18th Century History Overview

18th Century Agricultural Revolution

• Increased crop yields and crop rotation
• Led to population growth and urbanization
• Fueled by agricultural innovation stemming from the Scientific Revolution

18th Century Consumer Revolution

• Rise in consumerism
• Growth of the middle class
• Reshaped social identities and daily life

Seven Years' War

• Conflict between Britain and Prussia vs. France, Austria, Russia, and Spain (primarily Britain vs France)
• Driven by colonial rivalry in North America and India
• Austria sought to reclaim Silesia from Prussia
• Britain emerged victorious (Treaty of Paris), gaining territory in North America and India

Academies of Science

• Supported scientific research during the Enlightenment
• Women were excluded

Ancien Régime/Three Estate System

• Pre-revolutionary France's social structure
• Clergy (Catholic Church): most powerful, exempt from taxes
• Nobility: also tax-exempt
• Commoners (Third Estate): heavily taxed, no political representation
• Inequality fueled the French Revolution

Bourgeoisie

• Wealthy, educated commoners who made money through trade and commerce

Cardinal Richelieu

• Louis XIII's chief minister
• Weakened the nobility
• Strengthened France and diminished Habsburg power
• Established a centralized government, key to French absolutism

Christian Humanists

• Combined humanism (emphasizing human potential and classical texts) with Christian teachings

Northern Renaissance

• Examples include Erasmus, who emphasized the importance of education and the Bible

Columbian Exchange

• Transfer of plants, animals, goods, people, and diseases between the Old World (Europe, Asia, Africa) and the New World (Americas)

Committee of Public Safety

• Protected the newly established republic from enemies
• Led by Robespierre, using any means necessary

Continental System

• Blockade of Europe and Britain to cripple the British economy and military
• Failed; Britain established a counter-blockade

Crop Rotation

• Alternating crops to maintain soil fertility
• Transition from a two-field system to a three-field system
• Supported population growth and improved nutrition

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

• Defined natural rights (liberty, property, equality before the law) of French citizens
• Defined liberty as actions that don't harm others
• Called for a constitutional monarchy to limit royal power

Divine Right of Kings

• Belief that kings derive authority directly from God
• Inherent right to absolute rule

Dutch Republic

• Seven Dutch provinces that gained independence from Spain
• Major maritime power
• Confederation with religious tolerance
• Power declined in the 17th century due to war and instability

Economic Liberalism

• Arising during the Enlightenment
• Advocated for free trade and minimal government intervention
• Influenced by Adam Smith

Edict of Nantes

• Granted religious rights to French Protestants (Huguenots)
• Ended 36 years of religious conflict
• Revoked by Louis XIV, believing most Protestants had converted

Enclosure Movement

• Wealthy landowners fenced off common lands
• Focused on improving agriculture
• Displaced peasants and contributed to rural-urban migration

Enlightened Absolutism

• Monarchs incorporating Enlightenment ideals (religious tolerance, education) into their rule
• Demonstrated limitations in aspects like Jewish emancipation

Estates-General

• Representative assembly of pre-revolutionary France
• Composed of representatives from the three estates
• Key to the outbreak of the French Revolution when the Third Estate broke away

Fall of the Bastille

• Storming of the Bastille prison in Paris
• Triggered by fear of Louis XVI arresting the National Assembly
• Marked the beginning of the French Revolution

Ferdinand Magellan

• First to circumnavigate the globe
• Changed European understanding of Earth's shape and size

Galileo Galilei

• Key figure in the Scientific Revolution
• Promoted the heliocentric model (sun-centered universe)
• Developed the scientific method
• Faced conflict with the Catholic Church

Rousseau's General Will

• Concept of the common good
• Belief that people, when acting collectively, can determine what is best for society

Georges Danton

• First president of the Committee of Public Safety
• Later executed by Robespierre
• Opposed the Reign of Terror

Guillotine

• Execution method used to eliminate perceived enemies of the revolution

Haitian Revolution

• Successful slave revolt against European colonial rule
• Served as a potent example and feared by slave-holding societies

Henry VIII

• Broke from the Roman Catholic Church
• Established the Church of England
• Had six wives

Italian Humanists

• Emphasized the study and revival of classical Greek and Roman texts
• Petrarch considered the father of humanism

Jacobins

• Prominent political group during the French Revolution, notably the Girondists and the Mountain
• Advocated the Declaration of the Rights of Man
• Responded to the Declaration of Pillnitz

Jean-Paul Marat

• Supported the sans-culottes (common people)
• Fueled revolution through radical journalism

John Locke

• Advocated for natural rights
• Believed that government violating natural rights justifies revolution

Maria Theresa of Austria

• Reformed the Austrian Empire
• First woman ruler in her own right
• Mother of Joseph II
• Reforms aimed at a stronger, more efficient state

Martin Luther

• Sparked the Protestant Reformation
• Emphasized faith over works
• Criticized indulgences
• Believed scripture is the sole source of God's authority

Medici Family

• Powerful Italian banking family
• Influenced the Renaissance through patronage
• Three popes

Mercantilism

• System of state-controlled trade
• Maximize national wealth through a favorable balance of trade (exports exceeding imports)
• Increased state power, exemplified by Colbert

Montesquieu

• Advocated for the separation of powers (three branches of government)
• Challenged absolute rule

Napoleon's Civil Code of 1804

• Established equality before the law for men
• Removed feudal privileges
• Limited women's rights, making them subordinate to their husbands
• Spread to conquered territories & appealed to peasants defending revolutionary land/status gains.

Napoleon's Grand Empire

• Territory controlled by Napoleon at the height of power
• A vast European empire (except Great Britain and Russia)
• Led to the Continental System

National Assembly

• Legislative body formed during the French Revolution
• Composed of representatives from the Third Estate, which declared itself the National Assembly and wrote a new constitution.

Natural Philosophy

• Study of the natural world
• Included the growth of natural history, a major achievement of the scientific revolution

New Monarchs

• Powerful, centralized governments of the mid-15th century
• Weakened the nobility and the Church
• Marked a transition to absolutist rule
• Enabled economic growth

Northwest Passage

• Sought-after sea route through North America to Asia
• N. European nations competed for access

Partition of Poland

• Division of Poland among Russia, Prussia, and Austria
• Poland disappeared

Peace of Augsburg

• Recognized Lutheranism and allowed regional choice between Catholicism and Lutheranism
• Temporarily ended religious conflict

Peace of Westphalia

• Ended the Thirty Years' War
• Recognized religious tolerance and state sovereignty (self rule of states within a state)
• Weakened the Holy Roman Empire

Peter the Great

• Initiated Russian westernization
• Established St. Petersburg as a capital
• Increased military service requirements
• Created a strong navy
• Built a strong Russian fiscal-military state

Philosophes

• Enlightenment thinkers advocating for reform and reason
• Challenged traditional authority
• Examples include Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu (involved in Encyclopedias)

Predestination

• Belief that God predetermined who would achieve salvation

Printing Press

• Facilitated the rapid spread of ideas
• Increased the accessibility and affordability of books
• Responded to a rising demand for reading

Public Sphere

• Space for public discussion, especially important during the Enlightenment

Reign of Terror

• Period of radical violence during the French Revolution
• Execution of perceived enemies of the revolution using the guillotine

Robespierre

• Leader of the Reign of Terror and the Jacobins

Salons

• Gatherings for intellectual discussions
• Supported the spread of Enlightenment ideas
• Important role of women

Scientific Method

• Key method in the Scientific Revolution
• Involved inductive reasoning through observation of the natural world

Spanish Inquisition

• Intended to eliminate heresy
• Ferdinand and Isabella sought religious unity
• Enforcement influenced Spain's economic decline

Tennis Court Oath

• Gathering of the Third Estate
• Pledge to not separate until a new constitution was written
• Crucial moment in the French Revolution

Thermidorian Reaction

• End of the Reign of Terror
• Execution of Robespierre
• Move away from radicalism, toward moderation
• Establishment of the Directory, a weak government eventually replaced by Napoleon

Thomas Hobbes

• Believed humans are inherently violent
• Argued for a strong monarchy to prevent chaos
• Rejected natural rights concepts

Utopia

• Idealized society
• Reflection of Renaissance humanism

Universal Male Suffrage

• Voting rights for all men
• Advocated by the Jacobins to grant rights to the lower classes

Women's March on Versailles

• March fueled by high bread prices
• Forcing Louis XVI to return to Paris
• Significant event in the French Revolution