1. Absolutism in Eastern Europe
How did the basic structure of society in eastern Europe become different from that of western Europe in the early modern period?
How and why did the rulers of Austria, Prussia, and Russia manage to build powerful absolutist states?
Absolutism in Eastern Europe

2. I. Geography of Eastern Europe
3 aging empires:
Holy Roman Empire
Republic of Poland
Ottoman Empire
3 emerging states:
Austria
Prussia
Russia

3. Russia
Prussia
Poland
Holy Roman Empire
Austria
Ottoman Empire

4. A. Holy Roman Empire (after 1648)
never very strong
remember Voltaire?
30 Years’ War delivered final blow
econ, arts, lit, science 
religious disunity
central authority 
Holy Roman empire in 1648

5. H.R.E. continued – gov’t structure:
emperor
elected by 9 electors, leaders of imp. German states
Habsburg position – bargain w/ electors to keep it
imperial diet
authority to raise troops & taxes  lost after 30 Yrs. War

6. H.R.E. continued…
Brandenburg-Prussia
not able to become absolutist as a whole, but individual states could:
Brandenburg-Prussia (Hohenzollerns)
Austria (Habsburgs)
1806 – HRE dissolved
Austria

7. B. Republic of Poland (about 1650)
Kingdom of Poland + Grand Duchy of Lithuania
republic = elected king + constitutional liberties
weak central authority
real authority = szlachta (landed aristocracy) & regional diets
heterogeneous pop.
Catholic

8. Republic of Poland continued…
1795 – end of republic: carved up by stronger, expansionistic states

9. C. Ottoman Empire (about 1650)
strongest of the 3 aging empires, BUT:
weakened gov’t
weakened military
once strong – janissaries, well-equipped, devshirme
feared – sieges on Vienna in 1529 & 1683
Muslim
religious toleration
heterogeneous pop.
Ottoman print of devshirme in Bulgaria. Every fifth Christian child taken.

10. 1923 – dissolution

11. EXPANSION & GROWTH!! II. West vs. East
Similar paths of development up to 1300:
trade, towns, pop. 
expansion into frontier
 opportunities for socioeconomic advancement
EXPANSION & GROWTH!!

12. West vs. East Diverged after 1300: Western Europe Eastern Europe
serfdom abolished
serfdom reestablished
weak lords
powerful lords
urban
agrarian
strong middle class
weak middle class
strong states – strong central authority
weak empires – weak central authority

13. Serfdom in Eastern Europe
How did eastern European landlords return peasants to serfdom?
made rulers issue laws restricting peasants’ movement
hereditary subjugation = serfdom passes on through generations
took over peasants’ land and  labor obligations
growth of estate agriculture

14. Serfdom in Eastern Europe
How were eastern landlords able to enforce their changes to the condition of the peasantry? Controlled local justice.

15. Serfdom in Eastern Europe
Why did serfdom reemerge in eastern Europe?
economic interpretation:
14th-15th c. agricultural depression & pop.  
labor shortage
landlords tie peasants to land
16th c. prosperity returns but lords finish what they started
flaw in argument: Western Europe had identical economic development but did not reinstate serfdom

16. Serfdom in Eastern Europe
Why did serfdom reemerge in eastern Europe?
political interpretation:
most convincing argument
Western Europe
Eastern Europe
What happened
strong monarchs = landlords  power
weak monarchs + war = landlords  power
Different concepts of monarchical authority
monarch has sovereignty and protects interests of his people
monarch is only 1st among equals; does not protect interests of his people

17. Serfdom in Eastern Europe
political interpretation (continued):
Western Europe
Eastern Europe
Power of the peasantry
stronger
weaker – uprisings rarely succeeded
Power of the towns & urban classes
stronger: towns retained greater privileges
weaker: landlords took power & privileges away
lords sold directly to foreign capitalists instead of urban merchants
peasants lost right of refuge

18. III. Rise of Eastern Absolutism
Monarchs vs. landlords  successful monarchs gained power in 3 key areas:
taxation
army
foreign policy

19. AUSTRIA

20. Austria Habsburgs mostly in HRE, but also outside to SE
Austrian rulers = HRE emperors
Catholic
Habsburg domains to 1795.

21. Austria – consolidation of power:
30 Years’ War set stage:
Habsburgs (losers) turn inward and eastward to strengthen state
events in Bohemia (Phase 1) introduce new nobility loyal to Habsburgs  Habsburgs reestablish control over Bohemia

22. Austria – Bohemia & 30 Yrs War (1):
Bohemian Estates (Protestant) revolt against Habsburgs (Catholic)
Battle of White Mountain (1620) – Bohemian Estates crushed
Habsburgs take land/power from Protestant Czech nobles and give it to Catholic Czech nobles = new Bohemian nobility loyal to Habsburgs

23. Austria – Bohemia & 30 Yrs War (2):
Habsburgs reestablish control over Bohemia
Protestantism eliminated
peasants exploited even more: the robot
 Personal note: It was in this era that my grandmother’s family converted from Protestantism to Judaism because they were persecuted for being Protestants and did not want to become Catholic – Judaism for them was the less detestable choice. Not a good decision in the long run.

24. Austria – Turkish wars & expansion:
1529 & 1683 – unsuccessful Ottoman sieges on Vienna
Habsburgs acquire Hungary & Transylvania (Romania) from Ottomans
new Habsburg state = Austria, Bohemia, + Hungary

25. Absolutism partially achieved
common Habsburg ruler but each state kept own laws/gov’t (Estates)
Pragmatic Sanction (1713) – Habsburg possessions are never to be divided and are to be passed to single heir
Hungary not fully integrated
Hungarian nobles revolted somewhat successfully
why and how: religion (Protestant Hungarians vs. Catholic Habsburgs), Hungarian nationalism, Ottoman military support
1703 revolt under Rákóczy  Hungarians accept Habsburg rule & Habsburgs restore Hungarian nobility’s privileges

26. Austria – Habsburg rulers (+ H.R.E. emperors):
Ferdinand II (r )
crushes Bohemian Estates & creates new loyal Bohemian nobility
Ferdinand III (r )
consolidates German-speaking provinces (Austria, Styria, Tyrol)
creates permanent standing army
Charles VI (r )
Pragmatic Sanction (1713)
Rákóczy’s revolt

27. Prussia

28. Prussia

29. Prussia Hohenzollerns = elector of Brandenburg & duke of Prussia
elector of Brandenburg – helps choose Holy Roman emperor
1618 – Prussia became possession of elector of Brandenburg when junior branch of Hohenzollern family died out

30. Prussia Hohenzollerns had little power until 30 Years’ War
elector of Brandenburg = position bestowed no real power
Brandenburg: land-locked, no natural defenses, poor land
Prussia: separated from Brandenburg, basically part of Poland
30 Years’ War weakened the Estates (rep. assemblies)  allowed monarchs to take more power

31. Prussia – Hohenzollern rulers:
Frederick William, the “Great Elector”
(r )
Frederick III, “the Ostentatious”
(r )
Frederick William I, “the Soldiers’ King”
(r )

32. Frederick William, the “Great Elector” (r. 1640-1688)
strengthened central authority:
unified 3 provinces: Brandenburg, Prussia, lands along the Rhine
forced Estates to accept permanent taxation w/o their consent
created permanent standing army
factors enabling his success:
foreign invasions  Estates more willing to issue funds for army
Junkers did not support the towns  elector broke town liberties

33. Frederick III, “the Ostentatious” (r. 1688-1713)
weak
focused on copying Louis XIV’s style
Frederick III
Louis XIV

34. Frederick William I, “the Soldiers’ King” (r. 1713-1740)
most influential in est. Prussian absolutism
military obsessed
strengthened royal authority:
created best army in Europe
created strong, centralized bureaucracy
honest and conscientious
worked to develop economy
eliminated threat from nobility by enlisting Junkers in army (became officers)
almost always at peace
civil society became militarized – very rigid & disciplined

35. C. Russia Similar to W. Europe up to ≈1250:
Christian (though Eastern Orthodox)
territories unified (11th c.)
feudal (boyard nobility & peasantry)
political fragmentation at various times
: Russia becomes quite different from W. Europe
cause: Russia under brutal foreign rule (Mongols)

38. Largest contiguous empire in history!!!

39. Russia & the Mongol Conquest
Chinggis Khan ( ) & Golden Horde – great conquerors
Kiev
(capital of Ukraine)
mid-13th c. – Mongols conquer Kievan Rus  Mongol Yoke

40. Russia – The Mongol Yoke
unified eastern Slavs
Allowed Russian princes who demonstrated good service/loyalty to retain some authority.
  
Muscovite princes served Mongols well  given more power. Over time Muscovite princes  territory and consolidate power.

41. Russia – rulers: Ivan I, “Ivan Moneybags” (r. 1328-1341)
Ivan III (r )
Ivan IV, “Ivan the Terrible” (r )
Michael Romanov (r )
Alexis (r )
Peter the Great (r )

42. Ivan I, “Ivan Moneybags” (r. 1328-1341)
stingy
made $$$ by lending $ to princes for Mongol tax collection
Mongols made him tax collector & great prince

43. Ivan III (r )
Muscovite power consolidated – no longer recognized leadership of Mongol khan
 
hello Russian absolutism!
Why did this happen?
Ivan III felt strong
tsars believed they had to carry on Byzantine legacy (Orthodox Xtianity ; Moscow as “Third Rome” after Constantinople)
monarchy became more powerful than nobility
boyard nobility lost power in 15th c.
service nobility – new class loyal to tsar

44. Ivan IV, “Ivan the Terrible” (r. 1533-1584)
1st to take title of “tsar”
wars of expansion
successful in the E. – took Mongol land
unsuccessful in the W. (Poland-Lithuania)
subjugated boyars – reign of terror
service nobles demand more from peasants  peasants flee and form independent outlaw groups = Cossacks
urban traders & artisans bound to towns so Ivan could tax them
limited middle class (vs. W. Europe)

45. 1584-1682 Theodore (r. 1584-1598) “Time of Troubles” (1598-1613)
fighting over who would be tsar
unsuccessful Cossack rebellion led by Ivan Bolotnikov
Michael Romanov (r )
elected by nobles – became new hereditary tsar
restored power of the tsar

46. 1584-1682 cont… Alexis (r. 1645-1676) 1649 – peasants enserfed
social class gap widens
split in Russian Orthodox church: Nikon wants reforms along Greek Orthodox model vs. “Old Believers” want to stick to Russian ways  “Old Believers” persecuted & Russians alienated from church
– unsuccessful Cossack rebellion led by Stenka Razin
Alexis

47. Peter the Great (r. 1682-1725) What were his policies?
What made him “great”?
Was he really great?

48. Some Terminology tsar: term for the Russian ruler (like “king”)
autocracy: government in which one person possesses unlimited power
absolutism: government by an absolute ruler or authority, meaning a ruler completely free from constitutional or other restraint