Enlightenment and Modernity

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Enlightenment and Modernity

• Europe and the Atlantic World
• Lecture 1

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Introduction

• Characteristics of Ancien Régime Europe, circa
  1750
• ? pre-industrial economy agrarian society
• ? regime of feudalism
• ? economically semi-autarchic
• ? political localism
• ? localist identity
• ? religious conformity political fidelity
• ? corporative organisation (reduced sense of
  individualism)
• privilege freedom

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1) Enlightenment Europe Transition and
stabilisation

• Demographic growth
• The European urbanization
• Industrious revolutions

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Demographic growth

• In France birthrate decreased
• 38.6/1000 in 1770
• 31.8/1000 in 1815
• Mortality rate declined
• 33.4/1000 (1770)
• 26/1000 (1815)

• In Britain population doubled during one century
• Rvd Malthus (1766-1834) Essay on the principle
  of population

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The European Urbanization

• 3 cities more than 500,000 inhab. London, Paris,
  Naples.
• In England, in 1700 1/6 of the population lived
  in town.
• In 1800 3/6.
• In Germany 12 to 24 in the same period

• In France 1725 16
• In 1789 19
• New forms of cities
• Metropolis (London, Paris)
• New capital cities (Berlin, Vienna, St.
  Petersburg)
• Industrial cities (Manchester, Leeds)

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Industrious Revolutions

• Decline of Holland
• New Atlantic trade networks exploited by English
  traders.
• International companies The East and West Indies
  Companies

• Proto-industrialisation
• New innovative productions metallurgy and
  textile
• Technical inventions Spinning mule by Crompton
• European industrial geography France, Germany,
  North Italy and GB.

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2) Geopolitics of Eighteenth-century Europe

• Mapping western regimes
• Leading countries France and Britain
• Emergent Monarchies and continental powers
• Peripheral states

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• A century of wars Second 100 Years War
  (1688-1815)
• The Peace of Utrecht in 1713-1738
• The War of Austrias succession 
• The Seven Years War 

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The Peace of Utrecht (1713-1738)

• Succession of Spain
• Involved France, Austria and Spain
• A new diplomacy

• English supremacy in the European diplomacy
• Entente franco-english

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The War of Austrian succession

• The death of Charles VI (19 october 1740) opened
  a big crisis of succession to become Emperor.
• War between the coalition (France, Prussia and
  Bavaria) against Austria (and England)

• In 1748 treaty of peace
• The British had taken the control of the Atlantic

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The Seven Years War (1756-1763)

• War between the coalition (England, Russia and
  Prussia) against France and Austria
• Two fields of battle on the continent in Central
  Europe
• On the ocean, maritime war in the Mediterranean
  and in the colonies

• New political balance
• France lost a part of her colonies in America and
  in India
• Britain and Russia affirmed their leadership.

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Two burning issues at the eve of the French
Revolution

• The oriental question with the relations with
  the Ottoman Empire
• Russia tried to control the Ottoman Empire,
• After 1774, they controlled the Crimea and the
  Black sea.

• The partition of Poland
• Russia and Prussia intervened
• In 1795, Poland didnt exist anymore.

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A new culture of power

• The absolutist model in Europe
• -The court society
• -State and sovereignty
• The rise of patriotism
• Proto-nationalism?
• Patriotism and old conception of nation

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3) The globalisation of European power politics

• The expansion of Europe overseas
• A New colonial economy
• The globalisation of European warfare