Enlightened Despotism in 18th Century Eastern Europe: Not So Enlightened The 1700s saw the advent of enlightened absolutism, a form of government in which monarchs, including Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia (1762-1796); Joseph II, King of Austria (1741-1790); and Frederick the Great, King of Prussia (1740-1786), sought to govern based on the concepts of the French philosophes, especially those of Diderot and Voltaire. Although Eastern European absolutists of this era studied enlightened ideas, they often failed to implement many substantial reform changes within their realms. While the reigns of Catherine the Great, Frederick the Great, and Joseph II brought about some success in education, economic development, religious toleration, and legal justice, most of their policies were not for the good of their people. Joseph II of Austria’s policies regarding religious toleration were affected by the philosophes. Joseph allowed Jews to worship in Austria. This may have been a positive step, but it fits within the argument presented because Jews had to pay new special taxes for this “privilege.” Joseph ceased the custom of owning …show more content…
Catherine read Voltaire, as well as Diderot, and when Diderot desperately needed money to get out of debt, Catherine brought his expensive library and then generously lent it back to him. Catherine studied the idea of granting a constitution, but in the end, she and her fellow absolutists did not want to do anything that would place real restrictions on their power. Catherine did nothing to grant rights to religious minorities in Russia. Enlightened despotism monarchs found that the writings of the philosophes on economics and education could mesh with their own desires to enhance the power of their states within the community of European nations and their personal author within the
The Age of Absolutism The Age of Absolutism was a period of prosperity in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. While at this time many countries had absolute rulers, these rulers were able to make a lot of progress in advancing their nations. These rulers are some of the greatest rulers these countries have ever had and helped lead to the prosperity of this era. During this time period, a majority of the rulers were absolute rulers, having absolute power over their country.
The Austrian Monarch Maria Theresa and Joseph II’s religious reforms in the 1700’s detracted from the power of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria by prioritizing the needs of citizens, allowing and promoting religious toleration, and targeting the church in government
As an absolute monarch, Catherine the Great changed Russia in many positive ways; multiple historians even consider her to be one of the most enlightened rulers of her time. Catherine was the longest reigning female monarch of Russia and accomplished many things during her 34 years in the crown. She dreamed of establishing a reign of order and justice, of spreading education and of developing a national culture. By writing several books, pamphlets and educational materials, she improved Russia’s schooling system. Looking to improve the education of her people, Catherine studied the systems created by other countries.
The French Revolution occurred due to the curtailing of the estates’ rights under King Louis XIV, who attempted to rule as an absolute autocrat and was later executed for this. The Enlightenment made it permissible for people to speak and question the rights of the time. After the Enlightenment, social rights, religious rights, and gender rights were expanded and advanced. Document one speaks of natural rights that extends to all of humanity with natural rights being any right that doesn’t hurt another, “You have the most sacred natural right to everything that is not disputed by the rest of the species.” By being a natural right, it couldn’t be denied to anyone, no matter gender, race, or time period.
This document review describes and compares three documents written by the rulers of three European nations: Louis XIV, the king of France; Frederick William, the Great Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia; and Peter the Great, the emperor of Russia. Through these documents, we are able to see what was most important to these monarchs, and what they considered best for themselves and their countries. Although textbooks are useful for reading descriptions of historical people and events, through reading documents such as these, we are able to see not only what these rulers did, but also their motives and their rationalizations of their decisions. In “Louis XIV Revokes the Edict of Nantes”, written in 1685, Louis XIV explains that the Huguenots,
From the late 1500’s to the late 1700’s, the Enlightenment period occurred. Thinkers and philosophers across Europe created ideas that changed the way people thought. For example, John Locke thought of the idea that everyone had natural rights. These rights consisted of the right to life, liberty, and property. Voltaire had the idea that the power lies in the hands of the people and their elected government.
Two or Three examples of varying philosophe views. Monarchs became invested in these ideas through contact with philosophes, and became one part enlightened and other part tyrannical, autocratic despots. But just how enlightened varied per ruler. So called “enlightened despots”, such as Frederick the Great and Catherine the Great, only undertook these enlightened notions when it benefited their own power. Joseph II was a monarch, but not a despot because he ruled in an enlightened way, without absolute qualities.
She restored what her husband had destroyed before westernizing the Russian ways. Catherine became an enlightened despot, which was when “absolute monarchs pursued legal, social, and educational reforms inspired by the Enlightenment”. Enlightened despots typically institute administrative reform, religious toleration, and economic development but did not propose reforms that would undermine their sovereignty or disrupt the social order. Catherine continued Peter the Great’s reforms that he applied to the Russian state as well as further increasing central control over the provinces. Catherine’s goal was to rationalise and reform the administrations of the Russian Empire.
The Jewish individuals were typically targeted and put on the lower levels of power in the political ladder. Fortunately for those residing under Joseph II’s rule - the Austrian emperor - were protected from various restrictions granted on them by many individuals. In an imperial proclamation, Joseph II pursued the ideal of treating the Jews with equality like other citizens, standing up for their cause and granting them more freedom (Document 6). This intention was a form of support manifested for religion, since the views on Jewish population was seen negatively. This was not, however, the only time religion was looked down upon.
The Age of Absolutism is defined as a time period in Europe in which monarchs gained all of the power and wealth over the state for themselves, expanding the idea of single rule. The Enlightenment, on the other hand, is defined as a movement during the 18th century that rejected traditional social, religious, and political ideas, and introduced a desire to construct governments free of tyranny (or single rule). Document 3, a primary source written by King Louis XIV of France in 1660, is describing the idea of monarchy stating,“ The more you grant . . . [to the assembled people], the more it claims . . . The interest of the state must come first” (Document 3).
Thomas Hobbes He liked to study various types of government. He thought that the government of a monarchy was better than democracy because he had no doubt that they were naturally wicked and were not to be trusted to govern. He believed that it was better to have a governor like a king that would know how to act like a leader and rule a country.
During the Enlightenment many new ideas inspired the government and the people to come together to better society. People such as John Locke, Beccaria and many others had different ideas of how to reform the government during the Enlightenment period, which lasted from 1685-1815. The ideas created by the philosophers of this time included new beliefs and new laws. This ultimately leads to new relations forming between the government and the people. The propositions proposed by the Enlightenment altered the association between government and society by uniting the ideas of the government and the people, promoting the tolerance of all religions, and giving justice to the people.
Much like Peter she was bent on establishing naval bases for the Russian navy and was able to once again secure ports as Russia annexed Crimea and land along the Black Sea from the Ottoman Empire. An excellent example of this was Catherine the Great as she sought to emulate the West, by releasing statements in support of Western ideals of human rights. But in reality she also expanded serfdom and violently crushed peasant revolutions. This shows, that although Catherine may have wanted to emulate western culture, she also wanted to maintain her power and would crush these uprisings at the cost of these values.
Due to her extraordinary reforms, philosophes, and even another Enlightened Despot, praised her. Because of her great accomplishments and her use of Enlightenment ideas to her advantage, Catherine can be considered an Enlightened Despot. Catherine the Great’s rise to power as an Enlightened Despot marked a change from education being for a select few to a time of great educational reform. Enlightened Despots aim their focus heavily on reforming sources of
The Enlightenment was a period during the 1600 and 1700s where authority, power, government and law was questioned by philosophers. The causes of the Enlightenment was the Thirty Years’ War, centuries of mistreatment at the hands of monarchies and the church, greater exploration of the world, and European thinkers’ interest in the world (scientific study). A large part of the Enlightenment was natural law, which was the belief that people should live their lives and organize their society on the basis of rules and precepts laid down by nature or God; the principles of the Enlightenment in the 1600s through the 1700s influenced the development of the USA by advocating religious and social freedom, freeing the people from oppression, and providing