Absolutism+In+Eastern+Europe

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Terms: ID the following terms. Include any and all information that you feel is relevant to the term. If possible identify any other IDs your term is related to.

**Holy Roman Empire -** Ruled by the Habsburgs. Contained many independent provinces that formed a sort of federation. The area of the present-day Germanic states. Not all that Holy or Roman.

**Ottoman Empire** Empire of the Ottoman Turks. Contained most of northern Africa and Constantinople. Turks attempted to take some of Eastern Europe into Hungary and Austria. Success relied upon slaves and gradual expansion. Eventually reached the city of Vienna, but gained no further land in Europe. Led by Suleiman the Magnificent from 1520-1566.

**Suleiman the Magnificent** - The absolutist ruler of the Ottoman Empire, he was the Sultan of the Turks during their age of expansion after the taking of Constantinople in an earlier century. Owned all Turkish land... no nobility to vie for power with. B/c of this, Turks had no private property. The Turks were rather religiously tolerant although they practiced Islam (the didn't forcibly convert the ares they took over). Free religious practice was generally allowed.

**Janissary Corps -** The Ottoman turks took a "tax" from the Christian countries they took over, 1 of every 3000 young boys were taken as slaves each year. Talented slaves rose in rank to the top of the bureaucracy. Less gifted ones were trained to form the Sultan's army. Ouch. Janissaries were the skillful and brave core of the Ottoman army.

**Poland-Lithuania -** The dual countries of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. They possessed a unique government that was similar to a constitutional monarchy, yet failed in both respects. They were marked by high levels of ethnic diversity and religious tolerance.

**Liberum veto** - a way in which the Polish nobles did not have to conform to the laws declared by the king of Poland which led to the deteriorization of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

**Serfdom:** Generally, the c ondition in Eastern Europe in which tenant farmers were bound to a hereditary plot of land and to the will of their landlord. Serfs had far less rights than peasants, and essentially performed slave-like labor.

**Robot -** System in which slaves were forced to work three unpaid days per week cultivating their master's land holdings. Many serfs in Eastern Europe were bound by this system.

**Habsburg Empire (Austrian Empire) Ruled by the Austrain part of the Habsburg family. Land areas included the territories of Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, present day Croatia and Sloveinia, and even parts of modern day Switerland and Germany.**

**Bohemia-** kingdom located in parts of modern day Czech Republic, Germany, and Poland. Part of the Habsburg Empire. During the 30 Years War, the Protestant Czech nobility had a large amount of power in Bohemia's representative body of different estates and legal orders-the Bohemian Estates. Revolt in 1618 was crushed in 1620 by Habsburg Ferdinand II at the Battle of White Mountain. Bohemian Estates power was reduced, Protestant nobles land was taken, and Bohemia was reconquered and easily controlled thereafter.

**Austria proper -** The territory of the Austrian empire that included only the territory of modern day Austria.

**Hungary -** Located between Austria and the Ottoman empire. Ruled by the leader of the Austrian Empire, but some laws were slightly different. Resisted the Holy Roman Empire's advances. While the Ottomans were a powerful force in the east the Hungarians repeatedly invited them in to oust the Austrians who they hated.

**Leopold I- King of the Austrian empire in 1695. Built a Viennese version of Versailles to commemorate great Austrian military victories and show Habsburg power and wealth.**

**Siege of Vienna, 1683- The Ottoman Turks last great incursion into Europe which was a mixed force of Tartars, French, and Ottomans against the, Habsburg held, city of Vienna. The city held out for two months until a mixed force of Saxon, Bavarian, and Polish troops, led by Sobieski, routed the Turks. Ended the era of dominance for the Ottoman Turks.**

**Pragmatic Sanction- an edict issued by Charles VI because he had no male heirs. The edict guarantees that the Habsurg land would stay in Habsburg control by allowing succession within the family to the next generation regardless of if that person is a male or a female.**

**Prussia- an empire that was held by the Hollenzeller family. Began as a kingdom ruled by two factions of the same family with one part being Brandenburg and the other part being Prussia. Due to selfishness of the nobles, increased control occurred by the leaders and absolutism began to occur. This allowed for the acquisition of more land to a large empire.**

**Hohenzollerns-** Ashley's ancestors; the monarchy of Prussia who, in reality, had little power.

**Frederick William, the “Great Elector”-** absolutist that came to power in 1640 at the age of 22 with the goal of unifying his three provinces. His three provinces were Brandenburg, Prussia, and holdings along the Rhine river in western Germany. Each province had strong Estates controlled by Junkers whose power increased as the rulers' decreased. This caused a long and drawn out battle between Frederick William and the Estates, Frederick being the victor. He forced the Estates to tax without consent, increased size of army, dealt with several invasions, and reconfirmed Estates' rights.

**Junkers**- Prussian nobility during the rule of Frederick William, the "Great Elector." Absolutism rulers wanted to get rid of these to make the country more unified and appoint middle class nobles to make them loyal to the king.

“**King of Prussia” -** The Prussian king.

**Frederick William I-** Son of King Frederick I of Prussia. Best example of absolutism in Prussia. He unified the nation under military law and rules, and built the best army, if not the largest, in the world at the time. His reign defined Prussia as a world power.

“**Sparta of the North”**- Prussia during King Frederick William I's reign due to his intense focus on military discipline in society and army-building. His army was the best trained in the world during his time as the Spartans were the best in the world during their time and their entire society was built around the military.

**Muscovy**- the area around Moscow, or Russia in general; used by the Western Europeans to describe Russia. the informal name for the "Grand Principality of Moscow." Muscovy is much more fun to say.

**Boyars-** the nobles of Russia; probably responsible for killing Ivan IV's mother. Ivan the Terrible eliminated many during his reign. Ivan also believed that they were to blame for the death of his wife Anastasia and to punish them, he killed them, their family, their relatives, and even their peasants and servants, which drastically decreased the Russian population.

**Ivan III (“the Great”)-** The first to stop recognizing the Mongolian khans as kings; he thought that he was the heir to the czars, that he was also heir to Orthodox Christianity (the one true faith) after the Turks seized Constantinople. He married the daughter of the last Byzantine emperor, thus inheriting even more land and power.

“**Third Rome**”- Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453, causing Russia's tsars to believe they were the heirs of both the caesars and Orthodox Christianity, or the one true faith. Tsars saw all the other kings in Europe as heretics and only they were the rightful and holy rulers. Orthodox churchmen then began to say "Holy Russia" was the "Third Rome." It was also said, "Two Romes have fallen, but the third stands, and a fourth there will not be," showing Russia's religious significance.

**Ivan IV (“the Terrible”)-**He became king when he was only 3 years old; his mother helped him with the ruling until the age of 8 when she died. The nobles were looked at as the suspects to her death. He began ruling when he was 16 and completely disregarded the boyars. He eliminated the boyars and made them all service nobility. He led Russia in numerous wars; he bound the traders to the towns and the peasants to their lands, causing revolts by the Cossacks. He was a true absolutist ruler.

**Cossacks-** outlaw armies of peasants who were fleeing the tyranny of the nobles along with Ivan IV's wrath. They led marches to demand their freedoms, but were crushed by the nobility. They rose a second time under the leadership of Stenka Razin, and killed landlords and officials. This time, they were defeated by the government.

“**Time of Troubles**” (1598-1613)- When Ivan IV died, there were power struggles; when his son Theodore died without an heir, there was chaos. All of the family members wanted to rule, and murdered each other.The Cossacks marched for their freedom, leading the nobles to finally unite. After crushing the Cossacks, they elected **Michael Romanov**, the first of the **Romanov Dynasty,** ending the Time of Troubles.

**Romanov Dynasty-** The czars of Russia from 1613 until the revolution during WWI ended their dynasty in 1917.

**Michael Romanov-** The grandnephew of Ivan IV; the first of the Romanov Dynasty. His policies were more relaxed than Ivan's had been.

“**Old Believers**” When patriarch Nikon wanted the Russian Orthodox church to become more like the Greek Orthodox church, it caused a split. the common people resisted Nikon, calling him the Antichrist and formed a group of Old Believers who still followed the teachings of the Russian Orthodox church. They were persecuted and over 20,000 burned themselves alive to show their rebellion.

**Peter the Great-** He turned Russia into a super power; he built an incredible military, looked for new technologies, and expanded the borders of Russia. He angered the serfs with his policies (building St. Petersburg, forced draft, etc.). Major absolutist monarch. He went into a secret alliance with Denmark and Saxony and invaded Sweeden. This lead to the **Great Northern War** that lasted 21 years. Peter used a draft to enlist 200,000 trained men into the army to defeat Sweden after an early defeat.

**Strelski -** 1698 revolt in the Russian territories. Put down by Peter the Great, which led to further establishment of his power.


 * Great Northern War **A war between Peter the Great ( Russian) and Charles XII (Swedish). Peter the Great created a secret alliance with Denmark and Poland. He wanted to attack Sweden because its territories were scattered and less unified than others. However, he underestimated Sweden's strength and Charles XII's military prowess. Charles XII quickly defeated Denmark and then turned toward Russia. During a snowstorm, Sweden attacks and gains the upper hand. However, Peter the Great makes many military changes (increase state power, noblemen required to serve, schools and universities with focus on technology, increased government strength, factories and mines) and eventually wins the war. He annexed Estonia and present day Lativa and became the power of the Baltic as well as a great force in Europe.

“**Window on the West”**-- St. Petersburg: Peter the Great's capital city he built on the Neva River to reflect and compete with the capital cities of Western Europe. Along with this he built it to try to make Russia into a great commercial power and St. Petersburg, he believed, would be the great port that would enable this.

**Table of Ranks** * - A list of fourteen ranks in which Eastern European officials could rise based upon merit and general skill.

**St. Petersburg -** City had very close ties among politics, architecture, and urban development. Evolved from a Swedish fort to a City to become Peter the Great's capital in place of Moscow. Nobles ordered to live in houses and palaces there for most of the year, which was overall successful on account of the nobles building these palaces themselves.

**Winter Palace-** Was the official residence of the Russian monarchs from 1732-1917. Located in St. Petersburg.