Western Civilization: Revolution And The Enlightenment

Countries in Western Europe opened trade more with Russia, realizing their growing strength as a superpower. Ultimately, Russia’s lots of the might and strength Russia exercises today is a result of this period of great

Peter the Great Peter the Great was an iconic individual in Russian history and even in world history. He made many strides for Russia to become more of a westernized nation. World Civilization II: The Rise and Fall of Empires© 1500- present stated, "From his father, Peter learned of Russia’s need for modernization, so in the early 18th century, Peter embarked on an extended journey throughout Europe where he learned how to build ships, observed modern military techniques, and recruited Western craftsmen and artists to come back to Russia with him" (Sattler, 60). He was very determined to make Russia modernized to say the least. In his reign, he held many reforms to push Russia to become more westernized (Sattler, 60-61).

Theatre, music and literature created in that period of time before the Great War performed the beliefs of favoring one’s own country and against others. German culture was promoted and celebrated, and they relied on nationalism to maintain and strengthen their country. Britain published fictions about foreign intrigue, espionage and future wars. The stories often featured racist stereotyping and innuendo against foreign countries. Before war, the idea of celebrating for one’s nation and against another was growing

The Enlightenment and Imperialism completely revolutionized how people look at the world and what they think of it. These two major events also help to bring to light to determine how free the world is today in terms of suppressed rights and liberties in assorted countries. The freedom of the world can also be determined by modern day resources such as Freedomhouse.org. The cycle of securing individual freedoms has been heavily impacted by the Enlightenment, Imperialization and the drafting of the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. The Scientific Revolution is what lead the people into a new way of life, a life where they were valued as well as their ideas in society and in government.

Catherine made Russia a significant force in Europe as a well governed political country as well as expanded the Russian territory, through this she showed great leadership styles such she was a good team leader, participative leader, servant leader and transformational leader As a women in a male dominated society, Catherine the great was met with resistance at first. She wanted to

The American Enlightenment brought much impact on colonial society in America on political ideas of colonists to receive independence from Great Britain. John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau had beliefs that individuals deserve freedom and human rights to life, liberty, and property. People deserve to have their own opinion, natural rights, and decisions. “The Enlightenment was a progress with the people in the Western world thought about themselves and the societies in which they lived.” (Schultz, p. 69, 2009)

The time period of Absolutism and Enlightenment was one that passed through a large history. In short terms, Absolutism was a period of time where a chain of European King’s and Queen’s also known as “Monarchs” increased the power of their central government. While Enlightenment was a period of time when writers attempted to combine the ideas of Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution in order to study and improve the society through observation and experimentation. This essay is going to explain in detail about how absolutism and enlightenment became a major part of the history and how it developed through history in Wester Europe. It is also, going to explain peoples different belief’s and the major revolution of Science in the world.

The American Revolution is an integral event in modern history. It set the wheels in motion for practically every political and social order we take for granted today. The American Revolution was fundamentally a radical movement because of its democratic ideals, its separation of church and state, and its unifying of the rich and poor through the ideals of liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Prior to the revolution, American society reflected its mother country.

The Ideas of the Enlightenment Some ideas are so important that they can change people’s beliefs in government and religion, and even change lives later on years from now. The Enlightenment was made up of many ideas which influenced how societies worked and they still apply today. It was a movement in the 1700s when new perspectives and ideas of government and religion were made, changing people’s beliefs and view on society. The most important ideas of the Enlightenment were political rights, freedom of religion, economic freedom, and gender equality.

From the very beginning the world has evolved from one thing to another. During the beginning of the 1400s to the 1800s, there are many things that have contributed to the developments that have made the world that is known today. From the changing of artistic views to the different opinions on what religion is the best, it has all had an impact on how our world has been modernized. Since the 1400s the world has been modernizing relentlessly because of the late Renaissance, the discovery of news lands, and religious disagreements The Renaissance was apart of the modernizing of the world by contributing new arts and consolidating power in Europe.

Another implementation was the pushing of Russian Elite to imitate European fashions to conform to western styles. And to out an end to the seclusion of higher class Russian women, Peter required officials to have their wives accompany them to social gatherings at the capital, as well as directing nobles to educate their children. The difference of the modernization of Russia and Europe came with the rise of Peter the Great. Russia was no longer vied as a backward nation suck in medieval times, but as a dominant player in the balance of power in Europe. Peter buried himself into learning and acquiring skills in blacksmithing, shipbuilding, and war arts, which assisted in the building of Russia’s first Navy, which modernized the field of Naval power.

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.

Consequently, many of doctrines established by the church authorities were directly threatened by individuals who dared to think out of the commonly accepted rules. Below, I will try to elaborate contributions of the Enlightenment period to future development of Europe taking into consideration three aspects. First, I would like to argue about how the idea that humans are capable to use their reason influenced the overall development in Europe. Furthermore, I will discuss that a belief in progress with its consequences affected particularly the intellectual and economic development. Finally, I will explain to which extend a nowadays democracy and system of government in Europe owes to the ideas of

Individuals were key to driving change, though often because of the influence of other factors. Tsar Alexander II instigated one of the biggest changes in Russian society: the Emancipation of the Serfs. Prior to this one third of the Russian population were serfs, thus the Emancipation changed Russian society completely. Lynch argues that Alexander’s training “from an early age” for government instilled in him that autocracy must continue, and Kochan writes that Alexander was “The best prepared heir the Russian throne ever had” . Therefore, both suggest that Alexander’s education and personal aim of protecting Tsardom was key to the Emancipation .

Reforms can be beneficial or detrimental an emerging empire. During his reign, Peter the Great implemented many reforms that expedited the Europeanization of Europe. Many of these reforms were viewed as negative by society and many were against them. However, most of them did what was intended to help modernize Russia. With his newfound knowledge of city-building, he built the city of St. Petersburg, which Shaw 6 became the new capitol of Russia.