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PREFACE
PREFACE
This book represents an attempt on the part of the author to satisfy a very real need of a textbook which will reach far enough back to afford secure foundations for a college course in modern European history. The book is a long one, and purposely so. Not only does it undertake to deal with a period at once the most complicated and the most inherently interesting of any in the whole recorded history of mankind, but it aims to impart sufficiently detailed information about the various topics dis
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NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT
NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author begs to acknowledge his general indebtedness to a veritable host of historical writers, of whose original researches or secondary compilations he has constantly and almost unblushingly made use in the preparation of this book. At the close of the Introduction will be found a list of the major works dealing with the whole period under review, or with the greater part of it, which have been drawn upon most heavily. And there is hardly a book cited in any of the special bibliographies fo
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PART III
PART III
The story of modern times is but a small fraction of the long epic of human history. If, as seems highly probable, the conservative estimates of recent scientists that mankind has inhabited the earth more than fifty thousand years [Footnote: Professor James Geikie, of the University of Edinburgh, suggests, in his Antiquity of Man in Europe (1914), the possible existence of human beings on the earth more than 500,000 years ago!], are accurate, then the bare five hundred years which these volumes
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ADDITIONAL READING
ADDITIONAL READING
THE STUDY OF HISTORY. On historical method: C. V. Langlois and Charles Seignobos, Introduction to the Study of History , trans. by G. G. Berry (1912); J. M. Vincent, Historical Research: an Outline of Theory and Practice (1911); H. B. George, Historical Evidence (1909); F. M. Fling, Outline of Historical Method (1899). Different views of history: J. H. Robinson, The New History (1912), a collection of stimulating essays; J. T. Shotwell, suggestive article History in 11th edition of Encyclopædia
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1. THE NEW NATIONAL MONARCHIES
1. THE NEW NATIONAL MONARCHIES
[Sidenote: "National Monarchies" in 1500] Before we can safely proceed with the story of European development during the past four hundred years, it is necessary to know what were the chief countries that existed at the beginning of our period and what were the distinctive political institutions of each. A glance at the map of Europe in 1500 will show numerous unfamiliar divisions and names, especially in the central and eastern portions. Only in the extreme west, along the Atlantic seaboard, wi
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ENGLAND
ENGLAND
[Sidenote: The English Monarchy] In the year 1500 the English monarchy embraced little more than what on the map is now called "England." It is true that to the west the principality of Wales had been incorporated two hundred years earlier, but the clannish mountaineers and hardy lowlanders of the northern part of the island of Great Britain still preserved the independence of the kingdom of Scotland, while Irish princes and chieftains rendered English occupation of their island extremely precar
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FRANCE
FRANCE
[Sidenote: The French Monarchy] By the year 1500 the French monarchy was largely consolidated territorially and politically. It had been a slow and painful process, for long ago in 987, when Hugh Capet came to the throne, the France of his day was hardly more than the neighborhood of Paris, and it had taken five full centuries to unite the petty feudal divisions of the country into the great centralized state which we call France. The Hundred Years' War had finally freed the western duchies and
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SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
[Sidenote: Development of the Spanish and Portuguese Monarchies] South of the Pyrenees were the Spanish and Portuguese monarchies, which, in a long process of unification, not only had to contend against the same disuniting tendencies as appeared in France and England, but also had to solve the problem of the existence side by side of two great rival religions—Christianity and Mohammedanism. Mohammedan invaders from Africa had secured political control of nearly the whole peninsula as early as t
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2. THE OLD HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
2. THE OLD HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
[Sidenote: The Idea of an "Empire" Different in 1500 from that of a "National Monarchy"] The national monarchies of western Europe—England, France, Spain, and Portugal—were political novelties in the year 1500: the idea of uniting the people of similar language and customs under a strongly centralized state had been slowly developing but had not reached fruition much before that date. On the other hand, in central Europe survived in weakness an entirely different kind of state, called an empire.
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3. THE CITY-STATES
3. THE CITY-STATES
[Sidenote: "City-States" in 1500] Before the dawn of the Christian era the Greeks and Romans had entertained a general idea of political organization which would seem strange to most of us at the present time. They believed that every city with its outlying country should constitute an independent state, with its own particular law-making and governing bodies, army, coinage, and foreign relations. To them, the idea of an empire was intolerable and the concept of a national state, such as we comm
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4. NORTHERN AND EASTERN EUROPE IN THE YEAR 1500
4. NORTHERN AND EASTERN EUROPE IN THE YEAR 1500
[Sidenote: Northern and Eastern Europe of Small Importance in the Sixteenth Century, but of Great Importance Subsequently] We have now reviewed the states that were to be the main factors in the historical events of the sixteenth century—the national monarchies of England, France, Portugal, and Spain; the Holy Roman Empire of the Germanies; and the city-states of Italy and the Netherlands. It may be well, however, to point out that in northern and eastern Europe other states had already come int
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ADDITIONAL READINGS
ADDITIONAL READINGS
THE NATIONAL MONARCHIES ABOUT 1600. A. F. Pollard, Factors in European History (1907), ch. i on "Nationality" and ch. iii on "The New Monarchy"; Cambridge Modern History , Vol. I, ch. xiv, xii, xi; Histoire générale , Vol. IV, ch. xiii, iv, v; History of All Nations , Vol. X, ch. xii-xvi; A. H. Johnson, Europe in the Sixteenth Century (1897), ch. i, ii; Mary A. Hollings, Renaissance and Reformation (1910), ch. i-v. On England: A. L. Cross, History of England and Greater Britain (1914), ch. xviii
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AGRICULTURE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
AGRICULTURE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
[Sidenote: Differences between Sixteenth-century Farming and That of To-day] Agriculture has always been the ultimate basis of society, but in the sixteenth century it was of greater relative importance than it is now. People then reckoned their wealth, not by the quantity of stocks and bonds they held, but by the extent of land they owned. Farming was still the occupation of the vast majority of the population of every European state, for the towns were as yet small in size and few in number. T
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TOWNS ON THE EVE OF THE COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION
TOWNS ON THE EVE OF THE COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION
[Sidenote: Trade and the Towns ] Except for the wealthy Italian city-states and a few other cities which traced their history back to Roman times, most European towns, it must be remembered, dated only from the later middle ages. At first there was little excuse for their existence except to sell to farmers salt, fish, iron, and a few plows. But with the increase of commerce, which, as we shall see, especially marked the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, more merchants traveled th
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TRADE PRIOR TO THE COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION
TRADE PRIOR TO THE COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION
Just as agriculture is the ultimate basis of human society, so town- life has always been an index of culture and civilization. And the fortunes of town-life have ever depended upon the vicissitudes of trade and commerce. So the reviving commerce of the later middle ages between Europe and the East meant the growth of cities and betokened an advance in civilization. [Sidenote: Revival of Trade with the East] Trade between Europe and Asia, which had been a feature of the antique world of Greeks a
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THE AGE OF EXPLORATION
THE AGE OF EXPLORATION
[Sidenote: Desire of Spaniards and Portuguese for New Trade-Routes] In the unprecedented commercial prosperity which marked the fifteenth century, two European peoples—the Portuguese and the Spanish—had little part. For purposes of general Continental trade they were not so conveniently situated as the peoples of Germany and the Netherlands; and the Venetians and other Italians had shut them off from direct trade with Asia. Yet Spanish and Portuguese had developed much the same taste for Orienta
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ESTABLISHMENT OF COLONIAL EMPIRES
ESTABLISHMENT OF COLONIAL EMPIRES
[Sidenote: Portugal] When Vasco da Gama returned to Lisbon in 1499 with a cargo worth sixty times the cost of his expedition, the Portuguese knew that the wealth of the Indies was theirs. Cabral in 1500, and Albuquerque in 1503, followed the route of Da Gama, and thereafter Portuguese fleets rounded the Cape year by year to gain control of Goa (India), Ormuz, Diu (India), Ceylon, Malacca, and the Spice Islands, and to bring back from these places and from Sumatra, Java, Celebes, and Nanking (Chi
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EFFECTS OF THE COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION
EFFECTS OF THE COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION
In a way, all of the colonizing movements, which we have been at pains to trace, might be regarded as the first and greatest result of the Commercial Revolution—that is, if by the Commercial Revolution one understands simply the discovery of new trade-routes; but, as it is difficult to separate explorations from colonization, we have used the term "Commercial Revolution" to include both. By the Commercial Revolution we mean that expansive movement by which European commerce escaped from the narr
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ADDITIONAL READING
ADDITIONAL READING
GENERAL. A. F. Pollard, Factors in Modern History (1907), ch. ii, vi, x, three illuminating essays; E. P. Cheyney, An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England (1901), ch. ii-vi, a good outline; F. W. Tickner, A Social and Industrial History of England (1915), an interesting and valuable elementary manual, ch. i-vii, x-xii, xvi, xvii, xix-xxi, xxiv-xxvii; W. J. Ashley, The Economic Organization of England (1914), ch. i-v; G. T. Warner, Landmarks in English Industrial History ,
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THE EMPEROR CHARLES V
THE EMPEROR CHARLES V
As we look back upon the confused sixteenth century, we are struck at once by two commanding figures,—the Emperor Charles V [Footnote: Charles I of Spain.] and his son Philip II,—about whom we may group most of the political events of the period. The father occupies the center of the stage during the first half of the century; the son, during the second half. [Sidenote: Extensive Dominions of Charles] At Ghent in the Netherlands, Charles was born in 1500 of illustrious parentage. His father was
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PHILIP II AND THE PREDOMINANCE OF SPAIN
PHILIP II AND THE PREDOMINANCE OF SPAIN
For a century and a half after the retirement of Charles V in 1556, we hear of two branches of the Habsburg family—the Spanish Habsburgs and the Austrian Habsburgs, descended respectively from Philip II and Ferdinand. By the terms of the division, Ferdinand, the brother of Charles, received the compact family possessions in the East—Austria and its dependencies, Bohemia, that portion of Hungary not occupied by the Turks, and the title of Holy Roman Emperor,—while the remainder went to Charles's
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ADDITIONAL READING
ADDITIONAL READING
GENERAL, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE HABSBURG TERRITORIES. A. H. Johnson, Europe in the Sixteenth Century, 1494-1598 (1897), ch. iii- ix, a political summary; Mary A. Hollings, Renaissance and Reformation, 1453-1660 (1910), ch. vi, ix, x, a brief outline; E. M. Hulme, Renaissance and Reformation , 2d ed. (1915), ch. x, xiv, xxiv- xxviii, a brief and fragmentary account; T. H. Dyer, A History of Modern Europe , 3d ed., rev. by Arthur Hassall (1901), ch. ix, xi- xxvii, old but containing a multi
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THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AT THE OPENING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AT THE OPENING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
[Sidenote: Differences between Religious Bodies in 1500 and Those in 1900] Four hundred years ago, practically all people who lived in central or western Europe called themselves "Christians" and in common recognized allegiance to an ecclesiastical body which was called the "Catholic Church." This Catholic Church in 1500 differed from any present-day religious society in the following respects: (1) Every child was born into the Church as now he is born into the state; every person was expected t
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THE PROTESTANT REVOLT
THE PROTESTANT REVOLT
[Sidenote: A Religious and Political Movement] We have seen in the preceding pages that prior to 1500 there had been many conflicts between kings and popes concerning their respective temporal rights and likewise there had been serious doubts in the minds of various people as to the authority and teachings of the Catholic Church. But these two facts—political and religious—had never been united in a general revolt against the Church until the sixteenth century. Then it was that Christians of Ger
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LUTHERANISM
LUTHERANISM
[Sidenote: Martin Luther] Lutheranism takes its name from its great apostle, Martin Luther. Luther was born in Eisleben in Germany in 1483 of a poor family whose ancestors had been peasants. Martin early showed himself bold, headstrong, willing to pit his own opinions against those of the world, but yet possessing ability, tact, and a love of sound knowledge. Educated at the university of Erfurt, where he became acquainted with the humanistic movement, young Martin entered one of the mendicant o
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CALVINISM
CALVINISM
The second general type of Protestantism which appeared in the sixteenth century was the immediate forerunner of the modern Presbyterian, Congregational, and Reformed Churches and at one time or another considerably affected the theology of the Episcopalians and Baptists and even of Lutherans. Taken as a group, it is usually called Calvinism. Of its rise and spread, some idea may be gained from brief accounts of the lives of two of its great apostles—Calvin and Knox. But first it will be necessa
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ANGLICANISM
ANGLICANISM
Anglicanism is the name frequently applied to that form of Protestantism which stamped the state church in England in the sixteenth century and which is now represented by the Episcopal Church in the United States as well as by the established Church of England. The Methodist churches are comparatively late off-shoots of Anglicanism. The separation of England from the papacy was a more gradual and halting process than were the contemporary revolutions on the Continent; and the new Anglicanism wa
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THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION
THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION
We have now traced the origins of the Protestant Revolt against the Catholic Church, and have seen how, between 1520 and 1570, three major varieties of new theology—Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Anglicanism— appeared on the scene and divided among themselves the nations of northern Europe. The story of how, during that critical half-century, the other civilized nations retained their loyalty to the Catholic Church virtually as it had existed throughout the middle ages, remains to be told. The pres
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SUMMARY OF THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
SUMMARY OF THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
By the year 1570 the profound religious and ecclesiastical changes which we have been sketching had been made. For seventy-five years more a series of wars was to be waged in which the religious element was distinctly to enter. In fact these wars have often been called the Religious Wars—the ones connected with the career of Philip II of Spain as well as the subsequent dismal civil war in the Germanies—but in each one the political and economic factors predominated. Nor did the series of wars ma
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ADDITIONAL READING
ADDITIONAL READING
GENERAL. Good brief accounts of the whole religious revolution of the sixteenth century: Frederic Seebohm, The Era of the Protestant Revolution, new ed. (1904); J. H. Robinson, Reformation , in "Encyclopædia Britannica," 11th ed. (1911); A. H. Johnson, Europe in the Sixteenth Century (1897), ch. iii-v and pp. 272 ff.; E. M. Hulme, Renaissance and Reformation, 2d ed. (1915), ch. x-xviii, xxi-xxiii; Victor Duruy, History of Modern Times , trans. and rev. by E. A. Grosvenor (1894), ch. xiii, xiv. M
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THE INVENTION OF PRINTING
THE INVENTION OF PRINTING
The present day is notably distinguished by the prevalence of enormous numbers of printed books, periodicals, and newspapers. Yet this very printing, which seems so commonplace to us now, has had, in all, but a comparatively brief existence. From the earliest recorded history up to less than five hundred years ago every book in Europe [Footnote: For an account of early printing in China, Japan, and Korea, see the informing article "Typography" in the Encyclopædia Britannica , 11th edition, Vol.
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HUMANISM
HUMANISM
Printing, the invention of which has just been described, was the new vehicle of expression for the ideas of the sixteenth century. These ideas centered in something which commonly is called "humanism." To appreciate precisely what humanism means—to understand the dominant intellectual interests of the educated people of the sixteenth century —it will be necessary first to turn back some two hundred years earlier and say a few words about the first great humanist, Francesco Petrarca, or, as he i
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ART IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
ART IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
[Sidenote: Humanism and the Renaissance of Art] The effect of the revived interest in Greek and Roman culture, which, as we have seen, dominated European thought from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, was felt not only in literature and in the outward life of its devotees—in ransacking monasteries for lost manuscripts scripts, in critically studying ancient learning, and in consciously imitating antique behavior—but likewise in a marvelous and many-sided development of art. The art of the
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NATIONAL LITERATURE OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
NATIONAL LITERATURE OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
[Sidenote: Latin and the Vernaculars] Latin had been the learned language of the middle ages: it was used in the Church, in the universities, and in polite society. If a lecturer taught a class or an author wrote a book, Latin was usually employed. In those very middle ages, however, the nations of western Europe were developing spoken languages quite at variance with the classical, scholarly tongue. These so-called vernacular languages were not often written and remained a long time the exclusi
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BEGINNINGS OF MODERN NATURAL SCIENCE
BEGINNINGS OF MODERN NATURAL SCIENCE
[Sidenote: Two-fold Development of Culture, Science and Art] Human civilization, or culture, always depends upon progress in two directions—the reason, and the feelings or emotions. Art is the expression of the latter, and science of the former. Every great period in the world's history, therefore, is marked by a high appreciation of aesthetics and an advance in knowledge. To this general rule, the sixteenth century was no exception, for it was distinguished not only by a wonderful development o
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ADDITIONAL READING
ADDITIONAL READING
THE RENAISSANCE. GENERAL. Cambridge Modern History , Vol. I (1902), ch. xvi, xvii; Histoire générale , Vol. IV, ch. vii, viii, Vol. V, ch. x, xi; E. M. Hulme, Renaissance and Reformation , 2d ed. (1915), ch. v-vii, xix, xxix, xxx. More detailed accounts: Jakob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Period of the Renaissance in Italy , trans. by S. G. C. Middlemore, 2 vols. (1878), 1 vol. ed. (1898), scholarly and profound; J. A. Symonds, Renaissance in Italy , 5 parts in 7 vols. (1897-1898), intere
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PART II
PART II
In the seventeenth century and in the greater part of the eighteenth, public attention was directed chiefly toward dynastic and colonial rivalries. In the European group of national states, France was the most important. Politically the French evolved a form of absolutist divine-right monarchy, which became the pattern of all European monarchies, that of England alone excepted. In international affairs the reigning family of France—the Bourbon dynasty after a long struggle succeeded in humiliati
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GROWTH OF ABSOLUTISM IN FRANCE: HENRY IV, RICHELIEU, AND MAZARIN
GROWTH OF ABSOLUTISM IN FRANCE: HENRY IV, RICHELIEU, AND MAZARIN
For the first time in many years France in 1598 was at peace. The Edict of Nantes, which in that year accorded qualified religious toleration to the Huguenots, removed the most serious danger to internal order, and the treaty of Vervins, concluded in the same year with the king of Spain, put an end to a long and exhausting foreign war. Henry IV was now free to undertake the internal reformation of his country. Sorry, indeed, was the plight of France at the close of the sixteenth century. Protrac
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STRUGGLE BETWEEN BOURBONS AND HABSBURGS THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR
STRUGGLE BETWEEN BOURBONS AND HABSBURGS THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR
[Sidenote: Dynastic Character of Wars in the Seventeenth Century.] Every European country, except England, was marked in the seventeenth century by a continued growth of monarchical power. The kings were busily engaged in strengthening their hold upon their respective states and in reaching out for additional lands and wealth. International wars, therefore, assumed the character of struggles for dynastic aggrandizement. How might this or that royal family obtain wider territories and richer town
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ADDITIONAL READING
ADDITIONAL READING
HENRY IV, RICHELIEU, AND MAZARIN. Brief general accounts: H. O. Wakeman, The Ascendancy of France, 1598-1715 (1894), ch. i-vii; Mary A. Hollings, Renaissance and Reformation, 1453-1660 (1910), ch. xi, xii; J. H. Sacret, Bourbon and Vasa, 1610-1715 (1914), ch. i-vii; A. J. Grant, The French Monarchy, 1483-1789 , Vol. I (1900), ch. vi-ix; G. W. Kitchin, A History of France , 3d and 4th editions (1894-1899), Vol. II, Book IV, ch. i-iii, Vol. III, Book IV, ch. iv-viii; H. T. Dyer, A History of Moder
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THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV
Upon the death of Cardinal Mazarin in 1661, the young king Louis XIV declared that he would assume personal charge of the domestic and foreign affairs of the French monarchy. From that date, throughout a long reign, Louis was in fact as well as in name ruler of the nation, and his rule, like that of Napoleon, stands out as a distinct epoch in French history. [Sidenote: Louis XIV the Heir to Absolutist Tendencies] Louis XIV profited by the earlier work of Henry IV, Sully, Richelieu, and Mazarin.
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EXTENSION OF FRENCH FRONTIERS
EXTENSION OF FRENCH FRONTIERS
Louis XIV was not a soldier himself. He never appeared in military uniform or rode at the head of his troops. What he lacked, however, in personal genius as a great military commander, he compensated for in a genuine fondness for war and in remarkable personal gifts of diplomacy. He was one of the greatest diplomats of his age, and, as we have seen, he possessed large loyal armies and able generals that he could employ in prosecuting the traditional foreign policy of France. [Sidenote: Tradition
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THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION
THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION
One of the main reasons that prompted Louis XIV to sue for peace and to abandon his claims on Lorraine and the Palatinate was the rapid physical decline of the inglorious Spanish monarch, Charles II, of whose enormous possessions the French king hoped by diplomacy and intrigue to secure valuable portions. [Sidenote: The Spanish Inheritance] Spain was still a great power. Under its crown were gathered not only the ancient kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, and Navarre in the Spanish peninsula, but the
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ADDITIONAL READING
ADDITIONAL READING
GENERAL. Brief accounts: J. H. Robinson and C. A. Beard, The Development of Modern Europe , Vol. I (1907), ch. i-iii; H. O. Wakeman, The Ascendancy of France, 1598-1715 (1894), ch. ix-xi, xiv, xv; A. H. Johnson, The Age of the Enlightened Despot, 1660-1789 (1910), ch i- iii, vi; J. H. Sacret, Bourbon and Vasa, 1610-1715 (1914), ch. viii- xii; Arthur Hassall, Louis XIV and the Zenith of the French Monarchy (1897) in the "Heroes of the Nations" Series; H. T. Dyer, A History of Modern Europe from t
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CONFLICTING POLITICAL TENDENCIES IN ENGLAND: ABSOLUTISM VERSUS PARLIAMENTARIANISM
CONFLICTING POLITICAL TENDENCIES IN ENGLAND: ABSOLUTISM VERSUS PARLIAMENTARIANISM
Through all the wars of dynastic rivalry which have been traced in the two preceding chapters, we have noticed the increasing prestige of the powerful French monarchy, culminating in the reign of Louis XIV. We now turn to a nation which played but a minor rôle in the international rivalries of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Later, from 1689 to 1763, England was to engage in a tremendous colonial struggle with France. But from 1560 to 1689 England for the most part held herself aloof fr
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THE PURITAN REVOLUTION
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION
[Sidenote: Reforms of the Long Parliament] Confident that Charles could neither fight nor buy off the Scotch without parliamentary subsidies, the Long Parliament showed a decidedly stubborn spirit. Its leader, John Pym, a country gentleman already famous for speeches against despotism, openly maintained that in the House of Commons resided supreme authority to disregard ill-advised acts of the Upper House or of the king. Hardly less radical were the views of John Hampden and of Oliver Cromwell,
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THE RESTORATION: THE REIGN OF CHARLES II
THE RESTORATION: THE REIGN OF CHARLES II
[Sidenote: Popular Grievances against the Protectorate] The widespread and exuberant enthusiasm which restored the Stuarts was not entirely without causes, social and religious, as well as political. The grievances and ideals which had inspired the Great Rebellion were being forgotten, and a new generation was finding fault with the Protectorate. The simple country folk longed for their may- poles, their dances, and games on the green; only fear compelled them to bear with the tyranny of the san
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THE "GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" AND THE FINAL ESTABLISHMENT OF PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT IN GREAT BRITAIN
THE "GLORIOUS REVOLUTION" AND THE FINAL ESTABLISHMENT OF PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT IN GREAT BRITAIN
[Sidenote: James II (1685-1688): His Futile Combination of Absolutism and Roman Catholicism] In his short reign of three years James II (1685-1688) succeeded in stirring up opposition on all sides. The Tories, the party most favorable to the royal prerogative, upon whom he might have relied, were shocked by his attempts to create a standing army commanded by Catholics, for such an army might prove as disastrous to their liberties as Cromwell's "New Model"; and the Whigs, too, were driven from su
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ADDITIONAL READING
ADDITIONAL READING
GENERAL. Brief surveys: A. L. Cross, History of England and Greater Britain (1914) , ch. xxvii-xli; T. F. Tout, An Advanced History of Great Britain (1906) , Book VI, Book VII, ch. i, ii; Benjamin Terry, A History of England (1901) , Part III, Book III and Book IV, ch. i-iii; E. P. Cheyney, A Short History of England (1904) , ch. xiv-xvi, and, by the same author, An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England (1901) . More detailed narratives: J. F. Bright, History of England ,
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FRENCH AND ENGLISH COLONIES IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
FRENCH AND ENGLISH COLONIES IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
In the sixteenth century, while Spain and Portugal were carving out vast empires beyond the seas, the sovereigns of France and England, distracted by religious dissensions or absorbed in European politics, did little more than to send out a few privateers and explorers. But in the seventeenth century the England of the Stuarts and the France of the Bourbons found in colonies a refuge for their discontented or venturesome subjects, a source of profit for their merchants, a field for the exercise
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PRELIMINARY ENCOUNTERS, 1689-1748
PRELIMINARY ENCOUNTERS, 1689-1748
[Sidenote: War of the League of Augsburg] Colonial and commercial rivalry could hardly bring France and Great Britain to blows while the Stuart kings looked to Louis XIV for friendly aid in the erection of absolutism and the reinstatement of Catholicism in England. The Revolution of 1689, which we have already discussed [Footnote: See above, pp. 286 ff.] in its political significance, was important in its bearing on foreign relations, for it placed on the English throne the arch-enemy of France,
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THE TRIUMPH OF GREAT BRITAIN: THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR, 1756-1763
THE TRIUMPH OF GREAT BRITAIN: THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR, 1756-1763
[Sidenote: Questions at Issue in 1750] [Sidenote: World-wide Extent of the Seven Years' War] Up to this point, the wars had been generally indecisive, although Great Britain had gained Hudson Bay, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia by the peace of Utrecht (1713). British naval power, too, was undoubtedly in the ascendancy. But two great questions were still unanswered. Should France be allowed to make good her claim to the Mississippi valley and possibly to drive the British from their slender footho
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ADDITIONAL READING
GENERAL. Textbooks and brief treatises: J. S. Bassett, A Short History of the United States (1914), ch. iii-vii; A. L. Cross, History of England and Greater Britain (1914), ch. xxxvi-xlii; J. H. Robinson and C. A. Beard, The Development of Modern Europe , Vol. I (1907), ch. vi, vii; A. D. Innes, History of England and the British Empire , Vol. III (1914), ch. i-vi; W. H. Woodward, A Short History of the Expansion of the British Empire, 1500-1911 , 3d ed. (1912), ch. i-v; A. T. Story, The Buildin
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THE BRITISH COLONIAL SYSTEM IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
THE BRITISH COLONIAL SYSTEM IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
The contest for world-empire, from which we have seen Great Britain emerge victorious, was closely followed by a less successful struggle to preserve that empire from disrupting forces. We may properly leave to American history the details of the process by which, as the colonies became more acutely conscious of the inherent conflict between their economic interests and the colonial and commercial policy of Great Britain, they grew at the same time into a self-confident and defiant independence.
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THE WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, 1775-1783
THE WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, 1775-1783
[Sidenote: Revolt of the Thirteen Colonies] Neither king nor colonies would yield a single point. William Pitt, now earl of Chatham, in vain proposed conciliatory measures. The colonies fast drifted into actual revolt. In May, 1775, the second Continental Congress met at Philadelphia, but already blood had been shed at Lexington (Massachusetts), 19 April, 1775, and New England was a hotbed of rebellion. The Congress accepted facts as they were, declared war, appointed George Washington commander
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THE REFORMATION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE
THE REFORMATION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE
[Sidenote: New Conciliatory Colonial Policy] The War of American Independence not only had cost Great Britain the thirteen colonies, hitherto the most important, [Footnote: The thirteen colonies were not actually then so profitable, however, as the fertile West Indies, nor did they fit in so well with the mercantilist theory of Colonialism.] oldest, and strongest of her possessions, and likewise Senegal, Florida, Tobago, and Minorca, but it had necessitated a terrible expenditure of men, money,
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ADDITIONAL READING
BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. A very brief survey: J. S. Bassett, A Short History of the United States (1914), ch. viii, ix. The most readable and reliable detailed account of mercantilism as applied by the British to their colonies is to be found in the volumes of G. L. Beer, The Origin of the British Colonial System , 1578-1660 (1908); The Old Colonial System , 1660-1754, Part I, The Establishment of the System , 2 vols. (1912); British Colonial Policy , 1754-1765 (1907); and The Commercial Policy
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THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE IN DECLINE
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE IN DECLINE
[Sidenote: Backwardness of the Germanies] In another connection we have already described the political condition of the Germanies in the sixteenth century. [Footnote: See above, pp. 10 ff.] Outwardly, little change was observable in the eighteenth. The Holy Roman Empire still existed as a nominal bond of union for a loose assemblage of varied states. There was still a Habsburg emperor. There were still electors—the number had been increased from seven to nine [Footnote: Bavaria became an electo
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THE HABSBURG DOMINIONS
THE HABSBURG DOMINIONS
[Sidenote: Charles VI and his Hereditary Dominions] At the opening of the eighteenth century, the largest and most important states of the Holy Roman Empire were those which owned the direct sovereignty of the Austrian Habsburgs. Charles VI (1711-1740), who as the Archduke Charles had vainly struggled against Louis XIV to secure the whole Spanish inheritance in the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713), reigned over extensive and scattered dominions. Around Vienna, his capital city, were gat
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THE RISE OF PRUSSIA. THE HOHENZOLLERNS
THE RISE OF PRUSSIA. THE HOHENZOLLERNS
[Sidenote: The Hohenzollern Family] Next to the Habsburgs, the most influential German family in the eighteenth century was the Hohenzollern. As far back as the tenth century, a line of counts was ruling over a castle on the hill of Zollern just north of what is now Switzerland. These counts slowly extended their lands and their power through the fortunes of feudal warfare and by means of a kindly interest on the part of the Holy Roman Emperors, until at length, in the twelfth century, a represe
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THE MINOR GERMAN STATES
THE MINOR GERMAN STATES
[Sidenote: German States Other than Austria and Prussia] Of the three hundred other states which composed the empire, few were sufficiently large or important to exert any considerable influence on the issue of the contest. A few, however, which took sides, deserve mention not only because in the eighteenth century they preserved a kind of balance of power between the rivals but also because they have been more or less conspicuous factors in the progress of recent times. Such are Bavaria, Saxony
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THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN HOHENZOLLERNS AND HABSBURGS
THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN HOHENZOLLERNS AND HABSBURGS
[Sidenote: Frederick the Great and Maria Theresa] In the struggle between Prussia and Austria—between Hohenzollerns and Habsburgs—centered the European diplomacy and wars of the mid- eighteenth century. On one side was the young king Frederick II (1740- 1786); on the other, the young queen Maria Theresa (1740-1780). Both had ability and sincere devotion to their respective states and peoples,—a high sense of royal responsibilities. Maria Theresa was beautiful, emotional, and proud; the Great Fre
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ADDITIONAL READING
GENERAL. Brief narratives: J. H. Robinson and C. A. Beard, The Development of Modern Europe , Vol. I (1907), ch. iv, v; E. F. Henderson, A Short History of Germany , Vol. II (1902), ch. i-iv; A. H. Johnson, The Age of the Enlightened Despot, 1660-1789 (1910), ch. vii, viii; Ferdinand Schevill, The Making of Modern Germany (1916) , ch. i, ii; Arthur Hassall, The Balance of Power, 1715-1789 (1896), ch. vi-ix; C. T. Atkinson, A History of Germany, 1715-1813 (1908), almost exclusively a military his
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RUSSIA IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
RUSSIA IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
How the backward, Oriental tsardom of Muscovy has been transformed into the huge empire of Russia, now comprising one-sixth of the land surface and one-twelfth of the population of the earth, is one of the most fascinating phases of the history of modern times. It was not until the eighteenth century that Russia came into close contact with the commerce and culture of western Christendom; not until then did she become a great power in the European family of nations. [Sidenote: Russian Expansion]
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PETER THE GREAT
PETER THE GREAT
[Sidenote: His Accession and Early Travels] The grandson of Michael Romanov was the celebrated Peter the Great, who may rightfully be designated as the father of modern Russia. His older brothers, with whom during his youth he was nominally associated in the government, died in turn without leaving direct heirs, and Peter became sole ruler in 1696. From the outset he showed an insatiable curiosity about the arts and sciences of western Europe, the authority of its kings and the organization of i
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SWEDEN AND THE CAREER OF CHARLES XII
SWEDEN AND THE CAREER OF CHARLES XII
[Sidenote: Sweden a Great Power in the Seventeenth Century] It will be recalled that a century before Peter the Great, the remarkable Gustavus Adolphus had aimed to make the Baltic a Swedish lake. To his own kingdom, lying along the western shore of that sea, and to the dependency of Finland, he had added by conquest the eastern provinces of Karelia, Ingria, Esthonia, and Livonia [Footnote: Livonia, occupied by Gustavus Adolphus during the Polish War of 1621-1629, was not formally relinquished b
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CATHERINE THE GREAT: THE DEFEAT OF TURKEY AND THE DISMEMBERMENT OF POLAND
CATHERINE THE GREAT: THE DEFEAT OF TURKEY AND THE DISMEMBERMENT OF POLAND
It is hardly possible to feel much respect for the character of the Russian rulers who succeeded Peter the Great in the eighteenth century. Most of them were women with loose morals and ugly manners. But they had little to fear from Sweden, which, utterly exhausted, was now on a steady decline; and domestic difficulties both in Poland and in Turkey removed any apprehension of attacks from those countries. In policies of internal government, Peter had blazed a trail so clear and unmistakable that
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ADDITIONAL READING
ADDITIONAL READING
THE RISE OF RUSSIA. Elementary sketches: J. H. Robinson and C. A. Beard, The Development of Modern Europe , Vol. I (1907), ch. iv; H. O. Wakeman, The Ascendancy of France, 1598-1715 (1894), ch. viii, xii, xiii; Arthur Hassall, The Balance of Power, 1715-1789 (1896), ch. v, xi; A. H. Johnson, The Age of the Enlightened Despot, 1660-1789 (1910), ch. iv, v; H. T. Dyer, A History of Modern Europe from the Fall of Constantinople , 3d ed. rev. by Arthur Hassall, 6 vols. (1901), ch. xxxvi, xxxviii, xli
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PART III
PART III
Our narrative of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries thus far has been full of intrigue, dynastic rivalry, and colonial competition. We have sat with red-robed cardinals in council to exalt the monarch of France; we have witnessed the worldwide wars by which Great Britain won and lost vast imperial domains; we have followed the thundering march of Frederick's armies through the Germanies, wasted with war; but we have been blind indeed if the glare of bright helmets and the glamour of courtl
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AGRICULTURE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
AGRICULTURE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
[Sidenote: General Backwardness] If some "Rip Van Winkle" of the sixteenth century could have slept for two centuries to awake in 1750, he would have found far less to marvel at in the common life of the people than would one of us. Much of the farming, even of the weaving, buying, and selling, was done just as it had been done centuries before; and the great changes that were to revolutionize the life and work of the people were as yet hardly dreamed of. In fact, there was so much in common bet
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COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
[Sidenote: Growth of Towns] Let us now turn our eyes from the country to the city, for in the towns are to be found the bourgeoisie, the class in which we are most interested. The steady expansion of commerce and industry during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had been attended by a remarkable development of town life. Little villages had grown, until in 1787 there were 78 towns of over 10,000 inhabitants each. London, the greatest city in Europe, had increased in population from about h
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THE PRIVILEGED CLASSES
THE PRIVILEGED CLASSES
Thus far, in analyzing social and economic conditions in the eighteenth century, we have concerned ourselves with the lowest class, the peasants and day laborers, and with the middle class or bourgeoisie— the "Third Estate" of France and the "Commons" of Great Britain. All of these were technically unprivileged or ignoble classes. The highest place in society was reserved for the classes of the privileged, the clergy and the nobility, constituting the First and the Second Estates, respectively.
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RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL CONDITIONS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL CONDITIONS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
[Sidenote: The Catholic Church] The great ecclesiastical organization that had dominated the middle ages was no longer the one church of Europe, but was still the most impressive. Although the Protestant Revolt of the sixteenth century had established independent denominations in the countries of northern Europe, as we have seen in Chapter IV, Roman Catholic Christianity remained the state religion of Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Austria, the Austrian Netherlands, Bavaria, Poland, and several
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SCIENTIFIC AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
SCIENTIFIC AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
[Sidenote: Art] As we have observed in an earlier chapter, both science and art flowered in the sixteenth century. The great men of the eighteenth century, however, devoted themselves almost exclusively to science; and the artists of the time were too insincere, too intent upon pleasing shallow-brained and frivolous courtiers, to produce much that was worth while. Great numbers of plays were written, it is true, but they were hopelessly dull imitations of classic models. Imitative and uninspired
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GENERAL SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EUROPE. Brief outlines: J. H. Robinson and C. A. Beard, The Development of Modern Europe , Vol. I (1907), ch. viii, ix; H. E. Bourne, The Revolutionary Period in Europe, 1763-1815 (1914), ch. i, iii; Clive Day, History of Commerce (1907). More detailed accounts: Cambridge Modern History , Vol. VI; and Histoire générale , Vol. VII, ch. xiii-xvii. The most scholarly and exhaustive study of social conditions is that of Maxime Kovalevsky, Die oekonomis
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THE BRITISH MONARCHY
THE BRITISH MONARCHY
[Sidenote: England. Scotland] In the eighteenth century, what was the British monarchy? It was, first of all, the government of England (which included Wales). Secondly, it embraced Scotland, for since 1603 Scotland and England had been subject to the same king, and in 1707 by the Act of Union the two kingdoms had been united to form the monarchy of "Great Britain," with a common king and a common Parliament. [Sidenote: Great Britain] The British monarchy was properly, then, the government of un
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THE ENLIGHTENED DESPOTS
THE ENLIGHTENED DESPOTS
The spirit of progress and reform had slowly made itself felt in Great Britain through popular agitation and in Parliament. On the Continent it naturally took a different turn, for there government certainly was not by Parliaments, but by sovereigns "by the Grace of God." In France, Prussia, Austria, Spain, and Russia, therefore, the question was always, "Will his Majesty be cruel, extravagant, and unprogressive; or will he prove himself an able and liberal-minded monarch?" [Sidenote: The Era of
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THE FRENCH MONARCHY
THE FRENCH MONARCHY
In no country was the evil side of absolutism exhibited so unmistakably as in France. During the eighteenth century the French government went from bad to worse, until at last it was altered not by peaceful reform but by violent revolution. [Sidenote: French People better off than their Neighbors] As far as their actual condition was concerned, the people of France were, on the whole, better off than most Germans or Italians. Next to England, France had the most numerous, prosperous, and intelli
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ADDITIONAL READING
THE BRITISH MONARCHY, 1760-1800. General accounts: A. L. Cross, History of England and Greater Britain (1914), ch. xlv, a brief résumé; Cambridge Modern History , Vol. VI (1909), ch. xiii; A. D. Innes, History of England and the British Empire , Vol. III (1914), ch. vii-ix, xi; C. G. Robertson, England under the Hanoverians (1911); J. F. Bright, History of England , Vol. III, Constitutional Monarchy , 1689-1837; William Hunt, Political History of England, 1760-1801 (1905), Tory in sympathy; and
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THE END OF ABSOLUTISM IN FRANCE, 1789
THE END OF ABSOLUTISM IN FRANCE, 1789
[Sidenote: France on the Eve of the Revolution] When the story opens, France is still the absolute, divine-right monarchy which Louis XIV had perfected and Louis XV had exploited. The social classes are still in the time-honored position which has been described in Chapter XIII. But all is not well with the "old régime." In the country districts the taxes are distressingly burdensome. In the cities there is scarcity of food side by side with starvation wages. Among the bourgeoisie are envy of th
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THE END OF THE OLD RÉGIME: THE NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY, 1789-1791
THE END OF THE OLD RÉGIME: THE NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY, 1789-1791
[Sidenote: Achievements of the National Assembly, 1789-1791] By the transformation of the Estates-General into the National Constituent Assembly, France had become to all intents and purposes a limited monarchy, in which supreme authority was vested in the nation's elected representatives. From October, 1789, to September, 1791, this Assembly was in session in Paris, endeavoring to bring order out of chaos and to fashion a new France out of the old that was dying of exhaustion and decrepitude. E
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THE LIMITED MONARCHY IN OPERATION: THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (1791-1792) AND THE OUTBREAK OF FOREIGN WAR
THE LIMITED MONARCHY IN OPERATION: THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (1791-1792) AND THE OUTBREAK OF FOREIGN WAR
[Sidenote: Brief Duration of Limited Monarchy in France, 1791-1792] Great public rejoicing welcomed the formal inauguration of the limited monarchy in 1791. Many believed that a new era of Peace and prosperity was dawning for France. Yet the extravagant hopes which were widely entertained for the success of the new régime were doomed to speedy and bitter disappointment. The new government encountered all manner of difficulties, the country rapidly grew more radical in sentiment and action, and w
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THE DIRECTORY (1795-1799) AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE REPUBLIC INTO A MILITARY DICTATORSHIP
THE DIRECTORY (1795-1799) AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE REPUBLIC INTO A MILITARY DICTATORSHIP
[Sidenote: Constitution of the Year III, the Constitution of the First French Republic] [Sidenote: The Directory] The constitution of the first French Republic was drawn up by the National Convention during the last year of its session and after it had passed under bourgeois influence. This constitution which went into effect in 1795 and is known, therefore, as the Constitution of the Year III (of the Republic), intrusted the legislative power to two chambers, chosen by indirect election,—a lowe
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SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1789-1799)
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1789-1799)
It may now be possible for us to have some idea as to the real meaning of these ten years of Assemblies, constitutions, insurrections, and wars, which have marked the period of the French Revolution. A present- day visitor in Paris will be struck by the bold letters which stand out on the public buildings and churches: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité —Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. These were the words which the revolutionaries spelled out on their homes, which they thought embodied the true meanin
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GENERAL. Textbook narratives: J. H. Robinson and C. A. Beard, The Development of Modern Europe, Vol. I (1907), ch. xii, xiii; J. A. R. Marriott, The Remaking of Modern Europe, 1789-1878 (1910), ch. i-vi; H. E. Bourne, The Revolutionary Period in Europe, 1763- 1815 (1914), ch. Vi-xvi; H. M. Stephens, Revolutionary Europe, 1789-1815 (1893), ch. ii-vi; J. H. Rose, Revolutionary and Napoleonic Era, 1789-1815 (1895), ch. Ii-vi; C. A. Fyffe, A History of Modern Europe, 1792-1878 (1896), ch. i-iv; H. T
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THE FRENCH REPUBLIC UNDER THE CONSULATE, 1799-1804
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC UNDER THE CONSULATE, 1799-1804
[Sidenote: Napoleon Bonaparte] When General Bonaparte executed the coup d'état of 1799 and seized personal power in France, he was thirty years of age, short, of medium build, quiet and determined, with cold gray eyes and rather awkward manners. His early life had been peculiarly interesting. He was born at Ajaccio in Corsica on 15 August, 1769, just after the island had been purchased by France from Genoa but before the French had fully succeeded in quelling a stubborn insurrection of the Corsi
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THE FRENCH EMPIRE AND ITS TERRITORIAL EXPANSION
THE FRENCH EMPIRE AND ITS TERRITORIAL EXPANSION
[Sidenote: The French Empire a Continuation of the First French Republic] The establishment of the empire was by no means a break in French history. The principle of popular sovereignty was still recognized. The social gains of the Revolution were still intact. The magic words "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" still blazed proudly forth on public buildings. The tricolor was still the flag of France. [Sidenote: Lapse of Republican Institutions] Of course a few changes were made in externals. The ti
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DESTRUCTION OF THE FRENCH EMPIRE
DESTRUCTION OF THE FRENCH EMPIRE
[Sidenote: Weaknesses in the French Empire of Napoleon] [Sidenote: 1. Napoleon Himself] From 1808 to 1814—six dreadful years—Napoleon's power was constantly on the wane. Nor are the reasons for his ultimate failure difficult to perceive. Some of the very elements which had contributed most to the upbuilding of his great empire with its dependent kingdoms and duchies were in the long run elements of weakness and instability—vital causes of its eventual downfall. In the first place, there was the
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SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ERA OF NAPOLEON
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ERA OF NAPOLEON
[Sidenote: A Continuation of the Revolutionary Era] [Sidenote: Liberty under Napoleon] If we turn now from the story of Napoleon's life to an attempt to appraise the significance of the whole era which fittingly bears his name, we are struck by its manifold achievements in politics and society, in commerce, and in war. In general it was a continuation of the French the Revolution. The principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity, which, from 1789 to 1799, had been laid down as the foundation
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ADDITIONAL READING
ADDITIONAL READING
TEXTBOOK NARRATIVES. H. E. Bourne, The Revolutionary Period in Europe, 1763-1815 (1914), ch. xvii-xxvii; J. H. Robinson and C. A. Beard, The Development of Modern Europe , Vol. I (1907), ch. xiv, xv; H. M. Stephens, Revolutionary Europe, 1789-1815 (1893), ch. vii-xi; J. H. Rose, Revolutionary and Napoleonic Era, 1789-1815 (1895), ch. vii-xi; J. A. R. Marriott, The Remaking of Modern Europe, 1789-1878 (1910), ch. vii-xi; H. T. Dyer, A History of Modern Europe from the Fall of Constantinople , 3d
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