write a 5-6 paragraph informal essay on the following question. Do not let your answer be a mere recitation of events – that will cost points. You are expected to draw from the material covered in all the lectures and in the textbook readings from the course. Events and periods you could discuss (and this is not a total list) include: the French Revolution, the Concert of Europe, liberalism, the imperialism, World War I, World War II. That should get you started!
A time machine has brought Scots nationalist James Robert McCrimmon from the Battle of Cullodon in 1746 to today. You must tell him what has happened in the world in the intervening 260 years. Trace for McCrimmon the major revolutions (both political and ideological), the key events, and major movements of this period (you should be able to discuss between eight and ten in total). Outline briefly what each one is, why you think it is significant, and how it leads to the next change/event. Finally, tell McCrimmon in plain language how life is different today than it was in 1750.
[It should be noted that this question is not as difficult as it may appear. The good answer will, in essence, discuss the eight to ten events covered in this course that you feel are the most important, and conclude with what a Scots person in 1746 would or would not like about the world in 2000. Be aware that these events must cover the entire time period of the course, not merely those events since test 4. Events that you can discuss include (but are not limited to): the Enlightenment, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the rise of Napoleon, the Industrial Revolution, Romanticism, urbanization, imperialism, the revolutions of 1848, Victorianism, the creation of Germany and Italy, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, and the fall of the Soviet Union. You may write this in the form of a letter if you so desire.]
History 113, Section 01
Week 01 Part 1 – Course Introduction
Today’s Bible Verse
• “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
– Mark 9:23b
Why Study History?
• History Helps Us Understand People and Societies
– It offers the only extensive information for examining
how societies function, and we need to have some sense
of how societies function simply to run their own lives.
• History Helps Us Understand Change and How the
Society We Live in Came to Be
– By studying history we understand how and why things
in a society do or do not change.
• As leaders, you must know how to use history to the
benefit of you and those who follow you.
Where Are You, Anyway?
The Basics
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•
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•
Dr. Brian S. Miller
Christian Leadership Building, 221
Office Hours: see syllabus
Email: bmiller@csuniv.edu
The Course
• Examine the interaction of cultural, social, political,
economic and physical forces in shaping the global
community of the modern world from the Eighteenth to
the Twentieth centuries.
• Successive periods of global development—identified
by the themes Transformation, Domination, and
Confrontation—trace the changing relationship of
Western and non-Western cultures.
• In covering the political, religious, economic, and
international dynamics of the past, this class emphasizes
the interaction of ideas and events in shaping the lives
of individuals and societies.
Texts
• Tignor, Robert et al. Worlds Together, Worlds
Apart: A History of the World. Volume 2, 5th
Edition, 2013. (Accessible online through
Blackboard.
• Pomeranz, Kenneth L. et al. Worlds Together,
Worlds Apart: A Companion Reader, 3rd
Edition. (A printed book)
Other Documents On BlackBoard
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Syllabus
Test Study Sheets
Quizzes
PowerPoints
Discussion Boards
Bonus Points Instructions
Attendance
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No exceptions for absences.
Three tardies equal one absence.
Leaving early equals one absence.
An excess of 6 absences will result in FA.
Attendance records may not be challenged at a later
date.
• It is not the instructor’s responsibility to inform
students of their absences or FA status.
Academic Integrity Policy
• Although students are encouraged to study
together for the tests, they are not allowed to
consult any source during testing periods.
• I will penalize academic dishonesty by assigning a
failing grade for the course.
• Furthermore, as cheating of any kind is a violation
of the university’s Honor System, it will be
reported to the proper academic authorities.
Grade Breakdown
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600 points total
Test One – 100 points
Test Two – 100 points
Test Three – 100 points
Test Four (Final) – 150 points
InQuizitives – 100 points
Discussion Posts – 50 points
Bonus Points – book reviews
InQuizitive
• You will be required to take an online quiz
(called an InQuizitive) for each textbook
chapter.
• There are 7 chapters and one “how to” quiz
for a total of 8 quizzes.
• Your final quiz grade will be the average of
your InQuizitive grades.
Quizzes
• Before starting the quizzes, read the “How To Use
InQuizitive” document on Blackboard.
• To take the quizzes:
– go to the Blackboard site for our class,
– For the week in question, go to the “due this week”
folder.
– take the quiz with the appropriate date/chapter
Tests
• Test dates:
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Test 1:
Test 2:
Test 3:
Test 4:
Week 4 (Reader pgs. 143, 153, 157, 159, 163)
Week 7 (Reader pgs. 168, 171, 175, 179, 189)
Week 11 (Reader pgs. 224, 236, 250, 259, 286)
Week 16 (Reader pgs. 307, 314, 323, 335, 341)
• Will last 180 minutes
• Each test will have four parts
• Will be graded within two weeks
Test Part 1: General Questions
• Based on material covered in the current
testing period.
• Multiple choice
• Will require you to have a general
understanding of the topics and terms
covered in class.
• Fifteen questions
• Will be worth 30 points.
Test Part 2: Companion Reader
Questions
• Will be based on selected Companion
Reader sections.
• Questions will require you to have read.
• Questions will not “nit-pick.”
• Ten questions
• Will be worth 20 points.
Test Part 3: Map Questions
• Requires you to identify ten locations on a
map
• You will be given the map to study at the
beginning of the testing period
• Ten questions
• Will be worth 10 points
Test Part 4: Short Essay
• Based upon material covered in the lectures,
intended to show me that you understand
the material covered and can think critically
about it.
• Make specific points and examples in your
answer – dates are not required, but you
should know the order of events.
• Be aware that these tests can be cumulative.
• Two questions, will be worth 40 points
Final Exam Test Part 5:
Comprehensive Question
• A comprehensive question that will discuss
related elements throughout the time period
discussed.
• All students must answer this question.
• Will be worth 50 points.
Disability Services
• Any students with a documented disability
requiring accommodation in this course
should see the instructor outside of class
and bring the appropriate letter from the
CSU Office of Disability Services.
• Contact Dr. Watson in the Student Success
Center (x7159) for more details.
Bonus Points: Book Review
• Bonus point instructions are available on
Blackboard.
• Due at final exam
Discussion Board
• Fifty points in the course will be based on
your participation in a Blackboard
discussion board.
• You will be required to make at least one
post per week, though I encourage students
to reply to their peers.
Questions
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Ask any time
Email is always good
Telephone is not as good, but acceptable
Will not talk about tests until 24 hours after
they have been returned
Bad Things
• Any cheating will result in F for the
assignment.
• Refrain from texting in class.
• Do not be chronically tardy.
• Do not begin putting up your belongings
until class is dismissed.
Lecture Schedule
• Lecture topics are tentative, but we should
generally stay on course
• We will mostly likely always go for the full
time of class
• You are expected to have the readings done
in the week they are listed.
• Books and lectures will not always go handin-hand.
Exhortations
• This is something you can do.
• I will be here to provide you the guidance and help
you need to get the grade you want.
• There is plenty of work, so stay on top of
everything.
– “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men
stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will
renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not
be faint.” – Isaiah 40:30-31
• This will be a good semester!
The World In 1750
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Western Europe
Eastern Europe
Ottoman Empire
Africa
India
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China
Japan
Southeast Asia
North America
Central/South America
Today’s Bible Verse
• Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one
deceives you. For many will come in my
name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will
deceive many.”
– Matthew 24:4-5
A World Undefined
• Trying to “define” the world in
c. 1750 is even more difficult
than trying to do the same
today.
• One thing that is clear,
however, is that by the mideighteenth century, the world
had grown far more connected
in the past.
• Many cultures had to deal with
foreigners, welcome or not…
Western Europe
• In the eighteenth century there
was an intensifying rivalry
between Britain and France, and
a growing ambition of their
eastern European counterparts.
• This led to a series of
midcentury wars, including the
War of the Austrian Succession
and the Seven Years War.
• Rivalries also led to a series of
innovations in diplomacy and
warfare.
Part of the Reason…
• Britain and France dominated the
lucrative triangle of trade that
imported valuable raw materials
from North America and the
Caribbean to Europe in exchange
for slaves acquired from Africa.
• The influx of capital generated
by the trade served as a spur for
unchecked population growth
made possible by an agricultural
revolution and the creation of a
system of rural manufacturing.
Slipping Into A New World
• The changes in agricultural and
manufacturing production
destroyed the last vestiges of an
economic system (manorialism)
and a social system (feudalism)
that dated back to the medieval
period.
• In that process, both the
traditional European peasantry
and the guildsmen were
converted to wage labor.
Behold, Enlightenment!
• The Enlightenment thinkers
of the 18th century
popularized the ideas of the
Age of Reason.
• Even kings and despots
wanted to be called
“enlightened.”
• For one of the first times in
human history, secular
thought predominated and
liberated itself from religious
belief.
Louis XIV
• The modern state system is
considered to have started in 1648.
• This emerging system of
sovereign states had been
threatened by the rise of France
and the aggressive policies of
Louis XIV.
• The containment of France as a
result of the War of the Spanish
Succession, the Treaty of Utrecht,
and the death of Louis XIV
brought this to an end.
George I
• By 1715, there had formed a
system of self-conscious states
ruled by statesmen who
practiced the diplomatic art of
balancing power with power.
• The strongest state must be kept
under control through alliances
against it.
• Aggressive behavior, like that of
Louis XIV, generated alliances
to contain such behavior.
A Cold War, Indeed!
• There were wars during the
eighteenth century but these
wars were fought for limited
ends and with rules of
engagement.
• The wars of the 18th century
included the Great Northern
War (1700 – 1721), the War of
the Austrian Succession
(1740-1748), and the Seven
Years War (1757-1763).
The Diplomatic Revolution
• They are also wars between
France and England over
colonial dominance.
• France was allied to Prussia
in the first and to Austria in
the second. The reverse was
true of Great Britain.
• This great reversal of
alliances is called the
Diplomatic Revolution of the
18th century.
The Best Navy Afloat
• By 1763, the end of
the Seven Years
War, Britain had
triumphed over
France in North
America and India.
• Britain had become
the largest naval
empire in the world.
Looking Familiar
• By 1750 we also have much
of Europe divided into
language/culture areas that
will become many of the
borders established for
present day countries like
France and Germany – give or
take a few territories.
Still Smiling
• The enormous wealth generated
by the British and French
colonies and the triangle of
trade created pressure for social
change that eventually affected
the whole population.
• The effects were felt more
strongly in Britain and led to
changes that would lead to an
Industrial Revolution that began
in Britain and then spread
eastward throughout Europe.
Eastern Europe
• Britain and France’s prosperity
and power caused their rivals to
try to strengthen and modernize
their kingdoms.
• In Prussia, Frederick William I
built a strong centralized
government with the military,
under the command of the nobles,
playing a dominant role.
• In 1740, successor Frederick II
(the Great) used that military to
extend into Hapsburgs lands.
“I Think I’m Magnificent!”
• In Russia, the progress towards
modernization and centralization
made under Peter the Great had
largely been undone in the first
half of the eighteenth century.
• However, under the leadership of
Catherine the Great, Russia
defeated the Ottoman Turks in
1774, thereby extending Russia’s
borders as far as the Black Sea
and the Balkan Peninsula.
The Ottoman Empire
• The Ottoman empire was an
Islamic state, created by Turkic
peoples who conquered the old
Byzantine empire in the late 13th
century.
• It was dynastic; its territories and
character owed little to national,
ethnic or religious boundaries, but
by the military and administrative
power of the dynasty of the time.
• It held sway over most of the
Islamic world of the time.
Mahmud I
• The Ottomans attempted to
bring as much territory as
possible into the Islamic fold.
• The non-Muslims living in these
areas were then absorbed into
the Empire as protected
subjects.
• However, by the 18th century,
the Ottomans were losing
strength in the face of a dynamic
Europe next door.
Battle of Poltava
• During this period Russian
expansion presented a
large and growing threat.
• Accordingly, King Charles
XII of Sweden was
welcomed as an ally in the
Ottoman Empire following
his defeat by the Russians
at the Battle of Poltava in
1709 (part of the Great
Northern War of 1700–
1721.)
You Can Call Me Charles XII
• Charles XII persuaded the Ottoman
Sultan Ahmed III to declare war on
Russia, which resulted in the
Ottoman victory at the Pruth River
Campaign of 1710–1711.
• However, defeat in the AustroTurkish War of 1716–1718 led to the
loss of territory to the rival state of
Austria.
• It was clear that the Ottoman Empire
was on the defensive and unlikely to
present any further aggression in
Europe.
Africa
• In Africa, a continuing
internal evolution of the
states and cultures occurred
in this period.
• Also, there was increasing
involvement of Africa in
external trade- with major
but then unforeseen
consequences for the whole
world.
As Best We Know
• In North Africa, we see the
Ottomans conquer Egypt and
establish Regencies in Tripoli,
Tunis and Algiers.
• South of the Sahara, some of the
larger, older states collapse
(Songhay, Western Sudan,
Christian Ethiopia), and new
power bases emerge (Asante,
Dahomey, Sakalava).
The Great Mosque, Djenne, Mali
• Highly centralized
political and
administrative structures
develop and societies with
distinct social classes and,
often, a strongly feudal
character.
• Traditional religions
continue to coexist with
both Christianity
(suffering setbacks) and
Islam (in the ascendancy).
Fortress Elmina, Ghana
• Along the coast, particularly of
West Africa, Europeans
establish a trading network
which, with the development of
New World plantation
agriculture, becomes the focus
of the international slave trade.
• It is argued that the long-term
global consequence include the
foundation of the present worldeconomy with all its inbuilt
inequalities.
The Gun-Slave Cycle
• West Africans were caught in
the demand and technology
shocks of the slave trade, and
the influence of a new weapon,
the flintlock rifle.
• This created a “gun-slave cycle”
– a “raid or be raided” arms
race.
• In the process, large numbers of
Africans were victimized and
sold into the Middle Passage.
Slave Ship
• At the height of the slave
trade in the 18th century an
estimated six million
Africans were forced to
make a journey across the
Atlantic often totaling over
4,000 miles.
• Over 54,000 voyages were
made in the course of three
hundred years between the
16th and 19th centuries.
Back Where We Started
• The large proportion of
slaves ended up in the
Caribbean, approximately
42%.
• Around 38% went to Brazil,
and much fewer, about 5%,
went to North America.
India
• By 1707, the formerly powerful
Islamic Mughal empire fell into
decline, and India in the 18th
century was characterized by
extreme chaos and
fragmentation.
• A number of local powers
emerging in the subcontinent to
rival the Mughals
Nader Shah
• There were also a series of
invasions by neighboring
countries, notably by Nader
Shah of Iran.
• Most importantly, the British
East India Company extended
its influence into the area,
signaling the beginning of
colonization of the entire Indian
subcontinent.
The BEIC Comes A’Calling
• British involvement in India the
18th century can be divided into
two phases, one ending and the
other beginning at mid-century.
• First, the British were a trading
presence at points on the coast.
• By the 1740s rivalry between the
British and the French, who were
late comers to Indian trade, was
becoming acute.
The Fall Of Empires
• In southern India the British and the
French allied with opposed political
factions within the successor states to
the Mughals to extract gains for their
own companies and to weaken the
position of their opponents.
• From the 1750s they began to wage
war on land in eastern and southeastern India, reaping the reward of
successful warfare, which was the
exercise of political power, notably
over the rich province of Bengal.
China
• In the 16th century, the
Chinese economy was still the
most sophisticated and
productive in the world, and
the Chinese probably enjoyed
a higher standard of living
than any other people on
earth.
• The Qing Dynasty (16441912), founded by the
invading Manchus, continued
this splendor.
Chinese Gothic
• Contemporary Chinese called
the 18th century
“unparalleled in history,”
when all aspects of culture
flourished.
• China was a prosperous state
with abundant natural
resources, a huge but
basically contented
population, and a royal house
of great prestige at home and
abroad.
A Manchu Archer
• The Manchu realized that they
would have to adapt their
nomadic way of life to suit the
agricultural civilization of
China.
• The Qing neutralized threats
from inner Asia by
incorporating their homeland of
Manchuria into the empire, as
well as that of the Mongols,
whom they had subordinated.
This / Not This
• The Manchu found
themselves in charge of a
civilization whose
government they had
defeated, but whose cultural
power far exceeded their
own.
• This meant that for 200
years Chinese society under
the Qing existed with two
seemingly contradictory
realities.
On the One Hand…
• On the one hand, the Qing
rulers took great pains to get
high officials and cultural
figures to switch their
allegiance to the new
dynasty, by showing their
familiarity with, and respect
for, traditional Chinese
culture.
…On The Other
• On the other hand, the Manchu
rulers were at great pains to
remain distinct.
• They enforced strict rules of
social separation between the
Han and Manchu, and tried to
maintain – not always very
successfully – a culture that
reminded the Manchu of their
nomadic warrior past.
Nice Palace, Though
• Much of the map of China that
we know today derives from the
Qing period.
• The country’s territory
expanded, and expeditions to
regions of central Asia spread
Chinese power and culture
further than ever.
• At the same time, military
power was never enough.
Chilies!
• The expansion of the 18th
century was fuelled by economic
and social changes.
• The discovery of the New World
by Europeans in the 15th century
led to a new global market in
American food crops, such as
chilies and sweet potatoes.
• This allowed food crops to be
grown in more barren regions,
where wheat and rice had not
flourished.
But, On The Brink…
• Overall, the Chinese people
were better-fed and healthier
than ever before, and there were
more of them in total.
• In the 18th century, the
population doubled from around
150 million to 300 million
people.
• Thus, in the 18th century, China
was among the most advanced
economies in the world
Japan
• In the 18th century, Japan
was in the “Edo period,”
when military rulers called
shogun actually ran the
country, while the emperor
remained a figurehead
leader.
• In 1633, shogun Tokugawa
Iemitsu forbade travelling
abroad.
A Drastic Choice
• Iemitsu then almost
completely isolated Japan in
1639 by reducing the
contacts to the outside
world to very limited trade
relations with China and the
Netherlands in the port of
Nagasaki.
• In addition, all foreign
books were banned.
Early Kabuki Actors
• Despite the isolation, domestic
trade and agricultural
production continued to
improve.
• During the Edo period and
especially during the Genroku
era (1688 – 1703), popular
culture flourished.
Street Merchant
• A strict four class system existed
during the Edo period: at the top
of the social hierarchy stood the
samurai, followed by the
peasants, artisans and merchants.
• The members of the four classes
were not allowed to change their
social status.
• Outcasts, people with professions
that were considered impure,
formed a fifth class.
“A Meeting of Japan, China and
the West” by Shiba Kokan
• In 1720, the ban of Western
literature was cancelled, and
several new teachings entered
Japan from China and Europe
(Dutch Learning).
• New nationalist schools that
combined Shinto and
Confucianist elements also
developed.
Not Looking Good
• Even though the Tokugawa
government remained stable over
several centuries, its position
steadily declined for several reasons.
• A steady worsening of the
government’s financial situation led
to higher taxes and riots among the
farm population.
• In addition, Japan regularly had
natural disasters and famines that
caused riots and further financial
problems for the government.
A View Of Mount Fuji
• The social hierarchy began to
break down as the merchant
class grew increasingly
powerful while some samurai
became financially dependent of
them.
• In the second half of the era,
corruption, incompetence and a
decline of morals within the
government caused further
problems.
Southeast Asia
• Southeast Asia was made up of several regional powers, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos, Siam and Burma.
• Local dynasties held sway in the region, managing to hold on to
power in the face of increasing European merchant interests.
• That would change in the future, though Siam would resist
European influence for over a century and never become a
colonial power.
North America
• In North America, three
different European powers held
sway over Native American
groups who in the long term
simply could not compete
against the technological
superiority and avariciousness
of colonists and imperialists.
Divided Up
• The Spanish dominated the
sparsely populated southwestern
areas of North America,
reaching up from their more
lucrative viceroyalties to the
south.
• France had control over what is
now Canada, though they, too,
did not heavily populate the
region, making money instead
off the fur trade.
Sailing to Charleston
• On the eastern coast of North
America, the British had created
thirteen settlement colonies,
many of which became wildly
successful.
• 1750 marked the high point for
these colonies – the events
coming from the French and
Indian War would force the
colonists to change their
relationship to their mother
country.
Central and South America
• Central and South American
were firmly under the
control of the Portuguese (in
Brazil) and the Spanish
(everywhere else).
• These colonies were
dedicated to the production
of sugar and the mining of
silver.
• Control from Europe was
very tight, with little threat
of revolt.
A Motley Mix
• So, the world is a motley mix of
conditions – in total flux in
some areas, stagnating in others.
• Local peoples often struggled to
resist foreign control, or failing
that to maintain their own
cultures.
• Europeans aggressively
expanded into the world,
spreading the power of
“Western” thought and
technology.
World Despots of the 1700s, Part 1
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Despot
Qing Dynasty
Manchu
Han
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Shogun
Daimyo
Bakufu
Samurai
Today’s Bible Verse
• So in Christ Jesus you are all children of
God through faith, for all of you who were
baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves
with Christ. There is neither Jew nor
Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there
male and female, for you are all one in
Christ Jesus.
– Galatians 3:26-28
Yes, You Should Have
• Despotism is a form of
government in which a single
entity, called the “despot,”
rules with absolute power.
• That entity may be an
individual, as in an autocracy,
or it may be a group, as in an
oligarchy.
It’s All Greek To Me
• Despot comes from the Greek
despotes, which roughly means
“master” or “one with power,”
and it has been used to translate a
wide variety of titles and
positions.
• Thus, despot is found to have
different meanings and
interpretations at various times in
history and can not be described
by a single definition.
You Betcha!
• In its classical form, despotism is
a state where a single individual
(the despot) wields all the power
and authority embodying the
state, and everyone else is a
subsidiary person.
• This form of despotism was
common in the first forms of
statehood and civilization; the
Pharaoh of Egypt is exemplary of
the classical Despot.
Not So Classical
• The term now implies tyrannical
rule.
• Despotism can mean:
– tyranny (dominance through threat
of punishment and violence), or
absolutism; or
– dictatorship (a form of government
in which the ruler is an absolute
dictator, not restricted by a
constitution, laws or opposition,
etc.).
Enlightened, Indeed
• However, in enlightened
absolutism (also known as
benevolent despotism), which
came to prominence in 18th
century Europe, absolute
monarchs used their authority to
institute a number of reforms in
the political systems and societies
of their countries.
• This movement was quite
probably triggered by the ideals
of the Age of Enlightenment.
Not “Monty” To His Friends
• Charles-Louis de Secondat, the
Baron de Montesquieu was a
philosopher during the
enlightenment.
• He believed that despotism was
an appropriate government for
large states.
• Likewise he believed that
republics were suitable for small
states and that monarchies were
ideal for moderate sized states.
Nor As Fun As Rumor
• According to Montesquieu, the
difference between absolute
monarchy and despotism is that in
the case of the monarchy, a single
person governs with absolute
power by fixed and established
laws.
• A despot, on the other hand,
governs by her or his own will
and caprice.
• However, real life isn’t that
simple.
China
• The 268-year duration of the
Qing dynasty was dominated by
the rule of two monarchs: the
Emperor Kangxi, who reigned
from 1662 to 1722, and his
grandson, the Emperor Qianlong,
who reigned from 1736 to 1796.
• These two emperors would set the
course of Qing history and in
large part create the political,
economic, and cultural legacy
inherited by modern China.
The Qing Flag
• For the Manchus, who
were a foreign, conquering
dynasty, a major task on
the road to effective rule in
China was that of enlisting
the help of the Chinese
populace — in particular the
elite scholarly class.
• The man most responsible
for accomplishing this was
Kangxi.
The Kangxi Emperor
• Kangxi came to the throne in
1662, when he was only 8 years
old.
• After achieving his independence
from several powerful regents,
Kangxi immediately began to
recruit scholars.
We Can Work For That Guy
• Kangxi brought these men into
his court to support his cause of
transforming the Manchu way of
rulership into a truly Confucian
establishment based very much
on Ming dynasty prototypes.
• Through this maneuver, Kangxi
was able to win over the scholarly
elite and, more importantly, the
Chinese populace at large.
The Qianlong Emperor
• Qianlong ruled from 1736 to
1796.
• Under the reign of the
Qianlong Emperor, the
Chinese empire grew to a
size unprecedented in
Chinese history.
Woof!
• At the height of Qianlong’s
rule, China dominated East
Asia militarily, politically,
and culturally.
It’s All Me
• Qianlong was the first Manchu
ruler to not only feel completely
at ease with both his Manchu and
his Chinese identities, but also to
begin to conceive of himself as a
“universal ruler.”
• Qianlong deliberately represented
himself differently to each of the
various constituents that formed
his extensive, multiethnic empire.
Qianlong As Manjusri
• To the Tibetans, for example,
Qianlong portrayed himself as a
reincarnation of one of the most
important bodhisattvas of Tibetan
Buddhism, Manjusri.
• For the Mongols he took on the
role of a steppe prince who
understood their steppe traditions.
• To the Han Chinese he portrayed
himself as a scholar and great
patron of Chinese learning and
art.
Still All Me
• Interestingly, Qianlong saw himself
as the emperor of not only the Han
Chinese, the Manchus, and all the
other ethnic groups in his empire,
but also all beyond the empire.
• Jesuit missionaries who had come
to China in Kangxi’s reign and still
lived in Beijing were often
incorporated into the activities of
Qianlong’s court as proper subjects
of the “Universal Monarch.”
I Can’t Do It Alone, Guys!
• But he grew greedy.
• His misrule brought big problems to
the whole empire.
• He wanted to expand his empire
southwards and tried to conquer the
kingdoms of Burma and Vietnam.
• He sent four armies against Burma
from 1665 to 1669, all destroyed.
• An army sent to Vietnam was also
driven out.
Well, Not Just Me…
• He started to indulge himself in rich
pleasures and luxuries and building
palaces.
• He left court matters to officials
who stole the court’s money, and his
actions depleted the empire’s funds.
• Discontent against Qing rule arose,
and people started to arise in
rebellions.
• The White Lotus Rebellion was a
big popular uprising that started in
1794.
It’s All Me, Don’t Need Anyone Else
• Qianlong also dealt
ineffectively with Europeans
who wanted to trade and also
wanted to colonize the area.
• His isolationist actions towards
Europeans were detrimental
and set the stage for later
problems and invasions.
Getting Down To Work
• The Qing state (16441911) inherited a long
tradition of Chinese
bureaucratic rule and a
political system that was
of great interest to many
European thinkers.
There’s A Bunch Of Us, Too
• The Chinese system of
bureaucratic rule was
unprecedented in human
history.
• It contributed greatly to the
ability of the Qing dynasty
to rule over a vast territory
and to do so in a way that
was fair and that also
brought the benefits of
imperial rule to a large
number of people.
The Imperial Throne
• The Chinese system of
rule relied on a strong
central government
headed by an emperor.
• But the emperor did not
necessarily have the
absolute power that is
often associated with
traditional monarchy.
Just Watch Me Mediate!
• The Chinese never had an
understanding of the power of the
king in terms that were used in
Europe.
• That is, the Chinese never
believed in the “divine right of
kings.”
• Rather, they believed that an
emperor had to be an exceptional
being — a sage king — who could
mediate the cosmic forces.
Singularly Unimpressed
• The emperor was also not
invulnerable.
• His actions had to be
tempered by basic
political expectations, and
he had to do the things
that an emperor should do.
• If he did not do these
things, he could be
overthrown, and this
would be considered
legitimate.
Wait, I’m Sure I’ve Got It Somewhere!
• If such a thing occurred, the
emperor would be understood to
have lost the “Mandate of Heaven.”
• When a new dynasty was
established, it was believed that the
Mandate of Heaven had passed to
the ruling house.
• When the Manchus overthrew the
reigning Ming dynasty and
established the Qing dynasty, they
announced that the Ming had lost
the Mandate of Heaven.
Down At The Yamen…
• The Chinese government
during the Qing was an
integrated bureaucracy.
• Political power flowed
from the top to the bottom
through a series of
hierarchically ordered
positions that extended
down to the county level,
where a local magistrate
headed a county office,
called the yamen.
I Worked Hard For This
• This bureaucracy was remarkable
because officials within the
bureaucracy were not members of
a hereditary aristocracy.
• Rather, they had acquired their
positions according to a system of
merit.
• This system of meritocracy -perhaps the first of its kind in the
world — was established on the
basis of government
examinations.
Feeling The Love!
• Those who wanted to be officials
were schooled in the literature
and the philosophical works of
China’s great Confucian tradition.
• Through this, would-be officials
would formulate a personal,
moral and ethical structure for
themselves, their family, and their
local community.
• Also they learn how one should
act as a member of the group of
people that rules the state.
Study Hard!
• Examinations were given at the
county level, and successful
candidates progressed to higher
levels, all the way to the highestlevel examinations, which were
given at the imperial capital.
• If one could pass the
examinations at this level, then
chances were very great that one
would certainly become a
member of the small coterie of
elite bureaucrats that ruled China.
I Should Have Studied Harder…
• Of course, the ability of
someone to get the
education needed to sit for
these examinations relied
to a certain extent on
wealth.
• Families often coordinated
their wealth so that the
brightest and most
promising of their children
would be able to rise
through this system.
Still Got The Common Touch
• An important consequence was
that the Chinese bureaucracy was
not ruled by aristocrats that had
inherited their positions.
• Rather, it was a state ruled by
those who were of the “common
people,” although often they were
the elite among the common.
Already Enlightened!
• During the time that the Qing
dynasty ruled China, these ideas
(of a civil government based on
meritocracy and social
responsibility) were admired and
promoted by prominent writers
and philosophers of the 18thcentury Enlightenment period in
Europe and the 19th-century
Transcendentalist movement in
America.
Are You Sure I’m Chinese?
• During Qing times the Chinese
state system, though it was a
monarchy, was not a monolith.
• The bureaucracy always had to
worry about and accommodate
local circumstances.
• The state wanted to implement
policies that were fair and uniform
throughout the empire
• This was not always possible
because China was incredibly
diverse, as it remains today.
Come On, Let’s See That Map…
• There were coastal provinces
and inland provinces,
provinces where many people
engaged in non-agricultural
activities, and provinces where
people did nothing but practice
agriculture.
• Thus, it was very difficult -even impossible — to apply a
policy uniformly throughout
the empire.
Yes, I’m Tense
• Officials recognized this tension.
• While they served as officials,
they were serving the state.
• When they went home (to their
home provinces), they found
themselves more concerned about
the local community and wanting
to make sure that there would be
state policies favoring the
interests of their own local
community.
Not, I’m Not From Here, Either
• Recognizing that officials had an
official identity and a local
identity, the bureaucratic system
was organized to prevent people
from acting in their official
capacity in a way to unfairly
benefit their home province.
• This was done through the “rule
of avoidance,” so an official could
not serve in his home province or
even in a province adjacent to his
own province.
So, Where Are You From?
• Officials also served in each
position for usually three years
before going to a new position.
• One might argue that in this
officials are unable to really
understand what is going on in
the area in which they are serving.
• The benefit is that they never
become too attached to one place
or too supportive of interests that
applied only to that place and not
to the empire as a whole.
A Lot Of Folks
• The effectiveness of the
Chinese style of rule during
the Qing period is most
evident when one thinks
about the number of people
that the Qing state governed.
• The population of China in
the 1600s, when the Manchu
Qing conquered China, was
somewhere in the vicinity of
100 million people.
Wow, A LOT Of Folks!
• At the beginning of the 1800s,
China had about 300 million
people (a number that was not
greatly influenced by the new
areas that the Qing had added to
the empire in the 18th century,
which were relatively sparsely
populated border regions).
• By the time the Qing dynasty fell
in 1911, China had close to 400
million people.
Good Place To Be Buried
• Thus, there was a fourfold
increase in population during the
period of Qing rule.
• However, the institutions that
were put into place in the 1640s
when Qing rule began
(institutions largely inherited
from earlier dynasties) managed
to sustain a well-functioning state
all the way to the fall of the
empire in 1911.
I Can Handle This
• The rapid growth in
population did contribute to
what came to be one of the
greatest weaknesses within
the Qing bureaucratic system
— the local magistrate.
• The magistrate was at the
lowest level of the
bureaucracy and had a very
large area to control.
Maybe Some Help Would Be Nice…
• He was not always able to
do so effectively with the
resources that were given to
him by the state.
• By the end of the Qing
period, when the Chinese
population had increased
fourfold, a single magistrate
and his office could be
responsible for as many as
300,000 people.
Emerson Likes It
• Ralph Waldo Emerson (1830-82),
an American writer and
philosopher who lived during the
time of Qing rule in China, wrote
that the Confucian notion of the
moral cultivation of each person
as the foundation for social
responsibility and good
government.
• In France, Voltaire (1694-1778)
championed the idea of the civil
service examinations.
Not Thomas Taylor Meadows
• In England, writers and
diplomats, such as British
diplomat Thomas Taylor
Meadows (1815-1868), called for
civil exams, as well.
• Meadows, in particular,
maintained that “the long duration
of the Chinese empire is solely
and altogether owing to the good
government which consists in the
advancement of men of talent and
merit only.”
Japan
• The political system of the
Tokugawa era was a multifaceted
but comprehensive government.
• It is called the bakuhan system,
after its key constituents—the
bakufu, a military term meaning
“general headquarters” but used for
a national government headed by a
shogun (thus, aka shogunate).
• Beneath it are the multiple han, the
domains of provincial lords known
as daimyo, “great names.”
Just Call Me “In Charge”
• Shogun signifies much more than
its literal meaning, “a general.”
• It refers to the government’s chief
executive, the supreme powerholder in the state.
• Another title held by the shogun,
“pillar of the military,” reflected
the fact that the government he
led was run by members of the
military class, that is, by samurai.
Tokugawa Ieyasu
• The shogunate founded by
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616)
began in 1603.
• Ieyasu was the first of a long line
of Tokugawa shoguns.
• His hereditary successors,
members of the Tokugawa
family, exercised ultimate power
over Japan until 1868.
Here On The Map
• Because the city of Edo (now
Tokyo) was its capital, the
Tokugawa shogunate is
frequently identified as the Edo
bakufu, and the period of
Tokugawa rule is often labeled
the Edo era.
• But the shoguns did not rule the
country by themselves. Rather,
the bakufu and the daimyo
domains or han controlled Japan
together.
A Daimyo
• According to the definition
current in the Tokugawa era, a
lord was considered to be a
daimyo if his domains had an
annual productivity equivalent to
at least 10,000 koku of rice (one
koku equals 5.1 bushels).
• In other words, all daimyo were
lords from the samurai class, but
not all samurai lords were
daimyo.
The Qualifying Crop
• The daimyo domains varied greatly
in size.
• They went from large, provincesized dominions to small enclaves in
territories of more powerful lords.
• Their number fluctuated, with no
more than 270 or so at the same
time.
An Apt Simile
• Each was in theory a realm in itself, run by its daimyo from
his castle, but all were in actuality overshadowed by the
bakufu.
• The shogun had the power to make and unmake daimyo,
move them from one part of the country to another, and
increase or reduce the size of their domains.
• He could confiscate those domains altogether for a real or
perceived infraction of his rules.
• As a contemporary simile put it, the daimyo were the
shogun’s “potted plants.”
I Work For “The Man”
• The shogun was a feudal lord,
drawing power from the fact that he
could put more men in the field.
• The shogun’s direct vassals (samurai
not of daimyo rank) made up the
largest and strongest armed force.
• Moreover, the shogunate’s authority
to mobilize the military contingents
of all daimyo as it saw fit was
unquestioned; until the 1860s, none
of the han dared to contravene that
right and oppose the shogun overtly.
Edo-Period Gold Coin
• In large part, the shogunate was
able to finance its extensive
commitments because it was the
country’s greatest landowner.
• The shogunate also directly
controlled the gold, silver, and
copper mines.
• It also directly administered and
taxed Japan’s most important
cities, Edo, Kyoto, Osaka and
Nagasaki.
He Didn’t Always Win
• Just as important were the ritual and
symbolic foundations of the
shogunate’s authority.
• Tokugawa Ieyasu was Japan’s most
powerful general but nothing more
until 1603, when he obtained the
title of shogun—more formally, seii
taishôgun, Barbarian-Conquering
Generalissimo—which was the
time-honored attribute of the
military leader having greatest
authority.
Emperor Go-Yōzei
• This supreme title was awarded to
him by the emperor, whose
sovereignty over Japan, while it
existed in name only, nevertheless
was universally revered, because
it was anchored deep in the myth
of the country’s divine genesis.
• In other words, the shogun
obtained his identity as a secular
ruler from Japan’s sacred
monarch.
The Chrysanthemum Throne
• The first three Tokugawa shoguns
cultivated the roots of their
institutional legitimacy,
embracing but at the same time
exploiting the imperial court.
• Hidetada and Iemitsu, in
particular, are known for their
spectacular state journeys from
Edo to Kyoto, where they
traveled with thousands,
ostensibly to pay respects to the
emperor.
Tokugawa Hidetada
• The shoguns also imposed
controls on the imperial
establishment.
• As early as 1615, the shogunate
issued the “Regulations for the
Imperial Palace and Aristocracy,”
defining the sovereign’s prime
occupation as learning and the
arts, and prescribing even such
trivial matters as the seating order
at court.
Tokugawa Masako
• This asserted the primacy of
shogunal law over imperial
prerogative.
• The most intrusive demonstration
of the Tokugawa family’s
ascendancy, however, was no
doubt the marriage of Shogun
Hidetada’s daughter, Tokugawa
Masako (1607-1678), to Emperor
Go-Mizunoo.
Not A Ronin, I’ve Got A Job
• The daimyo followed the
shogunate’s lead in pretty much
any decision they made.
• To be sure, their domains were
autonomous in the sense that they
possessed the right of internal
self-government.
• Each han was administered
according to its own laws.
• Each had its own armed force,
made up of samurai who were the
daimyo’s liegemen.
Still, Better Than Some Alternatives
• Each collected its own taxes.
• Each regimented its own
population.
• For all that, they did not enjoy
political freedom of action.
• They operated within a
framework defined by the
shogunate.
Edo Castle
• That the han mimicked the bakufu
was no accident.
• The Tokugawa prescribed its
model to the daimyo.
• The final article of the
“Regulations for Military
Houses” as revised under Shogun
Iemitsu in 1635 put it in black and
white:
– “In the various provinces and
localities, observance shall abide by
the laws of Edo in everything.”
Relax, I’ve Got A Permit
• First issued in 1615, in Ieyasu’s
lifetime, these “Regulations”:
– told the daimyo that they could not
undertake repairs on their castles or
plan to be married without its prior
approval;
– cautioned them that addiction to sex
and indulgence in gambling were
the foundations of ruin;
– determined what kind of clothing
was proper and who was or was not
permitted to ride in sedan chairs;
– and put the lords under various other
constraints and obligations.
Bridge Looks Good From Here
• The revised version of 1635
additionally instructed them to
keep their roads, post stations,
ferries, and bridges in good repair
to prevent tie-ups anywhere;
moreover, they could not set up
toll stations or impose embargoes.
• Conducive to the free flow of
trade though these regulations
may have been, they were clear
intrusions into the autonomous
sphere of the daimyo domains.
No Wonder It’s So Big
• The most significant of the new
regulations of 1635 required the
daimyo to take turns in attending
on the shogun in Edo, the
alternate attendance system.
• This requirement meant the
daimyo spent every other year in
the shogun’s capital.
• Their wives and children lived in
Edo all the time, being in effect
hostages of the shogunate.
Costly, For Good Reason
• A daimyo was therefore obliged to keep up two
establishments, maintaining both a provincial castle and a
metropolitan residence, not to mention detached villas and
other dependencies.
• As though being required to flaunt his lordly status in two
separate domiciles—his han and Edo— were not wasteful
enough, a daimyo could not do without a large entourage
and an ostentatious display on his yearly journeys back and
forth between them.
• In the case of the more distant domains, this meant a
continuous road show for many hundreds of miles, and was
ruinously expensive.
Plus Upkeep
• The shogunate did not tax the
provincial lords directly.
• But it certainly found other ways
to bleed them economically.
• The daimyo were compelled to
provide funds, labor, and
materials for the grand
construction projects of the
shogun.
There Are Rules To It, Sort-Of
• And yet the shogun was not an
unmitigated despot.
• The shogunate was not an
autocratic but a bureaucratic
organization.
• On the whole, it was a prudent
master of the realm—although the
best word for its attitude might be
“paternalistic.”
Still Feeling The Love
• The shogunate was well aware of
two basic rules of Confucianism,
the dominant East Asian political
philosophy.
• One of those principles insisted
that “nourishing the people” was
the essential business of
government—that the populace
must be guaranteed a secure
livelihood.
Yikes!
• The other said that natural disasters
were signs from Heaven, signaling that
society was in disorder, showing
government’s failure in its obligations.
• When calamities did strike and its
performance was called to account by
that very fact, the shogunate had to
demonstrate that it was indeed the
true, legitimate, and fully sanctioned
ruler of the entire realm—earthquakes,
typhoons, and the 1732 plague of
locusts notwithstanding.
Important!
• Taking its national responsibilities
seriously, the shogunate mounted
relief efforts in its own territories
and in those of the daimyo.
• It distributed rice in famine-afflicted
areas, subsidized flood control
projects, and made loans available to
financially troubled domains.
• On balance, it surely gave as much
as it took.
• It was more than willing to share the
task of governing with the han.
There’s Only So Many Of Us
• To be sure, it was moved not by
benevolence but by necessity.
• The pool of competent
administrators at the bakufu’s
direct disposal, drawn from the
shogun’s own vassal samurai, was
large but not limitless.
• The shogunate could not do
without the active assistance of the
daimyo, whose domains after all
covered the greater part of the
country.
Whew!
• The bakufu conducted its
operations through an elaborate
bureaucratic machinery with
thousands of officials.
• The smaller machineries of the
han in the aggregate occupied
additional tens of thousands.
• These legions of functionaries
were all of the samurai class, men
whose hereditary profession,
nominally, was arms.
It’s Just Not The Same Anymore
• In the course of the Tokugawa era
the samurai were domesticated.
• They retained their monopoly on
the right to inflict violence, but
they lost their medieval ferocity.
• Bureaucracy, not arms, became
their profession.
Stability Has Its Price
• The daimyo ruled their han by virtue of their investiture by
the shogun, the overlord to whom they were obliged to
pledge allegiance before assuming their position as
domanial lords.
• In exchange for the oath of fealty, and on condition of good
behavior, they received the inestimable benefit of a
privileged place in a stable world.
• They were no longer living in a world of perpetual conflict,
as they had been in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a
period historians call sengoku, “country at war.”
Really?
• They had inherited corps of
samurai assembled by their
forefathers in an age of incessant
combat that faded into ever more
distant memory as the Edo period
progressed.
• These retainers and their
descendants remained on the duty
rosters of the han long after there
was anything left for them to do
militarily.
Some Tea, Then
• They all had to be given
at least the semblance of
employment. Ostensibly,
they earned their
stipends as functionaries
in the domain’s
administration.
• For all too many of these
samurai, however, there
was little to do
administratively, either.
Edo Era Christian Writing Box
• The early Tokugawa worked to
stamp out Christianity.
• However, the Christian peril was
a propagandistic image used by
the bakufu to rationalize its
general hostility to foreign—
European, Russian, and
eventually also American—
influences.
• Attendant on the Tokugawa peace
was the policy of national
seclusion.
Holding On A Little Longer
• In the 1630s, beginning in the
year 1633, the shogunate issued a
series of edicts that practically
eliminated its own nationals’
travel beyond Japan’s borders and
rigorously controlled foreigners’
entry within.
• Only the Dutch were permitted to
stay in the country, and then only
a limited presence at the port city
of Nagasaki.
The Enlightenment
•
•
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•
•
•
•
•
Enlightenment
Progress
Montaigne
Skepticism
Montesquieu
John Locke
Philosophe
Encyclopedie
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Voltaire
Candide
Kant
Rousseau
Enlightened Absolutist
Frederick the Great
Catherine the Great
Joseph II
Today’s Bible Verse
• But Jesus turning and seeing her said,
“Daughter, take courage; your faith has
made you well.” At once the woman was
made well.
– Matthew 9:22
The Age of Enlightenment
• The Age of Enlightenment is a term
used to describe the trends in thought
and letters in Europe and the American
colonies during the 18th century prior
to the French Revolution (1789-1799).
• The phrase was frequently employed by
writers of the period itself, because they
were convinced that they were
emerging from centuries of darkness
and ignorance into a new age
enlightened by reason, science, and a
respect for humanity.
• The period also often is referred to as
the Age of Reason.
It Started, It Stopped (Maybe)
• There is no consensus on when to
date the start of the Age of
Enlightenment, and a number of
scholars simply use the beginning
of the eighteenth century as a
default date.
• Many scholars also say that it ends
at the beginning of the Napoleonic
Wars (1804–15), though the French
Revolution is better date.
• Others point out that we still live in
an Enlightenment world, one
largely based on Enlightenment
thought.
The Main Beliefs of the Age
• The main beliefs of Enlightenment thought are as follows:
– The universe is fundamentally rational, that is, it can be understood
through the use of reason alone;
– Truth can be arrived at through empirical observation, the use of reason,
and systematic doubt;
– Human experience is the foundation of human understanding of truth;
authority is not to be preferred over experience;
– All human life, both social and individual, can be understood in the same
way the natural world can be understood; once understood, it can be
manipulated or engineered;
– Human history is largely a history of progress;
– Human beings can be improved through education and the development
of their rational facilities;
– Religious doctrines have no place in the understanding of the physical
and human worlds.
They Called Themselves That
• It was intellectuals in their own
era who declared their movement
to be the Enlightenment, their
purpose being to enlighten Europe,
to shed light on its intellectual
darkness.
A Direct Result
• The Enlightenment was a direct result
of the Scientific Revolution, but its
roots go back much farther.
• The ancient Greek philosopher
Aristotle invented formal logic; the
Renaissance thinkers rediscovered his
methodology; and then the thinkers of
the Scientific Revolution built upon
his deductive reasoning.
• The writers and intellectuals of the
18th century embraced the new worldview and the new way of thinking
produced by the Scientific Revolution
and the Enlightenment was born.
We Can Make A Better World
• These writers and intellectuals
placed great value on the concept
of reason:
– the combination of logic with
common sense and empirical
evidence.
• The Enlightenment thinkers
believed that the methodology of
science could be applied to all
sorts of problems outside the field
of science.
• This scientific methodology could
lead to the betterment of society.
The Intellectual Elite
• The Enlightenment thinkers were the intellectual elite, and represented
a small fraction of society.
• They found an audience among the social elite, the aristocracy, and
the wealthy middle class.
• As the new way of thinking developed, scientists and the scientific
community grew in esteem and influence.
• All things scientific became increasingly popular among the
aristocracy, who attended lectures to hear scientists speak about the
natural world.
• As Europe moved deeper into the Enlightenment, book production
and book sales soared across Europe.
• The Enlightenment would have a profound effect on the reading
public of the eighteenth century.
It’s Called “Progress”
• These intellectuals maintained that the
scientific method could be applied to
issues and problems that were not
scientific in nature.
• This new way of thinking could be used
to gain insight into the human condition.
• These thinkers believed that there was
much to be learned about humanity,
society, and the laws that govern society
through the use of the scientific method,
to create better humans and better
societies.
• The Enlightenment called this concept
progress.
Benard de Fontenelle
• A Frenchman named Bernard de
Fontenelle (1657-1757) wrote a
revolutionary book, Conversations
on the Plurality of Worlds (1686),
that went a long way toward making
science interesting and
comprehensible for nonscientific
readers.
• Fontenelle used a conversation
between two wealthy aristocrats to
explain the Copernican system and
other aspects of the natural world.
• The success of Fontenelle’s book
served as a sign of things to come.
The Key Goal
• The Enlightenment
thinkers saw the
betterment of society as
their ultimate goal.
• Indeed conditions for most
western Europeans
improved simultaneously
with the rise of things like
more tolerant and less
repressive representative
governments.
Question Everything!
• It should not come as a surprise
that the new way of thinking
caused problems for guardians
of the established religious and
social order during the
eighteenth century.
• The Scientific Revolution
proved the necessity of
questioning tradition and
dogma, developing and testing
hypotheses, and generally being
open-minded and creative.
Is Anything “Absolute”?
• After an era of absolute rulers and
religious warfare and persecution,
it made sense to Enlightenment
thinkers to question the authority
and oppression of absolute rulers.
• It made sense to question the
absolute truth on which religions
based their absolute claims to
absolute authority over absolutely
everyone.
• In other words, the Enlightenment
thinkers were skeptical of
anything that was “absolute.”
Shaken by the Revolution
• Just a few centuries earlier, the
absolute truth was that the Earth
was the center of the universe,
heaven lay in a location just
outside the finite universe, and the
Catholic Church was the only true
religion.
• The Scientific Revolution and the
Reformation shattered all those
absolute truths.
• Enlightenment thinkers wondered
how anything could be absolute if
those things were proven to be not
necessarily the truth.
Michel de Montaigne
• Skepticism didn’t begin with the
scientists.
• Skepticism dates to the ancient Greeks,
but more concretely to the sixteenthcentury Frenchman Michel de Montaigne
(1533-1592).
• Montaigne spent much of his life
mediating between Catholics and
Protestants, and he experienced much
turmoil as a result of the religious
differences among his fellow Frenchmen.
• Montaigne disapproved of the conflict
over religion and wondered if either side
actually held a monopoly on the truth.
Example and Experience Matters
• Montaigne believed in man’s inability to
attain certainty.
• Montaigne believed in marriage but he
preferred not to give in to romantic feelings
because of the way that romantic love
stifles freedom.
• He also hinted at cultural relativism or the
lack of a universal truth; in other words,
truth varied from culture to culture.
• Montaigne suggested that example and
experience carried far more weight and
value than abstract knowledge and tradition.
• These beliefs made Montaigne a skeptic, or
a proponent of skepticism.
Skepticism Leads to Truth
• Skepticism questions established truths.
• Is knowledge true? Are perceptions
true? Can one ever have absolute
knowledge about anything?
• Scientifically, skepticism leads to the
practice of the scientific method.
• Philosophically, skepticism leads to
questioning religion, politics, the social
order, and the authority on which
current practices are based.
• Critics of skepticism claimed that
skeptics denied truth, but skeptics
merely questioned the existence of
truth.
Pierre Bayle
• Another Frenchman continued the
tradition of skepticism.
• Pierre Bayle (1647-1706), a
Huguenot who fled to the safe haven
of the Dutch Republic to escape the
oppression of Louis XIV’s Catholic
government, wrote the Historical and
Critical Dictionary (1697) that
showed his skepticism of religion.
• He pointed out the errors of historical
and contemporary religious writers,
citing examples of how human beliefs
about religion had been diverse or
wrong and arguing for openmindedness.
What’s That, You Say?
• Skepticism of the status quo even appeared in an unlikely place: the
writings of travelers to foreign lands.
• Travelers often documented what they saw as they traveled to foreign
lands, such as the New World and China.
• Travelers noted primitive and ostensibly uncivilized peoples living in
harmony without strict governments, oppressive laws, state religions,
or other features of modern European states.
• If these peoples lived in harmony and peace and prosperity without
the “truth” of European religions and states, skeptics asked, then are
the current values and traditions of European states and churches
absolutely true?
• Just as the Scientific Revolution shook the foundations of science, the
Enlightenment was about to undermine the status quo of religion and
society.
John Locke
• Another major blow to the status
quo and the idea of universal,
absolute truths came in the wake
of the 1690 publication of John
Locke’s Essay Concerning Human
Understanding.
• Locke (1632-1704) shed serious
doubt on the Cartesian and ancient
Greek idea that humans are born
with certain innate knowledge that
can be drawn out through
questions, logic, and deductive
reasoning.
The Blank Slate
• Locke’s theory proposed that all
knowledge was based on
experience, that humans are born
a blank slate, or tabula rasa, on
which all knowledge is written
as they live.
• Universal truths didn’t exist
because each person’s
knowledge and version of truth
were based solely on his or her
own experiences.
You Are Born Knowing Nothing
• This theory fell perfectly in line
with the Enlightenment idea that
man and society could be
improved.
• Education and social institutions
could have a positive impact on
humans if they carried no a priori
knowledge, or knowledge
independent of experience, but
rather were a blank slate waiting
to be filled.
The Philosophes
• The Enlightenment as an intellectual
movement truly came together during the
mid-18th century when the philosophes
united for the common cause of educating
the public.
• The philosophes had a number of interests
and backgrounds, but they shared the belief
that they were intellectual beacons with the
responsibility to enlighten the public.
• To the philosophes, common men had no
real use for the message of the
Enlightenment because they would forever
be preoccupied by their own survival.
Free Them from the Past
• The philosophes believed in the
value of questioning traditions, in
the possibility of improving
humanity, and in the possibility of
progress.
• They were philosophers in the sense
that they exercised their intellects
but they had little interest in
abstract thought.
• They had a concrete, practical
purpose: to free the public from the
influence of tradition, superstition,
and false medieval ideas that never
seemed to go away.
Deism Defined
• One way the philosophes hoped to free people from
superstition and dogma was to expose the fallacies of
organized religion.
• The philosophes believed, as Newton did, that a rational
God created a universe bound by rules and laws and then
set the universe in motion like a clock.
• They believed that because God was rational, He could be
understood through reason.
• There was no need for the superstitious teachings of the
various denominations, nor for the ceremonies and
mysticism that accompanied organized religion.
• The philosophes called this new view of God and His
creation deism.
Reform from the Top, Down
• The philosophes were reformers,
but their “reform movement” was
a top-down and not a grassroots
movement.
• The philosophes believed the
only way society would change
was through the education of
those who ruled, the aristocrats
and even the monarchs.
• Only they had the power to
change existing laws and societal
conditions.
Headquartered in France (esp. Paris)
• For the philosophes, the few
years before and after 1750 was
when the most important early
works were published.
• The unofficial headquarters for
the philosophes was France.
• France didn’t allow the
philosophes total intellectual
freedom, but in the years after
Louis XIV died, repression and
aggressive actions against
intellectuals eased up a little.
Absolute Rules Don’t Approve
• During the reign of Louis XIV,
intellectuals who challenged the
government or the Church
generally found themselves tied
to a post about to be burned to
death.
• In the post-Louis years,
intellectuals rarely faced the
death penalty.
• They might have had their works
banned and burned, and they
might have been jailed or exiled,
but they didn’t really fear for
their lives.
Novels that Hide the Truth
• Even though they didn’t fear for their
lives necessarily, the philosophes
often made their statements against
the Church or against the state in a
veiled form.
• They often wrote novels where the
characters bad-mouthed other
characters who represented the
establishment.
• Some philosophes used the
dictionary or encyclopedia format to
express their views.
• Still others used satire to disguise
what they really wanted to say.
Everybody That’s Anybody
Speaks French
• Another reason the
Enlightenment flourished in
France had to do with language.
• French served as the polite
language of the elite and the
diplomatic language of
politicians throughout Europe.
• Because French culture
dominated Europe, French ideas
easily spread with the language.
Baron de Montesquieu
• Charles-Louis Secondat, Baron de
Montesquieu (1689-1755), attacked
the French government even though
he was a high-ranking official.
• In 1721 Montesquieu published a
satire called Persian Letters in which
two Persians visited France and made
many unfavorable observations,
compared the French government to
their own harsh Persian government,
and took shots at the pope.
• Besides the obvious satire, the Persian
Letters explored government and
morality.
Der Zeitgeist
• Montesquieu later applied the
scientific method to problems of
government in The Spirit of the
Laws in 1748.
• Here he compared governments
and examined factors such as
geography and history as they
influenced governments to see
which conditions promoted
liberty and prevented tyranny.
• It didn’t take long for
Montesquieu’s work to end up on
the Index.
Salons! (Not Saloons)
• A French phenomenon that
contributed greatly to the spread of
Enlightenment thought took place
in the homes of wealthy
aristocrats.
• Gatherings of philosophes often
hosted by wealthy, educated
women were known as salons.
• The salons offered the intellectual
elite of France places to gather to
discuss politics and religion free
from the control of the
universities, the Church, and the
government.
Marie-Therese Geoffrin
• One of the most famous salons
was in the Paris home of
Madame Marie-Therese
Geoffrin (1699-1777).
• The greatest of France’s
intellectuals met in Geoffrin’s
salons.
• Eventually, as Enlightenment
ideas spread to other European
states, so did the idea of salons.
• Prominent European cities
including Berlin, London, and
Warsaw hosted salons as well.
It’s What People Did Before Email
• The salons of Paris, and later of other cities, served as the breeding
ground for much intellectual activity during the Enlightenment.
• However, the free-thinking philosophes could not speak in public the
way they did behind closed doors in the salons. Therefore, in order to
get their ideas into the hands and minds of the world outside the
salons, the philosophes used a variety of letters.
• The philosophes made copies of letters, they published letters, and
they even began writing letters to the editors of various pamphlets and
periodicals.
• Much of the success of letter writing for intellectual and political
purposes can be attributed to the salons of the Enlightenment.
• Salons weren’t popular with all the Enlightenment thinkers. A number
of intellectual men resented the power and influence of the women
who hosted salons.
The Encyclopedie
• Arguably the greatest work of the
Enlightenment came in 1751 with the
appearance of the first volume of the
Encyclopedie, or Encyclopedia: The
Rational Dictionary of the Sciences,
the Arts, and the Crafts.
• Although Denis Diderot (1713-1784)
and Jean le Rond d’Alembert (17171783) edited the Encyclopedie, over
100 intellectuals in fields such as
mathematics, religion, law, and
industry contributed thousands of
articles to the manuscript that
eventually reached 35 volumes.
Two Goals
• The two editors hoped to do two
things with the Encyclopedie.
• First, by making vast amounts of
knowledge available, they hoped
to promote the greater good of
mankind.
• Second, they hoped to change
Europeans’ way of thinking.
• They believed the Encyclopedie
would cause people to question
dogmas and abandon
superstitions, thus leading to the
formation of a more educated
public.
That’s a Lot of Volumes
• By 1780, the 35 volumes contained over 70,000 articles and over
3000 illustrations.
• The articles covered every imaginable topic from science to math
to religion to morality to manufacturing to the arts.
• Diderot firmly believed that every topic should be examined and
explored regardless of what anyone thought or felt, and that this
examination ultimately would lead to progress.
• For 15 years, Diderot and the others labored to produce the
volumes, despite pressure from Rome and efforts by the publisher
to dilute the contents.
• The Encyclopedie, which openly questioned the intolerance of
religion and government, made a huge impact on all of Europe.
“Hey, What’s In That Package?”
• Because the Encyclopedie openly
challenged religious intolerance
and the Catholic Church while
praising Protestant thought, the
work in its entirety was banned by
the Church.
• However, for those who
subscribed to the work and paid
the steep price, the volumes were
delivered secretly upon
completion.
The Enlightenment
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Enlightenment
Progress
Montaigne
Skepticism
Montesquieu
John Locke
Philosophe
Encyclopedie
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Voltaire
Candide
Kant
Rousseau
Enlightened Absolutist
Frederick the Great
Catherine the Great
Joseph II
The Enlightenment
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Progress
Montaigne
Skepticism
Montesquieu
John Locke
Philosophe
Encyclopedie
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Voltaire
Candide
Kant
Rousseau
Enlightened Absolutist
Frederick the Great
Catherine the Great
Joseph II
Today’s Bible Verse
• “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not
anxiously look about you, for I am your
God. I will strengthen you, surely I will
help you, Surely I will uphold you with My
righteous right hand.”
– Isaiah 41:10
Tolerance – It’s a Good Thing!
• The philosophes pushed hard for
education, the exchange of ideas, the use
of reason, and especially tolerance.
• They argued that a society benefited
humanity only if tolerance existed not
only in government but also in religion.
• The philosophes generally didn’t mind
absolute rulers as long as those rulers
displayed some amount of benevolence
and tolerance.
• What the philosophes despised most of
all were intolerant religious institutions,
factions, and individuals.
That Just Doesn’t Make Sense
• For the philosophes, organized,
institutionalized religion led to
conflict among denominations
and to superstitious rituals.
• They routinely criticized all
churches, not just the Catholic
Church, for their resentment and
harsh treatment of anyone who
dared think differently.
• It was despicable to the
philosophes that Christians
killed other Christians in the
name of Christianity.
The Most Important Things
• The deism they taught allowed and
encouraged tolerance of others who
claimed to be Christians.
• For the philosophes who practiced
the deism they preached, the most
important things about Christianity
were the acknowledgement of God
the creator and a reasonable, rational
approach to the search for that
creator.
• Among the most outspoken of the lot
against organized religion was
Francois Marie Arouet (1694-1778).
A.K.A. Voltaire!
• One of the most famous of all
philosophes, Voltaire, which was
Arouet’s pen name, had an interesting
early career that greatly influenced his
work as a philosophe.
• In 1717, Voltaire insulted the regent of
France and earned himself nearly a year
in Paris’s infamous Bastille prison.
• Ten years later, Voltaire popped off
about a powerful nobleman and earned
himself more jail time and a good
thrashing.
• The French finally let Voltaire out of
jail after he promised to leave France.
Madame du Chatelet
• True to his word, Voltaire left for
England, where he pondered his
unfair treatment in France.
• When he returned, he found his way
into the company of one of France’s
greatest female minds, GabrielleEmilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil,
Marquise du Chatelet (1706-1749).
• The aristocratic Madame du
Chatelet, who had a deep interest in
science and mathematics, allowed
Voltaire to live on her property
while he studied and wrote.
Tolerance and Justice
• In his many works, Voltaire argued for tolerance and justice.
• He wrote that a good monarch was a good thing because most
people weren’t capable of governing themselves.
• He tried to convince the French rationalists that they needed a
good dose of English empiricism.
• He glorified England and the English system of government and
he slammed the French government. Voltaire reserved his
harshest criticism for the Catholic Church, however.
• He disapproved of what he saw as its intolerance, oppression,
and hypocrisy.
• Voltaire certainly believed in God but his religious beliefs
centered on deism.
Candide!
• Voltaire wrote extensively about
philosophy, social issues, and religion
• His most famous work turned out to
be Candide, a racy, fun satire that
lambasted oppression, the Church, the
papacy, the violence of war, and even
other philosophers.
• Voltaire, a pessimist, had as his main
purpose in writing Candide to rebut
the optimistic philosophy of the
contemporary philosopher Leibniz,
who maintained that the world was the
best of all possible worlds and was
just as God intended it to be.
Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk
• Voltaire’s crusade against the
oppression of the Catholic Church and
all organized religion stemmed largely
from the religion-related violence he
witnessed throughout his lifetime.
• Likewise, his crusade against political
oppression and intolerance resulted
mostly from his personal experiences
in French jails.
• However, the event that turned
Voltaire into a lifelong advocate for
political justice and fairness occurred
not in his life but in the life of another.
Separation of Church and State
• In 1762, French courts executed a Frenchman named Jean Calas.
• An innocent man, Calas had been accused of murdering his son.
• Despite being tortured before his execution, Calas never
confessed to the crime.
• This case cut Voltaire to the quick, and he became obsessed with
it.
• In 1763, Voltaire published A Treatise on Tolerance, a powerful
and timeless work that decried the intolerance exhibited by the
government and the Church.
• Voltaire argued that governments should hold secular values in
higher esteem than religious values, because state-imposed
religion always results in violence and injustice.
Immanuel Kant
• The German philosopher Immanuel
Kant (1724-1804) said in his 1784
essay “What is Enlightenment?” that
the spirit of the Enlightenment was
embodied in the Latin phrase sapere
aude, or “dare to know.”
• Kant meant that the Enlightenment
encouraged people to boldly ask
questions, to seek knowledge, and to
dare to think independently.
• He couldn’t have been more right,
particularly about the Enlightenment
in its later years before 1789.
The Later Enlightenment
• As if the early Enlightenment thinkers hadn’t been bold
enough, the later intellectuals made even bolder assertions
than their forebears.
• The later thinkers of the Enlightenment lacked the unity
of the philosophes of the mid-18th eighteenth century.
• They formulated their own systems of thought that
typically were much more dogmatic, exclusive, and
inflexible than those of the early philosophes.
• In fact, some of the later philosophes created divisions in
the Enlightenment movement.
• The rigid and determined Baron d’Holbach serves as a
perfect example.
Baron Paul d’Holbach
• The German Baron Paul d’Holbach
(1723-1789) took Newton’s idea about
the universe operating as a clock or as a
machine to the extreme.
• D’Holbach argued that even humans are
machines that have no free will.
• Forces and laws of nature governed the
lives of humans, not humans themselves
and certainly not God.
• He aggressively argued against the
existence of God and even against the
existence of human souls.
• After all, why would human machines
have a need for souls?
The Enlightened Atheist
• From the safety of the Netherlands,
d’Holbach published System of Nature
(1770), a work that deeply troubled many
of the philosophes.
• The philosophes had worked hard for
tolerance and for the acknowledgement of
the existence of God, regardless of how
God was approached, and d’Holbach
aggressively pushed his atheism in the
name of the Enlightenment.
• D’Holbach often hosted formal dinners
with other intellectuals to discuss their
atheism, a relatively new development for
Europe.
David Hume
• One of the most influential of all d’Holbach’s dinner guests
was the Scottish skeptic David Hume (1711-1776).
• Hume combined skepticism and empiricism into a carefully
formulated world-view that would have long-lasting effects
on Europe.
• For Hume, Locke’s ideas about human learning and the
human mind made a great deal of sense.
• All knowledge was sensory, just impressions made on the
mind by the senses.
• Anything that could not be experienced with the senses,
through experimentation for example, could not be known.
Relativism
• The logical extreme of Hume’s
philosophy, which he laid out in
The Natural History of Religion
(1775), was that the belief in God
equaled superstition, since God
could not be experienced with the
senses.
• Hume’s philosophy also implied a
great deal of relativism.
• One person’s truth or knowledge
wasn’t necessarily the truth or
knowledge perceived by another.
• For Hume, beauty was in the eye of
the beholder.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
• The most influential political
philosopher of the later
Enlightenment turned out to be one
of the stranger, more interesting
individuals.
• The paranoid Jean-Jacques
Rousseau (1712-1778) was of
Swiss origin yet influenced by
Diderot and Voltaire.
• He began his intellectual career by
arguing in the mid-18th century that
the new emphasis on science and
intellectualism had led to a decay
in morals in Europe.
Making His Mark
• He followed that essay with
works ranging from fiction to
essays on education and
politics.
• Though his novel The New
Heloise proved to be the most
popular French work of fiction
in the second half of the 18th
century, Rousseau made his
mark with his political
philosophy.
A Little Paranoid, Rousseau?
• While so many other philosophes
believed that a better, progressive
society would lead to better lives
for mankind, Rousseau was
suspicious of society and
civilization.
• He believed the relationship
between man and society was more
strained than other philosophes did.
• Rousseau once remarked, “Man is
born free and everywhere he is in
chains.”
• This statement shows Rousseau’s
distrust of society and civilization.
The Social Contract, Again
• Rousseau’s The Social Contract,
written in 1762, proved to be his most
significant political work.
• Rousseau argues that man will be best
served by entering into a social
contract, an agreement to be governed.
• Those who give their consent to be
governed agree to live by certain
moral standards that place the general
will of the people above individual
interests.
• The general will, difficult to define,
can be described as that which is in
the best interest of the collective.
The People Rule, Really!
• Rousseau also emphasized popular sovereignty, or the
people’s ownership of true political power.
• These ideas undermined the political authority of rulers and
governments who placed no importance on the power of the
people.
• It is no wonder that the French government banned
Rousseau’s work.
• Despite the ban, Rousseau’s ideas, particularly about the
general will and popular sovereignty, would be the
guidelines for many revolutionaries in the years of the
French Revolution.
Children Are Indeed Different
• Rousseau made a significant impact on
education with his book Emile.
• In it, Rousseau described the education
of a young boy, Emile, in the natural
rather than the urban world.
• Through his writing, Rousseau stressed
the emotional needs of students and
persuaded the reader to consider the
whole person of the student rather than
just the intellect of the student.
• Furthermore, Rousseau emphasized
that children are greatly different than
adults, have different needs than adults,
and should not be treated like adults.
Enlightened Absolutist Monarchs?
• At first glance, the use of
“enlightened” and “absolutists” in
the same sentence may seem very
strange.
• Actually, a few absolute rulers did
embrace aspects of the
Enlightenment movement and
considered themselves
enlightened, even if
contemporaries and later historians
did not.
• The absolutists of eastern Europe
seemed particularly interested in
the message of the philosophes.
Remember, It’s Top-Down
• The philosophes welcomed the interest in the enlightenment from
absolutists.
• They sought change from the top down for 2 reasons. The rulers had
power to change things, and the people couldn’t be trusted to do so.
• Even Voltaire remarked that a benevolent ruler, even an absolute one,
might be just what the people needed.
• Absolutism was a way of life for much of Europe, so the replacement
of absolute governments with democratic or republican governments
never really seemed like a possibility.
• Rather, the philosophes shared their ideas with the absolutists partly
because the absolutists of the east would listen and partly because the
philosophes believed they could help bring about reform.
• To some extent they did.
Frederick the Great of Prussia
• Frederick II of Prussia (17121786), also known as Frederick the
Great, hardly was cut out of the
same mold as his father, Frederick
William I.
• Frederick despised the military and
enjoyed literature and the arts as a
young boy.
• He rejected his father’s militaristic
lifestyle and his religion,
Calvinism.
• Frederick even embraced all things
French, something that drove his
father crazy.
Maybe That’s Not a Good Idea
• By the time Frederick inherited the throne from his father in
1740, he had resolved to change his rebellious ways and use
the mighty military he inherited.
• He invaded Silesia and took vast lands and population from
Maria Theresa of the House of Habsburg, practically
doubling Prussia’s land and population.
• Frederick soon found himself bogged down in the Seven
Years’ War, in which France, Russia, and Maria Theresa
tried to knock Prussia out and divy the land up between
them.
• On the verge of defeat, Frederick’s Prussia survived only
because the new leader of Russia called off his attack.
A Kindler, Gentler Frederick
• Frederick had always had a fondness
for the Enlightenment, but he had never
instituted any of its ideals in Prussia
because of his incessant warring.
• After the war, a kinder, gentler
Frederick decided to concentrate on a
more efficient, tolerant, and humane
rule.
• He created a fair and efficient judicial
system. He got rid of torture tactics
within the system and ensured that his
officials were free from corruption.
• He allowed his subjects to worship as
they pleased.
That’s What He’s Called “Great”
• Frederick encouraged education, the
advancement of knowledge, and
philosophical activity.
• Many of the philosophes, including
Immanuel Kant, fought for freedom of
the press, or the freedom to publish
philosophical and scholarly findings,
and Frederick heard their pleas.
• Frederick worked hard to improve the
lives of his subjects by promoting
education, agriculture, and the
economy in general.
• He had become the benevolent ruler
of which Voltaire had written.
Catherine the Great of Russia
• Catherine the Great of Russia
made her way from relative
obscurity up the political food
chain to achieve true greatness.
• Catherine (1729-1796) married
Peter III, the nephew of Peter the
Great’s daughter, in 1744.
• From the beginning of the
relationship, Peter, pock-marked
in appearance and with
brainpower to match, was no
competition for the brilliant and
cunning Catherine.
That’s One Way to Do It
• Catherine spent her time reading the works
of the philosophes.
• She had absolutely no interest in her
husband, but she did have a desire for his
crown.
• Less than a year after Peter took the throne
in 1762, Catherine’s lover, an officer in the
Russian military, led a revolution in the
palace.
• After they deposed Peter, who had
squandered the loyalty of the military when
he decided not to continue attacks on
Frederick’s Prussia, the brothers of
Catherine’s lover murdered the hapless
Peter.
• Catherine the Great had the crown she
wanted.
The Sweetheart of the Philosophes
• Catherine was the sweetheart of the philosophes.
• Because she had so engrossed herself in the writings of the
philosophes, Catherine ruled from day one as an enlightened
monarch.
• As Peter the Great had done, Catherine imported westerners to
infuse western culture into the still-backward country of Russia.
• She brought in both art and the written word to introduce the
nobility to the glory of the West.
• She sponsored many of the philosophes when no one else would
and she corresponded extensively with the likes of Voltaire.
• She offered to publish the Encyclopedie and subsidized it on
occasion.
A Woman of Letters
• Catherine certainly will be
remembered as a woman of letters.
• In addition to her devotion to the
development of the French
Encyclopedie, Catherine worked
diligently to become a patron of
literature in Russia.
• The Hermitage Museum in St.
Petersburg began as Catherine’s
personal collection of art and
literature.
• Catherine also wrote a manual on
education in which she used many of
the ideas put forth by John Locke.
Upgrading Russian Culture
• Just as Peter the Great upgraded the Russian military, Catherine
upgraded the Russian culture.
• Catherine hoped to overhaul the justice system, much the way
Frederick had done in Prussia, but her goal was never fully
realized.
• She did abolish torture and grant some religious tolerance, though.
Catherine might have granted other freedoms, perhaps even to
serfs, had it not been for a rebellion led by a Cossack named
Pugachev.
• After she crushed the rebellion, she realized she needed to keep the
peasantry in check and keep the social status quo.
• This, along with generous grants of conquered lands such as
Poland to her nobles, kept the nobility happy and loyal.
Maria Theresa of Austria
• The two remaining enlightened
absolutists lacked the
Enlightenment fervor that
Frederick and Catherine
possessed, but they
nevertheless ruled as
enlightened monarchs.
• The Empress Maria Theresa
(1717-1780) of Austria limited
the Church’s influence,
strengthened the bureaucratic
system, and eased up on the
peasants a little by limiting the
power of the landlords.
Joseph II of Austria
• When her son, Joseph II (17411790) of Austria, came to power
in 1780, he picked up where his
mother left off and initiated his
own enlightened reforms.
• He placed the Church under
more restrictions than his
mother had and extended
religious tolerance to both
Protestants and Jews.
• Like Catherine and Frederick,
Joseph sought to overhaul the
bureaucracy and make it a more
efficient governing machine.
That’s Why He’s Not Called “Great”
• Joseph abolished serfdom
altogether and, in doing so, created
a backlash among his nobles.
• He also required that the peasants’
remaining obligations be
converted to cash debts.
• The peasants hated this because
they didn’t have any cash.
• In a move designed to make his
society better, Joseph
inadvertently angered everyone.
• Needless to say, when Joseph
died, Habsburg Austria was a
mess.
The Enlightenment
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Enlightenment
Progress
Montaigne
Skepticism
Montesquieu
John Locke
Philosophe
Encyclopedie
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Voltaire
Candide
Kant
Rousseau
Enlightened Absolutist
Frederick the Great
Catherine the Great
Joseph II
World Despots of the 1700s, Part 2
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Ottoman Empire
Turks
Sultan
Istanbul
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France
Louis XIV
Fronde
Palace of Versailles
Today’s Bible Verse
• “Therefore, in the present case I advise
you: Leave these men alone! Let them
go! For if their purpose or activity is of
human origin, it will fail. But if it is from
God, you will not be able to stop these
men; you will only find yourselves
fighting against God.”
– Acts 5:38-39
The Ottoman Empire
• The Ottoman Empire
was the one of the
largest and longest
lasting Empires in
history.
• It was an empire
inspired and sustained
by Islam, and Islamic
institutions.
Suleiman The Magnificent!
• It replaced the Byzantine Empire
as the major power in the
Eastern Mediterranean.
• The Ottoman Empire reached its
height under Suleiman the
Magnificent (reigned 1520-66),
when it expanded to cover the
Balkans and Hungary, and
reached the gates of Vienna.
The Battle of Lepanto
• The Empire began to decline
after being defeated at the Battle
of Lepanto (1571) and losing
almost its entire navy.
• It declined further during the
next centuries, and was
effectively finished off by the
First World War and the Balkan
Wars.
• One legacy of the Islamic
Ottoman Empire is the robust
secularism of modern Turkey.
That’s A Lot Of Empire
• At its peak it
included: Turkey,
Egypt, Greece,
Bulgaria, Romania,
Macedonia,
Hungary,
Palestine, Jordan,
Lebanon, Syria,
parts of Arabia,
most of North
Africa.
And A Lot Of Sultans
• There were many reasons
why the Ottoman Empire
was so successful.
• It was highly centralized power was always
transferred to a single
person, and not split between
rival princes.
• The Ottoman Empire was
successfully ruled by a
single family for 7 centuries.
Relax, I’ve Got This…
• The education and judicial systems
was state-run.
• Religion was incorporated in the
state structure, and the Sultan was
regarded as “the protector of Islam.”
• The state was ruthless in dealing
with local leaders.
• Promotion to positions of power
largely depended on merit.
• Private power and wealth were
controlled.
Suleiman’s Signature
• The Ottomans were united
by:
– Islamic ideology;
– Islamic warrior code with
ideal of increasing Muslim
territory through Jihad;
– Islamic organizational and
administrative structures.
Istanbul!
• However, they were highly
pragmatic, taking the best
ideas from other cultures
and making them their
own.
• To deter uprisings, the
sultan created alliances
across political and racial
groups, as to encourage
loyalty from other faith
groups.
Good Gun Powder
• The sultans had a very
strong military, with a
slave-based army.
• They were expert in
developing gunpowder as
a military tool.
• A military ethos
pervaded the whole
administration.
Show Some Respect
• After Baghdad fell to the
Mongols, the Seljuk Turks
declared an independent
Sultanate in east and central Asia
Minor.
• In 1301, Uthman, an Uzbek of
the Ottoman clan, overthrew the
Seljuk aristocracy and
proclaimed himself the Sultan of
Asia Minor.
Janissaries
• At first the rule of the Ottoman
Sultans was insecure.
• To consolidate their Empire the
Ottoman Sultans formed groups
of fanatical fighters – the orders of
the Janissaries, a crack infantry
group of slaves and Christian
converts to Islam.
• The Ottomans inflicted a series of
defeats on the declining Christian
Byzantine Empire and then
quickly expanded westward.
Mehmet In A Relaxed Moment
• Constantinople became the capital
when it was conquered in 1453 by
the Sultan Mehmet II.
• Mehmet slaughtered many and
forced the rest into exile, then
importing people from elsewhere
in Ottoman territory to repopulate.
• Mehmet renamed Constantinople
Istanbul – the “city of Islam” – and
set about rebuilding it, both
physically and politically, as his
capital.
Trade Is Key
• Istanbul became not only a
political and military capital, but
because of its position at the
junction of Europe, Africa, and
Asia, one of the great trade
centers of the world.
• Some of the later Ottoman
conquests were clearly intended
to give them control of other
trade routes.
Rhubarb!
• Among the goods traded were:
–
–
–
–
–
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silk and other cloth;
musk;
rhubarb;
porcelain from China;
spices such as pepper;
dyes such as indigo.
• The economic strength of the
Empire also owed much to
Mehmet’s policy of increasing
the number of traders and
artisans in the Empire.
We’re Good With It
• Mehmet first encouraged
merchants to move to Istanbul,
and later forcibly resettled
merchants from captured
territories.
• He also encouraged Jewish
traders from Europe to migrate
to Istanbul and set up in
business there.
• Later rulers continued these
policies.
So, This Is A Result Of That?
• The effect of the capture of
Constantinople on Christian
Europe was enormous.
• One unexpected effect was that
many scholars fled from the new
empire and went to Italy, where
they were influential in sparking
off the Renaissance, and
increasing trade with the east.
The Spice Must Flow!
• The Muslim dominance of
the trading center of the
former Constantinople
increased the pressure on
Western nations to find new
ways to the East by going
westwards.
• This eventually led to the
expeditions of Columbus,
Magellan, and Drake.
Orthodox In The Empire
• Non-Muslim communities
were organized according
to the millet system.
• This gave minority
religious/ethnic/geographic
al communities a limited
amount of power to
regulate their own affairs.
• They were still under the
overall supremacy of the
Ottoman administration.
It’s Cool With Me
• The first Orthodox Christian
millet was established in 1454.
• This brought Orthodox
Christians into a single
community under the leadership
of the Patriarch who had
considerable authority given to
him by the Sultan.
As Long As You Pay
• Armenian Christian, Jewish and
other millets followed in due
course.
• Some millets paid tax to the state
as dhimmis (non-Muslims living
in an Islamic state).
• Others were exempted because
they were seen to be performing
services of value to the state.
The Devshirme
• Non-Muslims in parts of the
empire had to hand over some of
their children as a tax under the
devshirme (“gathering”) system
introduced in the 14th century.
• Conquered Christian
communities, especially in the
Balkans, had to surrender 20%
of their male children to the
state.
• These children were converted
to Islam and served as slaves.
We Are Truly Bad
• Although certainly traumatic, the
devshirme system was a rather
privileged form of slavery for
some (although others were
undoubtedly ill-used).
• Some trained for government
service, where they were able to
reach very high ranks, even that
of Grand Vizier.
• Many of the others served in the
elite military corps of the
Janissaries.
After All, I Am The Sultan
• Although members of the
devshirme class were technically
slaves, they were of great
importance to the Sultan because
they owed him their absolute
loyalty and became vital to his
power.
• This status enabled some of the
“slaves” to become both
powerful and wealthy.
A Twilight Over Istanbul
• Their status remained
restricted, and their children
were not permitted to inherit
their wealth or follow in their
footsteps.
• The devshirme system
continued until the end of the
seventeenth century.
They Have Their Uses
• Mehmet did not suppress the
Christian faith itself.
• There were practical reasons for
this.
• Christians were the largest group
of the population and
coexistence was likely to be
more efficient than conflict.
• The institutions of the church
provided a machine for
implementing Mehmet’s rule.
A Welcome Home
• But Mehmet was also influenced
by the Islamic rule that Muslims
should show respect to all
religions.
• Mehmet not only tolerated the
Christians, he made special
efforts to attract Jews to
Istanbul.
• This was attractive to the Jews,
who had previously been
persecuted by the Orthodox
Christian Church.
Umm, Is That Really Necessary?
• Sultan Selim introduced the
policy of fratricide (the murder
of brothers).
• Under this system whenever a
new Sultan ascended to the
throne his brothers would be
locked up.
• As soon as the Sultan had
produced his first son the
brothers (and their sons) would
be killed.
Look, It’s Uncle Fester!
• The new Sultan’s sons would be
then confined until their father’s
death and the whole system
would start again.
• This often meant that dozens of
sons would be killed while only
one would become Sultan.
• In the later centuries of Ottoman
rule, the brothers were
imprisoned rather than executed.
Topkapi
• The Sultans lived in the
Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.
• The Sultan’s life was run by
rituals copied from the
Byzantine court.
• For example, the Sultan wore
his silk robes once and then
they were discarded.
Nice And Roomy
• The Topkapi Palace held many
objects which were used to give
legitimacy to the Ottomans and
reinforce the Sultan’s claim to be
leader of all Muslims.
• The most important of these was
the mantle of the Prophet
Muhammad and his standard and
footprint.
• These were brought from Egypt
when Cairo fell to the Ottomans.
The Harem
• It was in the Harem that the
Sultan spent his life.
• Every inhabitant of the 230
small dark rooms in the Topkapi
palace was his to command.
• The number of concubines often
exceeded a thousand and came
from all over the world.
• The only permanent male staff
consisted of eunuchs.
A Hard Life
• Access to the Sultan meant
power.
• But no one was to be trusted.
• The Sultan moved every
night to avoid assassination.
• Favored males were
promoted to rule places far
away like Syria; males not in
favor could be locked up
inside the palace.
Not Strictly Approved…
• The harem was a paradox, since
it was a feature of the Ottoman
Empire (and other Islamic states)
yet contained much that was not
permissible in Islam.
• The harem was extravagant,
decadent, and vulgar.
• The concentration of wealth,
suffering and injustice toward
women was far from the ideals
of marriage and married life in
Islam.
Luck And Nerve Go A Long Way
• Despite this, the harem could
bring benefits to a family who
had a woman in the harem.
• It meant patronage, wealth and
power.
• It also meant access to the
most powerful man in the
Empire – the Sultan.
Back At The Madrasa
• The Ottoman Empire was widely
influenced by the faiths and customs
of the peoples it incorporated, but the
most significant came from Islam.
• The ruling elite worked their way up
the hierarchy of the state madrasas
(religious schools) and the palace
schools.
• They were trained to be concerned
with the needs of government and
aware of the restrictions of Islamic
law.
There Can Be Only One
• In its structure the ruling elite
reflected a world of order and
hierarchy in which promotion
and status were rewarded on
merit.
• Thus birth and genealogy,
aristocracy or tribe became
almost irrelevant to success in
the system.
• Only one post, that of the Sultan,
was determined by birth.
A Risky Way Of Doing Things
• Ottoman rulers had a very short-term policy.
• They rejected the idea of developing territory and
investing in it for gain at some time in the futur…