Chapter Eight

Enlightenment

Philosophes

• Approach any subject in a critical and inquiring spirit

• French philosophes were social and literary critics

• Heart of this movement was in Paris, France

Salons

• Meetings of philosophes in the houses of the wealthy

• Madame Geoffrin was a famous salon host

• Organized meetings, helped out financially, and introduced philosophes to high society

Diderot’s Encyclopedia

• 17 volumes• Completed over the yrs 1751-1772• Composed of scientific, technical and

historical knowledge• Most of the important philosophes

contributed• Most widely known and read

Montesquieu

• Spirit of Laws• Separation of powers (against

despotism)• Forms of govt varied according to

climate – despotism suited to large empires (hot climates) and democracy suited to city states

Voltaire

• Freedom of thought, freedom of the press and religious toleration

• Hated bigotry, intolerance and superstition (clergy)

• Secular conception of world history (not within a Christian framework)

Rousseau

• Thought that society was artificial and corrupt

• Civilization was the source of evil and that life in a state of nature would be better

• Impulse if more reliable than considered judgement

Rousseau’s Social Contract

• Contradictory to his notions about the evils of society

• State of nature was a brutish condition (like Hobbes)

• Later on he says that bad society produces a bad person

Social Contract

• Locke believed that a contract was between a ruler and a people

• Rousseau thought of it as an agreement among the people themselves

• It was a social (not just a political) contract

Rousseau

• General Will of the people – sovereign – govt was secondary

• Craved a place where everyone could feel that they belonged

Nationalism

• Considerations on Poland – Rousseau developed a theory of calculated nationalism

• Made applicable to large territories the psychology of city states

• Totalitarians and democrats have accepted Rousseau’s ideas

Physiocrats - Economists

• People who were a part of the govt administration

• Adam Smith – functions of govt should be limited to defense, internal security and laws

• Free market, free trade, laissez faire

Enlightened Despotism

• Justified their authority on grounds of usefulness to society

• Secular• Justified their existence with reason• Attempted to augment their revenues,

devise new taxes, tax new persons formerly tax exempt, centralize govt

France

• Louis XV =(1715-1774) had a taxation problem in France

• Mostly peasants paid taxes (Nobility and clergy evaded most attempts)

• Vingtieme – tax on land paid by nobles was the only real way to get at their money

Chancellorship of Maupeou

• After the 7 yrs war – LXV really needed $

• Set up new parlements – judges were salaried officials who couldn’t oppose govt edicts

• Maupeou tried to institute uniform laws throughout France as well

LXV dies, LXVI takes over

• People demanded that the old parlement be restored

• Maupeou’s efforts were the best efforts made at enlightened despotism

• LXVI pacifies the nobility• Hires Turgot (forced to resign) • Reform impossible

Maria Theresa and Joseph II

• Internal consolidation• Enlarging and guaranteeing flow of taxes

and soldiers• Breaking local control of territorial nobles

and their diets• Bohemian and Austrian unified with a

state bureaucracy that took place of local self govt

Maria Theresa

• Tariff union created – region became largest area of free trade in Europe

• Alleviated some of the hardships of serfdom

• Son Joseph II

Joseph II

• The state – the greatest good for the greatest number

• Joseph abolished serfdom• Made taxation equal• Equal punishment for equal crimes• Liberty of the press

Reforms of Joseph

• Religious toleration• Civil rights to Jews• Jewish nobles• Jews could serve in army• Supported independence from Rome• Built up port at Trieste

Reforms

• Wanted uniformity – made language of empire German

• Germanizing of Czechs, Poles, Magyars, etc leads to nationalistic stirrings

• Created an efficient bureaucracy• Secret police (instrument of

enlightenment)

Brother Leopold

• Reversed most of Joseph’s reforms• Aristocrats and clerics gain strength in

reaction to the reforms

Frederick the Great

• Codified laws, made courts honest and cheaper

• Society stratified – each group paid different taxes and had different duties to the state

• Property was legally classified as was persons

• Military- officers from aristocrats and soldiers from peasants

Russia

• PG died in 1725 – no heir• Period of political instability – struggle

for power• 1741 – PG’s daughter came to power• Nephew Peter III assassinated – but his

wife Catherine was named leader

Enlightened Reforms?

• Assembled a Legislative Commission in 1767

• Legal codification• Restrictions on torture• Religious toleration• Philosophers championed her work –

standard bearer of civilization among a backward people)

Serfdom

• Serfdom here is the worst in the world• 1773 Emelian Pugachev leads a serf

rebellion• Announced himself as the new tsar,

Peter III back from travels abroad• Issued an imperial manifesto ending

serfdom, taxes and military conscription

Pugachev – Peter III??

• Hundreds of thousands join him and pillage throughout the countryside

• Famine and betrayal lead to his capture• Brought to Moscow in an iron cage• Drawn and quartered

Pugachev

• Most violent uprising in Russian history

• Catherine responded by conceding more power to the landlords

Foreign Affairs

• Wanted to expand – 2 aims – Poland and Turkey

• Attempted to start war between Prussia and Austria and France

Age of Democratic Revolutions

• 1760 – older privileged, feudal and ecclesiastical interests were threatened

• Pressure comes from the ideas of the Enlightenment

• Many govts also failed to cure social and fiscal problems within their country – fueling more change

Age of Democratic Revolutions

• From the American Revolution to the Revolutions of 1848 – certain principles of modern democratic society were affirmed

What these revolutions did not do

• Did not demand universal suffrage• Did not aim at a welfare state• Did not question the right of property• Not directed against the monarchy

What these revolutions did do

• Demand for liberty and equality• Favored declarations of rights and

explicit written constitutions• Proclaimed the sovereignty of the

people• Formulated the idea of national

citizenship

What the revolutions did do

• Said that citizens were equal – no difference between noble and commoner

• The king, nor parliament, nor any group of nobles possessed the power of govt in their own right

• Aristocracy must be shunned

Age of democratic revolutions

• Representation based on frequent elections

• Everything associated with feudalism, absolutism, or inherited right was repudiated

• Rejection of any connection between religion and citizenship

England

• All seemed happy with the revolution of 1688

• However, many tried to reform some things about parliament

Parliament

• Control of Parliament in the House of Commons – determined by patronage of govt jobs, awarding contracts and having infrequent elections

• The distribution of seats in the House was skewed

• Borough – town having the right to send members to Parliament – no new boroughs were created after 1688

Reform Movement

• John Wilkes – attacked the policies of George III – expelled from parliament

• Was elected to parliament three times and was not allowed a seat

• Followers created the Supporters of the Bill of Rights dedicated to parliamentary reform

Wilkes

• Should the house

Edmund Burke

• Philosophical conservatism• House of Commons should be

independent and mathematically representative

• Mbrs of parliament should follow their conscience in voting