Download - AP Enlightened Despotism
Enlightened
Despotism
What is Enlightened Despotism?
a form of absolutism (or despotism) in which rulers were influenced by the Enlightenment & applied its concepts to their territories
Philosophe’s Influence
• sought to redirect monarch’s power toward:o rationalization of economic & political
structures o liberation of thought
Physiocrats’ Influence
• Economists of the Enl.• In France, urged:
oDeregulation of grain tradeoMore equitable taxes
• In general:– Pro free market– Anti guild
Adam Smith
• Scottish physiocrat• Wealth of Nations• Encouraged “laissez-
faire” (hands off)• Invisible hand of the
free market (supply & demand)
Enlightened Despots
• Tended to allow: o religious tolerationo freedom of speech and the presso the right to hold private property
• Most fostered the arts, sciences, and education
• Greater attn to merit & hard work in bureaucracy
Not So Enlightened Despot
Louis XV
• r. 1715-1774• Great-grandson of Louis
XIV• Cardinal Fleury (chief
minister) • Relatively ineffective
king• Drove France into
deeper debt
Attempts at Enlightenment
• Parlements– Replaced w/ courts where judges could
not own, sell, or inherit office– Portrayed Louis XV as tyrant
• Economics– Gave up price controls on grain (1763) to
open France to a free market– Reversed in 1770 (grain shortage
famine)
Louis XVI
• r. 1774-1791• Restored old
parlements• Jacques Turgot =
chief financial minister, physiocrat
Turgot’s Reforms
• Edicts that: o Freed grain tradeo Suppressed guildsoConverted peasants’ forced labor on
roads into a money tax payable by all land owners
oReduced court expenses
Turgot’s Reforms (cont.)
• Tried to introduce elected local assemblies to make gov’t more representative
• Strongly resisted by nobles & parlement
• Riots re: rising grain prices
Enlightened Despots
Frederick the Great King of Prussia
not the mall…
Frederick II of Prussia
• r. 1740-1786 • AKA Frederick the
Great• Self-described “first
servant of the people”
Economic Policies
• Silesia = manufacturing district• State-initiated agricultural
improvements:o Created more farmland (drained swamps)o New crops: potatoes & turnipso Established the Land-Mortgage Credit
Assoc.ohelped landowners raise $$ for ag.
improvements
However…
• Peasants still burdened by disproportionate taxes
Non-Economic Policies
• Religious Tolerationo Catholics & Jews allowed to settle in
predominately Lutheran territoryo Protected Catholics in Silesiao State benefited from the economic
contributions of more workers
Non-Econ. Policies (cont.)
• Rationalization of Legal Systemo Efficiencyo Unified regional law to match state
law (more central authority)o Decreased nobility’s influence
• Abolished torture
Education Reform
• School Code of 1763oAll kids 5-13 must go to school
Expansion• 1st Partition of Poland (1772)
o Split 1/3 of Poland-Lithuania’s territory & ½ its people among Prussia, Russia & Austria
oWhy? “growing religious tensions” in Poland
Joseph IIKing of Austria
Joseph II of Austria
• r. 1780-1790• Co-ruled
w/mom, Maria-Theresa from 1765 until her death in 1780
• HRE 1765-1790
Joseph II
• impersonal & humorless
• wanted to improve life for his people
Centralization of Authority
• Austria very diverse• Maria-Theresa began some Enl.
policies such as:o More efficient tax system
oclergy & nobility taxed
o Brought educational institutions to the service of the crown
Maria-Theresa (cont.)
• Expanded primary educationo 1774 – General School Ordinance =
state subsidies for schoolsoBy 1789 – ¼ of kids in school
Maria-Theresa (cont.)
• Limited the amount of labor that landowners could demand from peasants
• Goal = to create a pool from which to draw military recruits
Joseph II’s Reforms
• Wanted to o extend his borderso exert his authority over areas his
mother chose to stay out (irrational to have more than 1 leader)
Joe’s Reforms (cont.)
• Tried to est. German as sole language of the empire (irrational not to all speak the same language)
• Didn’t work out, and eventually had to rescind these orders
Joseph & the Church
• Favored tolerationo October 1781 - Toleration Decreeo Lutherans, Calvinists, & Greek Orthodox
permitted to:oHave own places of worshipoSponsor schoolsoEnter skilled tradesoHold academic appointmentsoHold positions in public service
Joseph & Church (cont.)
o Jews:oRelieved of certain taxes & signs of
personal degradationoGranted the right to private worshipoStill did not have equality with other
subjects
More Joseph & Church
• Sought to bring institutions of the Roman Catholic Church under his control (“Josephinism”)oForbade local bishops to communicate
with the PopeoDisbanded JesuitsoDissolved over 600 monasteries & took
their land (exception: schools & hospitals)
Even More Joseph & the Church
o Dissolved est. R-C Seminaries (too much focus on Pope, not enough on parishners) & replaced with 8 seminaries focused on parish duties
o Funded w/ $$ from confiscated monasteries
o R-C priests = employees of the state
Joseph’s Economic Reforms
• Abolished internal tariffs• Encouraged building of new roads• Improved river transportation• Personally inspected farms &
manufacturing districts
Economic Reforms (cont.)
• Created laws to limit authority of landowners over peasantso Abolished serfdomo Granted peasants many personal
freedoms such as the right to: oMarryoEngage in skilled work
o Goal = reduce burdens on peasants
The BIG Economic Reform…
• Land Taxation (GASP!!)o All landowners pay taxeso Peasants no longer had to bear
burden of taxes alone
• Died shortly after this decree & it was never implemented (his brother Leopold was forced to repeal it…)
Catherine the GreatEmpress of Russia
Catherine The Great
• r. 1762-1796• Germanic Princess & wife/widow of
Peter III• Approved (& possibly aided in) the
assassination of her husbando Gregory Orlov, her lover, organized
the coup that murdered Peter III
Catherine the Great
• Enl. ideas convinced her that Russia was backward
• Brought West to Russiao Ex.: Diderot - paid him & offered to
publish his Encyclopédia in Russia when it was banned by French Gov’t
1767 Legislative Commission
• 564 Delegates from all walks of life• Goal = suggest legal reforms
(guided by Enlightenment ideals of Montesquieu & Beccaria)
• Result = nothing, but Catherine got a good feel for her country’s problems
Pugachev Rebellion
• 1771-1775• Most violent peasant uprising in
Russian history• 1773-1774 - serfs and Cossacks
killed 1500 nobles and clergy• This rebellion limited the amount
of reforms geared toward them
CTG’s Legislative Reforms
• Power to nobilityo Had power to oust her, so she made
friends with them
• “Charter of Nobility”o Gave nobles complete control over
serfso Local offices given to local nobles (not
royal offices, though)
CTG’s Economic Reforms
• Cont. PTG’s mercantile ideas• Expansion of the small Russian
urban middle class (vital for trade)• Close tie to philosophes
CTG’s Territorial Reforms
• Cont. drive for warm water ports (fought Ottoman Empire)
• 1774 Treaty of Kuchuck-Kainardji - gave Russia a direct outlet on the Black Sea
• 1st Partition of Poland • 2nd Partition of Poland (1793)
CTG’s Social Reforms
• Created hospitals & orphanages• Limited religious toleration• Slight restriction of the use of
torture by the government