Chapter Summary

The treaties that ended the War of the Spanish Succession altered the political configurations of both western and eastern Europe. Continental rivalries were established that lasted for centuries.

Western European colonialism continued unchecked. Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Latin America continued to flourish despite weakness in the mother countries. Although Britain and France were both more powerful than either Spain or Portugal, they were unable to seize control of the Iberian colonies in the New World. France and England instead contested for colonial superiority in North America. France initially controlled Canada and the western portions of the continent from the Mississippi River valley to the Rocky Mountains. British settlements, more heavily populated than the French territories, were located along the Atlantic coast. In Asia and the Indian subcontinent the western European powers often settled for trading centers rather than imperial control. In the seventeenth century, however, some European states began to seize locations of valuable resources. The Dutch control of the Spice Islands, Ceylon, and parts of the Malay Peninsula was the most prominent colonial venture in Asia. Not all changes were colonial. England emerged as a great power. Joined with Scotland in 1707, Great Britain also had a dynastic change. The Stuart family ended with Queen Anne’s death in 1714. The only available Protestant family with some relationship to the English throne was the house of Hanover, a line of German princes. By 1714 the United Provinces of the northern Netherlands had lost the economic vitality that had made them a European power. Eventually they lost their seaborne dominance to England and their control of continental trade to France. The southern portion of the Netherlands, the so-called Spanish Netherlands, was ceded to the Habsburgs of Austria as part of the peace settlement. France had expanded throughout the seventeenth century, at least in part due to the aggressive foreign policy of Louis XIV. At the outset of the eighteenth century, France was the most powerful of the western European states, but economically exhausted. Spain was the greatest loser of the western states. All of its far-flung continental empire had disappeared. Under the new Bourbon monarchs, the reduced Spain was able to recover some of its lost prosperity. Central Europe remained fragmented and decentralized under the loose authority of the Holy Roman or German Empire. Imperial control of the various principalities, bishoprics, and cities was nonexistent. The power of the Habsburg emperors was centered on the states of Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary. The Austrian Habsburgs, particularly Leopold I, successfully turned back the Ottoman threat to their domain and extended their control over the Spanish Netherlands, Naples, and the territory surrounding Milan in Italy. The remainder of Italy was divided among city-states and small kingdoms. Genoa and Venice were diminished in significance, but continued to exist as independent enclaves. In the center of the peninsula, the Papal States and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany were larger principalities. In the mountains of northwestern Italy, the Duchy of Savoy expanded its territories. In 1720, Victor Amadeus II of Savoy earned the title of king.

The Treaty of Nystad of 1721 that ended the Great Northern War between Russia and Sweden set the boundaries of eastern Europe. Critical to political relationships were outlets to the sea, either the Baltic in the north or the Black Sea in the south. After the Great Northern War, Russia became the strongest power in the Baltic. Peter the Great celebrated his victory with the construction of the port city of Saint Petersburg. Sweden lost most of what Russia won. As the loser in the Great Northern War, Sweden ceded its Baltic possessions to Russia and its German ports to Hanover and Prussia. Sweden remained powerful only in Scandinavia. Brandenburg-Prussia became the most powerful state in northern Germany. In addition to its gains from Sweden, Brandenburg-Prussia also swallowed up smaller German neighbors. The greatest drawback for Brandenburg-Prussia was that a portion of Poland divided the two halves of the German state. Poland itself was one of the largest and weakest states in eastern Europe. Poland was seen by other states as largely defenseless.

Peter the Great revolutionized western European perceptions of Russia. Previously regarded as a crude and barbaric nation insignificant to the political affairs of western Europe, Russia emerged as a new power with the victory over the Swedes in 1721. The construction of a Russian navy threatened the maritime interests of western European powers. Peter also proclaimed himself emperor of all the Russias, adding a second imperial claim to the hierarchy of European monarchs.

The process of militarization revolutionized not only Russian political administration but also the society. The poll tax, imposed as a means of raising money for the continuous war effort, recreated the Russian social structure. Mandatory military service affected both the rural gentry and the peasantry. The gentry’s service was extended to include civil service after retirement from the military. In order to oversee the collection and distribution of the enormous resources devoted to the military, Peter created the Senate, a council of nine administrators. The Senate sent out the fiscals to investigate tax corruption and evasion. The tsar divided Russian society into three groups, military service, civil service, and those who owned landed estates in the Table of Ranks of 1722. Advancement through the ranks of each group was based on merit. To prepare men for military and civil service, Peter founded educational institutions for the military and for the liberal arts. Peter also attempted to westernize the Russian economy by increasing manufacturing. The state itself capitalized various industries. Peter’s reforms alienated many of the old aristocracy. Peter believed that his own son, Alexis I, was implicated in the plots against the throne. Alexis’ subsequent death threatened the political stability of Russia.

The Russian economy remained overwhelmingly rural and agricultural. Farming techniques were crude, and agricultural productivity was low. Between 1649 and the first quarter of the eighteenth century, Russian peasants progressively lost their freedom and became the property of those who owned the land on which the peasants worked. The serfs lived typically in small villages under the direction of landholders who were themselves subject to a crushing tax burden passed on to the peasants. Serfs and their land could be sold or otherwise disposed of at the whim of the landlord. State peasants worked on land owned by the state. Such agricultural laborers were liable to conscription for any state need— military, industrial, or agricultural. There was no effective resistance to serfdom. While large numbers did occasionally seek to flee the desperate conditions, most were simply enserfed elsewhere.

The fact that Russia survived the dynastic confusion after the death of Peter the Great was a testimony to the success of the former tsar’s reforms. Population growth added to the prosperity of the landowners, who tended to reckon their wealth in terms of serfs. The nobility, created in return for service to the state, benefited from the weakness occasioned by the lack of an obvious dynastic heir to the throne. Life service to the state was reduced to a period of twenty-five years. Some sons were deferred from state service entirely. In 1762 all mandatory state service for the nobility was abolished. One of the most successful successors of Peter the Great was Catherine the Great. To the extent that it did not disturb the basis of Russian society, Catherine endorsed the western European philosophy of the Enlightenment. The tsarina attempted to reform the local government of Russia. Fifty districts were created to be governed by local landholders, now freed for local administrative duties due to the abolition of mandatory state service. Catherine also extended the educational reforms begun in the reign of Peter the Great. Elementary schools staffed by trained teachers brought education to the children of the nobility. Royal reforms did nothing to alter the desperate state of the Russian serfs. If anything, serfdom was expanded during Catherine’s reign. Peasant dissatisfaction resulted in Pugachev’s revolt, a rebellion of conscripted laborers and serfs. After more than a year of successes, Pugachev’s army was defeated. The leader of the revolt, Emelyan Pugachev, was executed along with many of his followers.

The Thirty Years’ War devastated the Holy Roman Empire and left an already fragmented state divided into Austrian and German halves. In Germany, the larger principalities were essentially free of imperial interference. The most aggressive of these principalities was the kingdom of Prussia. The Habsburg estates of Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary remained the most powerful entities in the southern portions of the Holy Roman Empire.

Successful participation in the War of the Spanish Succession and the Great Northern War converted the weak and fragmented holdings of Brandenburg into the powerful state of Brandenburg-Prussia. Under Frederick William I, all the resources of Brandenburg were dedicated to militarization. All citizens were liable to compulsory military service under the command of a local nobleman. Troops underwent military training during those seasons in which they were not needed as agricultural laborers. Despite the military build-up, Frederick William avoided lengthy wars in favor of administrative economy. Under his rule, Prussia’s treasury enjoyed a surplus. The economies of Frederick William permitted the aggressive foreign policy of his son, Frederick the Great. Frederick took Silesia from Austria and plotted the seizure of the Polish corridor that divided Brandenburg from Prussia. Like his father, Frederick II built a centralized state based on military organization and a partnership with the Prussian nobility. Like Catherine the Great, Frederick endorsed the principles of the French Enlightenment and attempted to provide educational and legal reforms.

Although Austria emerged from the War of the Spanish Succession as the greatest winner in terms of the peace settlement, the Habsburgs suffered serious disadvantages. Many Protestants left the Habsburg territories for areas of greater toleration. The various Habsburg principalities Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Italy, Naples, and the Spanish Netherlands differed in ethnic composition and felt little loyalty to the Habsburg confederation. As in Russia, the economy of Austria was largely agricultural and based on the labor of semi-free serfs. The Habsburg state was unable to tap the population effectively for military service. Most problematic was the lack of a male heir to the Habsburg dominions. In the Pragmatic Sanction, Charles VI named his daughter, Maria Theresa, as his heir. In order to secure the settlement, Charles was willing to grant concessions to the individual Habsburg principalities and to the other states of Europe. With total disregard for the Pragmatic Sanction, Frederick II of Prussia invaded Silesia immediately after the accession of Maria Theresa. Loss of Silesia prompted reform in Austria along the lines followed in Russia and Prussia. The government was centralized in order to streamline the collection of taxes to pay for a stronger military force. Maria Theresa and her son, Joseph II, worked to reduce the burdens of serfdom in the face of stern aristocratic resistance. In Austria and Bohemia, the reforms were largely successful. Hungary, however, attempted to preserve the local autonomy of the nobility.

Prussia’s invasion of Silesia opened the door for other European states to launch an assault on the weakened Habsburg dominions. The result was the War of the Austrian Succession. France allied with Prussia; England and the Netherlands with Austria. The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 recognized Frederick’s seizure of Silesia, but forced the French to withdraw again from the Netherlands. More than anything else, the war created an ongoing contest between Austria and Prussia for control of central Europe. In 1756 the alliances of the War of the Austrian Succession were virtually reversed. England supported Prussia, while France and Russia allied themselves with Austria. In the Seven Years’ War, the Prussian armies were at first overwhelmed by the combined forces of Austria and Russia. Only the death of the Russian tsarina, Elizabeth, saved Frederick from total defeat. Subsequent dynastic confusion in Russia removed the eastern power from the war. Without Russian military support, Austria had little recourse but to conclude a peace. The war reinforced the rivalry between Prussia and Austria for mastery in central Europe. Peace, induced by exhaustion as much as by pacifism, followed the Seven Years’ War. Of all the eastern states, only Poland remained immune to the reforms observable in Prussia, Russia, and Austria. The Polish monarchy remained elective so that no dynasty was able to solidify its hold on the administration. The Polish nobility remained largely unchecked. Unlike other eastern principalities, Poland remained largely defenseless. Given the obvious weakness of Poland, it was only a matter of time before the eastern powers discussed its division. Austria, Prussia, and Russia all actively participated in the partition of Poland. In 1772, Russia claimed the agricultural plains of northeastern Poland, Prussia took the Polish corridor that separated Brandenburg from Prussia, and Austria seized the province of Galicia.

Great Britain was the greatest military and economic power of Europe by the middle of the eighteenth century. In Britain, unlike the powers of continental Europe, representative institutions and local elites shared authority with the monarch. The nature of the English constitution weakened central authority and allowed fragmentation into political factions.

The British constitution balanced the interests of the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the commoners. The monarchy was not without power. As an institution, the monarchy remained popular with the people. The king also served as the head of the official Anglican church. The authority of the monarchy was, however, limited through the series of statutes enacted in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The king could not suspend laws of the land. Monarchs were constrained to govern with Parliament through laws that required parliamentary consent for taxation and regular sessions of Parliament every seven years. The kings selected ministers and provided executive leadership within the administration. Parliament held the purse strings, made laws, and brought grievances to the attention of the royal administration. The balance of powers required all elements of the English constitution to work in partnership. Control of Parliament was difficult. There were 558 members of the House of Commons. Technically elected, most members of the lower house actually obtained their seats through nomination by the local elites within electoral districts. Actual political campaigns were uncommon. The gentry, familiar with the practice of local government, dominated the seats in the House of Commons. In background, the membership of the House of Commons differed little from the peers in the House of Lords. The Crown’s management of Parliament depended on liberal use of political patronage and the distribution of royal appointments. These placemen formed the core of the court faction in Parliament.

The techniques of parliamentary control developed more rapidly with the growth of political parties. The two earliest parties with origins in the late seventeenth century were the Whigs and the Tories. The latter supported the hereditary rights of the crown, but opposed the Catholicism of James II and participated in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Subsequent support for the son of James II discredited the Tory party leadership. Whigs staunchly supported the Anglican church and the Hanoverian succession that followed the end of the Stuart dynasty. The association of the Whigs with the house of Hanover tied George I and George II to Whig party policies. The first great Whig party leader was Robert Walpole. From his position as First Lord of the Treasury, Walpole built an unassailable party leadership based on judicious distribution of patronage. At the heart of Walpole’s policies was commitment to reduction of the public debt and to pursuit of the European balance of power. His inability to match his political aims with demands for war with Spain led to his downfall in 1741. The Whig ministers that followed Walpole continued to create a following by lavish gifts of patronage. Repeated use of patronage led to cries for reform.

The Seven Years’ War brought England victory in the field, but a huge national debt. Parliament determined that the future cost of defending the North American colonies should be borne by the colonists themselves. Parliament created new taxes in the colonies the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act to raise revenue for colonial defense. The American colonists overtly rejected the principle of taxation to raise revenue. Public violence directed at tax collectors broke out. Americans raised the issue of the unconstitutionality of taxation without direct representation in Parliament and questioned the need for a permanent British military force in North America. The British government stood on the principle of the sovereignty of Parliament to bind all British citizens to obedience. Americans picked up the cries for reform of Parliament and made use of English radical tactics use of the public press, boycotts of specific products, and public demonstrations. When the British government was unable to suppress the colonial movement, war ensued. After eight years of fighting, the colonists gained independence.