripts, and a market for French goods.

59. Economic Reform : Napoleon
Conquered territories and allies expected to provide very heavy contributions to his wars.
Trade agreements strongly favored France.

60. Economic Reform : Napoleon
Eventually, this contributes to his fall, as other countries began to view the French as oppressors.

61. Social Reforms: Peter the Great
Westernization; forces boyars to cut beards, adopt Western dress
compulsory Western education;
imported talented foreigners

62. Social Reforms: Catherine the Great
restricted torture;
Allowed limited religious freedom;
Crushed the Pugachev Revolt in 1773 which hoped to abolish serfdom, taxes, and conscription;

63. Social Reforms: Catherine the Great
after 1775 she gives nobles total control over serfs;
frees nobles forever from service and taxes

64. Governmental and Administrative Reform: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
Provided an example of hard work , discipline and devotion to duty.

65. Social Reforms Frederick the Great
granted hereditary tenure to peasants on Crown land and reduced labor and financial obligations to himself as their landlord;
rejected Moses Mendelssohn’s request for Jewish emancipation;

66. Social Reforms Frederick the Great
extended privileges of Junkers,
forbade bourgeois to buy land,
restricts movement between countryside and town.

67. Social Reforms: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
abolishes torture;
abolished serfdom, peasant labor obligations to be converted into cash payments;

68. Social Reforms: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
emancipation of Protestants and Jews;
Decreed in that, on Crown lands, peasants should pay no more than 30% of income to the landlords, of which 59% should be rent and 41% a land tax (Gagliardo 58)

69. Social Reforms: Napoleon
French armies
liberated the serfs
Gave peasants the right to own land
Gave peasants right to travel
Gave peasants the right to school their children

70. Educational Reforms: Peter the Great
compulsory 5 years education of nobles;

71. Educational Reforms: Catherine the Great
licensed publishing houses to translate and publish Western books;
created special schools for the children of nobles, with an emphasis on practical studies

72. Educational Reforms: Frederick the Great
improved schools,
encouraged practical scholarship;
attempt to provide compulsory school attendance (this proved impossible to enforce)

73. Educational Reforms: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
secularizes education;
increased state control over universities, and emphasized a practical curriculum;

74. Educational Reforms: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
attempt to provide compulsory school attendance (this proved impossible to enforce)

75. Educational : Napoleon
Established the Lycées, state run elite secondary schools
Curriculum designed to glorify Napoleon and teach obedience

76. Educational : Napoleon
Founded the École Polytechnique, an engineering school.

77. Educational : Napoleon
A catechism in primary schools:
Question: What are the duties of Christians with respect to the princes who govern them, and what are, in particular, our duties toward Napoleon?

78. Educational : Napoleon
Answer: Love, respect, fidelity, military service We also owe him fervent prayers for his safety and for the spiritual and temporal prosperity of the State.

79. Educational : Napoleon

80. Religious Reforms: Peter the Great
The Orthodox Church serves the Tsar,
all salaries paid by the Tsar

81. Religious Reforms: Catherine the Great
final secularization of Church lands: confiscates church land to give to favorites;
forbade the foundation of new religious orders and houses;

82. Religious Reforms: Frederick the Great
religious and philosophical toleration, but Lutheran Church to teach the masses obedience.
“All religions must be tolerated.”
Pastors are state employees.

83. Religious Reforms: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
Reestablishes government control over Church;
Joseph will try to restrict Church holdings, esp. monasteries and convents;

84. Religious Reforms: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
income from confiscated houses put into a Religious Fund in 1782 and earmarked for pastoral care;
increased the number of parishes to ensure a closer connection between priest and parishioner;

85. Religious Reforms: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
Patent of Toleration (1781) proclaimed religious toleration;
civil service, teaching and academic education opened to Protestants;

86. Religious Reforms: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
forbade appeals to Rome on ecclesiastical matters, thus weakening the papacy’s hold on the national Church;
clerical training placed under state control;

87. Religious Reforms: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
“forbade religious processions, dictated a simpler ritual, struck numerous religious holidays from the calendar and discouraged religious displays” (Gagliardo 49)

88. Religious Reform: Napoleon
The Concordat of 1801:
Catholic Church receives special status
Government nominates bishops, who are invested by the pope
Bishops appoint priests

89. Religious Reform: Napoleon
Church accepts loss of church lands;
Government pays salaries of clergy

90. Religious Reform: Napoleon
Toleration of Protestants and Jews continues.
Government pays salaries of pastors and rabbis

91. Legal Reform: Frederick the Great
“Only the laws must rule. The duty of the ruler is restricted to protecting them.”
Codified legal code for the monarchy, finally completed in 1794;

92. Legal Reform: Frederick the Great
Separated the courts from administrative functions: “in the courts of law the laws must speak and hte ruler must remain silent.”

93. Legal Reform: Frederick the Great
influenced by Cesare Beccaria, Of Crimes and Punishments (1764) rejecting the use of torture, insisted that punishment should be in proportion to the crime, and that cruel punishments (such as death for infanticide) should be eliminated;

94. Legal Reform: Frederick the Great
his influence led to de-criminalization of witchcraft and the begetting of children out of wedlock

95. Legal Reform: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
Codified criminal law in 1768 and revised the penal code in 1780's;
Separated the courts from administrative functions:

96. Legal Reform: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
influenced by Cesare Beccaria, Of Crimes and Punishments (1764) rejecting the use of torture, insisted that punishment should be in proportion to the crime, and that cruel punishments (such as death for infanticide) should be eliminated;

97. Legal Reform: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
his influence led to de-criminalization of witchcraft and the begetting of children out of wedlock

98. Legal Reform: Napoleon
Codified and reconciled the customary law of northern France with Roman law of the South
Rights of property made sacrosanct. Most articles concerned property

99. Legal Reform: Napoleon
Provided for equality of all before the law
Provided for religious freedom
Provided for “freedom of work,” which reaffirmed the Le Chapelier law banning workers’ associations

100. Legal Reform: Napoleon
Workers were not allowed to strike, and were required to carry passports which might be checked by officials, police, or employers

101. Legal Reform: Napoleon
“Napoleon considered the family as the most important intermediary between the state and the individual, a means of guaranteeing social order.”
Reasserts patriarchal family

102. Legal Reform: Napoleon
Women and children legally dependant upon husbands and fathers.
Men control family property
A woman could not buy or sell property or start a business without her husband’s permission

103. Legal Reform: Napoleon
A woman’s income would pass to her husband’s descendants, not hers.
A woman workers wages belonged to the husband.
Women had no control over children’s wages; the father did.

104. Legal Reform: Napoleon
Divorce became more difficult to obtain.
Penalties for a woman who committed adultery were more severe than for men.
A woman could not witness a legal document

105. Legal Reform: Napoleon
“In France, women are considered too highly. They should not be regarded as equal to men. In reality they are nothing more than machines for producing children.”

106. Legal Reform: Napoleon
Parents could put children in jail
Parents retained control over children’s marriages
Primogeniture was ended.
(families began to have fewer children in order to avoid breaking property up)

107. Art: Peter the Great
St. Petersburg: straight broad streets, parks, canals, stone bridges, street lights, hierarchical housing;
built at cost of lives of peasants;
architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli (Elizabeth. I) and the Hermitage

108. Art: Catherine the Great
Western architects, musicians, sculptors;
begins art collection at the Hermitage;
patronized the philosophes

109. Art: Frederick the Great
Sans Souci;
Brandenburg Concertos;
played and composed for the flute

110. Intellectual Influences: Peter the Great
Scientific Revolution,
Dutch and English merchants;
not interested in Western political concepts;
his Grand Tour

111. Intellectual Influences: Catherine the Great
Bayle,
Voltaire,
Diderot
Cesare Beccaria

112. Intellectual Influences: Frederick the Great
Voltaire,
Machiavelli

113. Intellectual Influences: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
The philosophes
Cesare Beccaria

114. Military Reforms: Peter the Great
broke boyar army with militia infantry, part time basis, Streltsy
creates modern professional army with Western weapons and methods
peasants conscripted for life;
builds a Navy

115. Military Reforms: Frederick the Great
Army is a machine, led by Junker officers, manned by serf recruits or foreign mercenaries;

116. Military Reforms: Frederick the Great
disciplined by whip and gauntlet;
entire country is organized to sustain the army.
Important victories at Roßbach and Leuthen

117. Military Reforms: Napoleon
Impulse—non-linear tactics
Levee en masse
Lived off the land
Promotion by merit: “Every private carries a marshal’s baton in his knapsack”

118. Military Reforms: Napoleon
Creation of a new aristocratic elite based on merit
Legion of Honor
Sought swift, crushing victories by destroying enemy forces in the field and dictating an political peace

119. Military Reforms: Napoleon
Earlier wars a nation-in-arms against a dynastic state.
Beginning with Spain, followed by Russia and Prussia, later faced nations-in-arms himself.

120. Military Reforms: Napoleon
2,000,000 men served in his armies
At least 400,000 Frenchmen died fighting for Napoleon
600,000 were listed as prisoners or disappeared

121. Military Reforms: Napoleon
2,000,000 men served in his armies
At least 400,000 Frenchmen died fighting for Napoleon
600,000 were listed as prisoners or disappeared
20% of all Frenchmen born between died.

122. Foreign Policy: Peter the Great
Conquers Azov on Black Sea vs. Turks 1696

123. Foreign Policy: Peter the Great
Allied with Denmark, Saxony, and Poland vs. Charles XII of Sweden, Great Northern War Battle of Poltava decisive

124. Foreign Policy: Peter the Great
Object to gain control over the Baltic coast, weaken Swedish empire, establish better trading position

125. Foreign Policy: Catherine the Great
Territorial expansion: conquers Crimea, Caucasus;

126. Foreign Policy: Catherine the Great
defeat of Turks led to three Partitions of Poland with Austria and Prussia in 1772, 1793, and 1795;

127. Foreign Policy: Catherine the Great
her great general Suvorov won victories against the Poles, the Turks, crushed the Pugachev revolt

128. Foreign Policy: Frederick the Great
When Maria Theresa ascends throne in 1740, Frederick began the War of Austrian Succession by seizing Silesia and doubled his population.

129. Foreign Policy: Frederick the Great
Attacked by Austria, France, and Russia in Seven Years’ War.
Saved by English gold and the death of the Tsarina and ascension of Paul III.

130. Foreign Policy: Frederick the Great
Object of government is to extend boundaries.

131. Foreign Policy: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
Maria Theresa brought about a “Diplomatic Revolution” by allying herself with France against Prussia;

132. Foreign Policy: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
her diplomacy led to the Seven Years’ War, as she wished to regain Silesia from Frederick;

133. Foreign Policy: Maria Theresa and Joseph II
Joseph II refrained from aggressive military policies

134. Aftermath: Joseph II
Joseph’s reforms aroused intense opposition in the Netherlands, Lombardy and Hungary, where he was interfering with traditional privileges and liberties;

135. Aftermath: Joseph II
Leopold II ( ) forced to cancel radical edicts, and peasants lost their gains.

136. Foreign Policy: Napoleon
Goal is French hegemony over Europe.

137. Foreign Policy: Napoleon
Treaty of Campo Formio, 1797 conquered Northern Italy
Invaded Egypt 1798; War of the Second Coalition, Peace of Amiens in 1802

138. Foreign Policy: Napoleon
Absorbs left bank of the Rhine, Piedmont, Switzerland

139. Foreign Policy: Napoleon
War of the Third Coalition, 1805, ends at Austerlitz; abolishes the Holy Roman Empire, organizes the Confederation of the Rhine

140. Foreign Policy: Napoleon
Defeats Prussia at Jena, peace with Russia with Treaty of Tilsit 1807, proclaims the Continental System.
Invades Bavaria and defeats Austria again in 1809

141. Foreign Policy: Napoleon
Peninsular War , in order to close Iberia off from British trade (the Continental System);

142. Foreign Policy: Napoleon
Invasion of Russia in 1812 in order to close northern Europe off from British trade (the Continental System)

143. Foreign Policy: Napoleon
Napoleon marched in with 600,000 men. Fewer than 30,000 marched out. It is the beginning of the end for him.

144. Foreign Policy: Napoleon
1813: War of Liberation in Germany
1814: Unsuccessful defense of France itself, abdication

145. Foreign Policy: Napoleon
1815: Return from Elba, the Hundred Days, ending with the Battle of Waterloo