Chapter 17 Section 4 Rise of Austria and Prussia

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Chapter 17 Section 4 Rise of Austria and
Prussia
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• Setting the Scene
• Year after year, war ravaged the German states of
  central Europe. Bodies of victims littered fields
  and roads. As the Thirty Years' War dragged on,
  almost every European power was sucked into the
  conflict. "We have had blue coats and red coats
  and now come the yellow coats," cried the
  citizens of one German town. "God have pity on
  us!"
• Finally, two great German-speaking powers,
  Austria and Prussia, rose out of the ashes. Like
  Louis XIV in France, their rulers perfected
  skills as absolute monarchs.

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I. The Thirty Years' War

• 1618 - a local religious and political conflict
  began when King Ferdinand of Bohemia tried to
  suppress Protestants and local nobles

1618 The Defenestration of Prague
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I. The Thirty Years' War

• 1619 When Ferdinand became Holy Roman emperor,
  Protestant and Catholic powers send troops to
  fight in Germany

Ferdinand II King of Bohemia, 1617-1637 King of
Hungary, 1619-1637 Holy Roman Emperor, 1620-1637
  He acquired the Imperial title just as the
Bohemian revolt broke out, starting the 30 Years'
War.
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I. The Thirty Years' War

• The war was costly - 1/3rd of the people in the
  German states died because of it

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I. The Thirty Years' War

• 1648 - the Peace of Westphalia ended the war
  France gained territory while the Hapsburgs were
  the biggest losers

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II. Hapsburg Austria

• The Hapsburgs ruled a large empire of diverse
  peoples that were difficult to unite

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II. Hapsburg Austria

• Emperor Charles VIs only heir was Maria Theresa,
  the first woman to rule Hapsburg lands in her own
  name

Maria Theresa, the eldest daughter of Emperor
Charles VI and Elizabeth Christine of
Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, was born in 1717. As
the last member of the House of Habsburg, she
married Duke Francis Stephen of Lorraine in 1736,
thus founding the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
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II. Hapsburg Austria

• Many rulers ignored their pledge to recognize
  Marias right to succeed Charles, leading to the
  8-year War of the Austrian Succession

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II. Hapsburg Austria

• 1740 - Frederick II of Prussia seized Silesia.
  Maria Theresa appealed to Hungary for help and
  was able to preserve her empire

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III. The Rise of Prussia

• Prussia emerged as a Protestant power after the
  Peace of Westphalia, when the Hohenzollern
  rulers united their lands

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III. The Rise of Prussia

• Prussian rulers like Frederick William I forged
  one of the best-trained armies in Europe and
  trained his son Frederick II in the art of war

Frederick II (1712 1786)
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III. The Rise of Prussia

• Fredericks wars proved Prussia as great a
  military power and earned him the name Frederick
  the Great

Frederick II (the Great), King of Prussia, aged
68
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IV. Keeping the Balance of Power

• The great powers (Austria, Prussia, France,
  England, and Russia) formed various alliances to
  maintain the balance of power in Europe

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Section 5 Absolute Monarchy in Russia

• In the early 1600s, Russia was still a medieval
  state, untouched by the Renaissance and
  Reformation and largely isolated from Western
  Europe. The "Time of Troubles" had plunged the
  state into a period of disorder and foreign
  invasions. The reign of the first Romanov czar in
  1613 restored a measure of order. Not until 1682,
  however, did a czar emerge who was strong enough
  to regain the absolute power of earlier czars.
  Peter the Great pushed Russia on the road to
  becoming a great modern power.

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I. Peter the Great

• 1689 - Peter took control of Russia and became
  the most autocratic of Europe's absolute monarchs

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I. Peter the Great

• 1697 - Peter studied western technology in Europe
  and brought technical experts, teachers, and
  soldiers back to Russia

Visit of Tsar Peter the Great to VOCs wharf
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I. Peter the Great

• He embarked on a policy of westernization -
  adopting western ideas, technology, and culture
  and simplified the Russian alphabet

Peter proceeded to offend many sensibilities by
the vigorous adoption of western customs,
insisting that beards be shaven at court and that
German dress be worn. Houses were to be built
in a western style, and boyars children were to
be put in the charge of foreign tutors.
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I. Peter the Great

• Peters goals were to strengthen the military,
  expand Russian borders, and centralize royal
  power

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II. Expansion Under Peter

• Peter needed an ice-free port to increase trade,
  but failed to gain one after battling the Ottoman
  Empire

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II. Expansion Under Peter

• 1709 With the largest army in Europe, Peter
  defeated the Swedes and won land along the Baltic
  Sea

Battle of Poltava as painted by Denis Martens the
Younger in 1726. The decisive victory of the
Russians is said to have ended Sweden's role as a
Great Power in Europe.
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II. Expansion Under Peter

• On this land Peter built a new modern capital,
  St. Petersburg, to open a window on the West

Peter the Great laying down the foundation stone
of St. Petersburg
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II. Expansion Under Peter

• Vitus Bering explored the strait between Siberia
  and Alaska, and Russian pioneers moved as far
  south as California

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III. Catherine the Great

• Peter died without naming a successor, setting
  off power struggles among the Romanovs

This medal commemorates the death of Czar Peter I
in 1725.  The reverse of the medal shows Neptune
and Minerva, representing the rise in sea power
and magnificence of the building of St.
Petersburg during his reign
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III. Catherine the Great

• 1762 - mentally unstable Czar Peter III was
  murdered by a group of army officers his wife
  Catherine ascended to the throne

Peter ascended the Russian throne on December 25,
1761. On June 28, 1762, he was overthrown by a
court coup led by his wife. On July 7, 1762, he
was killed by Count Alexei Orlov, Catherine's
favorite lover
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III. Catherine the Great

• Catherine reorganized the government, codified
  laws, and began state-sponsored education for
  boys and girls

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III. Catherine the Great

• Catherine was a ruthless absolute monarch.
  Conditions grew worse for peasants forced into
  serfdom

Palace of Catherine the Great
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III. Catherine the Great

• Catherine gained a warm-water port on the Black
  Sea after a war with the Ottoman empire

Allegory of Catherine's Victory over the Turks
(1772)
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III. Catherine the Great

• Catherine the Great, Frederick the Great, and
  Emperor Joseph II of Austria agreed to partition
  Poland in the 1770s

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• Looking Ahead
• By the mid-1700s, absolute monarchs ruled four of
  the five leading powers in Europe. Britain, with
  its strong Parliament, was the only exception. As
  these five nations competed with one another,
  they often ended up fighting to maintain the
  balance of power.
• At the same time, new ideas were in the air.
  Radical changes would soon shatter the French
  monarchy, upset the balance of power, and
  revolutionize European societies. In the next
  unit, you will read about how the Enlightenment,
  the French Revolution, the rise of Napoleon
  Bonaparte, and the Industrial Revolution would
  transform Europe.