The appearance of new European states was the most important event of the 18th century:Prussia emerged as a power in the 18th century due to the work carried out by the Hohenzollern family, which ruled the Electorate of Brandenburg since the 15th century. This town later gave rise to the German Empire. And the other great state was Russia, which originated from two peoples:The Muscovites , who founded the city of Moscow and The Swedes , who under the command of Rurik they founded the small republic of Novogorod . This possibly occurred in the twelfth or thirteenth centuries.
New states of Europe
The new states of Europe were:
Austria
Countries that formed it
In 1714 Austria properly comprised the duchy of the same name, the kingdoms of Bohemia, Hungary, the Netherlands; the Milanese and Parma in Italy. The sovereign of this Empire was also Emperor of Germany. Each of these towns had different capitals, as well as their own government, but they were under the command of a common emperor.
The reign of Maria Teresa
Emperor Charles VI (1711) was succeeded by his daughter Maria Teresa. This decision was not accepted by some (electors of Saxony and Bavaria), breaking out the War of the Austrian Succession, in which Prussia, France, Spain and later England also intervened.
But the energetic and good-natured queen, hounded by European powers, managed to save Austria from dismemberment, losing only the province of Silesia to Prussia.
However, she tried to recover Silesia, fighting after seven years against Frederick II of Prussia, who defeated her.
Finally, she intervened together with Russia and Prussia in the partition of Poland that disappeared from the map.
Joseph II
Maria Teresa was succeeded by her son José II, who in 10 years of iron rule (1780-1790) proclaimed the equality of all before the law, established the German language as official for the entire kingdom, and despite being Catholic, guaranteed the religious freedom.
His reforms provoked violent protests in various parts of his kingdom. He died disenchanted by the poor reception they had.
Prussia
Prussia emerged as a power in the 18th century due to the work of the Hohenzollern family, which had ruled the Electorate of Brandenburg since the 15th century. This territory later gave rise to the German Empire whose greatness ended in the First World War (1914).
Originally, Prussia was a collection of small isolated states that the Hohenzollerns unified. Lacking natural defenses, they created the best army in Europe to protect themselves.
The greatness of Prussia was mainly due to two kings:
Frederick William I, the Sergeant King (1713-1740)
Convinced that he could only make his fatherland great with a mighty army, he established compulsory military service, declaring that every Prussian was born to be a soldier. He did not waste money on his court, which only had 37 courtiers and simple wooden furniture, because he dedicated everything to strengthening the army. His only amusement was drinking beer with his officers and watching the troops maneuver. The officer corps was made up of nobles, since commoners could only reach the class of Ensign.
To favor domestic industry, he put high taxes on foreign manufactured goods.
Frederick William II, the Great (1740-1786)
Son of Federico Guillermo I. He was an enlightened sovereign, industrious and the best European military leader. He seized various territories, such as Silesia (from Austria) and Polish Prussia (taken from Poland).
In the 23 years of his government he formed the best army in Europe, doubling the number of his men (from 80 thousand to 160 thousand); and increased its territory from 120,000 square kilometers to 200,000 km2.
He founded schools, protected industry, commerce, artists and philosophers.
Prussia was already a great power.
Russia
How did Russia come about?
Slavic and Finnish tribes, dominated by the Mongolian Tatars, inhabited Russia until the 16th century. They were very backward towns.
Ivan the Terrible
But, at the beginning of the 16th century, Ivan the Terrible, head of the Principality of Moscow, one of the most important small states in Russia, managed to emancipate himself from the yoke of the Mongol Khans, founding the Russian state of Muscovy, whose capital was Moscow. . Ivan had himself named "Tsar" which meant Great King of all Russia.
He ruled absolutely, as owner of life and property of his subjects. Society was divided into two classes:the boyars (nobles), owners of the land; and the mujiks (peasants), who lived just like the serfs of the Middle Ages.
With the force of arms he enlarged the Russian territory.
The Romanof dynasty
After the death of Ivan the Terrible, there were internal struggles, until he was proclaimed Tsar Miguel de Romanof, who began a dynasty that ruled until 1917, when the last monarch Nicholas II was executed. The most notable czar of this dynasty was Peter I the Great.
Peter I, the Great (1689-1725)
Pedro I, El Grande came to the throne at the age of 17. He was a gigantic man (he was over two meters tall) who ruled absolutely. Very active he understood the backwardness in which his people found themselves.
a).—Introduction of western culture :A fervent admirer of Western culture, he dressed up and learned in Europe the construction of ships, fortifications, he saw schools, libraries, etc. On his return from his two trips he called many European artisans and engineers, with whom he had ships built, buildings that stood out in the midst of the Moscow huts, established schools, academies, printing presses, libraries, factories and even forced his subjects to change or modify her very old-fashioned dresses, meeting resistance that she subdued with the whip. He founded:the city of St. Petersburg on the shores of the Baltic Sea, to be closer to Europe; Naval, Engineering, Medicine schools, etc.
He made agriculture, commerce, industry progress.
b).—Conquest in the Baltic Sea :in order to have "a window on Europe", he warred against Turkey and Sweden to have access to the Black and Baltic seas, respectively; but, he only achieved success with Sweden, from which he snatched some coasts on the Baltic Sea, where he had the port of St. Petersburg built.
Catherine II, the Great (1763-1796)
Peter the Great's successors were Peter II and Peter III. The latter, unintelligent and vicious, was married to a German princess, Catherine, who, tired of her husband's uselessness, dethroned him and proclaimed herself Tsarina, with the name of Catherine II, who would later be called the Great, due to the work that he carried out in 33 years of government, which was the following:
- —Inside :he put down an uprising of the Cossacks, colonized the Volga and Ukraine regions with foreign immigrants; he introduced potato cultivation, opened hospitals and founded cities such as the port of Sevastopol.
- —Outside :she increased the Russian territory in war against the Turks from whom she took away the Crimean peninsula and the Black Sea coast, achieving access to this sea; and in the division of Poland (along with Austria and Prussia) he seized Lithuania and other territories, with Poland disappearing until 1918.
Catherine II, left her country as one of the leading powers in Europe.