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“Enlightened” Despots

“Enlightened” Despots. AP European History. …Or is there a contradiction here?. Enlightened Despots 18 th -century monarchs NOT democratic BUT used absolute power to reform their countries. Areas of reform: Law Social and economic conditions Education

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“Enlightened” Despots

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  1. “Enlightened” Despots AP European History

  2. …Or is there a contradiction here? • Enlightened Despots • 18th-century monarchs • NOT democratic • BUT used absolute power to reform their countries. • Areas of reform: • Law • Social and economic conditions • Education • Notice! No English monarchs here!

  3. How did Absolute Monarchs get Enlightened? • Many of them read the works of the philosophers of the “Age of Reason” or were advised by councilors who had. • Who were the philosophers? • Locke • Hobbes • Montesquieu • Voltaire • Rousseau • The Physiocrats

  4. Getting Enlightened • Many monarchs realized that to improve their states, they needed to reform. • Several key absolute rulers invited many of the living philosophers to advise them.

  5. Voltaire—Responsible for the Trend? • Voltaire pushed the idea that a ruler can justify her/his power by improving society. • Voltaire is the philosopher who said: “I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it.”

  6. Voltaire • spent a lot of time at the court of Frederick the Great of Prussia (Voltaire was the first to call him “the Great”) • corresponded with Catherine the Great of Russia.

  7. Who were these monarchs? • Frederick of Prussia (1712-1786) • Reign 1740-1786 • (Frederick William Hohenzollern II) • Wrote poetry and essays, played music, even wrote some philosophy. • Strategic thinker

  8. Prussia?

  9. Frederick the Great • Reforms • Abolished torture (except for treason & murder) • Established elementary schools • Promoted industry and agriculture • After “Seven Years War,” helped peasants rebuild. • Established some religious freedom

  10. Maria Theresa (1717-1780) • Reign 1740-1780 • Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, empress of the HRE, and a ton of other titles. • Husband Francis I – Francis Stephen of Lorraine – was the Emperor in name only • Got to the throne by “Pragmatic Sanction” which recognized succession through female line. • But as soon as her dad died, Frederick of Prussia invaded. • Her appeal to the Hungarian Diet for help was “over the top”

  11. Maria Theresa • Her son, Josef II, became HRE; the two ruled together for some time. • Devout Catholic; 16 children (10 to adulthood) • Among them, Marie “Let them eat cake”Antoinette • Disagreed with many Enlightenment Philosophers.

  12. Maria Theresa • Reforms • Protected the rights of serfs: codes established regulating relationship with lords • Freed all peasants on crown lands • Started a paid bureaucracy (civil servants) • Set up elementary schools funded by local and state funds. • Created a tariff union of all parts of the HRE • Kicked the Jesuits out of the country

  13. Josef II (1741-1790) • Reign with Mom (1765-1780); all by himself (1780-1790) • Huge fan of Enlightenment philosophers. • When MT died, he pushed for even greater reforms. “Too many notes”

  14. Josef II • Reforms • Serfdom completely abolished. • Taxes were made equal for both serfs and nobles • Freedom of the press • Took property from the church to fund hospitals. • Relaxed laws binding Jews to villages. • His brother Leopold, however, was a huge reactionary, and rolled back a lot of the reforms.

  15. Catherine of Russia (1729-1796) • Reigned 1762-1796 • German-born princess who staged a coup against her incompetent husband, Peter III. • Did the Romanov dynasty end with her? • Ignored son Paul, but practically raised grandson Alexander by herself. • Major reformer…

  16. Catherine the Great • Reform • Reorganized local government and established a civil service. • Decreased use of torture • Codified laws. • Toured the countryside incognito. • Potemkin village comes from this tour. Potemkin

  17. Catherine the Great • Backlash! • When Pugachev rebellion arose, she back-pedaled some of the reforms. • Toyed with the idea of freeing the serfs. The Don Cossack, Pugachev

  18. In a nutshell… • Enlightened Despots were not democrats, but top-down reformers. • They liked Enlightenment philosophy—especially Voltaire’s brand. • Reforms in general: • Codification of laws • Limit church power • Construct hospitals and elementary schools • Develop centralized bureaucracy • Modify serfdom

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