Age of Absolutism leads to the Age of Revolutions

1450 – 1750Political SystemSocial System

Economic SystemCultural System (mannerism to baroque)

More secularEducation

Enlightenment (includes Scientific Revolution)

Absolutism and its limits• Absolutism was possible because the European

economy was expanding, allowing the creation of (comparatively) larger bureaucracies

• Kings found ways to strip nobles of their political power

• However, kings had to concede freedom from taxation to nobles

• The limits of a pre-industrial economy limited the effectiveness of royal power.

• Main concern of governments was still raising taxes and fighting wars.

• Even this proved too costly for most kings

Absolute Monarchs & Gunpowder Empires

Late 1500s – 1700s

• Queen Nzinga (1583-1663)

• Louis XIV (1643 -1715)

• Shah Abbas (1588-1629)

• Frederick William the Great Elector (1640-1688)

• Charles V (1519-1556)

• Elizabeth I 1558-1603)

• Phillip II (1556-1598)

• Akbar (1556-1605)

• Kangxi (1661-1722)

• Tokugaw Iseyasu (1598-1616)

• Peter the Great (1682-1725)

• Suleiman (1520 – 1566)

Repeating Characteristics• Appearances of authority

– Accoutrements of power– New cities– Great Monuments– Divine Authority

• Must 1st control the aristocracy and replace with a new bureaucracy– Administrative body that has non-elected officials and procedures

• Chosen through different processes such as through inheritance or by merit– Military structures and new types of persons to control the military– Taxing structures and tax collectors– How does the aristocracy fight back

• Mercantilist practices– Self-sufficiency– Control of trade through tariffs– Control of trade routes– Increase production of goods – Deal with the issue of merchants and increased trade – Increase banking practices and use and control of silver and gold

• Religious conflict– Either forced conversion or compromise

• Require large military force either navy or army or combination of both– This requires large taxing bureaucracy

• Geography of empire– Where does it began and what methods are used to expand– Requires a before and after map

• Greatness which should include cultural accomplishments• Rebuttal

Louis XIV

• 1643-1715• Centralized the

administration of France– Government– Financial– Military

• Expanded the territories of France

Absolute Best Example – Sun KingLouis XIV

• Revoked the Edict of Nantes

• Used the position of Intendents created by Cardinal Richelieu under Louis XIII

• Aristocracy required to live at Versailles and serve him personally– They advance by getting royal favors and

offices

• Built Palace at Versailles

Financial Stability

• With his minister Colbert, he carried out the administrative and financial reorganization of the kingdom, as well as the development of trade and manufacturing. – Streamlined the tax (taille) collection system– revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685 which

caused some 200,000 people to flee France• These were some of the most industrious peoples of

France and they took their capital with them

Mercantilism

• state intervention to create a self-sustaining economy.

• Colbert used an aggressive tariff policy to manipulate the import of raw materials and the export of manufactured goods to improve the balance of payments.

• He also fostered domestic trade and industry by improving communications (roads and canals), eliminating internal tolls, expanding the navy, increasing colonial trade through the East India Company and by subsidizing certain industries (tapestries and furniture).

Military Reform

• With the Marquis de Louvois, he reformed the army and racked up military victories.

• War with others across Europe in 30 Years war to create balance of power

• War of Spanish Succession– Phillip II his grandson gets Spain but Treaty of

Utrecht forbids the Bourbons to combine the crowns of France and Spain

Cultural Patronage

• Finally, Louis encouraged an extraordinary blossoming of culture: – theatre (Molière and Racine)– music (Lully)– architecture, painting, sculpture, and all the sciences

(founding of the royal academies)• Versailles became the seat of lavish spectacles,

such as ballets, balls, hunts, and receptions, all presided over by the Sun King himself and attended by the educated international nobility. 

• French became the universal language of Europe

Controlled the Aristocracy

• Had no time to tend to our own affairs and the landed gentry and their properties developed in disrepair– Peasants on the land

• Forced the Parliments of Paris to register its edicts before issuance

• established state factories for luxury goods (the most famous was Les Gobelins).

• regulated every possible aspect of the private sector:  - the innumerable guild ordinances and product règlements were meant to ensure high manufacturing standards, but they spawned a parasitic bureaucracy  and cramped the free development of industry.

Intendants• Within the confines of his particular district, each Intendant

gave form and shape to all facets of the royal government.  – For example, the Intendant supervised the local law courts and nobles,

worked to eradicate smugglers and bandits, recruited soldiers, oversaw the collection of taxes, regulated the marketplaces, guarded against famine, and dealt with the guilds and towns. 

• Moreover, he sometimes would decide court cases himself. • These Intendants were in constant contact with the King’s

court, communicating with him and the state councils about what was happening in their districts, and receiving orders on what was to be done next.

• An important aspect of the Intendants was their social origins.  The king chose to use individuals whose upper-class status was recent.   – These men were not embedded in the traditional, centuries-old power

arrangements, as were the ancient nobility.  The “new aristocrats” had no independent political power or influence:  they owed their authority and status to the king himself.

Rebuttal• While we were tending to his personal needs in

the Palace the bourgeoisie undermined our position as lords of our domains. The peasants are beginning to refuse to pay their feudal obligations to use the village oven and the flour mill and the wine press. Even though we are exempt from the Taille we pay for our worship of the sun king through our lands.

• He is unchecked and has waged wars across Europe.

• He will bankrupt the economic system and eventually allow too much power to the bourgeoisie. They will revolt!

The Bourgeoisie• Bourgeois

– ‘city dweller’, eventually meant ‘middle-class’

• Transformation of the European economy in the middle ages led to increased numbers of a wealthy, non-aristocratic merchants and craftsmen based in cities– This group traditionally allied with the king against

the nobles• The bourgeoisie provided a pool of educated men that

the king could place in the bureaucracy– The king got loyal, competent bureaucrats and did not have

to rely on the aristocracy to help him govern– The bourgeoisie obtained power and prestige usually denied

to non-nobles, and even the possibility of becoming noble

End of War and Louis XIV• 1713 –

– Treaty of Utrecht ended the War of Spanish succession which involved a Bourbon successor to the throne which was a concern to other monarchs throughout Europe as this might upset a balance of power• Philip was allowed to remain King of Spain as long

as the thrones of France and Spain were not united

• Louis died in 1715 - prompting great celebration throughout France

Gardens of Versailles

Imagery at Versailles (Le Roi Soleil)

France after 100 years War 1453

Four major powers in Europe early 16th century prior to Louis XIV

Europe: The Age of Absolutism

Charles V• Hapsburg remnants of Holy Roman Empire began

with Otto I (936 – 973)• Charles V (Holy Roman Empire) (1500-1558), Holy

Roman emperor (1519-1558), and,as Charles I, king of Spain (1516-1556),

• Has to fight the Ottomans• Has a diverse and separated empire to hold together• Watches it begin to disintegrate• Signs the Peace of Augsburg (1555) to resolve some

of the religious conflict and thereby gives up a great deal of authority over his Germanic dominions

Empire issues• Plus ultra to describe his empire

– His reference is to “Even further” for his empire– King of Spain– Emperor of Holy Roman Empire

• Includes the Netherlands because of Spanish Empire• Born in Ghent (his father Phillip ruled the Netherlands and

was Duke of Burgundy)• Spoke French as his first language• Also Kingdom of Naples as heir to Aragon

• Iron hand in a velvet glove

Centralization• Attempted to create a constitution, and increase

its financial and military strength. • An agreement was reached as to how the estates

of the realm should share in its government, according to a scheme called the Reichsregiment—how the expenses of the imperial chamber etc. were to be met and how the estates were to furnish the emperor military assistance in war

• Too many realms and divisions• Empire was not contiguous

1700 Europe After the 1648 Peace of Westphalia

1700 Europe

The Global Empire of Charles V

Economic and political stability• With individuals Charles dealt still more

effectively—in Spain chiefly with the burghers, in the Netherlands with the higher nobility.

• The latter he won to his support by bestowing on them the most important offices and holding out hopes of the Golden Fleece– the former he hoped to win by leaving them the

control of taxation, so that they might regulate it uniformly, and therefore less oppressively

• Church benefices• Textile regulation in the Netherlands

Spain

• In Spain the opposition to Charles' policies was found in the Cortes and in the city governments, but still more among the lesser nobility, the Hidalgueria, who resisted all agricultural progress as well as the emperor's external policy

Rebuttal- Charles gives up

• There is just too much going on around me for me to hold this realm together. Turks to the east, natives in the Americas, economic changes in the Netherlands and religious problems throughout. Although I tried, no one policy could pull it all together

Frederick William the Great ElectorPrussia

• 1640-1688

• Frederick William I (ruled 1709-1710)

• his grandson Frederick the Great (1710-1740)

• Hohenzollern

• Brandenburg

• Combined territories to form Prussia

Frederick William the Elector of Prussia Brandenburg to Hohenzollern (r. 1640-1688)

Frederick William I

• The Prussian Army • The General War Commissariat • The militarized state • The deal with the Junkers • Inviting immigrants • Mercantilist economics • Left the Prussian empire

economically sound, with an efficient military, and centralized authority

Militarism• The Great Elector increased taxes threefold

and increased the size of his army tenfold

• Had an army of 40,000 which was the fourth largest in Europe

• Recruited men who were over 6 foot tall

• Created the bureaucratic agency called the General War Commissariat to levy taxes for the army and administer its growth

General War Commissariat1688

• established to levy taxes needed to support the Army and its growth.

• became an civil government agency as well.

• Commissariats was used to govern everything.– Had to be strangers to the district for which they

were appointed

• This agencies help centralize power and allowed for Fredrick Williams successors

Absolutism in Prussia• Holy Roman Empire fragmented after the

30 Years War (1618-1648)• Frederick William, the Great Elector of

Brandenburg-Prussia (r. 1640-1688)– Turned small collection of German

states into rising European power– Made deal with Junkers

• Prussian nobles

– Junkers allowed him to raise taxes to pay army, in return, Frederick allowed them complete control over their serfs

• Created the War Commissariat

Prussian Grenadier

Count von von Seckendorf – ambassador from Vienna comments on the Prussian military

It is certain that nowhere in the world one can see troops comparable with the Prussians for beauty, cleanliness, and order. Although in drill, training, and marching much is forced and affected, nearly everything is useful and efficient. Besides, it must be admitted that the army and the troops lack nothing that is needed. The soldiers number 70,000, and every regiment has at least a hundred more men than the normal figure. The Arsenal is superabundantly provided with field artillery and siege artillery, and only the teams are missing. Moreover, there is such an enormous store of powder, shot, and shells as if a great war was threatening. In Berlin and all about Brandenburg one sees as many troops moving as one saw in Vienna during the last war against the Turks. All this activity is directed by the King in person, and only by him. Besides, he looks after the whole public administration in all its branches With such care and thoroughness that not a thaler [note: a monetray unit]is spent unless he has given his signature. Those who do not see it cannot believe that there is any man in the world, however intelligent and able he may be, who can settle so many things personally in a single day as Frederick William the First, who works from 3 o'clock in the morning till 10, and spends the rest of' the day in looking after and drilling his army....

Deal with the Junkers• In order to eliminate the power that the members of the

nobility could exercise in their provincial Estates-General, Frederick William made a deal with the Junkers. 

• In return for a free hand in running the government (in other words, for depriving the provincial Estates of their power), he gave the nobles almost unlimited power over their peasants, exempted them from taxation, and awarded them the highest ranks in the army and the Commissariat with the understanding that they would not challenge his political control. 

• As for the peasants, the nobles were allowed to appropriate their land and bind them to the soil as serfs” (Spiel.4th Ed. 436-7).

Prussia

Religious toleration led to financial security• Many Hugeonots migrated to Prussia (Edict of Potsdam 1685)• Frederick William positively encouraged religious toleration as

he believed that it would benefit his state. Jews and Roman Catholics were both tolerated in Brandenburg -Prussia as long as they had a talent Frederick William wanted for Brandenburg-Prussia. Frederick William was especially keen to tempt Huguenots to Brandenburg-Prussia as they had a European reputation for expertise in business. – In 1672, a French Protestant Church was established in

Berlin and, in total, about 100,000 Huguenots came to Brandenburg-Prussia ands greatly assisted in her modernisation.

– By 1700, one-third of Berlin’s population was Huguenot and their skills allowed Brandenburg-Prussia to develop a flourishing candle and paper-making trade, mirror and glove manufacturing etc. Frederick William himself estimated that religious toleration increased Brandenburg-Prussia’s population by 33%.

Rebuttal by Junker• According to the RECESS, although I can now do

as I please with my territory and the workers cannot leave me, I am afraid to confront the Great Elector because he has used my money to create such a great army, I can longer oppose anything he does. What am I to do?

• He is using my money, my hard earned profits from my estates, to buy his army which he then uses against me.

• I guess I will have to go join the army.

Succeeded by “Enlightened”

• Frederick the Great (Frederick II -1712-1786)– "first servant of the state."– Prussian Hohenzollern– Started the 7 Years War (1756-1753)

• Impacted three world regions – Europe, North America, & South Asia

• Treaty of Hubertusburg

Shah Abbas(1588-1629) Safavids (1501 -1732)

• Obscure origin which is most probably Sunni and Kurdish, the Safavids (named after a sufi master, Shaykh Safi) – forged for themselves an illustrious genealogy that

goes back to `Ali, and proceeded to forcibly change Iran into a Shiite state.

– In the process they shaped the modern image of the Iranian nation.

• The greatest Safavid monarch, – he moved the capital to Isfahan in 1598, – built there a royal city that extended to the south of the old city and

connected it with the Zayandeh river via a wide avenue, the Chahar Bagh (Four Gardens) Avenue.

Shah Abbas Mosque - Isfahan

Safavid Empire

Cultural control• 1st Safavid ruler to conquer the territory of Persia was a 14-year-old boy

by the name of Ismael (Shah Ismael – Shah being the title the Safavids used for "emperor").

• Ismael lived up to the legend of descent from Muhammad in his exploits. – He was apparently quite devout, and seemed also to be unable to lose a

military campaign. – His "red cap" army was absolutely devoted to him, and took extreme risks in

his name.• Ismael established the first Safavid Capitol City in Isfahan, and went on to

rule according to Islamic principles. • His claim to descent from the 12th Imam meant, of course, that he had to

rule according to Shiite, rather than Sunni principles of Islam, and he and his successors were often quite brutal in forcing their subjects to become Shiite Muslims (the majority had been Sunni prior to the Safavid arrival).

• To do this, subjects often were required to prove their change by cursing the names of the first three Caliphs

• There were often small uprisings as a result and the “red cap” army of the Shah had to remain large and significant

Centralization• local Qezelbash chiefs had grown wealthy in land and in

collecting taxes. • Abbas put to death many of the Qizilbash tribesmen who

had traditionally been associated with Safavid rule up to this point, and instead surrounded himself with an elite household guard.

• He used slaves as governmental officials– thousands of Georgian, Circassian and Armenian prisoners

captured in campaigns fought in the Caucasus in the 1540s and 1550s. Female slaves entered the royal harem, becoming mothers of princes and a force in court politics and dynastic quarrels.

– Some of the male slaves began to acquire positions of influence, under Shah Abbas I, reaching high offices that challenged the supremacy of the Qezelbash.

Military• He recruited soldiers from Persian villages and from among Christians,

Georgians, Circassian, Armenians and others, equipped them with artillery and muskets.

• The Christians were proud to serve the shah and to call themselves "Ghulams" (boys) of the shah although slaves they were not.

• To finance the new army, Shah Abbas converted large pieces of land traditionally granted to tribal chiefs as assignments into crown lands that he taxed directly.

• This new military force was trained on European lines with the advice of Robert Sherley.

• Sherley was an English adventurer expert in artillery tactics who, accompanied by a party of cannon founders, reached Qazvin with his brother Anthony Sherley in1598.

• In a short time Shah Abbas created a formidable army, consisting of cavalry, infantry and artillery.

Military reorganizationcreated a national army

• Hired Robert and Anthony Sherley – British mercaneries to help reshape his military– Three bodies of troops were formed, all trained and armed in the

European manner and paid out of the royal treasury: the ghulams (slaves), the tofongchis (musketeers), and the topchis (artillerymen).

• With his new army, Abbas defeated the Ottoman Turks in 1603, forcing them to relinquish all the territory they had seized, and captured Baghdad.

• He also expelled (1602,1622) the Portuguese traders who had seized the island of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf in the 16th century.

• Shah Abbas remarkable reign, with its striking military successes and efficient administrative system, raised Iran to the status of a great power.

Economic Stability• His domestic policy was marked by a real

interest in building up the infrastructure for a successful economy. New roads and bridges were built and he imported skilled merchants from Armenia to help build up the silk trade with India.

• As part of the stabilization process he enforced adherence to Shi'ism and acceptance of Farsi as the national language.

Economic and Religious stability• Created a monopoly within his empire to profit from

the production of silk and silk carpets• adherence to Shi'ism• Tolerant of Christianity and allowed many churches

to be built and allowed Christians to dress in what they wanted and allowed them to own property within the empire

• Mosques Masjid i Shah and the Masjid i Sheykh Lotfollah; and other monuments including the Ali Qapu, the Ghehel Sotun, and the Meydan-i Shah.

Cultural Mecca

• Philosphers an Scientists

• Molla Sadra, Mir Damad,

• Sheikh Baha-e-Din Ameli, or Sheikh Bahai – a great philosopher and scientist. – created a system of heating in a public bath

that would provide enough warm water for people to bathe with the power of a single candle

Great Monarch

• He used Western economic principles and allied with westerns to defeat the Ottomans and the Portuguese providing stability to his empire

• With this stability he built a new city, encouraged new schools to be built, and fostered the arts demonstrated in the many new types of patterns of carpets and new and different types of mosques that were built

Rebuttal by Qezelbash chiefs

• As he takes our land and uses the profits to pay the Ghulams he takes away the religious strength of our empire. We made him what he is through our organization and he tries to take what we have built over many generations. He doesn’t serve our empire and our religion; he serves himself with great palaces and a great harem.

Queen Nzinga

• 1583-1663• Known as the Queen

Warrior• Took the name Pande

Dona Ana Souza • Centralized the

Mbundu a Bantu Zulu tribe in Western Africa

Trading Posts• Along the Atlantic coast of Africa, the Portuguese

established trade forts and trading posts, the most important of which was El Mina.

• Forts normally existed with the consent of local rulers, who benefited from European trade.

• The initial Portuguese ports were located in the gold- producing region, where the Europeans penetrated already extant African trade routes.

• From the coast, Portuguese traders slowly penetrated inland to establish new trade links. In addition to trade, the Portuguese brought missionaries, who attempted to convert the royal families of Benin, Kongo, and other coastal kingdoms.

• Only in Kongo, where Nzinga Mvemba accepted conversion, did the missionaries enjoy success.

Centralization of tribes against the Portuguese

• Queen Nzingha of Ndongo belonged to the Mbundu, a large and ancient ethnic group that lived in modern-day Angola.

• The Mbundu were divided into tribes, including the Songo, Lenge, Libolo, Hungu, Pende, Ndongo, and Imbangala.

• Every group was made up of clans descended from their mother's side of the family.

• Every clan was identified with their mother's clan and all the marriages were marriages between clans related maternally. Nzingha's family ruled the Ndongo people.

Limited by History – Queen NzingaKINGDOM OF NDONGO

• Converted to Christianity to enhance her political dealings with the Portuguese who had shifted their slave trading from the west coast of Africa to the tribal land of the Mbundu (became known as Angola)

• Married a local tribal chief, uniting their tribes in their quest to expel the Portuguese – She later allied with the Dutch in an effort to expel the Portuguese

• In1624 she named all those in Angola to be free, encouraging captives from all across Africa to come

• She renounced her Western name and her conversion and encouraged all of her subjects to do the same

• To her people she claimed her royal position simply as “I Am”, and they followed her by resisting the Portuguese for 40 years

• She provided sanctuary to runaway slaves and Portuguese-trained African soldiers and adopted a form of military organization known as kilombo, in which youths renounced family ties and were raised communally in militias. – They used guerilla techniques for 20 years, disrupting the slave

trade of the Portuguese– She fought along side her soldiers, dressing like a man

Africa 1700s (Congo)

Kongo

• We cannot reckon how great the damage is, since the merchants daily seize our subjects, sons of the land and sons of our noblemen, vassals and relatives ... and cause them to be sold; and so great, Sir, is their corruption and licentiousness that our country is being utterly depopulated. —Afonso I, in a letter to King João of Portugal, 1526

Alfonso thought he could use the Portuguese for technology but they used him instead

• From 1514, the slave trade became an integral part of the economy. Afonso’s attempts to control and later abolish the slave trade were futile, as the Portugese appetite for slaves was insatiable.

• By 1516, Kongo was exporting 4,000 slaves annually until 1540, when it increased to approximately 7,000.

• The Portugese pressed for more slaves, and the demands of the tribute system forced Afonso to comply with their excessive demands.

• The standard source of slaves—war captives and criminals—was drying up and new sources—slave raiding and buying slaves from the Tio region with nzimbu shells—were found.

• The revenue from the slave trade financed the hiring of priests, artisans, and teachers, and purchased luxury items for the nobility.

Rebuttal by Dutch Trader

• These Kongolese and Mbundu would best benefit if they helped us rid the countryside of the tribes competing with them. They could ally with us, expel the Portuguese who mistreat their people so, and help us conquer the other tribes. We would send the healthy men to the Americas and they could use the women and children to serve them.

Islamic Gunpowder Empires

Akbar the Great of Mughal dynasty (1556-1605)

• Expanded territory westward– Built the pillar of heads of fallen forces

• Gave Calcutta to the British• Provided cotton textiles to the west• Undercut the Ottomans contacts and forced them

into competition with the western Christians• He rebuilt the military and administrative system• Married a Rajiput princess

– Repealed the jiza (tax on non-Muslims), an act which favored the Rajiputs

• Suceeded by Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb• Akbarnāma, or three volume history of Akbar

chronicles the Mughal dynasty back to Timur

Religious toleration• founder of the Din-i-Ilahi faith

• Merged Hinduism and Islam but also had Christian, Janism and even Zorastacism

• Idea that no one religion held the idea of truth

• Allowed other religions to flourish

• Restored Hindu temples

Administration and building• Navratnas

– Nine court “jewels” or administrators

• Divided the expanded government into Sarkar(s)

• Moved the court from Delhi to Fatehpur Sikri and built a series of forts which were added to by his successor shifted to Agra – Red Fort

• Fatepur Sikri was abandoned due to lack of water

Centralization

• Rajiputs, warrior class, provided administration helped collect new tax

• Cadaster– Based on income producing instead of value

• Abolished the jizya(h)

Babur on India

“Without means and resources there is no empire and conquest, and without lands and followers

there is no sovereignty and rule.”- The Babur-nama in English

Mughal Empire Akbar & Shah Jahan

Ming and Qing Dynasties

Ming to Qing (Manchu)

• "By Qing times after 1644 the non-Chinese Inner Asian ingredient of military control had been absorbed into china’s social-political system. The symbiosis of China with Inner Asians (Manchus and Mongols) confirmed and perfected the Neo-Confucian order. It was an agrarian-nomadic-bureaucratic style distinctly different from the industrial-military- entrepreneurial style then developing among the Western nations"

Kangxi (1661-1722)Manchu – Qing – Ching – Ch’ing

• The Chinese political and social order is at its height in this "late imperial" period of the last two dynasties: the examination system has, from the Tang dynasty onward, created a strong centralized and fully functional civil service in place of an aristocratic elite with a territorial base of power.

• Scholar-gentry, residing at home as they study for the next level of examination or await official appointment, support the work of the appointed district magistrate (who, by regulation, cannot be from the district) and form one elite class of Confucian literati that governs China.

Manchu outsiders• Kangxi Emperor always spoke Chinese with a

Manchu accent. – This reflects the fact that Kangxi had a decent but not a

perfect Chinese education, and is symbolic of the fact that he always remained a Manchu in his values.

• He was sympathetic to Chinese culture, knew a fair amount about it, but he always approached it as a sympathetic outsider. – In other words, he was a perfect example of the kind of

Manchu aristocrat it would take to rule China: • a conquest ethnic aristocrat acculturated to, but not swallowed

up by the Chinese host culture.

• Original astrophysical studies and correspondence in Manchu and he later did NOT encourage the translation of these into Mandarin for the scientists

Increase in population under his watch

• triple cropping of rice caused the population of China to more than double from between 180 million in 1700 to 400 million in 1800

Kangxi’s martial exploits and achievements

• Incorporation of Taiwan by defeating and subduing the Ming loyalist Zheng Chenggong & his successors (1683)

• Defeating the Russians in the north & signed the treaty of Nerchinsk

• Won the war against “Three Feudatories”• Won the war against Western Mongols who

controlled Tibet• 1720, Qing entered Tibet & installed a pro-

Chinese Dalai Lama

Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722)

• The unification of the Jurchen tribes under Nurgaci (1559-1626)– The “Banner” system: a military-civilian unit of

120-278 companies), – Ethnicity based units: 8 Banners for each

ethnicity of Manchu, Mongol, and Chinese

• Kangxi, the second emperor, consolidated the Manchu rule, creating the Golden Age of Qing in 17-18 centuries

Kangxi’s political & economic policy

• Two-sided policy toward the Chinese elite:– The continuity of Chinese traditions– A patron of Confucianism & Chinese art: the Kangxi

Dictionary & a special civil service examination– Preservation of the Manchu identity and superiority

and courting the Chinese loyalty– Brutal suppression of any dissenting voice– Tax reform: “one whip tax” combining land and head

taxies; once accessed, the amount was fixed for 50 years

Ming Empire

The Ch’ing Empire at its peak

Manchu origins and expansion

The Qing Empire and tributaries 1700s

Rebuttal by Eunuch

• He does not allow us to pass along our material gains to our families

JAPAN

Tokugaw Iseyasu (1598-1616)• Hideyoshi decreed in 1586 that farmers must stay on their

land. In 1587 he decreed that only samurai would be allowed to carry the long sword, which would later define them as a class. As economic conditions changed, the shoguns were less successful, however, in maintaining the rigid boundaries separating the other classes

• eta were outcastes, forced to live in their own communities and avoided by other members of Japanese society. – They held this low status due to their occupations, which were

associated with death: disposing of animal carcasses and tanning animal hides

• Responsible for distribution of the rice– There were over 270 daimyo in Tokugawa Japan who received at

least 10,000 koku (1 koku measurement of feeding one person for a year about 5 bushels)

• 1597 issued a third banning edict of Christianity and executed 26 Franciscan monks in Nagasaki

Road to partial isolation• Within a century of the arrival of the Portuguese in Japan in 1543, they are

followed by the Dutch and British who have battled to break the Portuguese and then Spanish control of the Asian spice trade. – The East India companies established by the Dutch and British, respectively,

become active in the early 1600s; the Dutch (1609) and the British (1613) establish trading relations with the Japanese with bases on a Japanese island.

• In an effort to reestablish order in its international relations, however, the Tokugawa Shogunate prohibits trade with Western nations, prohibits Japanese from going abroad to trade (ending the unofficial piracy and trade on the China coast), and reaffirms Japan's official relations with China and Korea within the East Asian international structure.

• Following the "Act of Seclusion" (1636) setting forth these conditions, Japan is effectively "secluded" from interchange with Western Europe (but not with East Asia) for the next 200 years. – Only the Dutch retain a small outpost on an island in Nagasaki Harbor; books

obtained from the Dutch are translated into Japanese and "Dutch learning" forms the basis of the Japanese knowledge of developments in the West throughout this period.

– Within East Asia, trade continues with the Koreans and Chinese, and exchange of goods and ideas with China is maintained. The East Asian political order, with China at the center is reinforced

Isolation• First step taken was persecution of Christians, then

banning of Christianity in 1614• after 1616 foreign merchants limited to few ports• by 1640s, only Dutch and Chinese admitted at

Deshima• Neo-Confucian philosophy gave way to the

influence of thinkers who championed the school of "National Learning.“ based on indigenous Japanese culture

• differed from Chinese in maintaining oversight of European technological developments.

Tokugawa Japan

Osaka Castle. seized by forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1615

Tokugawa• Daimyo

– fudai (inside) daimyo– tozama (outside) daimyo

• Ronin– "masterless" samurai, without a lord to answer to, but

also without any definite means of support. The ronin might settle down in a particular location to teach or perform other duties, though many of them wandered the countryside, looking for gainful employment. Some sold their services as hired warriors to the highest daimyo bidder. Of the approximately 30 million Japanese during the Tokugawa period, about 2 million were samurai.

• Bakufu– Governing council

RebuttalPortuguese trader

• We have an opening into the empire as the Tokugawa need our saltpeter to continue their have viable threats against their hostages.

• We can only take so much Kabuki and Buddhism but will stay in Nagasaki for as long as it takes to push them out of their stronghold in Edo.

Peter the Great• Prior to Peter the czars confiscated privately held lands in the

conquered principalities and gave these estates to calvarymen who pledged continual military service in return. In the 16th century the streltsy, a regular infantry corps armed with firearms, was formed. – The tsars now had an army of their own and were no longer

dependent on the military forces raised by the boyars. • Rise of the Romanov beginning with Michael selected by the

boyars (zemsky sobor )• Peter expanded Russia towards Europe and European

interests and followed the Muscovy efforts to protect themselves from any further incursions of the Mongolian hordes.– Peter's wars with the Ottoman Empire and Sweden indicated a

westward shift in Russian expansion.• Wanted a large army to expand Russian borders to for buffer

zones• Needed iron weapons, ships made of new metals and

technologies as Russia had no navy, and needed guns for his very large army.

European Populations and Armies

Finance and control • He implemented taxes on everything imaginable to

include candles, nuts, boots, hats, horses, beehives, beards, chimneys, and drinking water

• In 1721, the church hierarchy was officially abolished by the Ecclesiastical Reservation and the church was placed under the control of the Holy Synod and was fully linked to the state. – The 1721 Regulation specifically stated what the clergy

could do• it was designed to control their daily life so that they became an

apparatus of the state.– The task of the clergy was seen as two-fold

• to work for the state and to make their congregations totally submissive to the state by convincing them that Peter was all but God-like to ensure the population of Russia's total subordination to the crown

Education and culture

• In 1701, the School of Navigation and Maths was founded in Moscow.

• This was run by British teachers. In the same year, similar schools were created for artillery and languages.

• In 1707, a School of Medicine was created and in 1712 a School of Engineering. – Thirty maths schools were created in the provinces and in 1724,

a year before Peter's death, a School of Science was established though the lack of scientists in Russia meant that it had to be initially staffed by foreigners.

• Young boyars required to attend• Dress western european

Economic shift• Remained significantly agriculturally based and dependent on

the large coercive labor force• Westernization was limited to the elite and aristocracy• In 1718, two colleges were created for commerce and mines

and manufacturing. – His technological advancements were to obtain self-sufficiency in

building his navy and guns

• Under state direction, factories of all types were developed. • Prices were fixed by the state and the state had the right to be

the first purchaser from the producers - but at a price fixed by the state.

• Private businesses could make a profit only on the surplus of produce which the state did not want and many successful enterprises were simply taken over by the state.

Coercive labor• Barshchina is the labour, mostly agricultural, performed by a Russian peasant or

serf for a landlord, whether the church, the state, or an individual landowner. – Barshchina originated in Kievan Rus and became widespread in the later part of the

Mongol Yoke, when agricultural production increased. – The labour was performed one day weekly in the fifteenth century, and increased to three

days in the seventeenth century.– In 1797, it was forbidden to work on Sundays. – Both men and women performed the labour, and children began limited services at age

fourteen. – Barshchina often included: sowing, reaping and bringing in crops; constructing buildings

and fences and keeping them in repair; hunting and fishing; spinning flax; brewing beer; baking bread; working in flour and weaving mills; making bricks; and carting goods to market.

– Barshchina did not end in 1861, as freed peasants had to meet their obligations to former landlords for two years or until they had redeemed their land from the landlord.

• Obrok is rent paid for the use of land, either in kind (i.e. poultry, eggs, meat, honey, cloth, grain) or in money.

– Obrok was more widespread than barshchina from the thirteenth to the early sixteenth century.

– Obrok decreased in the sixteenth century, as the practice of service-tenure landholding developed.

– In the eighteenth century, obrok was more predominant in areas of poorer farmland and where trade was developed, and more commonplace among church and crown peasants.

– With the development of peasant trade in the second half of the eighteenth century, their was more widespread payment of obrok in money rather than in kind.

– Generally, peasants who paid obrok had more economic freedom than those who performed barshchina.

– After 1861, obrok was replaced by the system of redemption payments.

Peter the Great r.1682-1725 • The Russian official rank system was based on

Peter the Great’s decree of 4 February 1722 that provided a system for equivalencies of ranks among the army branches and the civilian service.

• The Table comprised of 14 classes of ranks and civilian positions, although it did not extend top the lower levels of service.

• It remained in effect with slight modifications until the October Revolution of 1917.

• As Peter the Great launched his reforms in Russia in early 1700s, it became evident that a new system of promotion was required to organize his new army and society.

• That was particularly important for the nobility who were obliged under Peter’s decrees to serve in the army.

• In addition, as he formed his army along the European lines, Peter the Great endeavored to simplify the transfers from one branch of service to another as well as determining the precedence of the officials in civilian service and court.

St. Petersburg: "Peters Window on the West" and "Venice of the North“Also the city “built on bones”

Rebuttal from a boyar• His liking for the crudest sort of practical jokes, and the

grossness of many aspects of life at the Russian court, were certainly not without parallels elsewhere in Europe. Nevertheless, they were carried to lengths which foreign observers witnessed with a mixture of horror, amusement, and astonishment. One of them noted in October 1698 that at another banquet 'Boyar Golovin has, from his cradle, a natural horror of salad and vinegar; so the Czar directing Colonel Chambers to hold him tight, forced salad and vinegar into his mouth and nostrils, until the blood flowing from his nose succeeded his violent coughing.'

• A.G. Dickens (Ed.). The Courts of Europe : Politics, Patronage and Royalty 1400-1800. McGraw-Hill, 1977

Rebuttal from a Cossack

• Peter doesn’t ride like the wind like we do• He gave us promises• We agreed to move into the new areas and in

return we were suppose to be able to control• We keep our horses and our traditions and one

day will take over and these Rus will submit to our culture

• Pugachev Rebellion supported by the Cossacks

Growth of Russia

Suleiman1494-1566

r. 1520 – 1566

Ottomans• The Ottomans had a high tolerance of alien

cultures and religions• The men of the ruling Dynasty, the house of

Osman, always married women with mixed heritage, Turkish, Greek, Arab, Russian, Serbian, thus themselves were mixed.

• Janissaries• Allowed conquered regions to tax themselves and

govern under their civil law a system known as the millet

• Later developed the devshirme in conqueored regions which provided the young boys who as trained and educated became the Janissaries

Suleiman the Lawgiver• Kunan has grown to be a signficant part of

Shari’ah (teachings)• kanun-i 'Osmani• Adapted the Yasa and the Shari• Patron of Sinan - one of the greatest and most

prolific mosque builder– over 80– Mosque of Suleiman

• Wrote under the nom de plume of Muhibbi, the Loving – Between 83 – 210 collected poems

To a women in his haremThrone of my lonely niche, my wealth, my love, my moonlight.My most sincere friend, my confidant, my very existence, my SultanThe most beautiful among the beautiful...My springtime, my merry faced love, my daytime, my sweetheart, laughing leaf...My plants, my sweet, my rose, the one only who does not distress me in this world...My Istanbul, my Caraman, the earth of my AnatoliaMy Badakhshanmy Baghdad, my KhorasanMy woman of the beautiful hair, my love of the slanted brow, my love of eyes full of mischief...I'll sing your praises alwaysI, lover of the tormented heart, Muhibbi of the eyes full of tears, I am happy.

Growth in the military under Suleyman -Devsirme• Janissary army from 12,000 to between 35-40,000• Needed to stop the incursions of Shah Abbas of the Safavid

Empire• Janissaries were conscripted from Christian families and

defined as property of the Sultan– The Janissaries were subject to strict rules, limiting their freedom

and demanding higher moral standards than usual in the society. – In the first couple of centuries, they were forced to celibacy, but

this would later change. – The janissaries were not allowed to grow beard, which was the

sign of a free man. – They were even denied contact with the normal society in the

areas were they were stationed. – Through their training, they were learned to put their allegiance

to the bey/sultan. – Studied literature, law, calligraphy, theology, and languages– despite strict rules, they enjoyed high living standards and a

social status which intended to give logic and force to their loyalty.

– over time, the Janissaries were so successful that they grew into one of the strongest power institutions in the empire.

– They could exercise this strength to influence the policy and to defend their own interests.

– Under Suleyman they began to marry and people within the empire could apply to become a Janissary

Other religions were tolerated

• Jizah– Tax on the dhimmi

Ottoman

Rebuttal

• They have taken me from my home although they allow me to convert to Islam I am away from my family

• I wield great power as my cohorts have become ministers but he is allowing others in the bureaucracy to make decisions including those women in the harem

• He spends too much time writing and building and needs to fight his wars

• I wish he would allow me to grow a beard

Enlightened Monarchs

• Catherine the Great• Joseph II of Austria

(HRE)• Frederick II (Frederick

the Great) (1740 – 1786)

Czars• Romanov’s begin with Michael

• Evolution of concept of Russia begins in Kievan Rus to Duchy of Muscovy and Muscovites occupation of Mongolians known in Russia as the Golden Horde

• Ivan III and Ivan IV drive out the Mongolians

• Time of Troubles results in the selection of Michael Romanov

Growth of the Russian Empire: Ancient Slavic Centers 800s - 1200shttp://www.uwec.edu/bawdent/geog150/Powerpoints/Section%203/russia.human.ppt#2

Novgorod

Kiev

Moscow

Catherine the Great r. 1762-1796

• Expanded territories– Alaska– Parts of Siberia– Pacific coast of North America as far south as

California– Poland (180,000 sq mi)– Crimea

• Turkish Wars involved over 3 million peasants and lasted for 10 years

Catherine – Great or Not• Supported the arts, literature, and theater

– Hermitage and required French to be spoken at her court– Voltaire and ideas of the Enlightenment

• Ideas were not enacted• Extended serfdom increasing numbers and later problems

– Edict and pogroms– Pogrom - from the Russian word meaning "to wreak havoc," a pogrom is an

organized attack, often a massacre, against a minority group– Russia saw a progressive intensification of serfdom while the West was

relaxing this institution in favor of other labor systems.• Further Westernized the nobility who began to speak French at court • Acquired vast new territories

– Won control of the southern Crimea region which provided a warm water port – Acquired Polish territory in the east to provide greater European ties– Moved Eastward all the way to the Pacific

• 1773 - Yemelyan Pugachev led a Cossack rebellion against the monarchy that also developed into a revolt against serf owners. Romanov troops crushed the revolt in 1774, and Catherine strengthened the oppressive serf laws

• Created the Pale of the Settlement (already expelled from Russia in 1742 now part as Partition of Poland)

Religious Intolerance

• From 1791 until 1915, the Jews living in Eastern Europe were confined by the Czars of Russia -- starting with Catherine the Great -- to an area known as the "Pale of Settlement" (meaning "borders of settlement").

• The Pale consisted of 25 provinces that included Ukraine, Lithuania, Belorussia, Crimea, and part of Poland (which had been partitioned between Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772).

• Jews were specifically expelled from Moscow and St. Petersburg and forced into the Pale.

Enlightened Despot• In 1767 Catherine summoned an assembly to draft a new

code of laws for Russia and gave detailed instructions to the members about the principles they should apply.

• The proposed code never went into effect. • The code drips with "enlightend language"

– What is the true End of Monarchy? Not to deprive People of their natural Liberty; but to correct their Actions, in order to attain the supreme Good.

– This Equality requires Institutions so well adapted, as to prevent the Rich from oppressing those who are not so wealthy as themselves, and converting all the Charges and Employments intrusted to them as Magistrates only, to their own private Emolument....

• the reality of government in Russia was rather different.– The tsarist government combined a real

monopoly of formal politics by a central administration, but over noble-owned estates the power of the government was nonexistent.

From Decree on Serfs (1767) • The Governing Senate. . . has deemed it necessary to make known > that

the landlords' serfs and peasants . . . owe their landlords proper submission and absolute obedience in all matters, according to the laws r that have been enacted from time immemorial by the autocratic forefathers of Her Imperial Majesty and which have not been repealed, and which provide that all persons who dare to incite serfs and peasants to disobey their landlords shall be arrested and taken to the nearest government office, there to be punished forthwith as disturbers of the public tranquillity, according to the laws and without leniency. And should it so happen that even after the publication of the present decree of Her Imperial Majesty any serfs and peasants should cease to give the proper obedience to their landlords . . . and should make bold to submit unlawful petitions complaining of their landlords, and especially to petition Her Imperial Majesty personally, then both those who make the complaints and those who write up the petitions shall be punished by the knout and forthwith deported to Nerchinsk to penal servitude for life and shall be counted as part of the quota of recruits which their landlords must furnish to the army. And in order that people everywhere may know of the present decree, it shall be read in all the churches on Sundays and holy days for one month after it is received and therafter once every year during the great church festivals, lest anyone pretend ignorance.

• From A Source Book for Russian History, G. Vernadsky, trans. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1972), Vol. 2, pp. 453-454.

Political and Economic Administration• massively reorganized local governments in 1775,

but, unlike the Prussians, she created a civil bureaucracy, not of all ranks of society, but of the nobility. – She was, after all, intensely aware of her precarious hold

on power; she had gotten this power through a palace coup by the nobility.

• Her most dramatic reforms came in the economic sphere. – set about eliminating trade barriers such as taxes and

tariffs, and worked hard to build up the Russian middle class.

– issued charters granting or outlining all the rights available to individual towns in an effort to spur productivity and the growth of wealth.

Growth of Russia

Joseph II r. 1765 – 1790HRE

• Abolished serfdom

• Eliminated the death penalty

• Established a principle of equality before the law for all people

• Enacted religious reforms

Religious reforms• Joseph also sought to bring the Catholic church

under his control. • First, he made it illegal for any clergy to

communicate directly to the pope or the Vatican. • He shut down over six hundred monasteries and

convents and claimed monastic lands for himself. • He also shut down all the seminaries and replaced

them with his own; in these new seminaries, prospective priests would be taught to obey him rather than the pope.

• These policies effectively ended any influence that the Catholic church had over Austrian peoples.

Toleration• In 1781, he declared the Toleration Patent, which declared

that all Lutherans, Greek Orthodox, and Calvinist churches could freely worship without official harassment.

• These separate denominations were also allowed to found their own churches, schools, and hospitals, and could serve in the official bureaucracy.

• Joseph was also the only European monarch to ease the oppression of Jews within his territory.

• Although he never granted Jews the same religious freedoms as he granted to Christian denominations, he did significantly ease the tax burden and official harassment. – He also allowed them to freely worship in private (but not in public).

Social Status• abolished serfdom as a legal status entirely. In addition, he granted a

number of new liberties to the peasant population: – the right to learn skills, – right to marry, – the right to educate their own children.

• He also took many of the privileges that landlords held over peasants away.

• He wasn't, however, doing all this to salve his conscious. • New Enlightenment social theories about the selfishness of human

beings implied that people worked harder and more productively when they saw some personal advantage to be gained from it. Joseph hoped to harness this selfishness by making life easier and more rewarding for the peasantry; the payoff, he believed, would be harder work and greater productivity from the labor force that cultivated the land.

Frederick II of Prussia (1740-1786) • He abolished the serf system which tied tenant farmers to

certain properties for life and replaced the powers accruing to the nobility with a greatly expanded bureaucracy composed of educated civil servants. His father, Frederick William I (1713-1740), was dedicated to the military expansion of Prussia; to do this, he built a bureaucracy of civil service entirely based on merit.

• Frederick II, however, saw the need to include the nobility and actively recruited them into the civil service. For Frederick was above all a pragmatic enlightened monarch who saw the need to placate all aspects of society.

• Following Cesare Beccaria, Frederick eliminated the use of torture in judicial proceedings and judicial punishments, abandoned capital punishment and greatly reduced corruption in the judicial system.

• Following Voltaire (whom he knew personally), Frederick passed a series of measures to protect religious minorities, including Muslims. He did not, however, tolerate Judaism and levied huge taxes on Jews in order to drive them out of the country.

Criteria

• How did they create their empire

• How did they consolidate or centralize their empire

• In what way did they provide for the support of the people

Adam Smith Wealth of Nations

• Father of capitalism

“It is the object of that system to enrich a great nation rather by trade and manufactures than by the improvement and cultivation of land, rather by the industry of the towns than by that of the country”

• Mercantilism

Gunpowder

• Saltpeter– Potassium nitrate– and Sodium nitrate

• Sulphur

• Charcoal

Hints• Means

• Motive

• Land based vs. sea based

• Actual routes and primary items of trade

• Core – periphery - linkages

• Issues of conflict

• Universal monarchies/empires

• Technologies

• Migration of peoples AND ideas