HIS 106 Chapter 23

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HIS 106Chapter 23

• European Enlightenment

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• Some revolutions took place without armies and
  without guns
• The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
  are two of these

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Scientific Revolution

• New scientific discoveries took shape from the
  1600s onward
• These discoveries affected intellectual life and
  promoted changes in how people looked at their
  world
• The origins of this scientific revolution lay,
  for the most part, in developments in astronomy

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• Old beliefs concerning our universe were being
  challenged by these new discoveries in astronomy
  in the 17th century
• The Catholic Church had put forth the Geocentric
  view
• The earth is at the center of the universe
• Celestial bodies rotated around the earth

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• Nicholas Copernicus
• Polish clergyman
• Disproved the geocentric view of the earth
• Put forth the Heliocentric view of the universe
  that is the earth revolves around the sun
• Published his findings just before he dies to
  avoid punishment by the Church

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• Galileo Galilei
• Openly agreed with and made known the findings of
  Copernicus
• For this he was condemned by the Catholic Church
  and placed under house arrest when he would not
  recant
• He remained under house arrest for the rest of
  his life
• Made a telescope, investigated gravity and
  planetary motion

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• Vesalius
• From Belgium
• Made new medical discoveries dealing with anatomy
• Advanced knowledge for the time period

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• John Harvey
• From England
• Showed how the heart was able to pump blood
  throughout the body
• Investigated the circulatory system

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• Rene Descartes
• From France
• Felt human reasoning powers could discover the
  laws of nature, how the universe worked
• Felt one should be skeptical and move from there
• Quick review p. 498

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• Isaac Newton
• From England
• 1637 in Principia, he set forth the laws of
  motion for every action there is always an
  equal reaction
• Defined the forces of gravity in mathematical
  notation
• Spoke of the scientific method
• Explained the movements of the planets

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• Scientists used their reasoning powers to make
  discoveries
• They did not blindly accept traditional beliefs
  that often proved inaccurate

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The Enlightenment

• An intellectual movement of the 18th century
• Began in France where ideas were discussed in
  Salons like Madame Geofrin
• Initially, it popularized rationalism and the
  scientific ideas of the 17th century

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• It was an era that witnessed the emergence of an
  informed body of public opinion, critical of
  absolutism and political and social abuses
• Urged reform
• Philosophes, thinkers, put forth new ideas to
  better society (in science, social sciences,
  politics, and economics)
• p. 499 formal definition

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• These ideas spread to other nations where others
  tried out some of the new ideas and reforms
• Voltaire (1694 1778)
• French
• His real name was Francois Marie Arouet
• Admired English intellectual and political
  freedom
• Attacked war and religious persecution

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• Was for religious toleration
• Not very optimistic about the human condition in
  his writings
• Believed society could and should be improved

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Other ideas of Enlightenment

• New ideas on how to treat criminals
• New ideas on how to control the privileged
• Laissez-faire economy of Adam Smith who wrote
  about it in The Wealth of Nations
• Many believed society should work to improve life
  for all

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• Condemned slavery
• Promoted better agricultural and industrial
  methods
• Promoted new political rights
• Baron de Montesquieu
• Charles de Secondat
• For separation of powers and checks and balances
• P. 501

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• Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed in equality for
  all p. 504, picture
• John Locke
• Promoted life, liberty, and property
• Believed people have the right, the duty, to
  overthrow an unjust government
• All these ideas were gathered in the Encyclopedia
  put together by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond
  dAlembert

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• These ideas were picked up and practiced by some
  European rulers
• Frederick the Great of Prussia
• offered freedom of religion
• Encouraged better agricultural methods
• Adopted the potato as a staple crop

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• Joseph II of Austria
• lessened the power of the Catholic Church
• Tried other state-sponsored improvements

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• Catherine the Great of Russia
• Education for elite boys and girls
• These rulers became known as Enlightened Despots
• They tried to wield their great authority for the
  good of the people but often fell short

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Catherine the Great

• After the death of Peter the Great in 1724,
  Russia experienced several decades of weak rule
• The crown fell into the hands of people with
  little talent for ruling
• Peter III came to the throne in 1762
• Was weak and possibly insane
• Married in1745 to a young German princess,
  Sophia, who would become Catherine the Great

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• She had neither love nor loyalty for her demented
  husband
• After a few months of rule, Peter III was deposed
  and murdered it is thought with Catherines
  approval, if not aid
• Soon after Peter was removed, Catherine was
  proclaimed Empress

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• Catherines familiarity with the Enlightenment
  and the general culture of western Europe
  convinced her that Russia needed reform if it
  were to remain a great power
• To have reform, Catherine realized that she would
  need wide political and social support

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• So she summoned a Legislative Commission in 1767
  to advise her on revising the law and government
  of Russia
• The Empress gave this Commission a set of
  Instructions drawn from the political ideas of
  the philosophes
• A year later Catherine dismissed the Commission
  before several committees had reported

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• Revision of Russian law did not take place for at
  least 50 years
• Calling the Commission was not a useless act
• It gathered great amounts of information about
  local administration and economic life
• Information gathered also indicated that most
  Russians saw no alternative to the absolute
  monarchy

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• From this Catherine could see she had support and
  she wished to then introduce some reforms
• She abolished capital punishment, torture, serf
  auctions with the break-up of serf families
• She appointed nobles to most offices responsible
  for local affairs
• 1785, she issued the Charter of Nobility that
  secured rights of aristocracy

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• She removed the internal barriers to trade, and
  exports greatly increased
• Educational reforms for nobles children, both
  boys and girls, were introduced
• Elementary schools
• Teachers colleges were created
• Nobility was hostile to formal education
• Only really happened in major cities and mostly
  with girls

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• Catherine worked to acquire warm water ports
  through an aggressive foreign policy
• Fought Turks to reach the Black Sea
• Moved on into Europe and extended Russias
  western boundary into Central Europe
• Destroyed Poland in the process
• All this done by the time of her death in 1796

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• Her reforms did little for the majority of the
  Russian people -- 95 of whom were serfs
• There was rural unrest
• Pugachevs Revolt (1773-1775)
• Emelyan Pugachev was a Cossack rebel who said he
  was Peter III come back to life to get Catherine
• Pugachev captured the city of Kazan before being
  captured and executed

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• Radishev, a liberal reformer, also worked to make
  life better for the serfs he was imprisoned for
  his views

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Russian Society and Work

• 95 of Russians were serfs
• There werent too many other classes in society,
  and they werent large
• At the top Tsar and Tsarina
• Then nobles who lived mainly in countryside
• A few bureaucrats and professionals
• Merchants were mainly foreigners
• No real artisan class

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• A merchant group grew under Peter the Great
  however, nobles dismantled this group because
  they were afraid of their power
• Most trade, outside of agriculture, fell to
  foreigners or to the state
• Government ran industries in mining, iron, and
  munitions

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• International trade was organized and run by
  Western merchant companies
• Life for the peasants was never good
• Hard work
• Traditional farming methods
• Harsh climate
• Lagged behind the West

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• Russia traded with Asia and the West
• They exported furs, grain, and timber to the West
• Russias economy wasnt advancing quickly enough
  for world markets
• Feudalistic labor arrangements
• Little technology, little innovation
• No merchant class, few artisans

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• There were periodic rebellions by peasants and by
  intellectuals
• They were all harshly put down
• Big gap between haves and have nots
• Elite adopted western art, read western
  literature
• Ordinary Russian culture came from their orthodox
  religion and oral stories and songs