Absolutism

Chapters 17

Section I

The Spanish Empire

I.           Spain Built an Overseas Empire

ü          Conquistadors-daring Spanish fortune hunters

ü          Christopher Columbus est. a desire for many to follow

ü          They were seeking gold and precious gems.

A.          Cortes conquered the Aztecs

1.          Cortes sailed to meet with the Aztecs

2.           They were afraid it was Quetzalcoatl, their god.

3.          He saw all the gifts of gold and gems that were intended to make them leave and sank his ships so none of his men could steal them.

4.          He allied with other Natives who hated the Aztecs and Montezuma was afraid of the Spaniards.

5.          Cortes came the same year that Quetzalcoatl was to have returned to reclaim Tenochtitlan and Montezuma was scared!

6.          Montezuma was captured and eventually died.  The Aztecs believed the Spanish did it and wanted them punished. 

7.          Cortes and only a small group were able to escape. 

8.          The following morning smallpox broke out! 

9.          One year later Cortes returned with a large group and laid siege to the city for 85 days.  It was destroyed and rebuilt as a Spanish colony capital!

10.          This Sapnish victory occurred in 1521.

B.          Pizarro conquered the Incas

1.          Francisco Pizarro landed in Peru in 1532. 

2.          He and his 200 soldiers found the empty city of Cajamarca only they did not know that the Incas were camped very nearby! 

3.          The Incas had been severely weakened with a terrible power struggle.

4.          Atahualpa was the Incan ruler and agreed to meet Pizarro for a friendly meeting. 

5.          The Spaniards savagely attacked unarmed Incas and not one Spanish person was killed.

6.           The absolute power of the Incan emperor was the downfall of the nation.

7.          Pizarro took their precious gems and metals and killed Atahualpa. 

8.          The Spanish now controlled Cuzco but were fighting amongst themselves.

9.          His own men killed Pizarro in 1541.

C.          Spaniards Explored Widely

1.          Cortes and Pizarro were heroes to Spain.  They had conquered two powerful nations, converted thousands to Christianity and become very rich.

2.          Others begin to look for this same wealth and fame.

3.          Florida (Full of Flowers)

a.          Looking for the Fountain of Youth Ponce de Leon landed in St. Augustine in 1513. 

b.          In 1528, 300 set out to explore FL and reached Tampa Bay.  Only 4 survived.  One was Cabeza de Vaca.

c.          They eventually landed in Texas were captured by Native Americans and 8 years after being in Tampa they landed in Mexico.

4.          Exploring the Southeast

a.          De Vaca returned to Spain and his fantastic stories encouraged others to go to the Americas for fabulous riches!

b.          In 1539, Hernando de Soto, rich from Pizarros' Incan success, sailed with 600 soldiers to find the cities of gold.

c.          De Soto learned much of the geography but found no gold.  They were hated by the Native Americans because they ravaged the food supply for their own gain.  He died in 1542 and the men tossed his body into the Mississippi River so that it would not be captured! 

d.          Only 300 of the men made it to a Spanish settlement in Mexico alive!!

5.          Southwest Exploration

a.          Coronado quickly set out in search of these golden cities as well.

b.          1540-They only found adobe houses and then separated into 2 search parties!  One discovered the Grand Canyon and the other went to the Great Plains.  They pushed on across the vast plains and were disappointed to only find grass huts in modern day Kansas.

6.          Chile

a.          A man and woman team, Pedro de Valdivia and Ines Suarez, led an army southward from Peru. 

b.          They founded Santiago in Chile and conquered much of Chile for Spain!

7.          By 1550, Spain had conquered territory from Kansas to Chile!!  This was bigger than the Roman Empire!!

8.          Colonists enslaved Native Americans

a.          Council of the Indies- a group that governed the Spanish colonies in America.

b.          Two capitols were est. Mexico City and Lima, Peru.

c.          Viceroy-royal agents in each capital.  Mexico ruled north and Lima ruled South.

d.          Encomiendas were granted to settlers and they could treat the Natives anyway they wanted.

e.          Spaniards used them as slaves to work in fields or in mines!

f.          The Spanish abuse killed thousands of Native Americans!

Absolutism

Chapter 17 Section 2

II.          Spain was a Catholic Bulwark

A.          Because of the great riches Spain found in America they became a prominent figure of importance in Europe!

B.          Phillip II ruled and Empire

1.          Charles V divided up the Holy Roman Empire in 1556and gave his son Phillip II Spain. 

2.          He made Spain a staunch supporter of Catholicism.

3.          He also ruled:

a.          Naples

b.          Franche-Comte on France's eastern border

c.          All 17 provinces that made up the Netherlands

d.          All the Spanish holdings in America

e.          He seized Portugal after the unexpected death of the king in 1580.

4.          He created a formidable and highly respected military machine

5.          He trusted no one and built a castle that served as a palace and monastery-Escorial

6.          He ruled solely and trusted no one for long periods of time.

C.          Spain battled for Catholicism

1.          Rivals-Ottoman Muslims and Protestants

2.          War against the Ottomans was like a crusade for Phillip in 1571 and there was a crushing defeat of the Ottoman navy and a great victory for Christianity at the Battle of Lepanto.

3.          War against the Protestants was not as glorious.  The Netherlands were a constant source of trouble for Phillip II and he spent tons of money to crush Protestantism among the Dutch.  Elizabeth I of England helped them with money and troops when they rebelled against Phillip II.

4.          The Spanish Armada attacked England and were defeated soundly in 1588 by Elizabeth I.  We will study this battle more distinctly when we get to Ch. 18/ Tudor England!

D.          Art and Literature Flourish in Spain

1.          Art

a.          El Greco was a Greek from Crete and all of his major works were painted in Spain.  He used vibrant colors to heighten the drama of his religious paintings.

b.          Velazquez painted royal families in portraits and scenes.

2.          Literature

a.          Miguel de Cervantes-1605- Don Quixote of La Mancha is about a man who gets a little crazy for chivalry and does not realize that his horse in ridiculously pitiful and his Squire is a funnly little man named Sancho Panza.  He goes around trying to right the wrongs of the world and never quite realizes that he is not a glorious knight!

b.          Chivalry was dead and outdated but the kings and queens longed for those days again!

E.          Spain's Economy Weakened

1.          Phillip II reigned for 42 years and died in 1598.  His successors were weak.

2.          By 1650 the economy was a mess in Spain.  The king was in debt to foreigners and inflation was rampant.

3.          As gold and precious metals flooded Europe their value dropped.

4.          Spain was still a victim of feudalism and there was no middle class.

5.          Manufacturing was old-fashioned and guilds still dominated businesses and they could not produce enough goods to support the entire nation.

6.          Spain now had to import much of the goods from the Dutch which would become a fatal mistake to give all of your old to those who wished to rebel!!!!!!

CHAPTER 17, SECTION 3

The Dutch

III.          The Netherlands Win Independence

A.          The Dutch Revolted Against Spain

1.          Phillip II ruled the Netherlands and Spain.  This was their only similarity.

2.          He wanted to stamp out Protestantism, raise taxes and sent his sister Margaret to do these things in 1559.

3.          1566-Calvinists rioted against Catholic Churches and Phillip sent 20,000 troops to put down the revolt. 

4.          Between 1568-1578 wars raged between Catholics and Protestants (Spanish and Dutch)

5.          Prince William of Orange fought back to free the Netherlands.  He was born a Lutheran but raised a Catholic.  He wanted political peace.

6.          After many losing battles and flooding their own countryside the Dutch actually won the northern part of the Netherlands. 

7.          William wanted both religions to have freedom and few accepted his idea.  He was murdered by a fanatic in 1579.

8.          Amsterdam and other Dutch cities became centers of religious tolerance.

B.          The Dutch Established a Republic

1.          Each province had an elected governor called a stadt-holder. 

2.          Each of the seven provinces sent a delegate to the States General.

3.          They were not powerful but insisted on being called "Their High Mightinesses!"

C.          The Dutch Built A Trading Empire

1.          The Dutch organized a system of business called capitalism with many features!

a.          capital- money (people invested in a business)

b.          profit- the goal of the investors

c.          reinvestment of successful gains

d.          risk of failure

2.          The Dutch had the largest fleet in the world in 1600 with over 10,000 ships and they were all used for trading and exploiting the rest of the world!

3.          They also replaced the Italians as the bankers of Europe.

4.          In 1609, the Amsterdam Exchange Bank was considered the soundest bank in Europe!

5.          Many countries deposited money there.

6.          The Dutch East Indies Company

a.          Created in 1602 in order to gain control of the spice trade in Asia.

b.          Within 20 years the Portuguese were completely displaced!

c.          Any Dutch citizen could buy stock in the company and sell it if they wanted to.

7.          This idea of trade, profit and investment became known as the Commercial Revolution!!!

Amsterdam:

          By 1650 Amsterdam had surpassed Italy's Florence and Venice as financial centers.  Most citizens of Holland were well fed, prosperous and on the leading edge of a city with great ideas and spontaneity.  The city was organized along a series of canals that were intricately designed to trade and store goods along the rivers and waterways.

D.          Dutch Artists Developed a New Style

1.          Amsterdam became the Florence(1400s) of the 1600s. 

2.          Rembrandt (1606-1669) realistically painted dramas, and used light and shadow as only a master could.

3.          Franz Hals (1580-1666) painted merry and bright pictures.

4.          Vermeer (1632-1675) painted domestic scenes with great amounts of light.

5.          Group paintings were more prominent than Italian individual portraits

ABSOLUTISM

Chapter 17 Section 4

IV.          France's Crown Changed Hands

A.          France and Spain had just concluded a long and tiring war for Italy and Spain had clearly won. 

B.          In 1559, King Henry II of France died from wounds in a jousting tournament.

C.          Phillip II worked to weaken the Valois family in France until they were removed from the throne.

D.          Catherine de Medici influenced all three of her sons after their father died while they wore the crown. 

1.           between the Huguenots/Protestants and Catholics. She did this for more political reasons than religious ones.

2.          A long and murderous civil war between the Bourbon (Protestant nobles) and the Guise (Catholics) raged over many years.  Between 1562 and 1589 nine wars were fought between these two families.

3.          The worst one was fought on St. Bartholomew's day when Catholics overran Protestant houses in Paris drug them out of bed and murdered them. This raged over an entire month and began in other cities.  Over 12,000 Huguenots were killed.

4.          Catherine even arranged for the King's closest advisor to be killed.  The King was her son Charles IX. 

E.          The Valois Dynasty Ended

1.          The civil war became violent and bitter and politics and government were all mixed up in it.

2.          Charles the IX dies of tuberculosis.

3.          Politiques wanted religious tolerance and a strong King to stop the wars that were tearing France apart.

4.          1589- Catherine de Medici died and King Henry III had the Duke of Guise murdered and a Dominican friar stabbed him to death.

F.          Henry IV Brought Peace

1.          Prince Henry of Navarre was the heir to the throne.

2.          He was a strong individual, the leader of the House of Bourbon and a Huguenot.

3.          He became after nine long years of struggle the first Bourbon King of France.

4.          In 1593, he converted to Catholicism to appease the people of Paris. 

5.          The Edict of Nantes in 1598 established religious tolerance in all of France.

6.          He really cared for the common person and was very compromising.

7.          One fanatic who cared not for his compromising leapt into his Royal Carriage and stabbed him to death.

G.          Cardinal Richelieu Ruled France          

1.          Henry's son, Louis XIII, reigned from 1610-1643 and lacked all the skills of his father.

2.          In 1624 he appointed Richelieu, a Catholic Cardinal to rule France.

3.          He devoted himself to two main goals.

a.          Strengthening the Bourbon ruling Kings.

b.          Strengthening France to be the strongest state in Europe.

4.          He fought strongly against 3 main threats to France:

a.           The independence of the Huguenot cities.  Many had rebelled but they were allowed to worship freely while R. was alive but after he died that freedom was removed.

b.          The French nobility lost their castles and intendants collected taxes and administered justice.

c.          He also triumphed over the Austrian Hapsburgs and the Spanish!

H.           French Thinkers Questioned Authority

1.          Rabelais- 1483-1553- He was a monk that wrote two satires about indulging the human spirit.  Gargantua and Pantagruel were stories about giants with large appetites for food and fun.

2.          Montaigne-1553-1592- He lost a dear friend the years of France's religious wars.  He wrote essays (a new idea!!) about friendship, books, and other topics that interested him.  He was once called the "wisest Frenchman who ever lived!"

3.          Descartes-1596-1650- He was a mathematician and a philosopher.  He wrote Discourse on Method for the purpose of "seeking truth in science".  He believed that everything should be proven through reason and is famous for the quote:  "I think, therefore I am!"

ABSOLUTISM

Chapter 17, Section 5

V.          Religious Wars Split Germany

A.          In Germany in 1555 just after the Peace of Augsburg the princes decided that anyone could be Lutheran or Catholic but not Calvinist!  But there was a great deal of tension between both religions.

B.          1608-The Lutherans join and form the Protestant Union.

C.          1609- The Catholics for the Catholic League.

D.          The Thirty Years' War 1618-1648

1.          The Czechs were angry that Ferdinand II was a foreigner King and a Hapsburg. He was a distant cousin of Phillip II and in 1619 he became the HRE.

2.          Ferdinand had many enemies including the French Bourbon Kings, the Czechs and the Lutherans princes of Germany.

3.          In 1618 he sent an army to put down a Protestant revolt in Bohemia and this was an opportunity for the German Princes to challenge this King.

4.          Two major eras during the war:

a.          Hapsburg Victories lasted from 1618-1630.  They dominated the war and Wallenstein (Ferdinand's man for hire) let his 125,000 man army plunder German villages while fighting for Ferdinand.

b.          Hapsburg defeats lasted the rest of the war.  Gustavus Adolphus, a Swedish King, joined the Protestants with 13,000 highly trained soldiers began to defeat Ferdinand's people. 

c.          After Gustavus was killed Cardinal Richelieu who feared the Hapsburgs, even though he was Catholic, fought with the Protestants.

d.          Germany's population was seriously depleted from sickness, hunger, and the war.  The German economy was totally ruined.

E.          The Treaty of Westphalia Ended the War

1.          In 1648, Ferdinand's son, the new HRE, signed a Treaty to end the war. 

2.          Five major points of the treaty.

a.          France took Alsace.

b.          Sweden took some of Northern Germany around the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

c.          The Princes of Germany won independence from the HRE.  German states were now independent and did not have an emperor.

d.          Calvinism, Lutheranism, and Catholicism were now equal.

e.          The Dutch Republic was now an independent state!

F.          Results of the War and its Treaty

1.          Germany was left very divided.  Over 300 German states acted independently. 

2.          The Holy Roman Empire now only survived in name.

3.          The Hapsburg states, Austria and Spain, declined in power.

CHAPTER 19 NOTES

Louis XIV

The Sun King

1661-1715

Chapter 19, Section 1

ü          Louis the 14th inherited his French throne when he was 5 years old!

ü          His father, Louis 13th, died and left Cardinal Mazarin to rule in Louis name!

ü          He made France the strongest nation in Europe by negotiating the Treaty of Westpahalia. 

ü          He ruled harshly and the nobles began to rebel in 1648.  These violent riots were known as the Fronde (slingshot).  This was a reprimand to the nobles as if they were naughty children.

ü          Louis was a very scared little 10 year old.  They once even broke into the castle to make sure he had not escaped and went all the way to his private bedroom with no guards!  He would never forgive the nobles for this indiscretion.

ü          In 1661, Mazarin died and a 23 year old Louis announced that he would rule all alone!  For the next 54 years Louis would dominate France.

The Man of Louis XIV

ü          He had perfect posture and wore high heels to appear taller than his 5'5'' body!

ü          His one major weakness that others used against him was the love of hearing his own praises!  He loved to be flattered and complimented and took careful note of who doled out these praises! 

ü          He built the wonderful royal palace at Versailles because he hated Paris and the nobles that were there!

ü          Versailles was a huge estate that was 700 yards long, had 226 rooms and a famous Hall of Mirrors!

ü          Louis had over 5000 servants that worked at Versailles and he felt he deserved their respect and loyalty just because he was the king. 

ü          Servants did not live such wonderful lives!  They were freezing in the winter and burning up in the summer!

ü          Louis was mistreated as a child and neglected by his parents and attendants.  He almost drowned in a pool one night because he was allowed to wander out unobserved! 

ü          He never forgave this atrocity or the nobles that had dishonored him in his youth.

ü          In 1660, he married Maria Theresa of Spain. 

ü          With the help of his minister Colbert he reorganized the administration and financial obligations of the kingdom!  He reformed the military and won many military victories!

ü          Louis was a patron of the arts and cultivated the culture of France!  He encouraged theater (Moliere and Racine), music (Lully), architecture, painting, sculpture, and all the sciences (founding of the royal academies). 

ü          Louis chose the Sun as his symbol!  He associated it with Apollo, god of peace and arts, and was also the heavenly body that gave life to all things, regulating everything as it rose and set!

ü          Louis loved women and because he was the king they loved him to!  He had many illegitimate children whom he later legitimized by marrying off other members of the royal families!

Louis' France

ü          Louis fought very costly wars that were considered by other nations in Europe to be aggressive.  He wanted to extend France's borders to the Rhine River and the Alps. 

ü          Other countries banded together to create a balance of power.

ü          The 30-year attempt to take the Netherlands and the Rhine River wiped out the French treasury.  He only succeeded in taking Alsace.

ü          As the Spanish king Charles II died without an heir, Louis 17-year-old grandson was given the throne as an inheritance.

ü          Now, two mortal enemies, Spain and France, were bonded by Bourbon blood!

ü          The rest of Europe was so afraid and banded together to fight Louis and the War of Spanish Succession in 1701-1713.

ü          The war dragged on for 13 years because Louis wanted to keep his grandson on the throne.

ü          The Treaty of Utrecht finally ended the war and Phillip was left on the throne with the promise that France and Spain would not unite.  France was also given Alsace.

ü          Great Britain was given control of the Straight of Gibraltar, which they hold today!  They also received Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Hudson Bay.

ü          The Austrian Hapsburgs gained the Spanish Netherlands (Belgium) and

    Spain's Italian holdings.

ü          Savoy and Prussia were developed and would later lead to Italy and

    German states.

The End of Louis XIV

ü          By 1715, Louis was old and sickly.  He had lost France a great deal of money and not paid attention to the comforts of his people. 

ü          He had lost his only legitimate son and a favorite grandson and as he lay dying he told his heir to treat the people well and live in peace!

ü          His people sorely loved him even though he did not always put them first and he was missed greatly!  He was one of the most famous Kings of French history.

Peter the Great of Russia

1682-1725

Chapter 19, Section 2

The Character of Peter the Great

1.          Peter was a bully that came to be czar in 1682.

2.          He ruled as an absolute ruler just as Louis XIV was doing in France.

3.          He was a child when he inherited the throne and he was used in a struggle for power. 

4.          He took vengeance on those who had used him as a child and would torture his enemies without mercy.

5.          He was brilliant and a very capable czar.

6.          He totally controlled his subjects. An example of this control is that he would tax people who dared where a beard in his kingdom!  He disliked them and if you went against his wishes then he would make you pay for that freedom!

7.          He was the first ruler from the Romanov family.

Russia in the 1600s

1.          Russia was isolated from the rest of the world and could not compete with the "Western" world.  He wanted to Westernize Russia.

2.          Russia had been through many terrible power struggles after Ivan the Terrible died and eventually a representative body of 50 Russian provinces chose his grandnephew, Michael Romanov, to rule the Empire.  This family controlled Russia for 300 years.

3.          Russia still practiced feudalism but their serfs were treated more as slaves and could be bought and sold.

4.          Isolation:

a.          Mongols had kept control and Russia looked to Constantinople for ideas!

b.          Geographically they were isolated because of snow, ice, treacherous mountains and icy ports!

c.          Religiously they had chosen to be eastern Orthodox  and this was very different from Protestants, and Roman Catholics.

d.          Russia had barely heard of the Renaissance ideas, the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Exploration.

Peter wanted a modernized Russia

1.          Peter visited all of the Western countries to see ships and look at the new inventions.

2.          He went to the Netherlands and tried to work under cover in a shipyard to discover how it worked!  He was very conspicuous as a 6'8" Russian!

3.          He stayed in England for a while and toured London.

4.          When he returned to Russia he made many changes:

a.          He upgraded the status of women by removing veils and arranged marriages!

b.          He changed the Russian calendar to begin on January1 rather than Sept. 1.  This changed the year in Russia from 7208 to 1700 AD!

c.          He made potatoes a stable crop because of the cold climate.

d.          He made many factories that looked like those in the West because the ideas of mercantilism were working!

e.          Peter also started the first newspaper to connect Russians with the rest of the world.

Peter I as an Absolute Ruler

1.          He made himself and his appointed rulers the head of the Church!  Much like Henry had done in England.

2.          He reduced the power of the Russian princes (boyars) greatly by giving high government jobs to lower classes and then granting them land as well!  Of course they were loyal to him.

3.          Peter modernized the army in the fashions of western Europe and made a soldier a soldier for life instead of the old way of part-time service.

4.          He expanded the Empire by fighting the Swedes and the Turks for a warm water port.  He failed at first and also lost the ports he once had but eventually regained in 1721 a warm water slice of land on the Baltic Sea!  They could now trade year round!

Peter's New Capital

1.          He built this new capital near his new warm water ports only the land left a great deal to be desired! 

2.          There was not suitable drinking water and diseases killed many of the workers.  It is estimated that 25,000 to 100,000 people died while building St. Petersburg (Peter's patron saint).

3.          He moved his capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg in 1712.

4.          In 1724 he jumped in some icy water to save some of his soldiers from drowning and caught a terrible cold that would take his life in 1725. 

5.          He had dramatically changed Russia and they were now considered a force to be reckoned with in Europe.

Austria and Prussia Rose to Power

Chapter 19, Section 3

There were three major empires in Central Europe that controlled all of the land. 

1.          Poland

2.          Ottoman Empire

3.          Holy Roman Empire

The lack of natural boundaries, the institution of feudalism and the constant sense of warfare left a ripe ground for new nations to be born!  Russia in the east had grown strong and modernized.  France still continued to dominate Europe also as a major power!

I.          Poland

A.          The King of Poland, elected by the nobility, had little power.

B.          He was usually a foreigner.

C.          He had no standing army, no courts, or officials. 

II.          Ottoman Empire

A.          The sultan had a little power. 

B.          He collected taxes, had a large army.

C.          After the death of one of there greatest sultans in 1566 the empire had been declining.  He had conquered Hungary and threatened Vienna.

D.          The government in Istanbul (Constantinople) was corrupt and not well organized.

III.          The Holy Roman Empire

A.          After the 30 year's war all that was left was a name!

B.          The 300 German states carefully guarded themselves against being dominated by the Holy Roman Empire.

***Two families wanted power in Europe and began to assert themselves in that direction!  The German family of the Hohenzollerns and the Hapsburgs of Austria were these two families.  Their ambitions threatened the Balance of Power!

IV.          Austria

A.          The Hapsburgs had been a distinguished dynasty and most of the HRE were Hapsburgs!

B.          Charles VI became the ruler of Austria in 1713 after the War of Spanish Succession and his empire was difficult to manage.

C.          3 Main areas of importance were Austria, Bohemia and the kingdom of Hungary.  They were surrounded by natural enemies and were all spread out!

D.          Charles VI spent his entire reign forcing the other parts of the nation to sign the Pragmatic Sanction, which said that his only heir, Maria Theresa, would be the only crowned ruler!

E.          Throughout her reign she faced war and enemies.

F.          Her main enemy was Prussia, a new state, and the Hohenzollern's of Prussia challenged her endlessly!

V.          Prussia

A.          This tiny state struggled to rise to power in the 1600s.  They held one important card, which was an elector who chose the HRE!

B.          In 1640, Frederick William came to be the Elector in Brandenburg.  He was 20 years old and throughout the 30 year's war his nation was overrun and Berlin, his capital, was destroyed.

C.          He managed to raise a small army and allied with the French, Swedes, Dutch and the Poles.

D.          He saved his army and his money and was able to increase his army, therefore, his strength!

E.          The entire nation would be based on the following notion:  "Build a bigger and better army!"

VI.          The Growth of the Prussian Army

A.          Frederick I

1.          The Great Elector's son, first Hohenzollern to be called a king.

2.          He held the title when the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 declared Prussia a kingdom.

B.          Frederick William          I (1713-1740)

1.          He was harsh and mentally unbalanced.

2.          He doubled the size of the army from 40,000 to 85,000 men.

3.          Junkers-Prussia's landowning nobility and army officers.

4.          Prussia became a military state.

C.          Frederick II (The Great) 1740

1.          He was scholarly and loved music, philosophy and literature.

2.          He argued with his father and tried to run away to France with a friend!

3.          They were caught and as a punishment he had to watch his friend's beheading!

4.          After he took the throne he actually continued many of his father's ideas.

5.          He ignored the Pragmatic Sanction and attacked Maria Theresa because of the iron supply in Silesia and because he thought she was a woman and would not be able to defend herself.

D.          The War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748)

1.          As Frederick the Great attacked Maria Theresa so did France, Spain, and Bavaria. 

2.          Maria had just given birth to her son but still crossed the country to defend them!  She pled with a Hungarian counsel and won them over instantly.  They gave her 100,000 troops and she defended Austria well! 

3.          By 1748 the war was over and all she had lost was Silesia.

4.          The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle settled this war.

5.          She was determined to regain Silesia and she wound up beginning a second Austrian-Prussian War.

E.          Alliances Shift in Europe

1.          Maria Theresa and her advisor, Count Kaunitz, decided to ally with France their bitter enemy of 200 years because she now realized that Prussia was her biggest threat.   Russia also allied with them!

2.          Britain decided to ally with Prussia because they had an unstoppable navy and Prussia had an unstoppable army and together they would be invincible!

3.          Prussia, Frederick II, attacked first. 

4.          Seven Year's War (1756-1763) had Britain and France at odds.  In North America the fight for colonies was known as the French and Indian War.  Colonies in Asia were also under dispute so this great war spanned 3 continents!!!

5.          In 1763, the Peace of Paris ended this war.  Maria Theresa had regained nothing and France had lost most of its colonies in Canada and India to Britain.