Chapter 17 European Revolutions of Society and State,

1714-1815
Section 1 An Era of Global Warfare
At the end of the 1600si[v] France dominated Europe. This domination,
however, forced other nations to grow stronger and form alliances in order
to balance France's influence in Europe. These alliances weakened French
power during the 1700s.ii[vi] Other nations, particularly Great Britain and
Prussia, rivaled France. This struggle for power and security in Europe
would also change the balance of power around the world.
Anglo-French Rivalry
The succession of William of Orange,iii[vii] the archenemy of Louis XIV,iv
[viii] to the throne of England in 1689v[ix] renewed the old rivalry between
France and England. Since the Hundred Years War, England and France
had Louis' own ambitions insured that it would continue under Williams'
successor, Queen Anne.

The political union of Scotland and England intensified the rivalry in 1707.
This union had been achieved primarily because English lords feared that
the Catholics in the north of Scotland, in conjunction with the French,
would try to return a Catholic to the throne of England. By uniting
Scotland and England, the English hoped that Scotland would cease to
represent a threat. Thus was born the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
George I, the first of the German house of Hanover, succeeded to the
throne of Great Britain in 1714. Both he and his successor, George II,
remained more interested in their territories in Hanover than in England.
For this reason, and because they were also staunch Protestants, Britain
under the Hanovers remained opposed to French ambitions in Europe.
During the 1700s, however, French and British rivalry took on new
forms.vi[x] The two countries began to compete for influence among the
other European states, in an effort to dominate the continent. They also
competed for control of overseas trade routes and colonies. By midcentury, Britain and France were in direct opposition and competition in
three major regionsthe Caribbean, North America, and India.vii[xi]
In the Caribbean, the French controlled Guadeloupeviii[xii] and
Martinique,ix[xiii] as well as numerous smaller islands. On these islands,

the French developed sugar plantations, creating sizable profits for French
traders.x[xiv] British planters in the West Indies envied French profits, and
resented the fact that some of these profits came from trade with British
colonists in North America. In keeping with the prevailing mercantilist
economic theory, the British Parliament tried to control colonial trade by
enforcing a series of Navigation Acts, which required the colonies to trade
only with Great Britain. These acts were difficult to enforce, however,
because the many bays and inlets along the Atlantic coast made smuggling
easy.
Meanwhile, Anglo-French rivalry in North America also intensified
because of territorial conflicts. The population of British North America
was increasing rapidly. Many colonists looked west for new lands, but this
would mean moving into territory claimed by France. To prevent this
expansion the French built a series of forts from the St. Lawrence
Riverxi[xv] to the Mississippi.xii[xvi] In 1711 Colonel Alexander
Spotswood,xiii[xvii] the lieutenant governor of Virginia, wrote about the
British settlers' fear of the French:

The British plantations are in a manner surrounded by their

commerce. . . . Should they multiply their settlements . . . so as to
join their dominions of Canada to their new colony of Louisiana,
they might even possess themselves of any of these plantations they
xiv

pleased.

[xviii]

In response to French fortification, Britain reinforced its strength in the

colonies by sending more ships and troopsxv[xix] and by establishing its
own forts in the western territories.xvi[xx]
The third region of conflict between France and Great Britain was India.
As the Mughal Empirexvii[xxi] declined in the 1700s,xviii[xxii] India
splintered into dozens of small states. Both the French and the British took
advantage of this chaos to increase their commercial profits. The French
tried to gain an advantage over Britain by making military alliances with
Indian princes in exchange for trading privileges. The British then tried to
out-maneuver the French by making similar alliances with the rivals of the
French-supported Indian princes. Such intrigues and diplomacy often
resulted in France and Britain fighting small wars in India, not as the
principal combatants, but as the allies of rival Indian princes who were at
war.
The Rise of Prussian Power

By the early 1700s, France still remained the single most powerful state on
the European continent. As a result of both the wars of religion and
particularly Louis XIVsxix[xxiv] wars of expansion, however, other
countries had begun to forge alliances aimed at maintaining a balance of
power in Europe a balance that would prevent any single country like
France from dominating all the others. As part of this process, a new
dynastic state began to expand under the Hohenzollern family in northern
Germany in the late 17th and early 18th centuries that would change the
shape of the continent Prussia. For the next two centuries, Prussia's
steadily growing power would force a continuing realignment of the
European balance of power.
Prussia had originally been part of the territory conquered by the monastic
Order of Teutonic Knights. At the time of the Reformation, however, the
37th Grand Master of the Order, Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach, a branch
of the House of Hohenzollern, made a momentous decision. Under
Luthers personal influence and encouragement, and with the agreement of
his uncle, King Sigismund I of Poland, in 1525 Albert resigned as Grand
Master of the Teutonic Knights, converted to Lutheranism, and secularized
the Prussian territories of the Order. He then did homage to the Polish king
as his overlord and was granted in return the hereditary title of Duke of
Prussia.
Under Alberts rule, Prussia became the first state to adopt
Lutheranism as its official religion. Although both the Holy Roman
Emperor and the Pope rejected his actions, neither was strong enough to
reverse them. Indeed, as the Protestant Reformation took its toll on the
allegiance of other northern German princes of the Empire, by the early
17th century Prussias position as a leading Lutheran state had been
assured.
When Alberts son died without a male heir, in 1618 the duchy
passed to his grandson-in-law, John Sigismund, the Elector of Brandenburg
and head of the Berlin branch of the Hohenzollern family. The
Hohenzollern dynasty thus consolidated its rule over the combined state of
Brandenburg-Prussia in the same year that the Thirty Years War broke out.
It was a strained inheritance since Brandenburg was a part of the Holy
Roman Empire, while Prussia was not.
Throughout the war, Hohenzollern fortunes rose and fell. Forced
into an alliance with Sweden, Brandenburg in particular suffered repeated
invasion by Catholic and Swedish armies and scholars estimate that as
many as half the adult male population died during the war. The situation
became so bad that the relatively weak Elector, George William, fled
Berlin and sought refuge in Konigsberg. In 1640, however, his son

Frederick William succeeded to the title and soon showed his mettle as a
remarkably strong ruler.
Making the army his first priority, for obvious security reasons
during the war, Frederick William, who became known as the Great
Elector, reorganized the state along absolutist lines. Regaining control of
his territories, during the later phases of the conflict he established an
alliance with the Dutch Republic that proved especially useful during the
negotiations to end hostilities. Thanks to the support of his Dutch allies,
the Great Elector was able significantly to increase his territories in the
Peace of Westphalia.
After the Thirty Years War, Frederick William continued his efforts
to strengthen and secure his state. In particular, he managed to play
Sweden and Poland off against each other so skillfully that by 1657 he had
managed to get both countries to recognize his full and independent
sovereignty over Prussia. In 1701, his son, the Elector Frederick III,
continued the Great Electors policies of making Brandenburg-Prussia as
strong and independent as possible. In exchange for his support against
Louis XIV in the War of the Spanish Succession, Frederick III received the
recognition of emperor Leopold I for his assumption of a new and more
exalted title King at least in those territories he held outside the
Empire, in other words in Prussia. Although still technically only Elector in
Brandenburg, which was inside the Empire, he crowned himself King
Frederick I in Prussia. The Hohenzollerns were no longer merely nobles,
but royals.
The Prussian army. King Frederick William I,xx[xxv] who assumed the
throne in 1713,xxi[xxvi] spent his career building Prussia into a great
European power. He established an efficient government bureaucracy and
led the nation toward economic self-sufficiency. Most importantly, he
continued the policies of his grandfather, the Great Elector, by building a
powerful army.xxii[xxvii] Frederick William loved the army; he regularly
wore a uniform and spent a great deal of time with army officers.xxiii[xxviii]
At the table, his daughter once wrote, nothing else was talked of but
economy and soldiers."xxiv[xxix]
Frederick William reorganized the army to make it more efficient and
powerful. By the end of his reign in 1740,xxv[xxx] Prussia had the fourthlargest army in Europe. The man who did the most to enhance Prussian
power, however, was Frederick Williams son and heir, Frederick II, who
became known as Frederick the Great.

Frederick the Great of Prussia. Taken from

http://www.germaniainternational.com/images/frederickopenerpg1.jpg

Frederick the Great.xxvi[xxxi] Frederick II was very unlike his father. As a

youth, he displayed a keen interest in French art and philosophy and at first
showed no interest in military life. When Frederick was ten years old, his
father, hoping to instill a strong sense of discipline in his son, devised a
strict schedule for the young boy:

Monday he is to be awakened at six o'clock, and he must then say

a short prayer. As soon as he has done this, he shall put on his
jacket and comb out his hair. While he is combed he shall take tea
and breakfast at the same time, and this must be finished before
half past six o'clock. From seven to nine o'clock [his tutor] Duhan
shall work at history with him; at nine o'clock [the court chaplain]
Noltenius shall come, and he must instruct him in Christianity till a
quarter to eleven. Duhan shall describe maps to him from two to
three o'clock. From three till four o'clock he is to work at morality,
from four till five o'clock Duhan shall write German letters with
xxvii

him.

[xxxii]

Although Frederick resisted his father's attempts to mold him into a strong
king, he eventually absorbed his father's dream of Prussian power.

The War of the Austrian Succession. Within a few months of inheriting

the throne at age 28,xxviii[xxxiii] Frederick IIxxix[xxxiv] embroiled his
country in a war with Austria. He seized the Austrian province of Silesia,xxx
[xxxv] which was heavily populated and rich in minerals and industry.
Frederick did not want a lengthy war, so he offered the 23-yearoldxxxi[xxxvi] Austrian empress Maria Theresaxxxii[xxxvii] an alliance with
Prussia and his vote for her husband, Francis, in the coming election for
Holy Roman Emperor.xxxiii[xxxviii] Maria Theresa rejected his offer, and
her rejection resulted in the so-called War of the Austrian Succession. Soon
Bavaria, Spain, Saxony, and France joined in, each hoping to expand its
territory at Austrias expense. The alliance of these nations was
overwhelming, and Austria was forced to sue for peace. In 1748xxxiv[xxxix]
Maria Theresa signed a peace treaty that relinquished Silesia to Frederick
II.xxxv[xl]
The First Global War: the Seven Years' War
Prussia's victory in the War of the Austrian Succession, however, only
intensified European rivalries. Eventually these rivalries led to a European
war that was fought around the world. Unlike the War of the Austrian
Succession, the Seven Years' War (175663)xxxvi[xli] was fought not only
on the European continent but also on the high seas and in European
colonies and trading posts throughout the world. In Europe, the war
continued the struggle between Prussia and Austria as Maria Theresa
sought to regain possession of Silesia. Beyond Europe, it was primarily a
contest between Great Britain and France for global power. Consequently,
as Great Britain and the English kings Hanoverian territories supported
Prussia, Austria formed alliances with France and Russia.
The war in Europe. In Europe, the Prussians appeared strong, but not
invincible. In 1757xxxvii[xlii] Frederick IIs forces defeated the French
forces in Saxony and prevented Austria from reclaiming Silesia. Two years
later, however, a combined Austrian and Russian army soundly defeated
Frederick's army, and it appeared that Frederick might lose the war.
By 1762, with virtually all of Europe allied against him, Frederick
was on the verge of total defeat. Two developments saved him from
disaster. His British and Hanoverian allies finally began to commit
themselves to fighting the French on the European continent; and his
archenemy, the empress Elizabeth of Russia daughter of Peter the Great
and the driving force behind the alliance of Austria, France and Russia
died. Elizabeths heir, her nephew and adopted son Peter III, who was
himself originally a German prince, was an ardent admirer of Frederick.
Repudiating his aunts policy, immediately after assuming the throne Peter
ordered Russian forces, which had occupied Berlin and were on the verge

of annihilating Fredericks army, to withdraw to Russia. In effect, under

Peter III Russia had switched sides! It was the breathing space that
Frederick needed to regroup sufficiently to hold the rest of his enemies at
bay.
The war overseas. Although much of the fighting took place in Europe,
the war had erupted after British and French forces clashed in North
America, where the Seven Years' War was referred to locally as the French
and Indian War. In North America the French had made alliances with
many Native Americans to prevent the British settlers from expanding their
colonies. After a string of initial French successes along the western
frontiers of the British colonies early in the war, in 1759xxxviii[xliii] British
general James Wolfexxxix[xliv] attacked the French defenses at Quebec.
xl
[xlv] In the ensuing battle, Wolfe's forces crushed the French, although
Wolfe himself was mortally wounded in the fighting. xli[xlvi] The British
victory at Quebec effectively marked the end of the French Empire in
North America. Meanwhile, further south, British forces also conquered
France's African slave-trading stations and cut off the French West Indies
sugar plantations from their supply of slaves and manufactured goods.
Britain also challenged France's position in other parts of the world. In
India, officials of the British East India Company found themselves under
attack by the French and their local Indian allies, particularly the nawab, or
viceroy, of Bengal. After initial setbacks, however, in 1757 a Company
official, Robert Clive,xlii[xlvii] leading a Company army of both British
troops and Indian sepoys, counter-attacked the French-supported provincial
ruler of Bengal,xliii[xlviii] Suraj ad-Daulah, at the Battle of Plassey.xliv[xlix]
Soon after the battle began, many Bengali officers were killed, and the
Bengali soldiers fled. As Clive later reported the engagement:
The whole army being visibly dispirited and thrown into some
confusion, we were encouraged to storm . . . their camp. . . . On this
a general rout [disorganized retreat] ensued, and we pursued the
enemy six miles, passing upwards of forty pieces of cannon they
had abandoned.xlv[l]
In fact, Clive had virtually ensured the victory by negotiating secretly with
important officers of the nawab before the battle in particular, he had
bribed the nawabs commander-in-chief, Mir Ali Khan. With Clives
promise to make him nawab in Suraj ad-Daulahs place, Mir Ali deserted
the field, taking his men with him. This treachery allowed Clive to achieve
victory at Plassey with little fighting and minimal casualties. Clive was as
good as his word, and he soon placed Mir Ali on the viceregal throne of
Bengal.

Clives campaigns effectively broke Frances hold in India and the

British soon gained a virtual trade monopoly within the subcontinent.
Victory at Plassey and in other important battles of the war opened the
door for the expansion of the British East India Companys power
throughout the Mughal Empire. By 1765, the Company had become the
official ruler, under the now nominal authority of the Mughal emperor, not
only of Bengal, but also of Orissa, Behar, and the Deccan in effect, the
British East India Company had become the single greatest power in
Indiaxlvi[li]
British success in the Seven Years War was largely due to the
brilliant leadership of William Pitt the Elder.xlvii[lii] When Pitt joined the
British Government as Secretary of State in the first year of the war, he
promised to do his best in that service to which I have the glory . . . to be
unalterably and totally devoted.xlviii[liii] Pitt had the ability to inspire
people to follow his leadership and support his cause. He also had an
inspired understanding of the importance of sea power for Britains longterm security and prosperity. Devoting the resources of the state to building
up the Royal navy, under his leadership Britain had established itself as the
greatest sea power in the world by 1759xlix[liv].
Aftermath of the War in Europe
The Seven Years War officially ended in February 1763 with the signing of
the Treaty of Paris and the Treaty of Hubertusburg. The war ended not
because of any decisive victories, but because neither side had the will to
continue the fight. In Britain, King George III, first of the Hanovers to be
raised in England rather than Germany, had only ascended the throne in
1760 and had little enthusiasm for continuing the costly war. Prussian
strength too had been exhausted and Prussia had only been saved from
total defeat by Russias timely withdrawal from its alliance with France
and Austria in 1762. Equally weakened by the conflict, and with their
treasuries depleted, France and Austria were also ready for an end to
hostilities.
As a result of the peace treaties, France lost nearly all of its North
American colonial lands. The British got control of Canadal[lv] and all of
Louisiana east of the Mississippi, as well as Florida from Spain. They also
remained the predominant European power in India. On the European
continent, on the other hand, no territory changed hands all lands
reverted to their owners at the time of the outbreak of hostilities. Most
significantly, however, this meant that Prussia kept Silesia, thereby
assuring its position as one of the leading European powers.
The end of the war also had significant consequences in Russia,

albeit not as part of the peace settlement. In his rush to save his idol,
Frederick the Great, Peter III had squandered all of Russias gains during
the war, alienating many of his nobles and especially the army. Within a
matter of months, both nobles and army supported a coup that deposed
Peter III from the throne. Forced to abdicate in favor of his despised wife
Catherine in July 1762, within a week Peter himself was assassinated.
Meanwhile, Catherine, who had begun life as a relatively minor German
princess, Sophie of Anhalst-Zerbst, was crowned sole empress and autocrat
of Russia. She would be known to history as Catherine the Great.
The war had other long-term consequences. During the war, both
Prussia and Austria had drained their treasuries, and France in particular
had gone even more deeply into debt compounding an already crushing
burden of debt left by Louis XIVs wars. Even the victors had suffered.
The global scope of the conflict had been enormously costly for Britain
and, in addition to treasure Prussia had lost a significant percentage of its
population. As they realized the costs of the war in both lives and wealth,
the European powers became reluctant to fight again, and a period of peace
descended on the continent.
Even so, European monarchs remained eager to expand their
national boundaries in a never-ending search for security, and the power
and wealth that would provide it. Poland, weakened by an on-going
conflict with Sweden, as well as a disastrously ineffective government split
between an elective monarchy and a fractious nobility, soon proved an
easy and irresistible target for its stronger neighbors. In 1772li[lvi]
Frederick II of Prussia and Catherine II (Catherine the Great) of Russia
carried out the First Partition of Poland, in which they each seized a
generous portion of their weaker neighbors territory. To preserve the
balance of power in Europe they offered the Polish province of
Galicialii[lvii] to Maria Theresa.liii[lviii] In 1793,liv[lix] together with
Prussia, Catherine carried out the Second Partition of Poland, leaving
Poland only a tiny strip of land wedged between the great powers of
Prussia, Russia, and Austria. In 1795 even that disappeared in the Third
Partition of Poland.lv[lx]

Catherine the Great of Russia. Taken from

http://www.rollins.edu/Foreign_Lang/Russian/antr1.jpg
While Poland was being divided, Russia and Austria looked to the
weakening Ottoman Empire for further possibilities of expansion. The
Austrians and Russians saw themselves as Christian peoples fighting
against Muslim invaders. They also had more secular reasons for wanting
to expand their territoriesa desire for wealth and power. Catherine the
Great made an alliance with Joseph II of Austria, with the intention of
dividing the Turkish-held Balkans.lvi[lxi] Russia gained control of the
Black Sea and the Crimea.lvii[lxii] Austria, too, expanded eastward at the
expense of the Turks.
Section 1 Review
IDENTIFY and explain the significance of the following:
Navigation Acts
Frederick William I
Frederick the Great

Maria Theresa
Seven Years' War
French and Indian War
Robert Clive
William Pitt
George III
Catherine II
LOCATE and explain the importance of the following:
Prussia
Silesia
Quebec
Bengal
Poland
Galicia
1.Main Idea Why were Great Britain and France rivals?
2. Main Idea How did Prussia become a major European power?
3. Geography: Human-Environment Interaction Why was the Seven
Years' War considered the first global war? How did geography affect
the course of the war?
4. Synthesizing How did rivalries between European nations change the
balance of power in Europe? In the world? In answering this question,
consider the role played by (a) the ongoing Anglo-French rivalry; (b)
the growing strength of Prussia; and (c) the impact of the Seven Years'
War.

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