Ap eh chapter 18 notes: the 18th Century European States, International Wars, and Social Change

C. Absolutism in Central and Eastern Europe

3.  Russia under Catherine the Great

4. Her policy favoring the landed nobility led to even

II. WARS AND DIPLOMACY

3. 
   ECONOMIC EXPANSION AND SOCIAL CHANGE
   
   1. 
      Growth of European Population
      
      1. 
         the cycles of population growth and decline that had characterized Europe since the Middle Ages came to an end in the 18^th Century
         
      2. 
         European population growth in the second half of the 18^th Century was nearly double the rate of the first half.
         
      3. 
         overall the total population of Europe rose from 120 million in 1700 to 190 million by 1800.
         
      4. 
         Lower death rates and lower infant mortality rates which were lowered by a plentiful food supply and an end to the Plague played a role in the population spike
         
   2. 
      Family, Marriage, and Birthrate Patterns
      
      1. 
         the family not the individual was still at the heart of 18^th Century European society
         
      2. 
         traditional attitudes toward child-rearing still prevailed in the first half of the century
         
      3. 
         traditional attitudes began to alter in the 2^nd half of the century
         
         1. 
            childhood was viewed more and more as a special phase in human development
            
         2. 
            families started dressing their children in more comfortable and age appropriate clothing rather than in mini-adult attire
            
         3. 
            Primogeniture came under attack during this time; all children deserved their parents’ attention
            
         4. 
            Calls for women to breast-feed their own children rather than using wet nurses were made
            
         5. 
            Toys and games specifically made for children began to appear
            
         6. 
            Changes mainly applied to upper class children in western Europe
            
      4. 
         Despite being punishable by death, infanticide remained a solution to the problem of too many children
         
      5. 
         foundling homes were created to look after unwanted children
         
         1. 
            in the 1770s, it was estimated that 1 in 3 children born in Paris ended up in a foundling home
            
         2. 
            due to an overburdened system, the mortality rates of children living in these foundling homes was anywhere from 50% to 90%
            
         3. 
            those who survived usually were forced into miserable jobs
            
      6. 
         newly married couples established their own households independent of their parents
         
      7. 
         the nuclear family continued to dominate European society of this era
         
      8. 
         late marriages imposed limits on the birthrate
         
      9. 
         married couples usually had their first child within the first year of marriage with later children appearing in two to three year intervals (five births per family was the norm)
         
      10. 
          A decline in the total number of children took place due to a variety of birth control techniques
          
      11. 
          overall, as European states modernized in the 18^th Century, the rate of illegitimate births increased slowly but steadily before exploding in the 19^th Century
          
      12. 
          in lower class families, women and children entering the work force was essential to family survival
          
   3. 
      An Agricultural Revolution?
      
      1. 
         18^th Century agriculture was characterized by increases in food production that can be attributed to four factors:
         
         1. 
            more land under cultivation
            
         2. 
            increased yields per acre
            
         3. 
            healthier and more abundant livestock
            
         4. 
            an improved climate
            
      2. 
         improvements in agricultural practices and methods in the 18^th Century Europe primarily occurred in Great Britain
         
      3. 
         the amount of land under cultivation was increased by abandoning the old open field system in which part of the land was left fallow to renew it
         
      4. 
         the numerous livestock increased the amount of meat in the European diet and enhanced food production by making more animal manure available which was used to fertilize fields
         
      5. 
         this century witnessed greater yields of vegetables, including two American crops, the potato and maize
         
      6. 
         the new agricultural techniques were used the most on large scale farms rather than small ones
         
   4. 
      New Methods of Finance and Industry
      
      1. 
         the decline in the available supply of gold and silver in the 17^th Century created a chronic shortage of money that undermined the efforts of governments to meet their needs
         
      2. 
         the creation of new public banks and the acceptance of paper notes made possible an expansion of credit in the 18^th Century
         
      3. 
         one of the best examples of this process can be observed in England where the Bank of England was founded in 1694
         
         1. 
            along with traditional services provided by banks, the B of E also made loans
            
         2. 
            in return for lending money to the government, the bank was allowed to issue paper ‘bank notes’ backed by its credits
            
         3. 
            these bank notes soon became a substitute for gold and silver currency
            
         4. 
            the issuance of government bonds paying regular interest, backed by the B of E and the London financial community, created the notion of a public debt or ‘national debt’.
            
         5. 
            This process meant that capital for financing larger armies and other government undertakings could be raised in ever-greater quantities
            
      4. 
         a key financial advantage the British government enjoyed over French rulers in the 18^th Century was Britain’s capacity to borrow large sums of money at low rates of interest for state projects
         
      5. 
         despite Britain’s growing importance in finance, the Dutch Republic remained the leader in Europe’s financial life until the British eclipsed the Dutch in the 19^th Century
         
      6. 
         the most important industry in Europe in the 18^th Century was the textile industry
         
      7. 
         most textiles were still produced by traditional methods. (putting out technique was popular in rural areas)
         
      8. 
         the domestic system of industrial production in Flanders and England became known as the “cottage system”.
         
   5. 
      Toward a Global Economy: Mercantile Empires and Worldwide Trade
      
      1. 
         Though bankers and industrialists came to dominate the economic life of the 19^th Century, in the 18^th Century merchants and traders still reigned supreme
         
      2. 
         the dramatic increase in overseas(world) trade has led some historians to speak of the emergence of a truly global economy in the 18^th Century
         
      3. 
         Spain, Portugal, and the Dutch Republic, which had dominated international trade in the past, found themselves overshadowed by France and Great Britain
         
      4. 
         The rivalry between France and Great Britain both militarily and economically dominated the 18^th Century
         
      5. 
         Colonial Empires in North America
         
         1. 
            France
            
            1. 
               for the majority of the century it controlled Canada, the Louisiana Territory, as well as the islands of St. Dominique, Martinique, and Guadeloupe in North America
               
            2. 
               on the islands, France had developed a plantation economy driven by African slave labor which produced tobacco, cotton, coffee, and sugar
               
            3. 
               on the mainland, France ran the colonies in an autocratic manner with these colonies producing furs, leather, fish, and timber
               
            4. 
               had difficulty getting French people to migrate to colonies in North America
               
         2. 
            Great Britain
            

1. 
   holdings in North America consisted of 13 colonies along the eastern seaboard of the North American mainland as well as the islands of Jamaica, Barbados, and Bermuda
   
2. 
   supposedly run by the British Board of Trade, the Royal Council, and Parliament, the 13 colonies had legislatures that tended to act independently
   
3. 
   13 colonies were thickly populated with over 1.5 million people by 1750.
   
4. 
   due to its larger population and the fact that it was more agriculturally based the British colonies were more stable than the French colonies
   

1. 
   Both the North American and West Indian colonies of Britain and France were assigned roles in keeping with mercantilist theory
   
2. 
   The system was supposed to provide a balance of trade favorable to the mother country
   
3. 
   The British and French rivalry was also evident in the Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires in Latin America
   
   1. 
      Due to the Bourbon Family connection, France was able to make trade inroads into Spanish colonies
      
   2. 
      the British were able to get the Portuguese to permit them access to the lucrative Brazilian trade market
      
4. 
   Their rivalry also extended to the Far East where Britain and France competed for the tea, spices, cotton, hard woods, and luxury goods of India and the East Indies.
   
1. 
   Global Trade
   
   1. 
      to justify the term global economy, historians have usually pointed to the patterns of trade that interlocked Europe, Africa, the East, and the American continents
      
   2. 
      of all goods traded in the 18^th Century, perhaps the most profitable and certainly the most controversial were African slaves
      
      1. 
         it is estimated that 9.3 million slaves were transported from Africa (2/3 in the 18^th Cent.)
         
      2. 
         half of all slaves were transported on British ships, the rest divided among French, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, and American ships
         
      3. 
         slaving ships sailed from a European port to the African coast where Europeans had established bases where merchants could trade manufactured goods, rum, and brandy for blacks captured by African intermediaries
         
      4. 
         as soon as the human cargoes arrived in the New World, they entered the plantation economy
         
      5. 
         despite a rising chorus of humanitarian sentiments from the philosophes, the use of black slaves remained acceptable to Western society throughout the 18^th Century
         

1. 
   France abolished slavery in the 1790s
   
2. 
   Great Britain abolished slavery in 1807