The Society and Economy Under the Old Regime

1. The Society and Economy Under the Old Regime

2. Introduction • Old Regime • The life and institutions of prerevolutionary Europe • Politically • Rule of absolutism • Economically • Scarcity of food • Agrarian society • Undeveloped financial systems • Socially • Distinct social classes w/ certain privileges • Little individualism

3. Introduction • Old Regime fosters change in 18th C • Changes in farming • Early industrial Rev. arrives • Colonization of New World • Expansion of business • Preparation for wars

4. Major Features of Life • Social Characteristics of Old Regime • Aristocratic elites control privileges • Established churches support state • Urban workers organized into guilds • Peasants pay high taxes

5. Major Features of Life • Maintenance of Tradition • Social • Tradition was important • Nobles held onto ancient privilege • Peasants wanted restoration of manorial rights • Economic • Except for GB, every nation’s economy was agrarian. • All gov’ts concerned about harvest

6. Major Features of Life • Hierarchy • Medieval rank became rigid during the century • Laws regulated the dress of different classes-made social hierarchy easily visible • Lack of “individual rights”, emphasis on “community” rights (nobility, church, guilds)

7. Aristocracy • 1-5% of the population • Wealthiest sector • Separate legal bodies • Land was source of power

8. Varieties of Aristocratic Privilege • Aristocracy was a matter of birth and privilege • British Nobility • Smallest, wealthiest, and most socially responsible aristocracy in Eur. • 400 families, eldest males sat in House of Lords, through corruption of electoral system • Owned ¼ of all arable land • Invested in industry and commerce • immense political and social influence

9. Varieties of Aristocratic Privilege • France • Nobles of the Robe – Civil servants • Nobles of the sword – Military • French nobles exempt from: • Taille: land tax • Corvee: labor tax • Vingtieme: rarely paid in full

10. Aristocratic Resurgence • Nobles responded to centralizing efforts of monarchy by: • Preserving exclusiveness of titles • Reserve appointments to officer corps and gov’t bureaucracy • English Parliament, French parlement, German diets, Austrian estates, all challenge monarchy • Remain free from taxes; collect feudal dues

11. The Land & It’s Tillers • 75% of population worked the land • Peasants/Serfs • Serfdom more common in E. Eur than W.Eur. • In GB, justices of peace oversee courts • Peasants have rights and Englishmen • In E. Eur, landowners oversee courts • Taxes were the burden of peasants/serfs on continent

12. The Land & its Tillers • Obligations of Peasants • FR – Feudal dues & corvees. • Prus/Aust – Landowners have complete control • The Robot • Russia – “Soul” tax, forced labor. No legal recourse • Similar to slavery

13. The Land & its Tillers • Rebellions • Russian czars degraded condition of serfs • Pugachev – Leader of largest rebellion in 18th C • Catherine the Great had considered loosening restrictions on serfs before rebellion. • Very few rebellions in W. Eur.

14. Land & it’s Tillers • Aristocratic Domination of Countryside – England • 1671-1831: English landowners had the exclusive legal right to hunt • Poor excluded because elites believed hunting would undermine work • Merchants excluded b/c Parl. wanted to demonstrate landed wealth over commercial wealth • Gamekeepers and gentry benefited from laws • Poaching and the black market: high demand for luxury meat leads to poaching for profit

15. The Agricultural Revolution • Goal of peasants = maintain food supply • Food prices rose steadily in 18th C due to population growth • Agricultural revolution was due to farming innovation

16. Agricultural Revolution • New Crops/New Methods • The Dutch were leaders in farming. • Cornelius Vermuyden – land reclamation • British Innovators • Jethro Tull – seed drills and iron plow • Robert Bakewell – animal breeding • “Turnip” Townsend – crop rotation to restore nutrients • Arthur Young – documented advances

17. Agricultural Revolution • Enclosure Movement Replaces Open-Field s • What were open fields? • Village communities which farmed land using the 2 or 3 field system • What was enclosure? • Fencing of land to scientifically study land and increase production • Who was responsible for enclosure? • Large landowners pushed laws through parliament • What was the impact of enclosure? • Commercialization of agriculture

18. Agricultural Revolution • Limited Improvements in the East • Why did E. Eur not improve farming? • No motivation. Landlords had tight control over serfs.

19. Agricultural Revolution • Population Expansion - 18th Century • What were the reasons for population growth? • Decline of death rate, fewer wars, fewer epidemics, better hygiene, • ***Changes in food supply - Potato • What was the impact of the population growth? • New demand for goods, food, jobs, services • Increase in migration • Traditions of the Old Regime were tested

20. The “Columbian Exchange”

21. The Columbian Exchange • From the New World to Europe • Diseases: syphilis • Plants: potatoes, corn, tomatoes, pineapple, tobacco, beans, vanilla, chocolate • Animals: turkeys • Gold and silver • From Europe to the New World • Diseases: small pox, measles, bubonic, plague, influenza, typhus • Plants: wheat, sugar, rice coffee • Animals: horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens

22. The Industrial Revolution • Began in the 2nd half of the 18th C • Period of sustained growth • Raised standard of living • Was it an evolution or a revolution?

23. The Industrial Revolution • Revolution in Consumption • What factors increased demand for consumer goods? • Prosperity, marketing/advertising, changes in styles to bring new fashions and inventions, rise of fashion publications made all aware of new styles. • Industrial Leadership in GB • What factors made GB the home of the I.R.? • Free trade, good roads w/o tolls, abundance of coal and iron, sound banking, efficient and fair taxation, mobility of society

24. The Industrial Revolution • New Methods of Textile Production • What are textiles? • Cloth, which became the first mass-produced items. • How were they produced before the I.R.? • The domestic system, a.k.a “the putting out system” • How were they produced after the I.R.? • In factories

25. Inventions • John Kay – Flying shuttle – increased production of weavers. (1730s) • James Hargreaves – Spinning Jenny – allowed more spindles of thread to be spun (1760s) • Richard Arkwright (1760s) – water-powered device to produce cotton fabric

26. The Industrial Revolution • The Steam Engine*** • Who invented it? • Thomas Newcomen engine (early 1700s) – very inefficient • James Watt (1760s) – Made steam engine more usable • Why is it important in the I.R.? • It became the prime mover for all industry – shipping, trains, manufacturing