GREV - Enlightenment "Inspired" Revolutions (Lesson)

Enlightenment "Inspired" Revolutions

You might have wondered why we haven't covered much about the United States in World History so far. There are two reasons for this—1. All of the information that we would talk about is covered in your United States History course; and—2. The United States, as a nation, did not exist prior to the time period we are about to cover and, therefore, had not contributed to World History yet. But all of that is about to change in this lesson.

First, let's start with the "First World War" (and it's not the one that is actually called that.)

The Seven Years War

Twentieth Century British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once referred to the Seven Years War as the first world war in history. This means a couple of things. First, that this war was fought on a global stage. Second, this war has a couple of different names. In World and European History, the Seven Years War is called the Seven Years War. In United States History, this war is called the French and Indian War. So, let's see how this happened.

By 1754 CE, the British colonies in North America consisted of the Thirteen Colonies along the eastern seaboard of the continent. Each colony had its own history, economy and local government; but they all had in common their existence as a British colony and that they were filling up fast with European immigrants. Another thing they had in common, was that they were boxed in by French and Spanish territory.

Therefore, if the colonists living within these thirteen British colonies wanted to gain more land, they were going to have to enter a territory claimed by another European nation. Which is, of course, what they did. British colonists made their first move into the Ohio River Valley—a lovely, fertile area west of the Appalachian Mountains and occupied by the French and Native Americans. (The French weren't occupying the land as a settlement, though. Their presence there was limited to their trading posts with Native Americans—with whom the French had a lucrative trading partnership involving the fur of beavers.) Marching one's military into another nation's territory will usually lead to war; and, of course, that is what happened. The French and Indian War started in 1754 CE and was fought between the British colonists of North America and an alliance of French soldiers (to keep the trade that profited France) and the Native Americans (to keep the land on which they lived and depended.)

The two European nations involved in the French and Indian War—France and Great Britain—had their own history of animosity. So, by 1756 CE, both nations officially entered into a war with each other, marking the start of the Seven Years War. Interestingly, though, they did not fight each other in either France or Great Britain. Instead, their war waged on colonial lands, specifically North America and India, and in other European nations. And this meant that the Seven Years War was fought on a global stage involving the Native Americans, African slaves, Indian Hindu princes, Filipino militia, European colonials and European soldiers. (This is why Winston Churchill called it the world's first world war.) Both sides of the war recruited European, Asian, and American allies to fight against one another.

 

On a map, the alliances looked like the below image, with Great Britain and her alliances in blue and France and her alliances in green.

 

On the battlefield, the Seven Years War looked like this...

As you can see, this truly was a war fought throughout the globe—North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The Ottoman Empire was the only major European nation to stay out of the war. A war fought around the globe will have global effects.

The Seven Years War ended in 1763 CE with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. As mentioned above, all of the European nations were in debt. Fighting a war for that long and on that grand of a scale was not cheap. To illustrate, in 1756 CE, Great Britain's national debt stood at £75 million; by 1763 CE, their national debt was roughly £133 million. That is quite a spike in less than a decade and led to a tax hike in Great Britain. (And we all know where that led Great Britain.)

 

American Revolution

For the American colonies, the French and Indian War was a success—it led to the removal of European barriers to lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. But for Great Britain, it was something of a mixed bag. While it was true that Great Britain was now the foremost colonial power in the world, it was also heavily in debt and hiked taxes at home to pull out of that debt. This act, of course, led to a chain of events:

The British government also imposed a new rule that would help keep military costs down in their North American colonies—the Proclamation of 1763. This proclamation prohibited expansion west of the Appalachian Mountains as a way to mollify the Native Americans and prevent uprisings that were expensive. With that proclamation, a new barrier kept colonists out of the region fought for during the French and Indian War. Between the Proclamation of 1763 and the tax laws of 1764, 1765, 1767, and 1773, many of the colonists were beside themselves at the injustices they were suffering at the hand of their colonial government.

Do you remember the discussion on the Enlightenment and where its ideas were most accepted? One location included colonial port cities—specifically, Boston and Philadelphia. Do you remember the discussion about the Social Contract theory espoused by the Enlightenment? One major point included the ousting of an unjust government—specifically one that put the government before the people. Therefore, starting in Boston and Philadelphia, a revolutionary mentality formed among American colonists based on the Social Contract that inspired boycotts, protests, letter-writing campaigns, and an upsurge in bitter quarrels between the colonies and the mother country.

All of this culminated in the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" in 1775 and the ensuing American Revolutionary War. To encourage colonists to become revolutionaries—American Enlightenment thinkers wrote pamphlets such as Thomas Paine's Common Sense. To encourage the world to accept America's revolution—American Enlightenment thinkers wrote the Declaration of Independence. Both were perfect examples of the Enlightenment in America as they denounced the alleged British abuses on the American people—reflecting the demand for a just government while instilling the notion of an American nation of people.

At first, the War of Independence didn't go so well for the new nation of Americans. But starting in 1777 CE, with the introduction of French funding and soldiers, the war took a turn towards an American victory. In 1781 CE, British General Cornwallis surrendered to the French and American troops in Yorktown and the American Revolution ended. Only two things needed to be done then—write a peace treaty and create a government. The first was accomplished by the Treaty of Paris in 1783. The second was a bit more problematic.

While the War of Independence was being fought, representatives for the thirteen colonies met in continental congresses. At the end of the war, these representatives agreed that the new government should not be a monarchy; but other than that, they were not sure what the new government should look like. At first, they settled on a weak confederation of the thirteen states (as the colonies were then known) based on the Articles of Confederation. However, in less than a decade, it became obvious that the new government was not going to work. At that point, representatives from each of the states met again and drew up the U.S. Constitution, and eventually a Bill of Rights, that set up a federal, republican system including many of the ideas from the Enlightenment of Europe—separation of powers, checks and balances, freedom of religion, freedom to protest, provisions against cruel and unusual punishments, and more. To the Americans, it was a new beginning. To the world, it was an example of how Enlightenment reforms could be implemented to create a new form of government.

While the War of Independence was being fought, representatives for the thirteen colonies met in continental congresses. At the end of the war, these representatives agreed that the new government should not be a monarchy; but other than that, they were not sure what the new government should look like. At first, they settled on a weak confederation of the thirteen states (as the colonies were then known) based on the Articles of Confederation. However, in less than a decade, it became obvious that the new government was not going to work. At that point, representatives from each of the states met again and drew up the U.S. Constitution, and eventually a Bill of Rights, that set up a federal, republican system including many of the ideas from the Enlightenment of Europe—separation of powers, checks and balances, freedom of religion, freedom to protest, provisions against cruel and unusual punishments, and more. To the Americans, it was a new beginning. To the world, it was an example of how Enlightenment reforms could be implemented to create a new form of government.

French Revolution

Up until the American Revolution, Enlightenment ideas had only been instituted in Great Britain to curb the absolute monarchy and in other European nations by "enlightened despots" within absolute monarchies; but they had not been used to start a brand-new government. The American Revolution illustrated just how far people could take Enlightenment ideas; but it also illustrated something else—just how costly war could be.

A great deal of the cost for the American Revolution fell on France—an economy that was already struggling under debt. King Louis XVI assumed the throne of France in 1774 CE. By that time, the nation was already struggling under its massive national debt; but King Louis XVI's choice to support the American colonies during the American Revolutionary War only exacerbated that debt more. This left King Louis XVI in a difficult spot—he needed money, but under the French system of government that he inherited, there were few options. 

France, under the reign of the House of Bourbon (King Louis XVI's family and ancestors,) operated as a government known as the Ancien Régime. This regime divided France into three estates under the monarch:

Did you spot the problem for King Louis XVI? —A great deal of the wealth of France, at the time, was concentrated among the population that did not pay taxes. Therefore, King Louis XVI needed to find a way to tax the First and Second Estates to relieve his nation's debt. In order to do that, he did something that no French king had done in almost two centuries—he called the Estates-General to session.

One hundred-seventy-five years had passed since the Estates-General were called by a French king. It was not a secret as to why the Estates-General were not called earlier—the absolute monarchies of the Bourbons did not encourage the sharing of power. And it was not a secret as to why King Louis XVI suddenly called them in 1789 CE—he was broke. And, lastly, it was not a secret that each of the Estates would send representatives that would broker deals that would benefit their own Estate over the other two. The only secret was how to get the Estates-General to work together. Despite the vast discrepancies in population counts within the Estates and the numbers they sent as representatives to Paris, each Estate had exactly one vote. If those Estates that didn't pay taxes chose not to vote for a tax on themselves, the Third Estate could not out-vote them. Alas, King Louis XVI and the Estates-General never figured out the secret of how to work together and the Ancien Régime devolved into chaos.

During a military coup, Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory and announced himself the First Consul of France.   As a successful war hero that kept foreigners out of France even as he directed invasions of other nations (most notably Egypt in 1798,) Napoleon was a popular general.   Knowing this, and to legitimize his coup, Napoleon successfully put his rule and constitution to a popular vote. With his election as First Consul, the French Revolution came to an end.

Under Napoleon Bonaparte's consulate, France experienced a wave of reforms domestically and a wave of triumphs militarily.

But Napoleon's greatest achievement came from his establishment of the Napoleonic Code in 1804. The Napoleonic Code was a system of civil legal codes that recognized the equality of French (male) citizens and instituted some Enlightenment principles. For the most part, though, it was based on ancient Roman law. Still, it was very progressive at the time as it replaced the feudal laws of France with a more understandable and accessible system of laws. It eventually became the standard for writing laws by later European governments and a modified version of the Code still exists in France today. But it did accompany a rather interesting twist with regards to modernization...

During the same year the Napoleonic Code went into effect, France encouraged Napoleon to accept the title of "emperor." In this way, Napoleon followed the same career path as Augustus Caesar of Ancient Rome almost two thousand years before—the rise from Consul to Emperor. In 1804 CE, Napoleon adopted the title of "Emperor of the French."

Couple interesting facts- You see Napoleon crowning his wife, Josephine. Napoleon invited the Pope to come to the coronation as a way of bringing back the church to France after the Revolution. When the Pope went to crown Napoleon emperor (as was tradition), Napoleon grabbed the crown out of the Pope's hands and put it on his own head demonstrating that he answered to no one. He then went to crown his wife. And you see the woman in the center of the painting over looking the procedings? That's Napoleon's mother. She actually was not at the ceremony, but Napoleon thought it would look better if she was "showing her approval" so had the artist add her in.
 

Throughout Napoleon's reign as emperor, France fought a series of wars against other European nations known as the Napoleonic Wars from 1803 to 1815. For the most part, Napoleon's armies were supreme in the battles during this era—until they tried to conquer Russia. In 1812, Napoleon's army marched all the way to Moscow where they found a city on fire (set by retreating Russian troops) just as winter set in. Without proper housing against the elements, the French troops were forced to return home. As they made their long slog home, they passed through hostile territories that used the opportunity to further weaken the French army. In the end, the attempt to take Russia turned into a disaster for the Emperor of the French. His military destroyed, Napoleon was forced to go into exile on Elba Island off the coast of Italy.

While on Elba, Napoleon set to work building another army which he used to stage a comeback in France. However, the coalition of European victors that first sent him into exile were too strong by then. And (as the Swedish pop group ABBA sang in the 1970s,) "at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender." (That's right, the 1815 defeat of Napoleon during the Battle of Waterloo was such a significant event in European history that more than a century later Swedish pop stars used it as a metaphor in a song about defeated love.)

The alliance that defeated Napoleon consisted of Prussia, Austria, Russia and Great Britain. Their first order of business was to exile Napoleon again—this time to St. Helena Island way out in the Atlantic Ocean roughly 1,000 miles off of the coast of Africa. (This exile was a success—Napoleon died there six years later.) Their second order of business was to determine what to do with France. Meeting at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 CE, ambassadors of European nations decreed a balance of power among the nation-states of Europe to prevent another Napoleon from marching all over Europe by:

• Returning France's original borders to those prior to the Napoleonic Wars,
• Choosing not to punish France either militarily or economically,
• Creating new kingdoms in Poland and the Netherlands,
• Returning the monarchs of Napoleon's conquered nations to their thrones—Spain, Holland, and many Italian States,
• Returning a Bourbon family member to the throne of France to rule in a constitutional monarchy,
• Rearranging some European boundaries to ensure that one nation was not inherently stronger territorially,
• Agreeing to respect the borders of their fellow European nations.

 

When the meeting concluded, Europe looked like this...

Therefore, the Congress of Vienna was successful in reestablishing the nation-states of Europe following the Napoleonic Wars. However, these borders did not address long-term problems that first appeared during the French Revolution—How should a nation's society be organized? What are the nature of rights as identified in the Enlightenment? Who should participate in these rights? Over the next decades, Europeans struggled between those who wanted society restored to its pre-French Revolution era norms and those who wanted a more liberal set-up with limited governments, respect for individual rights and free trade systems. In 1848, the continent of Europe exploded in a series of political upheavals that spread out from France to the rest of Europe. The only nations to not participate in the Revolutions of 1848 were Great Britain and Russia as the rest of Europe experienced uprisings over democratic principles. These revolts were shaky at best and did nothing to permanently change the political fabric of Europe at the time—but they underscore the failure of the Congress of Vienna to address the political principles of the Enlightenment

 

The New World

By the 1800s, the New World really wasn't "new" anymore (not that it had ever been new to the indigenous people.) However, some "new" stuff was about to happen. If you will remember, following the Age of Exploration, European nations raced to the New World to establish colonies and take advantage of a mercantilist system of economy. These European nations were very successful at establishing colonies and profiting from them for centuries. But while Napoleon distracted the Europeans at the beginning of the 19^th Century, local leaders in the New World saw opportunities for their homes to follow new, independent paths. Inspired by the French Revolution, Caribbean, North American and South American communities broke away from their European colonial powers.

While these revolutions helped to end European rule in the New World, they did not necessarily usher in an era of political stability for these new nations. Just as in France and the United States, major questions regarding liberty and socioeconomic status remained unanswered...

• The institution of slavery still persisted for decades,
• Peasants continued to work on large plantations owned by a small percent of the population,
• With such a discriminated work force, a strong middle class did not develop,
• And ideas from the Enlightenment impacted only the elite within a population.

Why? There are no simple answers to this question but a complete overhaul of society was almost impossible because of two conditions. First, in Latin America, the Catholic Church remained very powerful as the largest land owner. And second, the economies of these new nations still depended heavily on European trade with raw goods leaving the Western Hemisphere in exchange for European manufactured products.

 

 

Recap Section

Watch the videos below to review what you've learned.

 

 

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