Untitled

• Study notes on Enlightenment, Figures of the Enlightenment, Empiricism, Nationalism, Abolitionism, Great Britain and Suffrage, Capitalism, Physiocrats, Feminism, Socialism, Classical Liberalism, Conservatism, Deism, Utopian Socialists, Russian Serfdom, Zionism, American Revolution, French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte, Haitian Revolution, Bolivar/Creole Revolutions, Congress of Vienna, Realpolitik, Italian Unification, Prussia German Unification, Balkan Nationalism and Ottoman Nationalism

Enlightenment

• Rooted in the Renaissance's humanism and the Scientific Revolution.
• Applies reason and logic to natural laws.
• Shifts focus from religion and traditionalism to reason and individualism.
• Promotes secularism and challenges established institutions.
• Advocates freedom, self-determination, and education.
• Emphasizes open-mindedness and inquiry, challenging divine right governments.
• Views knowledge as a transformative force for society.

Figures of the Enlightenment

• Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)
• Authored Leviathan.
• Separates religion from politics and knowledge from faith.
• Emphasized reason over faith.
• Believed humans are fearful and predatory, leading to a life that is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" without government.
• Argued for submission to absolute state power for reason and preservation.
• Supported a strong, reason-based government.
• John Locke (1632-1704)
• Authored Two Treatises of Government and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
• Disagreed with Hobbes, believing humans are born good with natural rights.
• Advocated for natural rights: life, liberty, and property.
• Argued for limiting the King's power through laws, supporting a constitutional monarchy.
• Introduced the Social Contract: an agreement between government and people.
• Claimed people should revolt if the government fails to uphold its part of the contract and protect their rights.
• Argued freedom of religion should be protected by the government.
• His ideas influenced the American and French Revolutions and shaped the Constitution.
• Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755)
• Authored The Spirit of the Laws.
• Agreed with Locke on the role of government.
• Argued against tyranny and absolute power.
• Advocated for British Parliament's checks on power to avoid one person becoming too powerful.
• Suggested governments should be divided into three branches: one to make laws, one to interpret them, and one to enforce them.
• The branches are: the Monarchy (Executive), Aristocracy (Legislative), and Commons (Judicial).
• His concept of separation of powers served as a model for the US.
• Suggested each branch should have control over the others to prevent dictatorship.
• Voltaire (1694-1778)
• Authored Candide and Philosophical Letters.
• Supported constitutional monarchy and civil rights.
• Advocated freedom of speech, religious liberty, and judicial reform.
• Claimed “I do not agree with a word you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
• Authored The Social Contract.
• Believed individuals should have certain rights.
• Advocated majority rule: whatever the majority wants should be law.
• Championed the idea of General Will: pursuing the common good within a community.
• His ideas supported the French Revolution.
• Claimed “Man is born free, and everywhere is in chains”.
• Denis Diderot (1713-1784)
• Created the Encyclopedia to compile all human knowledge in one accessible book.
• The Encyclopedia was censored in France for articles aimed at changing ways of thinking.
• Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)
• Authored On Crimes and Punishments.
• Argued laws should exist to preserve society and order.
• Opposed capital punishment and torture.
• Advocated fair trials based on evidence and testimony.
• Influenced modern legal systems, human rights laws, and the abolishment of cruel punishments.
• Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
• Authored Common Sense and The Rights of Man.
• Supported and played a significant role in the American Revolution.
• Argued for natural and universal rights.
• Opposed hereditary rule.
• Inspired the American and French Revolutions, and influenced modern democratic thought.

Empiricism

• Knowledge is derived from observation and experience through cause and effect.
• It forms the basis of the modern-day scientific method.
• Sir Francis Bacon is considered the father of Empiricism.
• Emphasizes experiment and observation.
• Prioritizes practical, useful knowledge.

Nationalism

• Intense loyalty to others sharing language and culture
• Supports the idea of independent nations.

Abolitionism

• The abolishment of slavery, including the end of the Transatlantic slave trade.
• Slave trade was banned before slavery.
• Brazil was the last to eliminate slavery in the Americas.

U.S., Great Britain and Suffrage

• Reform Act - 1832: Extended voting rights to adult males who rented property of a certain value, allowing 1 in 7 males in the UK to vote.
• Reform Act - 1867: Extended the franchise to men in urban areas meeting a property qualification, increasing male suffrage.
• Representation of the People Act - 1884: Addressed imbalances between boroughs and the countryside, increasing the voting population to 5.5 million, though 40% of males remained disenfranchised due to property qualification.
• Representation of the People Act - 1918: Gave voting rights to all men over 21 and 40% of women, with property restrictions and some women needing to be over 30.
• Representation of the People Act - 1928: Provided universal suffrage for all men and women over 21, with no property restrictions.

Capitalism

• The means of production are privately owned for profit.
• Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations.
• Smith was a Physiocrat, and supported free trade, not mercantilism.
• Advocated Laissez-faire economies promoting reduced government intervention in economic decisions to let the market flow.
• Believed the "Invisible Hand" of the market would guide consumers/businesses to make optimal choices.
• Laissez-faire economics are the foundation for capitalism.

Physiocrats

• A group of French economists who believed that the wealth of nations primarily comes from agriculture and that agricultural production is the source of all economic value.

Feminism

• Focuses on women's rights, suffrage (voting), and equality.
• Olympe de Gouges, in France, wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the (Female) Citizen.
• Mary Wollstonecraft, in England, wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women.
• Wollstonecraft advocating universal education to prepare women to contribute to political/professional society.
• The Seneca Falls convention hosted by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Santon hosted focused on women's rights/suffrage in New York.

Socialism

• Public or direct ownership of means of production.

Classical Liberalism

• Belief in natural rights, constitutional government, laissez-faire economics, and less militarism/divinity.

Conservatism

• Belief in traditional institutions, based on practical experience over theories.

Deism

• The belief that a creator exists but does not intervene in the universe after its creation.
• Believes divinity set laws in motion.
• Believes the Church provided needed moral guidance.

Utopian Socialists

• Henri de Saint-Simon.
• Scientists and engineers should work with businesses to create clean, efficient, valuable goods for society.
• The considered public works projects, for example the Proposed Suez Canal.
• Charles Fourier, 810 passions would make work more enjoyable and workers less tired.
• He coined the term “Feminism.”
• Robert Owen believed in small communal societies based on education, collective ownership, and shared rules.
• Owen created New Lanark, Scotland, and New Harmony, Indiana (US).
• He had a utopian vision, tried to realize it through small societies.
• Fabian Society: England.
• Practiced gradual socialists - use of parliamentary means.
• Important people such as: H.G. Wells, Virginia Woolf, and George Bernard Shaw.

Russian Serfdom

• Most Russians were peasant serfs.
• They were tied to their land, treated as property, at the mercy of landlords.
• Emperor Alexander II abolished serfdom, freeing 23 million people

Zionism

• Desire of Jews to reestablish independent homeland in the Middle East.
• Predominantly Muslim region, controlled by Ottomans and Palestinian Arabs.
• Goal to escape anti-Semitism in Europe.
• Led by Theodore Herzi.
• Support increased following Dreyfus Affair.
• A French military officer was falsely convicted of treason.
  • Documents that implicated Dreyfus were forged.
  • Eventually pardoned, but increased Jewish desire to leave Europe.
• The Nation of Israel established following WWII.

American Revolution and Events That Led to It

• Life in colonies was good: land, few people, equal status for free men, and no titled nobility or single established church = more freedom.
• Birth and causes of Revolution:
• Inspired by the Enlightenment, philosophy, and physiocrats.
• Colonial legislatures operated with level of autonomy.
• Disconnect: the 13 separate colonies unite to preserve liberties.
• Britain was focused on Asia and Africa and let colonies run themselves independently if they followed British law and acknowledge the crown.
• Colonists didn't feel British, they felt independent, so when the British started taxing them, they didn't like it.
• Due to Britain's debt from the 7 years war, they used taxes and tariffs on the colonies.
• After years of salutary neglect and autonomy, Britain was tightly regulating goods.
• Britain refused to offer representation of colonists in Parliament.
• Thomas Paine's Common Sense said it was common sense for colonies to be independent and their own country.
• Colonists respond to with protests, animosity, and frustration against unfair taxes, no representation, and a lack of connection with Britain.
• Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Lexington and Concord, Breeds/Bunker Hill lead to the Declaration of Independence
• Declaration of Independence
• Penned mainly by Thomas Jefferson.
• Inspired by John Locke and Enlightenment (mainly natural rights).
• Claimed “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” stating they are “Inalienable rights”.
• Signing it was treason - all the people who signed knew they gave their life away for freedom.
• It wasn't signed off on by the states until August 2nd.
• Thomas Jefferson was from Virginia, so he was the bridge between the North and South colonies.
• (Washington was too, since he was from Virginia too).
• Jefferson had a lot of European influence.
• Benjamin Franklin was instrumental in writing the Declaration of Independence and securing support for the Revolution.
• Revolutionary War and Battles
• Britain initially had an early edge
• The tide turned after the Battle of Saratoga when France agreed to help the Americans
• They were secretly aiding the colonists but were hesitant to join because of own issues.
• Key victories: Trenton, Princeton, Survival at Valley Forge, Monmouth, Pyrrhic wins at Guilford Courthouse and Cowpens, and Battle of Yorktown,
• Treaty of Paris eventually signed.
• Treaty of Paris established the Mississippi River as a western boundary.
• Britain formally recognized the United States.
• Ended and resolving the revolutionary war.
• New Zealand Wars
• New Zealand originally occupied by Polynesian Maori.
• The Maori were divided by iwi (individual tribes).
• Britain came hoping to colonize > conflicts over land and politics > series of wars.
• Britain able to sustain and defeat the united Maori.
• This resulted in the Treaty of Waitangi. - It favored the British.

French Revolution

• Root Enlightenment natural rights "Liberte, egalite, et fraternite" (Liberty, equality, and fraternity).
• French Revolution was caused the Enlightenment caused the 3rd estate to question the 1st and 2nd's actions.
• France was in an economic crisis, with issues such as the expenses of Versailles, wars, colonization, inflation, and poor harvests.
• Ruled by King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette (Madame Deficit).
• They were royalties who were hated and blamed for all the issues in France.
• Ancien Regime and Three Estates
• The Ancien regime was the 3 estates that made up France.
• 1st Estate - Clergy, 2nd Estate - Nobility, 3rd Estate - Everyone else (97% of pop.).
• Clergy and nobility had most of land, didn't pay taxes, had privileges, and. outvoted/ganged up on the third estate. - The people had no representation.
• The third estate broke free and forms their own legislative body > National Assembly
• Tennis Court Oath occurs when people stormed where the king was, but he shut the doors.
• The people moved to a Tennis Court.
• Here, the National Assembly swore to end the meetings until France had a constitution.
• Maximilien Robespierre headed the revolution.
• Later played a role in the Reign of Terror (started The Reign of Terror).
• Robespierre established first French Republic with Jacobins.
• Executed 72 thousand before being executed himself.
• People were starving with the price of bread too high.
  • French citizens stormed the Bastille, a prison for weapons, ammunition, and to free the prisoners who were sent cause they opposed the king

French Revolution Impacts

• Symbol of the French Revolution:
• Declaration of the Rights of Man.
• It declared all males equal before law, and equal right to hold public office.
• There was freedom of religion, and taxation based on wealth.
• It was a modified Declaration of Independence.
• The Jacobins were radicals
• And, leaders of French Revolution French Republic after Robespierre.
• The Jacobin's created Committee of Public Safety.
• The Committee of Public Safety was council of 5 people ordering executions of people who opposed the revolution.
• The Reign of Terror started by the execution of the king and queen via guillotine after being tried for Treason
• 5-year period under Jacobins and Robespierre where 72000 people were executed and fear spread.
• Committee of Public Safety acted very strict and killed anyone who even slightly complained about the new way things were run.

Napoleon Bonaparte

• Born in Corsica into French/Italian family.
• He supported French Revolution and Jacobins.
• Joined the French military.
• Drove the British from Toulon, who supported the return of the French Royalty.
• He went to Egypt:
• To disrupt British trade, but it was disastrous military campaign.
• Eventually, he became a political leader:
• He overthrew a weak Directory.
• Government had a 3-man governing board: Consulate.
• Napoleon called himself “First Consul."
• He made another Constitution that led to the Napoleonic Code.
• Eventually, he named Emperor:
• As emperor, he consolidated power, strengthened central government.
• He modernized finance.
• Napoleon controlled prices, encouraged industry, and built roads and canals.
• Developed public school systems
• Made peace with the Catholic Church (Concordat of 1801)
• The Battle of Austerlitz was a strategic victory.
• In the Battle of Trafalgar, the British admiral Horatio Nelson ruined French troop fleet.
• Napoleonic Code:
• Equality of all males before law.
• Religious toleration.
• Advancement based on merit.
• However, women lost power: - They were not citizens. - Males had power over wives and kids.
• Continental System:
• Closed Europe ports to British Goods.
• Annexed many areas in war, adding to France
• Put his friends and family on thrones of other countries.
• Britian blockaded European parts
• Shut off ports to keep people from entering/leaving.
• Embargo trade restrictions hurt Europe.
• Goods were scarce, prices rose, and smuggling was widespread.
• French Challenges and Issues
• Spain resisted foreign influence.
• After Napoleon's brother took the throne, he introduced reforms against the Catholic Church - There was rise in Spanish nationalism. - Aided by British, Spain fought against French influence.
• Russia resigned from Continental System.
• Napoleon sent Grand Army and Russia retreated with Scorched Earth Policy.
• Scorched Earth Policy meant that Russia burned everything along the retreat to avoid battle.

Napoleon's Downfall

• Russia, Austria, Britain, and Prussia allied against France.
• Napoleon was defeated at Battle of Nations and exiled Elba.
• After his defeat, Louis XVIII became king.
• Later life/Downfall:
• Louis XVIII didn't accept Napoleonic Code nor honor land settlements.
• Napoleon escaped Elba was returns to cheers.
• Napoleon vs Allies at Battle of Waterloo: Napoleon abdicates and exiled to St. Helen where he dies.
• Overall, Napoleon was eventually brought down by resistance from Russia and Britain
• The Impacts were vast
• Conquered spread Revolution's ideas.
• And increased nationalism.
• He abolishing the Holy Roman Empire indirectly creates Germany
• Napoleon Sold the Louisiana Territory to US
• Lead to Congress of Vienna and Vienna Settlement who cleaned up Europe after Napoleon.
• He made Europe's largest empire since the Roman Empire
• Credited with taming the French Revolution.
• Preserved many moderate elements:
• civil equality, secular law code, religious freedom, and promotion by merit.
• Maintained revolution's emphasis on social equality, but dispensed with liberty.

Haitian Revolution

• Island of Saint Domingue (Hispaniola) - richest and most profitable colony in the world.
• Accounted for 40% of world's sugar and 50% of world's coffee.
• Majority of the population was slaves with death rate around 50%.
• They were often tortured and overworked.
• The rest of the population were rich whites, poor whites, and gens de couleur libres (free people of color).
• A slave rebellion against French Plantation owners:
• The slaves killed masters and burned homes
• Joined by Maroons - people who already escaped slavery.
• Initial revolt was led by Vincent Oge, who failed.
• Toussaint L'Ouverture was a former slave that led the revolution
• L'Ouverture was familiar with Enlightenment thought.
• Established an independent government and pitted Europeans against one another,
• Europeans wanted to contain revolt.
• He helped craft constitution which had:
• Equality and citizenship to residents + Abolition. - and Land reform. - Plantation was divided and distributed amongst former slaves and free blacks.
• named self-governor for life
• Napoleon wanted to regain the island and reinstate slavery
• Toussaint was betrayed and imprisoned by the French and dies in jail.
• Toussaint's successor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, led another revolt which declared Haiti's complete independence!
• Haiti became the first in Latin America to: win independence and the first black-led country in Western Hemisphere. Haiti became permanently independent due to a slave uprising.

Bolivar/Creole Revolutions

• Described the Spanish Social Hierarchy
• Peninsulares, (0.1%) of the population, often didn't even live in South America, had most political power and wealth.
• Creoles were Europeans born in South America, they were identical to the peninsulares, but had less power and wealth due to being born in the West.
• Mestizos and Mulattoes were of mixed descent.
• They supported the creoles in revolutionary ideas, but were rejected by creoles.
• Africans and natives were at the bottom and were unable to help in revolutions.
• Desire for independence of the creoles.
• they were wealthy and opposed Spanish mercantilism and wanted more political power and less taxation.
• Creoles were familiar with the Enlightenment.
• Napoleon's invasion if Spain also gave the creoles opportunity to rebel against a weakened Spanish empire.
• Simon Bolivar
• An Enlightened revolutionary creole who was wealthy.
• Wanted desperately to be a viceroy and have political power, but couldn't due to it.
• He wanted to overthrow Spain and the Peninsulares and used his wealth to fund military campaigns.
• Bolivar wrote the The Jamaica Letter for British support
• He needed colonial land and an advantage over both French and Spanish.
• He reflected Bolivar's vision for Gran Colombia, seeking unification of territories like the United States.
• however, It was never fully achieved.
• Manuela Saenz was Simon Bolivar's wife who gained notoriety and fought with Bolivar.
• Caudillos: strong local leaders (military leader) with regional power bases who emerged after the wars for independence
• They often disregarded representative government and rule of law.
• Peru included a requirement such that illiterate citizens were not allowed to vote, but eventually changed.
• and, Women gained minimal rights.
• Puerto Rico and Cuba: Caribbean holdings began to rise against the Spanish.
• Lola Rodriguez de Tio was a poet who critiqued Spain's exploitation of Puerto Rico.

Congress of Vienna

• Task: restore stability after 25 years of Napoleon's wars.
• Goal: create lasting peace and maintain balance of power.
• They wanted to protect system of monarchy.
• Main people involved:
• Prince Clemens von Metternich of Austria
• Tsar Alexander Alexander I of Russia.
• Lord Robert Castlereagh of Britain,
• Prince Maurice Talleyrand from France.

Realpolitik

• This was a realistic, practical political strategy based on what the leader thought was best.
• It was championed by Count di Cavour and used by Otto von Bismarck.

Italian Unification

• The peninsula was divides among kingdoms and city-states
• Has regional culture and language.
• Congress of Vienna
• Gave most of north Italy to Austria while giving authority to monarchs.
• This was part of unification and war against Austria.
• Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi
• Both part of one of the most influential groups, Carbonari
• Mazzini rallied group was called Young Italy to move toward unification while Garibaldi gathered national volunteers called red shirts to fight those against those who were Italian unification.
• Both exiled for revolutionary actions.
• Count di Cavour and King Victor Emmanuel II
• Cavour was Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia (liked realpolitik) and wanted unification.
• Cavour lead Risorgimento and unification movement.
• Victor Emmanuel II was King of Sardinia, who endorsed Cavour's vision of the unification.
• In this vision, war with Austria, defeating Austria to expand Sardinia.
• Goal was to weaken Austria (who had presence in the north):
• So, they convinced Napoleon to help in return for support against Russians to go to.
• Success in defeating Austria led to Sardinia expanding.
• Garibaldi and Red Shirts fought in Kingdom of Naples to vote by plebiscite (referendum).
• The vote indicated a need to join the Kingdom of Sardinia.
• They combined Garibaldi and Red Shirts, with Victor and the Sardinian army.
• This led them to defeat the Papal states, the king of Naples, Rome, and Venetia.
• Victor proclaimed King of Italy!

Prussia German Unification

• The foundation for Germany was laid by Frederick William and the Great Elector, who inherited the lands of Brandenburg-Prussia.
• At the time it a was a small region, open without natural defenses
• But it was big enough for the 4th largest army in Europe, which had civil governance.
• All officials in the government were members of Prussian-landed aristocracy (Junkers)
• Frederick I became king, allowing Prussia to emerge as a grand power in Europe.
• Overall, Strengthened as a response to Napoleon's invasion and wars.
• Congress of Vienna causes revolutions in Prussia and Austria.
• This revolution inspired both nationalism and liberalism!
• King Wilhelm supported German unification and then came to power where he appointed Bismarck to be Prime minister of Prussia. Otto von Bismarck Used realpolitik.
• He as a Prime minister and engineered 3 wars and was a strong leader whom was to use diplomacy and wars to unite
• Believed in “blood and iron” to unify war and strength.
• He grew and solved disputes between Prussia and Denmark and manipulated Austria to align against Denmark.
• There was the Seven Weeks' War, in which they gained Schleswig + Holstein they had disputed over.
• This caused the Austro-Prussian War for the areas.
  • Prussia wins and controls most German-speaking land in Central Europe.
  • Bismarck, in his efforts to get western German speaking land, caused the Franco-Prussian War.
• he used Ems Dispatch/ Altered a conversation between France and Prussia in order to fuel to start the war
• New German Empire was created for Germany and stated under old Holy Roman Empire while newly acquiring territories
• William 1 claimed Kaiser (ruler) of 2nd empire/reich.
• It includes territory Alsace-Lorraine and Germany.

Balkan Nationalism

• Ottoman expansion stopped at Vienna.
• Nationalism in the region began whittling away at the empire.
• All of it was inspired by the Enlightenment
• Greece, which had been inspired to fight back against Ottoman rule after 350 gained independence with aid of British, French, and Russian support
• Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania followed similar trend.
• The groups rallied around culture, and helped by regional powers, like by Austria-Hungary and Russia.
• Late 19th century saw the advent of Ottomanism
• Aimed to create an unified state with minimized ethic differences.
• A rejection to Ottomanism was the growing desire for self-determination led to countries and territories pushing backing to Ottoman empire.
• With many territories breaking off in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and Middle East in particular, saw decline the Ottoman Empire.